Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

About a week ago, I and some friends went to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. We all met at a friends house, dressed up as our favorite characters in LotR/The Hobbit, ate, drank, and talked about how exited we were. The special effects were great, but in my opinion they went too far off the book. I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it, but the dragon chasing everyone around was a bit too dramatic. Here's some pictures from our party:

Me and my friends.

Me and my comrades.

My sister and her comrades.
 

Special thanks to A.J. for Marvelous pictures!

Still Hunting: a primer

This week I thought I would post about still hunting seeing how hunting season has arrived. Still hunting is stalking game as opposed to sitting in a stand hunting over bait. Deer can see, hear and smell you before you can them. This makes still hunting very challenging. Below are the keys to a successful hunt.

1. Scouting-- it is important to scout the area you will be hunting before the season. Locate watering holes, bedding areas and trails. Look for tracks, feeding areas, scrapes, etc. This helps you to get to know how game is moving through your area.
2. Smell-- We use a scent-removal detergent for hunting clothes and a scent-eliminator soap and shampoo on the morning of the hunt. It is also important to plan your stalk with the wind in your face.
3. Hearing-- We use electronic ear muffs. They allow you to hear game moving better. It also amplifies the sound of your own movement, which helps you to move quietly. And lastly they protect your hearing from gunfire.
4. The Stalk-- Moving through the woods should be done quietly and sloooowly as you melt into the woods. Take one or two steps, stop, and look around moving your eyes only, listening, and keeping the wind in your face. Take a couple more steps (no more than three) and repeat; look, listen, and check your wind direction. Focus deep into the woods, looking for movement or parts of the deer, an ear or an eye or a tail. White tail deer can hide very well in small places. When you see a deer, freeze. I do not look directly at them. When you are completely still they do not consider you as a threat. When they look away from you, slowly raise your gun, take careful aim and fire.

Still hunting is a wonderful experience because when you move slowly and quietly through the woods you will notice more wildlife.

Old Fashioned Weaponry

Born into an old  Oxfordshire family, John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, nicknamed 'Mad Jack', graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1926.  Before World War II fame, Mad Jack was an editor of a Nairobi newspaper, and because of his talent with a bow he shot for Britain during the World Championships in 1939.  By this time, of course, Europe was fast approaching World War II.  Mad Jack had left the army after ten years of service, but happily returned to it because of the "country having got into a jam in my absence". 

By 1940, Mad Jack was the second in command of an infantry company.  He always marched into battle with a bow and arrows and his trusty basket-hilted Claymore by his side.  Despite these weapons being wildly outdated, Churchill defended them saying, "In my opinion...any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.". 

To Be Continued...

Arkansas Campout

Last week I went camping with friends in Arkansas. On the way there we listened to music and played guitar.  We stopped to eat lunch at Braums and noticed that something was wrong with one of are friends cars.  So, they took it to a mechanic to get it fixed.  While we waited for it to get fixed we played games and danced in the Braums parking lot.  Finally, we were on the road again.
   When we got to the campsite we set up camp and then we went swimming in the river and found out how cold the water was!  And it was pretty cold!

Us kayaking

 The next day we got up around 6:00 a.m. and packed some snacks and water for a hike. We decided to ferry people across the river and explore whatever was on the other side. After we all got over there we walked through a field and into some woods and then climbed up a mountain that was covered in poison ivy.

 There were huge rocks covered in moss and tunnel web spiders everywhere. When we got to the top we were rather disappointed to find a road. But, what's the point of using a road when there's the side of a mountain to climb?
   On our way back down we found strange looking mushrooms.

Amanita jacksonii



False Chantarelle Hygrophoropsis Aurantiaca

We also saw a deer. Then we found a tunnel that went through the rock!  When I crawled through it and came to the exit there was a six foot drop.  I almost fell off of it.  If I had fallen I would've hit the ground and rolled down the rock-covered mountainside!



Goofing off

Looking cool

After we got back to camp we found out that we were covered in seed ticks and chigger bites. We de-ticked ourselves, grabbed some kayaks and went swimming.
   That night we gathered around the campfire for dinner, played guitar and had a dance party. I dropped a girl while dipping her! It was a good thing she didn't get mad or the story would be different.

                                                                

Later my friend and his mom were walking around and he almost stepped on a copperhead! His mom grabbed his knife and chopped its head off!  Then my other friend took what was left of the snake and skinned it.
   Next day we all got up, ate breakfast, rented some canoes and kayaks and went on a river trip.  Along the way we stopped and jumped off of rocks and rope swings and swam.  We tipped a canoe and a kayak and fun was had by all.  After getting back some of us went on a hike through the woods to a huge rock that we jumped off of into the water. On our way there we found a cave and a big hole in the ground. If you had fallen into it you could not have gotten out of it without help.
   On our way back from the Jumping Rock it was my turn to almost step on a copperhead. I looked down and right where I was about to put my foot was a copperhead eating a mouse! It slithered away and my friend followed it and chopped its head off. If it had not been dining it very likely would have bitten me. We skinned it later.
   The following morning we went on a six-and-a-half mile hike! We found more tunnel web spiders, mushrooms, poison ivy (!) and seed ticks. There was also a very unique looking spider. The view from where we were standing was amazing. When we got back to camp we had a dance party and then we ate dinner. We sat around the campfire, roasted marshmallows, played games and told stories.

Crown Coral Fungus Artomyces pyxidatus

Scarlet Fairy Helmet Mycena strombilinoides

Agelenopsis naevia spider

Spined Micrathena (micrathena gracilis)

  On our last day we got up very early and hiked down to the Jumping Rock. We ate breakfast on the rock and decided to climb up the hillside which had a steep incline. When we got to the top there was a rock that we stood on and that we could see for miles from. We climbed further up and you won't believe what we found; another road! On our way back down someone accidentally knocked a rock loose which rolled down and hit my hand very hard.

 When we were at the bottom one of my friends explored some trees down by the water and found a water moccasin! We honorably beheaded it! When we got back to camp we packed everything and headed for home. On the way we played violent card games that woke a sleeping passenger!

 This camping trip was one of my favorites of all time. I'm grateful that I got to go on it.
    

Apollo 13: The Triumph

Lately I have ben thinking about the Apollo missions.  Apollo 13 specifically.  Apollo 13 was originally meant as a moon landing.  It was launched on April 11, 1970. It never landed on the moon due to an explosion in its oxygen tanks.  The command module was basically crippled. Using the lunar module(LM) as a life boat, they used the pull of the moons gravity in a slingshot effect to pull them back to Earth.  They met many other challenges. This could not have ben accomplished with out the effort of astronauts, scientists and engineers on the ground and the astronauts in the space capsule. Flight Commander James  A. Lovell, Command Module Pilot John L. "Jack" Swigert  and Lunar Module Pilot Fred W. Haise safely returned to Earth April 17, 1970.

 
 
 
 
 

-Shack

Hi Everyone,
I hope you enjoy my blog. I hope to post something soon.
-Shack