Spellbreakers?

Working in a somewhat different way, call it practice, call it story fragments, whatever they are here's the first. One purpose here is that I'll do a little daily free writing, then go back and poke at them to see what might jump out and bite me. As ever, these are my original work, copyright M.K. Dreysen, all rights reserved to and by me.

June 2022 Story Fragment by M. K. Dreysen - Spellbreakers?

Randy would rather have used black powder. Drill, pack, wax and fuse, and most of all know that each charge fit the bill.

Dynamite made him nervous. Even in quarter stick sizes, and the stable stuff that didn't leak more fun than he wanted. The client had insisted, though. "We can get it for you, we use it in the mine."

Cheaper, that's really what they were after. Just getting Randy here and doing his thing, that was expensive enough.

Most clients, by the time they needed him they'd already come to the cost they'd paid. Ponying up for Randy to supply his own bang didn't hurt any more than the lives they'd lost.

"Stop," Randy said. To the kid, his apprentice and wow didn't that make Randy feel the weight of age. "Pay attention now, you don't want to crack it."

The seal, and more importantly what was on the other side. The kid set aside her drill bit, dusted granite fragments from the whole, and peered inside.

"See anything?"

She stuck her finger into the hole, felt around. "It's clean."

"How deep?"

She rolled her eyes, then used the stick, a willow stub with a notch cut to the depth needed. "Just right."

Randy held the lantern close enough to verify where her thumb was, flush against the stone and the stick's notch just past. "Yep, ok."

Gwyn moved enough so Randy could slide the quarter stick into place and set his fuse. Then she molded the wax into place to hold the dynamite. "How many more?"

Randy stepped back, lantern high while Gwyn reset for the next hole. "Two more, there at the top. Unless?"

"Unless I feel something shift when I'm drilling, right."

The drill bit wasn't sensitive. Gwyn was, though, and the metal could transmit, just a little, if the seal and what it held looked to weaken early. Randy waited until Gwyn had set herself and was comfortable with the angle before he turned to getting his fuses in order.

First tie the newly set fuse into other live ones, make sure of the loop and bundle, set it aside and clear. And only then pull the next fuse length free. He'd walked the loose fuses down the shaft that morning, each one shifted from one side of the shaft and room to the other as it was set.

He walked up to the surface, tying the new live fuse into the hot bundle as he went. By the time he'd returned to the door and the seal, Gwyn had finished and was set to start on the last hole.

Randy grunted, used the willow rod to check the completed hole's depth. "How'd it feel?"

Gwyn stopped, wiped her forehead and drank a little water from her canteen. "Nothing shifted. Not quite."

"But..."

She pulled the drill bit down and placed a gloved finger on the bit. "Like the bit was binding up. Not stuck, just..."

"Hmm." Three charges set, Randy told himself. Three quarters of a stick of dynamite. Plenty of boom. "Why don't you go ahead and stop."

"You're worried?"

Randy always worried. Spellbreaking could go wrong in only about a hundred and one different ways. And that was just dealing with the explosives and the vagaries of old abandoned ruins and mines.

But the dangers that kept Randy up at night were the ones that happened slowly. As slowly as the reach of a demon through stone, grasping at the first energy source it had gotten close to in who knows how many centuries? That was bad.

Worse was only blowing part of the seal, and then having to come back down here and do it again. "I'll drill, you pack."

"Not worried about rubble?"

Randy laughed. "They've asked to leave it so they can dig for treasure on the other side. Moving a few extra rocks won't hurt them." Besides, the clients had been the ones who'd insisted on using the dynamite because it was cheaper.

Randy ignored the way the drill felt more like he was tapping a glue barrel than hollowing out a piece of Rocky Mountain granite. By the time he'd finished and packed the last stick, Gwyn had the hot fuses ready to go. Randy sipped from his own canteen while he, and Gwyn, verified the coming shot. "Ready?"

"Buy you some coffee?"

"And those sandwiches old lady Mintner put together?"

"Damned straight." Last night's roast beef and day old bread, wrapped up in wax paper with a pickle each.

