Shangrila Towers

Books: The Deed of Paksenarrion - Sheepfarmer's Daughter review

2012-01-29T09:52:00.001-05:00

One of the oldest tropes in fantasy is the farmer who leaves the pastoral life to become a great hero. Whether it's Samwise Gamgee, Kal-El, Rand Al'Thor, or Luke Skywalker, there's nothing quite like an inexperienced (but earnest) protagonist to get viewer sympathy (and to justify reams of expository dialogue from other characters). "The Deed of Paksenarrion," a series of epic fantasy novels by Elizabeth Moon, not only embraces the cliché, but brings it to life with pathos and depth.

In the first part of the story, "Sheepfarmer's Daughter," we follow Paksenarrion Dorthensdaughter as she runs away from home to join a mercenary company. Completely guileless but honest and courageous, Paks goes through a number of trials and tribulations even before she reaches her first battle. Without giving too much away, Paks' transformation into a legendary hero involves cruel enemies, loyal friends, and a mysterious discovery.

Author Elizabeth Moon served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an officer in the 1960s, so some of Paks' training is obviously cribbed from USMC Basic and OCS school (one incident early on in the book is uncomfortably close to real-life military sex scandals). Aside from Paks, who has plot protection, no one is safe from death in battle, which gives the proceedings a constant sense of danger and makes for some gut-wrenching scenes. Moon has said that Paks was an attempt to portray a D&D paladin realistically:

Elizabeth Moon, not gaming herself, heard some people playing "Paladins" (Holy warriors in the service of a god) and doing so very poorly. Her reaction was of course that "such a person wouldn't ''act'' like that"... and in thinking about what they ''would'' act like, Paksenarrion was born.

The book is available free from Baen's online library, though I recommend the Audible audiobook version narrated by Jennifer Van Dyck for the full experience. It's expensive, but for a traditional heroic epic like "The Deed of Paksenarrion, it's a bit more fun to listen to a storyteller than it is to read it.

Miscellany: Mulliga's Urban Survival Kit, Part 6

2012-01-28T11:01:00.004-05:00

While my blog is mainly about escaping the mundane through art and adventure, this series of posts addresses "escape" in a more literal sense. Here, I present my ideas on a lightweight, inexpensive collection of items for surviving an urban or suburban disaster. Part 1 introduced the concept and went into my choice for the survival kit's container. Part 2 discussed some options for your first aid kit. Part 3 examined water and food. We also looked at some books on survival. Part 4 featured some clothing accessories for your kit. Part 5 tackled various tools for signaling, communications, and navigation. Part 6, the finale, deals with tools for the kit and has some final thoughts...

Not every urban survival kit should have tools. For one thing, they're big and heavy, taking up precious space that could be used for more water, food, or medical supplies. Most tools could also be considered "weapons" - I wouldn't risk taking a standard-sized screwdriver into a courthouse or onto an airplane, for instance. If these considerations don't apply to your kit, though, here are a few things that I'd pack:

Multitool

Any good-quality multitool is a fabulous thing to have in your kit. You never know when having a screwdriver, can opener, or pair of pliers will come in handy in a disaster, but for about 5-10 ounces worth of weight, you'll never have to worry about being unprepared for those situations. These tools also give you an extra knife blade (assuming you carry a knife already, that is).

Don't buy the crappy bargain bin MTs on sale at Wally World. Spend the money on a good Leatherman Wave or Victorinox SwissTool-type multitool - you'll be glad you did once you actually have to use the thing.

Prybar/Crowbar

These items are for instances when you need leverage or cutting ability, but you don't want to risk damaging your other tools or knives. A 7" Stanley Wonderbar II isn't going to allow you to break down doors or anything, but you might be able to pry open your boss's locked desk drawer to get his spare car keys, or open up the casing of a random bit of machinery to get at its internals. For a stationary survival kit, a full-sized crowbar, Halligan bar, or such provides you with a great way to force entry in urban environments - they also make decent weapons.

Specialized Hand Tools and Construction Supplies

These are tools that have specific applications. For instance, I like to carry spare automotive tools in my truck's kit - so that I can remove and replace car batteries, change fluids, replace tires, and the like without having to find a 5/8" socket in the middle of a disaster zone. If you marry your kit with a firearm of some sort, it also makes sense to keep some basic pin punches and spare parts with that firearm in case you need them. A kit for a large group of people should include construction tools like hammers, nails, and other raw materials.

Final Thoughts:

Back when people lived and worked in the country, most of this stuff would always be at hand (especially medical supplies, navigation equipment, and tools). In our urbanized, iPhone-equipped modern world, they may not be so common. I realize the tone of the M.U.S.K. series has been pretty dire (after all, the only time you'd need such things is when something goes horribly wrong), so I'll leave you with a peppy number from my favorite pop band, Ivy:

Summer days are long and lonely.
Cars are moving slowly.
The streets are filled with air so still.
I'm trying to get out of the city.
Trying to get out of the city.
Everybody's angry.
It's hard not to be lazy.
It's a bad time to have work to do.
I'm trying to get out of the city,
Trying to get out of the city.

Guns: East Orange Shooting Sports review

2012-01-28T09:51:00.000-05:00

Despite being Florida's biggest tourism hub, it can be difficult finding a place to shoot in Orlando. The city proper doesn't have many outdoor rifle and shotgun ranges, and the indoor ranges can sometimes be (as my sister puts it) "sketch." Out-of-towners looking for a good, safe shooting experience will probably want to try out East Orange Shooting Sports:

EOSS is a solid, friendly, well-run range and gun store that can get fairly crowded on the weekends. You can shoot pistols, rifles, and shotguns there, though it's obviously not much of a challenge to shoot a rifle or shotgun at 10 yards. The default pistol range fee is about $9, which gives you access to the range for the entire day - no pesky hourly rate. There's a separate area of the range for rifles and shotguns.

EOSS has a particularly great system for gun rentals - for about $9, you can rent as many handguns as you like, taking them out one at a time (you can only shoot EOSS-purchased ammo through the rentals, which is pretty standard). For a beginner, this is an awesome way to go, since you can compare a number of different handgun types (Beretta 92, GLOCK, Sig, etc.) without paying a separate rental fee for each one.

As one of the best indoor ranges in Orlando, you'll see plenty of tourists. I saw a number of folks from the UK and other parts of Europe, and they had a ball trying out all the guns. Also unique to EOSS is the ten-trip range card - for $75, you get ten trips to the range, and the card never expires; for most people that's probably cheaper than the average indoor range's yearly membership.

The range is a bit on the small side, but the service, selection, and convenience of EOSS makes it worth a visit if you're jonesing to sling some lead in Winter Park.

Links: Coverville

2012-01-28T09:24:00.002-05:00

The cover song is one of the most interesting features of music. After all, remakes are rarely good in other media (can you imagine someone trying to copy Bill Murray's performance in "Caddyshack"?), but it's possible for a great song to spawn numerous great cover versions. Sometimes, the cover can eclipse the original in popularity, like Michael Andrews and Gary Jules' version of "Mad World."

Coverville is a music podcast hosted by Brian Ibbot that focuses on the cover. Many episodes are "Cover Stories" - a collection of covers by and of a selected artist. The recent "Duran Duran" cover story, for instance, collected both covers done by Duran Duran (a fun version of The Doors' "The Crystal Ship") and covers of Duran Duran songs, like Saybia's take on "Ordinary World":

Books: All You Need Is Kill

2012-01-22T17:26:00.000-05:00

"All You Need Is Kill," written by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, is one of those military sci-fi books that can be boiled down into a one-phrase pitch: "Starship Troopers" meets "Groundhog Day."

In the novel, protagonist Keiji keeps reliving the same day over and over again. That would be bad enough by itself; unfortunately, at the end of every day, Keiji also gets brutally killed in a hopeless battle with an alien menace. After several unsuccessful attempts to exit the time loop, Keiji starts training hard in his armored suit, gaining new combat skills from each failed battle. But can he ever learn enough to escape his fate?

It's a fun concept, and Sakurazaka pulls it off brilliantly. It would have been tempting to let all the temporal weirdness and military hardware dominate the story, but there are some nice character moments as well, especially when Keiji meets veteran warrior Rita Vrataski (a.k.a. "The Full Metal Bitch"). "All You Need Is Kill" is a breezy, short read, perfect for a winter afternoon, and gets the Shangrila Towers thumbs-up.

Politics: Reservoir Dogs

2012-01-22T10:18:00.000-05:00

Republicans - you know you're in trouble when Newt Gingrich is the "conservative" option. I guess everyone wants to move to the political middle nowadays...

Tech: Magpul iPhone 4 Executive Field Case review

2012-01-21T18:03:00.001-05:00

My new firm issues iPhones to every employee, and I've really grown fond of mine. There are a ton of apps for it (everything from Kindle to Angry Birds) and it's handy to have an mp3 player, camera, PDA, and phone in one device.

Unfortunately, the iPhone is made of relatively delicate materials, and it can't take the punishment that my ultra cheap, all-plastic cellphone can. That's why I've chosen to sheathe the thing in a flat dark earth condom - the Magpul Executive Field case:

It's a pretty clever design - a semirigid rubber slimline case made of the same stuff as the original Magpul loops. I like that they managed to cover the volume and power buttons without resorting to tabs or moving parts.

Of course, there's no protection for the iPhone screen, and the case isn't as beefy as, say, an Otterbox. Overall, though, the $10 Magpul case makes your iPhone feel like a PMAG - worth every penny in my book.

Guns: All sins are forgiven...

2012-01-18T07:56:00.000-05:00

For awhile there, Colt's Manufacturing Company was pretty indifferent to the shooting public, especially if you didn't work for the government. Add in their ill-fated suit against Bushmaster, and I never found much reason to look for the Pony on my guns.

Come out with an incredible reproduction of an 1877 gatling gun in .45-70, though, and you've got my attention:

Books: To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth

2012-01-15T16:58:00.001-05:00

"To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth" is a collection of writings from Jeff Cooper, one of the most influential firearms instructors who ever lived:

Cooper was much more than a teacher of guns and ammo (he served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific and later earned a master's degree in history), and the book is similarly eclectic; within its pages, you'll find stories about the operation of an M1 Abrams, an escape from a WWII POW camp, and big game hunting in Africa. Some of these tales are starkly personal, like Cooper's account of a neighbor who committed suicide, while others are more lighthearted (basically anything involving hunting). When taken as a whole, they make for compelling reading.

Aside from the nonfiction narratives, the middle section of the book contains a lengthy meditation on firearms and gunhandling. It's obviously required reading for anyone interested in the subjects, even though you may not agree 100% with Col. Cooper's conclusions (e.g., the M16 has its share of faults, but being inaccurate and uncomfortable to shoot are not among them). There's a certain scholarly self-assurance to the writing here, something that also comes across in the Colonel's live teaching sessions:

Links: Grantland

2012-01-14T21:07:00.001-05:00

A little background - Grantland Rice was a sports writer who rose to fame in the 1930s. Mr. Rice recognized that athletic competition was a rich metaphor for much larger things. To that end, he turned what used to be matter-of-fact descriptions of sporting events into elegant commentary, like this poem, "Game Called":

Rice was so influential that ESPN writer Bill Simmons named his sports and pop culture writing website "Grantland" as a tribute. The writing at Grantland is pretty good (though some people go heavy on the David Foster Wallace-style sidenotes), and the clean site design is a refreshing break from the busy, social-media-ized main ESPN website. If you're the type of person who's interested in more than the surface-level X's and O's, Grantland's worth a look.

Food: Habatat Coffee Company review

2012-01-14T13:15:00.000-05:00

West Palm Beach's best coffee shop is easily Habatat Coffee Company. It's located on Clematis near the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building and Courthouse:

The place is located inside an art gallery, so while you're sipping your cappuccino, you can look at a panoply of fascinating sculptures:

Of course, beautiful artwork wouldn't make up for bad coffee. Thankfully, proprietor Sean Scott and his family serve up some truly excellent stuff (Counter Culture Coffee from Durham, NC - it's fancy), and their barista skills are way better than the hapless wage slave at your local Green Siren. Ordering a latte triggers an elaborate process - they grind the beans on the spot, brew the espresso right there, and steam the milk from scratch (no pre-heated milk that's been sitting for half an hour - yuck).

Sitting in Habatat, listening to indie pop, reading an issue of Wired, while Ed McGivern's "Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting" downloads to my computer via Habatat's complimentary wifi - I really can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be.

3/4 stars

Guns: Ruger 22/45 Target MkIII rimfire pistol review - The Budget .22 Trainer

2012-01-08T16:45:00.000-05:00

INTRODUCTION
Ruger's been cranking out a lot of interesting rimfire handguns recently. The LCR-22 and the SR22, for instance, are attempts to scale down traditional .22 LR handgun platforms to something that's more friendly for new shooters, and both seem to be getting good initial press. Both are also a bit expensive compared to the subject of today's review, the Ruger 22/45 Target:

The 22/45 is one of Ruger's least expensive .22 LR handguns, thanks to its Zytel frame and simple construction. I grabbed a lightly used example from RRPSI Firearms for about two C-notes, and put it through its paces.

PISTOL OVERVIEW

The 22/45's moniker comes from its grip design, which is supposed to ape the grip of a .45-caliber M1911-pattern pistol. I don't have a 1911 handy to compare (*hangs head in shame*), but it does look and feel similar. The trigger mechanism and recoil cycle of the gun are very different, of course.

The gun features all the usual controls in all the usual places - slide release, manual safety, and magazine release - and comes with two magazines. Out of the box, the 22/45 sports decent fully-adjustable target sights that can be switched out for the included scope rail. SHANGRILA TOWERS PROTIP: Use blue Loctite on the threads of the screws for either the sight or the rail - they can work loose while shooting.

Other than the grip alteration, the 22/45 is basically a standard Ruger Mark III - with all its features, good and bad. As I've said before, I think the Mark III's loaded chamber indicator and magazine safety are completely unncessary (and possibly dangerous, considering that most handguns don't have mag safeties), but they don't affect the gun's functioning at all.

DISASSEMBLY AND MAINTENANCE

Field-stripping the 22/45 isn't quite as simple as, say, a CZ Kadet. If you just blindly wander into it, it's possible to bugger things up pretty bad, so read the instructions that Ruger provides carefully, and watch a few videos on YouTube:

RANGE REPORT

Accuracy for the 22/45 is about on par with other Rugers that I've tried, and about as good as I get with most inexpensive fullsize .22 pistols. In my hands, the gun turned in about 3" 20-shot groups at 15 yards with a wide variety of ammunition - Remington target, Federal bulk, CCI Mini-Mags, Winchester bulk, etc.

Obviously, a bench rest, good .22 target ammo, and a good handgun scope would shrink those groups, but that's about as well as I can do unsupported with open sights on a handgun these days.

The handgun went through well over 700 rounds of mixed .22 LR without cleaning, and never malfunctioned.

CONCLUSION

The next time people say that shooting's too expensive, point them toward full-size .22s like the 22/45. For about the price of a new video game console, you can learn the fundamentals of handgun shooting with a name-brand, reliable pistol that'll outshoot 95% of us.

Tech: Saints Row:The Third review

2012-01-08T15:32:00.000-05:00

Is it possible for a game to be so offensive that it's actually not so offensive any more? Like a comedian who purposely delivers raunchier and raunchier jokes but ceases to shock, "Saints Row: The Third" is so consciously over-the-top that you know the developers don't really mean it:

It's the third in the "Saints Row" video game series, and the titular gang, the Third Street Saints, are now a semi-legit pop culture phenomenon; there's "Saints"-themed clothing, garish "Planet Saints" clothing stores, and even a "Saints Flow" energy drink line. You play as the leader of the Saints, and clash against a shadowy crime organization called "The Syndicate" in the new city of Steelport.

It's the same "Grand Theft Auto" open world gameplay we all know and love, but polished to a mirror sheen. Basically everything you do in "Saints Row 3" involves ridiculous amounts of violence or sex, and commonly both: you'll beat zombies to death with a giant purple dildo, shoot people in the nuts in a hyper-violent "Smash TV"-style game show, and run over abusive pimps in an armored-personnel carrier.

It's difficult playing things for laughs when real life is getting weirder and crazier by the day, but the game does a good job of serving up the unexpected. When it isn't busy trying to throw stuff on the wall, you'll actually be playing a fairly competent third-person shooter, with plenty of weapons, vehicles, and enemies. The low difficulty and realism level means it's not as intense as some of GTA4's shootouts and car chases, but it's still plenty of fun.

Best of all, the entire game is playable co-op. Add in the incredible character customization engine, a great soundtrack (Kanye West's "Power" plays at a pivotal moment in the game), and mostly bug-free technical execution, and you have one of the best games of 2011.

Rating: 94/100

Tech: Kindle Touch review

2012-01-02T23:39:00.000-05:00

My Dad was an inveterate consumer of the written word, and he'd take me and my sister to bookstores and libraries when we were young. Most of the time, he let us read as long as we wanted - an intoxicating amount of freedom for a little kid.

As a small way of returning the favor, we got him a Kindle Touch for Christmas. The Touch is the latest of the Kindle e-readers, designed to give bookish adults the ability to read wherever they go. If you're the kind of person who reads bulky hardcovers, big trade paperbacks, or anything of the sort, the Kindle series allows you instant access to an essentially unlimited number of books without having to lug them all around.

This was a novel idea not too long ago, but nowadays, Amazon's e-books can be read on almost any platform you can think of (except for Linux, natch). As such, the Kindle series has become an afterthought for a lot of people; even the latest and greatest of the devices, the Kindle Fire, excited techheads more for its iPad-lite media capabilities than its ability to display the written word.

The Kindle Touch is a throwback to simpler times. Yes, it has a touch screen, but it's still a basic black-and-white e-ink display. Moreover, Amazon didn't do much more than graft the touch screen onto the existing Kindle user interface, so the menus on the Touch are pretty primitive - there aren't any neat touch icons or elaborate multitouch gestures like you get with other e-reader models.

That being said, the the Kindle Touch is a solid reader with some nice features, like mp3/audio book playback (through either built-in speakers or a headphone jack), plenty of memory, and a web browser that works fairly well, given the inherent processor limitations of the device:

I strongly recommend the ad-supported version of the Kindle. The ads only appear when the Kindle Touch is sleeping (in the form of a full screen ad) or on the Home menu (a small, unobtrusive banner at the bottom). Anytime that you're actually using the Kindle, you won't see ads, and they never interrupt you while you're searching or browsing. In return for the miniscule inconvenience of the ads, Amazon knocks the price of the Kindle Touch down from $140 to $100 - enough to buy a bunch of e-books.

In summary, the Kindle Touch is the Kindle to buy if you don't need multimedia features or a full keyboard. It's only a little bit more expensive than a regular Kindle, and gives you a workable touch screen and audio playback. My Dad used to take us to the bookstore, but now he can take the bookstore with him.

Books: Successful Shotgun Shooting

2012-01-01T21:31:00.001-05:00

Learning how to shoot a shotgun can be a daunting task. Even a garden-variety skeet or trap field will force people to hit relatively small targets that are flying through the air; if there isn't a competent instructor around, you can feel lost as clays fly up and down with nary a pellet touching them. Consequently, I believe most beginning shotgun shooters would save a lot of frustration by reading a basic primer on shotgunning, such as "Successful Shotgun Shooting" by Andrew Montague.

The book was first published in 1971, but the basics of shotgun shooting haven't changed much in 40 years. The author is an accomplished shooter and (more importantly) an experienced shooting instructor, and he illustrates the most basic principles (look with the gun, follow through with the gun after you pull the trigger, etc.) in an easy-to-follow manner. Montague also has a doctor's degree in anatomy, and there are some nifty illustrations in the book showing the skeleton's relation to proper cheek weld, proper stance, and proper gun fit.

