Headed home from Nashville

What a conundrum.  I love live music, but my ears just can't stand the volume anymore. I've got projects in two great music venues, Austin being the other, and I'm reticent to take in the up and coming bands for fear of further hearing loss.
I may just have to suck it up and pack some of our squishy 3M in ear plugs.
- feel like a dork wearing them at a concert, but ya gots ta do whats ya gots ta do.

Live from the Nashville airport
Kx59

Really Charles?

How disappointing.
And here I was thinking Krauthammer was a conservative intellectual.  Being wheelchair bound, I would think Chucky K. would see the wisdom in packing a force multiplier. You can't get much more vunnable than that.
What a douche.  I'll never look at that guy the same way again.   Sheep in a wheeliechair.

It's getting spooky out there

I saw video of blackhawk helicopters over Miami the other day, flying low, firing blanks.

The military is running their little "drills" in Houston as well. Flying low, firing blanks.
Over South Houston, which is largely African American demographically.  Racist if you ask me.

Training exercise?  For what?  Looks like federal government intimidation to me.

How many of you boys in uniform are willing to shoot American Citizens?
How many of you boys in uniform are willing to shoot those that are?

Auto Show Yesterday

No concept cars at the show. Boooo!
The best part of the day, really, was hanging with my friend and mentor, Tom, and the one and only son.
The biggest wow factor was drooling over cars that cost $458K and pondering the fact that there are people that can afford to buy said cars for their irresponsible "adult" children to wreck.
Something like this:

If I had the disposable income to do so, I would so drive that car.
One and only Son commented later that he so wanted to drive "that" car. Not in reference to the above stealth fighter, but rather the utilitarian classic below:  1957 BMW 600
















I'm pretty sure I could hurt myself trying to get in the driver's seat.






















I have a real soft spot in my heart for bare bones basic transportation. I still mourn the loss of my '68 bug.
1600 cc's of raw power, four on the floor, no AC.
I think the thing that tickled my fancy the most were the very high end cars with satin paint.  You don't get this kind of finish from a rattle can of flat black Rustoleum, but that's where it started.
Totally "murdered out".

I would so drive that car.

I've been a bad boy

Windows update informs that it is downloading 69 updates. At the rate it is going, it should be done right around the time Obama term limits out of office.
Oh, thank goodness, it finally moved beyond  0% complete.

I've flown in really small planes before, but

I've never had the pilot of an Embraer RJ145 come on the PA and ask for a volunteer from rows 1 through 6 to move to the extreme back of the plane to "balance the load".

And then further informed us that, "we cannot back away from the gate and take off till someone does."
Really?

Many quizzical dog expressions were exchanged amongst the passengers.  I was not in rows 1 through 6, otherwise that little problem would have been solved inside of 10 seconds.


A young man, traveling alone stood up, grabbed his backpack and coat and headed aft to resounding applause.

We arrived at Bush Intercontinental airport and as we were taxiing off the runway, middle aged male flight attendant of undisclosed sexual orientation** announced that we'd had a last minute gate change to terminal A instead of terminal B, but our checked luggage would still be conveniently delivered to Terminal B.
As I disembarked I asked, "So the plane is at terminal A, and my bag is in the plane (purportedly), and I have to go to Terminal B to collect it?"
"Yes, thanks for flying United"


** If you rub your ass against my shoulder a third time, we may come to "words". Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, thrice is a pattern. I am not wired that way, FYI, and it does in fact push my buttons.
I am also not a homophobe, I offer my nephew, who came out a couple of years ago as my human credential.  I heard later that he was terrified of how uncle kx59 would react. As I was headed out the night of the big reveal, I gave him a hug, told him I knew and didn't care one way or the other. And I meant it.  And I still do.
Each to his own, but prancing down the street in ass-less black leather chaps in a gay rights parade is not helping your cause.
Just sayin'

'zecutive orders concerning gun control

I'm not even going to quote the best one liner on the subject I've seen.

You'll just have to hit the link to see for your seff.

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What, are you Rambo or something?

Why do you neeeed to carry a gun.  I mean really, if someone starts shooting in the mall are you going to go all Rambo and "Save the Day!"

It's highly unlikely. Unless you happen to be standing behind me when one of my loved ones, or myself is threatened.  Otherwise, you are on your own. If I wanted to be a cop, I would have been a cop.

