I have finished Monster Hunter International and Monster Hunter Vendetta. I now have Monster Hunter Alpha on my Zune ready for my Monday morning commute. I’m really looking forward to it.
Son James thought there was a bit too much gun porn in MHI but since a lot of it was about STI handguns and Saiga shotguns (which I have) I found it well within tolerable limits.
While visiting with my parents yesterday my dad told a story. I had heard it many times while growing up but had forgotten about it until he told it again. There were some additional details I noticed this time which I hadn’t put in proper perspective before.
The story, from about 75 years ago is about two students in Dad’s class at the Teakean grade school. It happened about 1936 when Dad was in the 6th or 7th grade. I decided to post it here so it would have a better chance of being remembered and some other people might appreciate it.
There were only about 10 kids in all eight grades so there was no hiding in the crowd or any hope of not being identified if you pulled off a prank in public.
A girl in the grade ahead of Dad was named Dolly Sewell. At age 13 or 14 she had hit her growth spurt and was taller than any kid in the entire school. She could also run far faster than anyone else. In any foot races she out distanced by a large margin the next fastest runner. Another student was Leon Coe. He was a little bit of troublemaker and, as boys of that age are prone to, liked to tease the girls. Because of Dolly’s height and running abilities Leon started calling Dolly “War Horse”. This was not a reflection on her general appearances as she was really a very nice-looking girl. But Leon should have thought things through a little better before he decided to push things a little too far with someone he knew was his physical superior.
One day at recess Dolly and some of the other girls were playing jump rope. I was just an old length of rope they found. Nothing special but it worked. Leon started daring Dad and some of the other boys to grab the rope and take it away from the girls. No one would take him up on his dare and finally he said, “If none of you guys are brave enough, I’ll show you how it’s done.” He then ran over, grabbed the rope and took off back to his buddies who were watching. Dolly took off after him and he tossed the rope on top of the roof as he went by. There was a ladder leaning up against the building and Dolly used the ladder to recover the rope.
As Dolly came down off the ladder, she spotted Leon and Dad told Leon that he better get out of there. Leon took off running as fast as he could and Dolly, rope in hand, took off after him. Even though they were not supposed to leave the property of the school Leon took off through the gate. Dolly followed him and easily caught up. She didn’t try to knock him down but instead trotted along behind and used the rope as bull whip and repeatedly smacked him on the rear side as Leon tried in vain to escape. They were just disappearing over the top of the second hill when the bell ran and the rest of the kids went back to class.
A few minutes later Dolly came back and sat down in her seat looking cool, calm, and collected. Leon came back several minutes after Dolly all sweaty, very bedraggled, and presumably wiser.
Dad saw Dolly a few years ago at the Old Timers Picnic at the Teakean Grange Hall. She had apparently done quite well. She and her husband lived someplace in California and had flown their own airplane up from California to attend the picnic. Dad asked what sort of business they were in and got a somewhat minimalist response of “the hamburger business”.
Dolly died last year and is buried near her parents in the Teakean cemetery.
What I hadn’t noticed before was that Dolly’s last name was Sewell. Barbara and I had a classmate when we went to High School in Orofino by the name of Nancy Sewell. Nancy’s parents were very good friends with Barb’s parents so when I got home I asked Barbara what Nancy’s father name was. It was Jim. So I then called up Dad and asked him what the names of Dolly’s brothers were. Dad said her siblings were named and were born in this approximate order: Ida, Lora (both missionaries) , Wally, Dolly, Elmer (who later drove the truck which pulled my Great Uncle Walt’s mobile home from Lewiston where he bought it to the farm where he lived for several years), Walter, and Johnny (who was a car salesman in Orofino for several years). Her parents were Charlie and Alice Sewell. They only lived there for a couple years but had a home on the east side of Meridian Road just north of the turn in for the shooting line at Boomershoot.
They may not be related at all but at best it appears that the father of our classmate Nancy was a cousin of Sewell family Dad knew. If someone stumbles across this and knows the answer I would appreciate hearing about it.
