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All posts by daddybear71
NRA Annual Meeting 2012 Pictures
Posted by daddybear71 on April 18, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/04/18/nra-annual-meeting-2012-pictures/
Review – Millennium Hotel, Saint Louis
Over the weekend, I stayed at the Millennium Hotel in Saint Louis. This is a fairly modern hotel in downtown, close to the football and baseball stadiums, the convention center, and St. Louis’s riverfront. Here are my thoughts on the hotel and my stay there:
Pro’s
- Location – It was a 15 minute walk from the convention center and football stadium, a few minutes away from Busch Stadium, and you have a magnificent view of the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River from the rear of the hotel. The downtown district has a plethora of excellent restaurants and bars. Parking for the hotel is convenient in either the front of the hotel or across the street in a garage.
- Staff – I found the staff to be friendly, efficient, and helpful. The wait staff in the bar got a little behind on the two nights I went there for drinks and food, but they were trying to serve a large group of gunbloggers, NRA members, and baseball fans. The shuttle driver we used when it was raining on Saturday was the nicest person I met in Saint Louis who wasn’t specifically there for the convention.
- Cleanliness and Upkeep – The hotel was spotlessly clean, even in high traffic areas such as the lobby. The hotel had a few blemishes in wall paper and drywall, and the stairwell in the north tower needed a good cleaning.
- Food – The food in the bar and the downstairs restaurant was excellent. I suggest trying the toasted ravioli. I’m told that’s a local St. Louis delicacy.
- Comfort – The rooms, and beds in particular, were very comfortable. The lobby has several sets of chairs and couches for getting small groups together. In the morning, a small Starbucks coffee booth is open, allowing you to read the newspaper and have your $2.00 cup of coffee while sitting in a comfy chair.
Con’s
- Cost – Dennis from Dragon Leatherworks and I shared a room, and our price was a special rate for the NRA Annual Meeting. I checked the plate on the door of our room, and the advertised price for a small room with two double beds was $279 per night. For a nice hotel in the downtown district of a large city, I’d say that’s about par for the course. However, the hotel provided precisely nothing other than the room for that money. Internet access, telephone, and breakfast were not included, and were quite pricey. The wired network in the room cost $15 a day to use. According to the guest services book, utilizing the phone in the room would have cost $1.20 for the first minute, with a charge for each additional minute afterwards. Breakfast in the hotel was excellent, but cost $15.95 per person. Maybe I’m spoiled, but I’ve paid much less for a hotel room and gotten complimentary Internet access and hot breakfast. Parking at the hotel garage was also not complimentary.
- Size of the room – Like I said, the room was small. There was a small desk for working, if you either paid for the Internet access or had a cellular modem, but that was about the extent of the excess space. If I had been travelling with a family and needed a roll-out bed for a child, it would have been very tight.
- Hot Water – We stayed three nights, and I had a lukewarm shower two of three mornings. At first, I thought it might be caused by my inability to work the all-in-one faucet in the shower, but the hot water was also absent in the sink. Inquiries to the front desk were not fruitful. I’d like to note here that I have not been in a hotel without adequate hot water since the last time I was in Eastern Europe.
- Pool/Jacuzzi – The hotel has a nicely furnished workout room, but both the indoor and outdoor pools were closed and covered by a tarp. No whirlpool was evident, which would have been nice after walking the floor at the convention center all day.
Overall, I’d say that the Millennium would be a good place to stay if you are coming into town for a one night stay, such as to see a baseball or football game, and just want a nice, safe, clean hotel to sleep in after leaving the stadium. If you are a business traveller and will be in town for several days, you might get better value elsewhere.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 17, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/04/17/review-millennium-hotel-saint-louis/
News Roundup
- From the “Oopsie!” Department – The University of Alabama is replacing a trophy for the 2011 BCS football championship after it was smashed. A parent of a current player accidentally broke it when they got tangled up in the carpet that runs under the case for the trophy. In related news, a freshman linebacker for the University of Alabama has gone into hiding and is seeking out surgeons to change his face, complexion, and possibly his gender.
