Brandodojo

Apple Juice For Half Price

2009-12-11T17:38:00.002-06:00

It's time for your internet meme update. I guess some folks thought it was a good idea to take my beloved star trek and dub voices over it based on the observed lip movements.

I can't get enough of it.

Expect me to sling around these phrases in public for the next two months. It'll be worse than when Ron Burgandy came out.

Sometimes you get social commentary. And other times you get "Truth 'bout the apple juice is it makes me sick."

Take it or leave it.

Avatar

2009-12-10T22:50:00.004-06:00

I haven’t yet seen the movie, so perhaps I’m wrong in my assessment, but I think it should be called Gone Native.

When I first started watching the trailer, I thought “ooooh cool, walkers and starships”. It looks slick with its nearly seamless CGI. Sort of a Halo in Ferngully. Signorey Weaver? Awesome. Michelle Rodriguez wearing aviator glasses and… Let’s just say it. She’s pretty much the pilot from Aliens saying “In the pipe; 5 by 5.” I know I’m not the first one to recognize that.

Then I started to notice some ham handed Hollywood stereotypes. A crippled veteran who is good at heart, but is a victim of the system. Giovanni Ribisi saying that it’s nothing but a resource war. (Oil or Crystal or something) And our hero becomes disgruntled and chooses to switch sides and kill his own side. (Fort Hood?) It’s a common Hollywood theme. Remember, that I’m predicting all of this from that short trailer. If I’m wrong, you’ll know it. And if I’m right, you’ll know it too.
They could have called it Dances with Wolves or The Last Samurai or Piss On The Military.

From the trailer, I can see that some sort of native, female love interest is involved. Just like Tom Cruise fell in love with whatserface and turned. Just like Kevin Costner fell in love with Madam Rosalyn and turned.

I’ve noticed that Hollywood really likes to portray non-western cultures as mystical and ultra-wise. It’s slightly offensive, because if you’ve traveled much at all, especially to a third world country, you’d quickly see that this concept of ancient cultural wisdom is a bunch of fiction. I’ll be watching for the wise-old-man of the blue people character. Some type of Ken Wannabe or Dances-With-Blue-Feets.

Also, our hero won’t simply turn against his own people simply for some blue poontang, although that will be part of it. I bet the members of the military will commit some sort of hyper-crass, ignorant, or sadistic behavior that will establish to the audience that they are the true villains, which will serve as a trigger that validates our hero’s treachery. I don’t think they’ll quite invoke rape, although many love that stereotype of servicemen, but I remember that scene in Dances With Wolves where the Cavalryman was evilly chuckling while literally (yes literally) wiping his ass with Kevin Costner’s journal. It’ll be something like that.

Also expect some sort of slang for the enemy, that the audience members will be uncomfortable with. Charlie, Jerry, Hodjis, Japs, Toasters, etc. I don’t know what this word will be, but watch for it. Bluey? Who knows. I’d be really shocked if the writers started the word with the letter ‘N’ though.

At any rate, the general feel will be that the Military are a bunch of ignorant, clumsy, wasteful, cowards; while the blue natives are mystical, wise, fierce, intrinsically good, and morally correct. The blue people will be much better warriors, in spite of their seemingly inferior technology. In the trailer, I think I saw a lizard take down a walker.

In order to follow the template, at the end, the bad guys (humans) will wipe out the village/hive/whatever. And at the moment they do it, they feel horrible, knowing that because of their ignorance, something majestic and noble as been erased from the universe.

At that moment someone will realize that the Military is intrinsically evil, but they can be better if they just stop using SUVs, or Mecha-walkers, or embrace nature, or something. Like at the end of The Last Samuri, where the modern Japenese troops hang their heads in shame and reverence. That was pretty darn eye-roll inducing.

I’ll probably still watch it, but we know that the message is more than Halo Meets Ferngully, or Dances with SMURFS. I know the movie will be very pretty, but c’mon; the message will be obvious, unsubtle and insulting. Let’s not pretend that we don’t understand the premise that they’re bludgeoning us over the heads with.

