Mid Week Rock

A little bird told me that this has been the music used whenever Turbo Tax Tim steps into a press conference, but that he inherited it from his predecessor:



Okay, seriously, here's the real mid week rock. This song is used because a) Blue Oyster Cult kicks ass and b) I was listening to one of the local classic rock stations and the DJ screwed up and started playing one of Metallica's new ones while the song was still playing...the dichotomy was rather striking:

Standards

I thought this commentary I found at af.mil was particularly fitting:

Whether you are active-duty military, Guard or Reserve, civilian or contractor, you are subject to many rules and standards. Regardless of whether you personally agree with or like the rules and standards, our leaders have determined these rules and standards are required by the mission and special demands of operations.

<...>

It is important to know what the rules and standards are from the start and make a commitment to follow all the rules all the time (even the ones you don't like). If you don't understand a rule, don't guess and ask for clarification. Try to remember that leaders see a bigger picture (a rule may be based on things we are not aware of). We don't have a right to understand why a particular rule exists (it is nice if we do, but it is not a right). If you don't like a rule, try to change it through proper channels (but follow it). And most importantly, the rules and standards apply as much on the last day of deployment as they do on the first (no freebies for being on the way out).

(Emphasis mine.)

I'm not (yet) willing to publicly discuss why I found this commentary fitting, but I'll give you a hint: it has to do with this post.

Parking (Morons)

It's a good thing I don't regularly carry a cutting torch in my car, otherwise I probably would have done this by now:

Usually I don't like to use clips so recently aired, but this one was too good to pass up. The worst part is that I don't think this course of action would generate less illogical outcomes than the outcomes of the plans thought up by Hammerin' Hank, Bumblin' Ben, and Totterin' Tim.

Ammo

Current status:

85 rounds of Georgia Arms reloaded FMJ .30 Carbine (Lake City brass; this is first on my "to buy" list when I've got the money...I'd like to have at least 200 rounds of FMJ .30 Carbine and 5.56mm on hand at all times.)
50 rounds of Remington SP .30 Carbine
300 rounds of FMJ 8mm Mauser (Yugo surplus, for my M24/47 Mauser arriving Wednesday)
200 round battlepack of Prvi M855 spec 5.56mm
240 rounds of GP11 7.5 Swiss
~3000 rounds of Aguila .22 lr
25 rounds of Hornady XTP JHP 9x18mm Makarov
200 rounds of Sellier & Berlot brass cased FMJ 9x18mm
~200 rounds of assorted FMJ 9mm Luger
~200 rounds of assorted JHP 9mm Luger (both for my upcoming Sig P225 that should be in my possession within a few weeks.)
36 rounds of Hot Shot (Prvi manufactured) flat point FMJ 7.62 Nagant (for my recently acquired M1895 Nagant revolver.)
100 rounds of sporting clays 12 gauge shells

Altogether I have ammunition for 9 out of my 11 guns (plus ammo for 2 guns soon to be acquired.) The supply is contained in 4 .50 ammo cans and 1 .30 ammo can, all stacked full to the brim. Also, a friend across town has several hundred rounds of 7.62x54R for my Nagant, if need be.

Bring on the zombies.

South Park Monday

I'm declaring shenanigans on AFPC.

Funny Death

...and it involves furries. I was watching a show on Spike last night called "1000 ways to die." Basically they take police/autopsy reports of people who died in a weird or funny way and make a show out of it. There were some pretty amusing ones, but this one takes the cake.

Guy is wandering through the Mojave desert tripping balls on mushrooms. He eventually comes across a bunch of furries having a...fur pile. He tries to join in the fun, but the furries aren't having any of it because he's not a furry. He wanders off and discovers a furry sitting by itself. He tries to engage in having sex with the furry, but unfortunately for him the furry is actually a real live bear, who far from being amused at the dude's advances proceeds to rip the guy's throat out and start eating him.

Here's a video of the clip:

Baaaa

This is pretty cool:



h/t: SJS

Powerthirst, RANGER Edition

Comes from a commenter over at AM's place:

Seen on TV Tonight

This was included in the episode of Robot Chicken I saw tonight:



I've always gotten a big kick out of the song, but the funniest part is the first 8 seconds. I think that's pretty much what the USAF has been doing since...the end of the Cold War.

