I had both on pre-order through the iTunes Music Store (never did that before, that’s nice). So I’ve now downloaded and listened to both albums.
The Motörhead album, “The Wörld Is Yours” sounds like a lot of the recent-days Motörhead albums. Some heavy, some “boogie”, and just a lot of rock-and-roll (’cause they are Motörhead, and they play rock-and-roll). A few songs had some riffs that made me look up and say “hey, that sounds cool”. But really, the album didn’t feel all that hot to me. It’s not bad, but it didn’t feel like anything special.
But the Crowbar album, “Sever the Wicked Hand”. This is an album that feels inspired.
Watch this:
It gives a lot of background, especially what Kirk was going through in his personal life. You can tell how it drove the content of the album. There’s pain, struggle, but interestingly… it is a rather positive album. There’s a lot of finding strength. It’s pretty cool. And of course, the music is just heavy and brutal. Awesome riffage.
I’ll listen to the Motörhead album more for sure, but I’m setting iTunes on “repeat” for the Crowbar album. Going to keep listening to that one today.
One of the most useful features in Xcode is the ability to add “Run Script” build phases anywhere in a target’s build process. A little shell scripting and there isn’t a whole lot you can’t do to customize your build process.
One of my co-workers asked me if I knew of a way to perform privileged operations during that phase. I didn’t, but figured osascript might come into play. I finally had an opportunity yesterday to investigate this and sure enough, there’s a way.
osascript <<ENDSCRIPT
set shellScript to "rm -Rf /Users/hsoi/Desktop/TheTarget"
do shell script shellScript with administrator privileges
ENDSCRIPT
In an Xcode “Run Script” build phase, you have to use shell scripting (sh, bash, Python, etc.). I know of no simple way within a shell script to invoke Authorization/Authentication Services and pass that along. I do know you can do it with AppleScript, but via the do shell script command with the with administrator privileges option. So what do you end up doing? Creating a shell script (or simple command line instruction), embedding that into an AppleScript, which is executed via a /bin/sh script within the Run Script build phase.
I know. Convoluted. But it works, at least in the light cases that I needed.
Of course, you could go the pure AppleScript route:
osascript <<ENDSCRIPT
tell application "Finder"
set targetFile to "/Users/hsoi/Desktop/TheTarget" as POSIX file
move targetFile to the Trash
end tell
ENDSCRIPT
and if the Finder needs you to authenticate, it will prompt, just like it would if you directly manipulated “TheTarget” yourself in the Finder.
The bottom line is AppleScript will get the job done for you since it’s savvy to the OS and OS services like the Finder and Authentication. If your scripting needs are a little more complex you may have to do more work to get things working as you want them, but at least this provides a foundation.
I know Gary was around for a long time, playing in Thin Lizzy and such, but I didn’t discover him until his later blues days. Listening to the radio one day and this song came on… the guitar was amazing. Never before had I heard someone make a guitar truly cry. You could feel all the pain and anguish of the player coming out in his playing. Truly I was blown away.
Magpul Dynamics: The Art of the Dynamic Shotgun is a set of 3 DVD’s with over 5 hours of footage about how to run a shotgun in a combative context (i.e. this isn’t about shooting skeet, 3-gun, or duck hunting, tho some of this certainly could apply to those contexts).
This is the first Magpul Dynamics video I’ve watched. I’ve of course heard lots of hype and good reviews about the other Magpul DVD’s, so when this was released I knew I wanted to check it out. While I’m primarily a handgunner and didn’t care much for shotgun, over the past year I’ve found myself more interested and more drawn to shotgunning (skeet, dove hunting, personal protection). And while I appreciate sport such as skeet or hunting, my primary focus with firearms is for self- and home-defense. Thus, this DVD seemed right up my alley. Previously I looked at Rangemster’s Defensive Shotgun DVD; that is a good DVD, and I think it serves well for anyone considering a shotgun for defensive purposes. Magpul Dynamic’s DVD goes further.
NB: I purchased this DVD with my own money. There’s no gift, no payola, no kickback, no affiliation with Magpul other than being a customer and consumer of their products. So this review is my own.
