It’s another great episode of The GunBlog VarietyCast!
Erin Palette asks you an important question. Do you have a Vacation State of Mind?
We had Reaganomics. But what about Trumpanomics? Nicki Kenyon tells us what Trump’s economic policy means for America’s Foreign Policy.
What’s it like to be a mom with a gun? Beth Alcazar tells us what it’s like for her
Sitting in for a few weeks while Barron B is “On Assignment,” Silicon Graybeard gets us started on that wonderful, underappreciated world of ham radios
And Weer’d finds a video of the leader of Oregon Ceasefire, Penny Okamoto, hectoring the Portland PD Gang Unit about gun control. You know what that means. It’s time for another Patented Weer’d Audio Fisk!™
Thanks for downloading, listening, and subscribing.
Thanks to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.
And a special thanks to our sponsor, Law of Self Defense. Use discount code “Variety” at checkout for 10% off.
Professors in Texas may consider changing what and how they teach in light of the state’s new campus-carry law, which goes into effect Aug. 1. Texas joins seven other states that permit concealed-carry guns on public campuses—Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. In response, University of Houston Faculty Senate President Jonathan Snow recently suggested that faculty members should avoid discussions on sensitive topics and change their syllabi to avoid riling students.
Teachers and Police really undo a lot of the massive good they do with their CONSTANT patting themselves on the backs proclaiming themselves to be heros.
Police spend most of their time doing traffic citations and breaking up domestic disputes….which is awesome because that swerving drunk needs to be arrested, as does the drunk up the street fighting with his wife at 3am….but they aren’t going to all-out-war with the street gangs, or breaking up the Zeta smuggling ring bringing in underage prostitutes.
And teachers are awesome, I owe a lot of success to both my K-12 schooling as well as my undergrad work…but then they say shit like this:
I was pleased to see that some faculty have pushed back, insisting, as Professor Margot Backus has, that they would not change what they teach. Still, Backus told the Chronicle of Higher Education that she does not know how she would feel should the moment come when there is a confrontation in her classroom.
I know what she means.
WTF are you talking about?
I teach in Arizona, where there are currently no laws allowing guns on campuses, but where those laws have been proposed annually…
…As class was about to end, one white student raised his hand and said: “I just have to say that I wouldn’t mind watching some of those child molesters be lynched.” A black student exploded out of her chair: “Can you hear yourself? Where does it end? That’s the slippery slope that says it’s OK for them to lynch me, my people.”
The white student responded that he hadn’t meant that. I looked at their faces, both angry, both trying to be heard. This was a learning moment, one that happened because all of us felt safe to speak freely.
A few students looked uncomfortable. But it is OK to be uncomfortable. It is in that place between comfort and discomfort that most learning takes place.
Would I have held the same class today if I had known there were possibly guns among some of my students? What would I have been looking for as I guided the conversation about racism and lynching? Would symptoms of discomfort have looked different to me?
Oh you fucking HERO! You were ONLY safe from this heated discussion (that probably had as much threat of violence as I have of growing wings) because your campus bans guns.
Hey, did one of the students just snap and start smashing the other student’s teeth out with his fists? Did anybody use those massive, and amazingly expensive hard-bound text books as an improvised club? Did somebody pull out a knife, or maybe a glass bottle (you know, weapons your campus doesn’t have rules against) and start getting their murder on?
The idea that campus carry is going to turn pretentious debate into a bloodbath is just foolish given there is ALWAYS the possibility of violence in every situation, even when weapons are not available. The fact that stories of kids coming home for fall break with their expensive orthodonture ruined thanks to a lit discussion gone bad isn’t something we EVER hear about tells us all we need to know about campus carry.
And these professors need to shut the fuck up about all this “threat of violence” nonsense, since you don’t see any of them getting curb-stomped with a Birkenstock from an upset student.
What the Hell?? So this turd runs an in-person bar tending school in New York, with affiliates in a few other locations.
This guy runs a website where you pay for private access to similar lesson designs, and with a premium account, actually get to sit in on a Skype class with him. Actually cool idea…except for how he makes his drinks.
Oh GOD! Ok first I like traditional martinis over Vodka, and I like olives over lemon twists, but both are acceptable martinis. He also gives two valid points #1 use a larger cocktail glass and don’t fill it all the way to the brim…those things do spill real easy and people want martini in their mouth, not their lap. #2. The way your customer likes the drink is the right way 100% true. If your Customer wants a “Martini” made with 3 oz of dry vermouth, 2 oz of Midori and a live shrimp swimming in the glass, and you can make that happen for them all without grimacing while they raise that slop to their lips, you might find yourself with a big fat tip, and maybe a regular customer.
(Of course, I’ve also found that some of the pickiest customers are sometimes the most miserable bastards, and the harder you break your back to please them the more unhappy they get, and leave without a tipping)
Still all that may be true, you SHOULD start with a proper framework before you break the rules. If somebody bellies up to the bar and simply says “Martini” or “Dry Martini”, you should have an image in your head. He’s certainly asking for gin, he’s asking for dry vermouth, and in a volume where he can actually taste it, he’s asking for the drink straight up (you know, the REASON why the Cocktail glass is so frequently called a “Martini Glass”), stirred, and I might argue he’s asking for olives, but these days it might be nice to ask if he wants olives or lemon.
BTW this is why James Bond famously says “Vodka Martini. Shaken, not stirred.” Because he’s asking for a very different drink from the traditional. Also while the lingo is improper, if the person asks for “extra Bone Dry” or something similar, you might want to have a conversation if they want the glass whetted like in the video, or for the vermouth to say firmly planted on the back bar for the duration of the cocktail. (BTW the lingo is “Improper” because a martini is either dry or sweet, and all these “Extra” modifiers are technically just making the drink “less martini”, but this is how the lingo evolved, so I can’t change the world).