--------------

Update: I just read a review of it, and yes, it was intended as an Anti-War movie. Specificly the Iraq war. Hmmm. Rendition, Lions for Lambs, Charlie Wilson's War, Stop-Loss, Redacted, Casulaties of War, Season 3 of Battlestar Galactcia, Valley of Elijah, Generation Kill, 3 Kings, Born of the Fouth of July, Thin Red Line, Wag The Dog, Lord of War, Fahrenheit 9/11, Syriana, War Inc, etc. And now apparently, Avatar. I get a kick out of it when some civilian uses some hard left bit of propaganda as a weapon to lecture me on what it's like in Iraq. And when I say "get a kick out of", I mean "get disappointed at the arrogant stupidity of libs". That'd be like rudly lectureing a black man on what it's like to be black, armed with VHS of Boyz In The Hood.

James Cameron said this about Avatar:

“We went down a path that cost several hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. I don’t think the American people even know why it was done. So it’s all about opening your eyes.”

You hear that? He wants to open your eyes. His theme is that Americans are the real terrorists. And Jihadists are just teaching us a lesson that we sorely deserve. Chickens come home to roost, etc.

“We know what it feels like to launch the missiles. We don’t know what it feels like for them to land on our home soil, not in America. I think there’s a moral responsibility to understand that."

Wow.

Ya like that? James Cameron, a Canadian, says that Americans need to learn what it feels like to have missiles land on our home soil. You know...to open your eyes.

Typical positive review

The Deer Hunter

2009-12-08T20:29:00.003-06:00

This weekend Big D and I went deer hunting out in the King's Woods. Believe it or not, it was my first time. I took my hunter safety course (even though I was in the USMC infantry), got my orange hat, orange vest, orange mitten/gloves, my habitat stamp, my hunting license, and my any-sex deer tag.

I also got some of those hand warmers, and about 20 12-gauge slugs, because for some reason, in the back of my mind I thought that I might need that many. Like it was going to be a protracted firefight and I might have to lay down suppressive fire. I also bought one of those monopod aiming sticks.

The night before the great hunt Mama-san made us some hearty potato stew. She also got up with us before dawn to brew coffee and see us off. I was pretty vocal that I wanted to get a buck in the 12-20 point range, and that I wasn't going to fire at a lowly doe. All were skeptical.

We headed into the timber at about dawn, and Big D set me into my position, and told me my sectors of fire. Right away we saw 2 deer bouncing through the woods at a distance, but they heard us and we're fleeing the rightful predators. He gave me a few quick tips to help me minimize noise and movement, and headed to his position.

Within a half hour a small doe came nosing around to my 9, then to my 7 o'clock. I wasn't going to shoot her, but I stayed super still to test my predator skills and used my peripheral vision. She was about 10 yards away and would pretend to eat weeds, then would look up real fast. Or she would stomp the ground to try to get me to move. We played that game for about 5 minutes, and I must have moved or blinked or something because she realized something was wrong and bounded off.

Then later that morning, I saw movement of something larger in the trees. There were a couple of 6 point bucks walking about 50 yards away. I saw them, but they didn't know I was there. When I saw the horns, I knew it was showtime. Although a 6 pt is considered young and small, it might as well have been a 9-foot-at-the-shoulder, white stag; for how exited I was.

When they passed behind a pine, I brought my weapon up, and moved a bit to a braced shooting position. The first one trotted through a clear shooting lane rather quickly, but I probably could have made the shot. Then the second buck lazily strolled from behind the big pine tree, and almost as though he were presenting himself to me, he stopped.

50 yards away. Sideways. Stopped.

It couldn't get any more delicious than that. I was hearing the OC shooting song in my head. (Deer Sister?) In the span of about 1 second, I imagined where I would put the head mount, and how great the venison stew would taste, and how I would pose for the picture. I pressed the trigger...

... and missed.

And I don't mean that I missed the vitals. I missed the whole darn deer. Either that or it was a magic buck.

Plinking

2009-12-03T22:28:00.004-06:00

Plinking is pretty fun. You take your 22, and head out to your local rifle range to put some lead on target. There's a dude that I meet up with to go shoot. It was only his second time shooting, and he pretty much has the "sight alignment, sight picture, breath control, squeeeeeeze" thing figured out.

This is at 25 yards, with an open sight 22, 1 inch bull, with 1/2 inch rings. You can set your elbows down on a bench, but the rifle has to be completely unsupported.

Not too shabs.

Rabble

2009-12-02T08:38:00.002-06:00

Chris Matthews believes that West Point is the "Enemy Camp". And that Obama went there to "Rabble-Rouse". Yeah, right. Rouse up the ignorant, wild-eyed rabble. Of West Point.

Rabble.

1 : a disorganized or confused collection of things
2 a : a disorganized or disorderly crowd of people : mob b : the lowest class of people

I personally consider an Al-Queida camp as an Enemy Camp.