- From the “Unpossible!” Department – Scientists are scratching their heads over new data that shows that some Asian glaciers are growing. Their earlier projections predicted that the glaciers would have lost so much ice by now that they would only have been good for filling up a beer cooler or two. According to the linked article, they are blaming Global Warming for the increased iceflows, which makes sense when you consider that I blamed global warming this morning when I burned the toast.
- From the “All Workout Equipment is Always Loaded” Department – A man in California is recovering after being shot in the shoulder by a .22 bullet. While someone getting shot is only mildly newsworthy, the method by which he received his wound is interesting: He claims he dropped a dumbbell on a .22 rimfire, causing it to go off and hit him. See, I told you working out was bad for your health.
- From the “One Stop Shop” Department – A man in Maryland is under arrest after police discovered that he was selling marijuana out of his ice cream truck. Personally, I think he ought to be given a medal for his business acumen. The only way I could see this improved is if he also sold Doritos, snack cakes, and pizza along with vanilla fudge ripple and Grape Ape Ganja.
- From the “I Hope She Was Worth It” Department – Secret Service agents and members of the U.S. armed forces are in hot water after a prostitution scandal broke out in Colombia just prior to President Obama flying in for a summit. It appears that the agents may have frequented a house of ill repute and made business deals with the ladies working there. A dispute broke out with the management of the mason du chat, which brought in the police and the international press. It is reported that the agents may have bragged about their connection to the president while trying to impress their ‘dates’, which will show you how stupid men can be sometimes when they mix alcohol and testosterone. Several of the people involved have lost their security clearance over the episode, which is secret squirrel code for “You really ought to start working on your resume”, and Congressional investigations are not far off. Like my first sergeant used to say before we were sent off on one task or another: “It’s better to have blue balls than to have them cut off because you got caught waving them around on mission.” These guys are going to have their careers ruined because of a couple hours of hubris and stupidity.
- From the “Pathetic” Department – Bill Maher, former semi-funny comedian, current political hack, and future assistant janitor at the Cape Girardeau, Kentucky, Department of Outhouses and Septic Systems, has pulled out his ‘wit’ and gotten involved in the kerfluffle over whether or not Ann Romney worked while raising five children as a stay at home mother. While the reporter who originally stepped on her schwanz by saying that Mrs. Romney has never worked has backed down and admitted that staying at home with five kids and not putting your head in the oven is a difficult job, Maher has decided to agitate the excrement with a Cuisinart in order to drum up a little publicity. Quoth the clown: “…there is a big difference between being a mother, and that tough job, and getting your ass out the door at 7 a.m. when it’s cold, having to deal with the boss, being in a workplace, or even if you’re unhappy you can’t show it for eight hours.” Hopefully the horde of men and women who choose to stay at home and keep their families going doesn’t find Mr. Maher before he has a chance to escape the country and find a position as the guy in charge of the ship dip at the nastiest New Zealand sheep ranch that can be found. No response has been given to inquiries as to which part of the American population Mr. Maher will insult next, although ‘wheelchair bound survivors of domestic abuse’ is the most popular choice being bounced around by his writing staff at the moment.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 17, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/04/17/news-roundup-7/
30 Days of Shakespeare – Day 13
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers! — Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene I
My Take – Sometimes you have to suppress the urge to ‘cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war’ in order to achieve a more important goal. Antony knew that if he wasn’t smart, he’d get treated worse than Caesar, so he bided his time and won out in the end. When confronted with an adversary that has a momentary advantage over you, be smart, be patient, and look for ways to turn the tables.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 17, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/04/17/30-days-of-shakespeare-day-13/
NRA Annual Meeting 2012 – Final Thoughts
There will be more posts on individual things that caught my attention over the next few weeks, but here are some thoughts on the last day or so of the Annual Meeting:
- If you go to an annual meeting and just want to walk the show floor and visit the souvenir store, I suggest you go on Sunday. The crowds are much thinner, there are still ‘squee’ moments when you see people like Ted Nugent walking around, and some really good deals on the gear and souvenirs are to be had.
