July 31, 2006
Movies, Movies, Movies!
So the weekend before last, Aimee went to visit her sister and our new niece. I was on call, so I stayed home with the fatpup. This afforded me an opportunity to catch up on the slasher films I had been missing. I loves me a good slasher flick, but Aimee does not share my affinity for the gore so we don't usually get them. I seized the opportunity and rented The Hills Have Eyes (unrated version), Dawn of the Dead and Underworld: Evolution. Yeah, I know. Underworld isn't a 'slasher' film per se, but it is a vampire/werewolf movie so it falls under the general umbrella of horror and there were gallons of blood. Anyway, here's what I took away from the party.
The Hills Have Eyes, which is a remake of a Wes Craven flick, was indeed sufficiently creepy in imagery and plot, but they gave up the goods too quick for my liking. Kind of hard to keep up the suspense when everyone knows who or what the 'bad guy' is. And to say that the 'bad guys' were outlandishly robust, even for nuclear-powered horror movie freaks, is a bit of an understatement--cockroaches seem easier to kill. The most notable quality was the superb makeup and effects they used to make the miners look like they had been living in a nuclear wasteland for 60 years. Kudos to the folks who did that bit. I've talked with a few people who found this one insanely creepy. One friend even said that this was the movie that put him off slasher flicks for good. I didn't find it that disturbing but who knows, you just might. It is certainly worth the 4 bucks to find out.
Underworld: Evolution was more or less rented because I have a soft spot for vampire/werewolf movies, even when they are bad. I think I made it through The Howling III before I finally stopped paying attention to that franchise, but making it that far should give you a clue. And one of my all time favorites is An American Werewolf in London--a true classic. And I'll admit to feeling kind of 'vested' in the franchise after sitting through the first one, which wasn't bad, but wasn't supa-phat and all that, either. The effects are good, quite good actually, but you know there is a LOT of CG stuff, so if you're not down with that then you'll be bored. One bonus which now seems to be a trademark of this franchise is all the cool toys! They get the coolest hardware, which is probably owed in great part to the Matrix movies, but that's a different story. The mythology, or family tree, or whatever you want to call it is THICK in this one and it can be a bit trying to follow at times and not 100% sure I understand where it left us at the end of the movie. I guess the third one will tell us, right?
And that brings us to my favorite of the bunch: Dawn of the Dead. I know this one is a remake too (and this may be bordering on horror-fan blasphemy) but I've never seen the original. Which is good and bad. Good because I wasn't consciously comparing the two. I could just kick back, relax and let the move do its thing. Bad because, from what I've heard, the original is a good movie. Maybe later. As far as zombie movies go, this one was top notch. "Why" you ask? Simple: the zombies can run! Seriously now; how frightening are 300 brain-eating zombies when you know that you can outrun them with your shoes tied together? That has never really worked for me. I understand that it is the inevitability of having your brains eaten that is supposed to be the scary bit, but that just doesn't work for me. And why shouldn't they be running? If the part of their brain that controls motor function is working well enough to keep them moving, why wouldn't it keep them moving fast? Thank 28 Days Later for that one, I think. Which, by the way, even went the extra mile by showing us a parallel zombie universe (in London, of all places) where the unfortunate souls in the film could be infected by as little as one drop of blood getting into the blood stream. Kind of makes a person think twice about taking that 12 gauge headshot at 3 feet, huh? Another thing I loved about 28 Days was that the entire thing was caused by a bunch of feel-good hippies trying to save the infected chimps. Who promptly beat their liberators to death. How deliciously ironic is that? Anyway, we're talking about Dawn here so I promise to focus. The cast was great, I thought, and appropriately chosen. I'd say the standouts were Ving Rhames (of course) and Ty Burrell. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head I've seen Burrell play, but he acted his part so well that I literally wanted to choke him to death by the 3/4 point of the movie. And without a doubt, an honorable mention goes to Zombie Baby, who was not credited, but still made me laugh. Overall, the movie stands well on its own and even if you think of it as a remake (although it is really only the same in that it is a zombie flick and it is called "Dawn of the Dead") it should come across as a good remake, which is something we don't see a lot of these days.
