smoke ‘em if you got ‘em

i smoked cigarettes for over 27 years.  a long damn time.  i quit over 17 years ago.  cold turkey.  i’d had enough.  you smoke?  you want to quit?  cold turkey is the answer but it only works if you want to quit.  but that’s not why i’m here. i started smoking when i was in the 3rd grade.  yeah, a neighbor kid who was a year younger than i was would steal his mom’s smokes, kents, and we’d sorta smoke ‘em out in the horse barn.  yeah, brilliant.  a 3rd grader and a 2nd grader in the horse barn sitting on hay with matches and lit smokes.  and you think you’re lucky.  actually the only accident we had was inside the house.  one day i put a hole in the sofa with my smoke.  it was a bright red sofa.  we were sure his mom would notice the nice new black spot on said sofa.  we took some tissue and used either red crayon or red lipstick to semi color the tissue the color of the sofa.  it matched pretty good.  we skated.  

oh, i didn’t continue smoking from that point i sorta gave it up for a time.  kinda.  those were the days back when everyone smoked.  hell, even us 3rd graders.  i mean i’d jones for a smoke at times and there were always some around.  especially after the folks had family or friends over.  there would be plenty of butts in the ashtrays or even the trash.  yeah, i was a homeless 3rd grader.  if it ever happens to me i’ll be ready for it.  shit, don’t mean nothin’ i been doing this since i was 8.  drifting.

the odd butt snipping continued off and on over the years.  by the time i was a sophomore in high school it was time to join the major leagues.  meaning buy my own smokes or split a pack with a friend or two.  they were sorta expensive, 25 cents a pack.  don’t think that just because it was the olden days buying smokes was easier.  it really wasn’t that easy until you got a bit more past 13.

my friends and i got lucky and found a gas station near by with a smoke machine in a sorta out of the way spot.  one of us would walk by it and drop 2 quarters(machine smokes always cost more)in the slot.  next guy would select the brand by pushing whatever.  3rd guy would walk by and scoop up the smokes.  this worked quite well until we were able to buy them more conventionally. 

like i said, i don’t smoke anymore but i like to watch kids smoke now a days.  i’d have to say 95% of them haven’t clue as to just how the fuck they are supposed to smoke a cigarette.  they pretend smoke.  they pretend smoke like i did when i was 8 years old.  i didn’t inhale back then.  most kiddie smokers today don’t either.  why are you smoking then?  why bother?  what’s the point?  when i was their age i was smoking pall mall reds or chesterfields and inhaling my brains out.

these kids now a days suck a bit of smoke in their mouth. hold it there for a second or two then blow it out.  you aren’t smoking a $10 cigar for christ sakes.  you are smoking a cancer stick so do it right.  do it right or stop it and stop looking like a fucking tool.  

it’s hard for me sometimes not to just walk up to them and slap the smoke out of their mouth and tell them either smoke it properly or don’t fucking bother because you look like and absolute fool doing what you are doing.  i’m serious. 

yeah, us fucking crusty old fuckers.  i guess maybe it’s they really don’t know how to smoke properly.  or maybe they tried once and they got sick and decided they didn’t like it.  but they still pretend smoke thinking they look cool.  excuse me, stupid, trust me you don’t.  getting sick the first 3 or 4 times you really smoke is part of the deal.  if you can’t handle it then don’t do it.  i mean it’s part of the addiction process.  it’s all very scientific and all.  it’s e=mc2.  capice?  good.

perhaps in all fairness it was easier for us olden agers to figure out how to smoke properly.  i mean there were our parents, relatives, family friends and most importantly famous folks.  yeah, like the ones pictured below in their infamous ads provided by my friend, dfr, who still smokes and wishes i still did.  no thanks.  enjoy the old ads.

arnold plamer.

ronnie.

actor, jack webb.

bob hope.

lucille ball.

jmh

wishful thinking

lots of wishful thinking on my part over the years on lots of different stuff.  anything from the chance meeting of say, heidi klum, where we immediately fall into to bed and live happily ever after.  or perhaps, the twice weekly i’m going to be the next california super lottery winner wishful thinking.  i think the odds on either of those things happening are probably both in the same ballpark.  a ballpark with very long odds and over 375 feet down each line to the foul pole. 