- After going to all of the non-custom manufacturers and looking at their 9mm handguns, I can report that the front runners as of now are the Kahr PM9 and the Browning High Power. Next step is to go to Knob Creek, rent an example of the ones still under consideration, and run some bullets through them. Decision and purchase will probably be made in time for a “Merry Christmas to me” present.
- Hint to pistol makers: What I want in a trigger is for little to no movement of the trigger without resistance, smooth resistance all the way to break, and a positive reset. I want this out of the box, and am willing to pay reasonable prices to get it. Telling me to get a trigger job or replace the whole darned trigger is unacceptable.
- Note to all vendors and manufacturers: I don’t need to see a very well put together member of the opposite sex in a skimpy outfit to notice your product.
- I was tempted to get a small MP3 player with a loud speaker, put “All By Myself” on a continuous loop, and hide it in the HS Precision booth, but I just couldn’t find the time.
- I didn’t realize how much a difference a Timney trigger made on a Mosin-Nagant until I tried it at their booth. They had me at ‘click’. And the look on OldNFO’s face when I told him I was putting a $90 dollar Timney trigger in an $89 dollar Mosin was priceless.
- In related news, I got no traction from any of the major rifle manufacturers when I asked if they would consider making a modern bolt action rifle in 7.62x54r. Sigh.
- The amount of artistry and craftsmanship that goes into a lot of the firearms that were on display was breathtaking. Even a plain wooden stock on an AK clone can be beautiful if its well polished and oiled. Some manufacturers have begun trying to make their polymer guns and rifle stocks more attractive to the eye, and I think that’s a good trend. All firearms need to be functional and comfortable to use, but no-one said they had to be ugly for the sake of ugly.
- Just like last year in Pittsburg, I heard several locals and lots of people at the convention comment on how polite and well-mannered those attending the meeting were, both at the convention and out in the restaurants and hotels. I have been to quite a few technology conferences, and I never see so many people saying “Excuse me”, “Please”, and “Thank you” when the target audience is technology geeks.
- I also noticed that there were a lot of families with children at this year’s meeting, as well as women either alone or in groups. That bodes well for the continuation and expansion of the NRA in particular and gun culture in general. It probably can’t and won’t stay the way it is now, but it should continue to evolve into something even better.
- Only in the gunblogger community have I been among a group of people whom I have only met in person once or twice, yet they have known me for years. We had men and women from all backgrounds and corners of the country sitting in an Irish pub, talking about politics, family, guns, and whatever, and no-one looked like they felt out of place. Heck, at one point we had a giant from Texas walking around in a kilt, and all we did was smile.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 16, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/04/16/nra-annual-meeting-2012-final-thoughts/
30 Days of Shakespeare – Day 12
When he is best, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast. — The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene II
My Take – I wasn’t aware that the Bard had the ability to look forward to our time and see me in action.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 16, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/04/16/30-days-of-shakespeare-day-12/
Fun Gunnie Game
The other night, while eating dinner, a bunch of gun geeks came up with a bit of a game. We came up with indicators that you might be a ‘gun nut’.
Here’s what I can remember* of the indicators and a couple I thought of later:
You might be a gun nut if:
- Your guns are cleaner than your car.
- You have more gun safes than you do cars
- If you’ve ever reached into your pocket to get change and come up with a live round
- You set a calendar reminder for your anniversary, but you can remember to the day when your carry license and C&R license need renewal.
- You put more thought into the names for your guns than you did for your kids.
- You are more excited about shaking Massad Ayoob’s hand than you are about meeting Oliver North.
What do y’all have?
