Lagerman Legends or "how I survive this Bouldertown"

2010-08-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

An easy thirty.
I stop, look,
Eat apple in park.

Ooh, That Stings Eh!

2010-08-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

Tuesdays always start out the same for me and this one was no different. I'm up and milling about the house by 7 at the latest. Computer goes on, Itunes activated, KGNU -Boulder public radio streams in. My homepage opens with a list of emails along with my calendar. I hit the LUX, grind some coffee beans, feed Pablo and smoke a cigarette.

Every Tuesday I try to catch the half hour of lecture KGNU allocates to Alan Watts and his sense of understanding. It comes on at 9. To compensate for the mornings that I forgot to log in and listen, I have gotten accustomed to putting ITunes on right away and listening to the various banter that's streaming into my living room before him. This week his lecture reinforces the idea that we are a fluke of nature. That it is quite odd that we even exist. That it simply would've been easier for nothing to happen at all. So, this gets me asking to myself, Am I happening? Are you happening? I am happening! I go into my kitchen and make some oatmeal with a handful of blue berries and some honey.

After milling about the morning and posting various articles to my facebook page, I am finally motivated enough to go on a bike ride. I have a nice 12 mile loop that I enjoy in South Boulder. The weather is nice and not too hot at about 85, Clouds are rolling in slowly over the flatirons. Those clouds won't become a thunderstorm till about 430pm. I breeze through my 12 mile loop much easier than usual and contemplated going around a second time but decided to just go home because I was out of water. When I got back home, I switched from my cycling shoes to my sneakers and while still warmed up, I hit the treadmill for the next half hour or so.

BassMaster Billy always swings by in the mid afternoon and drinks a beer. We plan out what lake we want to attack on this Friday. I took a short nap when he left. The White Rhino will be here tonight at 7 to return my Trooper which he has been borrowing for the last two weeks. His truck is having issues. I have to give him a ride back to Longmont so I decide on the way back that I'll do my grocery shopping in North Boulder. I pick up about $200 worth of stuff and get it loaded into the Trooper. I see that long strand of the carpet of the truck's floor that is always getting caught in the door. It's frayed and is greasy with oil and gets all over everything it can reach. I whip out my pocket knife and begin to cut at the beginning of the fray which starts under the front seat. Without paying attention, I slice my left index finger. Like a good soldier, I pull my ban-dana out of my pocket and wrap my finger tightly, without even looking at the wound. It was well past dark now anyways and it wouldn't have been easy to see injury anyways. I drove past two hospitals to get to my house, in a five speed with my wrapped finger pressed tightly to the side of the steering wheel. When I get home, i see its pretty nasty. Of course my knife is serrated and so my finger has a jagged pattern similar to how a serrated knife would leave jagged marks on a sharp cheddar cheese. I pour peroxide on it for a couple minutes and then wrapped it in gauze. The gauze was soaked through with blood when I awoke this morning. I re-cleaned it and wrapped it again. Wrapped it again around noon and it seemed to stop bleeding.

Conjole-
1)to gently persuade,
2)a word spellcheck doesn't believe is spelled right.

BassMaster Billy arrives as usual for a beer and I conjoled him into riding. He was tooling around on my singlespeed galaxy flyer with the chrome fenders that I found at a nearby yard sale. I'm riding circles around him on my schwinn mt.bike. When we got back to my place, I could see that my finger was bleeding again. Billy was sweaty and panting. I tell him we went 4 miles, basically a loop of my neighborhood. In between large inhales, he asks, how long were we out? An hour? I say... Only 18 minutes, maybe 20.

BassMaster Billy
&
The Galaxy Flyer

There's a funny Simpson's quote for every situation.

2010-08-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

"...and that fluffy kitten played with that ball of string, all through the night. And on a lighter note, a Kwik-E-Mart clerk was brutally murdered..." -- Kent Brockman

Step Right Up! Get your Fat burning coffee here.

2010-07-30T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today at the lake was a bust. I awoke this morning to my cell phone's alarm clock ringing softly on my nightstand. It is the only alarm clock I own. I don't much like those clock radios with their intense screeching and those dreaded blinking LED's that go on and off whenever the power goes out. It was 4:25am. I sat right up, reset the phone alarm and drank the remaining water that was in my bottle. Pablo comes into the room and rubs his body against my leg. I know he is saying "feed me". I put a scoop of chow in his bowl. This morning, I'm getting ready to head to CanMaster B's house. I'm to meet him at his place at 6. We have had these plans to fish this particular spot for a couple weeks now. We had outstanding luck the last time we were there. His brother, who just moved out here, is to be joining us. I always insist that for this lake that we need to be early. We need to be at the trailhead at 5. It's a two mile hike from there. CanMaster B wants to go later. I usually meet him at his place then carpool from there. On the phone the night before, CanMaster B haggles me up to 6am. I say, OK, but you both better be ready and I laugh evil-like as I hang up my phoneclock.

I have prompt mornings down to a science. I pre-make my coffee the night before and I put my fishing gear in the Taurus. (I let a pal borrow the Trooper) I have my clothes, knife, boots, fishing license, driver's license,cash, keys, sunglasses cowboy hat all in one place so when I get out of the shower, all I need to do is jump into my garb, grab a quick bowl of oatmeal and blue berries, slam my second cup of coffee and head out the door.

The weather channel says due to monsoonal moisture from the South, expect to get wet just about everywhere in the state. I got to his house by 5:50. At the trailhead by 6:20. Bright and sunny. After about4 hours of fishing, and with those monsoonal clouds slowly building up, none of us had caught anything. We had all seen trout and many trout there were, but you could drop a fly right in front of them bastards and they wouldn't take it. At least the hike was good and we got back to the Westy and drank a beer before the sky darkened over. Since we didn't catch any lunch, WhiteCastle AKA "ol' Faithful" , was prepared along with several glasses of lemonade.

I had a hankering for trout fishin' when I woke up this morning.

2010-07-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

It was about 5:45. After my daily bowl of oatmeal and blueberries, I headed up to Nederland. The water was like glass. Occasionally, a few sprinkles would dot the stillness and ripple out.

Baby trout too anxious.
Eat anything.
Where is the big one?

I packed it in after a couple hours and a dozen baby releases. Yawn. I headed back home. I was finally able to get a clear pic of that Boulder city limit sign that I have been trying to capture every time I drive by. When I got home, Pablo was in the window and then of course was at the front door at the bottom of the stairs. I quickly changed from my fishing attire to my cycling clothes and rode a nice 23 mile route through South Boulder and wound up eventually in the heart of town. I headed to the mouth of the canyon, the canyon I drove up this morning to fish. I turned around at the park. The ride back home will be down hill from here. An easy 7 miles. It's cooler today, only about 83 degrees according to my cyclometer.

It's good old fashion blogging....By gar it's been awhile!

2010-07-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

I have chosen play first and business last. I'm a man of contrast. I like details. I like ales. But how far can I cast?

I haven't been blogging. No reason, really. Facebook consumed a chunk of my time, there is all that chatting. I switched to fly fishing this past year. bought some chest waders, and a net finally. I don't know why I didn't ever do this sooner the fly rod just feels right. This past spring and summer I started fooling around with the banjo again, which sat in hiatus just as this blog did for a year.
I bought a 1991 Isuzu Trooper last August. It has 219,000 miles on it. I turned it into my fishing truck. I plan on putting a rack on top and hope to find a nice Johnboat with a trailer to tow behind it. I have a bit of sanding and priming to do around the edges. I love the 4 wheel drive.

So, we'll see if I keep up with this blog.

BassMasterBilly got a new hat

2009-05-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

BassMasterBilly's new hat

New fishin' hole

2009-05-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

This week has been all about dog sitting. In fact, I am being beckoned to throw that half nawed plastic bone right now as I type this while sitting on BassMasterBilly's back porch. Porter just needs round the clock attention. Sure, he does settle down at night when I'm zoning on the couch and the two other dogs are lying on the floor by me; but anytime you move, he thinks you are going to do something. He is very attentive. I was hoping to get out and fish this morning and I was happy that I heard the phone when Mr. Clint called. I'm like, yo, What's up? You say you want to take me to a new lake? Alright, I can be at your place in one hour. I made sure the dogs were in good order, gave them fresh water and headed out for few hours. I pick up Mr. Clint and one his pals, and then he proceeds to navigate me to the edge of town. After 20 minutes of on some rural roads, we are out in the middle of nowwheresville, parked on the side of a dirt road. He says, we're here...... "Wheres the water? " I ask.
We walked about 5 minutes, up over a grassy field and into some heavy trees. After that we found this small inlet that opened up into a fairly decent size lake. We fished the inlet first. In about ten minutes Clint pulls out a 13 inch bass.
I'm using a green jig with a white Gary Yamamoto shorttail on the hook I haven't caught anything.. About a half hour later, Clint's pal, Lands a walleye. Another half hour later and this guy pulls out a 30 inch carp-easily a 10-12 pound monster. We got it onto the shore, but it fought the three of us as we were rolling it up the bank and managed to slip away from our grasps and roll back down into the water. Damn.
It wasn't too much longer than that when I finally landed a walleye. It was easily 15 inches.

The Zen of bark bark bark bark bark bark bark bark bark.

2009-05-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

It's warm and breezy on BassmasterBilly's backyard porch. I'm watching his house and a I woke up early this morning to Porter licking my face and dropping his toy; a plastic white bone, that he has managed to mangle down to small blunt,plastic shard. I get and open the back door and they moseyed on out to do their business. I'm up for the day now. After I figured out the coffeemaker and there damn hippie reusable hemp filter, I poured a mug, and began sitting quietly on the backporch. Every so often the robin who has made his home inside the bird house that Billy had made a couple years ago, flies overhead and up over the house. It's so quiet at the moment that I'm aware of this robin, because i can hear it's wings flutter overhead. I hear the sounds of the air passing through the trees. In my stillness I can feel the movement of the world around me. All of a sudden, I am startled by the shrill, repetitive barks from Porter. His chant, cuts through the peace. I try to remember that he is only contributing to the whole experience and I smile and walk back inside. Last night he did this when I was in Billy's kitchen and his metalwares began to vibrate from the high, sharp,sonic barks. I was frozen in place holding a half eaten bag of cheddar dusted tortilla chips. I wanted to move but I couldn't. The Doze, is the oldest and she and I have an unspoken bond. She rests at the bottom of my feet anytime I come over. She always stays by my side. I also have an unspoken bond with Nova, a large mysterious beast of a dog. She is very gentle and has these big serious eyes that when she looks at you, you can feel something trying to get into your thoughts. She would allow me to scratch her back until my fingers fell off. Now, Porter....jeez, I don't even know how to describe him....

2009-05-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't been keeping up with new posts, like a good boy should. I started this post back on the 11th but now, here it is May 27 and I'm finally getting around to finishing it. Too busy doing everything and nothing.
First I should say the fishing has gotten better with the weather. I nailed a 20 inch bass weighing 5lbs last Tuesday and it was on my second cast of the day. The trout fishin' has been moderately good as well. Bassmaster Billy and I ran into a snag at the infamous Lagerman reservoir and we may abandon that lake altogether. It seems that the one of the rangers that patrol there would rather hassle the fisherman than deal with the vandalism and general no-goodness, the lousy teens bring there every evening.

I got a new screen recently and I'm back on my old mac which I love. It's funny how people say they are jealous when I say I hardly use my new macbook anymore. I love my "old faithful".
Recently Heather and I took all of our keyboards and ran them thru the dishwasher. We taped off the cord ends and also taped the female usb ports.
They all came out looking like new and after we let them dry fully, which we determined should be a full week; they all worked like new as well.

The local hiking has been great except lately we have had so much rain that the trails havent been dry for that last couple weeks. I took this picture in Boulder about a month ago, when the ground was dry. I can imagine how green it must look now with all the recent rain....
The water is running high on the creeks and so many of the bike paths inside boulder that go under the roads like under Arapahoe and also under Pearl Street, have been washed out somewhat. All in all, I am happy. I just got a new bike helmet. On other hiking news, BassMaster Billy and I recently hiked up to the Ralph Price reservoir and fished most of the day. Truly a very beautiful place to sit and stare.

I have managed to find the time to sit and relax and meditate with my banjo.

Listening to the blues and

2009-04-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

I had steak and eggs for breakfast. I was listening to the blues and working out my frustrations in my garden. I saw lots of worms and that is a good sign. I was gonna fish today, since it wasn't as windy as it was yesterday but by noon, I knew I wasn't going. I Tilled the soil for a few hours, and broke a sweat. Despite the mild weather I feel saddened.

De-bark your dog-only 20$

2009-04-06T14:13:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know how to de-bark a dog?
Oh, Porter, will you ever learn? Barking at me all the time only makes me want to kick you. And, what's with the constant running in a circle, Are you really chasing your tail? You nearly spilled my beer last time. You are not a good fishing dog. You are also not a lap dog. I know now why Bassmaster Billy is crazy. He wasn't so crazy before he took you in.

It could be the spring snow, it could be my mojo, one thing is for certain, the fishin's been slow,slow,slow.

At approximately 0550 hours on April 1st, I arrived at Bassmaster billy's house in Longmont. He was just waking up. We filled our thermos and headed to the county clerks office. We were the first to arrive and so we decided to sit in the car where it was warm until another dedicated fisherman showed up. After 20 minutes of waiting, two souls showed up and sat down on the icy concrete before the front doors. A minute later, a woman shows up, then another. We got out of the car and lingered on over. So, Billy and I are already giggly and making light of how cold it was and before we knew it there were another 5 or 6 people who showed up. When do the tickets go on sale? You say 9 am? Ok 21/2 hours to wait, then all will be good. 2 1/2 hours later, all was good. We stopped back at Billy's house and zoned out a bit before deciding to take a drive to this coveted piece of earth. Billy just had a new engine put in the Commando and just got it back from the mechanic and really wanted an excuse to take it out on the muddy roads. You can fish the river all year but it will still be a month before the lake will be accesible to fisherman, so we packed a light tackle and headed upstream. After about 20 minutes I pulled out a nice Brooky. 10 minutes later, there was a loud boom of thunder, and then the snow began to fall. Within a minute the snow was coming down sideways.

Finished writing a review for Namaste Nepal Restaurant

2009-03-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

I just finished writing a review for my favorite eatery here in Boulder and posted it onto Yelp.com
This is what I could muster into words...

