Monday, May 30, 2011

skynyrd

you remember them right?

where to begin how about right here and now
I'm watching a recorded concert of the current  skynyrd  tribute band
and sipping bourbon

gary rossington's still there
looks like billy powell too
and of course johnny van zandt
the less talented brother nonetheless serving up a credible job

I fucking love it
rickey medlocke has been with the band for twelve years and he said
it seems like forever
seems his sprout named shorty after his dad
has the third guitar spot and does a damn fine job of it

rickey used to think he was gonna be the next lynyrd skynyrd
when he led blackfoot and wrote a few cool songs
now he's in the band

I need to replenish my supply of skynyrd music because it is sadly lacking
every cool wrocking guy of a certain age owned the live one and prolly wore it out

I think I'll put them number six on my list
every contemporary country band  is largely indebted to skynyrd
they played cool wrocking (can you tell I love this phrase?  I stole it from the boss)
country tunes that everyone loved



the drive-by truckers wrote a tribute of sorts called southern rock opera
in which they wove the tale of their band and that of the skyn boys
not surprisingly it's their best one two full discs
if you don't have it go get it
or I guess you could ask me for it

there was more I was gonna say but I need a smoke and a piss


Sunday, May 29, 2011

currently dog-eared...


we are reading this
how it flew in under the radar last year I have no idea
rick bass is among my five favorite authors
this one is a departure from his standard eco-literary work

a fictionalized biography of the recording group the browns
who have also managed to fly under my radar
who the hell are they?
I just may have to find out

apparently contemporaries of the king
 and influencing the harmonies of the beatles
mentored by gentleman jim reeves

whatever happened to the browns?

Friday, May 27, 2011

sorry

but this is kinda gross...

last weekend I spent the morning wandering (get it) the neighborhood ponds
any walk is made better by the addition of a fishing pole
at least I think so

I had wandered off around another pond shortly after ben and pete showed up
I returned to the pond kitty corner across the street and encountered this


which was nice timing and nice work
plus rather than trying to horse the thing in ben actually landed this one


ugly fucking fish
and I think he's gonna kiss it

sorry ben, but you've got nearly the same image out there already
can't hurt to have another eh?

Thursday, May 26, 2011

jumping the gun

gonna steal a page from my brother
whose writing about rock and roll bands
his top hundred list or somesuch - I dunno

I wanna talk about husker du



I watched a bucncha youtubes tonight
the huskers bringing the wrock
two queers and a cook
wrocking like the cock of the block

look em up
it's a trip

hundred dollar goat track

I missed twelve dollar tuesday
unfortunately since it turned into a humorous afternoon
billy threatened to throw turtleman in the lake
and ej broke his putter
and I missed it
too bad

anyways, about a week ago we played this golf course
twas a one-off special $5 green fee
I observed that it looked and played like a five dollar goat track
furthermore, every cheap bastard in town was out there
and it took well over four hours to complete
ridiculous

well we played there again yesterday
and the course was in considerably better condition
(how can this change so much in so little time?)
it cost a hundred bucks
no shitting
and I paid it

so the deal was this...
unlimited golf (we played 36 holes)
any pair of shoes
any shirt
I got a beautiful pink golf shirt I can't wait to style on course
and some footjoy dryjoy shoes
(very sweet and very comfortable)


I also hit a fairly good number of nice golf shots yesterday
I was also largely a three putting dog

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

colorblind


2/3 of the new color scheme...
door trim and baseboards are apple cider
wall is honey butter

east west running walls will get honey butter
others will be whitish (tailored linen) 

I don't know what to do about that door...

sorry so banal of late
maybe one of these daze I'll wander around the ponds...