I have a concealed carry weapon.  It is there in seconds when I need it.

You have the police.  They are there in minutes at best, just in nick of time to draw a chalk line around your corpse.

Well, if the shooter didn't have a 30 round clip and had to reload, "someone" would tackle him while he was reloading.

Someone?  Who?  You?
Well....."some....one" would.
Who? You?
Someone.
Would.


This little contrived conversation was inspired by a discussion in an airport bar this evening.  I'm still trying to knock teh stupid out of my ears like swimming pool water.  I found myself in a simultaneous "discussion" about global worming and gun control on the opposite side of two fervent and woefully under-informed  true believers in both.  I was starkly reminded, like a brick to the forehead, that this country may very well be irreparably divided.   I call dibs on Texas, the deep south, and some of the fly-over states to be named at a later date.
East coast and left coast, you guys are on  your own.

Why do you need a 30 round clip?

I'll answer your question if you answer mine first.
If you succeed in confiscating my guns and someone starts shooting at us on the street, can I use your self righteous gun free carcass as a meat shield?

No?
But I thought you were bullet proof.

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Haven't flown in a while

It was nice while it lasted.
TSA checkpoint has devolved into a complete clusterfuck since I last flew.
And I thought it was bad before...

60 percent of Young Americans

Plan to purchase firearms.  Demographics are a bitch, aren't they?

“The next generation plans on owning guns, so if we want to avoid the tragedies that we’ve seen… we obviously need to move quickly and if an executive order is the way to do it, then that is the way the to do it,” she said."

God forbid they should have the means to protect themselves.  In the BAR household, I suspect 100% of the next generation plans to own guns.  The oldest already does. The second oldest told me that she plans on getting her CHL shortly after graduating.  The one and only son handles a pistol as confidently as a torque wrench, and the youngest has shot more exotic weapons than I have now, courtesy of DAB II.

The anti-gun crowd has missed the real demographic change that is going to crush their attempted gun grab this time like a tsunami**.  This is not to say that there will not be a fight in one form or another.
At the first BAR blogshoot in Lockhart, Tx, Pickdog, Borepatch and Ye Olde Furt were chatting as I sidled up hands in pockets to listen to some shooty wisdom.  Pickdog said, and I paraphrase, "If you really want to change society where gun laws are concerned, you change them."  Pickdog was referring to women.  As time has gone by, I have found that to be a very profound statement.

Consider this:  If I talk about guns and shooting around non-gun guys, they get intimidated and creeped out for the most part. Hell, I've had one young hunter and "gun guy" ask me why we bought an AR and what we intended to shoot with it.***

When Belle talks about guns and shooting, because she is female, it becomes a safer topic and the women in the chat circle get very interested. Once the women in the chat circle engage in the conversation, their male significant others get engaged as well.
Case in point, the young couple we introduced to handguns last weekend.

Belle is the BAR ambassador of self protection and female empowerment.
All of you lady shooters out there in the blogosphere are as well.



** If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
*** Because it is our fucking right to do so, paper targets, feral pigs, or anything else that become necessary, thankyouverymuch.

h/t instapundit


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I want MY

MTV

Government subsidized Boolits

Sabra gets to the heart of my assault vagina meme in a way I never could.

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The (formerly) great Britain

And Puss Morgan deigns to look down his pasty white nose at us bible and gun clinging American miscreants.

I wish I was more skilled with GIMP. I'd put the bed wetter Piers Morgan's face on that image.


The Brits don't want him back, so maybe we could deport him to the Gaza Strip or perhaps better,  Somalia?






** I apologize in advance for the stream of consciousness posting, but I just saw where if I had direct TV I could record five episodes, simultaneously, of crap I don't want to, nor would ever watch.
I may have to take up macrame again. There is so little on my cable plan tv guide that I do not page right past these days.

Obummer's security detail gets a little lax

Someone managed to get to the Won's limousine.  This might be photochopped, but it made me smile anyway.

And in the news, Obummer and Moosechelle now have secret service security for life!  Having to work that detail would S-U-U-U-U-C-KK.  (say that last word in your best Ron White imitation.)

