Friday Ephemera

what happened in Your Mouth
Was it Pop Rocks?

Was it Pop Rocks?
Band name.

And who then manages to construe any demurral or logical correction, any plea for reflection, as a validation of her own deranged and sadistic behaviour.
So, not much different than about 37% of the US population according to recent polling. Yes, I exaggerate…but not by much…
Yes, I understand how movies are made with cut shots, etc. That doesn’t mean that is how ALL movies are made nor how ALL could be made. I still could see where a director would want his props, ALL his props to look as realistic as possible because it’s art. You’re not doing every little thing according to plan and thus the more realistic all your available hardware is, in the moment, the greater your spontaneous possibilities. But this leads me to another possibility…and I think this being a period piece with significant limitations regarding authenticity of weaponry, while I’m sure there is something of a mass market for blanks such that they would be mass produced for more standard, modern firearms, possibly might this specific weapon, which I don’t think has been identified, require custom made cartridges? Thus maybe these blanks being handloaded? Generally speaking, a much more dangerous product than mass production? And who/how professional was that entity?
Also, even if the shot was to be directly down range of the gun, even if the gun was supposed to be “cold”, why would it be necessary for the camera person AND the director also to be down range at the moment the trigger was being pulled? Seems to me, if the person in that job was in anyway trained in firearm safety or was even in the room when such training was going on, they would have stepped away. Which leads me back to suspect that neither of those two people was expecting the trigger to be pulled at that moment. But, yes, they could have been that stupid.

If the above is accurate it’s very hard to see this story going away.
And note that Alec Baldwin is one of the film’s producers.

There really isn’t a way to see loaded rounds once the cylinder is swung into place
Yes there is.

But, once again, the 72 Hour Rule applies and everything we read may turn out to be entirely or partially wrong
It really is frustrating and looking more like gossip built entirely on rumor. There are “reports” that Hutchins got a through-and-through shot and the director was then hit in the shoulder … but then there are “reports” she was hit in the stomach. Um … how does that happen?
Of course Los Angeles lawyer Louis Shapiro can’t wait to lay blame:

“Where is the duty of care to make sure that that gun is properly loaded and properly used? That duty doesn’t lie with the actor. The actor was just handed something. The duty of care lies with the prop person.”

Which is utter BS but not unexpected in Los Angeles, an “industry” town. IATSE has written procedures for the handling and “chain of custody” for guns used in film and it ends with the actor whose responsibility is to, prior to any shoot, observe the loading and to personally test fire the weapon. Not to mention the very restricted, rare circumstance where an actual “live round” with projectile/bullet can be used.
I’m praying that the Santa Fe law enforcement and DA are not intimidated (or bedazzled) by the 800 lb Hollywood gorilla and we get some actual facts on what happened.

Now for some feel good, even as it is unsurprising for rational folk.

Oh, and you’ll see some images of a news story with Baldwin saying something like “how about if I shoot you.” That’s fake. Ace of Spades, unfortunately, used the image.

“This is a bank robbery.”
“Please fill out a deposit slip and show me your ID.”
“Okay.”

Found on a Stagecraft FB page:

Heh…the Trump supporter conspiracy theory regarding the Baldwin shooting was too easy. Let’s turn that conspiracy theory meter up a notch or two.

The Rush job does put a new meaning on the phrase “film shoot”.

No, that would be second post-breakfast.

Journalists, is there anything they don’t know?
Finley Peter Dunne, “Newspaper Publicity”, Observations by Mr. Dooley (1906):

Th’ newspaper does ivrything f’r us. It runs th’ polis foorce an’ th’ banks, commands th’ milishy, controls th’ ligislachure, baptizes th’ young, marries th’ foolish, comforts th’ afflicted, afflicts th’ comfortable, buries th’ dead an’ roasts thim aftherward. They ain’t annything it don’t turn its hand to fr’m explainin’ th’ docthrine iv thransubstantiation to composin’ saleratus biskit.

Alec Baldwin…live round
This may explain the accident: “Gun that went off in Alec Baldwin’s hands and claimed the life of Halyna Hutchins was used for off-set target practice by crew members and live ammo and blanks were stored together, sources say”
What were they thinking??

Of course Los Angeles lawyer Louis Shapiro can’t wait to lay blame:
I’m surprised Gloria Allred hasn’t shown up to blame it on the patriarchy.

Why Johnny won’t read.

Why Johnny won’t read.
Was it a mistake to tolerate leftists in schools and universities?

As a boy I read about the Alamo, “Sam Houston: the tallest texan”, “The battle in the atlantic”, the secret service chasing counter-fitters, and then the Lord of the Rings series. All this trans/lesbian stuff is NOT for children. good lord.

Of course nowadays such books would be proscribed as out-of-date, corny and ‘dangerous’ to young minds
I read all sorts of “dangerous” books even as a girl. I was more enamored by Nancy Drew than any romance and soon started on all the paperbacks my parents read – Louis L’Amour westerns being a fave. Detective stories, sci-fi, mysteries, too.
I wanted hero/heroine stories and big adventures. How flippin’ insane to think that kids want to read about their everyday life and all the petty squabbles they know too well. Reading used to be about letting one’s imagination go wherever they weren’t.

‘It’s only a matter of time before a rapist says “my penis misfired.”‘
Sounds like he’s another candidate for the application of an elastrator. Then he would not have to worry about accidental launches of misfiring.

