Airsoft Whiners: Part Deux

I've explained my hobby of Airsoft here before so I won't go into that much detail as to what it is.  Go back and read Airsoft Whiners the first for the details.   Here in Middle Tennessee, we have one brick and mortar airsoft store called "Nashville Airsoft".  You would think a retail store would want to promote the sport as being a safe one, but all these guys seem to want to do is have a "mine is bigger than yours" contest.  They run games of their own at the Bad Karma Field where I play, but they don't use the Bad Karma rules (a big part of why I will never attend one of their games).  The speed and power of an airsoft gun is rated in FPS; or Feet Per Second.  A standard assault rifle AEG (airsoft electric gun) usually shoots around 285 fps to 330 fps out of the box.  These guns of course can be upgraded to shoot a bit faster.  People, wrongly, believe that faster means farther.  True, a .20 gram plastic bb traveling at 350 fps goes a bit farther than a bb traveling at 285 fps, but it still loses kinetic energy when it gets to it's destination.  Kinetic energy is what makes the target feel the bb hitting them and what makes them raise their hand calling themselves hit.  What will make the bb travel farther is a tightbore barrel.  Also a longer barrel.  A tightbore barrel gives the bb more spin (think the rifling in a regular firearm) thus more sustainable kinetic energy.  The longer barrel means it is sustaining this energy in a controlled space where it is kept constant for a much longer time, therefore it travels further because it has more "umph".   The standard rules on the BK Field are like every other field I've played on.  400 fps for regular riflemen with no range limit, 500 for snipers with a 100 foot limit (trust me at 500 fps, at 100 feet it will feel like 400 but still hit you) and SAW's at 410 fps (their high rate of fire causes the piston to lose some fps) with a 25 foot range.  These are good, safe distances and speeds and all that one needs honestly.  It is well known that every time you start to upgrade a regular AEG higher than say 415, it increases the risk of you frying the motor, striping or freezing the gears, etc, etc.  Basically crap starts to go wrong more often.  The guys that run this store, NA, have a no FPS limit at their game days.  Their whole deal is to see just how high they can upgrade a gun.  I've heard reports of people being called whiners because they lost it at an NA game by being shot point blank in the back of the neck with a gun shooting 600 fps?!?!?!  I'd be pissed too.  That's like getting slapped in the back of the neck with a bullwhip.   One of the many reasons I won't attend one of the games they run.   If that ever happened to me, it would go from guns shooting plastic bb's to me pinning the guy to the ground pounding his face in.  It's unsafe and uncalled for and it disgusts me that this is a retail store who's lively hood depends on the sport.  Idiots.  Now they have been having these delusions of starting an "Airsoft League" where teams take on other teams for bragging rights I guess.  Sorry man, this ain't paintball.  Alot of former paintballers play airsoft because they like the whole mission based objective style of play.  Not team A on this side of the field and team B on that side, ready, set, come out shooting.  It's stupid, and you might as well just go play paintball if that's what you want to do.  They have been making asses out of themselves "calling out" other teams.  The good teams: Bad Karma, OpForce and my own team The Order have ignored them.  We don't like that crap, and frankly we have nothing to prove.  It's a damn hobby.  We are out running around with realistic bb guns playing "army" for Christsake!!!!! 

Need to get HBO....or at least save up for the Box Sets.

