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Movie Quotes – Day 325

This is the west, Jim, a man is still expected to defend himself. If he allows people to think he won’t, he’s in trouble. Bad trouble. — The Big Country

If you will not stand up for yourself, who will?  If your own life is not worth defending, then what worth does it have?  There is no honor in saying you do not believe in violence and would never kill, but have no qualms about calling for other people to come and kill on your behalf to save your life.

Stand up, grow up, and learn to fend for yourself.

by daddybear71 on November 21, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Movie Quotes

Posted by daddybear71 on November 21, 2014

https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/21/movie-quotes-day-325/

Thought for the Day

“There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.”
― Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein, published November 20, 1974

by daddybear71 on November 21, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day

Posted by daddybear71 on November 21, 2014

https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/21/thought-for-the-day-220/

Blogs Roundup

  • AD gives us good advice for everyone, first responder or no.  Once the threat is over, it’s time to stop.  He also points us to a very pretty gun for the first responders out there.
  • Sarah Hoyt articulates something I’ve struggled saying for about 15 years.  If you don’t like the results of the last election, there’ll be another one along in about 2 years.  If you can’t wait that long, passenger airlines still fly overseas and you can even drive into Canada or Mexico.
  • Yankee Born, Rebel Heart points me to yet another source for entertainment.
  • BlackFive talks about the rash of Special Operations folks to get literary agents.
  • The Book of Barkley has its own blog now.  Good reading for a cold night.
  • ASM826 has an excellent idea.  My plan is to start doing my shopping after Thanksgiving, and to do as little business with $BIGBOXSTORE as I can get away with.
  • Jennifer has some excellent advice on recognizing strokes.
  • Borepatch makes an excellent point.  I served in what I considered a peacetime military, but between 1989 and 1998, we were in shooting wars in Panama, Kuwait, Somalia, and Bosnia.
  • Brigid has good tips on winter survival.
  • Wing has the right attitude.  I’m guilty of taking Irish Woman for granted, but I’m trying to do better.
by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in blogs

Posted by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014

https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/20/blogs-roundup-52/

Today’s Earworm

It’s Universal Children’s Day.  Act like it!

by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Earworm

Posted by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014

https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/20/todays-earworm-574/

Heads Up – Part Deux

Yesterday, I passed on some hunting information for my Indiana friends, and DNR updated their update this morning:

Indiana Department of Natural Resources
402 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2748

Hunting Guide correction… Part 2

To Wild Bulletin subscribers:

A notice sent Wednesday to Wild Bulletin subscribers corrected dates previously printed in the DNR Hunting/Trapping Guide for using of bonus antlerless deer hunting licenses in “A” counties. The dates in the Guide were wrong.

A sharp-eyed Wild Bulletin subscriber caught an additional mistake in both the Guide and the correction notice that indicated bonus antlerless licenses could be used in the special antlerless season in counties with an “A” quota. Tipton and Wells are the only counties with an “A” quota this year.

As our subscriber correctly pointed out, “A” counties are not eligible for the special antlerless season. Neither are counties with a bonus quota of 1, 2, or 3. Counties must have a bonus quota of at least 4 to participate in the special antlerless season, which begins Dec. 26.

So, let’s try again.

For counties with an “A” designation, a bonus antlerless license can be used to take one antlerless deer from Nov. 27through Jan. 4 (the last four days of the regular firearms season, plus muzzleloader and archery seasons). Bonus antlerless licenses cannot be used in an “A” county prior to Nov. 27.

We apologize for the errors.

-30-

Contact: Phil Bloom, DNR Communications, (317) 232-4003.

by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in hunting

Posted by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014

https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/20/heads-up-part-deux/

Audiobook Review – Medieval English History

I recently listened to two offerings from Audible’s Great Courses series, “The Story of Medieval England:  From King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest” and “1066:  The Year That Changed Everything“.  Both are lecture series given by Professor Jennifer Paxton, and were both entertaining and informative.

“The Story of Medieval England” is a good survey of English history from the late Roman period through the end of the late Middle Ages.  Professor Paxton spends about 3/4 of her time going over the timeline and personalities of the period, but intersperses information about society and life for both commoners and kings.  These vignettes are sometimes separate lectures, but more often are woven into a lecture about events.  If you’re looking for the roots of American history and history, you need to start here.

“1066” delves deeper into the 100 years before and the 100 years after the Norman Conquest.  Where the other series was a survey of almost 1000 years, this course goes into detail about the people, events, and cultures that molded England in the 10th and 11th centuries.

If you’re a history nerd like me, you’ll enjoy these lectures.  Professor Paxton is obviously an expert in her field, but she also has the rare ability to present her information in a way that is informative and interesting.   Between the two courses, you get about 22 hours of lecture. To be honest, I was disappointed when they were done, because I wanted to learn more.

Disclaimer:  I received nothing for doing this review, and I purchased both audiobooks myself.

by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in books, history, Review

Posted by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014

https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/20/audiobook-review-medieval-english-history/

Movie Quotes – Day 324

One of the disadvantages of being a Patrician is that occasionally you are obliged to act like one. — Spartacus

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. — Luke 12:48

We are truly fortunate to live as we do.  Kings of old would only dream of the ease and luxury of our day-to-day, middle-class lives.  With that comes the responsibility to make sure that those around us do not suffer due to lack of the necessities of life.

