tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post5652055625880825438..comments2023-11-10T04:17:00.492-05:00Comments on View From The Porch: Not with a bang, but a whimper.Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285540310465422476noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-28972923494813066842012-06-01T12:25:57.760-04:002012-06-01T12:25:57.760-04:00"people had been working for so many years to..."people had been working for so many years to make the world a safe, organized place. nobody realized how boring it would become. with the whole world property-lined and speed-limited and zoned and taxed and regulated, with everyone tested and registered and addressed and recorded. nobody had left much room for adventure, except maybe the kind you could buy. on a roller coaster. at a movie. still, it would always be that kind of faux excitement. you know the dinosaurs aren't going to eat the kids. the test audiences have outvoted any chance of even a major faux disaster. and because there's no possibility of real disaster, real risk, we're left with no chance for real salvation. real elation. real excitement. Joy. Discovery. Invention.<br />The laws that keep us safe, these same laws condemn us to boredom. <br />Without access to true chaos, we'll never have true peace." Chuck Pahlahniuk- RantAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-80868295012305679332012-05-12T16:20:55.213-04:002012-05-12T16:20:55.213-04:00Dwight Brown: I work in a library, so I just check...Dwight Brown: I work in a library, so I just checked for you. Out of twenty or so titles, only one has not been withdrawn from our system. It's one about fortresses. All of the books about weapon systems have been removed.Robbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16560118564120397935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-61671111471357869292012-05-12T15:27:55.076-04:002012-05-12T15:27:55.076-04:00Will said:
I'm wondering if I'm seeing th...Will said:<br /><br /><i>I'm wondering if I'm seeing the end result of this "total protection" crap. When I run a weed whacker in a public place, the kids and young parental types don't seem to notice it tosses things around. They will walk by within feet of me, if I don't spot them soon enough.<br />I see kids running lawn mowers in flip-flops.<br />It's like they seem to expect the world to be perfectly safe at all times, in all places.</i><br /><br />I think Will above is absolutely right. I suspect it's why people believed what Bernie Madoff was peddling. It <i>had</i> to be on the level, or the SEC would've done something about it....Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04780425923108876647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-23904297921120218152012-05-12T01:13:19.297-04:002012-05-12T01:13:19.297-04:00A childhood friend's dad policed his .22 brass...A childhood friend's dad policed his .22 brass.<br />We took them, and filled them with wooden matchheads, carefully cut out capgun cap centers, and Jetex wick fuse. A quick crimp and voila! makeshift bottle rocket/firecrackers!<br /><br />Now, we'd be labelled terrorists...<br /><br />PS - none of lost an eye, finger or anything!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-53653697642920813012012-05-11T23:33:06.367-04:002012-05-11T23:33:06.367-04:00Umm, sorry.
http://.thedononovan.com/archive/2012...Umm, sorry.<br /><br />http://.thedononovan.com/archive/2012/05/an_empty_bowl_o_1.html<br /><br />Maybe that'll click right.Justthisguyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17277333206171756636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-64765415661452418672012-05-11T23:11:57.364-04:002012-05-11T23:11:57.364-04:00Tam, please see:
http://www.thedonovan.com/archiv...Tam, please see:<br /><br />http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2012/05/an_empty-bowl_o_1.html<br /><br />If the link doesn't work, that's the post at The Donovan's place at 10:52 am, last Saturday, I believe.Justthisguyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17277333206171756636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-78464837818495150002012-05-11T22:42:27.550-04:002012-05-11T22:42:27.550-04:00Ah, Ma'am, you said .22. That makes this a gu...Ah, Ma'am, you said .22. That makes this a gun-nerd post and I will allow m'self to dare to comment. I recall drooling at the ads in the back of Boys' Life in the sixties, imagining that it might be possible to save up enough money to buy a Savage 24. (I still want one; it is the perfect end-of-the-world piece.)