*My apologies, but my Irish ancestors would have been proud of how much Guinness I put away that night.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 16, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/04/16/fun-gunnie-game/
30 Days of Shakespeare – Day 11
This day is call’d — the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and sees old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his friends,
And say, “To-morrow is Saint Crispian;”
Then will he strip his sleeve, and show his scars,
And say, “These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.”
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words, —
Harry the King, Bedford, and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d, —
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me,
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England, now a-bed,
Shall think themselves accurs’d, they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap, whiles any speaks,
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day. — Henry V, Act III, Scene III
Posted by daddybear71 on April 15, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/04/15/30-days-of-shakespeare-day-11/
NRA Annual Meeting 2012 – Day 2 Thoughts
- The new Ruger 10/22 takedown model is about as slick as it looks. It comes apart in a couple of seconds, goes back together even quicker, and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. It seems to lock up quite nicely, so accuracy shouldn’t be a problem. JayG made a good point that taking the barrel off would make cleaning it very easy. This one goes on the list of things I need to be on the lookout for. I’m thinking it would make an excellent truck or trunk gun.
- I have tried 9mm pistols from just about every manufacturer for comfort in the hand, trigger pull, and ergonomics, and I haven’t found anything that I like enough to buy. So far the front runner is the Kahr, which had the best trigger. Sorry guys, I just don’t care for the M&P or the Glock. I’m going to have to rent a few guns and see if my opinions change.
- Springfield’s new XDs pistol just doesn’t appeal to me. If I want to carry a slim .45 ACP pistol with a low ammunition capacity, I’ll carry a small 1911. The only thing the XDs has over the 1911 is weight, and to me that’s not that big an advantage.
- The people at Tactical Solutions are evil. Their wares are extremely nice, extremely functional, and for the most part out of my price range. I need to up my game enough that I can start doing business with them. Their 10/22 upgrades were whispering sweet nothings into my ear.
- The Rossi lever actions are very nice for the money. The short “mare’s leg” looks like fun on a bun, even if it wouldn’t have much practical application for me. Their .38/.357 lever action looks like something that I ought to add to the safe, just so I can have a pistol caliber carbine that I will actually enjoy shooting. The revolver rifles and shotguns are interesting as a novelty, but I think I’ll pass.
- I think I see an FAL in my future. I’ve been trying AR-15’s again, and decided to try a few at DS Arms. Still don’t care for them, but decided to try out one of their FAL’s. I haven’t had a rifle feel that comfortable to shoulder and natural to sight since I first tried my 91/30. Yes, you read that right. My standard for fit and ergonomics for my rifles is the Mosin-Nagant. I think I have a friend with one, so I may borrow hers and give it a whirl.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 14, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/04/14/nra-annual-meeting-2012-day-2-thoughts/
Thoughts on Mitt Romney’s Speech – NRA Annual Meeting, 2012
Mitt Romney gave a speech to the NRA Annual Meeting yesterday. I watched it on the live feed, and then re-watched it on-line today to try to get a good idea of where he stands on the Second Amendment and other rights.
Sitting and talking with JayG and others who have lived under a Romney administration tells me that he has a lot of work to come back from where he stood as governor of Massachusetts and as a candidate in years past. Here are my impressions of what he had to say yesterday:
Quotes:
- “Congress does not need more money to spend, it needs to spend only what it has.”
- “We once built the Interstate Highway System and the Hoover Dam. Today we can’t even build a pipeline.”
- “The truth is, we’re struggling because our government is too big!”
- “The answer to a weak economy is not more government, it is more freedom”
- “I will protect the second amendment rights of the American people”
- “He (President Obama) thinks our nation’s highest court is to be revered and respected, as long as it remains faithful to the original intent of Barack Obama.”
- “We’ll stop the days of apologizing for success at home and never again will we apologize for America abroad.”
As you can see, not a lot of what he said that was memorable had a lot to do with the Second Amendment. Not that it wasn’t a good speech, but it didn’t lean hard on gun rights as a theme. It was a good stump speech about freedom in general, especially economic freedom, with a few pokes at President Obama thrown in for good measure.
