My Favorite Firearm
Image via Cabot Guns
Filtering by Tag: GUNS
Queen of Vice
At the Range, Las Vegas, Nevada | Photo credit: Susannah Breslin
After spending the last year and a half helping Forbes build out a popular new digital vertical devoted to vices, Forbes Vices, I’m transitioning to strategic consulting for vice companies. My expertise is in helping adult, gambling, cannabis, alcohol, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and firearms businesses grow their brands and includes strategic planning, branding, public relations, marketing, and digital. Interested in becoming a client? Email me at susannahbreslin@gmail.com.
Bulletproof Backpacks and New Porn Stars
1 Likes, 1 Comments - Susannah Breslin (@susannahbreslin) on Instagram: "Adult performer @therealdelladane at home in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, in the San Fernando..."
Over on my Forbes blog, I've got a couple new posts -- one on a line of bulletproof backpacks that, while not made exclusively for kids, can be worn by kids, and one on a day in the life of a newly-minted porn star.
"Portrait of a (New) Porn Star as a Gig Economy Hustler"
"Her phone lights up with another male performer's name. An actress didn't show up for a scene they're shooting today. Does she want to fill in? It's a boy-girl scene. It'll pay $700.
"Would You Buy Your Child This Bulletproof Backpack?"
"'The idea of a mass shooting has become more of a reality,' Sheikh says. With the ProShield backpack, 'In the event of a shooting, you're protected. Wearing it is definitely a sad reality, but we're kind of in that day and age.'"
The Golden Gun
The Trump 45 | Image credit: Cabot Guns
On my Forbes blog, I wrote about the Trump 45 from Cabot Guns. It's finished with 24 karat gold, made with meteorite, and it could cost you over fifty grand.
"The grips are made from the American holly tree, and the trigger and front sight are made from 4-billion-year-old meteorite that, according to a statement released by Cabot Guns, symbolizes the 'meteoric focus of the Trump Presidency and commitment to America.'"
American Made
"American Made" isn't a bad movie, but it isn't a great movie either. It's solid. It's like some slices of ham, a large spoonful of mashed potatoes, and some green peas. It does the job, but, I mean, are you going to rave about it? Probably not. There's Tom Cruise. Shining, well-haired, strapping. In this role, he's a grinning, adventure-seeking, drug and guns running American cowboy who makes a shit ton of money by simultaneously hustling the American government and South American drug lords. There are some fun flying sequences, and a good time is had by all -- at least for a while. Eventually, things go south, and then things aren't so funny anymore. It's based on a true story, but if you compare the two, there's not much truth to this movie. And, as was the case with "Atomic Blonde," you get a lot of action, but you don't get a lot of insight. What makes this guy tick? What are we to make of a man who made his American dream by being a hustler? These questions remain unanswered. The standout performance of the movie is by Caleb Landry Jones, who plays the main character's dumb hick brother-in-law and shines as an entertaining idiot. Otherwise, I'd say it's a soft pass.
Vegetarians Need Not Apply
41 Likes, 2 Comments - Susannah Breslin (@susannahbreslin) on Instagram: "Meaty. Buying my copy of @recoilmagazine's new #carnivore at #walmart 🔪🐗💀🔥🍽 #meat #magazine..."
The editor of this magazine and I talked about me writing something for the magazine, and while that didn't work out, I was excited to see it on the newsstand. I love the title -- CARNIVORE -- and I love the cover: the chef's coat, the rifle in hand, the slab of raw meat. It's all very visceral. This magazine is for you if you enjoy hunting, you enjoy eating what you hunt, and you want to join the call to arms of the FIELD TO TABLE REVOLUTION. Also: you can learn how to make a wild boar patty melt, and who hasn't been pining for a boar melt lately?
A Firearm Coloring Book for Kids of All Ages
Over on my Forbes blog, I interviewed a young woman who's created a firearm coloring book.
How did you come up with the idea of doing a firearm coloring book?
The firearm coloring book has been something that I've wanted to do for nearly two years. I created something that I wanted to exist: a high-detail, visually-correct firearm coloring book. Conveniently enough, other people wanted it to exist, as well, so I've received an incredible amount of support.
