Memory lane

It's interesting what triggers memories, and what triggers the strongest memories.  There are a million stories about how aromas can trigger long forgotten yet vivid memories in very elderly people.  Music is like that with me - songs can be so strongly associated with good (or bad) times that it's simply impossible to listen to it without being transported back to those days, long ago.

That just happened.  The last time I came back out here to FOB Borepatch, I grabbed a box of CDs to augment my selection here.  After all, everyone back at Camp Borepatch listens to iPod, so as the resident dinosaur, I have pretty much free access to the CD collection.  Well, the box had this:

The kids called it "Daddybies".  I saw it, and put it in.  And suddenly, I'm back in time, when I'd rock my little ones to sleep.

I've done a lot in my life, but nothing that matches this.  Some day, if I'm as lucky as some guys are, I can maybe rock a grandchild or three to sleep with this.

But my very favorite lullaby was from a different album, Daddies Sing Goodnight.

The song was "My little Buckaroo", sung by Doc Watson.  I can't find a video with him singing it, but this one by Slim Whitman comes mighty close.



I can't find that album.  I guess I have a few years to look for it.

UPDATE 14 November 2011 19:53: I'd say that  45er is a lucky guy:

Mrs. 45er (to 3 year old kid - not me - this time): "Honey, don't pick your nose."

Little 45er: "I'm not picking."

Mrs. 45er: "What are you doing?"

Little 45er: "I'm just twisting. Like this." (demonstrates)

You know, she has a point about literal interpretation.

Heh.  But enjoy it, 45er.  They sure grow up fast.

The M1922 Bang Rifle

(Image source)

The repeating action on this is unique.  A sliding cone over the muzzle was driven forward by the muzzle blast.  A long rod connected to the cone worked a lever that unlocked the breach.  Søren Bang had been working on the design since 1901, and this actually passed field trials despite being less than robust and susceptible to failure from the corrosive primers, which weakened the cone.

I want one just because of the name.  Yeah, I know - I need to grow up.  Not going to happen.

Self-Reliance

This guy doesn't have it:

An Illinois man was arrested early yesterday after he called 911 on several occasions to complain that his iPhone was not working.

Michael Alan Skopec, 48, dialed police emergency operators five times to beef about his malfunctioning Apple product ...

Somehow, it made me think of Ron White's joke about vegitarians:

Have you ever seen a healthy-looking vegetarian? They look like shit! They're all gaunt and yellow. After a while, their bodies become intolerant of other things. I'll give you an example: I was out to lunch with a comedian friend of mine, and later in the day he said- and I quote- "I feel nauseous and I have a headache. That soup I had must have had beef broth in it." Your system's kickin' back broth? You're a manly man, aren't you?

Maybe it's just me.

Stay classy, Penn State fans

(via)

Harry Truman playing piano

Debussy.  Quite good, actually.

What I learned at the blogshoot

kx59 put up a great summary, so I don't have to, other than to offer many thanks to the South Texas Gunblogger Community Organizer, Southern Belle.

I did learn a couple things.  First, factory reloads can be "cool" loads (loaded with less propellant).  Not really a problem there - it makes the ammunition a bit less expensive and it makes the round a little slower.  I guess that it's possible that some ranges like that, although it probably doesn't make enough difference to tell.

However, your gun might care.  Less propellant means less energy, which means that the recoil spring will compress less than it would on a hotter load.  My 1911 had been having intermittent problems where the slide didn't return to battery (the firing position).  It would once in a while stop about a quarter inch from where it would in a full cycle.  Pull the trigger, no bang.

I'd been shooting reloads from a local Texas company that had been recommended.  Back in Atlanta, I had short some reloads from Atlanta Arms, which is what the range stocked.

I was thinking that I'd need a gunsmith to look at it.  But I picked up a couple boxes of white box, and it worked flawlessly.  The white box rounds are hotter.

I guess I'll feed the 1911 factory new ammo from now on.

