Foiled

My goal today was to run at least 2 miles at the gym. I haven't been able to over this last week because of school, and wanted to get back into the groove. Two miles is 15 laps at the Field House, but today I only got four laps in, because of nagging foot pain. I think I need to stretch better. Oh well, more time for school work. Maybe run tomorrow.

We're Number One!!!!!

Hooray for Utah for getting a ZERO in a recent Brady Campaign survey.

Ta-Da!!!!

I like living in a state that bothers these people.

To celebrate, you should all go out and buy AK-47's!!!

Today is also the first day when the National Park System begins following State gun laws instead of banning all guns outright. If only there were a National Park close at hand, I'd go have my picture taken with the ol' Sig on my hip.

Kids do need naps sometimes

When I took this picture, KC had been frustrated with life, but was happy when I picked him up. He played for a little while after that but then everything was making him mad, or was a crushing blow to his self esteem and he would start crying. We figured it was time for a nap. The first time we put him in his bed, he was freaking out, it was like he was getting attacked by a predatory animal or something, so we brought him back out. He played for a little while longer, but was just unable to enjoy life so I put him in his bed.

I'm sure everyone in our building and in the parking lot could hear Kay as he went completely ballistic. At first he was sad, probably thinking I was punishing him, but then you could hear the rage growing in his voice just gaining in intensity. I think he actually got the clouds to start snowing. It's a wonder that he still has a voice because I think he was louder than most Utah Jazz fans.

After five minutes of COMPLETE meltdown mode, Mom went in and said the magic words, and left. Kay shrieked for a little when she left, but he was like a balloon that is left to fly around the room. It makes a lot of noise and is crazy for a few seconds, then runs out of air and plops onto the ground.

KC is asleep now.

Old stuff

I was going through some old pictures for a class the other day, and I found this video that I had someone take at the Sugar bowl in New Orleans. It's called Push, and for the two years I played the tenors, it was the bane of my existence. My hands and arms would always seize up at the tenor solo because of the fast sixtuplet notes. I had a hard time getting the sticks from drum 3 all the way on the right to drum 4 all the way on the left. I swear that I tried to relax my arms so that I could play lighter, and therefore faster, but my forearms would seize up. I would have to muscle my way through the crampy arm muscles, which meant I played harder, which meant a loss of control and so it was always really dirty.

However. This night in New Orleans, we hadn't played really heavily for a few weeks, but it was at the end of the season, I was strong, there was no pressure to perform, only to have fun, and it was really warm. So as you can see, I was able to spit out those notes, my hands were really loose which let the heights of the sticks go way up, but I had enough strength to get the ends of the sticks back down on the head to play the music in time. And it was clean.

Just looking at that video now, I feel good that I finally did conquer that freaking cadence after two years of trying, and that it got recorded so I can go back to see it.

ATF

http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2010/2/17/feds_raid_defense_contractor

The ATF has raided another firearm maker, gave no comment on their actions or what they were investigating. Instead of locking the facility to secure the guns inside, they backed up semi trucks to the loading dock and took everything inside.
The ATF did the same thing to Cavalry Arms about two years ago, no charges were filed against Cavalry, and none of the property (guns and gun parts) have ever been returned to that company.

Please spread this around. If a government agency takes your stuff, and doesn't file criminal charges, then its called stealing.

-Update- 2/18/10
So it looks like some employees of Sabre Defence were selling some non-sellable items, and that's why the ATF is investigating. Some speculation i've read is that might refer to fully automatic lower receivers for M-16 type weapons. So at least there is a legitimate reason for the raid.

The ATF still hasn't filed charges against Cavalry Arms, though. Or returned anything that was confiscated.

New year's resolution

I made it to February! I ran for approximately 30 minutes today, that's 17 laps at the Field House, or two miles and a bit. The initial warmup time when I start running is getting shorter and easier. I took a customary water break at five laps, and my legs were pretty tight, but were loose when I got back on the track about 20 seconds later.

So it only took five-ish laps to settle into the groove, last week it seemed like it took the whole first mile.

So there is improvement. I think that a person really starts to see some changes once they start exercising for a solid 45 minutes at a time. At least that is what my Beautiful Bride tells me.