The spellbreaker and his apprentice set up the plunger, wrapped the master fuse and tightened it down, then counted and waited for the thump and dust cloud, the route that the demon or spirits or whatever the hell else it was that had been sealed below would take on their way to the cleansing clear sunny sky above.

Then they sat down and unwrapped their lunch and waited out the fight between clean air and broken containment.

An Exercise In Political Science Fiction

An Exercise in Political Science Fiction

Given the on-ground political realities, here's one possible place to start. The idea for the law as outlined would be to try and approximate/model some level of possible acceptance in Congress and the public generally, with the goal of building responsibility in proportion to the level of the perceived right.

Be it passed in Congress that:

1. Possession of a firearm or ammunition, in whole or in part, will incur an income tax liability to the possessor in the amount of 100 percent of the average equivalent retail value in the year of acquisition or manufacture of the firearm or ammunition. Written documentation of sale or transfer to another, independent possessor will constitute termination of the tax liability and entitle the possessor to 90 percent of any previously paid tax assessment as a one-time credit against future income taxes. Written and videographic documentation of the destruction or otherwise irreversibly rendering incapable of operation of the firearm or ammunition in question will also constitute termination of the tax liability and entitle the possesor to 100 percent of any previously paid tax assessment as a one-time credit against future income taxes. Failure to pay in the year of acquisition/manufacture will result in a fine of not less than 4 times the current year average equivalent retail value. Written documentation by the Federal Government of transfer, storage, and agent possession of firearms or ammunition through the Department of Defense or the Coast Guard will constitute a 100 percent exemption from this assessment. For other Federal agencies, state and local governments, and other entities typically exempt from income taxes, written documentation of transfer, storage, and agent possession of firearms and ammunition will constitute a 90 percent exemption to the liabilities incurred here. Any and all other persons or entities not otherwise listed here are, for the purposes of this law, considered to be the possessor and thus subject to the liabilities and requirement outlined in this act.

1.b Average value here means the average of 10 retail prices as published by independent third parties. Written documentation by the possessor of 10 acquisition year retail prices will constitute the possessor's attestation to the tax assessment value.

1.c Equivalent means here any firearm capable of firing the same caliber and ammunition type(s) as the firearm in possession. Possessor must also account for whether their firearm is new or used when documenting equivalent relevant firearms. In the case of ammunition, equivalent means ammunition types generally accepted as being used with the same type of firearm. Written documentation by the possessor of the methods used to attest to value, type, and source of acquisition will constitute a positive defense of the assessed value.

1.d Short of total destruction, one example of rendering a firearm incapable of operation would be a museum filling the barrel of the firearm with a full-length plug of metal or other material which would be essentially incapable of being drilled clean without otherwise destroying the firearm's barrel.

2. Game Tag Exemption: The Government will issue annual Game Tags, valid January 1 through December 31 of each calendar year, for purchase at the price of 1000 dollars, indexed to inflation. While valid, the Game Tag, in addition to the possession of a valid state hunting license and a yearly continuing hunter's education requirement outlined below, will be accepted as a valid hunting license in all Federal properties where hunting is allowed, subject to local, state, and Federal game seasons, tags, and bag limit restrictions, in lieu of a local or state issued hunting license or tag. For purposes of travel between the possessor's home state and any Federal hunting property and storage, eating, or processing, the Game Tag will constitute a legal transfer of game taken by the hunter. For purposes of travel between the possessor's home state and any Federal hunting property, the Game Tag will constitute legal transport of firearms and ammunition, subject to safe transport conditions outlined below. Upon expiration, the expired Game Tag entitles the purchaser to a one time tax credit against liabilities in Part 1 of this act in the full value of the purchase price of the Game Tag in the year of issue.

2.a For purposes of this section, safe transport of firearms and ammunition means transport in the conditions required by the Government for public airline travel.

2.b For purposes of this section, total annual bag limits will be those used by the hunter's state regulations for those game species for which the state issues regulations, otherwise the bag limit will be that of the state where the game was taken. Written and photographic or videographic documentation by the hunter of the time and location of the hunt where the game animal was taken will be used as the basis for bag limits and legal possession of the game animal during transfer and in the hunter's home.

