Group DVD ing

Last night we watched the ' Last Air Bender ' by M Night Shyamalan.
Its put out by Nickelodeon , so not too risque.
Everyone enjoyed the action - no sex or blood everywhere. People died but it was controlled.  
Yep , we endured another day of rain. 3 in a row.
The air is warmer and I caught a silver trout.
This event occurred after I changed the arrangement of the plastic on the jig. I went to a split tail look and the change seemed to spice up the delivery.
change can be good - a different look or more importantly , what the predators are keying on
Big lesson here - although I'm sure its wasted. I tend to go w/ what worked the last day and didn't really think the change would produce
results. However , the hit came on the second cast , so that was pretty evident , split tail made the difference.

Dreary Day in Fla

OK Lets see. The paper was there at 7. The rain held off. The pool was 85. The swim was EZ PZ. 
I'm at that stage where I'm accustomed to the effort of the swim. The mechanics are tuned for a smooth swim.
Basically ,its time to raise the pace and intervals. Nope. In a short while the swimming will be over. So , swim the 1/2 hr and Bob's your uncle.
Boring. Yesterday , we were indoors - all day. So boring , that I shot craps last night. I set up a craps box using a bamboo mat against the door and practiced dice sets.
You're supposed to reduce the over action on the dice. Theoretically, this control reduces the chances of throwing a 7 , " 7 out is not a call that you'd like to hear at the tables ". Toss 'em high and soft - is the advice.
I'm not sure what constitutes success in dice control but I made point ( thats good ) 4 times. Not in succession which would have been great rolling.

Instead of TV

On YouTube , found a compilation from ' mojo.com ' on BillBoards Top 100 record book

Oldest       #1                          -Louis Armstrong
Youngest  #1                          - Michael Jackson
Youngest #1                           - Debbie Gibson
writer / singer

Biggest Jump to #1                - Kelly Clarkson ( from 97 )
Most #1 s                              - the Beatles ( 20 )
The Top 5 songs at one time  - the Beatles
Only acapella #1                   - Bobby McFerrin

Most Grammys by a              - Alison Krauss ( 28 )
female ( 3rd All Time )

Most Emmys                         - Cloris Leachman

Survival is

...in the eye of the beholder
The cold fronts gave up for a day... to-day. A little doubtful around 9 A but the day got sunny and warm and warmer. Fluffy clouds and blue sky.  then it drops to 50 and 40 something come morning.

We say we survived down here and Atlanta is getting snow and Mississippi closed schools and government offices in preparation for ice and snow. See .. in the eye of the beholder
I mean 4 mornings were 40 - 44
The pool was 83 F.. swimming went on

A follow up to something that I said about the lyrics of V Morrison.
' There's a dream where  the contents are visible ....  ' and did I wish that I had written those lines.
I was searching covers of QotSS and came across a guy who said , ' the lyrics are Morrison's who knows what he meant ' - touche my buddy

Americana

Further to the post on ' Nashville 2.0 ' , I went on YouTube for ' the Milk Carton Kids '. Very good listening.
But , of course , I'm way behind the curve. The NPR site ,  ' Little Desk Concerts ' highlights musicians as in tMCKs. I also found the ' Avett Bros ' and ' Dave Rawlings ' - fabulous stuff. So NPR has been doing the new Nashville sound for a while , figures.

Generally , my musical preferences are eclectic or bizarre ( according to M ). However ,I enjoyed that show N2.0. 
I'm going to spend some time doing a survey of the NPR videos from tLD concerts.

Weather turned here. The temperature is in the high 50 s to start the day. More like Fla normal for this latitude. We are just N of the place called Frostproof , thus we can dip down into the high 30's.
even norther of us , the counties have had touches of frost.

' You have drank from the fountain  of innocence
  and experienced the long cold wintry years '

Van the Man , Queen of the Slipstream

P.S. go to YouTube and listen to Sinead O'Connor do ' Sacrifice ' by Elton John , that girl can sing. 

Visible Contents

" There's a dream where the contents are visible
    Where the poetic champions compose "

V Morrison , Queen of the Slipstream

Do I wish that the quote above was mine
Yea , if I knew what it meant. Still think that the lyrics are better than most and sometimes I think , terriifc.

