Thought I'd share...

Last night on the radio, I heard a commentator refer to Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears as:
"The Four Bimbos of The Apocalypse"

Hmmmm....

Nope. Can't argue with that.

Watching the riots in Venezuela right now..

...Chavez is pulling another one out of the Communist/Socialist playbook -- silencing the press. Only it seems like the people aren't too hip to this and there's a lot of rioting going on down there. I'm not sure if this is a serious threat to his power, but from what I'm hearing, quite a broad cross-section of the populace is manning the barricades this time. I'm just waiting for Chavez to start blaming the US - that one gets plenty of play with this guy.
Guess we'll just have to see what happens - unfortunately, things tend to get bloody when Communist dictators feel threatened... this is going to be NOTHING like the May Day protest in L.A.
Just another reason to be profoundly thankful that I live in the US.

It's been a busy weekend...

Friday night, we went to the local theater to try and get in to see "Pirates of the Caribbean 3", and I was forcefully reminded just why I don't do this opening weekend crap anymore. Way too crowded for my liking, shows were sold out anyway, so we picked up tickets for the first Saturday showing at 9:30.... am... and retired to a friend's house for the remainder of the evening.
Saturday morning , we all got up and raced to the theater for our matinee.
"Pirates"? meh. The plot line seemed like it was all over the place to me, plus we start learning about all these new things, like the 9 pirate lords, and the goddess Calypso, and how she was imprisoned, and, and, and,..... it was all a bit too much for me. Watching a triple gun-decked British ship of the line get smashed to splinters by the equivalent of a couple of frigates was a bit silly, but hey, there's guys running around with octopuses for heads already, right? I may have to see it again to get a more complete impression. I'll be waiting for DVD though - I do NOT think it's worth any more of my hard earned scratch at the theater.
So, after that, wifey and I dumped the kids off at our friend's for a sleep over, picked up some snacks and books, and headed to the family's cabin in Forest Falls for a quiet night together.
Got up Sunday, decided to head further up the hill to Angelus Oaks to grab breakfast at The Oaks. Excellent food; a bit pricey, but very tasty and well put together. I was very fond of the "serve yourself" coffee bar - no waiting for the waitress to notice you're dry.
Sooo.... jammed back down the hill to the pad, fed dogs, watered plants, packed for another night out and headed out to grab the kids...
Found them in the parking lot of the local Catholic church (the family they'd stayed with had just got out of mass), hustled them into the truck and headed for Oceanside, to hang with the wife's folks for the next coupla days.
I love their place at Oceanside. You have the beach, then a row of houses, then a street, then another row. That's where their condo is. It's on the third floor, so it overlooks the houses across the street and you can see the ocean just fine, as well as hear it. Very therapeutic. I love waking up and stumbling out into the front room to be greeted with the sight of surf rolling across the beach. Oh yeah, the kids like the beach, too.
Spent a pleasant evening with my family and had a nice brunch the next day. Settled in for a relaxing Memorial Day, which was interrupted by a phone call from my buddy.
Turns out that the deadline for the annual drawing for deer tags in CA is June 4th and he needed my deer tag application NOW to mail up north to the party leader.
Great. Rolled out to Wal Mart to try to pick up a new hunting license and deer tag (can't have one without the other) only to find out that Wally World hadn't got any of their hunting stuff in yet. OK.... "Is there a Big 5 around?"
The clerks were clueless, but another shopper helped me out and pointed me to one down the street.
Got to Big 5, asked for a new hunting license and deer tag. Since I was over 70 miles from home, and had no idea that we were going to have to do this right now, I did not have my current hunting license with me. This means I had to fill out a declaration, stating that I had had a license the previous year, in order to get a new license. OK.... "Um... we're out of declarations"... at this point, if I'd had any hair, I'd be pulling it out.
The guy called another store and had them fax over some copies..... half an hour later...
Finally got all my crap together - over $60 to hunt the Governor's forest this year, by the way - and jammed back to the beach house, only to find that the poker game had already started. Fortunately for me, my loving wife bowed out and let me take her chips and get stuck in...
Got back home later that evening, turned over my tag stuff to my friend, made dinner and went to bed.
So... how was your weekend?

