A little bit of C-17 history

Today, Mom and I drove to Mt. Pleasant and walked to the middle of the Ravenel Bridge to see the largest formation of C-17's in history. We stood on the bridge as a 20-ship formation flew over our heads. Pretty impressive to see them all turn out over the Atlantic Ocean, then turn to follow the Cooper River inland, right over the middle of the bridge.

Numbers 1 and 2 had their rear ramps open so that camera crews could shoot pictures of the rest of the huge formation in flight. After passing overhead at exactly their time-on-target (9:50 AM), the formation split up as half of the jets went to practice air refueling as the other half went to practice airdrop at Charleston AFB's auxillary field, North Field, near Orangeburg, SC.

This is the second year in a row that Charleston has executed a large formation exercise, as last year about this time, a 17-ship formation did the same thing. I don't know if it'll become an annual thing or not, with the formation growing every year, but it's definitely something to see. Maybe next time they do it, I can fly in the formation, assuming I would have been to airdrop school by then. I'm a big C-17 fan.

Cool new web site

PlateWire.com is a website where drivers can vent their road rage through some unconventional means. From the website: "Report and flag bad drivers, award good drivers, and even flirt with cute drivers. PlateWire was born out of frustration from years of driving along side drivers who seem to have no concern with anyone's safety, including their own."

You can register with your license plate and view if anyone has reported your plate. If someone ticks you off on the road, get their license plate and report it to the website. You can view by location of the incident, as well. Interesting concept...fun to browse through, if nothing else.

PlateWire

Big Win

Cats over the Cards, 61-49.

It will be a Melly Cleesmas!

How do you stop 85?

It doesn't stop at Ocho Cinco

Just stop getting arrested.

Please!

TJ Who's Your Momma

The first in a series of Bengals posts leading up to the HUGE Monday night game.

Goodbye Fisher

As Dad put it, it's the end of an era at the U.S. Air Force Academy, as well as in college football as a whole. Fisher DeBerry, the head coach of the Fightin' Falcons football team for the past 23 years, has resigned. Word is that he's being forced out. If true, that's pretty sad. Coach DeBerry says he's leaving for his family. I hope that's the case. Fisher was the epitome of class in his time at the Academy.

Sure, some people will be quick to point out two dark spots on his record, both coming within the past two years. In 2004, as the Academy was embroiled in controversy over religious descrimination, DeBerry was asked to remove a banner from the locker room that read, "I am a Christian first and last...I am a member of Team Jesus Christ."

The next season saw the controvery continue as Fisher caught a great deal of flak for saying that Air Force didn't have enough "Afro American" players, that there weren't enough athletes on the team to compete. Probably not the smartest thing to have said publicly, but just look around in the major professional sports (especially the NBA and NFL). Blacks are the minority in the population overall, but are much more prevalent in the highest levels of athletics. DeBerry was not being racist, merely making an observation; one, I might add, that most people that watch sports have probably made at one time or another.

Coach DeBerry represented the Academy with grace, humility, and honesty, and it's that honesty that got him in trouble. Sure, Air Force football has been struggling in recent years, but I think Fisher might have become a victim of his own success. He built the program to heights never seen before, and when the team wasn't living up to the lofty standards that he established, he thought it time to move on.

Fisher DeBerry resigns at a time when he had the third-longest head coaching regime among Division I active coaches, behind only Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden. Academy athletic director Hans Meuh hopes to have a replacement named by the holidays. I can only hope that he's half the man Fisher is.

Wisconsin Man Runs Over, Eats Seven-Legged Transgendered Deer

Title pretty much sums it up. Wish I had a picture of this one...

Grandma did not get run over by this reindeer

The Overpoliticization of Christianity

Not sure if "overpoliticization" is a word, but I'll go with it.

Good article here co-authored by the son of Jim Bakker and his ex-wfe Tammy Faye, on none other than CNN.com. Maybe the fact that I'm surprised this article was on CNN means that I'm part of the problem...who knows.

What happened?

It's that time of year

It does not get much better than this:

Hootie says, "You get to veg all day, all the lotto tickets pay, there's a king who wants you to have it your way..."

Sizzling Bacon Action

I am not liberal

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 85% Conservative, 15% Liberal

Social Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Ethics: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

Was Princess Diana a threat to national security?

Why does everyone make a huge deal about us wiretapping to catch potential terrorists trying to kill Americans? Look at the "atrocities" that took place under the Clinton administration...

Spy on Di

I guess I'm back

Wow...been a little while since the last post. I guess the deployment de-motivated my blogging drive. Some interesting things have happened since the last post:

--I have only flown one C-17 mission out of the country (it's kinda nice being home for a while).
--The normal feeling of disappointment and despair surrounding my Kentucky football team, which was even more pronounced after the first game loss to Louisville (about when the blog was last updated), has transformed into optimism and hope. The Cats are going to a bowl! Who woulda thunk it?
--Air Force basketball has shown that it can compete with real teams in Division 1, causing me to boldly (and probably foolishly) predict that they will make the Elite Eight this year. I get excited easily.
--I have sat on the scheduling desk four weeks in a row two separate times now. Let me off!
--I have purchased a blue 2002 Chevy Tahoe named Tubby. It's a quality vehicle.

