from over Marko's way comes this "Travel" Meme
Five really interesting/beautiful foreign places I’ve visited:
i'm limiting it to cities
* Prague
* Jerusalem
* Budapest
* Munich
* Freiburg im Breisgau
Five countries that are high up on my List of Places I Want To See:
* New Zealand
* Brazil
* Morocco
* Peru
* Thailand
If I could speak one more language fluently, I’d like to be able to speak:
* German (as i already know some)
If I had to trade my citizenship for another one, I’d most likely move to:
* The USA (you guys get to play with more guns than we do :) )
What about you???
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Fun with my Girls
My eldest (7) has a halloween party at Guides on Monday night, and they can bring "scary" food if they want.
So today the girls and I made some eyeballs in jelly for the occassion ....
Here they are putting some blood shot marks using food colouring on the eyes:
And here is the finished product ....
There's some snakes crawling around in there too ...
Not sure that the rainbow jelly makes it scary but it looks fun ....
I'll post a photo of the girls in their costumes after the party.
So today the girls and I made some eyeballs in jelly for the occassion ....
Here they are putting some blood shot marks using food colouring on the eyes:
And here is the finished product ....
There's some snakes crawling around in there too ...
Not sure that the rainbow jelly makes it scary but it looks fun ....
I'll post a photo of the girls in their costumes after the party.
Weird & Wacky Research: Counting to four is as easy as a bee sees
i read this research which reportedly shows that bees can count to four.
RESEARCHERS have discovered that honey bees can count to four.
A researcher from the University of Queensland put five markers inside a tunnel and placed nectar in one of them, the ABC reports.
Honey bees placed in the tunnel flew to the marker with the food, and would still fly to the same marker stripe when the food was removed.
"We find that if you train them to the third stripe, they will look subsequently in the third stripe," researcher Mandyam Srinivasan said.
"If you train them to the fourth stripe, they will look in the fourth stripe and so on. But their ability to count seems to go only up to four. They can't count beyond four.
"The more we look at these creatures that have a brain the size of a sesame seed, the more astonished we are. They really have a lot of the capacities that we so-called higher human beings possess.
The research was carried out with Swedish researcher Marie Dacke.
And i don't get it ... on a number of different levels.
Firstly, what is the actual purpose of the research?
And, how does training them (using food, standard Pavlov approach) to fly to a certain number of strips show that they can count?
Maybe they decided that "four stripes" is far enough to fly to find food .. not that they can't count to five.
RESEARCHERS have discovered that honey bees can count to four.
A researcher from the University of Queensland put five markers inside a tunnel and placed nectar in one of them, the ABC reports.
Honey bees placed in the tunnel flew to the marker with the food, and would still fly to the same marker stripe when the food was removed.
"We find that if you train them to the third stripe, they will look subsequently in the third stripe," researcher Mandyam Srinivasan said.
"If you train them to the fourth stripe, they will look in the fourth stripe and so on. But their ability to count seems to go only up to four. They can't count beyond four.
"The more we look at these creatures that have a brain the size of a sesame seed, the more astonished we are. They really have a lot of the capacities that we so-called higher human beings possess.
The research was carried out with Swedish researcher Marie Dacke.
And i don't get it ... on a number of different levels.
Firstly, what is the actual purpose of the research?
And, how does training them (using food, standard Pavlov approach) to fly to a certain number of strips show that they can count?
Maybe they decided that "four stripes" is far enough to fly to find food .. not that they can't count to five.
Friday, October 24, 2008
QUOTE OF THE DAY
By way of Marko - The Munchkin Wrangler ....
Parenting–it’s not just a job, it’s secure employment for the people at your local liquor store.
**hehehe**
Parenting–it’s not just a job, it’s secure employment for the people at your local liquor store.
**hehehe**
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
My Range
Saw this idea over at “The Real Gun Guys” and thought you might like a look at where I shoot (Orange Grove Shooting Association, Western Australia).
As you can see we have two range areas – the upper one (right hand side of picture) is used mainly for rifles, shotguns, metallic silhouette. The lower one is where I shoot IPSC (ICOR and other pistol/revolver shoots take place there too).
The lower range area is divided into 8 ranges, of which we generally only use 5 or 6.
The club house is the greenish building between the two areas. The white building in the lower range area is just an open shed.
For those interested, the area used to be a quarry and therefore surrounded by VERY HIGH rock walls. I will take some pictures of this when I’m next up there.
As you can see we have two range areas – the upper one (right hand side of picture) is used mainly for rifles, shotguns, metallic silhouette. The lower one is where I shoot IPSC (ICOR and other pistol/revolver shoots take place there too).
The lower range area is divided into 8 ranges, of which we generally only use 5 or 6.
The club house is the greenish building between the two areas. The white building in the lower range area is just an open shed.
For those interested, the area used to be a quarry and therefore surrounded by VERY HIGH rock walls. I will take some pictures of this when I’m next up there.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Today's Range Report #4
Good day shooting today ... hot (around 30degC) and long - 6 stages around 120/130 rounds (didn't count) and I think our squad had 8 people in it. There were 4 squads today, so quite a lot of people shooting.
Again I experienced a few stovepipes - but I'm convinced these are caused by me not holding the gun firmly enough, because after I started to focus on holding the gun properly the stovepipes stopped. My friend was in the squad and he was really helpful in letting me know what I was doing right & wrong. He had a bit of a go at me for not actually grounding my feet properly when shooting, so I guess that's the next thing I need to work on.
