The Beer is a Lie!

At least they didn't promise us cake...

Anyways, while at AT, the Brigade thankfully say the idiocy of attempting to cram 3,000 soldiers in the middle of nowhere for nearly a month without any sort of R&R. So about 9 days into it, all the squad leaders went around and asked if we wanted to go to this water park, Roaring Springs, in Boise. We were told that we would be authorized to have two beers each. Hot Damn! Needless to say, I threw my name in as willing to go.

The Brigade rented out this water park for several hours. All after the park would have normally closed, so the park wasn't loosing out on too much income. As we had our accountability formation and safety brief, the platoon sergeant dropped the bombshell on us. Unfortunately, there will be no beer at Roaring Springs, and those of us who volunteered to go, were required to go. Gee, thanks...

Now, the only thing uglier than a brigade with alcohol, is a brigade who had alcohol snatched away from them. The ride over there was hellish. People would not shut up, and they screwed up even the simplest of commands. Part of that was that we were sharing a bus with Alpha Company, and they are essentially the distilled essence of an XBox live chat during a round of Halo 3. Gibbering morons only begins to describe them.

We got to the water park, and a magical thing happened. Every surly and jaded soldier stuck against his will in this besotted desert, suddenly became a 10 year old kid. It was priceless. I saw platoon sergeants racing each other down the twin slides. I saw a captain flip an E-2 in the wave pool. I saw a lieutenant colonel come running up to the line for a slide and gleefully ask what this slide did. I watched 4 squad leaders jump onto a raft and get launched into the blackout tunnel. I watched an empty raft come out the other side of the tunnel, followed by 4 squad leaders one by one.

The lifeguards probably helped the situation out quite a bit. Granted, they were all straddling the jail bait line, but they were still by far the best looking females any of us had seen in almost two weeks. Four hours passed like lightning. Once we all loaded back onto the bus, we looked forward to a late wake up the next morning.

All in all, it was no where near the clusterfuck it could have been. After seeing the effect going from a desert to a water park had on us, I think we might have found the solution to the problems in Iraq. Build them a Wild Waves!

Drina Daisy

Back in July, while in Astoria after the Mirror Image school, I ate lunch at an excellent little Bosnian restaurant called Drina Daisy.

Drina Daisy is located in downtown Astoria, on 915 Commercial Street. That block was hit pretty hard by a fire years back, and still hasn't recovered. There are a lot of empty storefronts around Drina Daisy, but the eatery seems to be doing all right for themselves. The interior is tastefully decorated, and managed to capture some of that old world charm. The service is friendly, attentive, and prompt. At no time did I feel rushed, nor neglected. My only complaint is that the bar chairs are bolted to the ground, and a little too close to the bar for me to be comfortable. That shouldn't be a problem for anyone with an inseam less than 36 inches though. They play Bosnian artists over the speakers, and the music is quite complementary to the theme as a whole.

While the service and ambiance are important, the key to a good place to eat is to have good food to eat. Drina Daisy has that. The menu is Bistro sized, 8-12 entrees, but the chef knows how to cook. She's a third generation chef who ran her own restaurant in Bosnia for 20 years. They have a decent selection of imported beers to complete the Balkan dining experience. They lack a bartender with experience with cocktails however, so if your looking for something other than a straight shot to quench your thirst for liquor, you might be disappointed. But believe me, the food makes up for it.

I ordered some bread for an appetizer. The bread was cooked in house, and was fluffy without tasting bland. To drink I ordered a bottle of a Bosnian pilsner, which is sadly the only Bosnian beer they can get with regularity. It was good, a little sharper than mainstream American pilsners. For the meal I had a rack of lamb. It was exquisite. Cooked perfectly, it was served with a side of assorted fruit slices that set off perfectly with the spices uses. It came with a spiced red bell pepper paste, normally I hate bell pepper, but this was pretty good. A piece of baklava for desert finished off a transcendent meal.

They have an website they're in the process of putting together, you can access it here. Drina Daisy was quite a find for me. You can be assured, that the next time I'm in Astoria, I'm going to be eating there. 9/10.

College Football: Against the Spread: Week One

As a test to see just how well I can predict football games, I'm going to be tracking the AP Top 25 against the spread. All spreads are the bookmaker.com spreads, found here.

1: Georgia: vs. Georgia Southern, -33. Take Georgia, they're going to score at least 50.

2: Ohio State: vs. Youngstown State, -34. Ohio State, they have such a soft schedule outside of one game.

3: USC: @ Virginia, -19.5, 45.5 ov, Virginia isn't a complete slouch, but they're a different team than they were last season, take USC, and take the Over.

4: Oklahoma: vs. Chattanooga, -48, I don't think Oklahoma's offense is quite that explosive, look for something in the 42-3 range, and take Chattanooga.

5: Florida: vs. Hawaii, -35, 71 ov, Florida beats the spread, but they don't reach the over. Don't be fooled by the gaudy numbers, Hawaii was a mediocre team last season, and got a lot worse this season.

6: Missouri: vs. No. 20 Illinois, -8.5, 59.5 ov, This is going to be a shootout. I think Missouri will cover, and the two will reach the over. Game of the Week.

7: LSU: vs. Appalaichian State, -24, LSU will cover, Les Miles might be a douchbag, and a mediocre gameday coach, but he will not fall into the same trap Llyod Carr did last season.

8: West Virginia: vs. Villanova, -35.5, Take West Virginia in a blowout.

9: Clemson: vs. No. 24 Alabama, -5.5, 48.5 ov, Neither team is as good as their rankings, but Clemson will win by a TD, and the teams will take the over.

