Monday 30 December 2013

Topic: Books and Reading

I intend most of these introductory "Topic" posts to be detailed overviews of one thing or another that I intend to write about over the long term. I'm going to make an exception with this one by being pretty direct. I like to read, but I don't read as many books as I'd like. I also have way too many books, and will be attempting to divest myself of some of the chaff in the coming weeks. That's the gist of it. More to come.

Saturday 28 December 2013

Topic: Arabic

Beyond being useful for the defense, foreign policy, and international business fields, the Arabic language is immensely useful in a variety of academic disciplines, such as world history, the history of science, philosophy, astronomy, chemistry, and ethnography, among others. I've found Arabic to be an invaluable skill for my own professional, academic, and personal interests.

I started studying Arabic in 2005, shortly after completing my undergraduate studies. My initial instruction utilized the Ahlan wa Sahlan textbook and audio lessons by Mahdi Alosh. I completed an initial, condensed, first-year Arabic program during the Summer of 2005, and continued a sporadic regimen of independent study. In 2009, I got a bit more serious with the independent study program as a result of a friend's urging to join him in doing ten thousand repetitions of something in 2009; he did knife draws, and I did Arabic flash cards. I don't think I made it to ten thousand flash cards viewed, but I was pretty solid for the first six or seven months of 2009, and I've tried to continue regular study since then. Over the years, I've either used or amassed a massive stockpile of stuff to use in my studies.

First and foremost, there are the reading resources. For example, Google Translate isn't perfect, but it's pretty valuable. Then, there are the Desert Sky Arabic vocabulary lists, and a discussion of Arabic in Frank Herbert's "Dune". It's interesting how the unfolding events of history can impact everyday life, because several years ago, my list of links included this defunct link to a list of Libyan proverbs by way of Moammar Qaddhafi's propaganda organization, the Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation. Fortunately, I had the foresight to save both the Arabic phrases, and the poorly written Libyan receipes, both of which will probably be posted here at one point or another. As likely as this is to get a "Boo! Hiss!" reaction from the spectators out there, Wikipedia's another great text resource, with its Glossary of Islam, glossary of Christian terms in Arabic, guide to Algerian Arabic, and list of Arabic star names.

Listening exercises are also helpful - in fact, quite important. Sources of listening material are a bit more scarce, but they're out there if you look hard enough. The best one I've found is the BBC's Xtra podcasts, which are just shy of half an hour in duration, discuss current events, and are broadcast in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), as opposed to one of about a dozen regional dialects. The BBC also runs a live stream, though it's mostly just the Xtra shows plus a five minute news bulletin every half hour. The U.S. Department of State also runs Radio Sawa, though it's mostly music, which isn't terribly helpful for study. After my 2012 trip to Muscat, I discovered that the Sultanate of Oman's Ministry of Information runs a live stream that's not only fairly reliable, but has a variety of programs for both adults and children, the latter being somewhat useful for students of Arabic. Finally, QuranEnglish.com offers podcasts of the entire Quran; although it's classical Arabic, that tends to be at least similar to MSA. (In all honesty, if you're going to be studying Arabic and the Middle East in any substantive way, you're eventually going to have to familiarize yourself with the Quran and Quranic Arabic.) The really valuable stuff - and let me tell you, it's pretty rare - are the materials which combine audio and text. There are two fantastic examples of this: ArabicPod.net, and the Defense Language Institute's (DLI) Language Survival Kits (LSK). Not surprisingly, ArabicPod tends to be a bit colloquial, and the DLI tends to be fairly narrow in its scope, but they're both valuable in their own ways. The combination is outstanding, particularly when you take the dialects available from the DLI LSKs and combine them with the colloquial vocabulary and grammar instruction from ArabicPod.

My efforts to learn Arabic, and my use thereof, are a big part of my life. Expect to read more about both.

Thursday 26 December 2013

Topic: Podcasts

One of my first orders of business upon moving to Virginia a few years ago was to start listening to podcasts. I upgraded my IT equipment and bought a Sansa Connect. For several reasons, I eventually replaced it with a 4GB Sony Walkman (the mp3 player, not the ancient audiocassette player), and later a 16GB Sony Walkman NWZE345BLK that's still my primary audio player.

I absolutely love podcasts. I've always loved listening to the radio, and although podcasts don't have the same sort of charm as actually tuning in a radio station, they have the advantage of being far less perishable, offering the same content on a much larger scale, and being more accessible to both listeners and potential broadcasters. For the most part, I use podcasts to keep up on current events, but I've also found all sorts of other great podcasts - both single time sensations, and exceptional serials - over the last few years. I've tended to listen to a lot of podcasts during many hours spent doing desk work over the last few years, and I got out of the regular listening habit while living in Scotland. I'm looking forward to getting back into that habit as I transition back into a more professional schedule over the next couple of months.

