Seems Longer

My first blog post occurred at a time when the toxic political smug in which I had grown-up and that surrounded me was becoming more and more Democrat-Orwellian, and more overwhelming – I badly needed some liquid relief. I was mentally preparing for a cataclysm like an earthquake, or the local BayAryan Leftist political equivalent…which is still to come – better safe than sorry. Now that we have moved away the impact of such a political event is diminished and of less concern, “Antifa” be hanged. My dirtriding days had not yet slowed to a trickle, but the yearly Spodefests were continuing without me. My High-Power heyday was still somewhat ascendant, and the farthest thing from my mind was clunky-old Cowboy Action shooting. Indeed I had not yet even heard of the Gunblogger Rendezvous or the friendships I would make there. We were still just exploring our new hobby: a M1 Carbine, K-31 Swiss, and some Sigs were yet to come and go.

August 7, 2004 – Da Kine rippin’ onolicious Mai-Tai recipe – Maybe it was the Exotica music that triggered it, or tasting the fine examples at Tao-Tao’s in Sunnyvale: I went on a hunt for the best Mai-tai recipe. Where the hell is that Demarara?

Year-End Maintenance

Out with the Old and make-way for the New. A new year is dawning and after fourteen years of haphazard writing it’s time for a bit of clean-up to the Sidebar, and since “Blogging is Dead,” as Nietzsche might say (the Gunblogger Rendezvous is anyhow), all the bloggy-type stuff needs to go.
Don’t feel slighted, it’s just based on interactions. For the few who occasionally read and comment/counter-comment some blogs remain on the blogroll. Some remain for perhaps no reason at all, but it’s not a growth industry. More could and may be added upon request, but I got rid of all the quaint categories.
Happy 2018!

Rendezvous Eleven – Getting there

The drive up to was surprisingly quick and relaxing, and I attribute that to taking back-country roads nearly the entire way or as much as I could. Fueled-up at 8:40 AM in Diamond Springs, and went up Pleasant Valley Road to the Sly Park cutoff where the Mormon Immigrant Trail leads out to Hwy 88 in the direction of Kirkwood.

Only saw about four vehicles headed in the other direction. Being out of the freeway insanity-mix was a breath of fresh air, and the High Country always has unparalleled vistas to appreciate that cleanse the mind and soul. Rolling over Carson pass at 8,000 feet down past Silver Lake, Caples Lake, and Woods lake into Hope Valley on a beautiful fall morning was magical.

The roll down into Nevada was easy and lead straight to Carson City, and then Reno. Somehow Nevada traffic was minimal and placid (Thursday after all), until I hit Reno and the metal-swarm began again. Oh well easy enough and I hit the Casino about 12:15 with plenty of time to unload and get ready to go to the class on Emergency Medical Range Training lead by multi-tour participant in the GWT, ex-Reno Motor-Office and Detective, experienced EMT and former Flight EMS Derek Cecil — who had many (darkly funny) stories to tell including his own…

Rendezvous with Groceries

Apparently the refrigerator occasionally needs to be re-stocked, and at my house that’s my job – so a day of rest, Raley’s, and laundry is on the calendar.
And fresh produce from the local farmer’s market at Boa Vista Orchards.
More about the Super Fabulous Star-Studded Celebrity Rendezvous-X upcoming!

Belated Blogversary

Seems I missed my own blogversary.  It’s hard to imagine (or even remember) what has actually transpired since August 7, 2004… but I’ll, repeat my old post just for the hell of it – a Mai Tai recipe.

August 7, 2004

Da Kine rippin’ onolicious Mai-Tai recipe

Maybe it was the Exotica music that triggered it, or tasting the fine examples at Tao Tao’s in Sunnyvale: I went on a hunt for the best Mai-tai recipe.
Where the hell is that Demarara?

Mix: “Bleh” to those pre-mixed Mai-Tai bottle-blends. Even Trader Vic’s mix is too sour and without much fresh flavor. Dey all lousy, fuggedaboudit.

Sweet: I’ve tried a variety of sweeteners, from coconut syrup to orgeat syrup, but real juice just keeps coming back as the best answer.

Juice: Avoid tinned pineapple juice with that metallic taste, or anything less than fresh-squeezed. In the Islands pineapple juice is easy to get, while Island oranges tend to be less sweet – so pineapple/orange juice is not going to be sugary glop like you in the grocery stores here.
As a juice base I prefer passion fruit juice. If none is available pineapple-orange juice combinations are fine, or even “POG” – Pineapple-Orange-Guava, which is an Island specialty. Ultimately the drink should be flavorful without being too sweet or bitter.

Prepare two glasses with 4-5 ice cubes. Pour a dribble of juice from the jar of maraschino cherries into the bottom, over the ice.

In a cocktail shaker with 5 cubes of ice (for two persons) prepare:

• 1/2 shot lime juice – to cut the sweetness
• 1/2 shot Triple sec

1/2 shot Orange Curacao
1/2 shot Cointreau or Drambui

• 1 shot Light rum, or even better, Brazilian Toucano, a Chacacha, (a light rum from the first press of the sugar cane juice itself) http://www.internetwines.com/rws19181.html
• 1 shot good Jamaican Gold rum
• 1 shot Demarara or Guyana 151 rum, or Myers’s

 

Fill shaker to the line with passion fruit juice, or 3 parts fresh pineapple to 1-part orange juice mix.

Shake until it’s cold.

