Guns & Ammo

Guns guns guns. When I was 9, G.I. Joe was kickin much Cobra ass (with his pals Sgt. Slaughter, Flint, the Lusty Lady Jay, and the silent-but-deadly and emotionally complicated Snake Eyes) But unlike all the other 9 year old boys, I wasn't allowed to play with guns - thus I had none. All for the better I think - I learned that just cuz shooting people was fun, that didn't make it ok. But now I'm older, and my father-in-law Mark (pictured with a firearm and oxygen tube in his nose - how american is that?) owns a number of extremely impressive bits of history. Guns.

I went to the range on Saturday with Mark and two of his employees Alan and Javier. Then on Sunday - Jorge pulled out his collection and we went back. It was my third and fourth times ever firing the weapons and there are a number of things that occurred to me this trip.


As usual when one steps out of the car at a firing range, the impact of the rounds firing is staggering. I knew immediately where I was and needed no help focusing. its a strange thought to be so near so many people who love guns enough to purchase them. Coming from my hippie upbringing its pretty damned far from home. At any moment any of those folks could turn and start firing at people - I dunno maybe they had a bad day at the car wash, or just broke-up with their wife's best friend, or could smell the hippie blood in me... anyways - that could happen at any moment. Also I realized its a pretty powerful feeling to squeeze off a round at a target. Powerful in a scary, dirty way. Also, it would have sucked to be in any war ever.

Also, guns have changed... a lot. I fired guns from the 1860's (single shot black powder, same guns Custer's men had - which of course didn't turn out so well, not a musket, not pictured). I fired guns from the old west - model 1873 sideloader rifle (pictured at top) as well as the cowboy revolver from the 1890's show with the other pistolas. I fired guns from Dirty Harry (that big assed .44 calibur magnum - holy jeebus that thing was powerful, obnoxiously powerful). I fired guns from WWII - the cool Russian one that jorge has - is an M-44, did you know 2million russians died in that war? I know - crazy... It prolly cuz that effin gun has way to much kick - tho I must share - I hit the x on the bulls eye with that bad-boy (not pictured). And lastly - I even fired some gangsta guns - the ol .45 automatic - well not all gangstas, just the mean ones.

I fired em all - felt pretty good about it - had no visions of directing them anywhere near anything living and gained yet more respect for the weapons of firey doom and their history. Different stuff for a hippie child - if i'm not careful I'll get my hippie card revoked...

In Heavy Rotation

Yeah so Band of Bees - Mr. Franceschi turned me on to this'n. These are 'Chickenback' fellas, and while that album was fun and funky and frivelous and other 'f' words this new album has a depth to it. Must be the organ - heavy organ always makes it feel right. Some real solid tracks, a few different sounds going on, little bitta bluegrass, little bitta beegees (yeah thats right), little bit more than a little bitta 60's rock, add a pinch of funkaliciousness and you're there.

Now I'm not clear on this but they may have changed their name to the bees - as the album artwork shows - but I think I prefer 'a band of bees' I should write someone about that...

Sidebar - also found a band called Beirut doing some very interesting things. Kinda art-rock-folk-eastern-albanian with oddly haunting depressing vocals. Right up my alley. Check em out on a track called Nantes off the Flying Club Cup record... or just click it in the 'ilike' sidebar over there if its still up...

Burbank Bubby

Little Lady

SoCal Tour 2007

That's right. Me and two of ma 'goodbuddies' embarked on a journey some weeks ago. A place where rubber met carpet, and supple leather met cold hard steel - a place where scantily clad Lamborghini models could show their cleavage AND get their teeth whitened 6 to 10 shades in less than one hour. A place where a soft serve ice cream cone costs $4.50 (tho it did have mulched m&m's in it) , a place where you could peruse a man-van only yards from a kia sorrento - you could almost smell the fear...

We're talking auto show time peoples. On a whirlwind trip down to SoCal Bern, Addy and I got to see cole n mike's place in burbank, witness a dramatic date-request-rejection-over-breakfast-tidbit, check brian and cass's crib in hollywood, run into (literally) some washed up comedian (dude outside phonebooth in dumb and dumber) and still catch the auto show, a coupla games of catan, and a visit to the park with the whole pearson and gabriel clan. Quick trip but good times - and Adeline's first trip on an airplane went smoove like buttah.

The auto show itself wasn't all that impressive but it was quite a bit of fun since we started shooting goofy footage of us tooling around in the cars. Good times - now I just gotta get brian or john to edit up the vids into a cohesive short. Good times. Very good times. Stay tuned for some of the video...

Communication Nation

Cool blog about communicating complexity with pictures - this might be what I want to do... http://communicationnation.blogspot.com/

f*ckin' lebowski

This post is rated R for strong language... JG passed this ol gem by me - figured i had to post it here considering this is perhaps the greatest film of our time (yours and mines)... so enjoy-it.

Illustriousnous

Cool illustrator - Andrew Bell - puts the 'cute' in homicidal grubs and gastrointestinal microbial grobblers - somewhat violent, but in a cute fun way... heres the link to Creatures In My Head. Enjoy.

Also here are other cool artist illustrators: mf, dan may, jamie zollars, mark ryden...