H/t Ace.

From Where

2009-11-29T21:56:00.002-06:00

Remember that movie The Messenger, about Jean D’Arc staring Milla Jovovich? Moif, mentioned it on his blog and it got me thinking about a social concept that I’ve noticed.

Back when that movie came out, French people got bent out of shape because Jean was played by a Ukrainian, instead of a Frencher.

As Americans, maybe because of the melting pot, we don’t really equate national pride with race; therefore we find it petty and amusing when people do.
I’m not sure if citizens of other countries get racist about which actors are in movies about their historical figures.
Did Scottish people get mad that William Wallace was played by an Australian? Or did the Greeks fly off the handle that King Leonidas was played by a Scotsman? Were Iranians upset that Xerxes was played by a Brazilian? Actually, I think the Iranians were.

At any rate, I don’t think that there’s any requirement for the actors to have the exact background that they’re portraying, because it’s make believe.
I have a good idea for a movie. It will be about Kim Il Sung, and will star Ken Watanabe. They probably won’t notice, and if they do, it’ll be hilarious.
Who could forget Steven Seagal’s “hit movie”, On Deadly Ground, co-staring Chinese actress Joan Chen as an Eskimo.

Maybe I'm being too hard on 'em. I suppose I would feel the same way if there was a film documenting Chesty Puller's life, starring Gerard Depardieu or Mr. Bean.

3 Wolves Again

2009-11-25T21:57:00.002-06:00

I'm totally wearing my 3 wolves for Thanksgiving. Nobody will get it but my wife, but that makes it even funnier. Tripple Irony!

Email

2009-11-24T22:01:00.002-06:00

This is an actual email from an actual person.

Subject: Raven Simone wants some hydroxicut

Rachal Ray,

I would like to invite you over for a real nice dinner of RIBS. We don't serve ribs. I heard the rip when you sat down, big dipper. na-na-nana. na-na-nana.

Your good friend,
Tisha Campbell

How to act

2009-11-18T20:40:00.001-06:00

Water on the Moon

2009-11-15T18:50:00.002-06:00

Awesome, awesome, three times awesome.

Last month NASA crashed a 2 ton rocket and an satalite into the moon, hoping to kick up evidence of water. Cause that would be awesome. If we're going to have an outpost on the moon, we need water. And water is really heavy, so it's tough to boost it up there.

On Friday, NASA announced that they kicked up a "signifigant amount" of water.

RAH would be loving this, if he were still alive.

Apperently, not everyone is so thrilled with this bit of awesomeness. I guess some people are mad, because that thought it was an act of war against the life forms there, or the werewolfs, or something. There was a petition saying such.

The excuse given is that this is an effort to find water deep under lunar surface. But it also serves as a live-fire test exercise for US war strategists with an interest in the precision of orbiting satellite weapons... in other words, the southern hemisphere of the Moon will be turned into a firing range, making this mission one giant leap for the global reach of space warfare.

...

What can we as surrealists or lunatics or astrologers or naturalists or anarcho-primitivists or Greens or werewolves or pagans or psychics or UFO groupies or other concerned members of the general public do?
We must soothe the Moon, we bandage her. We implore other celestial bodies and entities to aid her. We will not let her endure this crime or its grim aftermath alone.

We need to communicate to the Moon. Talk to her in our dreams, trances, or meditations, and prepare her for this shock and wound as best we can. Hold her, send out imaginative protection to her, and put our dream bodies out there in front of the bomb. Collectively, we can sabotage the bombing or by imagining all manner of things going wrong, or encouraging the Moon to increase her own magnetic shields. Sing to her. Give her back just a tiny portion of all that she has done for us. We are all created from Moon dust.

Wowsers.

Doublewide IPA

2009-11-13T17:29:00.003-06:00

Boulevard Smokestack Series Doublewide IPA.

I've been drinking it for a while now, and my taste for it hasn't waned. It's very good. Go buy some and drink it. It's good for you. The Quad is pretty great too.

Awesome.

Heartbreaking Post #231

2009-11-12T22:24:00.002-06:00

When I was a little kid, I liked the standard cartoons. GI Joe. He-Man. Thundercats. Transformers.

And I liked some lesser known shows. Dungeons & Dragons, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Gummy Bears (Don't make fun, that was a good show), Thundar, etc.

Well, for Christmas one year, Lil' Brando wanted Megatron. I didn't ask for other stuff, cause I didn't want to dilute my gift getting power.

