Bob Keith:
Editor; Blogger; Cultural Writer; and, "chief cook and bottle washer."
Dedicated to:
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution; the market place of ideas; and, media in the spirit of the Fourth Estate.
Tenets -
Go forward into the World and investigate: first as a human being guided by the higher spirit of one's choosing; second as a significant other of one's family and the persons of one's choosing; third as a citizen of the nation of one's choosing; and fourth, as a writer.
Iraq Project 2
Active Project (in debriefing phase)
- Study of the region, people, culture, and war - February and March 2008
Kurdistan {(Turkey / Iraq) in-county}
- Expansion of Iraq Project 1 -
To my readers:
The Janesville Gazette has been nice enough to post my February and March 2008 dispatches and pictures from Northern Iraq on their blog page archives. Go to, From Janesville to Iraq . They have done a nice job and their help made it easier for me while in-country. The computers in Iraq are not always up to building blogs and Web pages.
Thanks, Bob Keith
To listen to one of the longer radio interviews after returning from my second trip to Iraq click on the link below:
WTDY 1670 AM Madison, WI "Morning Pulse," with Glen Gardner "Bob is back!!"
March 25, 2008 (interview link) - B.K.
Iraq Project 1
- Study of the the region, people, culture, and war - September to November, 2006
Kurdistan {(Turkey / Iraq) in-county}
(travel journal, film, and photos in edit stage)
See the http://journal.cooldadiomedia.com/ travel blog and some of Bob's work in Turkey and Iraq. As well there is Vietnam dispatches and pictures. Also visit the Vietnam Page and Iraq Page on this Web Site
The Vietnam Project (ongoing)
- Study of the country, people, culture, and war -
Bob was in the U.S. Army in Germany in 1975 when South Vietnam collapsed and America pulled out its last helicopter. All through the years the small historical connection to Vietnam always loomed in the background for Bob. Although the United States had been involved in Viet Nam for at least 15 years militarily and ten years before that supporting the French war there, few Americans could explain much about Viet Nam. Former soldiers of the Viet Nam war often have a capsulated story relating to a specific outpost in a specific year. The void in information about Viet Nam remained 30 years after the war.
Always looking for ways to kill many birds with one stone, he used his interest in the Vietnam era as material for graduate studies as an older returning college student. To find out for himself just what Vietnam is like so many years after the American Vietnam War there, he went to Vietnam in January 2005 and spent two weeks becoming familiar with Saigon. Bob also traveled out to Los Angles in April 2005 to visit the community known as Little Saigon. This community is strongly influenced by the exodus of Vietnam by so many after the American war there. He traveled again to Vietnam in August of 2005 . He also visited Laos and Eastern Thailand. On the August 2005 trip his wife Heide joined him on his journey to photograph for him. They both returned in August 2006 to Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand; that trip was dedicated more to leisure than research. They found however that just mingling with the people often provides more insights than hardcore research.
Bob suspects: the American urban legends about the Vietnam War; the thousands of diverse personal experiences of soldiers, the Vietnamese people's experience, journalist's perspectives, people touched by the lengthy war years; and, the many movies and documentaries (many now over 30 years old) cloud the reality of just what Vietnam really is like now. Much then, of what we draw our collective opinion about the subject is 30 to 40 year old information. Add in the fact that if each American were asked to make a top-100 list of places to visit, Vietnam would most likely not even be on many of them at all (misconceptions about Vietnam most likely being some of the reasons). Also, although world travel has gotten more accessible to many, distance still is an issue. As during our war there, it is still a long ways away from America. All these things lend to an element of guessing when referring to current Vietnam.
Using skills gleaned from living in Germany in the Army and his trips to Viet Nam, Bob segued his cultural writing to the active war zone of Iraq. It is his opinion that the void in information about the people and culture of a region (Iraq) where we are fighting a war, is repeating itself in history again. Determined not to let the lack of information trend happen again (at the very least at a personal level) he visted Iraq in the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2008. He has a pending third project in Iraq if funds and time become available.
Iraq Project III
Pending Project if funds and time become available (in facilitation phase)
- Study of the region, people, culture, and war -
Kurdistan {(Turkey / Iraq) in-county}
- Expansion of Iraq Project 1 and 2 -
Future Project Ideas
Return to Viet Nam:
Mekong Delta, Vietnam / Koh Tang, Cambodia
- Bicycle or scooter around the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and then visiting the island of Koh Tang, Cambodia - the site of the last American battle of the Vietnam War -
Return to Viet Nam and Iraq:
Ambulance ride-a-longs and filming of emergency response in selected Kurdistan areas, and selected Vietnam cities.
Return to Iraq as an Embed:
Attaching and embedding with a Wisconsin Guard or Reserve military unit stationed to Iraq.
Study of the trek around the Great Lakes:
Travel around the Great Lakes by car and document the culture.
Return to New Orleans:
From 2001 to 2005 Bob and wife Heide spent annual time in New Orleans. This project would document how the city has evolved after Hurricane Katrina.
