Sic erat in fatis

It has been a long while since a painting involving a canoe has adorned my page. This one is by Frederick Remington, and is among a series entitled "The Great Explorers." If I recall correctly, the explorers here are Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Medard des Groseilliers, who ranged the American and Canadian wilderness in the 17th Century. The fellow standing in the midsection of the canoe certainly is dressed as a French dandy, at any rate. The two men, related through marriage, were among the first on Lake Superior. Remington was noted for portraying authenticity in his work, and this landscape resembles northern Minnesota and places in Ontario and Manitoba that I have seen. Remington is noted primarily for his sketches, illustrations and paintings of cowboys, Indians and cavalry troopers. Interestingly enough, he also worked as a newspaper reporter.

Stranger in a strange land

This has been a bit of a strange few days (weeks? months?) for me. More to the point, I have been running on three or four hours of sleep a night for more than a week now. It has ushered me into a strange world, reminiscent of Robert Heinlein's science fiction novel, "Stranger in a Strange Land," which I first read as a pre-teen boy. This, possibly, explains why I never matriculated to adulthood.

Although I have not worked at the newspaper since the end of May, for all of June and into July I had been involved in a task which required my presence two or three hours a day. And, while trying to readjust my sleep pattern from my "newspaper regimen" to a more normal day / night sequence which would accommodate "real life" and "real responsibilities," I have totally messed myself up. (Some would say I did that decades ago.)

Then, too, I have been trying to ease down on blogging by running a couple of songs with a paragraph or two of background regarding the music and the musicians. I would rather be writing other things, or writing nothing at all. (Try sleep depredation some time; the experience is fascinating.)

This is to say that I finally will be slacking off to what I talked about on June 30. Which was:

"As the length of daylight hours in the northlands begin to shorten (yeh, really), so does my time writing here. My thought is to leave "Sort of San Fran" alone for the most part to indulge in a sort of a hiatus. When the opportunity or a reason arises, I might not be able to resist temptation and produce a post. But, I am not going to worry about it or to think about it for the most part. I hope I will continue to make comments on the pages of others, but no promises to do it with every post you write."

In terms of plans, in a few days my mascot and I will embark on a brief canoe jaunt and some lakeside relaxation, maybe even do a few shallow-water dives.

So, with that I will join Messieurs Radisson and Groseilliers to paddle off into the wilderness, free and unfettered by shackles other than those I willingly place upon myself.

And, as the canoe fades into the mists of time, a voice from some 450 years distant into the future shouts from the treeline to break the silence: …. rock on ….

Here are a couple more from Vixen, in case someone besides me likes the girls' music:

The band is Vixen
The songs are:
Not a Minute Too Soon & Rev It Up

Music & la femmes fatales = deadly women

Vixen = female fox

Some people might wonder what folk, blues, country and rock singer Bob Dylan has in common with heavy metal rockers Jan Kuehnemund, Janet Gardner, Share Pedersen and Roxy Petrucci. They all are musicians, obviously, but no one would accuse Dylan of ever approaching a heavy metal sound with his songs. Well, not to drag on with the question, the answer is, Minnesota.

The four young ladies were part of the all-girl band, Vixen, which Kuehnemund started while still a high school student in Saint Paul. Please, now, do not go petty on me and say that this outfit's original name was not Vixen or that there were lineup changes over the years or that the band moved to Los Angeles before really hitting the big time. These were the primary members and Saint Paul was the band's birth place.

It came to me that while I have been touting music and musicians for a few days now, I had not tossed one of the all-female groups and/or individual performers into the mix. Well, here they are. I debated putting up a studio recording in which the sound is a bit better, or a live performance. A live performance always will be rougher than studio sound, but I went with a live concert from 1991 because it is evident how much fun these girls are having, which translates into a vibrant and exciting show.

In addition to this 1991 rendition, I also watched a few other versions, including a 2005 appearance in Sweden. My feeling while watching it was the same as I expressed a few days ago regarding Foreigner: Why do some people persist in continuing a career when their ability to perform has so visibly diminished?

There are millions of things to do in this world, so why, particularly in the case of those who work in the public eye, would so many continue to endure rather than leave the spotlight while they still are at the top of their game? Money and vanity, I suppose.

Whatever, here is a glimpse of Vixen at a time when these girls were among the elite of the hard rock world, performing undoubtedly the band's biggest song, "Living on the Edge of a Broken Heart."

By the way, take a look at the T-shirt Janet is wearing. "Scorpions." That is a girl with great taste in music.

The band is Vixen
The singer is Janet Gardner
The song is "Living on the Edge of a Broken Heart"



Where was I in the year 2000?

