Fort Texas

As soon as in-service got out on Tuesday, I escaped to the Chili Parlor Bar down in Austin. I keep an apartment above it for occasional escapes. Loosey’s Chili Parlor and Saloon is a hangout for retired teachers and veterans of the Amish Civil War. I go there for the dominoes and the free peanuts. The women that come in are from former Senator Charlie Wilson’s staff, and have a wit that would charm even the Ayatollah. They keep a television on in the corner with the Home Shopping Network on that no one is watching.


Behind the bar they have a poster of Bob Will’s. I sit at a table in the back with Tom Wait and Guy Clark playing dominoes. The bartender is a refugee from the Amish Civil War, and always greets me with a stare of a person who would like to see me lost in west Texas.

I and the boy’s always have a plate of chili fries at the table covered with jalapenos and ketchup. Although Wait and Clark drink Mad Dog Margarita’s, I drink Momma’s Sweet Tea.

Wait always greets any new woman in the ‘Parlor’ with, “Don’t you feel more like you do now than when you came?” They scratch their head just like you are doing now.

It is there at the Chili-Parlor that I spend my first week of summer vacation, so do not panic if you can’t find me up in Iowa.

Facts About A Soldier

Many of you may have heard of the death of "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Yet, many of you may not know the entire story of his life. He could have been a pro baseball player. Read More

Our Bohemian Allies

I was raised in Northern Iowa not far from a small town called Protivin. It is Protivin where I learned to speak a limited amount of Czek from the 300 inhabitants. The majority of the ancestors of these wonderful people actually came from the region of Bohemia in Eastern Europe. There are few places in the world where I have eaten better food and met nicer people then in Protivin.

Needless to say, this was how I viewed what a bohemian was. Over the years on numerous occasions people have called me a bohemian and I am flattered. Here is how Wikipedia defines bohemian, and because it is on the internet it can’t be wrong =)

“The term has become associated with various artistic or academic communities and is used as a generalized adjective describing such people, environs, or situations: bohemian (boho—informal) is defined in The American College Dictionary as "a person with artistic or intellectual tendencies, who lives and acts with no regard for conventional rules of behavior."

Many prominent European and American figures of the last 150 years belonged to the bohemian subculture, and any comprehensive "list of bohemians" would be tediously long. Bohemianism has been approved of by some bourgeois writers such as Honoré de Balzac, but most conservative cultural critics do not condone bohemian lifestyles.

The New York Times columnist David Brooks contends that much of the cultural ethos of what he semi-humorously terms "upper-class" Americans (meaning well-to-do middle-class people) is Bohemian-derived, coining the paradoxical term Bourgeois Bohemians or Bobos.

The Bombshell Manual of Style author, Laren Stover, breaks down the Bohemian into five distinct mind-sets/styles in Bohemian Manifesto: a Field Guide to Living on the Edge. The Bohemian is "not easily classified like species of birds," writes Stover, noting that there are crossovers and hybrids. The five types devised by Stover are:

• Nouveau: bohemians with money who attempt to join traditional bohemianism with contemporary culture

• Gypsy: drifters, neo-hippies, and others with nostalgia for previous, romanticized eras

• Beat: also drifters, but non-materialist and art-focused

• Zen: "post-beat," focus on spirituality rather than art

• Dandy: no money, but try to appear as if they have it by buying and displaying expensive or rare items – such as brands of alcohol

In the United States, the bohemian impulse can be seen in the 1960s hippie counterculture (which was in turn informed by the Beat generation via writers such as William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac).

Rainbow Gatherings may be seen as another contemporary worldwide expression of the bohemian impulse. An American example is Burning Man, an annual participatory arts festival held in the Nevada desert.”

The Journal Of Battle

I will be the first to testify, I am a terrible writer, I know my verbiage is not one that most people would claim as their own. Yet, here I am, maintaining a blog. It is as close to a journal as I have been in twenty years. I kid my friends and tell them it is my memoirs. I know, who wants to read a fifty year old high school teachers musings?


Then one day I was complaining to a friend about my lack of writing skills. I will not embarrass him by using his name. He told me to keep writing, he enjoyed the Hillbilly Haiku's that I produced. I did not know what a Hillbilly Haiku was so I went to Google and I entered "Hillbilly Haiku",  I got this wonderful music, click here to listen to some Hillbilly Haiku, I hope you enjoy it as well.

Confusion In Battle

If you think you understand college basketball, think again, firings and hiring's throw about wakes in the water that last for years to come. Click Confusion-Read More if you do not believe me.

Surrender

Here is one of the most moving quotes in the history of our young country.

"I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohulhulsote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead.

It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are--perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead.

Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. "

Chief Joseph
of the Nez Perce
Tribe

Algeria

“Algeria, Mr. Gillespie, who do you know in Algeria?” As I was looking at the demographics of my blog a student noticed that someone from Algeria had been reading my blog.

