Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on paper, 16 x 20.

Even though it hasn’t really stopped raining – thanks to the monster nor’easter off the coast – I’m ready with my little aside to The Men Who Stare At Goats.

I’ve learned that some wild ideas I published an article on 28 years ago have come full circle – or maybe it would be more accurate to say, have done an acrobatic loop – and are the basis for the film. Since the ideas were new when I ran the article, and are now being satirized by Hollywood, it may be safe to conclude that they’ve gone through some sort of complete life cycle.

The story was by L.A.-based writer Bill Crandall. This was my intro to his piece, in the August 7, 1981, issue of my poster-sized publication The Wall Paper:

The Los Angeles Reader recently ran a feature story on Army Lt. Col. Jim Channon and his “First Earth Battalion.” The article explains Channon’s concept of a special ‘holistic’ ‘new age’ Army unit of ‘warrior monks’ that would conquer with deadly force if necessary but might also use ‘will’, ‘spirit’ or ‘love’. Although the Battalion does not yet exist as an operational unit, its content and objectives are being developed with the support of the Army command.

As Crandall then explained:

Channon takes himself for the focus of a dialectical synergy between the Pentagon and the New Age folks. He wants to send his soldiers out with “ginseng, amphetamines, megavitamins, herbs, and night-vision [all-natural] foods.” ... These sweeties are also to be armed to the teeth and trained in oriental martial arts. Military lunacy is nothing new, but this man wants to freak out with style, he wants his killing with spice – ritual, he says, after the manner of warpaint and feathers. Tanks blaring Black Sabbath or “something like the sound of a 110-piece black high school band really jiving ... crescendos that go higher and higher.”

When I ran the story, I pretty much decided to take Bill’s word, and the relatively sober reputation of the L.A. Reader, as reason to accept that this concept was actually being entertained by our military. But I did have my doubts. Now I find out, in 2009, it was all true all along – all this, and more. Practitioners of these, how to say, enlightened black arts, were and in some cases still are, associated with our armed forces.

If you go to the website for The Men Who Stare At Goats, to the highly informative and entertaining page by the author of the original book, you learn that there was only one man who actually stared at goats in the First Earth Battalion:

... the goat starer ... says he managed to drop one goat once, although there is no way of verifying this. The goat starer runs a dance studio in Ohio now. When I approached him for an interview I asked him if he was still practicing the technique and he said yes, and only last week he killed his hamster just by staring at it.

Actually, if I were that guy’s hamster, I might have died of a heart attack just thinking about my owner.

As funny as much of the material sounds – an Army general kept expecting to be able to walk through walls because, after all, they’re composed of tiny atoms whirling in space – the endeavor eventually made its way into what the author calls “the most whacked-out corners of George W. Bush’s War on Terror,” into diabolical torture techniques and ideas for remote killing.

Another personal connection with this stuff I didn’t know I had is a lengthy interview I did, for a client’s book, with psychic Joe McMoneagle at The Monroe Institute. I had no idea at the time (early 1990s) that the powers of ‘remote viewing’ he was describing – and he mentioned working with the government – might be used in ‘black ops’ by First Earth Battalion types. 

Given these kinds of serious implications, perhaps it’s just as well that the film, overall, is apparently not nearly as entertaining as the cast and crazy material might lead you to hope and expect. One of those that, when the trailer played, my wife and I turned to each other and said, “Seems like we’ve just seen the good moments.” 

Meanwhile – no big deal – but I seem to be able to make the sun go down every night by staring at it. Look for the forthcoming film.

Another gem from the e-mail in-box today:

Yaogang Lian wrote with news of an iPhone application he developed called HoosBus that users of local public transportation should find invaluable. It maps UTS and CTS bus routes, shows the nearest stops and lets you know when the next bus is coming.

It even has a “secret feature”:

If you shake your iPhone or iPod Touch, HoosBus will turn itself into a flashing red light. Simply hold it up to the bus so that you can be easily seen in the darkness. Shake again to deactivate.

You can download it free from the iTunes store, or go to the iTunes store and search “hoosbus.”

PJ Pacifico

PJ Pacifico was Anne Williams’ guest on Wednesday morning during Acoustic Sunrise. They talked about his music and he played a few songs. Check out youtube.com/WNRNradio for the videos.

Historians rely on primary sources to inform and defend their arguments about the past, but digital technology is altering the form and the content of available records and, in the process, raising fundamental questions about the nature of historical analysis.   I have designed the course to be “hands on,” so students will have the chance to

• examine illuminated manuscripts
• operate an early printing press
• geo-reference historical maps

as they explore familiar and unfamiliar ways of recording information and reflect on how these formats affect the study of history.