However, that has to be a responsibility that is voluntarily taken on and executed.  Being charitable is something to be admired and encouraged, but not mandated.  If someone declines to care for his fellow man, that is his right.  He may be wrong, but no-one should have the power to compel charity.

by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Movie Quotes

Posted by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014

https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/20/movie-quotes-day-324/

News Roundup

  • From the “Crunchy Granola” Department – The city of Berkeley, California, site of what used to be one of my favorite record stores on earth, recently passed a law which will require labels on gas pumps to remind consumers that burning fossil fuels releases, and hold onto your hats here, folks, exhaust gases that include carbon dioxide.  This is an effort to remind consumers that the science is settled and that carbon dioxide and other byproducts of modern society are evil, cause evil, and will have evil consequences at some point in the future.  Probably.  Maybe.  Someday.  Whatever.  One wonders if similar stickers will be affixed to the counters at cannabis dispensaries reminding customers that pot isn’t exactly healthy.  One also wonders if Blondie’s Pizza will be forced to put up stickers telling the people on their way home from the pot dispensary that eating too many humongous slices of their wares will lead to obesity, Type II diabetes, and heartburn.  And in related news, I’d like to thank my recruiter for giving me an option to get the heck out of the Bay Area when I did.  I need to find that man and buy him a beer.
  • From the “Crowdsourcing” Department – The Buffalo Bills are offering $10 an hour and tickets to the Sunday game against the New York Jets to anyone who will come in and help to remove the over 200,000 tons of snow that dumped on the stadium during a recent winter storm.  How’s about this for a date?  Thursday, you and your sweetie put in 8 hours apiece clearing snow at the football stadium, making $160.  You use that money to buy Sabres tickets for Saturday, and get lit at the game while watching a real sport.  Sunday, you wake up, work off the hangover at a tailgate party, then go to the Bills/Jets game?  The woman who would do that with her man would be wife material for me.
  • From the “Hero” Department – A man in Maine is being hailed for rescuing an infant from an SUV that was upside down in a creek.  The child was not breathing when the Samaritan cut him out of the vehicle, but recovered after being given CPR by another rescuer.  The man is confirming that he is a good person by trying to downplay his actions, saying that he just happened to be at the right place at the right time.
  • From the “Chutzpah” Department – A woman in Texas is suing the owners of the dog her dogs killed.  Apparently after the owner of the dead beagle called the police and had the attacking dogs declared dangerous, their owner has been under stress due to the bites and scratches she received after her dogs broke into her neighbor’s yard and tore his pet apart.  Just goes to show that you can sue anyone, anytime.  Here’s hoping that the courts dismiss her suit with prejudice, by which I mean that she is taken behind the courthouse, beaten with the heavy end of a dog leash, and then forced to clean up the local dog park with her bare hands for a year.
by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in news

Posted by daddybear71 on November 20, 2014

https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/20/news-roundup-234/

Musings

  • Putting a metal roof on a treehouse on the day before a winter storm, when the wind is starting to come up, wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.
  • Neither was grabbing a hot glass baking dish out of the oven, then doing my best to not let my wife know it hurt because she’d warned me to use an oven mitt.
    • I’m pretty sure the fingerprints on my left hand will return to their original configuration.
  • For date night this month, Irish Woman and I went to an indoor range.
    • This is only her second time shooting.
    • With the Ruger Mark II pistol, she had 3 to 4 inch groups dead centered on what would have been the bridge of the target’s nose.
    • With the Glock 17, she was almost as good.
    • With the Kimber Solo Carry, her groups opened up to about 12 inches, which was about as well as I did with that gun.
    • With my CZ-82, she was back down to 3 to 4 inch groups at 10 feet.
    • Of course, her favorite gun is my CZ.  Why wouldn’t she prefer my favorite handgun?  Oh well, guess I’ll just have to buy her one of her own.
    • That reminds me. I need to re-up my C&R license.
  • I’m pretty sure I don’t like the little Kimber Solo.  It’s so light that when you touch off a 9mm, it wants to jump out of my hand.  When I try to hold it tighter, I get bit by the slide.  Irish Woman liked it OK, and wants to learn to shoot it well, so I’ll keep it until she’s tired of it.
  • Between leaving the range and getting to the movie that night, we decided to go out for Chinese.  By the time we left, I was looking for an OompaLoompa to roll me out to the car for juicing.
  • I’ve started working the evening shift for the Christmas season.  I’m two days in and am starting to figure out how to get enough sleep, yet not fall into the trap of only sleeping and working.
    • My goal is to get home at about midnight, get to sleep as soon as possible, then get up at 6 to get the kids off to school.
    • Mornings will have me doing one thing, like doing house work or going to the gym, then getting a nap.
    • Still haven’t figured out how to make that work, but it’ll come.
  • Note to self – Try to figure out that something important in your story is ridiculous before you’re a few thousand words in.  This is like getting to the end of knitting a scarf and realizing that you dropped a stitch or two in the third row and now it looks stupid.
  • We caught the southern edge of Snowmageddon 2014-1 the other night.  Got enough snow and wind to close schools, but not enough to keep Boo cooped up in the house all day Monday.
  • I told Girlie Bear the other night that if she got her grades up to at least a B in every class, then I’d let her get her learner’s permit and teach her to drive.  Pray for me.
by daddybear71 on November 19, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on November 19, 2014

https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/19/musings-92/

Today’s Earworm

by daddybear71 on November 19, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Earworm

Posted by daddybear71 on November 19, 2014

https://daddybearsden.com/2014/11/19/todays-earworm-573/

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