Use Your Boot...

and kick 'em where it hurts.

I am the number one Google search result for "how to make someone bigger to cry." Really.

Shiver Me Timbers

Before becoming department head for the Texas Tech school of railroading, Gerald Myers was a college athlete himself, lettering in both throwing under the bus and wrestling for the last parachute. He majored in selling people out.

In his free time, Myers' hobbies include doing his laundry, which he prefers to leave hanging out to dry, and his collection of pieces of silver. His passion, however, is hen excrement.

Friday Night Music

We are really living in a golden age with today's technology. You can find all kinds of things on the internet. Here is Wade Bowen doing Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down"


It takes just a few more clicks and you get to see Robert Earl Keen, Wade Bowen, and Dierks Bentley doing Waylon's "Lonesome, On'ry, and Mean" The video quality isn't so great, but I'll include it just because it's pretty cool.

Don't Screw This Up

I'm a big fan of most big heroic legends. King Arthur, Beuwolf, and Robin Hood all have a lot of stories I enjoy. Robin Hood probably most of all. When it gets right down to it, if it weren't for a couple strongly held moral convictions I'd probably be robber of some sort.

So I got a little excited when I ran across this, thanks to my buddy Jason.


This could be really cool. I don't want to watch movies about sissy vampires, I don't want to watch movies about about people using the power of interpretive dance to prevent violence and rise above their humble beginnings. I want to see good guys and bad guys. I don't want the bad guys to be pushovers. I want them to be worthy opponents. I want heroes to do big things. Sometimes, that can come across as cheesy, but we're talking Robin friggin' Hood here. Robin Hood can do big things without being stupid.

As I have mentioned previously, I enjoyed Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Costner was in the middle of a Bull Durham/Dances With Wolves/The Untouchables hot streak the likes of which has seldom been seen. This movie let him play to his talents. He portrays an idealist without turning it into some sort of sappy girly-man. It's what he was born to do, the same way God created Woody Harrelson to play a zombie hunter. To me, a large part of the Robin Hood appeal is in sticking with ideals, staying true to your beliefs instead of falling to the lowest common denominator of your surroundings. That is what Prince of Thieves brings to the table.

Crowe can do a lot of things, and one of his best tricks is driven perseverance. That's another appeal of the Robin Hood legend. Of any heroic legend really. This movie may or may not live up to my expectation, but I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Good Guys

Via Tam, we learn of NYPD Sergeant Christopher Newsom, who managed to make four shots count when it mattered. We also learn a little more about the incident, and get an accurate biography of the criminal in question:

Martinez's brother told the News, "I don't know what happened. My brother is gone. He was a good guy. He was not evil," while Martinez's mother said, "I want justice... That was my beloved son. I want to know why the cop didn't shoot him in the leg or something." (She did admit to WABC 7 that she didn't know why he had a gun in Times Square.)

Sergeant Newsom didn't shoot him in the leg because that would have been a dereliction of duty. The thug was endangering lives with his behavior, and it was Newsom's job to stop it. Plus, REAL LIFE ISN'T A ROY ROGERS MOVIE. I'm sick and tired of people who believe something is easy because they saw Tom Cruise do it. You know what? Tom Cruise is about four foot tall. He can't reach a doorbell without special effects. Do you really want to base your knowledge of life on what he does on the silver screen? A leg is a much harder target than a torso, and a less reliable stop. The good Sergeant put a stop to the threat in exemplary fashion, and should be commended for staying cool under pressure. Martinez's family should keep their mouths shut until they come up with something worth listening to. Hopefully that will keep them quite and out of somebody else's hair.

What sets us apart

This is the day we celebrate The Bill of Rights. Today, we are thankful that the men who founded thos country were able to agree, first and foremost, that the powers of government needed to be limited from the beginning. That bastard Hamilton was against it, of course, earning his spot next to FDR and Obama. He did help get us the Ninth, though, so I've got to give the devil his due. FDR and Obama get no such break.