Algeria, I do not know if I should be honored or amazed. Who would want to read “My Life in the Amish Airforce” in Algeria? I set the blog up as a way to write a little history and annoy people with my opinion, yet someone from Algeria is reading it.

First off, if you are a foreign reader welcome. I know I often send my post to my friends in Scotland, Ireland, and Côte d’Ivoire and they feel sorry for me and read it. Still, Algeria? I haven’t figured out China, Slovenia, or India either. I do know that two thirds of the world lives in China and India and there is a good chance that somehow my blog may popup by accident on their computer or smart phone.

Whatever the case my readers from outside of the U.S., you bestow on me a great honor by reading my blog, and I welcome your comments any time.



War On Drugs

President Reagan declared war on drugs back in the 1980’s, yet here we are thirty years later, and our country is still going through the hell of their evils. A few weeks ago I lost a friend to meth, about five years ago I lost a cousin to drug addiction, and presently I have a dear friend on his way to Colorado to grab his three grand-daughters back from this hell.

Imagine three granddaughters addicted to drugs, what a nightmare. My friend is seventy-two years old, he should not have to fight this battle, but it is a never ending cycle. His grand-daughters grandma had an addiction, their mother and aunt were hooked, and now the men that have taken up with his granddaughters have them hooked.

I argue about this with my friends in law enforcement all the time; we know who makes it, we know who sells it, and we know who buys it, we can win this. We may have to suspend civil liberties, as we deal with it, but it is destroying people’s lives, it is killing parent’s children, it is killing spouses, and it is killing grandchildren. If we are going to win this war we have to fight it like one.

We have to attack the maker first, literally go to the countries that make it, or the farms and the houses that they are made in here in our country and arrest/attack the makers. I understand, there will be casualties. But the collateral damage from these attacks will be limited, and innocent people will be protected.

Will it get nasty in our country? Yes it will. Still, people must understand we are not living in a Utopia. For many people with family and friends who are attics, they are the victims of this chaos that faces us all over our country. If a few houses burn, if a number of people go to internment camps, if the freaks making these chemicals that are ruining families start to disappear without a trace, the life of the rest of the people in our country will get better. I know these are not the liberal words that usually appear on here, but I am tired of watching my family and friends lose loved ones to drugs.

Black Crowes

"She Talks To Angels"

The Army Marches On Its Stomach

Guy Clark is the William Butler Yeats of Country-Western musicians. He is a poet, a philosopher, a song writer, and a friend to people from Nashville to Hollywood. "Dublin Blues" moves me but this song called "Cold Dog Soup" is the song that can change the world.

"Cold Dog Soup"

This Army Moves



A little Ray Charles as he sings "Hit The Road Jack".

The man could make a cemetary stand up and dance.

"Hit The Road Jack"

Fix The Problem Not The Blame

It has been a long time since I have heard the complete version of Rudyard Kipling’s “If”. I had forgotten how moving the poem was, then Sunday afternoon at commencement ceremonies at Jesup High School, Samantha Reese read it in her commencement speech. It is moving, here is the entire poem;


“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!”

Gypsy Soul

The last verse in the Zac Brown Band song "Colder Weather" is one of the most melancholy lines ever written. I hope you enjoy the song as much as I do.

"And when I close my eyes I see you

No matter where I am

I can smell your perfume through these whispering pines

I’m with your ghost again

It’s a shame about the weather

I know soon we’ll be together

And I can’t wait till then

I can’t wait till then"

Zac Brown

"Colder Weather"

I Miss My Friends



I miss my friends in Ireland, and as I listen to Mary Black sing "Raglan Road" I get homesick.

                                                                                                           Blarney Castle



Pirates



A little fiddle and flute to help us get past the battle of the day.

The Irish Rovers

"What Will We Do With A Drunken Sailor"

Nobel Peace Prize Winner

The summer of my freshmen year in high school my mom worked in a rest home in Cresco. She talked about two of her clients, a husband and wife named Henry and Clara. She always told me to go into their room and talk to them. Henry always brought the conversation around to their son Norman. He was so proud of Norman.


Norman was a Big Ten wrestling champion at the University of Minnesota, and he made the sport almost as popular in Minnesota as it is in Iowa.

He talked about how Norman was working in countries around the world such as Mexico, Pakistan, and several African nations helping the poor.

I would always hear the same stories and try to escape. One day Henry said his son and wife Margaret were coming to Cresco for a couple weeks, and needed help planting trees on one of the family farms. I promised I would help his son and wife plant those. Actually, I think it was my mom who made the promise.

Early one June Monday morning I found myself out is a field with Norman and Margaret planting trees. For two weeks we planted thousands of mostly pine trees. They paid me around five dollars an hour to help, which at that time was a lot of money. The three of us worked like slaves, yet, Norman and Margaret were incredibly interesting, telling me about all of the places that they had lived.