<br /><br />I am trying to be careful and inoffensive here, 'specially seeing that it is late at night, att.net is being even more egregiously unreasonably thickheaded and dickheaded than usual lately, and that I have been drinking and am grumpy because Mah Kitteh, good buddy, is missing in action and presumed dead for almost 2 weeks. I think he was about 17. He had a good run.Justthisguyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17277333206171756636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-51963356754925523202012-05-11T17:16:08.109-04:002012-05-11T17:16:08.109-04:00I'm wondering if I'm seeing the end result...I'm wondering if I'm seeing the end result of this "total protection" crap. When I run a weed whacker in a public place, the kids and young parental types don't seem to notice it tosses things around. They will walk by within feet of me, if I don't spot them soon enough.<br />I see kids running lawn mowers in flip-flops.<br />It's like they seem to expect the world to be perfectly safe at all times, in all places.Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00722792638246578812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-67340351341461623562012-05-11T16:05:55.090-04:002012-05-11T16:05:55.090-04:00My friend Brad tried to shoot down a weather ballo...My friend Brad tried to shoot down a weather balloon with a .22 pump while standing on the front steps of our high school during lunch hour. He got yelled at by the principal. This was in about 1970 in a small Texas town. If you tried that these days you'd be lucky to survive to do 7 to 10 in a lovely state facility.JD(not the one with the picture)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08404477489642340522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-31271089479385713672012-05-11T14:26:43.185-04:002012-05-11T14:26:43.185-04:00I miss lawn darts. I miss the old black solid supe...I miss lawn darts. I miss the old black solid superballs.<br /><br />I dropped on off the roof of a parking building in downtown Portland when I was a youngster. That damned thing bounced a good quarter mile, bounced into the center of the Burnside Bridge, and left a dent on on the hood of a Cadillac that I could see from that building top.<br /><br />The police were all over that building as I was walking off.<br /><br />I wonder how I ever avoided reform school ... let alone survived childhood ....Kristophrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08370888276707569365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-72201753823822567192012-05-11T14:05:13.762-04:002012-05-11T14:05:13.762-04:00Sad. In 1975/76, I used to carry our High School R...Sad. In 1975/76, I used to carry our High School Rifle Team's Remington .22LR Target Rifles in and out of the Building for Practice and Meets all the time.<br /><br />If I tried that today, I'd be on the Evening News.Bubblehead Les.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00730873284089958084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-17058082333366943672012-05-11T13:51:24.524-04:002012-05-11T13:51:24.524-04:00The Colby books ruled.
Mike JamesThe Colby books ruled.<br /><br />Mike JamesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-52321143051290207152012-05-11T13:23:50.671-04:002012-05-11T13:23:50.671-04:00I had a chemistry set back in the early 1960's...I had a chemistry set back in the early 1960's that generated hours of fun for me. My parents made me keep it locked up so my goofy sisters couldn't get into it, but that was the total of supervision. When I tried to buy something similar for my daughter in the 1990's, what was available was so lame that I didn't bother. She would have been insulted.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08015544320906146949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-14510995333741940882012-05-11T13:15:06.999-04:002012-05-11T13:15:06.999-04:00In 1987-88 I got a cool new skateboard for Christm...In 1987-88 I got a cool new skateboard for Christmas. We lived near the top of a decent size hill in a fairly quiet suburban development. Within weeks my friends and I were taking turns riding said skateboard down the hill on our backs, X-games style. That was just the evolution from big-wheels to bikes to skateboards. It was well worth the "tortuous" walk/ride back up the hill.JFPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-38693277651215023202012-05-11T11:56:12.129-04:002012-05-11T11:56:12.129-04:00"First, they ban the drop-side cribs (as in: ...<i>"First, they ban the drop-side cribs (as in: it's now illegal to sell one even at a yard sale). Next, draw strings. What's next? Buttons? Zippers? Clothes at all?"</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/05/a-letter-to-dr-montgomery-on-private-practice/" rel="nofollow">Blankets.</a>paxhttp://www.corneredcat.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-12413715957056391342012-05-11T11:37:47.032-04:002012-05-11T11:37:47.032-04:00"Sic transit gloria mundi."
