New Knives: A Sprint Run, Regrind, and Something Odd

Trying to round out the post average here.

A couple cynical ones full of foul language - Check
Something nerdy - Check
Something manly - This one.

The knife hobby has slowed down a bit lately. I'm trying to be responsible or as much as possible. Still, for a guy who could give a rats ass about fashion and other venues I do have a couple bucks for hobby snobbery. Here are my latest acquisitions (all of which are legal carry for Seattle):


Spyderco Manix 2: Sprint Run CPM-M4 Bento Box



The Bento Box in California payed for their own Sprint run of the venerable Manix2 just recently.

Already a great knife by Eric Glesser it normally features Ball Bearing lock, G10 scales on top of full liners, and just under 3.5" of drop point blade. These are made in Golden Colorado at the Spyderco factory and have become the work horse of the fleet for different steels and options. Normally they come with a quality stainless steel (154cm) in a hollow-ground format. With sprints normally CPM-S30v is used and done in a full-flat ground treatment. There are plans for other Carpenter and Crucible steels in the future.

This knife is special though. Spyderco uses a flat-ground blade of CPM-M4 which is a high-speed tool steel and not stainless. This steel is known for it's toughness and is heat treated quite hard compared to most steels. Basically you get a tough and hard edge that can put up with abuse and be sharpened easily. The downfall is non-stainless blades will eventually patina which means they form dark spots. In severe weather/salt they will pit and rust.

I am very impressed overall as it's not even showing the start of patina and came scary sharp out of the box! I have plans to wipe it down with TUF Glide wipes when I can get some to lock out moisture. The Tan G10 scales are also a first for Spyderco and look quite cool in my opinion. Between the drilled liners and flat ground blade it tips the scale at just over 4 ounces which is a ton of business for not much weight in your pocket. I believe they are still accepting preorders for the second run if you are interested.

Spyderco Stretch ZDP-189 Blue FRN: Brad Southard Regrind



The factory Stretch is an amazing knife. Light in hand, comfortable, and a ton of cutting length. Not quite as beefy as the Manix 2 but great for food prep or anytime you need a very efficient slicing knife.

About 2 years ago they released the FRN (Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon) models which were significantly cheaper than the full-liner carbon fiber scale version. This is the ZDP-189 model which just means it has a VERY hard Japanese stainless steel in place of the normal VG10 blade. VG10 is considered a premium steel but ZDP-189 trades a bit of corrosion resistance for a huge bump in hardness and edge stability.

The great thing about ZDP-189 is it's one of the worlds hardest blade steels. It can actually stay stable in a folder at RC levels of over 66 (while most blades are in the low 60's or high 50's). That means the factory edge is going to last a long time and can be ground aggressive. Well, with the help of a belt sander a custom maker like Brad Southard can make it even THINNER! For a small fee of $30 the sharpness level goes into the Twilight Zone. What's more, ZDP-189 can pull it off like Elizabeth Hurley wearing sweat pants at Wal Mart.


Spyderco Lava: Brad Southard Reground/Modified Wharncliffe



The Lava is a great design. Take a cute little blade (just under 2") and stuff it in a heavy stainless handle that fits your hand like a glove. With the negative blade angle it makes for a very comfortable cutting tool.

In factory trim (see below) this knife has a ton of "belly" which just means the edge has significant sweep or angle on it. Great for tasks like rocking cuts or skinning but it falls short as it gets dull. The material you are cutting is pushed away from the edge instead of through it. This makes for a very frustrating knife when you left the house with only 2" of sharp in your pocket.



With my artistic mock-up in MS Paint Brad took off the belly and turned it into a wharncliffe which as you saw initially has a straight angle from pivot to tip. This makes for an extremely aggressive cutting knife. The tip digs into anything you point it at and the rest of the edge just plays along. The disadvantage is that some tasks are tough if not impossible to do with a wharnie (peeling labels, etc). For everything else, like opening packages it blows the normal blade out of the water. I'll take an 80% increase in daily tasks for a 1% frustration increase. It came screaming sharp as always too from Brad.

Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination

I attended the Star Wars exhibit at the Pacific Science Center this year with some friends and family. It was a fun experience and here are a couple pictures from the show. They were taken via iPhone and only a small number of the ones we took.

Overall it was a very fun experience! Not particularly cheap but Pac Sci never is. There was way too much prequel crap and attempts at education but seeing a vintage R2D2 was worth it!


Here's a Jawa from A New Hope. Cute as Hell with matching Ion Blaster Rifle. I know this because I played the Star Wars dice-roll Roleplaying game for years in High School. Finally that shit pays off!


Luke's speeder from A New Hope.


The Millennium Falcon model. Amazing detailing and major geek points earned for Pac Sci.


Wampa from Empire Strikes Back. Most people don't know the scene was modified after Mark Hamill messed up his face in a car wreck. For the rest of his life he can blame the Wampa mauling. =)


"Han shot first."


A man's best friend.


AT-ST: All Terrain Scout Transport featured in Return of The Jedi.
Strengths - high speed and mobility, light armor, medium weapons platform
Weaknesses - Primitive furry ankle biters


Leah's robe from her into in A New Hope. Who knew all white could be so sexy!?!
R2 D2, actual model from A New Hope!

Tae Bo 2

If there is one thing I can't stand it's trendy.

Don't think that's my Emo outlook on life. There are some things that are just too damn cool not to love. I think electricity, penicillin, and shelter are some pretty fucking cool trends.

I guess the ones that really get to me are the ones that get famous because of the droves of good looking yuppies who couldn't isolate their own identity if Sigmund Freud was raised from the grave. The ones who need the bandwagon to tell them what to do, what to wear, and when to shit or they will just stand there confused and afraid.

Well you all remember "Tae Bo" from the 90's right? It may very well be going strong still, I have no damn clue. Basically an energetic guy and his daughter (or something) tried to mix basic kickboxing with a cardio workout and soon it was a nation-wide trend! I can't say I could blame people much. It was pretty different and for fuck's sake we were doing Step Aerobics with Jane Fonda!

Tough Choice Incoming..


Punch, knee and step it up like a movie star with a guy who looks like a movie star.

Or...




Just step, step, step and pray to God you fall over and can stop.


Still Tae Bo had it's problems and not simply legal/business ones. There were quite a few people injuring themselves as I recall due to poor technique, lack of warm up, and of course hyper-extending joints with snapping motions. As a guy who went to a martial arts school out of a local recreation center even I could find holes in the program.

