// n u t t m a n . i n f o //

Update from Afghanistan 4

(I’ve put some more pictures up on flickr!)

Hi all!

In order to be as open as I can i’m now going to post these updates on my website, although I am going to have to be a bit less specific, but i promise it won’t take away from the story. As well I’m posting some new pictures with this update so it should be a good one!

The last I left you was saying I was moving to a new house with no internet. Well many things have changed, yet many things stay the same. The new place was working out excellently for us, and a platoon of ANA (afghan national army) which we started to work with very closely. We spent many long days fixing and improving our compound, as well as the typical patroling around our AO. The situation around this new home was much more tense and fragile than our last, the last time the locals saw any uniformed troops was some americans who ran through the place guns blazing. As such they were quite wary, and so were we because of the high amount of insurgent presense we were expecting. Either way though during all of the days we’ve spent there nothing kinetic (aka fighting) has gone on, and that is relatively typical of the situation here. On one side the people are frightened, impoverished, and seek nothing but safety and prosperity for their families. On the other side is a very small subset of a combination of extreme Salafist muslims (aka seeking to impose an extremist version of islam on the entire world), anti-western mercenaries, and misguided brainwashed (generally) youths that utilize cowardice hit-and-run and ied tactics in order to sway the civilain population of afghanistan and north america to pull their troops out. Then there is us in the middle, an array of nations trying to combine our traditionally conventional forces and conduct combined operations with the young but capable ANA (and young but immature Afghan National Police, ANP), in a barren country with many more needs than just militaristic. Complicated, yes, confusing, only a bit, frustrating, unfortunatly too much.

But back to my situation, I spent my first bit of time there talking a lot to the locals together with the ANA. One of our biggest force multipliers is the combined arms team we’ve got working together, the CIMIC people (aka reconstruction and projects), PSYOPS (aka local messaging), engineers, armoured people, and the afghan government (ANA and ANP). Together we can really do some good, when the people are on board. Sometimes the people aren’t as what was happening with me, either their frightened or don’t realize what we can do and it takes time to convince them through actions that we are there to stay and not gone with the next change in winds. So as I was beginning to make some heady with the locals and get more information/weapon and ied caches and such, the platoon recieved another surprise. We had to move another time!

Now usually moving around is no big deal, but it definetly throws a wrench into the plans (plus we’ve got to fit in our foosball table!). Either way we found ourselves moving not too far down the road, which works out well as the new place is close to the village we’re trying to improve and is more comfortable. I tried to include as many pictures of the place we’re in now, most of the troops live in the mud hut, while the hq staff is outside in the tent. The mud hut themselves are only a bit dusty (and mouse infested), but are really warm at night and cooler during the day (perfect for afghanistan weather). Plus we’re slowly building up some other nice morale boosting amenities, warm water for showers, a dvd player, a gym with actual weights (instead of sandbags), and of course we’ve got the foosball table and dart board plus many board games. The longer we stay here the better it gets.

The other big event that happened was Eid. Its the muslim version of christmas, all of the locals will go home with their families and cook big meals. I had the lucky chance to be at 2 different Eid dinner celebrations with the ANA, where we butchered some local goat and sheep, boiled it in a curry like water, and had it with the best tasting basil i’ve had, of course lots of rice, and huge pomogranetes for desert. Wow it was so delicious, and so much food we all were stuffed! (Though i missed out on the heart and liver soup, and brain pate. Apperently it was delicious, i wanted to try).  After the first Eid meal there was a big dance party, the ANA put on a very scratchy speaker with the usual shrieky arab music. That is when the night started getting a bit gay, you could see that some of the ANA probably joined for the booty, luckily i had to run to attend to the radio. On the second Eid dinner afterwards we sat around and talked for almost 2 hours, it actually was fun sharing stories and jokes.

