Splendid Isolation

Gunny’s Gear

November 2, 2021 Kim du Toit Guy Stuff, The Gun Thing, Weapons

All things must pass, to quote George Harrison, but I have to admit that I never thought that this would apply to Gunny R. Lee Ermey, R.I.P.

Anyway, his gun stuff and related items are being auctioned off (and thanks to all the Readers who sent me notice that this is happening).

In keeping with the eccentric nature of the man come a few interesting items, e.g.

(The drooling sound you hear in the background comes from Reader Mike Of The Dueling Pistols.)

Anyway, your job for the day is to scrutinize the list of items, and tell me which ONE (and only ONE) you’d like to own. (Right-click on the pics to get a full description.) Answers in Comments.

As Longtime Readers know, I have an inordinate fondness for sports cars of yore, and especially ones of my misbegotten and largely wasted youth. The Alfa Romeo Spider, Austin Healey 3000 and the little MGB GT, to name but three, were all the objects of desire in my younger times, and it’s easy to see why:

However, if I were asked today which sports car of the pre-1975 era I would like to own today, unchanged, it would probably be a car of which I knew nothing at the time, probably because I was only about 3 years old. Yes, I speak of the impossibly-sexy BMW 507 of the late 1950s:

I know, this is the car which nearly bankrupted BMW, but that’s all ancient history. The fact of the matter is that the 507 embodies almost all my list of desirable features: a small 3.0-liter V8, adequate acceleration and top speed, and of course matchless good looks, all in a neatly-sized package of simple yet tasteful design.

It was also more reliable than any of the later sports cars I alluded to above, which satisfies another of my must-have features. I’d even take the soft-top cabrio:

Feel free to take issue with me in Comments.

This was the Sunday post which went AWOL on me. Once again, my apologies.

Selling Air

November 2, 2021 Kim du Toit Marketing / Advertising

I remember my dad’s quizzical look when he first learned that water was being sold in bottles. “Selling water? Why don’t they sell air with it?” was the printable part of his response, (Yeah, I know, apples, trees… whatever.)

I confess to having pretty much the same reaction when Combat Controller pointed me at this latest example of foolishness:

Now I have to confess that I thought that this was a spoof / satirical website, and actually refused to believe my friend’s statement that this was, in fact, a bone fide “product” and not some gag to be played on the gullible. Or a piece of Harry Potter merchandise.

However, Doggery’s “craft ice” is being sold in stores, and CC sent me photographic proof thereof.

JHC.

There are two schools of thought on this kind of thing. The first is that of people like Combat Controller, who suggests that we as a nation are so prosperous that we can afford to sell stuff like this, and find a market for it.

I, however, see this as some kind of portent, similar to those things and events which may have appeared a couple of years before the Roman Empire collapsed into ruins.

On the other hand, my dad thought the same about bottled water, and here we still are, lo these many years later.

Your thoughts in Comments.

Apologies

November 1, 2021 Kim du Toit Old Age

Because I thought Sunday’s date was October 30, yesterday’s post would have appeared today, except I caught the mistake late last night.

Everybody got that? (I can go over the middle bit again…)

Sorry about that. Here’s a pic of a gun to make everyone feel better:

Hey, Winston Churchill used one to kill fuzzy-wuzzies, so how bad can it be?

Dept. Of Righteous Shootings

November 1, 2021 Kim du Toit Righteous Shootings

Guy gets fired, is pissed off about it, goes home, fetches a gun, goes back to his former place of employment and starts voicing his grievance by shooting people.

This being rural Nebraska, however, there just happens to be a shotgun lying around, so the aggrieved assumes room temperature, but sadly, only after killing two people.

Of course, had he not looked down the naughty end of a shotgun, there’s no telling how many more people he’d have killed because as usual, the police were miles away — but that’s not the way it’ll be reported.