Links

A state senator from California got arrested for trafficking guns.  He also supports gun control.

I hear all the proffessional journalists are looking into which party he belongs to, since no one seems to know yet.  lolz

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Apparently Argentina and Venezuela are discovering how well price controls work.

Let's raise the minimum wage; who's with me!

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Sometimes I read things like this post on how stupid kids are these days, and yet I don't recall ever reading in any one of them about who is at fault for stupid kids.  Is it the kids (who aren't yet old enough to know better) or the people writing about how kids these days aren't so great (who are the teachers and parents of the dumb kids).

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Is a post of links really a "post of links" with only three?

Read something here (Rhymes with Cars & Girls) and we'll call it four links.

Haven't been Posting; Have Cold

First time I've been sick in years.  I don't recommend it.

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I did discover GeoGessr, which is cool.

My high score, since I noticed the scoring, has been 11,800 and change.  I bet I get around 10,000 for the most part, I have no idea how good that is.  Try it and let me know how hard it is.  (I don't do more than "spin" the image in place, becasue moving down the roads a few hundred yards doesn't often change the view.)

I do a lot better outside the US, and South Africa always screws me up.

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Everyone should read Free Northerner.

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I hear a lot about basketball, does anyone care about the game or is it the gambling on the brackets that is the interesting part?

(I've watched most of two basketball games in my life.)

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I've heard of a lot of people who are "obsessed" about finding the missing plane, and yet I've heard of no one flying out to go look for it.  (tip: It crashed, everyone's toast.  Too bad.)

Microsoft Sucks

It has been infuriating how hard it has been to finish my book.  The writing, the research, the editing, and dealing with Amazon have all been easy, but Microsoft has been awful.

I was advised to try linux when I posted on "building" my computer.  I think I'll do that next time I need a computer.  Windows 8 sucks.

So I wrote my book on a free version of office that came with my laptop when I bought it.  That was fine, until it was edited by someone with a full version of Office.

So I tried various things, procrastinated, and tore my hair out while trying to figure out how to work on the stupid thing.  I tried Open Office, which I installed onto the computer I built, but could not install onto my laptop.  Then I found I could open my book in open office but couldn't save it in any useful form.

I've spent three months spending a part of every day thinking that I want my book done, but every time I try to deal with it I want nothing more than to do anything else.

I finally gave up and tried to pay for a full version of office, $100 for a year, but I keep getting pop ups telling me that I need to buy it by march 22.  Did I not already pay?  And this after many efforts to install the stupid thing.

And now I'm writing this post instead of working on my book becasue somehow I lost several hours worth of my editing, to the point where it was on a flash drive since it was edited elsewhere.

(I use internet explorer at work, that sucks too.)

Just being able to open this stupid thing has been the most frustrating thing that I've ever done.

Rather than Useless Internet "Debates"...

For amusement, someone can go to various websites and say witty things like, "Hey Obamacare supporters, keep your laws off my body."  And this is somewhat amusing.  Not productive, but amusing.

An alternate idea may be to comment on such websites, and rather than counter others' stupid thoughts, you could just point out what fallacy they are committing.

Some idiot could claim X and you'd reply: "straw man," "ad hominem," fallacy of the anecdote," "projection," "questionable source," and so on.

Actually, you may not need "and so on," most people who argue things on the internet commit any and all of those listed errors.

It would be kinda funny:

Idiot: "blah, blah, blah"

me: "straw man"

Idiot: "Yeah, well you're a racist."

Me: "ad hominem"

Idiot: "You're only repeating rethuglican talking points."

Me: "projection"

and so on...

Police Are Government Revenue Generators

Hypothetical conversion:

cop: "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

Me: "To generate revenue for the government."

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I've been meaning to write a post I was going to title: "The Jersey Shore DVD box set provides more value than cops."

Obviously, people who buy things, even as stupid as a tv show dvd series, do so becasue they chose to and were not forced to do so.  And because of this people are employed in the making of these things.  People are employed in the creation of goods and services desired by others.

And cops have jobs because most people cannot imagine a world without them.  And in order to justify their existence, and generate revenue, they are tasked with enforcing trivial laws and giving out tickets.

But rather than expand on that idea, I've discovered that my favorite author has been writing articles for a website that I've never heard of until recently.  And he's beaten me to it:

Police Work has become a Racket by Jeffery Tucker

Somewhere in my bag I have an envelope that contains a bill. It was handed to me by a local policeman after being stopped on an interstate highway in Texas. I was doing a mean 80 miles per hour in a 75 mph zone.

So of course this great servant of the public had to stop me before I endangered the lives of so many others, including the people going 85 and 90 miles per hour who were passing me on the right and left. I got caught because—well, probably because the others were going too fast to catch.

So this guy stops me and informs me of my very bad behavior. He explains that I’m not allowed to do what I was doing and so therefore he has to give me a citation. But he assures me that this citation does not mean that I’m necessarily guilty. This is a government of laws, not of arbitrary dictates by heavily armed people in bulletproof vests, and so therefore I have a constitutional right to a fair trial.
Or so we are constantly told.

I kind of began pressing him on this, which I probably should not have done lest I get arrested yet again. But I couldn’t help myself.

“Let’s just say that I think you are wrong. I mean, you are probably right, but let’s just say that I think you made this whole thing up. I can dispute this in front of the judge?”
“Yes, sir, you may. Just see the court date.”

