Spending the Whole Day Planning My Armed Forces

August 7, 2023 Lehan Edirisinghe

Jonathan, gold, Obama-in-Honolulu ambition, and family joking all pass through, but the real work is military planning: aircraft, small arms, artillery, and the conviction that Sri Lanka could become a force the US can count on.

Asking How Jonathan Is Feeling

7:30 p.m. (b)

How are you feeling Jonathan?

Saying Let’s Just Be Cool

7:30 p.m. (c)

Whatever, let's just be cool.

Old Things, Rust and Gold’s Lasting Value

7:45 p.m.

What's old isn't always gold. Sometimes it's rust. However, the reason why we value gold so much is that, it's survived 1,000,000s of years in the earth's crust or in mines or wherever you find it. There's got to be some truth, some value in it, to have survived for so long.

Remembering Honolulu, Obama and Wanting to Serve Sri Lanka

7:45 p.m. (b)

I remember growing up in Honolulu in Hawaii, with Obama. He was somewhere there. I think that one day, I can serve my country too. If a black man could be president of Americ, I know, as a Sri Lankan, a brown guy, I could also.

Having Déjà Vu

8:30 p.m.

I'm having deja vu

Dinner Soon and Working on Armed Forces Plans

9:00 p.m.

It's time for dinner soon

I'm working out our armed forces stuff

Jonathan, PR Firms and Deciding to Be Patient

11:00 p.m.

I'm busy doing my work

Jonathan's okay

He's my best friend

And he's getting fifty

I told a few other pr firms, that he's 50 owner

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but i think the message was ugly, and clear, and sank through

He's kind of gotten the point

I'll just be patient

Hidden

Ranil, Defense Ministry and Armed Forces Plans

11:00 p.m. (b)

I can't imagine myself being defense minister, or why Ranil thinks he should be the defense minister. It's crazy.

I have a lot of plans for our armed forces

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A Full Day Working on Armed Forces Plans

11:15 p.m.

I spent all day, working out my plans for our armed forces. I did quite a lot of work. I work rapidly. A lot faster than most people. If you study myself, and my political alternatives' activity, processing speed, strategies. You'll see massive differences. You can judge it very quickly.

I today, figured out what aircraft I want for our armed forces, through Air Force. Separately, we're getting weapons for our other areas.

I'm tired now.

I did my daily 11 minutes on elliptical machine.

I feel great.

It's a bit of stress.

I'm going to rest or watch TV or movies.

I did do some stuff on army.

We picked the small arms required.

Got to artillery.

I'm thinking on it.

Hidden

Reflecting on a Private-Lifestyle Rumor

11:15 p.m. (b)

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Phil, a Film Reference and Trading Autographs for an Actress

11:15 p.m. (c)

Phil can go in my foreign ministry

I like Emmanuelle

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I've been meaning to trade the Humphrey Bogart autograph that Jonathan Hirshon got, and gave me as his friend, in exchange for Kristel's autograph

Courtney Lane Spaulding, Jonathan and Family Bullying Jokes

11:30 p.m.

Courtney Lane Spaulding :

"Make it nasty!"

***

Hehe Jonathan's niece

Jeez

Jonathan's like my family member

Fun fact. I bully all of my family members.

Feel at home?

It's like the guy is pretty much living with me

Jonathan, Courtney and the Lehan Rocket Ship’s Cool Factor

11:30 p.m. (b)

Jonathan's so cool, even the niece is pretty cool: Courtney

Apparently, the big jet fuel that fuels the Lehan rocket ship is my cool factor

There's like nothing healthy, okay or good about me

But I'm cool

I can rip you off, with my Apple products, build a big Apple HQ

Show it to you

Claim you built that

You'll clap

Sharing a GIF

https://media.tenor.co/-sD-Ea_ShJgAAAAC/steve-jobs-deal-with-it.gif?t=AAYCWSlg4S0KSoqFMA2vMg&c=VjFfZmFjZWJvb2s&itemid=25807583

Billy Bob Thornton, Goliath and Rudolph’s Sleigh

11:30 p.m. (d)

I prefer, and hate how, Billy Bob Thornton's not on this. I feel they cheaped out, cheaped out on quality. I identify with skinny Billy Bob Thornton. And here I am taking out the Goliaths. And hidden in my coat's a red right hand. With my david's shepherd boy sling.