Monday, May 23, 2011

fucking kneepads of all things


bawk bawk chicken legs
goin' down...


it official - painting is underway
proceeding unsurprisingly slowly

this color "apple cider"
reminds me of  canned pankin pie filling in the can
terra cotta planters as it goes down 
and wood as it dries...

interesting
I'm not sure I can continue this pattern throughout the house
there are some nice places for it though

I'm not using it on any walls though no fuckin' way

wall shown above will be painted "honey butter" 
a pretty color also going in the kitchen
current design scheme has honey butter on all e - w axis walls...

this is some truly fascinating stuff

I need to walk to walgreens for a carton of winstons
and an eighteen pack of bud
I'm gonna be painting all week and that calls for a lotta beer

Saturday, May 21, 2011

I just love this pic


the pic sucks
I didn't take it obviously
but I love that kid and the melancholy expression on my face
I think I was mildly buzzed and enjoying a football game

sparky wanted me to take care of her horses I guess
what is it about w/ little girls and horses?
big girls like them too
and guys

I miss taking care of horses myowndamnself
but I love this pic

I also love running girls
I had to get that in there

capr!


headed out early this morning
sight fishing for koi and carp

and it's official - I've stuck my first ever capr!
notice I said stuck not caught
had him pinned for oh three to five minutes
tried to stop him and be broke me off
took my last simiseal leech too bastard

fortunately ben was on the other side of the pond and had plenty
I tied on a rubber legged simi from my box on and fished my way around the pond

stuck one capr two koi (landing ZERO!) and maybe twenty bass (all landed)
it was fun


ben's tight w/ an acrobatic koi
he figured he foul hooked him


I wish I could have snapped a pic of the airborne koi
I did get this...


WTF?
the camera's waterproof
I know
but why does this pic look like I snapped it underwater
this may well be the worst picture I've ever taken

I should mention the smallest bass I've ever seen and I caught it
it was a joke how tiny this thing was
I'm surprised the hook didn't penetrate his brain and kill him on the spot
he was released unharmed to be caught later
idiot fish - I'm not giving him long odds

Friday, May 20, 2011

still life


with garlic
shallot and tomato

I hate birds


I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again
but I hate birds

not all birds just the noisy ones
and the dirty ones 
you know what I mean

I especially hate grackles
they take to the tree outside my bedroom
and pitch an ungodly racket from about three am till about nine at night
it drives me crazy
and feel like shooting them

I hate birds

anyways that grackle in the photo above?
I watched him stalk attack and kill a lizard
it killed the lizard by slashing its throat with its beak
and then began to eat it

it was gross
I couldn't stop watching

by the time I realized I should have been taking pics
it was over
the grackle departed with the lizard carcass
firmly clamped in its bill
like a trophy or blue ribbon

Thursday, May 19, 2011

rosemary

I've got three large rosemary bushes in my backyard
yesterday I found myself seated in front of one of them
while I smoked a cigarette

I snapped a picture...


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

cool like bob dylan


I know hunh?


this is from tour w/ heartbreakers
I saw that and it wrocked my world

rolling stone lists 70 greatest dylan songs
hard to argue with that list
except that the guy's still got a good fifty songs
that could have been listed but weren't


next up refers to the preceding post...


that poor man's scaffold scares me
in my 20s 30s early 40s no problem
as an old man I don't like it up there

I think I'm gonna sit on it

we opted for the horse radish white
honey butter yellow
and apple cider orange
(to be used sparingly because I hate orange)

 today we made dumplings


can you smell it?

dumpchix on the stove

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

this can only mean one thing


and it ain't good



colors chosen 
by a guy who is colorblind and didn't really put much thought into it

and I can prolly live w/ either of the three accent colors
interestingly all are named after foods
the white is horse radish
yellow is honey butter
orangeyish is apple cider
greenie is earthen cane
(presumably anita's choice)
technically not a food though one could equate it w/ bamboo
(which I do)
and some people eat that
it also reflects a certain bambooy tone color wise...

then there's this to consider...


and this...


my head hurts already 
and I haven't even started to paint

Monday, May 16, 2011

disheartened


this came in the mail this morning
and I'm sure that I'll read it this afternoon and evening
and finish it

like most I enjoy john gierach's style of prose
it's familiar and comfortable as an old pair of shoes or your favorite jeans
even though it seems like you've previously read or heard it all before
(because likely you have)
he is observant witty and well-reasoned 

this is not what I'm disheartened by

I watched in horror as my local borders closed up shop
I only visited once early on as the prices were slashed weekly
as they decimated their stock
it was incredibly depressing

the normally neat shelves in their baffling array of displays
were ramshckle
ugly yellow banners stretched about throughout the store
advertizing price cuts and whatnot
contributed to a bleak environment
that I as a bibliophile could not enjoy