Finally, there was one art-house kind of thing we watched Sunday night when Aimee was home. It was an indie film called The Three Burials of Melquaides Estrada. It was directed by, and starred, Tommy Lee Jones with Barry Pepper. The entire cast did very well but as with most arty films, it moves at its own pace, which can be a bit slow at points. But I did like it. A lot, actually, and not only because it employed one of my favorite techniques: circular story telling. It is the story of a Cleveland cop and his wife (January Jones, who really needs to eat something) who transfers to a tiny Texas border town to take a job with the Border Patrol and then mistakenly kills a ranch hand who works for Jones' character. I like that the film didn't try to polarize the illegal immigration issue any more than it already is, meaning (to me) that neither the illegals or the BP agents are portrayed as "bad". The illegals are just trying to find some work and the BP agents are jus trying to do their job. And then they do it all over again the following day. If you can find it, I say give it a spin.
Finally, I was going to comment on the current state of affairs in the Mid-East, but I didn't feel a movie review post was the best place for it. And let's be honest; Fox, CNN, MSNBC, ABC and CBS all have correspondents in the area giving live broadcasts while the Katyushka rockets fall in the back drop, so do you really need some right-wing nutter from Oklahoma giving you yet another perspective? Didn't think so. Have a nice Monday!
The Hills Have Eyes, which is a remake of a Wes Craven flick, was indeed sufficiently creepy in imagery and plot, but they gave up the goods too quick for my liking. Kind of hard to keep up the suspense when everyone knows who or what the 'bad guy' is. And to say that the 'bad guys' were outlandishly robust, even for nuclear-powered horror movie freaks, is a bit of an understatement--cockroaches seem easier to kill. The most notable quality was the superb makeup and effects they used to make the miners look like they had been living in a nuclear wasteland for 60 years. Kudos to the folks who did that bit. I've talked with a few people who found this one insanely creepy. One friend even said that this was the movie that put him off slasher flicks for good. I didn't find it that disturbing but who knows, you just might. It is certainly worth the 4 bucks to find out.
Underworld: Evolution was more or less rented because I have a soft spot for vampire/werewolf movies, even when they are bad. I think I made it through The Howling III before I finally stopped paying attention to that franchise, but making it that far should give you a clue. And one of my all time favorites is An American Werewolf in London--a true classic. And I'll admit to feeling kind of 'vested' in the franchise after sitting through the first one, which wasn't bad, but wasn't supa-phat and all that, either. The effects are good, quite good actually, but you know there is a LOT of CG stuff, so if you're not down with that then you'll be bored. One bonus which now seems to be a trademark of this franchise is all the cool toys! They get the coolest hardware, which is probably owed in great part to the Matrix movies, but that's a different story. The mythology, or family tree, or whatever you want to call it is THICK in this one and it can be a bit trying to follow at times and not 100% sure I understand where it left us at the end of the movie. I guess the third one will tell us, right?
And that brings us to my favorite of the bunch: Dawn of the Dead. I know this one is a remake too (and this may be bordering on horror-fan blasphemy) but I've never seen the original. Which is good and bad. Good because I wasn't consciously comparing the two. I could just kick back, relax and let the move do its thing. Bad because, from what I've heard, the original is a good movie. Maybe later. As far as zombie movies go, this one was top notch. "Why" you ask? Simple: the zombies can run! Seriously now; how frightening are 300 brain-eating zombies when you know that you can outrun them with your shoes tied together? That has never really worked for me. I understand that it is the inevitability of having your brains eaten that is supposed to be the scary bit, but that just doesn't work for me. And why shouldn't they be running? If the part of their brain that controls motor function is working well enough to keep them moving, why wouldn't it keep them moving fast? Thank 28 Days Later for that one, I think. Which, by the way, even went the extra mile by showing us a parallel zombie universe (in London, of all places) where the unfortunate souls in the film could be infected by as little as one drop of blood getting into the blood stream. Kind of makes a person think twice about taking that 12 gauge headshot at 3 feet, huh? Another thing I loved about 28 Days was that the entire thing was caused by a bunch of feel-good hippies trying to save the infected chimps. Who promptly beat their liberators to death. How deliciously ironic is that? Anyway, we're talking about Dawn here so I promise to focus. The cast was great, I thought, and appropriately chosen. I'd say the standouts were Ving Rhames (of course) and Ty Burrell. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head I've seen Burrell play, but he acted his part so well that I literally wanted to choke him to death by the 3/4 point of the movie. And without a doubt, an honorable mention goes to Zombie Baby, who was not credited, but still made me laugh. Overall, the movie stands well on its own and even if you think of it as a remake (although it is really only the same in that it is a zombie flick and it is called "Dawn of the Dead") it should come across as a good remake, which is something we don't see a lot of these days.