This is one of the best restaurants in Boulder. I eat here all the time. As soon as you enter Namaste you are welcomed by a friendly hostess. The aromas from the buffet are delightful and I am impressed with the variety of the spread. There is beautiful music lightly playing in the background. If you are a vegetarian, then you will be happy to hear that they offer many choices on their extensive buffet. You can order off the menu also. They have great chai and the saag paneer is saucy yet subtle. I don't know which I love more, the Tandoori chicken or the lamb vindaloo; But the veggie korma is my absolute favorite which they serve mostly in the evenings and not so much in the lunch hours. The meat dishes are very tender. Their samosas' are tasty and not bland like so many other places. They also have decent beer if you desire. Namaste Nepal restaurant is situated in between Blockbuster Video and Michael's art/crafts in the Meadow Shopping Center (Foothills Pkwy and Baseline). It has a nice atmosphere in which you can banter with friends or sit and read a newspaper while dining. It clearly offers the best Nepali food in Boulder and they have great prices. The service from the staff is excellent.

I gave them 5 stars

Every status update I ever wrote on Facebook till now.

2009-03-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

-March-05-09-Andrew is just listening. 8:37pm
Andrew is heading to the Apple store. 8:15am
Andrew is trying to finish writing a restaurant review for Namaste' Nepal Cuisine. 7:25am
Andrew is wondering why and how he got up so damn early-I didn't even know there was a 5:30 in the morning. 6:59am
Andrew is drinkin beer in the hot sun. 4:30pm
Andrew is fond of 73 degree Wednesdays. 2:43pm
Andrew off to get chai. 11:24am
Andrew has a used cat for sale. 9:17pm
Andrew is full of tandoori and curry and is very happy. 11:34pm
Andrew has restocked his fishing gear and is ready to go. 2:19pm
Andrew is uploading his jazz collection to his little macbook. 2:39pm
Andrew is listening to MMW's End Of World Party. 10:25am
Andrew is preparing to listen to a lecture from Alan Watts. 8:38am
Andrew is pickin' & grinnin'. 8:22pm
Andrew is goin' fishin' which ususally means drinkin' by the lake. 9:46am
Andrew is halfway done at castle greyskull. 9:40pm
Andrew is watching the trees sway in the wind. 7:53am
Andrew has gone fishin'. 7:48am
Andrew is drinking scotch. 10:57pm
Andrew is writing long letters. 8:57am
Andrew wants to give a shout out to Stinky D.......Thanx Maaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnn. 8:09pm
Andrew is searching out chords. 9:14am
Andrew is very sore and edgy. 7:33am
Andrew is pulling evening rips. 11:17pm
Andrew is watching the time tick slowly at castle greyskull. 1:34pm
Andrew is playing scales. 10:08pm
Andrew is drinking with BassMasterBilly. 12:58pm
Andrew is in need of a good homebrew. 2:38pm
Andrew believes mankind's oldest strategy still works: "set fire to something." 1:05pm
Andrew is still waiting for the Fedex guy. 9:02am
Andrew is waiting for the fedex man again. 2:31pm
Andrew has gone back to scales. 12:24pm
Andrew is pulling rips and would like the wind to stop before he loses a window or the roof. 7:28pm
Andrew is off to get chai and is thinking about being bad. 11:35am
Andrew is up early. 7:25am
Andrew is pretty vacant at castle greyskull. 2:52pm
Andrew is uploading videos onto Youtube. 5:33pm
Andrew is working on D minors, Banjo style. 11:48am
Andrew is full of chai and tandoori. 12:55pm
Andrew is off to get some chai before he gets back to editing video. 11:22am
Andrew shouldn't have driven home but hey, this is Boulder. he he he. 1:22am
Andrew is free to wallow in his own crapulence. 7:18am
Andrew is milling about. 3:43pm
Andrew is waiting for Alan Watt's lecture to begin
Andrew is staring at the mountains. 7:36am. 8:28am
Andrew is is drinking Upslope Pale Ale; rich in Patagonia Hops. 11:16pm
Andrew is contemplating scales. 11:21am
Andrew needs a nap. 7:56pm
Andrew is pullin' rips, pickin' rolls and wonders,who's got the crack? 9:09am
Andrew -lock up your daughters, I just got me a Banjo! 2:25pm
Andrew is listening to Alan Watts on KGNU. 9:00am
Andrew is watching it snow from the windows of castle greyskull. 10:20am
Andrew is sippin scotch. 4:47pm
Andrew is heading out to get some chai and some naan. 11:19am
Andrew is playing his music so loud the walls are shaking. 7:14am
Andrew is sending Pablo into the darkness. 6:29am
Andrew just got the new Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Catalog and is very very happy that fishing is in the near future. 11:57am
Andrew is having chocolate for breakfast. 9:37am
Andrew is cleaning the LUX! 3:51pm
Andrew thinks castle greyskull needs an acid bath. 10:55pm
Andrew is drinkin' homebrew. 11:05pm
Andrew is gonna feed Pablo to the mountain lions. 7:33am
Andrew has been speedin' around Boulder. 3:29pm
Andrew just got Tix for Split Lip Rayfield on Feb.4 @ Fox Theater!
Andrew is pulling rips, contemplating chai and back to normal. 9:32am
Andrew never made it to the slopes, thanks to castle greyskull, I got sick instead. 9:11am
Andrew is getting his ski-gear ready. 9:21pm
Andrew is back from Albums On The Hill with more music to listen to. 2:59pm
Andrew is wringing out his liver for round 2. 12:32pm
Andrew is watching the snow fall on the mountains while Irishing up his coffee. 8:25am
Andrew is searching for the last of the outlaw truckers. 3:04pm
Andrew may have to sacrafice Pablo to the gods. 4:44am
Andrew -burn Boulder burn!!!-except my house. 5:19pm
Andrew has solved a big issue and is now hitting the red wine. 1:57pm
Andrew is watching the sun shine on the mountains-the golden hour is at hand. 8:15am
Andrew is needing a cathode ray tube. 9:44am
Andrew is pulling rips. 9:04am
Andrew is pickin n grinnin while single malt sippin. 9:56pm
Andrew - Hollis Brown-he looked for work and money and walked a ragged mile. 12:59pm
Andrew is searching for the perfect bottomless cup of coffee. 11:48am
Andrew is trapped at castle greyskull. 2:04pm
Andrew is sippin' on single malt. 2:40am
Andrew changed his mind on the Pablo stew and settled for some Goat soup with my Nepali friends. 2:53pm
Andrew is gonna have Pablo stew for dinner, if he continues to drive me crazy. 11:38am
Andrew -Boulder is experiencing yet another 'Wind Event'. I hadn't even a chance to rifle through the trash in my yard from the last one. 7:36pm
Andrew is thinking of getting drunk and speeding around Boulder. 6:11pm
Andrew -electricity keeps going out. 10:12am
Andrew has no heat and it is too windy for the fireplace. 8:01am
Andrew is tired of the wind. 6:30am
Andrew has orange skies with shadowy mountains. 5:02pm
Andrew -is anyone going to the widespread panic and YMSB show tomorrow night in Denver? NYE is sold out. 2:14pm
Andrew is full of chai and Tandoori. 1:06pm
Andrew is busy @ Castle Greyskull. 10:43pm
Andrew is looking forward to a warm 20 degree day. 9:11am
Andrew is Drinkin' a Saranac Brown Ale. 4:54pm
Andrew is considering a trip to the West Coast. 8:45am
Andrew has bottled the last of his hootch for the year. 2008, we hardly knew ye! 5:19pm
Andrew is having another Yonder Mountain Morning. 10:52am
Andrew --The Tao that I'm speaking of can't be spoken of. 8:20pm
Andrew says, the day the earth stood still SUX! Give me the 1951 version any day, I give it 9 Thumbs down. 9:29pm
Andrew is all about morphine dreams. 10:20am
Andrew is working his way to the scotch. 8:27pm
Andrew -in all the melee of bottling beer, I have misplaced my pants. 6:09pm
Andrew -- I have chosen play first and business last. I'm a man of contrast. I like details. I like ales;but how long can this last? 10:00am
Andrew is drinkin'. 4:36pm
Andrew is drinking hot chai and eating naan. 6:43pm
Andrew is doing C, G, Bb6, Am, Gsus,G, Gsus, G-In Finite. 8:54pm
Andrew really needs to bottle some beer but just doesnt have it in him today. 6:17pm
Andrew is doing his thing at castle greyskull. 1:42pm
Andrew has pentatonic scales on his mind with happily sore fingers. 9:18pm
Andrew believes the thing we learn from history is that nobody ever learns from history. 9:05am
Andrew is waxing his skis. 9:20pm
Andrew is tuning his guitars for the day so he can jam with the dead. These five day weekends will be the death of me. 12:05pm
Andrew is driving Heather crazy. 11:43pm
Andrew is partaking in some "Focusyn." 3:10pm
Andrew is a little sneezy. 10:31am
Andrew is coding at an alarming speed. 9:07am
Andrew says-Mouse, it's what's for dinner. 10:04pm
Andrew says its gettin rather smoky in here. 8:15pm
Andrew is deep into his zen-bones this month and hard truths will always be stronger than the bag of skin. 10:47pm
Andrew 's old apt. is on fire "all my old magazines and roachtraps....gone." 11:16pm
Andrew is back at castle greyskull. 1:55pm
Andrew is watching the snow melt. 9:38am
Andrew just put new strings on his classical guitar and is very happy. 9:33pm
Andrew is having his weekly freakout. 5:37am
Andrew is tuning his guitars. 8:20am
Andrew is all windblown. 5:31pm
Andrew "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." 10:40am
Andrew meandered through Boulder this morn and thinks this whole town smells of incense and coffee. 3:57pm
Andrew wishes others would stop droning on about politics. 9:10am
Andrew is hoping his brew survived the weekend and stays on schedule without anymore surprises. 11:20pm
Andrew is brewing some hooch and listening to radio 1190am. 4:03pm
Andrew is drinking homebrew. 9:02pm
Andrew is tripping through a maize maze.
Andrew is a little envious that friends are skiing today.-but its all good. 9:39am
Andrew is watching the mountain disappear before his eyes. 2:43pm
Andrew needs a chocolate sundae with extra chocolate syrup or he's going to wither away and die. 9:02pm -
Andrew is happy he fixed his car without going to a mechanic. 9:14pm
Andrew is downloading programs at an alarming speed. 10:37pm
Andrew has been doing his three chord progressions. 8:25pm
Andrew is milling about. 2:10pm
Andrew is wondering who is in Bombay, Maharashtra reading my blog....weird? 1:20pm
Andrew , an eccentric rogue as loveable as he is scurrilous. 2:09pm
Andrew says,he's nobodys little weasel. 7:23pm
Andrew wants a car who stays dead, not plays dead. 1:04pm
Andrew is adding new pics to old stories on "Lagerman Legends." 8:55am
Andrew is eating chocolate chip cookies and blogging. 8:31pm
Andrew has a nice beer buzz going on and ready to brew another batch! 6:25pm
Andrew is canoeing,looking for catfish. 8:58am
Andrew is working on his blog. 9:08pm
Andrew doesn't care about Dallas Texas and doesn't care about Wichita! 10:55pm -
Andrew 's sleep schedule is way off. 7:25am
Andrew is selling his vote for 15,000 dollars. 11:21pm
Andrew has had a very long and busy day-the kind of day he likes the least. 9:57pm
Andrew is finally done tweaking videos. 10:58pm
Andrew is milling about. 10:46am
Andrew is on his roof looking for UFO's again. 8:35pm
Andrew is on a Death Trip baby! 12:30am
Andrew is going to Fort Collins. 11:30pm
Andrew is listening to "If you're ever in Oklahoma" by Yonder Mountain string Band and wishes that jam went on forever. 11:05am
Andrew is ready to sedate Pablo. 11:08pm
Andrew 's beer is finally ready! 5:41pm
Andrew -The Dude Abides. 10:03pm
Andrew loves the internet, All the piracy and none of the scurvy! 8:48pm
Andrew is sampling his beer! 9:54pm
Andrew has gone fishin'. 8:25am
Andrew is thinking back to last night's show and thinking WOW! 9:20am
Andrew is getting ready to go see the New Mastersounds play at the Fox theater! 4:06pm
Andrew is bottling his beer. 10:27am
Andrew is avoiding the shower as long as he can and reaks of hippie sweat. 8:58pm
Andrew enjoys the smell of dirt while weeding his garden. 11:49am
Andrew is checking out plurk. 10:55am
Andrew is fine tuning his new mac and is happy! 9:40pm
Andrew is shootin' rats. 3:40pm
Andrew is drinking multiple Coronas and that's about it. 8:19pm
Andrew is milling about. 9:57am
Andrew drinks grog as he blogs at http://earthtoandrewjohn.blogspot.com/. 7:41pm
Andrew is having a john coltrane morning minus the heroin. 11:09pm
Andrew is comitting certain crimes that may be against the law. 3:00pm
Andrew needs 2 pints of homebrew stat! 2:14pm
Andrew got schooled by a 12 year old at bass fishing. 12:05am
Andrew is cold and has wolves after him. 11:07am
Andrew is wondering what you're doing! 9:03pm
Andrew has fishing on his mind. 11:08am
Andrew has gone drinkin'. 10:46pm
Andrew says you have to go to my myspace link below for the whole story because facebook stinks. 6:43pm
Andrew is shooting @ ufo's with his potato gun again. 10:45pm
Andrew is milling about. 9:45am
Andrew is milling about. 5:54pm
Andrew is milling about inside his brain. 10:37pm
10/28/07
Andrew joined the Boulder, CO network. 11:20pm
Andrew joined Facebook. 11:19pm

Affordable housing in Boulder

2009-02-27T18:31:00.001-08:00

Imovie HD Sucks and I want my old Imovie on my new mac.