The second thing I learned yesterday is that shooting slings are like corsets: they both work only when they're good and tight.  I kept tightening the sling every time I took a run with the Enfield, and think that I probably need to tighten it a bit more.  But man, it sure improves your groups.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Wellington's Victory, Opus 91

Many people have heard Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, with its opposing national themes and artillery accompaniment.  But Tchaikovsky wasn't the first to do this - Beethoven was.



In 1813, Napoleon was on the ropes.  La Grande Armeé had been essentially wiped out to the man in the disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia - perhaps a half million men simply never returned.  In 1813, Napoleon's many enemies began sharpening their knives.  England's Duke of Wellington continued his series of victories in Spain, ultimately leading to his command of His Majesty's forces at Waterloo two years later.

But Beethoven was enthralled by Napoleon's fall.  Originally a big fan of the First Consul, Beethoven flew into a rage when he heard that Napoleon had had himself crowned Emperor, ripping out the dedication page to his Third Symphony ("Eroica", the Heroic) which he had dedicated to Napoleon.  Now, seeing the moving finger write, and anticipating that having writ it will move on, he turned himself to praising Napoleon's foe.

Wellington's Victory is very interesting indeed.  In it, you will hear two themes, representing the British and the French sides in the battle of Vitoria.  The theme representing the English Army is well known to you: Rule Britannia (and also God Save the King).  The one representing the French Army will likely be a surprise.  It's from a wildly popular French folk song, Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre ("Marlborough Has Left for the War"), whichyou will probably recognize as "For he's a jolly good fellow" (or possibly "The Bear went over the Mountain").  In 1813, this was still an exclusively French folk song.

The premier in a newly-liberated Vienna was to great acclimation, and great commercial success for Beethoven.  Not only was the score explicitly patriotic, it was scored for accompaniment by field artillery (as was Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture some time later).

An obscure find, perhaps, but fun.

Whant to write an Oscar winning screenplay?

Here you go.



(via)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 first day gross

Games are as big as Hollywood, or bigger.  So major introductions are watched like new major motion films for opening day financials.  So what was CoD:MW3's opening day take?

$400 Million.  In a day.

Holy cow.

Don Walser and the Pure Texas Band - Shotgun Boogie

Today is the South Texas Blogshoot, and yesterday was Veteran's Day.  What better music to celebrate these with than a great song by a veteran.  Don Walser was a Texas National Guardsman for years and years.  While he wrote and performed a lot of music, his Guard career kept him from going to Nashville.  As a result, be became one of the best known Country artists in Texas, while being little known outside the Lone Star State.

He was an interesting meeting of the old and the new.  Influential in the Alt-Country scene, he still preserved the Old School country from the 1940s and 1950s.  He was also known for his yodeling, and called the Pavarotti of the Plains.  Quite a contrast, right there.

Today's song wasn't one of his, but rather one of the old greats he helped keep alive.  Shotgun Boogie was one of Tennessee Ernie Ford's hits from way back.  No yodeling, just great toe tapping music.



Shotgun Boogie (Songwriter: Tennessee Ernie Ford):

There it stands in the corner with the barrel so straight
I looked out the window and over the gate
The big, fat rabbits are a-jumpin' in the grass
Wait'll they hear my old shotgun blast
Shotgun Boogie I done saw your tracks ...
Look out Mr. Rabbit when I cock my hammer back.

Well, over on the ridge is a *scaley bark
Hick'er nuts so big you can see 'em in the dark
The big fat Squirrels they scratch and they bite
I'll be on that ridge before daylight
Shot-gun Boogie all I need is one shot ...
Look out bushy tail, tonight you'll be in the pot.

Well, I met pretty gal she was tall and thin
I asked her what she had, she said: "A FOX 410."
I looked her up and down and said: "Boy, this is love."
So we headed for the brush to shoot a big fat Dove
Shot-gun Boogie boy the feathers flew ...
Look out Mr. Dove when she draws a bead on you.

I sat down on a log, took her on my lap
She said: "Wait a minute, bub, you got to see my pap,
He's got a 16-gauge choked down like a rifle
He don't like a man that's a-gonna trifle."
Shot-gun Boogie draws a bead so fine ...
Look out big boy, he's loaded all the time.

