Was it for this my life I sought?
I've got a lot of information here about guns and music. That may seem like
an odd combination, but those two interests occupy most of my time when I'm
not working at Applied Research Laboratories
at the University of Texas at Austin
developing real time signal processing software for sonars. I've got a couple
of 'Masters' to my credit: a MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and
a Master Class ranking from the US Practical
Shooting Association.
When I was very young my kindergarten teacher told my mother that
if I wasn't kept busy I would get into trouble. The proof is left as
an exercise for the reader. Don't forget to click on the
pictures.
Personal info: I was born and raised in Austin, Texas which makes
me one of the last natives in a city and state increasingly overrun
by Californians and Yankees. Despite what you've heard, Austin's a
lousy place to live. You won't like the weather, you can't get good
bagels or tofu here, and there aren't any jobs. I'm sure wherever you
are living now is much nicer. Please pass the word to all your
friends. If you have already moved here from somewhere else and are
concerned about saving Austin's environment, you can do something to
help -- move back where you came from!
Unlike most people I've lived my entire life in one place:
the Allandale neighborhood in Austin. My parents bought a brand new
house there in 1960, and when I moved away I relocated to
apartments and houses within a few miles. I inherited the house in
1997 after my mother passed away, and we're now living in the house
that I grew up in. The strangest thing is that there are several
other second-generation Allandale residents on our
block.
I spent too much time watching midnight movies during my
formative years. I watched movies like Buckaroo Banzai, Dawn of the
Dead, Heavy Metal, and Pink Floyd at Pompeii far too many times on
misspent weekend nights. That might explain why I turned out to be a
piano-playing, gun owning scientist with a wife named Penny. Click
here if
you were confused by that last sentence. Click on question #1.
I travel a lot for work. Look for me next time you board a plane. I'll be
the one reading either Weekly World
News or Combat Handguns in the seat next to you. Regardless of what I take
to read I find that my seatmates either refuse to acknowledge my presence or
ask to borrow the magazine when I'm through reading. I've met a lot of interesting
people on airplanes.
As part of one project at work I went to exciting places like Minot, North
Dakota during the winter. When this picture
was taken it was 30 below zero, with a wind chill of minus 90. I had on 4 layers
of clothes and was still cold. That's one of those things everyone should experience
at least once in their lives. On one of the plane trips up there I sat next
to a North Dakota native who told me that every year the state has a net population
loss - more people move away than are born or move in. Having been there I understand
why.
Another part of that project involved testing equipment through a hurricane.
We tested through hurricanes Erin and Opal at Eglin AFB in Florida. Our equipment
was on the roof of the building next door to this
one. It was completely destroyed by the hurricane and was later bulldozed
to the ground. We anchored our equipment to the roof with hundreds of pounds
of sandbags. After the hurricane hit it was the only thing left standing on
the part of the roof that remained.
Recent travels have taken me to the Middle East. I can't tell you specifically
where, but here are some clues. Here's a photo of a
mosque in a city I visited. Here's a cool picture of
a bank building designed to reflect the beauty of a another mosque.
During my days in the Ken Ragsdale Orchestra, I performed 'New
York, New York' approximately 500 times in 8 years. During the last 4
years of that period, I shot about 100,000 rounds in practice and in
competitions all over Central Texas and the US. Could there be a
connection?
Check my head! Here are 4 different views of
my head from a MRI scan that was done a few years ago.
If someone offers you eternal life, make sure you get eternal
youth and beauty to go along with it.
There is no substitute for diligent practice. To lose weight, eat
less and exercise.