Monday, March 31, 2014

with your two cents and my two cents, we got... something



Okay, so the internet has been completely abuzz with the actions of one Senator Leland Yee and the subsequent media bias.  Since everyone and their housekeeper's dog is talking about it, I feel like I only have three things to say about the whole fiasco with this role model of violent video game crusading and gun control:
  1. Thank goodness they caught the guy.
  2. I wish they had caught him a whole lot sooner. 
  3. Holy freaking crap, I had no idea that irony came in flavors so sweet! I'm going to be savoring the flavor until I die of super-cavities and gingivitis.  Seriously, this is nothing but the most epic win against gun control and dummies that wanna ban video games, but I'm gonna be too preoccupied with sipping on the delicious irony juice.  Oh, and enjoying the great memes that it will inevitably spawn.

*Images blatantly ripped from somebody's facebook page.

Moscow Music

Okay, so the song kinda sucks, but the music video is too good to miss:

Slightly Left of Center - Love the Way You Move

Also, does anyone else find that the band is a little too aptly named?

Friday, March 28, 2014

what keeps on slipping?

So, this week has been going by so dang fast, I think my head is spinning.  Not much is really happening, but I gotta say there's some great stuff on the horizon.  It looks like my brother is going to be able to stay with me for the duration of the summer this year, and I'm thinking of organizing some cool stuff for us to do.

So far, I'm thinking that on the way back up to my place we can make a few stops at some military crash sites.  There's a B-52 site right at the edge of the state that's a good candidate.  While here, I was thinking of going on a mini road trip one weekend to visit some historical sites and museums, then by the time I need to bring him back the Blue Angels will be in town making for a nice finale.  Should be some good times.


shady practices

So, more than a bit of a slow news week at Casa Del Flyover, but there are some old things I can bring up.  I don't really remember what brought it up, but something reminded me of a time back when I was a teenager.  For a while in my late teens, I volunteered at an air museum.

It was pretty cool, not only because I'm a serious mil air junkie, but because the museum was a very unique one.  Instead of just displaying full aircraft with the exteriors restored, this place just had cockpits.  Lots of cockpits. The place wasn't even officially opened when I got there, but the plan was to have an experience like no other air museum: they were to have fully restored cockpits, and have them open to the public 24/7.  Now, if that don't make you intrigued, I don't know what will.
Our T-38 pit.  Wish I had a before/after pic to show the contrast.
Now, restoring vintage military aircraft cockpits is a pretty daunting task.  A big portion of the facility (actually, most of it) was dedicated to to storing and cataloging original analog instruments.  No joke, I working a massive warehouse full of these things, with racks and racks of boxed full of original instruments.  My job, for the most part, was to go through the entire Indiana Jones warehouse of inventory and group the instruments together by type or by model number if we had an excessive amount of the same kind and label them so the guys restoring the cockpits didn't have to take all day trying to find the right, dial, display, ect.

Okay, not quite that big, but close.
Since this operation tried to be as accurate as possible, this involved very authentic instruments dating all the way back to the 1930s.  Those of you in the know will be reminded that back in those days, in order to make something "glow in the dark" for night flying, they went crazy by painting just about everything with this exciting glowing stuff called radium.  I was simply told that I can't afford to brake any instrument, but if I did, to let somebody know stat, cause that stuff will set of a Geiger counter like a like a cricket.  So, the running joke was that anyone among the stack of instruments for too long would become impotent.
Now imagine this dial, but all the markings were faded this deep brown color....that's the way they all were.
Lost of fond memories of that place, but after thinking about it, despite there only being trace amounts of radium in those dials, we were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of them, later found out that radium is nearly 1000 more time radioactive than Uranium, has a distinctly negative effect on sealing compounds, turns into the brownish black of radium nitride (which nearly all of the dials were colored this way) when exposed to air, all this and I distinctly remember a couple of incidents involving a case or two being dropped and shattered before...
Neat o!
Anyways, the museum didn't exactly do well in such a small community, with little to no advertising, so it aint there anymore, but thankfully the internet is forever, and you can see some of the cool crap I used to work with:

Below is a link to a page detailing how my boss got the B-52 pit and restored it. That sucker took years.  I was there just after he first got the thing, volunteered there for years, and it wasn't done till I was long gone.  One interesting thing to note is that the B-52 we had actually dropped bombs in anger during Desert Storm.

http://www.b-52parts.com/b52.htm

Monday, March 24, 2014

What day is it?

