words: Bang
Every once in a while, thanks to the miracle of Blogging, you read about someone who is frightened by guns (or has been taught to fear them, or to hate them, or subconciously associate them with worthless people) but who embraces their fear or hatred and actually tries to learn about them.
Such a person is 'redmemory1', a young woman in Nevada who has "issues".
Because she felt that her life was chaotic, she started a 'new blog' a few weeks ago, and began to bare her soul. Her angst was painfully on display from the first day, but somehow a few people (including Kevin of The Smallest Minority) picked up on her blog and reinforced the process with encouraging words.
A friend introduced her, in the gentlest possible way and by bits and pieces, to guns and ammunition as objects. He took her to the range and gave her what must have been some very high-quality instruction on gunhandling and other shooting techniques. He seems to have done everything right, because a few days later he again took her to the range and she reports that she was becoming . . . perhaps not inured to the startlement of having people shoot guns near her, but at least able to control her reactions. She reported that she didn't really consider it 'fun', but 'necessary'.
I'm extremely impressed by this young woman, for several reasons.
First, because she is able to write about the issues in her life which prevent her from enjoying her own existance, and then because she is taking steps to address these issues, one at a time.
Next, because she is willing to take us with her as she makes major changes in her life, and her attitudes, and writes intelligently and cogently. (I wish I shared her skills in this area.) It's perhaps the epitome of courage to bare one's soul in public, but she manages it without obvious embarassment or false bravado. Her courage is exemplary; her candor, remarkable.
We have all experienced fear, but few of us are willing or able to address it so openly.
Of course, my congratulations to this brave young lady, and my thanks to Kevin for bringing her to our attention. I think everyone reading this article should go to the redmemory1 website and read the story this remarkable woman has to tell.
If this was all I had to say, I would end this article now (and I probably should), but I do have some other things to say which are too extensive to to post in the comments section of her blog. Please forgive the verbosity of the following.
Fear of loud noises:
I've been shooting for over 50 years. Rifles, for the first 30 of them, and mostly pistols for the rest of the years. I shoot in competition, and haven't actively hunted game since 1980-something. Every year I shoot between 40 and 50 matches, some of which extend over two or more days. I've officiated at shooting matches, I've served as an infantry platoon sargeant in Vietnam, and I suppose I've been around more guns and shooting than most people. But there are times when it makes me nervous to be around the sudden, unexpected noise of someone shooting a gun.
Fear of loud noises is probably one of the basic instinctive fears we are born with. Infants are frightened by loud noises; it's not only because they don't understand why the noises occur, but because these sounds seem intrinsically threatening.
As we age and gain experience, we learn to separate those sounds which are reasonable to expect from those which are not. That doesn't mean that our lizard-brain will stop telling us to RUN when we hear them; it only means that our developing intelligence can identify the noise, correlate it to the environment, and reassure us that the fear we feel is not necessary. It's a learning experience, and it takes time to reprogram your subconscious. This reprogramming is not a perfect mechanism, so sometimes you will be frightened by gunshots and so will I. I've learned to live with it and to laugh at myself when I feel unreasonable fear . . . but I don't try to lose the fear because when I hear loud noises at night, in my neighborhood while I am reading in bed, I still feel the fear. It's a survival mechanism, and we can let it control us or we can control it.
Fear of Guns:
Because I was raised in a household where guns were always present, where they were regarded as tools, hobby items or a way to feed the family, I've always accepted guns on that basis.
Not everyone has been as fortunate as I. Some people are raised in households where they learned that guns are evil, guns are tools of destruction, and nobody really NEEDS to own a gun.
Worse, some learn that only 'bad people' have guns. Guns are for killing, and Good People will have nothing to do with guns.
Even the word is ugly. Guns. What an awful word. If 'guns' were called 'flowers', would they be less threatening? Probably not. "A gun by any name . . . "
My Dear, Sweet Lady, SWMBO (an acronym for "SHE - Who Must Be Obeyed", please forgive the not-so-private joke) was raised in such a household. A preacher's daughter, she learned that nobody has a NEED to own a gun.
When we met, we were immediately infatuated with each other. When she ("SHE") learned that I shoot pistols in competition, for fun, she made the conscious choice that she liked me "anyway", and allowed the precious tentative relationship to continue.
It was difficult for her, when I would leave her on Saturday mornings to spend the day at the range. I was careful, when I said goodbye at her door, to always remind her that she was invited to join me at the range.
After some time, she decided to go with me to pistol matches, because we were losing the best half of each weekend together by not being together.
For three years she followed me around muddy pistol ranges in all weather, helping occasionally by picking up brass so we could reload the ammunition for the next weekend. She met the people I spent my free time with, and decided that "shooters" were not a bunch of iconoclastic, misogynistic red-necks who spent their weekends swilling beer while perched on the tailgate of pickup trucks making racist jokes. Actually, my friends and acquaintances turned out to be pretty nice people.
Eventually, she said "Screw this! Get me a gun. I'm tired of being the Brass Wench, I want to shoot cardboard targets and let those guys pick up MY brass for a change!"
(Any woman that articulate just naturally DESERVES to have her own gun.)
Since that date, she has evolved to shooting progressively more complicated and competition-oriented guns. We go to pistol matches almost every weekend, all year 'round. She has a competition gun in her personal gunsafe, and a defense gun under her pillow . . . we don't notice it when we sleep, but we're comforted in the knowledge that it is there and available should it be needed, if we ever think about it at all.
We each shoot between 10,000 and 20,000 rounds a year, and she helps reload the ammunition from brass which we BOTH pick up off the range during each weekend's competitive match.
And yes, the other folks we shoot with do pick up her brass for her, and carefully place it in her 'brass-bag'. I brass for her, too, and she continues to do her share of work at the matches we attend. She's now a Certified Range Officer (has been for several years), and you can frequently see her officiating. In fact, she has officiated at National matches in the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA),. Everybody likes her, because she's fair but honest.
She has also decided that there are many good and sufficient reasons for honest people to 'have a gun'.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Monday, November 28, 2005
EU warned on 'secret CIA jails'
BBC NEWS | Europe | EU warned on 'secret CIA jails'
What a bunch of maroons!
Remember the comments from yesterday's article about VPC going after the Barrett's .50BMG as the first step toward confiscation of ALL firearms?
This is the same thing.
The European Union has established itself as King SH*T on The Continent, they've got their constitution more-or-less established (all 999 pages of it, or whatever) and now they're starting to flex their muscle.
Europeans, DO pay attention to "the Man behind The Curtain".
These euro-central emperors are out to make eunuchs of you all.
This is only the first step. If they can take away your voting RIGHTS for one reason, they can take away your RIGHT to be a part of the decision-making process for ANY reason.
At that point, your 'rights' become 'privileges', which can be abrogated arbitrarily by whomever happens to be in power at the moment.
If I was a citizen of the European Union, I would be very nervous today. The gloves have come off, the EU leadership (who elected them?) have revealed that they have the power to turn YOUR state into a protectorship.
If this goes on, there will eventually be a few 'states' (France, Germany, Spain, Italy?) who are making the decisions for all of the other 21 'states' in the EU. The rest of you won't have a voice.
They will make all of the decisions for you.
In the words of almost every Infantryman in the history of the world:
The question of "Secret CIA Jails", and which countries allowed CIA planes to land on sovereign territory, are so much smoke and mirrors. The real question is who can take away your sovereign rights, and who really runs your country.
I'm sure glad I don't live in a EU member state.
UPDATE:
I don't talk like that "in real life", I don't need to use vulgarisms here.
Although it loses a lot of impact when you replace a vowel with an asterisk, and although it doesn't change the obvious meaning, at least I can make a token gesture to clean up my act.
Sorry, it won't happen again. [He said, smothering his glee again.]
EU warned on 'secret CIA jails'
Reports claim al-Qaeda members are being held in clandestine jails
The European Union's top justice official has warned that any EU state found to have hosted a secret CIA jail could have its voting rights suspended.
What a bunch of maroons!
Remember the comments from yesterday's article about VPC going after the Barrett's .50BMG as the first step toward confiscation of ALL firearms?
This is the same thing.
The European Union has established itself as King SH*T on The Continent, they've got their constitution more-or-less established (all 999 pages of it, or whatever) and now they're starting to flex their muscle.
Europeans, DO pay attention to "the Man behind The Curtain".
These euro-central emperors are out to make eunuchs of you all.
This is only the first step. If they can take away your voting RIGHTS for one reason, they can take away your RIGHT to be a part of the decision-making process for ANY reason.
At that point, your 'rights' become 'privileges', which can be abrogated arbitrarily by whomever happens to be in power at the moment.
If I was a citizen of the European Union, I would be very nervous today. The gloves have come off, the EU leadership (who elected them?) have revealed that they have the power to turn YOUR state into a protectorship.
If this goes on, there will eventually be a few 'states' (France, Germany, Spain, Italy?) who are making the decisions for all of the other 21 'states' in the EU. The rest of you won't have a voice.
They will make all of the decisions for you.
In the words of almost every Infantryman in the history of the world:
"You poor bastards, you are SO F*CKED!"
The question of "Secret CIA Jails", and which countries allowed CIA planes to land on sovereign territory, are so much smoke and mirrors. The real question is who can take away your sovereign rights, and who really runs your country.
I'm sure glad I don't live in a EU member state.
UPDATE:
I don't talk like that "in real life", I don't need to use vulgarisms here.
Although it loses a lot of impact when you replace a vowel with an asterisk, and although it doesn't change the obvious meaning, at least I can make a token gesture to clean up my act.
Sorry, it won't happen again. [He said, smothering his glee again.]
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Dastards at AP
I'm telling you, I'm getting sick and tired of the malicious anti-RKBA propaganda coming out of the Associated Press. The dastards!
ATTACK on AMERICA - Military
Read on:
That's right, folks. We're talking Registration here.
Next step: confiscation.
I kind of like the AP photo.
It's better than the photo that 60 Minutes provided.
das·tard (dăs'tərd)A few days ago I ran across, and bookmarked, the following article:
n.
A sneaking, malicious coward.
[Middle English, probably alteration of Old Norse dæstr, exhausted, from past participle of dæsa, to languish, decay.]
ATTACK on AMERICA - Military
U.S. government gave armor-piercing sniper rifles to Afghanistan, bin LadenWups! What's this, they're quoting VPC?
By D. IAN HOPPER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – More than a decade ago, the U.S. government sent 25 high-powered sniper rifles to a group of Muslim fighters in Afghanistan that included Osama bin Laden, according to court testimony and the guns' maker.
The rifles, made by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc. of Tennessee and paid for by the government, were shipped during the collaboration between the United States and Muslims then fighting to drive the Soviet Union from Afghanistan.
It is uncertain whether the weapons could still be used, experts say, but the transaction further accentuates how Americans are fighting an enemy that U.S. officials once supported and liberally armed.
In a trial early this year of suspects in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa, Essam Al-Ridi, identified as a former pilot for bin Laden, said he shipped the weapons in 1989 to Sheik Abdallah Azzam, bin Laden's ideological mentor. The weapons had range-finding equipment and night-vision scopes.
During the late 1980s, the United States supplied arms worth $500 million a year to anti-Soviet fighters including Afghanistan's current Taliban rulers, bin Laden and others. The supplies included a range of weapons from small arms to shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
Al-Ridi, an American citizen born in Egypt, testified that Azzam liked the rifles because they could be "carried by individuals so it's made in such a way where you could have a heavy cannon but mobile by an individual."
While in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Al-Ridi said he saw bin Laden several times with Azzam.
Ronnie Barrett, president of Murfreesboro, Tenn.-Barrett Firearms, likened sale of the .50-caliber armor-piercing rifles to the supply of the Stinger surface-to-air missiles given to anti-Soviet guerrillas in Afghanistan.
"Barrett rifles were picked up by U.S. government trucks, shipped to U.S. government bases and shipped to those Afghan freedom fighters," Barrett said.
The sale was publicized by the Violence Policy Center, gun-control advocates who want for more restrictions on the sale of high-powered weapons such as the specialized Barrett exports.
"These .50-caliber sniper rifles are ideal tools for terror and assassination," VPC analyst Tom Diaz said.
Read on:
Firearms expert Charles Cutshaw of Jane's Information Group said he was more worried about the Stingers than long-range sniper rifles.
"It seems to me that there are easier ways for a terrorist to get at a high-value target than this," Cutshaw said. "If they wanted to bring down an aircraft, the best way would be to bring it down with a Stinger." Guerrillas using Stingers were credited with shooting down more than 270 Soviet aircraft.
The sniper rifles are "sort of overkill" for shooting people, Cutshaw said, although the Irish Republican Army has used one to assassinate British officials. More appropriate targets, he said, would be vehicles or fuel tanks.
