Not-politics – Page 1199

Consider the Majorette Twirling Baton.

This is a Sharp Baton Model #10 Twirling Baton:

Size ranges from 17 to 19 inches. It is constructed out of tempered steel, of a thickness of 3/8 of an inch – which means that it is light enough to be moved quickly, yet strong enough not to bend on impact against flesh. Note the white bulbs at the end, which will increase accuracy of blows without sacrificing too much in the way of impact trauma (less of a consideration on a purely crushing weapon than on one with a cutting edge). And, of course, it is center-balanced, which means that the momentum of the backswing after a strike will not be too ungainly. In short, while I’d rather have a Louisville Slugger M9 Series Maple Wood Baseball Bats – C271 – Natural in a sticky situation, this is not actually a bad club to have.

Which is my intro to saying, Don’t mug girls in marching band. Continue reading Consider the Majorette Twirling Baton.

Today’s obligatory “Duelling Zombies” post.

First off, we have Zombie Jamboree:

Rockapella

…via Tommy Christopher. Odd fact #1: I banned him from RedState once. Odd fact #2: I follow him on Twitter, and vice versa. Odd fact #3: this is, yes, kind of contradictory; but as they say, business is business. Besides, this isn’t a political post.

Anyway, in answer to that I have this.

Jonathan Coulton

Because, well, any excuse to play that one is a good one.

Moe Lane

PS: Watching people conga to Zombie Jamboree may not be the most surreal experience out there, but it’s definitely weird.

Introducing Movie of the Week.

Someone suggested that I start doing these, along with Book of the Week. I’ll probably update this one on Wednesdays.

Anyway, we’ll start off with Taken, which is coming out on DVD in a few weeks: as I noted at the time, it’s a pretty good samurai flick. With guns.

1/10th scale Saturn V rocket launched.

Very cool.

Rocket Record: The Largest, Heaviest Amateur Rocket Ever Launched

Steve Eves broke two world records Saturday, when his 1/10th scale model of the historic rocket—built in his garage near Akron, Ohio—lifted off from a field on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The 36-ft.-tall rocket was the largest amateur rocket ever launched and recovered successfully—and at 1648 pounds, also the heaviest. Eves’ single-stage behemoth was powered by nine motors—eight 13,000 Newton-second N-Class motors and a 77,000 Newton-second P-Class motor. (Five Newton-seconds is equivalent to about a pound of thrust.) All told, the array generated enough force to chuck a Volkswagen more than a half-mile—and sent the Saturn V more than 4440 feet straight up. It was arguably the most audacious display of raw power ever generated by an amateur rocket.

Via Wombat Rampant.

Crossposted to RedState.

Obligatory Ukelele post.

Have I done this one already?

Via Jonah Goldberg.

When we were in Hawaii last year, my wife (who accumulates musical instruments… somehow) came this close to acquiring a new ukulele to be lost with the rest of her luggage on the flight back. Those suckers are surprisingly expensive. As is just about everything else in Hawaii that isn’t a pineapple, of course, but I suspect that they’d have been expensive in Topeka, too.

My random musings on vampires.

So, Underworld. Not bad for what was effectively five bucks, but a surprising lack of skin for an R-rated vampire flick. The gun-fu wasn’t bad, but it just lacked that certain “let’s talk about your worrisome, yet darkly compelling, sexual hangups” that permeate our modern understanding of the genre. Not that I watch vampire films for that. At all. Ever. Not me, no how, no way.

Moving along: why don’t vampires ever snack on people that seem, you know, healthy? As in “my breakfast was more than three olives and a picture of a celery stalk” healthy. Either they’ve got this weird thing going about cholesterol, or the side effect of vampirism is apparently going down to three percent body fat and a perpetually sullen, yet stylish, expression. If the latter is true, that means (as has been noted elsewhere) the legions of the Undead are probably missing out on a great long-term financial opportunity.

Lastly: if I ever use Abraham Lincoln as a character in a roleplaying game, he is so totally going to look like this.

Moe Lane

PS: Hey, at least this way I didn’t have to watch the press conference. How many questions did he manage this time? Six?

(Crass commercialism alert) OK, the laptop replacement drive will be over Friday…

…for good or for ill; so we’ll end it on a capitalist note. Donate at least $20 bucks, get a sonnet (Elizabethan or Petrarchan, whatever). Just let me know the theme when you donate: nothing political unless I agree with you anyway.

I don’t claim to be another Gilbert Keith Chesterton or Randall Garrett, mind you – but some of my stuff is here and here
, and I flatter myself that I’m not bad at it.

But, hey, we’ll let the market decide that one. The cruel, blessed market.

Moe Lane