So way back in the day (as you can tell from the dates on the pictures), I used to occasionally play paintball with some friends. It was good times all around, even though I was mediocre at best and bruised easily; I really enjoyed it a lot. Anyway, here are some pix of those days when I was young enough to go running around in the blazing heat and get shot at. (Appropriately enough, on the last game I ever played, my trusty Kingman Spyder TL-X snapped it's bolt basically rendering it scrap.)


July, 2006
What a bummer! The weather was actually perfect to play. It was hot, but not too hot, and low humidity. All the guns were working well. We ending up with only six of us playing. It was a nice change of pace because it meant you could go after someone without trying to figure out where the rest of his team was. It was also a good day for me, I got a number of kills, and was only on the losing team three times.

June 10, 2006
Good god, the oppressive heat! It was rocket-hot, humid, and stifling. It was really draining to play, but it went pretty well. We had a bunch of new folks play which was fun, but it was a bit weird having to go through the basics again. It was a pretty decent day overall, and I was on the winning team about half the time. It was very even all day.




Wounds of War	Why having some body fat helps!

May 20, 2006
It just keeps getting better. We managed to field about 14 people this go-round, with a lot of new folks. The summer heat is definitely starting to set in, so bringing water out to the field will definitely be in order. Plus ticks. Lots of ticks. But it's a small price to pay. Although next game I'm definitely wearing some thigh-protection, cause the bruises on my right thigh are just getting stupid.

Frank and Jon	Dane and Jon (Am I holding him right?)	John Paul and Jon

Steve and Jon	Jacquelyn and Jon	Rossman and Jon

It was our 1 year anniversary game	Jackson's battle scars	Joe's battle scars

Gee I hope I remember everyone's names. Top: Ben, Joe, Steve, Andrew, Rossman, Jon & Jon, Frank, ???, and ??? Bottom: John Paul, Jack, Jackson, Dane, and Matt

April 4, 2006
I thought the March game weather was good... April was even better! Other than the ridiculously high pollen count that was getting a lot of us, it was great. Warm, but not hot, and there was foliage for cover this time around. I was on call that day and missed the first few games to do support. This was also the first game after Tracy gave birth.

Group loading up		Baby Jon

	Get 'em started early	Group shot: My weapon, the cell phone

March 4, 2006
Although the weather was perfect, we had a number of last minute cancellations. Also Manirith was on call for work and got paged. I took over for him so he could play some, so we each only played half the time. We only had about six people, so had a few fun games of 2-on-4: Jon and me (loss), Jon and Rossman (win), Rossman and me (loss). It was good fun. My gun, in the warmer weather, was performing flawlessly and I'm really happy with the setup. It's still leaking a little, but not much, so it's okay. This was also my first outing with my "tinted visor". I made a visor-shaped overlay from static-cling automotive tinting. It worked great, and if it got too dirty, I could just peel it off!



Feb 5, 2006
This was a great game. We had 13 or 14 people (depending on the time of day). It was pretty cold so we were still having some equipment problems, but they were relatively minor. We also played King of the Hill in earnest this time. We had a chess timer in the middle of the field set to give each team 10 minutes. My team won by two minutes, so we were basically playing for 18 minutes total. In that time I ran out of air and blazed through about 700 rounds (which is what I normally use in a whole day)! It was intense, fast, and had a lot of running. But it was a lot of fun. This was also my first outing with my regulator. I still have some minor air leaks, but it performs great. I can't wait for it to warm up.

Paul loading up	Nick comes all the way from the UK to play	Joe: Leather armor and clean goggles

Kyle, Paul, and Rossman in cold weather gear	Dane and Nick getting air	Frank tinkering with his gun

The Firing Line	Michael and Wes ready to go	Kyle, Michael, Joe, Manirith, Nick, Wes, Jon, Frank, Kyle, Rossman, Ben, Dane, and Paul. Steve was Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Picture.

January 7, 2006
Sorry no pictures from this one. There were eight of us (some regulars: me, Jon, Steve, Frank, Ben, Rossman, and two newbies: a friend of mine, Terry, and a friend of Jon's, Matt). It was actually a really good game. We played in the afternoon so it would be a little bit warmer. We had a little bit of equipment problems later in the day, but most of the games were just fine. My gun was still acting up from the cold, but performed okay. I'd just bought a regulator for my gun, but didn't have the right hose-adapters so couldn't use it.

November 19, 2005

Manirith, Ben, Steve, Frank, Eric, Jonathan, Dane, Jon, Frank, Meg, and Joe. Our first winter-ish game. It was plagued by equipment problems but was a lot of fun. Played a new game variation, King of the Hill, which involved a lot of paint and air. I broke a sear-spring on my TL-X during the day which was very annoying. One of the few spare parts I don't carry, so I had to use one of the spare/crappy guns. In memorium: We were priviledged to have Jonathan, dressed in full sniper cowl in the background, with us during this game. He was a friend of Jon, Meg, Joe, and myself. Although not as mobile as he wanted to be he still had a good time playing. A couple of months later, he finally lost his battle with cancer and passed away. He was a good guy and a good friend, and always faced his disease like everything else: head-on with high spirits. We will miss him.

October 15, 2005

Dane ready to go	Joe loading ammo	Jonathan with a helper

Frank gearing up	Mike checking his velocity	Eric watching the speed tests

Ashley demonstrates safety first	Ashley points the way	The gun is almost as big as she is

Armed, Dangerous and Small	Frank's final prep	Jacquelyn: Our combat photgrapher and cook

Loitering around	Dane and Manirith frozen	Frank gets lit up

Mike, Dane, Eric, Joe, and Steve between rounds	Rossman, Mike, and Manirith taking a break	Mike and Manirith ready for action

Joe ready to go with his fancy new gun	Dane taking the long walk	Eric, Rossman, Mike, and Jon talk strategy

Eric and Rossman	Mike: What you're looking at?!	Jon and Beth on red team

Rossman heads for the flank	Eric pinned down	Eric still pinned down

Jon blending in	Beth's game face	Eric staying low

Frank taking cover	Steve takes aim	Smile!

Our October group: Mike, Steve, Eric, Ashley and Jacquelyn, Frank, Beth, Tracy, Rossman, Manirith, Jon, Joe, and Dane

September 10, 2005

Nick and Mike gearing up	Steve loading ammo	Dane, Nick, and Mike loitering

Jon and Joe attempting gun surgery	Frank surveying his domain	Nick and Mike cleaning their masks

Mike, Nick, Dane, Steve, Joe, Chris, Jon, and Frank	Die Chris Die!	Nick, Mike, Steve, Chris, and Joe relaxing between rounds

Frank, Dane, and Nick ready to go

July 9, 2005

Rossman gets capped	Here's a a group picture from a recent outing on July 9, 2005. From left to right: Frank, me (standing), Steven, Tim, Jackson, Joe, Chris, Mike O., and Mike R.

June 4, 2005

Here's how I fared after my first game. Needless to say, I got lit up. Luckily I've gotten better at playing!