i’m not the first person to wishful think either of the two i mentioned.  not by a long shot.  male or female.  for either.  yeah, heidi’s that hot.  drifting here.  no, it’s the political season of the witch, no, not necessarily, lady machill.  it’s just this season of endless political weirdness that over the years has become just annoying and nauseating and finally culminating with my withdrawing from all elections.

i have some wishful thinking that might drag me back into the fray.  the problem being is that’s just what it is because the humps in charge of both major parties and probably the fringe groups as well, wouldn’t like it.  oh, maybe some of the fringe guys might but the big sex and money boys and girls would probably have a collective massive coronary if it came to pass.  which might not be a bad idea.  then we could just start over from scratch.  more drifting.  perhaps.

i’m not the only person to come up with this wishful thought as it’s been tossed around every now and again over the years but it never goes anywhere.  sadly.  big money wants nothing to do with it.  i think it scares them.  good.  they scare me.  daily. 

i think the time has come to scare the bejesus out of them for a change.  this sad slate of presidential candidates would seem like the perfect time for my wishful thought to maybe make it past the blossom stage and give fruition to something that should have happened years ago. 

oh, i’m sure all the candidates are probably sorta nice folks.  i mean maybe you could probably invite them all over to the house for some grub, massive amounts of dago red, and mah jong.  though they would all have to promise no politics.  the only problem is they all, would at some point, renege and start campaigning.  worse yet, while working the room glad handing anyone in sight, they would be spilling heirloom organic cabernet all over the living room furniture and in general just being boorish dinner guests.  the whole sad deal would probably end up being worse than letting the local canvassing scientology crew in for a chat and a brew.  god, the horror.  i don’t know if they do that but just the thought of it scares me on lots of levels. 

the point of this madness?  for those of you that have stuck it out here it is…none of the above.  yep.  that’s it.  none of the above needs to be added to every ballot in the country.  it’s time is way the hell over due. it’s simple in it’s purity and gives those of us something to vote for other than the ever ubiquitous ‘lesser of two evils’.  cause that’s what it generally comes down to in any election.  in particular a presidential election.  regardless who is running. 

sadly it’s not going to happen.  although i think it needs to be brought up and hammered home to our elected elitist that they serve us and not their pocketbook or summer home where ever the hell it is.  it’s time we that have made ourselves the disenfranchised get our vote back.  sure we quit voting on our own accord.  however, they were the ones that pissed us off so much we just up and said, fuck this, i ain’t voting anymore every again for any of you witless bunch of money grubbing oily sanctimonious swine. 

problem is they have all forgotten just who the hell it is they serve.  they all think they are there just to serve themselves up their own personal money tree.  yes, they are the folks that actually have that tree.  the tree that your dad asked your mom if she thought money grew on trees tree.  well, it does exist.  you just have to get elected to any public office in the land.  it also comes with the keys to the new tony soprano model caddy escalade AND your very own 23 year old smokin’ hot mistress.  boy, howdy.  makes a man want to run for office, don’t it?

imagine the chagrin some november after the votes have been tallied and candidate A gets 12%.  candidate B gets 12%.  the fringe guys and gals get their usual 1% and lo and behold, none of the above, wins with a whopping 75%.  you snicker.  though it could happen.  no, by god, it should happen.  it’s time we the fed up disenfranchised take our vote back.  take our vote back and vote for none of the above in any damn election we feel like.  we need to badger our elected swine into letting us vote for none of the above.  why not?  what’s the problem with that?  why is it just wishful thinking?

what?  what the hell?  who the fuck are you anyway? why no way, sonny boy, we can’t do that.  why that would be un-american.  say, just what kind of commie pinko nazi muslim are you any the ways?  by all that’s holy, you gotta be one of em or all of em for even suggesting such a vile idea.  why, why, i think i’ll let my bodyguards shoot you for bringing that sick deviant idea up in my very own official officially sanctioned official office.  ed, jack.  take this commie nazi muslim scum out back and do what needs to be done. 