You know it's coming, the expose book from one of the retired secret service agents that has been on the kenyan imposter's security detail.  Won't happen till he's out of office. Can't get here soon enough IMHO.   Sure to be a long, long chapter on the puppet master Valerie Jackass Jerret.

I doubt I'll have the motivation to read such a book though.  The only associative thought I'll be able to dredge up will be, "Gott sei Dank that Mo Fo is out of office."

My AAR on the trip to the range yesterday

I had meant to take some over the shoulder pics yesterday, but we were having so much fun it just never happened. And boy did we burn through some ammo.
As Belle mentioned, we took a young couple with us to shoot pistols yesterday.
Belle noted that the young lady was a "natural", her hubby didn't do too bad either. He was either rev'ed up, or nervous, or both his first round on the firing line. He was shooting my 4.5" XDm and I could see his hands shaking a bit.  That filtered out after a while and after I explained to him that he didn't need to crush the grip.  (I remember when the muscle tone in my forearms looked like that....sigh.)  To demonstrate that the gun wasn't going to jump out of his hands, I shot 5 rounds, strong hand only. He relaxed more after that
It was his first time to shoot a handgun.  He shot my Ruger SR9c as well.  He liked the XDm better, being a longer and heavier pistol. I like shooting the XDm as well, but it's really bulky to conceal. The Ruger I'm still liking a lot, and very happy with my groups.
So I loaded mags for a while, then showed him how to do it.  He fumbled with it a bit at first, then once he got it down, he wanted to load them all. I showed him how to release the mags and reload.  My intention was not to make him a good shooter on his first outing, but to get him comfortable with the tool at hand.  Although, he did put some serious hurt on Mr. badguybluemantarget.
My approach to teaching is that, "I will share with you what I know." I'm certainly not an expert shooter by any stretch of the imagination.  I explained to him about finger placement on the trigger, proper grip and anticipating recoil. When I made a bad shot, I pointed it out to him and told him what I did wrong.
I had a really, really good time.  I got some seriously needed recoil therapy, but made sure my charge put many, many rounds down range.
After I packed up and he and I were about to exit the range, he looked me directly in the eye, shook my hand and said, "Thank You so much!
I just smiled at him and tried not to grimace as he crushed my hand.

As we all walked out into the parking lot headed to our respective vehicles, I said, "See, that wasn't so hard was it?"  They both turned and said, "OMG! NO!"  Whereupon the young man thanked me profusely again and crushed my hand.
I wish I had a pic of the two of them afterwards.  I wish you could have seen their eyes.  They were two fully awake human beings. Sheepdogs and future shooters in the making.

Wisely, Belle recommended that they both go take some basic handgun classes, rent some guns and try them out until they find the one that is right for each of them.

Did I mention that I had a really good time yesterday?

I feel much better now....

Today, as the hubster mentioned yesterday, we took a young couple shooting today.  Neither had shot a pistol before.  The guy shot long guns, but never a hand gun... the lady, never handled a firearm of any kind.

That being said, KX worked with the guy, I worked with the lady.

The lady was a natural.

What brought me the most happiness was to see the smile on her face after she emptied her first magazine.

When we were done, she was really pumped up and happy and said, "Oh my God!!  I had no I idea!!!  I feel so...  so...  so..."

I said... "empowered?"

She said, "YES!"

So yes, there is a new lady shooter among us and I will encourage her every chance I get.

I was a great day and I was happy to be on the range again, shooting....  and introducing the joy of firearms to a new young lady....

In an act of Defiance

The lovely Belle is introducing a first time shooter to handguns tomorrow. Perhaps that will break her out of her post election funk.  Belle connected with one of the young ladies that works in my firm at the company golf tournament while back and then they got to talking at the company Christmas Party.  God knows what information was imparted about me. I really must keep a closer eye on that woman in social situations.  I jest of course. Mostly.
So the young lady's hubbie is tagging along as well. The plan is for lunch at one of our favorite Tex-Mex restaurants first, then off to our favorite pistol range.
While the BAR corporate armory is small, they will have the opportunity to shoot 4 different pistols.  No variation in caliber however, as we believe in the economy of scale where ammunition is concerned.

This little outing was planned prior to the Sandy Hook tragedy**  and crazy Uncle Joe's meeting with the NRA.  I'd been wondering if these youngsters were still up for the event.  Belle confirmed that today.
It appears some of the twentysomethings do have their heads screwed on right after all.

