Cpl. Brett Lundstrum, Lone Eagle

Words don't express enough...


"On behalf of the President of the United States, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's service to Country and Corps"

Honor for bravery: An eagle feather rests on the body of Cpl. Brett Lundstrom during his wake Sunday at Little Wound High School in Kyle, S.D., on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The feather was set in place the evening before during a traditional naming ceremony. “His name is Wanbli Isnala,” his great-uncle, Birgil Kills Straight, said. It translates to “Lone Eagle.”


Go here for a complete and moving slideshow.

H/T: my step nephew in law, Michael.
Slideshow courtesy of RockyMountainNews.com

Sunday Morning Sing A Long

Try and get this one out of your head....
(new stuff below)

Abba, Take a Chance on Me

Focus.... Cath...

I'm sleeping in on Sunday so this is the super duper early edition....

Morning Showers Hi 57 Lo 39 for Baghdad, Iraq
Thunder Showers Hi 54 Lo 38 for Northern KY, USA

Song of the week: Take a Chance on Me, ABBA

Why did I select ABBA? Good grief... It's kind of like a train wreck.... I couldn't help myself... When I was deciding on a topic for my Sunday entry... I couldn't come up with anything... so, like I typically do, I went to VideoCodeZone.com and started searching for the song that would inspire brilliant rambling.... This song came out in 1978.... I turned 13 that year...The year of Grease, The Goodbye Girl, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Up In Smoke, Foul Play, and Heaven Can Wait... The hot new television shows in 1978 were Dallas (never watched it.... ever... not even when the whole "Who Shot J.R." thing went down), WKRP in Cincinnati (woo hoo!!), Mork and Mindy, Taxi, & Battlestar Gallactica. M*A*S*H, Happy Days, SCTV, Saturday Night Live, Welcome Back Kotter, Good Times, Little House on the Prairie, Barney Miller, Laverne and Shirley, The Muppet Show, Wonder Woman, Eight Is Enough, Soap, Love Boat, and Fantasy Island. Television in the 70's was excellent!! (please note, I just keep adding to this list.... I'm starting to wonder if I did anything besides watch television as a kid...) Give me a sitcom with an awful laugh track over reality tv any day.... Did I mention Quincy, Soap, and Family? Or what about Baretta, Chico and the Man, and Carol Burnett? OK.... so ABBA.... This group was the last "pop" band I listened too... I still secretly think about ABBA.... when we were in New York last spring.... I quietly suggested that we go see Mamma Mia.... hoping that no one would catch on to my little plot... Unfortunately, Mamma Mia was nixed by the majority.... ABBA... represents the happy part of my childhood and I adore them for making happy campy poppy English singing with a Swedish accent music. Go ABBA... Yes... so my record collection at 13 included ABBA, Elvis Costello, The Cars, Blondie, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Grease soundtrack, oh crap... and Andy Gibb.... let's just walk away from this now... One last question.... Which is your favorite?

Take a Chance on Me or Waterloo.... ?

What else happened in 1978? I remember it was an unbelievably cold winter... we were off school 2 weeks straight... Pete Rose hit 3000---- that was huge... at least it was here.... wow... remember Love Canal? Jimmy Carter... by far the worst President of my lifetime...(I hope)....Jonestown/ Jim Jones.... don't drink the kool-aid... George Moscone and Harvey Milk were assassinated in San Francisco... I know this because Michael, the husband lived there at the time- I think... or maybe he was living in LA because I also know about the Hillside Strangler in LA... Ah... I'll ask him.... The worst thing during this time had to be the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields... awful... just awful... Cripes... time to stop....

facts checked on Wikipedia

Let me take a moment and thank the following men... They are all home now- back to their families and friends. I have spent the past year reading their blogs- if you keep up with the mil bloggers on the front lines... then you know all of them... and if you don't, I suggest you go and read these.... or better yet, go find a new front line blogger... look at war through his eyes. Offer what little comfort you can through words of encouragement... I can't tell you how many times I cried for these very men... for their families. How hard must it be to read the words of someone you love so far away? Through their writing, I was able to glimpse at their reality and try to understand their frustrations, anger, sadness, pride, and yes....victories in a foreign place. I'm so grateful they made it home safe. A humble thank you is simply not enough. I don't know if any of these fine men will go back to their blogs... I imagine this is something pretty low on the honey do list.... I hope to at least see an epilogue and I'll pray for all of you to have the happy ending... Live your lives....


365 and a Wakeup
Lag in Iraq
Major K
My Vacation in Iraq
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Six More Months
Who's Your Baghdaddy?

There are others... let me know if I missed your favorite and I'll be sure to add him/her here.

poster courtesy of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States

And from Michael O'Rourke.... You'll remember him... he is coming home too...