Went and had another crazy LAN Party to end all LAN parties over at the 'ol roomie's new shack, and we stayed up so late, i think I'm still feeling the effects considering I just woke up a few minutes ago on the train headed home from work.  Seriously, I have barely any recollection of the events of today whatsoever.

In other news that is to be filed in the "that was waaaayyy too much information" category, is that although I'm not the kinda guy that likes to fool around, it's still extremely entertaining when I get phone calls from multiple attractive young women and suddenly come to the realization that I'm being booty called.  I sure as hell aint taking 'em up on the offer, but it's still quite the self esteem boosting moment when you hear a girl desperately trying to find any excuse for you to come over.  Maybe if I was a LOT younger and dumber, sweetie.   You know, come to think if it, I blame this on the beard.  Once I got it, they all start crawling out of the woodwork.

Love that movie

More tardy tunes

Had this one stuck in my head for a bit.

Sugarloaf - Green Eyed Lady

Friday, March 21, 2014

Thoughs on fat acceptance from a fat guy's perspective

Perhaps it's because I'm located near a big college town, or perhaps it's some areas of the internet I frequent, perhaps it's even some of the people I know, but it seems there is a big movement towards "fat acceptance" these days.

What do I mean by that?  Well, we all know that obesity is widespread in America, to the point that the First Lady erroneously likes to call it an "epidemic."  Then, on the other end of the spectrum, there is a high proportion of advertising, entertainment, fashion, the arts, ect, that is so obsessed with thinness that it can be equally unhealthy and many times, completely unrealistic.

Now, of course there is a wide diversity in body types.  Everyone is going to be genetically inclined to a certain body type, and we will always be physically different in some way or another.  So, because of the reasons I mentioned earlier, we end up with people that are very unsatisfied with their looks and give themselves massive cuts to their own self esteem because they don't have the figure of whatever model, dancer, actor, singer, ect.

In response, there is a "body acceptance" movement that tries (and somewhat succeeds) to promote a higher self esteem through self acceptance and acceptance of one's own body to the point of taking pride in it.  That you should be proud of the 'curves' you have and no one should tell you differently.  Sound pretty good so far, eh?

So why do I bring all this up?  Well, I can't help but notice a few small problems with this movement.  One is, that although I find it reprehensible/irresponsible/wasteful that advert companies photoshop models to a ridiculous degree, thereby exacerbating unrealistic expectations; I also find it funny that these same people in this "acceptance movement" seem to decry the use of tall, thin, attractive models to begin with.  If they truly believed that all bodies are special and that we should be proud of what we have, why would they attack those who simply have that thinner body type?  Not only that, but in addition to attacking these people simply because they have different bodies, are they actually doing something to add variety into the market and change it?  No, they just sit on their fat butts and complain.

My second problem is that although it's important to have good self esteem, why is it that this movement seems to ask people to take pride in overweight/obese bodies?  I know there are people with medical conditions that would make it far more difficult to maintain a thinner body, in fact, I know a few people like that personally.  However, the disappointment the average person feels for not being more healthy than they are, is a natural and proper response.  It is our reaction to those feelings that are incorrect.  We cannot afford to slump into a depression over not having a healthier body type, rather we should just be motivated to to action and change.  Knowing you are overweight is a good thing.  Without it we would all be dying of heart attacks from pounding twinkies all day.

Third is that this movement is full of rampant sexism/feminazi elitism because men are not allowed to participate (not that I think men should anyways).  If a woman is overweight because "exercise is hard" or "OMG I just love chocolate too much," she's encouraged and told that men aren't accepting her because they are all evil pigs and she should feel proud about who she is.  However, if a man is overweight he's still a disgusting lazy slob that isn't worth knowing.  Even worse are the friends, family, and acquaintances that suggest to the person they lose weight because those people care about the person's well being.  Suddenly they are labeled insensitive jerks who don't care about the person's feelings and are demonized by this culture of "acceptance."