As well , While trying to dodge the relentless barrage of mediocre TV , I tried WEDU , PBS. The feature was ' Nashville 2.0 ' a presentation on the blooming music non - genre called ' Americana '.

A melange of traditions and styles , mostly originating in bars and pubs - a word of mouth birthing. The names reflect the hybrid nature of the music. E. g. the ' Milk Carton Kids ' , the ' Mavericks ' , Alabama Shakes ' , the ' North Carolina Chocolate Drops ' etc.

I recommend the ' Milk Carton Kids ' but each group was a revelation. The producers even highlighted groups w/out a recording contract or reputation yet. Neato

Weather : warming and clouding up. we get 6 fairly nice days and then another cold wave. SO SO !

Admit It

... you are weird !
I wake up at 4:30 A
Pee , drink water and put drops in my eyes ( dry eye ).

Then til 6:30 , I'm shooting craps in my head - imaginary craps ............ but I made money  --- thank goodness. Hate to stay awake and lose.
Drove up to 7 / 11 and paid $ 1.06 for a large coffee.

As an eco-friendly tourist, I was re-using the paper cup from 7 / 11. yesterday the 4 th refill , the cup came unglued , yepper , coffee filled the cup holder.
The large and medium cost the same. However , most days , the last thing that I need is 35 oz of coffee to start the day.
To-day ,should be a doozy.

Updated fish totals :So far , 
2 flounder ( mayhaps the same one ,1 day apart )
2 sea trout
1 silver trout
1 pompano
1 mackerel
1 sand perch ( not big but a big hitter )
2 ladyfish
4 snakefish ( eel like w/ teeth coping saw )

That was a week ago:

3 more spotted trout

4 more silver

1 more ladyfish

1 more pompano ( bigger this time )

4 more lizard fish ( see correction on name )

2 sand perch ( problem again , this doesn't seem to be the right name )

and add in a pinfish

Weather , this is a real cold spell for Fla. Fla is getting wave after wave of cold air 2 / 3 days apart.
Its 46 F right now and only going up  6 - 7 degrees , if the sun warms the air.
I brought a hooded quilt liner for a work jacket like the outside utility workers wear. A bit of overkill I thought but took it anyway.
Noper , I needed the quilt liner on the way to the airport in T.O. and have worn it 6 times , so far.
This morning , it was perfect for the 7 / 11 run. Not so stupid looking now , boyo.
Hoping , that I won't need it - home from the airport too !

Alright its finally , 7 A - time for normal breakfast

Hang ' em High

is a Clint Eastwood classic. Hang Obama is a statement from a Republican candidate based on potential war crimes allegations.
This item appeared in the Tampa Bay Times.
As well Fla , will need to re-instate Kosher meals in its prisons.

Weather : beeeutifool - til to-morrow when the temperature drops some 20 degrees.

Yesterday , fishing produced a surprise- a Pompano struck and raced around the dock for a minute or 2. Fun !!!
Thats the 2 nd pomp thats hit

Its Nice To Be Right

.... sometimes at least. The guys on the dock , weren't getting much in the way of hits. My interpretation was that , there was a magic 8 minutes when the fish wanted eat to or were able to be tempted.

I went out 3 times for about 45 min each. On the second attempt 2 lizard fish ( notice the correct naming) jumped on the white plastic.Thank you.

Later , around 4:30 , 3 silver trout took the plastique. Yepper , 8 minutes and best of all , I had a witness. doesn't get any better.

The day was sunny but cloudy and for 20 minutes some rain blew through and then it was over. I fished either side of the rain.
We are headed for normal Fla temperatures , here , 70 - 80. Slowly but surely , w/ some cooler moments in between.

I'm swimming in the morning , even when the temperature was 40 - 45 and breezy. The water is pretty much 82 F all the time in this pool. Lucky for me the older folks need the warmer water. So ,even on the colder days its still comfy ( sort of ) in the pool.

Each year , I arrive at the resort , wondering if this is the year that I can't make the swim in the morning. This year especially , I got in a practice swim at the Seneca Allegany pool in Nov. and then again at the Park Inn pool in London , mid December. For once , I knew a month ahead of time that I could swim.

How's it going ? I'm doing the 1/2 hr as in other years. Kinesthetically , all seems well. Although , maybe I'd feel like that even if I was swimming poorly.
My markers for the kinesthetics are breathing and rolling. Breathe control is important for rhythm and ease of moving in the water. The body roll helps in the rhythm thing and raises my mouth above the waterline just enough to breathe but not overly high.
The guiding rule in the pool is ' never up , never down '.

To  wit , if my head comes out too high on breathing then the corresponding effect is for my feet to drop. I 'll correct for this by trying to raise my feet but that results in my head dropping.  I'd be bobbing along - feet / head going opposite.
Thus , roll and keep all arm motion through the bodyline not too far down or high. Although high may be very difficult in the water.

I try to ensure that at all times in the swim that I can make myself breathe on every 4 th stroke. This pattern guarantees that I'm not out of breathe or out of control.

Finally , I swim at least 40 lengths on my back doing backstroke.
I know all weight lifters and regular exercisers go for muscle group balance - stretching and using opposite muscles.
So , I figure some front and back crawl establishes some sort of balance for front and back muscles. I've never read or heard anything about this but it sort of makes sense.

American , eh ?

Will Rogers , American humorist , ( a lecturer annoys , a humorist entertains ) said politicians are always asking what do Americans want. WR claimed it was simple ' all an American needs is a full tank of gas , a 2 piece bathing suit and a hot dog '.
WR missed the part about 3 minutes of TV fame.
Reality bites again. The show is ' Unleashed ' or Guinness Book of Records televised. It seems all competitors are Americans attempting to break world GBR.
To wit , smashing apples w/ your bicep ( one arm only ). A lady comes on and , yes , smunches 8 apples in a minute.
Shooting a bow and arrow w/ your feet while hand-standing. The target 20 ft away and 18 cm across. ( old record 18 ' 1/2 " ). First try and bang hits the balloon.

Oh yeah , some records are not acknowledged , danger or pointlessness ( don't get that criterion ). Such as shooting Roman candles from your ass. But the 30 m bum scoot does count.
OK maybe , I needed something else to occupy my time.

Heck , on holidays , lets just let it go

Weather : cool , blue sky and warming up - over 60 closer to 70 F

By Any Other Name........

was all about roses - quoting Shakespeare

I've caught about 10 ' wolffish ' only to be told this year , that the real name was  'eelfish ' - OK , never knew the real name anyway.

Yesterday , after releasing an ' eelfish ' , a 10 yr old says ' thats not an ' eelfish ' its called a lizard fish. We looked up the picture and it is a lizard fish.
Lizard fish - tube shaped like a cigar , large mouth that almost grins w/ many serrated teeth. A predator of small fish and bait , very aggressive. Yep , thats him.
Also , caught a silver trout , on a bright but cool day.

I made a gaff while down here and yesterday a little boy said ' great looking gaff , mister '. Later , I shocked him w/ the price or cost which I estimated at $ 1.10. So , I got some credit for creativity.
BTW - some adults were also surprised at my creation also.
Alls good

Weather : cool and sunny  - beeuti really

Factoids

Floridians are least likely to get their flu shot. And nationwide , some states are experiencing N1H1 outbreaks and in those places flu shot dosages are running out.

Whats NU , nada. Weather coolish for here... 64 F to-day and lows in the high 30. Bright skies and cool winds. But I like to think that there  is hope in the air. You can kinda feel that the air is trying to warm up. So hope is a good word.

On the computer front. I selected disk clean up and the system dumped some 83 Mb of garbage. The processing speed picked up. The e-machine was slow yesterday.
Bonus. bought a VGA cable and plugged in to the RGB slot on the TV and connected to the e-machine. We watched slides on the TV , and people were impressed or at least I was.

