‘The Hawk is Dying’, ‘Jesus Camp’, ‘Flannel Pajamas’, “Mid-day” vs. “Mid-afternoon”, snubbie fun
(posted from home)
(This post covers 2-9 December, 2007)
------------------------------------------------
Sunday, 9 December-
Today was to be yet another rain-and-wintry-mix day with temps around freezing so I once again drove Cherry Larry, this time to Chambersburg to go to an indoor range with Maypo. I arrived at the pre-arranged time (“mid-day”) but no Maypo. I tried his cell and waited around a bit then just went on to the range. There I rented my first ‘wheelgun’ (a revolver), in this case a Taurus 85 snubbie. After a few minutes of familiarization and double-checking the safety procedures I loaded up the impressive-looking .38 Special shells and started firing away. To my amazement, I was doing well at 25 feet right off the bat. I set the next target back to 50 feet and once again surprised myself. I LIKE that little fella! At the end of my box of shells and half-hour rental I took the Taurus back and rented a Kahr CW9 semi-auto. I had read about the superior trigger of the CW9 and have to agree on the trigger but I really disliked the magazine. I burned through a box of shells over the next half hour and could definitely see improvement in my accuracy but nothing like the little Taurus snubbie.
Afterwards I drove past Maypo’s house and saw his car in the driveway. I stopped in and he asked, ‘Well, ready to go?’. He thought we had agreed to meet at 1500 (“mid-afternoon”, to his way of thinking) and had gone Christmas shopping while I thought we were meeting at “mid-day” or noon (to MY way of thinking). So what to do? Well, that’s easy— let’s go shooting!
I drove us back over to the range and we had a great session, then enjoyed a bull-session with the older guy ‘Nels’ running the range. Like any good range guy, he pulled out his carry gun, a lightweight 1911, and extolled its virtues (after unloading it, of course) and that of a new 1911 he happened to have on sale. That’s one of the things I like about this range as opposed to my home range… I learn something new from the range guy every time we go there.
Maypo and I went out for a pizza and then I headed home (listening to ‘Manitoba This Week” episodes on the iPod) only to have a flat tire about two miles from my house. I found my spare in good condition and thought I’d just have to be careful in jacking Cherry Larry up to replace the spare but my jack wouldn’t work! I called Labashi and she came over to lend moral support while we awaited the AAA guy and two hours later we made it the rest of the way home. What a day….
------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 8 December-
I took my walk early today and then spent a few hours searching for and watching shooting-technique videos on the web. The overnight rain and warmer temperatures today had cleared off the roads and by mid-afternoon we even had some sun so I decided I’d get the bike out for a quick run to town. I rode down to the West-York Dick’s to buy two (ten-box) cases of ammo at the 35-per-cent-off price (one for me, one for my brother) and then whiled away an hour at the Starbucks in the Target store before heading for home ahead of tonight’s freezing temperatures. I had to be careful of all the grit and cinders on the roads, particularly on the hills near my home.
That evening we watched two more episodes of ‘Big Love- Season One”. Oh, those silly-yet-charming polygamists…..
-------------------------------------------------
Friday, 7 December-
I took my walk this morning since it’s supposed to rain the rest of the day. I drove Cherry Larry over to the outdoor shooting range near Dillsburg (I’d rather slide off the road in beat-up old Cherry Larry than in Labashi’s nice car). By the time I arrived the snow was coming down hard. As I pulled in I saw two other guys had just driven up but they were on the rifle range so I had the pistol range all to myself. I proceeded to scare the hell out of my targets, coming VERY close to putting lead through paper not once but MANY times! Late in the day I buzzed into town for a Starbucks-and-DVDs run.
That evening we watched ‘Flannel Pajamas’ with Julianne Nicholson and Justin Kirk. I can’t recommend this one. As one reviewer put it: “It’s a harsh look at love that’s good until it isn’t anymore…and frankly, I got tired of these people long before they got tired of each other.” In the immortal words of Monty Python,”RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY” from this one.
