Staple this!

So it came to light recently that Staples is anti-gun. Well, I have a pretty easy solution for this (yes, pun intended), I’ll be anti-Staples. Wow, that was easy. On top of that I will let everyone I know who likes to responsibly consume alcohol or who owns a gun know their position and keep preaching the gospel until it has an impact. Will it change anything, probably not, but people tend to dislike posts on social media calling them out on issues.

I’m sure it started long ago, but a little Nebraska gunsmith business tried to enter a Staples contest to win a $50,000 marketing campaign. After they signed up they received the following email response from Staples.

We’re sorry, but your small business entry into the Staples PUSH It Forward Contest has been rejected* for the following reason(s):

Entry contains content that promotes alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing); promotes any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous; promotes any particular political agenda or message; is obscene or offensive; or endorses any form of hate or hate group.

Please visit the Staples PUSH It Forward Contest if you wish to submit a new entry for your small business.

So let me get this straight, Staples does not allow any business to enter the contest which deals with ALCOHOL or FIREARMS? Anyone who follows my blog would know they just lost me as a customer for life. What about all the mom and pop bottle shops? How about the local breweries, wineries and meaderies? I’m pretty sure none of those businesses who purchase supplies at Staples realize Staples does not and will not support their businesses. In fact Staples lumps alcohol and firearms in with illegal drugs, smooth move ex-lax.

Rolle Bolle

Last night I found Rolle Bolle on draft at a watering hole I frequent and hate to admit I was more than a little excited. I had seen a post on a forum, but had not taken the time to read the reviews so I was flying blind. I assumed this was some monster sour barleywine Belgian fermented with spit from Poseidon using yeast found at the base of Mount Olympus brewed by headhunters located somewhere in New Guinea. To put it mildly I was wrong. It’s just a pale ale with some fruit. In fact if I had not read there was fruit in it I would have thought those flavors came from the hops. The bitterness is good and substantial, but the beer severely lacks depth. It certainly was refreshing and was a tab bit above watery, but it was on the edge of being boring, in fact I yawned several times while downing the pint.

Would I have another at some point in the future when I was thirsty, yes. Would I go out and purchase a six-pack and rave about how wonderful it is to others, no. If you see it on draft at a reasonable price give it a whirl to see if it might be your cup of tea, for me it is just not interesting.

Makarov Ammo

Last year I did a post on the 9mm Ultra and determined you really want to steer clear of a pistol which chambers that round because of the rarity of the ammo. The Makarov pistol is a bit of an ugly beast, but has found fans along the way. What I would like to spend a little time on today is the ammunition.

Everyone knows the 9mm Luger which is actually a 9×19. I know we covered the .380 which is actually 9×17. The Makarov cartridge is 9×18 so it falls just between the two rounds as you can see in the photo below from G&A Handguns.

.380, 9mm Makarov, 9mm Luger

Finding Makarov ammo is not impossible, but you need to be diligent. I see it pop up on occasion and often someone grabbed a box and did not realize it wasn’t 9mm Luger. Only purchase this ammo if you have a firearm which will chamber the round, generally these will be military surplus arms. I’ll show the similarities in the ammo below so hopefully you will never pick up the incorrect ammo.

.380 ACP

9mm Makarov

9mm Luger

B & B

Last night as I was building a fire in the firepit I decided a B & B was in order. Yep, that’s right, a Buffalo Trace and Blenheim. I had been mixing in the small glass you see to the left in the photo below and decided after snapping this photo to grab a bigger glass with a handle to mix the drink. Turns out you need more bourbon that I generally mix with the cheap ginger ale. The drink was good, but a much stronger mix is required to stand up to the flavor in the Blenheim. Lesson learned!

I’ve admitted in the past I use far too much ginger in my mixes, but when I mix in the highball glass the mix is not as dilute as when I mix in the larger glassware. Most good bars give just a splash of ginger and I generally gravitate to two splashes or perhaps a bit more. When I mix with the cheap ginger ale my ratio is probably 1 part Bourbon to 2 parts Ginger. I need to step that up to 0.75:1 or 1:1 with the Blenheim when mixing in the larger glass and see how that fares. Maybe the next time I mix a highball I’ll measure to see what I like and then scale that up in the larger glass. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it! 😉

Memorial Day 2013

Never forget the reason for Memorial Day and all those who fought and died to give you the freedom you enjoy today in America! If you know a Veteran, tell them thank you for your service, if you are a Veteran, I thank you for your service.

Isn’t that illegal?

A local gun store was burglarized on May 11 and several firearms were stolen. Then they were hit again yesterday, but this time they caught the culprit red-handed. It was a 17-year-old high school student who had committed both crimes.

This is illegal in some many ways it isn’t even funny. He broke into a business and stole merchandise, but to make matters worse he was stealing firearms. I’m pretty sure that crosses into the Federal crime realm. Since he is 17 he could not legally posses a handgun so even more charges will likely be lumped onto his resume.