Fishing was put on hold yesterday , maybe , too cold / too windy but we were busy.
Movie review : ' American Hustle w/ Christian Bale and Amy Adams. Rating would be very good to excellent. Team of slightly sentimental and very cynical con artists are trapped into helping the FBI.  The Feebs led by an up and comer blow the whole show. The Feebs turn out to be venal and stupid, perhaps hamstrung by the Peter Principle. The topguys are poor quality and ambitious , always a lousy combination.
The scammers are getting way to involved w / family and each other.
Somehow they wiggle out , much to the audiences delight , at least mine.
AA shows off her cleavage and sidage ( dresses are little strips of cloth coming sown the front.

If this blog seems largely uninspired , well , that about sums up the mood in the unit , largely uninspiring... the universe continues to unfold... as it should ? haven't a clue.

Hauntings

things that come back to bite you ... isn't that the way

' 70 % of future TV programming will be cartoons and reality ' predicted a media critic. No , says I
Eat your shirt , moi. I think the news is becoming reality TV.

I won't own a credit card or belong to an union . blow that one out your nose. The OTPP is the biggest private retirement fund in the country ( teachers pension ) and 2 credit cards sit in the safe. I'm carrying 3 now.

I meant well - seemed logical at the time. Now ,I monitor my credit rating - its good.

' A man's regrets are as personal as his fingerprints ' don't know who said it ( I'll Google it , later ) but its true
CORRECTION cycle
there is no ' man's ' in the quote. The author is Margaret Culkin Banning

Inside the Box

Last night we received a lesson in U.S. politics. A real eye opener.
Whoosh , is all I have to say.
And it was not a nice whoosh either. 
The topics went from immigration to health care on to abuse of the Presidential powers... maybe , another case where ' Oops ' doesn't cover it.

Fishing is satisfactory to very good. I'm at peace w/ the world. My little world but at peace
So far , 
2 flounder ( mayhaps the same one ,1 day apart )
2 sea trout
1 silver trout
1 pompano
1 mackerel
1 sand perch ( not big but a big hitter )
2 ladyfish
4 snakefish ( eel like w/ teeth coping saw )

The numbers aren't there but variety in spades

' Dock of the Bay '

sang  Otis Reading.
My story is standing there on the dock.
Like always , fishing by myself. Here , at the resort , maybe 70 % of the time , I'm by myself.
On the 'bee , its more in the range of 85 % , by myself.
To-night , around 5:00 PM ,  little ripples started about 20 yds from me. Dimples as in fish sucking morsels off the surface , began.

Silver flashes in the water and then a cloud of orangy-brown began moving my way ,swaying as it came. This was a pod of mullet , group feeding.
Mullet are primarily vegetarian - algae and molluscs , plankton.The mullet do not grab plastic worms. I tried to snag one in that mass. After many tries , I snagged a mullet , maybe about 1 1/2 lb. 
How do I know ? Any bigger and I probably couldn't have moved the fish as I pulled it in.
Why mention this event ? B/c this is the kind of thing that happens out on the dock on Boca Ciega Bay.
The water is alive. The guests covet the pool , thats where the action is - at least the gossip machine. But out there , life happens. And I get to see it unfold.

What Do You Learn

Apologies to the TorStar , yes , you are a rag , just not as bad as I thought.
As well , if we think that we have mis-functioning politicians back in T.O. - not to worry , its like the bubonic plague down here.
The common human condition indeed , ' all God's chillun' got problems '.
Not sure if this latter thought is comforting or scary. I'm going for comforting.

Maybe , this is like the Russian parable - you can leave your problem on the problem tree but you then take someone else's problem. And everyone tends to take back their own problem.

The weather has been 49 to 79 in four days. Light rain , yesterday
but almost like spring rain. Not a bother.
They did get flooding on the east coast but that seemed isolated ( 12 in of rain in a day ).

Travelling in Vintry Weather

The runway is like a skating rink
The tow tug can't move the plane
Baggage handlers ?
Ramp truck ?
Including the plane , this were the items that went missing on Tues.
Three people didn't board the plane and their luggage needed to be removed.  Add 3 h and voila , here we are.
The weather is cool ( freezing if your Floridian ). I swam this AM w/ the temperature at 49 F. 
As in all war movies , if they're still whining and moaning you got there in time to help them.

