It was taken shortly after helping push a car a mile down the road to a gas station. Fun Times.

• 70k+ people for NRA Con, plus ~47k Cardinals fans at Busch Stadium = Very spotty cellphone service. (For every network, I asked others)
• For some reason, internet would NOT work properly. America Center WiFi, NRA Press WiFi, AT&T 4G – I would get one out of every 10-15 attempts, and uploads were sucking my battery life. (Old_NFO’s worked just fine on his iPad. I’m pretty sure the internet was too scared of him to dare not to work.)
• The NRA has been highly accepting of bloggers. They gave me a pass, didn’t they?
• Others have hit on it, but I’ll reiterate it. “An armed society is a polite society.” This was the nicest, most polite Con I’ve ever visited – staff, crowd, vendors, whomever.
• Old_NFO is a sneaky ninja.
• Bring a backup battery (and a backup backup battery) and business cards.
• I got my wookiee suit on. (Pictures to come)
• Two Reviews coming in the near future. Lucky Gunner sent me some ammo, and Sticky Holsters gave me a cellphone pouch to play with. (Sticky Holsters tried to give me an actual holster, but being in IL, I knew I couldn’t give it a decent review. So I took the pouch instead.)
• Irish Carbombs are more fun when you drink them with a friend (like AD).
• Ted Drewes, Kopperman’s, Tigin, Carmine’s, and Angelo’s – Highly, Highly recommended. (Food review forthcoming)
• Shell station hotdogs – Highly, Highly discouraged.

HUGE thanks to JayG, Squeaky, LawDog, Phlegmmy, Mad Saint Jack, Dennis, Oleg, Old_NFO, Daddy Bear, AD,  Thirdpower, Snarky, Danno, Caleb, Sebastian, Bitter, MattG, John, NUGun,  and Kathy.  I’m sure I’m missing a couple names (I’ve always been horrible with names), so drop me a line or a comment if we met and I’ve not added you to my blogroll yet.

Caleb was kind enough to give me an autograph.

Edit: This wasn’t done purely as a prank. Caleb’s famous incident occurred shortly after I became a denizen of #GBC and remains a formative memory of when I became aware of him. It was fun to yank his chain a little, but it also makes a neat little souvenir.

JayG: “It’s like a plate full of penis!”
Dennis: “Jay, apologize to the young lady.”
Destinee: *can hardly breath from laughter*

To driver: “Why are there bars on the windows of the Fed? They don’t have any money in there.”

The 8-bit Google Maps for NES and Quest Mode were a nice time sink.

Blizzard had an amusing entry with their Zergling Teaches Typing demo – a part of a new Blizzard Kidzz educational software suite.

Cartoon Network gets awarded the Cruelest April Fool’s Day joke, with their broadcast of Toonami in place of Adult Swim.  While it was nice to see the old host, Tom, and show lineup from my childhood return; knowing that it was only temporary made the whole thing bittersweet. All 30 clips of Tom, voiced by Steve Blum, are up on YouTube.

 

It was Kodak, however, that stole the show with their Kitten Printing Machine. In my book, Kodak won this year’s April Fool’s Day.

• It’s located very near the route I travel between home and work.
• No municipal sales tax is applied.

There were lots of familiar faces, many familiar tables, and a welcome decrease in extraneous vendors (though the ATF actually set up a table instead of just wandering around). I bring to you though, the highlights of today’s perusal.

The Biggest 1911 I’ve Ever Seen.

The IAI Javelina, a 10mm hunting pistol, will only set you back $1150. It has a 7 inch barrel. The google machine has led me to tales of great power, elegant shooting, and spotty quality control (along with a blasphemous welded-on extractor).

A Musical Instrument I Could Really Get Into.

Sorry about the lighting in this set, but the sun was shining right through the window behind it. You’ll have to take my word for it that this piano is beautifully stained and boasts elegant, decorative carvings. The real attraction, however, is on the inside.

It’s a beautiful gun cabinet in disguise. The maker converted it from an old, broken piano. His asking price was $2500. Sadly he doesn’t have a website, so I can’t link to him. He was there offering his services for either making new furniture and cabinets or converting items.

The High Capacity Assault Clip

They do exist! Even better worse, I was told that they could be linked together, potentially allowing for a nearly unlimited potential for capacity! Imagine being able to have that many rounds together in one single line, just waiting to be loaded into a magazine! The Horror!

Well since someone preemptively stole my original idea…(and since I don’t actually own any candles as it turns out)

I present my own version

Laphroaig 18, Springfield Armory 1911 Loaded, Rocky Patel Valedor cigar, and a case of Yugo FMJ 7.62×39 surplus ammunition.

My original idea

Alternate take

This one’s for Jigsaw

Here’s my ‘candle’ before I lit it up. Rocky Patel’s NRA cigar. It’s not the best smoke in Rocky’s line-up, but it’s not too shabby.

Peace.

A .50 BMG is on the list of guns I want to own someday – mostly because bills to ban it keep cropping in up the General Assembly. I figure if they don’t want me to have one, it’s all the more reason to get one.