I love my wife

She is the center of my world, the one I live for, my oasis of calm and love in this sometimes troubled world. I am reminded every day in so many different ways how lucky I am to have her. All the little things she does for me, the way she makes me feel important and loved. I could not ask for a more kind, beautiful, compassionate and loving wife.


If I may, I just have one tiny, humble request to make of my beloved:


Baby, when you pack your man his tasty, delicious lunch, can you please not send it in the Disney Princess Tupperware?






I'm just not sure that the male ego is equipped to handle such tribulations...

On Guns...

If you don't already know, I am a fervent advocate of the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. You know, the one that recognizes your and my right to protect ourselves. Or, alternatively, for those on the left with a statist bent, the ONLY amendment in the Bill of Rights which does NOT apply to The People, but to the state.
I say recognize, not grant. The Constitution does not grant rights to The People; it recognizes that The People have inalienable rights.
Anyway, we can get into Constitutional discussions later; what I want to talk about right now is:

WhyI own a gun.

I'm not an especially loquacious person; I tend to throw out the gist of my thoughts in a few sentences tops, so this won't be a particularly long post (though it might be for me).

A man buys a car. A responsible man buys a car and insures it. "Good job", we say; "he's protecting his investment and insuring his ability to pay out if he incurs any damage."

A responsible homeowner buys insurance for his house and everything in it. "Good job", we say; "he's protecting his accumulated wealth in case of fire, or other disaster".

A responsible parent buys life insurance. "Good job", we say; "he's providing for his family if anything unfortunate happens to him".

In all these cases, you expect a responsible person to insure themselves; to do otherwise would be foolish and costly. We buy these forms of insurance hoping, praying that we'll never have to use them, but covering ourselves if in fact, the worst does happen. And you know what? Sometimes it does.

I enjoy collecting, using and maintaining firearms, but at the end of the day, what they are to me is insurance, just like I mentioned above.

Let's call it "Life And Liberty" Insurance, for lack of a better phrase.
I'm insuring myself and my family against that awful possibility that some scumbag might kick in my door and try to harm my wife and kids. I'm insuring that my country stays free and unoppressed by brutal dictators, the likes of which we see in plenty of places around the world, even in today's "enlightened" times.
I have these forms of insurance, just like the ones above, hoping and praying that I never have to use them.

Do people call me responsible for having this kind of insurance?
Some do; others, not so much...
Too often one hears the words "Survivalist", "Wild-eyed paranoid" or "Right-wing extremist".
Too often I hear that I'm "some sort of vigilante nutcase just waiting for the opportunity to blow some perp away".
I'm sure some do, just like some would like to collect the fire insurance on their failed business. I don't believe that they are the majority, however.
I no more want to have to kill someone than I want to see my house burn down or my car smashed up, but I insure myself against that eventuality all the same.
In my opinion, it is being responsible. Because I am responsible for the lives of myself and my family. No-one else is; not the State, not the Federal Govt, not the cops; ME.

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsome...

...drops his pants, squats, grunts, and tries to crap all over the Bill of Rights AGAIN.
Having lost their last battle over a blatantly unconstitutional citywide ban on handguns, the liberal lunatics at the helm of Frisco city government try another tack.

NOW can we secede?

PLEASE?

I'm so ashamed. The rest of the country is looking in at this abject IDIOCY and must think all us Californians are patchouli-drenched pot-smoking free-love screw-anything hippy tree-huggers with absolutely no idea what reality truly is. Reality in this case being, more government control and less ability/legality for self-defense is a BAD thing.
Those of you outside CA, please understand that these creatures up in that pestilential den are not representative of Californians as a whole. It's just that there's a HELL of a lot of them crammed up there in that little peninsula, and they make a LOT of noise.

Found at the Rottie...

Traditional values...