Journey to Afghanistan:
Travel to Afghanistan much like the first trip to Iraq - basic trip to see if it can be done.
Bob's Travel Blog
Click on Bob's Travel blog at:
http://journal.cooldadiomedia.com to see some of his observations and unscientific findings about Vietnam travels and the recent Iraq trip. Please remember this Blog is always a work in progress and information will be added when Bob feels there is something thoughtful to contribute.
Bob's Daily Blog
Click on Bob's daily blog at Daily Dadio:
http://dailydadio.cooldadiomedia.com and
read about some of Bob's pet peeves with questionable ritualisms, norms, paradigms, and much other stuff.
Click on the Best of Daily Dadio Page to read some selected postings such as:
Fourteenth Job of Bob - Part VII - I killed the grass on the "Grassy Knoll"
posted December 27, 2007
And, also click on the Best of Daily Dadio Page to read some the the Daily Dadio postings placed on wisopinion.com
Vietnam In-country Video Clips First impressions of Saigon in January, 2005 - Street SceneEast side of Saigon looking past the river to downtown, January, 2005Heide steps into Saigon from Tan Son Nhat Airport, August 2005
Iraq - February / March, 2008 Erbil, Iraq - the capital of the Iraqi Kurds Photo by Bob Keith, February 27, 2008  Layers of Sulaymaniyah, Iraq Photo by Bob Keith - February 29, 2008 |
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Bob Keith
Vung Tau, Vietnam
Editor / Writer / Blogger
Heide Keith
HCMC Saigon, Vietnam
Photographer / Consultant
Photo by Bob Keith
Dahuk, Iraq, 12 October 2006
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Bob will give
presentations about
his observations in
Kurdistan and Iraq.
No corporate media agenda, no embedded military security concerns. Bob functioned on his own in Iraq. He owns all his material and photos. He will tell you what he saw. You draw your own conclusions.
Bob will also give
presentations about
his observations from Viet Nam and Laos 30 years after the American war.
email:
keithrg13@cooldadiomedia.com
Upcoming Presentations
by Bob Keith
schedule open
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Past Presentations
by Bob Keith
Subject topics
Iraq-Turkey-Kurdistan
"Culture in the War Zone"
Racine Public Library
Racine, Wisconsin
Thursday, March 5, 2009
6:30 p.m.
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq, Turkey, Kurdistan"
Lake Geneva Library
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Thursday, November 6, 2008
6:30 p.m.
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq"
Fairfield Grange
Richmond Town Hall
Richmond, Wisconsin
Monday, October 20, 2008
7:30 p.m.
"Northern Iraq"
University of Wisconsin - Rock County
Janesville, Wisconsin
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Allen Hall, Room 106
6:30 p.m.
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq"
International Association of Business Communicators
Edgewater Hotel
Madison, Wisconsin
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Noon
"Communicating in the War Zone - Iraq"
Business and Professional Rhetoric Class
Lakeland College
3591 Anderson Street
Madison, Wisconsin
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
6:00 p.m.
"The Importance of knowing the culture where one fights a war - Iraq"
Hedberg Public Library
Janesville, Wisconsin
August 12, 2008
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq, Turkey, Kurdistan"
Golden "K" Kiwanis
Janesville, Wisconsin
June 25, 2008
"Culture in Iraq"
Madison Public Library
Meadowridge Branch
Madison, Wisconsin
June 17, 2008
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq"
The Gathering Place
Milton, Wisconsin
Breakfast Bunch
May 20, 2008
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq"
Madison Area Technical
College, Wisconsin
Foreign Policy Class
November 26, 2007
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq"
University of Wisconsin
- Whitewater
Communications Dept.
November 12, 2007
"Culture, Symbols, Actions, and Meaning in the War Zone - Iraq"
Golden "K" Kiwanis
Janesville, Wisconsin
July 18, 2007
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq"
The Janesville Academy
for International Studies
Janesville, Wisconsin
May 4, 2007
"Factors in choosing to travel to and write about, photograph, and film culture in a war zone - Iraq"
Rotary Club of Beloit,
Wisconsin
April 24, 2007
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq"
Janesville, Wisconsin
Noon Lions
March 6, 2007
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq"
Beloit, Wisconsin Lions
February 8, 2007
"Culture in the War Zone - Iraq"
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Radio Spots
WXXM MIC 92.1 FM
Madison, WI
Lee Rayburn
April 30, 2008
(go to podcasts - Lee Rayburn Show, April 30 Extra [link] - for full interview)
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WTDY 1670 AM
Madison, WI
"Morning Pulse"
with Glen Gardner
"Bob is back!!"
