Poem from the front lines of war....

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
by Randall Jarrell

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from the dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

* This is a poem from WWII. Stark? Yes. But isn't all war? I wanted to post this up for Memorial Day, but I got sidetracked. Enjoy.

Monet.

The water lilies are the Monet paintings everyone loves. I am drawn to the earlier works, but the lilies have their place. If Monet never painted the lilies, it would be like Led Zepplin never playing rock and roll or Johnny Unitas never playing football. It wouldn't be right. But the lilies always made me tense when I looked at them. And by looking at them, it gets weird cause I really like to look at shit. I carry a magnifying glass around. I dream of binoculars. Hell my daughter can already say binoculars. So I can claim to be an expert observer. It gets weird with paintings cause when I get in the presence of painting I want to see, I check it out from all angles. I get up close as possible, I stand back at 1,2,3,5,7,9,11 feet. Yea all primary numbers. It just brings something to the experience. Don't ever go to the Louver with me. Or the National Gallery of Art. Hell any art gallery. Anyway I digress, the whole point is the lilies collection always got me on edge and I could never figure out why until it struck me that they were painted while WWI marched past Monet's house. All that uncertainty, violence, fear, destruction, devastation was right there in Monet's backyard. And it comes through in the brush strokes, the colors he made during that time. Again another way WWI changed everything. So enjoy this classic painting, Water-lilies, from the year 1914.

Hurricane Season 2008

Great day in the morning my sparse but loyal fanbase! If you live in, on, or around the east coast, this Bud's for you. To our right we see the glory of the sunrise on the eastern seaboard. Pretty nice. Looks good, and nothing spectacular to really get into. Except that little patch of clouds below Cuba.
So I give you the pan o ram of the Atlantic water vapor and you see that spot is pretty dense. And round. Alright peeps have a good weekend. From a tropical storm stand point, the weekend will be TS free. I'm going fishing. Or at least practice flycasting in my front yard and try and catch the cat across the street. Its a lot funner than you think.

Mars scientists ponder polygon mystery.

I have not got into the Phoenix Mars Lander landing yet, but there sure in some interesting data coming in. Check this article out. Good pic.
Mars scientists ponder polygon mystery - space - 27 May 2008 - New Scientist Space

The youngest supernova found.

Phat! and its in our Milky Way. This supernova is only 130 or 140 years old. Killa.

Impressionism Artist of the Week - Claude Monet

I can not remember if I put this up before. This is the impressionism painting that kicked the whole she-bang off. When this showed up in '72 in Paris, some people lost their freakin minds over this painting. And not in a good way. Here is a sample of the critique,

Impression — I was certain of it. I was just telling myself that, since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it … and what freedom, what ease of workmanship! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape.

Nce huh? What a difference a hundred years makes.

Anyway before I knew I was an impressionist junkie, I was drawn to this painting. I had no idea why. Then I found all those London paintings and found the whole series fab. Love it. Any just get up close and look at this baby. There is a lot going on in there.

A decade later...Phil Hartman.

Really has it been ten years? Its funny what hits you in life as a loss. I feel that about Phil Hartman's murder. Before it happened I didn't give Phil Hartman much thought. Kinda just appreciated the fact he was there. Dude was freakin great. I miss that voice. The Simpsons aint the same. I can't even watch the Clinton impression because I can't laugh at it. A while back, my wife and I were flipping channels and came across that Seinfeld episode where he calls Elaine in the middle of the night. I never got into NewsRadio, but I loved him when he was in CB4. Damn I miss this guy.

Summer / Spring Haiku

the day is long now
birds nurture their young to flight
thunder boomers roam

* Yes it is still spring, but since many think it is summer after Memorial Day, we have Summer / Spring Haiku.

Memorial Day

Never forget those we lost, do something for those we still got. Seriously, do you think you can do what he is doing? Never forget those that serve.

Memorial Day, Plus 1

August 1st, 1918

The morning of August 1st, 1918, the 27th Aero Squadron was assigned the duty of escorting 2 aerial recon planes. This was the 4th day of First Lt. Oliver T. Beauchamps service in the war. The events of that day are somewhat vague, but there is one fact that remains, it was one of the worst days for losses in The Great War.

