The Countertop Chronicles

Then this may just be the greatest web page ever.

WOW

Simply wow

RIP, Dr. Hoffman

Albert Hofmann, 102, a Swiss chemist and accidental father of LSD who came to view the much-vilified and abused hallucinogen he discovered in 1938 as his “problem child,” died April 29 at his home in Burg, a village near Basel, Switzerland, after a heart attack.

Dr. Hofmann came across LSD while working on medicinal uses of a fungus to act as a circulatory heart-lung stimulant. His first LSD “trip” occurred in 1943, a troubling experience that led him to write in his journal, “A demon had invaded me, had taken possession of my body, mind and soul.”

After its discovery, LSD was viewed as a wonder drug with the potential to treat problems including schizophrenia and alcoholism. For the latter, some held the theory that chronic drinkers quit only after experiencing the hallucinations of delirium tremens.

LSD attracted many prominent advocates. They included Aldous Huxley, the author of “Brave New World,” and psychologist Timothy Leary, who saw the drug as a potent way for people to live up to his 1960s counterculture motto: “Turn on, tune in, drop out.”

Indeed - body, mind and soul

In his honor - here’s a little of the Good ‘Ol Grateful Dead in a fitting tribute

He’s Gone Jam ->
The Other One->
Spanish Jam ->
Mind Left Body Jam - >
The Other One

Here’s the complete set list
10-17-74 Winterland Arena, San Francisco, Ca. (Thu)
1: Promised, Half Step, B. T. Wind, FOTD, Jack Straw, Loser, El Paso, China Cat> I Know You Rider, Me & My Uncle, Roses, WRS Prelude> WRS Part 1> Let It Grow
1.5: Phil & Ned
2: Scarlet, Big River, Ramble On, Mexicali, He’s Gone> Other One> Spanish Jam> Mind Left Body Jam> Other One> Stella Blue, Sugar Magnolia
E: Casey Jones, U. S. Blues
“Casey Jones” appears on “Steal Your Face”

The New York Times weighs in

”I had to leave work for home because I was suddenly hit by a sudden feeling of unease and mild dizziness,” he subsequently wrote in a memo to company bosses.

”Everything I saw was distorted as in a warped mirror,” he said, describing his bicycle ride home. ”I had the impression I was rooted to the spot. But my assistant told me we were actually going very fast.”

Upon reaching home, Hofmann began experiencing what he called ”wonderful visions.”

Here’s some more of the freak show

Space -> (Walk Me Out In) The Morning Dew

10-18-74 Winterland Arena, San Francisco, Ca. (Fri)
1: Around, Sugaree, Mexicali, Peggy-O, BIODTL, B. E. Women, Cumberland, El Paso, Tennessee Jed, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, WRS Prelude> WRS Part 1> Let It Grow
2: Phil & Ned> Jam> Dark Star> Morning Dew
3: Promised> Bertha> Greatest, Ship Of Fools, NFA> GDTRFB> Saturday Night
E: U. S. Blues
“Beer Barrel Polka” tuning before “Mexicali” - final “WRS Part 1″ - final “WRS Prelude” - “Sugaree”, “BIODTL” and “Ship Of Fools” appear on “Steal Your Face”

For what its worth - I’d LOVE to get my hands on this complete show.

Both of these really.

Wow. Just Wow!!!!!

Zooooombabababoombatrippaloomba, you listening????????

Kudo’s to VCDL for getting the ball rolling and the NRA for getting it across the goal line!!!!

The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), through the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, today issued a proposed rule to amend regulations prohibiting firearms in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. The National Rifle Association (NRA) led the effort to amend the existing policy regarding the carrying and transportation of firearms on these federal lands.

The proposed rule was filed today and will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, and can be found online. It provides sixty days for public comment.

Go Forth and Submit Your Sane, Reasonable, Well Thought Out Comments.

What ever you do, don’t be a loon.

And by that, I mean, keep the black helicopter talk to a minimum, don’t tell them your offended they are doing this because they don’t have the authority to limit your ability to carry a gun one way or another, or otherwise come across as someone who might scare generally anti gun DC residents (they are, like it or not, the folks who will be reviewing the comments and implementing the rule)

Remember, the other side doesn’t have crap. Let them come across as dysfunctional. We need to keep the high road.

