another thing about hot gl-- OH MY GOD WILL HE NEVER SHUT UP??

 So it turns out I may or may not have made a mistake in buying the 3M AE-II applicator.

 When I made the decision to buy it, I based my decision on the documentation I found on 3M's web site, which said that it is a low-temperature applicator, and I quote:

G - 3M™ Hot Melt Applicator AE II
Dispenses hot melt adhesive at a fixed temperature of 270°F/132°C. 

 Furthermore, it shows an orange applicator.

 That page does not mention anything about there being low and high temperature versions of the AE-II, it only mentions the AE-II as a low-temp... GUN. There, I said it, and you can't stop me from saying it again.  Ahem.

 So some glue sticks arrived which I had ordered.  And they were crap so I decided to send them back.  While shopping for The Right Thing, I stumbled across pages on non-3M sites which made it clear that there is a high-temp and a low-temp version of the AE-II, and in the other literature which I subsequently found on 3M's web site, it appears the high-temp version is blue, and the orange one, which I have, is a low-temp version.

 I pondered this for a bit, then checked the site where I had just ordered the new, high-performance industrial glue sticks... in HT versions.

 Huh: on their web site, the low temp gun is blue, and the high-temp gun is orange. Oh, what the hell!

 I wrote them an email and will hopefully hear back in the next business day or two.  Christ, who knew that having a decent hot glue tool was do bloody involved?

 By the way, you can make really sturdy fake spider webs using hot glue and a compressed air gun and a steady hand.  Makes a terrific mess, but if you do it right, it's about 1000x times stronger than rubber cement spider webs - more durable for decorations, completely unsuitable for being moved by actors - for that you want the rubber cement webs. ^_^ If you want someone to think they're real, you want rubber cement.

Happy Hallowe'en.