We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

This one's for you, Trev:

Truthfully, we won't need THAT big a boat, since she's only four feet long. The shark was inadvertently caught off the coast of Southern California by a fishing trawler and is currently in residence at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California, where I somehow managed to take the above picture just as she was cruising through the frame. Yeah, it's a little blurry--she's a fast shark. More info on the aquarium's White Shark Project can be found here, and you can click on the above photo for a larger image.

A Day at the Beach

This past weekend, on a whim, the missus and I braved weekend traffic and drove up to Malibu, past the meager and overcrowded beaches that line the Pacific Coast Highway to Point Dume. We dipped our feet in the wonderfully cool waters of the Pacific Ocean, then climbed up the point's peak and marvelled at the beauty of the coastline and relished the breeze that came off the water. The remainder of the afternoon was spent hiking around the beach and the bluffs, sitting on a weatherbeaten wood platform perched on a cliff, gingerly walking over rocks small and large worn smooth by the waves.

There's no tired like the tired you get from a day in sun and sea air, and the sprinkling of sand you find in your shorts pocket the next day is a gift, sparking memory of pleasant warmth and refreshing coolness experienced simultaneously, the brush of the spray and the taste of the wind, even as you brush it from your fingers.

An Evening with Stan

My favorite quote from tonight's viewing of JURASSIC PARK with legendary F/X guru Stan Winston came when Stan answered a written question from an audience member, Rachel, age 4:

QUESTION: Did the sick Triceratops get better?

STAN: Is Rachel here? [peers into the audience] Rachel, if you're here, yes, the sick Triceratops got better. If you're not here, well, sorry kid, the dinosaur's toast.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

On September 13th, at midnight, the ten-year-old national ban on military-style assault weapons will expire.

This is happening for one main reason: because President Bush is allowing it to happen. The President has publicly stated that he would support an extension of the Assault Weapons Ban IF it reached his desk, but has made no effort to actually have an extension put forward, and killed a bill that he had previously endorsed which would protect gun manufacturers from lawsuits by families of victims of their products, when an extension of the Ban was added to it as an amendment. So when the Ban expires on Monday, President Bush will be able to say to the American people that he was unable to sign the bill because it did not reach his desk, but will also be able to tell the National Rifle Association, who, from 1998 through 2002 gave 80% of their $3 million to Republican candidates, that he did nothing to oppose the expiration of the Ban.

In case you didn't get the point: for the leader of the Federal government to excuse the failure of a bill on the grounds that it didn't reach his desk is akin to a mother excusing the death of her baby from starvation because the kid didn't make it to the dinner table.

The ban on assault weapons will expire because President Bush wants it to expire, because the National Rifle Association, a group of nutjobs who opposes, amongst other things, the banning of armor-piercing ammunition, mandatory waiting periods for gun purchases, the inclusion of trigger locks with gun purchases, and mandatory background checks on individuals purchasing weapons at gun shows, wants it to expire.

FYI, the above information can be found on the NRA's own website decrying Presidential candidate John Kerry for supporting all of the above. But that's another issue.

So, once the Assault Weapons Ban expires, citizens will once again be able to purchase semi-automatic weapons with the following modifications:

• A large-capacity ammunition magazine, enabling the shooter to continuously fire dozens of rounds without reloading

• A folding stock on a rifle or shotgun, which sacrifices accuracy for concealability and for mobility in close combat

• A pistol grip on a rifle or shotgun, which facilitates firing from the hip, allowing the shooter to spray-fire the weapon and making it easier to shoot assault rifles one-handed.

• A barrel shroud, which is designed to cool the barrel so the firearm can shoot many rounds in rapid succession without overheating

• A threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor, which allows the shooter to remain concealed when shooting at night

• A threaded barrel designed to accommodate a silencer

• A barrel mount designed to accommodate a bayonet

If you think that keeping any or all of the above off the streets sounds like a pretty swell idea, then please go sign Moveon.org's petition, and don't forget to vote in November.

More information:
March 2, 2004 White House press briefing on the assault weapon ban
The NRA on John Kerry's voting record
The Brady Campaign FAQ on the Assault Weapons Ban
The Chicago Sun-Times on the Ban