On Christmas morning, I got a couple of gifts like ice scrapers, and mittens, and such. But in my stocking was something special. And when I unwrapped it, I discovered that it was a......

Wait for it.....

A Go-Bot.

Hey folks, if you don't know the difference between your run of the mill, $1.95, no-name Go-bot, and Megatron, the leader of the Deceptacons, who transforms into a damn gun.....well....you better axe somebody. Cause they're not the same thing. I actually believe that in that situation, it was unintentional. My mom was trying to knock out rent, not learn about Megatron.

At least my uncle bought me Hound, and the following year, I got Blitzkreig, the tripplechanger.

Sort of a sad story? Ok, not really. I know that I'm blessed and had it pretty good.

If you wanna be sad, check out this mean Christmas prank. These parents get their kid an X-Box 360 box filled with sweaters and crap, so the kid thinks he's getting an X-Box. They did it intentionally. As a prank.

It's a little hard to watch, because it's Christmas afterall, and that's not how it's supposed to work. Don't do that. Christmas is really sacred to kids, and kids are cool.

Guess what. Kids remember shit. 25 years from now, when Jr. doesn't want to visit you, don't ask why.

That's very good

2009-11-08T22:47:00.001-06:00

You'd have to have a pretty hard heart not to get something in your eye when you watch this.

It's nice. It'll make your day a little bit better.

Fort Hood

2009-11-05T18:05:00.006-06:00

I'm sure by now you've read about the massacre at Fort Hood. As of right now it's 12 dead, 31 wounded. I immediately went to the Liberal websites Democratic Underground, and DailyKOS to get a feel for what real modern Liberals had to say about it.

They're loving it.

It's very consistent with what Liberals have said to me, and the mirth they've expressed at servicemen being murdered. Remember how much they high-fived when Sgt. Akbar (muslim convert) rolled grenades into officers tents in 2003 killing two?

Remember how funny Libs (Tony,Chad) thought it was when an Airman was shot at his house by a moonbat?

Or the Libs I've personally heard talk about murdering a recruiter? (Fatherhead, Travis). And the general happiness after Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad (muslim convert) killed a recruiter in Arkansas earlier this year.

They support the troops when they kill their officers, huh. I guess they really support their officers, when they kill their enlisted.

Assholes.

This last week has been the week of horrors. That two hour homecoming dance gang rape in San Francisco that was watched and filmed by about 20 people, the Cleveland horror house that they're still pulling bodies out of, the 14 year old boy who drowned his 4 year old neighbor who he'd been molesting and then put his body in a dryer, and the mentally handicapped man who was chained up in a Wisconsin beating room.

You can't treat people like that. Libs are always yelling some response to that. Something about how they can.

It's really unfortunate that more people aren't good like me. I at least know those things are wrong.

"What do you know? You don't know anything." - AUA

I know that these horrific murders are wrong. I wish I could force you to agree with me.

-------------------update-----------------
Within minutes of hearing about it, I heard the Narrative^tm that he was a PTSD, psycho, redneck, Republican, teabagger, Texan, that was traumatized from combat and Bush is to blame, etc. Emblematic of the military and such. You know the rhetoric. "Get a mop", they say.

I can't confirm this fact quite yet, but it's looking like he never deployed. (Liberal apologies pending) It also looks like he (surprise, surprise) had a big problem with US foreign policy. When people say they're "Anti-War", that's a misnomer. They're fake pacifists. They have no problem with war in a general sense. Just which side they're on. He went to war today.

At any rate, here is a quick comment to give you a general idea.

"It is fucking serves americans right!
It's a shame he couldn't kill more americans like they are killing muslim!"

DU,DU,DU

Pumpkin Beer

2009-11-04T18:22:00.003-06:00

I'm drinking a pumpkin beer right now. It's pretty good. I used to be more of a beer purist, but now I just don't care about those Bavarian purity laws.

I've yet to brew my own pumpkin beer, but apparently you're not cool unless you use an actual pumpkin for your mash tun and your carboy.

Very work intensive, but a pretty cool idea.

Linkeypoo

Good Ole Firefly

2009-11-01T07:36:00.000-06:00

That is all.

Button Button

2009-10-28T18:36:00.002-05:00

Remember that old Twilight Zone episode called Button Button? Well, old for me, because I was a kid during the 80s. I thought those shows were great. Just as good as Amazing Stories.

