Rorschach would be proud!

I played with fire yesterday. I had a lot of fun.
Lots of great images were made. I'll only share a few.
Except for the final image and the framing, these are unedited. Be sure to click them for the full sizes and tell me what you see à la Rorschach.

1/400 f/7.1 IOS200

1/200 f/4.5 IOS200

Reaching for air!
1/200 f/2.8 IOS200

Ghost and a candle?
1/400 f/2.8 IOS400

Nuke
1/400 f/2.8 IOS400

SHARK!
1/400 f/2.8 IOS400

Always wanted a parrot...
1/200 f/2.8 IOS400

Preview of next week. :)
1/250 f/2.8 IOS800

Finally... Some fun with CS5.

I going to post my three favorites for my Visualizing May post this week, so if you like these please check that out when it goes up later tomorrow.

Also, one of my new favorite sites is Learn My Shot. It's where I saw this technique first and is definitely worth taking a look at for new (old too) photographers.

Visualizing May...Week 1

First week has gone by and I only really missed one day. This is going to be a rough project.



May 1stLocal church on a rainy night.

1/20 f/1.8 ISO800
Original

May 2ndMiller park - I hate the lights, want to reshoot sometime.

30s f/18 ISO800
Original

May 3rdRandom light fixture at favorite bar

1/30 f/2.8 ISO100

May 4th (Missed)One of my favorite non-humans

1/30 f/1.8 ISO800

May 5thMy other favorite non-human

1/60 f/1.8 ISO2000

May 6thMacro shot of my eyeball

1/80 f/8 ISO3200

May 7thI like shadows.

1/1600 f/2.8 ISO100
Original

Overall the first week is "eh". I have some techniques I'd like to try this week, but would need for some equipment to come in first.

Speaking of equipment: In about three weeks I should be getting a couple new lens's.

Canon 24-70 2.8L

This will replace my Tamron 17-50 2.8 - anyone want to buy it? :)

Canon EF-S 10-22 3.5-4

This will be my new landscape lens. I've wanted an UWA for a while - especially for my APS-C camera, so i think this will be a great match for me until I get a 5D mkII.

May 1st, 2011.

Nine Years, seven months, and twenty days ago two buildings fell down. Osama Bin Laden was one of the primary guys responsible and today it was announced he's dead.

Waldo 1; Osama 0; (But he put up a good fight)

How damn hard was it to catch a 6'5 jihadist carrying around a dialysis machine from cave to cave? /facepalm

Everything has it's pros and cons... America is obsessed with retaliation and retribution - which can be warranted, but it should never be an end goal and should never cause someone to lose sight of the real threat. Osama the man wasn't a threat, it was the ideas he represented and after him is another 200 folks in line for his job.

I have an eye-for-an-eye mentality when it comes to punishment, so I am happy that he has the chance to meet God and be judged - but I am also pretty surprised to see so many people scream and shout as if the war is over and everything can go back to pre 9/11 days. If the goal of the military was to get retribution, it's time to bring our troops home now more than ever. When that happens I will be jumping for joy in the streets.

Also, President Obama had a very nice speech. Probably my favorite, or in the top three. Undoubtedly, it will be his "historical" presidential speech. He briefly discussed the concepts behind the 9/12 project, who the enemy was, why they were the enemy, why we went to war (giving hidden props to Bush in the process), the families of those who lost loved ones on 9/11, and an appropriate-enough description of the intel and process of what happened. He acknowledged that the effort is not over and the fight is not done, and is not against a religion. Best of all? He did not omit "under God" again when quoting the Pledge of Allegiance. For that, we thank you.


Also... Where was I when it was being announced? Taking this:

1/20 f/1.8 ISO800
Original

Visualizing May Concept...

May is coming up quick, and I want to do a photo project... I'm seeing some people on facebook post up 30 day's of pictures which gave me the idea, but I want it to be much more than "this is what I ate today" and things like that. A few rules I think I'm going to keep to...

• Taking:
• No repeating of the same item, location, or person all month.
• No more than two photos of any type in each week
• Types: Portraits, landscapes, items, action, general... (I'll adjust as I go along)
• No using old photos.
• Missed photos:
• One missed day can be made up.
• Subsequent missed days in a row will be replaced by embarrassing images of myself. (I'm sure my wife will be happy to take those)
• Editing:
• Original photo's must always be shown
• Edited version may be included in the set, but will not count as daily image
• Displaying:
• Photo sets for each week will be posted here by Monday evening for the previous week.
• Date and Timestamp will be included with each.

Anyone have any ideas for me? Comment and let me know.

Neener Neener...

I've been busy... Usually when I say that it's followed by complaints. I've always considered myself a realist, which is usually considered by optimists as pessimistic. Not this time.

I got a new job!
Optimism...
For the last five and a half years I had been a mainframe developer. Not exactly what I wanted to do, but it paid well and gave me amazing opportunities. In the last few years I was lucky enough to get more into designing of systems - fun stuff. It was enough to keep me around, then again I never feel comfortable complaining considering the current economy. I'm really quite lucky and I know this.
Three weeks ago I started a new job in a completely new area. I now work on our company's mobile applications. Mobile = mobile web page, Android, iPhone, iPad, Honeycomb etc... If you know me, then you know working with this stuff is right up my alley.
It's only been three weeks, and much of that was uneventful, but I'm actually enjoying my area. I feel like I delayed moving from my old spot for far too long. I'm somewhat excited to goto work now, which hasn't been the case in about four years. I work with good people - at least people like me. I use to joke that having me working in my old area lowered the average age in the area by ten years - it's now nice to be in an area with young and ambitious talent. Oh yeah, and they're all smartass know-it-all tech junkies who like to drink: so I seem to be fitting in just fine.