Years ago and early in my farming career I did miss a couple of nuts – it was mid-winter, damned cold and my hands were frozen – and I left two little bulls with a single undescended ‘nut’. They were a nuisance until sent to market.

As I mentioned, the clamps we used had very small gaps. That was sufficient to allow one testicle to fully develop while the other one would remain shrunken. We eventually went the rubber band route, which either completely worked or completely failed as well as appearing to be less traumatic to the young calves at the time of application. (I was given the task of grabbing the tail and lifting the hind legs off the ground during the process.)

“I am a black woman in a white court”: “Former Labour MP [Claudia Webbe] convicted of threatening to throw acid on woman claims racism in court”
This was a common occurrence in the urban public school I attended: Black kids would commit crimes and when caught and punished they and their friends would scream “racism!”.

I was given the task of grabbing the tail and lifting the hind legs off the ground
Back in the 1950s my father bred pigs and as a teen that was my job. No fancy gadgets, a cutthroat razor and a bottle of Dettol was all that was used. Definitely no chance of missing a ball.

WRT to the Baldwin thing. Obviously a live round somehow got into the gun. No blank no matter how powerful is going to drive anything (wadding, debris in the barrel or whatever), through a person and into another.
There are reports that the armorer was a rookie, on only her second film, and admitted to being nervous about her suitability for the job. The film was low budget and some crew had walked off the set due to pay and working conditions as well as safety concerns. There had been previous negligent discharges on the set before.
My own theory was based on something that I have heard of before, where a close up of a gun being loaded was required. Obviously a blank could not be used, as it would obviously look like a blank. Normally the props department would procure dummy rounds (no powder or primer, but a real cartridge case and bullet), or the armorer would make some, but since dummy rounds were not available, live rounds were used instead for that shot, with the intention of removing them afterwards, but at least one left behind.
New information gives a better theory. Recently an article stated that the pistol in question may have been used by crew members for live recreational shooting, and that more live ammunition was found on the set. A total dog’s breakfast all around. Live ammunition is never supposed to be anywhere even near a film set. If so, that is a good explanation, but absolutely unacceptable conduct, and if this is true, the armorer will richly deserve the prison time she will get if this turns out to be true, nothing short of criminal negligence.
With regard to Alec Baldwin himself, I don’t see that he bears any responsibility, other than as the producer of an under-funded and cost cutting movie. Most actors are not trained, nor expected to be trained in gun safety. That is why movie production companies hire gun wranglers, armorers and prop masters. In fact many armorers have so poor an opinion of actors that they won’t permit the actors to handle guns except when actually filming. All the loading, unloading and other manipulation is done by the armorer or gun wrangler, not the actor.
There are exceptions. Because of previous accidents, Natalie Portman’s parents insisted that she be trained in the correct handling of firearms before they would let her star in Leon the Professional. Will Smith has been mentioned, and Keannu Reeves is famous for actually getting live fire training in gun handling for his John Wick movies, but they are the exception, rather than the rule.
As I understand it, the shot (no pun intended), was to have the actor shoot directly towards the camera, to get the “target eye view”. Unfortunately, sitting behind the camera, was the victim, and the director standing directly behind her. So the live round went thru her and into him.
It is not practical to never point a firearm at a person under certain conditions. Certainly you would never do so with a live firearm under any circumstances, but if we are too fanatical on that point, no action movie could ever be made, and no military force would ever be able to hold force on force war-games or exercises. There are safety protocols to allow firearms to be pointed at people in certain proscribed circumstances, but in this case they failed, and a woman is dead, another man very seriously injured, and a famous actor traumatized for life.
A true tragedy.

But here’s another thing that doesn’t seem right about this story, if the camerawoman is in position to do her job, there’s a big Hollywood movie camera that she is standing/sitting behind. According to the story the bullet hit her with enough force to travel through her and wound the director such that he also was taken to a hospital. If AB is pointing the gun at the camera it seems the bullet should likely have hit the camera which likely should have absorbed a significant amount of the energy from the bullet. Not saying it’s impossible for the bullet to get through an open space nor that it could not have ricocheted in some manner. But whichever scenario seems a bit unlikely. Not impossible but…? And again, why did she need to be sitting downrange of the weapon? Even my dental hygienist leaves the room when she takes my teeth x-rays. Gee, I wonder if there’s security camera footage or…wait a minute…

With regard to Alec Baldwin himself, I don’t see that he bears any responsibility, other than as the producer of an under-funded and cost cutting movie. (my emphasis)

Yes – and “the buck stops here,” to quote Harry Truman. The under-funding was someone’s decision, as was the (reported) replacement of union hands with non-union, and the selection of an inexperienced armourer.

FedUpLabRat: Are you ComputerLabRat?

Does anybody know what collection Pity the Poor Rat is from?

No apologies needed: It was easy to speculate that the situation was exactly as you state. And FedUpLabRat is a good nom de blog, too.
I have signed a few comments here with alternate names for humorous or sarcastic purposes. The Protein Wisdom Twitter account kept changing names, but always something beginning with “Mulder’s…” At least that was the case until it was suspended for publishing unapproved facts.

Does anybody know what collection “Pity the Poor Rat” is from?
From the next thread: We Have Met the Enemy, and He is Us.
Thanks PST – I had heard of Pogo in a general way, but not anything about who wrote it. I need to find me some Pogo books – I wonder if online used booksellers have any I can afford. Worth a poke around!