The pilots gear up and take flight. They meet up after take off and head out to meet the two aerial recon planes. The squad is flying the same mission the 27th still has, air superiority. The recon planes were flying in a zig zag pattern across the front lines, snapping pictures of artillery and troop movements. After a few trips across the front, the squad is attacked by The Red Baron's Flying Circus. The Germans wax the Allies with a quickness. The fate of First Lt. Oliver T. Beauchamp is sealed. How he met his end has some debate, but it is known he did not live out the day. The first account (and probably the most accurate) is two German Fokkers jumped Beauchamp and shot him into the ground. He would have had one of three option there. I like to think the machine guns ended him quickly and he didn't suffer. The Spad he was probably flying at the time was made of little more than wood and cloth. The second account has him returning to base only to die from a crash landing. I have even read somewhere he crashed behind enemy lines and dies at the hands of the Germans. Who knows at this point. What we do know is enough. One of our best and brightest young men from Somerset county, MD went to war and he didn't come back.

I read the story of First Lt. Beauchamp and it reminds me of the word sacrifice. Hell his service is the definition of the word. Which brings me back to Memorial Day. I know many remember the names, but thats to individual for me. The families that lost those loved ones will keep the names. They need no help remembering the loss, they live with that everyday. Anyone who died for duty, honor, country is a hero. And thats what I like to think about on Memorial Day, the nameless hero, the unknown soldier, the pilot who saw three days at the front.

You are missed.

Memorial Day, Plus 2

The Pilot

What drives a man to take flight? Better yet what drives a man to take flight with the intention to kill and the notion of being killed? The way I think about it, water and air are as hostile to man as the enemy. I guess thats what sets people apart. I need my feet on the ground, but thats just me. The combat pilot has a special place in the annals of our nations history. During our darkest hour, it was a pilot with nads of steel that pulled a nation up off it knees and got it in the fight. People need something to believe in and pilots can give you a hero to believe in. Sure we love our generals, the commanders, or the occasional CMOH recipient, but its the pilots that become legends. Bastards. Its all about the aces, but if your a determined hard ass pilot, this country will love you too. As a country, we cherish our military. Its a source of pride, sense of identity, and for some a life style they can't live without. The pilots, especially the aces, are the cream of the crop.

Pilots of The Great War were remarkable. Air combat was something that was new to the military. There was not a lot of history to fall back on so the rules were made by trail and error. Sucks because on the field of battle, the margin of error usually costs you your life. If you gotta throw down, you want the tools to succeed. Think about that for a minute. A good example is imagine the surprise of the pilot who figured out the machines guns mounted on the front of his plane just blew his own propeller to hell. And if you got shot down in The Great War, you usually had one of three options: Jump and close your eyes so you don't know when you hit the ground, more than likely your wooden plane has burst into flames and you can burn all the way in with it, or you could pull out the pistol in the cockpit and blow your own brains out. Hard core. Harsh I know, but this is what these guys that flew in combat during WWI were living. Hey its wasn't all doom and gloom, they flew hard and they partied hard also. World War I pilots were the reason the stereotype of the whore loving, hard drinking, cocky ass pilot were made. Thats what endeared them to us. They way they lived. Don't think so? Alright then, how cheap would it feel if this guy's story as a World War One flying ace was never told?

Memorial Day, plus 3

The Airplane
The airplane was just coming into its own in the year 1914. By 1918, the warplane would be born into the pages of history. At the start of The Great War, planes were little more than observation and recon tools. That worked great for what it was. The officers on the ground loved the intelligence they got from the flying eyes in the sky. With artillery tearing people apart and causing destruction of entire towns, ground commanders wanted to avoid that reign of terror. But from the jump, pilots were trying to figure out how to shoot down enemy blimps and planes. They would carry small arms with them and take pot shots with pistols. It was like the wild wild west but in the skies over Europe. Once the concept of the fighter interceptor came to be in the minds of all sides engaged in combat, air supremacy would be critical to all future ground battles for the next century.

