Gaston Glock has died at age 94. Tom Smothers has died at age 86.
If you know anything about firearms, you know of Gaston Glock's gun. He revolutionized the handgun market with his polymer-framed, striker-fired 9mm. Like it or not, every other manufacturer had to either come up with a competing product or walk away from the market. His guns becaume as synonomous with "American police sidearm" as the Smith & Wesson revolvers they replaced. His designs expanded to most common autopistol calibers and evolved over time.
Was he the greatest gun designer ever? I think not. That title probably belongs to John M. Browning, Jr., who designed handguns, rifles, shotguns and machine guns. Glock did one thing and did it well.
Changing gears, if you are of a certain age, you well know Tom Smothers. He and his brother Dick pushed the envelope hard on airing political dissent in the late 1960s. He was excellent in his own right; his impression of Johnny Carson was about the best there was and he was a magician. A number of comedy giants started off as writers on the Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour. Your Boomer uncle is probably in mourning tonight.
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3 comments:
This old boomer aunt is mourning Tommy Smothers. You're sadly spot-on about the reaper being overly active, and yet he isn't getting people who really deserve it, damn it.
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was wonderful. One of the brothers said later that they believed Nixon wanted them off the air. He thought that they’d have stayed on if Humphrey had won. I particularly liked Yo-Yo Man. Know the Yo.
Glock firearms are ok, Different than the others of the day, but not all that.
Their genius was in how they marketed the guns to police departments. Sell the guns at a great discount, then make money on the service and repair. Big money that way. Part of the contract that they had to be GLOCK armorers.
That made cops use 'em 'cause the departments issued them. From there it snowballed as people wanted what the cops used. Not that they are bad guns, they are rather good. But perhaps not the absolute best. Just good reliable guns marketed well.
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