***

Rudolph, with your nose so bright :

Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?

Liking Billy Bob Thornton as Jim Courtright

11:45 p.m.

I liked Billy Bob Thornton in 1883 as Jim Courtright, the sheriff

He's so cool

This guy f***ing sucks and I don't give people a chance

The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”

Tuesday, August 8th.

12:00 a.m.

The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Official Music Video)

https://youtu.be/0J2QdDbelmY

Explaining Jack White’s “Seven Nation Army” Riff and Rage

12:00 a.m. (b)

Jack White uses an effects pedal to make his guitar sound like a bass and howls about a rage so intense, he could take on an army all by himself. Result: the greatest riff of the decade and a massive, career-changing hit that every college marching band in the nation plays to this day.

Jack White told Rolling Stone that the riff was composed while they were soundchecking before a show at the corner hotel in Melbourne. He said “There’s an employee here at Third Man named Ben Swank, and he was with us on tour in Australia when I wrote that song at soundcheck. I was playing it for Meg and he was walking by and I said, ‘Swank, check this riff out.’ And he said, ‘It’s OK.’ [Laughs] He added: "I didn’t have lyrics for it until later on and I was just calling it ‘Seven Nation Army’ – that’s what I called the Salvation Army when I was a kid. So that was just a way for me to remember which one I was talking about, but it took on a new meaning with the lyrics.”

***

Verse 1:

"I'm gonna fight 'em off"

Jack is trying to set up a story that is similar to what The White Stripes were experiencing at the time. They had started to build up a little fame, and then came back home to hear everyone talking about them. The same is happening to this story’s protagonist, and he wants to take action.

Everyone in this case seems to be doubters, haters, people out to get him etc. He’s pissed off enough at them that there’s no more holding back. He’s just going after them.

Also, it was recently discovered that Jack and Megan were exes, not siblings as they had previously claimed. Everyone wanted to hear more about this and Jack doesn’t wanna talk about it. He will fight them off.

"A seven nation army couldn't hold me back"

As a child, Jack White called the Salvation Army, the “Seven Nation Army”. When he first created the riff for this song, he named it “The Seven Nation Army Song”

The meaning for this is that the protagonist’s rage against all these people who are out to get him is stronger than the force of a seven nation army.

"They're gonna rip it off

Takin' their time right behind my back"

According to Jack, himself:

“The song’s about gossip. It’s about me, Meg and the people we’re dating.”

Jack narrows his rage from everyone down to people who go behind his back, especially all the fake friends that enjoy this gossip.

Although Jack and Meg were divorced by this time, “the people we’re dating” could refer to their relationship, or else their other relationships.

"And I'm talkin' to myself at night because I can't forget"

The protagonist can’t get over the fact that the people he trusted crossed him like that. Even if he wants to.

"Back and forth through my mind, behind a cigarette"

The protagonist keeps trying to forget about all the gossip going on around him, or act like it wasn’t a big deal but it’s not working. So he turns to drugs to try and wipe this memory out. Which makes sense since Jack White is a notorious smoker.

Explaining “Seven Nation Army,” Gossip and Jack White’s Divorce

12:00 a.m. (c)

[Pre-Chorus]

And the message comin' from my eyes says, "Leave it alone"

When The White Stripes first broke out onto the scene it was thought that Jack White and Meg White were brother-and-sister. Later on it was revealed that they are not related but, in fact, ex-husband and wife!. It is a subject Jack White does not like to talk about in interviews, so this line could be hinting at his reluctancy to discuss it.

[Instrumental Chorus]

“Seven Nation Army” is dominated by its iconic main riff, played incessantly throughout the song (with the exception of the two-bar pre-Chorus that immediately precedes the instrumental chorus).

Throughout each verse, starting with its respective intro, the riff is repeated on simulated single bass note – which is actually Jack White’s electric guitar filtered through an effects pedal that sounds the notes an octave lower. The familiar tones of the electric guitar are not heard until the brief chords in the pre-chorus build up to the riff/chorus, which is loudly played in all of its six string slide guitar glory.

Ironically, this is not only Jack White’s most famous riff, but is his most sung chorus, as millions of sports fans worldwide demonstrate throughout the year.

