Sunday, November 6, 2016

Too many want the world in their own image

My last post included a notation that the photograph appearing with it had not been intended, but, instead, a photograph of my latest acquisition in firearms had been planned. Well, here is that missing photograph, but with sort of a modification because during the brief interim of time from that post to this one, there already has been another acquisition. The smaller, blued revolver was purchased October 19 and is a Smith & Wesson Model 36 in .38 Special caliber. The larger, stainless steel revolver was just purchased October 28. It is a Ruger Bisley Super Blackhawk Lipsey Edition. The caliber is .454 Casull. Most film-goers are familiar with Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry" character in which he utters the oft-quote words:

"But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

While the .44 Remington Magnum is as popular as ever among revolver buffs, it no longer holds the distinction of "most powerful." Calibers like the .454 Casull and the .460 and the .500 Smith & Wesson have usurped that title.

So, we have three handgun purchases in thirty-nine days, two of them shown here, and I have my eye on a couple of others at the moment. I suppose it is time for me to admit I am hopelessly in love with guns .... fortunately, for me, I am not alone in this affliction .... I might add the Model 36 is thirty-nine years old and is as perfect as the day it was created, while the Bisley/Lipsey is a newborn .... what perfection, they even reflect the yellow of the leaves in the tree above them .... anyway and whatever, since my last post was rather lengthy, this one will be rather short .... and, and, and dwell only on guns and a touch of music ....
 
But, first, this, too ....
 
.... why not (??) a few words I wrote elsewhere earlier this evening which were never intended to be here. They might not make sense without additional explanation and they might seem out of context to the post, but, really, they fit right in if you think about it and who cares anyway? So, here they are:
 
My concept of masculinity (and femininity, too) is entirely uncomplicated and revolves around individuality: Be who you want to be, unworried about what others might think, as opposed to being intimidated into running in the midst of the politically correct crowd. There is room for everyone to be who they wish to be ....

I probably am an endangered species with that sentiment; there are too many who think they know what is best, not only for themselves, but for their neighbors, as well. There are times I think I see the flames lit by "Jack and his choir" burning on the horizon.







13 comments:

Anita said...

Nice revolvers Fram!Must be nice to hold that cold steel in your hands

Love the music as well

Good post!Be as you are!

Anita

Fram Actual said...

It is a nice feeling, Anita -- the coldness of steel and the warmth of wood, as some have described the experience of holding a gun. But, with many contemporary firearms, synthetic materials such as metal alloys, fiberglass, plastics and who knows what have replaced steel and wood. The results are some very efficient guns, but usually unattractive and unappealing guns .... at least to me they are .... I always will prefer those of steel and wood ....

The variety of styles of music are present to make a point. I am not certain if it was made or not.

"Be as you are" .... yes, "I be" as I am, and I wish more people would be as they actually are instead of trying to create an artificial persona. Well, I will not go down that road this evening.

To end on a pleasant note, this is the warmest start to November I ever can recall. The daytime temperatures have been ranging from around 15 to 21 Celsius. Some afternoons I have been wearing a t-shirt and shorts while working and/or lounging outdoors.

Thank you, Anita. I am happy to see you here.

Anita said...

thanx for nice reply.Talking of guns I want so much to go on hunting..Never was..I wonder how it actually is to kill something?What kind of feeling is it just a testorone bomb.. Is it just the killing or do one actually eat the meat ?.Ok.My site will be down for a couple f days trying to fix it into something new..the background settings..A more wintrely look

Say hello to your little pretty dog and give him a huge hug from me

See you soon!

Anita

Smareis said...

Me ausentei do blog por isso demorei chegar.
Perdi algumas de suas atualizações mais volto pra ler todas com carinho.
Bonita fotografia Fram.
Como colecionador suas armas deve ser muito importante pra você.
Música muito boa.
Céu de sorrisos pra você.
Ótima semana!

Fram Actual said...

