Smarter Every Day

I thought this was rad.
Science disguised as entertainment - gets me every time. 

Work it Out

Not much to report. I go to the gym (shirts optional), do the yoga (no shirt, sweating all over everything, repping the handstands in the middle of the room because handstands = enlightenment are awesome even if you suck at yoga like I do), push paper at the job (shirts required, unless I'm working late at the crib, in which case: no shirt, PANTS OPTIONAL). You care.

The crossfit gym peeps give me a hard time because I never wear a shirt with sleeves when I work out. Ever. Comments include: Do you own a shirt with sleeves? (Me: No.)
And: Suns out guns out in the dead of winter, Case? (Me: Fuckin' A!)

So my workout clothes are an ugly mashup of shirts with the sleeves cut off and boardshorts designed by an artistic savant with inconsistent pattern recognition. They're so bad/good that my last girlfriend*, who I came to know at yoga and had never seen me in street clothes, thought I was color blind. True story.

Unrelated news: The following was on Grantland and described as if Coldplay and Toto had a love child, which they didn't think was good. I disagreed. Toto is rad! The video sucks but whatever. Hit play and then Ctrl + T, bitches. You know you want to.

Enjoy(?).





* We haven't talked about it in this space, but for the handful of family members that care: Ambra and I broke up in January. It was her decision. I didn't mention it because losing her and Reese is not an easy thing to talk about. It still isn't. I can't say I have good days and bad days - none of the days are good, but some are less bad than others Long-time readers will recognize a shift in tone over the past couple months. That's why. Okay let's get back to what I'm good at (anonymous and judgmental negative bitching, mostly).

Back to Back Videos (This one is nice)

Best part isn't the dancing, it's that the kid was so pumped all he could do was give his boss a hug at the end. I dare you not to smile.

Street Justice

This has 7,503 views as of this writing (at least 100 of them are mine). It will probably have a million by tomorrow. (Originally saw the video on deadspin.)

If you're going to be a bullying douche then sometimes you get what you deserve. Not nearly often enough, but sometimes.

North Korean Military Capability, Analyzed

STRONG LIKE BULL

North Korea is the short, belligerent drunkest guy at the party: makes a lot of noise but not really a threat as long as you keep him where you can see him. 

The article below digs into the North Korean rhetoric vs. the facts of their military capability. What could have been dry and boring is actually quite interesting. It's sufficiently funny that the author has to remind us, several times, that we're reading about the possible deaths of real people (about 80,000 if North Korea decides to attack Seoul and do as much damage as possible instead of wage a protracted, strategic war). The economic costs would be much higher, since the war would destabilize the region and displace many millions in a densely populated area. In terms of actual lives lost the bulk of the damage would be done in the first week. After that North Korea wouldn't have any heavy weapons left. But they would have something to eat after the UN clowns showed up. So that's something.

Read the whole thing for the details. It's fascinating.

http://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-special-reports/mind-the-gap-between-rhetoric-and-reality/

The good news is that your US Military Industrial complex isn't going to let this not-really-a-challenge go unchallenged. They are spending another billion dollars on a missile defense system that almost, sort of works (kind of). From Military Times:

The missile defense system was first fielded by the administration of President George W. Bush in late 2004. It has a spotty test record and has never been used in actual combat. In addition to the 26 interceptors at Greely, the system includes four interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

So that's a comfort. Hey, it's only money. 

The Universe is a Cruel and Unforgiving Place

Brandon Knight is probably a good guy, nice to his friends and family. He didn't deserve this. But it happened, and to ignore that it happened would be silly.




To be fair, Knight is 6' 3" and DeAndre Jordan is 6' 11". But still: oof.

There can be only one

Grantland is holding a tournament to determine the most despised college basketball player ever.

When I read the headline the first word that popped into my head was LAETTNER. There can't possibly be any other winner. I haven't been to their fbook page to vote it but I may do later in the day. It'll be Laettner in a runaway. The rest of the players are only a mild irritant compared to Laettner, except for maybe (re)Dick. And even then (re)Dick is a vague, distant satellite orbiting the Jupiter-sized ball of enmity that is Laettner.

The problem with their bracket setup is that there are several Duke players that are easy number 1 seeds. I'll allow that Tyler Hans-Bro is a legit number 1, but he's still the fourth-ranked guy out of the 1 seeds. (re)dick is an easy #1, and you could make a case for any of the other Dook players for the third #1, even Paulus, who would probably win his bracket if he were in the 80's or 90's.

42

Douglas Adams gets a very excellent Google doodle today; it would have been his 61st birthday. He died of a heart attack in 2001.

Enjoy.

Cynicism abated (for now)

This is from Dirty Tackle, and it's video of a blind kid visiting with his heroes on the Barcelona squad.
They spend a few minutes with him before training and he gets a chance to try and identify them. Note that Puyol is an easy one, but Messi is tougher: He has to check his haircut and then put his hand on his shoulder  (Messi is famously short) for additional information. And then he guesses correctly. The goalie with braids is not a fist-team regular (and doesn't always wear braids) and the kid doesn't get it right away so he gives him a hint.

I confess that it made me smile.

The People Have Spoken (part n+1)

Sweet Katie says (in re: my previous post about books):

I haven't added any books to my permanent bookshelf for awhile (instead I read and pass them on), but when I try to get rid of any of my favorites, I just can't do it. Favorite books are like old friends. They're always there for you when you need them : )

---
Looking at my bookshelf since I posted the photo and it could use quite a lot of paring down. I donated roughly half as many as are shown on the shelf already but on review I think it should have been more. Something to work on.

All this talk of books motivated me to finish The Yellow Birds, which is very good if you like things that are depressing in the extreme. Superb storytelling, highly recommended. I would totally send you my copy except I read it on my ipad.

If you want to punish yourself a little you can browse the one star reviews for the book. It was featured on many 2012 Best Books lists, which isn't always a guarantee of relative 'good' but still: this was a book that a lot of people agreed was excellent. It is dense, and the writing is challenging in that it tries to explain in words things that you must feel in order to fully know. Translating that is difficult. The prose is rich and stylized. Not inaccessible (it's not Melville), but not People magazine.

Too much heavy lifting for 17 people (as of this writing), which I find hilarious. Who gets to the end of a book which the NYT calls, "brilliantly observed and deeply affecting" and says, "this is bullshit, ONE STAR!" I need to start doing that.

Life Skills

Red Ryder BB Gun = Win

In conversation the other day I explained to a friend that he should know how to operate a firearm: know how to use it in the event that someone handed it to him, or, more likely, how to unload and make it safe. It's an essential life skill, like knowing how to use a cellphone, drive a stick shift car or perform the Heimlich maneuver. And the knowledge, once acquired, lasts more or less forever.

Another friend questioned this basic philosophy. Why, he asked, does someone need to know how to use a firearm? He argued that it was extremely unlikely either of the scenarios I described would ever unfold (use or make safe), and he is right. So why bother?

I found the question vexing, not least because his argument is sound in that, practically speaking, it will never happen: there are almost no circumstances where the knowledge is required.


So: Why is knowing how to operate a firearm an essential life skill?

1. Knowledge is power. Knowing is half the battle. Whatever cliche you want to use, it's all the same. Empower yourself.

2. Self-reliance is important. If you don't know how to do something you have to ask someone else to help you. They may or may not be able to give you aid, but you will be at their mercy. That is not acceptable. Again: Empower yourself.

By way of example, I know how to change a flat tire. I wouldn't (I have AAA), but I do (and have done), and so should you. 

3. Safety is important. If you teach your kids to brush their teeth, learn to swim, wear a seatbelt, or look both ways before crossing the street then you should teach them what to do if they see a gun. You have a responsibility to them and, by extension, to yourself. Lead by example.

So that's why. As a bonus, the time investment is small. You can learn basic principles in 15 minutes and enough to make safe almost any gun in about an hour, including practice time. The knowledge lasts a lifetime.