-------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 6 December-
I drove good ol’ Cherry Larry down I-83 this morning to go target-shooting at my local indoor range. I’m continuing to try various techniques for improving accuracy. It’s interesting to see some experts recommend one way of doing it while another recommends just the opposite. One recommends using a crush-grip on the gun, for instance, while another says “grip it like a greased egg - just tight enough to keep it in your grasp”. I just have to find what works for me as I continue to set the targets further back on the range. Afterwards I stopped in at Gander Mountain where I bought a cool little slip-on grip sock for the fire-sale price of $2.97—gotta love it! I then stopped at nearby Dick’s to take advantage of this month’s ammo sale before heading home.
Back home I did my four-mile walk thing, this time jogging a mile and a half of it. That night we watched ‘Survivor- China’ but I’ve kind of lost interest since gravedigger James was voted off last week. Now I don’t want ANY of them to get the million dollars.
-------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 5 December-
Today we had our first snow of the year. We only had two inches of it but that made for a pretty walk later in the day. After I spent the morning on email and the web I bundled up, found a hat which didn’t touch the wound areas on my scalp, and went for my walk. My bluebird buddies looked particularly striking against the white background but otherwise there weren’t many birds about today.
That evening we watched ‘Jesus Camp’, a documentary about efforts of evangelicals to program children to erode the principle of separation of church and state. The film seems balanced and tends to let the actions of the on-camera participants to speak for themselves. I see this one is up in the mid-Eighties on the Tomatometer but I don’t think I would have rated it quite that high—perhaps the high Sixties. I guess I’m depending on common sense of society at large to keep a lid on these silly extremists.
-------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 4 December-
This morning I had my head examined. This has been recommended to me many times by friends and family and today was the day. Actually, I had a little surgical procedure to remove two pilar cysts from the crown area of my scalp. The doctor explained that these apparently originate from hair follicles somehow getting mixed up and building up a little sac of cells and keratin, forming a bump under the skin. They didn’t give me any pain or cause any problem but each time I run my hand over my head I noticed them. I mentioned them to the doctor at my last physical and he said they’d be easy to remove and that was indeed the case (though I did look like I had been in a knife fight after the procedure). I missed taking my afternoon walk today since it was quite cold, rainy and windy and I couldn’t wear a hat.
That evening we watched ‘The Hawk Is Dying’ with Paul Giamatti. I can’t recommend it unless you have a fascination for Harry Crews. We first saw Harry in ‘Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus’ and loved that movie so we enjoyed seeing him in the extras of this film, this time extolling the writer’s life. He’s unique and perhaps a bit too much of a wallower in his own persona as a chain-smoking oddball cracker (as in ‘Florida cracker’) novelist. But he says some interesting things.
As to the movie version of Harry’s ‘The Hawk is Dying’ novel, Paul Giamatti does what he can with the story of a Gainesville man who wants to train a wild hawk because—well, it’s the only ‘real’ thing there is in his life. Along the way a pot-smoking friend somehow drowns in his own water-bed. Other adventures ensue, none of them particularly interesting and each requiring Giamatti to get through it with a live hawk on his arm. Seem a little strained? Oh, yeah….
-------------------------------------------------
Monday, 3 December-
Labashi and I went out on a ‘micro-date’ today—lunch at the new Longhorn restaurant in East York. The restaurant was even nicer than we expected, the food was good and prices were reasonable. We put them to the test by ordering a rack of baby-back ribs. They were good but didn’t out-do the ribs we get at the nearby Texas Roadhouse (best ribs in the area). Afterwards we went to Labashi’s favorite stores—Home Depot and Lowe’s— and bought a light fixture and trim for a new recessed light in the vestibule. Now that Labashi has put a darker palette of color on our walls, this area now needs more light.
Back home I took my afternoon walk along the creek. I’ve recently been seeing two bluebirds along the creek and they invariably make me smile. I’m not sure why—I suppose because I think of them as summer birds or something. Their blue color isn’t quite as brilliant as it is in summer but their red breasts are still very bright and the first thing you see when noticing them. We have a new family of ospreys living along the creek now and I like hearing their chirping. Most days I hear the chittering of a kingfisher as it patrols the shallows and see one or two great blue herons out ahead of me; they don’t like me to get too close. I’ve not recently seen or heard the red-tailed hawks which used to perch on the power-line towers but still regularly see and hear chickadees and blue jays.
-----------------------------------------------
Sunday, 2 December-
I spent the morning and part of the afternoon catching up on the blog. Later in the day I took my four-mile walk on the creek road. That evening we watched two more episodes of ‘Big Love’. I think we’re hooked.
