Howdy Folks -

    Well, it's been a pretty busy time, what with all the annual matches going on in our area, there's hardly been time to reload enough ammo to keep up.  The John Wayne Shootout at Chorro Valley, Range War at Chabot, and The Shootout at Fort Miller, have all seen the Faultline Gang well represented; be sure to check out the Cowboy news page for the all the awards FSS'ers have won!

     Our September match was a real blast!  We started out with a cookout Saturday night put on by Moncton Kid (great carnitas Kid!).  After setup was finished, all the wagons were put in a circle (well, maybe it was 3 RVs in a semicircle), and the Kid started serving up carnitas with all the fixins to at least 15 or so folks.  Then we all sang the birthday song to Querida as a major milestone was only days away.  Then Querida drew a name out of a hat for one of the setup crew to get a FREE SHOOT on Sunday as recompense for his efforts.  A similar drawing was done after teardown, to reimburse one of the teardown crew for their efforts.  So, if you come to help, you just might get a free shoot!  After eating a fine meal, there was a selection of adult beverages for the enjoyment of all, followed by an extended period of tall tales, bull-throwing and general hobnobbing.  A good time was had by all.  It was Querida's idea to revive an long-forgotten Faultline tradition of the Saturday night cookout, and so it will be from now on.  So next month come on out and have social intercourse (don't snicker, look it up) with your shootin' pards.

    If you attended Sunday's match, then you know about the shooters' meeting and vote of the members.  If not, then the result was that due to not much money coming in after expenses for the monthly shoot, it was recommended by the FSS Executive Board that the monthly match fees be raised from $10 to $15 for members and from $15 to $20 for non-members.  This will enable the Board to buy some new targets and other needed items for the club.  The members present overwhelmingly approved the motion and so it was carried.

     I have some new features this month.  One is the Match Day Panorama available from the Photos page.  This is a very unique feature, its use is primarily in the real estate business where it is known as virtual tours.  Some of you may remember at the August match I asked everyone to pose for a picture as I rotated my digital camera around in a circle on a tripod.  I took those pics and used the virtual tour software to construct the very cool spinning panorama.  If you look closely, you might see something very unusual.  There are two pards who played a trick on the camera - they show up in two places in the photo.  Check it out and see if you can discover who they are - sort of a cowboy version of Where's Waldo! 

    Probably the best way to view the panorama is with Internet Explorer.  It should display correctly without having to install plugins.  Other browsers such as Firefox and Netscape may prompt you to install a plugin - this is for the Java Runtime Environment.  If you see a message about allowing ActiveX to run, it is OK to say yes - this will allow a Java script to run (which is how some of these cool features execute).  Operate the panorama by placing the mouse pointer over the picture and dragging it to the right or left (or up and down) - the picture will rotate as you drag it.  You can also zoom in by clicking on the + in the toolbar.  Clicking on the - will allow you to zoom out.  Play around with it and have some fun!

    Another feature is the Faultline Slideshow.  It is available from the Photos page also.  It will display a selection of pics from the FSS archives in a book-like format with each photo as a turning page.  Again, if you see a message about allowing ActiveX to run, it is OK to say yes.

    Well, that's enough more than enough news for this month!  Keep your powder dry and I'll see you at the October match!

Happy Trails,
- Fightin' Frank