It’s so very very quiet here now that it’s palpable.
5 of this house and sweetly, many of you said goodbye to a friend today.

I didn’t feel him die I felt him relax. It’s been so long since we felt that.
That was important. The most.

That was all we asked for today.
I never let him down.

six dozen of the other...

Bad Icky Nasty Horrifying News:  it was 82° [eighty freakin’ two degrees] today.  In March!!!!?!?!?!!?

Good News:  Crocs makes thongs!

tho I am a biscuit...

I guess what my kindergarten report card said still applies; “does not work and play well with others.” This whole foo-farah about Coulter’s remarks was weird to the max, what with the ‘conservative’ bloggers rushing *cough* to denounce her, self-flagellate, and then commence to flagellating the other bloggers who didn’t join the denouncearama.  The big hurry was about beating the nutroots to it, I guess.

One thing puzzles me, tho. 

Location:  Chattooga River in extreme Northeast Georgia (No - The river doesn’t go to Aintry.)

Weather:  Partly sunny and 70-ish.

Water:  40-something, gin clear and a “just right” level

Gear:  Sage XP 590-4 rod, Ross Evolution #2 reel, Rio 5 weight double taper line, Rio 12 ft. 5x leader

Flies:  #16 elk hair caddis (gray), #16 Lawson’s Emerger (cream), #16 gold ribbed hare’s ear

Lunch:  Virginia ham and Swiss sammich with lettuce and Dijon mustard on whole wheat, a Braeburn apple and some trail mix

Fish count:  ~20 trout - mostly rianbows, but a brook trout and a few wild browns thrown in for ichthyological affirmative action

Today was my first time out and about fishing for trout since becoming a father a year ago.  It was a zen-like experience.  Much more so than just about any trout fishing trip I can recall.  I truly missed my passion - stalking and catching salmonids in the wilds of Southern Appalachia.

Caddis flies and midges were hatching - not in a big way but enough to grab the attention of the trout.  Caught most of the fish on the Lawson’s Emerger.  Fished from about 0930 hrs to 1700 hrs.

I’m tired.  That “good tired” after you’ve been busy all day doing something enjoyable tired.  Gonna finish my beer, check my email and go to bed.

Libertas’ “Dirty Harry” gives a profoundly-insightful review of “300"…

How did this one slip through? That’s all I can think of to say right now: How did this one slip through? I sat in the theatre waiting. Waiting for the switch. Though I refused to take the bait (too many movies I’ve seen, says I) I still waited for the switch. There’s always a bait and switch. You don’t make the white guys the good guys and the non-white guys the bad guys without a switch — especially bad guys in turbans. Turbans! But there was no switch. Here’s a movie about free men dying to protect freedom against tyranny — where the anti-war voices are corrupt, cowardly, dead-wrong, and politically driven — where people talk about the honor of dying for one’s country — where a strong women urges a skittish council to declare war because the enemy already has — and there’s no switch.  And then to top it off: The movie’s actually good.

What makes this all work and not pedantic is that the film wisely eschews politics or any modern day references. Like Spartacus and Ben-Hur, 300 is about bravery, freedom, honor, and country. These are universal themes. But universal themes that will offend liberals because they’re not defended in a PC fashion. Liberals believe bravery is being brave enough to kiss despot hiney in the corrupt UN. Liberals believe freedom is porn in school libraries. Liberals believe honor is leaking national security secrets to the New York Times. Liberals believe ”country” is about everybodys counry but ours, so it’s okay to give mass murderers autographed basketballs and ask them to dance. The men in 300 believe they are good, their families are good, their country is good, and worth dying and fighting for. Now, that is not a conservative value. But it is an illiberal one.

And the film appears to be heading towards a record-breaking weekend as well. I was going to take my brother to see for his birthday on Friday night but these damn allergies are kicking my ass and I’ve been feeling like stirred shit all week.