Instead this guy starts out with little to no Vermouth (the “Dirty Martini” with zero vermouth and a really big splash of olive brine looks positively revolting), he does mention at the beginning that Gin is the traditional, but I am a bit disappointed that he doesn’t specify this is a VODKA martini…hey at least he doesn’t use rot-gut vodka. He shakes the drink so a cloudy mess falls into the glass, and the glass is unchilled.
Ok the last part is probably the most minor. I like to chill my glasses for a few minutes before serving with some crushed ice and a little water, this just means that the cold cocktail won’t start immediately getting warm as it starts chilling the warm glass….still it isn’t a deal breaker, but it looks VERY professional, and let’s face it this isn’t a “Sour Appletini” or any such candy-flavored monstrosities ordered by people who just don’t like the taste of booze but want to get drunk. Somebody orders a “Dry Martini”, this is a person who likes a good cocktail, and probably has seen many a cocktail get butchered by a hack. So chilling the glass is a nice touch, and shows some respect for the drink.
As for moot points…his free-pouring is pretty good, and when I used to get paid to mix drinks I would free pour because it was faster, and I was told the customers liked seeing it because they felt they might be getting a bit more booze in the mix….and for drinks like a long island iced tea or a rum and coke, really it’s the only way to fly. Also he doesn’t use a strainer when pouring the drink…which he does perfectly.
Still both of these techniques can go horribly wrong. You can accidentally under-pour or over-pour some ingredients…this is even worse if a customer is ordering their second drink, they liked the first one, now the second tastes different….bad news for you! And what happens when you crack that shaker a LITTLE too much, or one of your ice cubes broke down more than you expected. Best case scenario you’re looking at an Up drink with an iceberg floating in it…now what? Fish it out with a bar spoon? Mix them another drink? Serve that crap to them? Worst case is a cube drops out of the strainer and splashes martini all over the customer….bad news.
Amazing that the GOOD bartenders on youtube tend to be selling NOTHING, or maybe they have a book….and the HACKS want your damn money so they can show you how to suck.
Adam and Sean bring you a packed show with a full cast AND a Special Guest!!
Erin Palette continues her “Thinking About the Way We Think” series with a segment on Mental Models.
What’s up with Greece? Nicki Kenyon gives us her take on the European Union’s threat to kick Greece out of the Schengen Zone.
Joining the podcast for her first show as a permanent contributor, Beth Alcazar talks about that Texas gun experiment where they hid a gun in a playroom and tossed in 8 unsuspecting children, just to see what would happen.
In his last show before an extended time away “On Assignment,” Barron B sings the Song of his (Network Security) People, “Why Didn’t You Disable That Stupid Old Busted Security Protocol Years Ago?” This time it’s The Drown Attack that’s getting him down.
Our Special Guest, Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip Van Cleave returns to tell us how VCDL and Virginia gun owners defeated Bloomberg puppet Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s attack on Concealed Handgun Permit reciprocity. You DO NOT want to miss this. Philip tells us of the amazing things that happen when gun owners stand up to be counted.
And did you know that the online magazine Vox is a bastion of honest journalism and champion of individual liberty, right? Stop laughing! Weer’d takes their anti gun video, and their cherry picked data to task with another patented Weer’d Audio Fisk™.
Thank you for downloading, listening, and subscribing.
Thanks to Firearms Policy Coalition for their support.
A special thanks to our sponsor, Law of Self Defense. Use discount code “Variety” at checkout for 10% off.
Adam and I bring you another episode of The GunBlog VarietyCast.
Erin Palette discusses the pros and cons of Behavioral Scripts.
Britain is reconsidering exiting the EU. Nicki Kenyon gives us her views.
Our Special Guest this week is our Sponsor, Attorney Andrew Branca. Andrew explains how the old “Never Talk To The Police” mantra is just plain wrong when it comes to lawful citizens using force for self defense. Seriously, who are you going to believe, some random guy on the internet? Or the guy who wrote the book on The Law of Self-Defense?
In one of his longest segments to date, Barron B gives us his view on the legal battle between Apple and the FBI.
And Weer’d notes that that nasty little fascist, Michael Bloomberg is branching out. He was just trying to ban guns and salt and soda, and trans-fat. Now he’s decided to start giving dating advice. He’s directed his minions make videos telling women not to date gun owning men. You know what that means. It’s time for another patented Weer’d Audio Fisk™
Next week, our new contributor, Beth Alcazar joins us!
So when SHOT show rolled out the belle of the ball was the Kimber K6S revolver. It was pretty cool, it’s reminiscent of the Colt Detective Special, but modern and in .357….but it’s a Kimber, and by now I think we ALL must know somebody who’s bought a high-dollar lemon from them.
Have a listen, Grant says a LOT of great things. I really wish all the best to Kimber, I’ll be super happy if this revolver marks the turning point on the less-than-stellar years of that company.
When I was a teenager one of my best friends had a older brother of driving age, and his first car was a metallic green 1979 Chevette. Like a young duckling’s first glance at his mother, this was the first car I ever road in that I considered an abominable pile of shit.
Note I was taken home from the Hospital in an AMC Pacer….was driven in my youth in a Navy Blue AMC Concord that I called “KITT”, my Dad drove a fleet of I-4 2×4 Ford Rangers the 1991 edition would become my first car when I left for college, and I took my driving test on a 1996 Ford Taurus that I thought was a pretty sweet ride.
Still that Green Chevette (his brother called it “The ‘Vette” in the most ironic fashion, everybody else, including his father called it “The Green Booger”) is what I think of when I think of a “Shitbox”