The rifles could be used only with U.S.-made ammunition, but such ammunition can be obtained in neighboring Pakistan, Cutshaw said.
The Barrett rifles sold for $5,000 to $6,000 each, and both Barrett and Cutshaw had doubts they would still work due to dust and a lack of spare parts.
This is an old, old issue that the AP/VPC Complex has no intentions of letting die. And on the surface, it seems to be an attack on the US Government (in the persons of Reagan and Bush, sitting presidents in "the late 1980's".)
Judging from an article released November 25, 2005, these dastards aren't just targetting Republican Administrations, they're also targetting the manufacturer, Ronnie Barrett:
From the Cleveland, Ohio, "Kingston Daily Freeman", the Cedar Rapids, Iowa "Gazette Online" (and also from the Salem, Oregon "Statesman Journal", which caught my attention), there's another article on the same subject which is quite a bit newer:
Gunmaker Arms the Military and the Stars
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) -- When U.S. soldiers need to penetrate a tank's armor from a mile away, they count on a weapon that evolved from the garage tinkering of a former wedding photographer.
The .50-caliber rifle created by Ronnie Barrett and sold by his company, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc., is the most powerful firearm civilians can buy. It weighs about 30 pounds and can hit targets up to 2,000 yards away with armor-piercing bullets.
That kind of power has drawn a customer base of gun enthusiasts, Hollywood actors and Barrett's most loyal buyer, the U.S. military, which has been buying Barrett's rifles since the 1980s and using them in combat from the 1991 Gulf War to the present.
But the powerful gun has drawn plenty of critics, who say the rifle could be used by terrorists to bring down commercial airliners or penetrate rail cars and storage plants holding hazardous materials.
For years some state and federal lawmakers have sought to limit or ban the gun's sale, as California did this year.
Tom Diaz, a senior policy analyst with the Washington-based Violence Policy Center, says the guns should be more regulated and harder to purchase. The gun can now be bought by anyone 18 or older who passes a background check.
"They're (.50 caliber) easier to buy than a handgun," Diaz said. "These are ideal weapons of terrorist attack. Very dangerous elements gravitate toward these weapons."
Let me see, we have two different AP writers, and articles which were published a month apart (10/16/2005 and 11/25/2005), but they both prominently feature quotes from Tom Diaz of the VPC. What else does Rose French have to say, that D. Ian Hopper left out? The majority of Barrett's sales come from military orders, for armed forces and police departments in some 50 allied countries. Every branch of the U.S. military uses the rifles, and the Department of Defense last year spent about $8 million on his firearms, Barrett said. Barrett estimates about 1,000 of his rifles - which each cost between $3,500 and $10,000 - have been used in both the 1991 Gulf War and the current war in Iraq. The guns are used by most civilians for hunting big game and in marksmanship competitions. Civilian sales are crucial to business because military and police orders can fluctuate year to year, Barrett said. Really? BARRETT says the rifles "... are used by most civilians for hunting big game ..."? I've looked in Barrett's webpage, and so far haven't found the statement. I don't know, maybe there IS some civilian who uses the .50 BMG for hunting big game. If so, he's an idiot. A 30-pound rifle isn't easily accomodated while hunting big game, even if you're an Army Sniper enjoying a leave. And it sure doesn't do if your goal is to preserve meat or a trophy. Actually, a .458 isn't appropriate unless you're looking to bag a Buff or an Elephant, but it's your choice. This is America, it's a free country. If you want to overgun, if you want to pack all that extra weight (rifle AND ammunition), go ahead. Remember, each round costs about five bucks and weighs about a quarter pound, but that's your problem. No, I doubt that Barret endorses the .50 BMG for hunting big game, but he probably sell you one if you were a law-abiding civilian. To continue with the article: "It's like, what does a 55-year-old man do with a Corvette? You drive it around and enjoy it," said Barrett, 51, whose customers include doctors, lawyers, movie makers and actors. "I know all the current actors who are Barrett rifle shooters, some Academy Award-winning people. But they don't publicize it. They love to play with them and have fun. Shooting is very fun." A 1999 investigation by the U.S. General Accounting Office found the rifles were available on civilian markets with fewer restrictions than those placed on handguns. Ammunition dealers were willing to sell armor-piercing bullets even when an agent pretending to be a buyer said he wanted the ammunition for use against armored limousines or "to take a helicopter down." Other reports have observed the rifles have made their way to terrorists, drug cartels and survivalists. Joseph King, a terrorism expert at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said terrorists could use the weapon to take out a plane. "I don't understand what good a .50-caliber is going to do you," King said. "I don't understand any civilian use of it. The only thing it's good for is for military or police application. You can't really hunt with it because it would destroy most of the meat." Barrett and gun advocates say the gun's power has been exaggerated and doesn't pose a threat to citizens because the weapons are too expensive and heavy to be used by criminals. Barrett and other gun advocacy groups heavily lobbied the state of California, the first state to pass a law making it illegal to make and sell the gun. Several other states and some federal lawmakers have introduced similar legislation. Despite these efforts, Barrett says sales are up nearly $6 million from last year thanks to recent military and police orders. The New York City Police Department recently announced it's training officers in its aviation unit to use the rifles, which will be on board some of the department's helicopters to intercept potential attacks from boats or airplanes. In 2002, the Army placed an order for 4,200 of the guns, Barrett said. Other manufacturers now make the gun, but Barrett dominates the market. In the next few years, he said he plans to more than double the current number of employees, 80, and the size of his 20,000-square-foot gun-making facility located in Murfreesboro, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. A lifelong gun enthusiast, Barrett never went to college and worked as a commercial photographer and reserve deputy for years before he started tinkering with the .50-caliber Browning Machine Gun in the early 1980s. The heavy recoil of the Browning made it nearly impossible to shoot without it being mounted on a turret, but Barrett's rifle reduces recoil to the point where it can be shoulder-fired, while the weapon rests on a bipod. Barrett says he was nearly $1.5 million in debt at one point trying to get the business on its feet. He sold his first guns to the military in the late 1980s and the long-range weapons gained popularity after they were used to attack Iraqi tanks in the 1991 war. Barrett's son, Chris, who works with his sister at their father's business, said he watched his dad build the gun in the family garage and is not surprised by the growth and success of his father's business. "He's worked hard all his life. I think he would do as well at anything he pursued," Chris Barrett said. "He's not one of these big suits, a CEO at the top of one these big money machines. He's not one to back down. He can make anything work, no matter what he's doing." Last April I spent some time talking about Ronnie Barrett and his magnificant rifle, and the problems he was experiencing with attempts to illegally ban his product. There's not much new here, except the astounding notice that the Dastards are still trying to use his company as a toehold to ban more firearms for completely specious reasons. But I will give you a link to Barrett's website, and also another one which will take you directly to his April 27, 2005, open letter describing the situation and his response to these attacks. I encourage you to go thence, and read carefully, if only to savor such comments as this:
(I've included the entire text of the article so you don't have to encourage the publisher and AP by patronizing their websites.)A handful of people that makes up the VPC are solely responsible for the big lie on .50’s, claiming fantastic destruction capabilities. They manipulate fear by claiming terrorists will use these rifles on targets of our infrastructure. “They will shut down our airports in flames” they claim. VPC’s Tom Diaz refers to them as “super guns” lying to his dupable group of politicians, concealing the facts that there are many rifle cartridges that are comparable in performance (those will be added to the list in phase two). He is boldly telling these officials and all who will listen that the risk of terrorist attacks on these targets will be solved with the banning of powerful rifles, in this case, the .50 caliber rifle. In reality, terrorism is complex and will be defeated with improved intelligence. In this instance, the officials voting to ban an inanimate object like a rifle proves them ignorant of the problem of terrorism and is wasting time and resources.
Read the whole thing.
I am so angry with those Dastards!
Aren't you? And if not . . . why not?
UPDATE: November 29, 2005
Here's another article from Australia titled "The .50 caliber rifle and it's threat to airliners". This is a write-up from the January 6, 2005 "60 Minutes" shot on the .50 BMG. Ed Bradley is the interviewer.
The interviewee is . . . guess who?
That's right, Tom Diaz of VPC.
Here's the Money Quote:
Diaz is hoping Congress will pass a law requiring that the names of owners of .50-caliber rifles be kept on file.
"No one in the U.S. government knows who has these guns," he says.
That's right, folks. We're talking Registration here.
Next step: confiscation.
I kind of like the AP photo.
It's better than the photo that 60 Minutes provided.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Shooting Stars
Sunday, November 20, 2005
The Tri County Gun Club presented a "Points Race" match featuring some of the most interesting and challenging stages we've seen at a club match for a long time. We weren't surprised that the stages were so innovative. Match Director Keith Tyler (double Master class in both Open and Limited 10) likes to shoot stages that test your skills, and all of the stages here do exactly that.
We like to encourage difficulty in Points Race matches, because these are the means by which the Columbia Cascade Section determines who wins the limited number of invitations to compete in the USPSA National Championships. Each section is allocated a few invitations, and if you win your class during the regular competitive year you are assured a slot at the Nationals. Sure, you still have to pay your entry fee, but you don't have to put your name on the waiting list.
Besides, it helps maintain the highest quality of competition, and the competitive energy, through-out the season.
There were so many great stages here, it's impossible to give you a good picture of them all, so I've chosen to demonstrate just one stage: "Find 'Em and Shoot 'Em".
This stage features a lot of movement, both static and disappearing IPSC targets, Pepper Poppers, US Poppers, steel plates and the Texas Star. You shoot on the move (if you can), shoot from a ramp, shoot from a raised platform, and through a port in a Bianchi Barricade.
I've chosen three competitors to portray. The run times vary from 30 to 40 seconds so the download Windows Movie Media files are set at 4mb on these. It's impossible to maintain the detail needed to see what's happening at lower resolution. The original movies are about 8 to 10 MB.
The first competitor is . . . me. The Geek does okay, except that at the exit end of the ramp/platform there are two Pepper Poppers downrange on the left. Geek shoot, hits, shoot ... HE MISSED! Caught off-balance, he had already stepped off the end of the ramp; but the rules say you have to engage the poppers from the ramp, making it necessary to back up again. Oops! Missed again. It took 3 shots to knock the last popper down.
The second competitor is SWMBO. She moved good, keep the pistol mounted so she could be ready to shoot as soon as she reached her chosen next firing point, and didn't waste much time on the poppers. She got a little behind the Texas Start, but did fine on the two plates. (One of the plates is hidden behind the Bianchi barricade so it's not obvious why all the shooters seemed to hesitate before engaging the Star. All three knocked down the left-hand plate before shooting the Star.)
The third competitor is Fish. He did a fine job on all the IPSC targets and poppers, credibly on the Star but rushed the last plate and wasted a couple of shots before knocking it down . . . much to his own chagrin.
A few notes about the videos:
I set these all to music with a heavy beat to emphasize the adrenalin rush you experience when shooting this kind of stage. I particularly like the Cajun beat of "Rave On", and I've been looking for a video segment that exactly matches the length and style of the film. Unfortunately, I've set the sound pretty high on the music, and it sometimes obscures the sound of the shots. Every competitor here got two hits on the disappearing IPSC target from the entry ramp, for example, but you can't hear when they are engaging it. And by the way, this is all LOUD music, so be prepared to be blasted when you play it because IPSC is a LOUD sport.
Also, I'm still experimenting with the best ways to film IPSC stages. Because this stage is set up very 'deep' (a long distance from the starting box to the last shooting position), I tried 3 different techniques: zoom the video so you can see the Star, leave it at normal magnification and shoot the whole stage from the starting position, and set it at normal and follow the shooter down the stage. This last technique provides a very bouncy point of view, so part of the time the camera is jiggling while I try to walk and film at the same time.
Be patient, I'll learn my craft eventually. I'm having fun filming, editing and presenting the videos.
Finally, someone commented that his computer couldn't find one of the videos presented in an earlier article. Sorry, I've checked all of the links before I publish and, when a problem is reported, I check them again. If you have problems finding a video, please email me directly (at the address listed at the bottom of the blog) and I'll see if I can help you find them.
As usual, these videos aren't exactly modem-friendly. Each 4MB video will take you several minutes to download at 56baud. If you're using an windows-based PC, be sure that your default viewer for WMV files is set for the Windows Media Player. If you're using a Mac . . . you're on your own. I don't know anything about Apple Computers. Anybody here using a Mac who can provide some helpful advice? If so, it would be helpful if you could include instructions in the COMMENTS section.
UPDATE: November 27, 2005
These movies, and some photos, are also available on Jerry the Geek's Photo Gallery in the album titled Shooting Stars.