Iranian style.
I have absolutely no respect for a culture that treats its women in such a way.
I've heard it said many times that Islam reveres its women, that we in the west disrespect our women because of what they wear.
I'm having a real hard time seeing that Islamic love and respect of women in a public beat-down of this lady by police officers for not wearing a frigging headscarf!
Fine, if that's the law, write her a damn ticket, but beating her bloody in front of a crowd? WTF? Is that Islamic "tough love"?
If you follow that link, you'll see some good news: there's a lot of bloggers in Iran who seem to be up in arms over this.
Note to Iranian bullyboys: keep this shit up, and y'all might be on the wrong end of the next revolution in Iran...

---H/T to Cox & Forkum---

Why I'm a dog person...

My wife forwarded me this in an email, and I thought it was funny enough to share...

The Dog's Diary
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!> 9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!> 9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!> 10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!> 12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!> 1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!> 3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!> 5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!> 7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!> 8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!> 11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!>>

The Cat's Diary
Day 983 of my captivity.>> My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.>> The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.>> There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.>> Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.>> I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe.

New one for the blogroll...

Phlegmfatale has a site you need to check out. She's got some great stories...
"crazy lady ass is hard to kick" -- classic!
I've been lurking there for a while, it's only right that I share her with all y'all...
I'm telling you, there's some great blogs coming out of the Free State of Texas...

Wedding

My good friend Frank and his honey Barbara tied the knot on Saturday. It was a pretty low-key affair, just family and a few good friends. Wifey and I had the opportunity to dump the kids off at friends' houses, so we had a goooood time... I'm telling you, it's a nice break to go to something like this without that constant low-level tension of little-kid monitoring. Julie - Nature Chick - was nice enough to bring her camera and snap a few pictures (well, 128 pictures, to be exact...damn!) and it just wouldn't be neighborly if I didn't share some of them with y'all...

This is the happy couple making their entrance to the reception. Frank looks as happy as a pig in shit; as well he should, because Barbara's really good for him.
These two hotties are Julie (Nature Chick) on the left and Julia (my beloved wife) on the right.

Here we have your humble narrator on the left, Will (Nature Chick's B/F) in the middle, and Danny, Frank's brother and best man on the right (who seems to have what suspiciously look like roach burns on his lips....Hmmm...).

OK, right about here I should have probably been cut off. This is me trying to re-learn "The Macarena" with a couple of just lovely young ladies.

Things just kind of degenerate from here on out, so I'll just quit while I'm ahead. I'll have to see if Julie will put anything incriminating up on her site, but for the sake of good taste, I'm stopping here. I may have already gone too far.

All in all, we had a great time, there were no brawls (which seems to be a fifty/fifty shot at weddings anymore) and I was happy and honored to be invited to share in Frank and Barbara's big day. May they have many happy years together.

"M" again...

In my frantic attempts to keep my mind off the dip, I've been doing a lot of walking this week. Much of it has been on the M mountain (I think I went up there three times this week) and last night I finally remembered to take my camera with me:


This is about halfway up. Can you believe I actually saw a deer in this sun-blasted wasteland on Thursday? Me neither. First one I'd ever seen there; probably the only one up there.

This is Lena, my companion for the hike yesterday. Of our three dogs, she's the one with the least hang-ups; although not the most obedient, as I found out last night. This picture is actually pretty flattering... she's quite ugly in person...

Well, here's the view from the top, the entire Brown Valley spread before you. Yesterday was pretty hazy so the furthest reaches of the valley could not be seen, as one can on clear days.

Although the haze can be annoying for visibility, it does sometimes make for good visuals:

That ridge in the distance is the Cleveland National Forest; kinda looks like its floating in the clouds, or as if there's an ocean between here and there. This picture really doesn't do it justice.

Say what you want about smog; it makes for some bitching sunsets...


That's looking West - obviously - and I believe those hills in the distance are in the Hollywood/Burbank area...
By this time, I realized I needed to get off the damn hill; it was starting to get a little chilly, I'd forgotten to bring water (guess I can only remember one thing at a time, and this time the camera won out), and coyotes were starting to howl. I wasn't particularly concerned for myself, but trying to explain to my wife why the dog got chewed up by coyotes could have been somewhat problematic...

Day FIVE...