Just announced to day on my favorite author's own webpage.....George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Fire and Ice"  books are being developed by HBO into a cable series.  Martin plans to write 7 novels in this series, and is currently working on the 5th.  So far we have "A Game of Thrones" "A Clash of Kings" "A Storm of Swords" and "A Feast for Crows" published and out in paperback.  He is currently working on "A Dance With Dragons".  I have talked about this particular author in the past (Cathy gets a bit bored with me when I do....since I have numerous times bent her ear over how great of an author I think he is).  According to the article in Variety, each 1,000 page novel will be filmed as an entire season of the show.  Martin's take on things (and I agree) is that his books are too complex to make into a single 2 + hour long movie for each one.  Characters and storylines would have to get cut or combined and it would lose something.  The way he writes his novels is episodic to begin with.  Each chapter is titled with the name of the character who it is about.  He will also be involved which is good because he won't let them screw it up.  Martin's credits included writing for the late 80's CBS version of "The Twilight Zone" and eventually co-producing it.  He knows television.  HBO has a history of taking it's time with series and making them worth waiting for.  Take "The Sopranos" for example.  One of the best Dramas on TV; period.  "Rome" is another as well as "Deadwood".  Both critically acclaimed and high rated TV Dramas.  HBO is a perfect venue as well because the novels are essentially "R" rated and the tone of them won't be lost.  For those that don't know Martin's works, he is (in my opinion) one of the bravest and truest authors out there.  "A Song of Fire and Ice" is set in a medieval world (think Lord of the Rings).  Instead of the definite good and bad presented in LOTR, we've got lot's of grey in Martin's world.   Action, political intrigue, wizardry, dragons, Knights, Kings, etc.  When I say "true" I mean he presents a real world view of the term "Heavy is the head that wears the crown".  When I say "brave" I'm referring to the fact that this man kills off characters right and left; or at the least has horrible things befall them.  His "heroes" die because they've tried to do the right thing but told the wrong person.  I think of it this way.  If every Bond villain would have just had Bond kneel before them then shot him in the back of the head; the movie would be over in the first half hour.  This is what Martin does.  His villains take captives and off them; simple.  They don't give grand speeches while the hero is strapped to a table.  Nope it's off with his head and it's done or throw him off the battlements.......he will anger you as a reader because just as you are starting to like a character; something has to happen to him/her.  Great reading that sucks you in from page 1 and I think the series will be that way too.  Suck you in from episode 1. 

Brian and Chrissy's new Venture.

My good friend Brian and his Wife Christina have always wanted a side business.  They have finally come up with a great idea.  She has been a photographer for a lot of years, professionally I might add, and is quite skilled at shooting weddings.  Brian decided to join the Universal Life Church (be a Reverend for 15 bucks....) and can now legally officiate a wedding ceremony.  They decided to combine these two things and start a business called "Sealed With a Kiss".  They offer wedding photography and officiating in one package.  Pretty cool.  Check out the link to their site in the Links section.

List from Cathy's Blog

I will highlight the one's I've done in blue.

 

How many have you done? Feel free to cut/paste onto your blog. Don’t forget to post a link so I can look at your list too.

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with wild dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said “I love you’ and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (and survived the crush afterwards)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (And I''m still married to her)
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (or…raising children)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (cumulatively, if you count pregnancy! lol!)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes … yum!
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