Reality...
I've been there three weeks. It's new. Let's revisit this post a year from now and see if it's still the same. I love that I'm working with new technology, but I was always warned not to make your hobby your job. There is a bit of a learning curve here as well I'm still getting use to. That is the case with any new job, but that doesn't mean I like it. Like anything, it takes time to get up to speed - I just don't enjoy that process. I've recognized many of the issues and roadblocks my new team are facing and I really want to be a lead in fixing those issues because my strongest strengths are in design and development and there are many opportunities to expand there, but it also means taking more risks, and in some cases perhaps ruffling a few feathers - but I'm still the new guy. Being new sucks. I miss being the main guy in charge of a team and an application. In due time, I suppose.

New gun!
Optimism...
WooT! I really wanted to build an AR-15, but finances have kind of stopped that. So instead, I bought an MP15-22. It's an AR style rifle in .22 caliber. Not only is it half the cost of a .223 AR, but the ammo is also much cheaper and I can actually shoot this indoor if I want. I also have a red dot on it and have a couple other items in the mail for it. Every review I've read on this thing says the same thing... "Yes, it's a .22. Yes, your 7 year old can handle this weapon. Yes, it's an extremely fun gun to shoot!" and that really is the best description for it...fun.

Reality...
Fun for cheap. No issues here. Some people may look down on it as a .22 or because I add stuff to it, but so what? I don't need a .223. I'm not going to war, or breaking down any doors for raids. It's not for home defense. We're both accurate hundreds of yards out, and we both have the same accessories. The best part? For every one round you shoot, I can shoot at least five for the same price.


I still want a Kimber 1911!
(Still selling my MP)

Celebrated a birthday in St.Louis!
Optimism...
Had a blast. It was my brother-in-laws 21st birthday. His birthday drink at midnight? Irish car bombs. They were great: or at least I thought so. We also celebrated with a couple friends and had a really nice break from the typical weekend. The birthday boy took the weekend like a champ, far better than I did...

Reality...
Uhhh...I don't remember. I drank a lot. My recollection only goes to about 15 minutes after this picture was taken:



Cousin had a baby!
Optimism...
WOOHOO!!! My cousin and her husband are great folks, and I'm so happy for them. This kid is perfect and adorable. I'm glad we were able to visit them and hope to make it a usual thing. They are such deserving parents and I wish them the best! I was always the youngest in the family, so never got to even hold a newborn until I was 20 years old, but have really been warming up to kids lately. I know I'm getting older because every once in a while I want to sell the 350Z, fix the house up and have a kid... ok, maybe not sell the Z, but at least get more prepared.

Reality...
Shit... is it my turn now? I really was kidding about the Z.
I've been missing family a lot lately. I'm very close with my family, but also very independent. With the whole family getting older I'm seeing a lot more missed opportunities because I don't live closer.


Birthdays abound!
Lots of birthdays. My bro-in-law, a good friend and his father, and in another week or so my cousin and then *drum roll* mine. I'll be having a little celebration, but I really don't care much for birthdays. My wife wants to do something extra special for me (aren't I lucky?) but I'd much rather spend that cash on something like fixing up the house. The fact that I wrote that down proves I'm getting old.

FOOTBALL!
We went to our first arena football game and enjoyed it quite a bit. I still need to learn the exact rules, because it certainly isn't what you may expect, but it is entertaining. Plus there isn't a bad seat in the place, so we're considering getting season tickets. Good times!




Bottom line: I'm in a good place and feel very blessed. Nothing is ever perfect, but compared to the rest of the world I know I have no reason to complain about much. (For now at least. I've been holding back a few political rants for a while now!)

Yes, the only point of this is to brag about it. neener.

Ravetastic video...

Just a quick break from my long-winded posts for something I came across on youtube.



It reminds me of videos played at parties many many years ago. That can be said for just about anything put in super-super-duper slow motion with a trancy-put-me-to-sleep track over it.

---

In addition to the topic of the video, I have a joke. Right now there are 49 states that allow some form of carrying a firearm. Illinois does not. There is a bill that has been introduced, HB148, that will allow people in Illinois who go through a course and a permit process to carry a firearm for defense. The only person who may hold this back in our govenor. WHile looking into this bill I saw an amusing joke that, like many jokes, is based on reality.

Illinois vs Texas
Illinois:
The Governor of Illinois is jogging with his dog along a
nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks the Governor's dog, then
bites the Governor.

1. The Governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon
the movie "Bambi" and then realizes he should stop because the coyote is
only doing what is natural.

2. He calls animal control . Animal Control captures
the coyote and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for
relocating it.

3. He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the
dead dog and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases.

4. The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500
getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting his bite wound
bandaged.

5. The running trail gets shut down for 6 months while
Fish & Game conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is now
free of dangerous animals.

6. The Governor spends $50,000 in state funds
implementing a "coyote awareness program" for residents of the area.

7. The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how
to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease
throughout the world.

8 The Governor's security agent is fired for not
stopping the attack. The State spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with additional special training re: the nature of coyotes.

9. PETA protests the coyote's relocation and files a $5
million suit against the State.

Texas :
The Governor of Texas is jogging with his dog along a
nature trail. A Coyote jumps out and attacks the dog.

1. The Governor shoots the coyote with his State-issued
pistol and keeps jogging. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP
hollow point cartridge.

2. The Buzzards eat the dead coyote.

And that, my friends, is one reason why Illinois is broke and Texas is
not.

---

One more gun related thing I found amusing, because it's just too serious around here.

Political Science for Dummies
Are you a Democrat, Republican or Southern Republican?
Here is a little test that will help you decide. Question: How do you tell the difference between Democrats, Republicans and Southern Republicans? The answer can be found by posing the following question:

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, an Islamic Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife, and charges. You are carrying a Glock .40, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do?

Democrat's Answer:
Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!
Does the man look poor or oppressed?
Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?
Could we run away?
What does my wife think?
What about the kids?
Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?
What does the law say about this situation!?
Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it?
Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?
Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?
Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?
If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?
Should I call 9-1-1?
Why is this street so deserted?
We need to raise taxes, have a paint and weed day and make this happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.
This is all so confusing! ! I need to debate this with some ! friends for few days and try to come to a consensus.

Republican's Answer: BANG!

Southern Republican's Answer: BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! click.....(sounds of reloading). BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! click Daughter: "Nice grouping, Daddy! Were those the Winchester Silver Tips?"