2009-02-27T12:25:00.000-08:00

Once again we had a windstorm throughout the night and the furnace's pilot light has blown out. I awoke to a freezing house. I re-lit the pilot light and and it took four hours to get the room temp above 65 degrees. It is still windy outside. It is still cold.
I have spent all morning trying to find Apple's Imovie 6 but they have taken down the application. I hooked my old emac to my macbook via firewire and opened the old mac in Target Mode. I dragged Imovie 6 to my new mac and all seemed well...
That is, it seemed well until I began importing footage from my dvcam. There I noticed right away that my clips were all choppy and the audio makes a crackling noise. This just isn't going to work. I believe the cause is that my old mac runs on powerPC and new mac is intel based. When I bought my macbook, it had ImovieHD 8 installed already. I hate it. I do not even know where to begin on why I hate it. Apple just revamped Imovie HD and released Imovie9. Apple says it addresses the complaints and issues of Imovie8, but the word on the super highway is that "9" just isn't that much better and not any easier. In fact, one person wrote about Imovie9-"God help you if you smoke the reefer cause you can kiss your productivity goodbye". According to all the mac forums and newsgroups on the subject; mac users all over the world want their beloved Imovie6 back. For awhile Apple had "6" available for download but now it is gone. It's gone, unless I want to pay for the Ilife 06 Package. If anyone out there has Imovie6 on Intel based mac and wants to send me a copy.....I would be ever so thankful.

And another thing about my mac life...
The built in monitor on my emac has gone kaput. It doesn't work more than it does work. This is the reason the macbook was purchased this past fall. The hard drive still works great on my old emac, I just can't see anything. Ok simple enough, Just go get a new monitor. But no, I have to get a special vga to mini vga adapter. You would think that BestBuy would carry it right next to their monitors but they don't. If I could get a monitor and adapter, then I could still use my old emac for my movie editing. Today has really been a waste of time. I wasn't feeling any better when I went to Denny's this afternoon and had to listen to "glory of love" on their internal radio station while consuming some french toast.. Today just hasn't been my day.

More cool shows in Boulder coming up!

2009-02-24T21:21:00.000-08:00

This March is going to be great. First, I'm sure the fishing will pick up after the seasonal hiatus that we are coming out of. The lakes still have ice along the shores in most areas despite the recent warm weather we have been having. The water temperature yesterday at Coot was 32 degrees. BassMaster Billy and I didn't see any fish at all and no bites. Last week was the same situation at Wonderland. No bites at all, not even from the Bluegills and Perch. I've spent the last few hours vaccumming out all the sand and cigarette butts out of my tackle box. I have things rearranged and organized. It's time to put some fresh beer in the cooler.

I am always psyched to hear that these two bands are in town.

March 12 -Easy Star Allstars @ Fox Theater- already got my tix!

March 27- The New Mastersounds @ Fox Theater- already got my tix for that one too!

Rebel Rebel

2009-02-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

DAVID BOWIE

If you liked school then you'll love work!

2009-02-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

I'm pickin' n grinnin' while Billy decides which of my guitars to play.

He chose my Yamaha steel string

Turns out Billy can only play TV themes on the banjo like "Welcome Back Kotter"

*****************

******************

At a store near you

**************

Harry Shearer's weekly talk show, "Le Show" Someone as cynical about the outside world as I am.
***************************

Today I was thinking about the old stomping grounds

Wind blew out the pilot light

2009-02-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

The wind blew out the pilot light again to the furnace. Seems the high winds yesterday were the culprit. It was 56 degrees in here when I awoke.

I have been Neglecting my guitars since the introduction of the banjo, my fingers felt funny while trying to make simple chords because I have been learning new shapes for the new instrument. Good old muscle memory. I'm still having fun.

An old friend of mine, found me on Facebook. The old gang has been scattered and out of touch since the summer of 91'. Thanks to the wonderful internet and social networks like Facebook and Myspace; I have been reunited with the most of my friends. I could blather on and on about the old days but I am more intrigued with the novels my friends could write about themselves and the last 17 years. I am happy my old friend Pat takes the time to fish. It's great to know there is commonality and that time hasn't pulled us so far apart that we no longer share interests. It appears we are a lot in common...La Nueva Raza Brother! So, here's a pic of his recent living. Living life how it is meant to be lived...Doin' what you want! I believe he said he pulled this out in roughly 40 minutes- that's about a pound a minute, on a 20lb test line. I should have asked him the brand of line he prefers. I think he said this was caught in Missouri. You got me beat Pat. Rock on!

44lb catfish

2009-02-05T00:56:00.000-08:00

So I shouldn't have driven home, but hey, this is Boulder ;)-There is nothing like a sweet beer buzz while listening to live music. It doesn't matter what town your in I guess. BassMaster Billy, his wife Jen and I chose to drink Sierra Nevada Pale Ales all evening.
"I fish for walleye" "Muckluck", "Freebird","I like Icecream", free grandslams' at Dennys" ,"oatmeal!"-These are just a few of the things the DV Cam picked up in between the songs while I was recording Split lip Rayfield's concert last night at the Fox Theater. They have been dubbed a post-punk/bluegrass band. It's a pretty accurate description. What a colorful crowd tonight. As usual, Fox theater stays empty throughout the first act. People always manage to wander in just in time for the Headliner. The opening act was Spring Creek; another bluegrass band but sticks to the traditional styles of bluegrass. Spring Creek however had played all their songs at a faster beat than normal because SLR is such a fast moving band. I bought the latest CD and also a shirt from the band after the show and I got to talk to the bass player of SLR for a minute or so. I asked him how he felt about people recording their shows and posting on youtube and such and he said they are ok with it. I also complimented his bass and told him I like the name he gave it... "stitchgiver"... Jeff Eaton's homemade one-string bass, named Stitchgiver, built from the gastank of a 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis and a piece of hickory and strung with one piece of Weedwhacker line.

Now is the time to pick and grin.

2009-02-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

It's been less than a week and I know already, I am hooked on the banjo.
I just can't put it down.

So it's been awhile.

2009-01-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

I swung by the lakes today scouting out anything thawed. Still no good. I could smell the remnants from the huge grassfire Boulder had two weeks ago. That smell of charcoal and sulfur. The ground is still scorched black in many areas. Bassmaster Billy met up with a me at Lagerman Res. around 10:30 am. He came rolling up in his hippie van and the recent warm weather has dried the road enough that I could see his dust plume from a mile away. I sat on the trunk of my car drinking a beer. The Moldy Peaches are playing on radio 1190am,the song is Who's got the crack? I crossed Lagerman off my list and sipped my beer. I had already been to Wonderland lake, Teller lake, Coot lake and they were still iced over. Secret spot #4 looked promising and I spent about 40 minutes casting and walking along the shoreline before I headed to Lagerman. Billy rounded the last curve and speeds up as he hits the straight-away. He aims his Vanagon right at me like he always does and then slams on the brakes at the last second and skids on the dirt and gravel and comes to a stop about a foot from rear bumper. I hop off my Taurus, pop the trunk, grab an ice cold beer out of my cooler and hand it to Bill. I say, Bad day at Castle Greyskull? He says, yeah, the worst. I had to split early, I couldn't stand it anymore today. Which beer is this? I say it's December's brew, finally carbonated. Did you bottle your batch last night like you said you would? Yep, he replied. He then asked if I had seen the other lakes yet. I say, most of them, and so far they are iced over still. Did you check out Macintosh lake on the way to the castle this morning? Bill says, you know it, and its only thawed in the middle and the pelicans are swimming in it. So, it seems we won't be fishing anytime soon- We finished our beer and headed back to my place. After cracking another couple beers, He tells me how our last fishing excursion in the mountains managed to crack the engine block on the Commando. It seems we are going to be busy if we want to trek back up the canyon in the spring.

Classical Guitar

2008-11-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

I put new strings on my classical guitar today and I have been plucking away at it, letting it ring. Not much has been happening lately. It has significantly cooled down here in Colorado and if the weather holds out, I may just try out some new fishing lures and gear that I have recently picked up. Other than that and also cleaning out my car, updating my social network profiles, the endless hours of SSX Tricky on my Xbox, there isn't much to report from the land of Nod.

:End transmission:

2008-11-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

I want to be one of those old men who sleeps in his chair. Who eats when he's hungry and won't comb his hair. I want to stare off into space and see what I find, while my eyelids are down in the depths of my mind.

I want to be more like my cat,
whose relatively quiet
and stares at my plant.

Where paths meet

2008-10-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

Longmont,CO

Longmont, CO

Estes Park, CO

Safeway Has its Fingers On Your Coin Purse!

2008-10-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

I may be overreacting but,
One thing that has bothered me recently has been the cashiers at Safeway asking me if I want to round up my bill to fight cancer. Usually I say "yeah go ahead", but in these times, when all the media is focused on elections, collapsing banks, rising fuel costs, higher taxes, food shortages, political strife, and bad business pratices, I have to say enough is enough. Spidey sense keeps telling me to save my nickels and dimes. That damn change adds up, and those bigwigs at the grocery corporations know it. Now, I know I can be a greedy son of a bitch at times, and I'm the first to admit that my priorities are directly proportional to my selfishness but come on already; You hit me up like 4 times this week. First, someone in charge placed the oldest person at the store just inside the entrance, hawking scoops of ice cream to support prostate cancer research. Now, how can I say no to an old man with an ice cream rickshaw? Hey, did you ever think that you could train him to work the customer service/lottery/cigarette counter and give that man a chair and a little dignity? Or is that considered "favortism" and a potential lawsuit? OK, I have a severe ice cream addiction and I usually take the old man up on the offer. I have learned, there's nothing like a sugar rush to speed you through the aisles; grabbing what you need so you can get the hell out of there as quickly as possible.

The Checkout Aisle
I'm in the checkout line and I just answered the cashiers' first question; How are you today? I'm fine and you? It begins with Oh, I'm tired, I have been here all day. Next question: Did you find everything you need-Hun? (me)What? Oh yeah, thank you. Third question: What did you think of the debates?- I think "so and so" won the debate. I say, "I dunno". Now, I'm trying get my Safeway card to swipe properly. Once, twice, alright the cashier takes it from me and scans it with her machine. Wonderful- here comes the $64,000 question. Sir, would you like to round up your bill to support breast cancer? No mam, not today. The cashier smirks and replies, Are you sure? Don't you want to see the end of cancer? I could have punched her out right there. It's nobody's damn business why the customers says no. The customer is always right. I am the customer. I wonder if the suits encourage the managers to encourage the clerks to use these types of replies as a second attempt at your money like you're going to change your mind? I heard a rumor that the cashiers get reprimanded if they don't meet certain quotas. (Does anyone out there know if that's just a rumor or can anyone clarify that one for me?) Next, Don't forget to ask me my last name since you can't pronounce both syllables as you hand me my receipt.

To the people of Safeway,
I say; it's just business. Leave us alone to do our shopping. King Soopers and Wholefoods are right down the road a couple blocks. According to Forbes, you posted third quarter profits at 2.8% last week. http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/07/safeway-earnings-closer-markets-equity-cx_mp_1007markets35.html You say, It's from fuel sales. The .5% increase you post on your stores without pumps-better not come from our loose change. But how does anyone really know? The markets may be down but everyone still has to consume groceries so you're doing ok for yourselves. I don't care about your cashiers' political views, and I definitely don't need the "slow kid" -who is like 30 years old- who thinks Jesus is swell and wants me to know it, wait for me to unload my groceries. Politely reminding me to say prayers. At this point I'm chucking bags into my backseat as fast as I possibly can so he can take the cart back in. You know he is only going to stand there, so I guess I better hurry up. Like most people, I know where the cart corrals are and I didn't ask for any help out, In fact I declined the offer when the cashier asked. I also didn't ask about all the crosses you scribbled onto your jacket either so leave me the hell alone cart-boy.
http://www.planetfeedback.com/safeway+inc/other/stop+cancer+donation+quotas+safeway/313187

Homebrew swigged,rear stabilizer installed on my Taurus

2008-10-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

I don't care what anybody says. Bassmaster Billy, originally from Queens,NY is a swell guy-well sometimes. I wouldn't trust him to water my plants or feed my cat. I definately wouldn't want him to handle my affairs in an emergency. I don't even think he would be my first choice to pick me up from Denver International Airport. Despite his lazy-assed approach to the simple things, like getting to the lake on time, not "forgettng" his fishing gear especially the paddles to the canoe; He definitely comes through in the buddy department in the time of an automotive crisis.

I hit a speed bump really hard a month ago. I also had that car chase with Billy on those winding dirt roads that connect the farms between Highway 36 and the Diagonal highway and have had since, this clanging metal popping out of place sound somewhere in the mysterious underside of my beloved Taurus. It is an unsettling noise-one of those sounds you hope isn't your wheel coming off or your axel snapping or Jeez-Louise, the dreaded U-joint/tie rod/clusterfuck gasket, that is going to run me anywhere between $480- $675 -looking back at my average car repair costs since I have moved to Boulder back in 2001.

I sat outside Billy's house for a half hour, pondering the possibility of maybe considering, thinking about being interested in rearranging the contents of my trunk again. Just as I committed myself to the task, he shows up. I could hear his Vanagon rumbling up the street as I began to open my door. He has some muffler problems currently.

He has me bring my Taurus into his garage.
Billy says to me, he says, Relax and have a homebrew! Better yet, have two! Let me get this jacked up and see what's behind the wheel. Ok, everything looks fine here, brakes look good, Now let's jack the other side up and see. Ahh, look at this. This bar has rusted through and here is where it snapped off and broke the bolt. Let's look it up in your manual and see what "it" is. 10 minutes later after we finished our beers and had called in the part, we were on our way to pick up the "rear stabilizer bar link".

As I said above, I had something making an awful noise periodically when the car would go over a speedbump or small incline like when pulling into a driveway.
Turned out, I had a broken rear stabilizer bar link. $19.00 at Checker auto parts. An hour later we had a new bar link in place and I had the brilliant idea of using a second jack to raise the wheel hub thereby pushing the iron spring up the couple inches we needed to install the new link appropriately. I came to this idea by the fact that human force and a crowbar was not going to move the giant spring up the couple inches we were going to need and neither one of us was willing to lose a finger, an eye or worse yet, slip and damage the brakelines.

After successfully installing the new "bar link", we took my old grey mare out for a test drive. 75 mph and no problems whatsoever with speed bumps, railroad tracks, sharp curves on paved and unpaved roads and also stopping quickly so to make the back end of the car lift up. No noise! By Jove, he done did it! By sunset, we headed back to his house but stopped off first at the liquor store where I picked him up a case a beer, in gratitude. Today truly has been a day of satisfaction. Two drunken, half-assed half-wits, using their whole asses, managed to save a few bucks today. Life is good.

Leaving the windows wide open.

