Feels like that sometimes

h/t newgrounds.com

Yup

Yay, it's Tuesday!

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday -- Scroll Down for New Stuff
Got a caption or photoshop for this unsourced photo? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. 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 that unopened President Hillary Clinton Action Figure, now with Executive Cankles!

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday Night.

Winner!

The surest way to get onto my blog roll is to come out of nowhere and win a caption/photoshop contest! Gasgwar of Right U R wins with:

Marge was perplexed as to why her jetpack never achieved lift, but could now rule out the extra weight of her clothes.

Other Contests:

Gone Rick Motel
Outside the Beltway
Family Security Matters
Right Pundits
RT's Ponderings
Wizbang
Support your Local Gunfighter

Cringeworthy

Photoshop Class

A poster.

Theme from the instructor.

I wanted to use a a herd of beef cattle and a nuclear power plant, but I don't think the instructor would go for that.

Opposite Day!

Thanks to a manufacturing error, the Cactus League got a batch of IPSC Metric targets for cheap... if'n you don't mind the target serrations on the white NO-SHOOT side instead of the brown side. So, we made lemonade while the hay shines, so to speak, and declared Opposite Day! Shoot the white targets, avoid the brown ones!

Speaking of opposites, I was actually a weeee bit faster than Jon on most of the stages. Unfortunately, it was because he shot a Heavy Metal configuration while I had my fastest Tactical Scope get-up. And Jon got better hits....

Shotgun Video

Rifle Video

I upped the video quality on my uploads now that I've got higher-speed Internet. Do y'all think it's worth it?

Update: I beat Jon in rifle by less than 2 seconds... but I was supposed to. He would have kicked my butt if he hadn't had that failure to eject. He whomped me by almost 11 seconds in riotgun.

More Friday Art Class

Reproducing a photograph in pencil, using grids.

Almost done.

Should Be Cool

This looks like it should be an awesome video, snagged from Guidons X 3. Only thing is, it keeps stopping in my browser, and the sound doesn't play. Help? It works in IE, but not Firefox.

Cool Laser Video

Robb Allen at Sharp as a Marble has got some l33t video skillz!

Check out his new pistol with Crimson Trace Laser Grips!

One Toke over the Line

Ya think I should round out my Taktikal Kommie Halloween ensemble with this little number? Haven't shot it in over a decade, so I'll have to have a little range day next month.

Hey, Ridley, got any Beamon’s?

Via RobertaX, some R/C Right Stuff.

Is Taktikal now, Comrade, Da?

Okay, I don't do a good Chinglish schtick, so....

The shipment from Dillon took the slow boat down the Gila River, but it finally got here. Now I've got a retention sling and four Pro-Mags for the Sino-Poodleshooter. All I need is a Che Guevera T-Shirt and I'll be set for the ACTS Halloween Match next month!

Please pardon the yuckiness of the cheap Korean brass.

From Mobog

Caribou Barbie

h/t Pensive Jonathan

Threeeeeeeeeeeeees

Clock's up!
I didn't celebrate my Blogiversary this month, seeing as how it falls on September 11, so I'll celebrate a third of a million visitors to the Saloon and Shootin' Gallery this morning! My Threeeeees Visitor came from New York City! NYC? What is this, a Pace Picante Sauce commercial? I wonder if it's Craig Wasson's agent? Don't be shy, say "Hi!" next time. No referral, so I'll give a Blog Ad to Visitor 333,335 from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in TN... one of the many folks who comes here from View from the Porch.

Does that gun look fake to you?

Cruel, Cruel Siblings

It's Eggroll Night at Mom's tonight.

Funny

Click the stick.

From DeviantArt

Yeah, I tweaked the finger a bit....

Update: This always bugged the hell out of Bane, who Blackfive says has passed on. Vaya con Dios, Amigo.

Whoo-hoo! Boo!

Next month's ACTS match at Pima is going with a Halloween theme as well!

I'm stoked!

Yes, I am on DeCaf!

Friday's Art Class

We're starting 8x10 pencil sketching from a photograph. I think I'll bring this one.

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday -- Scroll Down for New Stuff
Got a caption or photoshop for this unsourced photo? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. 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 that unopened President Hillary Clinton Action Figure, now with Executive Cankles!

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday Night.

Winner!

It's Wyatt Earp again with:

"Oh my God! WAYNE GRETZKY!!!"

Pretty light turn-out this week. I guess if you can't say anything nice about someone....

Other Contests

Gone Rick Motel
Outside the Beltway
WILLisms
Family Security Matters
Right Pundits (1st Place Last week!)
RT's Ponderings
Wizbang
Support your Local Gunfighter (I won 1st Place here last week too!)

