A very happy Birthday.

I had a birthday a few weeks ago. Yay getting older!

Even with the Chinese ‘Bat Sandwich’ Flu, it was excellent. My parents came down, with individually wrapped hot dogs for Coney Island Hot Dogs (A Testerman Birthday tradition), sides, and cupcakes. We socially distanced ourselves on the front porch, and had an awesome time together for the first time in months.

But what really blew me away was this:

No, not the red 2020 Jeep Gladiator my wife got me. Although that was awesome as well and will eventually find it’s way from my daughters jewelry box and onto my work desk. (She keeps ‘treasures’ in her jewelry box, so we’re pretty honored she deemed it worthy of keeping there.)

But a new Ruger Bisley Blackhawk in .44 Special. Never fired, only slightly handled. 🙂

Wow, just wow.

So, the Bisley model gives it a nice curved hammer for one handed cocking, a different grip, and nicer trigger. And generally makes it more awesome both in appearance and from what I gather, in shooting as well.

Now, I’m not much of a revolver guy. The newer stuff that is.

The only one I own is a Ruger Wrangler in .22, and that’s a pretty new purchase of a few months ago for the kiddos to use. I’ve never really cared for the newer stuff, but the Single Action Army’s have always been something I’ve lusted for. Especially after doing so much writing about Cowboy guns.

And my parents delivered.

It’s sweet and I’m dying to shoot it.

Now I just need to try and find some ammo. :/

Men in dresses aren’t ‘brave’ and they certainly ain’t Masculine.

If you haven’t seen Harry Styles in a dress, well – you aren’t missing anything. It’s a man in a dress. Or more accurately, it’s a singer-songwriter in a dress. If that matters. (It doesn’t.)

And of course, the celebrities, politicians, and general leftists are going nuts over this. So stunning and brave, rah rah. And posting stupid things like this:

No. How about you be the man your effing chromosomal pairing makes you be?

And this is where some people say things like, “What’s your problem? Why does this bother you? Why can’t you be more accommodating towards others? Are you transphobic?”

I’ll tell you why this bothers me. And why it should bother you.

It’s belittling and insulting to real men.

Men with dirt under their nails. Men with blood on their boots and bayonets. Men who sweat, provide, and defend. Men who lead families, or small arms units, or construction crews. Men who built and created new civilizations with nothing but an axe, a horse, and a map. Men who are descended from ancestors who slaughtered mammoths and saber tooth tigers and invaded countries and defeated weaker civilizations.

Sheesh.

It’s pathetic.

And if we don’t stand up and say, “No. Bullshit. THAT’S not a real man – My GRANDPA who used a flame thrower on a Japanese beach at 18 was a REAL MAN” then the weakening of our culture and the emasculation of our young boys will continue.

I was going to write more, then I discovered this excellent PragerU video which I think perfectly sums up my arguement.

Got my first International Review. That’s pretty cool!

And it’s a good one, by the Australian author of Guns of Perdition herself, Jessica Bakker.

Book Review – West of Prehistoric – Erik Testerman

Oh. My. God. This book, West of Prehistoric, by Erik (Tracer) Testerman was BRILLIANT. The highlight of my 2020 reading journey. It came out of nowhere – I hadn’t heard anything about it – and perhaps that’s why I had no real expectations going in, but within two pages, I was already blown away, and knew this was going to be a helluva book.

What’s it about? Well, think Red Dead Redemption 2 meets Planet of the Apes, then has a threesome with Jurassic Park. The resulting love-child, is West of Prehistoric.

Ex-outlaw turned rancher, Jed Smith, is minding his own business working on his ranch, when he’s suddenly (and brutally) attacked by a dinosaur. From that moment on, the weird, the west, the carnage, and the awesome, don’t stop.

An excellently fleshed out cast of characters join Jed as he seeks to first understand the dinosaur/ape menace that threaten the west, and then to stop them slaughtering every human they come across. Action is crammed into these pages, but there’s still room for fantastic character development, wry humour, and yes, some romance. You know an author has a great handle on character development when he makes the reader love and care about the main character’s horse!

Though West of Prehistoric is Testerman’s debut novel, he feels like an old-hat at writing – there’s nary a jangled sentence or misplaced word to be found. And while the premise of West of Prehistoric might seem simplistic on first glance, it’s actually absorbing, engaging, and addictive. I had trouble putting this one down.

It’s pretty clear this is a setup for a sequel or possible trilogy, and I can only hope Testerman draws this saga out for a few more books – I for one, will be lining up to get the next instalment when it comes out.

Yes, it’s weird western. Yes, there’s gore. However, even to those of you who aren’t into this genre or gore, I’d suggest grabbing a copy and giving it a go, because at the end of the day, this is just a wonderfully told, greatly entertaining story.

Purchase HERE

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Did you see that? She called it BRILLIANT… in all caps. (I added the bold.)

Awesome!