Well, I called on her pap like a gentleman oughter
He said: "No brush hunter's gonna get my daughter."
He cocked back the hammer right on the spot
When the gun went off, I outran the shot
Shot-gun Boogie I wanted wedding bells ...
I'll be back little gal, when your pappy runs out of shells.

Made of win, right there.

Blogshoot time!

Tomorrow is the South Texas blogshoot, organized by the South Texas gunblogger's own Community Organizer, Southern Belle.

Location: Lone Star gun range, Lockhart Texas.

Time: 10:00 until whenever.

What to bring: Water is good, although it will be pretty temperate tomorrow.  Any loud fun toys are always welcome; I plan on bringing the Enfield, along with a couple others (Watch out!  He has an arsenal!!!1!).  I stopped at McBrides and cleaned them out of .303 and got a shooting sling.  Go me!

If anyone in Austin wants to go and needs or wants a ride, email be by 0800 tomorrow.

I am jaded with encryption devices

Hipster Hitler rules.  Click through for the punch line.

Well done, everyone

Boy, I didn't expect yesterday's rant about the Marriott to turn into a full fledged Meme.  You guys are da (Google) bomb!

And observe the power of this fully operational Blogosphere ...

Hey Doc - shut up and sing diagnose!

Doctors and gun control - it's back:

Doctors in America are up in arms over the suggestion that they have no business advising their patients on gun ownership and safety. The incensed medics insist that it's their duty to tell Americans not to keep guns in the home, or if they do, to keep them unloaded and locked away.

The debate on this issue was kicked off in June when a law went into effect in Florida which placed limits on doctors' ability to ask their patients what guns they owned and how they kept them stored, and prevented them entering any such information into people's medical records. ...

The passage of the Florida law made Dr Eric Fleegler of the Children's Hospital Boston pretty mad. He and some colleagues have written a paper, published today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, which contends that guns kept at home are a major danger to Americans - particularly to American children.

...

A different press release issued by the Journal of Preventive Medicine editorial office also adds:

The American Academy of Pediatrics ... notes that a gun in the home is 43 times more likely to be used to kill a friend or family member than a burglar or other criminal.

Oh no it's not. 

And so once again we see a situation where orthodoxy is imposed via crummy statistical methods.  Run up a dodgy study, suppress reporting of egregious mistakes in the study via a biased media that's stuck in a swamp of confirmation bias, and voila!  Instant "settled" science.

Personally, if my doc tries to pull this on me, I'm going to warn him that (a) I almost certainly understand the statistics better than he does, (b) I absolutely understand the broken "scientific" process in play better than he does, and (c) unless he can convince me that I'm wrong on those, I will assume that his acceptance of quackery is more of a health risk to me than having a gun in the house.

But the conversation will probably never happen.  It's Atlanta, not Boston, and so it means we're more likely to discuss which caliber is better.

American Academy of Pediatrics, heal thyself.

Sacrifice

Image from Post Secret

We honor our veterans for the sacrifice they make.  The saying goes that some gave all; all gave some.  Others will write more eloquently than I about those who laid their ultimate sacrifice on the altar of our freedom.  Today, I want to write about those whose sacrifice was less, but still terribly real.

It takes a special kind of strength to be a military wife, and growing up as the child of a military person is different in ways unimaginable to people who do not walk in those shoes.  There's a void, an empty space where there should be a parent.  And for that deployed parent, there's a void where the entire family should be.

Think on that, on what sacrifice is made for us.  A sacrifice not just by the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines, but by their wives, husbands, and especially by their children.  That sacrifice is for us.



That deserves more than a day of remembrance.  Remember the families without whom we could not have these veterans.

Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.

- Kalil Gibran

When Life speaks in its Outdoors voice

For He Who Will Not Be Named.  If everyone will keep his daughter in their prayers, I'd be mighty obliged.

And if you know someone at the end of their rope, make the call.