We did however, manage to have a wonderful dinner at McCormick & Schmick’s. Excellent food, excellent wait staff and excellent atmosphere. If you have one in your area, I highly recommend checking them out. The food is very pricey but the freshness is unsurpassed. And I’m not exactly a real big fish-eater (shaddap!) so you know if I liked it, then it must be pretty darn good.

Aaanywhoo...back to blowing my nose...*sniffle*...*sniffle*...*cough*...*cough*...

French President Jacques Chirac announced on Sunday he would not seek re-election next month, bowing out of frontline politics after a 45-year career that consisted of symbolic gestures ......

~SNIP~
Chirac will perhaps be best remembered outside France for his denunciation of U.S. policy in Iraq and his determination to maintain his country’s leading role in international affairs.

But on the domestic front he introduced few meaningful reforms and leaves behind a difficult legacy for his successor, with the French economy underachieving and social tensions simmering in deprived suburbs.

MarcM

French President Jacques Chirac.........

pay attention, Dear

The American Indians found out what happens when you don’t control immigration.

Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is the same as calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist.”

MCPO Airdale

Michael Jackson greeted thousands of U.S. troops and their family members at a U.S. Army base south of Tokyo Saturday, taking a break from days of parties with die-hard fans and well-heeled business people.

About 3,000 troops and their family members gathered at a fitness center at Camp Zama. Jackson walked around shaking hands and exchanging words to thank them for their service.

“Those of you in here today are some of the most special people in the world,” Jackson told the crowd, reading from a statement. “It is because of you in here today, and others who so valiantly have given their lives to protect us, that we enjoy our freedom.”

Jackson, 48, arrived in Japan last Sunday for his second trip in less than a year to attend parties including an extravagant gala held Thursday in Tokyo.

The reclusive pop icon was the guest of honor at the lavish party aimed at a well-heeled business crowd — though the roughly 400 people who showed up were mainly die-hard fans, and more than 100 orphans and handicapped children who were invited for free.

The paying guests each laid down $3,500 for tickets, which included a buffet dinner, a show featuring several Japanese Michael Jackson impersonators and a chance to meet, greet and take photos with Jackson.

U.S. and Iranian envoys spoke directly to each other about how to end Iraq’s violence, meeting at an international conference in Baghdad and opening limited but potentially significant contacts that could ease their nearly 28-year diplomatic freeze.

4...3...2...1…
*insert Democrat objections and liberal conspiracy theories here*

“When I see a stroller now, I see it as someone who evicted a person with AIDS, right or wrong,” said Basinger, president of the Harvey Milk Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transexual Democratic Club.

BULLSHIT!

See the big new middle one? That holds everything BUT glass and yardwaste for which we have 4 separate containers now....and not depicted are the household pre-sort system inside the house, 3 composters AND a worm bin in the backyard.

*bdrrrrrrrrrrrrringgggggggggggg*

If we eliminate the Patriot Act then civil liberty abuses will be all *poof* and stuff.

(pay no mind to the evil-doers behind the curtain)

Filipino Muslims display a banner, which reads ‘Behead Those Who Insult Islam,’ and t-shirts with a wanted sign during a rally Wednesday March 7, 2007, at a downtown Manila square, to protest recent televised preaching by a Christian sect leader Eli Soriano, who alleges that Muslims are killers.

There, I fixed it:

LGF

A container of what appears to be an ounce of processed uranium turned up at a Florida pawn shop.

The owner of Gold Mine Pawn in Belleview told police the container was in a box that has been in storage for 20 years after being bought at an estate sale outside Florida, WKMG-TV in Orlando reported. The container was lead with a warning of radioactive contents.

The Marion County Fire Hazardous Materials Team took the container and planned to turn it over to the county Health Department for disposal.

The uranium was in the form of yellow cake, which became notorious when the Bush administration claimed that Saddam Hussein had been trying to buy it from the African country of Niger.

Police plan to try to locate the seller of the container to determine where the uranium came from. Investigators say that the pawn shop appears to have broken no laws.

Melissa in Texas