Hypocrisy by the (face)book...

A wall post to a Wisconsin Union supporter:

"This reminds me of when the democrats crammed healthcare down the throat of the entire country, despite most of the people not wanting it. Politicians are shady. Good luck to you and Wisconsin."

I like to think I'm a pretty centrist guy and try my best to remain neutral when approaching and evaluating a situation. I didn't make a note of what "side" of the healthcare debate I was on, nor did I say anything bad about it. Perhaps just of the democrats, but I didn't say anything that was untrue. Wasn't that a pretty neutral evaluation? The person I posted it to didn't think so - so it was deleted. She's not a bad person, and I'd hate to imply that, but it did make me think of the hypocrisy of the liberal/tea party rivalry.

Liberals think Tea Partiers are racist, yet the main message is equality. The problem is that liberals don't want equality. They want the lesser to get more and the better to get less. I'm not contradicting myself here, there is a better and a lesser. Equality isn't about giving for free - it's about equal opportunity, not equal pay. You have the opportunity to do anything I can, but if you choose to use that opportunity and I don't, why should I be rewarded the same as you?

Liberals seem to have the mentality of "Someone can do it", while Tea Partiers seem to think "Hey, someone has to do it - I'll take care of it." This is evident in the difference between the trash at the Mall from the 8/28 Restoring Honor rally and the Obama inaugeration or the One Nation Rally.
The most recent example of this is in Wisconsin. The union folks protesting left the ground of the capital a disaster. The Tea Party decided to clean the place up with a "It's time to take out the trash" event.

The Tea Party group does not condone violence. They fight with votes - the same votes that put the republicans in control in Wisconsin. When the new healthcare plan is enacted, they fought with lawsuits. Meanwhile SEIU folks have been video taped beating those who don't agree with them, saying quite racist things, and even helping pimp out underage girls.
Oh yeah, and the death threats the MSM won't report on from Wisconsin. A Wisconsin news radio channel got a hold of one particular threat to GOP senators HERE.

As I mentioned earlier, no group is perfect. Are there racist, hating, abusive members of the Tea Party? Absolutely. Are there those same people on the left? Absolutely. So what group is more likley to support (or at least ignore) those issues, and who is more likely to stand up against it?

Getting back to what spawned my thought process: facebook and Wisconsin.
Getting a post deleted isn't a big deal. It's really not. But ignoring or sweeping aside an idea you don't agree with doesn't make it go away. Ignoring something or calling it false doesn't make it so. I do not know the intention of removing it, but I assume it's because they don't agree with what I said - though the only opinion pieces there were that the healthcare law was crammed (even those who like the law I doubt can disagree with that) and that politicians are shady. Where am I wrong?

As I mentioned in my last post, I think unions should be demolished as they exist today - but not in a legislative way. The GOP did things shady, but not illegal. To have people react the way they did is a damn shame. You don't like it? Move. That's the glory, and the reason, of States.

My last questions, and honest ones I'd love to get feedback from union folk in WS: Would you rather you pay more into your own pension and healthcare, which will retain your wealth to yourself, or would you rather the state raise taxes on everyone %33 to pay for your stuff? That's what my state did. I'm sure many of you would prefer the taxes, but how will that affect the rest of the state? How would that affect you? that's less money in your pocket AND your pension AND your healthcare. Wouldn't it be better to pay a bit more into your own stuff, and also stop paying union dues?

I'm all for bargaining, but not between unions and businesses, but between people and the taxpayers. It's a real simple reason why unions would never agree to referendum votes: they would lose every time.

----

One other random observation...
Gas prices go up a net of %7 in 26 months when a republican is in office, it's his fault
Gas prices go up a net of %67 in 25 months when a democrat is in office, he has nothing to do with it.
To be fair, neither president should be blamed for events outside their control - but would a liberal claim that?

Totally Schlitzed...

People are going crazy lately. Screaming about what they're owed, crazy dictators, countries talking about reparations for wartime damage, riots against supreme leaders. Things in Egypt sure are crazy...or is it Iran? I actually think it was Madison? Yes, I think all that happened in Wisconsin.

WS Governor wants teachers to pay %5.8 of their wages toward retirement and %12.6 to their healthcare. Big whoop. The private sector pays about twice that much. Unions are shady. Not the union workers, but the way they are run, which basically is a form of extortion and other legal scary terms. (I lost interest in becoming a laywer a long while ago)

The BigO's take?

"I haven't followed exactly what's happening" [...]

"Some of what I've heard coming out of WS where you're just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally seems like an assault on unions"

I agree. It's a true statement on the surface of the definition of a labor union. To remove bargaining power of a group of workers is to remove the purpose of a "group" of workers. I'm still in the belief that unions do their work in shady ways and that alone should remove their bargaining power - but it shouldn't come from a simple mandate from legislature. Ultimately, the goal of most unions is to improve working conditions. What if the work conditions are so good that you don't have to perform well to earn more than everyone else? Eventually something has to give and the public will not stand for it. Teachers are hard to peg. I know some teachers that are amazing at their job. I also know that they have to struggle to be great because the system is a joke.

LLHost's fair solution:

• Get rid of unions, as they exist today. Make it an equal playing field for everyone.
• If any worker, or group of workers, do not like their work environment, they bring it up with the employer. If the employer will not negitiate, the worker, or workers, have the right to quit...just like in the private sector. (Also just like state sovereignty - Don't like your state laws? You have the freedom to move) Negotiation stops there. You leave work to strike and the employer wants to fire you, you're done.
• Base perks on performance, with caps.
• Do well, you get more.
• Do as expected you stay the same, sans COLA
• Don't do well, you lose perks
• Do badly, you're fired.
• As for this teacher item...
• Pay good teachers what they deserve. They are horribly underpaid.
• Fire non-effective teachers immediately. It is far too difficult to remove horrible teachers thanks to unions.
• Remove tenure completely

Simple. Well, the ideas are - implementation may take some debate.

---

 As an addition to my last post...