When we were done we shook hands and I never saw them again. Well that is not exactly true, I did see Norman on TV, hear him on the radio, and read about him for the rest of my life.

You see, that Norman was Norman Borlaug the Nobel Peace Prize winner.  Read More about Norman and the difference he made.

Civilization

"Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river."     
William J. Durant

Can You Change the World?

As an educator over the years I have asked myself multiple times, does what I do matter? I have 120 students every day, and I worry if I am helping them to be a better person. I know the argument,  it is not just up to me, it involves their parents, their friends, other teachers, their coaches, and yes I know it takes a village to raise the child.


Yet, here I am at fifty years old now, and I ask myself do I have an impact on my students?

Well I received this video from Simple Truths an online motivational sight. They send me a motivational video every day, and some of them are corny, but some of them are incredible.

The one I received yesterday is how a nineteen year old bag boy in a grocery store has changed his store. We all can make a difference one step at a time. Click on Yes, I make a difference, and find out how that bag boy made a difference.

Peace

"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do so with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again."

— Og Mandino

The Wayfaring Stranger

A wonderful 'Old Tyme" song, "The Wayfaring Stranger," also known as "Poor Wayfaring Stranger," is a traditional folk song of unknown origin. There are many and varied opinions as to its origin. Some of the theories include Appalachian Folk, Old Irish, and Catskills Folk. either way it is wonderul. Here is Selah singing "The Wayfaring Stranger".

Putt for Mutts

Putt for Mutts

4 Person Best Shot

Silent Auction, Bake Sale,

Raffle, and Lunch

Buchanan County

Animal Shelter Benefit

All Profits will go towards building a no- kill shelter for animals until their forever home can be found.

Date: Sunday June 5th

Golf: 9:00am 4 Person Best Shot

Cost: $150 per team (Includes meal and cart if needed)

Location: Jesup Golf & Country Club, 530 N Street,Jesup, IA

For Registration Please Contact Val at the Jesup Country Club at (319) 827-1152 or Tracie Hovden at 464-6570

Welcome Home

The list below is where Google says my readers are from. I know a number of my friends and students read my blog. I am interested who else in the United States and in other parts of the world have read this blog. I would be thankful if you send me an email at jgillespie@jesup.k12.ia.us and let me know how you happened upon my blog. Again, I would like to thank you for reading about the "Amish Airforce".

United States 3,690
Canada 44
China 30
Ireland 15
Côte d’Ivoire 12
India 11
Slovenia 8
Denmark 7
United Kingdom 7
Russia 6

Never, Never,Never Give Up

As we come upon the end of school, I watch people either give up or finish what they started. This always makes me think of the old line from the movie "Shawshank Redemption" The character Andy says "Get busy living or get busy dying." Here is that scene, I hope it can help you get through your day.

"Shawshank Redemption"

Homesick

"It's blue tonight and getting bluer, but I'm in a state that I deserve to be." John Anderson



Fire Fight

Who gets the 27 million dollar reward for the capture/killing of Osama Bin Laden?

War On Wheels

Well on Saturday night this purveyor of white trash went to the inaugural bout of the Push-Up Brawlers Roller Derby team, against the Cedar Rapids Roller Girls. It had not been since the 1970’s had I seen a bout on television, and I had never watched one live.
 I had pitched it to many of my friends and colleagues ,but only two kind souls chose to accompany me. The rest responded with anywhere from polite thank you but… to looks and snickers of are you crazy.

First the crowd that attended the bout; I would compare it to a hockey crowd that likes to dress with a little flair. If you want to know about it you will have to ask. I would guess around 1000 people were in attendance.

Next the seating; you can sit in box seats, bleachers, or in what the announcer called the suicide seats right on the edge of the track. Generally 20-30 year olds sat right by the track, although, I did see a man about my age with a sign that he had made for one of the Brawlers.

The game was the first for the Brawlers, and although they gave a great effort, and have much to be proud of, the Roller Girls experience allowed them to skate to an easy win. I think the final score was around 160-90.

The numbers the skaters wore were unique to say the least. They were anywhere from 3.15 to things that would be inappropriate to post here now.

I enjoyed myself immensely, and the Other Place Hawaiian pizza afterward topped off the night. Would I return for another bout? Come and watch them yourself Saturday May 21st and see if I’m there.

World Domination

The blog sight I use to publish my unnecessary ramblings is Google. It is wonderful, as far as it tells how many views there have been, (at this time 3,736) what part of the world, (three countries presently United States, India, and Russia) and when people read my blog. (Over a third of the people that read my blog do so between midnight and five in the morning.) The two most widely read blogs I wrote are “Boot Camp” and “Sudden Death”. The number one month it was read was during February. I am very fortunate to have had over 170 people read my blog at some time. I hope I entertain you at times; it is a bit of therapy, a bit of rambling, and a bit of fun for me. Please keep coming back to my blog, I truly enjoy posting it.