Man! The weather in Portland has been so great lately. And, it doesn't look like it is about ready to stop soon too.

This is great for our spirits, however I need to pick Chantrelle mushrooms, and it needs to rain for them to grow. I was planning on making a cream of mushroom soup this weekend for a dinner party with some friends.

Despite my need for mushrooms, I really do hope the weather holds out. It is surely makeing for some great days. I could really use some days like this in Febuary.

~n

Who would'a thunk.

Link

~n

Oh my god! Stephen Ambrose died yesterday! I feel so bad. I knew he had terminal cancer, however it is still sad.

He was apparently working hard to finish his book on the WWII war in the Pacific. After that he wanted to do a book on the history of the Environmental/Conservationist movements in America. I really wanted to read that. He apparently told Dick Cheney, during the ANWR (Artic National Wildlife Refuge) debate, that if it wasn't for the leadership of Teddy Roosevelt, we would no longer have the Grand Canyon. Because Coal was found at the bottom of the canyon. This actually made Cheney rethink his views. His books include:

• Upton and the Army
• Band of Brothers : E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
• Halleck: Lincoln's Chief of Staff
• Ike's Spies: Eisenhower and the Espionage Establishment
• Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy 1938-1992
• Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors
• Eisenhower and Berlin, 1945 Duty, Honor,
• Country: A History of West Point
• The Supreme Commander: The War Years of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect 1890-1952
• Eisenhower: The President
• Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944
• Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962
• Nixon: The Triumph of a Politician 1962-1972
• Eisenhower: Soldier and President
• Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973-1990
• Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th
• Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
• D-Day: June 6, 1944: the Climactic Battle of World War II
• Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West
• CITIZEN SOLDIERS: The U.S. Army From the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945.
• Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Heroes, Sons, Pals
• Character Above All : Stephen Ambrose on Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938
• The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany

A comedian once said, there was always one person who would be reading an Ambrose book on every airplane flight he ever took. I think It is true.

He taught for over 35 years, and produced many books. However, it was his book on D-day, with it's powerful stories, that could bring a tear to anyone's eye, that made him a success. He was a professional historian, who could tell history to the public.

I have a degree in History, and I have read many many history books. I always loved reading his books. They combined historical science with great literature. Fun, funny, sad, powerful, inspiring. These were all words that could describe an Ambrose book.

I am reading Undaunted Courage right now.

Thanks for letting me share.

~n

Over the weekend Sonja and I went to one of our favorate places to fish. All of the Westfly.com forum folks went to Gold Lake to do some late season Lake fishing.

We stayed at Odell lake lodge, a few miles away, to avoid the COLD nights in the campground.

Fishing was fun. All of us Westfly folks hung around each other an chatted while we pulled our flies through the water. I wouldn't call the fishing awesome, however hanging out with everyone was a blast.

The last night we had a big dinner with everyone. We all stood around the camp fire and told stories. Every single guy was a blast to talk to.

All in all, it was a relaxing weekend.

~n

Yesterday, the boss came into my office to show me the new project plan for the corporate website.

The one now, in a word, sucks! I always have to say to people, that I did not build this website. I feel it is a blemish on my record.

The new website will look great and actually be easier for our users to use and understand the company. I look forward to building it.

So needless to say, I will be hella busy. I'll still have time to write to you guys tho! :)

~n

Heya all,

I had a GREAT weekend. Sonja and I chilled on Friday night. We watched 2 movies, Bottle Rocket (I love Wes Anderson Movies) and the documentary Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr..

Both great movies, however Mr. Death was not what I thought it was. It turned out to be a documentary about a holocaust denier and revisionist history. Not what I expected.

That brings up another point. Why are there so many documentaries on the Jewish holocaust? Don't get me wrong, they are very interesting, however it seems as though on the list of the 50 best documentaries, holocaust movies make up a very large percentage.

Just a thought

ANYWAY, back to my weekend. Saturday Sonja and I went to the Portland Greek Festival and PIGGED OUT!!!