The newest press secretary, Jay Carney, apparently wants us to know that the stimulus did exactly what it was suppose to and its goals "have been met". When asked about how that was true, yet unemployment went up (as I noted in my last post) he gave a very simple, straight to the point answer...

"We've said repeatedly that we don't want to relitigate the battles of the past"

Uhhhh, that's it? Yet another situation where if it was the real world, both Jay and the people who implemented the stimulus package would be fired.

Watch the video at RCP.

Can't Afford to Care...

First of all, I've had Breaking Benjamin's "Lights Out" stuck in my head: hence the title. Great song.

Welcome to political post #1. I'll keep it light, and mostly informative...

The White House administration insists they're championing for tax cuts and real financial reform. Yet our debt continues to increase. The most recent $3.7 Trillion budget will supposedly reduce the deficit by $1.1 Trillion over ten years... Ten years, yea right. This from the same people who though paying everyone healthcare for six years and paying for it over ten was a good idea.

So we know they never hit their goals for deficit reduction - and never even come close to cutting sufficient spending - but at least we can believe them when they say they're cutting taxes....right?

"The White House is billing its $3.7 trillion budget as a package of cuts that will reduce the deficit by $1.1 trillion over ten years.

But at closer inspection this budget is as much about tax hikes as cuts.

In fact, the budget contains as much as $1.5 trillion in hikes over ten years, according to the Americans For Tax Reform."

Business Insider 

"President Obama released his budget this morning. Rather than focusing on Washington’s over-spending problem, the budget calls for higher taxes on families and small businesses to pay for even more government spending. Under the Obama budget, tax revenues will grow from 14.4% of GDP in 2011 to 20% of GDP in 2021. By comparison, the historical average is only 18% of GDP.

Add it all together, and this budget is a ten-year, $1.5 trillion tax hike over present law. That’s $1.5 trillion taken out of the economy and spent on government instead of being used to create jobs.

The “tax relief” in the budget is mostly just an extension of present law, and also some refundable credit outlay spending in the tax code. There is virtually no new tax relief relative to present law in the President’s budget."

Americans for Tax Reform

...DOH!

Here are some examples:

• Raising the top marginal income tax rate (at which a majority of small business profits face taxation) from 35% to 39.6%. This is a $709 billion/10 year tax hike
• Raising the capital gains and dividends rate from 15% to 20%
• Raising the death tax rate from 35% to 45% and lowering the death tax exemption amount from $5 million ($10 million for couples) to $3.5 million. This is a $98 billion/ten year tax hike
• Capping the value of itemized deductions at the 28% bracket rate. This will effectively cut tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, state and local income or sales taxes, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and unreimbursed employee business expenses. A new means-tested phaseout of itemized deductions limits them even more. This is a $321 billion/ten year tax hike
• New bank taxes totaling $33 billion over ten years
• New international corporate tax hikes totaling $129 billion over ten years
• New life insurance company taxes totaling $14 billion over ten years
• Massive new taxes on energy, including LIFO repeal, Superfund, domestic energy manufacturing, and many others totaling $120 billion over ten years
• Increasing unemployment payroll taxes by $15 billion over ten years
• Taxing management capital gains in an investment partnership (“carried interest”) as ordinary income. This is a tax hike of $15 billion over ten years
• A giveaway to the trial lawyers—not letting companies deduct the cost of punitive damages from a lawsuit settlement. This is a tax hike of $300 million over ten years
• Increasing tax penalties, information reporting, and IRS information sharing. This is a ten-year tax hike of $20 billion.

It reminds me of the concept of large numbers, and how humans don't really have a good perspective to understand what a trillion is. Those who do have perspective, realize how screwed we really are. In the SOTU address the big O bragged about how he would find $100 Million to cut out of a $3.5 Trillion budget. People went OOO and AHHH. I cursed and did a /facepalm. Sort of like this guy did:




Another video of that user also reminded me of another swindle by this administration. Back in November of 2009 I made a post about the bull the BigO was spewing about unemployment and the need for the stimulus package. I included this image:




Here is a good visual interpretation of this using pennies again, to help illustrate scale.



The best judge of future performance is past experience. How's that change working for most of you?

You always remember your first...

So after some careful consideration, I have decided to sell my M&P 9mm. Not thrilled with selling the first pistol I've owned, but I want to move to the 1911 platform. I originally bought this expecting my wife to shoot it some - but she does not, so I'm going for a .40 or .45 like I originally wanted to.

I'll list what you get and the approx cost of it when I bought it. I would like to keep everything together.

Everything for $800 OBO

• Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm - bought new May 2009. ($650)
• Original Case - can include single carrying zip case if needed. ($15)
• Original stock grips (Sm, Med, Lrg)
• Original documentation
• Three 17rnd mags (Came with one, the other cost about $25 each)
• Two of them have Arrendondo base pads, adding 6 rnds each. The link says use the stock springs, but I got new extended spring made specificaly for these. ($20 Each = $40)
• Original springs and base pads included.

• Mods:
• Crimson Trace laser grips with all original docs and tools in original box. ($250)
• Warren Tactical 2-dot Tritium night sights. ($120)
• Still have the original sights as well.
• Custom work by MP specialist Dan Burwell. ($150)
• Trigger job. Tested at 3.10 pounds with pro tester.
• Front strap, left and right index point stippling.
• Polished Barrel - Done by me, so won't add to total. See it for as much as $100 though.

• Holsters:
• iTAC Defense paddle holster - Non-retention ($20)
• iTAC Defense paddle dual mag holder ($15)

Total: $1310
Asking: $800 OBO + FTF if needed
Contact: Brian@lostlocalhost.com

---

I have over 5400 rounds through this and it shoots great. I've had one FTF at round 1553 (yes, I keep a track of all my sessions). About six months ago the slide release lever snapped off the right side. That didn't affect it shooting though and I had the lever replaced. Other than those two small issues it's been a dream. The sights are nice and bright in low-light situations. The red on the sights is nailpolish and comes off with a little cleaner and a towel if you don't like it. The triggerjob is very nicely done. A very crisp *snap* at 3.1 to 3.25 pounds. No springs were messed with for this job, and no safeties were manipulated for it either. Crimson Trace lasergrips are sighted in now for 7yrds - but easily adjustable. I've won two trophies with this shooting out to 25 yards.





