Weekend Open Thread: Turkish Cowboy Edition

H. Clay Aalders
Weekend Open Thread
·38 Comments··180 views

Hey everyone. Happy Friday. You made it through the week and it is Weekend Open Thread time.

Some heroes don’t wear capes, and Turkish pistol shooter Yusuf Dikeç is one of them.

 

He has become an overnight sensation.

That isn’t actually true, but it is a great story. Click Here to read the actual story. In a nutshell, he has been to several olympics and is a retired police sergeant. But he doesn’t like to shoot with accessories.

The contrast between the cyberpunk looking shooters and Yusuf was pronounced.

It was like something out of a novel…

…or an action movie…

…or a video game…

Sometimes simplicity is the way to go.

For those not staying home and watching the Olympics, there is one knife show this weekend…

Natural State Knife Show

If you are staying home and watching the Olympics, or not watching, you can still participate in AKTI’s Free To Carry Auction…

AKTI’s Free To Carry Auction now live

Nothing next weekend, then Central Kentucky the weekend after…

Central Kentucky Knife Club Knife Show

Remember to check the KNIFE Magazine Event Calendar to see what is coming up in your neck of the woods.

Seems like as good of a segue as any to tonight’s musical guest. You had a 50/50 shot at guessing.

Fun video.

Before I get back to the memes, I need to give a HUGE shout out to John Wilson.

I came back from a hike with the family this afternoon, and there was an international package waiting for me. I am not quite sure about the gumballs or the frisbee (it is a really nice one), but the pitcher has a story.

When I was a kid, I used to go to camp Adanac (Canada spelled backwards) on Manatoulin Island in Lake Huron. For those unaware, in parts of Canada they don’t use milk cartons, instead milk comes in bags. Families have pitchers that are sized so the bag slides in, you cut the corner, and pour freely. Every year we went on a week long canoe trip, which left from Tobomory., Ont, home of Farquahar’s Dairy. We’d stop in town on our way to launch, get an ice cream, and if it was your first year at camp, you bought your own pitcher to use as a camp cup. YOu could tell what year a camper started by the color of their pitcher. Mine was blue, and I used it all the way through Scouts and it even went to Kenya with me.  It finally died a decade ago, and I have been wanting another. But even in this internet age I could not find one that I could have shipped to the USA.

Long story short, John solved that problem for me and I am thrilled. Thank you Brother!

As I mentioned last week, I love the Olympics, despite their underlying issues.

I liked most of the Opening ceremony, though the needless shot at Christianity was unnecessary. It isn’t even edgy anymore. Do Islam. That would be edgy because Paris would burn. I thought that Lady Gaga was fantastic, and I am not even a fan. (though her duets with the legendary Tony Bennett were pretty awesome).

I thought that the teams parading by boat was a neat touch.

And there are so many wonderfully memeworthy moments that come out of the Olympics.

Obviously there are problems, probably none more than the boxing situation, though we are going to take a pass on that one here in these pages.

But it isn’t all bad. Snoop becoming the nation’s cool Uncle wasn’t on my bingo card.

And hats off to Flava-Flav. The two of them have been so refreshing. Seeing pop-culture figures unapologetically cheering on America is really what this country needs right now. And I stand by that.

Stephen Nedoroscik is another hero we don’t deserve.

Stone Cold Steve Nedoroscik.

Vs my kids…

It is nice to see the pros having fun too…

There is a whole series of these. Worth checking out.

I would. But they would be the ones standing to the left. I am a southpaw with a bad slice.

Best to not ask too many questions.

It just isn’t right. Kim Rhode should un-retire.

Norway World Tour ’74.

USA vs. the World. USA wins.

Speaking of winning….

We don’t yet have a winner. Mark R. gets a token in this week’s drawing. That means He, Hocky, and Del are one draw from winning the Taiwan-made CRKT M16. The rest of you are still in it though. Usual 2 token rules apply. Your first draw gets you a token, and it takes two to win. Up to 5 comments or replies are your entries, and if you are new to the blog your comments count double, but will be held in moderation until I can approve the first batch.

Good Luck Everyone.

I am just barely old enough to remember those days.

related…

Gen X will survive aging out of spite and indifference.

Ouch.

Cats don’t narc, but dogs still rule.

The real Cocaine Bear was not far from me.

The logic checks out.

Stay tuned.  The hammer is coming.

Seriously people.

Valid reasoning.

Probably not appropriate, but it made me laugh.

I thought it was an Air Horse.

Don’t do it.

That checks out.

I said A. My wife and daughter said B. What say you?

Pretty much.

I am an adequate Dungeon Master with a real campaign module. I suck as a homebrew DM. The above happens even in store bought campaigns.

Savage.

My buddy Scott works for Ubisoft and sends me pictures of weapon models from around the office.

Literally.

