Tag: Good Guys

Conviviality

Friends and Family

We have a guest in our house:  New Wife’s brother will be staying with us for a week or so, having managed the 330-hour flight from Johannesburg to DFW (some exaggeration, perhaps).

Anyway, he is a man of gargantuan tastes (despite being slender in frame), so yesterday consisted of picking him up from the airport, feeding him breakfast at our place followed by an evening which consisted of beer, wine and BBQ.  Also much laughter and good times (see title).

Today promises more of the same — and we haven’t even reached the Christmas weekend yet.

Oy.

And he brought with him from Seffrica all sorts of delicacies e.g. biltong, Richelieu brandy and various Christmas comestibles, so the effects of his visit will be felt long hence.

Next week will be spent pretty much at the range, as he attempts to deplete my ammo stock as much as he’s started to attack my booze cupboard.  Little does he know…

What fun.  What glorious, glorious fun.

My head hurts.

Changing Times

The Gun Thing

I have mentioned in the past that I planned on giving Connie’s Browning High Power to Daughter for her birthday, for hereditary reasons.  Well, I broached the topic with Daughter, and was surprised when she showed no interest in the Browning at all.

“I have enough handguns.  I mean, I have as many as you do.”  (true)
“But it’s your Mom’s gun.”
“It’s like offering to give me her favorite hammer — it really doesn’t mean anything, but thank you for the offer.”

She’s completely unsentimental about the gun — although I wouldn’t be surprised if the Browning didn’t also trigger some unwelcome memories along the way, but I’m not going to explore that little issue.  She doesn’t want the High Power, and that’s that.

Which is fine by me.  I love the BHP, its Europellet chambering notwithstanding, so it’s not going to go anywhere.

I also listened to Hackathorn and Wilson discussing the 9mm cartridge, and Bill Wilson is of the considered opinion that in terms of tissue damage and even stopping power, the new breed of 124gr 9mm hollowpoints are as effective as the lighter 185gr .45 ACP cartridges — which are exactly what I’m carrying in the 1911 because of recoil (pain) issues with the heavier 230gr.

So the plan has changed.  Son&Heir will indeed be getting my old Springfield 1911 .45 ACP for his birthday, and…

…I’m going to be carrying the High Power 9mm in its place:

…loaded with these: 

You may all pick yourselves up off the floor, now.

And yes, I’m aware that these may be the End Times.

Dept. Of Righteous Shootings: International Division

Righteous Shootings

Well, here’s one to cheer you up.  Seems as though these three Italian mopes decided to rob a jewellery store in Grinzane Cavour, a little town about thirty miles outside Turin.  All went well, for a while:  they waved a (fake) gun around and tied up the owner’s daughter.

Then the 67-year-old owner said “Fuck this shit!” in Italian, pulled his own gun, shot two of the assholes dead and wounded the third.

Some background:

The same jewellery shop in had already suffered a robbery a few years ago on May 22, 2015 when two thieves, one of whom was disguised as a woman, entered the shop and tied up the owner with plastic ties after beating him violently.

No wonder he’d had enough.

Sadly, the tale has not ended well for our hero, because Italy:

Immediately after the events, Roggero was accused of culpable excess of self-defense, but now he will have to answer for murder.  According to the public prosecutor’s office, Roggero would have chased the three robbers who, having already left the jewelry store with the stolen goods, were fleeing outside the store and from close range would have shot ‘with the intention of causing their death, thereby voluntarily exceeding the limits of legitimate patrimonial defence’. 

Yeah… so?

In any sane society, a jury would pat the guy on the back and say, “Good shooting, Tex!”  (once again, in Italian).  But this is Italy, which means he’s probably going to jail for doing what I believe 100% of my Readers would have done under the same circumstances.

Love Story

Good Stuff, Men & Women

In an age when marriage is ignored in favor of “hook-ups”, “partnerships” and “friends-with-benefits”, it’s heartening to see how one couple, at least, started young and over fifty years later, are still making it work:

Devoted couple Harry and Sandra Redknapp admit they love each no less than they did after exchanging vows more than half-a-century ago. 

Redknapp was a promising young footballer with West Ham United when he met apprentice hairdresser Sandra Young on a rowdy dancefloor above Stratford’s legendary Two Puddings pub in 1968.  

Months later they were married, with Sandra supporting her husband as he finished his football career with defunct north American club Seattle Sounders before establishing himself as a much-loved coach and manager.

My Murkin Readers will probably be going “Harry who?”  but the fact of the matter is that Harry is as famous Over There as Bill Parcells, Phil Jackson or Tom Landry ever were Over Here.

I know that to people of his generation, such loyalty, devotion and fidelity might seem nothing special, but here’s the difference:  his and Sandra’s marriage has been a celebrity one, subject to all the scrutiny and limelight that only the awful British press can bring.

Stories of his devotion to Sandra are legion (some of which are contained in the above article), but it should be known that Harry would have been a juicy target for all the fame groupies (step forward, Ulrika Jonsson) for whom his notch on their much-chiseled bedposts would have been a noteworthy one.

But he never strayed, and as he’s got older, that loyalty has made Harry Redknapp all the more beloved to the people of Britain since his retirement from football management.

Well played, mate.

Dept. of Righteous Shootings

Righteous Shootings

Here’s the full story, but the executive summary runs as follows:

Shithead with an unknown grievance storms into an Amazon warehouse parking lot and shoots some other guy several times.

Unfortunately for him, this was not Amazon Warehouse (UK) nor even Amazon Warehouse (OR):  no, this was Amazon Warehouse (AZ).

We know this because another Amazon employee happened upon the scene, drew his own gun and shot the Aggrieved One stone dead.


Also good news: the first guy has apparently survived the shooting.

But wait! there’s more:

An Amazon spokesman, Richard Rocha, said the company is working with law enforcement as it investigates the shooting.

He said: “We are deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence in our parking lot.

“We’re working closely with law enforcement as they investigate and are focused on supporting our team during this difficult time.”

The way to “support your team”, Mr. Amazon Spokesman, is NOT TO FIRE Our Hero, who probably saved many lives by his action.

I’ll be watching this closely, because Amazon.

A Limey In San Antonio

The Gun Thing

I’ve watched the lanky Jonny Carter on many an occasion, but this, his first trip to the U.S., was all kinds of fun to watch.

For those who don’t know the tall Englishman’s background, Jonny is a first-class shotgunner and a man who not only loves his craft, but knows his guns — and his obvious enjoyment of the Gun Thing makes for lovely entertainment.  (I first talked about him earlier this year.)

He lands in New York (!), and heads to the Beretta store in Manhattan.  (I don’t know why he would, when he’s already toured the factory in Brescia, but clearly the man can’t resist a shotgun.)

Then, after a little fun time with a Garand and M1 Carbine, it’s off to the main event in San Antonio.  Enjoy Part 1, and then the Nationals.  (What I found really interesting was his reaction to American shotgun ammo — way too much recoil for his taste.)

And then he makes the haj to Gordy’s in Houston, where even he’s impressed by the fine shotgun collection.

Watch, and enjoy.  He certainly did.

There’s about four hours of viewing for y’all, just in these links — and there would be far worse ways to spend a morning.

And just for the record, I absolutely hate the way Jonny’s bespoke shotgun looks;  that pistol grip?  Ugh.