UPDATE

In light of this post, I’d point out that the Virgin Islands have a wonderful National Park, very much worth visiting.

This is pretty cool.

Virgin Islands Temporary Permit

Persons with a valid Virginia concealed carry permit may apply individually to the United States Virgin Islands Police Department for temporary reciprocal recognition of a CCDW license while in the Virgin Islands. This temporary recognition is normally for ninety (90) days from the date of issue.

An application for temporary privileges may be requested from:

Office of the Commissioner
Criminal Justice Complex
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, VI 00802

I mean, sure, it sucks I need to ask for permission to carry in the Virgin Islands, but kudo’s to the Virginia Attorney General for working this deal out.

Yesterday, I alluded to something.

but then . . . . stumbled on something else which I don’t want to disclose yet . . . . for fear it will pass me by before I can grab it as mine. more on that later.

Well, its not in my hands yet . . . but its mine. All mine mine mine.

Here’s a little taste of things to come

In my opinion the 280 Remington has all the advantages of the 270 Winchester and the 30-06 Springfield, incorporating the flat trajectory of the 270 with the power of the 30-06. Being 7mm not only gives the 280 Remington more bullet choices than the 25-06 Remington or the 270 Winchester, but greater range in weights of bullets plus a larger frontal diameter. Which lends to better performance on game larger and heavier than the White-tailed deer. It is also kinder to the shoulder than the 30-06 or 7mm Remington Magnum when fired in a comparable weight rifle. The 280’s real world performance is equal to that of the 7mm Remington Magnum (with 140 to 150-grain bullets).

Here’s a picture, from Kim, for comparison sakes.

We all know who Bill Ruger was. But do you know who Alexander Sturm was???

Well, more so than Bill Ruger’s financial backer and the designer of the Ruger eagle (which changed from Red to Black upon his death in 1951) . . .

Alexander Sturm was the husband of Paulina Longworth. Longworth, of course, may have been the daughter of Ohio Congressman Nicholas Longworth (as in the Longworth House Office Building) but has also been alleged to actually be the daughter of Idaho Senator William Borah.

All that, though, is incidental to who her mother was - Alice Roosevelt, the only child of Teddy Roosevelt and his first wife Alice Hathaway Lee who died two days prior to AFTER Alice’s birth.

UPDATE:

Dumb mistake corrected. Duh!

Heh!

This weeks bizarness

1. Thug :: A Lug and Hug a Bug
2. Slurp :: Eeee - Grape Please
3. Alley :: Cat Blues
4. Sweater vest :: Its cold today, I shouldn’t still be wearing one this late in the year. Where did Spring go??
5. Targeted :: And denied - by the Izaak Walton League. Headed down to the range to do the long awaited post on the Uncle AK, and lo and behold I didn’t have this years membership badge with me
6. Snazzy :: Like a Scooby Snack
7. Oy! :: Vey!
8. Jury duty :: Not for me, thanks.
9. Low fat :: Whats that?
10. Responsibility :: family is fun. Kids under the weather.

Awesome!

Like An Egg

Well, I’ve been waiting on my $$$ to arrive from Uncle Sam before making my BAG Day Purchase. It showed up yesterday . . . now I face a hard decision. You see, as I’m sure you’ve heard, Eric Thompson has decided to sell guns at cost for the next couple of weeks.

Eric Thompson’s company, TGSCOM Inc., sold Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui a Walther P22 through the Web site www.thegunsource.com. Steven Kazmierczak, who killed five people at Northern Illinois University (NIU) on February 14th, received two 9mm Glock magazines and a holster he ordered from the TGSCOM Inc. Web site www.topglock.com.

Ever since the NIU shootings, Thompson has been using his unfortunate coincidence to press for changes that will make it easier for law-abiding citizens to carry a gun to protect themselves, the people they love and their neighbors.

Today, Thompson is backing up his words with actions. For the next two weeks, Thompson will not take any profit on firearms sales from any of his over 100 Web sites. Instead, Thompson will offer guns to customers for the same cost he pays for them.

