Politics, Guns & Beer » Militia

Girls’ Night In

Laurel — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:36:08 +0000

So, the menfolk all went out to the woods this weekend to build forts and play soldier – err, build fires and get drunk – err, muster the militia. (I will give them this much: Their activities this weekend really do sound remarkably similar to the militia musters of the 18th century – meaning a little bit of training and a lot of drinking and revelry – so they have that going for them.)

Since such outdoor activities are not really conducive with having a seven-week-old in February, The Girl Child, The Sister and myself decided to stay in and do the chick thing. So, we got a big thing of ice cream and rented movies.

Uh, except we rented Rambo. And The Sister just hit play on the DVD player while declaring “This movie is very educational,” and then, “Oooh, the .50!”

Well, we never claimed to be normal. Time to go make some popcorn.

A little bit of everything:

Laurel — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:45:13 +0000

1. I realized (a bit late) that not everybody knows that Patriots’ Day is celebrated on the anniversary of April 19, 1775 – the day the shot heard ’round the world was fired at Concord bridge. If you’re unfamiliar with the significance of Lexington and Concord, educate yourself here. (My dear Inconvenience would argue that the war began long before April 19, perhaps with the Boston massacre or HMS Gaspée affair – but we celebrate Patriots’ Day all the same!)

April 19 also marks the anniversary of the siege at Waco (1993) and the Oklahoma City bombing (1995), neither of which I find occasion to commemorate. I believe both of those events were clashes between two sides generally lacking in sympathetic characters.

Anyway, we observe Patriots’ Day with shooting and festivities to honor the American traditions of independence and marksmanship. Last year, the Inconvenience proposed (on a bridge!) and we followed it up with shooting. This year, we happened to have access to Tannerite, so we had a bit of fun with the effigy of a Redcoat. I of course have no intention of blowing up any actual subjects of the Queen. :)

2. I really hope you’re all watching John Adams, or making arrangements to procure the DVDs. It is simply incredible. I dare you to watch this – just the intro – and try to avoid coming away inspired:

The casting is brilliant, the script is excellent… it’s truly history come alive. It’s also caused me to have a bit of a crush on Thomas Jefferson (as if I didn’t already), played perfectly by Stephen Dillane. The Inconvenience has been pleading Hamilton’s case for months, but it’s falling on deaf ears… And the miniseries isn’t helping. I hate that sleazy little self-serving parasite. I’m totally on Team Burr.3. In addition to spending copious amounts of time fangirling over the founding fathers, I’ve also:

Continued on in my position at the ice rink, with new and improved summer duties.
Helped found the Palouse Sons of Liberty.
Organized a team for and participated in the Relay for Life – for which, by the way, I also owe late donation thank-yous to JJ and Brody. :)
Kept an eye on Heller, the elections, and other news and current events with the potential to affect our lives profoundly. Idaho Republicans will finally get around to holding the primary on May 27th (when it totally matters, hurrr…) – but there’s still an ongoing pissing match about the closed primary rule, so who knows – maybe I won’t even get to vote.
Gotten rather involved in a potential lawsuit and am developing a cursory involvement in another… Don’t worry, I’m not in any trouble, nor is the Inconvenience. I’m just a fan of putting my time and money where my mouth is, and as much as I’d like to elaborate at this time, I can’t. Trust me… they’ll be intriguing stories sooner or later.
Started talking about an entrepreneurial opportunity with a friend. This, too, is in the works, with more details to come once I have a clue what they are!
Been running here, there and everywhere with this friend’s party and that friend’s shower and on and on… May is only going to be worse. Out of nine weekend days in May, I currently have plans for eight. *thud*

So anyway, those are my lame excuses for severely neglecting the politics, guns, and politics-as-pertaining-to-guns portions of this blog lately. Forgive me?

4. Don’t forget, those of you who have occasion to be on a college campus this week – the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus Spring 2008 “Empty Holster Protest” is currently in full swing. You can find details here, along with guidelines for safe, effective participation.

5. On a personal note, I’d like to congratulate Mike – my dear Inconvenience – on his new job, which he started today. He’s also preparing to graduate on May 10th with his B.A. in History, with a Political Science minor… and a 3.5 GPA! ‘Bout damn time one of us graduated. ;)

Patriots’ Day Pictures

Laurel — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:24:38 +0000

Patriots’ Day pictures are after the jump. I don’t know if any of the rest of the PSOL crew care to appear on PGB, so I’ve cropped these accordingly.

Warning – 56k death! :)

Mike explains dispersion. Or, sings “I Believe I Can Fly” – you decide.
I demonstrate my new SERE tactic – “Look innocent and adorable.”
My hand freaks me out in this picture. I look like I have a hand like those people with the “lobster child” deformity. It took me a while to figure out that I have my index finger extended parallel to my barrel – so while it looks like the handguard is between my freak index and middle fingers, it’s really in a “C” between my thumb and middle finger and resting on my index finger. If that makes any sense. I invested time in explaining that because it really disturbed me.
I should make an animated .GIF out of the freak hand one and this one. It would be so annoying.
Lessons learned about fireteam rushes:
1) Hills suck.
2) Fall down the right way, or one of your legs will be unusable the next day.
3) 37 degrees is the perfect temperature.
Scene: In Which the Hero and Heroine Plot to Take Over the World.
Whaddya think… Christmas card ‘08?