“And where is this court?”

“Right here in this county.”

Of course I had explain to him that I was headed to the airport and that I live 1,000 miles away. I asked whether I could use Skype or Google Hangout to attend my hearing.
“I’m sorry, sir, you have to attend in person.”

I continued on: “So I have to drive to Atlanta, catch a flight to Dallas, rent a car and drive 100 miles south on some particular date in order to have my rights realized? You do understand that this would cost me probably two days of work and as much as $1,000?”

and so on...

Things I Wonder About, Part (I lost Count)

Can I assume that we're over the Duck Dynasty fad?

Having not participated in any fads (as far as I know), I'll ask the rest of you: where do you keep all that junk?

I recently watched a few minutes of an Insane Clown Posse (h/t) video on youtube.  I thought I should be expecting more gore or violence, but is that all there is? 

How pitiful must the fans of two dumpy middle aged men be?

(Rap sucks as a music form, by the way.)

I listen to Rob Zombie now and then, I've never watched a music video from him.  Shirley, they're dark and evil?

Is that all there is?

Is it all tame or has my perspective changed?

(Powerman 5000 isn't as good as I remember from casually listening in high school.)

One chapter in the last book I read contained a story more awful than anything in any of the metal music videos that I've seen.

The Last Ivory Hunter by Peter Capstick

One chapter describes examples of the thinking of Africans.  One story is about a boy who's eye has popped out and is hanging along his cheek.  The hunter the book is about asks the boy's father why he's not going to the hospital.  "I'm busy," he says. 

Another time the hunter sees a man with a moving sack on the back of his bike. 

"What's in the sack?"

"My son, he was burned a week a go.  I figured that he'd die, but he hasn't so I brought him here."

The kid had his charred arm amputated and the hunter also discovered his chest infested with maggots.

Which is more dark, those stories or anything from dark musicians?

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Why is it people are so sheepish in their habits?  If I'm traveling and I'm hungry, I'll occasionally stop and discover that every restaurant is packed.  Why becasue it turns out to be noon or six.  Why would anyone eat at any other time?

Is it my imagination or is my increased experience with various Microsoft products leading me to believe that I need to minimize my exposure to them?

Self Employment vs. A Job

You'll Never Find A "Good" Corporate Job

Second, understand that economic growth is slowing. We are only growing at about 60% of the rate of the 1940′s and 1950′s.  Without that extra economic growth there are mathematically fewer employment opportunities and certainly less challenging ones. So whereas if you were a GI coming back from WWII Boeing would likely hire you as an aerospace engineer, today Boeing would maybe hire you as dataentrysman. If you’re lucky.

Finally, the Baby Boomer generation was absolutely HORRIBLE in terms of financial planning. Most squandered their inheritance from the WWII generation, blew what money they made on divorce lawyers, and are now the most participatory group in “reverse mortgages.” They did not save anywhere near the amount they needed for retirement which means…

Captian Capitalism points out that working for a company and advancing through the ranks on your way to success ain't happening.

I know people who can say that something like two of the people who have worked in a certain company during the last 30 years have officially retired with benefits.

I also know many people who have been fired on a whim (deserved or not) on orders from the corporate office.

Many of us look for corporate jobs in order to get a "safe, reliable" paycheck.  But it seems to me that working all your life for a company that may just fire you for being a few years from retirement or because of some new management trend is not any safer than hiring yourself.

The risks of losing everything with your own business seem to get smaller by the day.

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Once I figure out the stupid software issues I have, I'll re-release my book, and open The Food Plot Store.  (I'm a good procrastinator.)

A Throne of Bones

by Vox Day

Like I said yesterday, I'm no fan of sci-fi, but after having read A Magic Broken I was interested enough to buy and read A Throne of Bones.

I quite liked how the book was arranged, having been written from the perspective of many different characters to move several plot lines along.

My favorite novelist Eric van Lustbader writes his books in the same way, although he uses fewer characters and story-lines that weave through each other a bit more than those in A Throne of Bones, and van Lustbader's books jump around a lot more in time than Vox's linear storyline.

(Read: Jian by Eric van Lustbader)

The final battle in A throne of Bones was the most interesting battle description that I have read in quite a while, becasue of the constant changing perspectives.

The storylines, kinda, moved through different characters in a world of magic, men, elves, dwarves, orcs, and so on.  (One thought that I had was that an army of men in this world would have one  advantage over men fighting in the real world.  Imagine: orc: "Hey man, help me destroy your city and I'll bribe you with a bunch of money and all the orc women you could want...")

Rather than go through the details of the story, I'll describe the story as one about armies, politics, and magic.  The armies and battles that they fight are possible the best fictional ones that I've ever read,  the political issues are interesting in how I'll need to reflect on them a bit more (or gain more knowledge of their world) before I know which side I would've preferred, and the magical scenes were, for the most part, simple understandable and not outrageous.

The book was very good and I'd recommend it.

My criticisms is as follows:

When reading about many characters whose names come from unfamiliar places it becomes much more difficult to remember who is who, especially when many characters seem to be called different things by different characters.  The appendix (?) at the end did help clarify many of the ranks of the various soldiers, but I spent much of the first few chapters trying to figure out if there were several characters or only a few each being described by his family name by one character, then given name by another character, then nickname, then rank, and so on.