The Tri County Gun Club presented a "Points Race" match featuring some of the most interesting and challenging stages we've seen at a club match for a long time. We weren't surprised that the stages were so innovative. Match Director Keith Tyler (double Master class in both Open and Limited 10) likes to shoot stages that test your skills, and all of the stages here do exactly that.
We like to encourage difficulty in Points Race matches, because these are the means by which the Columbia Cascade Section determines who wins the limited number of invitations to compete in the USPSA National Championships. Each section is allocated a few invitations, and if you win your class during the regular competitive year you are assured a slot at the Nationals. Sure, you still have to pay your entry fee, but you don't have to put your name on the waiting list.
Besides, it helps maintain the highest quality of competition, and the competitive energy, through-out the season.
There were so many great stages here, it's impossible to give you a good picture of them all, so I've chosen to demonstrate just one stage: "Find 'Em and Shoot 'Em".
This stage features a lot of movement, both static and disappearing IPSC targets, Pepper Poppers, US Poppers, steel plates and the Texas Star. You shoot on the move (if you can), shoot from a ramp, shoot from a raised platform, and through a port in a Bianchi Barricade.
I've chosen three competitors to portray. The run times vary from 30 to 40 seconds so the download Windows Movie Media files are set at 4mb on these. It's impossible to maintain the detail needed to see what's happening at lower resolution. The original movies are about 8 to 10 MB.
The first competitor is . . . me. The Geek does okay, except that at the exit end of the ramp/platform there are two Pepper Poppers downrange on the left. Geek shoot, hits, shoot ... HE MISSED! Caught off-balance, he had already stepped off the end of the ramp; but the rules say you have to engage the poppers from the ramp, making it necessary to back up again. Oops! Missed again. It took 3 shots to knock the last popper down.
The second competitor is SWMBO. She moved good, keep the pistol mounted so she could be ready to shoot as soon as she reached her chosen next firing point, and didn't waste much time on the poppers. She got a little behind the Texas Start, but did fine on the two plates. (One of the plates is hidden behind the Bianchi barricade so it's not obvious why all the shooters seemed to hesitate before engaging the Star. All three knocked down the left-hand plate before shooting the Star.)
The third competitor is Fish. He did a fine job on all the IPSC targets and poppers, credibly on the Star but rushed the last plate and wasted a couple of shots before knocking it down . . . much to his own chagrin.
A few notes about the videos:
I set these all to music with a heavy beat to emphasize the adrenalin rush you experience when shooting this kind of stage. I particularly like the Cajun beat of "Rave On", and I've been looking for a video segment that exactly matches the length and style of the film. Unfortunately, I've set the sound pretty high on the music, and it sometimes obscures the sound of the shots. Every competitor here got two hits on the disappearing IPSC target from the entry ramp, for example, but you can't hear when they are engaging it. And by the way, this is all LOUD music, so be prepared to be blasted when you play it because IPSC is a LOUD sport.
Also, I'm still experimenting with the best ways to film IPSC stages. Because this stage is set up very 'deep' (a long distance from the starting box to the last shooting position), I tried 3 different techniques: zoom the video so you can see the Star, leave it at normal magnification and shoot the whole stage from the starting position, and set it at normal and follow the shooter down the stage. This last technique provides a very bouncy point of view, so part of the time the camera is jiggling while I try to walk and film at the same time.
Be patient, I'll learn my craft eventually. I'm having fun filming, editing and presenting the videos.
Finally, someone commented that his computer couldn't find one of the videos presented in an earlier article. Sorry, I've checked all of the links before I publish and, when a problem is reported, I check them again. If you have problems finding a video, please email me directly (at the address listed at the bottom of the blog) and I'll see if I can help you find them.
As usual, these videos aren't exactly modem-friendly. Each 4MB video will take you several minutes to download at 56baud. If you're using an windows-based PC, be sure that your default viewer for WMV files is set for the Windows Media Player. If you're using a Mac . . . you're on your own. I don't know anything about Apple Computers. Anybody here using a Mac who can provide some helpful advice? If so, it would be helpful if you could include instructions in the COMMENTS section.
UPDATE: November 27, 2005
These movies, and some photos, are also available on Jerry the Geek's Photo Gallery in the album titled Shooting Stars.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
France 'Back to Normal'
Ambassador Says France 'Back to Normal'
Here's something really interesting: France appears to have become Dorothy and Toto, saying "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain".
Where's my animated *.gif file of the Three Monkeys . . . "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" . . . when I really need it?
This, in a nation where people who actually work are guaranteed job-security, where endemic socialism guarantees that nobody will go hungry and medical insurance is available for all citizens, contributing or not.
(emphasis added, because It's The Right Thing To Do.)
Right. It's not a "riot" unless it costs more than the latest major (read: most newsworthy) American Riot. Could it be that they're just jealous because American Rioters are more efficient?
Here's something really interesting: France appears to have become Dorothy and Toto, saying "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain".
(11-21) 11:50 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --Right. All of the rioters (see below) were Protestants, by definition.
The violence that swept predominantly Muslim communities in some 300 cities and towns in France for three weeks has abated and "we are back to normal," French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte said Monday. He said mostly teenagers had acted out of social and economic hardship. "It was not about the role of Islam in France," he said.
We never saw any link, direct or indirect," the French diplomat said. "Religion played no role."
Where's my animated *.gif file of the Three Monkeys . . . "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" . . . when I really need it?
We know that jihadists are recruiting teenagers, but this has nothing to do with the general unrest in those neighborhoods," he said. The teenagers want to be considered 100 percent French, he said. "They want full equality."
This, in a nation where people who actually work are guaranteed job-security, where endemic socialism guarantees that nobody will go hungry and medical insurance is available for all citizens, contributing or not.
Levitte also suggested "the word 'riot' is a bit too strong" to describe the disturbances and that while thousands of automobiles were destroyed and scores of police officers injured, there were only a handful of fatalities, in contrast to the 1992 Los Angeles riots that left 55 people dead and $1 billion in property damage.
(emphasis added, because It's The Right Thing To Do.)
Right. It's not a "riot" unless it costs more than the latest major (read: most newsworthy) American Riot. Could it be that they're just jealous because American Rioters are more efficient?
The French have invoked those riots in the past, by way of criticizing U.S. policies. In 1992, then President Francois Mitterrand suggested that France would avoid such strife because of its generous social programs.Well, THAT has certainly worked out well for The French!
Levitte said that with job programs, scholarships and improved housing, the French government is engaged in trying to improve their living conditions. He spoke at a forum sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).Really? If 'religion played no role", why was this statement made to muslim-sponsored audiences? And weren't these feebie give-away programs in place BEFORE the riots started? (Yes, they were!) So why were these folks rioting? Could it be . . . SATAN?
Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, said the outbreak was a signal that discrimination has to be fought at all levels. He called on the French government to show the young Muslims that "society is with them, not against them."
Of course. That's why "Les Flics" were spending their evenings billy-clubbing Muslim teenagers, and why the teeners wer burning Renaults left and right for the past month!
Salam al-Marayati, executive director of MPAC, said "people want to live the French dream, the American dream, not the French nightmare."
It seems to me that the French Nightmare was created by the Muslim Youth of France. But hey! That's just me! I wasn't there, all I know is what I read in the newspapers. (The newspapers seem to think there's a connection. That may be because the rioters were, well, MUSLIM.)
"We are not immigrants anymore," he said. "We are second, third and fourth generation."
Second, third and fourth generation welfare whores. That speaks well for them. If they had the cajones to go out and get a job, they wouldn't be wasting their evenings burning somebody else's cars, homes and factories. They would be home in bed, catching up on their sleep so they could go out in the morning to earn another day's honest franc. But they wouldn't know about that. According to the newspapers, they're mad at France because France "won't give them a job".
Funny thing about that. I didn't know that a responsible governement was obligated to give me a job. I thought I had to learn a skill, go out into the marketplace and sell myself, and then do the job I had earned. What was I doing wandering around San Francisco in the middle '70's with my cheesy resume' in hand interviewing with people who had much more qualified applicants, if not actively looking for a job?'
Looking for a job?
Give me a break!
The Governement should have given me a job!
Geez, I shoulda move to France. Who knew that the Government was responsible for GIVING me a job?
But the Muslims in Europe are not regarded as full-fledged Europeans, he said.
And while "we agree that this is not a religious conflict," al-Qaida and other groups can exploit these people if their social and political situations are not improved, he said.
Maybe it's just me, but maybe being " ... not regarded as full-fledged Europeans . . . " isn't entirely a Bad Thing.
I always wondered why I found it impossible to respect The French. I always thought it was because they were ignorant, foul-smelling, clueless a$$holes.
Maybe I was right all along?
Monday, November 21, 2005
Crime Story
I bought a set of CDs last month. I paid $60 for a two-box set representing the entire two-year run of "Crime Story".
Do you remember Crime Story? It was Dennis Farina's introduction to video entertainment, and a bold experiment in the way television presented violent events. This was my favorite TV show in the late '80s, and I considered it money well spent when I bought the DVD's.
Here's some of the blurb from the package:
Two 22-episode seasons for just over a dollar each. It took me over a month to watch the whole series, watching at least one episode per week-day while I ate dinner.
Dinner was often cold before
Do you remember Crime Story? It was Dennis Farina's introduction to video entertainment, and a bold experiment in the way television presented violent events. This was my favorite TV show in the late '80s, and I considered it money well spent when I bought the DVD's.
Here's some of the blurb from the package:
Following the phenomenal success of MIAMI VICE, Executive Producer Michael Mann returned to television with a new kind of gritty crime drama, one that talked tougher and hit harder than anything the small screen had ever seen before. For two explosive seasons, CRIME STORY told the hard-boiled saga of hair-trigger cop Lieutenant Mike Torello [Dennis Farina] and his obsessive pursuit of ruthless gangster Ray Luca [Anthony Denison] from the mean streets of early '60s Chicago to the mean streets of mob-run Las Vegas. Today, CRIME STORY is considered a true cult classic as well as one of the most startling series in television history.
Executive Producer Michael Mann and co-creators Chuck Adamson and Gustave Reiminger envisioned CRIME STORY as a 22-hour movie for television, the chronicle of three obsessed men . . . hard-boiled Chicago Cop Mike Torello, visionary wise-guy Ray Luca and defense attorney David Abrams . . . in the evolution of organized crime before the Miranda Ruling and after the dreams of Camelot had been gunned down on a city street. "This isn't some Hollywood writer's idea of the nature of good and evil," Mann told reporters. "This is the real thing."
In an unprecedented show of support, NBC screened the two-hour pilot for the media and ad agencies at movie theatres (sic) across the country. On Thursday, September 18, 1986, the pilot followed the top-rated COSBY SHOW and FAMILY TIES, where it scored a whopping 32 share. The first episode, "Final Transmission" aired the next night after MIAMI VICE and repeated its 32 share. NBC previewed "Shadow Dancer" two weeks later in the same Friday night slot before setting the show into Tuesday night at 10PM opposite MOONLIGHTING on ABC and MATLOCK on CBS. CRIME STORY had hit the ground running.You too can own this splendid series at bargain-basement prices. You can get Season One and Season Two from Amazon.com for the low low price of . . . not very much (Okay, it'll cost you sixty-eight bucks, plus shipping. Compare this with the cost of $26 to $36 for HALF the first season of WISEGUY, another on my Wish List, and it looks like an extremely affordable video package.)
Two 22-episode seasons for just over a dollar each. It took me over a month to watch the whole series, watching at least one episode per week-day while I ate dinner.
Dinner was often cold before
Friday, November 18, 2005
Geek Photo Gallery
I've started a new online gallery of IPSC photos. It's a modest start so far, but I have literally thousands of photos to choose from, and I get more of them every month.
The nice thing about it is that I can also post videos. Some of them are fairly large, definately much larger than the highly edited *.wmv files I've been posting on this blog.
This will provide a venue for hosting large videos which just don't look the same when I limit them to less than 20 seconds of content.
As I build more albums, I'll keep you advised. It's not an entirely bad idea to bookmark the website and check it out from time to time. I expect to add new photos and videos every week, for some time.
Right now, I'm working on the 2005 Croc Match. There have been some inquiries from people who competed in the match, wondering where they could get copies of the photos. Well, this is the place, because that's my first project.
In the future, I hope to add the 2005 Columbia Cascade Section Match, the 2005 Albany Single Stack Tournament, and non-IPSC events such as the Tri-County Gun Club 'shotty' match and the 1st annual PNW Blogger Blastorama. (The Analogue Kid should appreciate having download access to some of those photos, because he's in a lot of them!)
Click on the link.
The nice thing about it is that I can also post videos. Some of them are fairly large, definately much larger than the highly edited *.wmv files I've been posting on this blog.
This will provide a venue for hosting large videos which just don't look the same when I limit them to less than 20 seconds of content.
