White trash MacGyver

I love my Jericho, but the 941R model I have usually has the extended slide stop.  I don't mind the length at all, but the fact it drops down closer to the grip really gets in the way and I find that I end up actuating it without wanting to. My solution was to get the newer slide stop for the steel frame models, but no one seemed to have it available anywhere. 

Length is good but height is terrible. 

Now, since the Jericho is basically a CZ-75 clone to start with, and has a number of parts compatible with it (I already use 19 round CZP01 mags for my gun, and it's able to use the same barrels), I got to thinking if the slide stop would be interchangeable as well. So, I went on ebay and picked one up for pretty cheap and waited for it to arrive.

With the CZ part installed.

Not too much later, when it finally arrived, I slapped it in. It fit into the gun perfectly, but then I did notice the dimensions are different on the little nub on the stop that actually catches the follower, which ended up being nearly twice as thick than the Jericho's. I was a little worried this would interfere with feeding, but I did test the feeding with no issues, so the only thing left was to test fire it. 

Lo and behold, it worked flawlessly, as I was able to test fire several mags out of it with no issues last weekend. All in all, I like how that turned out, the CZ stop is a bit shorter than I prefer, but still not bad and has no issues I can see so far. Though the real goal is to still get the new model slide stop:

The Only Thing They Fear Is You

Back in the day, my former boss was asked if he wants to die because of the zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion, and he responded with, "Nope. Hell portal. Definitely Hell portals." and I totally get why. 

Doom is one of the oldest video game franchises out there, and is one of the games that helped define what a first person shooter is and still influences games to this day. Heck, they used to call something even in the same perspective a Doom clone just like open world, 3rd person games were called GTA clones for a while. It basically started all the vitriolic press about how horrible violent video games are and is still (thankfully) doing so. 

Holy freaking awesome sauce on a flaming stick! How did this game not make me a gaming nut?

It came out hot on the heels of the moronic music censorship (thanks Tipper Gore, you bint) frenzy and the equally retarded heavy metal suicide craze, and was unapologetic in it's adoption of that actually fun music for it's soundtrack. You could practically say that it's development was an outright counter-culture answer to the prevailing touchy-feely 90s sentiments. 

Much like the metal music it featured, Doom was also unfairly condemned in it's heavy use of demonic and satanic imagery in the game. Nevermind the fact that it's critics obviously never bothered to ever learn anything about the game, considering you play a very traditional hero whose job it is to save the planet by permanently vanquishing the demons back to hell or eliminating them. The game uses it's antagonists to both scare the player and build an outright disgust for your enemies, as they blatantly didn't want you to be fighting people. You'd think even fundamental Christians would be eating that stuff up.

A great read, even for non-fiction.

Anyways, I could go on about it, as I am obviously a fan of all the Doom games, but I'll just leave that to the those that want to get the book on it. 

Fast forward to now, and Doom is still one of the greatest video game franchises still standing. It's nothing less than great, and is still pissing off the right (ignorant) people for many good reasons. Not the least of which, is the killer soundtrack again. If you want to skip the intro, go to about the one minute mark:

Again, it is the legend

John Moses Browning is the Mormon that will never die, as his guns will live on forever.  Even if you aren't into guns, or even know who he is, you likely have either heard of some of the things he invented, or were affected by them in some way, shape, or form. Technically, he died before he could finish the design of the Hi-Power, and the work was continued by his protege in Belgium just before World War 2 broke out. 

Since then it's seen service in almost all the free (and not free) world, being the standard sidearm of the militaries  of Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Nazi Germany :(, India, Greece, Denmark, and Austria just to name a few. 

Oh so pretty.

Bowning HPs are not exactly hard to find or expensive, but they do have a bewildering amount of variations and can sometimes be in a condition that are a little worse for wear. Even then, some do have a few annoying features to modern shooters and is not quite as customizeable as newer guns.  