2008-10-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

It was cold, and it had snowed early this morning. I left my windows wide open as usual and awoke to freezing toes. It was 5 am when Pablo jumped onto my head, waking me up. Shit, I just went to bed a couple hours ago and now I'm up, looking at the snow covered flatirons waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. Brewing...That reminds me, I need to get that last batch of malted barley in the kettle very soon before it molds on me like it did a couple months ago. I need to use my hops before they go stale too. Looks like this week is going to begin quickly. Back to brewing- My pals went to the Great American Brew Festival this weekend. It was sold out and I was rather lazy on purchasing a ticket and arranging a place to sleep afterward. I definitely didn't want a repeat of the 2004 festival where a friend of mine and I sampled 72 different ales in a short amount of time. Only to hit a strip club (to sober up in) and ending up drinking 7 and 7's with a very kind brewer who we met earlier on in the evening. We emptied our wallets of all the singles to a fine lady at, uh, on our table. We then bumped into some Denver punk-rockers, all about 10 years younger than us and we talked music and whatnot near the Cherry Creek bike path. They insisted we all get tatoos. They didn't think it was all that cool when I said, yeah, I don't think so and as quickly as their moods changed-We were gone. I didn't think it was all that cool that they had never heard of Iggy Pop. Shit. I remember the mad poet, orataing his conciousness on the 16th street mall at 3 am. Walking up and down the mall yelling some unrecognizeable rhetoric as we tried to get our heads on straight. I remember waking up in my car in a parking garage near the convention center the beer fest was in. I remember my friends' husband was waiting on the porch when I pulled up to drop her off. He got in my car and we had a stare down. Funtimes.

BassMaster Billy got to meet and talk to the guru Charlie Papazian at the festival this past weekend. You guys are looking good. You drunkies! Back in 2004, I got the chance to talk to the old man. He looked at the notes I was taking on all the beers I was sampling and then signed my notebook. Charlie Papazian and BassMaster Billy at the GABF

Back to the snow.
I think I'm ready for the upcoming ski season, except I haven't decided if I'm gonna get my ski pass renewed or not though. Sometimes you just don't know which mountains you want to potentially die on from year to year, from day to day, but my skis and boots are all tuned up, The car is running fine; except I just recently started hearing a clanging sound underneath by the rear tires. Other than that, I have switched out my trunk's collection of summer survival gear with my winter survival gear. I topped off my flask of Glen Livet and I emptied my ashtray. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm ready for the slopes.

Pablo's near death experience involving a lamp

So, Pablo gets a burst of energy about 2 in the a.m., every a.m. I was pounding away at the keys on the mac, trying to complete a side project that I had let linger like so many of my interests when I noticed Pablo had gotten on top of my bookcase. I have this terrible vision of him rubbing his nose and whiskers against a piece of pottery and knocking it down onto my guitars. So I climb up to get him. He sticks his head in a wooden opening on my lampshade before I could grab him. Pablo Panics. He can't get his head out of the hole and tries to back his way out. He backs right off the bookcase and now is hanging by a paw, nails heavily dug into my wooden bookcase with a lampshade stuck on his head. Once he finally got his head un-stuck, I noticed how dusty my stuff has become.

My hiking boots have had it.

2008-10-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

There comes a time when you have to accept defeat and limp on home while you still can. I'm afraid to look underneath my socks to see how bad the blisters are but oooh that stings eh? My favorite hiking boots of all time have finally worn themselves out. Heather and I hit Eldorado Canyon this afternoon to capture more of the aspen leaves and gawk at the "climbers". I knew the boots didn't feel right when I put them on but I thought they would soften up.Me on Fowler Trail,Eldorado Canyon Park
They had gotten soaked fully during my last hike. They had spent two days sundrying. I think that is what did it. The leather has hardened. It seemed to get worse as we went on. I got a good 5 years out of them. I am happy about that.

An eccentric rogue as loveable as he is scurrilous.

2008-10-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

On the way down to the hardware store I stopped in at a coffee house. I picked me up this fine looking mug made by someone in Mexico. I had the coffee attendee wash it out before having them fill it with that hot black liquid. I sat outside at one of their tables, enjoying the heat from the sun. The coffee was warming me up from within. There is pleasant classical violin music playing in the background. Sometimes a passing truck on Folsom St. drowns out the music but it dopplers off after a few seconds. There is the combined aromas of coffee and the flowers in the garden section of McGuckins hardware which every so often a breeze carries the scent of mums in my direction. I shared a morsel of banana bread with two pigeons before some lady walking by, stomped her feet hard and caused them to fly away. I then directed my attention to a fly that had landed on my index finger. I let him sit there experiencing the residue from the banana bread for a little while and then lowered him to the plastic the bread was wrapped in. This common fly enjoyed several minutes of uninterrupted gestation before other flies caught on to the scent. When I was finished with my coffee I put my stuff in the car and then meandered through the great aisles of Mcguckins'. 45 minutes later I walk out with a bunch of top water lures, a piccolo windchime -tuned to the key of C, A small houseplant, and a bottle of drano.

On my way home I stop to pick up some smokes when these two well dressed men approach me as I'm getting out of the car. I didn't notice them till I had my door open and my feet just touching the ground. Bam!, They are right there with something to sign, like a petition. I was startled since I wasn't really out of the car yet so I grabbed a crowbar that I keep under the seat and jumped to my feet as I raised it over my head and started shouting "GO! GET AWAY FROM ME!, YOU WANT THIS YOU BASTARDS?" They were like whoa man take it easy- they jumped back about 15 feet by this time. I got back in my car and drove off. There are plenty of places to buy smokes in this town.

Another productive day at the Aler's homestead.

2008-10-02T17:29:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here currently listening to Harry Shearer's "Le Show" and just finished converting my latest pictures into a usable format. Harry is talking about pharmaceuticals being flushed into our water supply. I spent some time earlier today helping Heather with her "green Screen" project involving Pablo. Since then, I have been putzing around the house and uploading CD's.

Yesterday went like this...

BassMaster Billy picks me up in his Commando so we can go fishing.

We laughed and drove to the lake.

Bill was reading the rules at the trailhead.

So we walked and walked along the trail.

Admiring the view,

Admiring the farms,

As I walk the trail, I am reminded of simpler times.

I fished and fished but mostly just stood and stood.

We watched this pelican for quite a time.

Then the pelican got lucky.

We gave up on the fishing and went to Billys' house to drink some homebrew.
But when the homebrew was all gone, we drove through the drive thru liquor store,

where I saw this funny license plate.

After another beer or two, the instruments came out.

It was brutal but we jammed on and on.

Then BassMaster billy hurt his picking finger so we had to stop the jam.

We went by the lake at sunset but we didn't see any fish.

The word on the street and by street I mean the fishing guys at the tackle store, is that they are also getting skunked lakes. We had a pretty active season. It seemed to level off by the end of August. September was hit or miss and mostly a miss. This October has started rather weak with only two bass seen in 2 days. The word for this month is "optimism". We can be hopeful the bass will want to fatten up for the upcoming cold.

fall fishin',the bass give chase.

2008-09-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hawk circles above
Below,I widdle on wood.
Blue sky has gone orange
In between, yellow
I get shade from the treeline.
With the hawk's descent
in rippled water, fish hide.

I showed up to the lake and had a pole in the water at 2:56pm. BassMaster Billy wasn't due to arrive until 4:30; if he was to arrive at all- I had "text" him from my car and again at 4. It is not uncommon for him to miss my texts. We believe the workplace has lead walls. I had to start drinking before the beer got warm and had a pretty nice beer buzz going on before I got my first fish, a bluegill which put up a nice panic but wasn't all that big. No surprise there. A moment or two later I pull a small perch out. I'm muttering to myself, where are the bass?

I threw in my lines, both having the Texas rigging on them. Since it had been slow, I thought I would concentrate on my yoga, my breathing and this little piece of a Russian olive branch that was nearby that I had started widdling with my Swiss army knife. Facing the sun, inhaling the sweetness of the lake,I hear my pole twitch next to me. I drop my knife and stick, reach forward, grab the pole, wind in a little slack and then Yank!... Nothin'... I exhale and lean into my hamstrings as they cling to the cool ground. I inhale. Gary Yamamoto softbait is my usual choice on this lake but I had'nt any success earlier so I switched to my last years favorite, "Roboworm" I remember having great sucess last year at this time; using the roboworm at three other lakes in and around Boulder. I relax a bit and sit normally for a while just carving away at this little piece of wood. I'm concentrating on my breathing once again as I clear my mind. The wood begins to take on a shape. I had been hollowing out the end as deep as my knife would allow and had been careful not to split it in half. The air is picked up by a slight wind and I hear it sing through the bush in a whisper of a harvest summer afternoon. I am reminded that I need to start scavenging driftwood and other forms of kindling, for the upcoming winter is going to be cold.

About 2 minutes before Bassmaster Billy arrives, I had just completed carving out a whistle. I can get two distinct sounds from it by inhaling or exhaling through it to make the sounds. "The whistler" as it has been dubbed had Billy coming back to my spot to play around with it and see if it would torment the countless dogs that stroll by. A couple dogs didn't like it and a few didn't care one way or another.

I moved further down the trail alongside the lake and I would cast out into the cattails and weeds to stir up the lumbering fish. Something big pounces on the roboworm, and my reel begins to spin noisily. I let out the drag some and wind the line in slowly giving the fish a chance to tire out. When there was a lull in the fight, just when I would think I could reel him in, it would dash out into the deeper water and zig zag back and forth. All of a sudden I heard the defeated snap! followed by the whizzing sound by my ear from the recoil of the line. Damn... Billy had'nt caught anything yet. At least I was getting hits. I quickly tied on another hook and attached another one of last years' roboworms,then I casted back into the weeds...and Nothin'.

The Aspen Leaves are turning

2008-09-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Heather and I took advantage of the near 90 degree weather and went for a drive. We charged up the cameras, grabbed the new mac book and of course my emergency fishing kit and through it all in her car. After topping off the gas tank and buying some snacks, we first drove up to NCAR and walked around the trails . It didn't take long before I found a bees nest in a log so I backed away from it slowly. We took some pics of the flatirons, various flowers and cacti,the plains. I also got some shots of the building with its unique architecture. We uploaded the photos directly in to the mac to preview them in full size. The pictures came out well but nothing spectacular. We went on Lee Hill Road and saw a bunch of cyclists trekking to the top. We came out near the Heil Ranch Trail. Then we headed to Lyons,CO which is just North of us. We pass on through without stopping and later on I regretted the decision to do so because I really wanted a steak at Oscar Blues. So, 20 minutes later or so, we are up to Estes park. As soon as we passed the lake, I had Heather let me out. I was in such a haste that when I grabbed my tackle and pole, I forgot to grab my bait. 5 minutes later I'm calling Heather back to drop them off. I said come back when your bored. I fished for an hour and nothin'. Some guy was flyfishing, standing in the middle of Lake Estes and the water was very shallow. I didnt see him catch anything either. Heather drove up to Devil's Gulch and got some really nice pics. After she came back and picked me up, we headed back down the hill and stopped off at Big Elk Meadows to grab some shots of the turning leaves on the Aspen trees. We don't get the fall colors the East is known for, the colors we grew up with. Out here the green goes yellow against the white bark of the Aspens and then they fall. When we got home we started editing and comparing what we took throughout our drive.
Today has been rather low-key. The house was already picked up, and various chores were up to date. There wasn't much to do before I'd take off to the Nepali Resteraunt for chai so I hung around listening to music and trying to play along a little with my Fender. Bass Master Billy stopped in for a homebrew but couldn't stay long because his lady has the day off. The sky has turned cloudy and a few sprinkles hit the ground occasionally, It looks really dark over the mountains. Summer has kept Fall away but soon it'll be overtaken. The farmers and the mountain men are telling the same story. It's gonna be a hard winter. I have been considering this to be the time to gather kindling. I have been enjoying the recent warm weather we have been getting. I just don't believe we are gonna get much more of it. Winter is coming. I can't let the rest of this day go to waste. I have enough ingredients to brew another batch of ale and so that's what I'm gonna do.

2008-09-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

I see the potential for urban jousting

2008-09-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

Prairie Rattlesnake @ Eldorado Canyon

Heather snapped this photo last Saturday while hiking the Eldorado State Park just outside Boulder. These rattler's don't mess around and apparently was very upset about getting its' picture taken.

I spent yesterday helping BassMaster Billy put his top back on the Commando; In between downing bottle after bottle of homebrew and grilling up porkchops marinated overnight in homebrew. We didn't have time to fish. I'm planning on hitting a lake or two this afternoon before I return back home to brew another batch of that sweet amber ale. I need to use up some of my hops. I spent most of my morning today chatting it up with my bro back East. I got up really early because my cat is crazy and tore through the house waking my ass up. Once I was up, I was up for good. It worked out well though because of the two hour time difference so my bro and I had a while to catch up.

Just where the hell have I been?

2008-09-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

I know that's what you have all been thinking; Wondering what kind of adventures I might be getting into that would be keeping me from ranting or "rapping the keypads" on my trusty machine. I took a break from the blog. I wanted to read blogs of others. I wanted to take the pulse of this digital society. I wanted to retrieve rather than dole out useless rappings on the keyboard. I wanted to play my guitars. Here I am this evening, sitting in front of my blog for the first time in over a month. Listening to a live YMSB -recorded at Boulder Theater 8-1-08. I'm drinking some of my homebrew from one of my favorite glasses and the TV hasnt been turned on all week. I started making a list of the things I remembered of the past 6 weeks.
Turn, the weather has.
Each morning I awake just a little colder.
The air even smells cold. It also feels a little quieter.

Endless hours, progressions of 3 chords.

less fishermen out, worm supply in no danger.
Fish aren't biting much these days anyways.

Dirty, how Pablo fights.
OK my cat is more like a dog except he doesn't fetch yet. He kicked our neighbor's cats' ass and I have the video footage to prove it.

Fort Collins, a pretty town. I took a drive up North to assist a friend in buying a used car. We get pulled over while we are taking it out for a test spin. My friend crawled through a busy intersection and the cops noticed we had no license plate visible. My friend is from Nepal. He paid in cash which I felt to be cool since it was a 6000$ transaction, but he paid the last few hundred dollars in one dollar bills. The guy selling the car asked me if he was going to pull out penny rolls next. I said, I hope not and tried not to crack up. Ok so, then I am to follow him back to Boulder. This way I am there in case his new-used car shits the bed. I love the guy and his family really I do, but man, they drive so slow that it is actually dangerous to the other drivers.