Dissent

So let me get this straight. Hillary says it is ok to disagree with any administration. Jimmy Carter says it's racist to disagree with the current one. Which is it?

Grr

I had a chance to do a little shooting Sunday. I was. Not. Happy. With my results. I've been busy and have neglected things of late. I did ok shooting the Marlin guide gun, although I discovered the Williams peep sight doesn't have enough downward adjustment. I need either a taller front sight or to file a little off of the bottom of the rear sight base. Or maybe a tapered shim of some sort.

I did terrible shooting my commander sized 1911, the one I usually shoot better than anything else. Nothing even felt right. My trigger pull was inconsistant, there was something funny with my stance. At ten and fifteen yards I was shooting groups I could barely cover with a hand. And I have big hands. I was on the verge of giving up an the Weaver and going with an Isocolese, just to try something different. Sundown saved me from myself.

So this week I'm going to make it a point to get a few short sessions in. Nothing long enough to let bad habits stick. Seven yards, just working on fundamentals. Sight picture, grip, and trigger control. And I'm not going to let things get this bad again.

Weekend Menaces

It would seem that siblings are a bigger menace than I would have imagined.

In Florida, they kill each other over loud music.

In California they're more traditional. They kill each other over money.

In Indiana, they kill each other because they're sick.

The world has always been a pretty messed up place.

Blog update

I've added My Ancestors Were Horse Thieves to the blog roll. It's a brand new blog that seems worth reading, even beyond just having a great name. Our horse thief friend hails from Colorado, another state that is beset by Californians and that outsiders mostly identify by a city that the rest of the state would just as soon forget. The gap between eastern Colorado and Denver is about as wide as the one between West Texas and Austin.

Friday Night Music

How about Max Stalling singing "Bass Run"

I'm going to Finland

Marko has written the funniest thing I've read in a long time. It's also broadened my horizons and knowledge of Europe.

Finnish people are legally limited to uttering a thousand words per year. In Finland, it’s customary to express affection by cutting the other person with a knife. Russians are considered game animals in most of Finland.

Harry Reid Is An Idiot

Does he even realize what he is saying?

Trying to stall health care reform makes people the same as slavery supporters? Harry Reid is amazingly stupid. Last time I checked, the supporters of health care reform are the ones trying to deny freedom to other people. They're the ones trying to take away personal choice.

I had a guy called Porkchop who worked for me for a while. Pork didn't know his right from his left. Koko the gorilla and Balto the sled dog knew their right from their left, but not Porkchop. With that in mind, Harry Reid is the dumbest person I've ever heard of.

Doesn't he know that the members of the Confederacy didn't just use words to resist? He's talking about people who took up arms and left the Union for their beliefs. Sadly, I can only wish that the Republicans in Washington today would stick to their guns the way Southern Democrats did leading up to the War of Northern Aggression. The politicians who are allegedly on my side these days tend to give up to the socialists like a Frenchman when he hears a German accent.

Once again, Harry Reid is an idiot.

Menace relocation program

Turns out people are smuggling kangaroos out of Australia and New Guinea. Probably a terrorist plot of some sort.

Blowing Hot Air

The EPA has declared CO2, Carbon Dioxide, a pollutant. Everytime you speak, every time you exhale, you're destroying the environment and bringing on the day when we all die, screaming, in a horrible, fiery death.

Does this mean politicians have to stop talking now? Or at least cease all the global warming hysterics?

Stinkin' Hippy

Some effeminate European (but I repeat myself) Buddy Holly wannabe thinks people should stop eating meat on Mondays as a way to save the environment. Since when does writing an Aerosmith song give somebody the right to tell me what to eat? If he wants to eat tofu that's his business, and nobody else's. Just like it's no body's business but mine what I eat.

What the hell does he have against meat? 20 to 30 percent of global green house gas emissions produced in producing meat? I'm calling b.s. Even if I believed it, who cares? Cows have four stomachs. That makes them more efficient than we are at converting plant life into protein. So on land that is too rough or otherwise unsuitable for growing tofu, cows can still be raised to feed people. Mr. Original Boy Band is against food production it seems. Is he trying to starve children out? Let me state, for the record, that I am against that.