Stage 2

I did pretty damn good on this stage, considering lotsa guys shot through into hostages! Damn eyes, I couldn't read those tags (scope was set at 1.5x). Video from HKFreak.



Cool pix from the Cav Arms guys are up!

Yahoo! Stupid

If I just click the Empty link next to the Spam Folder in Yahoo! Mail, the Spam is deleted sight unseen with only one dialog box asking me if I'm sure I want to permanently delete the files. If I open the folder (to ensure no blog comments accidentally got sent there) and select all the Spam to delete, it will open two consecutive dialog boxes, the first asking if I'm sure I want to delete the Spam, the next whether I'm sure I want to permanently delete the Spam.

Isn't that ass backwards?

September Cactus Practice 3-Gun

These are the stages as submitted for next Sunday's Cactus Match. There's no guarantee they'll look like this next week, but the Match Poobah has acknowledged their receipt. The October Halloween Match (26 October) was designed almost entirely by Jon this time. I helped tweak it some and am confident that it'll join our past October efforts as the most fun 4th Sunday matches we've designed. See ya there?

Bob's Sampler

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

On start signal, draw and engage T1 through T5 and P1. From Box B, engage P2 through P9. 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 and P1. From Box B, ground safed pistol, load shotgun and engage P2 through P9. Paper targets require two hits to neutralize, all steel must fall.


Stargazing

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

On start signal, draw and engage P1 through P10. All steel must fall.

Shotgun - Start Position: Standing in Box A shotgun at Low Ready

On start signal, engage P1 through P10. All steel must fall.






Trey Chic

Pistol - Start position: Seated at Table A, hands on table.

On start signal, engage T1 through T9 in any order. Shoot T1 through T3 from Box B, T4,5,6 from behind Table A and T7 through T9 from Box C. Each paper target requires two hits to neutralize..

Pistol/Rifle - Start position: Seated at Table A, hands on table. Loaded Rifle grounded safely on table.

On start signal, engage T1 through T9 in any order. Shoot T1 through T3 from Box B, T4,5,6 from behind Table A and T7 through T9 from Box C. Ground safed pistol and with rifle, engage R1 through R9. Shoot R1 through R3 from Box B, R4,5,6 from behind Table A and R7 through R9 from Box C. Each paper target requires two hits to neutralize.


Haulin' Ash

Pistol - Start position: Standing in Box A or B, both hands on handle of ash can (Ammo can filled with weights)

On start signal, engage T1 through T10, the last shot must be fired after you place the ash can in the far Box. Each paper target requires two hits to neutralize.

Rifle - Start position: Standing in Box A or B, supporting hand on handle of ash can (Ammo can filled with weights). Rifle at one-handed Low Ready.

On start signal, engage T1 through T10, the last shot must be fired after you place the ash can in the far Box. Each paper target requires two hits to neutralize.

I Wonder What was Blanked Out

The Worst ACTS Match Ever

Yup, I only had a bucket of fun instead of the whole 126 imperial gallon buttload.

It was three stages, but one of them was a blind stage that used three bays, plus the 200-yard long-range lane that connects them. Last time, Stage from Hell was run with all ten shooters on the same squad. Stage from Hell II was run in a match with three 10-man squads. Can you say "Bottleneck?" I knew you could. About 30 shooters! I hope some of them come back!

Other than that, the POFMeister ran great (once I cleaned out all the brass shavings and dirt from the firing pin tube), my fat little legs didn't, and I got to see some great Gun Pr0n!


My nemesis Aaron brought his Baby AR (left) and proceeded to kick my ass with it. Lots of serious shooters were there with cool toys. Here's a bullpup AK (right) that caught my eye.

By the way, the AZ Match Director has okayed the use of muzzle brakes (hence my using the POF-Meister this time) -- there were several short-barreled rifles in attendance that rivalled my brake for noise factor!

I bet you want to see some match Video, huh?

Oh, yeah, the first stage was tentatively titled "Han Shot First." He had to simulate a table to shoot under because we feared shooting up the PPC's. I got good hits on this one, except I "ignored" a target, which costs you 35 seconds in ACTS.

Stage Two is an old stand by of ours, but this time we hung numbered tags on some of the targets: 0 = no-shoot hostage target; any other number represented the number of shots you were required to take on each target. Untagged targets were the default two shots. Trying to read the tags while the wind was blowing was quite a challenge! I did well just to shoot this without a hostage hit, since the shoot-through opportunities were abundant.

40,000 Leagues Under the Tires

Still purrin' like a tiger fer runnin' on $2 a galleon gas and last year's oil!

Now that I've something to do on Fridays again, it'll be back to bein' me TGIF car!

