Colonel Jeff Cooper was a crusty old marine, shooter, and writer, one of the most influential firearms thinkers of the twentieth century. He wrote an enormous series of entertaining and informative essays, observations and quips called his Commentaries, a sort of proto- gunblog. But he could be a bit set in his ways, at least …
Month: November 2008
“Pigeons” 2: New Gorbatov
At Al’s Eagle Hunter site is among other delights the biggest gallery of Vadim Gorbatov prints available on line. He has just added two new ones: Kublai Khan’s Hunting Trip and Frederic II’s Hunting Trip: I have a huge artist’s proof of the Kublai, but you can get a smaller version for pretty cheap, and …
Pigeons Plus
Or, from pigeons to eagles to art. The whole thread started when artist Graeme Boyd of my pigeon discussion group emailed us this video of Chinese pigeons being flown with whistles. Everyone knows that this is an interest of mine. I even have a collection, sent to me by a German scholar who taught in …
Links to Friends’ Work
A couple of new ones: Sarah Madigan’s sculpture. She often works with things like birds and bones (see post below) and will be working with my old frozen falcon. Can’t wait to see. And: Duke Kuonahani’s The Dogs Bark, a series of sharp, succinct, knowledgeable, and funny movie reviews. As he might say, “An essential”, …
Quote of the Week
Nothing good ever transpires in an argument carried past 2AM. (Gerard Vanderleun)
Country Life
A long thoughtful post about the good and bad, but above all the different things about country as opposed to urban life. A snip: “More often there is instead a deep reserve of caution. This wariness is a byproduct of living a connected life. The outsider does not know or feel the history of shared …
Philip Larkin…
… was a very serious poet, but he may be best known for his mordant “This be the verse”, with its famous NSFW first line that was even the theme for an issue of Granta. I was surprised and tickled to see a YouTube of Larkin photos over a reading of that poem at Carl …
Dead Stuff
Says Darren, blogging about his mummified fox : “I think everyone seriously interested in animals collects dead animals, or bits of dead animals.” Certainly this is true of me, and of most other naturalists I know. The comments turned into reports on collections. Mine, responding to and quoting an earlier one, was: ” “Those of …
Thanksgiving Hunt
I’m back home from a week’s hunt in Texas, my usual Thanksgiving trip augmented this year by the coincidence of the annual North American Falconers Association Field Meet, also in Amarillo this week. These trips are the highlight of my season and uniformly fun and productive hawking adventures. I’ve posted about them here and elsewhere, …
Wintering goldens
Yesterday I drove through the sagebrush country of the Little Colorado Desert, which is always a pleasure as it serves as a winter home to migratory golden eagles. I’ve noticed our eagle population has substantially grown over the last few weeks – the birds arrive with winter temperatures. They come from the north, and most …