Besides that there was a huge population who thought they were tough as shit because they spend minutes kneeing the air and listening to shitty dance music. I will admit in the hay-day some of the people who didn't hurt themselves (or give up after 2 weeks) seemed to get results. At least the paid actors looked damn trim!

Fast forward circa now. Enter: Les Mills Body Combat (and a slew of other Body_ programs). Anything look familiar? here's a quick empowering clip of a lady punching the air wearing hand wraps to get you PUMPED!



In her defense (and me trying to sound not like a misogynist) the guys have shitty technique and look goofy as Hell too. I didn't think it was THAT damn hard to throw chambered kicks or why in the world you have to sling them as high as possible to the point where your form goes to rubbish.

Point is folks, Tae Bo is back and trendier than ever. You thought the MMA gyms, Hip Hop dancing schools, and Hot Yoga teachers were driving you crazy? Body Combat is more badass than a Master Cleanse and three shots of wheat grass straight up!

I think it will go further than Tae Bo and our endurance will be tested (mental not cardio). Most of the catch phrases sound like they were ripped out of a Basic Training How-To book for drill instructors and seasoned with Zen Samurai pop psychology. Frequent "warrior" references and imaginary combatives about how bad you're beating up the imaginary person (Community College Psychology 101 points awarded). Basically it's two dozen paper cups and a gallon of "magic Kool-Aid" from being the space ship to the cosmos. Here are some "pump ups" from a BC forum.

Believe me. From a guy who took "reality based" Tae Kwon Do school for almost 7 years if you get anything but a calorie burn and a lack of injuries you will be LUCKY.

Don't feel bad though. The sport arts didn't teach me how to punch much better and the only thing I could defend myself from was air and point sparring matches.

Anyways, off to punch my bag. There is just something about having a limb contact an inanimate object makes you feel less full of bullshit.


Note: Going forward I am disabling comments to the blog. I really appreciate the few friends who read this but when I use brand names and links it usually attracts the mouth breathers of the internet.

If by some wonderful chance a Body Combat trainer reads this, gets pissed off, and wants to fight me I may very well have to commit Sepaku with a Shake Weight. At that point Hell will have TRULY frozen over...

Don't be hatin on Everett!

This is more a reaction than a logical article. Disclaimer accomplished! Anyway...


(The Totem is one of the few things left in Everett worth saving. I'm hoping God targets the fire and brimstone elsewhere.)

I've worked a number of jobs in Everett. Blue collar grungy type jobs where hanging out with mechanics and spilling dirty engine oil on my pants was just part of a day's work. I know my shit stinks on a metaphoric and literal level so don't think I'm snooting my way from a distance. Still, any city should be open for criticism.

My history is a bit rough but Everett was gearing up to be the city that Seattle ended up becoming. It has wide streets and is quite accessible. It has a better Seaport in my opinion and currently is a terrific place for machining. If you want something lathed, shortened, or tapped Everett has the place to do it. Sadly it's also the epicenter for filthy whores, gangstaz, and crazy homeless people. Probably per capita Seattle beats it out but there is a good reason for that...it has stuff to do. Commerce is pretty impressive and there are sites to see which drives tourism right off the kitsch chart. "Let's go watch them throw fish!...Take a picture of me on this big dumb bronze pig!" /wrists

Everett though is like Seattle's big slow redneck brother. It really should be a universally safe topic of tomfoolery but occasionally you catch a little random patriotism:

"Hey, what's wrong with Everett?"
"Well with that attitude it won't ever get cleaned up."
"What do you mean by 'ghetto'?"

Um...did I fail to wake out of a boring dream this morning?

I occasionally visit the city like most people. Sometimes I even stop a bar I haven't been too for a couple years out of nostalgia (it takes 2 years for nostalgia to surpass fear). To not see it's inherent flaws is like missing the fact that Charlie Sheen has gone completely fucking crazy train.

Making fun of Edmonds is allowed too but I can understand the pride a bit more. Sometimes driving faster than 15 miles per hour is terrifying for people or you want to shop at a grocery store populated by the post-70 year olds. It has it's perks, it has a ferry (to a godless land of "get me the fuckoutahere!"), and various other cool places. The Red Twig is one of the hippest coffee shops around and Rory's is a damn nice disease-free bar.

Everett though...really?

Open your eyes and charge that stungun. You will need them for your Ke$ha approved Friday night. With three places to buy bail bonds within a 2 mile radius can you party any harder!?!

Interview: Fantasy fans, Gamers, Artists...check it out

Here is an interview with ArenaNet's Art Director who is also the Project Director for Guild Wars 2.

It just so happens he is also a badass concept artist and visionary. Basically he is the George Lucas of this mind-bending world minus those embarrassing Prequels, check out these wins.

If you love Fantasy and Science Fiction genres of art, games, or books I think you would owe yourself a quick look at his online portfolio. I can personally attest they make for great desktop candy.

For the few artists that end up on this blog he is co-teaching an Online Concept Art Master Class. Sign up quick!

Just Daydreaming...

In one of my better posts (it had a point) I was dreaming of a zombie-proofed Mercedes Unimog 416. As attention spans tend to go in cycles I'm back on my off-road kick.

Here is a little resource hub on what exactly a Unimog is.

Basically around the middle of the 20th century there was a need for a road-going agricultural work horse in Germany. Basically a tractor that you could drive at near freeway speeds to and from the job. The Unimog became the go-to choice for military, firefighters, agricultural and basically any job too damn tough for a conventional truck but requiring more finesse than a Godawfully large tractor. Here are some elements that all Unimog's share:

* Amazing approach and departure angles.
* VERY large "factory" tires. The Model 404 came with factory 39" meats and those are on the small side.
* Extremely low-ratio gear boxes to make up for the lack of power. Multiple low ranges, granny gears, reverses, etc. Basically 100:1 to as low as 4000:1!
* Portal axles (gears at each wheel) allowing for high clearance, low ratios, and tough components
* Torque tubes which protect drivelines and act as bind-free suspension.
* Flexible frame for added suspension articulation
* PTO "Power Take Off" available like tractors allowing for drivetrain driven axillary components like leaf blowers, winches, generators, lift-beds, etc.
* Available in almost an endless number of configurations

Basically it's not a truck nor a tractor. They aren't really cheap but they aren't really comparable for the task at hand. On paper it's a 1.5 ton simplistic work machine but in actuality they can pull like a Ford F350 diesel, climb like a rock buggy, and run equipment like a John Deere. Bragging rights include being able to say you own the manliest Benz at your local golf club.