What You Get
I purchased the 3-DVD set (it’s also available on Blu-Ray). The first two DVD’s are the meat of the production, with the third DVD providing supplemental material. Disc 1 covers foundational material such as zeroing, patterning, grip & stance, reload techniques, and how to do slug changeovers. Disc 2 covers transitions, positions, movement, and then provides numerous scenarios for LEO, gaming, home-defense. Disc 3 provides quick reference to the various drills and skills taught on the first two discs, discussion of hardware, and also outtakes and promotion of other Magpul Dynamics products.
Given the sheer amount of information (almost 6 hours) it took me a few sittings to watch it all the way through.
General Impression
Overall I’m left with a positive impression of the production.
The production values are high. Yes, sometimes it seems Chris and Travis are rambling and ad-libbing. That’s somewhat good because it shows there’s no rigid script (tho obviously there’s planning) and thus they have to be knowledgeable on the topic in order to produce this video. But sometimes I found myself wondering if they left something out, or maybe they could have spoken about something in greater detail.
That’s actually my biggest beef with the production: did things get left out? Granted, there’s already a huge amount of material here and to cover any more in any greater depth would be a monumental task. But did I miss it? No, because I already know what’s going on. What it says to me is this DVD set is not for a beginner. If you don’t know what a “red dot” scope is and what “dot size” is all about, this DVD will not explain it to you; Chris and Travis discussed the issue, but they didn’t define the issue. That sort of thing happened throughout the video: they’d mention a concept, or they’d touch on X, but never really go deeply into it. If you already know about X you can figure out how it applies to this context, but if X has never been defined or explained to you, you’re just going to have more questions. So I’d have to classify this DVD set as useful for people who grok guns, maybe you’re a handgunner or rifle guy, you understand a lot of what’s going on and what’s out there, but maybe you just haven’t used a shotgun much and want to learn more. Thus you’ve got background, just not specifically into this area.
If you want a good DVD on beginning shotgun, check out Rangemaster’s Defensive Shotgun DVD. Tom Givens does a great job of taking you from square one up to a point of basic proficiency. He touches on a lot of things that Magpul’s DVD does not, things that are essential for a beginner to understand (especially about patterning and knowing your shotgun and ammo). I would say if someone was a true beginner, first pick up the Rangemaster DVD then move to the Magpul DVD.
Oh… speaking of production? If you’re a pretty lady, you get a lot of attention from the instructors and a lot of camera time. 😉
Skill Impression
For me, the best thing I got from this DVD was their reload technique. Since I became interested in shotguns, I have searched for a good reload technique. I’ve seen so many different techniques, so many different justifications. But trying any of them, I still felt like I was fiddling and fumbling around. What Chris and Travis present here, especially their “combat reload”, I really liked. They presented a few flavors of that reload, but the “over the top” and keeping your hand in that position and overhand racking the foreend back into position? I liked that, a lot.
The Magpul guys were big on economy of motion and making sure everything logically worked and fit. They would demonstrate numerous approaches and technique because they understood that not everyone was in the same context or bodies would work the same way. Yes, they had their preferences and made those clear, but ultimately it’s about you and your situation and what works best. You must take this instruction for what it is, but really spend the time on the range to find out what truly works for you.
I also liked their “slug changeover” setup. Notice tho the inherent bias in that technique (at least in name). The general assumption is that your shotgun is going to be loaded with not-slugs, that buckshot is your primary, slugs are your secondary. Either way, the changeover technique was interesting. This was a time that really brought out the differences in shotguns, be it action type or brand. For instance, the Benelli M1 vs. the Remington 1100 were slightly different techniques. The Mossberg 500 vs. the Remington 870 were also slightly different techniques. In the end it’s mostly the same, but it shows that all gear is slightly different and you need to know your gear. If the gear doesn’t work change it for something else.
Aside: That mattered to me because I have leaned towards Mossberg shotguns. Main reason is they are more ambidextrous-friendly than the Remington, and that matters in my household. Justin T. Huang has written up a comparison of the 870 vs. the 500 and he raises a lot of additional good points for the Mossberg and where the 870 has problems. The Magpul DVD demonstrated one downside of the Mossberg in the slug changeovers. I also know Mossberg’s don’t have quite the aftermarket as Remington’s or Benelli’s. But this is the joy of the market: that we have so many choices and options. Don’t be a fan-boi and buy what the Magpul guys use because they use it. Find what works for you and fits your needs and context.
