WTFO

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday

Got a good caption or photoshop for this Reuters picture? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar...and its tax free!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. Since ImageShack has been quirky lately, if you're sending a large animation, please provide a hot-linkable URL.

You need not own a blog to win! I'll advertise your favorite charity, web site, or even pics of your fluffy ferret!! Judging begins Monday PM.

Winner!
pdb with:

"If this guy tries to get my bank's routing and account number one more time, I'll have Cheney kneecap him."

Other Contests:

Rodney Dill (Honorable Mention last week!)
Gone Rick Motel










Willisms
Bagel Blogger
Right Pundits
Bullwinkle Blog
Wyatt Earp

Photoshops:

Nothing but Trouble

No BAG Day for me

Blew off going to the gun show Saturday; figured the vendors might be finicky about a credit card that only has two days til expiration. If I had bought a gun, it wouldn't have been a BAG Day gun anyway because most of my tax return is long gone. What's left goes into my roadtrip fund.

What was I thinking of getting? A Benelli M2 Tactical. I still might get one by the end of the year, but it'll be financed by selling off some of my gunsafe queens.

Happy Anniversary!

April 30, 1975


Somewhere, some old Doggers are having a party.

Bob the Rifleman

Here's a pic of Bob in his element, trying out his latest acquisition. He's more at home in re-enactment gear or busting caps with a zumzing-gewehr whose ammo price is scary just to think about. He's relatively new to the competitive practical shooting scene and is just now starting to "lean forward" in the gun game.

Was kinda interesting to see someone cleaning the innards of an AR-15 who hadn't learned it by the numbers from Uncle Sam. The AR used to be Jon's. Bob's future 3-Gun kit ought to be interesting when he gets it together...he's got a hankering for a Norinco Trench Gun repro and a twin to Jon's Glock 34. That'll turn some heads!

Here's Bob's match video, minus the long-range rifle which I neglected to record. Hindsight sez I shoulda captured a fine journeyman performance of 100-yard musketry. He'll be kicking MY butt after a coupla matches.

Pima Tactical - April

I finished the Pima Tactical 3-Gun Match feeling pretty good about the weekend. Last night, Jon, Bob and I put away some yummy hot wings and beer with Jon's high school chum, then adjourned to The Saloon to drink, cuss, fart, philosophize, and gossip until midnight. At the Pima Pistol Club range, the weather was glorious (forecast was for scattered T-Storms) and the stages were pretty much set up already. Twenty-two shooters signed up, so squads were sized at five persons each; Bloggers Desert Cat and Daisy Cat squadded with us while Jeff and Russell (My New Nemesis) teamed up in a different squad.

The Match, as shot by Jon (YouTube)

I was chasing Jon from the very beginning...I was mildly disappointed when I finished 6 seconds behind him on the hoser carbine stage (all stages were single-weapon this time) and when I fell 23 seconds behind him on the shotgun stage (I was borrowing his 870 after my 1100 aborted its place in my favor), I expected my normal middle-of-the-pack finish. When Russell finished the long-range rifle in the 20s and I in the 40s, I figured I'd be lucky to finish behind Russell. Little did I know that those first two stages pretty much wrapped up second place in Tactical Scope for me. The Pima Prize lady must have thought I was an ungrateful wretch when I wordlessly accepted my $15 prize (until she prompted me to say "Thank you"). All I could think was there must be some mistake!...then she called Jon up to get the first place cash prize. Russell would have beat me except for three penalties...just like he beat me at the ACTS match over three of my boo-boos. So we're even. Except that I got 15 bucks outta this little duel.

Cowboy Blob Highlights (YouTube)

Today's lesson for Daisy Cat was The Plan, as in "Have One!" After the hoser carbine stage, I quipped, "Let's add Aiming to the Plan for next time." Don't tell anybody, but when she gave some gender-specific excuse for not planning, all I could think of was the joke with the mall diagram and the difference between men and women shopping for a pair of pants. I'm terrible. Good thing she's a nice Christian lady so's she'll forgive me. Methinx she may have misapplied some of my advice about sighting over the top of the rifle at point-blank range. But at least she had a Plan!

Desert Cat did well (but should not have been categorized at Heavy Metal class shooting 7.62 x 39) everywhere except long range; he should have finished in the middle of Tactical Iron class...if only the 100-yard targets were the size of garbage can lids.