Did they stop to think that yeah, it is unhealthy you are overweight?  That maybe this person thinks that you are so important to them and they care about your physical well being enough that they are willing to tell you the hard truth?  That maybe they are willing to help?

In fairness, there a good number of people who are so diametrically opposed to this movement that they are in favor of fat shaming.  Berating and belittling those who have this problem and buy in to the whole crappy fat acceptance movement, which I don't approve of either.

I simply submit that feelings are not the end all be all reasons for life the universe and everything.  I submit that if someone truly cares about you they are willing to breach the hard subject with you.  Not only that, but if it is a hard subject with you, it's just about a guarantee that you already know is is a problem and need to change.  So don't buy in to this bull-crap movement that simply makes you feel better about being unhealthy and defy those who obviously care about you.   Being a fat guy myself, I don't blame my present condition on anyone but myself.  It's not the fault of food, bad genes, parenting, advertising, or privilege that I'm overweight, it my fault and mine alone.  So suck it up and deal with the fact that you're fat and just admit that its your own damn fault, and/or motivate yourself and change it if it makes you that unhappy otherwise. 

What a weird week

It's just one of those odd times when I can't say it's a bad week and it aint a great week, it's just been kinda weird so far.  Lots out of the ordinary weird stuff going on.  So hold tight, I'll be posting another long winded pointless rant after I've had a chance to hear last night's Squirrel Report.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

the zombified radioactive cockroach of guns

They just keep turning up.
 

Behold the wonder that is the gun people just can't seem to let go of.  A gun that everyone thought died out with the third reich and only lived on in spirit through the AK is now turning up in every conceivable place known to man.  First they show up in the Syrian debauchery, then a couple show up in gun buybacks, and now we can see 'em roaming the breadbasket of Europe.  Every time I go to The Firearm Blog, I feel like I'm catching up on the National Inquirer's headlines as they search for sasquatch/alien Elvis/zombie Reagan/whatever the hell else.

I can only image where they're gonna end up next.  I can see the headline now, "drunken, in debt Nebraska farmer spots glowing STG-44 fall from sky, now charges admission to freakshow for locals interested in seeing the piece." 

A bit behind the curve

So the guy that brought us such gems as The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z has the last name of Brooks.  Funny how I never connected any of the dots, as I hadn't done much reading on him.  Come to find out he is the son of the famous Mel Brooks.  How did I not know this?!?

Also, I hate this show, but this gif is great.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I'm a sucker for memes

I just had to make this one.  Had to.


More required reading

 

Totally been shooting down all my free time with either reading Monster Hunter Vendetta, or getting some trigger time on a 20 foot tall battlemech in Titanfall.  PC was the platform that game was born for, and man, it's pretty intense.  I was pretty skeptic when I heard matches only involved 12 human players, but after sampling it's rocket powered orbital dropping of the beat, I can't stop.  There aint nothing quite like it, and I give it two thumbs up.



Also, it appears that for my links of people that are seriously worth reading is incredibly lacking.  There's so many awesome people to read on a regular basis, I'm wondering if there's a button in blogger that will allow me to just add the entire gunblogging community to it.

Speaking of which, one other that I should have added to the list, Neanderpundit, has hands down achieved the greatest quote of the month for this bit of truth:

"Do not confuse illegal with immoral"

and there's also this small bit on the new Cosmos:
http://neanderpundit.com/index.php?paged=9


Sunday, March 16, 2014

Also some music

Blue Oyster Cult - Veteran of the Psychic Wars

The front line is everywhere...

Nerd you are not

Well, you know how I went on a rant a while back about the word nerd and it's definition etc?  Well, not being a man of science, it was pretty difficult for me to get that rant to sound right.  But thankfully it appears that an actual man of science has created a far better a webpage about the matter, so please complete this required reading of great importance, just beware of some NSFW language:

You're not a nerd, geeks aren't sexy and you don't "fu**ing love" science.

Now I'll have to scour that guy's website because it looks highly entertaining.  Hat tip to Vox Day for posting about it long before I did. 

Friday, March 14, 2014

Ah, the weekend

How refreshing.  Obviously it's been a very difficult time to draw up some content.  generally, when I have nothing to write about it always defaults back to guns as it's something I like to think I know a little about, that I'm constantly learning a lot about, so I revert in the the man's equivalent to window shopping for shoes or handbags.