Every truck on the road with a lift and 44" tires is impressive but the running gear/suspension was never designed for it. They typically lack wheel travel over crawler rigs like Jeeps and Rovers while those lack the drivetrain of the big rigs. A Unimog 416 was designed to run 40"+ tires from the factory hence the tree trunk axles. They have over 18" of clearance under the rear differential which even rivals a Hummer H1. All the while these rigs have great turning circles and are difficult to unsettle when the ground gets bumpy.

The downfall? They can get expensive and are slow as fuck. With fast axles keeping up with traffic on I-5 would be very difficult. With slow axles your topping out at 50mph w/o engine mods. Then again, with larger tires and a bigger fuel pump it's a slow accelerating 60ish mph tractor with shitty brakes.

Once you get past the eccentric looks, expensive price tag, and pain-in-the-ass it requires to find a local tech who can fix/maintain them it sounds like a great rig. They are very tough and simplistic which is why they have been running though the toughest terrain on Earth for half a century.

The closest modern replacement is the AMG Hummer H1 but it lacks in certain areas (namely suspension travel and maneuverability). Also one of those is going to cost you over $30,000 easily which is the cost of a fully restored, award winning Unimog 416 Doka . You wanna be the mid-life crisis douchebag in one of those or the quirky fucker in one of these?

Huzzah!




A 416 rocking an ATV trail without breaking a sweat:



A Mog buggy climbing a wall:

i SUCKERPUNCH !

I guess Zach Snyder learned his lesson from Watchmen and went with something a tad more relate-able this time around. That's not to say one of the (if not THE) most epic graphic novel of this time can't be made into a killer movie...it's just that the average American is a fan of Bud Light and cheese nachos. Please say you understand this parallel.

This time around Mr. 300 himself went for something more down to Earth. Here's the check-list:

* Graphic Novel vibe
* A band of literally "crazy" hot chicks
* Fantasy world to escape a 1950's asylum
* Machine guns and melee weapons galore
* Prop planes, Nazis, B-52's, mutants/orcs
* Industrial military robots with chain-guns
* Huge fucking robot Samurai with pole arms
* Dragons

I'm honestly not a big fan of the modern "Fem Fatale" theme. Rather than aim towards some type of GI-Jane or Sarah Connor (the real one) protagonist we end up with scantily clad praying mantis archetypes or worst yet emaciated scantily-clad bimbos. I know the fact is few women are going toe-to-toe with The Rock or that guy from The Green Mile but there is something about a 110 pound 5' 5" teenager that doesn't scream Fight Club. Still, Sucker Punch might pull it off.

Why can I overlook the essence of what I believe is wrong with modern feminism aka objectification of women for "power" over men? Um...did you read that fucking list of awesome?

Snyder has the making for a visceral masterpiece this time. Like 300 it's not always about realistic or even writing but badass art meets badass cinema. I'm looking forward to another film in the shoes of Sin City. A film that preaches dark imagery and a psychedelic trip of special effects over a masterfully woven plot.

There is a time and a place for both. In a perfect world these two things could meet on the battlefield and leave your brain decimated for 90-120 minutes. Since we don't live in a perfect world I'll just switch-off between the poisons.

Here is the official cinematic trailer, an unofficial animated short (which is crazzzyyy!) and a little independent short that is uber dark and disturbing but unrelated besides look and feel. Enjoy!







Backwater Gospel (Warning...animated but very dark)

Asus Kicks More Asses

I'm not as tech savvy as I would like to be. It's not a thrilling topic really. However, with a title like that who could resist a petty little rant?

My wife is a digital artist which basically means with the exception of hardcore competitive gamers who wear team Starcraft jerseys and compete for money her computing needs are demanding. While I keep iTunes and Firefox going at once she bounces between iTunes, 3dsMax, Photoshop, Zbrush and other programs of that nature. Painting in Photoshop CS5 alone requires a solid platform unless you don't care about the "paint and wait" way of working.

We have tried most PC and laptop brands over the years and they aren't all created equal. When the dust settles Asus laptops typically provide more bang for the buck (stat wise) and hold up to more abuse post-warranty because frankly...their hardware kicks ass. They also don't come loaded with all sorts of shit that the average person would just delete. If you don't believe me on my biased sense of ownership superiority here's a linky:

Ahem!


On to something more custom...

Lately we have had a custom PC built to handle the strain of the aforementioned abuse. This was done via Computer Sonics in Lynnwood and I have to say those guys kick ass on every conceivable level. We have had people who build their own computers look at the parts-list and when they see the quote price their jaws drop. Frankly they must be doing a TON of business in hardware because unless you love building computers these guys put out a solid product for the money.

The best part of having them put together a PC (or any good shop) is you get to pick all the goodies you want and none of the shit you don't. It doesn't come filled with lameass programs as mentioned above in fact when we plugged in our PC it only had about 5 programs installed (!!!). Compare that to the 20-some-fucking list AFTER you paid Best Buy's D0rkSqood to "Optimise" your computer.

The result was something very special if I say so myself. It has a smoking 3.06 Intel i7-950 with a Asus Sabertooth X58 motherboard and 12gigs of ram. In the server-style case it has twin 1tb hard-drives set up in a RAID format to minimize losing work to the crash gods. I don't recall the specific model but it's a top of the line NVIDIA GeForce. We even got a couple 23" Asus LED monitors at $190 apiece. Really stat for stat even a PC version of what we had would have been faster and more reliable but for the same money as a replacement laptop this thing cooks!

Now when something breaks we can actually open it up and fix it properly. When something degrades over time or technology allows for a budget upgrade we can do that. No more throwing out laptops to buy replacements at $1300-1700 a pop.

I'm not writing this to brag about our purchase. Anyone with a credit card and a need can do the exact same thing. I'm really bragging about quality places like Computer Sonics and high-end components done right. If you don't need to cart your computer around with you a powerhouse tower has so many technical advantages it's not even funny.

Really...a quality gaming laptop is hardly portable anyways. They weigh a ton and put out more heat than a space heater from World War 2. Then when you get someplace it's best to plug it into a real monitor and a keyboard/gamepad.

I'll pass.



PS: I'm an Apple fan but in some cases the Kool-Aid isn't worth drinking. Even if it's Apple juice and the skinny balding guy tells you it will make the space ship arrive.

What about B.O.B?

The goal of "getting in shape" is about as vague as they come. As you may recall I made that goal a couple months ago and while some aim for chiseled abs and a spray tan for me that simply means: Active.