Guns & Girls
"Status 💥🔫👧🏻"
I spent some time watching Guns & Ammo TV last night. I guess it was on the Sportsman Channel. Then I watched a show that was a shooting competition between only girls. I guess you could say it was inspiring.
El Chapo & The Girl
Image via Rolling Stone
The New Yorker has a semi-intriguing profile of Mexican actress Kate del Castillo's involvement in the whole Sean Penn-Rolling Stone-El Chapo saga. Now that Mr. Chapo is back in the pokey, del Castillo claims to be bizarrely unaware that Penn was doing a profile on him, despite her personal involvement in their meeting.
The piece includes some love-ish texts that The Chapo sent del Castillo.
"Amiga, if you'll bring the wine, I'll also drink yours. . . . I'm not a drinker, but your presence will be a lovely thing and I very much want to get to know you and become very good friends. You are the best in this world. . . . I will take care of you more than I do my own eyes."
How to Double Your Blog Traffic in a Month
"Flogging the Freelancer" is a blog post a day on freelancing in the gig economy. Browse the archives here.
In December of 2015, my monthly traffic for my Forbes blog was 63,469 total monthly visitors.
In January of 2016, my monthly traffic for my Forbes blog was 130,154 total monthly visitors.
The most popular post in January was: "See Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's Custom Guns Created by Jesse James."
Here's the first line: "Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are box office gold, and they’re armed with a pair of Cisco 1911 firearms that were created by infamous customizer and reality TV show star Jesse James."
To date, the post has 57,310 views.
I got the idea for the post from RECOIL magazine's Instagram page. RECOIL's editor had instagrammed extensively from SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, including a photo of the Jesse James Firearms Unlimited booth.
I did some research online and ended up at the JJFU Tumblr page, which features the custom 1911's James made for Pitt and Jolie and includes photos of the pair of pistols, as well as the story behind them. The guns are especially interesting in part because Pitt's is engraved "BIG PAPA" and Jolie's is engraved "MAMA KNOWS BEST."
That said, the post would not work unless I was able to use, with permission, the photos of the firearms.
I emailed JJFU and asked if I could use the images. JJFU responded, including full-size versions of the images.
I wrote the post, adding in some relevant information -- Pitt's support of the Second Amendment ("I got my grandfather's shotgun when I was in kindergarten"), an old rumor subsequently dispelled by Pitt that he had built Jolie a $400,000 shooting range on their French estate, how James left Hollywood and ended up in the gun manufacturing business -- and hit publish.
Why was this post successful?
It was visual.
It was about celebrities.
It was about guns.
And after the post went live, JJFU promoted the post on social media.
Thanks again to Jesse James and JJFU for the use of the images.
You can connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and you can email me here.
Angie Get Your Gun
"Flogging the Freelancer" is a blog post a day on freelancing in the gig economy. Browse the archives here.
I wrote a Forbes post about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's 1911's custom crafted by Jesse James:
In 2014, Pitt, who was born in Oklahoma and raised in Missouri, shared that he grew up with guns:
“There’s a rite of passage where I grew up of inheriting your ancestors’ weapons,” said Pitt. “My brother got my dad’s. I got my grandfather’s shotgun when I was in kindergarten.”
You can connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and you can email me here.
Say Hello to My Fully-Automatic Friend
I shot machine guns in Miami. It was fun. Here's how that happened:
“Now you get to the shoot the Big Daddy,” Paul announced. “This is the SAW.”
Does It Come in Pink?
"Does it come in pink? #guns"
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I Went to a Guntry Club
Take me to thee .223. (Photo credit: Susannah Breslin)
My latest on my Forbes blog: "Welcome to the Guntry Club, Where There's a Boardroom and a Shooting Range."
The Alamo is one of three firearms stores and gun ranges (two in Florida, one in Kentucky) owned by Robert Marcum’s Lotus Gunworks. What he’s selling at The Alamo: Gun Culture 2.0. Once upon a time, Gun Culture 1.0 was about shooting ducks with your dad. Today, a new generation of firearm owners is more diverse than homogeneous, more interested in self-defense than hunting deer, more likely to be a tattooed urban-dweller than an “Elmer Fudd.” As Creighton sees it, we’re living in an era focused on “personal empowerment,” and guns are one way people are choosing to empower themselves. Think: the Apple store — with bullets. For Gun Owners 2.0, “It’s no longer about food,” he says. “It’s about protecting what matters to me.”