Katy Perry

is negotiating a contract for her Vegas show. Included are requests for guacamole / pineapple and 2 bottle of Pinot Grigio. so , my M and Katy like the same wine.

Weather : temperature yo-yo-ed around 32 F and is now dropping 25 as of now but single digits by to-night and to-morrow.
As well it snowed , rained and of course froze. yippeee , guys

I recommend the following on YouTube : Mary Hopkin singing , ' Jerusalem ' and ' Streets of London '
Donovan singing ' Voyage of the Moon ' , curiously , a Mary Hopkin song , too !

Feathered Bras ..on the OH

The news that no one really cares about :
Gov Kasich of Ohio has confirmed that he is consulting w/ the owner of Victoria Secrets in an effort to market Ohio. Politics and strange bedfellows and all that

Economics ?? not really , interesting , OK
In a survey :
#1              Tokyo , as most expensive city to live in

#1               Caracas , Venezuela most expensive for ex-pats
$8000         for an i-phone 5s , on Venezuelan e-Bay
$100           double box of Honey Nut Bunches cereal
#53             Vancouver , BC as expensive city

And , Japan is vaulting into military prowess - can't be good

Weather in the GWN.
Temperature has been 32 + / - for 20 h
Fine powder snow fell overnight but we're expecting an inch in the city and 2 or 3 x as much north and either side of T.O.
And the temp will fall , mega through the next day.

The Year in Review for Movies

Firstly , I don't know who the theatres cater to but its not me.
'Thor Pt II ' and the ' Hobbit , Pt II ' both 3D and Sound Blast 7.?
- way too noisy , a distraction and 3D is for someone else not moi

The winner : ' Percy Jackson , Pt II ' - funny , interesting and definitely a character building effort ( young people esp.) on open - mindedness and friendship

' Lonely Ranger and Tootoo ' was a decent production - updated story and definitely progressive for an ' oater '.

' Elysium ' is an example of everything the audience should want :
big star , the future , drama , butt kicking and a love interest. Formulaic ? , yes and OK. Its fluff - pay your dollar ( oh yeah , its not the Redbox , pay your $10 ) and get mentally pulverized for 1 1/2 or in the case of the ' H Pt II ' , more like 3 hr.

I'm still watching the TV series ' Elementary ' - the Sherlock Holmes update w/ Jonny Lee Millar. The familiarity may be starting to build contempt. I don't do well as a long time viewer. 
No patience , boredom onset - too picky.... me ? too picky
YES 
' Criminal Minds ' for a season or 2. Not anymore
' CSI ' ditto
' NCIS ' , a little longer

Coming from behind and closing fast , the ' Big Bang Theory '.
We are catching tBBT on re-runs , mostly , and these episodes are a hoot.  the fascination is my fear that I'm really Sheldon.
Love Penny and Amy is a conflict of everything worldly and metaphysical , too rich !

The opinions offered here are solely those of the author and neither PBS or PRI takes any responsibility. So there !!!!

Must sees for you : the ' Electric Cowboy ' at least 15 yrs old now.
Starring - starring really , Robert Redford and Jane Fonda plus a supporting cast of the best character types possible - even Willie 
Nelson  is casted perfectamundo, Unfortunately , he sings all the songs. One would have been good - 2 not so etc.

weather took a turn and its almost like God loves us. Cold but OK , gusty wind and blue sky  ( for now , a dump is due )

Limited Edition

.. scotch can be very expensive - perfumes etc.

So ,don't be surprised when Pinesol hits $ 10 a bottle. PS ??? , give me a break. Well , Pinesol eliminated the pine smell b/c pine oil got pricey. Consumers complained that the piney smell showed that the house was clean. Chlorox Corp agreed to re-pine Pinesol but in limited supply. Get your exclusive house cleaner.

The weather is nuts , no frozen nuts. The Weatherboy shows - 6.
Bright sky and brilliant sun. Your face will fall off , tho'.