Awesome beer after hiatus.
Due to budget constraints and my pure laziness I was on a homebrew hold. When I was finally ready to get back into the swing of things, my grain had all gone rotten and moldy. I got a batch going of a nice amber ale this past month and is finished conditioning in the bottle. mmm...I'm Back

Found by old friends. You gotta love Facebook and Myspace.
Hindu friends, terrified in my car. Hindu friends drive too slow. My unlimited love to my friends.

Saw a 6 string banjo, I did. Apparently it is tuned in the standard E like most guitars and therefore the chord configurations are the same except that it sounds like a banjo. Huh. I never knew they had those.

Anyone remember the global warming of 2004?

I got my new mac and I'm really quite happy.

2008-07-30T00:38:00.000-07:00

First of all, I just purchased my new mac book. I am a very happy camper now. I would be in Apple heaven if there was one. Basically, I spent lots of money so I could get more of those little Apple stickers that you get with every purchase. I haven't transfered my files yet from my other mac. I did upload a couple of The B52s albums and a few flamenco songs so I wouldn't be so bored, as I monitor the world wide webster.

I think it winked at me!

I think it was last year when a lady was charged for animal abuse for dyeing her cats' fur for one of our crazy festivals. I think she dyed her cat pink. Some animal rights people were seeing Red.

Hit Lagerman today with my pal, and was able to pull two bass while we contemplated what day we wanted to pick the Hops. It was another 95 degree day and that makes the 20th 90+ degrees day in a row. BassMaster Billy was able to pull one bass. We decided that we are to pick those aromatic hops tomorrow.

Home Grown Hops, Ready for pickin'
I drove past the secret hops location to check their progress. We call them the "stolen Hops". For the last couple years, we have been harvesting "stealing" these precious little hop cones of enlightenment for our homebrews. They are just growing next to some guys house. It looked like they weren't ready yet.

Not a cloud in the sky as I fish for Walleye on the fourth of July.

Ahh, the life.
FX Matt, will you please ship your beer out Colorado way. It's too hot here and Boulder Beers, as great as they are, simply can't make a Pale Ale like yours.
Total fish this season 351

:End Transmission:

Baby Sandwhich aka California Cheeseburger

2008-07-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

I prefer BBQ sauce.

It's been a super hot Colorado summer as usual, and I have been rather lax about getting to the lakes and fishing for hours on end. I'm still getting out about twice a week for a few hours so Life is still good.

Total fish this season =349

:End Transmission:

The Sangre de Cristo Mountains Adventure

2008-07-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

The San Luis Valley reminds me of how vast this state is. A couple hours in any direction will bring you to something different and amazing. Sometimes you can drive for an hour before you pass another car. Space, lots and lots of space. My pal JP and I hit the road from Boulder at about noonish, Clipping along South with the stereo blasting and enjoying the 75mph highways we have been blessed with and after topping off the gastank in Walsenburg, we started headng West toward Alamosa.

The sun setting over the great sand dunes

And it seems,where there is sand, there is wind. I felt the sand like tiny blades hitting my face. I could only wonder what was going to happen to my camera. I tried to keep my miniDVcam's lens covered.

Initially I had plans already. I was to go to a party on Friday, then head North to Fort Collins to fish at Horsetooth Reservoir on Saturday, But all those plans fell through. I took the time off work because a very good friend of mine was coming back in town. The party-which I was to go ended up being a few couples and a pigroast bbq. I decided to skip that. We ran into a snag with our plan to fish Horsetooth because my friends brother already had guests staying at his house and so he was busy entertaining. I get up Saturday morning and start putzing around when I get the IM from a buddy of mine and he wants to know if I want to go climb Mt Lindsey-elevation 14,042ft. So, with no planning and just a quick stop at the grocery store, we were on our way.

We drove to Alamosa, well, 15 miles shy of Alamosa before we headed North to the great sand dunes and set up camp in the late afternoon. After the tent was up, we spent the next couple hours playing on the dunes,contemplating whether or not there were more grains of sand than there were stars in the universe and other stuff. We spent our evening with our maps spread across a picnic table at our campsite, plotting our journey to the base of Mt. Lindsey. It turns out that there is no access to the mountain from the western side of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range and that we would have to drive 80 miles back around to the Eastern side to get to the trailhead. The way the crow flies, we only needed to get about 15 miles to Lindsey but with no access on the Western side, it takes about 80 miles to get around it. We woke up early and ate breakfast and broke down our campsite and was on our way within an hour. After finding a dirt road access point, we made it to the trailhead around 830am. 2 hours later than we had hoped. We were hoping to be starting our trek at 630 so if we made it to the top, it would still be early enough to get down in case the weather changes. Despite the delay we started walking.

After an hour of walking and crossing icy glacier runoff a few times, we made a wrong turn while following the cairns and we lost an hour and a lot of energy. We looked down from the side of the loose rocks we were on and we see the trail on the other side. So we hike over to that and continued on our way up Lindsey. Above the treeline, we made peanut butter and honey sandwiches and hydrated and we had a friendly marmot hang out with us.

After lunch we continued on. Well, we only made it up about 3/4 of the way up when the sky started to go dark and we spoke with other hikers who were on their way down who said they didnt make it to summit because weather was changing. We found some hikers who also made the same wrong turn we did and who also lost an hour hiking just like we did. Despite not getting to the summit,we had a blast.

She turned out to be a he and we named him Pablo.

2008-07-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

"A monk asks: Is there anything more miraculous than the wonders of nature? The master answers: Yes, your awareness of the wonders of nature."
And so I sat under a tree in my yard and just stared at the seed pods as they explode from the branches. The pods twist up like those little pretzels and explode with a snap which scatters the seeds. Perfection.

12 BAR BLUES-Sharpening my callouses with scales and Clapton.

Mcguckin's Hardware-is there anything you don't carry? pet ID tags and collars -engraved in 3-4 minutes, premium high quality dirt by the bagful, top dollar worms-refrigerated and non refrigerated. You can also buy hardware.

Crappy Television -Stay and watch Return Of the Jedi for the 50th time on Spike TV. Then stay tuned for more commercials about erectile dysfunction.

She turned out to be a he and we named him Pablo. Pablo the Hobo who was lingering around the patio door on June 15th found two suckers willing to feed and bathe him. We even sprung for some ear mite medicine. He has made himself at home. We should have named him Lola.

Buying hooch on Sundays is not just for God anymore. Thats right, Colorado finally makes it into this century. With the red tapery of bureauracracy out of the way, a blue law is finally lifted. The Beer Baron comes out of hiding.

2008-07-02T23:07:00.000-07:00

And so Lagerman Reservoir finally produces a walleye. I keep getting reports that this lake is over-fished. Texas Clint and a buddy of his joined me at the lake we managed to tear it up for a brief amount of time and the action was steady. It didn't take long for a ranger to drive up and check our papers.

Nailed 3 bass also and a couple mature bluegills.

By the way, the water level is at the lowest I have seen it in the last 3 years.

Total fish this season = 318

:End Transmission:

Slow week

2008-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

With the temperatures reaching the upper 90's, I haven't really felt like fishing. The water has risen quite a bit and the places where I could walk out are not shallow anymore. The banks give off the illusion that there is hardly a place to stand, not like last week when I could set up my gear and my tripod and still have adequate room to move about the shoreline and do some casting. I went to Bass Pro Shop on Monday and gawked at the huge fish aquarium. I found the prices to be fair all in all. I did feel that $134 for a "super duper extra flex" fishing rod was a little too expensive. I felt that $220 for a Abu Garcia reel was totally a rip off. The prices on softbaits were a couple dollars more than where I usually pick them up but the place I usually go-A hardware store,doesn't have aisle after aisle after aisle of jelly worms. The Bass Pro Shop had a great selection and I could have stayed a long time comparing this softbait to that one but I already found what works for me on the lakes. The pro shop is located way down towards DIA, so I probably won't go there very often. Too far to drive. Mail order seems the way to go.

Boulder Valley as the Commuters see it

The last couple days have been really leisure-like, I have been playing my acoustic fender and prodding along on my scales. No doubt my fingers are sore. It's a happy sore, a soreness that cannot be complained about, it's the feeling of accomplishment. I've been listening to Ry Cooder doing his bluesy stuff as well as his work in the Latin music scene. This guy is amazing. I have also been trekking around the county checking the ponds and streams. As I said earlier, I haven't been casting much. Just in the mood to poke around and see whats what in the water scene. Last evening, Heather and I made a night of Margaritas .

Travel to water.
No cast, Bassmaster decides.
Now is not the time.

Swiftly treks on home.
Rhythm in head, wants release.
Sweet fingerpickin'.

Yesterday BassMaster Billy calls me up and says that a lady where he works said her son pulled a Tiger Muskie out of the infamous Lagerman reservoir just in the last few days. I keep hearing reports that it has been overfished. My experience there earlier this year has led me to this conclusion too. The action was amazing last year and stayed pretty consistent. I did notice that many people came with there families and that moms would hang out under the kiosk, in the only shade available at this lake and they would be tending the bbq grill. I would see a guy or his kids pull in a fish and immediately run up to their picnic table and gut it and she would grill it. I can see fairly well, well enough to know when a fish is a bass or not and well enough to know legal size limit. It appeared that they keep all they took out of the water... So, where are the rangers during all this? I would not want to deny a family of food, but this just looks like a recreational day. They all looked far from poor, far from hunger. I don't know. Sometimes we cannot see the imbalance or stress put on the lake. On the weekends there are so many boats trolling that one would think they were working together, in unison, like when cops are using a dragnet to search for bodies. I was told once that a cop said this is where felons hang out, while checking the papers of a legal fisherman. Another thing, there are no shade trees. That is vital for a healthy lake. Fish in general need places to hide other than the submerged rocks. Shady,leafy trees overhanging the banks also a provide food source when bugs and pests fall into the water from the branches. I'm thinking of checking Lagerman out again with my buds later today. I'm hoping the fishing has improved. I wonder if the water has risen much there too.

Total Fish this season =312
:end Transmission:

Anyone can learn to catch fish

2008-06-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

So, I took my Nepali friend's son and his pal fishing today. They have only fished a couple times and they spend much of their time trying to unravel knots that they have gotten themselves tangled in. I must have cut about 100 yards of line from their poles throughout the day. After a little while they sort of figured out a casting technique that works. They managed to pull 10 fish each, out of this old fishin' hole,mostly bluegills and perch but they both did catch a couple bass. The largest bass they boys got was 13 1/2 inches.

I was in the zone in between fixing their tangles and teaching them tricks. I nailed 9 bass. 2 were 15 inches, 2 were 16 inches the rest varied on the smaller side. I also caught my share of bluegills and perch. I usually catch, take a picture and release my catches-so they will be there again in the future, but I let the boys keep one of the 15 inch bass that I caught because they wanted to eat one.

I tried to tell them it's not the best thing to do because of the heavy metals that pollute our waters but they insisted. Eating one fish probably wouldn't hurt anybody but I would prefer they got into the habit of returning the fish back to god. I hope they learn to respect the hunt.

"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not the fish they are after." Henry David Thoreau

And of course when they wandered down the shoreline, I cracked open a couple of these and drank fast!

Total fish this season =308

:end transmission:

The Hops Situation

2008-06-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

You know it!

hmm, the hops situation.
It looks like its going to be a fruitful year in our neck of the woods. I passed by the wild hops we call "the stolen hops" and they are growing like a wildfire on a windy day. Last year we made some tasty brew using these for our bittering agent, our flavoring characteristics, and also for the dry hopping method which gives the aroma characteristics. It was outstanding!

My pal- BassMaster Billy has some "cascades" that he planted 5 years ago in his garden and it has surpassed the 25 foot mark already and has hop cones at near maturity. We may get a second year of triple harvests.

Two card-carrying hopheads

Well,when your right 48% of the time...

2008-06-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

You are wrong 52% of the time. And that just proves an earlier point that what worked yesterday doesn't mean it will work today. Yesterday I had an amazing bass day. So after trial and error yesterday and trying to have a controlled experiment with my casts, one rod rigged with live worm and one rod rigged with Gary Yamamoto 4 inch worm -assorted colors, I seemed to have opposite results at the end of today.

Today it was one good size bass on a Yamamoto and the rest of the day the only strikes I got were with the worm. About the time I was going to call it quits I landed this big boy. Today the lake preferred live bait. 18 inches and all fight. I quickly put him back in the water and called it a day.

Total fish this season =293

:End Transmission:

Bouldertown fishing-Live worms versus the jellies

2008-06-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

My live bait didn't survive the trunk of my car. In fact only a couple worms survived long enough to be speared with a hook. Yeah , I know, I'm terrible- stabbing this, hooking that, spouting obscenities to dog owners who don't control their dogs. vis a vis. I get the occasional person who puts their two cents worth in the fishing equation and just doesn't believe that the fish survives after being hooked. Well, they do. I release the fish as quickly as possible from the hook and return them to the water and I watch the fish swim away-After I take a picture of it. Anyways, I feel that they survive being hooked far better than being exposed to the poisons that are in our water supply's. That's what kills fish-not hooks, but rather pesticides, insecticides, and the occasional Coors truck that tips over on a curve on a canyon road spilling it's froth into the creek. I'm already off the point. We fishermen, anglers and weekend warriors know that nothing beats the live worm when it comes to pulling out fishes but the last couple years, I have been working two rods, one with a live worm and one with a jelly worm or "artificial softbait" and I have to say that although the worm brings in the high numbers of strikes, the artificial kut baits are bringing in the heavier fish. SO, what's your goal when you are competing with pals? Do you want to win the quantity category or do you want the size/weight category?
Total fish this season = 282

:end Transmission:

I gots my mac back!

2008-06-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

The Infamous Jeep Commando is running So let's go Fishin'

Billy behind the wheel- a typical day with
two bastards terrorizing the Longmont community!

I gots my mac back!

And I'm so very happy about that. As an internet junkie, I find it hard to be without my mac for 5 days, unless I'm camping or whatnot. Then it's not a priority. We have had a surprise visitor this week. A cat wandered in through our sliding door and has made itself at home the last couple of days. I wake up to find her sleeping by me. It has a collar and doesn't appear to be malnourished and it seems pretty chill, especially with all the visitors I have. Cat doesn't even seem to notice them. For the time being, I have named her Miss Kitty. (a tribute to the Gunsmoke days) This is the third cat in the last two months who has stopped in for a visit or an extended visit. I'm starting to think there is a sign outside the house like the "hobo symbols" on the Simpson's that tells other cats that this is a safe-house for respite and vittles.