Back on topic… I like what they did with Disc 3, having the skills broken down so you could easily index to them through DVD menus and watch just the technique you were interested in. Full speed, slow motion, it was useful and saved you the trouble of having to dig around on the main DVD’s to find them. Buy yourself some dummy rounds and practice those reload techniques. One tidbit they added in that area was one-handed manipulations, which wasn’t really discussed in the main DVD’s.
Conclusion
Overall I liked the DVD. I think it provides a good foundation for combative shotgunning touching on fundamentals such as knowing your gun and ammo, pattering and zeroing, reloads and ammo manipulation, and so on. Yeah, some stuff might be questionable (I really don’t find myself wanting to shoot and move backwards), but generally content is good.
It’s no substitute for proper instruction from a live teacher.
It has made me want to reconsider some of my gear. I mean, getting a Vang Comp setup, maybe a Nighthawk Tactical shotgun… things like a rail for a red-dot, some irons for better shooting with slugs, a SureFire foreend, magazine extensions. There’s just so much! Gear does matter and can make a difference. But then, part of the appeal of a shotgun is that you can buy one for just a couple hundred bucks and you’re good to go. I think for now I’ll keep it simple and just continue my exploration.
Sometimes spammers come up with the most interesting things:
There is also a conduction of the cat vomit removal from carpeting and ..A just grave heckled lamisil hot flashes upon breakdown nor printable visual acuity chart.
Iron (/ˈaɪ.ərn/ or /ˈaɪərn/) is a chemical element with the symbol Fe (Latin: ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element in the whole planet Earth, forming much of Earth’s outer and inner core, and it is the fourth most common element in the Earth’s crust. It is produced in abundance as a result of fusion in high-mass stars, where the production of nickel-56 (which decays to iron) is the last nuclear fusion reaction that is exothermic, becoming the last element to be produced before collapse of a supernovaleads to events that scatter the precursor radionuclides of iron into space.
I started my blog hosting at wordpress.com because it was fast and easy to get going.
Really tho, I’ve wanted to host my blog at my own site. Many reasons why I haven’t switched, but today I’m working on taking it a step towards that transition.
hsoiblog.wordpress.com should continue to work, but I am setting up a subdomain redirect.
So officially, blog.hsoi.com should become my blog address.
At this point it seems to be a matter of DNS propagation.
Eventually blog.hsoi.com won’t be hosted at wordpress.com but will be my own hosting.
So I guess, if you have bookmarks, links, whatever… might be useful to update them to blog.hsoi.com.
Sorry for any DNS problems in the meantime… trying to get it sorted out. Hopefully soon it’ll be working smoothly.
I tried beef tongue for the first time last night.
I liked it.
Good friends of ours introduced us to a restaurant called Taqueria Arandas. They rave about the place, and we went there for the first time this past weekend. It was th3 aw3som3 (and cheap! for a family of 5, my budget can appreciate this place!). Went back last night. Any time I try a new place I like to order various things to sample how they do stuff. Wife wanted their posole but it’s a weekend-only thing, so she got their caldo (mmmmm; the broth was heavenly). I opted to try a combo plate with their beef fajita meat and well… why not… I tried beef tongue.
In college I dated a girl who told me how as a kid she used to eat beef tongue sandwiches all the time and loved it. But you know… like my kids said “I don’t want to eat something that can taste me back”. 🙂 Recently a lot of my friends have been talking about beef tongue, especially when it’s prepared Mexican-style. So I figured why the hell not… try it. Life’s short. What’s the worst that could happen? I could not like it, and life moves on.
But it was good!
Tastes… well… like beef! The texture is a little different, a little smoother than muscle-flesh. Sure, I was a little off-put when I examined one piece and saw “taste buds”, but hell, it’s a tongue. The flavor was fine! Older 2 kiddos didn’t want to try it, but Youngest is adventurous and tried it… a little unsure at first, but after he ate a piece he shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal and tasted fine to him.
Really. I dig it. Now of course, I might have just dug how it was prepared, so I’m not ready to generally state that I dig it. I mean, I tried cabrito once and half-liked it, but as I look back I think that maybe it was the way they prepared it because it wasn’t bad but something in my head kept saying “no”. Need to try it more.
Just fun to explore life because hey… life’s short. Get the most out of it that you can, while you can. 🙂
Stuff From Hsoi 