HOI Features One-Stop Blogging

What an exciting morning. I fried eggs on my new old Griswold #9 skillet, and they pretty much didn't stick. It didn't work perfectly, but it was more than adequate, and I didn't damage the finish.

You see what passes for an event in my life.

In other news, my 7.62 mm ammunition is supposed to arrive today. It'll probably show up too late for a trip to the range, but at least I can take the bullets out and arrange them in a Christmasy pattern, perhaps with a fruitcake in the middle.

I don't want to take the Communist Cannon to the range on a weekend the first time. People will actually BE there on a weekend. I'd prefer relative seclusion while I'm jamming shells and missing the paper and nearly shooting myself in the feet and so on.

I can't wait to get out there and start blasting. Maybe next year I'll get a gun with better accuracy, although I have no use for one, since I don't hunt.

A lot fo people have suggested AR15 variants. Damn, those things cost a lot. And they're way ugly, and not in a good ugly way like the PSL. They have a "Look what I just made in my basement" look. On the other hand, the Beltway Sniper used one, which is something I would enjoy mentioning when showing it to liberal guests.

Seems like the bolt-action crowd loves the Winchester 70 Stealth, the Remington 700, and some other gun made by Savage. I don't know much about it.

As far as I know, there is absolutely nothing in Florida that you need a scope to shoot. There are pigs, but people shoot those with $75 .22 rifles. There are a ton of deer. I know that, because I see them standing beside the Turnpike, waiting to cause accidents by playing "Frogger" with overnight truckers. I am POSITIVE this ridiculous hazard is the result of liberalism. Anyway, the deer here are so stupid you could probably kill them with an icepick.

I have partial ownership of some land in Kentucky, and there are deer on it, but my old man says the tool of choice up there is a 12-gauge with rifled slugs in it. Also, it's cold up there, and I would have to be outside with no stereo or couch, and I might have to pee behind trees. And I do not have the slightest clue how you go about shooting a deer. My father used to do it like this, if I understand him correctly: you go out in the woods with my grandfather and drink whiskey beside a trail, and then if you're lucky, a deer walks up and you blow his brains out.

I may be a bit weak on the details.

I'd rather shoot pigs. Pork tastes better than venison.

In other news, Liszt's etude in C major is nearly under my thumb. What a bitch that one has been. On the one hand, it's a great piece, because it's just hard enough to be a good challenge, and it's great for your fingers, and when you play it, it looks much harder than it actually is. On the other, it beats your right hand up something awful. I spend half of my practice time playing scales with my left hand and waiting for the pain in the right to go away.

I just started Chopin's A minor waltz (Op. 34, No. 2). This is fantastic. It's one of my dream pieces. Finally, something I really want to play, instead of something I don't mind playing.

Turns out it's not all that hard. And it's really beautiful. This is a great piece for young male pianists to learn, because while you're playing it, women will think about how deep and soulful you are, even if you're trying to imagine them naked the whole time.

I'm very pleased that I've managed to go so long without poking Pajamas Media. I was starting to feel like an addict. I have no idea what they're up to today, but I'm sure it's an embarrassment to all of us.

Hope everyone enjoyed the latest podcast. I'll try to follow it up shortly.

Sound effects are still a challenge. Expect me to rely on snappy dialogue and your imagination for the foreseeable future.

I'm still wondering what's happening with the Nigerian book. I'm very used to having people say, "God, your work is fantastic. But we're not going to buy it."

That's all the news for now. Back later.