Carefully pour over ice in drink-glasses. Avoiding swirling or tumbling the drink mixture with the bottom layer. You want to achieve a sunset, with light colors on the bottom, and the dark on top. Top with a 1/2 shot float of dark rum: a Negrito from Barbados, or Myers’s.

Pineapple slices skewered with a cherry under an umbrella should be used as garnish. Insert colorful straw.

Put on album of Martin Denny music.

 

Birghid was Right

When she’s right, she’s right: The eight ball says… buy!   It’s not a Colt but a Model 19-3 Smith. My copy of the Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson indicates the SN# dates to/from 1970, when the first owner entered the Police Academy. It’s got a 6″ barrel with some holster-wear (from a clam-shell holster, look it up) and it’s a recoil soak with the right loads. I like N-frames for that reason. .357 Mag in a K-frame is like playing first-base bare-handed. No thanks.
Interesting article in a recent Gunzmag about heavy-for-caliber but slow bullets doing the job on bear-skulls better than out-and-out high-velocity. Proposed theory being that the speed robs the bullet of its strength, so it tends to shatter on impact instead of driving through. So we’ll try some heavy and slow bullets in this for home-defense use. Now I need a holster and some speed-loaders.

Rendezvous-X

Been so busy playing real-estate games and yard-work, this is my catch-up post for the Gunblogger Rendezvous – a cut-and-paste from Mr. Completely’s side of the table. As of Wednesday, June 10, 2015 – and I’m sure today too, there was still time to register – something that I still need to do!

It’s going to be a great weekend benefiting a very worthy cause… with a lot of rounds down range!

We’re about two months out from GBR X benefitting HAVA (Honored American Veterans Afield) and if you haven’t registered, time is running out! If you’ve waited to register, for the next week you can take advantage of early-bird registration!

Remember, if you’re a gun blogger and you register between now and June 17, you’ll get a $150 ammo voucher good toward anything Lucky Gunner sells.

To register, head here — where else can you get that kind of ammo for your investment, spend a weekend with some like-minded shooters and help a great cause like HAVA in the process?

GBR X is August 20 – August 23 in Reno, NV

We’re already seeing support pour in from some long-time Gun Blogger Rendezvous sponsors in the form of door prizes and raffle items.

Thanks to Dillon Precision, Allchin Gun Parts, and Front Sight Firearms Training for helping out with some great shooting stuff you can see in the photo above!

Also, the National Shooting Sports Foundation has agreed to once again sponsor a pizza dinner for everyone this year.  That’s great news.

It’s going to be a great time in Reno on August 20 and the more the merrier. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact Anthony at Lucky Gunner or Mike (Mr. Completely)!

In addition, Richard from Special Interest Arms came to last year’s Rendezvous and brought an assortment of very interesting suppressed firearms for us to shoot.  This year he says:

If I can get some help I might drag out the Gardner Gun and ammo.
45-70 twin barreled brass hand-crank fired fun. Not light, original crew was three guys.

C’mon, all we need is some strong backs and willing hands!

Caves of Steel

Apropos nothing much on a thick and bleak gray day in the cold cloud-bank, but surfing some blogs including Tam’s link to Roberta’s reference to PKD’s The Man in the High Castle, which I am not certain but but certainly must have read back when I read every SciFi book in the Library especially Phil’s – and cruising the blogs hit upon Vox Popoli (who I am surprised I have not blogrolled but only bookmarked) and a critique of cartoon-blogger XKCD, ran into a good comment response by Malcolm the Cynic who in turn reminded me of an old Asimov book named in this post – one that I had read so long ago that I have forgotten the story and maybe could now re-read, and that reminded me of this…:

Blognostications

So it turns out that while I was taking pictures of exotic boats balancing atop the crystal-clear waters of the Emerald Jewel of the Sierras, I had a blogversary. I’m often a short-term enthusiast, and who knew that what began in 2004 would still be taking place today? Some things have changed, mainly my location, but I haven’t been reloading as much either (see excuse #1), and I haven’t found a regular CMP Club to shoot-with either (yet #1), and my handle changed from DirtCrashr a while back as my off-road riding buddies all turned into asphalt demons or fled to finer pursuits entirely. But this here is ridin’ country and now we have two bikes as God intended – one for tarmac and one for the rest of the world, and I have my registration and reservations to Gunblogger Rendezvous IX and we’re ready to go! Don’t delay, get yours today~!

After-Action STFU

In response to a post by Drang at ClueMeter, I was prompted to think about events and conversations in CCW class last weekend.  The instructor, a fairly young early-40’s disability-retired cop who walks with a cane and limp, said that in his experience during the high stress factors of shoot/about-to-shoot/done-shootin’ – your hands go numb and your vision tunneled, so he recommends training for clearance/charging drills  with the whole-hand grab on the slide, not the finger/thumb slingshot.

Also he mentioned, that afterwards don’t even bother to try and talk or converse because the ringing in your ears just flattens all the words and makes phone-calls just unrecognizable gibberish. AND remember to just STFU *afterwards* and DO NOT give up your right to shut-up.   It’s a hard right to remember, especially in that moment, because silence is a negative thing not a positive expression – and we are accustomed to the 1st Amendment of Free Speech (and not taking the 5th).   But “Afterwards”  is not the time or place for an outpouring of expression – especially to Cops, but despite that fact people just open-up and blab and blab when the adrenaline tapers off…