March 25, 2008 (link)
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WCLO 1230 AM
Janesville, WI
"The Stan Milam Show"
November 15, 2006
January 12, 2007
October 31, 2007 (link)
March 20, 2008 (link)
August 12, 2008 (link)
January 28, 2009 (link)
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WCLO 1230 AM
Janesville, WI
"The Stan Milam Show"
Live interviews from Iraq
February 28, 2008 (link)
March 12, 2008 (link)
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WEKZ 93.7 FM
Monroe, WI
"The Morning Mess"
with Scott Thompson
July 26, 2008
January 6, 2008
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WORT 89.9 FM
Madison, WI
"In Our Back Yard"
with Rob McClure
December 13, 2006
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WORT 89.9 FM
Madison, WI
Recorded Interviews from Iraq
"In Our Back Yard"
February 27, 2008
March 5, 2008
March 20, 2008
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WFAW 940 AM
Fort Atkinson, WI
"The Morning Magazine"
with Michael Clish
February, 2007
February 14, 2008
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See upcoming presentations listed below in center column
Also find links to radio interviews listed below in center column
Also see links to articles about Bob's Iraq work below in this column
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Blog entries:
Cool Dadio Media now has a daily commentary Blog.
Go to -
Daily Dadio Blog
Recent Featured Entries:
A Tale of Two Cultures - Beloit Autorama, Green County (Monroe) Cheese Days
Rock County Beef Producers Cookout with entertainment by Joe Roberts and the County Classics
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Latest Travel Blog Entries
Read -
Journal entries and see some pictures from the September -November 2006 Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and Turkish trip; and, as well the February and March 2008 trip to the same region. They are in the process of being entered a few at a time. Click the below link to get to Bob's Travel Blog.
Bob's Travel Blog
Please Note: Neither Cool Dadio Media nor Bob Keith control the advertising that attaches itself to the Blog.
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Email:
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Kurdistan, Turkey, and Iraq
Kurdistan / Iraq Page
Vietnam
Vietnam Page
- Pictures from the August 2006
Vietnam / Laos trip
- Links to Vietnam Web pages
- Helpful books
- Videos clips from July 2005 Vietnam / Laos trip
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Articles written about Cool Dadio Media and Bob Keith
Paul Soglin: Waxing America, click on Archives (more) and go to December 18, 2006 and click the next-page arrow and read Barry Orton's take on Cool Dadio Media and Bob's work in Iraq; or try page-2 link and scroll down to "Janesville Blogger Reports from Iraq, Vietnam, Milton"
December 18, 2006
Beloit Daily News
read Hillary Wundrow's take on Bob's work in Iraq
"Janesville man visits Iraq"
December 6, 2006
Wisconsin State Journal
read George Hesselberg's take on Bob's work in Iraq
"i wanted to find out for myself"
December 18, 2006
The Janesville Messenger
"To Iraq and Back (and Back Again)"
by Sarah Zeller
February 3, 2008, Page 7
Beloit Daily News
"Man gives unfiltered view of Iraq"
by Hillary Gavan
February 28, 2008
The Janesville Gazette
"Janesville man blogs during trip"
by Gina Duwe
March 1, 2008
The Clarion
"Inside Iraq"
(excerpts from Iraq Project II 2008 dispatches)
page 4
editor Lindsey Hinkel
April 2, 2008
Beloit Daily News
"Extreme traveler returns from second visit to Iraq"
by Hillary Gavan
April 5, 2008
The Badger Herald
"Citizen journalism to the extreme"
by Logan Jaffe
May 1, 2008
GazetteExtra.com
"Cover to Cover" Blog
"Connecting to the World Outside"
by Stacy Vogel
August 14, 2008
Beloit Daily News
"Janesville man tells of Iraq travels"
by Hilary Gavan
October 11-12, 2008
The Janesville Messenger
"Travels in Iraq"
by Messenger Staff
October 12, 2008
Page 9
Weekender - Walworth County, Wisconsin
"Eyewitness - An up-close look at life during war in Iraq"
by Weekender Staff
Oct. 30 - Nov. 5, 2008 issue
The Janesville Gazette
"Gazette staffers pick favorites of '08"
by Gazette staff
December 31, 2008
Reporter: Anna Marie Lux
"A traverler with a camera"
More Articles
The Janesville Messenger
"Alone in Iraq"
by Elizabeth Woolery
November 29,2006
(This article won an award by the Wisconsin Community Papers group - see the Janesville Messenger article: "Black and White..." by Rick West, November 11, 2007, and read down to the "State honors" section of the piece to the "Alone in Iraq" reference.)
The Janesville Gazette
"Firsthand information"
by Anna Marie Lux
December 21, 2006
The Clarion
"Bob Keith: An independent,
American voice from Iraq"
by Denise Rocha
Madison Area Technical College
January 17, 2007
The Janesville Gazette
"A traveler with a camera"
by Anna Marie Lux
March 30, 2008
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Books being written On-Line by Bob Keith [click, follow, and please comment]:
Jobs of Bob
Fish Fry Across Wisconsin
Dangling Earrings and AK-47s: Stray American in Iraq
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Cool Dadio Media
