April 2006

The following was recently reported by the Associated Press:

“The Latino-oriented record label Urban Box Office (UBO) said Saturday it plans to release the new version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” to coincide with the U.S. Senate’s debate on immigration legislation next week.”

Congress debates on border security and illegal immigration have triggered demonstrations across the United States. Protesters carrying American flags are marching on Washington, lamenting their plight. The only trouble is one must speak Spanish to understand their message.

The language of the United States is English. If living in this country is so important, if we possess the lifestyle you desire, if you what to obtain the “American Dream,” then dammit, start acting like an American. You can guard your culture, pass it on to your children and still be one of us. Don’t expect Americans to cater to you for it is you who must assimilate into our culture.

A Spanish-version of our National Anthem is definitely the wrong way to go about ginning-up support for your cause. Personally, I find it offensive when pop stars like Whitney Houston butcher the “Star-Spangled Banner” with outrageous riffs and melodrama. I find it even more offensive to think of my National Anthem sung in a different language. How the hell is that supposed to unite Americans under the umbrella of your cause?

According to UBO President Adam Kidon, “We chose to re-record ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ to show our solidarity with the undocumented immigrants and their quest for basic civil rights.”

I have news for you, undocumented immigrants are illegal aliens and have no civil rights in this country. If one is interested in obtaining “rights,” first observe our laws!

The UBO says this recording, “Nuestro Himno (e.g. “Our Anthem”), is set to “rhythmic Latin musical arrangement” but respects the song’s traditional structure. Sorry, you can’t inject Latin rhythms and maintain any “traditional” structure. This piece is a slap in the face of every American!

Incidentally, the UBO is donating a portion of the proceeds this song generates to Washington-based National Capital Immigration Coalition. I wonder what percentage of that dollar will go to the Coalition? I guess the UBO only believes in a “portion” of what the Coalition is fighting for.

It’s 10:00 pm on the ROK and “Taps” just sounded outside my window. The weather was rainly and cold most of the week, and the wind was gusting pretty hard. Today was much nicer; warmer, but still a little windy. I’m glad it’s Friday. I’ve spent a lot of time in the office after-hours these past couple of weeks working on my last stats class. I have two more lessons and I’ll be done. Thank goodness!

I’m watching “Baby, The Rain Must Fall,” starring Steve McQueen and Lee Remick. Robert Muligan directed the movie and featured music by Elmer Bernstein. It’s based on a play by Horton Foote called “The Traveling Lady.” Steve McQueen plays and ex-con named Henry Thomas. Henry is out on parole in a small Texan town and, in the evenings, he is the lead singer in a Rockabilly band. He is being pressured by his foster mother, Miss Kate, to give up his singing and go back to school. His wife, Georgette, and young daughter, Margaret Rose, unexpectedly come to town to live with him. Things start to pick up, but Henry’s hot temper leads him into a knife fight and his family’s life is forever changed.

I’m looking forward to talking to my wife this weekend. I can’t believe how much I miss her. She’s staying with my stepdaughter and granddaughter now, and I can’t wait to see them. I’ll be going home for a visit in the next couple of months. I just can’t wait!!

Well, the HSI is over and the medical group was graded “EXCELLENT.” I actually guessed the final score within one point and the number of pages in the report within a page (as inspectors, we used to compete to see who could guess the unit’s score and the number of pages was the tie-breaker)–for this inspection, I was the closest on both counts, so I win!

Yesterday, Kennie (the first sergeant) and I took the bullet train to Seoul. The bullet train travels at 186 mph and the trip takes less than 2-hours. We left early and took an AAFES cab from the base to the Iksan train station (a 20-30 minute drive) and bought two round-trip first-class tickets on the train. It was a comfortable ride. In Seoul we hopped on the subway and headed to Samseong to visit the Coex Mall. I couldn’t believe how big this place was. In addition to all the stores, it had a luxury hotel and an aquarium!

The main reason we went was to visit the Apple (computer) store. In addition to the Apple store, we looked around a bookstore that makes Borders look like a Five-and-Dime! They had a “foreign book section” which contained all the books written in English. They had a very nice selection, too (about the size of a Waldenbooks you’d find in one of our malls in the States). After the bookstore we had a beer in “O’Kims Braühaus,” a microbrewery serving Irish-style beer. Delicious! After the beer we took the subway to Itaewon and ate dinner at the Outback Steakhouse.

We lingered too long in Itaewon, though, and almost missed our train back to Iksan. It wouldn’t have been so close, but the subway from Ichon to Youngson (the last connection) was delayed. Anyway, we made it with a couple of minutes to spare. Back at Iksan we caught a “Kimche” Cab (Korean cab) back to the base.

I’ll be making this trip again!