Archive for March, 2021

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“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 337

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2021

So the governor reopened Texas:

Abbott announced a new executive order effective next Wednesday that will allow any business to open at 100% capacity if they choose to. Saying that statewide mandates are “no longer necessary,” he also announced the end of the mandatory mask mandate effective March 10.

Does this mean that we are out of jail? In my opinion, not yet.

  • This doesn’t take effect until next week.
  • I’m still a little concerned that we’ll see a surge after this goes into effect, and we will all end up back in solitary confinement.
  • I want to see how far I can take this: maybe up to 365 entries?
  • While the state has repealed the mask mandate, individual businesses can still require masks. Perhaps when I see more businesses dropping the mask requirement…
  • Finally, I’ll consider myself out of jail when I get my Chinese rabies shot. I’ve been trying: I actually spent an hour last night on the Austin Public Health website trying to book an appointment, with no luck. There was about a 10:1 ratio of people waiting online to actual appointments.

In the meantime, it’s been two weeks since our last round of random gun crankery, so why not take another spin at the wheel? Especially since this came up recently and is relevant to my interests: Jerry Miculek demonstrates his technique for speed reloading a revolver with moon clips.

Bonus #1: “Taking A Break From The B S Of Life” from Blackie Thomas.

“A lot of you probably started out with one of these Red Ryder BB guns too.” (raises hand) Still have it, too.

Bonus #2: I haven’t run across Target Suite previously, but I wanted to link this video of him discussing the Ruger Single Six he picked up at a pawn shop.

I own a Single Six with both the .22 LR and .22 Magnum cylinders, and I think it is a pure fun gun to shoot. I’m actively looking for a second one at a reasonable price for something I have in mind. I might have to start visiting more pawn shops.

Bonus #3: “Using a Sling”, from our friends at the Army Marksmanship Unit.

Posted in Bookmarks, Guns, History | 1 Comment »

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 336

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021

Today, let’s rattle some sabres.

F-86 Sabres, to be precise.

“No Sweat!” is a nice little educational film: “…showing an under-the-weather F-86 pilot, who, through carelessness and preoccupation, turns a routine flight into a nightmare.” I think there’s probably some stuff in here that will also serve as useful reminders to general aviation pilots.

Bonus: “The Fighting 51st”, a documentary about the 5lst Fighter Interceptor Wing.

Bonus #2: Wanna see someone do aerobatics in a F-86? Here you go.

Posted in History, Planes | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 335

Monday, March 1st, 2021

Good news: I have a day off today, thanks to Cisco’s recent policy of semi-regularly granting “a day for yourself”.

Bad news: I have an engagement today that I expect will take all day.

So, this is a scheduled sampler pack.

There is a man named Charles Ingram. He used to be a major in the British Army.

In September of 2001, he appeared on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in Britain. His wife and brother-in-law had previously appeared on the show, and had each topped out at 32,000 GBP. Major Ingram made it all the way and won 1,000,000 GBP.

And almost immediately, questions arose.

“Major Fraud”, from “Tonight” with Trevor McDonald.

Bonus #1: “The Guys Who invented the Video Tape Recorder”. This is an approximately 30 minute interview with Jim Wheeler, a senior engineer at Ampex…the guys who invented the video tape recorder.

On a semi-related note, I was amused by this article that came across Hacker News about the Cambridge University Tape Recording Society for two reasons:

On the evening of 2 March 1969, a chauffeured Rolls-Royce pulled up outside Lady Mitchell Hall and disgorged two celebrity passengers. One was Yoko Ono, who had been invited to take part in a freeform jazz concert; the other was her fiancé, John Lennon. “That was the first time I had appeared un-Beatled,” Lennon later said of the couple’s improvised half-hour of atonal guitar and shrieking vocals.

“atonal guitar and shrieking vocals”. Need I say any more?

The activities of CUTRS were threefold. The first was recording performances at the University and the second was inviting leading audio professionals to give bi-weekly lectures. Both were partly funded by the third: buying blank tape in bulk and selling it to members at a discount.

“Frankly, we’re losing our shirts on this deal. But we’re looking for audiophiles who are interested in high-quality cassette tapes…”

Bonus #2: “Of Dolls and Murder”, about Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Deaths. If you’re not familiar with the Nutshell Studies, well, read the Wikipedia page, and then strap in, folks.

Posted in History, Law, TV | Comments Closed

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