Hail 'n Well Met Fellow Seadogs!

I had ta hold me tongue in today's Arrrrt Class, it bein' Talk Like a Pirate Day and all.

Me scribbling o' the Obama whelp went over well with the school marm!

The lass to the right ain't she.

Happy Birthday, Wild Blue!

Ya don't make a big deal about your birthday unless you're a kid or John McCain olde.

Still, have a Happy One!

Oh, they go into a lot more detail than they did back in my day. I entered as a "Voice Processing Specialist."

NowthasswhatI'mtalkinabout!

h/t to Goofy1

It's Business, Dave

If the Moon was Made of Barbequed Spare Ribs

Would you eat it?

Funny stuff at GuidonsX3

Sweet Thang

At Trainer's.

Happy Birthday to Aunt Genie!

She's the Olde One. :)

Why is the Binker so Happy?

and her buddy slightly less so on the First Day of School?

My guess is that they both know that the Binker is gonna have herself a genuine Tinkerbell backpack before the day is over.

I'm just sayin.'

Nyuk

h/t to NObama08

Weekend Caption/Photoshop Contest

Sticky until Monday -- Scroll Down for New Stuff
Got a caption or photoshop for this unsourced photo? You could win a coveted Blog Ad on my side bar!

Leave a caption or photo link in comments, or Email a pic to me at the address in my profile. 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 that unopened Speed Racer DVD.

Check out the links in Drinks Ordered for photoshops!

Judging begins Monday Night.

Winner!

Wyatt Earp of Support your Local Gunfighter wins with:

The last person who made a "lipstick on a pig" reference to Sarah Palin.

Other Contests:

Gone Rick Motel (I won 1st Place last week!)
Outside the Beltway
WILLisms
Family Security Matters
Right Pundits
RT's Pondering
TrekMedic
Wizbang
Support your Local Gunfighter

Note to Self

Don't sent any trash-talking "How Bout Them Cowboys?!?" messages to your Eggles Fan sister until the game is over and won.

At least the game's exciting!

Memories

The first class assignment for Writing 101 was to write a memoir. I'll probably post it here, but the final version isn't due until the 22nd. Y'all don't get to see the draft due tomorrow.

I Get Fuzzy

But isn't this guy Canadian?

Wiki sez American, but you'd never know from all the rugby references....

I think it's Done

Where the Hell are the Referrals?

Should have unsynched the lights

...but that's a lot of work.



Better?

String 'em High

My nerves, that is. Generally, I'm the most laid back person you'll ever meet. But not when I get cheesed off over something; then, I'm not fit for polite company. Tonight, I jumped in the freshly charged Stang and headed up to north Tucson for the ACTS pre-match meeting. The meeting had been changed at the last minute to a Coco's Restaurant/Bakery. It's one I've passed dozens of times headed to and from the Catalina range. Only in the dark, I missed it and ended up in Oro Valley. Since I hadn't written down the address, I called a friend who got me to the right place only fashionably 5 minutes late. No one there but old people. No message for me. I went outside and waited.

What is it with people these days who don't have phone books in the house? :) Two friends tried to help me out, but the only contact number for the match director is the answering machine at the Pima Pistol Club. Of course, I don't have his cell # in my brand new cell phone.... Maybe no one's coming? After all, I was the only RSVP on the forum... of course, everyone else probably has Kelly's cell phone number! After much pacing and phone tag with Piter and Lisa, the obvious answer to any normal personal occurred to me. Maybe they're at the location they cancelled from! But why would they do that? How could they do that? I drove all the way up here and now I'm missing the meeting, even though I'm right where I'm supposed to be? How can they do this to me?

So naturally, everybody's back at the original pizza joint having a grand ol' time, I'm steamed as hell for missing everything, so I called Kelly an asshole and insisted I get my damned match fee waived next week (a bargain for my spending a half tank of premium unleaded). Kelly was apologetic and suggested I sit down and have some pizza, but I was too tightly wound (this close to throwing up) and stressed at being made a fool of (and I helped) so I drove home to decompress in private. I did everything right -- I did nothing wrong... and I end up the goat. Is this what being married's like?

Happy Anniversary, Chief!

That's Tony V. in the center; I'm on the right. We were two of the recruits from the Scranton PA MEPS, starting Day One in September 12, 1979. Tony became AF Law Enforcement and I became who I was.

Allan, the tall Tennessee boy in the next picture was in his early 20s, but to us, he was so old, he was Olde. They made him our flight's Dorm Chief.







The barber was the Great Equalizer. It's 29 years later, and we got our hair back, though most of it's gray.

Damn, I was 130 pounds back then. I graduated at 133.