Triggered by memories.

Remember those toy guns in the '70s-'80s that shot the little plastic discs? I swear HK straight-up copied that trigger for the VP70.

— Tamara K. (@TamSlick) July 29, 2022

Not Great, But Not Terrible

I don't get the people who run around rating books or movies with all five star or one star reviews. 

I mean, to me, a five star review is for award-winning stuff: "This movie deserved its Best Picture Oscar!" or "This book is a future classic of its genre and will be on recommended reading lists in decades to come."

Conversely, a one star book better have hit the wall on the far side of the room at least once before I finished it...assuming I gritted it out 'til the end in the first place, and a one star movie should be too wretched even for MST3K to roast; utterly devoid of redeeming qualities.

Heck, in my personal rating system it's an unusually good author who can maintain four star quality across any kind of lengthy output. Staying in my genre-fiction bailiwick, even Pratchett or Bujold occasionally phoned in a three star contractual obligations novel. 

Three stars is where the bulk of entertainment lives anyway; the movie you watch or the book you read only once, feel you've gotten your money's worth, but don't really feel any need to revisit in the future. Two stars is the bad stuff that you steer people away from.

Meta-retconned

I mean, they dId retroactively edit an episode…to fix a continuity error.

— Tamara K. (@TamSlick) July 28, 2022

I mean, the Duffer Brothers did edit past episodes in order to fix a continuity error, as mentioned in the article. But the original Reddit feces-fest about a deleted scene? That was just the internet being the internet.

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"We can fix it in post..."

Like, way, wayyyy in post.

Specifically, the Duffer Brothers have been doing a bit of retrospective editing in earlier seasons of Stranger Things, and some on the internet are seething.

Apparently the only way to see an unedited Season 1 in its original form now is on DVD or Blu-Ray.

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Supermoto

Some riders are like "Are you taking my picture?"

Others get totally into it.

Canon EOS 1D MkIII & EF 24-105mm f/4L IS.

QotD: You're Only Human Edition

This Shay Khatiri quote is money.

“Those who claim to live with perfect moral and intellectual consistency either do not know their own hearts, or they have not lived enough to encounter their contradictions.”

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) July 26, 2022

*taps toe impatiently*

We're about a month out from the latest episode of the Frontlines series*, Centers of Gravity, automagically showing up on my kindlemaschinen. Tapping my toe faster doesn't seem to be causing it to show up any sooner.

*My suggestion for a name for the series, "Plural Noun of an Abstract Noun", went over like a lead balloon.

Automotif CCCXXVIII...

I'd seen this classic roadster zipping around the neighborhood last October and got some photos of it tooling past on 54th, but when I saw it pull into the Fresh Market parking lot yesterday while I was eating lunch, I scooped up the Nikon D800 and jogged across the street.

You can see how tiny this thing is relative to the parking space. It's about the same length and height as an original Miata, but almost an entire foot narrower.

It's a dictionary-definition real roadster, too. My BMW Z3 may claim to be a roadster (it actually says as much on the scuff plates in the door sills) but it has a built-in folding top, which makes it a convertible by definition.

The TR3, on the other hand, is a true roadster: an open car with only rudimentary weather protection. Namely, it has a sort of pup-tent apparatus of bows and sheeting that can be erected and snapped down in order to, notionally at least, divide the world into the part where it's raining and the part where it's raining a little less...provided you don't drive too fast and have the whole thing blow off the car. 

The driver of this one made it out of Fresh Market and motored off just in time to not wind up wishing he hadn't left the top at home. Well, it might be stowed in the boot, I suppose.

Ah, the towel in the passenger seat! A standard roadster accessory, usually slightly redolent of mildew. It serves a variety of uses, from drying off the driver's seat after an unexpected sprinkling, to emergency backup windshield defogger, to privacy screen for stuff you leave in the passenger footwell while running into the store.

Note the driver snapping cell phone photos to the right!

These pictures, by the way, are all extremely embiggenateable, should you wish, since they were snapped with a 36MP DSLR...

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"Meaningless Increments of Precision"

Don't blame the ad copy writer; they have to put something in there...

[C]arrying a firearm for defense involves selecting a firearm and ammo, which generally involves a gunmaker and ammunition manufacturer having to sell you product. Selling you their product means having to convince you it’s better than the other guy’s, and that usually means numbers.

For handguns intended for concealed carry, this often involves measurements of weight or thickness. Everyone knows that a lighter gun is easier to carry, after all, and a thinner gun will “print” less through a cover garment. But, it’s definitely easy to get lost in the sauce of all the associated marketing hype.

“The Blastomatic 2000 is the slimmest 9 mm double-stack subcompact on the market!” or “The GatMaster Chihuahua is the lightest pocket magnum revolver you can buy!” These are things that make great ad copy—and good filler for a lazy reviewer in a hurry—but how much difference, really, do a couple tenths of an ounce make in a pistol’s concealability? Would you notice the difference .36 ounce makes on your belt or in your coat pocket over the course of a day? But, it’s a number that’s easy to quote and so people will use it to justify a choice.

