#maxwell afb

[lightthiscandle]

7/4/62: "Astronaut Visits Alabama: Astronaut Malcolm Scott Carpenter (right) stopped at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery yesterday en route from Langley AFB, Virginia, to Houston, Tex. With him is Maj. Earl W. Dennis, Assistant Maxwell operations officer. Carpenter made his triple orbit of the earth May 24."

I always like it when an astronaut shows up somewhere and everyone goes, "Look! An Astronaut! We must take An Official Photo!"

[suckygardener]

No TV: Island Delight

Listening to an Elton John greatest hits CD, the song "Island Girl" combined with lunchtime hunger led me to Island Delight, a lunch eatery nestled in a strip mall across the street from a trailer park on Air Base Boulevard, a stone's throw away from the Day Street gate at Maxwell AFB and the log trucks and commuters of Bell Street. It is an undreamy part of town, but this eatery is doing the best with what's it's got.

Island Dreams does not have a TV, and  judging by the bars on the windows, it would not be wise for the place to get one. Why give potential thieves the temptation?

Located in an industrial-urban blight area of west Montgomery, the restaurant doesn't have much of a view, with tractor-trailers barreling past on the boulevard. The joint shares a strip mall with a check-cashing place and a laundromat, and it doesn't have much in the way of parking.

The interior decor is kind of rough-hewn and cheap, with fake banana trees, posters and the yellow and green paint job giving the eatery a low-rent feel. A sign pointing to the cashier tells the guests, "Pay Eddie Here." When I asked who Eddie is, the ladies behind the counter told me the sign was left over from previous tenants. Though Eddie has long since fled, the "Pay Here" sentiment remains, with whoever is stationed at the register the designated Eddie. Diners go to the front, order their meal, and pay. Since the place is pretty reasonably priced, lunch-goers don't have to pay Eddie much. For about $8, I got enough food for two meals.

The snooty Montgomery-ites, the movers and shakers sipping $9 drinks while extolling the virtues of golf courses and briefs, are not likely to find their way out here to this dive. It's just as well. Island Dreams does plenty well without them. Being that it's a lunch place, the martini-drinkers would be hard pressed to find anything stronger than ginger beer, which is a yum-yummy, office-approved soda among their collection of hard-to-find imported sodas.

Island Dreams has cornered the market in the neglected local Caribbean food category, providing palatable dishes of plenty at a reasonable price. It also seems to specialize in takeout, from what I've seen, so there are plenty of seats available for those not afraid lunching in a working-class atmosphere. 

I tend to gravitate toward the jerk chicken, and even a small portion is more than enough for me, with two sides, rice and ginger beer and a dipping sauce from the chicken. The meat is flavorful, but the spices won't blow you away. Probably the least impressive part of the meat and three is the rice mixed with pinto beans, but the spice intolerant may find the rice to serve as an excellent palate cleanser. There's nothing wrong with the rice; it just isn't special. I also had a potato salad, which is white, mayo-based, not mustard-based the way Southern potato salads tend to be. It's a nice, respectable potato salad.

They serve plantains, ox tongue (if I remember correctly), curry chicken and other island goodies. Daily specials are written on a white-erase board. To really do a better review of this restaurant, I need to try more than the jerk chicken. I just can't seem to deviate from it here, because I don't eat out frequently, particularly at lunch, so when I do, I tend to stick with my old favorites. So you are stuck with a limited lunch POV.

[kratzer-blog-blog]

Just a day in the life...

Earlier this year, I mentioned how writing for a living has kind of dried up the old blog a bit. So, as I was looking through piles of unfinished blog drafts I realized that I've never posted anything I've written for work on my blog. So for all of you guys and gals who have thought, I wonder what that guy Chris does at work everyday, or the people who have scoffed when I told them I was a writer, get ready to have your mind BLOWN.

Sports affects global culture, author explains

by Christopher Kratzer Air University Public Affairs 6/3/2011 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The Air Command and Staff College and the Air Force Culture and Language Center Professional Development Program recently co-hosted a program featuring Dr. Andy Markovits, author and professor of comparative politics and German studies at the University of Michigan. Dr. Markovits lectured about his new book, "Gaming the World: How Sports are Reshaping Global Politics and Culture." The book looks at the common language of sports and how it affects both global and local culture. "My books are very autobiographical. They aren't about me, but they reflect concerns that I've had for most of my life. This book came about by my decades-long interest in sports and how sports in North America are very similar and yet very different from sports in Europe," Dr. Markovits said. "It stems out of my larger interest in comparing the U.S. and Europe." Dr. Markovits also spoke at a roundtable discussion about his book, "Uncouth Nation: Why Europe Dislikes America." The book offers an in-depth analysis of rising anti-Americanism in Europe, while looking at the sentiment from a historic perspective. "The point is, the United States is somehow inauthentic to Europeans, and because of that, they view the U.S. as inferior, but they also view them as immensely powerful, not only powerful but attractive," he said. "It's not only an issue of seeing the U.S. as a culturally inferior country, because it is a country that really matters; one that is, not only powerful, but powerful in its very being." Being brought up bi-continental gives Dr. Markovits a unique viewpoint on the U.S.-Europe relationship. These experiences influenced the subject matter of his writing. "As a young boy in Vienna, I saw how the European elites have consistently seen the United States as garish and uncultured," he said. Dr. Mary Hampton, associate dean for academics for the Air Command and Staff College resident program, is a personal friend of Dr. Markovits and coordinated his visit to Maxwell. "It was a very successful visit, and I think he was able to reach a wide audience and address a number of pertinent issues for us at ACSC, the [Air Force Culture and Language Center] and around the schools," Dr. Hampton said. "All in all, this visit accomplished the mission of bringing in a very well-known expert on topics relevant to culture and globalization, both of which are pertinent to out curriculum." Attendees were delighted with the program. Lt. Col. Paul Hoffman, a professor at ACSC in the leadership and strategy department, was excited that the school was able to bring in such a distinguished speaker. "It was great of Dr. Hampton to get Dr. Markovits here. With him coming from the University of Michigan, renowned in the field of political science, it was [beneficial] we could get that level of speaker here," Colonel Hoffman said. "I was also excited to hear his thoughts on sports and how it bonds Europe and the United States. He had written on it previously in 'Uncouth Nation,' so it was pretty [interesting] seeing how we can advance that idea and tie the two together."