Earlier today my dad went in for requalification on his gun card and I decided to tag along.  For the most part, I just stood silently observing my surroundings until we passed through the training room where I noticed a punching bag hanging in the middle of the room.

  I have no martial arts training and even less experience, but I had plenty of pent up aggression (anyone who's read my first blog post knows what I think of "getting it out in the games").  While my dad was using the restroom, I took the time I had to take a few swings on the punching bag.  After my little session I walked away with a rather nasty bruise on my right hand.  Next time I get a chance, I'll take the rangemaster's advice about using the knuckles on my index and middle finger.

  I realized something from this about venting aggression: actual physical exertion works much better than playing a video game (no matter how violent it is).  So, my advice to people that say "Get it out in the games" is to try hitting a punching bag.  It's much more gratifying and it won't make you obese.

  I picked up Dawn of War: Dark Crusade yesterday.  Unfortunately, I've only played one mission in this game mainly on account that I can't seem to get off Oblivion.  At any rate, the whole concept of leading a conquest across an entire planet seems like a real kick, but there doesn't seem to be much story involved compared to the previous Dawn of War games.

  Speaking of the whole world conquest element, it actually reminds me of an old board game called Risk.  I'm sure most gamers remember that game where you had to conquer territories, continents, and eventually the entire world.  Truthfully, I've never played it, but Warhammer's take on it seems pretty cool.

  In case anyone gives a damn, about a day after my little shooting trip (the one where I forgot my ear protection), my hearing returned to normal.  After firing a Five-seveN and an AR-15 without ear protection, it seemed like I had gone totally tone-deaf.  It really sucked.  I just hope I don't make that mistake again.

  In closing, I've noticed that my stats cite a number of profile visits, but I haven't received any feedback.  C'mon guys, say something already (even if it's just to tell me what a jackass I am).

  My dad and I just returned from a trip to Dutch Flat.  It took a while, but eventually we found a good spot to do some plinking.  It was on a narrow road so we had to park the truck and scout it out on foot.  Finding the spot was easy, but getting back to the truck proved to be one **** of an uphill walk (This was at about 3000 feet above sea level mind you).

  I really wanted to test out those 5.7 hollow-points, but they didn't do as much as I hoped they would.  We filled empty soda cans with water and used them as targets and when I used the hollow-points on them, they simple put a hole in and a hole out.  To put this in perspective, on my last trip I used a .22 Stinger which upon connecting split a can in half.

  Even though the hollow-points didn't do much they certainly were loud.  In fact the report was comparable to the 5.56 x 45mm rifle rounds I fired later on.  The worst thing about that is that I forgot my ear protection.  My ears are still ringing, but I really noticed the effect on my hearing when I starting listening to Cradle of Filth on my MP3 player and noticed that the music sounded out of tune.

  That's about it for my day.  I might add another entry when the feeling in my legs returns, when my ears stop ringing, or when I feel like it (which ever comes last).

  I picked up a new game called "Killzone: Liberation" a few days ago.  Half way through the second chapter and I'm already stuck.  I guess by "sometimes infuriating" the Gamespot reviewer meant: "Your going to replay most of the levels about 30 or 40 times before you get it right".  Oh well, I must persevere.  Perhaps in a few months I might actually reach the third chapter.

  On a more positive note, I finally found a place that keeps a decent stock of 5.7 x 28mm ammunition.  I even managed to find some SS195LF hollow-points.  The place is called Wild Sports and I'm definitely going there for my 5.7 ammo from now on.

  Tonight was one lousy 'f'ing night!  I just can't believe I did it again!  Less than half an hour ago I had another accident that could have been absolutely tragic when I tried to de-cock my father's .45 Sig Sauer.

  My father and I always put a round in the chamber before we put our guns away to ensure that if we need to use them, they'll be loaded and ready.  The last thing anyone wants to be doing when their life is in danger is fumbling around trying to load a pistol in a dark room.

  After I finished checking out his .45 I then tried to load and de-cock it before returning it to him.  What we normally do is hold the hammer in place with a thumb and slowly let the hammer down to the 12 o'clock position.  That's when something bad happened.

  I tried lowering the hammer when it got stuck in the 1 o'clock position (that's referred to as the half-cocked position).  I figured that in the 1 o'clock position it would not build up enough momentum to discharge the weapon, but I learned otherwise as I pulled the trigger to drop the hammer and nearly **** myself when the weapon discharged a round into my father's carpet.

  Fortunately my mother was not awake, otherwise she would've thrown a fit.  At any rate, I'll take a few words of wisdom from this incident: "Never go off half-cocked."  That's one more casing next to my PS2.

  By the way, I got a look at this decorative PT-92 AFS that my father bought recently.  If I just knew how to upload images I'd take a picture of it and post it on this entry.  It's quite a beauty.

  Earlier today I received an invitation to the Fighter's Realm Union.  From what I understood, it's supposed to be a union for fans of these fighting games like Tekken and Soul Calibur.  At any rate, I chose to decline the offer since I'm not really much of a fan of those kinds of games.

  Truth be told, I've played a number of fighting games, but I've never been very good at them and I only own a few.  I wouldn't fit in too well with a group of people that specialize in that genre.

  I remember I used to love these kinds of games.  In fact, I remember playing Tekken 3 on an arcade machine with considerable frequency as well as a few Capcom fighters (like Street Fighter).  Somewhere down the line I just lost interest in the genre altogether.

  Did I say I wasn't very good at fighters?  I meant I suck at them.  To elaborate, I've never once made it past the third match in any game with the exception of; Ehrgeiz (which had virtually no challenge at all) and Soul Calibur II (which I only played on easy difficulty.)

  Anyway, joining that union was definately out.  Maybe the next invitation will be more suited to my personal tastes.  That get's me thinking, why send an invitation to me?  I don't know anybody here and I'm pretty much a complete nobody.  Who would want me to join their union?  Maybe Jeff would know more about this.

  Hey, everyone!  I just got done filling out my "About Me" box.  I normally don't talk that much, but when I do, I tend to get a little long winded and I just go on and on about one thing or another.  Well, it bit me on the ass.  I figured I'd most likely attract like minded people if I put in EVERYTHING about myself.  I think it was fairly well written as I typed it in, but when it all got loaded up, it was all crammed into one paragraph.

  Since everything in the "About Me" box is pretty much an unsightly mess, I'll summarize it: I'm a shy and somewhat maladjusted 22 year old gamer with some minor social issues.  I don't stay interested in very many games for a long time, but some do leave an impression and I'm totally stuck on the FFVIII heroine, Rinoa.  I'm also a "gun-nut" and about a month ago I accidently put a bullet through my dad's mattress because I was dicking around.  To this day, I keep the casing of that cartridge on my computer desk right next to my PS2 to remind myself of what happens when I act stupid.  Oh, and in case anyone's interested, it's a 5.7 x 28mm SS197SR round and it was fired from a Five-seveN pistol.  My favorite band is Cradle of Filth, but I don't really listen to very much music besides.  And finally, I'm a little concerned about the level of violence in video games nowadays.  Although I don't believe in doing drastic things like banning video games, I do think everyone who plays violent games should ask themselves: "Do I think about violence more often than I did before?"  Oh, and I don't go for that silly "Get it out in the games" slogan, because it just doesn't work that way.

  Well that's about it.  I hope I haven't made too many enemies, it's not as easy to hide their bodies as it is in the games. Heh, heh, pay no attention to that last comment.