Saturday, October 17, 2026

Let's think about that

 


I dunno. That sounds a little too much like Brer Rabbit and the briar patch. I think she deserves something significantly more severe.

An interesting piece of Civil War history

Of course, the soldiers probably would be arrested by somebody from the Dept. of the Interior today: "The Civil War Soldier With Wings".

In commemoration

I missed this by a couple of weeks, but October 3 was the 75th anniversary of "The Shot Heard 'Round the World", Bobby Thompson's pennant-winning homerun for the New York Giants.


Scroll down at the link for Red Smith's classic column on the game and the homerun ("Now it is done. Now the story ends. And there is no way to tell it. The art of fiction is dead.")

Friday, October 16, 2026

Ah, the joys of flying

If, in fact, you're ever allowed on the plane in the first place: "Passengers Say TSA Targets Them for 'Swamp Crotch'".

Blindsided

Ruger is discontinuing 19 product lines (or 20; not entirely clear): not only certain legacy guns, like the Blackhawk and the Redhawk, but also models of more recent vintage, such as the LCR and the LC carbine.  The SR-1911? Gone. The 77-series rifles? Gone. I only found out because I stumbled across this guy's video:



The Blackhawks and Redhawks have already vanished from some online retailers, as has the LC Carbine in 10mm. Ruger claims these may not be permanent suspensions, but I don't know. They're shutting down most of their revolver lines, which represents a radical change in the company's profile. I don't see how they're going to make up the handgun side of the business by focusing on semi-automatic pistols when they're going up against Glock, S&P, Walther and other manufacturers. The whole thing's pretty sad, to me. Even as recently as a year ago, you could find Blackhawks, Redhawks and Vaqueros in multiple configurations, finishes, calibers and barrel lengths.

On the upside, maybe most of my Ruger stuff now becomes collectable. 

Happy Feet Friday

The inimitable Duke Ellington and his orchestra with "Jack the Bear".