Finally, there was one art-house kind of thing we watched Sunday night when Aimee was home. It was an indie film called The Three Burials of Melquaides Estrada. It was directed by, and starred, Tommy Lee Jones with Barry Pepper. The entire cast did very well but as with most arty films, it moves at its own pace, which can be a bit slow at points. But I did like it. A lot, actually, and not only because it employed one of my favorite techniques: circular story telling. It is the story of a Cleveland cop and his wife (January Jones, who really needs to eat something) who transfers to a tiny Texas border town to take a job with the Border Patrol and then mistakenly kills a ranch hand who works for Jones' character. I like that the film didn't try to polarize the illegal immigration issue any more than it already is, meaning (to me) that neither the illegals or the BP agents are portrayed as "bad". The illegals are just trying to find some work and the BP agents are jus trying to do their job. And then they do it all over again the following day. If you can find it, I say give it a spin.
Finally, I was going to comment on the current state of affairs in the Mid-East, but I didn't feel a movie review post was the best place for it. And let's be honest; Fox, CNN, MSNBC, ABC and CBS all have correspondents in the area giving live broadcasts while the Katyushka rockets fall in the back drop, so do you really need some right-wing nutter from Oklahoma giving you yet another perspective? Didn't think so. Have a nice Monday!
// posted by wayne @ 7/31/2006 02:55:00 AM 
July 27, 2006
I'll Apologize In Advance For My Language
I am so freaking angry right now, I can’t even begin to explain it. Furious comes close, but still doesn't quite get it.
While watching the news earlier today I saw two headlines that pissed me smooth off. First was during the evening news with our friend Brian Williams, and it went like this: ExxonMobile posts record second quarter profits of 10.3 BILLION dollars. Billion. With a freakin’ B. Then, on our local boardcast, Kevin Ogle told us that Oklahoma gas prices are today higher than they’ve been since last September.
Now I know this may earn me the “Captain Obvious” award for the month, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that when they (the oil companies) raise gas prices, it isn’t to offset their increasing costs. It is to ensure their fat, overstuffed, padded profit margins are not damaged in any way and even continue to show record growth! This makes me mad enough that, given the opportunity, I would actually--and not at all in a metaphoric fashion--beat the stuffing out of the ExxonMobile top dog. This is without a doubt the most obvious case of price gouging I’ve ever seen. This is even worse than when prices on plywood and building materials are raised after a tornado or hurricane. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this is honest-to-goodness criminal behavior.
Consider this: when the airlines start talking “strike”, the "gubment" can step in and ORDER those punks back to work because it would disrupt the economic order of things. Why is it that the "gubment" is NOT calling these oil companies on the carpet and demanding price limits? You want to talk about disrupting the economic order of things? Most of Oklahoma, and most other states for that matter, are very rural in their nature, which means that a lot of people are driving a lot of miles to get to work. I am fortunate in that I live about 3 miles from work. Even in the big black truck, which gets crap for gas mileage, I can still put 10 gallons in the tank and get back and forth to work all week and maybe even up to The Ci-tay or down to Purcell without needing to buy more. Now, compare that to my parents, who BOTH work in Norman, even though they live in Lexington, but can’t carpool because their work hours are different. That is about 25 miles each way for each vehicle. And that’s not even counting the miles my mom racks up driving to Edmond to visit little sister. Now, imagine that you are a small business owner who maintains a fleet of vehicles, or even just the kid down the street mowing lawns. What do you think these prices are doing to their economic order? Heck, I don’t even have to ask, you KNOW what this is doing to them. And you know how it is effecting you every day in shipping rates and in your personal economic order.
The way I see it, if these morons in congress aren’t going to take it upon themselves, we are going to have to remind them who sent them to Capitol Hill in the first place. I’ll be emailing my rep’s and senators later to not-so-gently suggest that they get this squared away immediately. I’m tired of the excuses and I’m tired them saying that all our oil woes are because of Iraq. That is a lie and you know it. I might, and that is a pretty big might, be inclined to believe some of this crap they’re spewing if they hadn’t posted 10.3 BILLION in profits for the quarter. And this quarter was actually only the SECOND highest ever reported for ExxonMobile (who holds the record for top earnings, by the way). Which quarter was higher, you ask? The last quarter of 2005. Who ever would've guessed?