Movie Review : ' the Hobbit , the Desolation of Smaug ' in AVX / PGQ or whatever. What it is was noisy. The seats moved , my chest moved w/ the sound.
the movie , very busy. Drawn out in places , w/ many references to Tolkien lore from the Simirillion , maybe , I was trying to gather bits of information from memory and applying the info to the movie.
I think though , that the creative ensemble got , well , creative. Good imagination and details but they kind of threw a whole bunch of images and ideas to fluff out the storyline.
Rating : Redbox scale 80 cents out of a dollar. Should you buy it ?
I'd wait. Buy it on sale , months from now.

New Years Day

Les met chinois was a big success and tons leftover (Chinese food )

When my fathered died , I found boxes of slides and photos. I bought a photo / slide transfer machine for the PC. And spent hours , converting pictures to digital items in the PC.

Last night , it all came home to roost. We watched old photos on the TV. Nostalgia up the wazoo. I felt good after.
Some youg'uns complained that the photos needed editing. They're going to edit the photos. 
I didn't respond w/ ' at least you've got something to edit ' 
CoaC , I must be mellowing.

One comment was ' why aren't you in the pictures ? '
Well, I was probably running around breaking something
Yes , a little so and so , was I

Another comment ' you don't store photos on a flashdrive do you ? ' Yes, apparently , its not the best way b/c flashdrives will fail .

Temperature is 2 F and windchill is -8.
CoaC , -8 isn't a temperature , its a disease !!!!!! 
Freeze your little nougies off

Well , leftover Chinese awaits 

Tradition

Went to bed at 10:30 last night. Nope , didn't watch the ball drop in Times Square. M stays up and this year b/c she's been to TS , it might seem more important.
Apparently, security was over-the-top. Spectators were held in roped off areas for up to 12 hrs before admittance to TS. Spectators wore adult diapers b/c there was limited washroom facilities ( no wonder there are more and more of those Depends ads )

Our family celebrated the day , i.e. New Years Day , rather than the eve.
Family would gather in certain hotspots , our house seemed to be one , for food and chit chat.
Food was chicken , fish , turkey , sushi , Japanese salads ( seaweed , cucumber were added ). There were Japanese items such as pickles , teriyaki - style minnows ( ??? ) .
Basically ,thanksgiving gone Asian.

About 15 yrs ago , it seems our present house took over the hotpsot role. The guest list is down to a sister and brother cousin act and their families. The roster once hit 23 but through not so polite hanky panky , the list went down to 14.
To-day , 7 people will gather.

The menu is catered :
Appetizers .. spring rolls , pot stickers  , pork bites ( oriental style )
torpedo shrimp ( crispy coating )

Mains .. sushi tray , *inari sushi and **kamakachi roll 
Fried chicken ( was supposed to be for  me , but last year , there was none left ) This chicken comes from Popeyes , Louisiana style deep fried

Salmon in teriyaki sauce , Cantonese chow mein ( oh yeah ,we had this when I was younger , only home made )
Shrimp and vegetables , Beef and flat noodles ( ho fen ).

These cousins are close and I'm sure that I've mentioned them before.

This morning , I attempted hi tech maneuvering. I connected the little laptop to the flat screen TV. Actually ,all the imputs are labelled and besides finagling around the support bar for the TV stand it was no prob. But I feel like a genius. I know , little things for little minds.
So ,the upshot is that I can project pictures from the laptop on the TV. Thus , we have entertainment for the masses this aft.

And they don't tell you when you use the slideshow function and adjust the screen size - all the slideshow controls are hidden. finally , hit ' escape ' to exit slideshow mode. Gonna have to see if this is the right way to leave slideshow. I've seen on YouTube videos , where they say to hit 'esc' to return to main file if you enlarge the video , so mayhap its OK.

So , happy New Year , Japanese style

FOOTNOTES

* - inari is called bag rice. The seasoned rice is encased in a pouch of seasoned fried , soya bean paper ( about the thickness of a tortilla ) We grew up thinking that this was a New Years food. Boy , we got a shock when they sold this at sushi stands , all  through the year.

** kamakachi roll - is probably an invention of soem sushi freak
the item is presented just as in futomaki or California roll.
There is a seaweed wrapper ,  a layer of rice and then cooked spicy tuna w/ crunchy bits. So , jelly roll style sushi w/ cooked tuna inside

There is raw fish tuna and salmon in the party tray