As I build more albums, I'll keep you advised. It's not an entirely bad idea to bookmark the website and check it out from time to time. I expect to add new photos and videos every week, for some time.
Right now, I'm working on the 2005 Croc Match. There have been some inquiries from people who competed in the match, wondering where they could get copies of the photos. Well, this is the place, because that's my first project.
In the future, I hope to add the 2005 Columbia Cascade Section Match, the 2005 Albany Single Stack Tournament, and non-IPSC events such as the Tri-County Gun Club 'shotty' match and the 1st annual PNW Blogger Blastorama. (The Analogue Kid should appreciate having download access to some of those photos, because he's in a lot of them!)
Click on the link.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
What kind of soldier are you?
H/T Geek with A .45 (See the sidebar)
The Geek/45 and The Geek/super (that would be me) scored the same on this meme non-Cosmo Quiz: "Special Ops"
(Note that, due to the extremely NARROW format of the Geek Template, the details of the survey results don't display here. Not a problem. I know, and that's all that matters. )
I suspect that most of the Geekish would end up with the same kind of personality profile. It's shallow, it's weighted toward actiona and, if you aren't a limelight-hog, it really narrows the choices quickly.
(Some would call a 'limelight-hog' by another name: Leader.
Here in Geekistan, we tend to look at doing the job and not expecting help from anyone else. We've been given a job, we get it done and move on.
One thing: Geeks learn quickly that, when you've successfully completed a difficult job, you're given . . . more, even more difficult jobs.
No rest for the Geekish.
The Geek/45 and The Geek/super (that would be me) scored the same on this meme non-Cosmo Quiz: "Special Ops"
(Note that, due to the extremely NARROW format of the Geek Template, the details of the survey results don't display here. Not a problem. I know, and that's all that matters. )
I suspect that most of the Geekish would end up with the same kind of personality profile. It's shallow, it's weighted toward actiona and, if you aren't a limelight-hog, it really narrows the choices quickly.
(Some would call a 'limelight-hog' by another name: Leader.
Here in Geekistan, we tend to look at doing the job and not expecting help from anyone else. We've been given a job, we get it done and move on.
One thing: Geeks learn quickly that, when you've successfully completed a difficult job, you're given . . . more, even more difficult jobs.
No rest for the Geekish.
 | You scored as Special Ops. Special ops. Your sneaky, tactful, and a loner. You prefer to do your jobs alone, working where you don't come into contact with people. But everyonce in a while you hit it big and are noticed and given fame. Your given the more sensitive problems. You get things done, and do what has to be done. "VULCAN NECK PINCH!!!" "owww.......(slump)"
Which soldier type are you? created with QuizFarm |
National Ammo Day
National Ammo Day
'Nuff said?
H/T: too many to mention.
Here's the dealio;
Click here.
'Nuff said?
H/T: too many to mention.
Here's the dealio;
- On November 19, you should go out and buy at least 100 rounds of ammo. This is intended to . . . well, I'm not sure. But what the heck, buying ammo is always a good idea unless you can but a case of Montana Gold Bullets, a sleeve of Winchester Primers, a keg of Vihta-Vourhi N350 powder and a slew of Winchester cases and build 4000 of your own .38 Super reloads! (Approximate cost:
- bullets: $185
- Primers: $80
- powder: $75
- 4000 cases: $400
- Total cost for componenets to build 4,000 rounds: $740
- Cost per 100 rounds? $18.50 (Unless you figure you'll get at least 5 reloads out of every case, in which case you'll be paying $8.26 per hundred)
- The joy of shooting all this ammo: Priceless!
Click here.
home made weapons factories
News - Gun loophole is closed by mother's campaign
Yorkshire, England
The mother of a slain Police Constable has initiated a campaign to make it illegal to privately manufacture ('reload') ammunition by outlawing reloading presses and components.
Given their hopolphobic legislation, this is definately a 'loophole'; it's illegal to buy ammunition, but not the materials and equipment to make it yourself.
Some Yob bought the gear and the goodies, loaded up a batch of ammo, and used it in his ILLEGAL pistol to gun down a bobbie.
Let me see; it's illegal to have the gun, and the laws didn't stop him there. It's illegal to buy ammunition, and that didn't stop him. So just HOW is it going to stop him to make reloading illegal?
So how about you allow the police to carry arms? At least they would be able to defend themeselves.
How about 'victim to a thug, who will do what he wishes, to whomever he wishes, as long as he's the predator and everyone else is prey'?
How about the rights of private citizens . . . and police officers . . . to protect themselves?
Why aren't they talking about societal changes, including an attempt to identify and get killers off the streets before they kill again? Why aren't they talking about rehabilitating a society which makes it EASY for people to become killers?
Why? I'll tell you why?
It's easy to pass laws against 'things'. 'Things' can't rebel, can't exercise free will, aren't intimidated by their illegality.
Yobs aren't intimidated, either; they're challenged. Human ingenuity will always win out, there are always ways to circumvent the law if you've already decided to break the law anyway.
British Parliament isn't able to deal with the real issues. As long as they continue passing laws, the brainless public will believe that they are trying to resolve issues, even when they're NOT!
What's not easy is to deal with people. Laws don't affect humans, except for those who have already made the personal choice to be law-abiding already.
My advice to Great (?) Britain is to get rid of all those laws which handicap only the law-abiding, and let them protect themselves.
They certainly can't count on the police to protect them.
The police can't even protect themselves.
Making laws against private ownership of weapons is as ineffective as making laws against narcotics. They're not protecting anybody, they're only creating a very lucrative market.
Yorkshire, England
The mother of a slain Police Constable has initiated a campaign to make it illegal to privately manufacture ('reload') ammunition by outlawing reloading presses and components.
Given their hopolphobic legislation, this is definately a 'loophole'; it's illegal to buy ammunition, but not the materials and equipment to make it yourself.
Some Yob bought the gear and the goodies, loaded up a batch of ammo, and used it in his ILLEGAL pistol to gun down a bobbie.
Let me see; it's illegal to have the gun, and the laws didn't stop him there. It's illegal to buy ammunition, and that didn't stop him. So just HOW is it going to stop him to make reloading illegal?
THE LEGAL loophole that allowed the killer of Leeds police officer Ian Broadhurst to produce home-made bullets is set to be shut tight by MPs today after a tireless campaign in Yorkshire.Here's a thought: you can't stop the Yobs from arming themselves; God knows you've tried to do so by passing laws, and it just . . . hasn't . . . worked!
Ex-US Marine David Bieber was jailed for life last December for gunning down the 34-year-old policeman in cold blood on Boxing Day, 2003, and firing at two other officers using a pistol loaded with ammunition made from components that had been bought completely legally.
So how about you allow the police to carry arms? At least they would be able to defend themeselves.
During Bieber's trial, Mr Justice Moses said it was "completely barmy" that the killer had legally bought a Dillon RL550 bullet press and re-loader from a Hertfordshire gunshop that he had used to manufacture thousands of bullets in a home-made weapons factory in a Leeds lock-up.
PC Broadhurst's mother Cindy Eaton – backed by the Police Federation and PC Broadhurst's MP, Batley and Spen's Mike Wood – launched a high-profile campaign in the Yorkshire Post for a ban on the unrestricted sale of bullet-pressing kits and primers – the essential mini-detonators which set off the propellant in a round.
Following Bieber's conviction, the MP called directly on the Prime Minister to change the law.I can understand the mother's anguish, but all I'm reading here is that she's blaming the laws (or lack of them?) for the death of her son. Isn't anybody blaming the creep who shot the bobby? Maybe they're missing a good bet. Maybe they could pass a law against humans being ornery. Or vicious. Or human.
His pleas are set to come to fruition today, as MPs give their final approval to the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, which will make buying components subject to the same restrictions as buying firearms.
Clause 28 of the Bill will make it an offence to sell primers to anyone without a firearm licence and Clause 29 will ban cartridge and bullet presses."Victim to home-made bullets"?
Ms Eaton said last night: "We're thrilled at the progress that has been made and look forward to these measures becoming law.
"It's nice to think that something like this can come of Ian's death and that a loophole we weren't aware of previously can be closed."
Mr Wood was delighted that what he called a "lethal historical anomaly" would finally come to an end and that Ms Eaton's successful campaign may well have prevented someone else falling victim to home-made bullets.
How about 'victim to a thug, who will do what he wishes, to whomever he wishes, as long as he's the predator and everyone else is prey'?
"Enacting legislation can be a long and drawn out process – often it has to be – but these restrictions on bullet-making components are well worth the wait," he said.Waiting for these Britanic Buffoons to wake up and smell the coffee is a long and drawn out process, too. How they can catagorize these treat-the-symptoms laws as being "well worth the wait" is beyond me.
"We believe it's totally right that people cannot legally buy the sort of equipment that he used to assemble bullets," ....Rights? They're talking about RIGHTS?
"Bieber made literally thousands and it was always disgraceful that there had been no control on the materials and machines to make these sorts of bullets.
"It's quite right that this ban should be in place."
How about the rights of private citizens . . . and police officers . . . to protect themselves?
Why aren't they talking about societal changes, including an attempt to identify and get killers off the streets before they kill again? Why aren't they talking about rehabilitating a society which makes it EASY for people to become killers?
Why? I'll tell you why?
It's easy to pass laws against 'things'. 'Things' can't rebel, can't exercise free will, aren't intimidated by their illegality.
Yobs aren't intimidated, either; they're challenged. Human ingenuity will always win out, there are always ways to circumvent the law if you've already decided to break the law anyway.
British Parliament isn't able to deal with the real issues. As long as they continue passing laws, the brainless public will believe that they are trying to resolve issues, even when they're NOT!
What's not easy is to deal with people. Laws don't affect humans, except for those who have already made the personal choice to be law-abiding already.
My advice to Great (?) Britain is to get rid of all those laws which handicap only the law-abiding, and let them protect themselves.
They certainly can't count on the police to protect them.
The police can't even protect themselves.
Making laws against private ownership of weapons is as ineffective as making laws against narcotics. They're not protecting anybody, they're only creating a very lucrative market.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Full-Auto Boogie
Last weekend after the IPSC match at Albany, we had a little full-auto frenzy.
Norm the Ungrateful, and his son Zac the Ungrateful, took me back to the deep bays so I could photograph them playing with Norm's semi-new full-auto gun.
I'm hoping that Norm will let me know what this is. I think he must have told me, but I was not paying attention to it because I thought it looked pretty scarey. You know . . .
Black matte finish + short barrel + pistol grips fore-and-aft + folding stock = EVIL!
Only in this case, it was a rock 'n roller, which means I don't shoot 'em very good, so it IS evil.
UPDATE: 11/15:
Norm replied to my query, in which I had asked "What IS that gun, anyway?"
He writes:
We started right out letting Zac shoot it the first time. I think it may have been his first time to shoot it, too. We all had a lot to learn about the little 'machine pistol'. However long Norm had had the gun, and the magazines they all seemed pretty new and rough-edged. I think Norm's going to have to shoot this a LOT to get it broke in really good.
Fortunately, I suspect he can count on Zac to help him break it in.
(BTW, click on the photos to see the movies.)
After Zac had had his fun, Norm got right down to business.
He wanted to shoot his drum magazine, with umpteen rounds (50, I think) of the 9mm rascals in one trigger-pull. Unfortunately, he found he had to download the magazine 3 or 4 rounds before it would feed. Darn, less than 50 rounds after all!
I'm sure that means he just has to do a bit more breaking-in to get that magazine spring tensioned right.
Oh Yeah.
They thought I was having too much fun, just shooting pictures, and started trying to talk me into shooting the gun. I protested "I've shot machine guns all I need to" but they were persuasive and I was easily persuaded.
I've always been easy to talk into the things that look too fun to be really that fun. Guess what? It is that fun.
I tried to remember my "controlled-fire" training, shooting at the B-zone of the IPSC target with two-to-three round bursts. Some of them only fired one round -- I think. Hard to tell when you're shooting, and even the video doesn't clear up the question of how many rounds I was getting off. You'll have to decide for yourself.
One thing IS clear; I wasn't getting a lot of rounds in the B-zone.
Next, Zac tried it again. They were down to just one fully loaded stick magazine, so Zac obliged his dad by shooting the whole thing up in just a few seconds. It didn't appear that he considered the work too burdensome.
Then Norm split the remaining rounds (less than 100 from the original box of 250) between two magazines, and he and Zac wrapped up the day.
First Norm had to do his chores, and from the look on his face it didn't appear that he was feeling oppressed by the task. It's a nasty job, but somebody's got to do it.
Norm told me that there was a special name for the big ol' grin of pure delight you see on the face of people who shoot a full-auto fun for the first time. I never showed it, of course, because I'm entirely too dignified. I wish I could remember what he called the expression, but judging by the look on Norm's face I have to call it a SEG, for Sh*t-Eating Grin.