I'm still missing my dip, but not as much as earlier in the week. I'm frantically working my way through sunflower seeds and baby carrots, and every time I get the urge, I go for a walk.
Been walking a lot this week.
While I was on one of those walks, this post came to mind... the virtues of dipping...

I love dipping. I love that first dip of the day, when you press the tobacco to the gums on the side of the mouth (for me it was always the left side first) and feel that initial tingly-almost-burning-sensation, that mildly eye-opening jolt as the nicotine punches into your bloodstream, bringing an instant edge to the thoughts in your head, as though the whole world just came into focus.
Curling your tongue around the wad and moving it from one side to the other as the tingling becomes almost too much to bear, and feeling another mini-rush as the baccy contacts a swath of virgin gum.
Knowing that you're getting all the nicotine pleasure that smokers do(maybe more - chewing is more concentrated) without any damage to your lungs/wind whatsoever.
You know what the coolest part of dipping is? It's smoking, guerilla-style. All those places you poor smokers are banned? Wide open territory for the dipper. Malls, restaurants, movie theaters, you name it. Hell, elementary school field trips, if you're covert enough. If you adjust the size of your wad accordingly and are prepared to swallow your spit, you can do it anywhere and no-one would notice (except maybe another dipper).

Well if dipping is so great, then why quit?

At the end of the day, I'm still putting nicotine into my body, along with all the problems that nicotine brings. It's a vasoconstrictor, which ups the blood pressure and messes with the circulation. It also messes with your bodies regulation of blood sugar, which was a shocking fact that I discovered this week.
I am highly addicted to this stuff - to the extent that I was blowing through over a can of dip a day, and I think that's a LOT of nicotine.
I hate the hold it has on me. I hate that I crave it so much. I hate that I change my behavior just to fit it into my day. Its like a frigging parasite in my brain, controlling what I do, and when I do it.
That's why I quit. That's why I need to stay quit.

What do you do?

What do you do when your government won't enforce the law and protect your border?
What do you do when those who are in violation of immigration law are out brazenly soliciting work?
Well, you could do what these guys did...
They came up on a group of day-laborers, offered them work and got them into their van, whereupon they zip-tied their hands, drove south about 80 miles and dropped them off in Tijuana, BC, Mexico.

I guess we could call that an "undocumented deportation"?

HELL YEAH!

That's taking a little initiative!
That's a gutsy move. Well, my mom always said "If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself", and we all know that border security is NOT being "done right" at the moment.

Now, the problem is, we live in a country where the government guards its power VERY jealously, whether it chooses to exercise that power or not. Private citizens "deporting" aliens as mentioned above are most likely going to be subject to kidnapping charges, even though they're doing what the government is SUPPOSED to be doing but ISN'T doing.

If these guys get caught, I really think they'll have a hell of a time finding a jury that will convict, even in the Worker's Paradise of California. And that's the way it ought to be.

Government is supposed to work FOR the people, dammit. Seems like lately that's being forgotten.

You've gotta love this...

Girl got suspended for bullying, tried to pull one over on mom, but mom wasn't buying it...
Maybe it's me, but it seems like this kind of stuff is so rare these days. Parents typically refuse to believe that their little darlings are capable of any bad behavior whatsoever. Look at the Long Beach hate crime trial for example... those white girls were just asking to get beaten within an inch of their lives, according to some of the defendants' parents.
Props to this mom for not buying her daughter's BS, and for laying out a punishment that's embarrassing enough to maybe stick. This mom gets it - punishing her girl like this now may mean she's saving the authorities from having to do something a little more drastic further down the line.

You won't believe...

What I just did tonight...
For possibly the second time in my life, I went rollerskating!
My wife's Small Group (church group) had a "fun night" tonight and it was at the local rollerskating rink. It was the first time I had met several of these people (all really nice folks, by the way - they made me feel very welcome) and they were all tearing it up on the rink, of course. My wife hopped right in, all her skating memories just coming right back... and the kids and I... well, we floundered. First time ever for my children - they've led a sheltered life - and MAYBE the second time ever for ME. Nope, not a skater... but now I've gone and made an ass of myself, pride demands that I return and master this elusive skill! Reckon it's gonna be fun for the kids to learn too... yeah, that's my hook... I'm "teaching the kids"...