On any given work day, my playlist tends to feature selections from any of the following extremely diverse sources.

  • The Michael Medved Show
  • BBC World Service: Global News (Site; RSS)
  • BBC World Service: Newshour (Site; RSS)
  • BBC Radio Five: Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews (Site; RSS)
  • Guardian Unlimited: Prime Minister's Questions (Site; RSS)
  • Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting: Voice of Justice
  • Center for Strategic and International Studies: Events (Site; RSS)
  • The Heritage Foundation: Past Events (Site; RSS)
  • KCL War Studies Podcast (Site; RSS)
  • BBC World Service: Xtra (Arabic) (Site; RSS)
  • ArabicPod
  • Orkney Talking Newspaper (Site; RSS)
  • KSL: The Nightside Project (Site; RSS)
  • The Faroe Islands Podcast (Site; RSS)
  • The History Chicks (Site; RSS)
  • The Sporkful (Site; RSS)

    I'll be posting about other podcasts every now and again. You'll be amazed by some of the weird, wild stuff I'll be able to bring to your attention.
  • Wednesday 25 December 2013

    A Brief Introduction to Tom

    Followers of my other blogs may have a good idea about me. For everyone else, here's a bit of an introduction. I'm tempted to tell you all about myself, but I think I'll settle for giving you a few personal details now, and my posts can fill in the rest.

  • I'm in my early thirties. I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and I've also lived in California, Virginia, the United Kingdom, and the Persian Gulf.
  • I'm a security professional by trade and training, and a historian and strategist by education. I speak excellent English, adequate Arabic, and I've forgotten most of the French and German I learned in school.
  • I love America. Lots of people travel the world and decide that America isn't that great; I've travelled the world and decided that America is even more amazing than I'd originally believed.
  • Like C.S. Lewis, I consider myself "a very ordinary layman of The Church of England".
  • I harbor unhealthy obsessions with Orkney, Oman, and Wyoming.
  • I own a first generation Kindle Fire that I'm trying to turn into my own personal Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
  • I've had a workout plan I've intended to pursue for years, and I hope that a more routine lifestyle will allow me to exercise more regularly. That would also facilitate my goal of getting Accelerated Freefall certified.
  • I love to read. I don't do near as much of it as I'd like, but I have a reading list, and a massive list of books that I own (many of which I need to unload, but that's another story). Among other things, I enjoy reading ancient literature, and I love reading stuff that's in the public domain that I can get for free on the Internet.
  • Sometimes, I wonder if I should have been a cartographer. I fell in love with maps and geography when I was a kid. Now that I'm older, I've supplemented that fascination with a couple of GPS handsets and a wealth of online resources.
  • Over the last couple of years, I haven't had occasion to do much cooking; even so, I've amassed a variety of recipes from one source or another, and I occasionally enjoy cooking.
  • I love radio. Specifically, I love shortwave radio. The state of technology being what it is today, that means that I also love podcasts.
  • I'm interested in shipping container housing, and I've done preliminary work to design my shipping container dream house.

    If any of that interests you, you'll probably enjoy what's yet to come.
  • Thursday 12 December 2013

    The Transition Begins

    Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Ahlan wa Sahlan, and Welcome.

    Some readers may know me from my other blogs, Joshua Tree Security and Operation Highlander. The former is my professional blog dealing with security and risk management issues, while the latter documented my time as a postgraduate in Scotland. I also ran another blog from 2004 to 2009. After I shut that first blog down, I missed blogging, and my friends repeatedly encouraged me to start blogging again. The JTS and Highlander blogs have been a great way to get back into the habit. With Operation Highlander drawing to a close, I wanted to start a new blog to cover topics that weren't appropriate for the JTS blog.

    Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Beyond the Joshua Tree.

    When I quit blogging in 2009, I did so for a number of reasons. My original blog consisted primarily of commentary on current events, and discussion of my personal life. It was often too personal, and the drive to stay current on my news commentary led me to sink a lot of time into blogging on any given day. I also felt that the original blog had run its course. I think I've found a pretty good balance with the Highlander blog, and I intend for BJT to follow a similar format. I intend to dispense with the news commentary - there's quite enough blather about politics and current events on the Internet, and nobody's going to come here for the sake of reading mine. Five years of blogging taught me that, really, a blogger's most important (and reliable) audience is himself.

    I'm in the process - the very slow process - of putting together a bona fide website. Once that's sorted out, I intend to turn this blog (and the JTS blog) into components of the website. In the mean time, stay tuned.