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Am Blogging
I'm working on two new posts for my Forbes blog. One is about the adult industry. One is about guns. Please keep an eye out for them.
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Fun Day
"Another day on the job. I smell like gunpowder and AR sweat. #journalism #guns #firearm #gun #ar #amnotwritingamshooting"
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#gunequality
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How to Not Choke When You Blog
Now that I'm back at Forbes, I'm trying to post a fair amount, but on Friday, I sort of choked. I'd written a post about a python pizza, and a post about porn on HBO, and then it was Friday, and I got stuck. I spent way too much time overthinking it: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Then on Sunday, I realized I needed to post anything, which actually prompted me to write the post that I originally wanted to write, which was about a work of art made of crack vials.
Be fucking specific
One thing that's sort of a challenge when you write about vice is that you can write about a lot of shit. You can write about: heroin, cam girls, internet gambling, a line of wine named for dead criminals, a gun show, pruno, DeLoreans, and all kind of other things. I spent too much time casting too wide of a net in the form of Google News, which sucks. When I wrote about things successfully, I realized, they tended to be about the intersection of two things: vice and something of particular interest to me. So, for example, I'm not that interested in pizza, but I am interested in Florida, so an Everglades pizza made sense. Be as stupidly specific as a PhD candidate in your endeavors. Niche your brain.
"NBD. #Egypt #fortmyers #florida #parkinglot #ruler"
Write something, anything
I think one problem was that I was focusing too much on what people would maybe want to read. This is an old bad habit that comes from having jobs that required heavy traffic-getting writing, and it can ruin you the way love can get ruined for an old whore. Also, Forbes has a somewhat different way of paying bloggers for traffic nowadays -- because that is how it works there -- and so far it's been ... well, I'll give it a positive slant by saying I'm sure I'll figure it out. But it's different. In any case, post what you love, and fuck everyone else. After all, most people are dumb.
Do shit, dumbshit
I wrote a nice post on my Forbes blog a couple years ago: "A Girl and a .22." It was fun to do and fun to write. I went to a firearms superstore with a big range and shot some guns. If you don't have to be a churn-and-burn blogger, why would you act like one? Use blogging as excuse to go live a more interesting life. For me, that's meant going to porn shows, and gun shows, and drinking expensive Bloody Marys. Find what you love, and then fuck the hell out of it. I'll be going on another adventure later this week that should be interesting. Stay tuned.
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Ammo
"Sunday loungewear. #guns #ammo #firearms #Sundays #fashion #shirts #selfies #money #currency #millennium #2A #righttobarearms"
What I Think of Cocked
Image credit: Amazon.com
"Cocked" is one of the pilots Amazon coughed up among those shows it may or not make. It's about a family, and the family business is guns! Kudos to Amazon for picking up that firearm. I was interested in seeing this show. After all, I have been known to shoot a gun. The opening scene takes place at something that is supposed to look like SHOT Show, and I have been. In any case, prior to viewing, I thought gun owners and 2nd Amendment fans would be excited to see this, but when Jason Lee, who plays the patriarch's bad boy son, does a bunch of coke and bangs the Shannon twins, I thought probably the NRA will not be sponsoring this program. "Beauty, bullets, and blow, what more could you wish for?" Lee's character considers after going down on either Kristina or Karissa. The other brother is Sam Trammell of "True Blood" fame, who's the good son, and who gets called home, sort of, to save the floundering business. Brian Dennehy is the dad. Some blonde is some illegitimate daughter who wants to take the whole thing over. A rival firearms manufacturer is trying to put them out of business. And so it goes. All great ideas. All wonderful fodder. And yet. Woefully miscast. And instead of going for drama, it goes for wild-eyed slapstick. What was missed: A "Sopranos"-type show in which real people with real lives and real problems just so happen to manufacture and sell America's most controversial product. That didn't happen.