Orange Goblin – “Time Travelling Blues”
Sunday Metal – Orange Goblin
Orange Goblin – “Time Travelling Blues”
Author: hsoi
HABITURF
Saw a story on Austin YNN about Habiturf.
From research here at the Wildflower Center that is funded by Walmart, we have found that a mix of Bouteloua dactyloides (buffalograss), Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama) and Hilaria belangeri (curly-mesquite) and other species needs less mowing, watering and weeding and also replicates nature’s shortgrass prairies. Although the species are different, these grasses have almost identically shaped leaves and color and produce a great-looking, even-textured, dense lawn that does well in full sun but also tolerates 50 percent shade. The mixes are available from native seed suppliers such as Douglass King Company and Native American Seed. For every 1,000 square feet you will need about 3 to 4 pounds of HABITURF™
That’s pretty cool. I’ve seen buffalograss planted for landscaping at some shopping areas, and it doesn’t look bad, but it also isn’t as awesome as St. Augustine. But, St. Augustine just can’t handle it out here: you have to fertilize it a lot, ensuring a lot of sulfur (to counteract all the limestone), and you have to water the stuff to no end. Now with our drought, St. Augustine lawns are just going to die out. I love how well it stands up to foot traffic, I love how it looks and feels, but folks, it just doesn’t work here.
Really, what works best and grows best anywhere is that which is native to the area. And obviously the seeds that make up HABITURF are about as native as you can get for this area.
The only bummer I can see is these grasses don’t stand up that well to traffic. They can handle a little, but not a lot. That’s a bummer because I’d love to try this in the backyard, but that’s going to have a lot of dog running traffic. This year we were finally able to get all the St. Augustine in the backyard to die out and it’s now mostly all bermudagrass. I’m still not in love with bermuda, but all things considered it’s the best that can be done.
Nevertheless, we’ll continue our efforts to xeriscape. Now that the heat has broken, our landscaper, Fertile Ground Organic Gardens (who BTW just 3-peated in the Austin Chronicle’s Reader’s Poll for Best Landscape Services) was just back out here to get some measurements. Once all is done, I’ll finally post some pictures of the work.
5 years, and still no blood in the streets
Nearly five years ago, Nebraska’s concealed carry law went into effect.
Over 15,000 permits.
Of course, any time laws like this are being debated, anti’s come out saying how this isn’t the Wild Wild West, how if regular citizens are allowed to carry guns that everyone will solve their problems with the gun and there will be blood flowing in the streets, etc. etc. etc..
So far so good. The Grand Island Police Department told News 5 they have not encountered any issues with concealed weapon permits since the law went into effect in 2007.
Steve-“I’m unaware of any issues that we’ve had with them,” said Grand Island Police Chief Steve Lamken.
So once again, the data piles up… just more data for anti-gunners to ignore.
(And Omaha still needs to clear up it’s problematic legal situation)
How to be lucky
maczter tweeted about this. An interesting article about “how to be lucky”.
In the wake of these studies, I think there are three easy techniques that can help to maximise good fortune:
- Unlucky people often fail to follow their intuition when making a choice, whereas lucky people tend to respect hunches. Lucky people are interested in how they both think and feel about the various options, rather than simply looking at the rational side of the situation. I think this helps them because gut feelings act as an alarm bell – a reason to consider a decision carefully.
- Unlucky people tend to be creatures of routine. They tend to take the same route to and from work and talk to the same types of people at parties. In contrast, many lucky people try to introduce variety into their lives. For example, one person described how he thought of a colour before arriving at a party and then introduced himself to people wearing that colour. This kind of behaviour boosts the likelihood of chance opportunities by introducing variety.
- Lucky people tend to see the positive side of their ill fortune. They imagine how things could have been worse. In one interview, a lucky volunteer arrived with his leg in a plaster cast and described how he had fallen down a flight of stairs. I asked him whether he still felt lucky and he cheerfully explained that he felt luckier than before. As he pointed out, he could have broken his neck.
Bang on the drum all day
Daughter has been taking drum set lessons for a month now. Yes, we bought an acoustic set (a used Pearl Export 5-piece, older model pre-ISS mounts), no I don’t mind the noise. Actually, I really enjoy listening to her.
I like her teacher because he works not just on fundamentals but also making things fun. There’s a lot to be said for that. Skills are important to develop, but moreso is the love of music.
She’s at a point now where she’s getting some more fundamentals but also some basics of how to get around the set, like the last lesson she started doing some basic fills, mostly just a drill to help her work through the toms and then back into the main beat. Her teacher showed her basic rock beats, but then how to change them up and vary them, especially with bass drum patterns.
So what’s cool isn’t just listening to her practice those things, but starting to experiment and do other things. To just explore. I can tell she’s feeling more comfortable and confident behind the set. I certainly encourage her to just free-form it, experiment, explore, because that’s from where things grow — especially the love of playing.
If you’re free this weekend….
… you live in Texas (within reasonable drive to the Austin-Bryan area), and you want some top-notch defensive pistol instruction, then I’ve got something for you.
There are apparently 2 slots open for the Combative Pistol 1 class taught by Tom Givens of Rangemaster and hosted at the KR Training facilities. My guess is 2 last-minute cancellations, since I know the class was sold out long ago.
If you want to sign up, contact Karl Rehn of KR Training immediately. Call him.
Opportunities to train with Tom Givens should not be missed. If you carry a gun for personal defense, you owe it to yourself to get training, and training from Tom is some of the best.
2011-10-14 workout
Starting cycle 3 on the Wendler 5/3/1 program.