Bastards.
While watching the news earlier today I saw two headlines that pissed me smooth off. First was during the evening news with our friend Brian Williams, and it went like this: ExxonMobile posts record second quarter profits of 10.3 BILLION dollars. Billion. With a freakin’ B. Then, on our local boardcast, Kevin Ogle told us that Oklahoma gas prices are today higher than they’ve been since last September.
Now I know this may earn me the “Captain Obvious” award for the month, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that when they (the oil companies) raise gas prices, it isn’t to offset their increasing costs. It is to ensure their fat, overstuffed, padded profit margins are not damaged in any way and even continue to show record growth! This makes me mad enough that, given the opportunity, I would actually--and not at all in a metaphoric fashion--beat the stuffing out of the ExxonMobile top dog. This is without a doubt the most obvious case of price gouging I’ve ever seen. This is even worse than when prices on plywood and building materials are raised after a tornado or hurricane. In fact, I would go as far as to say that this is honest-to-goodness criminal behavior.
Consider this: when the airlines start talking “strike”, the "gubment" can step in and ORDER those punks back to work because it would disrupt the economic order of things. Why is it that the "gubment" is NOT calling these oil companies on the carpet and demanding price limits? You want to talk about disrupting the economic order of things? Most of Oklahoma, and most other states for that matter, are very rural in their nature, which means that a lot of people are driving a lot of miles to get to work. I am fortunate in that I live about 3 miles from work. Even in the big black truck, which gets crap for gas mileage, I can still put 10 gallons in the tank and get back and forth to work all week and maybe even up to The Ci-tay or down to Purcell without needing to buy more. Now, compare that to my parents, who BOTH work in Norman, even though they live in Lexington, but can’t carpool because their work hours are different. That is about 25 miles each way for each vehicle. And that’s not even counting the miles my mom racks up driving to Edmond to visit little sister. Now, imagine that you are a small business owner who maintains a fleet of vehicles, or even just the kid down the street mowing lawns. What do you think these prices are doing to their economic order? Heck, I don’t even have to ask, you KNOW what this is doing to them. And you know how it is effecting you every day in shipping rates and in your personal economic order.
The way I see it, if these morons in congress aren’t going to take it upon themselves, we are going to have to remind them who sent them to Capitol Hill in the first place. I’ll be emailing my rep’s and senators later to not-so-gently suggest that they get this squared away immediately. I’m tired of the excuses and I’m tired them saying that all our oil woes are because of Iraq. That is a lie and you know it. I might, and that is a pretty big might, be inclined to believe some of this crap they’re spewing if they hadn’t posted 10.3 BILLION in profits for the quarter. And this quarter was actually only the SECOND highest ever reported for ExxonMobile (who holds the record for top earnings, by the way). Which quarter was higher, you ask? The last quarter of 2005. Who ever would've guessed?
Bastards.
// posted by wayne @ 7/27/2006 11:00:00 PM
July 26, 2006
FOXNews.com - Lance Bass of *NSYNC Reveals He's Gay - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment
FOXNews.com - Lance Bass of *NSYNC Reveals He's Gay - Celebrity Gossip Entertainment News Arts And Entertainment
I think they have this story backwards. You see, I think it would have been shocking news if he had revealed he's straight!
Seriuosly, who didn't see this coming?
I think they have this story backwards. You see, I think it would have been shocking news if he had revealed he's straight!
Seriuosly, who didn't see this coming?
// posted by wayne @ 7/26/2006 07:31:00 PM
July 25, 2006
Vote
Today is primary day here in most parts of Oklahoma, so you had better get out and rock the vote. Or I'm telling Jeanine Garafalo. And you wouldn't like her when she's angry.
And the wedding pictures are done, so I can quit using that as an excuse to avoid blogging. My sister has asked that I not publish anything on the internet for fear that it will end up photoshopped on ebaumsworld. Or something like that. So, instead of a wedding picture how about a nice picture of my 92FS that finally shows the Novak low-mount sights and super-cool daddy skeletonized hammer? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Mmmmm Good!
