By Popular (Lisa) Demand

So I was talking to my girlfriend while on break tonight and she said that she had read my blog...yay! BUT, she asked me to kindly include a little something about her. Rightfully so. In case you were wondering, that's the the girl with me in my profile picture. We met at ABC and have been dating since April of last year. The best thing is she actually listens to me, most of the time. When I go on and on and on about the state of the union or the international communist conspiracy she tends to drift off into one of those "yes, dear" type of places. Don't get me wrong, we don't have a communication issue, I'd listen to her read the phone book to me, it's just that her interests abroad revolve more around the kind of backpacking the place has to offer rather than the primary sidearm of its army. Understandably so, she is a camping student after all. Which is also why she's working at a camp this summer, two hours away from me. It's better than the normal five and half she lives away from me in Podunk, Pennsylvania. And by Podunk I mean no offense. I like a place where you can go out on your back porch and take a leak without the neighbors complaining. It really is a nice place and I enjoy every minute I get to spend up there. I don't really know what all else to say about Lisa, chances are if you're reading this you know her, and if you don't then we need to fix that.

The picture of us is from the school's Christmas dinner thingy. We don't have dances to we get to get all dressed up and eat pretty good food. I've got a bajillion more which I'll probably post now and again when is seems appropriate. We like to go to state parks so I'm sure they'll be pictures of whatnot like that coming up here once school get's started.

Tune in later for some social commentary.

Mustache of the Week

I want to start a weekly tradition on this blog: the mustache of the week. To qualify, the man must first sport a manly mustache. In addition, I'd prefer him to be a great American but he could be an international who has aided the American cause oversees. Patriotism is a must. Hopefully this weekly series will introduce people to men who have shaped history, made America a better place, and unfortunately aren't that well known. I'm sure some will be, but not all will.

For the first, who better than the man who started Mustache March, AF Brig. Gen. Robin Olds. Commissioned in 1943 and given his pilot's wings but General H. H. Arnold himself, he became a triple ace, with 17 kills, in two wars in three airframes. Originally flying P-38s out of England in WWII, Olds splashed 6 Germans in his Scat 1. Upgrading to the P-51, he downed 7 more (three in one day) in Scat V. Missing the Korean War because of the exchange program with the RAF, commanding an RAF fighter wing, now Col. Olds would see combat in Viet Nam. He was 44 years old when he began flying F-4s out of Ubon, Thailand. He would go ahead and down four MiGs. It was Olds' genius that allowed the AF to win the skies over Viet Nam. Using electronics from the less agile F-104 put on a flight of slow flying F-4s, the AF was able to draw communist MiGs into the sky to meet their death. All said, Olds flew 259 combat missions. But his career was not over. In 1968, he was promoted to Brig. Gen. while serving as Commandant of Cadets at the AF Academy. And it was stateside that Olds finally had to shave his handlebar mustache. He wore the "bulletproof mustache" through two wars and in spite of AF regulations stating otherwise. Being oversees it was tolerated as a silent protest and inspiration to the younger pilots. However, it took a direct order in person from Chief of Staff of the Air Force himself to Olds to get him to shave the mustache. Ever since, the Air Force has practiced the good natured act of defiance during the month of March. It has spilled over into the civilian world as the same tradition. General Olds retired in 1973 after an inspection tour (and several unauthorized combat flights) of Thailand AF instillations. Seeing the sad state of things, Olds offer to be demoted to Colonel so he could go back and fix all the problems he saw. The AF denied his request. He retired. General Olds died in his home just days short of his 85th birthday on 14 June 2007. He has been enshrined in the the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame for his West Point days as both an offensive and defensive tackle. While Olds led a storied career in the AF, his personal life was unfortunately marred by his drinking. One divorce, a separation, a DUI, and 72 hours of community service while serving a one year probation for resisting arrest. If only the Air Force would have listened to him more. They listened enough to award him the Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, three Silver Stars, six Distinguished Flying Crosses, forty Air Medals, and an Air Force Commendation Medal in addition to his foreign awards. In addition to his personal awards, his F-4 Phantom Scat XXVII with its four MiG kills was retire from service and placed in the National Museum of the United States Air Force. I have been there, I have touched it.

There you have it, folks, this week's mustache of the week: AF General Robin Olds

Why A Blog?

Legitimate question. Why would I, a guy who ordinarily is NOT listened to, make a blog. Well, it's for that reason exactly. Oh, people do listen to me at times, but even if nobody does I still have something to say. Now please, do not get me wrong, this is not going to be a long running commentary on society, granted what I talk about largely comes from the issues generated by societies many ailments, but still, I think in a way few others do and I wish to share what I think with the handful of people who will ever read this. Also, I'm a funny guy and I wish to add a dash of humor into this blog. I wish to be spiritual at times, serious at times, scathing at times, satirical at times, off the hook, off the deep end, off my rocker, ranting, raving, and rolfling. I hope this what I accomplish.

I fill my life with a lot of things, theology, history, news, weather, the military and especially the Air Force, international affairs, I'm a gun nut, and I love Stargate. These are the types of things you'll probably see pop up in posts on this blog. I read the BBC for most of my news, though I'm not opposed to AP and Reuters for general headlines. I like the BBC for international news because I feel them to be incredibly unbiased towards most affairs and I like seeing words end in "re" and extra vowels to us across the pond. I dislike CNN and FOX News for their obvious slant towards one side of the political spectrum or the other. Granted, being a conservative myself I don't mind things presented as such, but I know that's the way things are and the news should be just telling me what happened not analyzing it for me. I have a brain. Let the political machines put spin on it, not the news outlets. But I'm sure this will come up later as it bothers me.

I'm a big fan of Stargate SG 1. I own all ten seasons, the original movie, Ark of Truth and I'm waiting for Continuum. I like watching it on TV or DVD and I love watching it with my girlfriend Lisa, who is just getting into the series. I will probably allude to something in the series or quote it (most of the time unknowingly).

Twentieth Century history has always been an interestingly attractive subject for me. Early church history is something I've recently gotten into as well. As with a lot of people, WWII constitutes the bulk of my knowledge for the last century, but the Korean War (yes it was a war not a "police action") and the Cold War form mostly the rest of my area of interests. In the early church, it's all about people, who's who and what they wrote and believed. This will become my doctoral dissertation if and when that time comes. I don't know how many Baptist Chaplains and ethics professors have a Th. D. (not a Ph. D. or D. Minn., go big or go home).

Before I was called to ministry, I was planning on becoming a meteorologist. The weather has always fascinated me and I still consider it a hobby of mine along with shooting. I love my CZ-452. I love most guns. I read Guns and Ammo and the National Rifleman magazines monthly. I also get the Military.com newsletter. Interesting reading material I know. Hopefully, this will more entertaining to the general public. I have a lot of say about a lot of things...maybe somebody will hear me. Not that it matters if anybody actually does, the fact that I said it is all that matters.