so like here’s the deal.  call your congressperson and senator.  be polite.  ya hear?  yeah, well, hopefully he has no clue you don’t vote.  then tell whoever answers the phone we need the none of the above clause added to All ballots in this once great nation.  simple easy.  sure they will laugh and hang up.  come on, the caddy and smokin’ hot mistress need a good hot wax.  so call again.  give them the same rap.  if enough of you supposed americans do this.  we will get the none of the above clause on all ballots across america for every election.  it’s time has come. 

jmh

just a bubble headed boy

my friend, ruby, asked me yesterday how i was doing.  i took it as a more philosophical question than the usual word up deal.  why?  maybe it’s this virus that has sorta been dicking with me for the past few weeks.  the chinese herbs not with standing.  or maybe because i’d spent the night before coughing instead of sleeping.  that ragged non-sleep of the sorta sick and the really sick.  where dreams are more real or unreal depending upon if you are awake or not.  or it could have been the dead black woman i’m in love with.  sweet ella, was on the cd player.  well, her and louie armstrong singing their hearts out. 

it’s just that i haven’t done anything creative wise for several months.  oh, there’s been a few things but a few months back i had a backlog of stuff.  now all i want to do is play golf.  sit up here and pound something out?  no, think i’ll go downstairs and pound a golf ball around.  yes, but the weather is nice and soon it will be too hot to sit up here and type away even with the air conditioning running.  i don’t care, i’m going to hit golf balls around.   

i mean i even played a couple of rounds yesterday.  i felt like crap but our bird insisted i come downstairs.  most vociferously.  for some reason she loves it when i play golf.  she plays with her toys and coos like a parakeet though she’s a cockateil.  i coo back between shots.  my arnie’s army of one as it were. 

i played the original wii golf.  i hadn’t played it in months but i didn’t want the exertion of the tiger woods wii golf.  after some practice i had the touch and feel back and did pretty well.  an even par and a 4 under.

i guess the point being is i’m just or still and ever shall be a bubble headed boy.  just like the old days of my mis-spent youth.  i’d rather hit golf balls than be creative or study.  or maybe hit the beach instead of doing that as well.  then of course there’s been the drugs and drink.  both of which at one point or another have been way too much of a past time. 

hmm, yeah, a long time ago in one of those past lifetimes…a nice spring day with plenty of sun, a blunt or two, and hit the golf course for what may or may not have been a good day on the links.  didn’t matter.  most of the time. 

barefoot, shorts, no shirt, getting a country club tan out on the public course instead of doing something or anything that may just matter more in regards to a better life.  nah, screw it.  i’d rather hit golf balls.  see?  forever just a bubble headed boy.  instead of playing life’s game he’s playing life’s most sacred game.

photo of arnold palmer and a portion of his army, circa early 60’s.

jmh

oscar night

yeah, oscar night, it’s tonight.  it ain’t what it used to be.  then of course just what the hell is?  i don’t go to movies anymore.  the whole experience is just annoying these days on all sorts of levels.  i buy em instead.  cheap.  watch em at home.  very seldom anything new.  for the most part the old stuff of my youth or somewhat newer stuff.  yeah, even the stuff from before i was born.  movies i can watch.  movies i can relate to.  movies that might even mean something to this old scarred and pissed off lion.  all that being said, i have something for this used to be, sacred evening.  something sad and tragic.  my take on one of the last sad acts of the original king of cool, steve mcqueen.

the dust and heat…

hung in the tijuana air like a freeze frame from hell.  cars honked and clamored looking for an inch in which to move.  nothing ever did.  in sunglasses and old clothes he moved through it all.  no one knew him.  he moved slowly looking for the place.  if you looked at him closely you could see the disease at work.  taking what was left of his life and mocking him with each painful step.  finally the place.  the earthly waiting room for hell. 

the bell above the door tinkled when he opened it.  as the door closed the hell from the streets outside stopped and the smell of the office over came him.  a small greasy headed man got up from behind an equally greasy desk and spoke.