Another big (ish) piece of news that some of you may know already, but my tour is being extended over here. Since canada seems determined to pull out at the end of 2011, their going to extend the last three tours, starting with mine. The effect they’ve told us is only a 3 week extension. But from what I can infer, the effect it will have on me will turn my 6 month tour into almost 8 months. Since I have to be the first one in and last one out, I’m guessing i’ll be back sometime mid June (though thats a total guess now). All of us here (including me) are not worried about this extention. We all believe in what we’re doing and an extra few weeks isn’t going to hurt anyone in the long run (as long as we maintain our vigilance of course). Plus if I end up getting home then, i’ll get to celebrate my b-day with lots of friends and family. Also loop my post-deployment leave into summer leave and get my vacation mustache growing! Heh, but that is waay far away and i’m really not thinking of that. I tend to look about 72hrs to a week out, keeps me from getting distracted.

Well, i’m off back to the command post to get back to the battle. I can’t believe that its almost December, feels like time is flying! Though its getting really cold now. The nights and morning it might even be 0 and even during the middle of the day its not super intense hot (though still those of us not on mission will try to get some rays on our pasty white farmer-tans). There’s even been a couple big rain and thunderstorms, very surprising as they came up really fast, though don’t usually last long (max an hour), and its nice to wet the ground and get the dust down. Though after we see lots of local activity as they will get out and tend to their crops because water is definetly a scarce commodity that these people are very efficient users of.

Thank you very much everyone for your emails and care packages! I will do my absolute best to answer every message, and every package recieved feels like christmas! (Actually my first happy day here was when i got a nice care package from a grandmother in greenwood, ns. A random one i definetly was not expecting, but definetly a huge lift of the spirits).  Keep sending me updates of all of the great times you will have in the winter. I hear that the west coast is getting an early snow, thats fantastic, wish i could be the for the snowboarding! Please all stay healthy and live everything to the fullest!!

Much love to all, andrew

Update from Afghanistan 3

I’m moving to another place that definetly won’t have any internet.  I
am really thankful for all your replies and best wishes!  Hopefully
I’ll be in touch soon with some more interesting photos.  Stay healthy
and keep having fun!!

Andrew

Update from Afghanistan 2

(All my Afghanistan tour photos are located here…)

Hi all!

Well here I am now almost 1 month on the ground in Afghanistan, and
woh boy does it feel as if I’ve been here for ages! Busy is the
standard around here, which is by far the way we like it as it keeps
the mind (mostly) from wandering to nicer places not in this country
(back home, upcoming hlta, etc). Now that everyone of our guys are
here, we’ve jumped to full bore operations; doing a lot of patrols
(walking and driving), shura’s with local leaders, finding and
exploiting IEDs like their going out of style, and much of the usual
army stuff. When the Vandoos got to my place, the area was a rats nest
of bad guy activity. Through their time and now my time here we’ve
made huge leaps and bounds forward security and development wise. All
of the locals respect what we bring to the table much more than the
Taliban, even though its in an Afghan’s nature to always play both
sides. I’ve found everything about it very rewarding as I can actually
see the progress made toward a better future.

Though not everything is rosy and nice. As you’ve all probably heard
our battle group has already lost 2 really good guys to IEDs. Both
were friends of mine, Justin was a really good friend. I appreciate
all of your rememberance day and well wishes. All of us here are very
proud to be doing this, no one is doubting thier decision to be here,
and all of us know how strongly we are supported by great people like
yourselves back home.

On a lighter note, you may see my photo in the Times Colonist. I
hosted the minister of defense and minister of industry and pamela
wallen from the cbc here. Showed them around my little area of
operations and talked about the local security and development
situation. You may notice me by my large red mostuashe Our corner
of the country is quite a popular one with many of the in and out of
country big wigs, but as usual happens everywhere when it rains it
pours. Everytime they show up it seems as if the rats nest stirs up
and we’re running to trap ‘em again. But its all fun, a wierd kinda
roughin it kind of fun, but we’ve got some good stories. For example,
i had a shura where most of the old men decided they really wanted a
peice of one of my “security advisors” and flirted with him as much as
they could, I could barely hold back the laughter as he was blushing
up a storm trying to explain that he had a wife in canada, though none
of them believed him and some were quite desparte to get him home,
offering up land and guesthouses!

