Even the acronyms aren't safe anymore

Apparently, el Bush decided to rename the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, so while the assignment was "cover the ATF groundbreaking at Redstone Arsenal," it should have been "cover the ATF(E) blowing stuff up." 'Cause that's why I was really there. First, though, there were guys in ties or, as I like to think of it, dudes in duds.He looks like a comedian named Patton Oswalt, but he's not. Just saying.I don't know why, but the people who organize these things think that flagpoles in the background make for good pictures, but all it does is give you something that sticks out of somebody's head. By the way, the fella with the pole in his noggin is Michael Sullivan, acting director the ATF(E), which would explain all the serious faces and dark glasses manning the perimeter.

Okay, so we got the pole outta the Acting Director's head, but now Senator Shelby has something very colorful and happy capping his top. Blargh. I angled these because, a) I was bored, b) I had already had the dudes in duds photos we needed, and c) any of this is going to run secondary to THINGS BLOWING UP.

Ahhh, it was a good morning. Everything was a half mile away, so I *should* have brought a 300mm lense, but I didn't know what time I would be getting back to Birmingham and I figured some of the other photographers would need long glass for sports. Still cool, though.

Also, we did what amounts to a slideshow from the stills. I'm an idiot (and I save my money like Uncle Scrooge) and *still* haven't bought new batteries for my recorder ... shame on me ... so there's no audio. The explosions were less noise, more feeling, though. My pants legs kept rippling in the shockwaves.

More later. Ciao ...