Happy Father’s day to all of you DADS that teach us everything important…
Love ya old man…
Posted in Eat shit hippies, Flies, Huskies, Libations, Outdoors, fishing | 2 Comments »
Ah, back from 2 weeks of getting married and honeymoon on Maui…It was a success and my wife and I couldn’t be happier…However, there’s another story that needs to be told.
…About a week before we left for Maui, I came home late from fishing and found a nicely wrapped package on my desk…My wife stood by with camera in hand so I was confused—”It’s not my birfday, it’s not any kind of anniversary, I didn’t get a promotion, wtf!?”
—”Just open it” She said…
…The pee stick doesn’t lie:
…As one of my friends put it “We weren’t too worried about trying not to try” but it definitely comes as a surprise and I couldn’t be happier:
So, we decided to break the news to our families during the reception dinner after the marriage ceremony last Saturday…Somehow, everybody seemed to know already! I guess that the extra “lovely lbs” are starting to show on my wife already…I joked about putting a padlock on the fridge…The expected arrival date? January 1st (we all know that the DAWGS won’t be at the Rose Bowl, or any bowl)…No kidding…
Once again, we couldn’t be happier…
Posted in Huskies, Rando, oprah | 7 Comments »
Sounders 1….La galaxy 1…
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you Moms! Most of you make the world a better place…
The LA Galaxy visited Qwest today and like most of my friends, I invited my wonderful mother to the game today (I have to keep the photo small because she still doesn’t trust the internet machine):
…The downside is that today’s match ended in a 1-1 draw due to some mother-neglected refs…It was horrible…Now, we all know how sensitive Seattle sports fans are towards refs…Remember the Superbowl vs. Pittsburgh? Remember the Jake Locker “unsportsmanlike conduct” call vs. BYU last fall? Etc..Etc…etc…
For the Refs sake, thank god it is Mother’s day and Mothers were present at the game today…Otherwise, there might have been a Ref lynching…I don’t think there is a SOUNDER fan out there that disagrees with me and it was difficult to keep the language clean, moms…
I witnessed two(2) penalties right in front of me that were missed—the ref was asleep all day…Then we got served another red card (man down) which was a BS call; the ref missed James Riley get pulled down BEFORE he retaliated…Then there was the penalty box infraction that even the 10-year-old behind me knew was a foul…All of SOUNDER nation knew it and we let the ref know…He had police escort him off the field at the end, I hope he got paid well…
The Sounders might be damn near unstoppable if we could keep 11 players on the field!
Anywhoooo, it was a good day…I’m off to Maui to tie the knot…Talk to you soon my friends…
Posted in Soccer/Sounders | 13 Comments »
In addition to finally getting out to go fishing, I also had my first clamming experience recently. JJ did a whole post on clamming last year (http://scudmark.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/clambo/), and I have wanted to try it but I had never been until a couple weekends ago…I should have re-read the post before I left!!
We got up at the crack of dawn and drove out to the ocean, expecting to see lots of people. It was active but not crazy busy like I had heard it would be.
It was a gorgeous day…
And once we got started (and actually got the hang of it), it didn’t take long to catch our limit, just like JJ said…
And we had a blast…in fact, we had so much fun, we are headed back this weekend. Supposedly, things are opening up again for Friday and Saturday, so we’re going to try this again. (Apparently, somebody didn’t get his fill of cleaning clams last time!)
And this time, we might try fishing for surf perch too…they were killing them when we were there!
Posted in Libations, Outdoors | 7 Comments »
It has been soooo busy that I only just found time to go fishing for the first time this season…last week! And of course, it’s been so busy that I’m just now getting this thing posted…better late than never!!
I was sitting at work, crazy with spreadsheets, when my fishing sensei called (aka JJ, aka the Fish Whisperer). He had been fishing one of our favorite local lakes the night before and the fishing was HOT. And that was all I needed to hear… (See his post http://scudmark.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/paging-doctor-spratley/)
Unfortunately, the temperature had dropped by about 10 degrees, so the fishing was more lukewarm than hot…but we definitely caught fish (it’s not so bad to catch 7 fish in a couple hours…).
Based on the look on my face in this picture, that first fish took me by surprise…I was telling some story when it literally jumped out of the water, hooked on my line. I’m not sure who was more surprised – the fish or me!
In fact, for the first time ever fishing with JJ, I actually caught the first fish…that’s one dolla sucka!! Well, it was nice while it lasted anyway…
Too bad that luck didn’t exactly hold…although I did catch two more fish that night.
And JJ? He only had to sweat for about 5 minutes after I caught that first fish before he caught his first fish…followed very shortly by his second fish…and so on…until he finally broke the tie at 4 fish for him, and 3 fish for me.
Like I said, it was the return of the Fish Whisperer. Every time he said we would catch a fish, we did.
Not a bad start for my second fishing season! Tons of fun and fish to be caught…
Posted in Libations, Outdoors, fishing | 8 Comments »
“Doc Spratley” (modified)
Hook: Mustad 9671, whatever, sizes 8-10 (also 1x)
Tail and Beard Hackle: Grizzly (I prefer it thicker)
Body: Black wool
Rib: Silver tinsel
Wing: Pheasant tail
Head: Peacock herl
-As the story goes:
The late Dick Prankard of tulip infested Mt. Vernon Washington originated the pattern around 1949…While he was tying the fly, his friend doctor Spratley (I believe a dentist?) came into the store and asked Dick what the name was…Dick replied “I think I’ll call it the Doc Spratley.”