So, it's just nice to see that Springfield Armory is bringing back the Browning Hi-Power in a big way.  Glad to see Springfield Armory has poured on all the features that I like into it, you got the rounded hammer, no magazine safety, improved sights (IMO), and even increased capacity mags. Bonus video from the firearm blog on the thing, too.

I mean, it IS really darn nice.

Overall, they did an amazing job, but I do have a couple major gripes. I do think they should have included a full beaver-tail for it, but that would add to the price and weight. Being tight on money, I'm not likely to get one of these anytime soon, as it also MSRPs for about $700 (WTF?!). So yeah, not at the top of my list of essential guns when I'm broke. Lastly, EAA already did this ages ago and it has pretty much all the same features, retails fantastically cheaper (MSRP $528), and likely has a higher quality. 

Slap some wood grips on there, and it's even better.

However, if I ever find myself with all the other guns I need, and have some change burning a hole in my pocket, I'll have to jump on the EAA model, because most of Springfield's lineup has not impressed me much in the past.

Gotta love that retro sound

I can't help but love a majority of the stuff on New Retro Wave.

Power Glove - Firebird

Who goes there? Someone running late.

Was watching a big playlist of movies over the Halloween weekend with the wife and her family and we got into a conversation of Halloween movies vs. horror/scary movies. There are plenty of movies that fit the theme for Halloween, but they aren't always actually horror or scary movies. It got me thinking a bit, since there aren't a lot of horror movies that I actually enjoy. I'm not an overly huge fan of the horror genre (especially slasher flicks), because too often they rely on people being incredibly stupid for the plot to advance. Thankfully, that is not always the rule, and I had to think of what my favorite scary movies actually are. So here's a pretty comprehensive list of the ones that I really enjoy and in no particular order:

The Thing (1982) - One of the all time great movies in general, and will never get old.
Event Horizon (1997) - Utterly insane, but I still love it as a Warhammer 40K origin movie, because it fits so dang well in that universe. 
28 Days Later (2002) - A great watch that started the zombie revival of the 2000's and holds up really well, unlike the sequel.
The Others (2001) - Even though it relies on a twist at the end, after repeated viewings, I still find it a fun watch.
The Mist (2007) - One of those movies with characters you love to hate, but has a wonderfully creepy vibe.
Alien (1979) - It's a classic that's hard to top, and none of the sequels provide the same atmosphere. Unless you count Alien: Isolation.
Carrie (1976) - A bit slow paced and intentionally awkward, but builds up to that great ending.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) - Spock investigating alien possessions? Sign me up!
Cronos (1993) - Vampires and Ron Pearlman = guaranteed winner. Go check it out.
Misery (1990) - Also never gets old after repeated viewings and is a must watch.
Christine (1983) - One of the few movies to both fascinate and terrify me as a kid and I still like it.
The Crazies (1973) - Hokey and cheesy by today's standard, but still has some mind bending and unsettling scenes/imagery. Don't bother with the remake. 
Pet Sematary (1989) - Another one of the all time greats and also has it's own Star Trek Alumni. 

Virus (1999) - Totally a guilty pleasure, some say it's pure garbage, but I like it anyways.

Silent Hill (2006) - Yes, the one based on a video game. It's got a disappointing climax, but still a great movie otherwise. 

The Changeling (1980) - George C. Scott in a ghost story not associated with Christmas. It's good.

Now at the same time, there are plenty of movies that tend to mix genres, like action-horror and comedy-horror, but I wanted to leave as much of those out that I could and focus on movies whose primary goal is to just be a scary movie. 

Epic Games is an epic joke...except not funny

I hate the epic games store for a number of reasons, one of which is the fact that the primary controlling shares are all commie Chinese owned. I mean, they install spyware on your machine to send your personal info to the Chinese government, which is the most unsettling part about it. Let's face it, do you really need any more reason than that? 

A prophet of our time. Too true, buddy.