Via Peter N. Biddle I discovered a former co-worker of mine, Steve Lacy, was killed in a car accident on Sunday:
A volatile mix of speed, alcohol and road rage claimed the life of an innocent victim Sunday who happened to be driving in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Washington State Patrol says the incident began at about 2 p.m. when a man driving a black Hyundai SUV was involved in a road rage incident on Interstate 405.
Witnesses told troopers the Hyundai driver began following a driver who he believed had cut him off as he headed south down the freeway.
As the Hyundai driver took the Northeast 85th Street off-ramp, he was speeding and lost control, flying across the eastbound lanes of Northeast 85th into the westbound traffic.
At that point, the Hyundai slammed into a gray BMW that was heading west on 85th Street and had not been involved in the earlier road rage incident.
The impact killed the driver of the BMW. He was identified as Steve Lacey, a software engineer at Google and father of two young children.
I have driven on both that freeway and that street countless time. I’ve even walked up and down that street more times than I can count. Sometimes there just isn’t anything you can do about it when death comes calling.
It was this Steve that I blogged about a few years ago.
Steve came to the U.S. from the U.K. when Microsoft purchased the company he worked for. This company had a 3-D graphics rendering package. Steve wrote a lot of the code that is now known as Direct-X 3D. Every time you play a video game on a Windows machine that does 3-D rendering you are executing code that Steve wrote. The world is a poorer place now not only because of the contributions he would have continued to make but because he was also a really nice guy.
Barb and I got up at about 2:30 AM this morning. Daughter Xenia and her husband needed a ride to the airport.
We helped them get through the check in line and started through TSA and then left. We were sad because daughter Xenia is now living over 2000 miles away. It’s the furthest any of our kids have moved away from home. We then came back to my bunker and went back to sleep.
We ended up spending the entire day in bed watching videos (“Night and Day” followed by 12 episodes of “In Plain Sight”). We only got up for bathroom breaks and to get a little bit of food.
It probably wasn’t the best treatment for mild depression. Exercise probably would have been better but it’s what we felt like doing.
Today’s checkpoint was designed four decades ago to stop hijackers carrying metal weapons. We need a process that responds to today’s threat. It must amalgamate intelligence based on passenger information and new technology. That means moving from a system that looks for bad objects, to one that can find bad people.
Giovanni Bisignani
June 15, 2011
The future of airport security?
[Today daughter Xenia and her army husband went through TSA on their way to Alaska. One of his checked “bags” (a large plastic “tote”) had the locks broken so TSA could search the contents. He was also singled out for special attention. He opted for the “feel me up” search rather than the “naked body scan”.
The U.S. government trusts him to fight terrorists in the sandbox using some very expensive equipment and with the lives of the men under him and around him but they have to feel him up before he can fly on a commercial flight with his wife and her cat?
I think I know where to find the “bad people”.—Joe]
Dad Passed Away This Morning at 10 AM.
…
The Hospice nurse, Kim (whom he really liked) was with him. No pain, he was awake but just relaxed and passed on.
Dennis R. King
June 20, 2011
Via email regarding the death of his father, Louis Ray King, my only true uncle, my mother’s brother.
[When I was in California last week I had hoped to visit Uncle Lou because I knew he wasn’t going to be around much longer. But he wouldn’t have recognized me and it was too far away to make it over there between my business and my flight schedule. I spent the two hours I had with Dennis.—Joe]
Nephew and Niece are wanting their first pistol. They’re interested in defense and fun, and they both can manipulate and control a full-on defense caliber auto pistol just fine, or more than fine, for beginners. I know; ask a hundred people, get 100 answers. Many of you have been shooting for decades and have fired 100s of thousands if not a million rounds or more in practice and competition, and so you have meaningful experience. They’re looking at a sale on an XD or XDm right now. I’ve also mentioned the M&P. I figure Joe will mention STI, and Tam might point to another quality 1911. Some will also say that a .22 is a good idea. I’m steering them away from a sub compact, toward a full sized pistol of some sort. They don’t want to spend over a thousand. Preferably much less.