10: Auburn: vs. Lousiana-Monroe, -26.5, 48 ov, Take Auburn and the Under.

11: Texas: vs. Florida Atlantic, -24, 67 ov, Texas will win, but will not cover, take the under.

12: Texas Tech: vs. Eastern Washington, -35.5, Texas Tech will Cover, possibly by twice the spread.

13: Wisconsin: vs. Akron, -26.5, 53 ov, Take Wisconsin and the Over.

14: Kansas: vs. FIU, -36, 57.5 ov, Take Kansas and the under, but only because FIU is that god awful.

15: ASU: vs. Northern Arizona, -31.5, I don't think ASU's got all the kinks out of their system, Northern Arizona will lose, but cover.

16: BYU: vs. Northern Iowa, -21.5, BYU will look to make a statement early, and will cover easily.

17: Virginia Tech: @ East Carolina, couldn't find a line for this one, but VT will win by between 7-14 points.

18: Tennessee: @ UCLA, -7.5, 47.5 ov, Tennessee has been terrible when visiting the West Coast, UCLA will cover, take the under.

19: South Florida: vs. Tennessee-Martin, -39.5, South Florida will fail to cover.

21: Oregon: vs. Washington, -13.5, Washington will cover, given Oregon's current uncertainty at QB.

22: Penn State: vs. Coastal Carolina, -39.5, Penn State will cover.

23: Wake Forest: @ Baylor, -12, 50.5 ov, Wake Forest will cover, take the under.

25: Pitt: vs. Bowling Green, -12.5, 56.5 ov, Bowling Green is an explosive offense, Bowling Green covers, take the over.

Oregon State: @ Stanford, -3, 46 ov, OSU covers, take the under.

Annual Training 2008: The Rundown

Annual Training 2008

Location: Gowan Field, Idaho
Duration: August 2nd-21st

Average Wake Up Time: 0543
Earliest Wake Up: 0200
Latest Wake Up: 0815

Average Lights Out: 2316
Earliest Lights Out: 1900
Latest Lights Out: 0300

Missions Run: 14
Weight of Battle Equipment: 49 lbs
Flushing Toilets: 0
Showers: 5
Brass Burns: 2
Falls: 3

Rounds fired: 840
MREs Eaten: 30
Cots Destroyed: 1

Movies Watched: 15 (Boondock Saints, Hitman, Borat, Lord of War, Rescue Dawn, The Italian Job, Underworld: Evolution, The Longest Yard, Eurotrip, Enemy at the Gates, 300, Beerfest, The Departed, Rocky Balboa, The Rock)
Books Read: 5 (American Gods, Neverwhere, Cobra II, The Flight of the Eisenstien, Fulgrim)

I'm back baby!

Like MacArthur unto the Phillipenes, I have returned.

Unfortunately, I'm really tired. So this is all you get at the moment.

Fixing College Football: The Big East

Let's start the specific conference realignments. We'll start on the east coast, with the Big East.

One of my goals for this realignment is to maintain traditional rivalries as much as possible. Here's the lineup for the expanded Big East.

University of Louisville
University of Kentucky
University of Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania State University
University of West Virginia
Syracuse University
University of Cincinnati
University of Connecticut
Rutgers University
University of South Florida

The two notable changes are the addition of Kentucky from the SEC and Penn State from the Big 10.

Kentucky is a notable rival of current Big East member Louisville. Kentucky has always been kind of an oddball in the SEC, and really doesn't share any sort of rivalry with anyone, save maybe fellow outcast Arkansas. Unlike Arkansas, however, Kentucky shares the state with Louisville, who is another solid football school right now.

Penn State was in a similar boat in the Big 10 as Louisville was in the Big East. Chasing money, Penn State latched on to another conference, and save perhaps the lopsided match up against Michigan, Penn State really lacks a rival with the kind of hatred that they had with Pittsburgh.

With these changes, hopefully the Big East will become a little more competitive.

Drink of the Moment: B-52

Here's another shooter for ya'll. The B-52 is a drink that'll go down smooth, taste decent, and leave you feeling warm.

The B-52, like the Martini, has a somewhat murky past. We know it was first made in the 1970s. Some will point to California, others to Canada, and still others to New York... again. The B-52 kind of feels like a Canadian drink to me, and certainly not a New York drink.

The B-52 is a layered drink, and like all layered drinks, it is not "poured" or "mixed", it is "built". To build a B-52, you'll need Grand Marnier, Kahlua, and Irish Cream.

Begin with a shot glass. Pour 1 part Kahlua into it. Then take a spoon, and carefully pour 1 part Irish Cream onto the back of the spoon, so that it gently layers on top of the Kahlua. Next take 1 part Grand Marnier and layer it on top of the Irish Cream. If you've done it correctly, then it should have three pronounced layers. Down the shot, and picture yourself riding the bomb to ground zero.

There's a special variation of the B-52 that a lot of people are interested in making, but very few people I've seen have actually done it correctly. This is the Flaming B-52. The first thing I must stress is that you need to be sure to have a flameproof shot glass. Be certain of it, or this could get messy. The preparation is the same except that you sub in a over proof rum, like Bacardi 151, instead of the Grand Marnier. Fill it to the top, so that you don't expose any more heat than is needed to the glass. Lite the rum, and sip it through a fireproof straw. You can try to down it as a shot, but that needs skill, and if you screw up, you could very easily scorch your esophagus. It's not worth it.

The drink stays in layers because of the differences in the specific gravities of the liquors. If you know the specific gravity of a different liquor, then you can easily create an infinite variety of variations simply by subbing the new ingredient in the right slot. If you pour them out of order though, the layering will be ruined. The taste however, will not.