Maybe we should jot down the name Jvon Plas Sneed and see what type of sentence he receives. Plenty of laws were already on the books to stop this crime, now they just need to prosecute the offender to the full extent of the law to ensure this type of behavior does not happen again!

 

Trunk Lid Of A Police Car?

One of the first things you do when you become a homebrewer is mount and hide bottle openers everywhere you can. I believe my deck has one on every post. Our garage steps have a bottle opener. There is one stashed under a sink, in the nightstand, and who knows where else. I happened to spot a snazzy looking fridge mounted magnetic opener this morning and it seemed like a great idea for that man cave or bar fridge, but I don’t think I want a hunk of metal taking up space on the front of my kitchen fridge. It’s really like the old bottle openers on bottle coolers where you snag the top edge of the cap and push the bottle down. Nowhere do I see anyone in the photo with a hand under the opener to catch the cap.

You can use most anything to open a bottle cap. Using furniture or a table is not creative and shows you really should drink Bud, Miller, or Coors since you are not innovative enough to figure out how to open a bottle cap without damage. You can fold up a piece of paper and pop the top, I’ve used the bottom of an ironing board in a hotel room, I’ve taken part of a door frame apart and used the latch plate to open that pesky bottle. Probably the best one I ever heard of was the trunk lid of a police car, certainly not recommended and do not try that at home. 😉

Cowboy In Black

I grabbed a bottle of Lonerider Cowboy In Black sometime back and a few nights ago decided it was time for a Black IPA with some tacos. The beer was 7.5% and a 22 ounce bomber was about 10 beans. The beer was roasty and a had a nice malty backbone, but to me it pushed dangerously close to a robust porter. Of course had it not been declared a Black IPA on the label I would have been saying how nice the beer was, easy to drink with a great caramel character to counteract the hops and the roast. It’s a great beer, but when a 7.5% ABV beer rings in at the register for a Hamilton I start to scratch my head and ponder whether I’d cough up the coin again. At a six buck price point this would be a no brainer, at ten I might search for something a little less pricey. If you see it and it is in your budget, give it a whirl.

Color Fill

So lately I have been thinking about how to color fill a lower receiver. I’ve got plans in the back of my mind to build a zombie gun using a Spike’s Zombie lower and then potentially to have it engraved, but it seems to me as if it will be more interesting if I color fill the receiver. At one time Spike’s actually had it with a color fill and it looked something like this.

I have seen some variations and they use various color schemes. Here’s one in green.

I just don’t love either. The green is all filled in green and the one from Spike’s just doesn’t grab my eye. My lower actually has part of the crosshairs in the mouth of the beast. Like this photo, but they missed the correct crosshairs color as well.

I do like the white crosshairs and the “LIVE” marking in white. I also like the “DEAD” in red. I’m thinking of a greenish zombie as above, but the “UNDEAD” marking also in that same green. Here’s an example of that, but I don’t like the way the zombie was filled.
Here’s one which has the crosshairs filled in correctly, but the colors aren’t what I want.

I’ll have to do some soul-searching before I take the plunge with the paint. I may do a few mock ups just to see what I think since it will not be easy to change once the color is applied.

More like the mad hatter!

Recently it was brought to my attention that Magic Hat Brewing Company was suing a small start-up brewery in Kentucky named West Sixth Brewing Company for intentionally copying their logo. Actually not the Magic Hat logo, but the logo of #9 (can I even type that, or is it copyrighted?). They were seeking damages which included all profits. I’ve seen some who have said there are some similarities between the two logos, but I truthfully do not see it. Perhaps if I was three sheets into the wind and laying on my back with my head hanging down I might see it, but still I doubt it. One is a 6 and the other is a 9 and the fonts don’t line up at all, the colors are different and #9 (again can I type that without fear of lawsuit?) has that weird moth on the label, something I am sure we all want in our beer…bleech!

So West Sixth has started a petition of sorts to take to the parent company of Magic Hat. What’s that you say, parent company? Yepper, Magic Hat is no longer a Vermont weirdo brewery, they are now owned by North American Breweries out of New York which also owns the brands Dundee, Genesee, Genny Light, Honey Brown, Imperial, Labatt, Portland Brewing, and Pyramid. So here’s what I suggest we do. First go sign the West Sixth petition. Next you can post your displeasure on the Magic Hat Facebook Page. Then if you are so inclined you can let the CEO of North American Breweries Rich Lozyniak know how you feel about this frivolous lawsuit and that you will not be purchasing any additional NAB products until the suit is dropped and they apologize for their actions. If you cannot get any love from Rich, perhaps his sales team might take notice if you email the ones in your area.

I despise it when a large company tries to squash a little one using their resources. What they may forget is the power of the people. I may be one dude in one state, but it shouldn’t take long for the message to get out about what NAB is trying to do. Once their fan base starts to dwindle it will take years to get those customers back if they ever do.

I guess if they really want to make money off #9 they could try to sue The Beatles…