Top 10 BSG Episodes

Given that the series finale is approaching (less than 24 hours), I figured I'd come up with what I consider the 10 best episodes, in broadcast order. Should go without saying that spoilers for anything other than the series finale follow:

33 - Even though it was the first episode, I still consider this one of the more darker and gritty episodes, which is saying something. Between the sleep deprivation and the climax of shooting down the equivalent of a civilian jetliner (albeit one with over a thousand people on board) this episode encapsultes what the series is all about.

Flesh and Bone - Not only does this episode delve into the issue of torture, it sets up two major storylines: Starbuck/Leoben and the Cylon concept of a single God and all the other religious stuff. It also proves yet again that Laura Roslin has big brass ones.

The Hand of God - Outside of the miniseries, this is the first real big "space battle" in the show. It also shows that Starbuck is not only a good pilot but a pretty good tactician as well. Lastly, I love the lucky lighter scenes between the two Adamas.

Valley of Darkness - The tension of hunting down the Cylon boarding party is awesome, but more important is the use of one of Philip Glass' Metamorphosis pieces as background music for both a scene on Caprica and a powerful scene that closes out the episode. Also has a particularly moving scene involving some tough choices the Chief has to make with one of his wounded men. Finally, it includes one of my favorite lines of dialogue in the whole series:

Lee Adama: Sometimes you've gotta roll a hard six.
Jammer: What does that mean, sir?
Lee Adama: Uh, I don't know. It's something my dad says.

Scar - If I had to pick one episode that best illustrated the "fighter pilot" side of BSG, this would be it. Part of its allure comes from the fact that it followed the admittedly flawed Black Market, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it is a very good episode. Really, all I can say is that this is the "fighter pilot" episode of BSG. That should be enough.

The Captain's Hand - Similarly, if there was one episode that best illustrated the SWO/ship's captain nature of the show, this would be it. Lots of good leadership and personality conflicts. Plus you get to see Pegasus' forward batteries up close for the first time.

Exodus (Part II mainly, but we'll include both of them since I smash some episodes together below) - Don't think I really need to explain this one. Adama Maneuver. Pegasus fucking some shit up. Over at the CDR's place, one commenter described the "SWOner" he got when the Pegasus locked engines ahead flank and set main batteries to autofire. Can't say I disagree.

Hero - An expended pilot from a secret mission comes back from the dead. The question of just how far your duty as a military officer goes is raised. The guilt Adama faces for possibly provoking the Cylon war is revealed. Overall another episode that does a good job touching on some more military-centric issues.

Unfinished Business - A great episode in general, lots of good acting between the scenes in the ring and the flashbacks on New Caprica. Also has one of my favorite quotes from the series:

Bill Adama: "When you step on this deck, you be ready to fight, or you dishonor the reason why we're here. Now remember this: When you fight a man, he's not your friend. Same goes when you lead men. I forgot that once. I let you get too close, all of you. I dropped my guard. I gave some of you breaks, let some of you go, before the fight was really over. I let this crew and this family disband, and we paid the price in lives. That can't happen again."

Sine Qua Non/The Hub - This makes the list alone for the resolution of the Adama/Roslin relationship. Also worth it for the Adama/Tigh man fight, during which they immediately resolve their problems with each other. Baltar also admits to being the guy who is pretty much responsible for the nuclear holocaust. Oh, and they nuke the Hub. Just a minor detail.

Revelations - Besides the whole "finding Earth but its actually a nuclear wasteland" thing, this episode has Adama raging after finding out that Tigh is a Cylon as well as the very tense subsequent standoff between crazy Number Three and Lee. Lee punches Tigh in the face.

The Oath/Blood on the Scales - Don't think this one really needs much explanation either. Gaeta and Zarek mutiny, people choose sides, Starbuck and Apollo run rampant through the ship gunning down people (after raiding the mini-armory that Starbuck apparently maintains in her personal locker), and Adama and Tigh shooting from the hip standing their ground.

Daybreak - Series finale. 'Nuff said.