The course is for undergraduates and will meet on Wednesdays from 3:30-6:00pm.  For more information,  check out the course page at http://www.jeanbauer.com/vellum_to_vldb.html.

“From Vellum to Very Large Databases” is a 4501 (Major Seminar), so students will sign up via a waitlist and then be added once they have received the instructor’s permission to enroll.

Blind Pilot

Blind Pilot interviewed with Melissa Goode before their show with The Low Anthem at The Southern. The band talked about how they got started and played a few songs from their album “3 Rounds and a Sound”. To watch videos from this session, go to youtube.com/wnrnradio.

A big weekend event is not for everyone. Sometimes a quiet get-away with all the trimmings is a wonderful alternative.  For Stephanie and Sam this was a great choice and today I’m happy to share a selection of Rob Garland’s beautiful photos of their “elopement plus one”… the “one” being Stephanie’s beautiful daughter, Mackenzie.

Stephanie & Sam booked their Boar’s Head Inn wedding through my Weekday Wedding Company and we had a wonderful time planning all the details together: wedding cake, hair & makeup, ceremony choices, video, flowers and more.  After the ceremony Stephanie & Sam’s sweet friend, Angie, swept MacKenzie off to a fun sleep-over and they enjoyed their quiet dinner celebration together at the Boars Head Inn’s Old Mill Room.

It was a lovely autumn day and, as always the Boar’s Head Inn was a beautiful venue with every detail handled perfectly.  Congratulations to the new family: Stephanie, Sam & Mackenzie!

If a high quality, no-fuss wedding for you and up to 25 of your friends and family sounds good please give me a call anytime: 434-296-9885. Also be sure to check out the Weekday Wedding Company website to see all the wonderful packages that are available. ~ Claire

First on the bill is Your Spirit Animal in the Unreal City,  the clumsily-named current band of Max Dreyer, formerly of Love Tentacle Drip Society. They’ll be going on first, at 9pm; & after that:

Andrew Cedermark! I talk a lot on here about how I like Andrew’s music, but apparently a lot of folks are still yet to check it out… Andrew was in a great UVa band that only played one show, then he left town and spent a while playing guitar for Titus Andronicus and starting the Underwater Peoples label; then he left that band, came back to town, and now he plays in a trio with Jacob Wolf and a drummer. He’s done a few solo sets recently, but tonight will be the full trio line-up, and it should be pretty good.

Lastly (?) is DBB Plays Cups, the wildly-inconsistent and ever-evolving project of David Benson.  David is a brilliant songwriter, but for his live show he’s often in the habit of gathering together a giant pile of semi-rehearsed musicians and seeing what happens. They seem to have settled on a loose (if large) line-up for the time being; their last show at the Box had NY resident John Ruscher on guitar, Andrew Cedermark on drums, OffScreen guy Taylor Harless on bass, and Spirit Animal’s Max Dreyer on the Moog — it sort of made a strange kind of sense, actually. We’ll see what happens tonight!

The Caninos were at one point rumored to be on the bill, but unfortunately they are NOT playing tonight. There are rumors that Jameson Zimmer (also formerly of LTDS) will make a surprise appearance, but I’m betting that might be on the later side, since as his employer I happen to know he’ll be at work until at least 11:30. {UPDATE: Jameson is also not playing… looks like it’s just those three bands, then.}

“Before you speak a word, your clothes and body language have already spoken volumes. Are you currently speaking volumes with your wardrobe?”

I have been so excited about featuring this week’s C’Ville Entremom. A former client of hers emailed me about a month ago and was so eager to tell me about this business I’m very pleased to share it with you, Charlottesville.

D.L. Crosby Image Consultants provide various services to their clients: wardrobe consultation, personal styling, personal shopping, make-up services and image/public speaking consultations. Debbie Crosby-Louis, owner of D.L Crosby Image Consultants, says that her business runs the gamut… From working with breast cancer survivors to improving one’s self-esteem to full-scale closet make-overs to personal make-overs, all working with your lifestyle. Debbie works on establishing a clean sense of YOUR style (and not just fashion). Debbie states that she dresses “not only the person, but the lifestyle.” She works with both men and women in the business community and college students, helping them prepare for interviews and life outside of college. Debbie also offers her clients a private label skin care and product line. These products are mineral based and have great benefits (like anti-aging).  Debbie also houses Peptide skincare to sustain benefits in between visits to the dermatologist.

Debbie always had a passion for the image/style/color/modeling industry, but didn’t get to use it while working on Wall Street in NYC for 7 years. When she moved here and started a family, she thought, “Why not? If I can put so many hours into a Wall Street company, why not let that company be mine?”