Before polished barrel or CTC Grips



After polished barrel

My New Canons...

First of all, as a continuation of my last post I present what I hope to be my newest canon/lead thrower...

Kimber Custom Target II 1911

She's not quite as pretty as the NHC T3, but she also isn't as expensive. It's a straight shooter, so I'm looking forward to getting her in my hands and winning some competitions with it. While I absolutely love my MP and have put a lot of time, money, and work into it, I think it's like your first love. You know you love her and you dedicated a lot to her - but know it's just not meant to be "forever". I suppose technically in this scenario I'd love to be a polygamist and have them all - but we can't have everything, right? Some unexpected bills came up, but if thing go well I may be shooting this in the next month.

The next canon that shoots is my latest gift from my father.
My father has always been on the forefront of technology. Because of this fact, and also that he rarely throws anything away, he also has a few relics. I think he got pretty excited when I took up photography. When he was in college he got involved with photography himself and apparently was pretty good at it; even making a few bucks. I assume he knew what he was talking about because while he tries to tell me about color balance and how xyz works with the right lighting and blah blah blah I zone out and praise my wonderful digital camera. I'm pretty knowledgeable about photography, but he knows details.

A couple months ago he tossed me what amounts to a small baseball bat of a lens. It didn't have the right mount for my camera, but thanks to modern technology (which this lens has never seen) I picked up a cheap one on ebay. I present a Rexatar 400mm 6.5 baseball bat lens.

Although it is not the best quality lens, this beast is interesting. It made me step out of my digital world a bit. To be a great photographer you need to not just know about your equipment, but also how to set up your shot and what light is and how to manipulate it. That's a short and sweet sentence to describe years of practice, trial and error, and classes. A fully manual lens is a fun thing to play with and get that education on how things were back in the day when cameras only used film, each shot took more time and money, and people walked uphill both ways to school in the snow barefoot.

Not so sure I'd use this for many practical purposes, given he also got me a 300mm that is a bit better; but as I said, it's fun to play with: so I did some comparisons between my Tamron at 55mm and the Rexatar 400mm.

TOP: 55mm BOTTOM: 400mm
1/160 f/6.3

TOP: 55mm BOTTOM: 400mm
1/20 f/22

Click on the images for the goods. In this horrible, lower light, unscientific test out my dirty front window I'm not incredibly impressed with the quality, but I do love having such a long reach. I'm actually looking forward to finding the perfect application for this lens - I'm thinking it can really give a classic feel to B&W shots if I find the right place for it.

BTW, anyone know anything about Rexatar? I usually take great pride in my Google hackery talents, but I haven't really turned up much on this lens. Please coment if you know anything about it or the company.

BOOM!

(shakalaka BOOM!) <---My mind is a musical encyclopedia. Sly & The Family Stone anyone? No? Damn I feel old. Anyways...There was a snow storm this last week. It sucked. I have no pictures because I'm smart and stayed in. Just before the storm I left to get necessary items.

• Coke
• Diet Coke
• 100 proof captain morgan
• Wine
• Salt
• Some other crap I don't really remember

I'm guessing there is a %99 chance YOU were caught in it too. There was frackking lightning in this snowstorm. Nuts!

What else goes boom? My gun.
I've been wanting to get into IDPA or USPSA for a while now. While I love my current gun, I'm considering getting something better in .40 or .45. I've been dreaming for a Nighthawk Custom T3 Comp since I talked to some guys from their team last year - unfortunately I can't really swing the $2800 starting price. If you can, or would like to sponsor me - check it out. It's a beauty.


http://www.nighthawktactical.com/T3_comp.html

I'm looking at a good deal on a Kimber Custom II, Springfield Range Officer, or a G35.

Anyone own one of these and have any suggestions or opinions they'd like to share?

Underage Sex! (uncool)

...it's sad that title will get hits from google.

I refuse to watch MTV. My wife does not. Occasionally I like to spend time with her in front of our TV, and the whole "I'm the man, I choose what we watch" does not go over very well in our home. Because of this, sometimes I catch Jersey Shore. What a horrible waste of $30,000 an episode on each of them. They are all a waste of space. What are they contributing to society? What are thier jobs? Scoop gelato? I'm just saying if the world were ending in a fiery blaze and a select few could be saved they'd be getting one hell of a tan even they're not use to. They party hard, get paid for it, have sex with whoever, cheat on their significant others, dress like skanks, and don't care about anything. Sounds interesting until you realize this is not just TV, it's considered reality. /facepalm. My wife is the smartest person I know...except for that hour. At least they're adults though.

MTV outdid themselves. Not in a good way.

During one of these "spend time with my wife while she watches how successful she is compared to parts of the world" I saw a promo for Skins. Let's take a look at the first scene as a young teen tried to sneak back into her house without her parents finding out.

Not a zombie, just a chick with daddy issues.

Theblaze.com had the best review of the rest of the episode...

"The series premiere alone included sex, drug-dealing, alcohol, prescription drug abuse, sex, prostitution, smoking, homosexuality, violence, car theft, voyeurism and more sex. In fact, the entire premise of the first episode was how the group would get their 16-year-old friend to lose his uncool virginity before his 17th birthday. And after the kids’ friend wakes up from her drug overdose and their stolen car full of illegal drugs rolls and crashes into a lake, the kids laugh it off. The end.*"

Gee, can't believe I missed all that! Oh yeah, I'm not a pedophile. Apparently there are many out there though. Skins premiered to 3.3 million viewers. Not all of them have this pedo tendency, thank goodness. You see, 1.8 of those were under 18. HALLEUIEA! Oh wait... So over half of the viewers were minors. Hell, I don't know what is worse and which way to take this argument. "THE CHILDREN! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!" ok, I will.