Two days so far...

... and I'm climbing up the walls. I quit dipping on Sunday night and I'm a bit twitchy if you know what I mean. Haven't been posting much because I knew it would just come down to this - whining about my nicotine withdrawals. Yesterday was the worse so far - they say it'll peak at 3 days, then start getting better.
I quit smoking right after my daughter was born and stayed quit for three plus years, then found myself partaking of the Copenhagen. Been doing that for about 3 years and I reckon it's time to kick that one to the kerb.
So that's what I'm doing right now... these withdrawals feel worse than when I quit smoking, probably because my nicotine consumption is so much higher with the dip. My wife's been very encouraging (are you kidding? No more spit cups around the house? Of COURSE she's been encouraging!) and is putting up marvelously with my erratic behavior thus far.
To be honest, I wish I could just crawl into bed for two weeks and emerge craving-free but that's not going to happen. The bills must get paid, after all...
Wish me luck... I'll be honest about it if I fall off the wagon...

Bachelor Party

It's been a pretty busy weekend for me; Friday night was a poker game with my brother-in-law and some friends from his church. Big crowd - about 25 players at $20 a head to buy in. The game was Texas Hold 'Em, which seems to be the only game anyone ever plays anymore. Even their pastor was there playing, which kinda tickled me - he was doing pretty good there, too, for a while. Lasted longer than I did..
My bro-in-law had the good fortune to make it to the very end and came out in second place, but by this time it was 2:30am. I had ridden with him so I stayed there till the end too, and since my day usually starts @4:30am, I was frikken beat.
Saturday morning I took my son to a flag football league tryout (so cool; the kid's been SO excited about this - he is a football NUT. My daughter watches Disney Channel, but Number One Son watches NFL Network every chance he gets. He can toss out stats I've never heard, he knows who went where in this years draft... he's obsessed), then shopping for Mother's Day stuff, and then the bachelor party last night.
My buddy Frank is getting married next week and so we had the obligatory night of debauchery last night. His brother organized five strippers, one after the other.
As far as strippers go, I can take em or leave em. The stuff they do doesn't arouse me in the least, but it can be amusing and entertaining to watch them humiliate and degrade my friends, and who doesn't appreciate the sight of naked women (good-looking ones at least)? I just can't get all wrapped up in it, the way I see some guys do; at the end of the day, it's nothing more than a business transaction, which is fine - I don't begrudge anyone making a living, and stripping is no less honorable a profession than plenty of others.
As far as these thing go, the groom got off pretty lightly. I've seen some raunchy things go down at these kind of parties, and Frank didn't have to endure too much in that regard. That's about all I'm going to say about it.
I guess my biggest fear is some drunk ass going a little too far with the girls and causing a big stink a la the Duke thing, which would be a headache to say the least. Last night wasn't so bad in that regard - I knew most of the guys there and they're pretty sensible for the most part, although sometimes you never can tell once you mix alcohol with a bunch of naked dancing girls.
I'm starting to show my age I suppose...
So, two late nights in a row for a guy who's usually in bed by 10. I did manage to get up at a reasonable time to cook my honey breakfast for Mother's Day, and she'd like to go for a bike ride by the lake a little later. Should be a nice way to wrap up the weekend...

I see that I just got tagged...

Fat Hairy Bastard slung one my way -- post my five favorite places to eat... oh, and a picture of the guy who tagged me...

I snaked this pic from the photo album on his site; isn't he cute in his wee windbreaker? Dunno about the way he's holding his pike though...

Anyway, my top five places to eat? Hmm... I have a lot of favorites, but I'll narrow it down.

1. My absolute favorite has to be right here at home. My wife is an incredible cook, loves cooking a wide variety of foods and is not afraid to try new things. She makes awesome rib roast, her Beef Wellington is FANTASTIC, and she did this nut/herb roast thingy with the filet from the deer I bagged last fall that just made it frigging melt in your mouth. She makes her own salad dressings from scratch, and has this uncanny knack of knocking out awesome meals with what we have on hand, and on our tight budget. The kids agree that "Momma's Kitchen" is the best food around.