Even though Razor is technically the first two episodes of Season Four, I'm not counting it because it aired as a movie. If I was, it would definitely be on the list. I also lied, I guess it turned out to be 13 instead of 10. I think the only ones that might be a bit of a stretch would be The Hand of God, The Captain's Hand, and Hero. They're on my list because I've always thought BSG was at its best when the military/"aircraft carrier in space" nature of the show was at the forefront. These three episodes may not have been particularly noteworthy from a strictly critical perspective, but they got into aspects of the military side of the show that I enjoyed.

I should note that I had little trouble picking out the best episodes from season 3 (easily the weakest season of the show) and that I probably had the most trouble with season 4, primarily for two reasons. Number one, I've watched the episodes of seasons 1 and 2 many more times and have a better feel for which ones I particularly enjoy. Number two (and more importantly), season 4 has been rather mundane, in a good way. Where season 3 was just dumb (Helo stopping the murderous doctor from slaughtering the religious crazies? Really?) season 4 has been solid (even the Demetrius storyline wasn't that bad) although not many episodes really stood out, excepting of course the ones I selected.

Mustache March

I didn't grow one, because a)I don't wear wings on my chest and (more importantly) b)I'm not near as manly as Robin Olds, so what's the point?

If you don't know who Robin Olds is, he's basically the USAF version of Chuck Norris. Wonder why things suck with today's AF? If Robin Olds were CSAF, things would rock.

Quotes of the Day

Comes from the most recent (and last) special on BSG. The question that was asked was, "What does BSG mean to you?"

Jamie Bamber: "Where I discovered the flight suit weight loss program."

James Callis: "Kissing Tricia Helfer...a lot...a lot...really a lot."

South Park Monday

Saw this episode at the 2030 South Park airing tonight. I had never noticed the subtle BSG reference with the music.

Dear God, why?

If you are a gun lover (especially of the classics) prepare your eyes, for these next few pictures aren't pretty:

First up, we have a SBR Mosin-Nagant M44. Of course, it wasn't enough to SBR it, it was necessary to tactilol it out with a collapsible stock and optics, rails, vertical foregrip, and some other assorted crap on the front of the gunNext, we have a Garand that has had unspeakable horrors inflicted on it. One of the posters on the forum where I got these pictures from commented that seeing a fine old warhorse like a Garand desicrated like this reminded him of the pictures of animals wearing cute sweaters or the like and how they always have this look of abject disgust and a desire to kill the human responsible in a very cruel and unusual way. I can't say I disagree.
Here's one that's even sadder. Someone needs to either give these guns some TLC or put them out of their misery, because this state is just pathetic. These guns probably killed Nazis galore (on two fronts!), now they look like something you could buy at some crappy yuppy interior design store.
This one is just funny, because it is the ultimate in redneck ingenuity. I give you...the Remington 1740!
I've saved the worst for last. As someone who is a firm believer that John Moses Browning was God's gift to the gun world, it pains me to even look at this picture, much less comprehend that people have actually bought this crap. I post it only as a warning...just because you can does not mean you should.
Also, if you ever meet whoever was responsible for this abomination, please kick them in the nuts for me and then slit their throat. Preferably with a very dull knife.

Confusion and Misunderstanding

Pretty good video here detailing the differences between selective fire assault rifles and semi-automatic "assault weapons":



One minor beef: he makes full auto/NFA weapons sound harder to get than they actually are, but I'm willing to forgive that in the interest of simplicity and on account of the fact that he is in California, where they really are that difficult to acquire. However, the real problem is that the people he was probably most interested in reaching (those in the media) can't be reached because they either a) know better and are perpetuating blatantly wrong information in support of their chosen political position or b) don't know better but have no desire to be informed otherwise because it, again, supports their chosen political position.

Still, like I said, pretty good video. Good to show to a friend or acquaintance who has a desire to be educated.

No

Not just no, but HELL NO:

The White House budget office has asked the Pentagon to consider delaying the purchase of aerial refueling tankers by five years, a move that reflects the constraints of drawing up a budget in the midst of a recession, according to two sources familiar with the administration's discussions.

The possible delay in one of the Pentagon's most expensive programs is one of a number of options the administration is weighing, the sources said. No final budget decisions have been made, officials said.

