Netflix "Have Gun - Will Travel"

One of my favorite things is Netflix Watch Instantly. Yes I'm easily amused. It's a kind of strange admiration for me. I feel that of all the things I was lied to about what the future would be like, Netflix came through. Every time I use the service I have to chuckle a little. I'm sure you've heard of it, but if you haven't Netflix offers on demand streaming movies and television shows to pretty much any device with an internet connection. You can get a free 1 month trial here.

A really great feature of this service is that they add tons of old movies and TV shows that you might have heard of, or meant to watch, but never really wanted to rent or buy the DVDs. Sometimes they add a really great one, like this month they added Have Gun - Will Travel. The show spans 225 half hour episodes starring Richard Boone as Paladin, the coolest, cleverest gunfighter you ever met. Paladin is so calm and confident he makes Clint Eastwood's "man with no name" seem twitchy by comparison. I had seen a few episodes, and was impressed, but I'm too young to have watched it on TV and it really was never in syndication. Thanks to Netflix, this is an excellent opportunity to see the rest of this great series. If you want a little drama in your day check out one of the show's openings. Intense eh? Each show opens that way, with a poignant piece of dialogue. The episodes are well written, some even by Gene Roddenberry and star a variety of actors you might recognize before they were famous. I spotted a very young Roscoe P. Coltrane of Dukes of Hazzard fame the other day. The characters vary from episode to episode except Paladin and Hey-boy the bell-hop at the hotel. Paladin's gun, a SAA Colt Cavalry 7.5 inch model chambered in 44-40 plays prominently, as you can see from the opening, even though he only used it when his cleverness couldn't get him out of a jam. One of the other great things about this series is that unlike a lot of old TV shows Have Gun - Will Travel was shot on location. Very few sets and soundstages were used and you can get a great sense of the wide open west watching the show.

I love westerns and my liking the show wasn't a stretch, but Laura who only kinda likes westerns joined me for a few episodes I was watching and really likes it too. Do yourself a favor and check it out. Not only for the western theme, but to see quality television, the way it used to be

This gym thing is kicking my posterior.

Since you were supportive, I figured I'd share an update.

I joined a cheapy gym and set up a personal training routine with one of their trainers.  We're doing a "consultation" plan, which means we meet once a month, then he writes out what I'm supposed to do the rest of the month, and he'll change it up as we go.  Our first session was basically Crossfit and I lasted all of 7 minutes before I nearly revisited lunch.

He's convinced he'll carve 60 lbs of fat off me in a year, and he intends to put 10 lbs of muscle on me in that time.  We'll see if that happens.

I'm free! I'm free!

...To carry a firearm in states that aren't Maryland, that is.

Woo!

A close friend of mine asked me to boost the signal...

A woman close to a friend of mine is in a bit of a dire situation, medically.  She's selling crafty goods, both her handmade items and items donated by other people, in the hopes she can cover her bills.  Here's her story.

If you're not interested in the details but would like to see what she has for sale, please take a peek here and here.  Her direct donation link is here.

Thanks for looking.

"How did you become gunnies?"

Jennifer asked and lots of people are answering, so I figured I'd toss in my little story.

I remember, as a child, not being allowed guns.  The boys in the neighborhood had these neat guns that actually went bang, and I was insanely jealous...but terrified.  Y'see, my parents always appeared to be incredibly anti-gun.  They didn't like me having squirt guns, cap guns were a no-no, and BB guns?  Yeah, they didn't exist in my little world.  Heck, even snap-caps were absolutely verboten.  At the time, I though it was because my parents never wanted me to have any fun EVER because they were the MEANEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.*

This got long, so hit the jump for the rest!

Curators Corner on the NRA Blog

Thanks to Lars Dalseide and the NRA Museum, one of the coolest things we did at the NRA convention was get the opportunity to see, learn about, and handle some famous and prototype 1911's. This appealed to my geeky love of history and precision mechanical devices so much I almost had a Laura-type squee moment. (Almost?  Hah!  He squeeed and he knows it! - L)

I guess I'm late to the party, but in case any of you are too, the NRA Museum Blog has a weekly segment called Curator's Corner which is a virtual presentation of what my experience at the convention was. Senior Curator Phil Schreier discusses unusual or special firearms in the museums collection. Exhibits have gone from movie guns to historical items and the special and rare.  Not only is this historically interesting, but it's also a great way to see some of what the NRA Museum offers if you can't get there.  Go get your geek on and check it out! No one will see you squee, I promise.

More regarding the bulletin released to Baltimore police...

An update to this post:

Investigative Voice and a local news station have posted about this.  Looks like the police disagree about profiling.

Thing is, had they not said anything about it in the first place, no average person would know what that sticker means.  Now they've guaranteed everyone who HAS that sticker on their car is at risk of break-ins.  Way to go, BCPD.  Are you so bored that you're trying to give yourselves more to do?  I guarantee there's plenty for you to do that doesn't involve picking on law-abiding citizens.

This makes me sick.

Apparently, in California, defaulting on one's student loans means one's husband gets treated like a criminal.

...Wait, what?

Apparently that guy's wife defaulted on her student loans so instead of handling this like any NORMAL credit agency would - you know, with taking it to court, garnishing wages, etc. - they decided this needed a SWAT team.  AT 6 AM.  The cherry on this ridiculous sundae?  The person they were looking for WASN'T HOME AT THE TIME.  Oh, and they tossed the couple's kids in the squad car with their dad.  Because, you know, THAT won't teach them not to trust uniformed individuals ever again...

Seriously, WHAT were they thinking?

ETS: since it appears the initial link is down, go here.  Thanks to Tam for the updated link.

Knives for Kids!

Yes CRKT wants to arm your sugar fueled, spastic, hellion with one of their products. I can picture it now. Kids across the country lying in wait. Torn rag bandanna, hanging upside down from the spinning ceiling fan with it in their teeth, just waiting for you to get home. Yelling ARRRG! ARRRG! as they spin around when you walk through the door.

Actually, CRKT has come up with a nifty idea. Nathan's Knife a joint idea between one of their designers and his son. It's an oversized, pre-cut, unfinished, soft wood kit you can put together with your child. It has all the internal parts of a locking folding knife and actually works like one. A nice project. Recommended for children 7 and up. Looks to me, to be an interesting idea that would teach basic hand/eye coordination and woodworking while the finished product could be used to teach safe knife handling and care for tools. I'm not sure, but it may also qualify as something that could be taken for show and tell. Although I'm not familiar with constitutes a weapon in school these days. Are they still allowed to have pencils?

Check out Nathan's video. He did a great job.

So the police really don't know who their enemy is in Baltimore...

...OR they really just want to eliminate the "competition."  I'm not sure which it really is, but I'm hoping I'm not about to find out.

Protip: if someone's advertizing their support for the Constitution, chances are they're not going to shoot you when you pull them over.  Go after the people who are ACTUALLY breaking the law, instead...like these people.