UPDATE: November 20 - I met Norm at the Sunday TC Club Match and asked him to remind me of the 'proper' expression. He informs me that this is called the "Thirty-Round Grin". Personally, I think I'll just continue referring to it as the SEG (rhymes with 'hedge').
Zac finished off the ammo with a sustained burst that backed him up almost to the counter behind him. He was concentrating so intently, I doubt he even noticed. As usual, I stood right in the path of the hot brass and got splattered. It was a cool day, I didn't mind a bit. It was worth it to get a photo of a fine young man having more fun that ought to be legal.
Shooting full-auto is like cheating, and getting away with it. I can't afford it, but I heartily recommend it.
Norm, Zac . . . thank you for bringing a perfect day to a brilliant finish.
NOTE:
The video files are all 2mb, except for a couple that might have gone to 3mb because, doggone it, the grins were too big to waste on a small format.
As I said, it's all rock 'n roll. The music is all by the Rolling Stones, from their "Hot Rocks 1964 - 1971" album. Now that I've given you a clue, can you identify the songs that are profiled in the videos.
Norm the Ungrateful, and his son Zac the Ungrateful, took me back to the deep bays so I could photograph them playing with Norm's semi-new full-auto gun.
I'm hoping that Norm will let me know what this is. I think he must have told me, but I was not paying attention to it because I thought it looked pretty scarey. You know . . .
Black matte finish + short barrel + pistol grips fore-and-aft + folding stock = EVIL!
Only in this case, it was a rock 'n roller, which means I don't shoot 'em very good, so it IS evil.
UPDATE: 11/15:
Norm replied to my query, in which I had asked "What IS that gun, anyway?"
He writes:
It was a SWD M11/9.(Note: for more M11 photos, see the Stony Creek Armory website. You can find out more about the gun, and how to get one for your very own, at deadbangguns.com This may not be a permanent link)
9mm open bolt SMG. The mags were not new, but the drum had been reworked for me and has not been tuned yet. The drum holds 72 rounds, I had to strip like 5 or something to get it to work.
We started right out letting Zac shoot it the first time. I think it may have been his first time to shoot it, too. We all had a lot to learn about the little 'machine pistol'. However long Norm had had the gun, and the magazines they all seemed pretty new and rough-edged. I think Norm's going to have to shoot this a LOT to get it broke in really good.
Fortunately, I suspect he can count on Zac to help him break it in.
(BTW, click on the photos to see the movies.)
After Zac had had his fun, Norm got right down to business.
He wanted to shoot his drum magazine, with umpteen rounds (50, I think) of the 9mm rascals in one trigger-pull. Unfortunately, he found he had to download the magazine 3 or 4 rounds before it would feed. Darn, less than 50 rounds after all!I'm sure that means he just has to do a bit more breaking-in to get that magazine spring tensioned right.
Oh Yeah.
They thought I was having too much fun, just shooting pictures, and started trying to talk me into shooting the gun. I protested "I've shot machine guns all I need to" but they were persuasive and I was easily persuaded.I've always been easy to talk into the things that look too fun to be really that fun. Guess what? It is that fun.
I tried to remember my "controlled-fire" training, shooting at the B-zone of the IPSC target with two-to-three round bursts. Some of them only fired one round -- I think. Hard to tell when you're shooting, and even the video doesn't clear up the question of how many rounds I was getting off. You'll have to decide for yourself.
One thing IS clear; I wasn't getting a lot of rounds in the B-zone.
Next, Zac tried it again. They were down to just one fully loaded stick magazine, so Zac obliged his dad by shooting the whole thing up in just a few seconds. It didn't appear that he considered the work too burdensome.
Then Norm split the remaining rounds (less than 100 from the original box of 250) between two magazines, and he and Zac wrapped up the day.
First Norm had to do his chores, and from the look on his face it didn't appear that he was feeling oppressed by the task. It's a nasty job, but somebody's got to do it.
Norm told me that there was a special name for the big ol' grin of pure delight you see on the face of people who shoot a full-auto fun for the first time. I never showed it, of course, because I'm entirely too dignified. I wish I could remember what he called the expression, but judging by the look on Norm's face I have to call it a SEG, for Sh*t-Eating Grin.
UPDATE: November 20 - I met Norm at the Sunday TC Club Match and asked him to remind me of the 'proper' expression. He informs me that this is called the "Thirty-Round Grin". Personally, I think I'll just continue referring to it as the SEG (rhymes with 'hedge').
Zac finished off the ammo with a sustained burst that backed him up almost to the counter behind him. He was concentrating so intently, I doubt he even noticed. As usual, I stood right in the path of the hot brass and got splattered. It was a cool day, I didn't mind a bit. It was worth it to get a photo of a fine young man having more fun that ought to be legal.
Shooting full-auto is like cheating, and getting away with it. I can't afford it, but I heartily recommend it.
Norm, Zac . . . thank you for bringing a perfect day to a brilliant finish.
NOTE:
The video files are all 2mb, except for a couple that might have gone to 3mb because, doggone it, the grins were too big to waste on a small format.
As I said, it's all rock 'n roll. The music is all by the Rolling Stones, from their "Hot Rocks 1964 - 1971" album. Now that I've given you a clue, can you identify the songs that are profiled in the videos.
Battlerifles On Board
No, this isn't an article about transporting "Assault Rifles" on vessels.
This is about shooting wooden posts with semi-automatic rifles.
The Tri County Gun Club has a Practical Rifle match every month, and at their last month Match Director Randy S. set up a 'fun stage' at the end of the match. He put a couple of 4x4 posts erected vertically into a shooting bay, arrayed the competitors in a line, and timed how long it took them to break it into two pieces with rifle fire.
There were two squads, so he filmed each squad as they 'assaulted' a post.
Fastest time was 10.366 seconds. (I didn't catch the time for the other squad.)
These are quicktime movies, the first one is 1.5mb and the second one is 1.7mb.
Randy also has a large number of still photos on his YAHOO photo gallery account, most of them depicting people shooting in mud and rain and gravel, in awkward and contorted positions, at targets very far away. I think these guys are people who rejected Rugby because it was too tame.
When I get the address of Randy's Practical Rifle Photo Gallery, I'll add it to this post.
UPDATE:
Email from Randy, the URL for his Yahoo Practical Rifle Photo Gallery is here.
If you look at the 2005 Nov album, you'll see photos taken on the same day as the board-busting exercise.
Here's one of them.
This is about shooting wooden posts with semi-automatic rifles.
The Tri County Gun Club has a Practical Rifle match every month, and at their last month Match Director Randy S. set up a 'fun stage' at the end of the match. He put a couple of 4x4 posts erected vertically into a shooting bay, arrayed the competitors in a line, and timed how long it took them to break it into two pieces with rifle fire.
There were two squads, so he filmed each squad as they 'assaulted' a post.
Fastest time was 10.366 seconds. (I didn't catch the time for the other squad.)
These are quicktime movies, the first one is 1.5mb and the second one is 1.7mb.
Randy also has a large number of still photos on his YAHOO photo gallery account, most of them depicting people shooting in mud and rain and gravel, in awkward and contorted positions, at targets very far away. I think these guys are people who rejected Rugby because it was too tame.
When I get the address of Randy's Practical Rifle Photo Gallery, I'll add it to this post.
UPDATE:
Email from Randy, the URL for his Yahoo Practical Rifle Photo Gallery is here.
If you look at the 2005 Nov album, you'll see photos taken on the same day as the board-busting exercise.
Here's one of them.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Autumn in Albany
They had forecast rain and cold weather for the Central Willamette Valley in Oregon today, but ‘they’ were wrong. It was a beautiful day for shooting. No wind, no rain, and often the sun peeked through the clouds to beam it’s munificent approval of 26 dauntless shooters competing in an IPSC match in Oregon.
During the walkthrough, Match Director Mike McCarter promised that never again would he cancel an IPSC match in Albany because of expected inclement weather conditions. The crowd roared it’s approval! (This was in reference to a scheduled match last winter, which he had cancelled citing the forecast 'icy road conditions' on the I-5 Interstate Freeway, which is the primary conduit to the Albany range.
We broke into three squads, which was an easy division.
One squad was the Juniors, and those who chose to shoot with them. It was probably the biggest squad.
The second squad was the Open gunners (all 3 of us), and those who chose to shoot with them. There were Seven people, total, in that squad.
The third squad was those who had no preference. They just came to shoot, and hang the weatherman.
Also during the walkthrough, Mac discussed the upcoming Glock Match. He had originally stated that all divisions would be recognized, except for Glock Revolver. He seemed to think that no such article existed.
Fellow Shooter Walter proved him wrong, by presenting the handgun he planned to shoot as a Glock (eg. Tupperware, eg. Plastic) Revolver.
Everybody knows that if you’re going to shoot Revolver in IPSC, you better have a good sense of humor. Walter and Mac share that admirable quality.
UPDATE:
Walt read this blog, and couldn't wait to show me the custom modifications he had made on his Glock Revolver.
Kinda kewl, eh?
After we started shooting, I decided that the weather was too nice not to document. The best way I know to document good weather is with pictures, and moving pictures add color to it. I’ve selected one video for each stage we shot, and I offer them here . . . not without comment! . . . for your enjoyment. (Match results can be found at the ARPC-IPSC website.)
(Note: to view the related videos, mouse-click on the thumbnail.)
The first stage was an 80-point Comstock course called “Doh!” (I think this is a quote from The Simsons.) You shoot around a Bianchi Barrier at some steel (this WAS suppose to be a rainy day, so there’s a lot of steel targets in this match) and a couple of paper targets.
“GeeTee” discovered that he had to stretch to get the awkwardly positioned IPSC targets, and fell out of the box at the end. I think this is a take-off on Ralph Machio’s “Crane” position in The Karate Kid.
Stage 2 (Boardroom) was another Comstock course (I think I’ll forget mentioning the scoring style, all the stages were Comstock) worth 80 points. Shoot once at six IPSC targets, reload, do it again, reload, shoot twice at each of two IPSC targets with a lot of hardcover on, standing WAY downrange. It looks as far away in person as it does in these pictures. I chose the video of Mr. Mull because he was having so much fun he just couldn’t stop shooting!
(BTW, most of these videos were chosen because they had something ‘special’ to offer. They either serve as an example of things you should or shouldn’t do, or just demonstrate the kind of mind-poop that happens during a match. You’ll notice that there are no photos of The Geek in this essay. That’s because I had the camera, and nobody else was taking pictures. I assure you that I screwed up big-time on EVERY stage except this one, and I didn’t do as well as I thought I did here.
I threw in a video of Norm the Ungrateful shooting this stage. He made it look good, and when I shot the stage I thought I had done at least as well as he had, perhaps better. I was wrong. I cleaned the stage, but I shot SLOW!
Stage 3 (Hill Billy Run) had a lot of vision barriers, and some steel or IPSC targets hiding behind them. You had to contort yourself to get a sight-picture of at least some of the hidden targets. Also, you had a choice of the order in which you engaged the hidden target arrays (the first array had to be engaged from the starting box.) I chose to go right, then left. Higgie went the other way. He was right, I was wrong; he took over a second less time to ‘do it (his) way’.
Stage 4 (MAKIN' CHANGE CM03-17 ) was the classifier, designed by George “Earthworm” Jones. “It was a bad stage, it was a dangerous stage, it was a Bug stage”. Out of five targets on the stage, I managed to hit all of them at least once . . . including the no-shoot. Starting seated at a table with a “one dollar bill” in your hand, two 12” square rugs on the table, magazines and gun (unpropped) on the rugs, at the buzzer load and fire 2 shots per the 4 IPSC targets. Only eight shots, 40 points, and I managed to catch a no-shoot hidden deep in hard-cover territory. (The score sheet, I find, is wrong: it doesn’t reflect my no-shoot hit.) Norm the Ungrateful, however, does a credible job and deserves credit for it. I know it didn’t feel as good to him as it looked to us; he thought there was a lot of “Wasted Time” in his run.
Stage 5 (DRIVEWAY BLOCKADE) was an interesting stage. You get to shoot at a bunch of IPSC targets through a port on each side of the bay, and in between there are four Pepper Poppers . … the front two are forward-falling, thus slow to clear the view of the two Pepper Poppers behind them. The best way to shoot it is to NOT try to shoot them from the starting box, but to go to one side or the other and engage IPSC targets from the ports, then take the steel as you move between the sides of the bay. The hard thing . . . the IMPORTANT thing . . . is the get the steel down FAST, preferably without having to make up a missed shot.