Another fine ww production.
And the wedding pictures are done, so I can quit using that as an excuse to avoid blogging. My sister has asked that I not publish anything on the internet for fear that it will end up photoshopped on ebaumsworld. Or something like that. So, instead of a wedding picture how about a nice picture of my 92FS that finally shows the Novak low-mount sights and super-cool daddy skeletonized hammer? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Mmmmm Good!
Another fine ww production.
// posted by wayne @ 7/25/2006 01:18:00 PM
July 20, 2006
SHOP-PICS-022
Phat and all dat!
And you thought BigFoot looked stupid the first time you saw it!
And you thought BigFoot looked stupid the first time you saw it!
// posted by wayne @ 7/20/2006 06:39:00 PM
July 19, 2006
Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
You may still number me among the living, just not among the blogging.
In addition to the birth of our niece, my sister was wed last weekend and guess who got do to the photos? That's right, it was Wayne. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, there is just a lot of post-processing that goes into something like that and since I am wearing all the hats on this one (except for photo correction that is waaaay to hard for me and will be handled by my lovely and amazing wife) there isn't much time to spare on the PC lately. Well, I did manage to squeeze in an hour or two of looking at pretty things on gunbroker night before last, but outside of that it has been all editing and color balancing and cropping and hand-coloring, oh my!
I learned a few things about shooting a wedding: I got quite a few things right and a few things, well, not as right as I would've liked, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. At final count, I had taken 343 frames, but edited that down to 244. Of those 244, a lot are the same subjects but a different composition so the recipients of the finished CD will have a head and shoulders shot, a full-length and a 3/4 portrait of each sitting so they can print whichever suits their fancy.
In any event, the disk is almost finished and after that we'll get back to blogging as usual. It would seem the mid-east is doing all it can to give us bloggers ample fodder so I think I'll be going off on that at least once, if not twice or thrice.
In addition to the birth of our niece, my sister was wed last weekend and guess who got do to the photos? That's right, it was Wayne. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, there is just a lot of post-processing that goes into something like that and since I am wearing all the hats on this one (except for photo correction that is waaaay to hard for me and will be handled by my lovely and amazing wife) there isn't much time to spare on the PC lately. Well, I did manage to squeeze in an hour or two of looking at pretty things on gunbroker night before last, but outside of that it has been all editing and color balancing and cropping and hand-coloring, oh my!
I learned a few things about shooting a wedding: I got quite a few things right and a few things, well, not as right as I would've liked, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. At final count, I had taken 343 frames, but edited that down to 244. Of those 244, a lot are the same subjects but a different composition so the recipients of the finished CD will have a head and shoulders shot, a full-length and a 3/4 portrait of each sitting so they can print whichever suits their fancy.
In any event, the disk is almost finished and after that we'll get back to blogging as usual. It would seem the mid-east is doing all it can to give us bloggers ample fodder so I think I'll be going off on that at least once, if not twice or thrice.
// posted by wayne @ 7/19/2006 03:58:00 PM
July 10, 2006
IT'S A GIRL!
Once again I am an uncle and Aimee is an aunt.
Aimee's sister gave birth to her first child today at 12:01p.m. But only after about 25 hours of labor. The contractions started yesterday around 11:00a.m. but things didn't really get going until around midnight. It was a normal, albeit long, delivery and both daughter and mom are resting, as are the happy grandparents and my sweetness. I had to leave early this morning, but they all stayed behind to be there for the happiness and good times.
Makenna Faith was a week and a half overdue (according to the doc's) and weighed 8lbs, 12oz and measured 21" from top to toe.
Congratulations to the tired parents!
Aimee's sister gave birth to her first child today at 12:01p.m. But only after about 25 hours of labor. The contractions started yesterday around 11:00a.m. but things didn't really get going until around midnight. It was a normal, albeit long, delivery and both daughter and mom are resting, as are the happy grandparents and my sweetness. I had to leave early this morning, but they all stayed behind to be there for the happiness and good times.
Makenna Faith was a week and a half overdue (according to the doc's) and weighed 8lbs, 12oz and measured 21" from top to toe.
Congratulations to the tired parents!
// posted by wayne @ 7/10/2006 04:06:00 PM
July 05, 2006
Yowza!
What a weekend.