Bob was a real Mensch...he shot the long-range rifle standing up...and with iron sights. We both had the bright idea of gaming the match which doesn't recognize power factor...we both shot fast Glock 9-mms (he Jon's G34 and me a G19). He'll be kicking my butt after some practice and experience.

My Plan for the next 3-Gun: 1. Shoot Like Jon 2. Beat Russell.

More coverage, commentary, and video at Desert Cat's here and here.

The Saloon is Open

Jon and Bob came down from Phoenix to shoot the Pima Tactical tomorrow. To celebrate their visit, I dragged the bar out from the wall, cleared off the mountain of junk mail from it, dusted and polished it, and stocked the mini-fridge with tasty bier.

Got some scary T-storms coming in from the south...we're all hoping that they don't reach Catalina and keep them from setting up the match. The Pima Pistol Club range lies at the end of a dirt road beyond a couple of washes I wouldn't want to travel in the rain.

More Owie

Did yesterday even happen? I coulda sworn I was feeling better with just a little bit of stiffness.

Now I feel like I did Tuesday. Back to the heating pad.

Heh

Friday Fertography

It's a Pilgrimage!

Binker and BinkerDad paid their first visit to the Holy Shrine of Cabela's.


I suspect this is the same shrine The Trainer visited.

SukaiNet Triumphs

No, Kitty, No!

The King is Dead

That's MISTER Ruger to You!

CB: Dang, Homie, You crushed EVERYBODY on the rifle-only stage! (Jon scored 8.08! Nearest were carbine winners Space-gunner Phil (14.12) and Big Brother Chuck (15.28)

Jon: Thanks. What I feel good about is I didn't end up last even though I shot Mr. Ruger. ( I call him "Mr." now as a sign of respect since using him in the match.)

=========================

BTW: I would have shot better except that on the rifle-only targets, I was unconsciously holding a high point-of-aim on the distant targets. On the other rifle stage, I used that table as a rest, but should have wedged my hand under the foregrip...the rifle was so low that I missed several prone-steel targets because my muzzle was in the carpeting. I've really got to break my habit of shooting the props!

Okay, Kitty...

Pour me a stiff drink and get me a heating pad.

Most of the pain is gone, but it feels kinda "crunchy" when I turn my head to the right.

Goodbye, Kitty

Helloooooo, Kitty!

Short Scottish Joke

A guy walks into a Glasgow library and says to the prim librarian, "Excuse me Miss, day ye harv eni books on suicide?"

The librarian stops doing her tasks, looks at him over the top of her glasses, and says, "Fook off, ye'll no bring it back!"

Ha!

h/t to the PropWash Gang

Yikes

Still have the owie in the neck...at least it's only the nuisance variety. I wouldn't want to drive with it, but I didn't need to visit the ER or call an ambulance. I've had those before; had an ambulance ride through an icy Laurel MD after drying my *&^%ing hair a little too vigorously. Couple others were just the result of sleeping in the wrong position, like this one -- only worse.

Stupid Freaking Credit Union!

And stupid Cowboy Blob for maintaining only one credit card!

Two weeks ago I started getting antsy because my expires-in-April Visa card replacement still hadn't shown up. So when I called the wonderful folks at Vantage West Credit Union, they said it should show up in the middle of the next week. Like a moron, I believed them. Today...still nothing, so I called them again. This time, the lady on the phone actually looked up the card issue date...March! Boil-sucking butt-lampreys! Ten business days to get a re-issued card with new numbers to me...so now I've got to scramble around and manage several auto-pay accounts that were tied to my soon-to-be-dead Visa card.

I normally don't start drinking so early in the day -- but since I'm out of Flexiril....

Ator's Caption/Photoshop Contest

The Contest at The Lone Blade Clan

The News Report:

Celebrity polar bear gets death threat

Berlin - Germany's celebrity polar bear cub Knut received an anonymous death threat this week, causing alarm at Berlin Zoo and prompting heightened security.

Top-selling Bild newspaper said the zoo had received a hand-written fax from a suspected animal hater with the words, "Knut is dead! Thursday midday".

But that deadline came and went safely for media star Knut, who has been on newspaper front pages around Germany and the world for weeks. "He is safe and in good spirits," said zoo official Ragnar Kuehne after the time had passed.

