Idolator

Kid Rock, the rap-rock loverboy (and probable bald eagle-shtupper), is spending the holidays with the soliders in Iraq, where he can best keep an eye on all the Pamela Anderson posters in their barracks. He's also been blogging, and recently posted this Christmas Eve dispatch:

I'm not good at this blog thing, I think the pictures speak for themselves. I am very proud and happy to be here with some of the finest men and women in the world on Christmas eve. (PS, from what I've seen of this country it's a mess and smells like shit... we're doing a lot of good things here but it doesn't change that fact!!) These troops bust their asses here and that's the real story, long hours, 140 degree summers and freezing nights this time of year, walking around with 60 or 70 pounds of gear, bathrooms and showers are worse than any ghetto I've ever stayed in.

The showers I used had no warm water, not to mention the sand that coats your skin or if it rains it's an absolute mud pool! I'm more thankful than I've ever been in my life and appreciative of these folks. When I've done USO tours before, it's kind of laid out for us. I'm glad I'm really getting a feel for what these warriors go through and how they really live.

It's not exactly Homage to Catalonia, mind you, but "it's a mess and smells like shit" is the sort of real-deal reportage you're not going to get from Seymour Hersh or Joe Sacco. Next week: Rock heads to Afghanistan, where the hotel lobbies "smell kinda assy."

Blogs from Iraq: Christmas Eve in Iraq [kidrock.com]