The shooter here is Zac the Ungrateful, and he has some trouble hitting the steel. I feel his pain. I took just as many shots at the steel, because I missed it as many times as he did. No excuse, I did just fine on the first 3 Pepper Poppers but I could NOT hit the last one. To compound the problem, I kept un-mounting the gun between shots because I ‘assumed’ I had hit it . . . I hadn’t. If I seem to pick on Zac here, it’s only because if it was my video (which thankfully doesn’t exist) I would have to pick on me, too!
This was the first stage our squad shot, Zac was one of the first shooters (the very first? I’m not sure) and that it took him 3 more seconds to compete the stage . . . which should have been an easy 15 or 16 second stage . . . that I did is only a matter of luck. I haven’t shot a match for 3 weeks; he hasn’t shot a match since the Nationals. Also, he was sharing a gun, and it is NOT the SV he usually shoots, but instead his Father’s STI with an OK sight instead of the C-More he’s use to using.
Stage 6 (HIDE AND PEAK), the last stage of the match, was a throw-back to those ancient days when stage designs were not free-form. The stage instructions said, essentially, “Start in Box A, shoot targets T1-T2, move to Box B, shoot targets T3-T6, move to Box C, shoot targets T7-T10.” We all decided that we would not try to game this stage because HEY! It can’t be done.
I have two videos for this stage, and I selected them for very special reasons.
The first video is of Brian, and I’m probably going to cut my throat here because he is the guy who provides web-hosting for me. He just spent 3 days installing a new server, I just KNOW he’s going to think I’m busting his buns here, because I went out of my way to point out that he lost a couple of magazines from his mag-carriers while running pell-mell from the first to the second shooting box. It was “an excellent run”, but the dropped-magazine phenomenon is becoming increasingly common in this day of heavy double-stack magazines held by short mag-carriers. You start running hard, and the magazines just shake out of the carrier. That’s why you see some of the competitors here holding onto their mags while they run. It looks funny, but at least you don’t end up losing your magazines in the gravel.
(Note: This video may try to navigate away from the webpage. You may wish to use the drop-down menu by right-clicking on the image to open in a new tab or window, depending on your browser preferences.)
The second video is of Chris, a Junior shooting in Production. For his age (too young!) and experience (this is his first year shooting IPSC), he’s doing an exceptional job. The video shows him, for example, already shifting his balance in preparation to ‘leaving the box’ which refers to the Shooting Box. It’s a gutsy thing to do, but you have to learn that skill if you’re going to be competitive. In this case, Chris ended up winning the Production Division, over 7 other shooters (including his own father, Jeff) and two shooters in higher classes (including the B-Production Match Director, Mac.)
Still, while he’s running from Box A to Box B, he drops a magazine out of one of his magazine carriers. I offer this not only to show his splendid shooting techniques, but also to prove that it isn’t a matter of having a middle-aged middle that causes us to drop magazines.
That’s about it for today. You may notice that I’ve added music to the videos. I think the selections were admirably chosen and impeccably timed to illustrate something about the videos they represent, although the individuals depicted here may disagree.
WARNING:
SUPERFLUOUS SELF-SERVING RANT FOLLOWS; FEEL FREE TO DISREGARD.
If you think that the music, and the comments, do . . . or do not . . . add to the viewing experience, please let me know in the COMMENTS section. I’ll probably dis you for disagreeing with me, but that’s not my problem. It’s my blog, if you want to provide a dissenting point of view you can start your own blog. [Bad Joke Alert!]
For those of you who may be contemplating the initiation of your own Blog, a word of warning. I’ve just spent eight hours writing this article. This includes downloading the images from my camera; organizing the files; selecting the images to be presented; editing and reformatting the images from 4mb to 8mb MPEG to 2 mb MPV formats; selecting the accompanying music (which has been paid for when I bought the CDs); writing and inserting the comments within the videos; reformatting the MPV videos to include the music, which has been carefully timed to coincide with significant events in the videos; re-organizing the resulting files to fit within a single directory for archival purposes; uploading the files to the server; writing the first draft of this article; providubg links to the server-hosted files; converting the WS-WORD document to a blogspot article; uploading JPG files to illustrate the links to the videos, rewriting the article so it includes the pictures and the links; testing and corecting the links; publishing the final, polished article .
It took me four hours to shoot this match, and twice as long to publish this article. I fully expect to find that some of the links are not entirely compatible with one or more browsers, which will require some re-programming. (If you cannot view it conveniently, or if the links are not operative, please email me at the address referenced at the foot of this page to bring it to my attention. I will endeavor to correct the deficiency. Maybe. Someday.)
I’m not saying there’s anything particularly saintly about what I do, I’m just saying that I haven’t presented any material without having carefully considered the value, the return on investment (if you will), of EVERY video here presented, described, and modified before it is presented. As a consequence, I am painfully aware of the limited value YOU may assign to each video and the comments appended; but I consider them of great value, hence the following copyright statement:
(Note: all images are © 2005 by Jerry the Geek, and are intended for private personal use only . . . no images or text may be reproduced or used for commercial purposes, or other uses without express permission of the individuals depicted AND the photographer. Music is © in various years by the performers and other individuals and similarly may not be used for commercial or other purposes without express permission of the copyright holders.)
During the walkthrough, Match Director Mike McCarter promised that never again would he cancel an IPSC match in Albany because of expected inclement weather conditions. The crowd roared it’s approval! (This was in reference to a scheduled match last winter, which he had cancelled citing the forecast 'icy road conditions' on the I-5 Interstate Freeway, which is the primary conduit to the Albany range.
We broke into three squads, which was an easy division.
One squad was the Juniors, and those who chose to shoot with them. It was probably the biggest squad.
The second squad was the Open gunners (all 3 of us), and those who chose to shoot with them. There were Seven people, total, in that squad.
The third squad was those who had no preference. They just came to shoot, and hang the weatherman.
Also during the walkthrough, Mac discussed the upcoming Glock Match. He had originally stated that all divisions would be recognized, except for Glock Revolver. He seemed to think that no such article existed.
Fellow Shooter Walter proved him wrong, by presenting the handgun he planned to shoot as a Glock (eg. Tupperware, eg. Plastic) Revolver.
Everybody knows that if you’re going to shoot Revolver in IPSC, you better have a good sense of humor. Walter and Mac share that admirable quality.
UPDATE:
Walt read this blog, and couldn't wait to show me the custom modifications he had made on his Glock Revolver.
Kinda kewl, eh?
After we started shooting, I decided that the weather was too nice not to document. The best way I know to document good weather is with pictures, and moving pictures add color to it. I’ve selected one video for each stage we shot, and I offer them here . . . not without comment! . . . for your enjoyment. (Match results can be found at the ARPC-IPSC website.)
(Note: to view the related videos, mouse-click on the thumbnail.)
The first stage was an 80-point Comstock course called “Doh!” (I think this is a quote from The Simsons.) You shoot around a Bianchi Barrier at some steel (this WAS suppose to be a rainy day, so there’s a lot of steel targets in this match) and a couple of paper targets.
“GeeTee” discovered that he had to stretch to get the awkwardly positioned IPSC targets, and fell out of the box at the end. I think this is a take-off on Ralph Machio’s “Crane” position in The Karate Kid.
Stage 2 (Boardroom) was another Comstock course (I think I’ll forget mentioning the scoring style, all the stages were Comstock) worth 80 points. Shoot once at six IPSC targets, reload, do it again, reload, shoot twice at each of two IPSC targets with a lot of hardcover on, standing WAY downrange. It looks as far away in person as it does in these pictures. I chose the video of Mr. Mull because he was having so much fun he just couldn’t stop shooting!
(BTW, most of these videos were chosen because they had something ‘special’ to offer. They either serve as an example of things you should or shouldn’t do, or just demonstrate the kind of mind-poop that happens during a match. You’ll notice that there are no photos of The Geek in this essay. That’s because I had the camera, and nobody else was taking pictures. I assure you that I screwed up big-time on EVERY stage except this one, and I didn’t do as well as I thought I did here.
I threw in a video of Norm the Ungrateful shooting this stage. He made it look good, and when I shot the stage I thought I had done at least as well as he had, perhaps better. I was wrong. I cleaned the stage, but I shot SLOW!
Stage 3 (Hill Billy Run) had a lot of vision barriers, and some steel or IPSC targets hiding behind them. You had to contort yourself to get a sight-picture of at least some of the hidden targets. Also, you had a choice of the order in which you engaged the hidden target arrays (the first array had to be engaged from the starting box.) I chose to go right, then left. Higgie went the other way. He was right, I was wrong; he took over a second less time to ‘do it (his) way’.
Stage 4 (MAKIN' CHANGE CM03-17 ) was the classifier, designed by George “Earthworm” Jones. “It was a bad stage, it was a dangerous stage, it was a Bug stage”. Out of five targets on the stage, I managed to hit all of them at least once . . . including the no-shoot. Starting seated at a table with a “one dollar bill” in your hand, two 12” square rugs on the table, magazines and gun (unpropped) on the rugs, at the buzzer load and fire 2 shots per the 4 IPSC targets. Only eight shots, 40 points, and I managed to catch a no-shoot hidden deep in hard-cover territory. (The score sheet, I find, is wrong: it doesn’t reflect my no-shoot hit.) Norm the Ungrateful, however, does a credible job and deserves credit for it. I know it didn’t feel as good to him as it looked to us; he thought there was a lot of “Wasted Time” in his run.
Stage 5 (DRIVEWAY BLOCKADE) was an interesting stage. You get to shoot at a bunch of IPSC targets through a port on each side of the bay, and in between there are four Pepper Poppers . … the front two are forward-falling, thus slow to clear the view of the two Pepper Poppers behind them. The best way to shoot it is to NOT try to shoot them from the starting box, but to go to one side or the other and engage IPSC targets from the ports, then take the steel as you move between the sides of the bay. The hard thing . . . the IMPORTANT thing . . . is the get the steel down FAST, preferably without having to make up a missed shot.
The shooter here is Zac the Ungrateful, and he has some trouble hitting the steel. I feel his pain. I took just as many shots at the steel, because I missed it as many times as he did. No excuse, I did just fine on the first 3 Pepper Poppers but I could NOT hit the last one. To compound the problem, I kept un-mounting the gun between shots because I ‘assumed’ I had hit it . . . I hadn’t. If I seem to pick on Zac here, it’s only because if it was my video (which thankfully doesn’t exist) I would have to pick on me, too!
This was the first stage our squad shot, Zac was one of the first shooters (the very first? I’m not sure) and that it took him 3 more seconds to compete the stage . . . which should have been an easy 15 or 16 second stage . . . that I did is only a matter of luck. I haven’t shot a match for 3 weeks; he hasn’t shot a match since the Nationals. Also, he was sharing a gun, and it is NOT the SV he usually shoots, but instead his Father’s STI with an OK sight instead of the C-More he’s use to using.
Stage 6 (HIDE AND PEAK), the last stage of the match, was a throw-back to those ancient days when stage designs were not free-form. The stage instructions said, essentially, “Start in Box A, shoot targets T1-T2, move to Box B, shoot targets T3-T6, move to Box C, shoot targets T7-T10.” We all decided that we would not try to game this stage because HEY! It can’t be done.
I have two videos for this stage, and I selected them for very special reasons.
The first video is of Brian, and I’m probably going to cut my throat here because he is the guy who provides web-hosting for me. He just spent 3 days installing a new server, I just KNOW he’s going to think I’m busting his buns here, because I went out of my way to point out that he lost a couple of magazines from his mag-carriers while running pell-mell from the first to the second shooting box. It was “an excellent run”, but the dropped-magazine phenomenon is becoming increasingly common in this day of heavy double-stack magazines held by short mag-carriers. You start running hard, and the magazines just shake out of the carrier. That’s why you see some of the competitors here holding onto their mags while they run. It looks funny, but at least you don’t end up losing your magazines in the gravel.
(Note: This video may try to navigate away from the webpage. You may wish to use the drop-down menu by right-clicking on the image to open in a new tab or window, depending on your browser preferences.)The second video is of Chris, a Junior shooting in Production. For his age (too young!) and experience (this is his first year shooting IPSC), he’s doing an exceptional job. The video shows him, for example, already shifting his balance in preparation to ‘leaving the box’ which refers to the Shooting Box. It’s a gutsy thing to do, but you have to learn that skill if you’re going to be competitive. In this case, Chris ended up winning the Production Division, over 7 other shooters (including his own father, Jeff) and two shooters in higher classes (including the B-Production Match Director, Mac.)
Still, while he’s running from Box A to Box B, he drops a magazine out of one of his magazine carriers. I offer this not only to show his splendid shooting techniques, but also to prove that it isn’t a matter of having a middle-aged middle that causes us to drop magazines.
That’s about it for today. You may notice that I’ve added music to the videos. I think the selections were admirably chosen and impeccably timed to illustrate something about the videos they represent, although the individuals depicted here may disagree.