By the time First Lt. Oliver T. Beauchamp made it to the front lines of The Great War, the airplane had evolved to the point of the Nieuport 17, the plane pictured here. Made of wood and canvas, its a far cry from the F-22's of today. Air combat was in its infancy and the fighter pilot was about to become the newest hero for public consumption. What drove these brave men to the skies? I guess they all had their own ambitions or motivations. There was a chivalry attached to air combat, a sense of knighthood. It was like pistols at 40 paces. That gentlemanly conduct in combat feeling. Then again some of these kids may have been nothing more that wild cowboys looking for barnstorming excitement and this was the best fix out there. Fly by the seat of your pants, life and death type of stuff. The beginnings of the g junkie. Was this the kind of man Beauchamp was? I don't know. I have yet to talk to the family about Oliver, but it will come up one day and maybe I can back fill in this story with that. But from where he came from, I have to think his actions to become a combat pilot were along the lines of how many soldiers that signed up after 911 felt. They wanted to do something about it. And that immediate satisfaction can be had by signing up for the service.

By 1918, the airplane was in full blown combat duty. The Red Baron was on his way to 80 kills, air bombing had become rather popular, recon, pictures, interceptor duty, you name it, the airplane was helping with that mission or was the only tool to carry our that mission. The pilot quickly became a player. He was a national hero, a lone warrior with a sense of honor, something to hold up to the public as a bright spot in an otherwise horrid war of which the likes none had seen before. It was important for a country to have its aces. Moral depended on it. Even today the names from wars past you remember are Yeager, Rickenbacker, and Duke. Or the daddy of them all, The Red Baron. So to all those pilots, you will have a special toast this coming Memorial Day.

Memorial Day, plus 4

The Great War

The Great War changed everything we know as a culture, a race, as humans. The amount of death from the ferocity of weaponry was something people were not prepared to see. All the benefits and rewards of modern industry lent a hand to the deaths of millions upon millions of souls in the years from 1914 to 1918. The effect of The Great War is beyond profound. One of the examples I like to use is this etching from Otto Dix. Dix fought for the Germans in The Great War. He didn't shy from the action. He was with an artillery unit and commanded a machine gun unit. He was wounded several times and came away from the army a pretty decorated soldier. What he did and saw got to him. He etched the "Stormtroopers Advancing Under Gas" in 1924. It doesn't look gory, but it sure as hell is creepy. See Dix changed after the war, in fact he became incredibly anti war. He saw himself as the enemy. Thats why he shows the Germans advancing here. Its a view from the enemies standpoint. Hey don't think this didn't mess with him. The Nazi's came after his ass cause he stuck to his guns on the anti war sentiment. Dix lived with a recurring nightmare that stuck me as odd also. He kept dreaming that he was crawling through the rubble of destroyed houses. He didn't get haunted from the killing, but the devastation around him. That was the impact of this war. The utter destruction of the landscape. Entire swaths of uninhabitable land, pounded into uselessness under the heel of modern artillery.

War is truly horrific. People argue all the time its necessary. I don't agree with that. If you feel war is the answer, sign your name on the dotted line, get your weapon and fall in lock step. There is nothing wrong with that. I joined the army the summer after high school. I was in basic training when we started the build up for the first gulf war. Life got very serious very fast. You never want to think you are near the end of your life at the age of 18, but that was on the brain. So I resigned to my fate. I figured if I was going out, I was going out with a fight. Consequently, I really got into basic training. It wasn't a far stretch from life in the Pocomoke Forest. A lot of camping, a lot of walking, a lot of shooting. All I wanted was some money to go to college and suddenly I was in the army and we were going to war. How life can change. Even with that fate hanging over us, we kept at it. We learned how to be the team. And when duty called we were ready to do what was asked. And when you get down to it, thats what we should remember on Memorial Day. The individual effort for the greater good. But lets get back to Oliver T Beauchamp and 1918.

The Great War should have been the war to end all wars, but it wasn't. It was actually the source of many a conflict after The Great War ended. The advances in modern industry and technology introduced some powerful weapons to the battlefield: the airplane, the tank, the machine gun, modern artillery, the automobile, the telephone. Its pretty incredible when you think about it. All that technology used to wipe millions from the earth. And we wonder about hope. But youth springs eternal and by the time 1918 rolled around, Oliver T. Beauchamp was 21 years of age. He was seeing the world with unlimited possibilities. Americans were feeling good about themselves and wanted to help it friends in Europe. No one wanted to feel the teeth of the trenches, modern technology made that tour of duty a virtual death sentence, but there were men that wanted to fight that fight. The comrades in arms. Strength in numbers. That didn't appeal to the soldier that wanted that one vs one combat. There was one piece of technology that drew that certain kind of soldier to this war. The airplane.

