A Short London Reflection

 

Beautiful, Look What We've Lost

What's you favorite city? The DFW Metrosprawl, New York, Chicago, DC, Paris, Rome, Venice, Detroit? They're all great in their way, though some more so than others, but for me it's London, perhaps because I lived there for years and see it as something of a home town.

These days I like central London, which, for me, means that area going West from St. Paul's to St. James, encompassing Clerkenwell, Holborn, Bloomsbury, Covent Garden and the Strand, the Embankment, Soho, Piccadilly, and the Mall. Knightsbridge and South Ken seem a bit far West and perhaps always has done. Still, Solemn High Mass at the Oratory is a must, followed by Sunday lunch at the East India Club. Delicious.

Oh My, We've Devolved

After that, you can stroll down Shaftsbury Avenue to Bar Italia in Soho and enjoy a coffee or two, followed by an RV with old pals at a welcoming pub, maybe the Coach and Horses or French House in Soho, maybe somewhere else, like the Lamb in Lamb's Conduit Street, or wherever. Big fun, then stroll back through the genuinely Olde Streets of old London Town to your setup. 

Perhaps that's the top floor of the Farmers Club on Whitehall, most congenial and affordable to boot. Here, have a look from it's rooms today, from Whitehall Place looking East:

Behold

There it is, London. The center of town's changed, for sure, since the far-off, halcyon days of the '90s, when I last lived there, but still, it doesn't seem so very off, and the grandeur and history of the place are very much alive, albeit swarmed by tourists. You can avoid those, though, if you nav away from their game trails. As in Leicester Square, etc.

See That Little Cupola Onna Terace? Favorite Place. There'll Always Be An Agra

When you get tired of the hurly burley, and there's plenty of that, fall back to the NatLib on the Embankment and setup in serenity on the Terrace cupola. Right congenial. When you get tired of that, retreat to the Farmers Club for a delicious sandwich at the bar and stroll over to Soho, which may or may not involve rickshaws and associated hi-spirits.

Your Old Pal,

LSP

Excuse Me. What's Going On?

 

Now look here, you lot, what's going on? The New Year's barely upon us when some crazed Moslem from Hubbard, Texas, of all places, goes all out jihad in New Orleans. Yes, there was an ISIS flag involved, body armor, various weapons and bombs, and all of that. US Army vet Shamsud-Din Jabbar killed 15 people in this terrorist attack. The FBI is, I think, claiming "he acted alone." Uh Huh.

Then, the very next day, another soldier, this time an active duty Spec Ops guy on leave, blows up a Tesla truck outside Trump Tower in Vegas. Errrr, OK. E8 Matthew Livelsberger's body was apparently burned beyond recognition, unlike his military ID. He was evidently active in UKR training in Europe and in recruiting contractors for the ongoing war.

Both men, curiously, worked at Fort Bragg, but that aside, what's going on? For example, why did Livelsberger shoot himself in the head before his truck blew up and, given his family claims he was a Trumpist, why the Trump Tower blast, maybe he just really, really hated Elon Musk?

I don't know about our boy from Hubbard (what, excuse me?!) but Sergeant Tesla Truck seems mighty peculiar. Armchair Warlord suspects UKR and blackmail, but that's just him. What's your take? Serious question.

Cheers,

LSP

New Years Shoot

 

Let's go for a shoot, offered a young Sergeant, and I weighed up his rambunctious proposal. Is it sunny? Yes. Is it wet? Not very. Do you have guns? Obviously, and it's New Years Day to boot. So, "Yes, let's go," and off we went via Walmart and a purchased box of skeet to the range.

The range being about 15 minutes drive into the country, just past Brandon. And what a great little 100 yard range it is, with a small shooting house, a bench, and an all 'round berm. There you are, out in the field, under the Texan sky with plenty of room to swing a shotgun, which is what we did.

In this case, a CZ Drake O/U 20 gauge. It's light, at 6 pounds 9 ounces, swings well, has a generous white polymer front sight, and gets on target like a champ, and all for around 600 bucks. Field & Stream thinks it's great value for money and so do I. Hey, this light, attractive but nothing fancy field gun works. And work it did.

After a few moments of nostalgic reverie, we've been shooting here for 15 years, we opened up a box of White Flyer and got down to business. I went first, with Sergeant LSP as thrower, "Ready!" he'd shout by tradition, and I'd shout back, "Pull!" and up goes the orange adversary and boom goes the gun. Clays smoked. Result.

What a lot of fun, and we shot well, pretty much a 100% hit rate; if it'd been a dove hunt there would've been a tailgate full of birds. As it was, a field full of shattered skeet, and there's nothing wrong with that either. On the contrary, keeps your aim in and getting out in the field's a good in itself.

We finished off with a gentle Ruger American .22 plinkathon, targeting steel plates, the smaller the better, a Red Bull, yuck, can and a rusty old aerosol spray paint can. I tell you, those enemies met their match and then some. Shoot over, we headed back to the Compound, mission accomplished.

Happy New Year,

LSP