Author: Kim du Toit

Bite Me

Two-Minute Hate

I hit a link at some website, and encountered this:

Simple response:  Never mind “No thanks” — it’s “fuck off and die” , because I don’t pay for bullshit.  I last went to the National Review Online website independently (as opposed to following a link) back in, I think, 2009 (before they fired the brilliant John Derbyshire).  They’re a bunch of pantywaist wannabe-conservative NeverTrumpers, and with the possible exception of the late Charles Krauthammer, I wouldn’t shake hands with any of them if I were being paid to do so.  William F. Buckley would have thrown the lot of them out in the 1970s, when NR was a magazine worth reading.  At least the magazine had a little edge when Ann Coulter and John Derbyshire were staff writers, but with their firings, NRO soon turned into a soggy vanilla pudding laced with diarrhea.

The poxy fucking rag needs to fold up its tents and disappear, and the sooner the better.

Not Diligent

Food & Drink

I see that I’ve forgotten to itemize my non-vegan intake over the past two weeks.  I plead Old Fart Forgetfulness, so please forgive my sloppiness.  Here, however, is sort of a representative summary of my meals thus far:

Oh wait, there was some pulled pork in there too:

I’ll try to do better next time, promise.

Shaking Hands

Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

Not the quivering that happens before hopping into bed with a first-time lover, or when about to shoot in competition against  (say) Jerry Miculek;  I’m talking here about shaking hands last Friday afternoon with two old friends:

…the Ruger Single-Six having been exchanged for my Ruger MkIV 22/45 (thankee, Reader Jerry!).  As such, this specific gun wasn’t an old friend, but I’ve owned a Single-Six before, so it was a familiar experience.  All shots were taken at 10 yards, and here’s what the target looked like, in overview:

First:  the Browning High Power.  As my delivery of practice 115gr ammo hadn’t arrived yet (some nonsense about needing an 18-wheeler), I had to go with ten rounds from an old box of Fiocchi I happened to have lying around in Ye Olde Ammoe Locquer — oh sure, like none of you  have any “orphan ammo” in your lockers, right?  The self-defense load tested was thirteen rounds of SIG V-Power 147gr.  I wasn’t trying for any serious accuracy with the 115gr. stuff;  it was just getting re-familiarized with the High Power’s trigger.  Here’s the result:

Shooting the 115gr was a breeze, and the three outliers were the first three shots taken, holding on the “8” in the target — trigger familiarization, folks.  Then I got a little more serious, and dropped the last seven bullets into the single hole, as shown.  A tad high, but next time I’ll hold at the bottom of the 8.

Then I changed to the SIG ammo, and I have to admit that the heavier 147gr. bullets took a little getting used to (the hold was on the X):

The 13-shot grouping wasn’t as tight as that of the lighter 115gr, but certainly in terms of self defense clustering, I wasn’t too displeased with the outcome.  (Only one  flier?  I must be getting better, or else the High Power is a better gun than I remember.)  It looks like the hold, as for the 115gr FMJ ammo, is at the bottom of the target circle.

I love my High Power 9mm, and once its carry holster arrives from Don Hume and the spare mags from [can’t remember] , it’s onto my waist it’ll be going, on probation of course. You may all reach for the smelling-salts now.

Next came the Single-Six (aiming at 2 1/2″ yellow targets), and I shot one cylinder each of .22 LR and .22 WinMag without too much regard for the grouping, just to get used to the single-action trigger.  Then I got a little more serious, and took my time with the next two cylinders, first with the CCI Mini-Mag .22 LR 40gr. solids:

…and then with the CCI Maxi-Mag .22 WMR, also 40gr. solids:

Hmmm…  thought I’d do better with the .22 Mags, as I was getting really used to the trigger by then.  So what does that mean, Readers? [3…2…1…]

“MOAR PRACTICE!!!!”

Can’t wait.  It’s a good thing I stocked up with .22 WMR during the Dubya Administration:  .22 Mag is more expensive than 9mm.

And yes:  a slow, deliberate, one-shot-at-a-time session with the single-action Ruger was just fantastic.