While I do not have children of my own, I have a beautiful niece who is 7 and I have close family friends who have four daughters we're with regularly. I take this personally. To think that some of the kids I hang out with could see this and get any impression that this is normal and ok makes me pretty angry. This show isn't showing sex, drugs, prostitution, and violence as horrible things that should be avoided at all costs and have great consequences. It's glorifying it. Yes, these things exist, and many teens are involved with these things. Is MTV happy about that? Perhaps, because it means they have more viewers. Not to mention this type of show could produce more cast members for "I'm 16 and pregnant", "Teen mom", and the "True Life - I'm an [alcoholic,sex worker,pick your vice]" series. I've caught those shows as well (with the wife) and I can't watch MTV anymore because all I think is "HYPOCRITE"!

I'll shorten it up to: Kids are impressionable, and this is not what any show should be glorifying - even if it is MTV's and the producers right to display it. It shouldn't be illegal to show it, but it's a damn shame there is a market for it... Or should it be illegal? It's getting a lot of press now because it's so over the top raunchy that there may be an investigation of child pornography against MTV and the producers. The youngest cast member is 15. /facepalm

Parents...WTF? Really? One thing I am pleased with is that both my sister/brother-in-law, and our family friends would not allow them to watch such filth. If they found out the kids did watch anyways - they would find a way to be sure they understood it truly is filth, and is not something to mimic. (Probably followed by the TV being unplugged for a couple weeks at the least). I can't imagine a world where a parent would be ok with their children watching something like this - but unfortunately I'm pretty commonly disappointed with how I see children brought up these days. Yes, it's easy for me to armchair QB without having kids - but is this really a situation an actual parent would argue me on?

I'm boycotting MTV. My wife will have to either hand over the remote or start playing video games with me from now on.

Something Creative...

First thought: Titles.
I've always taken pride in the titles I use to have for posts. It's not just limited to posts I suppose - old bands I was in, pets, book/article titles, and company names have also been blessed with my thoughtfulness.

..and yet for my first post of 2011, I got nothing.

Some people insist on explaining why they've been away from blogging for a while. I'm not pretentious (big word!) enough to beleive anyone cares. :)

Life has been busy, though.

• Still working contantly.
• Still hate my job.
• Still not flying.
• Basement is still flooding.
• Illinois just raised my taxes.
• I never set up my webserver on my box again - as you can tell.

Ready for the good stuff now?

• I still have a job. I dare not complain about having one, even one I dislike in this economy.
• I'm switching jobs in the next few months. I will soon be working on our mobile and social networking team. Finally working with people with a median age less than 1.5 times mine!
• I'm still a math nerd.
• I've come to love photography. Joanna and I have done some shoots for various people and I would love to start a photography business someday.
• This month Joanna and I celebrated our five year anniversary. God bless that woman for dealing with me.
• I have a place to ramble again.

Yes this one is borring, but I give it 5-6 days before my controversial thoughts start spewing out over this corner of the internet.

Let's try THIS out...

ok, so hosting and managing my own blog system was awesome. Not only did I love "owning" it, but being able to tweak it and use it as my own design world for code testing was great as well.

So then I updated my OS, and also my web server. It didn't handle some of my conversions very well - so no posts would show. I decided to then redirect my domain to my photo site.

It's about time I bring this back. New hosting brings with it many changes. (I often say everything has pros and cons to it). It will now be much, much faster, with virtually no down time. Awesome. I won't be able to alter it like I use to though. We shall see how this fairs for me, and I'll also try to repost my old stuff - or at least my favorite ones, because I do have backups.

Next on the reading list...

I have a realy bad habbit of starting books, but never finishing. It's not that I'm not interested, it's just that I have so many more things to be doing with my time and I don't find the actual act of reading enjoyable. Despite this, I do have an interest in many books, and found one I may get through...The Survivors Club.

David Pitt explains it better than I...
"According to Sherwood, two questions are central to this book. What does it really take to survive a catastrophic event and what kind of survivor are you? You might be surprised at the answers. While there are tactics and strategies to surviving life tragedies, unforeseen accidents, and other catastrophes, many of these are instinctive (some, like exhibiting transitory superhuman strength, are manifested physiologically, without conscious planning). Some of us, Sherwood explains, are better survivors than others—in prisoner-of-war camps, for example, the people most likely to collapse are the eternal optimists who believe rescue is imminent and fail to come to terms with the possibility of long-term imprisonment. The book is a useful, insightful exploration of the nature of survival, the resilience of the human mind and body, and the ways in which we can all use our natural gifts to maximize our chances of coming through catastrophic situations." --David Pitt

Along with the book is a free "survivors test" which will identify your general survivor personality traits.



It was spot on with me - identifying myself as a "realist" with my initial answers, and a "thinker" when I took it a second time with my answers where I could have gone either way. I've been called a realist consistently for most of my life. Except for only a couple occasions I have always tried to look at things how they truely are and consider all outcomes and options. Sometimes because of this, it causes me to get concerned about something because I'm considering all possibilities. There is a running joke that my father and I are alike in that we will always say no to a question first - then give us a day or two to digest it and our opinions may change. I beleive this is because our minds haven't been able to play out all the factors with a situation: i.e.-budget, timing, other possible outcomes that will be introduced from that decision...

I'll let you know how it goes. =)

Cameras, Guns, and...well, more guns.

The last couple of weeks I've found a new hobby. Really, my wife will be pissed I say that, because I really hijacked hers. She has wanted to get into photography for a long while now, and I recently bought her a new entry DSLR from Canon that just came out, the T2i. "Entry" probably isn't the best term for it, considering the quality of this thing is amazing. So while she now has the tools to get more involved with photography, I've been reading up a lot on it and getting into it as well. Bottom line: expect more pics to show up here, as I will be updating the images section soon. For now, enjoy some of my favorite shots...


















(My Favorite)


Today was also the first day we went shooting for my company's Spring pistol league - which, thanks to the T2i, I got some decent video of.


T2i Test at the gun range... from Brian Smith on Vimeo.
The shooting in that video resulted in this target...