I did okay - slow again, but pretty accurate. I was particularly pleased with one stage (16 targets, 32 rounds), of which 31 were in the "A" zone. The other was a "miss" and I did spot that I had missed it, but decided not to back it up (not sure WHY I made that decision).
There was a "freestyle", then "strong hand", then "weak hand" shoot again. I did really well with the "strong hand" section. Not so good with the "weak hand" bit (but did get the shots on the target) ... guess I need to practice that too.
So in summary, I didn't hit any no-shoots, I didn't get disqualified and I only had a couple of misses ... all in all a good day. All of the others in the squad were v.good shooters but they didn't seem to mind me slowing them down.
Things I Learnt Today:
1) Hold the gun FIRMLY
2) Ground my feet properly
3) When doing a "gun unloaded with mags on table" type shoot, focus on the gun rather than the targets to start with
4) Back up a missed shot unless it means that you need an extra reload
5) Take more water on hot days :)
Again I experienced a few stovepipes - but I'm convinced these are caused by me not holding the gun firmly enough, because after I started to focus on holding the gun properly the stovepipes stopped. My friend was in the squad and he was really helpful in letting me know what I was doing right & wrong. He had a bit of a go at me for not actually grounding my feet properly when shooting, so I guess that's the next thing I need to work on.
I did okay - slow again, but pretty accurate. I was particularly pleased with one stage (16 targets, 32 rounds), of which 31 were in the "A" zone. The other was a "miss" and I did spot that I had missed it, but decided not to back it up (not sure WHY I made that decision).
There was a "freestyle", then "strong hand", then "weak hand" shoot again. I did really well with the "strong hand" section. Not so good with the "weak hand" bit (but did get the shots on the target) ... guess I need to practice that too.
So in summary, I didn't hit any no-shoots, I didn't get disqualified and I only had a couple of misses ... all in all a good day. All of the others in the squad were v.good shooters but they didn't seem to mind me slowing them down.
Things I Learnt Today:
1) Hold the gun FIRMLY
2) Ground my feet properly
3) When doing a "gun unloaded with mags on table" type shoot, focus on the gun rather than the targets to start with
4) Back up a missed shot unless it means that you need an extra reload
5) Take more water on hot days :)
Friday, October 17, 2008
Why do I shoot?
Roberta X asked the following:
How about you? Why do you shoot? Why do you carry, if you carry at all?
Why do I shoot?
Living in Australia the official answer has to be because I enjoy competing in IPSC. And while that statement is totally true I also shoot for other reasons.
I took up pistol shooting when working in a very, very, very stressful job. Aiming the pistol at the target, thinking of the myriad of things you need to think about when you first start shooting I found for the first time during this particular employment period I forgot about work. It became truly an escape from the stress of the job.
Even now, I am still at the stage where I can’t think about anything else when I’m shooting. Nothing else matters only getting the bullet on the target as quick (and as safely) as possible.
I also shoot as, even though self-defence is not a valid reason for owning a firearm in Australia, I would like to have the necessary skills and ability to defend my family and myself.
I have never been hunting and I’m not sure I would enjoy it. Maybe .. maybe not. I have nothing against animals being killed for a) food or b) because they are causing damage to food crops. I’m not interested in just killing things for fun. And I guess that if I am willing to eat meat then I should be willing to kill it to eat. So yes, I guess I would go hunting if the opportunity came up.
Why do you carry, if you carry at all?
I don’t carry. It is illegal here.
Would I carry if it was legal? Yes, most definitely.
Why? Simple answer is “a cop is too heavy”. Seriously though, I would carry mainly because I do not want to be a victim. I believe that defence of self and family is my responsibility alongside my partner (of course, and yes, he shoots too).
I would carry hoping that I would never have to draw the gun on another human being, but I would be willing to draw the gun and shoot if it meant not being a victim to anyone's ill intent.
What about you?
Why do/don't you shoot? Why do you carry, if you carry at all?
How about you? Why do you shoot? Why do you carry, if you carry at all?
Why do I shoot?
Living in Australia the official answer has to be because I enjoy competing in IPSC. And while that statement is totally true I also shoot for other reasons.
I took up pistol shooting when working in a very, very, very stressful job. Aiming the pistol at the target, thinking of the myriad of things you need to think about when you first start shooting I found for the first time during this particular employment period I forgot about work. It became truly an escape from the stress of the job.
Even now, I am still at the stage where I can’t think about anything else when I’m shooting. Nothing else matters only getting the bullet on the target as quick (and as safely) as possible.
I also shoot as, even though self-defence is not a valid reason for owning a firearm in Australia, I would like to have the necessary skills and ability to defend my family and myself.
I have never been hunting and I’m not sure I would enjoy it. Maybe .. maybe not. I have nothing against animals being killed for a) food or b) because they are causing damage to food crops. I’m not interested in just killing things for fun. And I guess that if I am willing to eat meat then I should be willing to kill it to eat. So yes, I guess I would go hunting if the opportunity came up.
Why do you carry, if you carry at all?
I don’t carry. It is illegal here.
Would I carry if it was legal? Yes, most definitely.
Why? Simple answer is “a cop is too heavy”. Seriously though, I would carry mainly because I do not want to be a victim. I believe that defence of self and family is my responsibility alongside my partner (of course, and yes, he shoots too).
I would carry hoping that I would never have to draw the gun on another human being, but I would be willing to draw the gun and shoot if it meant not being a victim to anyone's ill intent.
What about you?
Why do/don't you shoot? Why do you carry, if you carry at all?
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