The descriptions of the military units left me at a loss too, becasue I am no scholar of Ancient Roman military structure.

It seemed as though there were several points where the book seemed to be a parallel of what happened in real history, and I recognized a few of them.  But some things like the paragraph about Marcus' horse having the same name as Alexander the Great's did in real life, was cool that I recognized it, but seemingly unnecessary. 

One more thing I would criticize is that this book seemed to be more of the beginning and middle of a story.  There was no definite ending to the book.  For example, after reading the last segment of Fjotra's story I was still exepecting more to it until I ended the book and it wasn't there.

I could see the final scene in the book being very cool to end part one of a series of movies, but it was not quite the conclusive ending that I was expecting.  I can understand not wrapping up all of the storylines, but it did not seem as if the main storyline was concluded.

It may well be that this is one of several books about the characters in the book, and it would be nice to know which books I should have read first and when others will come after.  I'm glad that I read A Magic Broken before A Throne of Bones, but I wonder if The Wardog's Coin, which I'm about to read should have been read before too.

Good book, would recommend, not perfect.

A Magic Broken

by Vox Day

I'm not really a fan of sci-fi, or fantasay, nor do I know, or care about the differences between the genres.  But I do read Vox Popoli regularly and so when Vox had A Magic Broken avilible for free a while ago, I got it and then recently read it.

So the story is of a magician and a dwarf who enter a town of men and leave with a female elf.

My summary is short and so is the book.  But despite my minimal interest in this type of book, its shortness would be my only critizism.

And that's not much of a criticism.  Were Vox to publish a similar book of size and scope every so often, I would be happy to buy and read them.

Apparently this book is kind of a warm up for a longer book A Throne of Bones.  Which I just finished reading  and will have a longer review for tomorrow.

Jim Corbett: Master of the Jungle

by Tim Werling

Jim Corbett was an Englishman who lived in India from 1875-194?.  He is famous becasue he killed many of the worst man-eating animals in history.

There are leopards and tigers in India and many people who live in small villages and survived by hunting and some small farming operations.  Very often some leopard or tiger may become unable to hunt its normal prey, or just finds that people are easy to catch and they become man-eaters.

Jim Corbett killed lots of man-eaters including several famous for killing several hundreds of people before being shot by Jim.

If you look for "man-eater" in Wikipedia you'll find listings of the most famous man-eating animals.  Most of the leopards and tigers were killed by Jim Corbett.

Champawat Tiger: killed 430 people WR

Leopard of Rudraprayag: killed 125 people



This book is a storyized narrative of Jim Corbett's life.  Born in India, hunted various things, and then was repeatedly called upon to kill man-eaters.  Most of the book is interesting enough as a story-like version of his life and first several hunts, although it ends with a mere summary of several famous man-eaters as if this author ran out of time, or pages, in order to keep the story going.

The book is on a very interesting subject, but I preferred reading a few of the books by the man himself to this biography.  Jungle Lore, for example.

The Best Movie Lines

I recently posted a list of what I think are the essential movies to watch are.  (And I forgot Rocky II and the first Dirty Harry movie.)  And while I rediscovered the name of my favorite movie starring Randolph Scott (Western Union) I remembered my favorite line from it:

It was nice meeting you gentlemen...and [turns to a certain guy] you to.

I considered a list of the best movie quotes, but then I remembered that there is no question the best line in any movie comes from Six-String Samurai.  And this movie didn't make the list because it is stupid...but in a good way.

Mesh-Head: If I were you, I would run.

Buddy: If you were me, you'd be good-lookin'. 

No, not that line.

Buddy: Who are you?

Death: Death,

Buddy: Cool.

Still not it.

Head Pin Pal: Nice tuxedo. Nice tuxedo to die in! 

This next one is it, the best movie quote ever:

Ward Cleaver: You ever try a pink golf ball, Wally? Why, the wind shear alone on a pink golf ball can take the head off a 90-pound midget at over 300 yards.

Bad News for Food Prices

California is having a drought.  An awful lot of food comes from CA. 

A+B= higher food prices

Wirecutter:

I can hear all of you out there saying “Sucks to be you, motherfucker!” Uh-huh. Just remember where a huge portion of your food is grown, no matter where you are in the US. It’s gonna suck to be YOU until we get some fucking water. Yeah, they can import some of your produce (that’s where your veggies come from in the winter) but you’re gonna pay dearly for that. Major suckage, folks.

Our cattle herd is the smallest it’s been since 1951. That’s beef. Our dairy herds here are huge but without water, there ain’t going to be enough silage to feed them. The dairymen are already talking about selling their herds to other countries because they can’t afford to feed them.

I would suggest to all my Patriot friends out there that you put in a fucking garden this year, even if you’ve never had one before or you’re gonna take a bigger hit in your budget than what you think.

Hypothetical Scenario

asshole cop: Do you know why I pulled you over?

me: To generate revenue for the government.



What would be the result?

Same as usual, I suppose.  Although I notice that they no longer start with that question and instead start with the lecture on speeding.

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Note: In an attempt to delete some spam comments, I accidentally deleted a pile of legitimate comments.

My Book

Shoot Deer, my book, as a beginner's guide to hunting whitetails is available for Kindle.  Free Northerner posted a review on his blog.