2.c For purposes of this section, hunters will participate in at least 3 annual hours of continuing hunter's education, documented in written form, covering at least the populations, status, and extent of Federally recognized game animals, generally recognized best hunting practices, and generally recognized best firearm transport and use practices. Documentation of continuing education will be provided by the hunter to the Government at time of purchase of the Game Tag.

When The Time Comes For Settling Family Business

Now, when, or rather, should the time come, and you'll know when it happens, everybody remember: Mickie and Minnie were at my house that night, we had a thing, it lasted all night long and they slept over on our futon. Vader dj'd, Pluto and our puppies got along famously, it was great.

I Helped Her Out Of A Jam, I Guess

Between my lady love and I...

and then there's Romeo And Juliette

On the other hand, she does roll her eyes when I want to listen to this one...

A Question Going 'Round

A Question Going 'Round

Just saw this in jazz fan circles: what are your top 3 album recommendations for folks who are new to jazz?

I have opinions... and I think I'm going to extend it beyond just jazz. What are my criteria?

1. Easy to listen to and enjoy regardless. It has to stand on its own.

2. Relevant to the music it's representative of. It has to connect to the broader music genre it's a part of.

3. Personally, is it an album you can return to even after you've become old and cynical about the genre?

Ok, then, let's do this. Jazz, Rock 'n Roll, Country, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip Hop, and Classical. (My list for today, completely arbitrary, your list will and should be different! That's the most wonderful part of having so many recordings, we all can pick our own variation and have a good listen.)

Jazz:

1. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong: Ella And Louis

2. The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out

3. Duke Ellington and John Coltrane: Duke Ellington And John Coltrane

I think jazz, for a new listener, needs to lead with the best vocalists of the 20th century.

Rock 'n Roll:

1. The Beatles: Revolver

2. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band: Born In The U.S.A.

3. Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers: Damn The Torpedoes

Yes, I know, I know, Born To Run... This is about a straight run of 4 minute rock songs that never quits and shows a new listener what is possible. Just like I often prefer U2's Boy, but Joshua Tree is more accessible. Answers to different questions.

Country:

1. Ray Charles: Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music

2. Willie Nelson: Redheaded Stranger

3. Lyle Lovett: Joshua Judges Ruth

Country has never really found comfort with the album format; these are the big 3 I think. There are others out there but I'm hard pressed to find any that are more meaningful to the genre as a whole. Dwight Yoakum, Allison Krauss, Roseanne Cash, Garth Brooks (first 2 albums especially) all honorable mentions here.

R&B/Soul:

1. Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life

2. Al Green: Let's Stay Together

3. Gladys Knight and the Pips: Neither One Of Us

Oh lord could I go on. Roberta Flack, Earth Wind & Fire, Sly and the Family Stone, P-Funk. Have to put up a list and move on.

Rap/Hip-Hop

1. Fugees: The Score

2. Lauryn Hill: The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill

3. Outkast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Yeah, I know. I just love the sound of these records. Obviously there's a list of honorable mentions; one really cool one I find fascinating is an album by Branford Marsalis: Buckshot LeFonque.

Classical:

1. Van Cliburn: My Favorite Chopin

2. P.D.Q. Bach: The Intimate P.D.Q. Bach

3. The London Symphony Orchestra: The Planets (there are several here to choose from, any of them work)

More than any other genre here, the list is too long to do anything but generate arguments, so I just went with accessible and, yes, silly.

Oops, almost forgot.

Blues:

1. B.B. King: Live In Cook County Jail

2. Buddy Guy And Junior Wells: Alone And Acoustic

3. The Robert Cray Band: Strong Persuader

A good mapping to past and future here. And one hell of a way to get the butt moving and the blood flowing in Cook County...

Covid testing advance

Wow, now here is something really interesting: a completely open source, lab in a backpack Covid testing kit that costs 51 bucks to put together, and 3.50 per test.

open paper link in PLOS One

3d printing, scavenged parts, and they made sure to test using tap water for the solutions. plus it can run using a car battery, 12V, as power source.

we really do live in the future, don't we?

Damn

Ah, damnit to hell.

R.I.P. Taylor Hawkins.