So how does Debbie juggle running her business and raising a family? Prioritize! The children and their activities come first, everything else falls into place.

For more information about D.L. Crosby Image Consultants, visit their website (http://www.dlcimage.com) . Prices start at 13.50 for skin care products. Applications and consultations start at $75.00.

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Last night I was at dinner with my boss and another colleague. My boss said he doesn’t see himself ever retiring ever. He enjoys working and wouldn’t know what he would do instead. I offered him my job. I’d love to retire. They picked on me for that, saying “You’ve only been working 8 years, eight? What would you DO?” Oh, I could come up with a lot of things I’d do. It wouldn’t involve being in an office on a sunny day. It makes me sad that I spend well over 90% of my life indoors. Maybe I should start sleeping in a hammock… that’d be the easier fix.

So the following presentation is about the future of work – I’m glad that I’ll be around to see it. I don’t have a problem spending a third of my life earning a living, but why does it have to be so strict about the location and hours?

I am a retired Army officer and alumnus of U.Va.’s Army ROTC program, but wanted to share with all of you an event that occurred yesterday, 10 Nov 09, at Our Lady of Peace home in Charlottesville.

My father is an 87-year-old Marine who has attended the Marine Corps Annual Birthday Ball at U.Va. for the past 15 years, but this year could not. I spoke with the Navy ROTC [professor of naval science] at 0900 hrs that morning and asked whether a Marine could visit with him for a few minutes.

Two Marines responded within four hours. They visited with my father, but also asked the home’s director for the names of every veteran in the large, three-building complex that includes residents in independent living, assisted living, Alzhiemer’s Care Unit, and a Nursing Home Unit.

The Marines went to see every veteran of every service in the entire complex. The only veterans they did not see were the ones who were not there that day.

There are no words that describe this honorable and selfless service. I could not reach the [professor of naval science] today to say thank you, but am placing the record of this patriotism, valor, and fidelity in as many places I can tonight. I will learn the names of those two outstanding Marines and do my very best to see that they as well as the PMS are formally recognized. As a soldier, I know they view this action as simply “duty faithfully performed.” But in a nation at war, any opportunity to give evidence of the outstanding quality of the men and women who stand before the powers of chaos, on our behalf, must be shared.

Thank you so very much,

LTC Charles M. Herbek, US Army (Ret)

I made a call and tracked down a little more information. The professor of naval science he mentioned is Capt. Tim Watkins. The two Marines who visited were Capt. John Prather, an assistant professor of naval science, and Staff Sgt. Alfonso Salazar, a member of the ROTC staff.

Well done, gentlemen!

When Commodore Matthew C. Perry sailed to Japan in 1854, he came bearing gifts. Among other things, Perry brought with him a barrel of whiskey, more than a few casks of wine, Audubon’s Birds of America, a quantity of cherry cordials, and four bundles of telegraph wires. In addition to “opening” Japan to foreign trade, Commodore Perry can boast also of bringing the hachiya persimmon to the United States. Americans were already familiar with the Virginian and Texan versions of the persimmon. In his 1624 General History of Virginia, Captain John Smith described his experience with the fruit: “If it not be ripe it will draw a man’s mouth awry with much torment. But when it is ripe, it is as delicious as an apricot.” Anyone who has eaten an unripe hachiya persimmon will understand what Captain Smith is referring to. My first persimmon wasn’t quite ripe, and the memory of that tormenting astringency has stayed with me ever since. In recent years, the hachiya has been overtaken by the non-astringent fuyu, with a lack of tannins that has made them the most popular variety of persimmon in the United States and Japan. I’m all for variety, but I fear that in our collective desire for immediate persimmon gratification we could lose a varietal whose exquisite taste also teaches a valuable lesson in patience.

And that is why I decided last week at the farmer’s market to eschew the fuyus, lined up hard and squat like an army of mutant tomatoes. I found one farmer selling the larger, acorn-shaped hachiyas (which used to account for the majority of persimmons consumed in the United States) and bought one. He told me it would take a week or two to ripen. I smiled and said that I was ready to wait. It’s been more than a week now and the persimmon is only a touch softer then when I brought it home. Bright orange and topped with a four pointed stem, it stares at me from the bottom of my fruit bowl, taunting me with its sloth. In the meantime, I admit, I have eaten a few fuyus. But every time I crunch into one I feel guilty, knowing that my choice is just another nail in the coffin of a bygone era. It’s a feeling not unlike the one I get when I read the New York Times online, when I ignore my local bookstore for a cheaper copy on Amazon or Alibris.

I have decided to take a stand. No more fuyu persimmons for me. This fall, I’m a hachiya man.

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