Dr. Montague wisely saves the equipment-related stuff (types of shotguns, how to select a gun, and shooting accessories) for the end of the book. This technical trivia is useful for a first-time shotgun buyer, but it's probably beyond the ken of a beginner, who just wants to get out on the skeet and trap field and bust some clays. All the advice on selecting a shotgun is well-reasoned and just as applicable today as it was in 1971.

Like a lot of shotgun books, "Successful Shotgun Shooting" is focused on birdhunting. To that end, there's a great chapter on gun safety that covers safety in the field and not just on the range (worth a read for even experienced shotgunners), and a good explanation of the various clay games that can be played with a shotgun for hunting practice. There's not even a mention of using a shotgun for self-defense, so if you're looking for that kind of instruction, you might be better off starting elsewhere.

Shangrila Towers - Best of 2011

2012-01-01T08:24:00.002-05:00

As the grogginess from last night wears off, I'm listing my picks for the best posts I wrote in 2011. In no particular order...

Guns: Building A Better Mousegun - S&W Bodyguard 380 review - It was a banner year for gun reviews here at the Towers, and I managed to get a fairly comprehensive look at the S&W Bodyguard 380. I don't own the gun any more (it's been replaced by the lighter, smaller, and just-as-reliable Ruger LCP), but it's still a decent option for those interested in a pocket .380.

Music: The Band Perry - As I suspected, the Band Perry was headed on to bigger and better things after playing the South Florida Fair back in February. They've since won a boatload of best new artist honors and toured with the likes of Tim McGraw. I may not ever get to meet them again, but I wish Kimberly, Reid, and Neil good luck nonetheless.

Miscellany: Jonathan Dickinson State Park - Tourism is the lifeblood of the Florida economy, but it's shocking how many folks come here just for Disney and Universal. There's a whole state out there, people! Even my non-outdoorsy family likes getting back to nature once in awhile, and Jonathan Dickinson is a good, nonthreatening place to do it.

Guns: Get Down With The Thickness - S&W M&P9C review - This year, I consciously tried to point out the flaws and foibles in well-established guns like the M&P9c. You'd never see the title of this post in a gun rag, I'd wager; it's just one of the perks of being an indie gunblogger. The M&P9c is still in my carry rotation, though it requires a fairly generous waistband to conceal IWB.

A Shangrila St. Patrick's Day, Part 1 - The Boondock Saints - I really liked my series of St. Patrick's Day posts this year. I mean, it's hard to go wrong with Irish folklore and Willem Dafoe, right?

Guns: Ultimate Carjacker Defense - Taurus Judge review - The obvious April Fool's Day Joke. Doesn't make it any less funny!

Miscellany: Successful Failure - The Scrubbing of STS-134 - My trip to Titusville to see the failed penultimate Space Shuttle launch might have been more memorable than actually seeing the darn thing go up. Or at least, that's what I tell myself. Of course, STS-134 eventually made it up and back safely.

TV: Breaking Bad - I got into "Breaking Bad" this year, and it's still one of the best shows in TV. The last season is coming up in the summer, so now's a good time to catch up if you've never seen it.

Guns: A Public Gathering in Georgia - My trip to Dragon*Con was one of the big highlights of my year, and I carried a Kahr CM9 most of the time. It was a touch ironic to wear a Rick Grimes costume and an airsoft Colt Python whilst carrying a real firearm - if I ever had to pull it, you'd bet it would make the Atlanta news. :-P

Music: Ecstasy of Gold - A pretty neat meme, and I still like my answer. Have a safe and happy New Year, everybody.

Stories from "A Christmas Story" - Red Ryder BB Gun

2011-12-25T01:15:00.000-05:00

I've been doing Christmas-related posts here at Shangrila Towers for years now, and for this holiday season, I'd like to try something different. From now till Noël, I'll put up special posts about stuff from one of my favorite Christmas movies, "A Christmas Story."

Ralphie's quest to obtain the Red Ryder BB Gun comes to a climax on Christmas Morning. Despite never telling his father about what he wanted (watch the movie again; the Old Man is always out of the room when Ralphie talks about the gun), Ralphie's dad somehow knows.

The actual Red Ryder air gun has been in production for over 70 years. It's not accurate, powerful, or even particularly well-constructed (they're now manufactured in China), but it still haunts a specific corner of my mind. I never got one for Christmas, and I wonder how much of my current shooting hobby is merely making up for lost time...

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Movies: Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol

2011-12-25T01:00:00.000-05:00

The newest "Mission: Impossible" flick wasn't on my radar until I learned that it was being directed by Brad Bird (who helmed "The Iron Giant, "The Incredibles," and "Ratatouille"):

Like Bird's animated films, "Ghost Protocol" is a slick, well-paced movie with some nifty action setpieces - the much-heralded free climbing sequence on the Burj Khalifa doesn't disappoint, especially if you see it on a big IMAX screen. I also got a kick out of all the spy gadgetry on display (there's a particularly fun scene featuring a portable active camouflage screen).

Thanks to Bird, "Ghost Protocol" doesn't take itself too seriously, and the film isn't above poking fun at famously self-destructing messages or having Tom Cruise shout something corny while he's saving the world. The last two installments of the "Mission: Impossible" series were too grim for their own good; the lighthearted tone works better considering the inherently campy nature of the premise (a covert agency named "The Impossible Mission Force"? Really?).

Plot-wise, the movie is a pretty standard piece of chase-the-MacGuffin storytelling, and the main villain is ridiculously generic, with none of the effortless menace of Philip Seyour Hoffman from MI:III. Still, if you don't have much to do this Christmas weekend, it might be worth checking out "Ghost Protocol."

Rating: 7/10

Stories from "A Christmas Story": Ovaltine

2011-12-17T19:24:00.000-05:00

I've been doing Christmas-related posts here at Shangrila Towers for years now, and for this holiday season, I'd like to try something different. From now till Noël, I'll put up special posts about stuff from one of my favorite Christmas movies, "A Christmas Story."

Part of the fun of watching a period movie like "A Christmas Story" is seeing the things that haven't changed. Even now, some 70-odd years after Ralphie fell prey to a "crummy commercial," Ovaltine is still popular worldwide.

Ovaltine was always the go-to drink when I was growing up. You see, I was a big fan of chocolate malted milkshakes; when I learned you could get the same taste from a simple powder that you could mix with your milk, a lightbulb went off. Needless to say, Ovaltine became a staple around the house (probably explains my current love for stouts and porters).

Nowadays I find it a little too sweet (Nestle changed the flavor profile when they acquired the rights to its production here in the States), but there's still nothing that takes me back quite like the not-really-good-for-you sugary chocolate malt taste of Ovaltine.

Guns: Personal Defense TV

2011-12-17T19:08:00.000-05:00

In an alternate universe, Guns & Ammo's "Personal Defense TV" would be the biggest thing on television. I know I'd rather watch shooting and self-defense than Snookie and the Situation:

PDTV is really two shows. For the first four seasons, host Tom Gresham looked at popular self-defense topics - running an AR carbine, shooting in low light, etc. - with goofy, lighthearted aplomb. Tom is careful not to reveal how good a shooter he is (he's been a shooting and outdoor writer for years), and it helps make things less intimidating to any newbies:

Season V kicks things into high gear with new host George Wehby - a Marine, Air Marshal, and MMA fighter. While the show retains the popular "Skills Drill" and "Action Plan" segments (with Clint Smith and Massad Ayoob, respectively), the tone is much more serious and better-suited to gun and self-defense nuts (basically anyone reading this blog, I guess):

Stories from "A Christmas Story": Jingle Bells

2011-12-15T18:53:00.000-05:00

I've been doing Christmas-related posts here at Shangrila Towers for years now, and for this holiday season, I'd like to try something different. From now till Noël, I'll put up special posts about stuff from one of my favorite Christmas movies, "A Christmas Story."

Every Christmas movie needs music, and "A Christmas Story" features both a bombastic orchestral score and diegetic period pieces - there's carolers singing "Go Tell It On the Mountain" and bands playing "Good King Wencesclas" in the opening scenes, for instance.

My favorite "source music" cuts are the ones that come in through Ralphie's radio, like this spirited version of "Jingle Bells" by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters:

There's just something bouncy and fun about the Andrews Sisters' harmony during the chorus. The song even got a modern update from Michael Bublé and the Puppini Sisters:

Food: Institutionalized in Atlanta

2011-12-12T19:17:00.000-05:00

Plenty of restaurants become popular, but very few become institutions - eateries so prominent that they're ensconced into the collective consciousness of an area. I recently ate at two such institutions in Atlanta, Georgia:

The Vortex Bar & Grill

You wouldn't think that people would frequent a restaurant with all the idiosyncrasies that the Vortex has: no one under 18 is allowed inside (in order to avoid Atlanta's anti-smoking laws), there's all sorts of junk on the walls, and the place is near the Bohemian neighborhood of Little Five Points, home of head shops and hearses. Despite all this, the place can get absolutely packed, so we came on a weekday for lunch in order to avoid the rush.

Boiled down to the essentials, the Vortex is a short-order cafe that specializes in burgers. Their most famous concoction is the Triple Coronary Bypass burger, a trademarked menu item that is described thusly:

Made with two half-pound Vortex sirloin patties stacked inside three grilled cheese sandwiches, topped with two fried eggs, eight slices of American cheese, ten slices of bacon and plenty of mayo on the side. With this burger we choose your side for you, and it’s a big bowl of fries and tots covered in our cheesy-cheese goo. This super-stack is a heart attack waiting to happen. Enjoy! (No lettuce, tomato or onion) 26.95

I opted for a plain old hamburger...topped with fried banana, cheddar cheese, and bacon. It was greasy, expensive, and unhealthy....but it was good, too.

2/4 stars

Fox Brothers BBQ

Fox Bros. serves Texas-style BBQ, with dry-rub ribs and beef brisket being the main attractions. It's a family-type place, started by two brothers, Jonathan and Justin, who put on elaborate barbecue parties for their friends. After awhile, the Fox brothers started doing BBQ full time, and now it's one of the most popular joints in Atlanta.

Pulling up to Fox Bros. is sort of puzzling; the place is right next to a neighborhood, and completely isolated from any other restaurant or shopping center. There's rarely enough parking for all the customers the place draws, so we parked in the nearby neighborhood and walked over.

I still prefer Fat Matt's, but Fox Brothers served up fairly competent Texas BBQ. The only really poor dish was the pulled pork; the ribs, brisket, and sides were all good or very good. Worth a try if you're in the area.

2/4 stars

Stories from "A Christmas Story": Radio Flyer

2011-12-12T18:54:00.001-05:00

I've been doing Christmas-related posts here at Shangrila Towers for years now, and for this holiday season, I'd like to try something different. From now till Noël, I'll put up special posts about stuff from one of my favorite Christmas movies, "A Christmas Story."

When you watch a movie as often as I've watched "A Christmas Story," you start to notice little details. Case in point: the Radio Flyer red wagons in the window of Higbee's at the beginning of the film. The wagons are just one part of a very busy display of "mechanized electronic joy," and aren't at all important to the story (Ralphie's fixated on the Red Ryder Range Model Air Rifle, of course).

Regardless, the Radio Flyer red wagon hearkens back to a simpler time, back when parents ferried kids along sidewalks, garden paths, and backwoods trails. I most associate it with Calvin and Hobbes, who used the wagon to careen down hills during philosophical discussions. They even traveled to Mars with it:

The Radio Flyer wagon was also the inspiration behind "Radio Flyer," a box office bomb that pitted two young brothers against an abusive stepfather:

Like a lot of toys, Radio Flyer's classic steel wagons are now made in China; I don't have any experience with the new models, since our Radio Flyer is more than a decade old and still going strong. Of course, it's a bit disappointing that such an iconic piece of Americana got outsourced, but it beats not being able to buy Radio Flyer wagons at all.

Guns: Remora IWB holster review

2011-12-10T19:26:00.000-05:00

I don't recommend the practice of "Mexican carry" - slipping a handgun into your waistband without a holster - because it has obvious problems. Even if you're lucky enough not to have your gun slip down your pant leg, you still have a gun that's sitting too low to get a full firing grip, and one that shifts around all over the place to boot. You can understand, then, my skepticism about the Remora holster, a clipless IWB holster that uses friction to hold itself in place:

Does it work? Well, yes and no. When the Remora was new, and cinched with a good gun belt, it didn't move at all, and held my Kahr CM9 in a good position for a draw:

After a few days of carry, though, the material loses much of its grip, and you can have cases where the gun starts to move around or even dip into your waistband. The material also tended to rub my right side raw, which quickly made me wish for a conventional leather or Kydex IWB rig. Finally, the closed muzzle design, while effective for making sure the gun didn't fall down your pants, had the tendency to collect lint and gunk.

If you can live with washing the holster every few days, the Remora is the slimmest, most minimal IWB out there. I'm not that attentive, though, so for me, the Remora is merely an interesting curiosity.

P.S. - As a pocket holster, the Remora works fine. The material is grippier than an Uncle Mike's, avoiding embarrassing incidents where you draw a pocket gun with its holster still hanging on the gun.

Books: The Adventures of Tintin

2011-12-03T20:57:00.065-05:00

A long road trip is a great time to bust out a comic book. For Thanksgiving 2011, I picked "The Adventures of Tintin"...

Tintin is the star of a series of comics created by Belgian artist Hergé. He's a young journalist who often gets into impressively perilous situations, whether it's escaping from an opium cartel, being held captive by Incas, or running from the OGPU.

In the U.S., Tintin never caught fire like it did around the world, so my first encounter with Hergé's classic comic hero was actually the television adaptation of "The Adventures of Tintin" that aired on Nickelodeon back in the '90s:

The very first Tintin story, "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets," is suprisingly violent and political. It was intended as an anti-Marxist and anti-Socialist propaganda piece for children by Hergé's editor; Hergé was later embarrassed by it, due to its crude and inaccurate portrayal of Bolshevik Russia.

Like several Tintin stories, "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets" is oddly prophetic - the exaggerated and inaccurate Bolshevist practices portrayed in the strip (secret detentions, Potemkin Villages, etc.) would become staples of Soviet Russia.

I also read "Tintin and the Seven Crystals," a classic Tintin story that's more of a straight-up mystery than the globetrotting adventure Tintin is known for. Despite the departure, this book is representative of the golden era of Tintin: crisp art, tight plotting, and just the right amount of comic relief in-between chases, escapes, and fights.

I'm not sure where I read it, but I once heard that Belgium has three exports - beer, chocolate, and Tintin. The series is deservedly famous, and I hope the upcoming Steven Spielberg Tintin adaptation does it justice.

Movies: Belated Turkey Day Double Feature

2011-12-03T20:54:00.008-05:00

Sorry for the late posts...hard to get things out in a Turkey Day coma...

There isn't much to do on Thanksgiving. You could watch football, you could watch the Macy's parade, you could watch your waistband expand from too much stuffing. My family? We usually watch some movies.

The Descendants

Like most studios, Fox releases its Oscar-bait films during the holiday season. In this case, it's an adaptation of a book written by Kaui Hart Hemmings:

George Clooney plays Matt King, a wealthy Hawaiian real-estate lawyer. King's ancestors were Hawaiian royalty, and he's the sole trustee of thousands of acres of prime Hawaiian land. When his wife falls into a coma after a boating accident, King's life gets turned upside-down as he struggles to take care of his two headstrong daughters.

"The Descendants" doesn't really give Clooney much to do (I mean, he's played lawyers before), but I really enjoyed the performances of the two young actresses playing his daughters, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller. As my sister remarked, it's nice to know Woodley can do more than play a pregnant teenager.

Rating: 7/10

The Muppets

Pretty much everything Jim Henson's workshops touched turned to gold ("Fraggle Rock," "Sesame Street," "Labyrinth," "Dinosaurs"...), so it's a little hard to believe there hasn't been a full-fledged Muppets feature film since 1999. Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller, and director James Bobin have "rebooted" the franchise with "The Muppets":

The plot's pretty basic: it's been years since "The Muppet Show," and the cast - Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, and all the rest - have been scattered to the four winds. When an evil oil baron plans to raze the Muppet theatre to drill, though, the gang gets back together to put on a show to save the place.

At times, "The Muppets" lays on the nostalgia a little thick - there are constant flashbacks to "The Muppet Show," plenty of in-jokes, and even coyly placed Muppets memorabilia. People also might be turned off by the woe-is-me attitude of the movie (we get that the Muppets aren't hip in the age of Kim Kardashian and "American Idol," can you quit reminding us?). Overall, though, I'd take any chance to see the Green One in action, so "The Muppets" gets...

Rating: 7/10

Shangrila Towers Thanksgiving Musical Interlude...

2011-11-22T11:54:00.000-05:00

I'll be driving up to Atlanta to spend Thanksgiving with my family, so posting will be light. In the meantime, why not enjoy a couple of classic Thanksgiving songs?

Here's one I first learned in elementary school - "Over the River and Through the Woods":

This one is more for grown-ups - the classic protest song, "Alice's Restaurant":

Have a happy Thanksgiving, and try to remember all the things you're thankful for...

Guns: Ruger LCP review

2011-11-20T23:54:00.144-05:00

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Sturm, Ruger & Co. have been flattering guns for more than 60 years. The company's first firearm, the Ruger Standard, was visually reminiscent of the WWII-era Nambu and Luger pistols, and the Ruger M77 played up its connection to the Mauser 98 (even though there are a fair number of differences between the two rifle actions).

The latest example of Ruger's mimicry expertise is the LCP.

As plenty of people have noted, the gun looks almost exactly like a Kel-Tec P3AT, the pocket pistol that started the whole .380 craze. To be sure, Ruger added in a manual slide lock and played around with the extractor design, but in terms of feel and function, it might as well be the same gun. The particulars of the Ruger LCP are well-known and widely available in other reviews (most of the bloggers I read have 'em, too), so I guess I'll stick to what I personally like and dislike about the gun.

LIKES:

Size - the LCP is the same size as the P3AT, which is to say, damn small. Here are some comparisons with a S&W 638. Even though a J-frame revolver is one of the smallest and lightest .38 Special revolvers you can buy, my 638 positively dwarfs the LCP:

Reliability - My previous experience with the Kel-Tec P3AT was not pleasant, so I was expecting the LCP to hiccup in my testing. Surprisingly, the LCP ran through more than 400 rounds of .380 without a stoppage, save for a failure to go into battery on round #17 (remedied by gentle tap on the slide). For a pocket gun of this size, that is exceptional reliability.

Accessories - The LCP has been selling like gangbusters for the past few years, and that popularity translates into easy holster and accessory availability; if they make it for a pocket gun, they make it for the LCP. Heck, even the Ruger factory spare magazines are easy to find. I carry my LCP in a plain-Jane DeSantis Nemesis holster that you can pick up at gun stores around the country:

When carried in a pocket holster, the LCP looks very similar to a leather billfold wallet - an excellent property in an office environment. For max concealability, I use the flush magazine floorplate; the extended floorplate doesn't aid my shooting at all.

DISLIKES:

Sights - The tiny, milled in sights on the LCP are vestigal at best. I much prefer the iron sights on the second generation of pocket .380s - the S&W Bodyguard, SIG P238, and Kahr P380.

Durability - Shooting is my hobby, so it's a little weird owning a gun that I know has a relatively short lifespan. A compact GLOCK can digest cases and cases of ammo before it needs new springs...the LCP, not so much.

Accuracy - This is the only CCW handgun I own that cannot reliably group on a piece of notebook paper at 15 yards. Granted, I'm no Olympic target shooter, but it's obvious that the LCP's practical range is far shorter than even a subcompact 9mm or .38.

CONCLUSION

Like all handguns, the Ruger LCP is a compromise, trading effectiveness for a compact form factor. Granted, it's a bit more of a compromise than an M1911 or a GLOCK, but the LCP fits where those guns cannot (more on that in a future post). As long as you keep its limitations in mind, the LCP is a good choice for concealed carry.

Movies: The Captains

2011-11-20T20:44:00.015-05:00

Not just anybody can be a Starfleet captain in the "Star Trek" universe. Out on the edge of known space, days or weeks away from resupply, and in control of weaponry that can incinerate a city from orbit, only the most dedicated individuals can be trusted to command a starship.