The new apartment still hasn't been adequately unpacked to look presentable for anyone yet, I'm finding it harder and harder to find the motivation to do so as time goes on.  Also, I've quickly abandoned any desire to have amazon deliveries come to my place, as they hold all parcels at the office, due to it being a section 8-type place, so that's a bummer.

Finally got a minor amount of cash for me to buy the next three books in the MHI series, which I've already started delving into (and am already enjoying thoroughly).  Hopefully I'll also be able to get the Dead Six series as soon as I'm done with MHI.

What's sad is that there's not much else to tell.  I've probably just had the most boring month of my entire life, and I think I'm beginning to like it like that.  It seems whenever I get tired of the mundane, and I try to go out do fun stuff, but then I get nothing but bad experiences out of it.  So now I've become this bitter and boring old man while still in his 20s, because I'm always hesitant to go out and do more when I get nothing but screwed when I do.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Changing, but in the opposite direction

The entire gun community of late has been awash with talk of the 9mm vs .45ACP.  Recently, it appears everyone is universally acknowledging the advantages that 9 offers over .45, such as: lower recoil, higher round count in magazines, cheaper ammo so you can shoot more, and usually a lighter gun.  It also doesn't help that people are coming to their senses and realizing that the 1911 is over 100 years old and showing it's age, making for a gun that is heavy, with limited mag capacity, and quite maintenance intensive compared to newer designs.

I myself own a couple 9mm Jerichos, which I enjoy very much, but with this exploding popularity of the 9mm cartridge, I can never find it in stock anywhere.  As I mentioned earlier, I'm planning on getting myself a .45 based solely on the fact that if you can't buy 9mm, all those advantages may as well not exist.  Not only is there a fair amount of .45ACP wherever I go, it's priced reasonably, there's always multiple brands on the shelf to choose from, and I'm tired of not having any recent range time.

So, I'm jumping ship to join those going backwards from the trend, and the only problem I have is the one I mentioned in my last post about the subject.  I don't understand why nobody makes a modern .45 (not a 1911) the has more than a 10 round magazine.  It makes for a pretty short list of choices:

HK USP -Expensive, bulky, and if I wanna make it take even other HK accessories, I'm gonna be paying out the butt.
Glock 21 -Good capacity, accurate, and ok price, but I hate Glocks. And again.  Yup.
XD/XDM -I've shot 'em before, but I wan't overly impressed with the Croatian creation, also grip safeties still suck.
Para 14-45 -Nice, but, it IS a 1911, and one of these cost more that all the cars I've owned combined.
FNP-45 -Okay, I admit I haven't shot one, but the slide looks like the size of a brick, and seems like the grip is about the same size as well.
RIA 2011 -Same advantages of the Para, for a much more realistic price, but still a 1911.

After doing a bit of homework on it, I think the Sarslimaz K2 is still my best choice as many of the parts are interchangeable with both the CZ97B and Para 14-45, while remaining a relatively cheap option.  That, and I just love the classic CZ look to the gun.


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

I'm so excited

and I just can't hide it!

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/03/11/hk-hk243-sar-tar-semi-automatic-g36-rifle-lot-exclusive-photos/

My inner H und K fanboy is squealing with delight.

Also, the 'ol roomie just asked me, "How long until someone comes out with a .300blk version?"
"He's probably lathing the barrel right now..."  I replied.

Friday, March 7, 2014

More DOD derp

It may be pretty obvious that I'm one of the naysayers when it comes to the F-35.  Sadly, it's not so much because of the aircraft itself (though some of it is) as it is with the shady and blatantly retarded procurement and testing process given to this aircraft.  So color me not so surprised when I hear that because of being way behind in testing (or just not tested enough) that the Pratt and Whitney F135 that is supposed to power it had a bit of a snafu:

 http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_03_06_2014_p01-02-669564.xml&p=1#

It will be just pathetic if this end up being a widespread issue that grounds the fleet.  Hmmmm.... You know what would help with that?  Is if we had an alternate engine program that would allow us to continue testing the airframe even if the primary engine went kaput!  Oh yeah....about that....whoops.

The whole of the DOD is so incompetent (or corrupt) they should be fired and charged with treason.