“I hope and pray I will never again be in a position where I am asked questions about selling items used in a crime,” said Thompson. “The next news story I want to be involved in is how I sold a firearm to someone who helped stop a mass murderer. By forgoing a profit, I hope to help give law-abiding citizens the tools to prevent tragedy.”

This has caused all sorts of problems, cause I just can’t make up my mind. Here’s the dilemma

My daily carry gun most of the time is a Colt NRM 1991A1. Its big, its bad, it doesn’t conceal well in T shirt and shorts weather. I’ve got a Colt Detective Special revolver that I often carry in the summer, but even that is both a little bulky and heavy. Don’t get me wrong, its fine if I’ve got long pants on, but for wearing very little on a hot summer day, it just doesn’t cut it. Plus, its in gorgeous shape and I just don’t want to abuse it.

What I was thinking about getting was a Kel Tec. Everyone I know who has one of their .380’s loves it. They also have one available in 9mm, the Kel Tec P11 for $220. Any thoughts?

The other gun I was considering there is a Taurus PT-111. Its a pretty small concealed carry gun, but I suspect its just not on the same size level as the Kel Tec. But its sure pretty. And at $283, seems like a steal!

But you see, if it was just between these two, it would be easy. Nothing in life ever is. When hunting, and hiking, I often carry an old S&W Model 66 - its a 4 inch barreled Stainless Steel 357 Mag revolver. Its the perfect gun for the backwoods where the scariest threat is on two legs. But I’ve been hunting a lot, and find myself hiking more and more, in bear territory. And I just don’t know if it has sufficient umph for a big angry bruin mama. That, and the fact I’ve always wanted a .44 Mag revolver is making the 4 inch Taurus Tracker in .44 Remington Mag extra tempting, especially at the low low price of $373.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

UPDATE

Well, tonight I went out and purchased TWO (yes, TWO) Kel Tec P11’s. One is for me, and one is for my father in law (its an overdue Christmas gift - I’m the buyer and I’m giving it to him . . . perfectly legal) from Eric Thompson. After doing research on the web I discovered:

1. Kel Tec guns have an excellent reputation, while there have been some concerns with the reliability of the Taurus
2. Both have outstanding customer service - they are the pinnacle of the customer service world
3. The Kel Tec is slightly smaller
4. The Kel Tec is less expensive
5. The Kel Tec is still proudly made in the Good ‘Ol US of A

That last fact was the clincher. But, initially it was ok cause I came awfully close to purchasing the tracker as well, but then . . . . stumbled on something else which I don’t want to disclose yet . . . . for fear it will pass me by before I can grab it as mine. more on that later. But for now, we celebrate the double Kel Tec purchase!!

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dude, sitting on the kitchen table drafting a letter for work. All of a sudden, all (and by all, I mean every single last one) of the flowers in the Vase on the table drooped over at the same time.

Strange

Wisdom

PPS Since 1964 every Democratic president has come from south of the Mason Dixon line.

PPPS Democrats need to get off the Gun Prohibition bandwagon, and Republicans need to get off the Abortion Prohibition bandwagon and Gay Marriage Prohibition bandwagon, and they both need to get off the Drug Prohibition bandwagon. Americans don’t like having their rights restricted by the government, and they don’t like the side effects of bureaucracy. Of course, sometimes Americans like having other people’s rights restricted, but never their own. You have to show people how restricting other people’s rights ultimately infringes on their own.

PPPPS Have you noticed how your cell phone is handy, but other people talking on their cell phones are annoying? Same deal. Don’t think about controlling other people’s freedoms. Think about maintaining your own freedoms. Infringing on someone’s behavior should only be done if their behavior endanger’s others. Several studies strongly suggest that talking on a cell phone while driving might be an example of a behavior that needs to be regulated.

What was true then, is true now.

Nikon D40, 55mm

Taken yesterday afternoon. In front of the Federal Courthouse here in D.C.

Nikon D40, 55mm

Aim Surplus just got a hold of a small collection of Garands. Got ‘em for sale here