My suggestion to you, Anita, if you want to become involved with firearms, would be to consider target shooting and to forget about hunting. I think the first time you killed one of those ducks or deer you photograph you would feel so badly that you might never forget it. Then again, who can say? Some Viking women were as hard as the men in terms of war and bloodshed, and, maybe, that toughness still exists in some Norse girls yet today.

As for me, I was sort of an indiscriminate hunter/shooter when I was a boy, but even before I came to manhood my rule pretty much was this: If you shoot it, you eat it. There is no logic for hunting beyond that axiom.

Of course, there are those who hunt solely for "trophies," such as the idiot dentist from Minnesota who killed a near-tame elephant in Africa a year or so ago. The only trophy of sorts I ever kept was having a rug made from the skin of a bear I shot -- but, friends and family joined me to eat the meat, too.

As for the physiological and emotional reactions/responses from hunting, I guess they are similar to those experienced any number of other ways which involve a surge of adrenalin. I would have to think more about this to write deeper thoughts about it.

The pretty, little dog finally has a name -- Buddy. He likes it and identifies with it, and he thanks you for thinking of him. I do, too, Anita.

And, thank you, for being here .... and, I wish you luck at "reconstituting" your site .... and, yes .... see you .... soon ....

Fram Actual said...

Yes, Smareis. You have been conspicuous by your absence, as the cliché goes, and it is great to find you back again, both at your own blog and here, visiting me at mine.

Thank you, for your presence here and for your complimentary words. Firearms always have been very, very, very important to me, but, rather than as mere tools, increasingly they seem to be becoming more like relics and reminders of my past and primarily important as symbols of freedom, security and equality. If anything truly puts all men and all women on a level playing field for equality, it is firearms.

Guns also often are very beautiful and can be alluring in many ways. I just had to say that !!

So, Smareis, thank you, once more, and I hope you will find your way back to me more and more often ....

Anita said...

Wow!!you have shoot a bear???????amazing!!what a story!!Tell us about it once!

Have a nice day!!Here once a daymore very 15 colds and the little birds come tapping at my window more food!!heheheh

Yeah see you soon..and Buddy!!

Anita

Anita said...

Psss dont goreget to vote today!!I think there will be massive riots in the streets whoever wins..

I dont like any of them!

Poor America!We think of you

Fram Actual said...

About the bear hunt: I would have to be in a certain mood -- a particular frame of mind -- to write about it, Anita, and such a mood is absent from me at the moment. Perhaps, another time .... perhaps.

But, but, but .... way, way, way back on March 8, 2009, not long before our paths first crossed, I wrote a post partially entitled "Hunters pass." It was about an encounter I had with a wolf in the wild. In that story about a hunt, I wrote this about the wolf:

My intrusion to the woodland is not new,
my presence left many places upon the trails;
he must have known of me that autumn day.
He must have smelled the rifle by my hands,
but did not fear, for my mind was open to him,
and clearly he knew my prey was bear that day.

So, if you wish, you could read it and think of it as the first segment of a story about a bear hunt -- which, in fact, would be an accurate, precise description of it. Someday, maybe, I will write the second segment.

About the election: Oh, yes, I remembered. And, I did what I said I would do -- or, rather, what I would not do. I said I would not vote either for Donald Trump or for Hillary Clinton, and I did not. I did not vote for anyone for president. Actually, that is not unusual for me .... I am hard to please.

Uffff .... I am tired. I think I will go to bed without waiting to learn which of the two "devils" wins, and hope to wake up to discover this election cycle has not been real and only a bad, bad, bad dream.

It was nice of you to come here again, Anita. Thank you .... and, someday you will learn the story of my bear hunt.

Anita said...

Congratulations Fram! :) :) :)

Fram Actual said...

There is an axiom to the effect of "better to live with the devil you know than the devil you do not know."

This is one time I disagree with that adage. Devil "A" -- Hillary Clinton thinks of herself as above the law and as someone who knows what is best for the "deplorable, inferior, little people," and she constantly flaunts these attitudes. Devil "B" -- Donald Trump is despicable as a man, but an unknown quantity as a political/governmental leader. He now has four years to demonstrate that he can be a good and beneficial force for the United States and for the world.