That is actually my wife’s daily experience. I am a cruel-hearted bastard. They have more success begging from the table.

I have experienced this.

For a short time anyway.

I won’t touch it with a pole.

Be afraid. We just passed the halfway point.

The stylish gentleman will be wearing foil.

That poor cow gave its life so someone could do that.

 

 

Downshifting without a clutch.

Pre-Napster.

I have questions.

There is some good news out of Israel, though it is a bad thing that it seems to be heating up with their northern border with Lebanon. The killing of 12 Druz (one of many ethnic minorities in Israel) children is on Iran’s hands, and the Israelis were not messing around.

The removal of Ismail Haniyeh from the chessboard is an unequivocally good thing. He was the head of Hamas’ political arm and the number two in an terrorist organization that vows hundreds of October 7ths until the Jewish people are exterminated from the earth.

I will not be silent in the face of an attempted genocide of the Jews. I will continue to use my platform to voice my support, until the last hostages are returned, and Israel declares its operation in Gaza to be complete.

The cognitive dissonance is amusing at least.

Once again, Tom Petty…

 


It was a fairly easy week to gather memes. I knew that I would be using Yusuf Dikeç as my theme, and the rest fell into place from there…

It is what I do…

Be ungovernable.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Previous ArticleAKTI’s Free To Carry Auction now live
Next Article5 from the Grinder: Joe Israel (Flat Rock Forge)
H. Clay Aalders

H. Clay Aalders is a lifelong edged tool user. He spent the past 20 years as a woodworker and fishing guide in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Idaho, and Tennessee. While guiding in Idaho, Clay worked part-time writing for a local newspaper, and upon moving to Tennessee began writing for the blog The Truth About Knives - spending his last 5 years there as Managing Editor. His background is in fixed-blade hunting and bushcraft knives, but has jumped into the world of vintage slipjoint collecting with both feet since coming to work at Knife Magazine. Clay’s primary role is as Digital Editor, curating and creating new content for our website and blog, as well as maintaining the Knife Magazine social media accounts (FB/IG: @theknifemag, Twitter: @knifemagazine). He is also a contributor and Associate Editor of the print magazine.

Related Posts

38 Responses

  1. On Tuesday at the pawnshop: CRKT “CEO” 7096 for $10 (Not MIB). Getting set for the “Fairgrounds Yard Sale” on Saturday, August 10th. I have about thirty “loose” production knives of various manufacturers. Price ranges are $15-50 . . . negotiable. I plan to sell all of them! (Note: This “community yard sale” does not attract buyers with deep pockets. I will have a custom fixed blade or two. “Expect the unexpected $$$!!)

    Reply

      1. I look for the customers who use their knife clip as a “money clip”. It is a “tell” . . . These knife-hounds want a vendor to “see their stuff”. Machismo and knife ego, that kind of knife flirtation. I carry my cash in an “Erin Aylor” Damascus money clip. He made “3” of them a couple of Christmas’s ago. Like “Del’s” “Salt Wharnie” gifted to him by “Joyce Laituri”; My “Aylor Clip” is special and I am very careful with it.

        Reply

        1. A guy on Instagram makes wallet chains, think I will buy one and clip the wharnie in the tang hole Hocky.

          Will never lose it!

          Reply

          1. “Clip the wharnie in the tang hole!” . . . “Do-dah, Do-dah. O-dah do-dah day!” Reminiscent of “Camptown Ladies” as sung by Slim Pickens in “Blazing Saddles (1974)”. There are a number of memorable tunes in that ultra-hilarious movie. Madeline Kahn and Harvey Korman, “Mongo” . . .
            “Lanyard hole?” . . . Nah, “Clip that wharnie in the tang hole!” Spyderco may want to use this phrase in its marketing!
            Well done, “Del”.

          2. Too funny Hocky, Thonghole, Lanyard, the English language….. 🙂

            Have a great weekend!

  2. Guided by my experience with mythological creatures, e.g. Mermaids** and Krakens, I would opt for “B”. Reasoning: The ancient Greeks kept their “Upper half: Human/Lower half: Horse” creatures as guardians of their estates. Often, these centaurs are depicted “armed” with bows and swords; thus, having the “torso” at the elevation shown in “B” would provide the “Giraffe Centaur (GC)” with a stable platform for combat. The “head” at the top of the elongated neck provides the “GC” with an excellent field of view.
    *Note: Mythological paleontologists have not discovered a female “GC”. Greek mythology does not speak to their existence. A female “GC” would have teats . . . not breasts.
    **2nd Note: Mermaids have breasts as depicted in artist’s sketches. They carry tridents. Submariners have recorded their siren songs. Daryl Hannah is a mermaid.