I usually answer; “Buy the one you like” but when you’re first starting out, it’s hard to know what you’ll like. I did tell them they could rent at one of the logal gun store/ranges in their city and try a few.
I want to know about pistols you’ve really given some hard use. I haven’t been able to wear out my old G20, for example, after much trying. I looks like hell, it has the ergonomics of a cinder block (to quote J. Cooper) and the trigger feels like it was designed by gun owner haters, but it just keeps working.
What say you all?
Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she’ll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she’ll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she’ll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she’ll give you her heart.
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit.
Unknown
Via email from Karen.
[I looked around some for the author of this but didn’t find much except that it has been around since at least 2008.
However amusing this is I’m not convinced it’s entirely true. I gave Barb a Windows Phone 7 and a Jeep for Christmas and I would expect I should have received a new computer and a truck in return but Valentines Day and Father’s Day have come and gone without any sign of her multiplying and enlarging either one.
And another thing—being a physical therapist means she has to maintain her credentials as a poor lover by using ice to take the swelling down. So that is another case where she doesn’t “multiple and enlarge” what is given to her.
But I won’t be surprised if I receive a ton of crap tomorrow morning when she reads this.—Joe]
If government is the solution; Then it is highly probable that government created the problem in the first place.
Dennis R. King
2004
[Dennis is my cousin. Until yesterday it probably had been close to 20 years since I had seen him. He had framed this and put it on the wall of his home. I thought it qualified as QOTD material. Living in California with all the examples to chose from he talked at length about how messed up the government is. Frequently the rants extended to the Federal Government and Washington State government where his brother lives. I had a very pleasant visit.—Joe]
If there were a woman close to me that had read the book I would seriously consider buying this bracelet for them.
In other news Atlas Shrugged Part II is scheduled to be out in the fall of 2012.
Barb and I took a short vacation to Orofino and vicinity. The river just outside our hotel room just touched flood stage this morning as we left. The hotel wasn’t in any danger but there might be a few low areas around town that might get damp. It is expected the waters will go down this evening and again touch on flood stage tomorrow morning. Yesterday we drove upstream and did some hiking and took pictures of the high water on the Lochsa (Nez Perce word meaning rough water) and Selway rivers.
At nearly this same time last year we did a relatively slow float down the river in canoes and kayaks. Islands we went around last year and beaches we stopped at were completely under water yesterday.
Here is a sample of what we saw:
On Saturday Barb and I spent the day with our kids. Our daughter Xenia currently lives in Lakewood Washington.
On November 29, 2009 Lakewood had four police officers murdered in a coffee shop while they were writing their reports. This is believed to be the most deadly attack on law enforcement in the state of Washington.
While spending time with our daughters we visited the site of the event and I took some pictures.
There is a memorial honoring the slain officers.
According to Wikipedia:
On the morning of Sunday, November 29, 2009, the four officers were working on their laptop computers prior to the start of their shift inside a Forza Coffee Company coffee shop in nearby Parkland, adjacent to McChord Air Force Base. All four were in full uniform, armed, and wearing bulletproof vests. At approximately 8:15 a.m. Maurice Clemmons entered the coffee shop, approached the counter, turned around, and opened fire on the four seated officers with a semi-automatic handgun. Sgt. Mark Renniger and Officer Tina Griswold were killed as they sat in their chairs. Officer Ronald Owens was killed as he stood up and attempted to draw his weapon. Officer Greg Richards managed to get into a struggle with Clemmons and fire his own weapon, wounding Clemmons, before being shot and killed. Clemmons was then seen getting into a vehicle which fled the scene. Neither the two coffee shop employees nor the other customers in the store were hurt, and no money was taken from the cash register. Investigators say the murder was a targeted attack against police officers in general; none of the four officers was individually targeted and robbery was ruled out as a motive.
