Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Victory In Iraq Day

VI DayI’m a couple of days late on this, but there is movement in the blogosphere to proclaim last Saturday as “VICTORY IN IRAQ” day. I have placed this logo in the sidebar for a few days with a link to the Victory in Iraq website.

Despite clear signals from the military and others in a position to know that the war is won, you won’t see or hear much from the media. Congress won’t be declaring victory. The talking heads from the left will continue to trivialize the tremendous effect that the surge had in securing Iraq.

Worst of all, the men and women of our armed forces that took part in this significant achievement will be coming home to the complacent masses who don’t know why they voted the way they did except it ‘felt right.’

We commend our armed forces and wish the best for them as they return to their civilian or military regular jobs. Good work folks, and God Speed.

Hat tip to Kini who put the bug in our ear about this.

24 Nov 2008 by Blogosphere Islamic Terrorism Media Military

The Shotgun Setup

As always, we had fun at the target range today. Among other things, we took our shotguns and took turns trying to shoot the targets in two. In this video, Damsel almost gets the job done with her 20 gauge Remington 870, leaving the bottom of the target hanging by three narrow threads of paper.

I don’t have it on video, but after she left the target setup for the coup de grâce, I stepped into the booth with my 12 gauge Remington 870 and took out the three remaining thin threads with the first three shells. Not to worry though, Damsel has taken out plenty of setups that I left. We don’t keep score, since both of us do about the same.

In the last frame of the video, notice the ejected 20 gauge shell just about to hit the right booth wall.

Nothing to report about the shooting today other than everything seemed to be 100% functional and we had a lot of fun.

23 Nov 2008 by Entertainment Firearms Shooting

The Right Stuff

right-stuff.jpgWe were surprised on our regular visit to the County Recycle Center today to find out that right across the boulevard there was a Fire Expo in progress being presented by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The venue was the South Coast Botanic Gardens, where the firefighters set up an impressive display of equipment and demonstrations for the public.

They were demonstrating how to prepare for wildland fires and disasters. There was rescue equipment on display including a helicopter, heavy equipment, fire engines and transport trucks. Kids were be able to squirt fire hoses in an attempt to knock some traffic cones over. The firefighter turnout was impressive, with crews from all over the County.

As these firefighters got off of their “Fire Hawk” helicopter, they reminded me of the scene in “The Right Stuff” where the astronauts were walking abreast in the hangar.

All of our first responders, all over the country, are the Right Stuff, as far as we’re concerned.

Click the image for the wide-angle view.

22 Nov 2008 by Everyday Heroes First Responders

Mount St. Helens Pseudo Movie

In October of 2004, the Mount St. Helens Volcano went through a period of relatively high activity. The frames that went into this pseudo-movie all happened on the morning of October 4, 2004 within an hour and 15 minutes or so. Please note that I added the sound for dramatic effect and the time scale is highly compressed.

19 Nov 2008 by Environment Science

Keeping an Eye on Mount St. Helens

mt-st-helens.jpgEvery once in a while I will tune my browser to the Volcano WebCam, located at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, northeast of the famous volcano, Mount St. Helens. They used to have a very basic low-resolution image a few years ago, but since then have upgraded to a variety of resolutions, including both high and low.

I downloaded this image today late in the afternoon (Pacific Time). Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

They say this about their current capability:

These are near real-time images of Mount St. Helens, taken from the Johnston Ridge Observatory (JRO) using our VolcanoCam Classic camera and the new VolcanoCamHD camera. The (JRO) and VolcanoCams are located at an elevation of approximately 4,500 feet, about five miles from the volcano. You are looking approximately south-southeast across the North Fork Toutle River Valley. The VolcanoCam images automatically update approximately every five minutes.

I have a pseudo movie of an eruption event somewhere – I’ll post it when (and if) I find it. Meanwhile check out the cameras at Mount St. Helens during daylight hours (Pacific time).

18 Nov 2008 by Environment Science

Range Report – Epilogue

hog-portrait.jpgYesterday, I took the little Warthog .45ACP pistol to the range. In all, we put about 100 rounds through her without any ammo feed malfunctions other than when Bob was shooting with the pinkie magazine and he got one round he had to tap and rack. The other 99 rounds went through without incident.

We were using 45 Auto 230 Grain Full Metal Jacket ammo. We have tried several different brands lately, and other than the junk Wolf Russian-made ammo we were using after the last gun show, most ammo acts more or less the same. That is, only an occasional feed problem.

The Wolf ammo was horrid – dirty, smoky and, more than occasionally, prone to stand at attention in the chamber or to hang on the ramp. No more of that for us.

After cleanup, I loaded up the magazines for next week and posed them with my purdy li’l pistol. Click for big.

17 Nov 2008 by Firearms Shooting

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