As a ‘wee little lad,’ this pattern was introduced to me for steelhead, tied in larger 1x sizes and it produces…However, a couple of years ago I started tying them in (original) smaller sizes and use them on lakes where the fat caddis flies roam (which is their purpose, I believe)…
This fly is deadly…My only problem with it is that the strand of peacock herl used for the head usually gets broken and comes unwound after a couple of fish slam it…I need to tinker with ‘fixing’ that somehow…
I was using this pattern to sore-mouth some trout the other night at a lake that I frequent regularly and know rather well…I had never used a “Doc Spratley” on that specific lake before…
It was tough to keep them off…I fished for 1 hour and released 14 trout all 11-13 inches…That’s not a fish story, I was amazed too, especially after opening weekend when this specific lake gets slammed:
Uh, so you might notice a broken net (handle and netting) in the above photo…I usually don’t net fish (don’t need to) but I did a few times that day for photos…Snap! I got my $19.99 and 5 years worth out of that net…I had to cut that fish loose from the netting…
Also, I caught 4 fat perch while using the “Doc Spratley.” I’ve never caught perch out of this lake before (probably because I don’t target them) but it was fun catching them (they come with the grill marks already on them!):
I had to keep that perch because she somehow a$$holed the fly…I guess that the “ol Doc Spratley” is rather versatile…
Here’s what was left of it afterwards:
And as for the net? Well, its stinky goodness rests with my dogs:
Posted in Flies, Outdoors, fishing | 5 Comments »
SOUNDERS 2, San Josie 0
…Aside from making San Josie look stupid, there’s not much to report about this victory at home…Goal’keep’ Keller is back where he belongs and made a difference…Another good crowd tonight!
After spending most of the afternoon indulging in some ‘old timey’ downtown taverns, we somehow ended up joining the SOUNDER nation crowd for a pre-game march from occidental park to the Stadium…Pretty cool…I love the fact that one of the team owners joins the crowd too:
Atta boy, Drew…
See ya’ll at the next one!
Posted in Soccer/Sounders, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
…It’s always fun soremouthin’ these little fellas before gobs and gobs of powerbait and crawlers get winged at them…
I like to think that I kicked it off in style while indulging in some fine Wisconsin beer…
If not, I can always start a turtle farm…If cooked correctly; I hear they taste pretty good too…
Posted in Eat shit hippies, Outdoors, fishing | 8 Comments »
UPDATED—(suck it New York, Sounders ruled the pitch and kicked ass–3-0)!
It’s finally SOUNDERS soccer season! Giddy-up…
The inaugural season kicks off tonight vs. the New York Red Bulls…Season ticket holders received a “Sounders Scarf” with the ‘package’ and it’s the ‘ticket’ for tonight’s game…I’ll try not to lose it while indulging in pre-game ceremonial rituals…
32,000 fans are expected at Qwest field for the opener…That’s pretty damn impressive considering that the original “capacity goal” was 18,000…Over 20,000 season ticket packages were sold…Not bad for a bunch of “Lawn Fairies.”
I’ll try to add pictures later…Gooooo Sounders!
Update-
Gametime …
The pretty “wimmens!”
What a blast!
Fun for the whole family….
What an opener…Beating NY at anything makes it all sweeter…
Cheers to SEATOWN and SOUNDER fans!
Posted in Soccer/Sounders | 12 Comments »
…Folks, the World Baseball Classic is back in full swing and I’ve been loving every minute of it…For those of you not familiar with the WBC, it’s an ‘international professional baseball tournament’ held every four years (uh, well, 3 years, I guess?)…The first “Classic” was held in 2006 —I guess that IT WILL be held every four (4) years from now on with the next ‘installment’ in 2013…
As a baseball ‘junkie’ I love everything about this tournament…When it was announced in 2006 that the finals would be held at Petco Park in San Diego, I immediately booked a flight (okay, okay, I thought team USA would have been there too)…
“16 Countries, 432 players, 1 game!”
Since my brother lives in “San Dog” it was easy for him to score tickets for the finals…Sadly, team USA failed to qualify that year but it really didn’t matter–there were more deserving teams for sure…
(gotta love this guy for having the nerve to show this in an American ballpark):
The final four teams at Petco in 2006 were Japan vs. S.Korea and Cuba vs.Dominican Republic…Japan eventually won it all over Cuba…A pretty good mix of ball teams and talent…
Now, I was a little bummed that I didn’t get to watch team USA in person…However, I’ve never had more fun at a baseball game(s) than I did at the WBC…There was a double-header played on that Saturday and it was amazing—Japan, Korea, Cuba, D.R—Wow, those folks take being a baseball fan to a whole new level…There was no sitting and there was no angst with 4 different countries (5 if you count for USA) teams and fans in the same ballpark…I talked with fans from everywhere; even though I couldn’t understand what they were saying…Everybody was courteous and friendly, it was pure joy and the cheering was non-stop…I was impressed and I thoroughly enjoyed it…
I walked away from the 06 WBC with a whole new respect for the game of baseball and an understanding of what the game means to other countries…
…I’ve heard nothing but (mostly) negative things said about this year’s WBC: “it screws up spring training,” “who cares, it’s our sport,” and “the Canadians play baseball?” Thank you media…
-Whatever-
All in all–I recommend supporting the WBC, it’s a beautiful thing…AND, as of this writing, team USA is still in it…
Posted in Baseball/Mariners | 8 Comments »
