Tick, tick, tick...

Ghost-Riding: Brake-Dancing With Zip Under the Hood

My college-age son introduced me to the phrase "ghost-riding the whip" a couple of weeks ago, and explained to me all the intricacies of how the Bay-Areas hip-hopsters made this all the rage. In a nutshell, your car is stopped, but not in gear, and moving at an idle. You jump out of the car, and "get stupid" (yes, using quotes like that makes me feel really old). A "whip" is a car, btw. I tried explaining this phenomenon to my friends a week or so ago, but it got mostly mangled in the translation. Imagine my elation that the Washington Post has decided to report on this.

To ghost-ride, the driver climbs out of the car while it's moving at low speed. The ghost-rider then busts a move around and on top of the vehicle, usually accompanied by a thumping soundtrack from the car (or "whip," in urban slang). What they're attempting is to make the dance steps as gaudy and elaborate as possible and to stay outside the car as long as possible.

At least the Post is as uncool as I am.

The origins of this whole thing has its roots in the "hyphy" movement. Yeah, that's what I said, too. Here's the Post's explanation:

Hyphy (derived from "hyperactive") is also bass-heavy hip-hop music that celebrates things such as "thizz" (the drug Ecstasy); "scrapers," which are large, late-'80s domestic makes like Buick LeSabres and Oldsmobile Cutlasses; and oversize sunglasses, called "stunner shades."

All of that is referenced in the hyphy anthem, "Tell Me When to Go," by the Oakland rapper E-40 (sample printable lyric: "Ghost-ride the whip / Now . . . Scrape / Put your stunna shades on / Now . . . Gas, brake, dip, dip"). The song was on the album "My Ghetto Report Card," which topped Billboard's R&B and hip-hop chart this year.

Is it stupid, dangerous, and a waste of time? Bet yer ass it is. That's why it's popular.

"It's a fantastic waste of time, and it's really funny," says Andy Shields, a college student from the Chicago area who tried ghost-riding with some classmates this month. The stunt was in an empty school parking lot in Casey, Ill., during a recent road trip. As a buddy rolled tape, Shields car-surfed at about 3 mph atop a friend's Chevy Suburban.

Shields enjoyed the ride so much he's hoping to repeat it -- on a combine or a cement mixer.

I suppose we should thank the hyphy movement for helping to thin the herd. Darwin would be proud.

Woman Accidentally Shoots Self At Gun Range

A woman at a range in Oklahoma City was practicing her shooting, when a hot shell casing fell down the front of her shirt. The Girl can testify to the wisdom of NOT wearing a V-cut shirt to the range. So, she did what anyone would do in her situation:

She jumped as the hot metal touched her skin and reached for her chest. Police said that's when she accidentally shot herself in the leg.

Oh, wait - no. That's actually the wrong thing to do, huh? Of course, the range owner was quick to point out that this sort of thing was pretty mundane:

"Of course, we train for this, but unbeknownst to us, we had a gentlemen on the range who was a trained EMT. (He) took care of it immediately, and even though it was a shooting, it was actually very minimal," said H&H Gun Range owner Miles Hall.

Hall said the woman was embarrassed more than anything else.

Yeah, and he doesn't want to be sued more than anything else. Just a minor shooting, nothing to see here, move along...

Santa Brought Me Bullets!

These are some rounds I made with the .40 180g Hornady Action Pistol bullets (also pictured) that Santa brought. They're over 4.3g of TiteGroup, and using Federal small pistol primers in recovered brass/nickel, with an overall length of 1.135". I understand these bullets were very popular with the USPSA crowd until some competitors came along (Zero, Precision Delta, etc.). The HAP bullets cost $101/1000 rounds, whereas the Zero and company come in around $80-85/1000. I got gift certificates to Midway USA, so I decided to try the HAP. It's a nice jacketed hollow point, without the expansion cannelures that many of the other (similar) bullets have. They claim that expansion is pretty silly on cardboard, and this makes them more accurate. Whatever - as long as I can make holes in the targets. I also like that there's no lead exposed on the base - it's fully jacketed, which means less lead and smoke.

I'll be trying these out on Saturday at our match, and I'll follow back with a report.

Finally - I can make video again...

Here's a redux of our Waco weekend shooting.

Gun Porn

Took some Christmas cash and picked up this little dandy today... Ruger 10/22 from Academy; Tasco 3x9x40 scope with mil-dots; Butler Creek carbon fiber bbl; and Hogue overmolded stock. The bipod is an old one that's been layin' around in a box somewhere for a few years... All in all, I'm in for what promises to be a tack driving machine for right around $500. The scope is probably the weak link at the moment, but at under $60; and considering what I'll be using this rifle for (fun!! squirrels...) it'll do just fine.

Now I guess I need to start working on the little project as to how I'm strange for Porta's Cat....

Merry Christmas

On behalf of all of us here at the Tattler, I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Yeah, I know it's old, but it's still a cool video.