Miss Kitty

The original Miss Kitty

And now to the fishing...
The white rhino, Bassmater Billy and I have had a great week so far with all the booze drinkin and hook flingin' . Except for that really good day at the Boulder Reservoir a month ago, I have had dismal luck back on that damn dam. There is nothing like walking plague infested trails and dodging the goat shit to get to a mediocre fishing spot. Incidentally they use goats out here to manage the weed situation. Back at Coot lake the fishing has been outstanding.

All week it has been Bass after bass after bass.

Yours truly

BassMaster Billy

The White Rhino

Total fish this season = 270
:End Transmission:

And with the wind comes the bass.

2008-06-11T10:08:00.001-07:00

So fishing may have been good earlier this week, but I have had my mind distracted on a computer monitor system failure. I am quite fond of my mac and it bothers me that even after five years of loyal service, the catho-ray tube has most likely blown. I tried screaming at it, tried burning incense and finally took it to the mac shack. I'm awaiting the diagnostic results.
Currently I'm using Heather's Mac G5 and it's a great machine. I hate the mouse though.

So, I was pricing some shotguns. I was at the sports authority and actually checking out some fishing gear when I see this advertisment for a shotgun for $189.00. So, I ask the clerk if i can see this shotgun that is posted at such a cheap price and he said that the gun fell apart in the hands of the last guy who wanted to see it. I knew it was too good to be true.

Respect the hunt and give 'em back to god.

Here is the trophy of the day- A whopping 18 inch Bass weighing almost 4 pounds.

The rest of this week has been very very windy. the fishing has slowed. I've pulled a total of 20 fish all week and that for me is considered a slow spell.
It looks like I'm renewing my lease. I wasn't going to but I like having a garage, a garden and my neighbors are really chill. Hot chicks who do tai chi in the backyard- I can't complain. I haven't seen my resident raccoon lately and that is odd. He usually goes poking around on my patio but it has been over a month since I've seen him last. Well, it is now Friday and it looks like the wind has finally settled down to a slight breeze. It's time to get back to the lake and do some fishing. I have some new gear to try out and possibly write about.

Macintosh Lake in Longmont on June 10. That's Long's Peak in the background.

Total fish this season=247

:End Transmission:

2008-06-06T16:26:00.001-07:00

Texas Clint

And whats all this now? The pumps automatically shut off after filling $35.00 worth of sweet petrol into my gas tank. Is this a debit card kinda thing or is it a way to ration out fuel? I'm trying to fill my Taurus here. What's the story? You've already got me "pre-paying" What more do you want?
Almost caught me a walleye today-yeah, almost. I got it to the surface but it had other plans. Snapped my line with a good jolt. 85 degrees today when we headed down the trail. Conditions today were very Windy. Weatherman says breezy. Breezy my ass. Gale force and white caps on the water at Boulder reservoir. Damn fortune teller can't even tell us the present. So, after walking a mile to the res., then walking the mile back an hour later, then walking another half mile around coot, then walking another half mile back, I'm pretty tired. The sun beat down the whole time. I'm carrying about 30 pounds of water and a bag of oranges in my backpack and another 30-50 pounds in my tackle. Do I need all this stuff? You may ask and I would say yes.

Texas Clint was able to get this carp out of the water before it snapped his line. that made 7 fish for him today,two of which were bass- he caught his first "red-eye" bass this morning. I on the other hand was able to pull 12 fish between the two lakes we fished today and six were bass not including that possible walleye that snapped my line early on.

I got a nice Crappie yesterday.

Texas Clint fought long and hard

Total fish this season=227

:End Transmission:

2008-06-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

I nailed this bass using a Gary Yamamoto artificial worm, not the infamous 'cheetos style' that Billy and I have been working on. I still haven't cleaned up the spillage in the garage since the last pour. My fake worm molds need a good cleaning too. We poured the orange and white molten plastic, which melts in its liquid state at 300 degrees back in April. We have not yet perfected the ratios and the true color scheme/design. Also we are too drunk and busy on the lakes to get down to business figuring out the math corrections on my secret formula. That's alright, Yamamoto has been our trusted ally on the war on Bass.

The White-Rhino was gonna beat me in numbers today but I was going to beat him in the size/weight department. After getting some lunch in a Niwot cafe' we hit the lake and met up with BassMaster Billy. Billy hands me 20 dollars. Its always nice when people give me money. As usual I work the jellys and had fairly good results. Kiran showed up with his family but they all left when the rain started except for their son,who was willing to gut it out with Rhino and I. Billy had obligations with the wife so he split before Kiran's clan arrived. He wasn't catching shit but did manage to catch a Russian Olive tree before he was heard saying. Fuck this guys, I call ya's tomorrow. Bastards!That's it I'm goin home. As usual BassMaster Andrew- You suck and to you-Rhino, get bent!

All in all it was pretty good action. The lightening was hitting close though and I didn't want to have to call Kiran and tell him his boy was struck and his body was sizzling on the shoreline so we hung out at the trunk of my car and I showed him how to set up proper knots for his hooks. This was his second time fishing. He did manage to pull 3 bluegills out of the water and one was a pretty good size despite the stunted growth this species has endured due to overpopulation and not enough predators. It's getting harder and harder to find a bluegill bigger than your hand. 15 years ago it was another story.

Total fish this season= 214
:End Transmission:

2008-06-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

7 fish- today at Coot. Windy conditions and nothing was biting until it stopped. I headed off to Robb's Music, which just moved to its new location on 30th street to buy some guitar strings and price the banjos. It as been a slow day.

Total fish this season= 210

:end transmission:

This was Boulder falls at 8:25 this morning.

2008-06-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

This was Boulder falls at 8:25 this morning. As I traveled up the canyon I was amazed at how high and how fast the Boulder creek was flowing.

I was coming down the mountain with a taste for a Mega Mango Jamba Juice. With only 4 hours of sleep, I had already been to my friends house for breakfast and chia tea, I had finished what I needed to at the courthouse, I hit the bank, trekked up to the falls and now my body desired something sweet. I could feel it was going to be a hot day. I quickly fell asleep for a couple hours when I got home, leaving the half consumed mango drink on the table. It was still cold when I awoke. I restrung one of my fishing poles after my nap, and started sorting my mail. BassMaster Billy stopped in for a few moments and had a beer as we discussed our fishing schedule for this week. Now I have him interested in Boulder reservoir too since he saw the photos of the red eye bass I was pulling out on some artificial worms. I think the true name is "Rock Bass". I'm ready to hit Lagerman reservoir and see if the fishing has picked up there. Last year it was hot-It was the place to be for large bass and an occasional walleye. Hell, thats where the Lagerman legends were conceived. Thats where we saw that UFO repeatedly in the evening skies and thats where they found that bullet riddle cattle carcass on the side of the road. I think thats where the law likes to hang out and take their lunch breaks. Two patrol vehicles, a car and a truck would show up almost everyday and walk "officer scraps". Once in a while they would walk up to me and ask to see my "papers", ask about the action, ask if I know who has been messing with the skidloader and other construction tractors. Sometimes they would sneak up on me and see my flask or whatnot and they were cool about it. "Scraps" would go sniffing around my tackle box and my front pockets and I would have this officer asking me if I had seen any Walleye. Catch any waaaallleeyyyeee today? No, not today, just bass. But I catch and release back to god. Oh thats good. Have a good day. You do the same. Ok, they're back to their vehicles, I need a drink. Oh shit it's been sitting out the whole time. I'm so dumb. But, I guess a guy fishing is no menace to society. Fools.

I hit Coot lake again today, Landed four bass and One perch, I fished the opposite side I usually fish at so I could even out my tan. I don't want to look like one of those "types" that you see wandering around the Pearl Street Mall. I called up BassMaster Billy to gloat since one of the bass was a good 16 inch fatty, and also because I had exceeded the 200 mark as I suspected I would. Billy couldn't come out and play today because he was hosting a friend from out of town. Once I realized I was a psychotic ape existing out in the middle of nowhere, in a galaxy out in the middle of nowhere, things began to come clear, as clear as the waters I fish. Life is good. So, after fishing solo I went home and immediately fired up the grill and took a couple pictures of the evening sky.

To the East, a nice thunderhead,

to the West a setting sun.

Total fish this season =203

:End Transmission:

FX Matt fire,Saranac hiatus and I think I have the shakes

2008-05-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

The elusive Black Crocfish.

With all the anxiety built up since I heard about the FX Matt brewery burning down last night, in Utica NY. A city I once called home for a couple years. I awoke this morning, choking on the thought that there was no more Saranac Pale Ale, left in the country. Since they don't sell it out west, There would be absolutely no chance of running to the nearest store and grabbing a few cases. dem Bastards I had two choices. I could sit here and lament or I could go fishin'. I quickly forgot about all that delicious beer not getting bottled when I caught my first bass of the day, a modest 12 inch largemouth. I was drinking some Hazed and Infused when I hit my second, third and fourth bass. I caught a total of 6 bass, 5 bluegills, and 4 perch. I'm 2 fish short of the 200 mark. Oh,I also got to see a groovy sunset.

I dig front range sunsets

Total Fish this season=198

:end transmission:

FX Matt fire is still burning

2008-05-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

I think I'm Gonna be sick. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG This is not happening. My beloved brewery. My whole reason to why I started homebrewing has just gone up in flames and is still burning as I write this. No doubt people will be buying up what they can of that sweet sweet Saranac. mmmmmmm. Malty. FX Matt was the best thing Utica had to offer other than the half moon Pastries (black and Whites) that Hemstrought's bakeries has. Or had, It's been a long time since I have had a halfmoon. I don't even know if they are still in business. I don't know what is with Colorado. No Saranac, No halfmoons, No decent garlic and very few Friday fish fry? I hope the brewery gets rebuilt quickly.

I hit Boulder reservoir today- It's an easy mile walk from Coot Lake to get to the North Dam. Easy walk despite the signs for the Bubonic Plague that are everywhere. I was pulling Red eyed Bass out with live as well as artificial (jelly) worms. I even grabbed a couple using a jig setup. I was hoping to catch those infamous Walleyes I keep hearing about but not a one made its presence known. Only Red eye bass. I can't complain. The fishing was good. Others who I have spoken with in the past have said they have never caught anything there and I like knowing that I won't be one of those guys.

total fish this season =183

:End Transmission:

My guitars rang sharp with the humidity

2008-05-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

With all the rain this past week, I have been hitting my garden for night crawlers. I have been tuning and retuning my fender and the classical all week. The air is humid and that is something we don't get very much of. Quite refreshing really. I spent some time also, listening to Alan Watts lectures and started a new top - water lure carving. I just need to attach the hooks.

So, after getting a key made at Mcguckins hardware and checking out the farmers market, I grabbed some sushi for lunch and hit the lake. I pass some regulars as I walk the trail and this older man says, "I've been here all day and ain't got nothin". So, I reply, "The fish have been waiting for me to show up" I get past him, I'd say at least 50 feet to his right and I start putting my gear together. Within ten minutes, I pull my first of 4 bass out.

I got there about a half hour before Bassmaster Billy did. As soon as he arrives, we called up the local radio station Radio 1190 AM here in Boulder and requested Bitchin' Camaro by the Dead Milkmen. He's heading into the mountains to camp till Monday. I'm sure he'll grab some trout unless the water is running high due to the recent rain and the spring thaw.

It is incredibly important to unthink at least once a day.-Alan Watts

There is only the eternal now!

4 bass,1 bluegill water temp at 52 degrees
Total fish this season = 176

:End Transmission:

2008-05-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

"The planet is in distress and all of the attention is on Paris Hilton.”

-Al Gore

3 perch, 1 bluegill-i should have stayed home.

Total fish this season= 171

Black Widow Sunday

2008-05-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

We found this black widow spider on the wall by a desk at work. I got it trapped into a cup. It had that distinct red hourglass shape on the belly. I couldn't get a pic of the underbelly and I wasn't going to stick my finger in there to flip the spider over.

And that Bastard really grates my cheese.

2008-05-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Mr. Saddlesore Galactica keeps taunting me about the vast quantities of Ale he is drinking back East. Damn you Billy. Damn you and that Saranac of yours. I keep begging but to no avail about releasing a homebrewer's recipe to that delicious Pale Ale. You see how they don't plan on releasing it anytime soon. You better bring me back a bottle opener!

To My Dearest Magda,

2008-05-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

Tornadoes to the North, fishing to the West and a long lost friend from the East. Today has truly been very busy. Where do I begin? I wake up; coffee and guitar pickin'. I mosey to my friend's Nepalese restaurant for breakfast around 11:30. I eat, drink some chai. and say "Danyabaad"(thanks) To my Nepali friends, who have named me Ganesh - meaning "The Obstacle Remover" I may be a Taurus in the West, but in the East, I'm an Elephant. I get a message to meet The White Rhino (Texas Clint) at the lake at 1pm. I go home and grab some cash and my camera, 'as I have gotten into the habit recently of doing, documenting my experiences living in Colorado with a New York attitude. On way home, I hear on the car radio that a tornado just leveled two towns in the county next door. This tornado happend to be a mile wide. A CNN reporter states that Weld County is vast and spreads 100,000 square miles. I'm like, hmm I don't think so and I look on the trusty ol' Internet to find that the census bureau states that the County is really 4004 sq.miles. Either way it's still next door and Weld county begins just a few miles down the road. Goes to show that talking heads will lead us to our destruction-as usual. Now, after fixing my mailbox which somehow this past week, the door blew off and was hanging by a screw(maybe due to a phantom tornado?) I grabbed some bait and hit the lake at 1pm sharp. I nail 3 bass before my pal Bassmaster Clint shows up. I'm standing a few feet out in the water fishing under a huge thunderhead. It starts sprinkling about the time Clint arrives but the rain is light, the air is warm and it stopped after a short time. So. We're listening to our local university AM radio station-Radio 1190 KVCU-THE COOLEST RADIO STATION IN THE WORLD, and they are talking about funnel clouds here and touchdowns there, and cloud rotation this and hail that and so on. We fished till sunset. I beat him 16-10 although he did catch a 20 inch bass that weighed near 5 pounds and I couldn't top that today. We play for money and sometimes a lucky person walks away with the pot.

Our other pal BassMaster Billy is out of town this week and has lost out on some of the best springtime bass, but he isnt' hurting- he's drinking Saranac beer and keeps reminding me all week with pictures.

Bass Master Clint AKA White Rhino AKA The Texan

The three of us have been already talking about the camping season that is rapidly approaching. Today BassMaster Clint and I are pointing toward the snow thats above 10,000 feet and discussing our "solo camping plans" as well as our "group - thangz" Last year on 4th of July, we did some serious trout fishing super high up in the mountains. We still had snow drifts by the tents. I don't know if you know, but I work primarily on weekends so I have lots and lots of time on my hands. After my day of fishing ends, I mosey on back to my friends Nepali restaurant and grab a bite to eat, and a little bit of scotch. I come home to find that you have finally found me via the internet and I am very very very happy that you have. I love you,I love you, I love you my rockin' friend!

Total Fish This Season=167

:End Transmission:

And so the master guides another newbie.

2008-05-21T22:58:00.000-07:00

7 bass and almost 1 grasscarp but snapped the line as it hit the shore.

I had a friend stop by the lake so I could teach him how to do it. He's from Nepal and I eat at his restaurant every morning for brunch. He wants to take his son but didn't know what he needs or what to do. After a few minutes of listening to me, he nails an 11 inch bass on his third cast. We used a Gary Yamamoto artificial worm.

Total fish this season =151

:End Transmission:

The Texan AKA Master Clint

2008-05-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

Now here's a crazy angler. He's the kind of guy you want around when you need to brake someone's thumbs. I met him at Lagerman reservoir one afternoon, last year, in the springtime when Bass-Master Billy and I were drinkin' & fishin'. We had seen him on the other side of the lake casting lures. He had seen us drinking beer. Little did he know at that time that he was watching two Zen - Alers until Master Billy and I each pulled 20 inch bass out of this hole. He strides over to us as we are getting them to the shore. He is clapping with excitement and compliments our fight(s). He is happy to see us throw back these ol' grand - dads of bass and passes us his flask of Colorado Bourbon. I take a swig and pass to Billy. Then, I pull my flask of scotch from my side pocket and pass it to our new fishin' friend. Then, Billy pulls out a couple more bottles of homebrew ale. It doesn't take long for Clint to prove himself as a rebel angler. He nails a large bass off one of his favorite lures and then nails two more trophy size bass as the day went on. Clint is an ex - Army dude. Raised in Texas and knows his way around the mountains as well as Master Billy and I. He can slow cook some of the most tasty trout you could ever hope to eat. I once watched him confront a poacher and he actually drew his compound bow and scared the guy off the lake by threatening to sink this dweeb's bellyboat. I like his style.

25 fish in 4 hours-bass,bluegills,perch and crappies. water temperature was 65 degrees.
The Texan hit 8 fish in 3 hours.
What works today, doesnt work tomorrow. sometimes it's the bait, sometimes its the retrieve of the bait, sometimes it's the pole. Sometimes the only thing that works is the hand - dug worm. Sometimes nothing works and its time to call it a day and pursue other rebel antics.

Total Fish this season = 144
:end transmission:

I'm a sucker for new fishing gear.

2008-05-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know I have plenty of fishing tackle, lots of lures, and lots and lots of artificial worms of every color and size. I even have several rods and reels; but what can I say? If I'm drawn to a new piece of equipment, I will pick it up and test it at a secret spot I know nearby. As usual, my simple trip to Mcguckins hardware has me walking out with a new rod and reel. I go and talk with Jim who runs the fishing department. We like to compare notes on the action in Colorado waters, and 'who is fishing where' and 'whose property is that anyways' kinda shit. After a short discussion on line comparisons, I spot this super-light super flexible rod. I knew I was going to get it as soon as I saw it. It only takes me a moment to find the kind of reel I like, So I match it up,put them together and Jim offers to put a new kind of fishing line on it for me to try. I love this store. I love this town. I love this state. I only have about 40 minutes of daylight left so, I saunter out of McGuckins, with a new rod and reel. I speed North out of town and hit one of my favorite secret fishing holes. I land two bass in just 30 minutes. Nothing spectacular but I could tell the difference in the action of my new setup... I am pleased.

Total fish this season=119
:End Transmission:

2008-05-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

4 measly fishys- I spent most of my time working on my tan on the shoreline.
3 bluegill 1 perch

I sat in the sun all day, listening to the college radio and staring at the sky. I watched these three skydivers jump all afternoon. They land within 150 yards from me. Now I'm getting curious in doing it. I walk over to the tents where a few jumpers are hanging out. After talking to them a little bit, One of the instructors asks if I wanna give it a go but I had eaten sushi and chocolate milk for lunch and so I declined. I'm definitely considering thinking of being interested in doing this though.

Total fish this season = 117

Typical Thursday

2008-05-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

1 bass,1 perch and 9 bluegills. As it turns out, the bluegill is the most populous fish species in N. America. The lakes are so full of these that it actually stunts their growth.

Total Fish this season =113

:End Transmission:

Reached my 100 fish this season and then some.

2008-05-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

Snagged 14 fish today 4 bass,3 perch, 6 bluegills, and 1 smallmouth bass. That brings me to 102 fish so far this season. Bass-master Billy and the Texan, Clint were there to witness this. We celebrated briefly and went back to fishin'.

There were a lot of skydivers today landing in the parking lot... I was hoping to catch one on film hitting the power lines but it didn't happen.

:End Transmission:

Who would have thought it was so hard to eat with your hands?

2008-05-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

"I USE CHEETOS ON A HOOK" SAYS BASSMASTER BILLY

Zen Billy was in the zone today but not me. My day was a train wreck as soon as I left the house. I only pulled 5 fish. 2 bass and 2 perch and a bluegill. Only one of the Bass was a legal size and the rest were small. Billy on the other hand nailed 9 bass and at least 3 were 15 inch or better. Maybe I guided him too well. Maybe today I was just practicing-I don't know. That bastard also kept crossing my line. Maybe that had something to do with it. My day got better after the fishing was done.

SHAME SHAME SHAME

So, tonight I went to my friends house for dinner and I brought them a nice houseplant as a housewarming gift. My friend used to own a rice-meal factory back in Nepal,and his wife has many awards for songwriting back in India. Tonight we watched Terminator 3 in Spanish and we laughed about Bollywood films being 90% singing and dancing. I found it very difficult eating with my hands. the lamb and buffalo were perfect and the rice and veggies were very tasty. I would have figured that I could scoop up the rice and mix it with the meat or veggies in my hand and actually get it into my mouth without wearing it but I see now that I need more practice. I thought it would come natural to me because at home I'm just an American burnout slob who eats with his hands regularly. As a thank you for their hospitality, excellent food and delicious chia tea- I'm going to take them up into the mountains to where they haven't been so they can take pictures for their family back in Nepal. We are expecting a foot of snow tonight in the high country and so it should be very nice scenery.

Total fish this season = 88

:End Transmission:

damn obligations that stand in the way of fishing

2008-05-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

3 bluegills. Too windy today and I was busy. I didn't stick around to wait it out. I think Coot lake is just way too busy. Too many Dogs, I'm thinking of those days at Lagerman Reservoir when you could go hours without even seeing a fish jump but at least there were very few people around.

Total fish this season =83

:End Transmission:

My feet are still cold

2008-05-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

My feet are still cold but getting into the canoe is always worth it.

2-bluegill
8-perch
5-bass

Total fish this season=80

:end transmission:

Caught a glimpse of this bull snake.

2008-05-07T19:10:00.000-07:00

I'm at ye old fishing hole and I look behind me and find this large Bull snake. Bull snakes can imitate rattlers when they are frightened,they can shake tail while hissing and simultaneously flatten their head to resemble the triangular head of a rattlesnake.

Why won't the rangers enforce the leash laws around here?

2008-05-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

Boulder has many other dog friendly parks where these mutts can roam free without a leash. So why are they allowed to come around here and terrorize the anglers and the joggers? I don't want to forget that they also terrorize the geese. It's clearly posted to keep your dog on it's leash if it doesn't follow voice command. It's sight and voice commands. It's like 2 dogs out of 10 that actually follow the masters command.

Hell, I don't even see a park ranger,not since late March. Officer C. White, Where are you? Do you patrol this lake?
And this wasn't the first dog to run amok where I was fishing today.

This dog went chasing my tackle as I casted it. Then it proceeded to "check out my gear" on the shore.

At one time Coot lake was Boulder's nude beach. Then due to the rich (the new rich) they passed city ordinances to ban nudity. The people protested and started wearing flesh colored frisbees to hide their parts- I think they called them cootie booties. Then the city police started using plainclothes officers with telephoto lenses to catch the nudists and issue tickets. A councilman actually proposed "borrowing" an alligator from the Denver zoo to deter the protesters.
It used to be Hip to Trip in Boulder, what happened?

I saw this guy jump all afternoon

9 Bluegills,7 Perch and 3 bass

Total fish this season = 65

:End Transmission:

The secret is -they are one.

2008-05-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

I really dig Alan Watts. I call him the great Explainer- In this day and age some might say that he dumbed it down for the American boob. He was a professor of eastern philosophies. Berkley, I Believe. He died A month before I was born I think. He never quite leads you in any direction, he did not say that any particular religion or belief system was the way to go. He just explains. In a lecture he gave that thankfully was recorded "back in the day" that my public radio station broadcasts every Tuesday Alan talks about the "game of yes and no" . It's the game we play and in its foolishness leads to where we are today.

god has created peace and created evil. Esoterically they're the same. Yang and Yin translates to Positive and Negative. Both can play the positive and both can play the negative but they are reversible. We simply cant have one without the other. We imply that one is good and the other is bad,(positive and Negative,black and white) We imply that white is good and black is bad) We want white to win, for peace to rule evil and black to lose. Our flaw is that we can't see both at once. Like those art picture of the two kissing which is also a chalice. Either will do but make your choice. Where there are bees, there must be flowers-obviously it is One organism. Can't have boys without girls and no girls without boys. -one organism . Whats more important the white paper or the black letter written on it? Without one, then no other.We imply the letter is more important than the paper yet without one,then we imply no significance to the other. There are no one-sided mountains. We don't know (or remember) that nothing is something. We fool ourselves. The negative IS the source of the positive. Yang wins only because the yin loses, and vice versa. Black should be congratulated for letting white win. Same philosophy for solids and spaces. There is no you without the backdrop-the empty space around you that makes you visible to me. But there implies that the space is empty, a nothing. Nothing is something. How would one know there is nothing without a something to be its contrast. The game of opposites is the game of pos and neg and is the game of yes and no. White is black and black is white. It all comes down to your perspective. But then again-this could all be a bunch of bullshit. In any case, As I said before, I really dig his lectures. Well, it's turning out to be a nice morning-as opposed to being a bad morning I guess-So I'm heading to the lake- Maybe I'll catch a Walleye.

Alan Watts points out that 'ecological awareness' and 'mystical experience' are two ways of describing the same awakening.

:End Transmission:

Don't get so worked up- you still landed 3 bass

2008-05-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

The master knows he is what he is and can stand and stare, admiring a grass fire on the plains. He can inhale the tangy smoke and relish in the various aromas filling his airspace. He is content counting the clumps of ashes drifting by on the water's surface. The master will most likely stare at his feet when sitting on a log.

The master wears his watch upside down and is convinced he uses his time effectively but never trusts the digital tools in a terrestrial environment. Watch the watch and the digits flicker, Analog dude-Simplify....The fire burns closer and the smell of Russian Olive trees is strong. Mister Fisher-man, Did you find a set of keys? No.ma'am I only found paradise. And there's no keys in it. My sunshine is turning orange from the smoke. Without even trying, I pull 11 fish in a short time. 2 bluegill, 7 perch and 2 bass.
The apprentice doesn't much like the dogs or their owner's. He starts threatening to hook the damn pooch when ever the human throws the ball near us on the lake. Theres a haiku rolling around in his mind:

Dog with no tether. No control dog master has. Leaves dog shit on ground.

He blurts this out and the human flips us the "bird". I stand up and gaze stoic-like toward the person and say "Keep on walking" and I take a swig of 'fiddich from the flask. I look to Zen Billy and say "that was fun, I want the next one". It doesn't take very long before a jogger approaches us and their dog is sloshing around in front of me and seems interested in the treats that I have open on a rock next to me. The jogger yells 'sorry'. I say no, your not sorry, you don't really care do you? Or your dog would be on a leash now wouldn't it? I look toward Billy and say loudly-"Which is the real fuckin' trophy bitch- The German Shepard or the Blonde?" We both begin laughing. I cast my line as apprentice Billy pulls in his third bass of the day. The grass fire seems to have died down but the smell of dead leaves is still rather potent. I go back to staring at the lake. After awhile Billy says hey, you got something and I look up and my line is just unraveling so, I flip the bale on my reel it comes to a stop with a big jerk. I know immediately it's a bass. I reel it in with no problem and release it without much thought put into it. Billy's like-you could've eaten that. Yeah, I could eat lots of things but when I eat I eat, when I sleep, I sleep, and when I fish, I fish. That my friend is why I have caught 12 fish to your 3. Think like an analog watch and just simplify dude. Try wearing it upside down. It's Focus man. pass me my flask? By the way its your turn. Another unsuspecting human and their dog are frolicking in the water to our left and headed our way.
Total Fish this season = 46
:end transmission:

The day was hot and the fishin' was hot too!

2008-04-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

SO today I purchased a new Shakespeare brand reel at Mcguckin's hardware store and I really put it to the test. It was a hot day for the last day of April Topping out at 82 degrees. I pulled out one small bluegill and three small perch. Then, just as my pal Bass-Master Billy shows up, I nail this 26 inch grass carp that found my hook while I was casting onto a sandbar thats sits a few inches under the water and is about 40 feet out into the lake. Kablammo! The fight was on and it took several minutes to "land this bigboy" This was a brand new reel and I was using a new brand of line that I never heard of before called Sufix-6lb.test. Both the line and the reel were up to the task and passed this test with flying colors.

Total fish this season=34

:End Transmission:

Holy Cowie! Is that Maui Wowie?

2008-04-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

Went back to the lake by my house today. I brought BassMaster Billy with me and a flask of 'Fiddich. Beautiful day, but the fishing was DISMAL. We each caught one Bluegill and they were no longer than 4 measly inches. I spent most of my time lying in the grass,working on my Tan. The beaver made an appearance but didn't stick around because Billy was trying to "hook" it.

