Browning: The Best There Is

Back in the 1890s John Moses was out shooting duck on the Great Salt Lake in Ogden. He noticed that each time he shot, the escaping gasses would make the grass and his dog's fur move. He thought the gasses could be put to a better purpose and he started making test rifles of a different design, ones with a hole drilled in the barrel to divert some of the gasses behind the bullet into a cylinder to drive a piston. This piston would extract the cartridge case, and reload the next round, and fire it, all from a single trigger pull.

Thus was born the first fully automatic rifle.

The Navy bought his rifle in 1895. The Army bought his Colt Model 1895 Peacemaker, which was a huge mother automatic that was beloved for its power and reliability. The BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) is still famous for its innovation and simple design. And his Colt M-1911 (which he developed from his first automatic pistol design) is still used by the military and police today as a standard officers sidearm. "It just worked" is what people said about his gun designs.







So we're all safer and speaking English because of my great-great-great uncle. On this day of recognizing pioneer heritage, let us give praise.

My New Hero

HERO CABBIE: I KICKED BURNING TERRORIST SO HARD IN BALLS THAT I TORE A TENDON

This article in the Daily Record made me laugh. And he worked there at the hospital? I hope his former coworkers accidentally lost their morphine when they were treating this guy.

Statues I Question

Doing research for that Stockholm Olympics logo made me even confuseder than when I started. Why did they use this image? What is that man doing to the horse? I thought that it would be some kind of statue or monument in Stockholm, but my hours of searching for it have been fruitless. But I DID find a bunch of other statues that I hope I'm misinterpreting...


Remember when Elaine found that mannequin of her in the store window? I felt a similar feeling when I saw this statue. It is an exact replica of my friend Christopher when he rides a turtle naked.










This one is a tribute to Diarrhea. Here is a princess riding a wave of her own fecal matter.
















This one is called "Sculptor's First Try" and was a real bargain for the city of Reykjavik, Iceland. It depicts 2 fisherman that were looking for the best fishing spot, but suddenly realized that their work would improve if they stopped wearing boxing gloves.











"Dolphin Rodeo" shows what happens when you take dolphins lightly, and decide to mount them unbridled.













This one is outside of a library. Why is the mom so against libraries, that she has to yank her kid so violently out of one? IIs this a monument to book-haters?

There's an old saying in the ad game...

This week, the topic of the logo design podcast was Why The 2012 London Olympics Logo Sucked. After listening to the latest podcast, not only did I notice a lot of chapter mistakes (which aren't my fault) but a really negative, derisive tone (which is totally my fault). I sound really "high and mighty". But this logo just got me really agitated. Why does such a talented designer, Wolff Olins, think he can just ignore basic design principles like legibility? Why bright pink? Why do I hate the 80's so much?

Jon Stewart pays tribute to it here. I thought he had exactly the right tone. I remember really liking Nutsy the Olympic Mascot.

Tanks For You Preference

What is it with Provo and mexican restaurants? I know it's being taken over by Mexico, but you would think they would want to eat something different now that they're in the states. Or maybe each latino family that moves there is thinking "I will start a mexican restaurant that's authentic, and the BYU students will beat a path to my door".

I went to Beto's once in SLC because I had a gun to my head, if I recall correctly (I may have just been extremely hungry). Their food and smell was as good as this sign. It is hanging on a Beto's in Provo.