Cameras...

I've been shooting with a Canon EOS 30D for quite a few years now. Seven? Eight? Wiki says it was introduced in Q1 2005 and ended after Q2 2006, so at least seven years. I've taken tens of thousands of pictures, shot two weddings, and learned a lot about photography and myself along the way.

Unfortunately, it seems that camera has given up the ghost. It's only displaying a CF ERR message when I turn it on, and a closer examination makes it look like it's got a bent pin. It's probably repairable by someone who knows what they're doing, but I am not inclined to spend the money to do it.

I have a small selection of lenses and accessories that are Canon-specific, but not that much. If/when I buy a new camera, I'd be OK with swapping to Nikon if there was a good reason. I've always had good luck with Canon, though.

So, shutterbugs... what are you shooting and why?

Other things in a free state...

I've slowly been unpacking and sorting. I traded a few of my ten-round M&P9 mags for full-capacity mags, and simply dumped the contents of the short mags on a shelf until the new ones arrived.

I put all the ammo from two NY-compliant mags into one new standard-capacity... and still have room for three more rounds.

To my Tennessee brethren...

... would one of you please bash this man upside the head with a clue? He's not doing us any favors.

Leonard Embody arrested again

Seems this time he was wandering around downtown with an AR and can, and tugged the lion's tail a few times for good measure.

Almost missed it!

The second installment of Peter's novel is up!

Click through to his blog, and thence to Amazon to buy it for your Kindle!

Seems the panic has subsided

... at least for the most part. The local Walmart has ARs of several flavors on the rack. A Colt LE6920/Magpul is right where it belongs at $1150. Bushamsters are there as well. Online classifieds are running stripped lowers at $140-150ish, which is a touch higher than last year but not unreal.

Still no ammo, though...

So long already?

Over the past few days, men have been pouring into the Pennsylvania countryside, coming down the Taneytown and Chambersburg Roads.

They are following not only their generals, but their hearts.

Names like Heth, Pickett, Meade, Buford, Hancock, Longstreet... and yes, Grant and Lee.
[Good catch, C-90. I do need to re-read.]

Today, and the next few days, etched a few words into our national history:
"The Wheatfield"

"The Peach Orchard"

"The Devil's Den"

"Little Roundtop"

"Bloody Run"

"Seminary Ridge"

"Pickett's Charge"

One hundred fifty years ago as I type this, the men of the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac were a day into the Battle of Gettysburg.

If you haven't visited the battlefield, you should. Walk on Little Roundtop and think about the Rebel Yell coming up... or stand on the treeline in Pickett's ranks and imagine what motivation it would take to leave those trees and charge the Yankee lines - a mile away.

I visited the Battle of Lexington (MO) historic site here yesterday.

Now I understand why people say the war never ended...

Once Chamberlain had a speech memorized from Shakespeare and gave it proudly, the old man listening but not looking, and Chamberlain remembered it still: 'What a piece of work is man...in action how like an angel!' And the old man, grinning, had scratched his head and then said stiffly, 'Well, boy, if he's an angel, he's sure a murderin' angel.'

-- Michael Shaara, "The Killer Angels"