2. My wife introduced me to sushi a couple of years back (I had obviously heard of it prior to that but was always leery of eating raw fish. It did not appeal to me at all) and I've been hooked ever since. Good sushi is like crack for your tongue; the thing is, it has to be good sushi. Since surrendering to my addiction, I've tried sushi in a bunch of different places, some good, some not so much; but I always return to our local place. It is honestly the best sushi around and if you ever have the misfortune to wind up in our town, you could do a lot worse than grabbing a couple of rolls at Matsuri's. No link, because they don't have a web site - it's a little mom n pop place - but if you like sushi, you won't be disappointed.

3. No list would be complete without a good steakhouse, and there's one right down the street here that makes an awesome one. It's marinated (which I know will turn off some purists here, but whatever) and they bring it to your table sizzling. A really nice, unique flavor, and not real hard on the wallet. They're not huge, but there's plenty: a no-nonsense meal; steak, potato, cheese bread and salad, rounded out with a 30oz beer. Every time my folks are in town, my dad insists on going there. The name of this place? Steer n' Stein.

4. My wife's parents have a condo down in Oceanside that they spend a fair bit of time at, and one of my favorite places to grub down there is the Monterey Bay Canners. It's a seafood restaurant right there in the marina, that just makes some of the best seafood I've ever had. It's a great place with a nice atmosphere; kinda spendy, so we don't visit as often as I'd like.

5. This one's a bit of a tear-jerker, at least for me. By far, my favorite food is Indian. I cannot pass up a good curry, the hotter the better. There was a small hole-in-the wall place over by UCR called the Bengal Kitchen, and I used to go there for their lunch buffet whenever I could. Their array of foods, from dal to naan bread to tandoori chicken was fantastic, and I would gorge myself whenever I was there. If I ate there, I'd be done for the day. I was totally hooked on their grub, but alas, the place closed down to my eternal sorrow, and there's no other Indian places locally that I can find solace with. It looks like I have to go into that cesspit L.A. if I ever want to satisfy my curry fix in the future ( at a restaurant anyway; my wife can knock out some great Indian food, when she is so inclined).

So there's five places I would strongly recommend ( well four I guess, since the Bengal Kitchen closed, dammit!) and now to the final part of the task set me by FHB: pass this tag on to five more unfortunate souls...

Nature Chick, the Anarchangel, Dirtcrashr, Felix Estrella and GuyK.

About to hit the sack

I know I haven't posted much lately, but I've had a fair bit thrown my way this week, and I've just been too darned tired to do much but read up on my favorite blogs. I'm frikken beat right now, I'm embarrassed to say, because I just spent the last hour or so helping my bro-in-law try to get his Harley started. Pushing that thing up and down the street damn near killed me. A stark reminder that I'm out of shape. The worst thing is, we didn't get the sucker started. We tried jumping it too, but no dice. Mission aborted. He's going to get a charger tomorrow; hope that works, but I'm thinking the battery may just be toast. Bike batteries are nowhere near as resilient as car batteries, and the battery for that one is gonna run around $70... at Wal-Mart!
We'll get 'er started one way or another; just not tonight. Hasta.

Slight change of plan...