I'd like to point out that I was unhappy with the editing of it and I've had it edited by someone other than me.  I am in the midst of making some changes, and adding pictures.  I am particularly reworking the chapters on public land, rifles, muzzleloaders, and how to shoot a bow.

I would recommend waiting to buy my book until I re-release it.

In the meantime I suggest that anyone interested in hunting whitetails read two other books on the subject:

Outwitting the Whitetail by Perry G. Reilly

More of a pamphlet than a "book", but it is just about everything that you need to know about hunting whitetail deer.

One Man's Whitetail by Gene Wensel

A better hunter than me is Mr. Wensel.  He hunts exclusively with traditional bows, which makes everything much more difficult.  After being nearly done with writing my book, I re-read this one and discovered three anecdotes that I had attributed to long-lost magazine articles were actually from this book.

He wrote my book two years after I was born!

Visit my deer hunting blog if you have any questions or want more information.

shootdeer.wordpress.com

Happy hunting.

Random picture from my collection

Free Man's Movie List

Free Northerner has The Free Man's Reading List and its a good list.  (I'd drop Seven Habits of Highly Effective People becasue is way too well liked by exactly the wrong sort of people.  And Add Robert Ruark's The Old Man and The Boy, because it is exactly the book to understand how a man should be.)

In any case, the question that inspired the list:

What should a person, if he wishes to think of himself as a free man of the republic, absolutely must read?

Movies are not as important as books.  You learn more from books.  Books are more interactive.  Books have more knowledge and wisdom.  [Most] books are not as abridged.  And so on.

But movies can be important, inspiring, and other positive words to be inserted here.

Also, I like them. 

And the inspiration for this list is becasue I have a coworker who has never seen the The African Queen, and perhaps not even any movie starring Humphrey Bogart.  What's up with that?

So here follows a list of movies that, while they don't give you any where near the same sort of physiological knowledge as the book does, nor do they provide any comparable sort of understanding of economics, nor do they provide...

But in order to have experienced the full extent of the classics of our culture a list of only books is incomplete.

(I have not linked to any of these becasue I don't know where or how you may view them.)

The movies a modern man should watch (chronological order):

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) - The Movies starring Erroll Flynn were never great, but they are entertaining, and who is more alpha?

Stagecoach (1939) - Americans movies are known for westerns.  Watch the first big one, the first to really star John Wayne, and one directed by one of the most prolific western directors of all: John Ford.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Gone with the Wind (1939)

Western Union (1941) - I knew I needed something starring Randolph Scott, so I went with my favorite one. 

Casablanca (1942) - If you're only going to watch one romantic movie, it may as well be the best one.

Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) - Its not money that corrupts, it merely shows us what we already are.

The African Queen (1951)

High Noon (1952) - My vote for the best ever movie.

Sabrina (1954) - If you're going to watch two romantic movies.

Seven Samurai (1954)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Ben-Hur (1959)

Good Day for a Hanging (1959) - Even though I don't care for most movies starring Fred MacMurry, Good Day for a Hanging is very underrated and comparable to High Noon.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

For a Few Dollars More (1965)

The Good, The Bad, the Ugly (1966)

Once Upon A Time in the West (1968)

The Wild Bunch (1969) - If you're only going to watch one violent movie, may as well make it the longtime most violent.

Patton (1970)

The Godfather (1972) - Overrated.

The Chinese Connection (1972) - Bruce Lee had to be here somewhere, even if his movies weren't great.

The Sting (1973)

The Godfather Part II (1974) - Also overrated.

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Jaws (1975)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Rocky (1976)

Airplane (1980)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

First Blood (1982)

The Princess Bride (1987) 

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Schindler's List (1993) - I assume so; I haven't seen it.

Fight Club (1999) - I assume so; I haven't seen it.

The Matrix (1999) -  I assume so; I haven't seen it.

Fulltime Killer (2001)

Cowboy Bebop (2001)

Rocky Balboa (2005)

Election (2005)

Triad Election (2006)

The Good, The Bad, the Weird (2008) - Because I said so.

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I recognize that this post is not living up to its title.

Hit me with my horrendous oversights.  And don't give me any of that Star Wars/ Trek nonsense either.

Hu is on First

90 miles from tyranny:

John Kerry: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China. 

Obama: Great. Lay it on me. 

John Kerry: Hu is the new leader of China. 

Obama: That's what I want to know. 

John Kerry: That's what I'm telling you. 

Obama: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China? 

John Kerry: Yes.

and so on...

The Bank of China Tower

I think that it would be cool to be a real estate developer.  And not just because I could be the villain in a huge number of children's movies.

On a related subject, I think that the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong is the best looking skyscraper in the world.

The Man in the White Suit

by Ben Collins



This is by and about the man who played "the Stig" on BBC's Top Gear.  (I like the following clip better than anything with the Stig in it, and it was also the third result in a search for Top Gear videos.)

Its an autobiography of his life as a professional car driver.  He's also been a movie stunt driver, raced, and done well in races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and so on.  No doubt a very interesting career.

However, his writing skills may be even less than mine (although he had a professional editor).  Its an interesting enough read, but I come to the conclusion that it would have been much better had it been written by a professional writer about him, rather than by him.

