Year: 2023

Monday Funnies

Funny Stuff

And off we go, trying to alleviate the horror…

And speaking of Eve and her descendants:

Little strong?  Okay, maybe something still old-fashioned, but a little less Biblical…

 

And away you go, into the rest of the week.

Classic Beauty: Mary Astor

Classic Beauty

One hundred and nine movies, forty-five years in show business:  that would be Mary Astor, who started in silent movies, almost never made it to talkies (because of her deep, “masculine” voice), and was an accomplished classical pianist.  She also loved men, and her private (and very explicit) diary nearly caused an explosion in Hollywood when it came to light.

But none of that’s important.  This is:

And then later with the ugly hairstyles of the era, but still exquisitely beautiful:

No wonder they all fell for her.

Bygone Broads 6

Drive Time, Gratuitous Chick Pics

The latest in this series features the Ferrari F110 Testarossa:

…and one of their likely accompaniments on the wall, the All-American Cheryl Tiegs:

And of course:

Little skinny for my taste, but millions of teenage boys working their bedtime pup-tents would probably disagree with me.

Mae’s Top 10

Gun/Ammo Tests, History

Some while back, I linked to C&Rsenal’s wonderful series on WWI guns, but then I spotted a little addendum, namely Mae’s Top 10 Rifles.

Now, as the lady in question has fired almost all WWI-era rifles — and certainly more of them than I’ve fired — I think it behooves us all to pay the show a visit.  Here are her top ten WWI rifles, in no specific order (so as not to spoil the surprise at the end):

Mauser K98 TZ (8x57mm)

 

SMLE No.1 MkIII* (.303 Enfield)

 

Mannlicher-Schoenauer 1903 Carbine (6.5x54mm)

 

Ross Rifle MkIII (.303 Enfield)

 

Arisaka Type 38 Carbine (6.5x50mm)

 

Ottoman Mauser 1903 (7.65x53mm)

 

Springfield ’03 (.30-06 Spfld)

 

Serbian Mauser 1908 Carbine (7x57mm)

 

Carcano Moschetto 91 (6.5x52mm Mannlicher)

 

Enfield 1917 (.303 Enfield / .30-06 Spfld)

Some of Mae’s choices are seriously, shall we say, eclectic nay even controversial, but all of them are very well supported (and Othias’s reactions to them are alone worth the price of admission).  Have fun as you pick your way through her arguments.

For the record, I have absolutely no quibble about the composition of her list — I’d shoot any of them without a qualm, and carry any of them off to war.

And by the way:  I actually agree wholeheartedly with her #1.  It is unquestionably one of the rifles I most regret having to sell during Great Poverty Era I.

For those who haven’t seen my own (and I think vastly inferior) take on the topic, see Great War Rifles.