I painted t..."Sic transit gloria mundi."<br /><br />I painted that on the back of my roll around toolbox when I worked in an aircraft factory in 1984-85. I could see it coming then.ASM826https://www.blogger.com/profile/04017388670319590449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-1496130633416381062012-05-11T11:31:45.606-04:002012-05-11T11:31:45.606-04:00Fast Richard:
I wonder if libraries these days ha...Fast Richard:<br /><br />I wonder if libraries these days have <b>any</b> C.B. Colby books.<br /><br />I have fond memories of his work, as that was maybe 90+% of what I checked out of my elementary school libraries.Dwight Brownhttp://www.sportsfirings.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-32918203763756824492012-05-11T11:05:46.425-04:002012-05-11T11:05:46.425-04:00The children today have had their immaginations re...The children today have had their immaginations removed. If it doesn't have a battery and a touch screen it isn't worth having.JimBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05200736126653935817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-21753738504768661742012-05-11T10:52:09.856-04:002012-05-11T10:52:09.856-04:00I suppose the first book I ever checked out of th...I suppose <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Musket-Pistols-Rifles-Machine-Through/dp/069830246X" rel="nofollow"> the first book I ever checked out of the library more than once </a> would be hard to find in the children's section anymore.fast richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05947715402204312013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-75956010236816751782012-05-11T10:51:18.922-04:002012-05-11T10:51:18.922-04:00Have you noticed what the fed.gov has done to gas ...Have you noticed what the fed.gov has done to gas cans?<br />Now they don't even work.doubletroublehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04378163493817522427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-15303616620306769012012-05-11T10:42:14.775-04:002012-05-11T10:42:14.775-04:00Our collapse will last another 20 years.Our collapse will last another 20 years.SGBhttp://seriousgun.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-43235048382155360962012-05-11T10:34:19.267-04:002012-05-11T10:34:19.267-04:00I guess lawn-darts won't be coming back to the...I guess lawn-darts won't be coming back to the shelves any time soon hunh?Robbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16560118564120397935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-70007587254988005462012-05-11T10:33:26.350-04:002012-05-11T10:33:26.350-04:00I lament that many kids don't get to hang out ...I lament that many kids don't get to hang out in their neighborhoods anymore. many of them don't even want to. The last vestiges of the age of all day bike journeys, and skinned knees without an adult nearby breathing down their necks is fading away in a cloud of angst.<br /><br />When my niece and nephew come over to danger castle in the kingdom of scruffy the goodish, they have a blast. They love their uncle and his place nearly as much as I love having them around. At home in condoville its mostly supervised "structured activities" and "play dates" but at my place we do stuff, and make stuff, and break stuff, and climb over, under, and through yet more stuff.<br /><br />We don't just make paper planes we go the extra mile and attach little homemade Black powder rocket pods to them. We shoot stuff, blow other stuff up, catch lizards, fish for spiders, whistle talk with various birds, and tromp through the bush watching out for imaginary bears. We hunt the elusive "super frog" who lives in the murky algal depths of our "dangerous" defunct pool and feed the king of frog's babies (tadpoles) with leaves and flowers that are transformed into ice cream and salad greens...Super frog's babies do not like coconuts.<br /><br />At other times the 'death pool' or a nearby pond becomes an ocean upon which they sail paper, tape, and tin foil boats they've constructed in the shipyard that adjoins the plane factory which doubles as the pool cabana/bunker...When they play battleship, they really play battleship. As such, they've figured out how to use gravel as both ballast and naval gunfire. The ubiquitous coconut is of course a nuke.<br /><br />Anyway, the munchkins get to choose their own coconuts (they're too underfootish to swing a machete yet or shimmy up a palm tree) and have learned to discern which ones will have the best meat or sweetest water. The dog loves him some coconut water on a hot day.<br /><br />They also plant random seeds they've found and measure their growth at every visit. Overall, they're little rugged geniuses who'd in a less enlightened place might very well be medicated into submission. <br /><br />The only time they spend inside castle danger is to help make their lunch, watch old pirate movies, talk story, throw various things around recklessly, or play grand games of hide n' seek where sneakiness is encouraged.<br /><br />I feel sorry for the many kids who, in the name of safety, never get to engage their faculties or learn n' earn their limits with any level of self-assured accuracy. These two munchkins will not be among them.RLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06480404738796721705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-25571966804590355992012-05-11T10:10:26.076-04:002012-05-11T10:10:26.076-04:00The death of the drawstring industry is going to c...The death of the drawstring industry is going to collapse the economy!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15907727.post-57680165796458605262012-05-11T10:06:20.497-04:002012-05-11T10:06:20.497-04:00First, they ban the drop-side cribs (as in: it'...First, they ban the drop-side cribs (as in: it's now illegal to sell one even at a yard sale). Next, draw strings. What's next? Buttons? Zippers? Clothes at all?Heroditus Huxleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11049569750742829144noreply@blogger.com