Memorial Day, plus 5

Memorial Day has become a bittersweet holiday for me. Before my service, I thought of Memorial Day as the start of summer or a reminder that school was winding down. It was the beginning of the lazy days. All that changed after enlisting in the army. You never really think about the sacrifice that ordinary people make under extraordinary circumstances until you realize you may be put in that position and asked to do the same for duty, honor, and country. Memorial Day. The past few years have been different because I have married and we have a young daughter. So there is more of an emphasis on the family for the first warm 3 day weekend of the summer season. But I always find the time to reflect on the many. This year I want to take just one of the many and tell his story to the people who read this pathetic diary of a common man. So I did some digging and I found that story in Somerset county Maryland in the name of First Lt. Oliver T. Beauchamp. Come back everyday until Memorial Day for this look at one of Somerset counties finest citizens.

November 1896

Oliver T. Beauchamp was born in the fall of 1896 and grew up in Somerset county, Maryland. In the early part of the twentieth century, life on the eastern shore of Maryland was a far cry from the docks in Baltimore or the politics of Washington, D.C. At that time, Somerset county was at the height of its growth. Of the lower 3 counties, in 1910 when young Oliver was 13, Somerset county had the largest population of the 3. Life was all about working the land. Much like Somerset county today, but with some notable differences when you look at the data. In 1910 there were 1986 farms in the county, in 2006 only 301. The farms were more numerous back then, but smaller in size. These smaller farms had very different crops than the Somerset county of today. Back in 1910, Somerset county claimed to be the strawberry capital of the world. The county produced some 2859 acres dedicated to growing those delicious berries, growing some 4.5 million quarts of strawberries. Now there are less than 10 acres with strawberry patches in the county. Oh how times have changed. This is one of those things that our great grandparents had that was better than what we got today. In 1910, no one had an idea that soybeans would be one of the biggest crops we grow. Why would they when they were growing some of the best sweet potatoes, figs, apples, and grains? But we aren't here to talk about the quality of food that our distant relatives enjoyed, are we?

Oliver T. Beauchamp would have seen things that would have excited him around this time. Somerset county was not the poorest country in Maryland back then. Some of these farmers had money. If they didn't, the people that packaged the food did. So things that were considered expensive and so freakin new they defied logic a few decades ago started showing up. A good example is the automobile. Somerset county at the time was mostly a horse town. The concept of a car to get into town was just that, a concept. The world was changing around Oliver and Somerset county. It was getting faster and didn't seem to be the big place it was made out to be. Seriously, you could get on a boat in 1910 and be in England in 3 days. THREE DAYS! Yes the world was and is getting smaller all the time.

The turn of the 20th century saw inventions being patented at an astonishing rate. Ideas that were science fiction just a few decades before 1910 were reality: the airplane, the automobile, electric light, and the telephone. Things that we take for granted today were the cutting edge back then. These inventions made us adventurers and more efficient killers on the battle field. They helped transfer information faster. This in turn kept us in tune with news from around the world. We knew about wars in other lands. We knew about the politics of Europe. For the first time, humans were in the know. And we liked it. It was exciting times indeed. Even for a farm boy from Somerset county Maryland.

Hubble still gets the job done.

The Hubble is like the little telescope that could. It just keeps on giving. Check out this shot of Saturn's auroras as seen through the ultraviolet spectrum of light. Pretty. Click on the image for a close up.

Did you know the only thing constant through out the solar system is weather? I find that ironic cause weather is unpredictable and unstable, but its a constant on all the planets. That has nothing to do with this but I like to throw that out there when I talk space smack.

Spring Haiku

hear the rain again
a high tide crests the river
the day sleeps us by

GO Penguins!!!!!

Yes the Penguins are in the Stanly Cup finals. Yes my head hurts a lot. Yes this will be the only post I make today.