The Wandering Minstrel

We’re not going to post a lot here today - just a quick review of the Superbowl. We watched the game in its entirety, but took an after-dinner walk during the halftime show. We’re not into “The Who.”

The Better Half was a bit disappointed with the outcome. I remained pretty indifferent since I just wanted to watch the best two teams get to the Superbowl and I think they did. The final score was a bit lopsided but it was actually closer than that in the stats.

We rated the commercials this year as mostly either weird, boring or stupid with only a couple of exceptions. When Jack (the plastic-headed fast food clown) impaled his plastic pointed hat in the concrete river bed after a failed bungee jump off of a bridge above, we both had a good laugh over that one. Go Daddy outdid themselves for best commercial by a pack of morons this year.

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for their victory. To the Colts, you have nothing to be ashamed of . . .

Now for the football withdrawals . . . We used to watch the Pro Bowl the week after and that would let us down easy, but the NFL screwed that up for us.

I recently came into possession of this nice leather jacket courtesy of a deal from the National Rifle Association. This was one of the premiums they offered with an upgrade to life membership. I got it in a size large enough to be able to conceal Fat Man or Little Boy.

Saturday, February 6, 2010 marks the 99th birthday of President Ronald Wilson Reagan, one of three great presidents whose birth is celebrated this month. Washington and Lincoln were born in February and it’s fitting that Presidents Day is also celebrated on the fifteenth of the month.

Image - President Reagan fielding questions from the White House press

Rather than trying to describe this great man to you on this anniversary, I’ll let him speak for himself by offering some of his most famous and endearing quotations.

On the second amendment . . .

“You won’t get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens. There’s only one way to get real gun control: Disarm the thugs and the criminals, lock them up, and if you don’t actually throw away the key, at least lose it for a long time… It’s a nasty truth, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun controllers. I happen to know this from personal experience.”

On entitlements and Government control . . .

“I would suggest that no one should have a vested interest in poverty or dependency, that these tragedies must never be looked at as a source of votes for politicians or paychecks for bureaucrats. They are blights on our society that we must work to eliminate, not institutionalize.”

“It is not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work - work with us, not over us; stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.”

On conservatism in politics . . .

“Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors, which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?”

On American Pride . . .

“We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”

“Why should we be frightened? No people who have ever lived on this earth have fought harder, paid a higher price for freedom, or done more to advance the dignity of man than the living Americans, those Americans living in this land today.”

And then there was always his sense of humor . . .

“Republicans think that every day is the 4th of July, while Democrats think it is April 15th.”

“You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.”

“Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”

“Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.”

“I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I’m in a cabinet meeting.”

“Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.”

“Détente is what a farmer has with his turkey until Thanksgiving Day.”

From the 1992 Republican Convention . . .

“And whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way. My fondest hope for each one of you — and especially for young people — is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will make the world a little better for your having been here. May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural, God-given optimism. And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill.”

And Finally,

“I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph, and there is purpose and worth to every life.” — Epitaph, Tomb of Ronald Reagan

Cross-posted at CB&D

Last time out to the range, I shot about 50 rounds of reloaded ammo that I bought from the gun shop there. The reason I say ‘about’ is that one of the rounds failed to discharge. Buying reloads seemed to be the thing to do, what with the price of ammo these days, but it comes with some drawbacks.

Photo credit - The Better Half. Clickable image.

I bought a couple of bags of .45 ACP for about $22 per bag (remember when factory ammo was that cheap?). I shot them using “Fat Man,” my Glock 30. In addition to the failed round, the ammo seemed especially ‘dirty’ to me, leaving more than the usual spent powder deposits near the muzzle.

Fat Man cleaned up OK - I use a CLP product, “Strike Hold,” which does a pretty good job of cleaning and lubrication. Everything got wiped down and a couple drops on the slide rails is all the lube that this gun seems to need.

A couple of days ago, I posted about preparing for our next road trip by investigating the gun laws of states we might potentially visit. I was using data available at the NRA-ILA for reference. In a comment to that post, Linoge, of Walls of the City, recommended HandGunLaw.us as a very good alternate for state gun laws.

I spent about a half hour visiting the HandGunLaw site today - it looks like their site is up to date and offers a more concise presentation of state gun laws. The summaries I consulted before were somewhat difficult to use, requiring you find the data embedded in paragraphs that weren’t consistent from state to state.

HandGunLaw.us has been added to the sidebar links under “Interesting Stuff.” Thanks to Linoge for sharing the information.

Obama must have been having a Karl Childers moment.

A’right then . . .

One of these days, the Better Half and I plan to hit the road for a long vacation. We’re going to travel to “flyover country” and have a look around at some of the attractions and drink in the local history, scenery and Americana. Also, I have a personal goal to visit the last two states where I have yet to set foot. This trip will do it.

I figured that since we are going to be in places we’ve never visited, that a good itinerary will be needed. I usually do a plan and use it as a guide and not a strictly disciplined journey. The inset map is for discussion purposes at this point.

Since we’re going to be bringing some of our arsenal for personal protection and possible sport, I further concluded that looking into the local gun regulations for states we may visit would be essential. Using data from the NRA-ILA Gun Laws by State page, I constructed the table below. Since we both have our Utah CCW, I included a column to indicate reciprocity.

Examination of the data in the Transportation Issues column reveals a wide range of things that must be considered while en route and when camping or lodging. Bottom line: we will avoid camping in states with quirky laws and no reciprocity with our CCW.

Disclaimer: The information below the fold should not be used to determine current laws.
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I don’t know whose bright idea it was to move the pro Bowl out of Hawaii and to a time slot a week before the Superbowl. Way to go genius. Now the players in the Pro Bowl will be without the best players in the NFL, namely the members of the two Superbowl teams. How can they call it a showcase of the best NFL players when nobody playing tonight will be going to the big show?

I will miss the casual Hawaiian spirit and the bright Aloha prints worn by the coaching staff. I will miss the post-season atmosphere wherein all the best players came to participate. Tell me what you think by voting in the poll. Thanks.

A long time ago, my Dad and I went to a Pro Bowl when they were playing it in the Los Angeles Colliseum. It was after the season as I recall. Dad and I really enjoyed going.