Other thoughts:
- You have to give Mr. Romney credit for making a speech in front of a large crowd, that he has no control over, and that is, at best, lukewarm to him and his politics.
- Ann Romney, his wife, took a few minutes early in the speech to say a few words. I have to say, she’s at least as good a speaker as he is. She at least connected the theme of her involvement in the campaign with the Battles of Lexington and Concord and did a decent job doing it.
- Romney made a good point that we are a nation of laws, not men. He invoked Truman when saying that the Constitution is more than a piece of paper, which is a nice rhetorical touch.
- He contrasted himself with Obama by asserting that he wants to limit government, while Obama has sought to expand its role.
- Romney says he plans to use the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence as guiding documents if he is elected. It’s nice to hear a candidate at least use those words so we can call him on it when he fails to do it after the election.
- Mr. Romney spoke a lot about economic freedom. He asserted that while some regulation of economic activity is necessary, the Obama administration and his allies in Congress have taken it too far. He brought up several examples of government interference in people’s lives that have come up in the past few years, including the couple that had to take the EPA to the Supreme Court because the EPA told them they were building on wetlands.
- He spoke a bit about how the administration has interfered with the ability of Americans to do business in accordance with their own conscience. He specifically brought up how religious communities, such as the Catholic Church, are being forced to do things that are against the tenets of their faith.
- Mr. Romney didn’t start speaking about the Second Amendment until about minute 18 of a 27 minute speech. That indicates to me that gun rights aren’t in his list of priorities. The speech was a good general overview of Mr. Romney’s views on freedom, but didn’t specialize on the subject of gun rights.
- Mr. Romney got his first standing ovation when he called for Attorney General Holder to either resign or be fired.
- He pledged to enforce current gun laws, and to oppose any new ones. I would have been interested to know where he stood on reducing the number and complexity of existing laws.
- Mr. Romney took the opportunity to take shots at President Obama and his recent remarks about the Supreme Court. He stressed several times that judicial review was an essential part of our nation’s make-up, which I will be curious to hear about if he is elected and runs afoul of the Supreme Court.
- He also brought up the probability that President Obama will probably be making a couple more nominations to the Supreme Court if he is re-elected. His assertions were that given that chance, we will be living with the consequences of the Obama administration for decades to come. I tend to agree with him. The only real legacy I see for modern presidents is how they approach choices for the courts, and I have found President Obama lacking in his choices so far.
- Mr. Romney ended his speech by relating how, as governor of Massachusetts, he went to Logan Airport in Boston to meet the remains of a service member who had died overseas, and how when he looked back at the terminal, he saw people from all backgrounds also giving respect. He used that to illustrate how he wished to be a uniter of the nation rather than a divider.
Like I said, it was a good speech, but didn’t speak about the Second Amendment except as an example of a freedom among other freedoms. I think that speech might have been good at another pro-gun venue, but a speech more focused on gun rights might have played better here. The crowd wasn’t exactly hostile, but they certainly weren’t exuberant in their applause, and I didn’t hear Mr. Romney have to stop to let the applause die down very often.
If Mr. Romney was looking to use this speech to bring pro-gun and pro-rights people firmly into his camp, I think he missed. However, if the speech was a way for him to re-introduce himself to that crowd so they could see where he is today, I think he succeeded. He didn’t make the mistake of trying to be a staunch supporter of gun rights, because I think he knows he won’t be able to pull that one off. He also didn’t fall into the “I have a really nice shotgun, and I love going out and shooting pheasants with it” trap that got John Kerry lampooned in 2004. However, if he can keep beating on the pro-freedom drum, he might be able to allay the fear that he will be hostile or limp on gun rights.
But heaven help him if he is able to get pro-gun citizens to accept him enough to elect him, and he shoves us under the bus of political expediency.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 14, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/04/14/thoughts-on-mitt-romneys-speech-nra-annual-meeting-2012/
DaddyBear
