2
JULY 13�20, 2022
THE OPENING ACT
What we’re into
ForgottenWeapons.com
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contact us
Lisa Britton
I frequent the ForgottenWeapons.com
YouTube channel. Its 2,700 videos have
gained 2.38 million subscribers and many
more semi-regular viewers, like me.
Its website and video channel cover
antique, rare and historically important
fi rearms. Its creator Ian “Gun Jesus”
McCollum (so monikered for his beard
and long hair) has presented on YouTube
since 2011, plus Full30 and Floatplane.
He also writes articles for Popular Me-
chanics and books on relevant topics. In
2018, he founded Headstamp Publishing,
which releases books crowdfunded by
Kickstarter.
Forgotten Weapons’ videos run
New releases
Go! Editor
editor@goeasternoregon.com
541-406-5274
Imagine Dragons,
‘Mercury — Act 2’
Sarah Smith
If you were hiding under your bed after
listening to the last album by Imagine
Dragons, it’s time to come out. The sec-
ond volume of “Mercury” is upbeat, often
Caribbean-spiced and throbbing. It’s the
sound of a band getting its arena groove
back.
“Act 1” in 2021 was all plucky strings,
seething beats and grand electronic
synths as lead singer, songwriter and
lyricist Dan Reynolds poured heartache,
tragedy and his struggles with sobriety
into a raw, confessional and searing al-
bum. The cover depicted a man falling.
The cover of “Act
2” could be of a man
jumping, and that
seems to fi t many
of the close to 20
new tracks, which
are wistful, confes-
sional and owning
The Associated Press
weakness, but there
is light at the end of the tunnel. Take the
eclectic, slightly deranged “I’m Happy,”
Calendar Coordinator
calendar@goeasternoregon.com
SUBMIT NEWS
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publication the following week (two weeks in
advance is even better!).
Go! Magazine is published Wednesdays
in the Hermiston Herald, Wallowa County
Chieftain and Blue Mountain Eagle. It
publishes Thursdays in The Observer, Baker
City Herald and East Oregonian.
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
Baker City Herald
541-523-3673
The Observer
541-963-3161
East Oregonian
541-276-2211
Wallowa County Chieftain
541-426-4567
Blue Mountain Eagle
541-575-0710
Hermiston Herald
541-567-6457
RAISING THE CURTAIN
ON THIS WEEK’S ISSUE
5 to 30 minutes. McCollum
upgraded their quality through
an IndieGogo-funded campaign
to buy cameras of higher quality.
His episodes are often recorded
at Rock Island Auction, where
exotic fi rearms are sold.
McCollum’s videos often feature un-
usual, obscure, odd and experimental or
one-off fi rearms. He covers such weap-
ons in detail, explaining their signifi cance
in technological development and the
history of warfare.
A typical example of an obscure, failed
fi rearm development appeared in Popular
Mechanics in January 2016, linked to a
YouTube video in the online edition. The
article reported on the Imperial Japanese
Army’s failure to produce a folding-stock
rifl e for paratroopers. IJA armorers tried
sawing Type 38 Arisaka car-
bines in two behind the trigger
guard. They then joined the
pieces by screwing a cabinet
YouTube hinge onto the right side and a
latch with a threaded stud and
wing nut to the left. This didn’t
pan out, as the stock wiggled and wob-
bled, the stud and nut caught on things
and were easily damaged.
McCollum avoids politics, focusing
exclusively on technical and mechanical
issues. Nevertheless, Google cracked
down on him and other fi rearms content
providers in 2018. YouTube’s deletion
of his videos led McCollum to move to
Full30 and Floatplane, but he returned to
parent Alphabet’s platform.
a title that could never appear on “Act.
1,” with Reynolds singing “Even when
I might fall down/I know my luck come
back around.”
Much of the album is thankful for his
partner, like the loving “Symphony” — a
trop-rock ditty written seemingly under a
palm tree — with the lyrics: “I’m the chord/
And you’re the melody.” The band hits new
heights with “Sharks,” a richly textured, ee-
rie anthem about selfi shness, and “Bones,”
a banger with that reggae-tinged, sing-
along Imagine catchy magic.
Not all the songs succeed, as one might
suspect from such a stuff ed album. But
don’t sleep on “Sirens” and “I Don’t Like
Myself,” two mid-tempo, expertly crafted
tunes that take the band in diff erent direc-
tions. And on “Higher Ground,” the band is
really cooking, with lyrics that could sum
the entire second album up: “What a life/I
live until I die/Won’t fail unless I try/Bleed-
ing, keep on breathing.”
— JOHN TILLMAN, REPORTER,
EAST OREGONIAN
— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS