| Prevail, but never presume. Prevail, but never boast. Prevail, but never exult. |
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| In addition to being Good Friday, |
[Mar. 21st, 2008|08:19 am] |
Johann Sebastian Bach: March 21, 1685 – July 28, 1750
To whom I am personally indebted, for it was his music that inspired me to begin studying the organ again.
He is commemorated in Lutheran Churches on 28 July. |
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| POTW |
[Mar. 5th, 2008|09:00 am] |
Cascade Mountains |
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| POTD #30 |
[Sep. 19th, 2007|05:05 pm] |
Glass #1. 24. May, 2006. |
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| POTD #29 |
[Sep. 18th, 2007|09:28 am] |
Great Wall of China. Basel, Switzerland. 27. September, 2005 |
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| POTD #28 |
[Sep. 17th, 2007|04:12 pm] |
Vertigo. 27. September, 2005 |
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| Brilliant! |
[Sep. 14th, 2007|06:19 pm] |
One part of combating terrorist organizations often overlooked by the public is cutting off their funding. After all, it's not nearly so exciting as the military aspect, and "unfreeze the bank accounts!" makes for a truly lousy protest slogan.
So while the actions of the Treasury may not grab headlines, this isn't to say that attacking your enemies' pocketbooks can't be bold, dramatic and devastating. Here is an example of an utterly delicious stratagem:
In December 1568 four Spanish ships took refuge from pirates in Plymouth and Southampton. They were carrying between them £85,000 packed in chests, which were being sent to Alva to pay his troops.
The Duke of Alva was the Spanish commander in the revolting provinces of the Netherlands, whose aim was to subjugate them, both religiously and economically, for Spain, which was currently the dominant power in Europe. Fighting was fierce and the English had religious and economic ties to the Netherlands. Moreover, relations with Spain were none too friendly.
The contents of the chests and their destination became known to the Privy Council, and another fact also: that the money, which had been advanced by Genoese bankers, was the bankers' property until Alva had received it. The bankers' London agent, when sounded, said warmly that the English Queen's [Elizabeth I's] credit was much better than that of the King of Spain, whereupon Elizabeth announced that she herself was borrowing the gold; the chests were disembarked and brought up to the Tower.
The Duke of Alva, who desperately needed the money, responded by seizing the English merchants in the Netherlands as well as their goods. Elizabeth then did the same to the Spanish merchants in England, who were far richer. Dutch ports were closed to English ships, so the English moved their booming trade elsewhere.
In 1575, Spain declared bankruptcy. One year later the Spanish troops would mutiny.
Current reading: Elizabeth the Great, by Elizabeth Jenkins. |
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| POTD #27 |
[Sep. 14th, 2007|01:35 pm] |
Grandma Sighting a Mortar. 27. May, 2005 |
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| POTD #26 |
[Sep. 12th, 2007|01:08 pm] |
Spirits. 12. March, 2005 |
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| POTD #25 |
[Sep. 11th, 2007|12:48 pm] |
Artsy-Fartsy Self-Portrait No. 2.
This is what happens when you have interesting lighting and no interesting subjects. |
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| POTD #24 |
[Sep. 10th, 2007|09:04 pm] |
Artsy-Fartsy Self-Portrait. 27. July, 2006.
Mostly, I just liked the way the light was coming in through the blinds. I had an east-facing window, so I had to leave them down all morning. |
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| Idiot California Drivers |
[Sep. 9th, 2007|02:22 pm] |
I was driving home along the highway last night, and as I enter the tunnel in the right lane I notice the car in the center lane is acting funny: erratic acceleration, not maintaining lane very well and swerving to correct, aso. I don't want to get sideswiped by this clown, so I ease off the gas and hang back a bit.
Good thing I did, because the instant we leave the tunnel a large glass beverage bottle comes sailing out the passenger window and narrowly misses my car.
I think using a mobile phone while driving is Bad Idea, but I was willing to make an exception in this case, and gave the cops a description of the car and his (California) plate number.
Jerk. |
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| Ammo shopping. |
[Sep. 7th, 2007|05:35 pm] |
I haven't been shooting my Model 19 much because I only had two boxes of .38spl ammo. I decided to solve that today. I asked the friendly folks at my local gun store about buying bulk from them, and they quoted me $250 for a 1000 round case, at a discount of $.50 per box. That works out to $0.25 per cartridge.
Looking in the Cabela's catalog, the cheapest price for bulk .38spl ammo is $250 for 1200 rounds, or $0.208 per cartridge. That seems like a significant savings ($42) until shipping is factored in, adding at least another $20. That brings the price per cartridge closer to $0.225, or even higher if I'm too conservative in my shipping estimate. So by ordering it in the mail, I'm only saving $0.025 per round.
So for two and a half pennies a cartridge, it isn't worth it to me to have to wait for it to arrive. Cabela's doesn't need my business, and I'm happy to support my local shop.
More happily, I now have a drybox full of revolver food and clear weather predicted for the next several days. Would anyone care to join me? |
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| POTD #23 |
[Sep. 7th, 2007|01:40 pm] |
For non-German speakers: Go to bed with a good book, or at least with someone who has read one recently.
Reutlingen, Germany. 22. January, 2006
I only went to Reutlingen because I didn't know any better. |
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| POTD #22 |
[Sep. 6th, 2007|04:18 pm] |
Ampelkinder. Berlin, Germany. 5. June, 2006 |
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| POTD #21: Posting on European Time |
[Sep. 4th, 2007|09:26 pm] |
It's still Tuesday here, but I'm posting Wednesday's photo a bit early because I will have the pleasure of spending all day tomorrow with the fair and beautiful Lady A.
Astoria, Oregon. 25. March, 2005.
Original image available upon request. (1600 x 1200, 641.2 kb). Send an email to the address in my profile, referencing the POTD number. |
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| Range Report |
[Sep. 4th, 2007|08:58 pm] |
I took my K-22 out today. Plinked a bit, shot some rapid-fire groups at paper, made some minor adjustments to my stance and trigger squeeze, and decided to finish by seeing what kind of slow-fire group I could achieve.
Loaded five, stepped back to my normal practice distance (~15-18 yards, I haven't measured), aimed, and began firing (DA). I can see as I shoot that I am making a tight group.
I go up and examine it. Less than an inch!
Can I do it again? Load five, step back, aim, fire...looking good...
One flier this time, but again a sub-one-inch group.
Needless to say, I'm thrilled with this performance. I've only been shooting handguns regularly since, oh, last year, and only been seriously practicing since mid-June.
What bugs me is that these are better groups than I can get with a rifle from prone at 25 yards. I really need to work on that. |
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| POTD #20 |
[Sep. 4th, 2007|05:26 pm] |
Bison. January, 2007. |
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