As I sit here trying to unpack my library back into the house that we now get to keep, I came across Jimmy Buffet's TALES FROM MARGARITAVILLE. The man is a terrifically talented writer, not to mention awesome musician. He's an idol of mine. I highly recommend reading whatever you can get your hands on that he's written, but the above is a classic.
In the story, "ARE YOU READY FOR FREDDY?" Buffett lays out six lessons of life, taught to him by an old musician on tour. Given the emotional roller coaster that we have been on the last three months with baby, life, job, etc. I had sort of forgotten about these. I shouldn't have. I reprint them here, just so you too can partake of this wisdom. I had promised myself that when I became a lawyer, I was going to get these put on a plaque on my desk. It hasn't happened yet, but I'll get it there eventually. I'm highlighting the ones that I think are of particular importance. Oh what the heck. I actually have to highlight them all, now that I'm reading them again. They're all equally important. Forgive the crudity contained herein, but they're his words, not mine.
Without further ado:
"Lesson One: Never forget--they are always the enemy.
"Lesson Two: Just remember, assholes are born that way, and they usually don't change.
"Lesson Three: You do not want to go to jail.
"Lesson Four: When you start to take this job seriously, you're in trouble.
"Lesson Five: It takes no more time to see the good side of life than it takes to see the bad.
"Lesson Six: If you decide to run with the ball, just count on fumbling and getting the shit knocked out of you a lot, but never forget just how much fun it is to be able to run with the ball."
Words of wisdom, indeed.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Dead Eye
Porta's Cat has an interesting link to an article about one of the deadliest gunmen to have lived.
D.A. Bryce was truly an amazing man. Sometimes when I think I'm a decent pistol shot, I'll read things like this to get humble again.
It is of interest to note that he was the basis for a character in HOT SPRINGS, by Stephen Hunter.
I hope everyone out there had a Merry Christmas, and will hopefully have a happy New Year's as well.
I'll be posting a bit more once things have settled down, but it's been beyond hectic lately. By the grace of God, we've survived.
More on that as we pick up the pieces and jump into 2007.
D.A. Bryce was truly an amazing man. Sometimes when I think I'm a decent pistol shot, I'll read things like this to get humble again.
It is of interest to note that he was the basis for a character in HOT SPRINGS, by Stephen Hunter.
I hope everyone out there had a Merry Christmas, and will hopefully have a happy New Year's as well.
I'll be posting a bit more once things have settled down, but it's been beyond hectic lately. By the grace of God, we've survived.
More on that as we pick up the pieces and jump into 2007.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
The Eternal Debate Over Calibers
Check out this thread on Handgunforum.net regarding caliber effectiveness, 9mm, .380, and .45.
Bottom line: there's a difference, but not all that much. What it really comes down to is shot placement, in my opinion.
So if you shoot one caliber better than another, use it. You're more likely to make a stopping hit with it.
I mean, really. 9mm's are a bit smaller than .45's, but not all that much. How much REAL difference is it going to make?
Anyway, a fun discussion one way or the other. Gun aficionados are encouraged to join in the fun.
Bottom line: there's a difference, but not all that much. What it really comes down to is shot placement, in my opinion.
So if you shoot one caliber better than another, use it. You're more likely to make a stopping hit with it.
I mean, really. 9mm's are a bit smaller than .45's, but not all that much. How much REAL difference is it going to make?
Anyway, a fun discussion one way or the other. Gun aficionados are encouraged to join in the fun.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
More Theoretical Physics
Kim Du Toit links a great piece about gravity actually being faster than light. Interesting theory. If true, I guess that means Einstein's theory of relativity is somewhat incorrect, since there is a force in our dimension that can actually travel faster than light.
Anyway, worth some thought. I've always wondered what the physical mechanism of gravity actually is. We know it's there, we can see it work, but how does it affect things on an atomic level?
Anyway, worth some thought. I've always wondered what the physical mechanism of gravity actually is. We know it's there, we can see it work, but how does it affect things on an atomic level?