WARNING:
SUPERFLUOUS SELF-SERVING RANT FOLLOWS; FEEL FREE TO DISREGARD.
If you think that the music, and the comments, do . . . or do not . . . add to the viewing experience, please let me know in the COMMENTS section. I’ll probably dis you for disagreeing with me, but that’s not my problem. It’s my blog, if you want to provide a dissenting point of view you can start your own blog. [Bad Joke Alert!]
For those of you who may be contemplating the initiation of your own Blog, a word of warning. I’ve just spent eight hours writing this article. This includes downloading the images from my camera; organizing the files; selecting the images to be presented; editing and reformatting the images from 4mb to 8mb MPEG to 2 mb MPV formats; selecting the accompanying music (which has been paid for when I bought the CDs); writing and inserting the comments within the videos; reformatting the MPV videos to include the music, which has been carefully timed to coincide with significant events in the videos; re-organizing the resulting files to fit within a single directory for archival purposes; uploading the files to the server; writing the first draft of this article; providubg links to the server-hosted files; converting the WS-WORD document to a blogspot article; uploading JPG files to illustrate the links to the videos, rewriting the article so it includes the pictures and the links; testing and corecting the links; publishing the final, polished article .
It took me four hours to shoot this match, and twice as long to publish this article. I fully expect to find that some of the links are not entirely compatible with one or more browsers, which will require some re-programming. (If you cannot view it conveniently, or if the links are not operative, please email me at the address referenced at the foot of this page to bring it to my attention. I will endeavor to correct the deficiency. Maybe. Someday.)
I’m not saying there’s anything particularly saintly about what I do, I’m just saying that I haven’t presented any material without having carefully considered the value, the return on investment (if you will), of EVERY video here presented, described, and modified before it is presented. As a consequence, I am painfully aware of the limited value YOU may assign to each video and the comments appended; but I consider them of great value, hence the following copyright statement:
(Note: all images are © 2005 by Jerry the Geek, and are intended for private personal use only . . . no images or text may be reproduced or used for commercial purposes, or other uses without express permission of the individuals depicted AND the photographer. Music is © in various years by the performers and other individuals and similarly may not be used for commercial or other purposes without express permission of the copyright holders.)
Friday, November 11, 2005
Tampa Bay Pistol Club - You know you're a shooter when...
I've only been Blogging for one year.
But I've been 'Writing' for intenet folks for about 8 years.
Here are a couple of examples of the Threads From Heck which were introduced (usually) on The Unofficial IPSC List, and which were subsequently posted on the Internet by other subscribers:
Tampa Bay Pistol Club - You know you're a shooter when...
IPSC Haiku
My favorites are ... well, my own poems. But the creativity is astounding, and I'm hard-pressed to pick my own from the others. To be honest, many of the poems are 'in-jokes'. These were all composed in 2001, and thanx to Jeff Maass for preserving them.
Boomershoot
I went to one of Joe Huffman's early Boomershoots in 1999.
(I also went to the 2000 Boomershoot, and I bought the shirt, but that's another story.)
I went with Jim "Bumstead" Boemler, and delighted in getting him stuck in mud while we treked thru the marshlands.
The link cited above, however, deals with my expectations based on EXPERIENCE during other lie-down-on-the-grass-and-squirm-in-the-cold-mud moments.
BTW, if Kim Du Toit would like a genuine Boomershoot t-shirt, I would be willing to make him a gift of mine. It doesn't fit me any more. I think it shrunk.
And here's a picture of Bumstead at the match. Jim is at the telescope, I'm . . . behind the camera.
But I've been 'Writing' for intenet folks for about 8 years.
Here are a couple of examples of the Threads From Heck which were introduced (usually) on The Unofficial IPSC List, and which were subsequently posted on the Internet by other subscribers:
Tampa Bay Pistol Club - You know you're a shooter when...
IPSC Haiku
My favorites are ... well, my own poems. But the creativity is astounding, and I'm hard-pressed to pick my own from the others. To be honest, many of the poems are 'in-jokes'. These were all composed in 2001, and thanx to Jeff Maass for preserving them.
Boomershoot
I went to one of Joe Huffman's early Boomershoots in 1999.
(I also went to the 2000 Boomershoot, and I bought the shirt, but that's another story.)
I went with Jim "Bumstead" Boemler, and delighted in getting him stuck in mud while we treked thru the marshlands.
The link cited above, however, deals with my expectations based on EXPERIENCE during other lie-down-on-the-grass-and-squirm-in-the-cold-mud moments.
BTW, if Kim Du Toit would like a genuine Boomershoot t-shirt, I would be willing to make him a gift of mine. It doesn't fit me any more. I think it shrunk.
And here's a picture of Bumstead at the match. Jim is at the telescope, I'm . . . behind the camera.
ABC News: Granny's Got a Gun ... and Uses It
ABC News: Granny's Got a Gun ... and Uses It
Arlington, Texas:
A Texas Grandmother exercised her Second Amendment right to defend herself, her family and her home by shooting a half-naked 'really buff' male intruder who had broken a window to enter the home shared by the grandmother (66 year old Susan Buxton), her daughter, and her grandchildren.
Not with the 911 operator, with Buxton!
Note: if your access to the ABC video doesn't work for you, here's one from Comcast. No telling if the pop-up video will work any better, or if you need a Comcast subscription to run it. When I viewed it, there were a couple of interuptions in the feed but it was a GREAT interview by ABC. There was a great deal of commentary that wasn't available on the later ABC news video.
Arlington, Texas:
A Texas Grandmother exercised her Second Amendment right to defend herself, her family and her home by shooting a half-naked 'really buff' male intruder who had broken a window to enter the home shared by the grandmother (66 year old Susan Buxton), her daughter, and her grandchildren.
Susan Gaylord Buxton of Arlington, Texas, shot an intruder who broke into her home using the .38-caliber handgun she keeps by her bedside.
(The) 66-year-old grandmother is giving new meaning to the saying, "Don't Mess With Texas."
Susan Gaylord Buxton of Arlington, Texas, shot an intruder who broke into her home using the .38-caliber handgun she keeps by her bedside. The intruder, Christopher Lessner, 22, suffered a leg wound and is now in jail.
"I was scared, I was terrified and I was really, really angry that he was in my house," Buxton said. "He could have harmed me or my granddaughter."
Buxton, a cartoonist and an artist, had already gone to bed for the night. But at 12:45 a.m. on Wednesday, she got up to let one of her puppies outside. She took her gun with her in case a coyote tried to attack her dog in the yard.
On her way downstairs, Buxton noticed that her granddaughter, Mandy Davis, was awake because she had heard a noise like breaking glass. Buxton walked out on her back porch and let her dog out, who began sniffing two big muddy footprints on the porch — a red flag, since they hadn't any rain in about six weeks.
Then Buxton and Davis noticed other odd things: the door to a backroom was ajar allowing the family cats to escape and other items in the room were in disarray. They discussed calling the police, but instead decided to methodically check the house on their own — with a spotlight and her gun in hand.
After checking the entire house, they realized the only place they hadn't checked was the coat closet — and there was Lessner.
"This big, 6-foot-1, really big, buff man jumped out," Buxton said.As Buxton dealt with the intruder, Davis called 911 to get help.
Lessner was on the run from police who were trying to ticket him for speeding in a stolen car earlier that night.
Buxton ordered Lessner to "get down" but he refused. She fired one warning shot into the air and then she shot him in the leg. But Lessner still managed to run out the front door.
Police apprehended him near Buxton's home.
"They found him bleeding and cowering on a neighbor's balcony," Buxton said.
Buxton has owned a handgun for 12 years, but this was her first time shooting anybody, she said. Buxton bought the gun 12 years ago after she says someone tried to kidnap one of her grandchildren while she was baby-sitting.
She has taken a shooting course where she was trained to aim for the torso, but she said she aimed for the leg instead.
"I didn't want to kill him," Buxton said.
The police took Buxton's gun as part of the investigation. In the meantime, she's carrying her other gun, a 9-millimeter semi-automatic. Buxton has a permit to carry a handgun and will not be charged with a crime because she was defending herself.
Lessner is facing charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, evading arrest, criminal mischief and criminal trespass. Now that he's out of the hospital, he's sitting in jail.
"I'm glad he's in jail," Buxton said. "That's where he belongs."
Correction to the story:
According to the on-air interview on the Good Morning America television show, Buxton had hit Lessner in the leg with her FIRST shot, deliberately shooting to wound. The second shot was the warning shot, fired after Lessner had dragged himself out of the house and while police were on the way.
Details not available in the text version, or the ABC news video:
Here's the Money quote(s), from the 911 call as Buxton was heard in the background while her daughter made the emergency call for police help:
(Grandmother): Get . . . Get Down!I think I'm in love.
Son of a Bitch!
. . .
How dare you come into my house, you lousy son of a bitch!
...
Get the son of a bitch out of here or he's a dead man!
(911 operator): Did she just shoot him again? The police are on the way. Tell her she needs to stop shooting him!
Not with the 911 operator, with Buxton!
Buxton reported that she had received defensive firearms training, and asserted that ". . . they tell you, when you get a handgun . . . you need to practice, practice, practice!"
Note: if your access to the ABC video doesn't work for you, here's one from Comcast. No telling if the pop-up video will work any better, or if you need a Comcast subscription to run it. When I viewed it, there were a couple of interuptions in the feed but it was a GREAT interview by ABC. There was a great deal of commentary that wasn't available on the later ABC news video.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Thank you, Veterans
Thank you!
Tomorrow, November 11, is Veteran's Day.
If you've never thought of Veterans as "Somebody Special", if you deplore the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, if you served, or know someone who served their country in acknowledged risk of life and limb, if you "Support The Troops", if you fervently believe that "War Is Dangerous To Children And Other Living Creatures", if you think that soldiers are sadly misguided whose hearts may be in the right place but they are wasting themselves in Somebody Else's War . . .
. . . if you're an American . . .
do something special on Veteran's day to show that you acknowledge the sacrifices and risks that one American is willing to assume in order that you may sleep safely at night.
Going grocery shopping? Stop and buy a Buddy Poppy from the old man in front of the Safeway store. Don't give him a buck; give him a twenty. It helps support the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Make your day THEIR day, by showing your appreciation.
What am I going to do?
I'm going to celebrate Red Shirt Friday, and bring along some momento of military service to my work place.
At 11pm on 11/11, I'll go to the memorial at the local National Guard Armory and offer my Libation to Absent Friends. It may sound strange to you, but THEY know, and understand. If my name was on that pillar, or wall, I would appreciate the gesture.
Saturday, I'll go to an IPSC match.
I hope by then I'll have found a Safeway store, and a VFW guy, because I want to wear my Buddy Poppy.
PS: if the 3-minute movie linked to above doesn't break you up just a little bit, you won't understand any of this.
Never mind.
It's only important if it's important to you.
Tomorrow, November 11, is Veteran's Day.
If you've never thought of Veterans as "Somebody Special", if you deplore the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, if you served, or know someone who served their country in acknowledged risk of life and limb, if you "Support The Troops", if you fervently believe that "War Is Dangerous To Children And Other Living Creatures", if you think that soldiers are sadly misguided whose hearts may be in the right place but they are wasting themselves in Somebody Else's War . . .
. . . if you're an American . . .
do something special on Veteran's day to show that you acknowledge the sacrifices and risks that one American is willing to assume in order that you may sleep safely at night.
Going grocery shopping? Stop and buy a Buddy Poppy from the old man in front of the Safeway store. Don't give him a buck; give him a twenty. It helps support the Veterans of Foreign Wars.Make your day THEIR day, by showing your appreciation.
What am I going to do?
I'm going to celebrate Red Shirt Friday, and bring along some momento of military service to my work place.
At 11pm on 11/11, I'll go to the memorial at the local National Guard Armory and offer my Libation to Absent Friends. It may sound strange to you, but THEY know, and understand. If my name was on that pillar, or wall, I would appreciate the gesture.
Saturday, I'll go to an IPSC match.
I hope by then I'll have found a Safeway store, and a VFW guy, because I want to wear my Buddy Poppy.
PS: if the 3-minute movie linked to above doesn't break you up just a little bit, you won't understand any of this.
Never mind.
It's only important if it's important to you.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Never point an RPG at the Marines
Caution: This depicts scenes of graphic violence. May not be suitable for just about anybody.
869KB, 37 seconds.
H/T Big Dog
869KB, 37 seconds.
H/T Big Dog
Stamps with Your Photo On Them
PhotoStamps: Home
The U.S. Postal Service has entered into an agreement with various commercial suppliers to allow personally designed stamps to be used on mail entered into the USPSA system.