How NOT to Run a Business

My wonderful Wife and I have had this discussion a time or two. We both have hobbies which have grown into "cottage industries" (think Beanie Babies and all the stores that opened up just to sell them awhile back). For me it's Airsoft and for Her it's Scrapbooking. Scrapbooks, for those that don't know, aren't what they used to be. It used to be you got a photo album and put clippings, pictures, etc in it so you could look back on it. Now a days they are more involved. You make pages with buttons, badges, bits and bobs, etc....oh and a picture too. In simple terms they are "fancy" photo albums. In the hands of creative folks like my Wife, they are works of art. Airsoft, for those that don't know, are 1:1 scale replicas of real steel firearms that shoot plastic 6mm BBs. We dress in military BDU(battle dress uniform, think basic Base fatigues) and run around wearing eye protection basically playing "Army" (like we did when we were young). Both hobbies have spawned numerous online and brick and mortar stores where folks are hoping to cash in on the trend. In the case of Airsoft, I have seen the demise of a number of brick and mortar stores. One in particular "GunKulture" in Millbrae California. When this store was run by the original owner Joe, it was a great store. You could go in, pick up and handle all models of guns and see what you liked. Joe was a great guy who was honest and helpful. He decided to get a "real" job after he realized that where his store was, he wasn't getting alot of business (he was also competing with Airsoft Extreme in San Jose which had a bigger customer base, and was in the area of the World where the games were usually played.) so he sold the store to his custom gun designer, Elias. This man could make some of the most awesome custom guns ever; but he couldn't run a store. When he was supposed to open the store at 11 am, he wouldn't get there until 1 pm. He didn't restock the shelves enough, etc etc..... He's out of business and has been for awhile. How NOT to run a business. Scrapbooking has the same problems. This one store in Hermitage, TN has just announced it was going out of business. If you have been to the store you aren't surprised by this news. The store was never packed, and they have a big store front. The stuff on the shelves was ancient and out of date, but they never had a clearance sale to get rid of it. If anything new came in, it was very few items and not a huge selection. No wonder you are out of business!!!!! People who go into these "cottage industry" businesses don't know the first thing about inventory control. First in, First out. In other words, your oldest inventory should be gone before your newest. Things depreciate. Why do you think Car Lots have "year end clearance" sales??? The '06's are depreciated now. The longer they have sat on the lot, the less they are worth. Therefore, discount the heck out of them and give them away. Look at Target and Joann's and other stores like that. If it doesn't sell at Target in 6 months....it's in the Clearance aisle. The scrapbook industry is like that. New items come out; make a splash, then fade away. If these are on the shelves of your store and they aren't selling immediately, then they need to be clearanced so you can at least break even on the items. The longer old inventory sits unsold on a shelf, the more it depreciates. It cost you 5 bucks to buy it. You sell it for say 10. Most items depreciate .50 to a dollar every month. In six months those items aren't worth the 5 bucks you paid for them any more. GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles, the governing body for Accountants everywhere) has lists of recommended depreciations schedules for most industries. It's funny how people don't know this. Take a simple accounting class and learn about Assests and Liabilities. Inventory is an Asset and a Liability. It's an asset in the fact that it generates potential revenue (ie Cash). It becomes a liability when it just sits and you don't recognize the revenue from the sale of it. Most retail establishments are modeled on the premise that the store buys goods from a manufacturer at a certain price, marks them up and resells them at a profit. Simple. Not really. Take a business class and an accounting class, or read some books before you get into business. You will run a better business if you do.

Happy New Year

I made it until exactly midnight, then it was bedtime for me. Cathy went to bed alot earlier. We have both been getting over colds, and she had to work two days of retail in a row......the boring stuff....usually she works in the stock room which makes the day go quick. Out here in Tennessee, people still don't get the whole don't drink and drive thing. I guess it's because they don't make the penalties as stiff as back home in California. In California, when all is said and done, a DUI will cost you 10,000. That includes fines, rehab (yes they make you go to rehab), classes, court costs, lawyer fees, etc. Then after you are done, you drive on a restricted licensce for a good while. Out here, some idiot teenage girl (19) t-boned a cop car while under the influence.......thank God everyone is okay, but it's just Karma biting this idiot in the ass. Anyway, all in all New Years Eve was uneventful. Here's hoping all my friends and family have a great 2007.

More Movie Reviews

So we finally watched "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Miami Vice". "Little Miss Sunshine" was like I predicted good odd. A quirky little movie about a dysfunctional family who come together in the end in their own true to form way. The little girl in it is adorable and her routine taught to her by her grumpy, hippy, coke snorting Grandpa is hysterical. "Miami Vice": SUCKS!!!! I should have known better, but I figured it was written and directed by Michael Mann the guy that created and directed the original series so it shouldn't be horrible??? Right???? Now I know why Colin Ferrel doesn't get too many jobs anymore; he can't act to save his life. His portrayal of Sonny Crockett just pissed me off. He muddled through his lines, half the time there was no emotion......he sucked. Jaime Foxx was good as Tubbs, but the direction wasn't there. Mann tried to make the plot twisty and unique, but it just became too complicated and too over twisted and implausible for it's own good. The tone and pacing of the movie was like sleep walking. I also rented "Clerks II" and "Ultimate Avengers II". "Ultimate Avengers II" is the second in a line of animated films by Marvel Comics. I stopped collecting comics near the end of the 90's (the era that will go down in history as the decaded that almost killed comics...even Stan Lee admits this....and takes part of the blame) so I missed the whole Marvel Ultimates stuff. Apparently they went back and updated a bunch of Origin stories and backgrounds of some of the most well known Marvel Characters. UAII was good. The animation was great and the storyline was good too. Not your Father's comics that's for sure. "Clerks II": what else can be said. It was as funny as anything Kevin Smith has done before. It was great to see that Dante and Randel haven't changed in 10 years....they just work at Mooby's now. Some funny crap.