“Week 1” 5 reps
- 5 reps – Press (working max: 130#)
- 2x5x45 (warmup)
- 1x5x50
- 1x5x65
- 1x3x75
- 1x5x80 (work)
- 1x5x95
- 1x9x110
- Asst. #1 – Press
- 5 x 10 x 60
- Asst. #2 – Supinated Grip Pulldowns
- 5 x 10 x 115
- Metcon – jump rope
- 1 Tabata set – all single hop
Normally one is to bump press by 5# per cycle, but I opted to go up 10# because when I looked at my performance numbers I think 10# will push me a little bit harder and get me to a place where I’m doing more strenuous work. I think it’ll be alright, because last time I did 110 I managed to crank out 7 reps (and 1x7x115 was my PR from last cycle). Today I did 9 reps with 110 and couldn’t get the lock out on 10th rep, so 9 it is. So yeah, I’m stronger and I think this will push me. It technically puts my “PR set” in “week 3” at 1x?x125, so that’s a good 10# over what I did last “PR set”… may not crank out 10 reps with it, but it should still be a good push for me. I’ll go with it.
The assistance presses, yeah… 60 is a good level. It works me hard and I almost didn’t lock out the last rep. My desire is to stick with 60 but get the form tightened up and get the 5×10 across without the last reps of the last sets being so difficult.
Pulldowns, the 115 was a good bump, as last reps of last sets couldn’t quite get the bar to my chest. I’m really focusing on the squeeze of the shoulders, ensuring they work through their full range of motion. So I’ll stay here a while.
On rope, I want to bump the intensity up, so yes I need to dedicate myself before every session to trying the “run in place” style until I get the coordination down. I started out with no rope, just moving my body through the motion and I could do it: knees went straight up and feet straight back down. But throw in the rope, and suddenly my legs change to a “schoolyard skipping” where I pull my knee up but then as the rope passes my leg sweeps back (still bent) and of course I get all caught up in the rope. Ugh. I’ll have to work to overcome that. 🙂 Another thing is I couldn’t do it for very long because my left ankle was not liking all the impact of my full bodyweight. I’m hoping to just keep at it tho, and strengthen my ankle — that would be better for me in the long run. I just hope that I can strengthen it before I beat it up too much. 🙂 But, after I did that for a bit, I just did the 1 set of “double leg” but picked up the tempo to be closer to what you need to do the run in place style.
A good workout. I felt very worked by it, very pushed.
Lessons from Tiger Valley’s latest Bug Out Drill
I’ve wanted to take training classes at Tiger Valley for some time now. The only reason I haven’t is due to scheduling, but someday that will change.
Meantime, I subscribe to their newsletter, and their October 2011 issue had a recap of their recent “bug out drill”. Unfortunately that issue doesn’t appear to be online. However, because I’ve been recently concerned with the notion of “bug out”, creating bags, and so on, I thought the list of observations from the Tiger Valley drill were useful and applicable:
- Don’t throw your $1000 rifle over an 8 foot wall. Yes, some rifles survived it, but if your rifle didn’t it could cost you your life in a real situation. Your weapon is your life.
- If it didn’t work for you the first time, repeating the event is likely only to have the same outcome. Try something different. What else do I have in my pack that I might accomplish the same goal with?
- I can save money in lots of places but shoes aren’t one of them.
- Weight can kill your ability to perform. Evaluate and condense.
- Technique is as valuable as brute strength. If you have proper technique you don’t have to muscle your way over and obstacle. Muscles give out, techniques don’t.
- Have a medical kit that is complete.
- In years past we have asked competitors to show that they can purify water. We would typically see coffee filters or at best iodine tablets. This year we made up some phony pond water and told them they had to drink the water they purified. Some had the tablets but nothing to purify the water in. It’s not a good idea to contaminate your hydration system with dirty pond water. Some had systems that required four hours for the tablets to take effect. That’s just what I want when I’m dehydrated.
- Get a zero and know where it is at all distances you will shoot. We had some good groups but some were out of the “A” zone.
- Train for the uncomfortable event. Practicing what you do well won’t help you in a real situation that doesn’t come easy. Practice what you don’t do well.
Some of these things may not apply to your concept of bug-out, but there’s still wisdom to be taken here.
That was NOT an accident
It’s pure negligence… and probably some stupidity (and perhaps even alcohol?) thrown in.
According to an incident report, 24-year-old Naomi Ensell told her boyfriend to put the gun away about 2 a.m. Thursday. But he told her it was safe and put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The gun did not fire.
Deputies say he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger again. This time, it went off.
No, it’s never safe to do that. Rules violations everywhere.
Your head is not a safe direction.
All guns are ALWAYS loaded.
Never let the muzzle cover anything you’re not willing to destroy. In my book, my head is something I’m not willing to destroy.
Lessons from a gas station robbery video
Karl passed this to me. Some good CC footage of a convenience store robbery.
Some things to note:
- Look how quickly it unfolded. Once second you’re helping a customer paying for their stuff, the next second you’ve got a gun in your face.
- As well, look how quickly it ended. This isn’t a sporting event with 3 5-minute rounds. The sooner you can end it, the better.
- The clerk had a gun, but it was on a shelf under the counter. He’s lucky he was able to retrieve the gun, but only barely. Better choice is to have the gun on you in a holster, that way wherever you are, there it is at hand.
- Concealment isn’t cover. It’s better than standing out in the open, and making yourself small and difficult to hit is good (better to not get shot than it is to shoot). But also remember, not only can they shoot through cover, so can you. Consider that to your advantage.
- When the fur flies and the adrenaline is pumping, tunnel vision will set in hard. This is one reason why in Defensive Pistol Skills 1 we emphasize the need to SCAN SCAN SCAN!
Another thing to consider. If you were the man in the cowboy hat, what would you have done? There’s no right or wrong answer, it’s a matter of considering yourself in that situation and figuring out what you would do. Better to have a plan before things happen than to come up with one while things are unfolding.