See you out there.

Anchors Weigh

Bear Prefers an Overwatch Position

Friend of the blog once told me 'the things you own, own you'. It's a truism. I haven't gotten a new paper book since I started reading them on my ipad. After a lifetime of reading words on the printed page it's been a difficult adjustment.

There are elements related to reading a printed book vs. the ipad that you take for granted, not least of which is the tactile feel of the pages and knowing how close you are the the end without having to think about it.

Another issue is how easy it is to watch netflix or cat videos instead of read. A book has to be very compelling to keep me from wasting time on the internet. I very much enjoy long form magazine pieces on the ipad ($5.99 Longform app is great value for money), but I'm still not all in on books.

The things you own, own you. I always thought that was a warning to avoid dead weight in material goods (and immaterial, because if you are angry then you own that, too). And it is. But in dusting off these books for the first time since unpacking them (an overdue chore) I realized that the things you own can also be an anchor when you're feeling adrift. It was unexpected.

See you out there.

Pups

I need to host this photo of pups so I'm putting it here. I'm going through photos of her and liked this one.

No Suprises

I don't put too much stock in what the American Public believes. National elections should be enough to disabuse you of the quality of groupthink and if that's insufficient, there's always this.

A survey indicates that 58% of Americans believe in a correlation between video games and teenage violence. It's an easy correlation to make. Teenage kids play games and sometimes they are violent. They also ride bikes. BIKE RIDING IS CAUSING VIOLENCE. What?

These types of polls are garbage (which Americans? What kind of violence?) but I always wonder what adults blamed the violence on before video games. Probably drugs in the 70s, rock and roll in the 60s, television in the 50s, war in the 40s, poverty in the 30s, women's liberalism in the 20s, war (again) in the teens, etc, etc.

I don't have the energy to look up any of the infinite examples of teenage violence that predate video games. The entire notion is absurd and lazy. Oh, your perfect angel is acting like a shithead? I wonder what the cause is? It must be some external factor completely unrelated to you and/or your parenting. Except: No. 

If you're worried about your kid behaving violently because he/she plays violent video games the problem isn't the game(s), the problem is you.

Loss

It's been a difficult time.


Thanks for your birthday wishes last week.

22 Minutes of Heat

Big Cheese sends this to me long, long after it's been available. Why not sooner? Just didn't care enough I guess. Bad friend. So it's a couple years old. But: it is outstanding.

Go here and download it immediately if not sooner: 
http://www.theglitchmob.com/music/2010/12/the-glitch-mob-vs-hype-machine/

And because I know how you like to be kept up to date, go here to listen/download the mixes from 2012:
http://hypem.com/zeitgeist/2012/tracks

And now you can ignore that hot mess until 2014.  People talking about how much people are talking about music? Too meta. Shut up and play the hits.

The People Have Spoken

The Readership (rightly) pointed out that the blog had become a bit one-dimensional.

They also pointed out that it was probably because I don't feel like writing about what's going on with me on the day to day. And it's true: I do not.

I'll broaden the scope of the source material. Here's a short anecdote about Reese the Best Dog in the World:

When it was Ambra's birthday last year we went on a lovely picnic. I got a bunch of fancy cheeses, fruity summer fruits, crackers and some premium wine coolers from the local purveyor of such things and we packed it up made our way to the picnic spot. It was a lovely sunny summer day so we played ball with Reese and she ran and ran, chasing birds around, as was her wont. As part of my special gift to Ambra I agreed to scoop all the poop that day. We were at picnic place for a couple hours and all the activity really seemed to loosen Reese up because she pooped four times. Four times! Healthy poops, too. (I would know.) That girl really knew how to liven up a party. Anyway, we ran out of bags (four poops!) and I had to wrangle the last one with some cardboard and ingenuity. And dignity. As beautiful as the day was, that poop was the opposite. The things you do for love.