Interestingly enough, the same considerations apply to the actors who play "Star Trek" captains:

Written and directed by William Shatner, "The Captains" is a documentary focusing on the performers who have played the lead role in a "Star Trek" film or TV series: Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, and Chris Pine. Shatner interviews each, in a continent-spanning journey to settle his feelings about being so closely identified with his iconic role as Captain Kirk (he once had a famously-cool relationship with Trekkies).

There's a little "Star Trek" lore discussed, but the film is chiefly a mini-biography of the actors; Shatner asks them about how they got into show business, how they were cast into their roles in "Star Trek," and how they feel about the effects, positive and negative, that being a "captain" had on them:

Even though it has its faults (a bloated runtime, maudlin background music), I think "The Captains" is an essential documentary for any "Star Trek" fan. Heck, even non-Trekkers will get a kick out of it, since it's much more focused than a conventional behind-the-scenes piece (can you imaine William Shatner and Avery Brooks having an impromptu piano jazz session in a regular Trek documentary?). If you want to get "inside the captain's chair," it's the only game in town.

Rating: 6/10

Guns: "He's ready to make the jump...There he goes!"

2011-11-19T16:19:00.002-05:00

Spike's Tactical Zombie stripped lower, Hornady Zombie Max .223 Remington, and the Dawn of the Dead Ultimate Edition DVD set:

Anyone have a Colt SP1 upper for sale? I need something that mimics an Adler-Jager AP-74...

Tech: Xbox Live Arcade's Sega Saturn Renaissance

2011-11-19T15:12:00.006-05:00

The reasons behind the failure of the Sega Saturn videogame console are well-documented - an astronomical $399 asking price, a confusing marketing campaign, a complex architecture that was hard to develop for, etc. Despite these failings, the Saturn had a strong following in Japan, and many of that country's developers made some spectacular games late in the console's life. Here are a couple of such titles, both from Treasure, that have been ported to the Xbox Live Arcade:

Radiant Silvergun

I have a different take on Radiant Silvergun than most reviewers, since my friend er0k bought the game when it was first released. As such, I played RS regularly during college, and I'm pretty familiar with its merits and faults: to make a long story short, it's a great shoot-'em-up, easily one of the best ever made, but it lacks the elegance and pacing of my favorite shooter, Ikaruga.

The XBLA port ticks off all the boxes you'd expect. In addition to the arcade and story modes in the original Saturn game, there's optional enhanced graphical effects, online leaderboards, and downloadable replays of top players. The only downside is the inability to use the Saturn controller - the Xbox 360's control stick (and famously unresponsive d-pad) are suboptimal for sneaking in-between bullets.

Rating: 92/100

Guardian Heroes

Guardian Heroes is a member of an archaic genre - the sidescrolling fantasy brawler (think Golden Axe and D&D: Tower of Doom/Shadow Over Mystara). You know the drill...walk your character from left to right, beat up hordes of hapless mooks with swords or sorcery, and fight off giant bosses:

For the most part, Guardian Heroes for Xbox Live is a dynamite, must-have port, since it removes the slowdown that plagued the original Saturn game, and adds in online coop play. The multiple characters and branching path system give the game some replay value, too, which is more than can be said for most sidescrolling brawlers. About the only criticism I have is the netcode - the original game's 2-player mode was made for two people playing on the same physical console, and playing the XBLA port's 2-player over the Internet means that you'll get worse-than-usual lag and disconnections.

Rating: 83/100

Guns: Five Worst Gun Show Items

2011-11-14T00:18:00.000-05:00

I made a trip to Ye Local Gun Show this weekend, and it was a good reminder that a whole lotta junk gets peddled at these venues. Here's my top (or should that be bottom?) five types of crappy products you'll find at a gun show:

Mystery Reloads

I trust my own handloaded ammunition, because I've personally inspected, measured, and loaded each case with an appropriate powder charge. I don't trust random pistol rounds that someone shoved into a Ziploc bag.

Optics of Dubious Provenance

At the gun shows around here, it's actually very difficult to find decent red dot sights; I couldn't find anyone selling an Aimpoint Micro or an Eotech XPS. There were plenty of off-brand and airsoft grade scopes, though.

I've also heard about "replicas" of high-end optics, which some sellers ignorantly or maliciously pass off as the real thing. There weren't any at the local gun show, but I thought it was worth a mention.

Self-Defense Gimmicks

There must be a lot of people who are skittish about carrying a firearm for defense, because every other aisle at the show had some strange gadget designed to fend off hoodie-wearing assailants. I saw sword canes, Kimber Pepper Blasters, and, of course, the ever-popular cell phone stun guns:

Cheapo Knives

I'm not sure why anyone would buy a "gun show special" knife when you can get inexpensive folders from reputable companies like Spyderco, Kershaw, and others. Sure, the low-end knives from the name brands are made in China, but they come from the good Chinese factories, not the bad ones:

Inedible Jerky

I don't think it's physically possible to walk through a gun show and not be handed a foul, tough beef jerky sample by some desperate stranger. All the other products on this list might be bad, but at least you don't put them in your mouth and eat them.

Veterans Day

2011-11-11T07:10:00.000-05:00

Like a lot of people, I make a point of donating to military charities on Veterans Day. Unfortunately, a lot of unscrupulous crooks are eager to take advantage of the generosity of the American public and the unparalleled reputation of the service members of the U.S. armed forces. Please make your donations wisely - don't just drop a twenty in the bucket of some guy on the street wearing camo.

With those considerations in mind, here's the official Shangrila Towers Veterans Day Charity for 2011:

Fisher House Foundation

Fisher House constructs homes to provide free temporary housing to the families of service members needing medical care across the country. They're not shabby, lowest-bidder-type places either - check out this one near the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia:

News: Not So Happy Valley

2011-11-10T08:52:00.000-05:00

Retired Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was indicted on sexual abuse charges, and, when it became apparent that head coach Joe Paterno knew of these allegations for years, the Penn State board fired Paterno. The reaction around campus was not pleasant:

This isn't rioting over political oppression or even the loss of a big game - this is rioting over the dismissal of someone who failed to investigate some very heinous charges. Even if Sandusky is innocent (which seems pretty unlikely, given how many people caught him in the act), Paterno shouldn't get sympathy, not when he didn't lift a finger to police the coaches over whom he had so much power.

I'm hoping that justice will be done. In the meantime, here's Jerry Sandusky talking about Second Mile, the charity Sandusky founded "to help Pennsylvania's children achieve their potential as individuals and community members by providing them with opportunities to develop self-esteem":

Movies: Bunny and the Bull

2011-11-08T16:30:00.046-05:00

When was the last time you laughed out loud during a movie? For me, it was when I was watched "Bunny and the Bull," a comedy directed by Paul King:

The movie's plot is familiar enough. Strait-laced Stephen reminisces about a road trip across Europe that he took with his zany best friend Bunny. Bunny is everything Stephen is not: brash, risk-taking, a ladies' man. Their differences don't hamper their friendship, at least initially; when a waitress named Eloisa accompanies the pair on their journey, however, all bets are off.

I liked "Bunny and the Bull," and nearly died of laughter at this bit where Bunny tries to learn how to become a matador from Eloisa's brother Javier, played by a delightfully insane Noel Fielding (skip to 3:55):

The stylistic touches in "Bunny and the Bull" might not be for everyone (and they honestly don't add much to the film). No matter how you slice it, though, this a funny flick with memorable characters, and well worth a watch.

Rating: 8/10

TV: Talking Dead

2011-11-08T12:30:00.000-05:00

The production woes surrounding AMC's hit series, "The Walking Dead," have been well-documented. Showrunner Frank Darabont was dumped and the per-episode budget was slashed, as brutally as a zombie chomping on human flesh. Despite the turmoil, AMC decided to eke out a little more airtime from the show by throwing together a late night aftershow about TWD called "Talking Dead."

It's hosted by Chris Hardwick, but there are invariably in-studio celebrity guests (series creator Robert Kirkman usually makes an appearance, and past guests include Felicia Day and Patton Oswald). "Talking Dead" also takes the audience participation shtick to the max, soliciting questions from online viewers via chat, Twitter, and Facebook.

The show mostly comes across as an attempt to fill airtime, but there are occasionally interesting behind-the-scenes bits. For my part, I like seeing how the various special effects makeup gags in the show were done, and I found that the interviews with TWD cast are usually entertaining:

Guns: Side Guard Holsters review - Tuck Snap IWB holster

2011-11-06T22:17:00.164-05:00

Many inside-the-waistband holsters have wide attachment points that help distribute the weight of a gun along a belt:

The downside of the wide-body, dual-strap design is its bulk; all that extra material is overkill if you're toting a small gun like an Airweight J-frame. For that kind of handgun, I like going with a smaller, more minimalist IWB - in this case, the Tuck Snap IWB from Side Guard Holsters.

The SG Tuck Snap uses a single flap with a metal-snap loop to attach to the belt. The holster is "tuckable" (you can tuck a shirt in with your gun on your belt), as the flap is only attached to the holster at the bottom:

The enlarged holster mouth protects the side of your body from getting chafed by the gun, and the holster body protects the muzzle of the gun. The build quality is fairly high on the SG Tuck Snap. Here's a shot of the stitching and boning on the back of the holster:

The Tuck Snap is comfortable on the hip, and conceals easily with an untucked shirt or covering garment. As with most tuckable holsters, the feasibility of tucking your shirt over the gun will depend on the size of the handgun, your shirt, and how much printing you can tolerate.

The Tuck Snap retained my J-Frames well...almost too well. The holster grips the gun so tightly that if you don't push the holster off with your thumb, it'll come out with the gun, hindering your draw. This is exacerbated by the tuckable belt loop; instead of staying on the belt, the whole darn holster flops out.

My normal draw stroke incorporates a thumb break/sweep, so it's not a big deal, but it's something that might trip up the unwary. Even with this drawback, the Tuck Snap is a good holster, and gets the Shangrila Towers seal of approval.

Links: Fall Blogrolling

2011-11-05T14:02:00.001-04:00

There's no grand theme unifying today's changes to the Shangrila Towers blogroll.

Additions:

Carteach0: As the blog header indicates, this is, quite simply, a blog of shooting topics. There's posts about old reloading dies at gun shows, scoping a CZ 452 training rifle, and choosing a CCW piece. Needless to say, all this stuff is right up my alley.

Changes:

Shall Not Be Questioned: Formerly known as "Snowflakes in Hell." As I understand it, the H-E-double hockey sticks part of the old blog name was causing too much trouble with the wider world, and it was a bit confusing to explain anyway. You'll still find the exact same gun rights politics, news, and philosophy at "Shall Not Be Questioned."

Deletions:

God, Guns and Grits - Last time I added this blog by John W. Myers, he was undergoing chemotherapy. It's now been many months since his last post; either he's passed on or he's decided that tending to faith and family was more important than pumping the free ice cream machine. In either case, vaya con Dios, sir.

Miscellany: Leatherman Skeletool review - Five Ounce Fixer-Upper

2011-11-03T13:40:00.087-04:00

I used to rate multitools solely on how many different tools they had onboard. The point of a multitool is to do as many things as possible, I reasoned, so more tools were better than fewer tools. Sure, I might not need a wood saw, metal file, or can opener on a day-to-day basis, but the more the merrier, right?

Eventually, I realized that even the most feature-laden multitool is worthless if you don't have it with you. Today's post reviews a multitool that's small enough to be carried almost anywhere - the Leatherman Skeletool:

The Skeletool is one of the smaller tools in the Leatherman lineup, and the only one that includes an integrated pocket clip. It carries well in a front or rear pocket, and I find this method of carry to be more practical than clipping it onto something with the carabiner. My only quibble is that the clip is not repositionable.

For the testing, I ran the Skeletool through some common home improvement tasks - changing out a sprinkler timer and installing a ceiling fan. For these kinds of chores, most home owners would have to break out their toolbox, so I thought it'd be interesting to see whether the Skeletool could really tackle these jobs.

Right away, I found that the most easily accessible tool was the knife blade; I flicked it open and carved out the plastic on the sprinkler timer box with no problems. The knife held its edge surprisingly well (on the standard Skeletools, the blades made of 420HC stainless, on the deluxe CX models, it's 154 CM). I did find the Skeletool's knife to be a tad short for everyday carry.

In contrast, the screwdriver is the most awkward thing on the Skeletool. You have to use the driver with the Skeletool opened partway, since it can't be extended in the closed position, and that makes spinning the tool around a chore. It worked well enough for simple driving tasks, like attaching the fan blades to the ceiling fan, but it was quite difficult to screw in the sprinkler timer box to the wall because of the additional bulk of the multitool (we ended up using a regular screwdriver).

On the plus side, the driver slot accepts Leatherman's interchangeable bit system, allowing you to tailor what bits you carry depending on your needs. The spare bit is kept inside the Skeletool via a flexible metal tab:

Like most Leathermans, the star of the Skeletool is its set of pliers. I didn't have problems using them to strip and pull apart wires during the sprinkler installation, and I didn't notice too much flex when bearing down on them with moderate pressure. Obviously, they're not super heavy-duty pliers or wire cutters, but, considering the size, they work great.

If you can deal with the limited toolset (especially the omission of common items like scissors and a can opener), the Skeletool is a decent choice for a pocket multitool. I'm not sure it replaces my standard everyday carry combo (a Kershaw Skyline plus a Victorinox Tinker), but it's a good alternative, at least.

Guns: Panteao Productions' "Make Ready" series

2011-11-03T11:45:00.003-04:00

The "Make Ready" series is a line of firearms training DVDs by Panteao Productions. Each DVD contains a lesson taught by a professional shooter, gunsmith, or firearms instructor, and the whole series is available for unlimited online streaming at Panteao's website for a monthly or yearly charge.

I tried the streaming service, and was mostly pleased. The material is available in high-definition, though only the fastest broadband connections will be able to pull down a 1080p stream.

Here are the standouts from the current library:

Bill Rogers: Reactive Pistol Shooting

The reactive pistol training course developed by former FBI agent Bill Rogers

Travis Haley: Adaptive Carbine

Travis Haley teaches

Louis Awerbuck: Analysis of the Survival Mindset

Louis Awerbuck is one of them

I wish the site had a lower bandwidth video option for people who don't have super high-speed cable internet - even the 480p format chugged at times on my budget DSL connection. I also think they'd make a lot of money selling digital "copies" of individual DVDs at reduced price. On the balance, though, the Panteao series is well worth a look.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T13:54:00.000-04:00

This one goes out to my friends in New Orleans, America's spookiest city:

There's a rocking chair by the window down the hall
I hear something there in the shadow down the hall
O you were a vampire and now I am nothing at all
O you were a vampire and now I am nothing at all

I got the ways and means to New Orleans
I'm going down by the river where it's warm and green
I'm gonna have a drink, and walk around
I got a lot to think about oh yeah oh yeah

Shangrila Shock-Tober 2011 - Cheezy Horror Trailers

2011-10-17T23:51:00.000-04:00

All Hallows' Eve draws near, and, as usual, Shangrila Towers will be running a series of themed posts covering all sorts of scares, spooks, and shocks. This time, we look at collection of vintage horror trailers.

Cheezy Flicks specializes in the kind of old B-movies that end up on "Mystery Science Theatre 3000." You know the type - bad dialogue, low budgets, iffy editing. Stuff like "Inn of the Damned" and "The Cyclops."

It can be hard to actually sit through one of these movies, so Cheezy Flicks conveniently packaged a bunch of their trailers for easy consumption. Most of the previewed movies are pretty bad, but there are some cult classics here, too, like "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" and the original "My Bloody Valentine." Most importantly, the collections are free to view on YouTube, and make for great background viewing at your Halloween party:

(skip to 2:05 for the trailers)

(skip to 2:05 for the trailers)

Guns: Jerry Miculek Practical Rifle DVD review

2011-10-16T23:35:00.001-04:00

Some people claim that practical shooting competitions aren't useful preparation for real-world gunfights. Those people should probably avoid invading the home of Jerry Miculek, a living legend in the world of competitive shooting:

"Jerry Miculek Practical Rifle" is a three DVD instructional course from Brownells that covers the use of the AR-15 in practical rifle matches. Obviously, you can't watch Mr. Miculek and expect to shoot like him, any more than you could watch Michael Jordan and expect to slam dunk from the foul line - but it can't hurt to see the best in the business doing his stuff, either.

In the first disc, Miculek covers the fundamentals of shooting and explains the set-up of a competition AR (including what he uses on his own rifle). The next two discs are all about practical shooting competition, including techniques for various positions, strategies for handling multiple targets, and tips on how to interact with common obstacles and props:

The content is pretty solid, but I think the DVDs would have benefited from better editing; there are frequent title card sequences, slow-motion takes, and repeats of segments from different angles, all of which hurt the watchability of the video. Unlike Magpul's "The Art of the..." series, you can't really roll through the video from front to back without it getting a little boring. Still, in small doses, there are a lot of good tips here, making "Jerry Miculek Practical Rifle" a worthy addition to your shooting library.

Shangrila Shock-Tober 2011 - Shock Festival

2011-10-16T16:46:00.000-04:00

All Hallows' Eve draws near, and, as usual, Shangrila Towers will be running a series of themed posts covering all sorts of scares, spooks, and shocks. Today's post features the ultimate coffee table book for grindhouse cinema afficionados...

"Shock Festival" brings Jorge Luis Borges to the world of schlocky B-movies. Written, illustrated, and designed by Stephen Romano and a team of artists and publishers (including Mike Broom, Tim Bradstreet, and Thomas Jane), the book is a glorious, grue-soaked "alternate history" of movies that never were, a mockumentary that both celebrates and makes fun of the excesses of low-budget cinema. Take a look at the trailer for the book's companion DVD to see what I mean:

If it were just words, "Shock Festival" might have been a tedious or self-indulgent exercise. Thankfully, the book plasters fake movie posters on every page (here's a gallery) - posters good enough to let you picture each fictional movie in your mind's eye (granted, a title like "Lone Star Living Dead Axe Maniac Showdown" doesn't leave much to the imagination). After awhile, Romano achieves the satirist's greatest goal: you'll swear you've seen "Universe of Bloody Zombies" and "Space Robot Massacre" in some grimy theater somewhere.

Music: All Hours review

2011-10-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

Ivy, my favorite indie pop band, disappeared for awhile after the release of "In The Clear" in 2005. Though that album featured some great pop songs, it was getting obvious that Ivy had taken their signature sound (breathy mantra-like Parisian vocals, layers of jangly guitar lines) about as far as it could go. What was intended as a brief hiatus became an extended departure as the band struggled to cobble together something fresh.

Six years later, Ivy has finally returned with "All Hours," a CD of 11 new tracks, including the leadoff single "Distant Lights":

There's nary a guitar in earshot on "Distant Lights." Instead, you'll find a club-ready bassline and catchy keyboard hooks, with the nocturnal feel continuing through the rest of the album. I particularly enjoyed the cheesy '80s synth vibe of cuts like "Fascinated" and "How's Never;" as Ivy frontwoman Dominique Durand notes, listening to this part of "All Hours" is like being inside a Greek discothèque.

I found the latter half of the album to be a bit too mellow; songs like "I Still Want You" and "The Conversation" sometimes step over the line from hypnotic to somnambulent. In the aggregate, though, this is a seductive collection of songs that bring to mind 4 A.M. cab rides, conversations shouted over the din of a throbbing dance floor, and chance meetings that lead to "Eight more hours in your chair/Dirty clothes and dirty hair."

Shangrila Shock-tober 2011 - American Horror Story

2011-10-16T14:17:00.000-04:00

All Hallows' Eve draws near, and, as usual, Shangrila Towers will be running a series of themed posts covering all sorts of scares, spooks, and shocks. Today's post looks at a new horror series on FX Network...

