Lost in Translation......

Oh god this was funny!!

Simon's Cat in 'Fowl Play'

A tad late but still funny

SHOT show 2012

picture from armsbook.ca

Went to the Shot show this year with some friends, this is my third time, so somewhat used to it, the first time going for a shooter is like being a kid in a candy shop! I really enjoy going as it is so totally different than working in a government office, listening to small business owners talk about idea's, buying, selling, importing, exporting, regulations and what will happen next in the economy is refreshing and quite educational.

The show is divided into a few large groupings, the main floor is the big names like Ruger, Smith and Wesson, Remington and Winchester to name a few. Downstairs is the small businesses, this is where the real gems are, everyone down there has a better mousetrap or at least a better price on the widgets than someone else. Off to the side our the special sections for military and law enforcement.

The show was held at the Sands expo in Las Vegas and will likely be near for the next few years.
One thing I have noticed over the last 3 shows I have gone through (2008,2010 and 2012) is that women are becoming a force to be reckoned with.

picture from womanofuspsa.com

 The women I see see there are increasingly more involved with both shooting and the business side, this is reflected in the marketing that is going on. While a large group of retailers think all they have to do is put some of their products in pink, others are going far greater lengths to redesign their products to match the physique of the average woman. This explains the rocketing popularity of pocket pistols which are light, easy to concel and easier for most women to grasp and operate.

Around 61,000 people came to the show and there was over 1600 exhibitors. What I found to my surprise is that despite the economy and growing concerns for another hard recession, the firearm industry is booming (pun intended).
Some of the interesting highlights I saw are:

Turkish bling guns

Lots of air rifles

The "Rhino" revolver, unique as it fires from the bottom of the cylinder rather than the top, this reduces "muzzle flip".

How about some $257,000 shotguns, made by Perazzi The scary part is this is their "mid-range priced guns"  . they also have a set for over $400,000!!  They asked me if I wanted to hold one and I said no, if I dropped it I would have to sell the house to pay for it!!!!

Now this is the latest in Scottish high fashion, Bullet proof vests in the tartan of your choice!

Some interesting and novel shotgun slugs.

Zombies are all the rage right now, zombie ammo, zombie knives, zombie targets, zombie grips, everyone and anyone who could work the zombie angle did.

The show is wheelchair friendly, this one costs over $20,000 and uses 6 gyroscopes to stay stable.

T

What do cupcakes and Lightsabres have in common?

What do cupcakes and Lightsabres have in common? Apparently they are both weapons according to TSA.

Did you hear about TSA and the cupcake?


That’s right, two week ago guards in Las Vegas took a frosted cupcake away from a woman named Rebecca Hains as she prepared to board a flight to Boston. The frosting, you see, was “gel-like” and thus a potential security threat.


I’m really not sure how to approach this one, other than to weep uncontrollably.


According to a Transportation Security Administration spokesperson the confiscation was in error — the work of an overzealous (or maybe just hungry) screener. “In general, cakes and pies are allowed in carry-on luggage,” said the spokesperson. Still, I don’t know if that makes it OK. That we can use the words “cupcake” and “security” in the same sentence is a bright red flag that something is very, very wrong in America. TSA says the incident is “under review.” I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that meeting.


This is yet more fodder, of course, for my American Hysteria Hall of Shame. The hall isn’t limited to airport security foibles, but clearly TSA is gunning for the bronze, the silver and the gold. Operation Cupcake joins a pretty fat list:


TSA confiscates a butter knife from an airline pilot. TSA confiscates a teenage girl’s purse with an embroidered handgun design. TSA confiscates a 4-inch plastic rifle from a GI Joe action doll on the grounds that it’s a “replica weapon.” TSA confiscates a liquid-filled baby rattle from airline pilot’s infant daughter. TSA confiscates a plastic “Star Wars” lightsaber from a toddler.

Read the rest at : http://www.salon.com/2012/01/04/what_do_cupcakes_and_lightsabers_have_in_common/singleton/

2011 going out with a bang!

courtesy of Castle Arrrgh and the CanadianArmyNews

(I miss making things go bang!)

Thou shall sweep away all that oppose you!!

Only in the ME could you find 3 groups of priests from basically the same religion get into a broom fight over cleaning a church! Seems 100 Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic priests had a turf war on who gets to clean which part of the Church of Nativity they get to clean. Although it seems their religious zeal is a double edge sword as the state of repair of the church is quite bad, as seen in this wiki quote:


The present state of the church is worrying. Many roof timbers are rotting, and have not been replaced since the 19th century. The rainwater that seeps into the building not only accelerates the rotting of the wood and damages the structural integrity of the building, but also damages the 12th-century wall mosaics and paintings. The influx of water also means that there is an ever-present chance of an electrical fire. If another earthquake were to occur on the scale of the one of 1834, the result would most likely be catastrophic. ... It is hoped that the listing will encourage its preservation, including getting the three custodians of the church - the Greek Orthodox Church, the Armenian Orthodox Church, and the Franciscan order - to work together, which has not happened for hundreds of years. The Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority would also have to work together to protect it.[2][3]


In 2010, the Palestinian Authority announced that a multi-million dollar restoration program was imminent.[4][5]


It's pretty sad when the Israelis and Palestinians have to tell you to get along......

Top Gear - The North Pole Expedition

Two middle aged men, deeply unfit, mostly drunk. Show off an inconvenient truth.

Courtesy of SDA

Santa Baby By Eartha Kitt

A very Merry Christmas to you and all of your family. Now I understand why my parents where so tired Christmas morning....

I await the massed protests

So the Muslim world protests loudly about cartoons allegedly showing the Prophet (the fact that no one knows what the Prophet looks like is not important), they protest at the slightest hint of insult by the West. So I await their massed protest where the Taliban kill people by bombing a mosque, seems a holy place is not so holy when you need to kill someone.

 A suicide bomber killed six Afghans, including a district police chief, in an attack at a mosque in the eastern province of Kunar, a known haven for the Taliban and al Qaeda.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed vest as worshippers were leaving the mosque in the district of Ghaziabad.

"The attacker detonated his explosives in the mosque, killing the district police chief, an intelligence officer, two police and two civilians," Kunar's governor told AFP.

The attack is the second suicide bombing at a mosque in Afghanistan this week. On Dec. 6, a suicide bomber killed 54 Afghans at a mosque in Kabul. The Afghans were Shia who were celebrating Ashura. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al Almi, a Pakistan-based terror group allied with the Taliban and al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban have carried out numerous attacks at mosques in the past, including the assassination of Kunduz's governor in the province of Takhar on Oct. 8, 2010, and more recently, a suicide bombing that killed seven people, including a local police commander, in an attack at a mosque in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan on Nov. 6.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/12/suicide_bomber_kills_62.php#ixzz1hIDjDWwg

Signs and foreign body language (Philippines example)

I fully agree with this fellow, body language is far more important than many realize. A few examples I picked up in Malaysia is pointing, which is done by pointing a loose fist toward the object with the thumb on top in the direction of the object, but not protruding past the knuckle. If towards a person, it's more of a general direction rather than right at the person. When passing between people, you bend forward slightly when walking with  your right arm extended out and your left arm behind your back. Hands should flat with forward hand's thumb on top.
Another example is greetings, you gently touch the hand of the person you are greeting (if of the same sex) and then place that hand on your chest over your heart. Normally done to the elders first, the people clearly younger than you will show their deference/respect by bringing their head to your hand and then touching their chest.
If you are a fairly tall person, just remember your height may create a tension and might be felt like intimidation if you are to close.