In the interior picture above Barb and the girls are standing at the counter which Clemmons approached. I asked the baristas where the police officers were sitting but they did not know.
I created an USPSA stage to partially recreate the event. As one of the props for the stage I have a coffee cup from the store. The Lewiston Pistol Club will be shooting the stage Lakewood Massacre (along with Heads or Tails, Six Six Six Six, Steel Cardboard and the classifier Band and Clang) next Sunday. Nonmembers and beginners are welcome to participate.
Update: Based on feedback from more experienced stage designers some of the stages have been slightly modified. Due to details found in a link provided in the comments by ubu52 there were modifications to some of the distances in the Lakewood Massacre stage.
If you follow my Tweets you will have already gotten a few hints.
I have been told, in a very firm tone, by two different friends that I shouldn’t blog about this person by name. So, at least for now, I will hold off. But lets just say my mood has greatly improved in the last 24 hours and Barb will probably stop telling me I should take anti-depressants.
Former co-worker Chet also left Microsoft because of this guy. This morning, after I told people I was leaving, someone who also has had to deal with him came to me and said, “He is crazy! He has to be insane.” I think it is a case of Peterson Syndrome (a generic case which is probably unrelated to guns). Imagine having to deal with someone like that on a daily basis. Now imagine them writing your performance review. Yeah. I have been having nightmares for months now.
There are some things about working for Microsoft that are very good. There are other things that are very broken. Two more people, who don’t work with my boss, told me today they are looking for an exit for similar reasons to mine. Microsoft has some very serious flaws that are not being addressed by management.
My offer from another company includes a raise larger than all the raises I have gotten in working at MS for five years and a stock grant (vested over three years) that made me light-headed and made Barb squee.
I have another interview on Monday so I haven’t accepted the offer yet and I keep hoping I will get an interview at Barron’s place of work which is a few minutes from my home in Idaho instead of the Seattle area like the others I have been looking at. But the job applications there are moving way to slow for me to wait around much more. I need to get out before I just pull the covers over my head and never get out of bed.
You may notice an uptick in blog post frequency… we’ll see.
There’s been some talk about it lately and it’s been in the news, but it’s also been in your home town school for some time. Here is a history paper, handed out in my son’s history class, complete with syntax errors, inexplicable asterisks, bad grammar, omitted words, and miss-numbering. The kids were told to memorize it. Keep in mind the title of the piece – “U.S. History” This is all American. Everything below is what made/makes us tick;
U.S. History
Philosophies — Foreign and Domestic
“What Made/Makes Us Tick”
1. Capitalism – Pure*** vs. Regulated
An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.
OK, right there; no mention of property rights, the acknowledgement and protection of which result in capitalism. “Corporately owned” IS privately owned, but they must make a distinction.
Pure capitalism over time results in poverty, worker abuse, environmental destruction, a two class social structure, and governmental control by the wealthy. All economic, political and social norms were control directly ad indirectly by the wealthy. Even the presentation of religious views were seen through the eyes of the capitalistic values.(2-
Karl Marx would be giddy with pride seeing what our public schools are teaching my kids today. There’s so much wrong with that one paragraph I don’t know where to begin. For one thing, “governmental control by the wealthy” defines a corrupt government. The acknowledgement and protection of property rights, which defines capitalism, does not lead to governmental control by the wealthy. That’s a contradiction in terms, but you’re not supposed to notice. Corrupt politicians lead to governmental control by the wealthy, and for that they should be arrested.
Regulated Capitalism – has produced our nation. Government regulates what industry can do within limits. Environmental impact (air quality), worker safety, fair pay, fair trade, and business dealings are regulated by law.
The Fascisti would certainly approve of that statement, and they were committed Marxists. Notice throughout this whole piece that there is no mention of human rights, or of America’s founding principles. That would blow the whole thing though, wouldn’t it?