--Probably most important: Christmas is in the air! I always get quite festive around this time of year and for this Christmas, I've taken it up a notch. After the Christmas moose was acquired last year, this year brings with it the spirit of the ice block snowman. He's bringing joy to the neighborhood out on the porch now.

I guess I'll probably post a little more often. As you can see, I've been extremely busy, but we'll try to find some time for "There is Already a Dog Named Stella."

C-17 in the dirt

It's a beautiful thing...

I love this plane.

Tayshaun Prince Drains 5 3's

Watch where he shoots the fifth one from.

If you haven't seen this, it's one of the best individual perfomances I've seen.

Best. Country. Ever.

Happy Fourth!

This is awesome.

"I totally just farted."

On a side note, I had no idea "Canadian Idol" existed. Sweet.


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Basics of prayer

Today I ran across a good reminder of some of the basics of prayer. It's pretty easy to forget to pray, why we pray, even how to pray, and sometimes prayer can even become an obligation, instead of the awesome privilege that it is. Here's a short summary of the Christ-believer's concept of prayer; hope it's a help.

You got to pray just to make it today

Well...he was hungry

Hunger strikes are a great way to affect change (see "Gandhi, Mohandas K.)

Saddam's Hunger Strike

Ok, it's been a while for me, but seriously...

Granted, I haven't posted in a while, but what about my dad? I mean the most recent post on his blog (www.jmikewest.blogspot.com) is from Jan 2. He has deleted some posts since then, but come on. Comment here or on his blog to get him going.

Me, I've been distracted by Myspace. I just got a page and have been spending a lot of time on there. That stupid thing is addicting.

There will not be a Stella West.

I thought I would explain the recent change in the title of this blog.

The blog was originally called, "Name the Dog Stella," as my parents were going to be in the market for a dog when they moved to South Carolina. Stella was the name Dad and I settled on, while Mom wanted something like Sadie or Nelly. Mom is not a Seinfeld fan.

Anyway, when the folks got up here to the Charleston area and got settled, one of the first days they were in their new house, they were sitting on the back porch. They heard the next door neighbors repeatedly calling out, "Stella! Stella!". Dad popped his head over the fence and after asking the neighbors about it, found out that they had a dog named Stella. So much for that.

We're still waiting for Mom and Dad to get the dog.

Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and Pavarotti

Glenn Beck thinks these two guys look alike, and I tend to agree.
By the way, congrats to the Air Force on rocking Zarqawi's world. Go USA!

So Pat Robertson can outlift Ray Lewis?

Ummm....Cool.

Strength From the Lord!

Nice.

Pretty cool picture of the C-17...

No, it's not blowing up. It's just popping flares.

How bout some good news in Iraq?

Good things.

If you're like me, you're sick and tired of hearing one negative news story after another about the war in Iraq. Well, we're making good progress, and people should know this. This kind of information is especially important for those of us that are over there, involved in this war. It's out there, it just takes a little bit of digging.

Boo on Bonds

Anybody else tired of him?

Can you say "Oscar"?

This may be one of the best movies to come along in years. "Anchorman" meets NASCAR. If I weren't going to be overseas, I would be in the theater at midnight on opening day. I might even dress up and stand in line like the Star Wars nerds.

Disregard the last couple sentences about dressing up and standing in line, but this movie should be hilarious. August 4, everyone.

Stay classy.

How to throw a Kentucky Derby party...

Go Kentucky.

A little bit nerdy.

And, the nerd test...

Wicked Smaht. Nomah!!!!

I'm liking these dumb little tests. Here's the stupid test...and the results.

Another Goeppner Copycat post...

I recently took the superhero test, after seeing it on Chris Goeppner's blog (http://geppapa.blogspot.com/). Superman...I like it. I think the flying question put me over the top.

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 75% Hulk 70% The Flash 65% Iron Man 60% Green Lantern 55% Spider-Man 50% Supergirl 48% Robin 45% Wonder Woman 38% Batman 35% Catwoman 30%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Germany and Luxembourg

I got back from my last trip on Friday, March 31. It was a three-week trip, instead of the two weeks that they used to be. Hopefully they'll go back to two weeks soon. Anyway, this was a mostly standard trip, with Germany, Turkey, and Iraq stops.

We got about 4 days off in Germany towards the end of the trip and made the most of it. Taking a van, we went to Trier, Germany (Germany's oldest city) and saw the Trier Cathedral, which was amazing. Trier is also home to Porta Nigra, a huge black gate looking thing that the Romans built at the end of the second century as an entrance to the city. It's the largest Roman fortified gateway still in existence.