Let's face it, people are either active or stationary. The spread of "active" of course ranges from people who occasionally do push ups and walk around the block to Ironman competitors. For the good part of three years I have been sulking in the "stationary" group of society. Two jobs and a ready supply of Starbucks goodies will do that to a person.

Part of the goal to change it up is to find ways of burning calories and more importantly waking up muscles I haven't used in years. Believe it or not High School Blake was a scrawny 155 pound guy who did Tae Kwon Do for a total of about 7 years. Hardly a tough guy I also wasn't the 220 bulk-o-tron I am today. My quest of releasing some pent-up frustration and getting back into the "swing" of things was to get a stationary punching bag. Enter the B.O.B.


* Starbucks shirt not included *

Century's B.O.B. or "Body Opponent Bag" is a free-standing striking tool for the martial artist, boxer, or flabby insurance agent. Basically for a little over $200 you get a large height adjustable base which you fill with water or sand and an anatomically correct mannequin made out of a rubberized material. His target areas are clearly sculpted and he has shoulder/arm nubs. Basically it's a cross-between a punching bag and younger sibling. Since my younger sibling is fully capable of beating my ass 10 ways to Sunday punching a stationary rubber dude is far safer.

Overall it's a fun way to get some aggression out and wake up muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Even in prior years of TKD we spent a very small amount of time ever striking a punching bag. There is a world of difference between punching air and yelling like the Karate Kid and having your fist compress under a physical target. We did some light kicking but again a totally different experience. In fact, I recall doing about 80% kicking back then which is fairly common if you have seen the average TKD practitioner throw upper body strikes (i.e. they usually suck).

There are some downfalls to the B.O.B. First is he seems very temperature sensitive. Perhaps the newer bags are more rigid than previous ones who had problems with heads working their way off. If you watch videos of people working them the head wags around like a dog tail...mine just glares at me. As I said this could be due to the 30 degree garage. Who knows? I'm hitting him pretty damn hard given how much the base bounces around and moves with about 200 pounds of water in it. My hands are also a bit sensitive after a few rounds with my rubberized bodybuilder. By Todd's recommendations I picked up some Amber handwraps which are very comfortable and have some elastic stretch to them. I'm hoping my hands get used to hitting things shortly or I'll be shopping for some cheap MMA gloves to use as well.

Another thing I have been experimenting with is some Systema approaches to striking. I'm still a total n00b but it seems to be working great and I'm picking up more as I go. Of course, not hurting my hand like a fucking wuss would be a good start.

In summary I'm enjoying the B.O.B., hurting my hand, and experimenting with a little Russian magic that isn't distilled and potato based.

5 Reasons Why Superman Wouldn't Work (Besides The Fictional Factor)

There are obvious reasons why comic book stories aren't factually plausible. Namely that most people with super powers are still...people. That means after surviving a statistically deadly experience they have to be altruistic by nature instead of a raving dickhead. The non-mutant superheros are normally from outer space or have money to buy all the tools necessary to be Super-y (also statistically not cuddly philanthropists).

Here are some speculations I'll cleverly present as facts:


5. He Was Sent To Earth


If the air doesn't kill him...

So let's assume that a super-being's planet was pending destruction. What's the chance this organism would sustain life on another planet? If Lance Armstrong ate the same calories/diet that I did he would probably starve (possible) or his organs would explode due to the shitty diet (likely). Take Lance and multiple him by 100,000 and now Superman is eating Taco Bell?

This also doesn't into account he survived a spacecraft crash as an infant or that the immediate surroundings didn't kill him immediately. If not, why wouldn't this superior species take over Earth as some type of vacation home or outsourcing center? I'm not saying every SuperBob and SuperJane on Krypton is evil but how many evil folks does it take to enslave an entire planet? We would be constantly getting our asses kicked and then rescued with a formal mass-emailing apology, "Sorry bout that folks, our bad!"


4. He Was Raised By Humans


I said "heel" not "keeel" !!!

So growing up in the sticks is probably a good thing for the "man of steel". Nobody is nosy when his laser eyes go off and burn a damn hole in the barn or he accidentally throws a car into the field.

The problem is raising an exotic pet is difficult enough, let alone a tantrum throwing super-being. How dangerous is it living with bears and gorillas? Well multiply a gorilla by 50 and your approaching what Clark could do while shitting himself in a crib. You know the teething, grip feeling, screaming phase of life? Well hopefully the space craft gave some tools for Jonathan and Martha to help train/raise the young boy...namely a stick with a chunk of Kryptonite on the end and a dog clicker.

The chance of even a sweet baby of this magnitude being raised by weak mortals is as rare as him even existing. If they did survive his terrible twos they would have to call in friends and family to take at some point (due to losing limbs, etc).


3. Surviving Adolescence (I mean the other people)



Pretend Clark made it past infancy. Now he has to go through Junior High and High School. Assuming his changing body didn't emit glandular oddities like a pack of Wildebeests in heat, he has to still put up with the morons and bitches. I hardly survived it without super powers.

In this situation he's semi-mature and can understand basic commands like, "stop!" or, "bad kill bad!" but the rest of the kids are just plain mean (like in that early Lindsey Lohan flick). I'm not saying he would just go around pimple-faced wrecking the place but keeping it under wraps might be tough. I get pissed enough as a grown adult at other drivers without the ability to tear a wheel off their car with my bare hands. There isn't a single car in the school parking lot that would have four wheels and non-melted bumpers.

Really this is the most basic way I can put it. Think about your experiences back then and then think about that smarmy prick of your former self with super powers. God...help...us....


2. Strength/Sensitivity Spectrum



I was thinking about this the other day (Yes, I'm 31). Let's assume you can bench press like 50,000 pounds. How do you pick up a coffee cup or gently stroke someone's hair? How do you take the lid off a pickle jar or pretend to be human and work-out on an elliptical machine? It's impossible!

The extreme variances in tension would have to be done on a mathmatical level, like a computer. Otherwise just walking around he would be accidentally killing, maiming, crushing, and breaking shit like Lennie from "Of Mice and Men". How many oafs do you know who "don't know my own strength". Well multiply that dumb gorilla by 50 and now you have a curious situation on your hands.

It gets more complex (and geeky). So breaking door handles with insano grip-tension is one thing but how do you fly while holding someone. I know there are a ton of other issues at hand while flying open-cab above the clouds but think about it. You have to cup someone carefully to avoid crushing them like a pile of soap bubbles but you also have to exceed triple digit speeds in many cases. Lois would have been safer in a giant backpack on Superman than in his soul-crunching arms.