I had a really good shooting day, scoring really well on all my targets, even including out to 25 yards. One other thing that was quite special to me was another gun i got to shoot. When I was about 12 years old my grandfather, who had a very nice array or guns in his collection, bought me my first. When I opened the box I thought it was a BB gun, so I could look like another hunter in the family. My father was quick to point out "um, no son...That's a .22!". The thing is made of laminated wood, probably barely breaks four pounds, and has a metal lined plastic barrel; so it's not worth much money, but it's one of the very few sentimental things I have related to my grandpa. I had never shot it, and it has been in storage for about 15 years. I recently got a hold of it and shot it for the first time today.




It shoots straight as an arrow. I'm looking forward to having it be the first rifle my child someday shoots.

Last note: When I got the range I saw something interesting following me in the isles of the shop. I only got one quick shot of him. I kept thinking to myself that if I were a wild animal, a gun store would be the last place I'd be seen hanging around at.

More Debt...*facepalm*

"The federal public debt, which was $6.3 trillion ($56,000 per household) when Mr. Obama entered office amid an economic crisis, totals $8.2 trillion ($72,000 per household) today, and it's headed toward $20.3 trillion (more than $170,000 per household) in 2020, according to CBO's deficit estimates.

That figure would equal 90 percent of the estimated gross domestic product in 2020, up from 40 percent at the end of fiscal 2008. By comparison, America's debt-to-GDP ratio peaked at 109 percent at the end of World War II, while the ratio for economically troubled Greece hit 115 percent last year."
CBO report: Debt will rise to 90% of GDP

So real life example... Say you and your spouse make a combined amount of $100,000 a year. First of all, your in pretty good shape income-wise compared to many. Can you imagine supporting your home while you give $90,000 of that to credit cards and paying bills with $10,000 a year? What advice would you give if you were a financial advisor to this home? Perhaps "stop buying things on credit and spending what you don't have!" Would you explain the concepts of interest and inflation? The country is in the same state as this home, but the morons in congress and our Presidents (yes, that's plural) keep saying "eh, we'll get more credit - we're good for it!" Unfortunately, our "banks", primarily China and Japan, are catching on.

Most people can barely live with the income they keep after the current taxes. I can't imagine living on %10 of my income, so why is it ok for our governmnet to?

Amusing Ways to Save Tax Dollars...

Jay Leno suggested we use a swear jar everytime VP Biden forgets there's a hot mic nearby.

My solution? Instead of having 22 pens for a president to sign his name to a bill, he uses ONE! Perhaps that's not all that funny, but I've always scratched my head on why that happens. It's all done for the sake of having souvenirs to hand out - still kind of stupid, IMO, but it's been a tradition for many years.

Why Did Obama Use So Many Pens to Sign the Health Care Bill?

So what are your favorite, amusing, ways we can save the country some cash?

These are our leaders... *facepalm*

There are a bunch of stories I haven't brought here yet - but this one makes me *facepalm* yet again.

This story is one I've been expecting to see for a while. Virginia is getting in on it too.

Anyone want a LLH domain name? =)

I raise the BS flag on this one, but if anyone wants it, we can talk. =)

51, 60...What's the difference!

Lots of numbers on LLH this week... more to come in the next few days too.

With all this talk about reconciliation I figure I would go straight to the man in charge to see what his feelings about it are. Luckily, someone already did it for me.




WHEW! Glad there are no special rules, exceptinos, illegal alterations of code, or unethical practices being used on this healthcare issue.

Yeah, we really dodged a bullet here...
/sarcasm

Who is Nolan anyways?

Took the quick 10 question Nolan quiz today. I'm not surprised by the results - I mean they're accurate for me - but I also don't put much faith in a 10 question quiz to determin your political beleifs that well.






BTW, David Nolan is one of the people responsible for the Libertarian Party popularity and founding in 1971.

So take this quiz and post in the comments where you land!

Hella Cool...

Today I read a story about how the 10^27 number range doesn't have a name. There is a movement to name this range "Hella", and I think that's Hella Cool.

Official SI prefixes:
10 = deca
100 = hecto
1,000 = kilo
1,000,000 = mega
1,000,000,000 = giga
1,000,000,000,000 = tera
1,000,000,000,000,000 = peta
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 = exa
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 = zetta
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 = yotta
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 = unnamed



I find it interesting that they don't have a SI name for 10^27 through 10^99. I'm not sure why they don't just use the Short Scale names. (Short scale of 10^27 = Octillion, 10^30 = nonillion)

Googol = 1 with 100 zeros
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
,000,000,000

It's said that there are not even this many atoms in the entire existance of the universe.(It's somewhere in the range of 10^80 to 10^85)

Pa_tisan voting? get _i_ of it...

Today on the radio there was a discussion about partisan voting, and the impact on the party system (mainly Democracts) if there wasn't an "R" or a "D" on the ballot. I have been talking about this for years!

Detroit and Philadelphia were used as examples and he questioned what would happen if the Democrats could not rely on black voters who only vote for the "D". He also questioned what the democrats have done for those black voters, considering these cities are crap-holes despite being Democrat controlled for decades. (Eight decades in Detroits case, and about six in Philadelphias case)

Even something as simple as taking the representation off the ballot would force people to actually learn about the candidates before voting and would be a good thing - unless you promote unpopular things. Unfortunately, I don't think it will ever happen. BTW, this is for all races - not just black voters, but that was the specific example because they have a high rate of leaning left and generally dominate democratic systems and beleifs. Need another example? Scott Brown, who ran on conservative beleifs just voted for the new stimulus Jobs Bill. I think anyone who votes without knowledge is doing a disservice to their neighbors.

I'm proven wrong... YEA!

I've mentioned in the past my feeling towards my generation and their general lack of political awareness. (or at least common sense) It seems I may have jumped the gun on that notion though.

CNN reports that at least %60, and possibly up to %80 of attendees of CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) were expected to be under 30. As for actual numbers, I've seens stats say between %48 and %54 of attendees were between 18 and 25. That surprises me. I would have been expecting numbers in the teens, or lower.

How many accidents have YOU had this year?

Vice President Biden's motorcade has been in three accidents in the last three months - one resulting in a death.

When mentioning this to my wife she had the most logical reply...
"Damn, our insurance would drop us like a bad habbit"

yup.

