Interesting Links: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

GQ: Inside the Federal Bureau of Way Too Many Guns

During discussion around the massacre (because that is what it was, even if the mass media would prefer not to use that term) that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida this Valentines Day I was linked to the above GQ article. Now, if like me, you’ve spent years and years watching cop movies and TV shows then you probably automatically assumed that there would be some centralised, computerised database that the Police can access to find details of who purchased a particular gun and where they purchased it. Well, like me, you’d be wrong, and that is why I’ve linked to the above article because I find it utterly baffling that not only is that not the case, but the NRA have essentially made it illegal for such a thing to exist.

Now, I’m not pretending for a moment that having a computerised database in place would be a deterrent for anyone considering using a gun on another human being, as theres much bigger issues at hand that play into the mentality of America’s obsession with gun ownership, but as a citizen of a country where you have to hold a license to own a gun and that gun is registered for a specific purpose (i.e. its a tool, not a possession that someone believes they are entitled to own because it was written down that they could own one nearly 3 and a half centuries ago) I find it really rather scary that a number of vocal US citizens appear to not care at all about the lax legislation around a device whos only purpose is to kill another living creature. Obviously I know that this doesn’t apply to all Americans and a few I’ve been talking to over Facebook this week who I’ve shown this article to have also been incredibly shocked by the state of gun possession in their own country, but its really rather depressing that America wants to paint itself as this glorious place to live but it doesn’t even want to ensure the safety of its own children.

OMFG Inventory Management

 

I’m not one for watching other people play games, especially on Twitch or whatever as I dont have that investment in genuinely knowing the person playing (and even then if someone else is having playing something and I’m with them I’ll probably end up looking at my phone or raiding the kitchen instead). But I was linked to the above video which for anyone who’s picked up Monster Hunter World and is feeling a bit lost by the SHEER NUMBER OF MENU’S is well worth watching. I’ve literally had the first twenty minutes of it running whilst getting my own inventory, radial menu and item menu etc all in order. Admitedly I did have to go and hunt for some Sleep Herbs and Parashrooms in order to make some Tranq Bombs but thats all sorted now.

Movies to See

I initially set this blog up just for Monster Hunter and whilst the very first post was indeed saying I’d started the game I didn’t really post much about it, in the roughly 24 hours since I made that post I’ve already decided I’m going to branch it out into more of a general blog.

A few years ago I used to work for Blockbuster, right up until they hit their final administration in the UK and whilst my film knowledge was pretty good prior to that, mostly for a variety of reasons but mostly because I just love to watch movies, the catalogue of films I watched grew at a rapid rate and I prided myself on being able to discuss a variety of films both old and new with customers and giving them reccomendations, I even had a few customers who would come to me specifically after they enjoyed whatever I’d reccomended to them. There was a point where I tried to push near on every customer to give Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” a go, some loved it as much as I did/do, others were indifferent or it just didnt hit the right notes for them. My manager and I tried to increase our stores back catalogue of cheap older rentals by converting anything we felt should always be available to our customers from whatever stock customers would trade-in, much to the annoyance of our final Regional Manager who was more about pushing the big new releases whereas our previous Regional Manager saw the idea for what it was, additional (cheap) revenue that attracted more footfall to our store. Even so, and with having spent around 3 years in a dark little store sandwhiched between a Domino’s and a charity shop in a small town theres still a hell of alot of films regarded as classics that I havent seen and now I’ve decided to take it upon myself to watch at least one film a week. I’ve gone through IMDB’s Top 250 list and made a Page dedicated to films I havent yet seen, I’ll be perusing other lists over time and adding to it, so if theres a film not on the list, it doesnt mean I’ve already seen it (although I may have done so) it just means I’ve not added it to the list yet.

I’ve had Monster Hunter World for a few days now and am enjoying it immensely. I’ve not actually played an entry in the series since Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii which I played mostly in single player (until an old school friend picked it up and even then sessions were sporadic). I’m currently HR 4 an am rocking the Switch-Axe (which I grew to love in Tri).