Damn that sucked

In a fitting end to a crap ass season, the Cowboys go down in flames tonight in Seattle.

They played exactly like they played all year. Penalties at BAD times, mental mistakes that cost them 5 points - Glen's fumble into their own end zone and Romo's fumble at the field goal - and a worthless mouthpiece of a reciever who dropped two key 3rd down conversions. Again. Defensive breakdowns. Again. Roy Williams is a helluva hitter. But he can't cover worth a shit. Put 10 pounds on the guy and let him play linebacker next year....

This game was damned painful to watch. On the positive side, I think with 3 easy steps, the Cowboys can be on the road to success:

1. Get rid of Jerry Jones.
2. Get rid of Parcels.
3. Get rid of TO.

Gotta watch those Texas Cheerleaders

I think we can consider ourselves lucky that a killing wasn't involved here. You know how those Texas Cheerleader moms are.

Fat women causing problems

Well, it's now officially a trend. Fat women aren't just overwieght, they are a safety hazard!!

Last month, we had an American Airlines flight diverted to Nashville because a reportedly large woman was having flatulance problems.
Now, we hear of a report where a "large" woman trapped a group of spelunkers for 12 hours after she "fell in a "splits position" and couldn't get back up."

How'd you like to be the fellow to grease her up and lift her out, eh?

"We used liquid paraffin to grease the surface area and a pulley to lift her," Mr Gerstner said."

It's yet another example of a PC world gone crazy. Rather than stick by their guns and not let the fat lady go on the tour - as they advised before she started, they gave in, stating that "he told Johannesburg's Independent newspaper that the tour guide also told the woman that she should reconsider before she reached the tunnels. "The woman was extremely offended. We will have to be a lot more stringent with people," he said."

Anyway, keep your eyes out for those "problem" patrons!

First female Beefeater appointed

A woman has become the Tower of London's first ever female Beefeater.

I seriously doubt that.

Utah risks loosing its best teachers

Before they change the title of the article, yes, that's an actual headline.

What they don't understand is that, if they only maintain the current course, mediocre teachers will be all that are left in this state.

Looks like it's too late.

9 Body Parts You Didn't Know Had Names

Read this, or I'll poke you in your glabella.

JR sloshing around in the mud

Here's a little vid of JR working his way through a field course this weekend. Not too shabby for an old man.

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.

The Kids are Home from College

The boy's home from OU, and all his other friends are in town, too. He asked if he could have a few friends over. There were about 20 when I went to sleep last night.

Pictured is the aftermath. There was a note promising clean-up, whenever he woke up. So...about 3pm, I expect. Personally, I think they're vampires.

Parachutist survives fall

And tell me again why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane??

Ever think if you wanted to give parachuting a try, like these blokes?

His ordeal was witnessed by John Siddles, a local man, and his 18-year-old son, Adam. The pair were at a nearby lookout watching the parachutists to decide if they wanted to try it themselves.

Great timing, don't you think?

“We drove to the site where the skydiver landed and asked if we could help, but fellow skydivers had landed nearby and had things under control. It was a bit yucky. We decided it’s not for us.”

Terror alert for England

As if it weren't bad enough that the muslims are blowing themselves up during Ramadan. Now we've got to worry that they're going to be blowing themselves up during Christmas too.

This report seems to go hand in hand with Newsweek's article on the "12 brothers" that have been training with AQ in Pakistan.

Luckily for us though, the Democrats are just about officially in power in Washington and they'll keep us safe and sound.

Flu pandemic could kill up to 81 million people

Just in time for the holidays, MSNBC resorts to fear-mongering and hysteria. Why report on an influenza pandemic? Because the threat of one currently exists? Nah. Just because - it's a slow news day. Here's some more hard-hitting journalism:

One surprise in the new study was the huge variation in how different countries would be affected by a pandemic. The study estimates that 96 percent of the deaths would occur in the developing world. Murray and colleagues noted there was a 30-fold or more variation in mortality.

Okay - everyone that's surprised by this factoid, please raise your hands. Noboby? Yeah, I thought so. That's because mud-eating hut-dwellers don't have access to simple things like basic sanitation, running water, and medical care. Here's some more research from Doctor Obvious and company:

Another question is the impact a flu pandemic would have on those infected with HIV. Seasonal influenza exacts a heavy toll on those with weakened immune systems. So, in the case of a new pandemic flu, Murray’s estimate might be optimistic.

Wait - do you mean to tell me that SICK people are more prone to dying from influenza? Shocked, I am.

And what's the referential disease in this article, the main reason for this needless "don't panic!" article? Why, the well-known, deadly H5N1 bird flu, which has killed...um...tens of people. In third-world countries, where chickens live in the same domiciles as those infected.

What a waste of my time to blog this. Sheesh.

Basic AR operation

Cute little video; good for showing a brand new shooter how the AR works.

Plus, she's really cute!