1. Intelligence = Boredom, Absolute Power = Corruption


Once he was just a nerdy broke douchebag. Now he has money.

Without trying to sound completely misanthropic there is a problem with being far too intelligent and powerful. Namely boredom.

Let's say you can read a book in 5 seconds and retain 100% of the information. Let's say you can use X-ray vision to see behind/through anything that isn't covered in lead without giving people crazy levels of cancer (our society is lacking lead these days). Wouldn't you become a bit bored. You would have the answers to everything. Reading my blog would be FAR more boring as my thoughts would further infantile. Don't worry, you can get a job at a newspaper...writing boring stories along side very dumb people. After a while you would be looking for a Kryptonite hammer to bash your own brains in.

Besides being being nearly omniscient you ARE omnipotent now. Bored and all-powerful is a pretty bad combination when you are a human. Hell, half of us with a badass military want to take over the world. What if you could do it in a weekend? Maybe you would just want to steal the Eiffel Tower because it would be fun to fuck with the French and having a new lawn furniture piece? *ZOINK!* Now you have it! Maybe you always wanted to cruise to work in a Ferrari? If you wanted to be honest about it you could use x-ray vision to win millions in Vegas and buy one. If laziness stuck in who knows?

The point is being bored with everything/everyone around you plus being a million times stronger is not a good combination.

Even if you did GOOD you would royally screw up the world's natural order. Congrats! World Peace is accomplished and starvation just a section in the history book. Sadly overpopulation is getting so bad that it's crowded in Kansas now (WTF?). They have torn down strip malls in Marysville to build financial buildings, Cartier and Louis Vuitton stores because Superman roundhouse kicked the economy in the balls until it started spitting gold coins!

Humanity ends in...3....2....1....

Why We NEED Standards

(sorry the second isn't focused)

The pictures above are what prompted the title for this post. Sadly it's been the theme of the weekend. Let me explain.

Saturday I had lunch in Redmond at a certain Pub & Grill, I won't name the place because last time that happened I was flooded by Twitter and Facebook fanatics. Normally I don't do the "beer at lunch" thing but my plans were open and boring. One of my favorite breweries is Mac & Jacks Brewery. In fact, it's one of the most popular breweries in the Northwest being that we drink more of their Alaskan Amber than anything else! That means it's our libation standard over Bud Light...an impressive task considering the USA's redneck population. Well, they had everything in the world but nothing from this local brewery only 3 miles away.

I don't mind trying new things. However sometimes it's nice to be able to just go for the staple choice. When your world is spinning it's nice to anchor yourself to something familiar (shit this sounds like Inception). When that thing just happens to be EXTREMELY popular I don't think it should be off the damn menu. It's not like I think I'm an elitist as there are FAR better beers...I've just tolerated Bud, Coors and MGD for way too long to have much sympathy for this alcoholic faux pas. I've seen African Amber in Portland!

Part of this is local pride but the rest is common sense. If you can capitalize on both why not? If you serve someone a Mac & Jacks you can explain a little of the story or how popular it is. This helps swallow the $5 price-tag regardless if the beer tastes good or not. God help us if we force people to attempt customer service for a 15-20% gratuity instead of letting them be lazy and apathetic.

This may just be the last straw that broke the camels back. Who knows? We also went to a club over the weekend for C89.5's 40th Birthday Party and there were shirtless morons running around with girls who looked like they were on acid. Drunks were stumbling around and bumping us and I was about 5 minutes away from knocking a guy out who had no sense of his surroundings (except where the underage ass was located). Meanwhile the security guards (about 10 of them) were standing around twiddling their thumbs. Really? People are on drugs, drunk out of their minds, shirtless and nobody did anything? Sorry maybe I'm a little too 1950's but this was intended as a tame event. I didn't sign up for a burlesque show or a rave. If so, I got screwed out of free glow sticks!

Standards are important. They give us grounding in a frenetic world. We can look at other people who are experiencing similar feelings and roll our eyes in tandem. "Look, those people are disgruntled too!"

When even the lowest of standards don't exist we find ourselves like Captain Kirk on a planet full of weird fucking aliens. Sometimes we are backed into a corner and our adrenalin starts pumping. Sometimes we are just sucking down a pint (as the Brit's say) of rubbish.

I don't mind if the standard-less dredge have fun on a Saturday night or that people drink odd beer from lackadaisical waiters. Preferably I just would rather not be there. Perhaps that makes me an elitist or in layman's terms a "prick".

From my perspective I'll take that title. Frankly the alternative is creepy as Hell.

"I've got a fever...and the only cure is more TRON!"

I wasn't the biggest fan of Tron: Legacy. In fact, for the $17 IMAX 3D ticket I was a cynic from moment one. Sadly the film didn't turn my expectations upside down.

Without doing a formal review here were a few reasons why I think it fell short in general:

Hype vs Reality

Let's face it, the more you hype something the harder reality has to fight to catch up. Our imaginations are pretty damn creative and anything being being put under the retro lamp had better be crazy good. With old fanboys (and fangirls) you don't have to fight for an audience or perfect an idea...it's about 90% of the way there. Happy Madison productions could have done Lord of The Rings and made money.

It's Called Context

Remember how cool movies were when you were younger? They talked about the future in 2010 was when Hal the talking computer was trying to murder astronauts. The Jetsons had flying cars. People of the future wore silver jumpsuits and flew around in silver saucers with ray guns. Well none of that crap has happened yet.

In fact, the anti-climactic present always makes the retro past seem a bit silly. You see people with puffy permed hair running around in bell bottom jeans and laughter is hard to keep down. The future of crime looks like a Sunday School skit and technology itself is a mess ("Virtual Reality" = belly laughs). The Apple iPhone is more impressive than half the Ghostbusters equipment and a fraction of the size.


Can you make it smaller than a car door please?

Thus movies about future internet and computer technology are always destined to fail because in the future they look like cheesy comedies rather than dark and philosophical views of human evolution. It's not a big deal in 1982 but even trying to keep the same theme is hard to integrate without the "modern" Grid looking like a bad garage sale.

3D Sucks

I'm not speaking of 3D models but rather the 3D film process where shit flies at the screen. This isn't specific to Tron but it sure didn't impress me much. Basically all 3D of this nature is a way for the film industry to rob you dry by tacking money onto something that cost them a fraction to make. I swear there was probably only 20 minutes of actual effects in the film so the nigh-permanent nose dimple from the goofy glasses wasn't worth it. Although, occasionally having something fly at you is a good way to stay awake I guess.