Regardless of politics, Epic as a company is the exact opposite of their namesake for a variety of reasons. Their CEO loves making twitter drama, you also have the absolute retardation that is the Apple vs Epic lawsuit which actually manages to make Apple look like the good guy for the first time in 30 years. On top of that, the app is generally terribly made as it doesn't display any common info on games the consumer generally want to make an informed purchase, as well as it can be a resource hog on your machine. I don't even bother with the free games on there, cause I don't want to even touch that crap. Then there is also the damn exclusivity deals. Even if commies are not your concern, what should be a concern is the terrible business practices of the company and is ability to completely hamstring their own customers. 

Look, I generally don't have too much issue with exclusivity deals to a certain extent, as long as it's restricted to a couple months or so. However, epic is doing a disservice to both their customers and themselves by squeezing year-long (or longer) exclusive deals for the games they offer. It hurts the consumer by either forcing them to a platform they hate, or not getting the game. It also hurts the game devs in the long term as the profits from the game would have likely been more than the exclusivity money, and it hurts epic themselves by using the exclusivity as a crutch to delay or never improve their product. 

In fact, they've pissed off so many people, that there's an aptly named subreddit for this very topic...

The Shepherd

Some time ago, in fact, right at the time I sopped writing on the blog last around 2014, my brother had come up to visit me and was staying with me for about a week or so. By way of a gift from our mother, we had an opportunity to go on a check flight with a local instructor in a Cessna for an hour or two. The flight itself was great, as is any flight time I get theses days, but the real treat happened after we landed. 

As we were gabbing with the instructor, somebody popped their head in the door informing us that the Vampire was outside and would be taking off soon. I was immediately shocked by it, asking "Wait a sec. A vampire? Here? Really?" After ensuring that I was informed correctly, we all immediately rushed out of the room to the flight line to see her. As soon as we were out of the hangar, we saw her sitting there on the tarmac, and what a gorgeous sight she was.

When I first saw her, she still had the old camo livery. She has since been repainted. Photo source.

For those not in the know, the de Havilland Vampire is one of the first operational jet fighters in the west. Developed in Great Britain near the start of world war two, and entering service around a year after the war, it's a very rare sight these days. What makes it even more rare is unlike most (even early) jets, is that it was primarily constructed from wood.  On top of that, the model that was at the airport was a two seat trainer variant which (I believe) was likely one of only 6 aircraft that started life as a T.11 trainer and later was converted to an upgraded model, the T.55. Even more impressive is that there are only six airworthy models in the US at all. 

I was pretty amazed and happy that day, and was even able to get up and take a look at the very (let's say) cozy looking cockpit. The experience didn't end there, as we were able to hear the high pitched whine when they started the engine, and she took off not long afterwards. It was just a such a great sight and sound to behold and I just love seeing stuff like that.

Here's a more recent photo from 2019 showing what she looks like now. Photo Source.

One thing I can't help but think of every time I see or hear of the Vampire, is the excellent short story written by Frederick Forsythe, The shepherd. Also pertinent to the topic of late Halloween stories, I included a link to a free version you can read.  

NuTrek is for idiots and simpletons

I have mentioned it before on this blog, so I didn't feel the need to make a big post on it. However, since The Critical Drinker make a great video on it, I'll post it here. Then, not shockingly, The Unwanted Blog posted about it before I could. So, I guess my originality is out the window already, but whatevs. Enjoy. 

Also, totally check out The Critical Drinker for some great stuff. I especially like his Development Hell videos. 

The good idea fairy strikes again

Man, my memory is kinda bad, cause I can't remember where I first saw the Aviator Arms X-1 Bi-Axial Recoil Device. Possibly from their own youtube video announcing it some time ago. However, I watched the Military Arms Channel review of the product just a few days ago. 