It's the little things (again)

I got your back

Here then is my new favorite GIF. It takes a bit to figure out exactly what happens, but they payoff is worth it. Apologies if it takes forever to load on your machine. I tried  few things to reduce load times so hopefully that will balance it out. 

Not What I Expected

Supposedly the secret to a happy, contented life is managing expectation. Since I'm shit at managing expectation I wouldn't know. But it sounds right. It's got the air of truthiness.

Since today is my Special Day I'm going to finish the bag of Mint Milano Cookies that I started at lunchtime. I'll take my victories where I can find them. Beyond that, enh, we'll see.

AAR: Pistol Manipulation 1.0 with Falcon Ops

Blah blah shooting classes blah reports. Needed to write this down so here we are. We'll get back to cats and stuff later on in the week.

------------------------------

If this is tl;dr, here’s a summary:

Take the Pistol Manipulation 1.0 class with Falcon Ops. They care about making you a better shooter and they have the teaching and communication skills to do it.

http://falconops.net/products-page/c...al-pistol-1-0/

Covered the basics of Falcon Ops Carbine 1.0 already so a couple paragraphs from that AAR are copied here. As before: Attempt here is to focus on what isn’t available on their website.

Same guys (Charles ‘Voodoo’ Ferrara, Anson ‘Hollywood’ Beck, plus the other instructors Senior and Hoss; all instructors are credentialed/certified), same range (Prado in Corona, CA). 8 hour course, 500 rounds planned. I will use nicknames because that is what they call each other.

27 students, 4 instructors (more on this shortly).

Cans of dip chewed: Many. If you like guns and dick jokes, spit chew and can follow the four firearm life safety rules then you will be right at home with Falcon Ops. Also popular: the f word.

They swear a lot. Like, a fucking ton. If you can’t handle 4 letter words (8 letter, 16 letter, who can keep track with the way Hollywood talks) then this is maybe not for you. And you would be missing out, because the quality of the instruction is excellent.

What constitutes quality instruction? The ability to effectively communicate and demonstrate complex concepts. At this they excel.

I liked the Falcon Ops training style very much. They want training to be safe, educational and fun. Their presentations are professional, polished and well organized. They run a tight ship, so although the environment is informal it is not casual. They talk about the difference between these two things, and proper attitude, during the mindset portion of the training (which runs throughout the day).

ESSENTIAL GEAR NOT LISTED ON THEIR LOADOUT LIST: Gloves appropriate for shooting. Sunscreen + sweaty hands + hot weather + lots of rounds = slippery hands, even for guys that had guns with custom stippling. Gloves help a lot and if you don’t have them it’s very difficult to unfuck yourself. Practice manipulating your gun with gloves on to make sure that you aren’t a mess when you get to your class.

Favorite joke of the day by far:

Hollywood: Are there any re-enactors here?

Class: [Blank looks]

Hollywood: Re-enactors? Anyone? No one is shooting a 1911? [2 hands go up] Oh, couple guys? Cool.

I about fell over laughing. They didn’t mention the 1911s again after that. As far as I know there were no issues with any of the pistols, 1911 or otherwise, over the course of the day.

Topics covered (from memory, no notes, order may be jumbled because we hit them throughout the day):

• Mindset
• 7 fundamentals of marksmanship as they relate to pistol shooting
• Trigger control (this came up all day long)
• Three Five types of reloads (admin, tactical, emergency, Russian, New York)
• Shooting from low ready
• Shooting from compressed ready
• Drawing from a holster
• Identifying a threat to your right, left, or rear, turning, drawing and shooting

We closed out the day shooting a single-elimination tournament on a dueling tree, which was great fun after a long day. Disappointingly, we didn’t get to finish it due to the class size. Speaking of class size…

Stuff to improve: Class size and instructor/student ratio. Due to a **** up on the website registration code the class was overenrolled by 5 students (about 25%). There was no way to proceed quickly without compromising safety so the pace was slow. No way around it, so some of us got to hone the fundamentals a bit more during drills. Also, we ran short on time at the end. Other than that, wouldn’t change anything.

Looking forward to training with these guys again.