3D Sucks (that kind too)

I'm a huge fan of 3D models and effects. People who aren't are obviously stuck in the past or are clinging to rudimentary models and effects for their reasoning. Proper technology and art in a 3D realm can easily surpass effects of the past without all the fuss and mess. I am sure people thought Claymation/Stop Action was heresy at one point too. Just because George Lucas was a chump with Jar Jar doesn't mean the world of art can't exist in this realm. It's far more complex, artistic and time consuming than most people think.

The real reason it sucked in this film was Jeff Bridges circa 1982. They were trying to show how he created a clone of himself (Called "Clu") within the world of The Grid. The film consisted of Jeff Bridges "Old" vs Jeff Bridges "Young" each with an identical "mean voice" that only he can do. It sounds something like he got drunk one night and swallowed the TV remote; a horse moaning mess. Regardless, making an old guy look like a young guy required a tiny bit of 3D work. Basically it was as laughable as the Dancing Baby" from Ally McBeal.


(the more it moved, the cheesier it looked)


Plot

Take an old Sci-Fi film, add in a couple writers from "Lost" and it will make as much sense as Hurley and Jack dropping acid and joining a rave. Really the problem was a boring (albeit confusing) plot-line which relied on retro throwbacks and special effects.

You never had much equity in the characters or their relationships and the one potential love interest doesn't really have a "spark" besides the fact that she is basically a computer program. In a way Bridges' son, who is somewhat like Labeouf from Transformers (except far less murder-able) has to protect something hot which he can/can't have a relationship with in efforts to save the world. Towards the end you are so tired of staring at CG glow-tubes you don't care about the world or even if either of them die.


It would be like him having sexual thoughts about a laptop he had to protect...


Tron: Uprising

It's been confirmed that they are indeed working more Tronnage. This is going to be an animated TV mini-series which explains the gap between Tron 1982 and Tron Legacy of now. This would include the 20 or so years Jeff Bridges was stuck in The Grid while his bastardized son had to raise himself alone. Why would they do this? The answer is logical: What movie franchise has ever been hurt by a TV spin-off? Please, DON'T answer that.

Really though...do we need this? Do we really need more explanation of how the overthrow occurred with Bridges' doppelganger? Do we need to learn more about the control/turning of Tron into an evil douchebag? If so, can we really make a mini-series about it? Maybe one episode will answer all the questions from Tron and 11 other episodes will explain what the fuck happened in Lost!

I can't frankly imagine the gap without people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. I think it would be a great spin where they were doing battle constantly and controlling resources. It would be like a nerdy version of Dune but with more glow-tubes and jumpsuits.

Seriously though, please don't. This is one franchise that should maintain a modicum of self-respect if at all possible. After all, our childhood movies are slowly being remade, hyped, and destroyed. It's not that Tron deserves it as much as we are running out of glimpses of the past. We are desperately running low on nostalgia.

At least there are films like Inception being made. It makes the Black Swan's easier to stomach if you can have your totem with you.

*spins pirate coin*

8-Bit Win!

This is actually in 3D software!

I stumbled upon this artist in the search of some 8-Bit retro love. Here is the official website.

Basically he does 3D renders of 8-Bit art. Most of his stuff is from old games from my childhood including Nintendo, Atari and Sega classics. Some of it is just crazy Japanese Anime which you gotta love!

























Extra Bonus Features!

Congratulations! You waited through 3 minutes of stupidass credits to see the teaser for the next movie!

This blog is devoted to Panda's. It's extremely cute and creepy. Let's call it "Cuppy"

Reflection: Snoring

* Note: This was done on my cell phone, on the couch. *

I'm writing this at 4:30 am and not in the "I got up early to watch the sunrise" kind of way. Since it's a matter most wouldn't write about due to boredom and shame I accept the challenge like a chipper underdog in a Hallmark original.

Systems check

Pride: nope
Mental function: minimal
Insomnia: working

Analysis: ready!


I have recently come to realize that snoring is some kind of evil curse that seems to have legs like a story from the Old Testement. Similar to David in the Bible, by whatever reason it continues on it's destructive path and leaves no family member unaffected. While that's a shitty parallel cut me some slack...it is 4 in the morning.

Basically it's one of those things that seems to occur instantly and have dramatic effects. Like a lightbulb that shines perfectly well until it pops and requires a trip to the store, step ladder and likely a visit to a bug graveyard to fix.

From my limited research it also seems one of those things that while merely cosmetic (except to your spouse) it doesn't really have an easy cure. Surgery may help, losing weight seems to work, avoiding beer at night will help, and a number of "snake oil" fixes are a gamble. As you can see the cure list is basically designed to destroy a man after humiliating him.

What are the problems assuming it goes unfixed?

The best case scenario when it occurs your kind wife will wake you countless times during the night. This way you will sleep horribly and she will feel FAR worse in the morning. It's almost guaranteed this will be held against you and you will lose precious brownie points which don't come cheap! Men use these to get out of the proverbial "dog house" and to earn special rights similar to a cigarette prison bartering system. Besides having this Mr Hyde persona held over your head as an uncontrollable scenario, you start to feel the affects of your monster-dome. After all, you ARE the problem. Of course, chances are you won't hear about this until patience has been extinguished and time is of the essence.

The worst case scenario is sleeping on the couch (tonight this is me by free-will). Following this would be a check-list of fixes as mentioned above which range from silly and expensive to sacrificial and time consuming. As much as I want to get into shape, preventing a 95 decibel diesel engine rumble at 3 AM isn't the preferred catalyst. Thats like deciding to live on a tropical island BECAUSE your damn ship crashed into a rock and you drifted ashore. I guess technically the "worst" scenario would be smothering by spouse but she doesn't have that homicidal twinge in her eye (yet).

So my check list for self-improvement:
* get in shape (good)
* avoid late night beer (bad)
* a number of cheesy fixes

It's really not that bad unless you consider the time factor. After all, every day it's an elephant in the room (at least audibly). The faster it goes away, the better.

I guess this post could have been much worse considering the time of entry. You could very well have been the recipient of a three-topic rant of body odor, narcissist assholes, and how utterly worthless Bumblebee was (Transformers).

Glass half full?

Last Pound of Coffee

Today I got my last "mark out" pound of coffee at Starbucks, turned in the apron, handed over the partner card, and said goodbye.

It's been a fun two and a half years. Actually, most the coworkers have been fun (with a few total nightmares), the job itself I wasn't a huge fan of. It's not that making coffee is a bad way to earn a living, or that it's not a decent enough company. Rather the retail food world is a hard-knock kind of industry and I'm not referring to a Jay-Z song.

