Are you watching closely?

I must be the least luckiest person (again, I don't believe in luck, I use the word so that you'll catch my drift) in the world. Well, I know there's some kid in Africa starving to death, but let's be frank, if we keep comparing ourselves to Africans, we're just making ourselves feel better. Poor guys...

Anyway. As you can see, Metallica and Lamb of God are touring together after Metallica releases their new album, Death Magnetic. I know. I laughed at that title too. This should be the best thing in the world to me, since I would sell my left kidney to be in the presence of any one of them. I mean, now BOTH of them are touring together??!! Lamb of God's just there to support the tour, but still. WOW. I keep drifting off, sorry.

Here's the bad news, for me anyway,
1) it's in the US and Canada
2) I haven't renewed my passport
3) Mostly before and during SPM, but a few dates in January
4) I don't have ten thousand bucks for a 2way ticket to the US and another 1000 for the concert ticket.
5) I'm going to have to wait for them to come to Singapore for any remote chance of seeing them
By that time, Lamb of God would be back in the studio, preparing for THEIR new album.

Ah, you can't always get what you want, right?
But sometimes, you get what you need.

At least there'll be 2 new awesome albums out.

OMG!

I just realised, that Metallica album is out in September!
There goes SPM!

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Eff all that.
This second half of the post is to commemorate the brave Navy Seals, and Taliban forces that died in the battle for Murphy's Ridge in June 2005.
Both sides fought for their own stupid reasons,
neither more noble, neither more stupid.

Although, in a way, the Taliban did suffer badly.

The Navy Seals are the most elite fighters in the world.
They can do 450 push ups non stop and then head out into freezing waters, carry logs as heavy as telephone poles in teams of 4, and snipe with the marksmanship of a modern Robin Hood.

Seriously, just read the book Lone Survivor you'll know what I mean.
The only other fighting force in the world that are of their stature are the British SAS.

Here's a summary of what happened in the battle.
A Navy Seal team, consisting of Mike Murphy, Matt Axelson, Danny Dietz, and Marcus Luttrell,
were asked to take out a Taliban leader, which they located in a Village in the Hindu Kush.
Luttrell was one of the teams snipers. The team found a spot to take out the target and waited there. After a while, out of nowhere, a goat herder and his son turned up. The goat herder refused to answer their questions, and had an apparent hatred for the Americans. Still, the Seals had to choose between executing these herders in cold blood or letting them go to the Taliban.
In the end, they choose to let them go. Which was a big mistake. Half an hour later, a Taliban army of around 200 men, armed with AK47s and RPGs emerged from the village.

I can't spoil what happens next, you'll have to read the book.

But what I can tell you is this.

Danny Dietz had his right thumb shot off. He continued firing. Minutes later, he was shot in the base of the neck. He couldn't speak, but continued taking out the enemy. He was shot twice more before he finally died.

Mike Murphy was the first one shot. He was shot in the belly, and still giving out orders and shooting. At the end of the battle he had been shot several times. And he was still shooting back.

Matthew Axelson was shot in the face and the guts. He and Luttrell were the two last Seals left. They hunkered down behind some boulders with Axelson only left with his pistol and 5 reloads. Seconds later, an RPG hit the boulder, sending Luttrell flying. In the aftermath of the battle, the Americans found Matthew with most of his bullets spent. Meaning, even after he was shot in the face, guts twice, and hit with an RPG, he picked up his pistol and shot out 3 magazines of bullets.

Luttrell was the only survivor.

He crawled and climbed for 7 miles. In the mountains, without food or water. With shrapnel all over his left thigh, a gunshot wound to that same thigh. A broken nose, 3 broken vertebrae, and a torn rotator cuff. He survived.

His team of 4 US Navy Seals took on 200 Taliban warriors.
3 Navy Seals dead. 130 Taliban warriors dead.
You do the math.