The situation around here seems to continually be up in the air, so I
really don’t know how the rest of the tour is going to look like. But
the one thing I know for sure is I highly doubt I’ll see very much of
KAF, which pleases me because the place just feels like a gigantic
mega base, and really I can do without the extra niceities like fresh
coffee and shopping boulevards. We’ve got cold showers, a mini gym, a
bunch of jimboogily’s (aka junk food), afghan food, occasional phone
access (when it works and there are no operations going on), some slow
internet, dusty hot days and cold desert nights. Whats to complain
about!!

I appreciate very much all of the emails I’ve recieved to date. They
are the best distraction I have around from the daily bump and grind.
I really wish everyone nothing but the best, stay healthy and have a
great time adventuring!

Andrew

Update from Afghanistan 1

Hi all,

Well its day 3 in country now, and i’m right out in the countryside!  This beginning feels like super fast waterslide into a completey different world.  We had a comparitively lush ride from Edmonton to Cyprus on an Air Italy plane, then onto one of canada’s new C117 globemasters for a dizzying 5hr ride into KAF.  24hrs in total and literally on the the other side of the world!

Kandahar Air Base (KAF) is so much more than I was expecting in all aspects!  There is almost 35,000 people there now (and will be way more by the end of my tour), from a lot of different countries (US, UK, Australia, France, Belguim, Netherlands, Germany, to name the ones i’ve seen).  The place is soo built up, tons of buildings, cement walls around everything, lots of vehicles ripping around (the place has morning and evening traffic jams!), a promenade with different stores (timmys, oakley, subway, pizza hut, carpet stores, different country military stores, and more).  On top of it the airfield is incredibly busy, i’d say easily as busy or busier than toronto or montreal international airport.  The very wierd thing is that being in KAF is definetly not like being in afghanistan, the entire time I felt like a tourist.  I didn’t spend very much time there at all, just enough to get the usual briefings, pack my kit, get a bit or rest, then I was on a chinook helicopter out to the countryside.

Things here are alright (i’ve ony fired my weapon at a pop can), we’ve got a lot of food and other goodies, some very slow internet, a cot to sleep on, and even a shower with wamish water.  The temperature is nothing to complain about, feels like a canadian summer, 30ish in the day, 5ish in the night, and not a cloud in the sky.  The locals are all very friendly too, to them we are like cable tv.  I’m in the middle of the relief-in-place here with the Vandoos (who have done an excellent job around here at least), while I wait for the rest of my platoon to arrive.  Things are busy, but definetly not overwhelming.  All in all, its nothing to complain about.

I hope everyone is doing very well, I’ll try to send some pictures when I get another chance.  Stay healthy and enjoy yourselves!  Much love to all!

Andrew

Working hard, hardly working…

Well this has been a very long time coming, but finally I’ve made a new mix! This time I’ve gotten together all of the best trance tracks I’ve found recently that have been making me move and thrown ‘em together. I think the mixing is pretty good, especially considering my very low tech minimal setup. I hope you all enjoy this and I can’t wait to make some more, so please, I’d love all constructive criticism!

I am dedicating this mix to the fantastic group of people I work with everyday. These people have quickly and forcefully become my family away from home, I consider myself lucky to have known them and will try everyday to exceed their high expectations.

Nuttman - At Least Its Not The Red Slide (Sep 2009)

01 - Mat Zo - Rush
02 - Orbital - Halcyon (Tom Middleton Re-model)
03 - Galore - Sunshine (Klems Remix)
04 - John O’Callaghan ft Lo-Fi Sugar - Never Fade Away (Andy Dugiud Mix Edit)
05 - Cold Blue - Mount Everest (Dennis Sheperd Remix)
06 - Above & Beyond present OceanLab - I Am What I Am (Lange Remix)
07 - Tiesto & Sneaky Sound System - I Will Be Here (Wolfgang Gartner Remix)
08 - Adam Nickey - In Motion
09 - Moony - I Don’t Know Why (DJ Chus & Jerome Isma-Ae Superdub Mix)
10 - John O’Callaghan ft Sarah Howells - Find Yourself (Cosmic Gate Remix)
11 - Ronski Speed ft Mque - Are You? (Sun Decade Mix)
12 - Calvin Harris - I’m Not Alone (Tiesto Remix)
13 - Breakfast - Air Guitar
14 - Marc Marberg with Kyau & Albert - Grrreat
15 - Dan Stone - Mumbai (Cressida Remix)
16 - Hybrid - Finished Symphony (Deadmau5 Remix)
17 - Cliff Coenraad - Gone South
18 - Muse - Bliss

Hear my new mix!