Super Bowl...

Congratz Saints. I should have bet on it. For my good colt fan friends Bob and Kristi (we call them Bobsti) I offer this image.

Another amusing justification...

Yet again, I see some of the things I write about or reference in other, more reputable, articles...

That particular article is about the economical lies the Big O has spewed, and offers a simple solution to INSTANTLY CUT THE DEFICIT IN HALF!


On another note: I was in the ER yesterday for a bad reaction to some medication. My health insurance seems to be working just fine.

Baaaaa!

It seems like most of the political things I'm annoyed with and write about are the same things that others write about. (1|2) My quick posts are just less refined so take less time, hence why it's usually here before on the news or official opinion places.

If I made my writings and opinions based on other people opinions I would feel pretty much like a sheep. With that said, Mr.Gibby (Robert Gibbs, that is) is speaking so time to pay attention for myself!

Well the next big deal is going to be the cockiness of this A-hole. Don't misunderstand me... if he was providing true change and bringing together the country and congress I feel he would be justified in making an off-the-cuff comment like he did. But what collaboration has he shown? What issues has he helped mend between liberals and conservatives? in Gibby's breifing today he even discussed how divided the country is despite the president vowing to fix that.

*ring*ring*
Hello? Leg store? yes, I need something for the Big O to stand on...

Vgh...

In an interview to ABCs George Stephanpoulos the big O had one specific thing to say about the Scott Brown win that irked me...

"Here's my assessment of not just the vote in Massachusetts, but the mood around the country: the same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office [...] People are angry and they are frustrated. Not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years, but what's happened over the last eight years."
-President Obama Says Voter Anger, Frustration Key to Republican Victory in Massachusetts Senate

Huh? So let me get this straight. People are so pissed at the Bush administration that they voted in a republican who is against most of the big O's beliefs? How delusional is that? THIS IS OUR PRESIDENT? I bet if Coakley was elected he would have said the same exact words. Reread them replacing Browns name with Coakley and see how they can be interchanged. It happens all the time.

My next big gripe with this is that in at least two of his speeches I've specifically heard him say something along the lines of "We need to stop blaming other people for our problems and take responsibility". Yet I've lost count of how many times he has blamed the Bush administration for his bad decisions. Yes, you inherited a crappy economy, but guess what: YOURE BAD DECISIONS ARE MAKING IT WORSE, NOT BETTER!

To quote a great man... "Oh you are nuts. N-V-T-S - nuts!"

Proof of lies...

The heritage foundation has a pretty good article on many of the Big O's promises versus reality. The topics include the individual mandate, not losing your doctor, lower healthcare premiums, a reduced deficit, and tax payer funded abortions. The one that makes me most upset (if I HAD to choose one) would be the lie stating no family making less than $250,000 would see a dime in tax increases. Primarily because it was a huge promise, affects everyone poor or middleclass, and also essentially means he was going to reduce spending. They get around this wording by taxing employers and thinking it won't trickle down to individuals.

No Tax Hikes for People Making Less than $250,000: On February 24, 2009, President Barack Obama promised the American people: “if your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime.” Speaker Pelosi believes the Senate bill’s excise tax on insurance plans breaks this promise, and she is right. But it is not the only way that Obamacare shatters the President’s no-middle-class-tax-hike pledge. There are a slew of new taxes in the Senate bill, many of which will hit the middle class, including taxes on medical devices, tanning beds, insurance user fees, and brand name drugs (not to mention the individual mandate which is enforced by a tax or the employer mandate which kills jobs and punishes the poor).
-Obama’s Other Broken Health Care Promises

As I hope you know, currently democrats from both the House and Senate are deliberating and trying to create a bill that THEY can all agree on to send to the Big O. Oh yeah, and they're hiding while doing it.



Remember all that? Even Pelosi did.



Of course in nearly the same breath as saying that, she says "There has never been a more open process".

How can you deal with people who refuse to answer questions and live in reality? It reminds me of a T-Shirt slogan I've seen sported by Mythbuster Adam Savage: "I reject your reality and substitute my own!"

Kick these people out of office: all of them. *facepalm*

Wealth, Google, and a common sense description of corporate competition...

Why is wealth such a bad thing? It seem you are only allowed to want wealth in this nation, but you are not socially allowed to actually acheive it. I still struggle to see what the inherrant problem is with American companies in large scale operations. I'm talking about American oil, insurance, energy, technology, health, and auto companies... The people who complain about these huge industries don't realize that they are AMERICAN! Isn't having a strong AMERICAN company a good thing in this global market? Isn't it a great thing to have a company be able to employ a large amount of AMERICAN workers? Isn't it helpful to the rest of AMERICA to have the taxes that these AMERICAN companies provide? Why drive them away with political and social pressure, regulations, and lack of incetives?

Wealth is not a bad thing - sometimes companies do bad things with it though. Those actions, when left to public opposision will cease. Instead of bailing out a company who fails, you should let them fail, rebuild without the wastefulness that cause their downfalls, and let them be wealthy again. Bad actions are bad - but American wealth is great. People do not seem to separate the two.

Wealth breeds innovation. A great case for that is Google. In it's most recent push, it is getting into the wireless phone hardware industry. Hypothetically speaking, what happens if Google takes over the cell phone market by introducing free/cheap ad-based cell service using VOIP technology(GoogleVoice?) on a Google created, HTC manufactured handset? First of all, everyone would freak out. Customers would shop around for the best deal. Advertisers would participate in an instant. ATT, Verizon, and Sprint would lose such a large base they would have to lower fees to gain or retain customers. This means better devices, new technology, lower fees, and more revenue for the companies responsible and thier employees. GOOD-FOR-THEM! Yes, the other cell carriers may lose some because of this, but that means they will have to compete and come up with either something better or cheaper. This means more innovation, more advances, and cheaper services and good for the end consumer. BTW, unless this Jan 5th announcement is game-changing and will result in more wireless freedom, lower costs, or a huge jump in innovation - I think whatever it is could be a flop, or at least highly over-hyped.