Don't hesitate.  What you say may seem so small, but they might be glad you called.

So what is the real inflation rate?

It's what the Government says it is.

Hand, cookie jar, caught.  All I can say is:

1. We may be screwed, but Europe, Japan, and China are way more screwed than we are.

2. The Silicon Graybeard is one scary smart guy.  You do read him every day, right?

Bill Engvall's Dixie Chicks moment

Wow:

What I found most objectionable about the entire exchange—besides the fools in the audience cheering on Wagner and Maher, was Blue Collar Comedian Bill Engvall deciding our rights are his to compromise ...

Blogger John Richardson gets it exactly right when he observes:

Engvall has lost me as a fan when he says he doesn't see any reason for a person like himself to own an AK-47. This was just after he said he should be able to protect his family and that he is a avid hunter and fisherman. Fudds like Engvall need to realize that the gun prohibitionists see his deer rifle with a scope as "high-powered sniper rifle" and they will be coming after that as well.

Engvall needs to realize that the folks who buy tickets to his performances, who watch him on TV, who purchase his DVDs and who hire him to entertain their members aren’t the smug and snarky Maher crowd.

I kind of like Engvall, and went to one of his performances with #1 Son.  But he is entirely out of touch with his audience, and needs to wake up.  Fast.

The problem that the Dixie Chicks had wasn't that they spoke their minds (well, Natalie Maines spoke her mind, and wouldn't shut up).  They did so to suck up to a foreign audience, in a time of national emergency.  Of course, they had every right to do so - nobody has suggested prosecution for their statements.

But what they didn't understand is that there is a song that's played every single day on the radio stations that they relied on for their success.



Here's your sign, Bill.

The Marriott Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine is run by unpatriotic jerks

This is a case of Marketing Fail, that will echo for some time.  The Marriott affiliated Casa Monica Hotel fired an employee for wearing an American flag pin:

Sean May, 26, a front desk supervisor at the hotel, told WJXT TV-4 in on Thursday that his boss told him to remove his lapel pin or go home. He went home.

May is now fighting the policy. [May has since been fired - Borepatch]

St. Johns County Commissioner Mark Miner, a sergeant in the Florida National Guard, criticized the hotel's management.

"The Casa Monica Hotel and Kessler Enterprises certainly have the legal right to forbid their employees from wearing an American flag pin," Miner said in a written statement Friday. "However, their inability to discern between the flag of our nation and other pins and buttons their policies forbid is of great concern to me."

I agree with Sgt. Miner.  The hotel (and Marriott) have every right to set their own employee standards and policies.  No question.

And I have every right to think that they are unpatriotic jerks who will never see me at their property.  And to recommend the same to anyone who will care to listen.

As someone who has been in the vicinity of the Marketing Department for some time, let me just say that this is enormously damaging for both the hotel and for Marriott (note: the hotel is independently owned but is a Marriott franchisee).  This story will reach a bunch of people, in a high impact manner.  It would have been much less damaging for the Hotel to let employees wear any old badge they wanted.

And guys like me are angry enough to do things like choose a highly specific blog post title for this post.  Google pays more attention to metadata (things like post titles) that regular data (the body text), and so if this moves up in the Google rankings, there's at least a chance that anyone who searches for the hotel name will find this.

And quite frankly, they should find this.  Perhaps they won't really care.  But if they do, they may choose a different hotel, and that would serve the unpatriotic jerks who own the Casa Monica Hotel with a bit of poetic justice.  They'll also learn something about Marriott corporation, too.  What they choose to do with that is up to them.

Remember marketeers: Google sees all, forgets nothing. 

And let me leave an open invitation to the marketing folks at the Casa Monica and at Marriott: if you want to reply here (in the unlikely even that you even find this post), you have an open invitation.  I will post your statement unedited.  I may snark on it, so if you bring me drivel, please make it high caliber drivel.

Compare and contrast

The Herman Cain sexual harassment media coverage, and the Al "sex poodle" Gore media coverage.

Biased media, Q. E. D.