Just made a new mix, I think its actually my best and cleanest to date.  Lots of good progressive & trance tunes.  Hope you like it!

Nuttman - Praire Landlocked Sucka

1) Intro - Nuttman Powerful Intro
2) Deadmau5 - Jaded
3) Moonbeam & Tyler Michaud ft Fisher - Love Never Dies
4) Kaskade & Deadmau5 - Move For Me (Extended Mix)
5) Robert Babicz - Dark flower (Joris Voorn Magnolia Mix) (with Optimus Prime)
6) Marco Denmark - Tiny Dancer (Deadmau5 Remix)
7) Emjae - Necromancer (Probspot Vocal Mix)
Morgan Page ft Lissie - the Longest Road (Deadmau5 Remix)
9) Daniele Papini - Church Of Nonsense
10) Deadmau5 vs Freemasons ft Amanda Wilson - Watching Berlin (Popkids Vibes Exclusive Bootleg)
11) Calvin Harris - Acceptable In The 80s (Tom Neville Remix)
12) Diplo - Bay Of Figs / Ward 21
13) Diplo & Buraka Som Sistema - Inna De Ghetto (Remix)
14) Groove Armada ft Stush - Get Down (Donnie Hot Wheel Radio Edit)
15) Hybrid - Finished Symphony (Deadmau5 Remix)

From snowflake to steel edged blade

I may not be a big fan of where I found this, I have to respect the content for what it is … an excellent cut-to-the-chase overview of what it takes to accomplish something great, of the mindset required to do what very few around us do, go the extra mile.

….

Even in the small world of mountain climbing a few guys were convinced that their betters were using EPO, “because there’s no way they could be that much faster than me.” Ski mountaineering racing is the same. Cycling is the same; the best guy in the country goes to an international level race, finishes below the 50th percentile and before checking into his own training/diet/recovery/stress-management/genetics/etc the ego goes into self-preservation overdrive and imagines all sorts of doping practices to be responsible. This is a natural consequence of having been told from childhood, “you are a unique snowflake.”

Well you’re not and I’m not. If you weren’t given the gift you can’t get the gift so the best you can do – if your goal is important – is work as hard as you possibly can, pay attention every hour of every day and then maybe, maybe if you’ve done enough and been smart enough you’ll emerge from the muck of mediocrity to shine a bit brighter than you shone before. Then, upon reflection you might decide your goal is a bit more important so you’ll start paying attention every minute of every hour of every day. You’ll find people who are better than you and you’ll take an empty cup when you meet them. Their example will destroy or inspire you and if it’s the latter you may stay and learn. You might imitate, doing as they do because you’ve already accepted that you do not know best – if you did you’d be leading the group they were trying to join. Perhaps being exposed to their superior ability will drive you to work harder than you thought possible, or necessary. Maybe you’ll overcome your self-imposed (or worse, society-imposed) limitations and shine even more brightly. Wow, you’re getting it: positive reinforcement for hard work and suffering. So maybe you give your goal even more significance and you begin cutting away the ideas and the expectations and the people who you believe prevent you from achieving it. Now you become a real selfish prick, and you begin paying attention every second of every minute of every hour of every day, and you sustain your awareness for weeks and months at a time. You no longer think yourself a unique snowflake, you’re a steel-edged blade shaped like a snowflake and you’re spinning at warp speed. You’re the biggest fish in the pond. You’re a badass. Now you have options.

