SnapSlav
NMA's local DotA fanatic
Kinda funny how such similar backgrounds can lead to complete opposite opinions.
I grew up around guns, too. Not in the NRA "they're everywhere, you can take them from my cold dead hands" sort of way. But when I was a kid there were open carrying laws allowing people to wear guns as long as they weren't concealed. Never saw it, though. (That's something drug control and gun control pushers don't seem to understand... presenting the opportunity for something people don't like doesn't mean they'll automatically seek them. They STILL won't like them!) Then more gun control laws got passed. Naturally Colombine had a huge impact on that. I went along with lots of hypes before I came to my senses. But before any of that, I knew guns. My parents had 4-5 guns in the house at all times (again, I rarely ever saw them BECAUSE owning isn't the same thing as brandishing), 2 that were hidden but kept available in case they were ever needed, the rest locked up in a safe for safe keeping. I was in the Boy Scouts, and among the group's many outings we would go shooting. I shot a 22 rifle at the desert ranges, and I shot the same kind of rifle and some pistols at some city gun ranges a couple of times. I learned all about their use and maintenance, and there was never a point where I dissed them.
But when it all comes down to it, exposure to a tool doesn't mean you inherently grow to like it.
Guns are tools, and I have respect for guns, but they're tools I don't care for. Like I said, to me, they're "vulgar". You can get in my face spouting "shit" and "piss" and "cocks" all day long, and that will never offend me nearly so much as the concept of a firearm. A large part of that is my love affair with swords. Depending on how successful I can ever be, I intend to make a sword collection, and among my lofty and deliberately-set-to-be-"impossible" goals I always aim for, to keep myself moving forward, is that I want to some day own a real Masamune. If you know ANYTHING about the legendary Masamune and his swords, you'd understand why that dream is ridiculously fanciful. But having such an ambitious dream is all part of the plan. Ever out of grasp, you keep on reaching.
But unlike a knife or a spear or an axe, swords (particularly katana, rapiers, etc) weren't made for hunting purposes, either. They were refined from a practical tool into a more precise method for killing. So why do I like them but despise guns? That's a topic for another forum. Suffice it to say, I have MANY reasons. But if I were to try to sum it up incredibly briefly: there's just something beautiful about swords, to me. But guns? Nothing beautiful at all. They're TOO "machine" to me. Like comparing a perfect sphere of steel to a car wheel, the latter clearly has a purpose and the former is clearly just aesthetic but otherwise completely useless (unless... y'know, bludgeoning... ah never mind), but that doesn't make it more beautiful. Nothing about the shape of a multi-chambered firearm delights me. But the smooth curves and reflective surfaces of blades are just gorgeous. Of course, beauty being totally in the eye of the beholder- in this case, me -just means this is all the more relative.
Also, it's nice that I have to use knives on a regular basis when I'm cooking. Sure, I cut myself from time to time, but it comes with the territory. Same way I'll occasionally burn myself. It happens, we move on. But taking out a large, curved blade and sharpening it just before I cut up a nice, perfectly cooked rack of pork ribs before devouring/serving them is a really relaxing moment that I greatly enjoy.
So uh... I like movies.
Oh, I know! I watched a JonTron episode last night about A movie that got me laughing. I just can't imagine HOW some people can be compelled to make total garbage. The "film" in question was Birdemic: Shock and Terror. Look it up, and be amazed at the terribleness of it all. Perhaps it stands as the perfect reference for why agendas should NEVER be the sole cause for making a movie?
There, topic relevance! =D
