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Operation: Kenny’s Back Home

Mar 2, ’11 4:11 PM

After long last Sgt. Butler is back home in Montana.

We celebrated, how else!, by heading up to Rimini for a little militia training. He taught Teal and I sling transfers, the proper Special Forces shooting stance, and how to rescue a hostage in a vehicle take down. The SF shooting stance is pretty ridiculous looking and feels awkward as hell. “Try it in the heat with body armor,” Kenny says. Apparently that’s worse.

Here’s the stance:
With your feet shoulder length apart and facing forward, bend deep at knees, and stick your butt out—way out—lean forward and hold your gun with your elbows up by your shoulders. You should look something like like the Mouse Trap Game diving man with a gun in his hands. It’s ridiculous looking, but surprisingly stable and it immediately improved my aim.

Teal (who keeps a delicious blog) has the Hipstamatic app on her phone and took these rad vintage looking photos. She also got to try out her brand new cap and ball revolver. (You can see it in the upper left photos.) It took forever to load and regularly misfired, but when it would shoot it made a terrifically satisfying cracking POP! and threw out a cloud of white smoke.

A NOTE TO THE WORRIED

Don’t worry. We’re not really a militia, but I was curious about what Ken learned during some Special Forces training he received in Afghanistan. Ken and I have been shooting together forever, and despite of what it looks like in these photos, we’re very careful to be as safe as we know how to be. We’ve handled guns for many years and we only shot at the snow.

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Chicago or Bust!

Mar 1, ’11 11:11 AM

I’m setting out on a new adventure very soon.

I’ll head east to the second/windy city to audition for a summer actor training program offered by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Chicago, my fatherland

My dad left Chicago the year he turned eighteen. He and his two friends—his best friend Pete and their high school English teacher, Brother Noonan—struck out from the south side of Chicago on a mission. Making church-basement theater along the way, they would travel to Carroll College, a small Catholic school here in Helena. I’m sure glad they did.

When I was just a wee lad our family traveled back Chicago every summer. We only stopped when my sister and I got so annoying that my parents could no longer stand the 24 hours of road time. But, in just a few days I’ll pack into my little red car and head down that long stretch of road again to that great American city.

I’m looking forward to catching up with a few friends,  my God-parents, and of course the Chicago Casey’s. I’d like to explore the city and scout out neighborhoods, theaters, apartments, and jobs that seem right . I’m not sure what I’ll find but a recent theater review I read called Chicago “a place of risk, rebuilding and reinvention. A town devoted to change.”

That sounds good to me.

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Ye Olde Allegra Party Teame

Feb 27, ’11 6:26 PM

Marcy, Carey and I all have new jobs now, but at Allegra we were the FUN Committee. Party planning came easily to us then, but getting together for a drink seemed a near impossibility until last night.

Marcy’s father hosted us in his impressive, hand-built bar—complete with leaded glass, a corner booth and a mechanical slot machine! A true mixologist, he made the best Manhattans and Old Fashions I’ve ever tasted. Fortunately, Marcy offered to drive me there and back, so I was able to confirm my positive impression with a second round of each.

Thanks Carey and Marcy for doing all the planning and set up. It was just like when we were the FUN Committee!

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Something Out of the Ordinary

Feb 26, ’11 10:51 AM

My sister splits her time between Bozeman and Helena and yesterday she got to be a part of an art project.

She says, “I was on my way to pick up Bannack from daycare and I decided to let the dogs out at the park before getting him because it was zero degrees. I spent a few more minutes there than I had planned because I met Tyler and he told me about his project…”

It looks like the project just started but it’s pretty sweet and straightforward. Check out the rest of his photos on the blog: A Friend I Haven’t Met Yet

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Whiskey Tasting

Feb 2, ’11 7:52 AM

Archie Broadbent, a man of many talents, joined our table for this year’s Booze University event and took some charming photos. This year we had a Scotch/Irish face-off modeled extremely loosely on a rugby game. Loosely because the rugby theme was pretty much limited to some of us occasionally shouting “scrum” to signal an empty glass.

On the night of the match the Irish won by several votes but the leftover Scotch was thoroughly enjoyed the next night at my Dad’s 50th birthday.

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