"Our replacements arrived just a few days ago, so we've been busy training them and giving them all sorts of valuable information, intelligence, and the 'do's and 'don'ts.' Since the new unit is here, we were forced to give up our living space. As a result, we are now back to living in tents. Living in a crowded tent with 20 other soldiers gives you about as much privacy and solitude as a goldfish, but I can endure. It's only for a few weeks. We also turned over all of our vehicles to the new company, and soon we'll be giving up our weapons - all positive signs that our days in Iraq grow short."

I look forward to buying you a drink, soldier....

I've been checking out some new blogs (new to me anyway...) Here are some new favorites:

The Peace Moonbeam Chronicles - A must read and will be added to my blogroll, an absolute scream. She has a sound bite of the G Man (G Gordon Liddy) reading a letter of hers... I'm completely envious...

Scientomogy - Another scream... What is Whacko Tom Cruise up to today? Find out here... More importantly, get the scoop on Scientology... This blogger is on a mission...

Bully - This is a plug for my cousin Chuck's girlfriend, Anita's band (got that?). I can't really call this band - metal... but they are all chicks and they are talented. Anita is the front man... er uhah... chick... er uh... she sings...They are local to the Virginia Beach area, but play the entire east coast. Check 'em out.

Last Girl on Earth - "The wacky musings of a girly New York musician who is attempting to prove that you don't have to be a 19 year old anorexic model babe to be successful" I adore this chicky.... too funny!

I Love America - Go check out Italian girlfriend, Daisy Miller! You'll need a translator.

One last stupid thing....I received an email from someone asking if I had "turned Lib".... and I "must have stuck my head in the sand"...Uh...duhhhhh..... that would be a NEGATIVE....

For the record:

I am a card carrying member of the NRA... I am a conservative (I am not a registered Republican.... I will not give my allegiance to a party that John McCain calls his party... I love this country more and more each day. I am PRO-Life and PRO Death Penalty. I want our borders secured, I want lower taxes and my government to spend less. I want the government out of my life. I do not want the government paying for my medical expenses. I do not want social security... Let me have my money and I'll invest it as I see fit... If I screw it up... ah well.... sucks to be me... I loved Ronald Reagan and hope that one day I will see someone else like him in office. I cried the entire week President Reagan died. My first election after turning 18 was to vote for him for his second term. I held my nose and voted for George H. Bush and then again for Bob Dole... I thank God it was George W. Bush in office and not Al Gore when 9/11 occurred.... I believe that we are fighting something more sinister than anything to date. That is why you will see me stand up and fight and defend our liberty and freedom. I will stand and defend those that defend and protect me... Our men and women in the military. Have I made myself clear????

This blog is for me and my amusement....(Oh and the 22 folks that signed my guest map... and Captain B... since he intended to sign it.... so really, 22 folks, a Marine, and me..... that's who I blog for...yep... that's it...) As mentioned before, I will also exorcise a personal demon or two.... I write about politics, music, movies, squirrels and tomatoes (wait... that's my honey's thing...) whatever.... my blog--- my rules... why is this difficult?

I don't pretend to be something I'm not... I'm not a good writer... I ramble... I believe I make a full disclosure (top left hand corner)-- check it out... [deep sigh]

Now.... Have a great week and think ABBA!!!!

** I am doing some housekeeping too... please let me know if this blog is getting any faster... I'll be pulling off some inactive blogs from my blogroll. If you are one of the 22 folks that read this blog and I inadvertantly remove you from my blogroll... please advise immediately and I will be sure to rectify this erroneous error....

John Cusack Answers

** Here are the answers to last Sunday's spectacularly popular game of Name that John Cusack Movie....


Serendipity
High Fidelity
Class
Bullets Over Broadway
Say Anything
The Sure Thing
Eight Men Out
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Grosse Pointe Blank
Being John Malkovich
One Crazy Summer
Better Off Dead
Sixteen Candles
The Grifters
Must Love Dogs

HTML code

I'm looking for an HTML code for drop down boxes. I want to condense what I have on my sidebars--- blogrolls... anyone have anything out there I can use?--- Oh... and I need someone kind enough and the willingness to answer no less than 19 questions once I try and apply the code.

It's too humiliating to have notes like this when folks are kind enough to link to me... (I don't even know what that means.... Does Firefox hate the way my blog looks?)

My Double Secret New Year's Blog resolution is to speed this blog up so y'all don't fall asleep waiting for SMC to open....................... (it's double secret in case I never get around to actually fixing this blog... no loss no foul...)

photo courtesy of The Highs

Update: Please let me know if any of the changes I am making are speeding things up...

I don't want to hear it, John Cusack. Please...I adore you... Shhhhh....

Mostly Sunny Hi 56 Lo 39 for Baghdad, Iraq
Rain Hi 45 Lo 37 for Northern KY, USA

Song of the week: London Calling, The Clash


Stream of Consciousness- My mother in law has a birthday coming up in March and one of the things I obsess over is finding gifts for her. She has everything, she goes everywhere... She's beautiful and talented and has a heart of gold. I am always scouting year round for the perfect Christmas and birthday gift (jewelry has been the theme for the past few years and it seems to work). Anyway, Sus emailed me at work... "Tickets go on sale Thursday at 10am for Wicked. How about we take Mom for her birthday?" You have no idea how perfect this gift is for her. She loves the Wizard of Oz...She loves a good show tune. So without hesitation it was decided. Thursday morning tickets went on sale at 10am. Sus would get on line and buy them. At 10:14am, tickets were sold out. We did not get tickets... Oh well, it was a good idea. "Cath, we could always go to Chicago and see it..." Freakin' Brilliant! "Absolutely!!" So we are going to Chicago in April... the girls. Patricia, Susie, my niece Aimee and me! How much fun is that? We still haven't picked a hotel and I'm open for suggestions on where to go. This made me think about our trip last year to New York City, staying at the Waldorf Astoria, seeing Ground Zero, the magnificent food, experiencing the subway, decidedly preferring surly taxicab drivers, St Patricks Cathedral, Times Square, Sparks, Carnegie Deli, Bloomingdales. We must do that again. A place that was recommended to
us but we didn't go was to Serendipity. It was simply too crowded, but one day I WILL have a fffrozen hot chocolate. Have you ever seen the movie Serendipity with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale? -Cute campy romantic comedy with a nice soundtrack. Over the years I have found myself buying the soundtracks of John Cusack movies. I have adored him in so many movies (note... not films... except maybe Being John Malkovich). I think I'll add a trivia at the end of this blog... I'm not one to follow the tabloids and I still don't.... Michael follows that stuff... which leaves me scratching my head because... well...
Michael is an unlikely sort to follow celebrities... which is funny because so many of his blog topics are about celebrities... and his disdain for them. That I get. I wish they would just not speak about their politial views. I enjoy the fantasy of a movie... Once someone opens their mouth... It takes me a long time to get past that. Michael, will simply not watch or listen to them again. I understand that completely and I did that for a while myself... but then I would only watch Arnold, Mel, and Bruce movies... of which Arnold isn't what I had hoped for as a governor and Bruce... why did he and Demi get a divorce anyway? Do you suppose Bruce is gay? Is he married again? Tell me when did wedding vows get changed from "Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him so long as you both shall live?" to "Today, a day of music and celebration,I pledge to share my life with you.Whether the days that come are happy or sad,I will live them with you. I give myself to you as your husband." What the hell is that crap? I mean come on..... Good grief!! Where was I? Oh yes... John Cusack... I like his movies, I have similar taste in music...I have loved The Specials, and The Clash as long as I have paid attention to music, I hate John Cusack's politics.... over at the Huffington Post he has written a couple of articles... incredibly naive and towing the liberal line...tossing regurgitated lies.... [in a whisper, I plead with John] "Oh... good grief...John..... shhhh....dear John.... shhhh...................let me keep my little crush on you in tact.....go make another campy movie with a wonderful soundtrack..." So John is a huge fan of the Cubs and still calls Chicago home... maybe we will spot him when we are there in April....


Major K is home and so is Mustang!!! A belated Welcome home!!!!

Try this stupid little compatibility test, just plug in your birth date (you can change the celebrity if you like)

And now for my little game of Identify the John Cusack Movie... no cheating...

Thanks to:
* Ultimate Wedding
* I Brake for John Cusack

Have a great week everyone! I'm so relieved you are feeling better Kamae!

UPDATE: An unexpected and very much appreciated plug from my real life pal Master Jedi Rob

Where the heck is my cup of coffee?

Late morning edition...

Mostly Sunny Hi 57 Lo 40 for Baghdad, Iraq
Mostly Sunny Hi 41 Lo 33 for Northern KY, USA

Song of the week: Back in the Saddle, Aerosmith

Wow! Happy New Year!

I have to tell you, that I was going to make my first blog of the year a rant... but I have decided against it. You may be asking yourself, "Why, Cath?" Well... no good reason except that I don't really feel like it. In fact, being away for 2 Sundays was kind of liberating... I didn't have to obsess over what song I was going to use, I didn't have to pay attention to current events, I didn't have to do any soul searching for a personal topic to explore and analyze for public consumption.... Actually it's been pretty great! But then again, could this have anything to do Wonder Woman and her desire for world domination? Have I been brainwashed into submission? Oh good grief! I hope not... In any event, the cameras Wonder Woman set up in our home also picked up these disturbing photos:
Here she is taking Michael's bike out for a spin without permission, without a license and without the proper safety gear.
Why this pint sized WW is blatantly stealing our tomatoes is beyond me...These final 2 photos just left Michael and I scratching our heads... You may want to ask your children to leave the room before viewing these as they are quite disturbing... Here is mini WW stealing Michael's socks... not even a proper pair...Ohhhh the humanity!!!