2. Expansionism
The belief that the nation must grow to acquire natural resources, new areas of trade, and living space. (Safety Value Theory – Turner Thesis)
3. Manifest Destiny (New Manifest Destiny)***
— Similar to Expansionism. This was the belief that God had pre-determined (destined) the United States to expand. It was an outgrowth of the Puritan ethic [God rewards those who work hard and live an exemplary life.] The term eventually meant that the U.S. would eventually control the land from coast to coast. This belief system motivated the “Western Movement.” The acquisition of land and the displacement of Native Americans became justified in part by this belief system. The Mexican War, the Southwest land, Northwest Territory, and Alaska are also acquired with belief system as the driving force for America to expand.
Nearly every country that ever existed has practiced some version of Manifest Destiny or Expansionism. The American government did some terrible things to the Indians. The innuendo I get from this is that there are wrongs remaining to be righted, which is actually being said elsewhere, complete with the “R” word (revolution) in the above linked video, as part of a school curriculum.
4. Whiteman’s Burden – Anglo Saxonism*** The term is taken from a poem by Rudyard Kipling in which he states is was “the white man’s burden” to colonize the other nations for their benefit. In practice it was the belief that:
God had chosen the Anglo-Saxon race to colonize the “less fortunate” peoples of the world. In so doing they were to bring them education, the Christian faith, a Puritan work ethic, capitalism, health care, and the other “benefits” of our culture.
Ah, so America really IS racist! Crap!
5. Imperialism***
–,The control of one nation over another nation or territory for the purposes of acquiring natural resources, trade, and/or military advantage. This is the core of U.S. expansion. The acquisition of Hawaii, Cuba, and the Philippines are examples of imperialism.
Notice how they slipped trade in there, like trading with people in another nation amounts to Imperialism. We bastards! Those poor victims!
6. Rugged Individualism
— The belief that individuals are to provide for their own needs without the help of others. “I can do it myself.” This was the pioneer spirit and the belief of the nation in the 1800s. It worked against the average person during the latter part of the Industrial Revolution as corporations controlled the variables of life. Working harder did not mean greater rewards for the worker. It meant greater profits for the corporation.
The ideal of self sufficiency worked against the average person, eh? So you’d be better off relying on others. Notice too the repeated use of the word “worker”. “Workers of the World Unite” then, I guess. There are those evil corporations again, and the use of “profits” as an epithet.
7. Social Darwinism
— Applying the theory of Darwinism, survival of the fittest, to political and social life. The strong must survive to benefit the entire nation. No sympathy for the weak, (poor, workers). Laws and social customs were for the benefit of the fittest (rich, industrialist, upper crust of society). When you combine the philosophies of Social Darwinism with imperialism, and Manifest Destiny., the world created was a tough one for the average person.
The Nazis were Social Darwinists, or I would say “Socialist Darwinists”. Let’s be clear.
8. Humanitarianism
— the belief that mankind should help others just because they can. “Social Gospel” of the latter 1800s.
“Just because they can”, mind you. Not because it’s the right thing to do. Not because there are rich people who are, you know, actually human.
9. Liberty/Freedom/Self-determination*
These fundamental beliefs began to take on a new meaning for many of society as the end of the century approached. The empathy to “occupied countries” overseas and to the oppressed at home gains attention of a wider spectrum of society in the late 1800s.
Again no mention of rights, rights protection, or founding principles. Instead it’s all up for grabs, depending on prevailing theories.
9. AMERICAN IMPERIALISM
It is easier to define American Imperialism by contrasting it with Imperialism.
Imperialism is centered on Social Darwinism, Manifest Destiny, and White Man’s Burden.
There were never, ever, anywhere, any non-white Imperialists then. You racist, you.
American Imperialism tempers those beliefs with humanitarianism and the beliefs of self-determination, freedom and liberty. Our present foreign and domestic policies are motivated by this belief.
There you have it. We’re an Imperialist nation. Damn us all to hell.
This history lesson is a self-contradictory and confused jumble of omissions, lies, half truths and truths. Would Karl Marx strongly disagree with any of it?