    Reply

  3. Oh, “Milk in a Bag”: When loading “stores” on the “Boat” for the 75-day patrol coming up, we had “10-gallon milk bladders” that went into the “reefers”. Once “out-to-sea” on nuclear power, these “fresh milk bladders” would last for about two weeks. The cow runs dry . . . powdered milk for the next two months. **Note: Fresh produce would last about three weeks. Then our “veggies and fruit” would come from No. 10 cans; Except, the fruit juices which made good wine! (Ref: USS George Bancroft SSBN643 “Blue Crew” 1975-’78)

    Reply

  4. Saturday, 8/3/24, was a “submarine & knife day”. The “Tri-State Base (TSB)” (www.USSVI.org) meeting kicked off the day when I bought six (6) novels by “George Wallace, CMDR USN (Ret.) All of them were autographed by the author. I met him at a “TSB” meeting this past March. His book, “Firing Point (2012)”, was made into the movie, “Hunter Killer (2018)”. I donated my May, June and July issues of “Knife” for a drawing; and, gave my “Moran Foundation” calling card to several “bubbleheads”! The “Moran 9th Annual All-Forged Knife Show” is set for October 19, 2024 and as Ed Sullivan quipped, “We have a really big “shoe” for you.” Aarrgh!! Hocky humor.
    On to “Edgeworks” . . . I handled the Kershaw “Bel Air”. It was the all-over black one. “Light in the hand”. I was not overwhelmed by its features or aesthetics. “MagnaCut” cerakoted blade . . . did not “smell” any different than un-coated “Hi-carbon” steel. I reckon that the tag price, $160-ish, plus Maryland 6% sales tax, may make it attractive to some “gotta have it” knifers. (KAI/Kershaw.com MSRP-$220)
    Meanwhile, I took a look at the “Reduced In Price (“RIP”, how appropriate) section. “Lo, and Behold! . . . Spyderco “Lil Native Wharncliffe, S30V”. “SOLD!” My “DG2, VG-10” remains my EDC. The “Lil’ Native” will work its way into the rotation. A trip to “Edgeworks” is always a learning experience. Sean Norris, the owner, and I conversed on the pros & cons of “pivot operating mechanics”, i.e. “phosphor bronze washers” and “ball bearings”. Sean unscrewed the “pivot” on his folder and showed me the “phosphor bronze” washers. He touted these over “ball bearings of any material: steel or ceramic” for the ease of maintenance as well as a lower cost. “Simplicity factor” noted by me. We discussed “Teflon” washers and agreed that they usually “squish out” . . . Yuk!

    Reply

    1. “…did not smell any different…” took me a couple minutes. Cerakoted ..then it hit me… creosoted! Too funny Hocky!

      Reply

      1. “Cerakoted MagnaCut?”. It is a magically delicious steel, so well-balanced and so good for you! Throw it in the saltwater aquarium and watch a thin, bubbly film form on the blade. Regarding the “Bel Air”, the “top of the clip” does rise above the butt end. “Sculimbrene” noted this anomaly in his review. He did not deduct any points. My view of this “clip nub” sticking up: “Hot Spot”. In the “Knife Olympics” a 2-point deduction for design error! (Note: Fixed blade knives do not need clips!).

        Reply

  6. My favorite knife for a lot of years was the m16, that particular one now currently resides somewhere along the Manistee river in northern Michigan. Fell off my waders when I had to drop trow in a hurry, lol. would love to get another.

    Reply

  7. I’m calling ‘fake news’ on the Centaur options. Unearthed fossils in Siberia, from the 50s, clearly showed what you call out as ‘Option B’; normal body on a long extended neck. You cant argue with the fossil record, it is science!

    Reply

    1. Yeah, but is was the USSR in the midst of an Olympic doping scandal trying to argue that their equestrian team was perfectly normal. And they refused to let international paleontologists examine the “fossils “. So I think it’s still an open question.
      I vote A.

      Reply

      1. Creative thinking, both options may exist. Just wait until the unearth the Rhinoceros Centaur version and the debate about the horn placement starts.
        Either way, congrats on the win and keeping the competition alive, I predict another few weeks of Hocky and his magnetic shorts.

        Reply

    2. Hey WOTers; At the risk of demagnetizing my chances in the next Weekend Open Thread, I found the Spyderco Salt Wharnie!

      You were right Stuart, it did turn up. Today I was in the shop an reached for a zippered case to put a bowie in. The case had something small and hard inside, upon opening I was delighted to see the lost, er, misplaced Spyderco knife. Like Hockey said that yellow is unmistakable.

      I’ll have to give the baggage handlers a “sorry” on my next flight! 🙁

      Reply

      1. Del – great news, almost as good as winning the WOT! Or in Haiku:
        Sorrow and grief fade.
        Rediscovered friends, smiling.
        Old is new, again.