Standing on your feet all day requires good shoes unless you are in the featherweight boxing division. Being that I haven't seen this division since the 6th grade my ankles have seen some wear-and-tear. The "nice" customers make up about 99% of the traffic and while a fair majority of them are very particular (thanks to Starbuck's empowerment program), they do indeed mean well. The 1% of "mean" customers are on the boarder of fucking evil this side of Genghis Khan. Basically ravaging barbarians spitting drink modifiers and anger like a clinically insane death-row inmate.

It's given me a new respect for what people go through who serve me food and beverages when I am too lazy to make my own. While I have worked a plentiful number of very strange jobs including car dealerships (7 of them), tires shops, and financial offices. In some ways the stresses of something as rudimentary as making a cappuccino rivals or exceeds these occupations.

Ultimately it comes down to social expectations (yet again, I remain beating my metaphoric dead horse). It seems many customers of Starbucks see these employees as lower class. The average Barista at Starbucks has at least a High School Diploma (about 10% of our workers are Juniors or Seniors). Most have some college experience and a fair majority have Associate degrees or greater.

That means when someone is asking me to "melt" three packets of sugar or honey into a drink, I'm thinking what they really meant to say was "dissolved". When they reiterate in a frustrating tone that the substance wasn't "melted enough" I'm slowly and inwardly starting to hate them and ultimately myself. Compounding these mundane daily issues, which are not the customer's problem, with your pending or received degree makes for a disgruntled worker over the long-term.

Many people work at Starbucks because it's a good company. It takes care of it's workers with benefits and a safe and structured environment. The only problem I see is that it falls directly between two social worlds: Low and High class. I'm merely referring to education while typically these socioeconomic descriptors are used for income brackets.

The lower class, or less educated workers, will typically seek employment at legitimate fast-food industries. Less is expected on all levels and that works out fairly well. The upper class works at the artisan-type equivalent which is usually linked to a book store or located in a rich shopping center. The patrons of these establishments seem to treat the eccentric retail workers like family members rather than serfs. After all, they are manually packing espresso into a utilitarian "old school" machine as Jazz music is playing in the background. There isn't a fucking drive-through window.

I will miss all my coworkers and hope their lives are full of success and happiness. I will miss my customers (99% of course, the less eccentric the better). I will miss the weekly pound of free coffee, the frequent six-shot white mocha Espresso, and of course the random conversations that a coffee shop brings:

"Who would win in a fight: Chewbacca or Gandalf the Grey?"

"Why can't I meet a good guy at a bar?"

"How did you forget your car keys in Seattle and still get home(New Years)?"

"Is she calling the police again for her parole-violating ex-baby daddy?"

"I called the cops on him because he was violently pointing at me!"

"She can't get to work on time because her 3rd grade son brought a knife to school ?!?"



Shit. I'm going to miss that place.



Ironic finding this blog today. Adding it to my roster. http://hollywoodstarbucks.com/

Zebralight SC51w

I have never thought I would be so pumped up about Chinese flashlights. Some brands defy the normal logic of what "made in China" means.

Without dealing with political issues, this group includes quite a few makers of lights including: Olight, 4Sevens, Zebralight, Fenix, Dereelight, Solarforce, Tiablo, Nitecore and a few more that just aren't on my radar. These companies create products with quality components, industry leading technology, tight tolerances, and for a great price. In fact, most of these outperform American makers at multiple times the price. Those listed above aren't all on equal playing grounds, but you get what you pay for and they all pound out the performance.

Zebralight is towards the upper end of that spectrum regarding performance and quality. They don't have any multi-hundred dollar "high end" lights but rather stick to a simple model of business: Small and powerful. Making a name for themselves with powerful small headlamps they have now moved into the flashlight scene using the same technology and features. Luckily for us their lights price from about $50 to $80 and can fit almost any goal at hand (besides search and rescue).

Here are some features common in almost every Zebralight:

* Efficient dimensions (length, width, weight)
* Multiple modes of carry (headband, clip, etc)
* Genius U.I. (explained later)
* High performance LED (Neutral and Cool tints) driven towards efficiency
* Water resistant/proof to competitive levels

The SC51w is no different. The "W" indicates it's a warmer (or Neutral at about 4200k) tint compared to the standard Cool tint (approx 6500k). The SC51w is a very new model while the SC51 has been around about a year kicking tail and taking names.


Left: ZL 51w (neutral) Right: Nitecore Extreme Q5 (cool)
The Nitecore has a MUCH larger head and smaller LED, thus the tighter hotspot.

It's an evolution of the SC50 light series that uses a similar AA battery (normal Alkelines, Lithium disposables, or rechargeable batteries), but uses a different LED. The SC50's use a cool or neutral Cree XP-E LED; the SC51 uses Cree XP-G cool or neutral LED which is larger. The difference is quite a bit more output for the same runtime with a slightly wider hotspot. Based on the technology magic of Zebralight the spot doesn't seem that much less "tight" either from the naked eye so the upgrade pretty much all positive.

Compared to a standard AA light the SC51 is a powerhouse. On high it pumps out 200 lumens out the front (172 OTF for the W version). Compared to the Surefire 6p that most police carry at 65 lumens that's quite a step up! Regardless of the LED vs Incandescent debate the ZL is smaller, lighter, brighter, and cheaper...on a AA battery instead of a CR123 lithium battery.

Other perks include fairly deep carry chrome pocket clip, the ability to tail-stand, 6 modes (7 if you include strobe), and a label-free grey anodized aluminum body.

Really the winner of this light is the User Interface (or U.I.) though. Linked to a very cool and comfortable side-click button Zebralight's mode selection is a homerun hit. Most brands require cycling brightness levels, memorizing levels by locking in and out of "tactical" mode, or leaving the light on a certain brightness for a few seconds. Zebralight bypasses this by letting the user act smarter than the product.

* Quick click and release = full brightness
* Double click and release = medium brightness
* Click and slow release (a little over a second) = low mode
* Click and hold = toggle low/medium/bright...release when you want the mode.

Here are the brightness levels for the SC51w:

* High: H1 172 Lm (0.9 hrs) or H2 86 Lm (2.4 hrs) / 120 Lm (1.7 hrs) / 4Hz Strobe

* Medium: M1 26 Lm (12 hrs) or M2 7 Lm (39 hrs)

* Low: L1 2.2 Lm (3 days) or L2 0.18 Lm (16 days)


Each mode has a secondary brightness which you can get to by double-clicking while the light is on. The light remembers which of the two modes you were on when it's turned off or switches so that becomes the dominant mode. Leave it on the brightest high and it stays that way as the default, leave it on moonlight low mode and it stays there. How useful!