Last night I was watching TV and saw that there is a remake of that show being made into a movie, staring Cameron Diaz. Exact same premise, apparently. You get an empty little box with a button. If you push it 2 things happen. You get a large amount of money, but someone that you don't know dies. Whoever has to make the choice, has to agonize and choose their immediate needs, and the death of someone that they can't imagine.

It's real Monkeysphere type of stuff. People are just flat out evil, even if it's the slightest bit abstract in their minds.

Here's how it would be if it were real life.

The Button - watch more funny videos

Secret Service

2009-10-27T23:16:00.003-05:00

I figured I needed (and wanted) to give this topic some blog time. It's symmetrical.

Remember back a few years ago when that girl said on MySpace that she wanted to kill the President? I did a post about it back in 2006. (It's sort of sad that I've had this blog that long.) If you remember the Secret Service showed up and asked her some questions, and assessed that she wasn't much of a threat. They did a good job, but the general consensus was that they were mean, and that they were Nazi thugs, and that the President should be killed anyway. The whole world agrees, I was told.

OK, so the logic has been established. Now check this out.

Recently, a parallel event happened. A high school kid put up a poll on his facebook account asking if President Obama should be killed. You probably saw it in the news about a month ago. The Secret Service showed up, gave him a talking to, figured out that he really wasn't much of a threat, and moved on. You can also guess that in this nearly identical situation, the general consensus has dramatically changed. Now the stated position of many vocal people is that this boy should be imprisoned and/or killed.

If it weren't for double-standards, they'd have none at all.

To sum up, I'm consistent and awesome.

They're neither.

(On at least three separate occasions, I've personally heard people express a desire to murder the President, but I assessed that they were cowards and didn't contact the Secret Service, because I thought it would waste resources.)

Talking points

2009-10-22T00:11:00.002-05:00

MSNBC directly takes White House talking points emailed in the middle of a broadcast, and immediately changes their message to match. And the ironic thing is that they are talking about another news station lacking journalistic integrity. The video really has to be watched to be believed. It seems like parody/hyperbole, but it isn't.

You know, I've got a pretty low opinion of how left wing major networks are, but even this shocked me a little bit. Anita Dunn recently bragged that the White House controls the media. Maybe she wasn't kidding. When you watch the video, you'll see for yourself.

Drunk guy in a store

2009-10-21T22:46:00.002-05:00

It's the video that's sweeping the nation. The music is what makes it.

I like the break dancing. I like the invisible force field by the door. I generally like the whole thing. Keep effin that chicken.

Octoberween 2009

2009-10-15T18:13:00.006-05:00

So we drove up to Ann Arbor Michigan this weekend to visit some Fam, and stopped by Kalamazoo to see the Bell's brewery. Well, it wasn't actually the brewery, but rather a lame place called the Eccentric Cafe. I had a Rubin and a seasonal brown and a Scottish ale. I also bought a wort chiller for beer brewing. Now I don't have to mess around with bags of ice.

We watched the Iowa game, and did a bunch of other crap that most readers of this blog don't care about. So I'll show you our pumpkins.

Jack-O-Lantern FAIL

That pic makes me laugh. I look so proud of my circle face pumpkin.

Actually that hole was my pumpkin's top, and I only did the scrape method to get my design. ~~3 points~~ to who can tell me who this is. And another 3 points to tell me where he comes from (be specific).

I also took this picture of my wife when she was sleeping, and she opened her eyes because she heard the camera. I thought is was really beautiful, because of the light, and how sad she looks. She's probably sad because she's got a goofball husband.

Mercedes and Buddhism

2009-10-16T12:20:00.005-05:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Words have meaning. Well, guess what? Symbols have meaning too.

Everyone who isn't dumb knows what a Nazi symbol is. We've seen it on movies, or TV shows. It's a cross set at a 45 degree angle, with arms that branch off clockwise. That symbol used to belong to Native Americans, or other groups, but after the 1930s, it means the Nazi Political Party.

And you also know that when the arms branch counterclockwise, it's the symbol for Tibeten Buddism.

Check this out. Someone carved this message into a golf course green recently.

So there are vandalizing Buddists who believe that the President is the Dali Lama? That's a new one. I know that Modern Liberals believe that he's actully the second coming of Christ, but this is the first time that I've heard that he's the Lama.

Hey Bahma, how 'bout a little something...for the effort. And he said, "There's not going to be 40K troops for the GWOT or anything, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness."

So I got that goin' for me... which is nice.

Try this one on for size. It's from San Francisco.

