Sky Fest 2006 is next weekend.  I’m planning on going.  Hopefully this will help get the word out to make turn out great.  Here’s their site with plenty of info:

http://www.skyfest.us/

Found this posted on a forum.  Very cool.  Awesome piloting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ4EOtdZANQ

We went to see Huo Yuan Jia (AKA Jet Li’s Fearless) today.  It was an amazing film.  It was totally unexpected by me.  I wasn’t expecting a bad film, but I was expecting an average Jet Li film.  It was far beyond that.  It was, as billed, a kung-fu action film, but also had a very dramatic plot that was quite compelling.  I’m ready to own it when it comes out on DVD.  I highly reccommend it.

We went to the charity machine gun shoot at Range USA yesterday. Excuse the pun, but it was a blast. We took the opportunity to try out the Thompson sub-machine gun (tommy gun), M3 grease gun, and MP5k. I really had no idea what to expect out of the tommy gun or grease gun. The tommy gun was a real sweetheart. It really fit me well and felt great. The rate of fire was surprisingly high. I’d love to have one (or a sem-auto clone). The grease gun was fun. It’s rate of fire was extremely slow. I know I can pull the trigger much faster than it ran in full-auto, but it still was cool. Such a piece of history is always an experience to remember. Then there was the MP5k. That was fun. Nothing to write home about. It has a really high rate of fire, and is pretty comfortable. If I can get the money together soon enough, maybe I can put together a clone. I can’t wait for next year.

[update 10/1/2006]

Found a Commerical Appeal article about the shoot.  When we were there I saw two reporters (one from Commercial Appeal and the other I don’t know), so I thought to look for this today.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5015417,00.html

We went and purchased Great Planes RealFlight G3 from Hobbytown USA this weekend.  It’s really cool.  I was concerned that maybe my one machine with a 3D card in it might not have the power to run it, but I was wrong.  It is fast enough to run in “Photo field” mode.  I need something a little better to run in full 3D mode.  Compared to the old Dave Brown simulator we used to have (almost 10 years ago), it’s very advanced.  The physics feel pretty good to me, and the graphics are great.  Looks like I’ll get plenty of practice in before I start back flying again.

Something that turns out to be legal in TN (with an HCP) is open carry.  This was not the case back in OK.  I’ve followed some discussion on this over on PDO and a new site opencarry.org.  A general consensus tends to be that open carry is probably not going to get you hassled unless you are in Memphis.  Well, yesterday, in a Starbucks of all places, I was a couple of places behind a guy open carrying.  I saw no badge and basically nobody even batted an eye.  Pretty cool.  I suspect most people didn’t even notice, but at the minimum, the people at the counter looked at it (double take motion of the eyes).  Maybe the biggest obstacle is getting up the courage to give it a try.

I saw one of those KFC protesters this weekend.  It surprised me.  I knew they existed, but never imagined I’d see one in “my” part of the country.  It’s not like I live in California or New England.  Anyway, it was just a brief glance while driving by at 40mph.  I didn’t even notice him until he was literally right next to me.  It’s sad people have the time to do such things with a passion and don’t really do anything constructive about it.

We went to a Jewel Concert this weekend down at the Horseshoe Casio in Tunica.  It’s my first non-orchestral concert, so I was a little apprehensive.  My concerns were belayed.  It was a good show.  Pretty good value too.  I rate musicians’ skill based not only on how well I like their music, but also if they can perform without studio magic.  So many ‘musicians’ today couldn’t hold a tune without sudio technicians cleaning things up and mixing it all together.  That and their incessant need to record dozens of takes that get spliced together for the best parts of each just rubs me wrong.  I can report that Jewel is a fine performer with no need for reliance on such trickery.  It was a good time.

We saw Crank this past weekend.  Aside from it’s R rating, it’s not a movie for all people.  The best way to describe it is as an American Hong Kong action flick.  Really.  The stylistic primitives are a dead ringer.  I have a feeling most American audiences won’t like it, but I was laughing at most of the ‘gory’ action.  It just fits the style, but a style Americans don’t really see much of.  Quentin Tarantino alludes to this in his Kill Bill films, but that is still stylistically overwhelmed by his direction.  Anyway, I enjoyed it.

Okay, it’s been a while since I posted.  Here’s the first in a quick series of updates.

We went to see Barnyard two or three weeks ago. It’s a funny film.  I definitely see the Steve Oedekerk writing in it.  It’s quite good.  It appeals to a wide audience, is humorous and still teaches a lesson.  The only real glaring issue I have with it is the udders on all the bovine (male or female).  Everything else was funny.  Check it out.