Picking a carry load because the box flap says that Brand X is 30fps faster than Brand Y is kinda missing the point...

Automotif CCCXXVII...

Here's a 1977 Coupe DeVille in Sable Black.

'77 was the first year of the downsized DeVille, being ten inches shorter and a thousand pounds lighter than the gargantuan '76 models. Careful juggling of dimensions and raising the roofline meant that the smaller car actually had more head- and legroom and a larger trunk than its predecessor. You could still stuff three or four Hoffas back there if you packed right.

The engine was downsized, too, from the old 500cid V8 to a 425-cube motor that put out 180bhp, or 195 with optional fuel injection. The 500 had been so choked by reduced compression and restrictive exhausts that horsepower remained pretty much the same, anyway.

A hot mess.

"Not satisfied with forcing law abiding citizens to play “Am I A Felon yet?” hopscotch while walking down the street, the proposed legislation would also make any private business automatically off-limits for a concealed carrier, without a sign explicitly allowing such. Given the litigious state of the country, and the inherent potential risk of liability, one can easily conclude that this would be a blanket ban in all but name."

The hasty, spiteful legislative clapback rushed to Governor Hochul's desk in response to the Supremes dunking on New York in the Bruen decision is garbage. Fortunately big chunks of it are unlikely to hold up to any legal scrutiny. I guess the state of New York just likes blowing citizens' tax dollars on unnecessary legal fees.

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Bring the (statistical) Noise!

When reading poll data, remember that the Lizardman's Constant is 4%.

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Hey, look!

RECOILweb has my most recent piece from Concealment magazine up in its entirety...

Overheard in Front of the TV...

During Saturday morning cartoon time, great attention is paid here at Roseholme Cottage to the copyright date in the opening credits, as something of an augur or portent for the quality of the cartoon to follow. As an example, this morning...

TV: MCMLXVII

RX: "'67..."

Me: "A time filled with hippies. And communism."

Automotif CCCXXVI...

This all-electric Volvo C40 has 402hp, and sprints to 60 in 4.2 seconds on its way to a 12.9 second quarter.

The only car I've ever owned that would come close to those numbers needed ether squirted down the carb to start on any morning cold enough to need a jacket and idled like a paint mixer. This thing, on the other hand, is invisible in the Fresh Market parking lot; just another grocery getter.

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Automotif CCCXXV...

Here's a 2010-2012 Saab 9-5.

The second generation 9-5 was pretty much the end of the road for Saab Automobile. Built on the same long wheelbase variant of the GM Epsilon II platform as rental fleet stalwarts like the Chevy Malibu and Buick LaCrosse, its Swede-ness is only badge-deep.

Hard to believe Saab's been gone a whole decade now.

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Water...

The weatherman was promising some thunderstorms yesterday around evening rush hour time. I was convinced enough to tote my umbrella along on my afternoon perambulations, thereby ensuring that no rain would materialize, unfortunately.

It was blistering hot, as predicted, and plenty humid, but none of that humidity deigned to fall on the garden, meaning my morning started with the ceremonial lugging of the watering can again. (It's a one gallon can, and I fill separate gallon jug at the same time, so I can halve the number of trips in and out the door.)

It's been a hot, dry summer, but next week is supposed to be pretty rainy. Only a few more days of water lugging and then maybe Mother Nature will pick up the slack for a bit.

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Nice Shootin', Tex.

A new timeline from Greenwood Police show it only took 15 seconds for the Greenwood mall shooting to come to an end.

Police reviewed surveillance video that showed the moments the suspect left the food court bathroom to the time Eli Dicken pulled out his gun, aimed and took out the threat.

Autopsy results also revealed the suspect was hit eight times from about 40 yards away. Police say Dicken fired 10 rounds.

Those numbers are impressing many gun experts and owners.

They're sure impressing me. That's some rock solid shooting any way you slice it.

Can you go 8-out-of-10 in fifteen seconds with your CCW gun at forty yards? Suppose that's what it takes?

Worth thinking about.

"This has been a Public Service Announcement from the Society for Daily Dry Fire Practice."

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Automotif CCCXXIV...

An MGB in its natural habitat, shot with an Olympus E-3 & Zuiko 14-35mm f/2 SWD.

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That’s not how any of this works.

Actually, neither the bad guy nor the citizen who cut his rampage short brought a gun into the mall illegally. 

Carrying a gun into the mall is not a violation of any Indiana law nor any local ordinance in Indiana, no matter how many “NO GUNS“ signs they post.

I would suggest that Zionsville, IN resident Ms. Watts avail herself of one of Guy Relford's Indiana Firearms Law classes.