Soldiers

The war, prejudices, murder, power. The workers of evil are the kids gung-ho to go into battle. To carry guns! To be heroes. When reality sets in, the entrapment of their desires has already plunged them into the midst of the fiery jungle. No longer is it about heroics. With the bonds of brotherhood torn by shrapnel and bullets, ideals fade and hell sets in. Powerman with the powerplan takes the power to rule over the youth of the nation. Hmm, rant much? Yeah, boring and too opinionated. Anyway, these were just some thoughts I had while reading the book. Good thoughts and fun to play with the imagery that flows through the minds eye while reading.

Two Birds

...or one bird and one balloon. Today I was thinking - which would come as a surprise to those who know me -about how easy it is to create a story. All you need is two objects and your brain automatically works to find an answer. Ice pick - little girl, she is remembering her father who died on an icy mountain with her uncle who brought back the only thing left of him. She could be looking at an old toned expedition photograph. The connotation could be moody and dark, thoughtful. Or it could be that she is hopefully remembering what she loves about her papa. The story behind the character gives way to all the details that go into making it engaging, unique... memorable.

The Sorrow of War

I read the sorrow of war back in high school... it was good... the ethereal, moody atmosphere feels like you are swimming around through an exotic cloudy tangled mess of vines, sound muffled by sheets of rain soaking banana leaves. I didn't understand a lot about it back then. It was just a flood of emotion at the time. I read it again a few months ago and found so much of what my naive mind couldn't understand just ten short years ago. I understood then about the desires for companionship, the hatred of the enemy. Now though, I found a deeper meaning in the hatred not for the enemy but for the arrogance of man, that he can put pride so much in himself that he will take life, that he will order others - much younger then himself - to drive into battle, loaded with machine guns and grenades. I see the past just the desire for companionship. It's more than that, the desire comes from the life two shared torn apart by the consequences of war.

The drawing is a thumbnail/rough draft from what I imagined when I was reading the book recently. I really looked into the consequences of the Vietnam war after reading the book again. Some of the things I saw were horrifying. I searched for images of napalm... It scares me how people get excited about explosions like that. R Lee Ermey, though I respect his years of service and am sure he knows what it means to take a life, he does sound a little crazy on the History Channel show 'Mail Call' when he's talking about a 30mm gatling gun that can shoot over 600 rounds a minute. (he does have a lot of respect for the destructive power of weapons but if he didn't have such a personality the show wouldn't be as interesting). the impressionable minds of kids watching shows like this and playing mature video games teaching them all about the differences between sub-machine guns and light machine guns. I hear my friends little brothers talking about how they shot a turban head in the face. Great mind numbing, influence on the youth of America. The average 17 year old does not have the maturity or life experience to be able to rationalize the consequences of what war have on people let alone the world. But who else will fight for us. men who are just a little older have wives and children and won't take the risk necessary. Necessary... is it? Yeah I guess it is... Though we idealize and glorify the triumphs of warfare, we do need to be prepared for when the crazies of the world get into power. It's all about having the bigger stick right? It's just too bad that peace comes through fire.


http://www.amazon.com/Sorrow-War-Novel-North-Vietnam/dp/1573225436