The haunted house is a staple of the horror genre, but it's proven difficult to adapt the concept to a weekly episodic TV series. If you were the resident of such a place, would you stick around for weeks on end while spooky stuff kept happening to you?

"American Horror Story," a series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk (the guys behind "Nip/Tuck" and "Glee"), takes a different tack. Rather than try to keep things logical, it deluges the viewer with bizarre occurrences and psychosexual drama:

In the show, the Harmon family moves to California looking for a fresh start after Vivien Harmon (Connie Britton) suffers a miscarriage and catches her husband Ben (Dylan McDermott) having an affair with a younger woman. Unfortunately, the Harmons decide to move into a house with a history of murders and violent incidents; in short order, they encounter an old housekeeper, a mysterious scarred man, and a strange neighbor, all of whom may or may not be ghosts.

If the first two episodes are any indication, AHS plans to pay homage to (or steal, depending on your point of view) elements from dozens of different horror films, including "The Shining," "The Sixth Sense," and "Psycho." The references are too random at times, since practically everything in the house is a hook for horror, from the strange fetish suit in the attic to the grotesque mural underneath the wallpaper.

Thankfully, the cast is strong enough to make the show watchable despite its scattershot plotting. There's a lot of acting firepower here, especially from veterans Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy (their characters participate in a matronly battle of wills that simmers on the screen). If your interests are more prurient, the series isn't afraid to show lots of skin in the form of sexy mom Vivien, a seductive maid played by Alex Breckenridge, and plenty of Dylan McDer-Butt.

Guns: Kahr CM9 review - Plebian Pocket Pistol

2011-10-12T23:00:00.000-04:00

Introduction - The Pocket Nine Battlefield, Circa 2011

Kahr's slim PM9 pistol used to be the only choice if you wanted to pocket carry a 9mm. Times have changed, though, and the Kel-Tec PF9 and the Ruger LC9 have carved huge chunks out of Kahr's market share (both guns retail for hundreds less than the relatively pricey PM9).

Kahr's solution: Nix a lot of the bells and whistles on the PM9 in order to get a cheaper gun out the door. The end result is the CM9, a pistol that supposedly retains all of the PM9's functionality at a much lower asking price (about $200 lower, actually). Kahr makes no secret of which corners it has cut on the CM9:

First Impressions

Kahr's CM9 is very similar to the ubiquitous S&W J-Frame revolvers in both size and weight; the revolvers are about an ounce lighter, thicker than the Kahr around the cylinder and grip areas, and thinner than the Kahr everywhere else. Like my trusty S&W 642, the CM9 is fairly easy to carry in a medium-size front or side pocket (dress slacks, khakis, most shorts) but probably won't work in anything smaller (rear pockets, most denim jean pockets):

The only practical difference between the CM9 and the PM9 is that the CM9 comes with one magzine instead of two (Kahr's offering a limited time extra mag promo, so if you grab a CM9 soon, even that difference is erased). The guns are the same weight, the same size, and are about equal in terms of accuracy and reliability.

Quirks and Quibbles

Since the CM9 is so similar to the rest of the Kahr line, it shares some of the same problems. For starters, in my gun, the 6-round mags do not fall free when empty; you need to physically pull the mag out of the gun to reload. I imagine it'd be pretty hard to do under stress.

The long Kahr trigger also takes some getting used to. In many ways, it resembles a revolver's trigger, but it lacks the strong return of a true double action. Resetting the CM9 trigger fully takes more concentration than it does in a J-Frame snubnose, which threw off my shooting at first.

Shooting Performance, Round 1

The CM9 turned in a Jekyll-and-Hyde performance at the range. It malfunctioned repeatedly in the first box of ammo (PMC Bronze 115 gr FMJ), and experienced a wide variety of failures - sometimes the slide didn't pick up a round off the mag, sometimes the incoming round would nosedive on the feed ramp, sometimes the mag failed to lock back when empty, etc.

As Kahr states in the manual, the CM9 requires a break-in period, so I pressed on. Sure enough, the gun's recoil spring assembly loosened up after the first fifty shots, and five hundred more rounds' worth of miscellaneous 9mm ammo (the usual suspects - Winchester White Box, Remington, Sellier & Bellot, etc.) produced only one stoppage near round # 350 - a cartridge that hung up on the inside of the magazine. For a gun this size, that's pretty decent reliability.

Though I wasn't really shooting for groups, I noted that the CM9's practical accuracy was okay, but not excellent. The first couple of mags produced an embarrassing 2" cluster of shots at 7 yards offhand. As I got used to the trigger, I managed to get around 2"-3" 12 shot groups offhand at 10 yards with a variety of range ammunition.

Some Kahr Trouble

After the range testing, I noticed a pair of issues with the gun. First, the rear of the magazine had started to split:

I know magazines are wear items. After only half a case's worth of ammo through a new gun, though, I didn't expect a defect like this to appear. On the bright side, the split magazine didn't seem to have any effect on the gun's functioning, aside from being a little harder to insert; I shot another 20 rounds before calling it quits, and they all fed and ejected fine.

After the magazine split, I took the gun home for its first cleaning. That's when I noticed the rear right edge of the barrel hood looked like it was being peened from impact with the slide:

A Little Kahr Maintenance

After the peening continued to progress, I sent the gun back to Kahr via my friendly local gunshop and got it back exactly two weeks later. Kahr replaced the magazine, but not the barrel; instead, they cut into the back of the barrel hood and polished it, presumably to give the hood more clearance during cycling. I was a little suspicious of this "fix," but decided to give Kahr the benefit of the doubt...

Shooting Performance, Round 2

I tested the repaired Kahr, sending another 400 rounds downrange in the course of a few afternoons (ammo used was mostly cheapo Federal 115 grainers, but I also ran a box of Hornady's swanky "Critical Defense" rounds). There were no stoppages with the new mag, and, after close examination, the back of the barrel hood seemed fine.

Conclusion

Like all pocket autos, I think the CM9 loses out to the snubnose revolver in terms of reliability and durability. I also find that drawing a Smith J-Frame just feels better than a pocket pistol - your hand position is more natural, and the overall draw is smoother.

That said, Kahr's CM9 has a better trigger and better sights than a .38 snub. It also shoots a cheaper, more powerful round, and carries two more of them. Despite my undying love for the pocket snubbie, I do admit that I find myself carrying the Kahr CM9 more and more often - that's about the highest recommendation you can give any handgun, I think.

Shangrila Shock-tober 2011 - Halloween Horror Nights XXI

2011-10-10T12:21:00.000-04:00

All Hallows' Eve draws near, and, as usual, Shangrila Towers will be running a series of themed posts covering all sorts of scares, spooks, and shocks. Today's adventure: a journey to Universal Studios Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights XXI - Nobody Beats the House...

It was a dark and stormy night when we visited HHN XXI, and dreary weather changes the tone of the event. The temperature drops, the crowds thin, and the performers desert the outdoor scare zones (Universal policy). The focus immediately shifts to the core of the Halloween Horror Nights experience, the haunted houses:

Highlights

Nevermore: The Madness of Poe - This house is inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe. You'll see references to "The Raven," "The Pit and the Pendulum," and "The Tell-Tale Heart," among others. I particularly liked the segment based on "The Masque of the Red Death;" costumed revellers dance around and scare guests.

The In-Between - This year's 3D house. Wearing the 3D glasses fits in nicely with the house's premise - a pulp horror comic story about a kid being sucked into an alternate dimension. The 3D effects work really well here, with strange glyphs and symbols popping off the walls like nobody's business.

Saws n' Steam: Into the Machine - Overall, this house was our favorite. It's basically a live-action "BioShock" - steampunk stuff everywhere, a dystopia planned by a madman, and weird extraction machinery (here it's flesh being harvested instead of Adam). There's even a giant faux Big Daddy waiting for you at the end behind a waterfall.

The Thing - This one's a tie-in with the upcoming prequel, and was obviously allotted the highest budget of any of the houses. You explore the Thule Antarctic station, where the survivors of the Norwegian research team battle with various horrific creatures. It follows the movie pretty closely (there's even a performer playing Mary Elizabeth Winstead's character), and I think fans of "The Thing" will dig it.

Lowlights

H.R. Bloodengutz Holidays of Horror - A comedy horror house with gory parodies of non-Halloween holidays. There are some good bits, and they try pretty hard, but it's just plain impossible to make a scary Fourth of July or Presidents Day.

Bil & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure - Bill & Ted is never that great of a show, but this year's edition was pretty bad. Some of that is 2011's fault (Charlie Sheen and Mr. Chow feature pretty heavily in the show), but it really boils down to the writing, which wasn't funny at all.

News: Brains! We need braaaains!

2011-10-03T22:17:00.000-04:00

Zombie makeup at the 2011 Dragon*Con Zombie Prom? Appropriate:

Zombie makeup at what is supposed to be a serious protest? Not so much:

Everyone come dressed as a corporate zombie! This means jacket and tie if possible, white face, fake blood, eating monopoly money, and doing a slow march, so when people come to work on Monday in this neighborhood they see us reflecting the metaphor of their actions. Tell your friends, Facebook it, Twitter it, and it can be MJ Thriller-style too! Create a different image than police brutality!

The more I see of the Occupy Wall Street "movement", the more I suspect the whole thing is a prank by an intern at Goldman Sachs.

Tech: Dead Island review (PC version)

2011-10-02T17:02:00.000-04:00

"Dead Island" first broke into the gamer consciousness with this video, one of the most memorable game trailers in recent years:

Developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver, the game is a first-person zombie adventure set on a fictional tropical island near Papua New Guinea; you play as one of four survivors attempting to escape the undead-infested island with brains and limbs intact. Along the way, you'll explore a lush beachfront resort, a city being ravaged by zombies, and many miles of uncharted jungle.

What separates DI from other popular zombie games is its emphasis on melee combat. Guns and ammo are relatively rare (you won't find any at all in the first third of the game), and it's surprising how tense it is to battle the undead when you have to do it with a baseball bat instead of an AK-47. The melee is fully "fleshed" out, too: there's locational damage (slice a zombie's knees and it crumbles to the ground), physics (sledgehammers can send foes flying), and a stamina system (each attack costs stamina - if you get winded, you do less damage and get knocked off your feet easier).

DI also has one of the most rewarding crafting systems I've ever used - you combine random junk you find scattered through the gameworld with base items to form cool new modified weapons. Jury-rigging a bunch of batteries and wire to your machete, for instance, gives you a chance to electrocute enemies with each hit. The mods aren't essential to playing the game, but I wager most players will enjoy experimenting with them.

Unfortunately, as much as I liked the actual gameplay of "Dead Island," I disliked the (numerous and severe) bugs in the game. Actually, the variety of technical and glitches in "Dead Island" is one of the most noteworthy parts of the game; in a single session, you might

- crash to desktop

- lose the use of your keyboard

- randomly disconnect from a multiplayer game

- get killed by a malevolent beachball:

- attain omnipresence:

- be forced into a parallel dimension where other players can see your chats and follow along in your quests, but you cannot see them.

- get teleported into a bottomless black pit where your health slowly drains till you die:

It's a shame, because without the bugs, "Dead Island" would easily be one of the best games of 2011. It has engrossing melee combat, plenty of interesting content, and it's a whole boatload of fun to play with your friends. As it stands, though, you might be better off waiting a month or two for the game to be patched before planning your post-apocalyptic tropical island getaway...

Rating: 80/100 (90/100 if it ever gets fixed by the devs)

Links: Weekend Blogrolling

2011-10-02T15:43:00.000-04:00

For me, Saturdays and Sundays in the fall are some of the most relaxing times to blog. Without the hustle of the workweek, you're free to enjoy crisp air and arbitrary groups of strangers hitting each other. Here are some additions to the Shangrila Towers blogroll for a lazy fall weekend...actual content coming soon, I promise!

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: Zach Weiner's SMBC is one of those webcomics that took awhile to hit its stride. In the beginning, the comic consisted entirely of simple one-panel jokes - "The Far Side" for the Internet age:

Newer SMBC cartoons are much more complex, and much funnier. The best ones take an absurd situation - say, nanobots preventing any more men from being born - and track it to an even more absurd result. I also like the conversational multipanel strips that explore aspects of philosophy and science with heavy doses of poster-grade snark:

pistol-training.com: The weekend means I get to shoot, and everytime I go, I try to incorporate drills from this great website, authored by experienced firearms instructor Todd Green. The marquis drill is Green's F.A.S.T. (Fundamentals, Accuracy, & Speed Test) (at 7 yards, draw, fire 2 shots to a 3"x5" target, reload, then fire four more shots to an 8" target with no misses; a pro shooter can do it in under four seconds). Here's somebody practicing a modified version of the F.A.S.T.:

Miscellany: Leatherman Micra review

2011-09-24T16:58:00.000-04:00

I'm late to the "Take a picture of the knife you're carrying in your pocket right now" meme (started by Og), but here's my entry:

It's a Leatherman Micra, my favorite keychain multitool. I could've thrown up any of the pocketknives in my EDC rotation (the Kershaw Skyline and the Spyderco P'Kal are carried the most), but, in truth, the Micra is the one knife that never leaves my side.

It has a small blade, an excellent pair of scissors, and extremely useful screwdrivers (the Phillips is perfect for taking apart computer cases, and the small flathead can repair eyeglass screws). You'd be hard-pressed to cut a steak or baton wood with it, but the Micra is small and light and never far away - good characteristics in an uncertain world.

Food: Desta Ethiopian Kitchen

2011-09-24T16:25:00.000-04:00

One of the best things about living in America is the ready access to different cultures. Atlanta has a large Ethiopian immigrant community, for instance, and I got to sample their cuisine at Desta Ethiopian Kitchen, a restaurant on Briarcliff Road.

Ethiopian food has a number of similarities with other culinary traditions (the heavy use of spices reminded us of Indian food). The staple bread is injera, a flatbread made from fermented flour (think sourdough). Injera has the consistency of spongecake, and it's pretty tasty:

After an appetizer of fitfit (cold, broken-up pieces of injera mixed with spices and vegetables) and some Ethiopian honey wine (a little sweet for my taste), it was time for the main course. We ordered some tibs (sort of like an Ethiopian stir-fry stew), grabbed pieces of injera, and went to town:

I can't say it was love at first bite, but as I got used to the spices, I really started to dig the food. Again, the closest thing that comes to mind is Indian food, but it's not a great comparison - the spices being used at Desta were completely different. Since this was my first time eating Ethiopian cuisine, I have no way of rating how authentic the food was, so let's just give Desta Ethiopian Kitchen

2/4 stars (3/4 stars if you've never eaten Ethiopian food)

Guns: 3D Printable AR Magazine

2011-09-23T21:33:00.000-04:00

crank posted a neat DIY project - a 5-round AR-15 magazine that you can craft at home with a 3D printer:

AR mags are well and good, but I doubt you're going to use your fancy 3D printer to crank out something you can buy at Gander Mountain. No, where I think this kind of tech will find real popularity is the creation of magazines and parts for obscure, antique firearms - a mag for the Polish Army's self-loading 1938M carbine might be difficult to find in Ye Olde Gun Store, but it only takes one guy to upload the printing plans on the Web...

Miscellany: Guillotine

2011-09-22T21:23:00.000-04:00

Wizards of the Coast is best known for "Magic: The Gathering," a card game that requires enourmous amounts of strategy and planning (to the point where you have to metagame which decks will be at a given tournament). If you're in the mood for something more casual, Wizards also makes games like "Guillotine," a lighthearted take on the days of the French Revolution.

The object of the game is to "collect" the heads of the biggest enemies of the Revolution - nobles, clergy, and the military - in order to win the favor of the bloodthirsty crowd. There's a queue of cards, and each card represents a victim for the guillotine. You can play action cards that modify the order of the line, allow you to behead more than one person (the coveted "Double Feature"), and so on.

Gameplay is simple and chaotic. Since the other players' action cards can modify the execution queue, it becomes impossible to plan very far ahead, limiting the "brain burn" that can occurs with deeper strategy games. Don't worry about the grisly subject matter, either - the cards are cartoony and appropriate for children (if they have a macabre sense of humor). Overall, "Guillotine" is a fun, breezy card game that gets the Shangrila Towers stamp of approval.

Guns: Sccy CPX-2 review

2011-09-20T00:22:00.000-04:00

INTRODUCTION

When it comes to firearms, you usually get what you pay for. If all you can afford is a $100 handgun, so be it. It's (usually) better than nothing...just don't expect reliability, accuracy, or comfort.

Thankfully, most people can drop a little more dough on their pistol, though they still might be unable to pony up the $500+ for GLOCK or M&P. Kel-Tec, a firearms manufacturer based in Cocoa, Florida, has made a healthy business selling to budget-minded consumers; most of its pistols, like the popular P3AT and PF9, have street prices under $300. So does the subject of today's review, the Sccy Industries CPX-2:

DISCLAIMER: Unlike the other guns reviewed here at Shangrila Towers, I didn't buy the CPX-2 with my own money. Bob, the proprietor of my Friendly Local Gun Shop, allowed me to borrow the gun (which he purchased off the shelf) in order to test it. Despite the freebie, I vowed to do an objective review of the gun's performance. So, without further ado...

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The CPX-2 comes in a striking red cardboard box. It almost looks like something you'd find in a gaming store:

Inside, the pistol is protected with nicely-cut foam, and comes with two magazines (incredible for a pistol at this price point), extra flat baseplates for the magazines, a trigger lock, and a manual. The CPX-2 is one of the only guns I've ever seen that comes with the trigger lock already in place - likely becase the box is too small to have the lock floating around as a separate piece:

The darn thing is small - about the same height, length, and weight as a 5-shot .38 Special snubnose revolver. It's a bit thicker overall, but slimmer than the revolver's cylinder:

The muzzle is very Kel-Tec-ish. Think of the CPX-2 as the Mirror Universe version of the Kel-Tec P11:

CONTROLS

The CPX-2 ditches the awkward manual safety from its predecessor, the CPX-1. Most people never used the safety in the first place, and I've read anecdotal evidence that it could inadvertently engage during firing, causing a malfunction. The gun is also equipped with a slide lock/release, which worked fine during testing.

Bob pointed out that the CPX-2's magazine release extended a little too far out of the frame, and we agreed that the magazine release spring was a little too weak compared to most pistols. Now, to be fair, I didn't experience any instances of the CPX-2's mag falling out, but I could see people having that problem, especially if the gun was exposed to the jostles and jolts of daily concealed carry:

The CPX-2's true double-action only trigger pull is quite heavy and "crunchy" - very similar to the awful trigger found in the Kel-Tec P-11. The actual pull isn't as long as the P-11's, but there's more staging and creepiness through the pull. The hammer is not precocked or preloaded by the slide in any way - each pull of the trigger cocks and fires the CPX-2 ("second strike capability," as it's known in gun ads).

RANGE REPORT

Recoil from the CPX-2 is pretty jarring, like with most pistols this size. The relatively wide double-stack grip ensures the gun won't jump out of your hand like a flyweight .380, but it's still not a pleasant experience. The slide movement was so violent that, after about a hundred rounds, I noticed the frame pins were walking out. Over the next two hundred rounds, I had to push them in with the end of the magazine to keep shooting the gun - not exactly something that gives you confidence in a gun:

Despite all this, the CPX-2 was actually fairly accurate - if I concentrated, I could empty entire magazines into index card-sized groups at 7 yards. Not the equal of a standard service pistol (my M&P9C can throw out a 1" group at that distance), but decent considering the price.

Now the bad news: out of three hundred rounds of factory ammo (Winchester, Federal, and Remington 115 grainers) I experienced at least six light firing pin strikes. Granted, all but one of the rounds could be fired with a second strike from the hammer, but this is plainly unacceptable in a defensive pistol. Aside from the light strikes, I counted one failure to feed and one failure to extract in the three hundred rounds set.

After the course of fire, Bob examined the gun and noted excessive wear in the guide rod - not what you want to see after only 6 or so boxes of 9mm. Aside from the guide rod, the rest of the pistol seemed to be in good shape.

