Today is Super Fly Day

First, news from the world; then, news from me.

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Several recent stories, like the United Kingdom bomb plot and the release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston, have been covered to death. I have nothing to add to the Johnston story. As for the London bomb plot, I just want to make sure that you folks know that it was apparently being carried out primarily by Middle Eastern doctors, and there was allegedly a cryptic warning passed from an al Qaeda operative to an Anglican vicar several months ago regarding the attacks.

There's been a shake-up in SOCOM. The article's worth a read.

The Russian military has tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile. There's more information on the missile itself at Global Security and Wikipedia. The missile is slated to be incorporated in the next-generation Russian ballistic missile submarines, which are currently under development.

American officials have linked an attack in Karbala to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah (AP, BBC). The revelation follows the capture of Ali Moussa Dakdouk, a leading Hezbollah operative, in southern Iraq in March.

In yet another demonstration of how journalistic spin works, I present two articles on the same topic. The normally-liberal Associated Press renders the headline, Aussie PM: We're Not in Iraq for Oil. And the BBC? As the top story on their Asia section page, the headline reads: Australia "has Iraq oil interest".

Algerian security forces have captured the suspected chief treasurer of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat/al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

And finally, a South Korean ship has disappeared in Somali waters, though there is no confirmation yet that the ship was seized... By Somali pirates!

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The exodus from Zoo Station is in the operational planning stages. A brief blip last week raised questions as to whether or not the Virginia move was actually going to happen. The question then became: if it falls through, what do I do instead? After some consultation with my wise adopted sister, Mighty Mo, I was seriously considering the possibility of resuming my old temporary gig in the United Kingdom. Although the situation I left in September of 2004 has dramatically changed in the last three years, I still harbor a sort of idealistic wish to take six months out of my life and relive that experience. When I started seriously considering the move to Virginia a couple of weeks ago, one of the things that came up was the fact that with this move, my last opportunity to go to the United Kingdom for an extended period of time would probably disappear.

This, of course, got me to reminiscing. One of the things that has always struck me as odd is how silly the claim of olfactory stimulation tying into memory is, at least for me. When I smell something, I don't usually remember anything other than having smelled or tasted that thing previously. What really jogs my memory is sounds, and particularly music.

For example, when I was in the United Kingdom a few years ago, one of the locations at the company where I worked had the radio on all the time. The explosion of YouTube has allowed me to use the video site in much the same way frugal folks like me used to use Napster. In the last few days, I've looked up several of the songs that remind me most of my time overseas.

There is, for example, Natasha Bedingfield. She's apparently had limited success over here in the States; enough so that there are a couple of her songs at the bar I sometimes frequent with a few of my co-workers. Only once since I returned from the United Kingdom have I heard the song that was playing almost non-stop in Sussex that Summer, "These Words". Apparently there are two different videos for the song (1, 2). I tried to find the album at two different stores last night, to no avail; that most likely means another Amazon order for yours truly.

Another female artist whose single "Sick and Tired" was playing constantly was Anastacia, an American artist who's huge in Europe and Asia. I was shocked and dismayed to find that not only did her first two albums receive a lackluster welcome in the States, but the third album (the one that carried the aforementioned single) wasn't even released in the United States. It's available on Amazon as an import for about twenty-four bucks.

I know that The Darkness got a little bit of air play while I was gone, but not for the song that got me to buy their album before I left the United Kingdom. What's that song? "Love is Only a Feeling". This song usually reminds me of the infamous Mirror, who first introduced me to it. It's still a good song, and better since I've found closure on that entire issue. Their other big song, titled "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", reminds me of a hostel in Aberdeen, Scotland, where I got stuck for a night when I arrived in the city only to find out that the Northlink Ferry to Orkney didn't run until the following afternoon; had it run when I'd gotten there, I would have never experienced Aberdeen, which altered my entire two week holiday. The odd thing is that I remember listening to the latter song on the radio from my bed at that hostel (hence the memory), but I honestly don't remember which radio I would have taken with me.

The next song that comes to mind are Laura by the Scissor Sisters, which is remarkable only for two reasons: first, it was another group/song introduced to me by The Mirror, and it's the only group/song I saw any reference to once I'd gotten back to the States. The final song (that fits in this genre, at least) was "Bedshaped" by Keane. I was a little bit surprised (though I shouldn't have been) to learn that Slow Drown/CCE and his wife were Keane fans when I visited them in Dallas a year and a half ago. Of course, I haven't once heard "Bedshaped", aside from on the album itself.

For the life of me, I can't think of a single scent or aroma that reminds me of the United Kingdom. Not a one. The only thing I can think of is that the scientists who claimed a link between smell and memory must be the same ones who are positive that global warming is catastrophic, and being caused by humans. And what does that remind me of? You guessed it: Manbearpig, which I saw on my second deployment. Sense of humor: one; sense of smell: zilch.

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Today is my twenty-fifth birthday. I've taken the day off from work, and so far I've done little more than sit around the house, receive calls from my parents and brother, and watched episodes of season seven of South Park. I have to pay rent today (or else it's late), and beyond that I'm not sure what I'll get accomplished.

It's pretty crazy to think that in about two weeks, I'll be in Virginia. I'm both anxious and excited at the same time; I suppose that's probably the most reasonable mix of emotions for this particular situation.

Have a great day, folks!