The next day, we made it down to Echternach, a city on the German/Luxembourg border. Also with a lot of cool old stuff. This is a picture of an old school in the city, still in use (there were elementary/junior high kids running around everywhere). After Echternach, we headed down to Luxembourg City, the capital. More cathedrals and cool old buildings. There is much of the city built in a big ravine surrounding a river that runs through the middle of the city. Pretty interesting landscape.

All in all, a good trip. Long, but good.

(I)Tunes

I'm going to copy off of a post on Chris Goeppner's blog (http://geppapa.blogspot.com/). Music is something that takes up a lot of my time (and money). I'm a sucker for new and different music and will often get several new albums before I've even listened to other recently acquired albums. There are songs on my Ipod I haven't even listened to yet (I learn this everytime I do the Shuffle Songs thing). Anyway...here's my list of good music I've been listening to recently. Some of these bands are new to me, and I'd like to share them with you.

+Ben Kweller - Sha Sha
+David Crowder Band - The Lime CD
+Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
+Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
+Better Than Ezra - Live At the House of Blues, New Orleans
+Convoy - Black Licorice
+The Derek Trucks Band - Songlines
+Dispatch - Bang Bang
+Jack Johnson - Sing-a-longs and Lullabies For the Film Curious George
+John Mayer Trio - Try!
+Wilco - Kicking Television: Live In Chicago

I'd like to see some more lists...post 'em if you got 'em.

Two Down...

I got back from my second trip last night. This was one of those "good deals" that are so hard to come by these days. We did a fighter drag, which means that we followed behind while 12 F-18's went over to Iraq to deploy, following a tanker. We carried all the maintenance guys and their equipment in our C-17.

One of the F-18's broke and had to go to a base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts...we got to stay there a couple nights. From there, we went to Lajes Air Base, in the Azores, a group of islands off the coast of Portugal. That place is beautiful; we even got to go deep-sea fishing and caught three barracudas. Then it was on to Souda Bay, Crete; it's a Greek island. Also beautiful, we got stay in Crete for four nights. Then it was into Iraq for the Marines. We went on to Germany from there and flew out of there until our time was up. We got home four days late, which is no good, but we'll make some extra money on that. All in all, a really fun trip and some great experiences.

These pictures are of the sunset over Praia, the city right next to Lajes. This was our view as we came back in from fishing...not too bad of a day, not to mention we got to watch the Super Bowl that night.

My first trip

Well, I just got back from my first two week trip last night. We spent about 11 days at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey flying C-17's into and out of Iraq. From there, we spent a night at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar and flew out the next day to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. After about two and half days in Germany, we got to fly home to Charleston, stopping by at Pope AFB in North Carolina. It was a lot of fun, and I got to see three new countries (I'd already been to Germany). It's good to finally be doing my job, my one great passion that burns deep within my loins...like a flaming golden hawk. (Obligatory Anchorman reference)

Here's a picture of me at the Sabanci Merkez Camii, or the Sabanci Central Mosque, in Adana, Turkey.

The beauty of compound interest

So...I have now made one mortgage payment in my life. My online statement breaks it down into principal, interest, and escrow paid. Of my payment, only 15% went to paying down the principal. The principal paid was a whopping 0.1016% of the original loan amount. Welcome to the real world, right?

“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest”
--Albert Einstein

What is wrong with this picture?

Besides the fact that Kentucky lost to Vandy at home for the first time in 31 years...look closely!

BAD sports weekend

Boy. That was ugly. The Cats get thrashed by 27 at Kansas, in one of the most pathetic displays of "Kentucky" basketball I've ever seen. Selfish, confused, and playing with no heart, UK went on to its worst loss in the Tubby Smith era. And I thought it couldn't get worse than the 26 point whoopin' put on us by Indiana back in December. Uuuugggglllyyy.

That's OK. I can't wait until Sunday. The Bengals are in their first playoff game since 1990. Taking on the Steelers, who they just beat a little over a month ago in Pittsburgh. We can win this game. Second snap of the game, Carson Palmer drops back to throw his first pass, and a Steelers' defensive lineman rolls into his knee. First reports are that he tore his ACL, maybe even his MCL. Who Dey! The Bengals actually play well with Jon Kitna playing quarterback, but it's just not enough. They just weren't the same team after Palmer went down. Bengals lose 31-17. Bad, bad sports weekend.

At least Randolph Morris is coming back Tuesday for the Vandy game. Why am I looking forward to this game? I should have learned.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Hope you have a great day...you deserve it. I'm so glad God blessed me with having you as my mother. I couldn't have asked for better. Please just take today and celebrate. I'm looking forward to you living in Chucktown. I love you Mom!

Here's why you buy a Mac...

Buy Apple.

What my friends fly...

Each of these pictures represents what (at least) one of my buddies flies. Thought I'd give you just a short look at the rest of the Air Force, outside of C-17's.