You provide the photo, credit card and address information (you have to establish an account with the individual supplier - I chose Photo.Stamp.com arbitrarily) and the supplier will print your image on stamps which you can use to send snailmail.
I tried this out. It cost me $32.97 for 'two sheets'. I don't know how many stamps are on a sheet, but the stamps I get from the post office have about a dozen per sheet. I very much doubt they are talking about 50-stamp sheets. The stamps will certainly cost a lot more than their $.37 face value, and until I receive my order I won't be able to say what the actual cost per stamp will be.
I chose a photo of my son, his wife and THEIR new son, J-Bob. (Jakob Robert) This photo was over a year old, taken in the hospital room on the day he was born. My son, Jon Ben, has a satisfied smirk on his face which makes it all worth the expense of memorializing.
Okay, it's a subjective thing. I love my son and his family, and while it may not be the photo THEY would choose, I can't think of a happier moment than the birth of a child.
It's worth it to me, and while they may not appreciate the stamps I'll be sending to hem, at least they have it to use or give to their son for whatever purpose he may have. (I don't expect to be using these stamps to pay my utility bills.)
This was just a test order. A single 'sheet' of stamps costs just under $17 from PhotStamps; I don't know what other suppliers charge, I haven't checked them out yet.
But if the stamps seem to be of good quality, I have plans to submit some other photos which are personally significant and buy even more stamps from them.
FYI, there are restrictions on the images you can submit for stamps. Using PhotoStamp as a typical supplier, no pornography, violence, copyright images (without permission), historical figures (?), suggestive, etc. photos will be accepted. If you send in an order and the image is rejected by the supplier, you will be charged a $10 'processing fee' by photostamp and you don't get your stamps.
I have NO idea whether they would consider this objectionable:
You have to submit your own images and orders to find out what they will accept. If you choose to try this, I would appreciate it if you would send me a copy of the image and the results of your order. I may, with your permission, publish the results and image if only to serve as a warning to others.
UPDATE 11/14:
There are 20 stamps per sheet. At $0.37 per stamp, the actual postage value is $7.40. Your price from this vendor is $14.99 per sheet, which means your paying double price for the stamps.
This is no bargain if all you want is postage. If you want something else, something personal and meaningful to you, it's dirt cheap. For me, it's a bargain and I'll be using their service again.
The U.S. Postal Service has entered into an agreement with various commercial suppliers to allow personally designed stamps to be used on mail entered into the USPSA system.
You provide the photo, credit card and address information (you have to establish an account with the individual supplier - I chose Photo.Stamp.com arbitrarily) and the supplier will print your image on stamps which you can use to send snailmail.
I tried this out. It cost me $32.97 for 'two sheets'. I don't know how many stamps are on a sheet, but the stamps I get from the post office have about a dozen per sheet. I very much doubt they are talking about 50-stamp sheets. The stamps will certainly cost a lot more than their $.37 face value, and until I receive my order I won't be able to say what the actual cost per stamp will be.
I chose a photo of my son, his wife and THEIR new son, J-Bob. (Jakob Robert) This photo was over a year old, taken in the hospital room on the day he was born. My son, Jon Ben, has a satisfied smirk on his face which makes it all worth the expense of memorializing.
Okay, it's a subjective thing. I love my son and his family, and while it may not be the photo THEY would choose, I can't think of a happier moment than the birth of a child.
It's worth it to me, and while they may not appreciate the stamps I'll be sending to hem, at least they have it to use or give to their son for whatever purpose he may have. (I don't expect to be using these stamps to pay my utility bills.)
This was just a test order. A single 'sheet' of stamps costs just under $17 from PhotStamps; I don't know what other suppliers charge, I haven't checked them out yet.
But if the stamps seem to be of good quality, I have plans to submit some other photos which are personally significant and buy even more stamps from them.
FYI, there are restrictions on the images you can submit for stamps. Using PhotoStamp as a typical supplier, no pornography, violence, copyright images (without permission), historical figures (?), suggestive, etc. photos will be accepted. If you send in an order and the image is rejected by the supplier, you will be charged a $10 'processing fee' by photostamp and you don't get your stamps.
I have NO idea whether they would consider this objectionable:
You have to submit your own images and orders to find out what they will accept. If you choose to try this, I would appreciate it if you would send me a copy of the image and the results of your order. I may, with your permission, publish the results and image if only to serve as a warning to others.
UPDATE 11/14:
There are 20 stamps per sheet. At $0.37 per stamp, the actual postage value is $7.40. Your price from this vendor is $14.99 per sheet, which means your paying double price for the stamps.
This is no bargain if all you want is postage. If you want something else, something personal and meaningful to you, it's dirt cheap. For me, it's a bargain and I'll be using their service again.
What are you smiling about?
Last Spring, my Geek Jeep still sported a "SPORTSMEN FOR BUSH" sticker in the rear window.
You may be aware that I work at a University in the Pacific Northwest, and I park on campus five days a week.
One Monday when I went to the parking lot to get my car, I noticed that someone had taken advantage of the thin layer of dust (I had attended an IPSC match the day before, and the dust from the dirt access roads hadn't yet been washed off . . . it wasn't time for my Semi-annual Wash The Car Day) to write "BUSH IS GAY" on the back hatch.
Now, you all know that the entire PNW is a Red State, and the Geek Jeep is red. Honestly, I was trying to get along as passively as I could.
Yet someone, presumably a University student, had decided that the only reasonable response to a Jeep with a "Sportsmen For Bush" sticker in the back window was to write "BUSH IS GAY" on the car. (I'm just grateful that they used their dirty finger, instead of a key, to write it!)
I wondered why this particular phrase was used to disparage the President of the United States. In a Liberal state, at a Liberal college, with a very active Gay Pride center within a mile of my parking place, does someone consider that the unfounded accusation of being Gay is an appropriate insult?
What does that do for the "Celebrate Diversity" movement on campus? How does it correlate to the professed inclusionary slant of the anti-Bush movement?
Is being Gay a Bad Thing? If so, how does the writer get along with his fellow liberals, who seem to take acceptance of homosexuality as a plank on their political platform?
Or was the writer merely commenting that President George W. Bush seemed especially jovial?
I find this a little difficult to accept, considering that Bush 43 has been experiencing one of the most difficult tenures in the history of the country. 911, war in Afghanistan, war in Iraq, Terrorism in general, the need to expend resources (which could be otherwise slotted for domestic social issues) on defensive measures such as TSA . . . what has Bush got to be happy about?
One could imagine that President Bush, in an introspective moment, would envy President Eisenhower. The worth thing Ike had to deal with was the uncomfortable 6-month period between the day when the USSR orbited Sputnik, and the day when the USA managed to get a satellite in orbit. (Joke of the day: "Why can't Ike ride horseback at night?" Answer: "Because he doesn't have a saddle light". Saddle-light, satellite. Get it? Okay, it's lame, but that was the fifties.)
The reason all of this boiled to the top of the melting pot is because I just read a Doctor Adams article entitled "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and dog-gone it, Stuart Smalley likes me!"
Here, Doctor Adams discusses Al Franken, whose distinction between "Unfair Mean" jokes and "Fair Mean" jokes is difficult to define, at best. The difference seems to be whether the speaker is a Liberal or a Conservative. If you take Franken's history into account, it's wrong for Conservatives to say anything 'mean' about homosexuals. However, it's okay for a Liberal to say anything 'mean' about homosexuals, if the homosexual in question is a Conservative.
In that vein, I spent the most grueling week in my recent history listening to "Air America" earlier this week. (The actual listening time was just under five minutes; I'm not able to listen to that show any longer for fear of hurling.) I do this from time to time, just to see if the Liberal Voice of America has begun to make sense. I'll save you the torture of listening for yourself: they haven't.
The woman who was talking (Randi Rhodes?) was talking about the big stink those nasty ol' Conservatives made about Clinton's affair with Lewinski, and then asked "What about the homosexual prostitute [note: Gannon/Guckert?], what was he doing in the White House?"
It's not clear whether she was concerned about the homosexuality or the prostitution of this guy, but she made it clear that the relationship between Clinton and Lewinski was a . . . quote . . . "Social Situation", while that between the man who seemed to be carving out a new career as a White House reporter and the President seemed somehow to be comparable.
There's no suggestion here, or elsewhere, that President Bush was carrying on a "Social Situation" with a male prostitute, but Rhodes seemed to relish the inuendo.
That's what it's all about with the Liberal press . . . inuendo. And it's infecting the young people of our country.
It's okay to use homosexuality as a weapon against Conservatives, if you're a Liberal. But if you're a Conservative, and you aren't publicallyl and viciferously in support of homosexuality, you're "Just Mean".
So what does it mean when you only allow a homosexual to attend your White House Press Conferences, and you're a Conservative? Are you inclusive, or are you perverted?
What are you smiling about?
You may be aware that I work at a University in the Pacific Northwest, and I park on campus five days a week.
One Monday when I went to the parking lot to get my car, I noticed that someone had taken advantage of the thin layer of dust (I had attended an IPSC match the day before, and the dust from the dirt access roads hadn't yet been washed off . . . it wasn't time for my Semi-annual Wash The Car Day) to write "BUSH IS GAY" on the back hatch.
Now, you all know that the entire PNW is a Red State, and the Geek Jeep is red. Honestly, I was trying to get along as passively as I could.
Yet someone, presumably a University student, had decided that the only reasonable response to a Jeep with a "Sportsmen For Bush" sticker in the back window was to write "BUSH IS GAY" on the car. (I'm just grateful that they used their dirty finger, instead of a key, to write it!)
I wondered why this particular phrase was used to disparage the President of the United States. In a Liberal state, at a Liberal college, with a very active Gay Pride center within a mile of my parking place, does someone consider that the unfounded accusation of being Gay is an appropriate insult?
What does that do for the "Celebrate Diversity" movement on campus? How does it correlate to the professed inclusionary slant of the anti-Bush movement?
Is being Gay a Bad Thing? If so, how does the writer get along with his fellow liberals, who seem to take acceptance of homosexuality as a plank on their political platform?
Or was the writer merely commenting that President George W. Bush seemed especially jovial?
I find this a little difficult to accept, considering that Bush 43 has been experiencing one of the most difficult tenures in the history of the country. 911, war in Afghanistan, war in Iraq, Terrorism in general, the need to expend resources (which could be otherwise slotted for domestic social issues) on defensive measures such as TSA . . . what has Bush got to be happy about?
One could imagine that President Bush, in an introspective moment, would envy President Eisenhower. The worth thing Ike had to deal with was the uncomfortable 6-month period between the day when the USSR orbited Sputnik, and the day when the USA managed to get a satellite in orbit. (Joke of the day: "Why can't Ike ride horseback at night?" Answer: "Because he doesn't have a saddle light". Saddle-light, satellite. Get it? Okay, it's lame, but that was the fifties.)
The reason all of this boiled to the top of the melting pot is because I just read a Doctor Adams article entitled "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and dog-gone it, Stuart Smalley likes me!"
Here, Doctor Adams discusses Al Franken, whose distinction between "Unfair Mean" jokes and "Fair Mean" jokes is difficult to define, at best. The difference seems to be whether the speaker is a Liberal or a Conservative. If you take Franken's history into account, it's wrong for Conservatives to say anything 'mean' about homosexuals. However, it's okay for a Liberal to say anything 'mean' about homosexuals, if the homosexual in question is a Conservative.
In that vein, I spent the most grueling week in my recent history listening to "Air America" earlier this week. (The actual listening time was just under five minutes; I'm not able to listen to that show any longer for fear of hurling.) I do this from time to time, just to see if the Liberal Voice of America has begun to make sense. I'll save you the torture of listening for yourself: they haven't.
The woman who was talking (Randi Rhodes?) was talking about the big stink those nasty ol' Conservatives made about Clinton's affair with Lewinski, and then asked "What about the homosexual prostitute [note: Gannon/Guckert?], what was he doing in the White House?"
It's not clear whether she was concerned about the homosexuality or the prostitution of this guy, but she made it clear that the relationship between Clinton and Lewinski was a . . . quote . . . "Social Situation", while that between the man who seemed to be carving out a new career as a White House reporter and the President seemed somehow to be comparable.
There's no suggestion here, or elsewhere, that President Bush was carrying on a "Social Situation" with a male prostitute, but Rhodes seemed to relish the inuendo.
That's what it's all about with the Liberal press . . . inuendo. And it's infecting the young people of our country.
It's okay to use homosexuality as a weapon against Conservatives, if you're a Liberal. But if you're a Conservative, and you aren't publicallyl and viciferously in support of homosexuality, you're "Just Mean".
So what does it mean when you only allow a homosexual to attend your White House Press Conferences, and you're a Conservative? Are you inclusive, or are you perverted?
What are you smiling about?
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