Category Archives: book

Take the Star Road

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Oleg Volk

Peter Grant’s new book Take the Star Road is now available at Amazon. I read it when it was being edited and re-read it again when making the cover design. I recommend it, especially if you like the style of … Continue reading →

Posted in book, interesting people | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

“Terms of Enlistment.”

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Oleg Volk

I recently mentioned Marko’s new book as the best military science fiction I’ve read in quite some time. Good to see it gain the deserved popularity. At three bucks, it’s the best entertainment you can get for a day or … Continue reading →

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“Captain Alatriste”

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Oleg Volk

I watched the movie last year. Over the last week, I read the first five books. Between the quality writing and the apparently well done translations, I really enjoyed them. The plot-wrangling takes a second place to the texture and … Continue reading →

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A strangely charismatic little rifle.

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Oleg Volk

Little Badger in the hands of self-defense trainer Kathy Jackson. Little Badger looks like an illicit love child between an AR15 and a Mk3 Sten. It’s all black metal and Picatinny rails, with a ladder sight of M2 carbine and … Continue reading →

Posted in book, interesting people, rifle | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Movie Review: The Hobbit.

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Oleg Volk

Summary: don’t waste your time or your patience. Casting: very poor. Certain characters, such as Thorin, were mis-cast. Screenplay: terrible. Even having read the book, I found the plot disjointed and nonsensical. Logical connections between events were lost. The spirit … Continue reading →

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Billy the King

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Oleg Volk

One of my favorite fairy tales is finally available on-line.

Posted in book | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

“Иной Вариант” Конюшевского

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Oleg Volk

Подскажите, где найти полную книгу в электронном формате. Я непротив купить, но заказывать на бумаге неудобно из-за особеностей доставки через океан.

Posted in advice requested, book | 2 Comments

Time travel considerations.

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Oleg Volk

Sprague DeCamp’s Lest Darkness Fall was first published in 1939. It was one of the first coherent time travel stories and quite well written. The author created a humorous,and informative tale of a history professor who ends up in 6th … Continue reading →

Posted in book, self-defense | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

“Beyond Lies the Wub”

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Oleg Volk

One of my favorite stories by Phillip K. Dick is now in the public domain: “Beyond Lies the Wub”.

Posted in book | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Owen Zastava Pitt

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Oleg Volk

The main character from Monster Hunter International. Met him yesterday.

Posted in book, interesting people, rifle, sound suppressor, weapon | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

The reason for Desert Eagle grips size

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Oleg Volk

Ever wondered who has hands big enough to shoot Desert Eagles comfortably? I bet he carries enough of them to do New York reloads…or at least his book characters could.

Posted in book, humor, interesting people | Tagged , | 13 Comments

“Cornered Cat” book by my friend Kathy Jackson.

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Oleg Volk

My friend Marisa has been carrying for less than a year. She found the book helpful. I’ve been carrying for about fifteen years and I found the book very informative as well. Give it a try, you just might enjoy … Continue reading →

Posted in book, interesting people, pistol, self-defense, training, weapon | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The heffalumps are in trouble…

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Oleg Volk

And speaking of A.A.Milne — does anyone know why all the texts of “Winnie the Pooh” are gone from the Internet all of a sudden?

Posted in advice requested, book, hunting, interesting people, rifle | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

The amazing Kathy Jackson

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Oleg Volk

Not only is Kathy the editor of one of the best magazines out there, Concealed Carry, she’s the author of the book Cornered Cat and a co-author of Lessons from Armed America. At the NRA show, her table was constantly … Continue reading →

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Attentive reader

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Oleg Volk

The author of On a Wing and a Whim blog. This photo shows one advantage of video viewfinders — to focus with wide open aperture, I was able to zoom in one her eye and select which eyelash would be … Continue reading →

Posted in book, interesting people | Tagged | 2 Comments

Fiction is not keeping up with reality

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Oleg Volk

When John Ross wrote his seminal Unintended Consequences, people accused him of being overly dramatic. After all, ATF agents wouldn’t frame people or commit murder, right? When Matt Bracken wrote Enemies Foreign and Domestic series, most readers thought the idea … Continue reading →

Posted in book, civil rights, rkba, weapon | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

A new source of written amusement

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Oleg Volk

Balzac’s short stories and novels on-line. I was curious about an illustration for L’amie du Roi and decided to look up the story itself.

Posted in book, interesting people | 3 Comments

Economist John Lott

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Oleg Volk

Last week, I met John Lott for the first time in twelve years. I last saw him in  Minnesota back in 1999. His research and articulate writing have done much for the civil rights in the US.

Posted in book, civil rights, interesting people, rkba, self-defense | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The origin of “One hundred heads” meme

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Oleg Volk

The Grave of the Hundred Head by Kipling was recently referenced in a post about possible forceful responses to government abuses. However, we may want to keep in mind that Kipling wrote about revenge exacted against a local population by … Continue reading →

Posted in book, civil rights, rkba, self-defense | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

What’s in his nassssty pocketsssesss?

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Oleg Volk

In Sprague de Camp’s Lest Darkness Fall (now available freely on-line!), a historian visiting Rome gets shunted from 1939 to 536AD. Besides half-way decent knowledge of Latin, he has what was in his pockets at the time of the transfer: … Continue reading →

Posted in book, interesting people, knife, pistol | Tagged , , , | 21 Comments