ah, senor bullet, you have come.
yes, on the phone, you said you could help me?
si.  yes, i can.  por favor, follow me.

through the cluttered outer office and into the dank dismal treatment rooms they went.  a strange but familiar odor growing in the man’s nose.  the small mexican finally stopped at a dirty examination table.  he turned and said.   

please, senor, you must deesrobe.
ok. the man replied.

he was resigned to it.  it was all that was left.  this final sad humility of an approaching death.  a last chance stop on the road of life.

hokay, meester bullet, now you must assept these enemas of the coffees to cure you cancers.  por favor, on the tables.  you must spread you nalgas for
me.

a tear formed in the corner of his eye as the man moved to comply.  only to be used as substance by a very large nasty house fly.

outside the dust, heat, and noise, for that moment, stopped.  something had gone from us all.  forever.  in an instant they all began to move.  again.  to oppress.  again.  moving us closer to this hell on earth.

jmh

movie movie

yes, of course.  it’s oscar time.  there’s always ‘the list’ of top films out there this time of year.  yeah, of course.  as one bandwagon jumper to the next…why not?

my friend, jwfh, has stuck up his fave music movies.  some i’ve seen and one in particular i haven’t seen.  regardless.  ’a hard days night’ is one of those life changing movies  for me.  i was a beach boy till i saw that beatles movie at some drive-in in de onta/montclairmollyville.  after that for a short time i was a beatle.  then of course i became a rolling stone and am still very proudly a stone to this day.

ok.  so like folks still seem to have this thing for ‘gone with the wind’.  it’s like still the all time fave of movie folk.  jesus, i don’t see it and never have.  i mean i love the olden stuff but wind ain’t even on my radar.  it sucks.  big time.  gawd awful movie.  guess the only thing going for it is, it’s ‘the’ civil war movie.  sadly.  yeah, well it still sucks.  there’s a civil war movie out there yet to be made that will surpass it.  no doubt.  but like i doubt it.  sadly.  ooofa.  ‘gone with the wind’ a cheesy movie.  the book blew or blows as well.  i guess i’m just, whatever. 

‘casablanca’, a fine movie and one of bogie’s best.  it’s up there as well.  and it should be.  though i have other bogie movies before it.  gotta go ‘big sleep’ instead. 

’star wars’, ok.  a piece of shit movie that has special effects going for it.  nothing more.  so sue me.  the movie sucks.  jesus, the old ’star trek’ stuff is like way better.  i’ve watched the first 3 ’star wars’ movies a few times, i have them on tape.  they are pretty much un-watchable.   just fucking creepy crappy sappy shit.  hmmm, kinda like ‘gone with the wind’.  gawd, we are doomed. 

francis ford coppola.  ok.  the best since i was born.  probably the best ever.  ok.  ok.  john ford.  and a few others are right up there.  first 2 ‘godfather’ movies are supreme.  then there’s ‘apocalypse now’.  nothing much more to be said.  francis makes wine these days.  pretty good stuff for the most part.  just like his movies.  well, his movies suck these days.  the wine is still fine. 

ok, so like i’ve been here and there and nothing much has been said.  fine.  whatever.  though ‘gone with the wind’ sucks.  the american publics favorite movie.  fuck me.  i don’t see it.  never have.  never will.

jmh    

more of the wii in mii and tiger makes iii

just remember this is for entertainment purposes only.  also, no cows were hurt in the writing of this blog.  since the last time i yammered on here about the tiger woods wii/ea sports 2008 pga tour game some things have come up or still persist.

i joined the tour and was doing ok.  just happy to play the events and win some more coin.  however, the game, just like with the q school deal, did not like me dilly dallying around and enjoying myself.  the game felt it was necessary to mess with me.  big time.  so once i figured out the message and joined the champions tour things settled back down into what passes for wii normalcy.  you see once i had passed the requirements to advance i didn’t.  i just hung out and played.  my bad.  then the game made me pay for it.  more on this in a bit.  

then there’s the usual litany of wii problem stuff.  the fade and draw still don’t work.  chipping will make you curse your tv loud enough they will hear you in brazil even during carnival.   the glitch on the second hole at east lake continues.  sometimes it’s there and other times it isn’t.  though now it will happen even if you hit the green with your tee shot.  the game makes things to easy at times or to hard at times.  neither of which are much fun.  the there’s the phantom putts that have started to turn up every now and again.  they hadn’t been around before but they are now.  it’s not bad if it goes in but if you miss a putt because of it, it sucks big time.  more yelling and cursing. 

i have a sorta theory about the game making it too easy or hard.  the game knows stuff somehow or another.  like some artificial intelligence deal from the old ’star trek’ tv series.  i’m serious.  i have a theory about this…when tiger was a kid he loved william shatner and his show.  sooo when it came time to do this wii deal he made sure the japanese guys or whoever making the game figured the artificial intelligence thingy into it.  simple easy.  tiger has enough money to make just about anything happen.

more theory.  the game pays you money when you play and win or just play around.  the game expects you to buy stuff with said money.  clothing, clubs, and even jewelery.  if you aren’t buying that stuff the game knows and messes with your game and fun.  believe me you will know when the game is messing with you.  so what do you do when this happens?  buy something.  anything to keep the artificial intelligence in the game happy.  the best offense is a good defense or something so buy stuff on some sort of regular basis.  keep the bastards at bay.

now we come to an even more tricky part of the game and it’s intelligence.  you have all this stuff and the game also expects you to use it all at some point or another.  it wants you to change your clothes and clubs just like you change your under ware every day.  you do change your under ware every day don’t you?  i’m serious.  i wasn’t real sure about this aspect of the game but i’ve paid attention to those details these past few weeks or so and if i change my clothes and clubs i play better or the game let’s me play better.  if i play in the same duds for a few days the game messes with me.  say like a nice shot perfectly lined up and hit with wind age and everything factored in and the ball goes nowhere near where it should be going.  it’s the game messing with you for wearing the same clothes for a week.  after all, you are on the tour, a professional golfer, and you are expected to act like a professional.  right?  of course.  john daly not with standing.

once i change clothes and clubs the weird stuff in the game stops and things become more normal or what i’m used to being normal in my game.  which is weird in itself because when i first started playing the game i could hit the ball well with only one certain set of clubs.  now it doesn’t matter.  now i can change clothes and clubs as well.  and i would suggest you do the same if you are playing on the tour.  though it seems to effect your play even if you are just playing in the play it now mode.  i know this is strange and this probably will make you think for sure i’m crazy.  well, i am but it has nothing to do with my theories about this tiger woods wii game.  just try it. 

with all that being said if you want a work out and lots of playing time and experience with all the clubs forget the stupid arcade games in the game.  go to the games mode and pick traditional games.  find the ‘best ball’ section and tee it up with 4 players or ’stroke play’ and choose 4 players, same thing.  you must finish the tiger challenge to have any players that are worth a shit though.  plus have all the courses unlocked.  or maybe not.  as i didn’t start playing in this section until recently.  any the ways, it’s a real work out.  you hit 4 tee shots.  one for each player.  then it’s 4 fairway shots.  then maybe 4 pitch shots or whatever.  putting as well.  or sometimes.  just depends.  playing 18 holes of best ball is like playing 4 rounds of golf.  lots of exercise and practice with all the clubs at various yardages.  very cool.

if you can keep the artificial intelligence in the game happy you will be happy playing tiger’s 2008 pga tour game.  if not, you will be pissed off and not camping or playing happily.  that being said just like real golf some days are better than others.  for lots of reasons.  i still love this game.

jmh 

doctor, doctor give me the news…

one of the reasons we went to l.a.’s chinatown over the past weekend was so the g/f could score a chinese scale.  the other reason being so she could find some herbs for a special concoction she had read about.  then there was my reason for going, staring at hot asian babes.  kid in a candy store time.  yes, well, some of you have already read what happened in that regard.  drifting. 