I miss the 'ol pvtmurphy webcomic

The big idea behind it is to save space and make a much more compact weapon by eliminating the stock from the AR15. Gotta agree with MAC on this one, the first time a saw it, I couldn't help but think it was really flimsy and kinda pointless, considering the space saved by not having a stock is moot when firing anyways. Unless you just want to have a funny range toy, I don't see any real practical use for the dumb thing.  The big selling point is that it is cheap (about $400), but MAC offers some significantly better alternatives in their video. 

I felt like just making a few other points that was missed in MAC's video on it. First, as far as a drawback goes, it likely drastically affects the intended balance of the AR, making muzzle rise a problem when shooting. MAC also lists some great alternatives, but he missed some viable ones both on the low and high end of the spectrum. 

On the high end, The Z-M Weapons LR-300 is far closer to an AR and has a significant amount of parts compatibility, and you can even convert an AR into one with a simple kit. Unfortunately, the last iteration of it made by Para Ordnance was not known for being very well made and Allan Zitta (the inventor) is currently between companies at the moment, so they are hard to find and expensive to buy. Hopefully Mr. Zitta manages to find another manufacturer soon, because I would still love to buy one of those things.  

I mean, just look at that thing! Does it not look amazing?

Another alternative on the low end, is the range of folding stock adapters by Law Tactical. These may not be able to fire while folded, but accomplishes the goal of shortening the rifle while being cheaper and far more robust (IMO) than the X-1. If you are willing to remember to unfold the stock before use, it's an outright better option. Personally I don't really care for them, but I'll still say it's a great option for those looking for that feature. 

The Law tactical is still possibly the best workaround for those wanting to shorten up their normal AR. There are also plenty of other options out there that fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, but figured the ones I mentioned had the most merit.

Yes! Have some!

Just in time for Halloween to be over with, I completely forgot I wanted to say a blurb about this until RazorFist streamed it earlier this week for his Nightmare Arcade. The excellent Ghostbusters video game was (relatively) recently remastered and re-released for it's 10th anniversary.  I love the game and am glad's is been given new life, as I basically had to get it in an underhanded fashion because it was unavailable to purchase for so long. I'm currently installing the remastered version now, so the following will be my experience with the originally released game.

Sheer effing awesome.

Actually written by Dan Ackroyd alongside the late and great Harold Ramis. Both men considered this game the real 3rd movie in the franchise, as they could never get their movie idea picked up by any studio. Also, the game features all the original cast to reprise their roles (with the exceptions of Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver).  It is just a joy to hear them all in top form again. Since we also mentioned the original writers were involved the humor is spot on, as well as having a few actually spooky moments. 

If you haven't tried it, it's everything a fan of the original movies could want. It's set in 1991, and of course, New York, so you will be running around the old firehouse right at the start!  It's great in that you get to fulfill the childhood dream of joining as a new recruit to the team then be immediately thrown into the fray with a proton pack to wrangle 'em up. Heck, if you're missing 'ol dickless over there, you even get to see the infamous Walter Peck again. 

The game is basically a 3rd person shooter with some fairly simple mechanics. Some might complain about this, but I think it's a good idea to rope in people not overly savvy with video games to enjoy it, as well as you don't really need complicated gameplay for it. Why not try to appeal to anyone and everyone who just wants more of the Ghostbusters? 

A common gripe I have with video games is the inclusion of long or numerous cut scenes.  My complaint still stands, but here, you're basically getting more of a great movie to watch with characters I love, so not as much of a problem in this case. The game does sometimes feel a bit low-budget as I would have loved a section in which I would drive the Ecto-1, but that's just nitpickyness on my part. 

Also, it's a nice touch that they dedicated the remastered version of the game to Harold Ramis as well, as he passed not too many years after the game was released. All in all, just get the dang thing already and start busting some heads...in a spiritual sense of course. 

Although, the original trailer is a bit more fun, even if it's not as pretty. Now, I'm off to collect some mold, spores, and fungus. 

Oh yeah, on a related note, one of the best compliments my wife has ever given me was that Peter Venkman was my spirit animal.