And, at least I know the First and the Second Amendments to the U.S. Constitution will be safe for another four years, which would not be the case under a Clinton Administration. During Clinton's concession speech today, she and "Wild Bill" actually had the audacity and the arrogance to be wearing clothing items of purple -- the color associated with royalty. Do not think for a second that was accidental. Those who have watched the Clintons in a politically-historical sense know that is how those two think of themselves -- as imperial, majestic, god-like beings -- and they are not afraid to parade it.

I was still awake when the election results were evident, so I did go to bed in a good mood, Anita. What I am most curious about now is who Trump will appoint to his cabinet positions. His selection of the men and women who will surround him in the White House could reveal a great deal about his intents and purposes.

On a happier note, Buddy treed a raccoon last night. We went out in the back yard about 2:00 a.m. for his "last call" of the evening. The next thing I knew, he was leaping at the foot of a tree and barking away. Using a spotlight, I saw a raccoon about thirty feet up and climbing for the top of the tree as fast as it could .... Buddy was pretty proud of himself.

Thank you, Anita. I guess I do score last night as a victory, although I wish it could have been a truly, philosophically conservative and principled individual who will be the next president .... hmmmm .... in that sense, I guess it will be sort of a continuation of the Barack Obama Administration.

See you here and there ....

Anita said...

Good Fram..Very good!

Yes people was in schock here too..and i was when my son come running quess who won..He is very sad..about it..but then again he is raised in a red country..he do not know much about life..yet..

for me Iam seriously high surprised..and looking forward to wht the man wil do with his foolowers..one of them is the one having a serious talk when the twin tours 11 september went down(Not Obama)
Iam sure he has alot of good people standing behind him to advice

The trumph image we did see these years is not the real Trumph..wait and see!

Now that the show is over

People must calm down and give the man a chance..in fact the people has elected him and that we must respect

Well yes Clinton..I thought she looked like going to a funeral but kings and queens purple colour yes that is true


So buddy was out chasing squerrels in the night!He is a lucky dog i think..live in such a nice village and having good people to care for him--like you and your loved ones and family

So now i will have a good nap..Was on course all day learning more about kidney deases..and ect ect..

See you on your next blog post!

Fram Actual said...

This near-panic and hysteria about the election of Donald Trump lies somewhere between silly and ridiculous. The man is a narcissist -- so are Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- and, all of them have their objectionable idiosyncrasies.

Trump also has built a real estate empire, which means behind a foul, crude mouth, he has shrewdness, mental toughness and considerable intelligence .... not to mention that he was clever enough to win the election, right ??

Does he have the temperament to be president? He certainly is impatient and he undoubtedly loses his temper at times (most presidents do), but above all, his ego drives him to be loved and adored and admired, which means he will work like a maniac to be a success as a president.

In any case, from my perspective I do not think anyone could do as much damage to the United States and to the world as Barack Obama has done during his eight years as president.

Obviously, much of what Trump will do will not please liberals and so-called progressives, but they had their turn with Obama and now more conservative forces will prevail for a time. The wheel always is turning in a republic such as the United States.

I could go on, but that is enough for now. I do not like Trump, who actually has been a Democrat most of his adult life. I think he is despicable as a man; I would not shake his hand or have a drink with him -- but, he will be the president for at least the next four years and he has earned the opportunity and he deserves the cooperation of the American people to see what he can do with the job.

You made me chuckle with your use of the word "village." Buddy and I live in a suburb of Saint Paul, the capital city of Minnesota, and in a metropolitan zone of three and one-half million people. Within such regions, it is possible to find pockets of "actual civilization," and I am in one of them. And, it is just Buddy and Fram .... no family members anywhere near here.

So, Anita, I hope your nap was satisfactory and I am glad you are furthering your nursing skills and knowledge. Take care and thank you. It was very nice to have you visit me again.

Something special ....