Happy Turkey Day!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I hope that everyone is having a great Thanksgiving back home.  I am thankful that I get to serve my country and help the people of Afghanistan.  I hope the Dallas Cowboys and Red Raiders win.  If the Cowboys don't win the rest of the season, then that means that they get better draft picks....Maybe they can get a better QB.  We had a real turkey for Thanksgiving at the FOB so that we nice.

So my Shamalis asked about why us Americans celebrate Thanksgiving.  You never really know how much you forget from grade school btw.....here is what I said.  When the Pilgrims first landed on America, it was very cold and scary.   When the Native Americans came to meet the settlers, the settlers expected a fight.  Native American is hard to explain to Afghans because the other reference is Indians, and that means something else to them since India is like their Canada so to speak...and note that I say settlers instead of pilgrims because what really were they pilgrimaging (if thats a word) to?  Muslims have a pilgrimage to Mecca (see PRT Kapisa Facebook for info on last weeks Muslim holiday ;-P)....back to subject...The settlers were expecting a fight, and instead the Native Americans brought food.  Thus the tradition of a Thanksgiving feast was born.  I hope that I explained the story correctly.  Maybe I need to go back to kindergarten.  I wonder if they understood?

Stay Frosty,

JoJo

I have a better address here to give out:

Joseph Shamy (No Rank)

FOB Morales-Frazier

APO AE 09354

Book Review: Becoming Batman

Salaama Layukum Folks!

I have finally finished my first E-book on my Kindle.  My first Kindle broke on the way to Afghanistan and I had to wait for another one to be sent at no cost, unless you count time, to me so that I could continue reading.  Plus since I spend the majority of my work day reading, I spent some nights watching movies on my computer.  Excuses aside....I am done with Becoming Batman.  In case you are wondering, I am not out at night in spandex fighting crime on the FOB.  That was the title of the book my E. Paul Zehr.  He explored the feasibility of a human being actually transforming into the Dark Knight.  Being that I am a super nerd (not geek, there is a difference) I was fascinated by the subject.  Paul is a well versed martial artist and a doctor in exercise sports science.  He explored concepts such as biological disposition, dietary, psychology, senescence, and training time line in his book.  He took a scientific approach and used an imaginary character know as Bob Wayne as Bruce Wayne's (Batman) twin for the control is to assessing if an average Joe (or JoJo) like you or me could become the caped crusader.  (I will run out of alternate names for Bats soon :P) Back on subject.  Paul explore various factors that and goals that one must achieve to become that terror that flaps in the night (wait that's Darkwing Duck) and provides scientific data to prove his hypothesis.  In my opinion he was too scientific in his approach.  Not for me (because I majored in Biology) but for the average person.  At times I had to dig deep in to my memory to be able to understand some of the biological theories that Paul noted had to be met for a person to become the masked manhunter.  I did like the fact that he had studied various forms of martial arts (like yours truly) and assessed ninjitsu to be the style that Batman would choose.  I also enjoyed a plethora (heh heh plethora of pinatas) references to actual Batman  comics, movies, and commentaries by writers to historically link Batman to certain assessments.  In the end he assessed that it was possible for a person to become Batman.  However, to stay Batman, and he means at the peak of his career represented in the majority of his comics (shout out to The Dark Knight Returns) would not be feasible.  Thus Batman could only be Batman could only be Batman could only be Batman (just checking if you were actually reading) for roughly 10 years.  He compared that to boxers and other athletes who are at their physical peak while performing that play sports that are comparative to the amount of beating that Batman would sustain while keeping the streets of Gotham safe.  This was a fun read and I recommend it to anyone who thinks that they want to fight crime and likes a realistic approach to the world of comics.  Next book The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

Stay Frosty, (whoops still in caps...I mean italics)

JoJo

Facebook

Howdy Ya'll,

That's a good 'ole fashion Texas greeting.  Speaking of Texas what is with my football teams?  I mean the Dallas Cowboys are only 2-7 and Texas Tech is not doing too well either.  It is getting colder and colder here.  We also are getting warnings about Mice and Cobras being in the dorms if we eat food in there.  I don't know why I capitalized them, but it may be because I consider them a collective force ready to terrorize the residents of FOB Morales-Frazier.  My job here gets busier and busier, so I may be a little tough for me to keep on my blog.  I am glad that you guys are reading though.  I have over 244 views as of today.  (And there was much rejoicing)  It is hard to believe that I have already been deployed for over a month.  I mean I missed my favorite holiday (at least I could make a JibJab card) and it is almost Thanksgiving.  I do not even keep track of the days of the week anymore, because I am always working.  I do get to catch up on a lot of movies and read books when I go back to the barracks though.  The best way to keep in touch is through email (dakenshamy@gmail.com or ssjshamy@sbcglobal.net) or with Skype (slimshamy85)  If you find me on Skype, then we might be able to VideoChat. 

Back to the title of the post.  Facebook.  I am writing to let you true believers know about the Official PRT Kapisa Facebook page.  This is not to say that I will be on the page, but you never know.  :-P (Does anyone get the emoticons?)  If you are on Facebook (if not, shame on you) then you should definitely become a fan of the page.

Stay Frosty,

Jojo

They are called Shamalis!

Week 2 went by pretty fast...uncomfortably fast.  But I guess that means things are getting pretty normal here.  Here is a fun fact:  The indigenous people of Kapisa, Laghman, and Panshir provinces in Afghanistan are called Shamalis (pronouned like Shamaley)  MY PEOPLE.  :-)  Anyways.  I got two packages from Mom, Dad, and Nicole which is great.  I got a new downs blanket for my bed which came just in time because it is starting to get colder and colder here.  Props to Texas Tech for beating #12 Missouri.  I didn't even care to look at the game score (bc they suck this year) except that I had an email from a retailer trying to sell me a bragging rights T-Shirt.  So even though I live 12.5 hrs in the future...I  am still behind on some news in America.  Its funny how things that you get to monitor daily in the US like facebook get put on the back burner.  I hardly ever check fb unless someone sends me a message, or I get a birthday alert.  It also funny how us Americans use expressions "Like running around like a chicken with its head cut-off" which sums up my work day normally.  I told one of my linguists that I am like a ping pong ball and he said, "You are no a ball sir, You are a MAN!"  classic.  I also got my Kindle Back so that rocks my face off.  I can continue reading Becoming Batman.  (Then I might actually be able to complete the process and fight crime j/k) 

Stay Frosty,

JoJo


(If you are wondering about "Stay Frosty" watch Generation Kill)