CONCLUSION

I really wanted to like the Sccy CPX-2. It fits well in hand, comes with two magazines, and even looks pretty handsome considering the roughly $250 street price (for those keeping score, that's basically half what a new GLOCK 26 or S&W M&P9c costs). Though I did have the one FTF and the one FTE, the basic design looks sound enough, given enough tweaking to the hammer and firing pin to eliminate the ignition problems.

At the same time, however, I have to review guns as they are, not as I'd wish them to be. Frankly, I would never carry the CPX-2 for self-defense; the light firing pin strikes and other stoppages I experienced are unacceptable in something you're betting your life on. Last I heard, Bob's sending this gun back to the factory - hopefully everything will get sorted out. I'll post an update if we have any luck.

Music: Ecstasy of Gold

2011-09-17T23:51:00.000-04:00

Phil at Random Nuclear Strikes posed the following hypothetical some time ago:

You’re about to get eaten by the zombie hordes. You’ve prepared, but there are more than you every possibly imagined. Sorry.

As you load your last mag into your chosen weapon, what song comes up your MP3 player/IPOD?

I'm a cowboy at heart, so here's my selection for the last stand:

If there's anyone who could make getting digested by the undead bearable, it'd be Ennio Morricone.

Tech: Catherine review

2011-09-17T23:42:00.000-04:00

Before fancy 3D graphics hit the scene, puzzle-platforming titles like Q*Bert and Lode Runner hooked gamers with a blend of action and problem-solving. In these types of games, you guided a character with certain limited abilities (jumping, digging, etc.) through a level filled with traps and enemies; success depended on your ability to think on your feet and manipulate the world around you.

As technology improved, puzzle-platformers fell out of vogue (apparently it's more satisfying to gun down an alien than it is to navigate block-filled mazes). Every so often, though, somebody is brave enough to release one:

"Catherine" (available for both the PS3 and Xbox 360) jazzes up the standard puzzle-platformer formula with next-generation graphics and adult humor. The game tells the story of Vincent, an underachiever who cheats on his longterm girlfriend with a sexy, mysterious blonde. His infidelity has dire consequences: Vincent soon finds himself trapped in a series of nightmares, and the only way to escape is to climb a wall of blocks to an exit.

These climbing sections are the heart of "Catherine," and they get more and more challenging as the game wears on. You'll encounter trapped blocks, immovable blocks, and seemingly unclimbable sections. And just when you think you've got the hang of things, the game throws you another curveball - like a giant mutant baby trying to skoosh you like a bug:

"Catherine" breaks up the climbing puzzles with adventure/dating sim interludes. I normally don't like these sections in Atlus games, but the relationship humor was really translated well here (apparently fear of commitment is a universal phenomenon). After awhile, these cutsenes become nice rewards for finishing a tough puzzle, giving the game the "one-more-try" appeal shared by all good puzzle-platformers.

And you will be "trying" levels over and over again thanks to the game's difficulty, which can be maddening. You're always under severe time pressure, and it's quite easy to screw up a puzzle so badly that it's impossible to finish a stage. Thankfully, the block layout and hazards are the same each time you play, so with enough trial and error, you should be able to navigate your way through the game. And really, couldn't you say the same about love?

Rating: 84/100

Ten Years Gone...

2011-09-11T07:53:00.000-04:00

My neighbors in Delray came from countries far away
and lived here freely among us
They studied all the ways of the good ol' USA
thinking of ways to destroy us
And my neighbors in Delray got on their knees and prayed
for the strength to leave life behind them
So my neighbors in Delray wouldn't be around to pay
the price for all of their victims

"Love thy neighbor," the Bible says
"God is great," the prophets say
Wouldn't you love to know what God will say
to my neighbors in Delray.

Of course we've never forgotten. More importantly, we've never forgiven.

Dragon*Con 2011 - Final Thoughts

2011-09-11T07:38:00.000-04:00

Leaving Dragon*Con is always a little sad. For most people, the four days at the con are the end of weeks of anticipation, planning, and costume-making. During the convention, you're surrounded by like-minded, like-dressed people, you're doing things you couldn't do anywhere else, and you're making memories with your friends that last a lifetime. I guess my feelings are summed up by Allie Goertz's "Tonight," the most melancholy song about Dungeons & Dragons ever made:

Anyway, since the actual Dragon*Con posts are so big, here are direct links to them in case you missed one:

Anatomy of the Con
Activities and Attractions
Our Costumes
Random Cosplay Highlights
Gaming at the Con

That's it for Dragon*Con 2011. Regular posting at Shangrila Towers now resumes...

Dragon*Con 2011 - Gaming at the Con

2011-09-11T00:50:00.000-04:00

This year was the 25th anniversary of Dragon*Con, a multigenre, multimedia convention celebrating science-fiction, fantasy, horror, comics, and gaming. I attended the convention for the first time recently, and thought it'd be fun to share some of what I saw...

It might be hard to believe given the anarchic, all-encompassing nature of Dragon*Con today, but the convention was actually started by a relatively small group of fantasy and sci-fi gamers. Despite the huge number of movie, TV, and comic book fans that now occupy the con, gaming still lives at D*C, if you look hard enough. Lurking in the cavernous basement of the Hilton, underneath the maddening crowds, there is a core group of gamers who play on:

Okay, I'm exaggerating a little bit. During the periods of peak traffic on Saturday and Sunday, the gaming hall is easily one of the busiest places at Dragon*Con:

You'll see countless people playing a variety of European-style board games, collectible card games (like "Magic: The Gathering"), and wargaming miniature battles (the BattleTech/MechWarrior tables are invariably impressive, what with their miniature burned-out cities and big 'mech models). There were even "MechCorps" head-to-head BattleTech simulators:

Sadly, if you wanted to play an actual Dungeons & Dragons-ish pen-and-paper RPG, one of the only ways to do so at D*C was through the Cheese Grinder, a tournament pitting power-gamed 11th level Pathfinder characters against superdeadly monsters, traps, and puzzles:

INNSMOUTH ESCAPE

We tried out quite a few boardgames during D*C. First up was "Innsmouth Escape," a game set in the universe of H.P. Lovecraft's classic novella, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." One player is a human survivor, while the other players are Deep Ones (hideous anthropomorphic fish monsters) trying to kill him or her.

A guy named John randomly happened by the table to explain the rules of "Innsmouth Escape." John was a complete stranger, but was able to concisely explain the rules of an obscure boardgame to us. Only at Dragon*Con could this happen:

The game itself contains a board, various cards, and 100 Deep One figurines (25 figures per Deep One player). Like most Twilight Creations games, the production values weren't super-high (most of the game cards had identical, bland artwork, and the board was just plain ugly); since we got the game on clearance at a dealer's booth for $10, though, there wasn't much cause to complain.

"Innsmouth Escape" plays like a faster, more streamlined version of "Fury of Dracula." The human player's moves are planned in secret, though he or she is generally advised to rescue as many people and collect as much equipment as quickly as possible. That's because the Deep Ones get to spawn new monsters every turn, and can conduct rituals to become more powerful as the game wears on - if the human player dilly dallies, his or her death will be a foregone conclusion.

We liked "Innsmouth Escape," and felt it captured the feel of the source material nicely. The gameplay balance was a bit screwy, though; with only one or two Deep One players, it's too easy for the human to win, while three or more make the game too hard. Since the game board is the same each time you play, I could see the game getting stale after awhile.

BUMP IN THE NIGHT

We attempted to play another Twilight Creations-published game called "Bump in the Night." In the game, each player has a team of monsters that attempts to frighten children out of a haunted house. It's an interesting concept, but the rules were obtuse, and there was no John to help us, so we packed it away for another day.

MUNCHKIN QUEST

The next boardgame on the agenda was something we borrowed from the massive Dragon*Con game center, where you can find almost any boardgame imaginable:

"Munchkin Quest" is the boardgame version of "Munchkin," the uber-popular card game. Like "Munchkin," MQ takes all the tropes of D&D-style adventuring and makes fun of them - you'll run into odd monsters like pterodactyls and goldfish, and you'll fight them with ridiculous items (eat Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment, you scoundrel!).

Unlike "Munchkin," MQ's rules are torturously complex, and the game just isn't very fun to play. The additional MQ elements - discoverable rooms, variable looting, wandering monsters, locked doors - don't do much except dilute the all-out PvP brinkmanship the original "Munchkin" thrived on. We ended our game of MQ early and moved on.

MANSIONS OF MADNESS

The best boardgame of the lot was "Mansions of Madness":

MoM uses many of the same mechanics as "Arkham Horror" and "Call of Cthulhu," but takes a more micro approach. In the game, players conduct detailed explorations of haunted houses, crypts, burial grounds, and other creepy Lovecraftian locations. Along the way, they'll try not to get killed or driven insane by the eldritch horrors that confront them.

It's a Fantasy Flight game, so it's expensive, but they certainly don't skimp on the materials:

Inside the hefty game box, you'll find room tiles that make up the gameboard, figurines for monsters and investigators, and cards for representing spells, items, and characters:

The actual moment-to-moment gameplay in MoM is pretty straightforward. One player is the Keeper, who oppposes the Investigators. On their turn, the Investigators explore rooms, look for clues, and fight monsters and hazards sent by the Keeper. On the Keeper's turn, the monsters attack and Generally Bad Stuff occurs.

Depending on which of the five included scenarios you play, you'll encounter certain enemies, items, rooms, and puzzles. Moreover, after certain objectives are completed by the Investigators, special scenario-specific events are triggered that both progress the story and cause something to happen on the gameboard: monsters and items can spawn, doors can appear, rooms can catch fire, etc. Most of these special events tie in well with the theme of the scenario ("The Fall of House Lynch" has a finale that would make "Left 4 Dead" proud).

We really liked the scenario-driven aspects of the game, though we felt combat was a little too random (you draw from a deck of cards with various outcomes instead of rolling a straight attack). The potential for expansion is obvious, as is the possibility of creating your own MoM scenarios. The game does take awhile to set up and play, but if you have the time, you're in for a great ride through the Mythos.

ZIGGYZEITGEIST'S 4E ONE-SHOT

The highlight of D*C gaming (and perhaps our D*C experience in general) was Ziggyzeitgeist's Dungeons & Dragons adventure. It's the first true con game I've ever played, in the sense that multiple strangers dropped in and out of the game. The plot was a mix of fantasy, Lovecraftian horror (particularly "The Colour Out of Space"), and a wild, weird West based partly on "There Will Be Blood."

Strangely enough, we were the only people I know of who were playing any type of pick-up D&D game at the con (the Pathfinder tourney doesn't count, since it's not something a beginner would have fun entering). I guess it's safe to declare Ziggyzeitgeist's one-shot to be Dragon*Con 2011's Official Roleplaying Adventure.

Aside from our core D*C group of Eric, Sophie, Tessa, Spookysquid, and Ziggyzeitgeist, we had several new players stop by at the con. There was Trent, a disabled military vet who was somewhat familiar with roleplaying; Gabe, a nice kid who had played Star Wars d20; StonerKid, a young man who really got into his minotaur-with-a-shotgun character; KaraokeGuy; Quiet MMORPG Dude; and CuriousOnlookerKid. None of them had ever played 4th Edition, and most had never played any version of D&D.

It's said that every time we introduce someone to pen-and-paper RPGs, an angel gets its wings:

Sophie, Ziggyzeitgeist, and StonerKid:

There's nothing like playing D&D with friends in the basement of a giant sci-fi/fantasy convention. That's right, we're part of a literal subculture:

That's it for now. I think I'll do one last wrapup post, and then no more Dragon*Con, at least until next year...

Dragon*Con 2011 - Random Cosplay Highlights

2011-09-09T16:43:00.000-04:00

If you're a black man, there isn't a wide variety of comic book characters to cosplay as (ditto for other minorities). Your three main choices? Blade, Luke Cage, and (Ultimate) Nick Fury.

Fans of a particular comic character or franchise often organize photo shoots in and around the con. Here's a Deadpool photo shoot, for instance:

Eric dressed as Stephen Bissette's The Fury. Here he is paired with two more familiar costumed vigilantes:

Sometimes our costumes didn't mesh well with the people we were photographing. C'est la vie.

A really good Kraven.

Even the hotel staff got in on the fun. Everyone can cosplay - it's all about the right attitude:

D*C costuming, at least during the daytime, is truly a family-friendly activity. I saw a lot of little kids dressed in Hogwarts uniforms and Jedi robes. Here's a Batman throwing up the horns:

The best way to personalize an otherwise generically famous character, like Mario, is to put your own spin on it. Here are three guys portraying "Mario Kart." I didn't see it for myself, but I can easily picture them in some faux races, with plush Koopa shells tossed at each other.

Despite the popularity of AMC's "The Walking Dead" and Dragon*Con's Atlanta location, we didn't see too many Rick Grimes at the con. Here's one of them, with me dressed as hospital patient Rick Grimes:

Droids and robots of all sorts and descriptions were present. The two big ones? R2-D2 from "Star Wars" and K9 from "Doctor Who."

Sophie cosplayed as Toph from "Avatar: The Last Airbender":

Even today, men still tell tales of the day spatula met shiv:

An assassin's blade is no match for the spatula.

"Star Wars" costumes were easily the most common at D*C, but I didn't see too many people dressed as TIE pilots:

Some say he never sleeps, because he's worried about his eyelids being unable to open again. Some say he laughs like a baby and cries like a man. All we know is, they call him...The Guy Dressed as the Stig:

Plenty of people use D*C as a honeymoon or proposal site (one guy proposed in public during the "Icons of Horror" panel, of all things). This couple's coordinated Portal costume is cute as a button:

Funny sense of humor, too. You just knew the Weighted Companion Cube would be a homewrecker:

There are pros and cons to wearing a big cartoon character costume. On the one hand, you're guaranteed attention, and the actual construction of the costume might be easier than sewing a form-fitting suit together. On the other hand, you'll be bumping into stuff six ways from Sunday.

This was one of the best Dr. Dooms we saw at the con.

D*C elevators are invariably packed to the brim with cosplayers. Here's a Dr. Horrible, a Doctor (11th incarnation), and a Kaylee.

Here are some more random costumes:

That's it for now. Come back for the big finale, where I recap our epic gaming sessions as the con!

Dragon*Con 2011 - Our Costumes

2011-09-09T08:36:00.000-04:00

D*C is a remarkable venue for cosplay - some of the outfits you see in the crowd are good enough to be in a movie. My friends and I didn't go to that extreme, but we still put in some pretty extensive costuming:

CHEW

I dressed up as Tony Chu, and Ziggyzeitgeist drssed as Chow Chu. Both characters are from the comic "Chew." Since the comic has won awards, I expected more people to recognize us, but it's obscure compared to "Star Wars" and the like.

We liked the "awkward family photo" quality of this shot:

Spookysquid mocked up a nice Amelia Mintz T-shirt. A grand total of one person actually recognized us as the characters:

Ziggyzeitgeist, Eric, and me:

THE WALKING DEAD

For me, this year's signature costume was Rick Grimes from "The Walking Dead."

Cosplaying as Rick Grimes gives you about a million photo opportunities with people dressed up as zombies:

Ziggyzeitgeist dressed as Glenn. The stains on his shirt are from watered down coffee - "it's not sweat":

Tessa came as Michonne, the sword-wielding lawyer:

Spookysquid and Jackie donned killer zombie dresses:

It was a lot of effort, but also a lot of fun:

THE WARRIORS THREE

Spookysquid made us costumes for The Warriors Three from "Thor." The bright, comic book colors were a nice contrast to the more serious "Thor" costumes.:

Here's us fighting a movie Loki who had no idea who we were:

We hit the rainy official Marvel photoshoot, too:

Ziggyzeitgeist and a fellow Volstagg engage in an epic sumo battle:

There can be only one.

ARCHER

Tessa went as Lana, and Eric went as Archer:

That's it for now. Next post highlights some of the interesting costumes we saw other people wearing at the con.

Dragon*Con 2011 - Activities and Attractions

2011-09-09T07:18:00.000-04:00

The amount of things to do at Dragon*Con is overwhelming. Costume contests, robotics workshops, parades, sewing circles, jam sessions...if your interests are broad, there's a good chance you won't be able to do a tenth of the things that appeal to you at the convention. Here's a rundown of what we did:

PANELS

The backbone of Dragon*Con is the discussion panel. While there are a range of panel topics (seminars on copyright law, space science, and steampunk literature), the most prevalent and popular panels are Q&A sessions with celebrities.

For major stars (your William Shatners and Carrie Fishers), the line to get into the panels can stretch multiple city blocks. Heck, we attended an "Icons of Horror" panel featuring Tony Todd, Robert Englund, and Lance Henriksen, and there wasn't an empty seat in the house.

WALK OF FAME

For those who prefer a more up-close-and-personal experience, D*C offers a "Walk of Fame" where celebs (mostly actors) congregate to sign autographs, pose for photos, and swap war stories. Basically all of the stars charge for autographs and pictures, as D*C doesn't pay them to attend discussion panels. This year's D*C had some interesting guests (the legendary Ernest Borgnine? Really?), but we only took the photos of two stars.

Here's Tessa (dressed as a Mord-Sith) with Colin Ferguson, star of "EUReKA". Colin's a really nice guy:

Me and Ziggyzeitgeist took this photo of Stephen Yeun, who plays Glenn on "The Walking Dead":

ARTISTS AND AUTHORS

D*C draws plenty of published sci-fi and fantasy authors, many of whom do readings and autograph sessions for fans. Here's me (dressed as Hogun the Grim) with the author of "Monster Hunter International," Larry Correia. That's right, this pic actually happened:

D*C has a pretty large contingent of artists. If you don't find something here that you wouldn't be proud to hang up on your wall, you're probably in the wrong place:

FILM FESTIVALS

There are tons of films screened at D*C every year. I attended the sci-fi comedy block and managed to catch a cute short film, "Blunderkind." It's about a boy genius who accidentally sends his best friend 20 years into the future, where the boy genius has turned into an alcoholic loser (due to the apparent failure of his time machine):

trailer for blunderkind from zak on Vimeo.

ODDS & ENDS

I gave blood at the 2011 Robert A. Heinlein Blood Drive, and received tetanus and flu shots:

Everything's nerdy at D*C, even the vaccination posters:

DANCES AND PARTIES

Nighttime at D*C means partying, partying, and more partying. D*C has many official themed parties for con-goers, including "Last Night on Alderaan" ("Star Wars"), "The Grand Pirate and Time Travelers' Ball" (alternate history and pirates), and the "Zombie Prom":

DRAGON*CON AT THE GEORGIA AQUARIUM

We spent most of Saturday night at the Georgia Aquarium, which closed its doors to the general public and held a special event for Dragon*Con attendees. Even though attendance was limited, the inside of the Georgia Aquarium was pretty crowded.

Okay, so it doesn't really make sense for Michonne and Rick from "The Walking Dead" to be in the Georgia Aquarium...the picture's awesome anyway:

It's already a spectacular aquarium, one of the best in the South, but the nighttime D*C atmosphere makes for an unforgettable experience.

My friends Sophie and Ziggyzeitgeist particularly enjoyed the aquarium's famed undersea tunnel:

This is a prime spot for aquatic-themed cosplay. Mermaids? Check.

Little Sisters from BioShock? Check.

Faux Aquamen touching actual sting rays? Check.

That does it for now. Check out next post for costuming, Shangrila Towers style.

Dragon*Con 2011 - Anatomy of the Con

2011-09-08T21:38:00.000-04:00

This year was the 25th anniversary of Dragon*Con, a multigenre, multimedia convention celebrating science-fiction, fantasy, horror, comics, and gaming. I attended the convention for the first time recently, and thought it'd be fun to share some of what I saw...

For most people in the southeastern U.S., getting to D*C requires a road trip. Before you even get to Atlanta proper, you'll run into some interesting sights; here, my friend Ziggyzeitgeist points out a surreal ad showing Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian himself) hawking some awful concoction.

Packing for D*C requires some advance planning, too. If you decide to wear a costume, it might be difficult fitting your plastic swords and Airsoft guns into conventional luggage:

Staying at one of the con hotels is highly recommended - it's a real hassle to drive in and find parking downtown otherwise. Unfortunately, rooms fill up fast and are sold out months in advance, despite the enormous size of most of the host hotels:

The con hotels are tall. It's not fun getting up to your room, but the views are often spectacular:

Dragon*Con is both larger and smaller than you think. In terms of raw attendance, it isn't as big as other conventions (the legendary San Diego Comic-Con boasts three times the number of attendees, for instance). At the same time, however, D*C encompasses more areas of fan interest than almost any other con - this is a place where you can dress up as Fred Flintstone, Darth Vader, or Super Mario, and no one would bat an eyelash.

More than 45,000 people buy tickets for D*C, and, in years past, it could take hours to get your admission badge.

This year, the process was massively streamlined with a computerized barcode system. From start to finish, getting our membership badges took about half an hour. We didn't even know what to do with the rest of the morning.

Random geek stuff abounds at D*C. Aside from the ever-present cosplay, there are haunted house props, goth bands, and even the odd Time And Relative Dimension In Space:

Because of the sheer amount of people attending, the convention generally occupies block after block of the downtown area. The Mall at Peachtree Center isn't an official part of D*C, for example, but it's still packed to the gills with con goers (some of that comes from the fact that the food inside the actual con is overpriced and undercooked):

One of the few decent places to eat within walking distance of D*C is the Hard Rock Cafe. The food is too expensive, but the service was quite friendly. They also have some interesting stuff to see - who ever thought guns, geekery, and rock and roll could go together so cleanly?

It wouldn't be a convention without merch. If it's even remotely related to sci-fi, fantasy, or gaming, you'll find it at D*C's dealer and exhibitor halls. There's a steampunk weapons booth, a fantasy leatherworks vendor, and several action figure stalls, among other things. The crowds get particularly thick in here, though:

D*C features dozens of comic book artists, some established, some up-and-coming. You can buy prints, sculpture, postcards, original works...

Here are the rules for a silent auction in the sci-fi/fantasy art show:

By day, D*C turns five major downtown Atlanta hotels - the Hilton, Marriott Marquis, Hyatt Regency, Sheraton, and Westin Peachtree - into teeming masses of mostly-costumed humanity:

Nightfall doesn't really thin the herd, but the crowd generally skews older, drunker, and louder. Late nights at D*C are notorious for drunken debauchery, with dancing, carousing, room parties, and other such revelry lasting into the early morn:

That's it for now. I'll talk more about what to do and where to go in D*C next post...

Holy moly? Shangrila Towers is five years old?

2011-09-07T16:15:00.004-04:00

That's like thirty-five in blog years...

As always, thank you, dear Reader, for stopping by...

"We're all in it together."

Miscellany: Dragon*Con or Bust

2011-09-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Posting's going to be light - I'm off to Geek Mardi Gras...

Tech: Lenovo ThinkPad X120e review

2011-08-31T23:55:00.000-04:00

INTRODUCTION

The Lenovo Thinkpad X120e is part of a new budget ultraportable segment that's positioned somewhere between the traditional netbook and the mainstream thin-and-light laptop. Instead of packing a low-voltage Intel Atom processor (which sips electrical power but doesn't have much computing muscle), the X120e has an out-of-order execution, dual-core AMD E-350 processor with integrated graphics acceleration. The result is a computing experience that supposedly feels much more like a real laptop:

Slick marketing videos are well and good, but how does the X120e actually perform? Can you get some semblance of the ultraportable experience for under $500?

CASE DESIGN AND FORM FACTOR

It might have the ThinkPad logo on it, but there's a lot separating the X120e from Lenovo's mainstream laptops. You won't find any fancy magnesium rollcages, magnetic latches, or LED-lit full-size keyboards here - in most respects, the chassis of the X120e is like any other budget netbook.

Despite the loss of some of the signature enhancements of other Lenovo computers, the X120e's build quality is still fairly solid overall. The unit has a matte black finish, and basically looks like a shrunken ThinkPad. On the left side of the X120e, you'll find space for a security lock, an HDMI port, a USB port, an Ethernet port, and an audio jack.

The right side has a card reader, a powered USB port, and a regular USB port:

The rear has the power jack and a VGA out. Aesthetically, I'm not a big fan of the way the 6-cell battery juts out of the case, but it does keep the hinge area slim:

The X120e comes equipped with an 11.6" matte anti-glare 1366x768 LED-backlit LCD. It's not the world's brightest screen (don't believe Lenovo's marketing - you'll have trouble using it in bright daylight), but the absence of the glossy finish found in a typical netbook removes a lot of distracting reflections.

Here's a shot of the X120e next to some miscellaneous items: Season 2 of "The Adventures of Pete & Pete," a Maxpedition-branded Nalgene bottle, an Al Martino CD, and a pack of Trident White.

KEYBOARD AND INPUT DEVICES

The X120e ditches the famed ThinkPad keyboard; in its place, there's a chiclet keyboard that's much closer to those found in other netbooks. I found the keys to be responsive and comfortable, and Lenovo even found the space to include dedicated PgUp and PgDn keys (a huge boon for browsing long documents and webpages). The only real quibble I have is that the left Ctrl key is shifted inward - a pretty pointless departure from a typical keyboard layout.

Here is a closeup to give you an idea of the key size:

In the middle of the keyboard, Lenovo has placed the distinctive red TrackPoint pointing stick, which was sensitive and responsive enough to use for playing first-person shooters (with practice). There's also a standard touchpad, and two sets of mouse buttons; the pointing stick's mouse buttons are more responsive.

PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY LIFE

The Intel Atom gets stellar battery life, but you pay a pretty hefty price in terms of performance. Loading up a big PDF or even a rich webpage can be an exercise in staring at the Windows busy cursor. In contrast, the AMD Fusion chipset powers through streaming HD video and office productivity tasks with ease. You can even use it to play last-gen games like Team Fortress 2:

One thing that most reviews of the X120e don't discuss: out of the box, the unit is blissfully free from the bloatware that gets shoveled onto other laptops. All you get is Lenovo's helpful ThinkVantage utilities (including a neat stress test for the components and a battery health indicator) and a clear blue screen.

Battery life on the X120e is decent, in part due to Lenovo's aggressive screen-dimming and standby schemes. With continuous use, including downloading files, playing web videos, and installing programs, I was able to squeeze about 5 hours of life from the machine - not too far off from the advertised 6.6 hours.

CONCLUSION

The X120e and others of its ilk are going to gut the netbook market. While it "only" runs about five hours with realistic use, the X120e is so much faster than a typical netbook that, after using them side-by-side, even a casual user would be persuaded to drop the extra $100-$150 for the X120e. It strikes the right balance between power usage, price, and performance, and gets a thumbs-up from me.

Guns: RRPSI Firearms review - a friendly local gun shop

2011-08-26T21:27:00.000-04:00

The independent gun store owes its existence, at least in part, to gun control. After the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, federally licensed firearms dealers were granted a virtual monopoly on the sale of new firearms; in practical terms, the only way for the average Joe to purchase a new gun nowadays is to physically transfer it from an FFL. Consequently, a brick-and-mortar gun store doesn't have to compete against the likes of ginormous e-tailers like Amazon.com (not that the profit margins on guns are all that high in the first place).

That's not to say online firearm sales don't exist. Places like Davidson's allow customers to purchase new guns over the Web, and have them shipped to a local FFL to do the final transfer and background check. That's how I found the subject of today's post, RRPSI Firearms:

The shop can be found inside a small building across from Boynton Beach City Hall, and, amusingly, next door to a Chinese take-out restaurant. Rather than try to stock every gun known to man, RRPSI sells an interesting mix of brand new firearms and consignment pieces, with the selection changing from week to week as things come and go. They usually have various flavors of combat Tupperware (GLOCKs, M&Ps, XDs), but you might also run into a classic 6" Model 29, a new AR-10, or a Kel-Tec PMR-30.

The store is relatively small, so the holster selection isn't that great. On the other hand, there's quite a few concealment purses to choose from. Like most gun shops, RRPSI offers CCW classes - check their Facebook page for more info.

Most importantly, RRPSI is a family business run by Bob Renault (and, on occasion, his wife Laura). Bob'll give you frank advice about firearms, try to help you fix problems you might have, and will send lemons back to the factory for repair, which has happened to me more than once. So, if you're tired of the disinterested clerk behind the counter at MegaMountainMart or Guns'R'Us, and you're in the Boynton Beach area, I'd recommend going to RRPSI for your firearm needs.

News: Battening down the hatches...

2011-08-26T18:08:00.000-04:00

As a lifelong South Floridian, I've become inured to hurricane panic. At the beginning of every season, my family (and pretty much the entire area) stocks up on water, canned food, batteries, and the like, to the point where a tropical storm or Category 1 doesn't even raise an eyebrow around these parts.

For my readers up north, who are facing the novel threat of Hurricane Irene, here's a nice primer called "Surviving the Storm" by local station WPTV:

Books: NPR's Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy Survey Results

2011-08-24T23:57:00.000-04:00

More than 60,000 people voted for the 100 best sci-fi and fantasy books at NPR.org, and bloggers around the Web are commenting on the list. Like a whole bunch of other people, I've reproduced the list below and bolded the works I've read all the way through (partial reads don't count - I've read a bunch of the Robert E. Howard Conan stories, for instance, but I've never gotten close to reading all of them). Not surprisingly, many of the works have been featured here at Shangrila Towers...

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Nearly all of the conventions of epic fantasy, good and bad, can be traced to Tolkien. Expansive casts of characters? Self-indulgent digressions in the form of poetry or song? Side volumes that have nothing to do with the main story? Writing a mythos that is so lengthy and complex that you die before finishing it? It's all here, baby.

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

The last entry in the series, "Mostly Harmless," is one of the rare instances when a writer visits a long-dormant work and successfully concludes it, albeit in the bleakest fashion imaginable. Really, you could read the first and last book and ignore the stuff published in-between...and afterwards.

3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

Since it stars precocious kids, this is a perennial favorite of introverted, bookish youngsters.

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert

I've read "Dune," of course, but never completed the rest of the series. Despite having authored plenty of other fine works (I liked "The Jesus Incident"), the Dune series came to define Herbert.

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin

I should really start into this one, but I'm not even finished with #12 on this list...

6. 1984, by George Orwell

I'm not sure what's scarier - that Orwell could write such a prescient book, or that such a book could exist and everyone would ignore it during the long, slow slide to dystopia.

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

A booklover's sci-fi novel, for obvious reasons. The movie, directed by François Truffaut, is a classic, too:

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov

It's a little choppy in the beginning (having been originally serialized in "Astounding Magazine"), but this is one of my favorite sci-fi series. The second and third books, "Foundation and Empire" and "Second Foundation," feature one of Asimov's coolest characters: the Mule, a mutant with the power to change the emotions of other people.

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan

A series so long the author died before he could complete it. I first started reading the WoT in elementary school. The 14th and final volume, co-written by Brandon Sanderson from the notes and outlines of Robert Jordan, is due next year.

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

Every work by Philip K. Dick will eventually get made into a movie, and this one turned into "Blade Runner." Like all PKD adaptations, the movie is better (or at least more accessible) than the book.

22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King

I'll get around to reading the post-"Wizard and Glass" volumes eventually. King keeps adding more to it, though.

24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King

The middle two or three hundred pages in this one are pretty slow, depending on your tolerance for the post-apocalyptic milieu. The beginning and end have a feverish intensity, though, with the epilogue being one of my favorite King endings.

26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

Truly visionary science-fiction. I mean, think about it - this novel coined the very word "time machine." Most people remember the Eloi and the Morlocks, but I like the trippy ending sequence where the Time Traveller goes even further into the future.

37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne

One of the first science fiction novels I ever read. Even though it was written more than a hundred years ago in another language, it still spoke to me as a kid.

38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys

We were assigned both the short story and the novel-length version of this one in school. Not a bad book, but it doesn't really withstand multiple readings.

39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke

"2001" gets all the attention, but this is probably my favorite Arthur C. Clarke book. Like many of Clarke's books, it's a rather nuanced take on the concept of alien arrival - the one in this story is neither "good" nor "bad."

50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

I've seen the movie and read the comic, but never read the book.

56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

It's been called the anti-"Starship Troopers," though both Heinlein and Haldeman reportedly enjoyed each other's work. I like the part where the soldier protagonist (who has lived through several hundred years of human history, thanks to time dilation) has to contend with recruits who are from a future human society that is nearly unrecognizable; they speak an incomprehensible language and are uniformly homosexual.

57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore

A friend gave this to me as a box set for Christmas. Say what you want about Salvatore - the man can write a pulpy yarn. I read the entire series before the new year had come.

74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson

Halfway through this one. Not as rollicking as "Snow Crash."

76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson

I'm sure there's a lot to like about this series, but I only got about a 100 pages into "Red Mars" before quitting. Who knew a Martian revolution could be so...boring?

96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

News: Tactical Retreat

2011-08-23T22:47:00.000-04:00

It required American participation of questionable legality. It involved "rebels" of questionable background. But you have to admit, the Libyan War makes for some very good theatre:

Early Wednesday, Gadhafi, speaking on a local Tripoli radio station, which was reported by Al-Orouba television and Reuters, said that his withdrawal from Bab al Aziziya, the dictator's main compound and a key symbol of his power, was a "tactical move." The compound had been leveled by 64 NATO air strikes, he said.

Guns: A Public Gathering in Georgia

2011-08-20T14:07:00.000-04:00

This Labor Day, I'll be headed to Dragon*Con, a multigenre sci-fi/fantasy convention that occupies five hotels in and around downtown Atlanta:

Thanks to a relatively recent change in Georgia's CCW laws, I'll be able to legally tote my handgun while the convention is afoot. You see, last year, Georgia eliminated its prohibition on carrying a gun to "a public gathering" (if you want to look it up, the statute was O.C.G.A. § 16-11-127 (2008)).

Like many gun control laws, the "public gathering" prohibiton was mainly designed to disarm freedmen and their Republican supporters in the Reconstruction-era South. "Public gatherings" that were off-limits included, but were not limited to:

“[A]thletic or sporting events, schools or school functions, churches or church functions, political rallies or functions, publicly owned or operated buildings, or establishments at which alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises.

It doesn't take a genius to see the problem with the law - from the statute (which gives examples of public gatherings but has no express limitations), there was no way to tell what constituted a "public gathering."

The caselaw interpreting the "public gathering" clause was unclear, too. Rejecting the State of Georgia's argument that "public gathering" was any location where the public gathers (which would have included McDonald's and Wal-Mart), one court defined the term as any place where "people are gathered or will be gathered for a particular function." State v. Burns, 200 Ga.App. 16, 17 (1991). This is slightly less onerous from a gun rights standpoint, but it's still a woefully vague standard: is your neighborhood softball game a public gathering? A signing at a book store? People watching a movie in a theater? A multigenre convention in downtown Atlanta?

All that uncertainty ended when Georgia passed Senate Bill 308 in 2010, which modified and revised much of Georgia's CCW regime and finally killed the ambiguous "public gathering" restriction. Here's a news report talking about the unamended version - the conference committee version was what was eventually signed by the Governor.

Some vestiges of the public gathering law remain; there's still a ban on concealed weapons in places of worship, for instance (because no one would ever attack a church). Thankfully, Georgia gun rights advocates like Georgia Carry and Georgia Gun Owners are still fighting the good fight, both in the courts and in the legislature:

Miscellany: Maxpedition Pygmy Falcon-II review

2011-08-19T21:23:00.000-04:00

When airlines began to charge fees for checking in bags, it didn't take an economics professor to predict what would happen: passengers started to carry on all their luggage, turning already-claustrophobic airplane cabins into toe-stubbing, limb-cramping human warrens. If you don't want to contribute to the problem, I suggest looking into a carry-on that you can stow under your seat, like the Maxpedition Pygmy Falcon-II backpack:

The Pygmy Falcon isn't a large backpack (1400 cubic inches), but it's sized perfectly to fit underneath an airline seat. On its own, it'll hold enough clothes and supplies for a weekend trip or dayhike; combine it with a rollerbag, and you can pack enough supplies for a week's worth of travel.

The front compartment has a zippered pocket on the outside, along with PALS webbing. It opens up to reveal some basic organizational features - some slots for pens, a slash pocket that goes about halfway down the bag, and a built-in snap keeper for a key ring:

For times when you just need to grab the bag, there's a carry handle sewn into the top. It's not the world's most comfortable handle (I would have preferred a rubberized material), but it's functional. It's attached to the main body of the pack via generous box-and-X style stitching:

When your pack isn't fully loaded, a nice adjustable Y-shaped compression strap helps to keep the pack flat against your back.

The sides of the bag have shock-corded pockets for Nalgene 32 ounce water bottles, along with even more PALS webbing. You could also jimmy a water bottle into the shock-corded area underneath the front compartment and the area underneath the Y-strap. There's no place for a water bladder, though.

The Pygmy Falcon's main compartment is enormous (18"x9"x5"). Thanks to dual zippers that go all the way to the bottom of the bag, you can open the pack up clamshell style to get full access to the interior, making it easy to pack and unpack stacks of folded up clothes. There's also a couple of additional pockets here, for small items that you don't want falling to the bottom of the pack:

The Pygmy Falcon has a mesh rear for breathability. There's a fully adjustable sternum strap, but no waist strap.

The Pygmy Falcon, like most Maxpedition products, is very well-built, with self-healing paracord-pull zippers, sturdy heavyweight nylon, double stitching on almost every seam, and a rubberized bottom. Maxpedition charges a ridiculous amount for their Taiwanese-stitched nylon, but dadgummit, it's put together right:

Books: Chew

2011-08-15T23:59:00.000-04:00

Most comic books only have one good idea. "Chew," a series written by John Layman and illustrated by Rob Guillory, has a bunch of 'em.

First, there's the main character, a cibopathic FDA agent named Tony Chu. "Cibopathic" means that Tony gets mental impressions about the things he eats: after taking a bite of an apple, he might be able to intuit which orchard it came from, what pesticides were used on it, and who eventually picked it from the tree.

Tony is fortunate in that cibopathy is a rare talent that can help solve difficult crimes; Tony is massively unfortunate in that he usually has to consume unsavory things (and unsavory people) in order to solve those crimes. The resulting comedy is one-dimensional, but funny nonetheless.

If the necrophagia wasn't enough, "Chew" is set in a strange near-future where poultry has been banned due to a bird-flu epidemic. The poultry ban predictably creates a black market for chicken wings, turkey legs, and hard-boiled eggs. Said black market predictably makes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration into the most powerful law-enforcement organization in the world.

There are even more layers to the story (aliens! conspiracy theories! Chinese family drama!), but if you're even remotely interested in the concept, you should really give "Chew" a try.

Complete tangent: the "Chew" artist, Rob Guillory, is a nice guy who promptly responded to a question I e-mailed him - +10 cool points, sir.

Movies: Predators

2011-08-13T17:24:00.000-04:00

The original "Predator" is a classic '80s sci-fi action movie, mixing steroid-fueled machismo (cf. The Handshake) with some truly thrilling sequences. Over the years, though, the franchise steadily declined, with a mediocre direct sequel and a couple of awful "Alien v. Predator" films.

When news got out that Robert Rodriguez was producing a true sequel to the Predator series, there was much rejoicing. When it was further revealed that Rodriguez was completely ignoring the AvP continuity, there was even more rejoicing:

In the movie, a group of heavily-armed human warriors is thrown into the jungles of an alien game preserve, as prey for a hunt conducted by you-know-who. They're a serious bunch - a Yakuza gangster, a Mexican cartel enforcer, a Spetsnaz soldier, etc. - but individually, none of them are a match for the extraterrestrial killers that are stalking them. You know the drill: in order to survive, they must overcome their differences and band together.

Director Nimród Antal has done some interesting work (his 2003 debut, "Kontroll," is probably the best film ever made about Hungarian subway workers), so it's a tad disappointing that "Predators" plays it so safe in the plot department. On the other hand, the movie is stocked with fun character actors - Danny Trejo and Laurence Fishburne can chew scenery with the best of them - and it's very close to the tone of the original, in that it doesn't allow realism to get in the way of awesomeness:

Rating: 7/10

Guns: Remington 870 Wingmaster review - There's No School Like The Old School

2011-08-07T11:51:00.000-04:00

The Remington 870 is the world’s best-selling shotgun, with more than ten million sold since its introduction in 1951. In recent times, most of those sales have come from a cheaper version of the gun, dubbed the “870 Express,” that incorporates a number of changes from the 870s of yesteryear: plastic triggerguards, internal lock safeties, and bead-blasted finishes.

These modifications are heresy to some purists, but, in my experience, an off-the-shelf 870 Express performs about as well as any pump shotgun past or present. I've owned three of the Express models, observed untold dozens more at the skeet and trap fields, and have yet to see anyone’s plastic triggerguard break, or someone’s J-lock engage accidentally.

Despite my confidence in new production 870s, I've always wanted to try out a used one, to see if things really were better made back in the old days. Thankfully, since Remington cranked out so many of these shotguns over the years, it's not difficult to find a decent used 870. Mine came from the effects of an older gentleman who passed away (his daughter sold his collection to my local gun shop). For this post, it's time to kick it old-school:

Fit and Finish - Just Like You, Only Prettier

The previous owner of this gun was obviously an avid shooter. There’s a worn spot on the receiver where his right index finger rested in its proper position out of the trigger guard - a sign of competent use, not abuse. The gun has been well-maintained, too; aside from one dime-sized spot of surface rust on the barrel that was easily scrubbed off, the metal was in excellent condition.

Both old and current production Wingmasters have nicer wooden stocks than the Express models, which are relegated to using an indifferent grade of hardwood with a plain-Jane finish. When buying a used 870, make sure the stock is free of warps, cracks, or other major problems:

At the Skeet and Trap Fields

Upon mounting the Wingmaster in the store, I could immediately tell that its stock was too long for me, and I wondered how it would perform at the range. Fortunately, the gun’s long 30" barrel swung smoothly and pointed like a laser beam. Recoil was brisker than I expected with such a large gun (this is one area where newer 870s have the advantage; Remington's nice R3 rubber recoil pad is just plain superior to the old plastic buttpads).

This Wingmaster is at least a couple decades old, before the time when Remington outfitted their shotgun barrels with interchangeable choke tubes. I found that while the gun's fixed modified choke made it easy to smash clays from 30 and 40 yards away, hitting incoming skeet targets was dicey. The overly long stock also contributed to some problems with mounting the gun at speed; nailing both clays when shooting doubles was almost impossible without starting the gun out at the shoulder.

The action was slick as snot and cycled budget Winchester birdshot loads without any problems. Actually, the only malfunction I've consistently experienced with 870s is a failure to extract caused by the empty shell sticking in the chamber - rumor has it the older guns actually had smoother chambers that make this kind of stoppage less likely, but YMMV.

Conclusion - Like a Fine Wine...

A brand new Wingmaster will set you back about $600, which is not very expensive considering that you'll be able to hand it down to your grandkids. A "pre-owned" 870 Wingmaster will likely provide the same performance for less money, sometimes considerably less. Someone looking for a great shotgun would be well-served with either. Don't take my word for it, though:

Miscellany: McCarthy's Wildlife Sanctuary review

2011-08-05T08:22:00.000-04:00

I've lived in South Florida for years, but had never heard of McCarthy's Wildlife Sanctuary until I looked it up on Trip Advisor. In some ways, it's understandable - McCarthy's is a small, nonprofit wildlife shelter nestled in the Acreage, Florida, and it doesn't have the advertising budget of a place like Lion Country Safari. With beautiful animals like this, though, you wonder why McCarthy's doesn't get more press:

The director, Mark McCarthy, has been raising animals for decades, and he has brought a huge assortment of them to McCarthy's. Many are former exotic pets abandoned by their owners, or transfers from other facilities, like these two tiger cubs:

Our visit went off without a hitch. After we arrived at the gate, two friendly guides escorted us through the refuge (visitors are accompanied at all times). The guides took their time in describing each of the shelter's residents, and didn't balk at answering our questions.

While the shelter houses many animals, including reptiles, birds, and primates, the stars of the show are the big cats. Guests are separated from the cages by roped partitions, but the guides get right up the fences to coax the tigers closer, so that you get a good look at them. It's not something you see every day:

Politics: Hostage-taking

2011-08-04T08:35:00.000-04:00

For being a gun control advocate, Chuck sure uses guns a lot:

Books: Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?

2011-08-03T23:50:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite parts of childhood was the Scholastic Book Fair. Long before I could simply buy any book I wanted to read, the school book fair represented a wonderful way to wheedle a fiver out of my folks, over and above my usual book allowance. Once at the fair, I could buy any book that caught my fancy. "Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?," by famed children's author Avi, was one such book.

Its story is set in the 1940s, and follows a boy named Frankie. Frankie's overactive imagination is constantly getting him into trouble at school and at home. He's obsessed with listening to radio adventures, and believes (or would like to believe) that the whole world is secretly infested with superspies, cavemen, wistful widows, and dashing heroes. When Frankie's brother Tom comes back wounded from WWII, reality meets fantasy in a jarring way.

"Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?" got my attention because the entire story is told via dialogue between the characters - there's no narrative, no description, not even a sound effect, save for occasional excerpts of classic old time radio shows like "The Lone Ranger" and "The Shadow." That Avi could write an entire novel like this is pretty impressive - guess he didn't win those Newberry awards for nothing.

Without the patina of youth, though, I have to admit that it's a gimmicky book, more like an experiment than an experience. The characters and plot are paper thin, and the book's insistence on only using dialogue can make it pretty hard to read. Still, every time I read it, I'm taken back to a place where the good guys always win, and the bad guys always come back for more...

Links: Lazy Range Day Edition

2011-07-30T21:23:00.000-04:00

When the sky is as sunny and clear as it has been in South Florida, there's really no excuse to be stuck inside. As I make the trip to Markham Park and attempt to down a few flights of clay pigeons, here are some random links for those inclined to stay at home and watch web videos:

hickok45: One of the most famous of the gun videobloggers, and for good reason - hickok45 is an affable guy who has access to a seemingly neverending supply of firearms and a killer homemade shooting range:

He's also got a weird sense of humor, as displayed in this crossover video with another prominent YouTube gunblogger, FateofDestinee:

lara6683: There's no shortage of people doing covers of anime and video game music on YouTube, so it takes a lot to stand out nowadays - like simultaneously playing DDR and the violin:

or playing the Tomb Raider theme while cosplaying as Lara Croft:

"Gunpowder and Lead": For obvious reasons, this is one of my favorite Miranda Lambert songs; sadly, there's no official music video of the track. This fan-made video, made for a college class project, has amassed over three million views(!)...again, for obvious reasons:

Guns: Warm Weather CCW

2011-07-28T00:01:00.000-04:00

"Summer concealed carry" is a bit of a meaningless concept here in South Florida. For about half the year, it's hot and humid enough outside that you'll be warm no matter how light your clothing is. Depending on how much you sweat, it can become a huge challenge to conceal a firearm using traditional carry methods.

For me, a waist holster is impractical when the weather's boiling. IWB rigs attract too much moisture from the body, while OWB rigs require a covering garment that'll make you even hotter. Consequently, I pocket a J-Frame revolver in the summer months, and it works well enough.

Even pocket carry requires certain clothing, however; it's impossible with athletic shorts or sweatpants. For those who absolutely need to carry a gun in such garments, a SmartCarry/Thunderwear type deep concealment holster may be the answer:

There's also the option of off-body carry, usually inside a purse or bag of some sort. There are plenty of reasons to shy away from this type of carry (e.g. if you lose your purse, you lose your gun), but it's better than not carrying at all:

A final option for summer CCW is the unconventional waistband holster, one that encases the gun itself. Examples include the Wilderness Safepacker or this BullDog cellphone-style belt case:

Music: Alpocalypse review

2011-07-25T11:54:00.000-04:00

I've been a "Weird Al" Yankovic fan for a long time (the claymation music video for "Jurassic Park" is still a highlight of my youth), but even I have to admit that he's been off the radar for the past few years. 2006's "Straight Outta Lynwood" was such a smash hit that it seemed like Weird Al might have finally wrote himself into a corner - how can you top "White and Nerdy," a parody so good it was actually a top ten song in the Billboard Hot 100? As it turned out, Weird Al was just waiting for the next beat in the musical zeitgeist, in the form of a meat dress-wearing, egg-hatching Tisch School of the Arts dropout:

"Perform This Way" is one of the new tracks in "Alpocalypse" (many of the album's songs were available on the EP "Internet Leaks"), and it neatly embodies the problems Weird Al faces when pastiching today's pop. You see, Yankovic has been around for so long that the musical acts he's parodying now are actually influenced by artists that he has parodied in the past. Since Lady Gaga is a Madonna disciple, "Perform This Way" feels a lot like something Weird Al could have written in his "Like A Surgeon" days, and that robs Al's music of some of the freshness it had when it was aping Michael Jackson and Nirvana.

Moreover, with modern technology, everyone from "The Lonely Island" to your next-door neighbor can put a parody song on the Web; it's become harder to separate yourself from the herd. Thankfully, Weird Al still has a gift for musical mimicry, and most of the tracks on "Alpocalypse" put it to good use. Take "TMZ," an assault on paparazzi and the badly-behaving celebs that fuel them. It's a pitch-perfect recreation of Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me," down to the banjo plucks and drum hits, though the lyrics only obliquely criticize Swift's penchant for roasting celebrity boyfriends in her songs.

"Party in the CIA," a take-off on Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA," is a more direct parody: Al takes the plot of the sunny pop hit (where the narrator moves out to L.A. and tries to fit in) and translates it to the dark world of intelligence gathering. There's something distinctly Weird Al about combining a sugary pop melody with lyrics that reference waterboarding terrorists and overthrowing third-world countries:

Better put your hands up and get in the van,
Or else you'll get blown away!
Stagin' a coup like yeah,
Brainwashin' moles like yeah,
We only torture the folks we don't like,
You're probably going to be OK!

Yeeeaaahhh, it's a party in the CIA!
Yeeeaaahhh, it's a party in the CIA!

Movies: Captain America - The First Avenger

2011-07-24T15:59:00.000-04:00

Courageous, clever, and compassionate, Steve Rogers is everything the U.S. Army is looking for in the dark days of WWII...except that he's an asthmatic, 98-pound shrimp. By sheer luck, however, Rogers crosses paths with Dr. Abraham Erskine, a scientist who has developed a serum that turns men into super-soldiers. When the Nazi deep science division known as Hydra threatens the safety of the world, Rogers is pressed into battle - as Captain America:

"Captain America: The First Avenger" is actually the first time Cap has truly made it to the big screen in the U.S. In some ways, that's not surprising - Captain America has always been a little two-dimensional, especially for a Marvel superhero. Steve Rogers knows where he came from, knows what he's supposed to do, and usually doesn't have any doubt about who's good and who's bad.

The movie is no different - while Chris Evans gives Cap earnestness and likeability (through some gentle, non-cynical wisecracks and several scenes worth of aw-shucks dialogue), we never learn much about Steve except that he wants to help America win the war; you don't see where he lives or what he does for a day job. Director Joe Johnston (who helmed "The Rocketeer," another WWII-era superhero flick) deliberately paints Steve Rogers with a broad brush ("I'm just a kid from Brooklyn"), and helps keep Captain America as the Everyman symbol he was intended to be.

Sometimes this approach backfires. In many scenes, the admittedly big-name character actors dominate, and make Captain America the least interesting persona in his own movie. Tommy Lee Jones chews scenery as a gruff colonel, Hugo Weaving slips into Agent Smith-world-destroying mode for his turn as Red Skull, and Stanley Tucci injects Dr. Erskine with fatherly faith.

There are also parts of the movie that feel forced. Hayley Atwell plays a gorgeous British intelligence officer, and I heard multiple groans when she strode across a battlefield firing a Tommygun, hair perfectly coiffed and ruby red lipstick perfectly applied. Similarly, Rogers' band of "Dirty Dozen" commandoes is conspicuously multiethnic, and the Holocaust is never mentioned. All in all, though, this is a crowd-pleasing square-jawed superhero movie, and easily the best adaptation of Captain America ever made.

Rating: 7/10

Guns: A topsy-turvy world

2011-07-23T00:00:00.000-04:00

In Canton, OH, a concealed handgun licensee complying with the state's notification requirement was handcuffed, put in a squad car, berated, and threatened by police:

In Oslo, Norway, in a country with no concealed carry and no protection of the right of self-defense, with full registration for all guns and limits on the number of guns one person can possess, a crazed maniac just killed dozens of kids with nary any resistance:

The only thing that stops a gun is a gun. If you can lawfully carry a concealed weapon, please carry your gun with you...all the time:

TV: Breaking Bad

2011-07-19T23:39:00.000-04:00

In "Breaking Bad," mild-mannered Walter White is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and so he does what any self-respecting high school chemistry teacher would do - he starts cooking crystal meth with a former student in order to secure his family's financial future...

Vince Gilligan, the creator of the show, pitched the series as "Mr. Chips becomes Scarface." Like a chemical reactant, Walt is transformed through the course of the series, making a series of choices that lead off the straight and narrow path and down into a violent criminal underworld.

Everything about the series bespeaks craft: the way the show uses Albuquerque, New Mexico as a character, littering the production with local landmarks and radio stations; the use of color to highlight certain characters and objects, changing their palettes from season to season; and, most importantly, the pitch-black humor that'll make you laugh at exploding severed heads and bodies dissolved in acid.

Sure, the show is manipulative and slow-paced (Gilligan was a writer for "The X-Files," which explains a lot), but at least it's trying to manipulate you, to tell a story that draws you in. In an age of reality TV, "Breaking Bad" is a reminder that well-written, well-performed fiction is still the most addictive drug out there.

Miscellany: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter review

2011-07-19T02:28:00.194-04:00

The final "Harry Potter" movie has already made a bazillion dollars, and, coincidentally, I got the chance to visit "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" with my cousins last weekend. They're Potter fanatics (made the trip all the way from Houston just to visit), but I thought I'd offer a review from the perspective of a casual fan of the series:

Islands of Adventure has always felt more like a mishmash of unrelated, separate areas than a cohesive theme park (one of the most popular sections of the park, Marvel Super Hero Island, is actually licensed from Universal's main theme park competition, Walt Disney Company). The WWoHP takes it one step further - the 20 acre area is basically a mini-theme park all its own, with enough rides, shops, and sights to occupy a good chunk of a typical vacationer's day.

The centerpiece of the WWoHP is "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey," a motion simulator ride that's one part "Haunted Mansion," one part "Soaring," and one part Ford assembly line (the ride uses KUKA robotic arms to twist and turn riders through the dark). It's an enormously entertaining ride, with a lavish queue that takes you through Hogwarts and impressive, nausea-inducing simulated acrobatics. Be warned: the wait times can hit the two hour mark during peak periods (and when the ride experiences technical difficulties).

The other rides in the WWoHP are reskinned holdovers from the old Merlinwood area that used to be here; the twin inverted coaster Duelling Dragons is now Dragon Challenge, and the gentler family coaster The Flying Unicorn has turned into Flight of the Hippogriff. Since these two rides have been around for awhile, they're less popular, and they can be good choices if the lines for "The Forbidden Journey" get too long.

Aside from the coasters, the other major draw of the WWoHP is a painstaking recreation of Hogsmeade, a magical village that featured heavily in the book series. Universal spared no expense here; the place looks like it was ripped straight out of the films, albeit with hundreds of sundrenched tourists added in as extras:

Hogsmeade might look enchanting, but every shop is filled to the brim with expensive Harry Potter memorabilia (made in the magical land of Zhōngguó). Maybe I'm being overcritical, but I found it difficult to get in the wizarding mood while being surrounded by shops peddling $30 plastic wands and $50 Gryffendor quidditch polos. Conversely, the foodstuffs in Hogsmeade were excellent - peddlers hawk delicious frozen butterbeer, pumpkin juice (basically apple juice spiked with pumpkin purée), and chocolate frogs, all at relatively reasonable prices.

To sum up, I'd say the WWoHP is a must-visit for Potter fans. Every part, from the "Ministry of Magic" motion sickness warning signs to the moving newspapers in "The Forbidden Journey" queue, is designed to make you feel like a muggle who's gotten a glimpse at a parallel world. If you can excuse the merchandising, you should have a lot of fun.

Music: Hearts of Space

2011-07-15T13:27:00.000-04:00

Hearts of Space

During freshman year at college, I usually spent Sunday nights doing schoolwork I had put off till the end of the weekend. There wasn't much to my dorm room - a bed, a desk, and an FM radio atop a mini-fridge-turned-nightstand. In those long stretches of quiet, "Hearts of Space" kept me company.

For those who've never heard the show, "HoS" is one of the world's most popular New Age music radio programs, so popular that it was actually parodied in an MST3K skit ("Music from Some Guys in Space"). Each week, producer Stephen Hill serves up an hour's worth of ambient music from a variety of genres: downtempo electronica is the show's staple, of course, but there's also the occasional Celtic, choral, and orchestral-themed shows. I particularly liked the episode "When Rock Meets Space," which featured atmospheric cuts from Coldplay, Portishead, and Sigur Rios.

With the thousands of 24/7 free streaming ambient music stations on the Internet, you might ask why I would bother to tune in to a radio show. Truth be told, HoS features one thing all those anonymous music channels don't have: Stephen Hill's laconic opening and closing narration. At times, it's more soothing than the actual mood music, leading one blogger to admit, "I would pay for an album of Stephen Hill talking for an hour."

Books: Moneyball

2011-07-13T08:28:00.003-04:00

Unlike the other three big professional sports leagues in the U.S., Major League Baseball has no salary cap or salary floor. Teams can essentially spend as much or as little on their rosters as they like, and, as a result, the big market teams like the Yankees and the Red Sox can have payrolls that are several times the size of their small market opponents. "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game," by Michael Lewis, explores how the Oakland Athletics managed to win enormous amounts of games despite having one of the cheapest teams in the league.

Lewis attributes the difference to the Oakland A's use of sabermetrics to buy undervalued players while discarding established notions of what a big league player should look like. To this end, the book dutifully describes the Oakland A's as a ragtag assortment of defective players: Scott Hatteberg has a ruptured nerve in his throwing elbow and average hitting ability, Chad Bradford has a weird underhand delivery and a crappy 84 mph fastball, and so it goes.

I'm not really a big baseball fan, so I have no idea if Lewis slanted the characterizations in order to fit his narrative - the David-and-Goliath narration is pretty thick at times. The success of the 2002 Oakland A's, though, is pretty inspiring, and it lends credence to the book's overall message:

...if gross miscalculations of a person's value could occur on a baseball field, before a live audience of thirty thousand, and a television audience of millions more, what did that say about the measurement of performance in other lines of work? If professional baseball players could be over- or under-valued, who couldn't?

Miscellany: Stuff to See in St. Augustine

2011-07-12T16:34:00.002-04:00

Orlando and Miami get the lion's share of tourists' attention, but there are plenty of other places to visit in Florida. I recently spent a day with my friends in St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States. The city is a weird mix of the historical and the hysterical - you'll see classic 19th century architecture...occupied by cheesy gift shops and haunted house tours. Check out some of what you can find there:

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument - Our first stop was the imposing Castillo de San Marcos, a star fort first built by the Spanish during their colonization of the New World. It has changed hands several times through the centuries - to the British, the Confederate and Union Armies, and finally, to the United States of America.