This is always special for Sonja. She is Yugoslavian, and the Greek festival is the closest thing to hanging out with "her people" as she can get. According to her there are many similarities with Greek food and culture to those of the Serbs, who are just north of Greece.

Saturday night, we hooked up with our friends Damien and Laurie to have dinner and a show. We went and saw Red Dragon. A good movie. I heard it was directed by the same guy who did Silence of the Lambs, but according to the Internet Movie Database I was under the wrong impression. Well, to say the least, it scared the shit out of Sonja and me. So we really liked it.

Sunday we went an picked out our Halloween pumpkin. This year we named him "Turd". He is not that "Turdish", but a perfectly round pumpkin.

That night I headed to the Clackamas for some fishing. Came home, pigged out to a great dinner and went to bed early.

All in all, a great weekend!

~n

My friend Brittney shared this with me this morning.

The link shows a map of what people call COKE! (correct saying)

I agree with Brittney, I could never say "Pop" without laughing.

Here is the map.

~n

Monty Python showed us the full potential of a military joke, however this one is much safer.

According to this article at New Scientist, this is the funniest joke in the world. The WORLD, mind you. This takes into account the difference in cultures, of what is funny.

And now. . . The Joke.

A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator, in a calm soothing voice, says: "Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: "OK, now what?"

LOL!!!

~n

FINALLY!
I was beginning to think I lost my touch! I had 22 days of steelhead fishing for this year with nothing to show forth. They always say it takes 999 casts to catch one of these big beauties.

The 1000th cast was with my 5 wt and the sucker took my soft hackle on 5lb line. Needless to say he broke off after the first strong run. Just wiggled his mouth and the sucker came off.

Ran. . .no, sprinted to the truck to get my 8 wt and some proper leader. Came back to the place a-jumping with Steelhead, Silvers, and maybe a Coho.

I found a pool with about 5-6 fish. Started swinging to them. They were in 2-5 ft of water. You could see them move. Sometimes their tails would come out of the water.

Tied on a big Greenbutt skunk and dangled it in front of all of them. After 2 minutes of just letting it swing back and forth in the pool, a big sucker makes a big splash and WHACK! He takes the line. I have never seen a steelhead do that. I could see him swimming to my line. Wow, that was exciting!

So he took my loop and. . . I lost him.

OK, Now I'm getting warmed up. Confidence back, I now know I can do this again. I move up stream and start swinging again. Suddenly I get a grab. Set the hook and he runs. F*CK! The loop wrapped itself around the butt of my rod. The fish can't run . . . DOINK! The skunk comes out with 3-4 scales attached to it. I must have pulled it out of it's mouth.

Now I'm mad. I am really mad. So I get the line out there again, and just at the beginning of my first swing, I get another grab. I set the hook and. . . He stays still. OK. I can deal with this. I start putting pressure. And he does not move. My 8 wt is fully bent over. I'm thinking, did I get a log?

He starts to move. Finally! I was worried I grabbed nothing. Not far, just back to his hole. And we do this for over 45 min. He and I pull, back and forth, only about 5 ft either way. It starts to get dark, so I really start putting the pressure, for fear of loosing light. I crank up the drag and start the last fight. Suddenly he makes a good head shake and up he comes. Takes a big gulp of water and goes back down.

I have him this time. I move him to the shore. He comes up again. This time I can see that he is REALLY dark, but HUGE!

When I get him to the shore, I can see that he is on his last days. I think, this might be a friggin' salmon. No, his tail is the wrong shape. He is wild, still has all of his fins. AND BIG, he has a complete hook jaws.

It is really dark outside. I take a quick picture anyway. Mark his size on my rod, and start to revive him. He takes off in a quick burst.

Thanks big fella!

I get home and measure my rod marking. I can't believe it is 36" of pure delight.

Thank god! I was starting to think my lucky OSU hat was unlucky.

Wow! What a blast

~n

My AT&T cable internet connection went down on Friday. It will be down until Wednesday when the guy comes in to look at it.

Sonja and I went crazy all weekend.