I know, it's Wednesday already, but if you don't count that whole Monday thing, we had a heck of a weekend that will end today when I get up to go to work
It all started out Saturday morning with Aimee waking me and asking if I wanted to go to Fort Smith. Turns out Aim's mom had the itch to see Sister one more time before she pops and we were invited. (Aimee's sister is up the duff with her first child and the due date was the first of July.) So we went. We packed up and hit the road. Hung out for a bit, slept for a bit, and came back Sunday after I had dinner with Eric and his main squeeze.
Then (we're skipping Monday since it involved work) I got up today, made German-style potato salad and headed south to hang out with Aim's parents for Independence Day. Of course there were baked beans and grilled burgers (I regret to inform the PETA members still silly enough to be reading that animals WERE harmed, killed actually, in the making of those burgers) to be had by all. Good food, I tell you. Finally, we packed up the chairs and headed for, that's right wee kiddiewinkies, Purcell Lake! You would be amazed how many people you can fit around that silly thing when there's fireworks to be ogled. And, as you can see from the below photos, they weren't too bad. Boston Harbor they ain't but Massachusetts is a looooong ways from Purcell. And for the benefit of all my former high-school teachers, that's "MassaCHEWsetts" not "MassaTWOsetts".
Lest the week finish off on a somewhat sour note, I'm happy to report my new toy should be here very soon. I won an auction last week for a Ruger Mark II, stainless target model. I took Kelly's sage advice and went with the "original" Mark II configuration instead of the Mark II/45 arrangement. I paid the seller over the phone by cc and faxed my guy's FFL Friday so I really expected it to be here today, but with no holiday deliveries by Uncle Sugar's package sorters, I am hopeful for tomorrow. I am still saving up to build the .45, but that Mark II was such a sweet deal, I had to get it. The .45 parts I have aren't going to vanish, so it will just be a bit longer in the works. And yes, I did refer to a weapon as a "toy". (I can almost hear Chuck and Hillary soiling their knickers now--and what do you bet they wear the same big, white granny-panties!) You see, this purchase has no real purpose other than being a fun, accurate, inexpensive, plinking machine. Here's the financial analysis of "fun": 9mm ammo--the kind The Beretta eats like candy--runs about $11.50 per hundred rounds at wm. For just a bit less than that, I can get 500 22lr rounds. So that comes out to about 5 times as much fun for my ammunition dollar, ergo, it's a toy. Deal with it, people. And, if you're really nice, I might let you have some fun with it the next time we have a range day.
I know, it's Wednesday already, but if you don't count that whole Monday thing, we had a heck of a weekend that will end today when I get up to go to work
It all started out Saturday morning with Aimee waking me and asking if I wanted to go to Fort Smith. Turns out Aim's mom had the itch to see Sister one more time before she pops and we were invited. (Aimee's sister is up the duff with her first child and the due date was the first of July.) So we went. We packed up and hit the road. Hung out for a bit, slept for a bit, and came back Sunday after I had dinner with Eric and his main squeeze.
Then (we're skipping Monday since it involved work) I got up today, made German-style potato salad and headed south to hang out with Aim's parents for Independence Day. Of course there were baked beans and grilled burgers (I regret to inform the PETA members still silly enough to be reading that animals WERE harmed, killed actually, in the making of those burgers) to be had by all. Good food, I tell you. Finally, we packed up the chairs and headed for, that's right wee kiddiewinkies, Purcell Lake! You would be amazed how many people you can fit around that silly thing when there's fireworks to be ogled. And, as you can see from the below photos, they weren't too bad. Boston Harbor they ain't but Massachusetts is a looooong ways from Purcell. And for the benefit of all my former high-school teachers, that's "MassaCHEWsetts" not "MassaTWOsetts".
