Check out Heads Bunker for a great post about one of my favorite guns, the Makarov.

If you are even remotely interested in what's going on in the realm of a possible influenza pandemic, you should check out Avian Flu. Here is a recent post: What is really going on in China?

Chaos over at Whiskey Tango Foxtrot posted a couple of things this week which interested me. The first was his observation that many gun folks are also Lovecraft fans. I think this is more owing to the universality of Lovecraft's writings than to anything else. Just about everyone, regardless of political/social/religious leanings, provided they have something of an imagination, can appreciate the fear stimulus invoked by these tales of the unknown. That's my theory, anyway. Chaos has also been posting a few of his favorite HPL quotes, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and post a couple. Tonight's quote is from The Festival. This is one of my favorite stories, although it is not really considered one of his "major" tales like The Call of Cthulhu or The Shadow Over Innsmouth. This tale has an excellent example of how Lovecraft could describe something by not describing it:

"...there flopped rhythmically a horde of tamed, trained, hybrid winged things that no sound eye could ever wholly grasp, or sound brain ever wholly remember. They were not altogether crows, nor moles, nor buzzards, nor ants, nor vampire bats, nor decomposed human beings; but something I cannot and must not recall."

There are plenty of stories which result in the death (or fate worse than death) of the protagonist, and sure, those are scary. But to me, the truly haunting tale is the one in which the protagonist survives more or less intact, but leaves the reader with the knowledge that the he will be haunted by memories/dreams/visions of his experience forever afterward. This may be why Lovecraft's writings were always better--to me--than some other writers. There is almost always someone who survives but will be forever after psychologically scarred by the experience.

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Chaos' other post that struck a chord in me was his question of what would be one's preferred zombie gun. I should begin by the disclaimer that the article he referenced was, according to Snopes, an April Fools Day spoof. However, this does not invalidate his question. Perhaps this also struck me strangely because (since I usually have lots of opportunity for my mind to wander while working--yes, it is quite easy for one part of the brain to read meters, watch for hazardous obstacles, and keep an eye out for dogs while another part thinks of something else entirely) I found myself this week wondering what would be the best handgun to have on hand if one were to encounter a small horde of Deep Ones. This question is especially problematic because my preferred caliber, the .357 Magnum, wasn't introduced until 1935. Most of Lovecraft's stories were set before this, so I found myself contemplating only calibers and handguns that were more widely available in his time. (This question becomes even more pertinent when thinking in terms of playing the Call of Cthulhu game). My only conclusion could be: the M1911 in .45 ACP, or if necessary, one of the early revolver variants that used this round such as the M1917 Army revolver (or any revolver that fired the .45 Long Colt, for that matter). A Thompson submachine gun would probably also not be a bad idea, if one were allowed something other than a handgun. I would also not mind too terribly if I had a couple of good friends backing me up with a couple of 12-gauges loaded with heavy buckshot. Of course, if the horde is of any respectable size at all, I think the best bet would be to do as the main character of The Shadow Over Innsmouth did: hide and hope they don't find you (which turned out to be irrevlevant in the end).

But back to the original question of zombies. They kind of zombie I am most familiar with is that portrayed in Night of the Living Dead and various sequels. These zombies required massive destruction of the brain in order to be destroyed. Shotguns may be good for this, but it seems to me that buckshot would be better against monsters which could be stopped by torso shots. So in handgun terms, I think anything with plenty of power and a decent number of shots before reloading would work. I would recommend the .357, .44 Magnum, or even the .50 AE. One of the lever-actions in .357, a camp carbine in .45, or a Ruger carbine in .40 would probably all be great for blasting zombie brains.

This from Southern California's NBC4 TV News:

"Harold Edmund Netkin, 69, was initially handcuffed Wednesday night, but was later released without being cited, said Garden Grove Police Lt. Mike Handfield.

Netkin's car was surrounded as he arrived at the Garden Grove Women's Club, 9501 Chapman Ave., and demonstrators rocked the vehicle and banged on it, Handfield said.

'We determined it was reasonable for him to move forward,' Handfield said.

Two people who were standing in front of Netkin's car fell down when he moved forward, the sergeant said. One complained of knee and shoulder pain and was taken to a local hospital, he said.

According to broadcast reports, the other also went to the hospital.

Police were aware of the demonstration and had five dozen officers on scene 'expecting to keep the peace,' Handfield said. But some of the estimated 300 demonstrators were there 'not to protest but to commit criminal acts,' he said.

'A small contingent of people that were troublemakers had backpacks filled with full cans of soda that they were throwing and also cans filled with marbles that they threw,' Handfield said.

Some of the protesters wore rubber gloves and donned sweatshirt hoods pulled tightly so only a small portion of their faces could be seen, he said."

A heads up from the North County Times:

"[Minuteman Project founder Jim] Gilchrist, who lives in Oceanside, has posted a consumer-warning notice on his Web site. At least one group is using the Minuteman Project name to solicit money.

The advisory reads: 'The Minuteman Project is located in Aliso Viejo, California and maintains only one web site address: www.minutemanproject.com. Several groups have adopted the term 'minuteman' in their names. They are not part of the Minuteman Project.'"