As Knut appeared for one of his public appearance on Thursday, about 12 minders in orange jackets and carrying walkie-talkies patrolled the area around his enclosure to keep a close eye on the cub and the crowd of fans.

Just an hour before the death threat expired, an unperturbed Knut rolled around on the ground with his bearded keeper Thomas Doerflein and, as usual, chewed his fingers.

Berlin police said they had investigated a letter containing a threat but did not believe it was serious.

Crick

krik (Noun)

1. Variation of Creek, Col. Upper Northern & Western U.S.

2. A painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back

3. The sound a Japanese camera makes

I've got a lot of #2 today. Owie.

We're Ready

...for your close-up, Mr. Hasselhoff.

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday

Got a good caption or photoshop for this picture? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar...and its tax free!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. Since ImageShack has been quirky lately, if you're sending a large animation, please provide a hot-linkable URL.

You need not own a blog to win! I'll advertise your favorite charity, web site, or even pics of your fluffy ferret!! Judging begins Monday PM.

Winner

Heartless Libertarian with:

To steal one from the old "Bloom County" comics...

"Attack of the Mary Kay Commando"

Other Contests:
Outside the Beltway (2nd Place last week!)
Near the Salty City gets into the act!
Right Pundits
Support Your Local Gunfighter









Bullwinkle Blog

Photoshops

Gotta Get One

For when the Binker grows up.

BAG Day Updates

(Moved up as Updates occur)

My Buy-a-Gun Day purchase is still on hold until the end of the month.

While you're waiting for that, check out Mad Ogre's AK underfolder! At least I think it's his BAG Day gun...Surf to 4-20-07.

I gotta find someone to model mine.

Denise at The Ten Ring proclaims her Japanese Ariska as her official BAG Day goody.

Jerry the Geek's BAG Day Mossberg 590!

PDB's Beretta 1201FP looks kinda familiar....

Get 'Em Young

Offutt linguists teach Sarpy pupils Arabic
BY KRISTIN ZAGURSKI
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Working from right to left, Steven Audinet used a dry-erase marker to scrawl the Arabic word for "clown" across the white board in a classroom at Bellevue's Peter Sarpy Elementary School.

Asked if he could say the word, the fifth grader said no.

Steven's Arabic instructor, Air Force Master Sgt. John Whatley, chimed in and said the boy still was working on the pronunciation.

"He's got to learn to speak backward now," Whatley said with a laugh.

School district and Defense Department officials who watched the demonstration this week were impressed by the ability of Steven and eight of his classmates to write and speak in Arabic, Spanish and Chinese.

The fifth- and sixth-graders started learning the languages last month in a pilot program at the school involving language specialists from Offutt Air Force Base.

The partnership formed after representatives from the Bellevue Public Schools, Metropolitan Community College and Bellevue University toured Offutt's language-training center, said Lt. Col. Wes Smith, who runs the center.

The students use the popular Rosetta Stone language-learning computer software to study the basics, he said. They then meet with the linguists weekly to cover topics not addressed by the immersion-style software, such as greetings and numbers.

"Even though we can't be here all the time, we can be here to check their progress and to add to it," Smith said.

Whatley, an Arabic linguist, works with Steven and two other students. A Chinese linguist and a Spanish linguist from the base also teach three students each, for a total of nine students in the pilot program.

Some of the students, including fifth-grader Sergio Gonzalez, are learning their third language via the program.

Sergio's first language is Spanish. He said he learned English when he was about 3 years old, and he's learning Chinese through the program.

Both Sergio and Steven said it was easier to write in their new languages than to speak them. Sergio said, though, that he can have very basic conversations with two schoolmates who also are learning Chinese.

And Steven has fun talking in Arabic with his dad, who currently is deployed to Iraq, Principal Larry Wade said.

Andrea Masek, the students' teacher, said they sometimes write their names on their assignments in Arabic or Chinese, leaving her to wonder who the work came from.

Many more than just the nine students expressed an interest in learning the languages, she said.

"They're begging, 'Can I go to foreign language class?'" Masek said of her other students.

Smith of the Offutt center said the pilot program could be expanded at Peter Sarpy and to other district elementary schools and possibly middle and high schools, if it goes well.

Wade said the program is a "huge success."

"Who knows?" Wade said. "Maybe these students will be back here stationed at Offutt as linguists."

That's a possibility for Sergio, who said his mother wants him to join the military when he grows up.

