Steve Shaha's Excellent Adventure

Hello readers, I'm making this entry to give a report on my incredible experience today.  I took a detour on my way home from Fort Campbell to check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.  Needless to say, it was an awesome day of checking out great exhibits and seeing a bunch of cool stuff that is now indelibly imprinted on my brain.  I'm posting the photos that I took, you can't photograph most of the stuff in there but I still got some great shots.

The best thing I saw though, hands down, was a paper with the lyrics to The Clash's (my third-favorite band of all-time) "Tommy Gun" (my favorite song of theirs) handwritten by Joe Strummer...it was a spiritual experience.  Anyway, hope you enjoy the pictures and I highly recommend a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland (consider it a required part of your cultural upbringing).  Until next time take care, keep the faith, and ROCK ON \m/

 Isn't it in a great location?

 Here's a shot of the front entrance to the building.  The Louvre's got nothing on THIS pyramid.

 For those of you wondering why the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland...this plaque should explain.

 I entered at the bottom level and this was the sight that greeted me.  This is the drum kit Alex Van Halen used during Van Halen's 1980 tour.  The bass drums have huge holes in the front (the only part that's there is the top portion displaying the Ludwig logo), and they're split into two portions connected by what appears to be the kind of tubing that leads from large HVAC units into the buildings they service.  Pretty cool.

This is Link Wray's guitar. 

 This is the banner from the legendary Rock Club CBGBs that used to be in New York City (those who claim that Punk originated in NYC credit this club as where Punk was born) and was the place every Eastern U.S. band aspired to play.

 Check out who was there to show me where to purchase my ticket.  All that would have made it better was if Jonesy and Bonzo had been there as well.

 My experience began in earnest in the Ahmet M. Ertegun (founder of Atlantic Records) Exhibition Hall.  The men on this wall are (from left to right) Buddy Holly, James Brown, and Little Richard.

The gentleman on the right is Chuck Berry 

 I saw this earlier in the day and didn't realize it was an exhibit.  This is Johnny Cash's tour bus.

Go to Cleveland and see the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

More Demotivation (yay)

Hello family and anyone else who might be reading.  It's Steve here currently living it up in the Turner Guest House on Fort Campbell before setting off for Cleveland tomorrow.  Having read the previous entries on this blog I have to concede the fact that I can't commit with Wendy's Oakley photos...I can however produce a batch of baby-themed demotivators.  I hope all of you enjoy these.

O-bug

Thought I'd better jump on the posting bandwagon with some pictures of Oakley.

She is turning into such a fun and goofy little girl. She loves people and has a smile for everyone (after she sizes them up with her iron stare)

Her culinary adventures are endless

She loves to be in water and looks adorable in a swimsuit. How many people can say that?

This picture needs no caption. Doesn't she look great on a track? And excited to be there?

Easter Sunday in the dress she got from Grandma and Grandpa Shaha

Her most favorite activity of all time is walking holding onto someone's fingers. She could do it all. day. long.

Oakley bug!

Almost goosed

Well, once again some dipstick has 'improved' the blog software--all just a ploy to keep the old folks in the dark and uncomfortable working with these things. Just when you think you've figured out how to post stuff some clown 'improves' things and you get to start all over again.

Joe, Bethany, Lucy and Haley spent last weekend with us and we had a great time, as usual. The little girls gave us lessons in feeding the geese. Grampa was spooked about the big birds being so close to the girls--kept mumbling about getting goosed or attacked or something (old toad).

Both Lucy and Haley were very generous with the crackers Bethany provided--Lucy had a little better range with her tosses than Haley, hence some of Grampa's concern for how close the recipients got to Haley.

We look forward to seeing Steve on 1 May, and having Dave, Wendy, Oakely and all of Joe's family for the temple dedication weekend--the KC temple gets dedicated on Sunday, 6 May, by President Monson. It promises to be a pretty remarkable weekend for us all.
Keep up the good works all you Shahas out there and we look forward to seeing all of you we can at the Reunion in July.
Love, Mom&Dad/Gamma&Gampa/etc.

Surfing, eh

I include this picture because I'm pretty sure it was taken just after I fed the fish. Lesson learned: cinnamon rolls + one liter of salt water does not sit well. Don't I look like one of the McKenzie brothers?

Casa Verde Beach

The girls had a blast at the beach this weekend.

Hello all, that having been said here's the latest batch of Demotivators. I hope all of you enjoy them, and remember that I always love to get feedback.

And last but not least, is this little nugget of wisdom.

Book recommendations

I have an awesome quarter this time around. My classes are Modern European History, Russian Film and Fiction, and Organized Crime. My fouth class is an ILE class on Joint Maritime Operations, but I'll leave that one alone. I was talking to Dad and he recommended I let you all know what I'm reading, most of which is outstanding. In European History, we have 8 books, and we've already read two of them:

"The Old Regime and the French Revoltuion" by Alexis de Tocqueville
"Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier" by Jakub Walter
"Earthly Powers" by Michael Burleigh
"History Derailed" by Ivan Berend
"Barbarism and Civilization" by Bernard Wasserstein
"On Violence" by Hannah Arendt
"The Concept of the Political" by Carl Schmitt
"Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder

These go in order from the French Revolution to World War II. I think the best one will be Bloodlands. Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier was really good about the 1812 campaign to Moscow. It's pretty brutal. The Tocqueville book in really interesting, but it's mostly theoretical and might not be of interest to you guys although I'll include a very interesting obeservation he made on America and religion. Keep in mind, this was written in 1856:

"I have sometimes asked Americans whom I chanced to meet in their own country or in Europe whether in their opinion religion contributes to the stability of the State and the mainenence of law and order. They always answered, wihtout a moment's hesitation, that a civilized community, especially one that enjoys the benefits of freedom, cannot exist without religion. In fact, an American sees in religion the surest guarantee of the stability of the State and the safety of individuals." p. 153

There's some interesting talk that explains European socialist leanings, too. Party on.

Ben

Post-Conference Demotivators

Hello all, I apologize again for the delay in posting but I have a good reason for it with Conference weekend and all. I hope that all of you enjoy this latest posting, and I always love getting feedback.

I thought this one was appropriate with this being an election year and all.

This one is a tribute to the current #1 movie at the box office.

I just thought the marquee was hilarious, it makes me wonder if the guy at the theater did that on purpose.

And lastly, with the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster, and the coming re-release of the Titanic disaster from the 90s, I couldn't resist posting this last one.