i’ve been around the asian culture for a number of years.  the chinese scale is one of the things that hasn’t come up before.  i’d seen them being used but just figured it was like any other scale.  it is and it isn’t.  it doesn’t weigh grams or ounces.  no, sir.  it weighs chinese weights.  sorta different from your usual american and eurolander weights and measures.  yes, we probably could have found said scale around here but it would have meant driving around where as in chinatown once we were there it was just a matter of walking around.  plus driving around you can’t really look around.  if you get my drift.

the chinese scale is not a cheap piece of equipment.  one was found for $50 but g/f wasn’t happy about that price.  we found one later for $35.  a better deal in any man’s language and chinese in particular.  at any rate the scale is a one hand held device with a nice brass plate and brass weight which are hung from some sort of bone, hopefully not ivory anymore but one never knows.  the bone has graduated weight lines carved into it.  there are 3 tassel like things on one end to be used for increasingly heavier weights.  for lighter weigths you hold on to the first tassel etc.  astute chinese make sure to watch anyone using said scale that they aren’t cheating with their pinkie finger by adding or subtracting weight. 

as for the herbs they were no problem.  chinese herbs are everywhere.  nice thing about the herbs for this concoction is they are over the counter stuff.  no chinese herb doctor needed.  simply dried dates, we got the pitted ones.  and not the dried dates of western culture.  chinese dried dates are very hard little things that are really and truly moisture less.  another of the ingredients a these small red dried berries found only in northern china around the himalayas.  as for the main ingredient it’s astragalus.  a root of some sort that supposedly has some fine properties going for it.  it actually looks like a tongue depressor that hasn’t been finished.  a sort of rough hewn version of the one your doctor has in his/hers office.

ok, so you take the herbs add water and bring it to a boil then let it simmer for a good hour.  it takes that long to get the dates and berries soft.  and that long for the astragalus to give up it’s good stuff.  apparently it’s very good for the immune system and other maladies.  g/f found the recipe on the net by a chinese doctor who practices western medicine.  uh, it’s in chinese.  sorry.

once it’s cooked up and most of the water is gone you toss out the tongue depressor stuff as it’s inedible even after cooking that long.  you drink the liquid and eat the dates and berries.  it’s not sweet but it’s not bitter either.  it’s like in between and not unpleasant.  some cantonese restaurants make a similar version of this with beef and beef bones.  a soup.  a very tasty soup.      

when the stuff is being cooked up it reminds me of perhaps a banana nut bread being baked in the oven.  pretty nice actually.  at least it smells better than the herb stuff the chinese lady next door is always cooking up.  she cooks it up out on the patio as it smells.  an almost unpleasant odor to be sure.  bordering on a vegetable soup gone horribly wrong. 

so does the stuff work?  i guess.  my allergies are in abeyance as are the g/f’s.  still around but no sneezing fits that go on and on.  this is after just drinking a cup a day since saturday.  interesting.  the stuff is also supposed to be good for the kidneys and liver among other things. 

ok.  so it’s not like i want to live forever.  not by any means.  it’s quality not quantity.  this stuff doesn’t seem to have any side effects.  i mean the chinese have been drinking and eating similar stuff for thousnds of years and there’s more of them than anyone else on the planet.  something to be said for all of that i suppose.

below is a photo of the chinese scale at work. 

jmh

from lips to ears

i wrote this last night.  thought about deleting it.  screw it.

from lips to ears  yep, that’s what it seemed to be.  me in a testosterone haze looking, yeah, looking.  i ain’t gonna ever stop.  ok, um, like when i die guess i’ll stop.  but till then i’m not gonna stop.  never, no way, no how.  ladies or the young ladies trot it out there i’m looking and i’m appreciating.  fuck it.  yeah, the old cabron, the old goat, in mexican.  guilty.

though at this age it has it’s hazards.  we are walking down broadway in l.a. chinatown this morning.  i’m checking out this fine young ass walking in front of me.  sweet thing in fuck me sandals as well.  great ass in tight jeans.  of course i missed the tree well to my right that was no where anywhere close to being on some sort of even keel.  yeah, i tripped.  big time.  luckily it was on my right and the ankle i have never sprung.  it held up nicely.  if it had been my left ankle i’d be in a world of hurt right now.  ankle wise.