I really miss my borders store
and there are no more rewards
even though they're only a mouse click away
fuck that

I wanna browse leisurely
sit in a comfortable leather chair and peruse a stack of books and periodicals
no doubt selecting one two or three
and I can't anymore

fortunately there is a barnes and noble a couple miles west of here
it used to play second fiddle but now is first chair

same baffling array
who designs the layouts of these places?
and why don't they carry more fishing books?

a decent selection of magazines
(hey I can get the drake *sucks* and fly tyer there)

anyways, I am glad it's there
but I wonder how long it'll last

I've sadly watched the demise of the friendly local flyshop
and my local sportsman's warehouse
the dwindling selection of fly fying materials of cabela's
the long slow death of the record store
and now the big box bookstore
and I'm disenheartened

I've often suspected that we're a nation filled w/ philistines
my suspicion is being fulfilled

Friday, May 13, 2011

this one doesn't look like an ant either


los alamos ants

fisheye!



looking at these last two pics is making my head spin

bottom line:  they're still goofy looking

tying flies w/ foam




let's start by saying I hate it
they're both inelegant and bulky
for the most part foam colors blow
there is no denying their effectiveness though

we've been fishing chernobyls and their variants for years now
as a matter of fact it was once a "go-to" fly

scorn for foam ultimately resulted in its demise
at least in my box
(and I'm lying - have a look at my terrestrial box)



this morning I sat down at the vise
after tying a half dozen one clump deerhair beetles
I tied up a couple cow killer ants (love the name) and los alamos ants



 I'm liking the hell out of how they're looking
and the bluegill pond down the street is beckoning

and really...this thing looks nothing like an ant

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

indoor picnic

on-going photo dump



love the colors in the shots above...


kiddy meal
no toy included

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

$12 tuesdays!

I like this sloppy sequence of shots

turtleman smoked this shot
ended up just short of the green
for an easy up and down


look is fairly confident
needs to relax


a few things to look at tweaking here...
I'd like to see a straighter and stronger front line and higher right shoulder
pretty solid though


beautiful position at the top
(whoopsie!  I didn't notice the crooked left arm)
nice right side back line

poor club choice

I did the same thing

there was something(s) I meant to say but I forgot
maybe that's for the best

think these'll fish?


really...
do you even need anything else?


was it last year when I fished w/ a mini-tin of caddis dries all season?


this one?


proven rocky mountain killer

show low


this is one of my favorite trees in the state
considerably more striking for real

back nine - silver creek golf course


on the way to silver creek
you cross this wash over a bridge
where you see them building another bridge right next door
why I wonder...

Monday, May 9, 2011

talkin' dry fly tyin' blues

my favorite flies to tie bar none
are catskill dries

ginger quill cahill

I don't like the head on this one
the rest is tight though

my buddy in prescott and from new york
tied me up a set of catskill and adirondack flies
for a trip I took a couple years back...

randy love flies under the fly tying radar
but he is a big gun w/ a mighty fine hand and deft touch

randy likes harrop style hairwing duns
now I fancy them too...

generic hairwing dun

hares ear dubbing
dark dun hackle and tail
deerhair wing

I suspect that this will work anywhere mayflies hatch
and may even pass for a caddis in a pinch

Sunday, May 8, 2011

living vicariously

because it's all we can do these daze...

sunday morning I had to back out of a fishing trip
potentially  apparently a great one
health issues and my wife's birthday forced my hand
and I stayed home maintaining the D. T.  I.
(domestic tranquility index)
for possible future trips

so anyways
we ganked a few pics from the website what doesn't exist...

 the backyard
I love this place

 beautiful brown


lovely rainbow and bamboo


fuck me - there goes the neighborhood
I usually pitch my tent where that table and fire ring now are
they call this "improvement?"


I cannot even tell ya how these pics make me feel...
homesick?
optimistic?
hopeful?
nostalgic?
stoked?

all of the above and more...

much thanks apologies and photo credits to my good great friend, jeepster
aka s. rath - sorry amigo

Saturday, May 7, 2011