As I noted here, I was planning on a semi-auto SHTF rifle for my next gun purchase; however, an opportunity just cropped up that I just cannot pass up. My friend is short of cash and has offered to sell me back my old shotgun, at a very reasonable price.
The shotgun, a Winchester 1300 Defender, was the very first gun I ever purchased. Years ago(during my college years, actually), my friend Steve invited me out to Lytle Creek (back when it was an open shooting area) to try out his new shotgun, a Mossberg 590 with that cool perforated heatshield over the top of the barrel. I had an absolute blast, and was hooked immediately. I set out to purchase a gun of my very own, and settled on a Winchester Defender (it was a bit cheaper than the Mossberg at the time). I remember when I picked it up at the store, there was a couple there checking out handguns... the guy was looking at a little automatic and asked about its stopping power. The clerk pointed to me (I was inspecting my shottie just then) and said "If you want stopping power, you can't beat one of those".
Well, anyway, I owned this gun for a few years and got married. My wife's uncle invited me to go quail hunting, so I looked into buying a sporting shotgun. I picked up a Mossberg 500 combo, which had both the 28" barrel and the 20" and since we were fairly strapped for cash back then I figured I didn't need an extra shotgun. So, I sold my Winchester to my friend.
And I've regretted it ever since.
Over the years, I've offered to buy it back several times, to no avail; so now, even though I feel a little crappy about taking advantage of his financial situation (oh, don't worry; I'll get over it!), I'm going to buy back my very first gun. (He offered it, I didn't ask).
No, I guess I don't need an extra shotgun, but I'm sure y'all can understand the sentimental value that this Defender has for me... it holds more shells than my Mossie, too...
As far as the SHTF rifle goes, I think I've decided upon the FAL. Yeah, its a lot of green, but I've always been partial to battle rifles and I feel as though I'd be settling if I got any of the others on my short list. I was leaning toward the Kel-Tec there for a while, but I know I won't regret getting the FAL. This shotgun purchase will just set my plans back by a month or so, and I'll be real happy to welcome the Defender back home.
Pictures when I get it...

Interesting...

I heard on the radio yesterday that conservative Sarkozy won the French presidential vote. Wow! Maybe the French are finally tired of watching their country circle the bowl... how conservative IS a French conservative anyway? Probably less so than one of our good ol' boys, but its gotta be a huge improvement on the socialist jerks we usually see coming out of there...
An hour after I heard that, the next time the news rolled around on the radio, I heard that riots had erupted in France. Not surprising - Sarkozy had little patience for the muslim rioters the last go round, and they're obviously not happy with his election. Something tells me they're going to be significantly LESS happy pretty soon...
Hmmm.... a conservative French government, with the potential for positive relations with the US? Almost seems too good to be true...
Lets hope its not...

Disgusting

His Imperial Rottieness has a link to the stoning murder of a muslim girl. Careful, it's graphic.
Words fail me.
I'm supposed to be "tolerant" of this shit?
I'm having a very hard time trying to find ANY redeeming qualities of Islam.

You have to listen to this...

FHB just put up some vids of the Stone Roses - one of my all-time favorite bands. Excellent music! Fool's Gold has an awesome beat. YOU MUST GO THERE NOW AND LISTEN!

May Day

So May 1st rolls around again, and we're treated to hordes of illegal immigrants protesting in the streets of L.A.. (Pic swiped from the LA Times website).

OK, you guys get some points for at least showing the US flag this time... I'm still seeing a Mexican flag though. NOT cool. If you're so damned proud of Mexico, what the hell are you doing here? The Spanish language signs have to go; they're not helping your cause.

Here's the deal: waving Mexican flags and signs in a foreign language show the average American that you don't give a shit about our culture; you don't want to assimilate - you're just in it for the money. America is just a big ATM machine to you.

Illegals remind me of nothing more than asshats at an amusement park who cut in line, while everyone else waits two hours, because they're following the rules.

Now why don't you try calling me anti immigrant? I'm an immigrant myself - I just sent in my citizenship application, as a matter of fact. I did it the right way - got in line, waited five years for a green card, paid a fistful of cash (well my Dad did) for it, then waited another five years before I was eligible to apply for citizenship (well, I've been sitting around for about 15 actually).

Tell me why I had to go through all that, but you are entitled to just walk in the front door.

Tell me why the rules don't apply to you.

Tell me why you are more worthy.

Tell me why you deserve a pass, and explain why I didn't.

If you don't have respect for the laws regarding entry into the country, there's no reason to expect you to have respect for the rest of the laws once you're actually in here.

You obviously don't respect this nation's sovereignty, so why respect any of its other institutions, right?

That attitude of contempt is clear when you demonstrate with foreign flags, and signs in a foreign language.

Way to assimilate; you just gave Middle America the finger.

Assholes.

Is it just a coincidence that they pick a frikken COMMUNIST HOLIDAY for their shenanigans? I think not. "International Worker's Day" my arse.