The walls of the Castillo are made of coquina, a sort of limestone made up of ancient shells and mortared together. It sounds flimsy, but it's actually a pretty good material for building walls to withstand cannon fire - cannonballs would get "stuck" in the soft walls instead of puncturing or shattering them. Maybe that's why, in its entire existence, the Castillo de San Marcos has never been conquered when it has been defended.

Casa Maya - Downtown St. Augustine is a culinary bazaar - you'll see plenty of seafood joints and Spanish restaurants, as you might expect, but there are also English pubs, pizzerias, and fast food vendors vying for customers. We settled on Casa Maya, a tiny Mexican restaurant on Hypolita Street.

The food was decent. We tried the Mayan soup and a couple of sandwiches and came away satisfied. I was most impressed by the refreshing cucumber-lemon-lime-tinged water (hey, it was a hot day).

The Hyppo - Right across from Casa Maya is The Hyppo, a perennially crowded gourmet popsicle shop. There isn't much too the place, really - just a cash register, a freezer full of interesting popsicles, and some places to sit and enjoy them:

My favorite popsicle was the pineapple cilantro, for its combination of sweetness, sourness, and cilantro. You can kick up the refreshment factor by opting for one of the spicier flavors, like mango habanero.

St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum - If you're interested in the days when piracy wasn't perpetrated by teenagers with AK-47s, you might want to stop at The St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum:

The Pirate & Treasure Museum is a neat example of how to maximize a visitor's experience with very little floorspace. Every nook and cranny of the place is filled with authentic pirate paraphernalia like weapons, gold bars, and compasses. Highlights include an interactive touch screen encyclopedia of pirate knowledge (more interesting than it sounds), one of the world's few surviving Jolly Roger flags, and an immersive audio experience that recreates the death of Blackbeard.

News: Fear, uncertainty, doubt

2011-07-12T14:39:00.003-04:00

The Obama administration and many economists have warned of economic catastrophe if the United States does not raise the amount it is legally allowed to borrow by August 2.

Lawmakers from both parties want to use the threat of that deadline to work out a broader package on long-term deficit reduction, with Republicans looking to cut trillions of dollars in federal spending, while Democrats are pushing for a more "balanced approach," which would include both spending cuts and increased revenue through taxes.

Guns: Comp-Tac Minotaur MTAC review

2011-07-07T22:18:00.007-04:00

One of the biggest trends in inside-the-waistband holsters is the hybrid Kydex/leather holster, exemplified by models like the Kholster, Crossbreed SuperTuck, and the subject of this review, the Comp-Tac Minotaur MTAC holster:

The hybrid design tries to combine the rigidity of a Kydex holster with the comfort of a leather holster; in the Minotaur MTAC's case, an interchangeable Kydex shell is attached to a standardized leather backing piece, with Comp-Tac's IWB clips providing two attachment points to the belt. This setup allows the holster to be tuckable, fully adjustable for ride height and desired cant, and adaptable to different body shapes.

Comp-Tac also touts the MTAC's ability to switch out its Kydex half-shells, made possible by the fact that the holster shells are independent of the leather backing. I suppose you could theoretically buy one MTAC holster, multiple Kydex shells, and use it for multiple guns. In practice, though, it's a pain to switch out shells (they aren't cheap, either), and you're probably better off buying one holster for each gun you plan to carry.

As far as wearing the MTAC goes, it's easily one of the most comfortable IWB rigs I've ever used. The holster has a distinct "padded" feel (the leather backing covers the holster's screws and extends to cover your handgun's barrel, preventing them from abrading your side but also adding bulk to the holster). The MTAC capably carried my S&W M&P9C in the traditional 3:00-4:00 right hand position just behind the hip, and concealment, drawing, and reholstering were all pretty straightforward.

The only criticism I can level at the MTAC is its retention system - the holster features an adjustable screw, but, even after adjustment, the gun isn't held very tightly by the holster (a plus or a minus, depending on how much retention you need). Overall, though, if you need to carry a concealed compact or subcompact autoloader, the MTAC should be on your list of IWB holsters to try.

Tech: Portal 2 review

2011-07-07T08:04:00.009-04:00

It's always tough when you make a sequel to a popular video game, but the challenge Valve faced in making a follow-up to "Portal" must have been daunting. The original game came out of left field in 2007 as part of "The Orange Box" and became a smash hit, to the point where phrases like "The cake is a lie" and "This was a triumph" became part of the gamer lexicon. Thankfully, Valve found a way to expand on Portal's pitch-perfect puzzle perspective: partners.

In "Portal 2," you and a friend can traverse a lengthy co-operative campaign that'll take around four to six hours to complete. From the very first room, the puzzles require the use of two pairs of portals, and, as the game progresses, you'll use these portals to form conveyor belts, bridges, launch tubes, and even shields for each other. There are plenty of smart gameplay features designed to facilitate this teamwork, too: you can see from your partner's point of view, ping locations in the game world for your partner to portal, and initiate a shared countdown for tricky timing puzzles.

It's not just the mechanical features of the co-op that are impressive. The two silent robot protagonists provide plenty of "Laurel and Hardy" slapstick humor, since mistakes by either player can send both bots to their oblivion. To take one example, when you and your partner are standing on a light bridge over a giant chasm, and the bridge disappears, for one Wile E. Coyote moment, you'll look at each other in mid-air before plummeting to the ground.

After playing through the brilliant co-op campaign, Portal 2's single-player mode is a little underwhelming. Though the story is artfully told (it continues where "Portal" left off), the actual puzzles are less complex and less interesting than the ones Valve cooked up for multiplayer. "Portal 2" therefore gets a big thumbs-up from me...as long as you have a friend to share the journey with.

Rating: 83/100

The 4th of July

2011-07-04T02:27:00.000-04:00

I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids. She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance. She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shown and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal. Conscious of this, she never wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.

- An American Guesser, Pennsylvania Journal on December 27, 1775

Shangrila Towers summer doldrums...

2011-06-30T08:32:00.006-04:00

The weather is alternately sweltering and stormy down here in South Florida, and the real world is intruding into the operation of the free ice cream machine. Sorry y'all...

Guns: Lighter, Stronger, Better? - Daniel Defense M4 V3 carbine review

2011-06-25T21:39:00.011-04:00

Introduction

When it comes to buying an AR-pattern carbine, today's market allows you to spend as much or as little as you like. For a shooter on a budget who's just looking for a fun plinker, you can buy or build a bargain-basement gun from Model 1 Sales or Del-Ton for around $600. For a few hundred bucks more, consumer-grade ARs from folks like Bushmaster and S&W are readily available in gun stores. Finally, at the very top of production ARs in both quality and price, there are makers like Noveske and Knights Armament who actually go beyond the U.S. military's requirements (the Knights enhanced bolt isn't just funny-looking for the sake of being different, it actually corrects some of the design flaws in the original M16 bolt).

Daniel Defense's line of AR-15s fits into what I call the "prosumer" level. The garden-variety gunshop AR might be cheaper, but Daniel Defense purportedly "dots all the i's and crosses all the t's"; aside from the happy switch, a DD M4 carbine seemingly has just about all the features and quality controls found on the military M4 carbine. To drive the point home, Daniel Defense put out a torture test video showing one of their guns being subjected to fairly extreme abuse, including getting hit with birdshot and being run over by a Jeep:

Outlandish torture testing is fine and all, but it doesn't have much relevance to the average user, who merely wants a gun that will run a wide variety of ammunition reliably, comfortably, and accurately. So, after donning my Skeptical Gunblogger hat, I tested out the DDM4 at the local range...

Fit and Finish

The DD M4 makes a good first impression, and the gun was blemish-free inside and out. A number of in-demand features were visible right from the get-go, including a 1 in 7 twist cold hammer forged chrome-lined 4150 barrel (medium-weight profile - it tapers from the chamber to the gas block), a chrome-lined chamber with proper M4 feed ramps, and a shot-peened bolt with M16 carrier.

There are also less obvious quality-assurance features present in the rifle. One can be seen from Daniel Defense's own website - interspersed with all the regular glamour shots of the rifles is a picture of the carrier key screws on the bolt carrier:

To the uninitiated, it's a strange choice for a gallery picture. If you're familiar with ARs, though, you know that one of the most common problems with factory guns is the carrier key staking. As promised, the staking on the test gun was executed properly.

The DD M4 also has some minor niceties that aren't very expensive. The carbine has a beveled magazine well, a Magpul enlarged trigger guard, a DD vertical foregrip, and a DD rear QD swivel plate. Daniel Defense also ships the rifle with a plastic hardcase and a 30-round Magpul PMAG magazine. These are all solid bells and whistles, but aren't enough, in and of themselves, to justify the expense of the rifle.

Daniel Defense Omega X 9.0 Rail review

The main reason why the DD M4 V3 costs considerably more than other ARs is the included, preinstalled Omega X 9.0 free float Picatinny rail system. The Omega X is one of Daniel Defense's newer rail systems, and, when bought as an aftermarket part, costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $300:

Unlike the popular drop-in Omega Rail, the Omega X uses a proprietary barrel nut and thus requires some minor gunsmithing to install. In return, it's reportedly more solid than the Omega rail, and the rail halves can be detached from the gun for easy cleaning and maintenance.

In testing, I found the rail to be quite solid, and noticed no point-of-impact shifts when attaching foregrips, rail covers, lights, or slings (via the rail's limited-rotation side swivel points). The rail adds almost no weight to the gun when compared to conventional plastic handguards, and is fairly thin, to boot. There are other rail systems out there (the Centurion Arms systems are getting a lot of good press), but the DD rails are proven performers, and I can't imagine any reason for a user to swap them out.

Daniel Defense A1.5 Detachable Fixed Sight review

I've always been leery of flip-up back-up iron sights. You're already sticking a separate sight on the gun in order to aim it; do you have to make the darn thing move and lock under spring pressure, too? Apparently, someone at Daniel Defense shares my concerns, as the DD M4 comes with their "A1.5" rear fixed back-up iron sight.

It's a tough, sturdy unit. As the name suggests, the DD A1.5 sight combines an A1-style windage adjustment (a special tool is needed to adjust the windage drum, but it's also impossible to accidentally spin the drum out of position) with A2-style apertures (a large 0-200m ghost ring and a smaller aperture for long ranges).

The A1.5 has some obvious drawbacks; the rear sight can obscure your view when using optics, and can't fold down underneath a scope. These are small prices to pay for simplicity and durability, however, and, if you don't like 'em, you can always take the sight off.

At the Range...

Since breaking in a rifle is more involved than breaking in a handgun, I've separated my typical range report up into sections, to better illustrate what happened when I tested an out-of-the-box, stock DD M4:

Range Report #1

My first magazine through the DD M4 is twenty-odd rounds of my light .223 target handloads - a 55 grain Hornady boat-tail FMJ over 23 grains of H310. Despite being noticeably milder than even commerically-loaded varmint-hunting .223, the handloads fire, feed, and eject flawlessly. It's good sign that the DD M4's gas system is squared away right out of the box.

I wish I could say the same thing about the extractor. Twenty rounds of Serbian Prvi Partizan M193 produce two fail-to-extracts; in each instance, the rim of the case has been broken off, and I have to send a cleaning rod down the barrel in order to pop out the case. 70 rounds of Federal American Eagle XM193 run well through the gun, with no broken case rims.

Range Report #2

100 rounds of Federal AE223 without any incident. As far as firing goes, the gun feels like any other AR-15. One niggle: Daniel Defense uses a stock, military trigger, so the pull weight is around 7 or 8 pounds, with plenty of creep. I don't mind, though - a milspec trigger isn't designed to win Camp Perry, it's designed to be safe and reliable under adverse conditions.

Range Report #3

I fire a mix of ammo, including Remington UMC, Federal XM193, and Sellier & Bellot .223. The American-made cartridges run fine, but the gun rips the case rims off of two S&B cartridges (S&B is Czech ammo, but it's generally good stuff, and shouldn't be causing these problems). Not wishing to troubleshoot a brand new rifle, I send the DDM4 back in to Daniel Defense.

I receive the repaired gun back in about two weeks' time. Daniel Defense says they've polished the chamber, which is generally gun manufacturer speak for "We have no idea what the problem is." Still, after the polish job, they report that they fired 10 rounds without incident. I fire three rounds in my gun shop's clearing barrel to make sure the gun is safe to use, and then head to the range for more testing.

Range Report #4,#5,#6

At these range sessions, I put a mix of about 400 rounds through the gun - several magazines' worth of 55-gr. S&B .223, PMC Bronze, AE223, XM193, and Fiocchi .223 (the gun was not cleaned or maintained in any way whatsoever between range trips). Everything fed, fired, and extracted fine, including the S&B rounds that previously caused trouble. Woohoo!

Accuracy and Shooting Impressions

Since I've only shot the DDM4 on a 25 yard indoor range with no machine rest and no seating, I haven't really had the chance to fairly evaluate the rifle's accuracy. I can say that the average ten shot group at this distance was about 3" with PMC Bronze, fired standing and unsupported (Why a ten shot group? Read this). This type of accuracy is on par with what I've shot out of 16" barreled ARs in the past, so no real complaints there.

Conclusion

On the whole, if you're looking for a complete prebuilt AR-15, I'd recommend the DDM4, despite my gun's early teething problems with broken case rims (let's face it - it's common for ARs to require a little tweaking: neither my old Bushie Superlight or my Stag Arms build worked 100% without minor adjustments). The Omega X rail system is excellent, overall build quality is high, and Daniel Defense has your back in case you do run into an issue. To be sure, there are plenty of competitors at or under Daniel Defense's price point (I recommend taking a look at Bravo Company Manufacturing), but the DDM4 is a solid choice.

Books: The Last Unicorn - comic book adaptation

2011-06-21T07:49:00.014-04:00

Peter S. Beagle's classic fantasy novel "The Last Unicorn" has been adapted into many different forms over the years. The Rankin/Bass animated film version of the story has long been a cult classic, and Beagle also penned a stage adaptation for the Pacific Northwest Ballet. IDW Publishing has delivered the latest incarnation of "The Last Unicorn," in the form of a six-issue comic series.

Adapted by Peter B. Gillis and illustrated by Reane De Liz and Ray Dillon, the visuals of the comic book version of "Unicorn" are obviously influenced by the animated film, though the series includes several parts of the novel that the movie left out. The plot of the comic follows the novel's, beat for beat: a unicorn sets out from her isolated forest, hoping to discover what happened to the rest of her kind, and, during the journey, she is tested by an evil king, a powerful demon, and her own longing.

Gillis's adaptation is skillfully executed for the most part. He excerpts or incorporates most of the important lines from the novel, and his characterization of the inept magician Schmendrick is spot-on. As for the art, De Liz and Dillon do a serviceable job of translating the epic encounters from the novel into splashy tableaux:

The biggest problem with the comic (and one which its authors likely had little control over) is its abbreviated length: at only six issues, the story scarcely has time to breathe. The dialogue-heavy episodes in the evil king's castle are rushed, so the ending doesn't have nearly the emotional payoff as the novel did. Even with the compressed third act, it's nice to see "The Last Unicorn" revived, once again, for a new audience.

Movies: Father's Day

2011-06-19T08:53:00.006-04:00

"Father's Day," starring Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, was not a very good movie. It probably should have been, given that it was directed by Ivan Reitman and features two iconic comedians, but the scattershot plot and uneven tone turned off both audiences and critics.

In the film, Crystal and Williams play two guys who are both told by a former lover that either of them could be the father of her runaway teenage boy. A predictable cross-country trek ensues, and Crystal plays the straight man to Williams' free-spirited hippie character. They're both trying hard, but there's only so much you can do with an unfunny script.

Despite being almost completely forgettable, "Father's Day" did feature one of the best uses of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' song "The Impression That I Get" ever put to film. It plays during the part where Williams and Crystal fight their way through a rock concert. The scene (it's in the video below at 1:44) almost salvages the whole movie for me. Almost:

Rating for Robin Williams & Billy Crystal headbutting random people: 10/10
Rating for overall movie: 4/10

Guns: Carbine Musings, Part 3 - Light Makes Might

2011-06-17T22:24:00.012-04:00

When I first started shooting, having a light mounted on your long gun was viewed as an extravagance or an affectation, something that was more suited for SWAT teams than the average Joe.

Times have changed. Thanks to LED technology, lights have gotten smaller, brighter, and more durable. More importantly, people have realized that even during daylight hours, there are plenty of places that are dark enough to make having a weaponlight a necessity.

Of course, where you mount a weaponlight is almost as important as whether you have it mounted at all. Clamping a pistol-style light (like a Streamlight TLR-1) to the foreend of your rifle is certainly expedient. With this setup, however, the light is usually so far back from the muzzle that a lot of the beam will be blocked by your barrel, reducing the light reaching the target.

Mounting a conventional tube-shaped flashlight as far forward as possible alleviates this problem. Here's the solution I've settled on...

Viking Tactics Offset Light Mount review

Mounting a light to your AR can be expensive. Duty-grade equipment (say, a SureFire host, Malkoff lamp, and LaRue mount) can easily cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. If you're unsure whether you'll ever fire a shot in anger from your rifle, it doesn't make sense to spend that kind of cash on a weaponlight setup, especially if you're on a budget.

So, if you're like me and you're "lighting the cheap seats," a cheapo flashlight and mount combo is the only way to go. I've long been a fan of the 4Sevens Quark Tactical flashlights, so I searched for an inexpensive weapon mount that would fit the Quark's unusual 0.86" diameter tube. The Viking Tactics Offset Light Mount seemed like it might work:

The VTAC unit is all plastic, and includes four screws and a wrench for attaching to a rail. It takes a little jimmying, but you can squeeze open the mounting rings just enough to fit the Quark's endcap diameter. The end result can accommodate almost any user. Mounted on the bottom of the handguard, you can use a tennis-racket style VFG grip. Mounted on the top, it's easy to access the light with the thumb-alongside-bore method:

This setup has proven to be rugged enough for my purposes; after many hundreds of rounds and travel back and forth from the range, the VTAC mount and Quark flashlight still work fine. All in all, I think the mount was well worth the $25 asking price.

Miscellany: Cheers and Jeers in Roswell, Georgia

2011-06-17T16:34:00.000-04:00

During our trip to Atlanta, we spent some time in Roswell, Georgia. Roswell is a fairly well-to-do suburb of northern Atlanta; the median income is so high, their City Hall makes Lake Worth's look like a shack. I thought it was a fun place to visit on a sleepy Memorial Day weekend, though the journey had its ups and downs...

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area
HERE...you'll find one of the only places to canoe within half an hour's driving distance of Atlanta.
CHEER...the wide, lazy Chattahoochee. It's colder than you'd think, enough so that we passed huge groups of teenagers hanging out in inner tubes, lounging the day away. Even the places with rocks and shoals, like Island Ford, were easy to navigate.
JEER...the highway overpass bridges. Nothing takes you out of a wilderness reverie like the hum of rubber on asphalt.

Oak Street Cafe
HERE...is a bistro that got decent reviews on Google Maps.
CHEER...the brunch menu. We were able to order eggs, French toast, fries, and tomato-basil bisque - just what the doctor ordered for a late Sunday morning.
JEER...the high prices and small portions. I understand that you pay a premium because it's in Roswell, but couldn't they at least give you bread with your bisque?

John Ripley Forbes Big Trees Forest Preserve
HERE...trees, trees, and more trees.
CHEER...the fact that it's a forested area in the middle of an otherwise developed suburb - this would be an ideal place to walk a dog or jog through the woods.
JEER...nothing. There's no entrance fee, after all.

Archibald Smith Plantation Home

HERE...is a 19th century plantation home, restored to much of its former glory.
CHEER...the neat little historical bits of trivia you can learn. Ever heard of a spring house? It's a little building that is constructed above a spring, usually into the side of a hill, in order to keep food cool. The Smith Plantation had one.
JEER...the fact that it's closed on major holidays. We didn't actually tour the house, only the grounds. On the upside, we didn't pay any money.