A while ago I reviewed How to Archer.  Also about a tv show that I like.  Like the Man in the White Suit, the tv show is very good and the books are merely getting by on the name recognition og the show.

Two books based on tv shows that I would watch were I watching tv, and both were books to avoid.

If you've only watched the shows, then you're already ahead.

Julie & Julia

Julie & Julia is a movie about a woman who cooked each of the five hundred and some recipes in Julia Child's book [insert book title here].

Apparently they made a movie out of this, a while ago.  For whatever reason, it struck me as a movie that I wouldn't mind watching.  Recently I acquired a dvd version of this movie (don't ask how).  So I watched it.

Before we begin, I'd like to point out that I was thinking about how I would live blog my watching it, but for the fact that Windows 8 does not have a media player, and so my tv, which works as my monitor and dvd screen, but not tv screen, needed a plug switched.  I need a version of windows for the programs I run, and I wonder if its worth uninstalling 8 and buying windows 7?  AAArgh!!

Also, the last movie that I watched that was not originally done in Cantonese and subtitled was...whenever I last watched a few minutes of the Cowboy Bebop movie, which was well dubbed from Japanese.  And the last movie I watched in English was....?

To start with; the last time I watched a dvd (for Johnnie To's Fulltime Killer) it began with lots of previews for movies that I thought looked cool.  Despite my inability to remember what any of them were.  (I need to watch the movie again, I suppose.  Drat.  :) )  Julie & Julia started with a government warning about how smoking is bad for you.  And that was followed by a preview for a movie starring Hugh Grant and that actress from Sex and the City.  And the previews just got better from there.  (Wasn't sleepless in Seatle made in the 90's?)

On the bright side, I realized that I was not then yet drunk enough to watch such a movie.  Three cheers for Guinness.  (I'm pissed as I write this, and I don't speell well sober.)

So the movie...

Meryl Streep, as far as I know, played Julia Child well.  Other than the heels, I cannot imagine a much less attractive [thin-ish, clean and healthy] woman.  And the modren "Julie" was played by Amy Adams, who looked quite mediocre with short hair.

Despite the young[-ish] (idk) modren actress being more appealing, I noticed that I could not help smiling when Meryl Streep was on, and needing more beer when Amy Adams was on.

As for the story...(how do you spell...meh..bleegh..).   It was...whatever.

I wonder if Julia Child was more of an author than a cook, if you believe the movie (don't do that) she seems to have graduated from a cooking school and then wrote the book straight away.  Also: who was her co-writer? Why do I not even know her name despite having just watched the movie?

So...whatever.

Luckily I had a palette cleanser to watch afterwords: Samurai Trilogy

Apparently it is not the best adaptation of my third favorite book of fiction, becasue it is TOSHIRO MIFUNE as musashi, and not MINAMOTO MUSAHSI as played by Toshiro Mifune. 


Moral of post:

I'm open to watching something else starring Meryl Strep, but have no interest in anything else related to Julie & Julia.

Breaking News!! Important News!! News to Overturn the World!!!

at RWC&G:

German women outnumber men for first time at Winter Olympics

I have to admit, this is something of a bittersweet moment for me.

Obviously, like most Americans, in a tradition passed down by my father, and to him from his father before him, I grew up tracking whether German women outnumbered German men in the Olympic Games.

and so on...

Government is Bad; News at 11

Vox has a post on how our government is failing.

I had a post on Matt Forney's website, pointing out that the debate over more/ less government has been resolved long ago.

There can be no debate that less government is better.  It has been decided many times over.

Hong Kong vs Detroit

More government:



Less government:



So what should you do?

1. Stop bothering with morons
2. Stop funding the government

If only the people who voted for Romney in 2012 stopped paying their taxes, how long would our oppressive government survive?  What percentage of the government is funded by Romney supporters?

If you have willfully ignored the evidence to the contrary and want more government, then you too should put your money where your mouth is.  Start your own commune, and you can kick all us racist misogynists out.  Also: Fuck you slaver!

John Browning's Birthday Today

90miles from Tyranny

New Shoes

I'm interested in dressing better than I currently do.  One area I would like to improve on is shoes.

My first problem is that I don't know where to look.  I would imagine, had I the time and money, that the thing to do would be to travel to Italy and look throughout the major cities for interesting shoes.  Failing that, a trip to the best shoe stores in NYC may not be a bad option.

In the meantime I've decided that there are no places that I can buy shoes of any quality anywhere nearby.  Although Allen Edmonds are made not too far away from where I live.  And while some of them seem good enough I wonder if by getting them I'll be doing the same as everyone else in the area who wants better shoes.  Surely the point of fashion is to be both better dressed and different from everyone nearby.

On the other hand, Masculine Style has pointed out that Allen Edmonds is one of the two brands to specifically look for.

Alright, so now you know how little I know of shoes.  And I'm also off to Brookfield, WI to look at Allen Edmonds shoes and a sport coat.

In any case, (I sure like run-on sentences) I haven't seen anyone go through shoes at various price points in order to tell you what you can get for your money.  So I will.

 As I was unaware that Allen Edmonds was a place to get shoes from (despite living a half hour away from where they are made in Port Washington, WI) I have bought three pairs of shoes from Zappos.com.  My results are as follows.