So this evening one of my pal's swung by holding some of the finest "Holy Cowie" of the year. I poured us some Scotch and we talked about Smith and Wesson's. Later on, after my pal took off I played some E chord variations on my Guitar for an hour straight. Time just keeps on tickin'.

Total Fish this season = 29

:End Transmission:

Kesab And Prahbba-my happy Hindus

2008-04-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot that I promised to help my dear friends Kesab and Prahbba move today. I wander into the restaurant around noon today to fill up on naan and rice like I do every morning and while I was savoring my Chia (Americans call it Chai) tea, It occurred to me that I made a promise that I'd help them move. So I go to Kiran, my pal and owner of the Namaste restaurant and say- hey did Kesab get my number from you? He was supposed to call and remind me about moving a bed or something. Kiran said call him and see if they are ready. Apparently they didn't want to call me too early because they know my Monday mornings are the only time I sleep late. Fortunately, my plans to go fish on this glorious 72 degree day wasn't going to interfere with the promise I made. So, after two trips with Kiran's pathfinder across town(apparently he trusts me with his truck) I was sitting in Prahbba's kitchen enjoying some chia and biscuits that she made especially for me as a thank you gesture. I was staring at her-something was different. I've known her a year now and this was the first time I ever saw her without her "tika" -the dot on her forehead was missing. It was as if she was naked, at least in my eyes. I asked her about it and she said with an exhausted tone "My Ganesh, I was too tired and busy" She calls me Ganesh. I like that. She says that Ganesh means "the obstacle remover". I guess I remove obstacles for my Hindu friends. She has been calling me that for a year now and has gotten all the Nepali people who frequent the restaurant to call me Ganesh. She tells me that next Monday I have to come over for a housewarming dinner and Kesab and I can prepare the goat. mmm-they know I love goat.

After my obligations were met with the "move" I hit the lake by my house- I hardly go there. I pull 5 bass and two bluegills using some real and some artificial worms. I had my camera with me and was able to get some footage of a beaver playing in the water

.
Life is good.

Total fish this season=28

:end Transmision:

I've been dreaming of this all day.

2008-04-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

I've been quietly dreaming of this all day.

:End Transmission:

As the eagle flies by looking for dinner

2008-04-23T00:11:00.000-07:00

Coot Lake-2 Bass almost legal size, 2 bluegills and 1 smallmouth bass = 9 inches. 5 total today in 4 hours- not all that great today.
Total fish this year = 21

So this Eagle was circling and circling-occasionally diving in to grasp a fishy with its strong talons but to no avail. It looked as if he would win when he would dive and not resurface for a few seconds but i didn't see it fly off with anything. After a half hour and several banzai-style dives- it said "fuck this, I'm going to Lagerman reservoir."

:End Transmission:

Cool weather fishing

2008-04-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

I spent a couple hours at Coot Lake. Caught 1 small perch and 1 bass=12.5 inches=1.5 pounds. CanMaster B pulled a baby bass out. It only got to about 60 degrees and then cooled back down.
Total Fish this season =16

I changed the strings on my Fender this week.

Nothing new to report.
:End Transmission:

Just a little Bass fishing

2008-04-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

On Monday I went to a spot in East Boulder where the legend has it there are some Tiger Muskee's over the 36 inch mark and other rumors about this particular lake having some of the best fights-reeling in grass carps. I have fought and caught a couple grass carp's here in the past and once I found a big, heavy, black lure, dangling from a tree about an inch off the surface of the water that a nice sized bass was attached to. I kept the lure and released the bass. As for the tiger's- I have yet to see one. Back To Monday- I spent four hours in the late afternoon and caught Bupkiss, nada-ZERO. The best part of that day was that a buddy of mine stopped in to fish the last hour of daylight because when he was passing by,he recognized my ride. It was cool because I don't normally fish this lake and I didn't even know what lake I was going to when I left the house. mmmmm Colorado life is the place for me. As the saying goes-

Your worst day of fishing is still better than your best day at work!

So A different pal and I went to Coot lake just North of Boulder this afternoon and this was how it went- My pal was only going through the motions of fishing whereas I was fishing for reel. I caught a 13 inch=1 pound bass using a worm. I caught a 17 inch=3.5 pound bass out the lake using a wild crayfish I found under a rock. Of course I catch and release so we both went home rather hungry.
Total Fish This Season=14

:End Transmission:

With the season over, I guess I can take the skis out of my car

2008-04-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

I was just getting used to having the skis wedged in between the seats. I found a place for my coffeemug, and my ipod, and I could still reach my ashtray with little difficulty. With the skiing done (unless I go to A-basin which is open till June) It is time to move my fishing gear to the front row of my vehicle layout. A couple more months and I'll have my camping stuff out of the trunk and out on the seats. Ok, I know I could get a ski rack I could also get a newer car. But I say why? to both. A ski rack is useless in the summer- unless you use it to add drag to your vehicle for no reason. Why get newer car? My taurus has been all over Colorado, - I have driven it on some steep 4x4 roads and I have been to some far and underfished portions of this state. My car has manged to withstand the cold snaps and the high altitude and all the hours it sits idling in the logjams trying to get up I-70 to hit the slopes. I have been low on gas on some vast,desolate strips of road in the Medicine Bow mountain range in Wyoming and have yet to be stranded. My taurus has survived Moab Utah with near 120 degree heat and some of the 4x4 rocky paths that that has entailed. I recommend everyone to check out Dead Horse point and the Gemini Twins at least once before they die. My Taurus just hit 190,000 miles today-original engine and second transmission-fourth windshield-yeah, thats sounds about right. I remember when we used to camp inside the Taurus because the bears in Wyoming would leave their footprints all about our campsite.

Funtimes.

:Canoeing at lake Macintosh:

Legend has it you a can still see the bullet riddled car of John Elway's under the water. Rumor has it the bass hide down in it. The catfish get pretty big in here too. Bassmaster Billy was gorging on junkfood while reading the classifieds when he had a whopper pull on his line but the mysterious water creature snapped the line, long before we had a chance to see it. You win some, you lose some and that is life.

:End Transmission:

Weird-A lazy day and still weeding the garden.

2008-04-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it happened. I watched a documentary on "hippies" this morning and researched some shit on the web. I thought all I'd do today was lounge and pick at my guitar. Next thing I know I'm in the garden weeding the new dandelions sprouts that are choking out my flower sprouts. Bassmaster-Billy stopped by after work and we loaded up his vanagon and hit the lake. He got two good size bass but I got two bass (not as big) and 8 perch using half a worm on a hook. Total fish this season=12

This Just In: Boulder has the plague.

2008-04-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not surprised- the flea ridden prairie dogs-that everyone thinks are cute until they burrow onto your property have now been flagged as carrying the Bubonic plague. Swell. How did this happen? I thought we killed all the dogs last year. Didn't the protesters lose their bid to "save the prairie dogs". I thought the "gas the prairie dogs" citizens won their case. Or maybe it was the "drown the prairie dog" supporters. Well, whatever-whoever. Gunbarrel CO, which is like 4 miles to the North of Boulder has vast colonies of these plagued yet tasty dogs. So, let me think. Does this mean that our tourist info isn't lying anymore when it says "we have it all"? We have rattle snakes on our footpaths, the Hanta virus which the spiders carry-by the way all of my apts hve been infested with spiders. West Nile Virus-will it be on our watch list on the local nightly news for a fifth year? Thank you mister Mosquito. After we add the plagued fleas on the prairie dogs we have a sweet and sour quartet of stingy,itchy ankles ,smelling of foot sweat and antibiotic ointment. We are gonna have a blast this summer for sure.

I remember when there were two things to be wary of out here-getting pulled over on South Boulder Road and a mountain lion jumping on your back.

You can catch the fishys; but please don't eat the fishys!

2008-04-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

and don't drink the water either

What I do best is waste time. And time best wasted is time spent at a fishing hole.
Since Boulder and Longmont are both considered the hotspots for the West nile virus every year; It has been suggested not to eat the fishys because of the pesticides. Let me point out also you shouldn't bother having an organic garden because they will start up spraying again as this weather warms up and no doubt it will affect your neighborhood as they fly by.

I thought Colorado was an environmentalists' dream. We should encourage a growth in bat populations thus reducing insect populations and this will naturally reduce the spread of the dreaded West Nile virus. A non-chemical solution is best for all of us,Dammit!

BATS ARE YOUR FRIEND!

:end transmission:

Oh Saranac,Will you ever learn?

2008-04-01T14:29:00.001-07:00

Oh SARANAC will you ever learn?

FX Matt, we all loved you when we lived back East. But we had to move on. So you say it's not profitable to distribute West of the Mississippi. It just wasn't profitable for us to stay in NY. You've come a long way since Utica Club. All we want is a homebrew recipe for your pale ale-we can figure out the rest from there. It's only beer not like the biggest trade secret is going to break you. Most people prefer buying beer rather than brewing it anyways so I can see no harm. Like most people who have moved out West for whatever reason, I have to hope that a friend or relative is traveling our way and can bring us a case of that sweet Saranac. But to be perfectly honest, I'm getting a bit tired of that route.

:end transmission:

Even the Zen master feels low at times but at least he knows that he knows.

2008-03-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

My day started out rather blah-like. I was feeling the rut I have cultivated, I was feeling the pressures of not getting to my taxes as of yet, I was having the realization of my financial affairs. I hadn't even put my clothes in the wash yet for tommorow. I was feeling my laziness catching up and catching up fast. Above all else I was feeling lonely. At least I know why I feel the way I feel. We generally bring it all onto ourselves and admitting that is the first step. I feel better now. Being a social loner can get boring at times.

mmmm. Burger....
I could go for one right now.
Do you know where in Boulder this is?
I suspect the burger Madness is a result of the cow madness that has been in the news in recent years.

I don't know if you know how the fishing is in Colorado but I do keep up with the news fairly well. Well, at least the local. I get this report that you can no longer eat the fish coming from the Rocky mountain national park due to acid rain syndrome or lead or mercury or something. Swell. I am normally a catch and release fellow anyways. I don't flyfish because I actually want to catch a fish you see but, I fish with my buds whenever I'm not skiing this glorious state. As I've said, I catch and release 95% of the time-meaning that I would consume a legal catch if I was camping which only happens a few times a year.
It just seems that nothing we eat is safe whether it bought in a grocery store or hunted. We have mad cows, mad chickens, mad pigs and now, mad fish.

:end transmission:

I missed my Alan Watts radio lecture this morning but he's been dead for years anyways.

2008-03-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

And I did get to a lake just north of Boulder. August of 2006, my pal and I each pulled a 20 and 21 inch Bass almost simultaneously out this fishing hole. Today we got nothin'. We were able to lure the small fish to the shallows but the monsters never appeared. I did manage to get this shot of the "CanMaster-B" AKA "the BassMaster-Billy looking stupid. BassMaster Billy,Who usually enjoys long rides on short buses, is a professional angler although he has never made a dime pulling those grandad bass' out of the waters. He is banned for life from professional fishing tournaments because this card carrying devil assaulted "pummeled" a man whose line tangled costing him a trophy walleye.

:end transmission:

Lagerman Legends or "how I survive this Bouldertown"

An easy thirty.I stop, look,Eat apple in park.

Ooh, That Stings Eh!

There's a funny Simpson's quote for every situation.

Step Right Up! Get your Fat burning coffee here.

I had a hankering for trout fishin' when I woke up this morning.

It's good old fashion blogging....By gar it's been awhile!

BassMasterBilly got a new hat

New fishin' hole

The Zen of bark bark bark bark bark bark bark bark bark.

Listening to the blues and

De-bark your dog-only 20$

Finished writing a review for Namaste Nepal Restaurant

Every status update I ever wrote on Facebook till now.

Affordable housing in Boulder

Imovie HD Sucks and I want my old Imovie on my new mac.

More cool shows in Boulder coming up!

Rebel Rebel

If you liked school then you'll love work!

Wind blew out the pilot light

Now is the time to pick and grin.

So it's been awhile.

Classical Guitar

Where paths meet

Safeway Has its Fingers On Your Coin Purse!

Homebrew swigged,rear stabilizer installed on my Taurus

Leaving the windows wide open.

My hiking boots have had it.

An eccentric rogue as loveable as he is scurrilous.

Another productive day at the Aler's homestead.

fall fishin',the bass give chase.

The Aspen Leaves are turning

Just where the hell have I been?

I got my new mac and I'm really quite happy.

Baby Sandwhich aka California Cheeseburger

The Sangre de Cristo Mountains Adventure

She turned out to be a he and we named him Pablo.

Slow week

Anyone can learn to catch fish

The Hops Situation

Well,when your right 48% of the time...

Bouldertown fishing-Live worms versus the jellies

I gots my mac back!

And with the wind comes the bass.

This was Boulder falls at 8:25 this morning.

FX Matt fire,Saranac hiatus and I think I have the shakes

FX Matt fire is still burning

My guitars rang sharp with the humidity

Black Widow Sunday

And that Bastard really grates my cheese.

To My Dearest Magda,

And so the master guides another newbie.

The Texan AKA Master Clint

I'm a sucker for new fishing gear.

Typical Thursday

Reached my 100 fish this season and then some.

Who would have thought it was so hard to eat with your hands?

damn obligations that stand in the way of fishing

My feet are still cold

Caught a glimpse of this bull snake.

Why won't the rangers enforce the leash laws around here?

The secret is -they are one.

Don't get so worked up- you still landed 3 bass

The day was hot and the fishin' was hot too!

Holy Cowie! Is that Maui Wowie?

Kesab And Prahbba-my happy Hindus

I've been dreaming of this all day.

As the eagle flies by looking for dinner

Cool weather fishing

Just a little Bass fishing

With the season over, I guess I can take the skis out of my car

Weird-A lazy day and still weeding the garden.

This Just In: Boulder has the plague.

I remember when there were two things to be wary of out here-getting pulled over on South Boulder Road and a mountain lion jumping on your back.

You can catch the fishys; but please don't eat the fishys!

Oh Saranac,Will you ever learn?

Even the Zen master feels low at times but at least he knows that he knows.

I missed my Alan Watts radio lecture this morning but he's been dead for years anyways.

An easy thirty.
I stop, look,
Eat apple in park.