I know who Johnny Cash was; I know who Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson are. I might recognize a few other names should they be mentioned, but my knowledge of country music singers and songs is about as scant as that of anyone in the room.

The first time I heard this song, I thought it must be Dolly Parton. Who else could it be? Who else sings country? The song popped up on my truck radio as I was scanning for stations on a journey over unfamiliar roadways. In all probability, I did not hear it again for two or three years. Country Western, you know.

Somewhere along the line, however, I did learn the name of the song was, “I Hope You Dance,” by Lee Ann Womack, and that it had been a huge hit in 2000. What was I doing throughout the year 2000? Oh, yes. I remember. Never mind.

I did mention this singer and this song, and print some of the lyrics to it in one of my posts last March, and decided today to listen to it a few times once again. That this song is popular is evidenced by the fact that one YouTube version alone shows well over three million hits. In any case, Ms. Womack and her absolutely charming song seem like an excellent way to close out my week.

The band is unknown to me
The singer is Lee Ann Womack
The song is "I Hope You Dance"

Another day on the glorious range

Here are three more which had their turn at the shooting bench on Saturday. At the top is a Colt 1911 Government Model in (as always for me) .45 caliber. Like all my 1911s, this one has been tuned internally to ensure reliability and accuracy, and is wearing Hogue grips in Kingwood. Below it is a Smith & Wesson Model 60 revolver in .38 Special caliber. It also has Hogue grips, these in Tulipwood. Resting at the bottom is my Colt Mustang in .380 / 9 mm Kurtz caliber. It, too, has been internally tuned, and the original grips have been replaced by rubber Pachmayr grips to better fit my hand.

How did you guess? Did the photo give it away?

Range time, trigger time, good time on Saturday. There is more to it than just the feel of recoil and the scent of cordite and the sight of the hit. Probably no one who does not share the "up close and personal" affection for shooting sports ever considers some of the extra benefits. Allow me to back step for a moment.

As I have mentioned before, my physical fitness habits are sporadic, but always lurking in my mind. I will go into a routine that might last three months or might last a year. Then I will break from it for another routine, such as moving from exercise drills to running (I seldom do both), or break from doing any routine at all. I might stay away from any form of exercise for three months or maybe a year. This is to say I manage to keep in reasonably decent shape without being a fanatic about it.

Years ago, someone told me that if a person ever had been in really great physical condition, it is not hard to return to good shape even after a lapse of several months. That pretty much is true, and probably is the mental seed which originally got me going into an on-again / off-again system.

Now, back to the firearms' element. I think there is more to getting into shape again than a few pushups or a bit of jogging. My return includes shooting. But, I get bored quickly simply punching holes in paper, so I take off from there:

Try running 30 yards as fast as you can, then stopping to fire ten rounds. Think about walking away from a target, turning 180 degrees while drawing, and emptying the magazine while raising the pistol from waist to eye level. Think about running forward, drawing and diving forward, and getting off as many rounds as possible before hitting the ground. Great exercise, great for developing hand and eye coordination, great fun. Entertaining to watch, too.

Some people enjoy standing in the yoga master's stork pose; I think similar drills are fun if you are popping off a few rounds with a handgun while doing them. Go into a pushup position; hold yourself up with one arm while firing a handgun with the other hand and hitting the target. Good balance is one of the fundamental keys to good pistol work.

The proverbial bottom line to this is that anyone who has access to a location to safely practice with a handgun can turn the experience into one that not only provides fun and sharpens shooting skills, but also improves physical condition and associated attributes such as balance and hand and eye coordination. This is just a small sample of my habit.

It is near certain that someone reading this will mumble something about unsafe use of firearms. Sure, it is possible an accident might happen. There is a degree of risk involved whenever firearms are being used. But, these activities should not be done anywhere except on a private range, and should only be done by people who have years of experience handling handguns and firing them under all sorts of conditions.

Overall, I think these drills are safer than walking some big city streets or driving the highway in morning rush hour with freezing rain coming down. To each, his or her own.

Music Note: Listening to St. Paul's Vixen ....
Specifically, "Vixen"
Some out of sequence lines from "Cruisin':"

And you got that feeling again that tonight could be so much more
You walked in looking for someone, for something to share
When you walked in, I was already there

Can't you go any faster? -- That's better

I think it's time, yeah it's time we broke the ice
You know that this sort of thing, it did already happen twice
I wanna rock, I wanna roll, I wanna eat into your soul
Just push into the litter, whenever you lose control

Let's go cruisin' (cruisin'), I wanna go cruisin' into wild times
Let's go cruisin' (cruisin'), gonna ride it out to the red light