Barb and I have been digitizing and storing old photos with redundant storage on two computers hundreds of miles away from each other. This picture of Barbara from 1982 really struck me:
Very nice. Pleasant memories.
Maybe they will try to out you next. But do you think they are smart enough?
Barbara Scott
May 11, 2011
To me. After reading about CSGV outing bloggers they don’t like.
[My response was, “Quote of the day!”—Joe]
This started out as a comment at Tam’s post about target marketing fail while waiting for Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 but grew to the point I figured it should be a post of my own.
Son James made a very similar “target audience” fail remark during the previews about different movies at our location as well.
James has read the book three times and I read it once then listened to the unabridged audio version once (yes, Galt’s eight hour monologue actually takes eight hours). We both liked the movie but had some minor criticisms about the movie skipping over some points too rapidly for “newcomers” to really understand the points being made.
We both really liked that the sex scene with Dagny was not the way Rand always portrayed an ideal man/woman relationship.
The scene wife Barbara liked best was where the guy wanted Rearden’s money but asked Rearden’s name not associated with the donation.
I agree with the commenters who said the casting of James Taggert was a little off.
I was uncomfortable with a train going 250 MPH on those curves with the passengers standing up. Sorry, but I don’t think they ran the numbers through the physics equations before they filmed those scenes. And the curves had better have some appropriate slope to them to keep the train from rolling over or pushing the tracks off the railway bed.
Paraphrasing just a little…
Joe: So what is the Tea Party protest sign you were talking about with James and Xenia?
Barb: Xenia is going to carry one that says, “Refresh the tree of liberty.”
Joe: That’s a little over the top. I wouldn’t carry one like that.
Barb: It was John’s idea.
Joe: Xenia’s a big girl and can make her own decisions. That she is a young woman and John is in the military helps some.
Barb: I wonder what sign they will make for me.
Joe: Probably it will be something like, “Kill them all and let God sort them out.”
Here is a picture of son James and daughter Xenia at the protest in Olympia Washington today:
This looks like an interesting play:
From 1987 to 1992, Richardson worked on and off as a cashier, janitor, doorman and occasional bouncer at Seattle’s Lusty Lady peepshow. It was the dream job for a young man from Walla Walla who received the education of a lifetime, becoming familiar with the inner workings of an adult establishment and the people who worked on its stages and behind the scenes. During those years Richardson watched the Lady change, as First Avenue evolved from a seedy waterfront district known as “Flesh Avenue” into an upscale yuppie stretch of condos, restaurants and large art institutions.
Richardson blends comedy, pathos and business analysis in a series of stories that explore the sometimes seamy but always fascinating world of The Lusty Lady, creating a portrait as brash, lively and unusual as the Lady’s infamous marquee.
I’m sure Barb and I walked past this establishment many times. They closed in 2010 when “the Lusty Lady ran out of steam and succumbed to a one-two punch of recession and free Internet porn.”
Maybe Barb and I will have time to go see the play soon.
Via email from Idaho Sport Shooters Alliance (I’m on the Board of Directors):
From: Michael C. Brown
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2011 1:44 PM
Subject: Alert: Campus Carry Reform on the move!Shooters:
The Idaho House State Affairs committee voted 16-3 to print H222 which will clarify that the colleges and universities can only regulate firearms in dorms. Currently the U of I and other state colleges and universities have policies that ban all firearms from campus, even ones stored in a private automobile. Some colleges even restrict off-duty and retired law enforcement officers from carrying on their campuses. This much needed legislation was drafted by Idaho Sport Shooters Alliance in conjunction with Idaho Students for Concealed Carry. This will probably come up for a full hearing next week– we’ll keep you informed!
Mike
Michael C. “Mike” Brown
Executive Director/General Counsel
Idaho Sport Shooters Alliance
208 835-3737
208 835-3744 Fax
www.idahossa.org
This is particular important to me because I have a daughter (with a concealed weapons license) attending the University of Idaho and frequently walks to and from classes from our home a mile or so off campus.