        Reply

        1. It is just as good as winning the WOT Stuart, very special knife, I interviewed Michael Janich for a story on a custom knifemaker that worked with him. Through the interview I talked with the legendary Joyce Laituri from Spyderco. Joyce sent me a few knives to thank me for talking about the company. I gave all of them away except the Wharnie Salt.

          Thought it was in the wind! I am smiling.

          Reply

        2. I should have explained more Stuart, I wrote a story for the May 2021 issue of Knife Magazine featuring Mickey Yurco, just a real amazing knifemaker, putting him and Michael Janich together in an article is as good as it gets.

          Spyderco produced Janich’s “Yojimbo 2, Mickey put his spin on it and Michael asked Spyderco if he could make some custom versions. The answer was yes and the Ronin 2 was born.

          So much more to the story, if you are an online member check out that May 2021 issue. If you don’t subscribe I can send you an issue, just ask Clay for my email.

          I’ll have to ask Hocky if he read that story?

          Reply

          1. Del – yeah, some time things are more than just things. So cool you got it back, it has a great story to it for sure..

          2. “Yes”, I read it. I often visit the “Magazine Archives” to wax nostalgically. My recent acquisition of the trove of “The American Blade” and “Blade” “hard copy” magazines has been a boon to my everyday reading . . . However, “Knife” has their on-line archives and I only need to “Click It”. Instant gratification!

      3. “A-Ha!!” “Eureka!!” “Never Surrender, Never Give Up!!”.
        This great find prompts the question, “What did you wrap up in the T-shirt?”

        Reply

        1. I thought it was in a T-shirt, but my Son-in-law gave me 3 zippered cases from knives I had sent him. Forgot I tucked it into one of those Hocky.

          Threw the cases on a shelf, reached for one and felt something inside. It was yellow gold! To me it was! 🙂

          Reply

          1. I hear you, Del. As I prepare for the “Community Yard Sale at the Hagerstown Fairgrounds” on Saturday, August 10th, I have “found” knives in my “peddler bag(s)” (Yes, plural bags!) that I remember having; BUT, my three “P-bags” were organized and labeled as: “Production “no box”; Production “MIB”; and, Custom (Fixed blades, mostly). Well, there must have been a “knife party” in the F150 and a few “loose, no box” knives had too much freedom and being “well-oiled” they migrated to other “P-bags”.
            “Debby” is coming up I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley. Friday is 100% deluge day. Saturday is looking sunny and cooler!

            C

  8. Thanks for the token RNG…and Clay!
    I’ve never heard about milk pitchers before. What a great story! What a great friend!
    Love the Turkish shooter memes! Did you see where he yelled to/at his ex-wife from the medal stand? He wants his dog back! Are we sure this guy ain’t from the south?
    The first swimmer emerging from the Seine had me snoring coffee!
    Have a great weekend all!

    Reply

  9. That “Turkish guy”, wow – What a great story. Have to check out the real version.

    And John Wilson, what a terrific guy. Larger than life is an understatement when talking about him!

    Have to fact-check that “Milk in a plastic bag”?

    In Canada Clay? Hmmm…..
    Sounds like camp was fun, so cool that the milk pitcher became so iconic!

    Awesome memes. That riding lawnmower is hilarious. So many funny ones, the river was a great one.

    Congrats on the token Mark.

    Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

    Reply

    1. Thanks Del. I read he took up shooting to spend time with his kids during his divorce! The rest is history!

      Reply

      1. Dikec Yusuf and Steve Nedorocic, the epitome of cool!

        These Olympics are a breath of fresh air to watch, I always enjoy the track and indoor gymnastic events.

        Fascinating to watch Simone Biles come back so strong after the challenges she went through.

        The surfing is cool, skateboarding too!

        Reply

  10. I love competition. Kudos to MarkR. This is a quickie as I have a “Submarine” meeting with my USSVI “Tri-State Base” in Frederick, MD at 1100 hours. Afterwards, I plan to stop by “Edgeworks” in downtown Frederick. This brick ‘n mortar store owned by Sean Norris, “Moran Foundation Lifetime Member”, allows me the opportunity to “handle” many of the production knives I see on “NEWSFEED”. Sean has the “Kershaw Bel-Air” which was recently reviewed by Anthony Sculimbrene,”EverydayCommentary”. He likened is performance and aesthetics to the “TRM*-Neutron 2” which is quality praise. (TRM is “Three Rivers Manufacturing”, Boston, MA)

    “Golum” emerging from the “Seine” . . . Paris is the “City of Frights”. Drink wine!

    Reply

    1. Thank you and enjoy your trip! If you decide you really like the Bel Air, think about visiting Knife Center. Mega sale on Kershaw blades this weekend only!(Not a commercial just a PSA)

      Reply

    2. Can’t wait for your reviews Hocky, also must be awesome to attend those “Submarine” meetings.

      That Golum meme still has me laughing!

      Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *