Lucky

This is Lucky. He was acquired thru the Fairbanks North Star Borough. The shelter didn't have any information on him, but I'm guessing that he is 5-yrs-old. I named him Lucky because I got him on a Friday the 13th under a full moon. He is a shy boy that is deathly afraid of loud noises and strange situations. It's a shame because he is a really good 'gee-haw' dog. Putting him in lead isn't really an option, tho. I've tried it and he does fine until we come across something that spooks him. Then I have to put all my faith in Joh to get us thru whatever it is. Joh is good about it, but if they are both having an off day, we're all in trouble. Nickname: Schnarfel.

Baseball

It's time for the 2007 All-star Game. Here's who I'm voting for...
AL:
C: V Martinez, Clev
1B: J Morneau, Minn
2B: B Roberts, Balt
3B: A Rodriguez, NY
SS: D Jeter, NY
OF: V Guerrero, Cal/Ana/LA/whateverthehelltheyarethisyear
OF: M Ordonez, Det
OF: I Suzuki, Sea
SP: J Santana, Minn
NL:
C: R Martin, LA
1B: A Pujols, StL
2B: C Utley, Phil
3B: M Cabrera, Fla
SS: J Reyes, NY
OF: C Beltran, NY
OF: M Holliday, Col
OF: C Lee, Hou
SP: C Young, SD

I'm a firm believer that you don't choose an all-star based on what they've done over the first couple of months of the season, a la Bip, I mean Brian, Roberts a couple of years ago or Joe McEwing back when he was a Cardinal. So I ran over 90 players thru my not yet patented 'All-Star Sorting System' and came up with these picks. They are based on the past 1-1/2 seasons, taking offence, defence, and whether they spent a lot of time on the DL or not into account. Personally, I'd rather see Joe Mauer behind the plate in the A.L. and almost anyone over Miguel Cabrera at 3rd in the N.L., but the 'A-SSS' speaks.
Note: The 'A-SSS' only works for every day players. My choices for starting pitchers is just who I feel deserves it.

Happy Birthday To Me!

So, it was my birthday a couple of days ago and it was fun! I took the day off of work like I always do and slept in until 7am! I spent the morning doing a whole lot of nothing and then we cooked brats on the grill. Brandon and John, the roofer dudes, were way grateful for this. We had brats and baked beans and chips and pink lemonade. Then Sunnifa and I spent the afternoon hauling gravel down to the dog yard, taking turns between hauling and raking. Brandon hung around for dinner and we had grilled salmon (see 'Dipnetting') and rice and salad and yummy beer. Hooray for Redbridge!
I got presents too! I got a new bike and some biking clothes and shoes and other clothes and cards and money and a book and a CD by Imogen Heap. It was a good birthday.

Tavarez

Say hi to Tavarez. Three years old and dumb as a box of rocks. She should have blonde fur since she really is the K-9 equivalent of a "dumb blonde". An absolute cutie and sweetheart, an airhead, and can't remember what happened two minutes ago. If she would start to pull consistently I might be willing to overlook her ditziness. My third dog from Leslie. Nickname: Pixie-stick.

Dipnetting

Last weekend Sunnifa and I went dipnetting for salmon down outside of Chitina. It was a good time. In a nutshell, dipnetting is when you use a big net, mine is approx. 2' x 3', on a long pole (see pic at L, that's me), and scoop salmon out of the water. We started on Sat. at about 10ish and by the end of the day we had five. Four Reds and a King. Between the two of us we can get up to 30 salmon. There are no size limits, but you can only keep one King.

We went down with a few people that I work with and a few others. About ten of us total. It was a fun camping trip. Very dusty and a little windy but still fun.

OK, so, like, out of the nutshell, a dipnet is a big net on a long pole. The pole that I used is 12'. Some people were using 25' poles! The 12-footer is somewhat easy to handle but the 25-footer is tough. If you don't have the technique down, you're screwed. So anyways, the salmon are coming up the river, in this case the Copper River, and you scoop the net with the current and hope to catch a salmon coming up against the current. It's not as easy as it sounds. You are in hip-waders and the river is rushing and you are concentrating on keeping good footing in the silt and rocks and not falling in and getting swept away in the cold water and trying to keep your net deep enough and upright and, oh yeah, if you feel a fish hit you have to get the sucker in PDQ. Get your butt up here and try it sometime. The only catch on that is that you have to be an Alaska resident. Meaning you have to have lived here for one year before you can (legally) dipnet. The fish were really coming on Sunday. A few of the guys hung around and got another 10-15. As for me, I just wanted to hit the road and get home. It's a 300 mile drive (one way) and we still had to fillet the ones we got and get them packaged up and try to get to bed at a decent hour. 3:30am comes awfully early after a weekend of driving and fishing.

Sorry about the sideways picture. I can't figure out how to turn the darned thing.
Killer scenery, eh? What kind of view did you have last weekend???

Nap time

And who says that puppies are a non-stop bundle of energy?!?

Hockey

I was wrong. It was 6-2. Stupid Ducks.

Hockey

So, is anybody actually watching the Stanley Cup Finals? Besides me, of course. Game 4 had Ottawa written all over it until part way thru the 2nd period. The Sens just lost their legs. Anaheim sensed it, turned it up a notch, and that was that. Ottawa never really recovered. I think the thing I was most impressed with was the Canadian anthem. Alanis Morissette did a really good job. I'd rather chew on a piece of aluminum foil while listening to someone run their fingernails over a chalkboard rather than listen to one of her CDs, but I was impressed the other night. Maybe because she sang in French. Or because she shut up and let the crowd sing about 1/4 of it. Yeah, that's probably it.
But tonite will be the end of the hockey season. Anaheim will win 4-2, take the series 4-1, and for the third season in a row a Canadian team will lose in the finals to a team from the southern U.S. Imagine if baseball had a bunch of teams in Canada and for three straight seasons teams from Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa beat the White Sox, Baltimore, and Atlanta in the World Series. I just ain't right. Go Sens! Three in a row, baby!

Bert

Meet Bert. He is a goof-ball of a pup. Born on Summer Solstice '06 on the Richards' homestead on the Kandic River. He'll end up being the biggest dog of the crew, as he is already 66#. The rest of my dogs, all adults, are between 60-70#. Bert is smart as a whip. I have dreams that one day he will replace Joh as my main leader. Nickname: Bertskidoodle.

Zulu

Here is Zulu. She is an 8-yr-old that I am desperately trying to find a new home for. She is a great puller, good w/other dogs, and by far the sweetest dog I have ever been around. The problem is that she can be very vocal. Always the first to say hello and goodbye. Out at my cabin it's no big deal, but when I move it will be a big deal. I doubt that the neighbours will want to hear a dog howling at 4:30am M-F. She isn't housebroken and won't be setting any speed records anytime soon, but if you happen to know of anyone willing to take her in, please let me know! I have until the 30th to find a home for her. I don't want to have to take her to the pound. Nickname: Zulululululu