though of course i didn’t come out of my reverie unscathed.  i jammed my right hand into a newspaper rack.  the little finger on said hand took it in the shorts.  first knuckle swollen.  nice instant bruise on the tip of my finger that only gets worse as the day progresses.  at least the finger has stopped hurting.  well, unless i bang it on something or another.

strange thing is one of my cousins sent me an email this morning.  an email bordering on the pornographic, no, not bordering it was pornographic.  concerning tripping and nice asian ass in l.a. chinatown.  yeah, the old goat in the old vatos.  it never dies.  el cabron.  yeah, say what you will.  i don’t care.  just don’t make me trip all over myself and break my neck.  show some respect.

jmh     

the biggest game of the year(?)

it’s only st. valentine’s day but there’s already talk of this coming august 30th and the beginning of the next college football season.  fine by me.  i should probably be doing something else more creative but just like back in my school daze i’m putting it off for some other time and later date to be determined.  veering already.

last night after dinner i was perusing ’sports illustrated’ on line and stewart mandel’s college football column in particular.  august 30th kicks off the college season this year.  i can’t wait.  plus it’s always nice when there’s something to read about college football.  i mean signing day is over and done, the spring camps are still weeks away, then it’s summer and the death valley days of college football.  props must be given to stewert mandel for getting this game down on paper.  yes, he had a hand in getting it done.  see his column for details.    

any the ways, the big college football news is that appalachian st has signed a deal with the vaunted lsu tigers to open the season on august the 30th.  this is apparently a big deal.  other games on that date include missouri and illinois.  ok, remember you heard it here first, missouri wins and covers.  then there’s usc and virginia.  the trojans win and cover. 

pundit wise, the lsu appalachian st game has everyone in a tizzy.  not me.  sorry.  yes, st has won the lower division championship game for the last what seems like decades.  then they beat lloyd carr and his michigan team last year.  that game has set everyone on their ears or asses.  my take is that lloyd wasn’t ready for them and neither was his team.  his team wasn’t ready for anybody for several more weeks.  it took a bit more embarrassment to get them motivated. 

les miles and the lsu tigers won’t be a deer in the headlights for jerry moore and his appalachian st boys.  the lsu tigers see this one coming.   sure they are both division champs and it’s nice to see a lower division champ step up and play ‘the division’ champ.  a lower division team that has in the past few years put some hurt on other higher division 1 teams.  fine.

it’s nice to have some college football talk about the upcoming season in the middle of february.  it’s nice to have some college football talk any time.  this game between lsu and applachian st may be interesting.  will it be the biggest game of the year?  i doubt it but you never know.  that being said, lsu wins and covers the points in what will turn out to be a rout.

jmh  
 

Ham Tan International Airport

Ham Tan is practically on the coast of the South China Sea, due east of Saigon.

Ham Tan Terminal

yeah, that’s the airport i flew in and out of in south vietnam many years ago.  looks like a nice place, huh?  a bit out in the sticks to be sure but it did what it was supposed to do.

i didn’t take these photos.  you can see who did at the bottom of each photo, peter bird and bob payne.  i hope they don’t mind my borrowing the photos.  i’m not making any money on this so i hope it’s ok with them.  anyways you can google ham tan images and they show up.

the top photo is ham tan international during the war.  though the date on it says 1999.  it looked pretty much like that while i was there.  although back then there was a tail section from some large army plane out back.  i was in a macv advisory unit down the road a piece. 

the second photo is the same place but it looks considerably cleaned up and the sign is fixed.  must be years later.  i used to have a photo of myself standing in front of the building, circa 1971.  

i don’t have any of that stuff anymore because last year i gave it all to the vietnam archive at texas tech university.  they get tons of stuff.  they haven’t processed  or cataloged my stuff as yet.  it’s a nice site and you should visit.  lots of things to look at plus oral histories of vietnam vets to read or listen to.  free on line history.  pretty sweet.   http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/

jmh