Soooo, Judaism and Buddhism are the exact same religion? Um...no.

Could it be that you're telling me that Israel and Tibet are both tiny countries that are surrounded by hundreds of millions of people who wish to murder their populace, and take their land? Hmmmmm. Maybe you're on to something. Let's look into that.

Also, I've noticed a campaign by the Anti-war crowd to promote Mercedes Benz. I noticed one this weekend, set into sidewalk concrete. Alas, I didn't have my camera, with me, so you'll just have to imagine it. It said "Peace", flanked by a heart symbol, and the Mercedes symbol. I looked it up online and apparently Mercedes has quite a following of hippies.

-From Confederate Yankee

Sight Alignment

2006-11-05T19:18:00.001-06:00

What’s a great way to spend your Sunday Morning?

Honing your skills for the upcoming zombie apocalypse. Or as they say on Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. “A-Pocky-Clipse”

That’s right, this morning my buddy Jim and I went out to the local range and worked on our inner Zen. It was a good time. I know that honing your martial prowess is the most important part, but I think I had some firearm envy. The range was busy and people had some nice weapons. One guy was shooting a muzzle loader, and a couple of people were shooting beautiful 7.62 rifles. There was even a old guy close to us firing a .460 pistol. I wonder what ammo costs for that thing. Most revolvers have 6 rounds, but this one only had 5. It reminded me of the pistol on Hellboy, which I think had 4.

Anyway, this was Jim’s first time out, and he was tearing it up. He was good at focusing on the task at hand, and absorbed the concepts really quickly. (He’s a physicist.) I think we may have one more minion for the forces of light.

On the Brando Scoring System, the points breakdown go as follows.

<100 Unsat
100-200 OK
200-400 Fair
400-500 Good
500-599 Great
600 Perfect

Now bear in mind that this was Jim’s first time ever firing a weapon.

Jim 205 Fair (41 modified score)
Brando 380 Fair (76 modified score)

Ignore the Taliban

2009-10-08T17:42:00.004-05:00

According to the White House, the Taliban are not the "Real" Terrorists, and are therefore a distraction. I think that's stupid.

I could go on and on about this, but I don't think I'm going to convince anyone that wasn't already convinced.

Juxtapose the top two headlines on today's Yahoo news feed. It unintentionally speaks volumes.

How in the hell is that not Pro-terrorist?

He ran on the platform that Iraq was the "bad war" and Afghanistan was the "good war". Remember? If only he were President, then he would totally kill all those Taliban.

....well, either that, or give them back control of the Afghanistan. One of those two things.

Morning at the Range

2009-10-06T18:33:00.004-05:00

Here's somebody shooting for the first time, and getting the hang of it very quickly. She got a score of 27. Very nice, very nice.

That was at a range that I don't like very much, because people bring pumpkins and snapple bottles and stuff. It ends up looking like a dump. It's still fine, but not really what I want to present to first time shooters.

Just going out to the range made we want to go shooting more, so on Saturday, my 70 year old uncle and I packed up nice and early and went out to the range. We went early so we could get done before the Hawkeye game.

We started off with some clay pigeons and a 12 gauge. And a thermos of coffee. Black. Folgers.

Because I want to hunt deer this winter, I figured I'd go see if I'm any good at distance shooting slugs. I put the target out at 75 yards, and let 'er rip. High and right by about 3 inches. Not too shabs. Then I moved it out to 100 yards, and did it again. I was left and slightly high by about 8 inches, which is probably not in the vitals.

I've been told that if you can't hit a paper plate 9 out of 10 times, then you shouldn't take the shot. I don't want to be the jerk that wounds a deer, only to have it run for 5 miles across peoples farms, bleeding and suffering the whole time. I'm confident that if it's within 75 yards, and sideways, I can take him.

Also my shoulder was killing me. My 12 gauge kicks like a mule and it has no buttpad. I'm still a little sore and it's Tuesday night. You also have to really respect what a 12 gauge slug can do. It's sort of neat, what a nice, clean hole it punched.

Skimming the edge of the box wasn't quite as neat.

Then we shot 22s for a while. We lined up 12 gauge casings at 25 yards, and plinked em. And of course we tested the patented BrandoTest^tm scoring system. I got an 86, which is the second best I've ever shot. I, of course, acted like that was just normal for me. My uncle got a 31, but he has cataracts.

Then we shot a little bit with the beloved M&P 40. Weaver stance. 25 yards. Many imaginary zombies were slain.