Travel Plans

Mocking Furriners, Travels

As my own offspring have proved to be utterly shit in the Grandchild Production Process, I have had to resort to marrying someone whose kids (or one of them, anyway), has a clue.

Yes, Angie’s Elder Son has just given us a grandchild.

Sadly, however, he is not local to these climes;  in fact, he married an Oz-chick* a while ago, and… moved to Oz!

[pause to let gasps of horror die away]

You know what this means, right?  Yes… I have to go to Australia in April to wet the baby’s head.  And as any fule kno, this means being exposed to the various (and toxic) forms of Oz wildlife, such as the Brown Snake (and its buddies):

…the Funnel-Web Spider (and its buddies):

We all know about the Sand Tiger Sharks (and their buddies):

…and let’s not even talk about the other species of dangerous Australian fauna:

Thankfully, the last two species (sharks ‘n sluts) pose little danger to me as a.) I never swim in the sea, and b.) I’m taking my own woman with me.

So off I go, to wander ‘midst furriners again… [sigh]

Gah.

*Some people may wonder why I got involved with a family which is happy to consort with Australians, but hey:  my own Son&Heir has a Canucki-Girlfriend, so we try to be inclusive.  It’s all about Diversity!, isn’t it?

Not Really

The Gun Thing

Some guy over at National Interest (never heard of them) opines on the 5 best pistols (and I assume all generations thereafter) ever to shoot the 9mm Europellet.  His list is as follows (and I don’t know if the order is important):

  • Glock 19
  • SIG P226
  • H&K VP9
  • S&W M&P
  • Springfield XD

…and by the omissions is his ignorance revealed.  Here’s my  top 5 list, in order of preference:

  • SIG P210 — The forerunner of the P226.  While the 226 is good, the 210 is astonishing.  Ask any precision 9mm shooter which is the most accurate pistol of them all, and the only reason he won’t say the P210 is if he’s an employee of, or spokesman for one of the other gun companies. 
  • Browning P35 High Power — John Moses Browning and Dieudonné Saive designs.  Remember that the Brit Paras and SAS have used them until only recently, basically because they wore them out after decades and FN/Browning announced they wouldn’t support them anymore.
  • CZ 75 — Granted, it’s a derivation of the Walther P38 (see below), and we could argue for days about their relative merits.  But the “75” refined the P38’s design and improved the German gun’s already-good reliability.  Proof of the gun’s esteem is that the 75 is the most-copied design of any pistol ever made.
  • HS2000 — The Croatian forerunner of the Springfield XD;  both are outstanding pistols, and like the P38/CZ 75 argument, I’d settle for either without any qualms whatsoever, if  I wanted a striker-fired DA pistol.  
  • (tie) Beretta 92F — I’ve always liked this pistol, and the only reason I was against the U.S. Dotmil’s adoption of the thing was because of its chambering, and that only because of the FMJ bullet restriction.  With a proper hollowpoint, I’d happily carry one anywhere.
  • (tie) Glock 19 — Enough water has passed under the bridge for me to (grudgingly) acknowledge this foul thing’s worth.  Rugged, reliable, accurate and almost universally popular (except on these pages), it probably has to be considered one of the best Europellet-poppers.  And by including another plastic striker-fired pistol on the list, I can exclude the H&K VP9 because I don’t like the Heckler & Koch company.
  • Honorable mention:  the Walther P38 (as above).  I don’t know anyone who’s fired one of these not to want one for himself afterwards. 

Feel free to argue with me in Comments.

Fungus?

Food & Drink

From Britishland, (a.k.a. Vegan Nation):

Fish and chips are set to go vegan as Quorn launches an alternative made with protein derived from fungus – to help create a similar flaky texture.
The meat-free brand is set to release breaded and battered fishless fillets in March, both of which took five years to produce.
It comes just two weeks after Greggs launched a vegan sausage roll, and days after Harvester announced a new plant-based menu.

Thanks but no thanks… I’ll be sticking with cod.

And don’t get me started about vegan sausage rolls.