Lest the week finish off on a somewhat sour note, I'm happy to report my new toy should be here very soon. I won an auction last week for a Ruger Mark II, stainless target model. I took Kelly's sage advice and went with the "original" Mark II configuration instead of the Mark II/45 arrangement. I paid the seller over the phone by cc and faxed my guy's FFL Friday so I really expected it to be here today, but with no holiday deliveries by Uncle Sugar's package sorters, I am hopeful for tomorrow. I am still saving up to build the .45, but that Mark II was such a sweet deal, I had to get it. The .45 parts I have aren't going to vanish, so it will just be a bit longer in the works. And yes, I did refer to a weapon as a "toy". (I can almost hear Chuck and Hillary soiling their knickers now--and what do you bet they wear the same big, white granny-panties!) You see, this purchase has no real purpose other than being a fun, accurate, inexpensive, plinking machine. Here's the financial analysis of "fun": 9mm ammo--the kind The Beretta eats like candy--runs about $11.50 per hundred rounds at wm. For just a bit less than that, I can get 500 22lr rounds. So that comes out to about 5 times as much fun for my ammunition dollar, ergo, it's a toy. Deal with it, people. And, if you're really nice, I might let you have some fun with it the next time we have a range day.
// posted by wayne @ 7/05/2006 04:34:00 AM
KA-POW!
This is what you get if you don't play with the zoom.Still fun, huh?
Oh yes! Don't forget to set your shutter speed to "bulb" and use a cable release.
// posted by wayne @ 7/05/2006 04:27:00 AM
BLAM!
This is what happens if you set your camera on a tripod, aim your lens at the fireworks, then zoom the lens in and out real fast while the shutter is open!Fun, huh?
// posted by wayne @ 7/05/2006 04:23:00 AM
July 04, 2006
Happy Birthday, America!
Here's to 230 years of independence! We may not be getting it perfect, but you can bet when something hairy happens, the rest of the world's leaders are asking themselves, "What are the Americans going to do about this"?
Yep, despite the best efforts of some of the world's greatest nutters, on both sides of the aisle, we're still doing alright. I'm quite sure this is not the America the founding fathers had in mind, but I'm not sure they'd be entirely disgusted either. Just mostly disgusted. And I'm still a firm believer in the "if you can find a better country, you should move there" philosophy so, in the end, I think we're doing far better than the naysayers would have you believe. After all, children aren't exploding in the streets and most of you can, and still do, pay $2.79.9 per gallon to fill that behemoth urban assault vehicle you careen down the interstate at 85 mph, all the while chatting it up on the cell phone about absolutely nothing--but still doing it nonetheless because you have 300k anytime minutes and you don't want to wast them.
Now go grill something!
Yep, despite the best efforts of some of the world's greatest nutters, on both sides of the aisle, we're still doing alright. I'm quite sure this is not the America the founding fathers had in mind, but I'm not sure they'd be entirely disgusted either. Just mostly disgusted. And I'm still a firm believer in the "if you can find a better country, you should move there" philosophy so, in the end, I think we're doing far better than the naysayers would have you believe. After all, children aren't exploding in the streets and most of you can, and still do, pay $2.79.9 per gallon to fill that behemoth urban assault vehicle you careen down the interstate at 85 mph, all the while chatting it up on the cell phone about absolutely nothing--but still doing it nonetheless because you have 300k anytime minutes and you don't want to wast them.
Now go grill something!
// posted by wayne @ 7/04/2006 06:25:00 PM
July 03, 2006
Complete Idiot's Guide to Pronunciation.
E-S-C-A-P-E.
Please note that the S precedes the C. The word is pronounced EScape.
The PAO for the Lexington A&R (big prison on Highway 39) today appeared on our local news to report that two prisoners had EKscaped. I am about a frog's hair away from going all Cindy Sheehan on these people. I can see it now: "Oklahoma man climbs Library of Congress to protest shoddy pronunciation by Americans. Hero for grammar on day 36 of his vigil for improved enunciation". If we can't get this fixed, I'm going to call Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and we'll have a big, stinky, pachouli-smelling, hippy sit-in until we can get America back on track.
Seriously, people. STOP adding letters where they don't go, it makes them angry and they will revolt.
Please note that the S precedes the C. The word is pronounced EScape.
The PAO for the Lexington A&R (big prison on Highway 39) today appeared on our local news to report that two prisoners had EKscaped. I am about a frog's hair away from going all Cindy Sheehan on these people. I can see it now: "Oklahoma man climbs Library of Congress to protest shoddy pronunciation by Americans. Hero for grammar on day 36 of his vigil for improved enunciation". If we can't get this fixed, I'm going to call Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and we'll have a big, stinky, pachouli-smelling, hippy sit-in until we can get America back on track.
Seriously, people. STOP adding letters where they don't go, it makes them angry and they will revolt.
// posted by wayne @ 7/03/2006 06:18:00 PM