Literally a minute after playing with the light I could bounce to any primary mode immediately. I could activate each optional brightness level in only an extra second. You simply can't do this with most lights. The side-click is super cool and ergonomic. It also feels more like a TV remote than a heavy-handed flashlight clicker...very crisp and responsive.

In summary this thing is badass!!! I want the SC60 next which uses a larger rechargable lithium (18650) for a TON of runtime and a bit more brightness. I'd like the "all flood" H501w headlamp which would make a great work light when you don't need a sharp hotspot.

None of the Zebralights have what is considered a "throwing" beam profile. They have narrow heads with shallow reflectors to maximize pocket space and weight. This also means they will give more "flood" light which is arguably more useful for a dog walk or navigating a dark bedroom. The ones with reflectors (headlights and flashlights) will still toss out a ton of light a couple hundred feet. Most use the tricktastic UI system and have a cool pocket clip.

If you can't afford or justify a custom light I would highly recommend one of these Zebralight's as your only means of illumination. Anything with a 50 or 51 (or 501) designation is AA batteries, 30 or 31 is lithium (like a camera battery), 60 is large lithium battery powered. SC means flashlight; H means headlamp. The headlamps range from all flood to a conventional beam so they are a bit more confusing.

Thanks for reading!

2011 Is Going To Be Great

What with my recent stretching of almost every antagonistic muscle in my body, a positive note is long past due.

I hope everyone is gearing up for the New Year. This would include some type of guest list, a cabinet full of liquor and fine beers, plus of course a resolution which ranges from attainable to superhuman in scope. The rest of the next year is hopefully things planned like vacations, promotions, or other exciting events the crystal ball has foretold. My wife and I are looking forward to this last part.

We met 8 years ago while in college. This year she will be graduating (!!!). Through a series of unfortunate events, including one college closing, it's finally happening. As they say, the third time being a sophomore is the charm, right?

For the last few years I have been working two jobs: a white collar worker by day and a Barista at night. Besides the 12+ hour shifts consisting of most the week the traffic has been frustrating. I spend an average of 2 hours in traffic a day before starting the second job and having to put a fresh retail smile on. However, it's taught me a new found respect for retail workers and what they go through. The change in plans goes hand-in-hand with my wife's graduation. Yet, the surprise is what really has us smiling.

Without disclosing too much about personal lives, she has been offered a job at a large local company filled with some of the worlds best artists and programmers. They actually hired her 4 months prior to graduation which is almost unheard of by the school's history (even though it's a terrific school) and IS unheard of regarding this company's history (hires from her school, I'm sure they have done it before elsewhere). She gets to bypass the stress and anxiety of business cards, promotion, career day and the rest of the rat-race. It's one of those things you can't supply for your spouse but only wish could happen. She even might have a part-time job lined up in April!

Meanwhile I get to quit my second job. It's been a great place with fun people and memories. Still, focusing on being an effective worker at one job is difficult enough. Throw in strange work hours, rush-hour traffic, and a change of wardrobe makes it extra tiring.

All in all 2011 seems like it's going to be a fun and exciting year. I feel like I'm graduating as well and her new occupation seems surreal given the current economy. Being able to focus on learning my trade and her with hers is the best of both worlds. At least now when we work 60+ hours a week it's by our wishes.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well that's the damn truth.

Wow! Comments?

I temporarily took down a blog lambasting a certain bakery due to unscrupulous marketing. While I appreciate the attention, I can only read through so many angry comments. I guess that is what happens when you link it from your company Twitter and Facebook page. I'm all for playing the odds but 20,000+ Acolytes vs 1 unknown blogger is hardly a fair fight. Eat this censorship sandwich Freedom of Speech!

What I learned is that fanboyism is pretty intense when it comes to multi-grain products. I also learned that we should support ex-drug addicts and convicts if they have long hair and rock out at county fairs. After all, I've never beat up a cop or sold drugs to people but if I DID and said "sorry" people should turn the other cheek regardless of my lack of humility. I can always spin this into something good and be the spokesman of a company.

I've never met this guy. I also have never read about any shame about his past. Every pic has a joke about his hair being messed up in a mug shot, or being too grumpy to smile. His fucking testimonial (which spans 18 pages) is more acerbic than my entire blog! Read it if you want.

It's not about the past, it's about the present. It's about crime-punishment-atonement-humility-positive message. The person in question is skipping a few steps along the way. I'll simplify it further:

1. Commit crimes 99.9% of society never does (bad)
2. Serve your time and become a better person (good)
3. Find your passion and tell your story in your work (GOOD)
4. Whimsically and arrogantly joke about your past showing the world your really just a smarmy dick. (fuck you)

Theoretically if I ruined lives, stole property, got people hooked on drugs (children?), the first thing out of my mouth would be "SORRY". Since I haven't I can't speak for sure.

I think the biggest crime here is attempting to be funny about something that shouldn't be a joke. It's a career path based on deflection, justification, and low-brow humor.

Sorry but I'm not laughing.

Merry Manly-Birthdaymas To Me!

When I tell people my Birthday is 2 days after Christmas most people respond with something like,

"Awww you poor soul."

It's like I've been beat with a rubber house through my childhood or something. Truthfully it's not a big deal and I usually make-off like a bandit. Of course, in my heart I know that Jesus' birthday beats mine hands down but I'm coping with that insecurity better each day.

I'm not going to do a formal review of this because I'm waiting for Todd to get around and write another post. It's been about 5 months since his last one so it better be more prophetic than The Time Machine. Since I blatantly copied him in getting one, and he found this flashlight for my family to buy on the secondary market, I figure that's only right.

Here is the long and the short:

Mac's SST-50 EDC
* Custom Brass Flashlight, normally 4 week wait (unless your bro finds it online)
* Deep-carry Titanium Clip
* Luminous SST-50 LED (I.E. "BIG ASS LED") with a neutral-warm tint
* Runs off one IMR16340 (I.E. "high-performance rechargeable battery")
* Forward-clicky recessed switch allows to tail-stand.
* Three brightness with memory (low/high/really high)

It's heavy, bright, and cool in a very nerdy way. There is even that strange brass smell that makes you feel like an old dirty prospector.

I am formerly and utterly impressed.