$50, now $85 Stacey Adams Pietro (or similar from Stacey Adams, I've forgotten specifically which ones they are)



These are black and I've worn them to two funerals.  I also wear them to work on occasion.  They fit fine and I have had no issues with them.  The only real faults that I can see are that I can tell where they bend and where the faux-leather will wear out, and becasue of the poor quality materials they are not very easy to clean.

I've certainly gotten my money out of them.  Other than my hunting boots, I've probably worn them more than any other shoe these last two years that I've had them.  Even when I've been on my feet and in them for consecutive 8-9 hour days, I've only had mildly sore feet.  (And my feet are my "Achilles heel".)

Verdict: 4/5

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$120-180 Original Penguin Brogue

 

For around $150 I got a pair of yellow suede shoes.  I think that these are fantastic.  Even including tennis shoes, I'm not sure that these aren't the most comfortable shoes that I have ever worn.  Amazingly comfortable.

The suede uppers and padded bottoms are awesome, but the soles are fantastically cheap (plastic maybe?).  With a quality leather sole these would just about be my favorite shoes ever.  I may be kind of annoyed that I did not buy the red and purple ones when they were still available.

The problems with these are that the soles are cheap, I'm concerned about how hard it is to keep them clean (and I don't wear them in the winter or when its wet out), and I don't often have an appropriate time to wear them.

I will also admit that I'm not sure if it was their color or the company's name, Original Penguin, which first drew me to them.  Original Penguin is just my sort of brand name; as stupid as that is.

Verdict: 4/5

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$200-250 Frye Harvey Wingtip


To start with, in person these are about half as good looking as they are in the picture (maybe they'll age well?).

For whatever reason these were much more uncomfortable to wear the first time that I wore them.  Mine still have the blood stains were they took all the skin off my heels that first day.  Luckily I was well pissed and walked around a lot and broke them in while drunk.  (I was heckling the anti-Scott Walker protesters in Madison, WI on the day of his failed recall.)

Before they wore my heels off, I did get a number from easily the most attractive girl that I have ever gotten anything from, 9, while wearing them, not that they helped.  (But what the hell is "courting"?)

My heels were raw for a week or two after the first time I wore them.  (They were almost as bad as wearing Muck boots.)  But since then they have been very good; quite comfortable and you can certainly tell that they are made of quality materiels.

I do tend to favor my aforementioned black shoes becasue they fit a bit better, becasue these are slightly too loose.  But I have no doubt that if they were maybe 1/4 size smaller then their breaking in would be very good.

Verdict: 2.5/5


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A summary of what I'm trying to convey with this post:

• A good fit can trump some measure of quality
• $50-100 can get you shoes that are of reasonable, maybe, shoes which will wear out sooner, not later
• $150 can get you shoes of mostly good quality, but probably are falling short somewhere
• Quality materials break in more and better
• $200-250 shoes are probably the starting point for dress shoes, but I'd recommend at least $300
• Zappos return policy is excellent, but getting exactly the right fit is important so buy in person

I now need another pair of brown shoes, and at some point, if I can find them, something made of genuine alligator, crocodile, or ostrich (in a dark color, for subtle interest.)

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Also this:

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Links:

Why to dress better
Allen Edmonds
Masculine Style: Staple #2 The Dress Shoes
Masculine Style: Staple #13 The Navy Jacket
Stacy Adams Pietro
Original Penguin Brogue (This was the only place I could find them still for sale.)
Frye Harvey Wingtip

Trucks

I'm interested in buying a newer truck.

My problem arises from the fact that the options today aren't what I'd care to get.

I don't want a Dodge becasue their quality isn't great, to the point where I've met Chrysler builders who are unimpressed with their quality.

I don't want a GM becasue of their quality issues and my experiences with them (something is always wrong).

I also don't care for the fact that those two companies accepted the bailouts from Washington.

I don't want a Ford becasue of all the people I know who have nothing but problems with them.  (Although I think that they're still better than Dodge and GM.)

Then there's the fact that I know people who've spent time in many of the car manufacturing facilities on the continent, who'll say that the American car companies will cut corners when no one will notice, and the Japanese companies do what is right even if no one will ever notice.

One coworker has been stranded 3 times in his F-150, but "it has a hundred thousand miles on it."  My uncle will say that a friend of his is always having issues with his F-350, as he himself just spent several grand to replace the transmission in his wife's Chevy Trailblazer.

I don't want a Nissan becasue they seem to be not quite as good as Toyotas.  (My last car was a Nissan, and it was fine other than I needed to replace the window winder motors 3 times before I sold it at $400 a go.)

Which leaves me with Toyotas.  And I like Toyotas.  Dad's '05 Tundra has 280,000 miles on it and its only unscheduled maintenance so far was, I think, a starter a month or so ago.  My first car was a '99 Tacoma which was fantastic up to 170,000 miles when I sold it. 

So that leaves me with a Tundra or Tacoma, at at least $27,000.  Which leaves me with a used Tundra or Tacoma.

A Toyota truck's biggest issue seems to be that the oxygen sensor on its (government mandated) catalytic converter always goes bad.  So the check engine light on my current Tundra is always on because I know it will go bad and its not worth the $70 part every so often, so I only replace it when I need to to pass my local emissions test (up yours government regulators).