1) If you think you haven’t yet done enough, and you could do more, you might begin to understand that, the more capable you become, the higher the mountain rises ahead of you. At that moment you may recognize the existence of a legitimately serious group, ahead of you, above you, somewhere you’re not. They are silent, implacable, constantly improving and evolving and because they are truly capable they are accessible to those who are genuine. Among them there’s no defensiveness, no posturing or pretending, and they aren’t interested in anyone else’s. Selection for such a group isn’t based on physical performance alone. Issues of character and commitment, and discipline and persistence balance physical talent. Because you clawed your way out of the muck, were “up all night, dedicated” and maintained interest for long enough to differentiate yourself from the short-attention-span sporting dilettantes who commonly brush up against this group they might accept you as an apprentice. If you empty your cup your chances are better. If you redouble your efforts your odds improve again.

2) If however, you think you’ve done enough or you decide you have “arrived” then you’ll stay in the small pond and stagnate. And when the rot is complete you’ll be just a little bit better than those around you – your initial example will have driven them to reach higher levels of performance – and there you’ll sit, an intellectually bloated, pontificating fuck who once had the juice to work hard but having done so feels entitled to coast on past success all the way to the grave. That’s when you’ll start offering opinions based on the certainty of your own short-lived, amateur experience.

3) And if that limited practice has convinced you anyone better than you is so because of drugs or because they won the genetic lottery or they have better equipment, you may be right. But it’s a lot more likely they are better than you precisely because of your cop-out opinion, because you are lazy, or confused about the meaning of hard work and diet control. Maybe you think self-discipline means drinking two beers instead of six. Maybe you think (OTC) supplements can end-run a bad diet and inadequate recovery. Maybe you think 3×8 of something, anything, is the apogee of training theory. Or maybe you think intelligent training means competing in the gym or on an Internet forum where people are as fit and capable and talented as they anonymously pretend to be. Maybe you read about a workout, do it, think it was easy and exclaim that anyone who found it hard is not as good as you. Well wake up, everyone is a geek to someone and maybe the “300” workout you found easy has been done with more weight, or faster, or with longer range-of-motion. Maybe that named workout doesn’t matter. Maybe the person you compare yourself to doesn’t share your definition of fitness, or happiness or health. Perhaps his or her objective is altogether different. Perhaps, an honest self-assessment would reveal all of your pretense and blind obedience to a particular ideal. Maybe you need self-destruction to lead to self-creation, or reinvention.

(Gym Jones - 300 Opinions)

Mystery Crypto Letter Has Coders Stumped

Now this is super interesting!!!

…

A coded letter sent last year to the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois has the lab, and outside coders stumped. The letter was sent anonymously last March in a hand-addressed envelope via regular mail to the physics lab’s public affairs office.

After sitting on the letter for more than a year, the lab posted it on a physics blog in May, hoping to get help cracking it.

Thousands of sleuths have taken a stab at it so far and have succeeded to crack two parts of the letter. An engineer at the Canadian Space Center used a variation of the base-3 system to uncover a line that reads “Frank Shoemaker would call this noise,” which refers to an 86-year-old retired Princeton University physicist who helped design the magnets used with the lab’s first particle accelerator, known as the Main Ring. Another line in the letter has been cracked to read, “Employee number basse sixteen.”

(from Wired: Threat Level)

How the Colombian hostages were freed

A well executed plan can be an excellent thing (no shots fired during the op!).

” The rescue operation that freed Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other FARC hostages from captivity was months in the planning. It has been hailed by Colombian authorities as “an unprecedented operation that will go down in history for its audacity and effectiveness”.
…
Not a shot was fired in the operation, although Gen Padilla said the Colombian soldiers could easily have killed the 60 guerrillas gathered near the jungle clearing. “We preferred to leave them with liberty and life because, in Colombia, we prefer life over death,” he said. ”

(BBC News article)

New FBI Database to Include Photos and Palm Prints

I worked on a project fingerprint project like this in school lots a years ago, it was fun stuff

…

Lockheed Martin has been tapped by the FBI to develop a system for storing and analyzing more biometric markers to augment the fingerprint collection system the agency already maintains. The Next Generation Identification (NGI) system will store photographs and palm prints, according to a story in Popular Mechanics, and may even include iris scans.

(from Wired: Threat Level)