Thursday, October 09, 2014

An Ode to Purple Penguins

Penguins! It had to be penguins! This from NRO:
A Nebraska school district has instructed its teachers to stop referring to students by “gendered expressions” such as “boys and girls,” and use “gender inclusive” ones such as “purple penguins” instead. 
“Don’t use phrases such as ‘boys and girls,’ ‘you guys,’ ‘ladies and gentlemen,’ and similarly gendered expressions to get kids’ attention,” instructs a training documentgiven to middle-school teachers at the Lincoln Public Schools. 
“Create classroom names and then ask all of the ‘purple penguins’ to meet on the rug,” it advises.
Hmmmmmm...far be it from me to create a "gendered space," but I would like to point out that:

1) I hate penguins
2) I hate purple
3) Neither boys nor girls are, in fact penguins
4) Neither boys nor girls are — except in a rare case emanating from Minneapolis — purple
5) I've seen more intelligent thought from a salad bar

Now that I've dealt with that crushing issue, lemme tell you why I bought a Tavor and not an AUG. First, I like AUGs. For some reason I liked the FS-2000 better, but I didn't buy it, either. I think it has to do with some indescribable element of feel. The Tavor just felt right with I shot it. I'm not a huge bull pup fan...like a lot of people, they always seemed like a nifty idea until I spent a little time with them. Every AUG I ever shot except for Cory Trapp's full auto had wretched triggers; the Tavor and the FS-2000, OTOH, had merely bad triggers. Neither "wretched" nor "bad" means "inoperable," BTW.  I'm hoping the new Geiselle gets me to "okay" on the Tavor.

I was also never crazy about the AUG's folding front vertical fore grip or the charging handle, but that's just nit-picking.

I find the Tavor comfortable and easy to run, which is why I want to use it in a class. Unless I shoot it under stress, I don't really know how it's going to perform.

Regarding interviews in the podcast, honestly it's such a pain in the butt I stopped doing them. DOWN RANGE Radio is the tail that wags the dog. Because Marshal and I kinda arbitrarily created the show, it's technically not part of what I do for OC...well, it kind of sits on top of what I do. It takes me about a day to put a podcast together. Some just flow; others are like dental work. When I added in the interviews, it also added in a lot of extra work...scheduling, the electronic hook-up, editing interviews, etc. Honestly, I just ran out of hours. Especially this time of year, when I have SHOOTING GALLERY, THE BEST DEFENSE and now SHOOTOUT LANE in production. That all may change in the future.

Time is so dear these days I'm starting to panic about upcoming SHOOTING GALLERIES, where I need to have a bunch of rifles with scopes mounted and sighted in. The various scopes and scope mounts are here, but I'm not sure when I can get to a long range range, so to speak.

In other small changes, I'm shifting from HKS Speedloaders to 5-Star for the revolvers I take on the road. I got a few 5-Stars originally for guns like the Taurus Judge and the .454 Ruger Alaskan. They're drastically overbuilt, and I like that.



13 comments:

Overload in Colorado said...

I remember a dystopian setting where everyone was refereed to as Citizen or Consumer, and name honorifics where changed from Mr, Mrs, etc to Mc.

Anonymous said...

I like the podcasts as they are! All MB and funky oddball music!

Especially the rockabilly.

There are lots of other podcasts that rely on interviews, but frankly, you know enough to carry it by yourself.

Thanks for doing them!

chris Muir said...

OT, but the final embed and subscribe codes are up at www.daybydaycartoon.com, Michael-but
it may, or may not, work.
_Chris

DamDoc said...

i like the occaisional foreys back.into the 60s and 70s in the podcast music selections.. maybe a little bubble puppy, vanilla fudge, or led zepplin?.. or even the iconic leo kotke, john haitt, and lowell george would mix it up... (ok, reformed hippy here, with a poney tail now missing..). NO INTERVIEWS!!!!!!!!.. like it as-is.. rants and all... particularly the rants... thanks for a day in your week... enjoy it greatly!

Sigman said...

Back in the day, when I carried a revolver at work, I was partial to the Safariland Comp series speed loaders. Finding speed loaders for Colt revolvers is nearly impossible these days.

Michael Bane said...

I use Safariland Comp series in competition, and they're chain saw fast, They're also larger and prone to being chain saw fast in my pocket as well.

mb

Haendler said...

Michael,
When I carry a revolver, usually a jframe, I use the Safariland Comp 1's. Have you had any problems with them?

Michael Bane said...

The Safariland Comps are pretty bulletproof, in my experience...I haven't been kind to them in competition!

mb

Anonymous said...

Michael, echoing some of your other readers, I love the podcast "as-is." Please don't jack with the formula. It's hands-down the best podcast out there. Imitating lesser podcasts seems counter-intuitive to me. Thank you for doing this for us.

Having said that, your comment on time does not seem to bode well for "The NEW Survival Guns book." Are you still making headway, or is the project dead in the water? Is there anything we (I) can do to help make the book a reality?

Thanks for what you do.
Travis

_DonWorsham_ said...

@ anonymous&6:35pm..

Bane will likely get back to "The NEW Survival Guns book" when he completes "Five To Go".

Sorry Michael.

Michael Bane said...

Well hell, I'm still writing! That's something...

I really wanted to cut back this year on travel...I did like 160 nights out last year. I'm going to blow past that this year easily.

Given how things are going, THE NEW SURVIVAL GUNS is taking on more importance...LOL! I just finished a segment on the utility of the bolt action rifle.

mb

PS: Worsham, you're just looking for stuff to do since you retired! Come to SHOT!

Weston Pecos said...

For the podcast, I really look forward to it each week, and I listen to it on my way to work on the car stereo. My only complaint is that you record it with your microphone audio level too low. That means I have to turn the car stereo audio all the way up to max and still it is sometimes hard to hear what you are saying. And, not to be too nit-picky, but you then run the recorded ads and music at a higher audio level than your microphone and so when the ads come on, they are blasting my speakers. Please try to even things out, and bring your mic audio level up.

Oh, and that Burris Eliminator ad is REALLY stupid. The text is so corny and screwy. Makes the product and manufacturer seem like a mickey-mouse outfit that a serious shooter should avoid like the plague.

tablekiller said...

Michael: Interviews are great, but honestly, I learn so much from just listening to you talk about the various subjects. A good example, is that I too enjoy big bore snubs. I am considering a Ruger Alaskan in .44 magnum. From walking the dog in the woods to just carrying it concealed simply because you can. Big bores are fun to shoot and you can in fact, carry them with the right equipment for self defense. Maybe, not everyday, but they have their place.

Thanks for everything you do!
Chad