The other problem that was revealed to me about the new Toyotas was becasue of all the new environmental regulations put on cars now.  Pre-2007 Toyotas are darn near bulletproof.  Post-2007 cars have much more stringent emissions requirements which have resulted in lots more electronic fiddling with how things work in order squeeze just a bit more fuel economy out.  All the new electronic shit means more things to break.

The new Ford's ecoboost is a turbo charger which gets a bit more fuel economy but is at the cost of replacing the turbo every few years at a cost of a few thousand.

Have you noticed the lack of new Ford Rangers, Chevy S-10s, Dodge Dakotas, or Chevy Colorados?  Because of the new CAFE environmental regulations a car manufacturer's range of cars must meet certain fuel economy standards.  This means that a car company cannot have two trucks that do not meet the requirements, and they can't get rid of the bigger better selling version, so the smaller ones need to go.

(This is interesting in how someone may prefer a smaller, better fuel economy Ford Ranger, but is left with the only option of worse fuel economy F-150 becasue Ford cannot make Rangers anymore.  Producing the opposite result of what the regulators claim to have wanted.)

I've considered getting something like a mid '90s Toyota as my daily driver, but I'm informed that once cars get old enough the wiring will get bad and become a major headache.

So, I'll get a Tacoma or Tundra.  And one no newer than 2006.  What will my options be in 10 years?  Will there be any options?

And I'd still like to build my own MK4.

Being Better Than Most

Free Northerner pointed out that it is amazing how much of our news comes from people that don't know anything about what they are reporting on.

Having chosen your topic, look for articles in the mainstream news on the topic. Try the big ones: CNN, the NYT, the Washington Post, or, in Canada, the CBC. Having found a few articles from a few different sources read them.

Notice every time they are inaccurate, make a factual mistake, leave out something important, make a logical fallacy, write something that doesn’t make sense, or otherwise distort reality.

Having done this, think on the fact that every other topic covered by the media has errors to the same extent, except you don’t notice because you don’t know more about that topic than your average J-school graduate.

RWCG is constantly struggling with how stupidly people write about economics:

So in this post we find Mark A.R. Kleiman observing (and Kevin Drum being impressed by the observation) that a company ‘wanted’ to buy another company for a large amount of money. Somehow this proves global warming. Because you see, companies have never dumbly bought other companies for stupid amounts of cash. That’s never happened, ergo, global warming. #science

Another:

Why Scott Sumner usually loses me at ‘hello’ – he writes stuff like:

NGDP growth is the best measure of the stance of monetary policy.

Item: The Philippines had a devastating typhoon a while back. Its NGDP growth in the period following this event was, I gather, bad. From which we infer – apparently – that their monetary policy was too tight?

Just no. I just can’t get past this kind of thing. Economists, please tell me, how am I supposed to get past this kind of thing? How do you do it?

 It seems to me that it isn't very difficult to be better than most people on many subjects. 

For example I bought a pair of black dress shoes a while ago.  I spent a mere $50 on them.  They're okay, but nobody who knows anything about shoes would be impressed after a quick glance.  And yet becasue I'm surrounded by people who don't know any better I get compliments right and left on them.

The above are better than what 90% of people wear!

For another example: I have a part time job selling bows and binoculars.  I know things about bows, but I was sent to sell binoculars, not based on my knowledge, but based on the fact that they needed another guy to sell them.  After learning what I posted here I know more than all but one customer that I have ever talked to about binoculars, and this includes people who buy things like $2700 binoculars for bird watching.  And with all my knowledge I get customers pointing out how knowledgeable I am and asking about what other subjects I know about.

Its not terribly difficult to get better than most people on a given subject.

For one more example: despite the fact that I have not shot my (traditional) recurve bow in two years I can clearly out-shoot all but around three of the people who have ever come in to test the traditional bows in the shop.

Conversion Rates

(h/t: Free Northerner)  Krauser did some estimating to determine how many lays he got from day game in 2013.

Opens: 1,000

Numbers: 250

Dates: 60

iDates: 15

Lays: 27 new girls, 3 repeats from prior years

2.7% "success" rate

I don't have similar day game estimates for me, but I can estimate my success rate for deer hunting in 2013.  My result of a 19" 10 point buck is about as good as only one hunter I know did this year, and better than everyone else I have heard from or of secondhand (vs. in magazines, etc).

Working on property: 3 days/ month March through September: 21
hunting: 3 days/ week from 3rd Sat in September through first week of December: 27
hunting: one day/ week December + first week of January: 4

Work days: 21
Hunting days: 31
Total days: 52

Near misses: 2 (one moving too fast too far away, one at about the minimum size the day after the success)

Dead bucks: 1

In 2013 I shot one buck with 52 days spent attempting to do so.  1.9% And it was one buck in about 31 days of hunting. 3.2%

1.9% "success" rate

Deer hunting and "hunting" girls isn't directly comparable, but it may be interesting to see how many days of "failures" we both had versus our "successes".

If the "success rate" was what we were after, then I'm sure Krauser and I would switch to hobbies that resulted in more successes.  Of course their are other ways to measure success, and other reasons for continuing.

Its Now Illegal to Have a Good Idea

Reason:

It’s all part of the energy efficiency standards mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The law already killed off the 100-watt incandescent bulb in 2012, followed by the 75-watt bulb in 2013. Now, in the final step of the phaseout, the minimum efficiency standards have effectively banned the ubiquitous 40- and 60- watt light bulbs.