So the gubmint's gun grabbing machinations be damned.  We are going shooting tomorrow and taking some newbies with us.




**Tragedy is really the wrong word for that. That was a heinous crime perpetrated upon the most defenseless victims there are, by a skinny pasty faced very fucked up son of a bitch.  Perhaps it is a character flaw, but I do not have any sympathy for the mentally deranged. While they do not "choose" to be that way,  they are defective and they are a danger to society.

Whatever became of the Belle?

She's right here, falling down on the job.

Truth be known, I've been too angry, too upset and too dumbfounded to really post.

Thank goodness my snoring caveman other half, has been on top of things.  (Yes he really does snore VERY loud and yes I've heard him in the driveway!)

Soon enough I'll get back to putting my some snark or something funny and mild, or whatever brilliant discourse nonsense I can drum up!


Happy New Year y'all!!!



 

The evolution of snoring

There will be no referenced scientific studies or links in this post.  I base this purely upon my orifices opinions, which like every other human being on the planet I possess.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I must inform you that I am highly biased on this subject in that I snore loud enough to be heard throughout the entirety of our two story house. On a particularly vocal night, I can be heard on the driveway.

Man's technology has progressed much faster than his physiological evolution. Case in point, man saw waving fields of grain. Man observed cloven hooved animals consuming the waving fields of grain and wondered if it was good to eat. Seeing as the waves of grain did not run from you or try to gore you when you tried to stick a pointy stick in them, this appeared to be beneficial.  Man, tasted the waving fields of grain whereupon he declared, "this tastes like shit", and immediately broke out in hives.
Man endeavored for many years to render the the waves of grain into something palatable, finally succeeding.  This is how Wonder Bread was invented.
The unintended consequences birthed the profession of the witch doctors known as Allergists, treating the most ubiquitous allergy on planet, wheat.
I digress.
Where was I?  Oh yes, Man's technology.  My caveman ancestors did not have Brinks or ADT security systems to warn them that a saber tooth tiger or bear-o-saurus was entering the cave intent on an easy meal.
Fortunately, my BAR ancestors snored.  15 or 20 cave snorers, enhanced by the band shell shape of the cave is enough to deter any hairy beasty.  As for how they all managed to sleep together in a dirty, hairy, flea infested pile in the cave, I can only surmise that from their efforts to render waving fields of grain into something edible, they were completely exhausted.

The clans that did not evolve active snoring security are no longer with us.

Because Proud Hillbilly said so

And PH is right, this should go viral.
If for no other reason than facts annoy the shit out of liberals and mush heads, because they can't remember them.  Math is hard. Women's Vaginal Studies is a much easier degree to get.

Sorry, too busy working on Assault Vagina Legislation

Watch dog group asks Congresscritters to reform burdensome tax system.

Congress Responds:
Nope, no can do.  We just spent an inordinate amount of time debating free birth control and now we have the legal battles to fight over separation of church and state. Btw, thanks for the props ladies, especially you Ms. Fluke. Your, "OMG, I just bought my birth control pills and they were FREE! No COPAY!" tweet really warmed our hearts.


Now we have this scary black rifle thing to deal with since Obama has more flexibility, being in his second term.  Yes, we know, scary black rifles,we refer to them as Assault Rifles, are involved in murders far less often than hammers, but our faithful useful idiots respond to the images in a way that increase our lands and titles.

If we are unsuccessful in confiscating guns this time, next election cycle, we will be rolling out the "Assault Vagina" platform as these two words appear to define the fundamentals of American Political discourse.  We are already hard at work on this Legislation and therefore cannot acquiesce to your request.

Sincerely,
Your Overlords





** The money shot quote from the article, "“If tax compliance were an industry, it would be one of the largest in the United States,” the report states."  If tax compliance were an industry?  Strike up a conversation about a flat tax with no deductions for individuals and corporations with my CPA sister.  I recommend bringing a hard hat.

Obviously not his time to go

Nope, sorry, you can't permanently check out yet.
Don't forget your shoes.

Maybe the impact from the truck knocked some sense into him.

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The Eyes

Are the Window to the Soul

Or lack thereof.

