Eponymous: September 2010

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Oddi-ditty, #7

I hope that the hokey pokey isn't what it's all about.

Odd Ethan..

Thursday, September 23, 2010

On Writing, Part V

Thursday, September 23, 2010 - First attempt at getting a piece of writing published.

Finally Ethan..

I've been watching the HBO TV series Generation Kill. It's based around a Marine 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in Iraq. I can't put my finger on why exactly - it's seems so flat and... nothing - but I can't stop watching it.

When I think about war, there is no comment I can make - no opinion I could formulate - no image I could conjure - no message I could convey, that could be expressed as beautifully as the following song.

Although it's aimed more for the Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom, tsk tsk), I think it has that balance, of showing the suffering of a needless war while still supporting patriotism and stationed troops, that is befitting of most, if not all wars.

Brilliant.

The lyrics are below should you need, but the video clip couldn't be more powerful.

He said, “Son,

Have you see the world?

Well, what would you say,

If I said that you could?

Just carry this gun,

You’ll even get paid.”

I said, “That sounds pretty good.”

Black leather boots,

Spit-shined so bright.

They cut off my hair but it looks alright.

We marched and we sang,

We all became friends,

As we learned how to fight.

A hero of war;

Yeah that’s what I’ll be.

And when I come home,

They’ll be damn proud of me.

I’ll carry this flag,

To the grave if I must,

'Cause it’s flag that I love,

And a flag that I trust.

I kicked in the door.

I yelled my commands.

The children, they cried,

But I got my man.

We took him away,

A bag over his face,

From his family and his friends.

They took off his clothes.

They pissed in his hands.

I told them to stop,

But then I joined in.

We beat him with guns,

And batons not just once,

But again and again.

A hero of war;

Yeah that’s what I’ll be.

And when I come home,

They’ll be damn proud of me.

I’ll carry this flag,

To the grave if I must,

'Cause it’s flag that I love,

And a flag that I trust.

She walked through bullets and haze.

I asked her to stop;

I begged her to stay.

But she pressed on,

So I lifted my gun,

And I fired away.

And the shells jumped through the smoke,

And into the sand,

That the blood now had soaked.

She collapsed with a flag in her hand,

A flag white as snow.

A hero of war;

Is that what they see?

Just medals and scars,

So damn proud of me.

And I brought home that flag,

Now it gathers dust,

But it’s a flag that I love,

It’s the only thing I trust.

He said, “Son,

Have you seen the world?

Well what would you say,

If I said that you could?”

Awestruck Ethan..

Oddi-ditty, #6

I would like my tombstone to read:

Killed trying to recreate the scene in Top Gun when he flips the rogue pilot the bird - in a go kart.

Odd Ethan..

No Backyard

Our society was focussed on the wilderness - the great outdoors.

Then we built fences, and the backyard became our home.

Then we made television, and the living room became just that.

Now we have the internet, and people live within virtual worlds.

In the future, we won't leave our minds.

Mind-full Ethan..

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Journeyman

From Return From Japan

It's a stop, start, up, down, here, there, quiet, loud, bright, dark, happy, sad, honest, false, calm, crazy kind of world that we just get pushed around in.