The ban is crony capitalism in its most seductive form—when it’s disguised as green.
Major light bulb manufacturers supported the ban from the outset. The profit margin on old-style bulbs was pitifully low, and consumers just weren’t buying the higher-margin efficiency bulbs. New standards were needed, a lobbyist for the National Electrical Manufacturing Association told Congress in 2007, “in order to further educate consumers on the benefits of energy-efficient products.”

So Philips Electronics and other manufacturers joined with environmental groups to push for tighter lighting standards. As the New York Times Magazine explained in 2011, “Philips told its environmental allies it was well positioned to capitalize on the transition to new technologies and wanted to get ahead of an efficiency movement that was gaining momentum abroad and in states like California.” After much negotiation, a classic “bootleggers-and-Baptists” coalition was born. Industry and environmental groups agreed to endorse legislation to increase lighting efficiency by 25 to 30 percent.

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You know that the idea of limited government is a joke when that government declares the international symbol for a good idea to be illegal.

-Sarcasmic

Even More Things I Wonder About

Is there a government activity for which we cannot come up with a death toll?

Why does it always seem like the more I want to speed up, the more everyone in front wants to slow down?

When was the last time I used a microwave?

How much time have I wasted watching TV?

Are there any modern big business owners who favorably compare to those in Atlas Shrugged?

Will there ever be a time when we will be rid of cables for home electronics?  How would they get powered?

Why do the English drive on the wrong side of the road?

Why do so many people misuse words and expressions?

If I had a hard time finding a job, then how do people with half my IQ get by?

How can people alive today, and living amongst us not in the wild, not know the most basic computer functions?

Why do people buy junk with the fad of the moment's logo on it?

Why do people think that things "on sale" aren't still priced at a point where the manufactures are making money?

What's the point of spending hours debating which product to buy and then going with the cheapest.  Is their time worth nothing?

If you know nothing on the subject, how much does an hour or two of research improve a selection over getting the first thing that you wanted to get?

How often does the time spent researching something exceed the gains produced from the research?

How many people will read the last few points and think that I'm advocating doing no research?

Arrange the following in order of magnitude: few, many, couple, lots, several.

It would be Cool to be a Democrat Politican.

If you were a democrat politician you could solve all of the world's ills buy merely passing laws!

Want clean water?  Pass a "clean water" bill and demonize all those who don't like clean water.

Want wealthier people?  Pass a "jobs bill" or increase the minimum wage and demonize all those who don't like poor people.

My question is, since we all want to see a live unicorn, why the democrats have not passed a "unicorn bill"?  If they can create jobs with a "jobs bill", then why don't they create a "unicorn bill"?

Democrats must hate unicorns!

 

Demand that your representatives pass a "unicorn bill" today!!!

2014 Predictions

The Whited Sepulchre has posted 10 predictions for 2014.  I'll try the same with similar subjects for each prediction.

1.  Obamacare continues to be awful; our daily lives will get marginally worse throughout the year as a result.

2.  Republicans will do marginally better in the elections.  Not much changes.

3.  The Green Bay Packers win or lose a very close game with the 49ers this weekend with questionable officiating calls affecting the outcome.  I won't watch (shrink the rulebook if you want me to watch).

4.  Voting will still be for suckers.

5.  I'll finally get The Food Plot Store off the ground.

6.  hmm...

7.  Global Warming will occur...in March, April, May, and June in the Northern Hemisphere, and in September, October and November in the Southern Hemisphere.  (Help me fight the horror of Global Warming!!!)

8.  We'll get a minimum wage increase as part of some bi-partisan deal that involves spending cuts that will never happen in reality.

9.  Democrats will continue to call Bush a warmonger whenever Obama intervenes internationally.

10.  The morally correct response to democrats will continue to be to punch them in their stupid faces.

Happy new year.

Shoot Deer

Just a reminder that my other blog is now getting, [week]daily posts.  I aim to prioritize my deer hunting blog a bit more this year.  I have several related projects that I expect to bear fruit in 2014.

At some point I'll optimize my blog as Matt has suggested in his book: Confessions of an Online Hustler.

Shoot Deer

A Worthless Movies Post

Yesterday's post about my favorite movie director's latest movie has prompted me to post some pointless lists of my favorite movies.  Huzzah.

Tim's Top 10 Favorite Movies:

• Cowboy Bebop
• Little Big Soilder
• Exiled
• The Good, the Bad, the Wierd
• Once Upon A Time in the West
• High Noon
• Blazing Saddles
• Rocky Balboa
• The Sheepman
• Six-String Samurai

Favorite Director:

• Johnnie To

Favorite Actor:

• Glen Ford

Favorite Actress:

• Barbra Stanwyk

Favorite Scenes:

1. The Violent Men- When Glen Ford shoots the gunfighter
2. The Sheepman- Final scene
3. Return of Sabata- Opening scene
4. Cowboy Bebop- Opening scene
5. The Good, the Bad, the Weird- the final chase scene
6. The Sheepman- Opening scene

Favorite Scores:

• Once Upon A Time in the West
• Cowboy Bebop

Favorite New (to me) Movie of 2013:

• Fulltime Killer

I bet this post would get more pageviews if it were titled "top 10 something or other".