Beat up on the USAF for the F-22 and JSF all you want, but we're one fatigued airframe away from being utterly and totally fucked. Good luck doing anything in the CENTCOM AOR without KC-135s, because the KC-10s and RAF Tristars and VC-10s sure as hell won't be able to pick up the slack. Strategic airlift? Bye-bye. The logistics of ONE would get a lot more exciting. Have fun forward deploying anything to Guam. Global Reach Global Power? Only if you've got a metric shit-ton of extra fuel tanks onboard.

There's a reason that the CSAF recently said that acquiring new tankers is still our number one priority. The tankers are the only thing in the budget that are literally non-negotiable; if we don't get new tankers you might as well sell the rest of the service off because nothing else will get done.

Did I say nothing else would get done? Sorry, I meant nothing else would get done except for VIP airlift:

The documents also detail correspondence from intermediaries for Speaker Pelosi issuing demands for certain aircraft and expressing outrage when requested military planes were not available. "It is my understanding there are no G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable...The speaker will want to know where the planes are..." wrote Kay King, Director of the House Office of Interparliamentary Affairs. In a separate email, when told a certain type of aircraft would not be available, King writes, "This is not good news, and we will have some very disappointed folks, as well as a very upset [s]peaker."

h/t: the CDR for both.

Mid Week Rock

In honor of 11 March (3/11), here's some from Omaha's own. (No embed, sorry.)

South Park Monday

Pretty sure I've showed at least one, if not both of these clips before, but in honor of the new season, here's the two of the better moments from Season 12, featuring Gerald and Randy doing what they do best: making complete asses out of themselves:

Post of the Year

Comes from the DEW Line and contains this video:



Yes, that is a (Bollywood themed) marketing video from Israeli arms manufacturer Rafael.

I'm speechless.

h/t: ELP

What the frak?

One of the cooler musical sequences on BSG...

Mid Week Rock

Let's just say that there's a personal reason for the choice of this song this particular week:



And in case you didn't get the message, let me hit you over the head with the lyrics:

Ask her to stay
Ignition turns, the engine burns to life
She drives away
Away into the night
Storm rolling in
The darkness descending and then
She picks up her poison bottle
Cloudy sky, cloudy mind, now she feels at home
She drinks away her pain
As she takes your life into her hands
Out on the road
The poison has begun to settle in
She's going home
But wishes she could disappear again
She starts to swerve
The white line means nothing to her
She picks up her poison bottle
Heavy head, heavy eyes, will she make it home?
She drinks away her pain
As she takes your life into her hands
Her memories remain
As she takes your life into her hands
Losing control
Bits and pieces scatter like small toys
She'll never know
The lives she has taken and destroyed
She looks around
At flames eating bodies on the ground
She sees her broken poison bottle
Pick it up, smash it down in a pool of blood
The cops came and they took her away in chains

...or not, as the case may be. But that's all I'm going to say about that in a public forum.

Humor of the Day

Comes from the letters section of the most recent issue of Air & Space. In the previous issue they had the first part of a series on the aircraft of Vietnam. It was on the Phantom. (This month's was on the Thud.) The following was anonymously sent in:

Low Flight

Oh, I have slipped through swirling clouds of dust,
A few feet from the dirt,
I've flown the F-4 low enough
To make my bottom hurt,
I've flown in the desert, hills, and valleys,
Mountains too,
Frolicked in the trees,
Where only flying squirrels flew.

Chased the frightened cows along,
Disturbed the ram and ewe,
And done a hundred other things
That you'd not care to do.
I've smacked the tiny sparrow,
Bluebird, robin, all the rest,
I've ingested baby eagles,
Simply sucked them from their nest.

I've streaked through total darkness,
Just the other guys and me,
And spent the night in terror of
Things I could not see.
I turned my eyes to heaven,
As I sweated through the flight,
Put out my hand and touched,
The Fire Warning Light.

-Poet unknown.

South Park Monday

A problem

How to tell you might have a problem: you own guns you still have not purchased ammunition for yet you just purchased 300 rounds of ammunition for a gun you have not yet purchased.