======= end of post =============
(posted from home)
(This post covers 2-9 December, 2007)
------------------------------------------------
Sunday, 9 December-
Today was to be yet another rain-and-wintry-mix day with temps around freezing so I once again drove Cherry Larry, this time to Chambersburg to go to an indoor range with Maypo. I arrived at the pre-arranged time (“mid-day”) but no Maypo. I tried his cell and waited around a bit then just went on to the range. There I rented my first ‘wheelgun’ (a revolver), in this case a Taurus 85 snubbie. After a few minutes of familiarization and double-checking the safety procedures I loaded up the impressive-looking .38 Special shells and started firing away. To my amazement, I was doing well at 25 feet right off the bat. I set the next target back to 50 feet and once again surprised myself. I LIKE that little fella! At the end of my box of shells and half-hour rental I took the Taurus back and rented a Kahr CW9 semi-auto. I had read about the superior trigger of the CW9 and have to agree on the trigger but I really disliked the magazine. I burned through a box of shells over the next half hour and could definitely see improvement in my accuracy but nothing like the little Taurus snubbie.
Afterwards I drove past Maypo’s house and saw his car in the driveway. I stopped in and he asked, ‘Well, ready to go?’. He thought we had agreed to meet at 1500 (“mid-afternoon”, to his way of thinking) and had gone Christmas shopping while I thought we were meeting at “mid-day” or noon (to MY way of thinking). So what to do? Well, that’s easy— let’s go shooting!
I drove us back over to the range and we had a great session, then enjoyed a bull-session with the older guy ‘Nels’ running the range. Like any good range guy, he pulled out his carry gun, a lightweight 1911, and extolled its virtues (after unloading it, of course) and that of a new 1911 he happened to have on sale. That’s one of the things I like about this range as opposed to my home range… I learn something new from the range guy every time we go there.
Maypo and I went out for a pizza and then I headed home (listening to ‘Manitoba This Week” episodes on the iPod) only to have a flat tire about two miles from my house. I found my spare in good condition and thought I’d just have to be careful in jacking Cherry Larry up to replace the spare but my jack wouldn’t work! I called Labashi and she came over to lend moral support while we awaited the AAA guy and two hours later we made it the rest of the way home. What a day….
------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 8 December-
I took my walk early today and then spent a few hours searching for and watching shooting-technique videos on the web. The overnight rain and warmer temperatures today had cleared off the roads and by mid-afternoon we even had some sun so I decided I’d get the bike out for a quick run to town. I rode down to the West-York Dick’s to buy two (ten-box) cases of ammo at the 35-per-cent-off price (one for me, one for my brother) and then whiled away an hour at the Starbucks in the Target store before heading for home ahead of tonight’s freezing temperatures. I had to be careful of all the grit and cinders on the roads, particularly on the hills near my home.
That evening we watched two more episodes of ‘Big Love- Season One”. Oh, those silly-yet-charming polygamists…..
-------------------------------------------------
Friday, 7 December-
I took my walk this morning since it’s supposed to rain the rest of the day. I drove Cherry Larry over to the outdoor shooting range near Dillsburg (I’d rather slide off the road in beat-up old Cherry Larry than in Labashi’s nice car). By the time I arrived the snow was coming down hard. As I pulled in I saw two other guys had just driven up but they were on the rifle range so I had the pistol range all to myself. I proceeded to scare the hell out of my targets, coming VERY close to putting lead through paper not once but MANY times! Late in the day I buzzed into town for a Starbucks-and-DVDs run.
That evening we watched ‘Flannel Pajamas’ with Julianne Nicholson and Justin Kirk. I can’t recommend this one. As one reviewer put it: “It’s a harsh look at love that’s good until it isn’t anymore…and frankly, I got tired of these people long before they got tired of each other.” In the immortal words of Monty Python,”RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY” from this one.
-------------------------------------------------
Thursday, 6 December-
I drove good ol’ Cherry Larry down I-83 this morning to go target-shooting at my local indoor range. I’m continuing to try various techniques for improving accuracy. It’s interesting to see some experts recommend one way of doing it while another recommends just the opposite. One recommends using a crush-grip on the gun, for instance, while another says “grip it like a greased egg - just tight enough to keep it in your grasp”. I just have to find what works for me as I continue to set the targets further back on the range. Afterwards I stopped in at Gander Mountain where I bought a cool little slip-on grip sock for the fire-sale price of $2.97—gotta love it! I then stopped at nearby Dick’s to take advantage of this month’s ammo sale before heading home.