***

[Verse 2]

Don't want to hear about it

Every single one's got a story to tell

"Everyone knows about it

From the Queen of England to the Hounds of Hell"

This could be speaking to how Jack started to feel a little irritated when news started to spread about his divorce with Meg. He feels like everyone knows about it, and it’s all they ever talk about when it comes to The White Stripes, even though they put their differences aside to focus on the music.

In an interview Jack claimed that his relationship with Meg was an open secret. They claimed to be siblings to keep the focus on the music rather than the couple’s relationship:

“When you see a band that is two pieces, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, you think, "Oh, I see…” When they’re brother and sister, you go, “Oh, that’s interesting.” You care more about the music, not the relationship—whether they’re trying to save their relationship by being in a band"

"And if I catch it comin' back my way, I'm gonna serve it to you

And that ain't what you want to hear, but that's what I'll do"

He’s going to kick the ass of the next person who brings up the topic referenced in the prior verse. This verse also introduces the theme, continued to the end of the song, of feeling he is without a home and retreating from his current situation to a safer world.

[Instrumental Chorus]

[Guitar Solo]

Explaining Wichita and Going Home in “Seven Nation Army”

12:00 a.m. (d)

[Verse 3]

"I'm goin' to Wichita"

Wichita is a town in Kansas. Considering the upcoming line about “bleeding” this is a possible reference to Bleeding Kansas, where abolitionists clashed with supporters of slavery as to whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or slave state.

However, in the context of the song the speaker is more likely answering the need he feels to “find a home,” (from the previous verse) as he considers hiding away from all of the drama.

Wichita is a smaller city, smack in the center of a U.S. map, the middle of nowhere, and it’s somewhere that the speaker could get lost and “work the straw.”

"Far from this opera forevermore

I'm gonna work the straw"

He is contemplating leaving the music business and entering a more “normal” life on a farm due to the overwhelming stress in his life.

The word “straw” combined with “Wichita” may also be a reference to the Grateful Dead song “Jack Straw” and its titular character: “Jack Straw from Wichita.”

"Make the sweat drip out of every pore" (Genesis 3:17-19)

Jack would rather go out into the fields and do hard manual labor instead of dealing with the bullshit that comes with even the small modicum of fame he’d achieved at this point in his career.

"And I'm bleedin' and I'm bleedin' and I'm bleedin' right before the Lord

All the words are gonna bleed from me and I will think no more"

[Pre-Chorus]

And the stains comin' from my blood tell me, "Go back home"

The speaker has considered hiding away from the drama (“going to Wichita”) and living a life with a normal job (“work the straw”).

However, he also realizes that this choice would crush his creativity and leave him worthless. He would “sing no more.”

Instead, he resolves to “go back home,” away from Wichita, and take on the bullshit. To further reinforce his resolve, that guitar-riff pops in now louder than ever.

Note also the “bleeding before the Lord” language calling to mind images of Christ’s crucifixion, including the imagery of profuse bleeding. This, in turn, harkens back to “The Ballad of John and Yoko” in which John Lennon sings about how the press will “crucify him” about his marriage to Yoko Ono. The idea that this bleeding leads to a message to “go back home” could also be a reference to Christ’s subsequent ascension to heaven following his crucifixion.

[Instrumental Chorus]

Air Force Trainer Crash and Safer Pilot Training

12:30 a.m.

I'm sorry to hear an Air Force trainer aircraft crashed, killing two pilot officers. It's very sad. I think that a good solution is to use computers to first train the pilots, then they try to fly. We need new, safer purpose built planes as well. It's very sad. I hope we study it, to learn what happened, study the blackbox, then make sure that this can't happen as easily again. A lot of accidents happen in air.

T-7 Red Hawks, Ukraine and Planning Pilot Training

12:30 a.m. (b)

My gov't's buying Boeing-Saab (Swedish firm) T-7 Red Hawks for our trainer aircraft as like Anthony Blinken (secretary of state for Biden administration) says to Fareed, the Ukraine air force, seeking F16s, they need time to train.

We're planning ahead for this eventuallity

Blinken says Ukraine has reclaimed about half of land Russia seized

https://youtu.be/xAjK1zJEnXI