I'm not in particularly sympathetic mood right now.  Because of the second nutcase, our esteemed elite overlords want to punish me by disarming me.  With what shall I defend myself from the next person with white showing above his or her irises that wants to exit the sane train with a bang?
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Bank of America Freezes Spirit Arms Deposits

Because, "WE BELIEVE YOU SHOULD NOT BE SELLING GUNS and PARTS ON THE INTERNET"

Link to the Letter from Spirit Arms here


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My response

to missus Feinstein's  proposed Gun Control legislation and all of the bedwetting libtards.
Got the long mag for my 9mm Luger and loaded it up with hollow points.  Got the other long mag and loaded it up as well.
Under your proposed legislation, both of them will make me, a law abiding citizen. a felon.


FUCK YOU.

Dead Man Walking

Me.
An attempt at a few push ups night before last was an eye opener.

I'd already planned to start the process of doing something about this prior to the fatter boy pants post.
I had a "yep, you are right" moment when Maura and ASM826 offered some encouraging comments.
Well, uhm ASM826 any way.  Maura just hit me with a frying pan.

The plan was to begin some introductory exercise while I was off for Holiday between Christmas and New Years.   A cold virus intervened.  Still trying to kill the bugger.

I've not always been this way.  Case in point, a pic for 1996.

 I



The odometer from my POS Peugot road bike reads 99.9 miles from the first day of my totally awesome adventure** on the MS150 cycling event.  Looking at this pic at the age of 53, I discover that I, at 36, I bore an uncanny resemblance to Forest Gump.  Stupid is as Stupid does. I did finish the event however, and they told a huge fib. It was in fact 163 miles.

I apologize for the digression.
So I've picked up my free weights again.  Starting small, with many repetitions. I've always been a proponent of free weights versus the mechanical Nautilus type machines.  They  work your core while you are focusing on biceps and triceps, or whatever else.

I do actually know how to do this, but I have slacked off in a major way, for way too long.
In two weeks for so, I'll be shadow boxing with 5 lb weights in my hands.


Oh, and a thanks to Maura.





**  My riding partner and I thought the worst hills would be in the second day of the event and we were sorely disabused.  I woke up on the morning of the second day feeling like every fiber  of every muscle in my body had been stretched by a piano tuner.  We started out the second day into a head wind, spending most of our time down on the lower bars.  It took us almost ten hours to go 100 miles the first day.  A ten mile an hour pace.  Into a head wind the second day, we clocked a 35 mile per hour pace.  There is no "down hill" between here and there, so I have no explanation for that.
Except for the backside of the hill in Bastrop State Park where I hit 50 miles per hour on a loose gravel road with a hard left turn at the bottom.

The back brake is your friend, burning rubber smells good in comparison to the smell of road rash.

Cotton Bowl

Ags are ahead at half time.  I'm surprised and pleased. The network showed some of the half time shows put on by A&M and Oklahoma.

We may not win the game, but A&M never looses the half time show.
Not bad for a University that has no music college.
kx59 class of '82 Gig 'em!

Damn! Missed it by that much

And I was just there earlier today.
Oh well, I can always pilfer from the Mighty Kevin's blog.

Color me Green

With envy.
This came over the wire from the BJF soopersecret com-line today:
I think my testosterone level tweaked up a point or two from just looking at this pic.

I'm not sure if it's the freezer full of venison conveniently packed in a deer hide or the scary looking rifle that I'm more envious of...

BilllyJoe's rifle: Desert Tactical SRS, changes from 300wm to 338 Lapua in less than a minute.  BJF says it will take down a deer at 500 yards, no problem.  


As a footnote: See Libtards!, EBRs and Scary Looking guns with the thing that goes "up" are used for hunting.  (Yes, I do realize it is a bolt action rifle. Shut Up!  I'm taunting bed wetters)

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Of Pigs and Pythons, part deaux

Even I have a good idea every now and then.

The solution to the snake problem in the Everglades: the powers that be have come around to my way of thinking.

The best part of writing this post was the trip down memory lane hunting for the first link in the BAR Corporate Archives. Ran across DAB I and DAB II posts and a bunch of other shooty goodness.
It did wonders for my mood.  Belle's and Proud Hillbilly's comment thread in the original pigs and pythons post made me laugh.  Somehow, I missed that.  Groundhog recipe?  Really?