Sitting in the shadow of NORAD
NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is just on the other side of my hotel. I’ve been sitting here smoking cigarettes thinking about the implications of the whole of our missile defense system being located essentially at the end of a suburban housing development. Sure the complex is underneath the mountain safe from nuclear fallout. But the community at its base isn’t. I come from a place where you can’t house a drug rehab program for teenage girls in a suburban community without the residents losing their minds. These folks don’t seem to mind living within the bast radius of the number one tactical target in the US during the cold war. I guess this is a testament to perspective being everything.
Air Force Academy Graduation Parade
I just got back from the big parade the Air Force Academy puts on the day before graduation. It’s significance is to have all four thousand cadets march out onto the parade grounds in their usual fashion and then have the graduating class break off from the three classes of underclassmen. It’s a huge deal for the graduates, as its the first time in four years they are really able to set themselves apart from their fellow cadets.
Before the parade started I was able to meet Titanium, one of the Academys falcons. Not sure what role falcons play in todays Air Force, must be a sort of last line of defense.
The parade opened with a real cool demo of the schools parachute teams. It was made that much cooler when it became clear that one of the cadets who had just jumped from 12,000 feet was a real cute blond. Women don’t belong on the front lines my ass. Just as long as they are hot blonds we could end wars just by shoving them out of planes and distracting the enemy with their overwhelming hotness.
Next up was a flyby of a C-17 Globe Master, and a squad of F-15’s. These photos may not look too impressive, but after the flyby I was left with whole new appreciation for just how horrifying these aircraft must be in combat. The sound just rattles your innards. And this wasn’t even our good stuff.
The view of 4,000 soon to be commissioned officers entering the parade grounds was amazing. I don’t have anything witty to add and this photo doesn’t do the sight justice.
What was really moving though was the underclassmen leaving the parade grounds after the graduating class had broken off. Each squad paraded by independently and saluted their respective graduating squad members before heading off the grounds and back to the campus.
Tonight is the commissioning ceremony where my cousin will officially be commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force. Part of the tradition is for the newly commissioned officer to salute the first enlisted airman that he sees. My grandfather, who flew bombing missions over Europe during WWII, is here with us and will be the enlisted airman my cousin salutes. I’m sure it sounds a little corny, but my grandfather is one of those guys that doesn’t like to talk about his time in Europe and hates the word hero. My cousin is really the only person who knows anything about his time in the service as my Grandfather gave him all of his journals from the war when he came to the Academy. Should be an interesting moment.
Monday nights in Colorado Springs
If your looking for a good time in Colorado Springs on a Monday night, tough. In this beautiful city of 400,000 there is apparently nothing to do. No really, even the cab drivers couldn’t give me an agenda. I ended up at The Ritz later in the night. Which sports one of the coolest rooms I’ve ever been in, but also played host to some of the weirdest dancing I’ve ever seen. The place is a restaurant by day and at night becomes a crazy well lit pseudo dance club catering to the House of Pain needs of the Colorado Springs punk community.
Do you see the problem here?
Anyways my cab ride home was provided by Pete at Yellow Cab, he’s a professional poker player who moonlights as a cab driver to fund his business. If your in the area and looking for someone to introduce you to the nearby reservation and riverboat casinos; Pete claims to be your man. He also gives hold em lessons at the Colorado Springs Hooters. Hold Em lessons at hooters, I hope he markets those events the way they were meant to be marketed. So give Pete a ring at (719)339-2079 or email him at vivaelrhino@yahoo.com. I shudder to think what the email handle may mean, you’re on your own there.
The enemy has been located
So I just landed in Colorado Springs, I’m out here for a cousins graduation from the Air Force Academy. On my way to the hotel, a large ominous building caught my eye. Folks I would like to announce I have discovered the not so secrete lair of the University of Phoenix. The one pop-up on the Drudge report firefox can’t seem to kill.
The air strike begins at 2113.
Review: Opia 1541
It’s not too often that I review restaurants, mainly because I prefer a five dollar pizza over fine cuisine most nights. But every once in awhile the urge strikes and I just need a tender slab of red meat to soothe the Neanderthal in me. When that urge hits I have no problem paying for it, nor do I have a problem picking apart the people who provide my fix. In this case Opia 1541 in Worcester, MA.
I’m going to begin with the ending because it’s the basis of this particular review and although I have no problem paying for anything, there is a breaking point in my wallet where service and presentation become equal partners to the food.
That said,
Party of two, before tip: $97.65
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Miss me?
I haven’t even looked at this site in over a month now. If you have, I apologize. I tried taking a study regarding the effects of technology on the general mental well being of individuals to heart. And have been trying very hard to both downsize and consolidate my collection of marginally useful tech goods and also limit my internets time to only what is necessary. I’d like to report, for those of you who haven’t noticed, that there is some very interesting stuff happening in the world of the real. Seriously, it’s neat.
I’m only stating this because I have noticed things as simple as a weblog, transforming from an interesting way to recount your own life experiences; to a mad race to see who can recount someone else’s life experience first. It’s pretty weird and runs contrary to everything I hold dear about technology. Anyone reading this, if you have an online presence of your own, give this some thought. Are you that interesting that you hope others will appreciate it? Or are you just trying to put a spin on someone else’s interesting life. I’m going to be working on refining the former and start poking the latter with a stick. Now back to the show…