In all seriousness, I'd like to thank Wonder Woman for keeping my Sunday blog rolling. She has been a wonderful friend during this ordeal.Go visit her Pro-Victory Page and spend some money in her store. You can bet I'll buy a new mug for my Sunday Morning Coffee... All proceeds are going to Soldier's Angels. WW... one question from Michael... Where is the WW gear?

The technical reason why I have been gone: Our hard drive thingy died... We bought this Dell Dimensions 4700 in January 2005.... go figure...And of course I made the mistake of not backing anything up...so we lost everything... the worst part was losing a year's worth of photos... Righto....Thankfully a dear friend is going to retrieve whatever they can from our old hard drive. Our computer is still not up to speed, the resolution and screen size is completely screwy...I need a magnifying glass... We still haven't downloaded MSOffice, I'm going to have to replace my address book not to mention, household crap- inventories, last will and testament... Oh well...

Now some housekeeping because a lot has happened...

Happy Birthday, Rob I hope you and JoAnna enjoyed dinner last night as much as we did. By the way the Ewan MCGregor's Long Way Round so far has been fantastic.

Nickie Goomba is on a sabbatical... wah... I love him... I wish him well, and hope he comes back soon. I hope everything is ok. You know how I love those Italian men...

I need to go through all my mil blogs, but it looks as though some of our brave men have come home after fulfilling their tour. God Speed and thank you for your service.

Michael beat me to the punch and has his new post up already!

As a fairweather fan, I was somewhat indifferent to the fact that our hometown team, the Cincinnati Bengals lost last Sunday--But how sad for Carson Palmer. I hope he makes a full recovery.

The Nick Erdy Foundation raised over $24,000.00. Proceeds will be going to his high school alma mater and various funds supporting his brothers in arms. Nick's family and friends intend to make this an annual event to keep Nick's name alive in the hearts of America. I assure you I will make it to all future dinners...

I have a lot of catching up to do on so many blogs, so that will keep me busy as well.

Again, thanks to everyone for stopping by, I'll be getting to all the email I have received as well.

I have 2 movie recommendations:

A Love Song for Bobby Long -This movie for me captured the melancholy of a town that I love so much. It also has characters that I fell in love with, despite all their shortcomings.

My Date with Drew - A campy documentary of a guy that has had a crush on Drew Barrymore his entire life and pursues his dream of getting a date with her. This is too cute... I'm telling you.

Have a great week!!

I'm baaaaackkkkkk...... More later though....

I need a magnifying glass to read anything on our computer....

Sunday Morning Insurrection

Amble on over, and have a cuppa caffeinated goodness with your good friend, Wonder Woman!

Yes...I'm afraid it's true, folks. With Cathy still out of commission, you are stuck with me, for another Sunday. But never fear! I do believe we might have isolated the source of her technical difficulties, lo these past few weeks.

On a hunch, I set up a remote surveillance camera with a motion sensor, and trained it's watchful eye on Cathy's computer. For the first few days, it picked up little more than a few skittering six-legged intruders, and a strange man with a tomato fetish. Although the man made me slightly suspicious, he seemed to regard the computer with mix of uncertainty, trepidation and even a smidgen of fear, so I quickly eliminated him as a suspect.

It was however, on the 4th day of surveillance that I was able to identify the root cause of Cathy's woes, and evil hand behind them. Please observe...The Saboteur...

Oh yes...It seems as though my doppelganger has been very busy, indeed! In full defiance of my orders to steal only ripe tomatoes and clean socks from the dryer, the mini-me decided to take it upon herself to ensure my continuing dominance over Cathy's domain.

Whatever you do...don't cut the blue wire!

Who knows how much longer this will go on? She's a crafty little Amazon Princess, and apparently knows how to use all manner of tools (heh). Next thing you know, there will be money missing from the bedside table, and the neighbors cat will be mysteriously absent. It just goes to show...you can never trust a gal who's made out of rubber - there's a lesson in that, boys!

So for now, it looks as though my evil twin has gotten the better of us, with her mischief. Cathy's computer is a little worse for wear, and you are forced to suffer through more of my rambling. Shucks!

Let's all hope that Cathy can get back in the saddle by next week, and that the maniacal bizarro Wonder Woman meets a fate worse than death, at the paws of the ferocious feline, Sidney...can you say "chew toy"?

In the meantime, I'd better go check on what my own Wonder Woman action figure is up to...my husband has been acting rather strangely lately, and there is a remarkable shortage of forks in the kitchen drawer...very curious...

Happy Sunday, folks...!