Hippy boy can go smoke some more dope and leave me the hell alone. I'm from Texas. I'm eating two steaks next Monday, with a cheeseburger for dessert.

They're not even trying...

to pretend they have read the Constitution.

Since Barry O took office, the feds have taken at least partial control of the banking and auto industries, and are doing their level best to take total control of the health care industry. That's not enough for Henry Waxman, he wants control of the newspaper industry, too.

As it stands right now, the press is willing to try and ignore anything that doesn't fit in with the administration's agenda. What more does Waxman want? Everything, it seems.

"Eventually government is going to have to be responsible to help and resolve these issues," Waxman told a conference hosted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on the future of journalism.

That's not even taking a walk on a slippery slope. That's going straght on, full tilt ahead, bulldozing the slope and erecting statues of Lenin and Marx in it's place.

Weekend Menaces

I'm not sure why it's been coming to everybody's attention this week, but a lot of people who belong in jail have been out menacing the public instead.

Most recently we have this guy in Maine, who the guards just happened to let out of maximum security prison. Understandable mistake, I do it myself all the time.

Yesterday, Rudy Garcia escaped while being transported in Hidalgo County, in deep South Texas, causing a school to be locked down. At about the same time, Michael Jones escaped and was found in South Carolina. A few days ago a guy escaped from a facility in Philadelphia. A couple days before that 21 year old James Fannin escaped in Missouri, but was captured soon afterward.

Violent offender Arcade Comeaux Jr.is still on the loose in the Houston area. That's two in Texas, no wonder we're so ready to execute, they can't escape if they're dead. But hey, at least we have fences around our prisons.

Maurice Clemmons, who belonged in jail for life, was roaming free and crazy, allowing him to murder four Seattle peace officers. Not only did idiot pretend conservative Mike Huckabee pardon him nine years ago, but he was released from jail in Washington just a few days before the murders, despite pending felony charges.

I'm going to load up a few more PMAGs, order a few more Wilson 1911 magazines, and spend some time practicing emptying both of them this weekend. The world is a dangerous place.

Friday Night Music

Since it snowed this week, I feel like listening to Tom Russell singing the Townes Van Zandt classic, "Snowin' on Raton"

Picking your battles..

..does not mean picking a fight with a man who did his best to single handedly take down the Third Reich. And the North Koreans. And the North Vietnamese.

Col. Van T. Barfoot is a recipient of the Medal of Honor. The official citation on his Medal of Honor reads:

Sgt. Barfoot's extraordinary heroism, demonstration of magnificent valor, and aggressive determination in the face of pointblank fire are a perpetual inspiration to his fellow soldiers

The nine member board of his homeowners association sent a law firm to tell him he couldn't fly a flag from his flagpole. They have no rule against flagpoles, they just don't think his looks good.

Col. Barfoot is 90 years old, and so the pocket tyrants thought they had a shot at exerting some influence. My guess is, if the Nazis weren't enough to stop him in his twenties, then a few self important accountants and under stimulated housewives can't get it done now.

Back in the day...

Great Britain would have sailed in, hung some locals, and planted the Union Jack over an insult like this one.

If North Korea had imprisoned some Americans during Teddy By-God Roosevelt's time, he'd have seen it as a good reason for an excursion, and the Rough Riders would have charged up DMZ Hill. In 2009, there was so much indecision that Carbon Credit Boy offered Slick Willy some frequent flier miles and a chance to renew mile high club membership if he would please go over there and have dinner and get his picture taken with a tin pot, vodka soaked tyrant.

I think my stomach is about to be upset.

Who was that masked man?

I didn't even know they had cows in Massachusetts. Apparently yankees don't know that you're always better off when you put some bailing wire around the trailer door latch, just in case. Anyway, I also didn't know that they had cowboys in Massachusetts, but there was one handy when they needed him.