Back home I did my four-mile walk thing, this time jogging a mile and a half of it. That night we watched ‘Survivor- China’ but I’ve kind of lost interest since gravedigger James was voted off last week. Now I don’t want ANY of them to get the million dollars.
-------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 5 December-
Today we had our first snow of the year. We only had two inches of it but that made for a pretty walk later in the day. After I spent the morning on email and the web I bundled up, found a hat which didn’t touch the wound areas on my scalp, and went for my walk. My bluebird buddies looked particularly striking against the white background but otherwise there weren’t many birds about today.
That evening we watched ‘Jesus Camp’, a documentary about efforts of evangelicals to program children to erode the principle of separation of church and state. The film seems balanced and tends to let the actions of the on-camera participants to speak for themselves. I see this one is up in the mid-Eighties on the Tomatometer but I don’t think I would have rated it quite that high—perhaps the high Sixties. I guess I’m depending on common sense of society at large to keep a lid on these silly extremists.
-------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, 4 December-
This morning I had my head examined. This has been recommended to me many times by friends and family and today was the day. Actually, I had a little surgical procedure to remove two pilar cysts from the crown area of my scalp. The doctor explained that these apparently originate from hair follicles somehow getting mixed up and building up a little sac of cells and keratin, forming a bump under the skin. They didn’t give me any pain or cause any problem but each time I run my hand over my head I noticed them. I mentioned them to the doctor at my last physical and he said they’d be easy to remove and that was indeed the case (though I did look like I had been in a knife fight after the procedure). I missed taking my afternoon walk today since it was quite cold, rainy and windy and I couldn’t wear a hat.
That evening we watched ‘The Hawk Is Dying’ with Paul Giamatti. I can’t recommend it unless you have a fascination for Harry Crews. We first saw Harry in ‘Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus’ and loved that movie so we enjoyed seeing him in the extras of this film, this time extolling the writer’s life. He’s unique and perhaps a bit too much of a wallower in his own persona as a chain-smoking oddball cracker (as in ‘Florida cracker’) novelist. But he says some interesting things.
As to the movie version of Harry’s ‘The Hawk is Dying’ novel, Paul Giamatti does what he can with the story of a Gainesville man who wants to train a wild hawk because—well, it’s the only ‘real’ thing there is in his life. Along the way a pot-smoking friend somehow drowns in his own water-bed. Other adventures ensue, none of them particularly interesting and each requiring Giamatti to get through it with a live hawk on his arm. Seem a little strained? Oh, yeah….
-------------------------------------------------
Monday, 3 December-
Labashi and I went out on a ‘micro-date’ today—lunch at the new Longhorn restaurant in East York. The restaurant was even nicer than we expected, the food was good and prices were reasonable. We put them to the test by ordering a rack of baby-back ribs. They were good but didn’t out-do the ribs we get at the nearby Texas Roadhouse (best ribs in the area). Afterwards we went to Labashi’s favorite stores—Home Depot and Lowe’s— and bought a light fixture and trim for a new recessed light in the vestibule. Now that Labashi has put a darker palette of color on our walls, this area now needs more light.
Back home I took my afternoon walk along the creek. I’ve recently been seeing two bluebirds along the creek and they invariably make me smile. I’m not sure why—I suppose because I think of them as summer birds or something. Their blue color isn’t quite as brilliant as it is in summer but their red breasts are still very bright and the first thing you see when noticing them. We have a new family of ospreys living along the creek now and I like hearing their chirping. Most days I hear the chittering of a kingfisher as it patrols the shallows and see one or two great blue herons out ahead of me; they don’t like me to get too close. I’ve not recently seen or heard the red-tailed hawks which used to perch on the power-line towers but still regularly see and hear chickadees and blue jays.
-----------------------------------------------
Sunday, 2 December-
I spent the morning and part of the afternoon catching up on the blog. Later in the day I took my four-mile walk on the creek road. That evening we watched two more episodes of ‘Big Love’. I think we’re hooked.
======= end of post =============
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
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