If he does, he said, he might try to become a linguist.

Only in Omaha...I can imagine the outcry if the Defense Language Institute tried this in Monterey CA schools.

h/t to The Propwash Gang

Me too

Mailing in a Clean Stage

Master at Work

Master-class Open Gunner Phil shows us how it's done.

Proud, Merry

Match Poo-Bah Terry said this stage got some good words from some of the shooters. I don't think Jon was one of those...at least he didn't have to shoot the Stars with the pain-inducing snubbie.

Since boneheaded Blob left his camera back in Tucson, we resorted to using Jon's, which limits movie files to 45 seconds. The Stars ate me up...several misses and a stuck shell requiring a bang-rack on the ground slowed me down considerably. A fellow shooter complimented me on my frantic loading and malfunction management; I made sure the weapon faced downrange when I slammed the butt on the ground. I better invest in a chamber brush....

Full House

Jon took the prize for style points at today's 3-Gun Practice Match: he showed up with hi-cap mag holders on his left hip and an itty-bitty Ruger SP-101 on his right hip. If ya don't have to run very hard, you can stick loaded SP-101 speedloaders into the mag pouches...Jon decided to get some practice with his CCW piece and even sprang for some "full house" defense loads to maximize the whole experience. It helped to know that the pistol round count for multi-gun wouldn't break the bank. His stages times were naturally slower than normal for Speedy Juan, but he was proud to note that, despite scoring some penalties, he went home leaving no bad guy unventilated. (I'll vouch that plates on a plate rack don't really count as "bad guys.")

By the end of the match, Jon's shooting arm was a bit fatigued, but the muscle memory should serve him well if he ever needs to draw the little Five-Gun under pressure.

Mailing In the April 3-Gun

As the temps rise in the Valley of the Sun, I'm loathe to throw in a bunch of bulky props that need to be trucked/towed into and out of the practical pistol bays the League uses. I'm also running short of ideas this month, both in stage design and stage naming, hence the post title. Well, this is a practice match; the only month I have to be creative is the October Halloween 3-Gun, which is no more important than any other practice match, but Jon and I have kinda got everybody's expectations up for that one. These are the April stages as submitted to the Course of Fire Committee:

Mailing it in

Pistol - Start Position: Standing in Box A, normal ready.

On start signal, draw and engage T1 through T5. From Box B, engage P1 through P5. Paper targets require two hits to neutralize, all steel must fall.

Pistol/Shotgun - Start Position: Standing in Box A, normal ready. *Unloaded* shotgun on table B, action open.

On start signal, draw and engage T1 through T5. From Box B, ground safed pistol, load shotgun and engage P1 through P5. Paper targets require two hits to neutralize, all steel must fall.

Run for the Fun Ones

Pistol - Start position: Standing in Box A normal ready.

On start signal, engage in any order T1 through T6. Advance to Box B and engage T7 through T14. Paper targets require two hits to neutralize.

Rifle - Start Position: Standing in Box A, rifle at low ready.

On start signal, engage in any order T1 through T14. Paper targets require two hits to neutralize.

Kurt Vonnegut is Still Dead

Pistol - Start position: Standing in Box A normal ready.

On start signal, in any order, engage T1 through T6 and P1 through P3 from Box A. Advance to behind Table B and engage T7 through T9. Each paper target requires two hits to neutralize. All steel must fall.

Pistol/Rifle - Start postion: Standing in Box A normal ready, loaded rifle staged on Table B with safety on.

On start signal, in any order, engage T1 through T6 and P1 through P3 from Box A with pistol. Ground safed pistol on Table B and with rifle engage T7 through T11 and P4 through P8. Each paper target requires two hits to neutralize. All steel must fall.

Proud, Merry

Pistol - Start position: Seated at Table, pistol in holster, soda can raised to shoulder level in strong hand.

On start signal, draw and engage P1 through P8. Advance to Box B and engage P9 through P19. All steel must fall.

Pistol/Shotgun - Start position: Seated at Table, pistol in holster, soda can raised to shoulder level in strong hand. Loaded shotgun grounded on Table.

On start signal, draw and engage P1 through P8. Ground safed pistol on table. At Box B and engage P9 through P19 with shotgun. All steel must fall.

Barrier Landing?

Toons

Friday Fertography

Hey, Quit with the Banjo Music!

I had the Tactical Tent.