Sunday, December 10, 2006
@*!hole
Read this post over at Kim Du Toit's website. Then tell me the Democrats are all about bi-partisanship.
It's war between the parties and ideologies. We seem to have forgotten that. I promise you the Democrats have not.
This one is just honest about it.
It's war between the parties and ideologies. We seem to have forgotten that. I promise you the Democrats have not.
This one is just honest about it.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Bureaucracy and Politics--The Bane Of Doing The Right Thing
This is just a random thought that I had earlier, after watching Jack Bauer interrogate somebody on 24, Season Five. One has lots of random thoughts watching Jack Bauer interrogate someone. Usually, they're along the lines of, "thank the lord that's not me he's asking questions of." You have to like the guy's style, though. He gets results.
What keeps our politicians from doing the right thing? Anybody with two brain neurons to rub together can look at our border and know what the right thing to do is. Close it. Build a wall. End of discussion. Why isn't it getting done?
There are a couple of explanations, at least. We won't go into all of them here. One is that politics prevents it from happening. Neither party wants to hack off the Hispanic voters, figuring rightly they'll control the majority of votes in this country in the next ten years. The fact this can be prevented by a nice big wall really torques me, but that's another story altogether. So, politics prevents us from doing the right thing.
Bureaucracy seems to prevent people from doing the right thing on occasion. When they system makes doing the right thing overburdensome, problematic, and just plain painful, things don't get done.
Political correctness seems to get in the way of doing the right thing. When we can't engage in racial profiling to help stop terrorism, we're in trouble. The Swedes aren't bombing our airplanes, so give them a pass. Neither are the Finnish people blowing themselves up to kill infidels. So why is it a big deal when a man wearing Muslim garb, carrying a Koran, and chanting, "Allu Ackbar" pulled out of line at the airport? That doesn't bother me in the least. Sorry if it inconveniences him, but I'll feel safer if every orfice in his body has gotten a fiberoptic camera shoved in it before he gets on my airplane. If enough of his people don't like it, perhaps they'll start pressuring their leaders to knock it off. Maybe it sucks if the search victim isn't of a mind to kill some infidels, but the rest of us will be safer. Sorry, it's just the right thing to do.
So why is doing the right thing so hard? Why are common-sense measures frowned upon? Why has the process become more important than the results?
Just a thought. I'd like to delve further into speculation about things that prevent us from doing the right thing in this world.
What keeps our politicians from doing the right thing? Anybody with two brain neurons to rub together can look at our border and know what the right thing to do is. Close it. Build a wall. End of discussion. Why isn't it getting done?
There are a couple of explanations, at least. We won't go into all of them here. One is that politics prevents it from happening. Neither party wants to hack off the Hispanic voters, figuring rightly they'll control the majority of votes in this country in the next ten years. The fact this can be prevented by a nice big wall really torques me, but that's another story altogether. So, politics prevents us from doing the right thing.
Bureaucracy seems to prevent people from doing the right thing on occasion. When they system makes doing the right thing overburdensome, problematic, and just plain painful, things don't get done.
Political correctness seems to get in the way of doing the right thing. When we can't engage in racial profiling to help stop terrorism, we're in trouble. The Swedes aren't bombing our airplanes, so give them a pass. Neither are the Finnish people blowing themselves up to kill infidels. So why is it a big deal when a man wearing Muslim garb, carrying a Koran, and chanting, "Allu Ackbar" pulled out of line at the airport? That doesn't bother me in the least. Sorry if it inconveniences him, but I'll feel safer if every orfice in his body has gotten a fiberoptic camera shoved in it before he gets on my airplane. If enough of his people don't like it, perhaps they'll start pressuring their leaders to knock it off. Maybe it sucks if the search victim isn't of a mind to kill some infidels, but the rest of us will be safer. Sorry, it's just the right thing to do.
So why is doing the right thing so hard? Why are common-sense measures frowned upon? Why has the process become more important than the results?
Just a thought. I'd like to delve further into speculation about things that prevent us from doing the right thing in this world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)