It hasn't been intentional neglect of this website over the past few months. It's just there's so much to do & to see here.
It doesn't seem proper to hide away with a laptop, indoors, for the 2-4 hours it takes to research/write/edit a post. Especially since enjoying the climate of Vancouver Island was the main reason for us claiming Winter Refugee Status here.
That being said, it's been six weeks of living in our new apartment. It's time to develop an iota of self-discipline and a sensible personal schedule to ensure content is posted here in something resembling a semi-regular manner.
At least I haven't been idle: I've been planning, scheming, and taking notes for all sorts of topics and actually fishing a few times.
Here's a preview of what's to come:
Addicted to SMB - see photo at right.
Must-have add-ons for the Diablo Paddlesports Chupacabra
Paddling my new Jackson Kayak Cuda 14
Trying (& failing) to develop a great smallmouth fly - Working title: save time/money, tie a Clouser Minnow
(Slowly) becoming a fishing pier rat - more relaxing than you think
Product reviews for some cool new stuff from Columbia Sportswear - emphasis on 'cool.'
Evernote + Fly Fishing - it's a thing. Seriously.
Music - expect a return of music at the bottom of most articles and posts.
Essays - some of which will be posted after they've been rejected from magazines.
Book reviews - and possibly not all fish-related. Oh, the horror, right?
More music - get your speakers/headphones ready.
Recipes - why the f**k not, right? A man's gotta eat...
And, as always, thanks for reading. Y'all are alright in my books.
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Ross Neilsen & company are getting ready to release their new album, Resurrection, later this month. Leading up to the launch date, Ross has been releasing one track from the new album each week.
This track is called Need You More, and I think it's pretty damn good. Check 'er out.
Unable to see the video in your email? Click here to view the full post
Everyone's got a year-end list of highlights and memories. I'm keeping it simple with naming my favourite albums of the year, with a couple of songs from each.
Check 'em out & let me know what you think.
(Email subscribers, click here to see the full post with videos)
1. Matt Mays, Coyote
I've been a Matt Mays fan for a while. I liked the self-titled Matt Mays + El Torpedo in '05. I liked Terminal Romance (2008) even more. Coyote beats them all, hands down.
2. Jack White, Blunderbuss
When I first heard this album, I thought it was going to be my album of the year. Though it's edged out by Matt Mays above, it is still a great album and a must-have.
3. Big Wreck, Albatross
Big Wreck's In Loving Memory Of... (1997) remains one of my favourite albums of all time, so this one might slide in here on sentimental value...or it may not: it's a great album, with or without sentimental reasons. I was one of many people uber-excited to see Ian Thornley team up again with guitarist Brian Doherty for a reincarnated Big Wreck.
4. Japandroids, Celebration Rock
By far the most 'fun' album I added in 2012. Love it. It deserves to be played loud. One of my main memories of working in Niger in early December will be cranking this up on my headphones to drown out the call to prayer over the loudspeaker on several occasions.
5. Gary Clark Jr., Blak and Blu
Mad guitar skills, rocking blues. What more can you ask for? A great album, start to finish.
Honourable Mentions:
Ross Neilsen, The Shack Up Sessions
Any blues fan absolutely needs to have some of Ross Neilsen's albums in their collection. The Shack Up Sessions are an acoustic companion to some of Ross's hard-rawking blues albums.
To see the full performance of the show previewed below, click here.
Three items/subjects/places/people worth checking out to make life as an angler and global citizen far more enjoyable:
1. Fish Tales Fly Shop, Calgary, AB
The positive side of getting weathered in at the project site in Nunavut last week is getting to meet Matlock (aka @findeep) for a quick fish on Alberta's Bow River and going for sushi with him & Cod (@chroniclesofcod) during a seven-hour layover. Best layover ever. Wet socks & all.
Matlock picked me up at the airport and we headed to his local fly shop so I could grab a license. The fact they had been closed for about an hour didn't really slow things down much; they unlocked the door and got me set up with both a license and the new issue of The Drake for my flight home.
Fish Tales is a great shop, loads of inventory and run by a seriously kick-ass nice dude. If you're in Calgary, it's worth a stop. And Cod guides outta there, too.
Check 'em out on the web here. For a Google Map, click here.
2. The Shack Up Sessions
This is Ross Neilsen's new solo album, recorded inside the Robert Clay shack at The Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale Mississippi, just down the road from the famous crossroads of highway 49 and 61.
It's good. Really good.
Ross has been mentioned a few times here, and his music is on my regular rotation of playlists & albums. And for good reason: his songs are at times rocking and whisky-chugging, and always soulful and honest-to-goodness blues.
This album is a little less loud but still everything one could ask for in a blues album.
Ross also had a special message for the fly fishing crowd that reads this: "Keep yer poles bent."
You can preview and download the album here & on iTunes; for a physical copy shipped, click here.
And if this picture doesn't brighten your day, check your pulse.
Ross (right) & Karl's search for a bass player brought interesting characters.
3. William Joseph HemoCuts
One of my favourite fly fishing accessories. Probably one of the best sub-$20 items in the fly fishing industry, in my mind.
Pros: easy to grip, easy to open, pinch barbs up to 1/0 saltwater hooks, cutting blades are sharp, and they lock down tight when shut.
Cons: they don't make a big, eff-off size for toothy/salty critters.
One of the prime tenants of hypermiling is “do not accelerate quickly or brake heavily.”
According to the folks at cleanmpg.com, accelerating quickly or braking heavily can reduce fuel economy as much as 33 percent at highway speeds and 5 percent around town.
Here are three scenarios that you might encounter during your everyday drive and three suggestions on how you can reduce accelerating and braking.
Uphill leading to a stop light/sign: Travel as far up the hill as possible before stopping. Maintain a steady pace and attempt to crest the hill when the light is green. If there is a stop sign at the top of the hill, you have no choice. You have to stop. Unfortunately, accelerating from a dead stop facing uphill is one of the worst fuel efficiency situations that you will face. Often, there is a relatively level piece of ground at the top of a hill. Try to stop there if possible. If the hill is part of your regular commute, try a different route so that you can avoid the hill.
Downhill leading to a stop light/sign: Slow down well before the light. Coast on the downhill and try to time your descent so that you hit the intersection when the light is green. This will allow you to coast through the light without having to accelerate. Even if you do have to brake on the intersection when the light is green. This will allow you to coast through the light without having to accelerate. Even if you do have to brake on the downhill, you have gravity on your side. You can continue to coast after applying the brakes.
Level ground leading to a stop light/sign: Continue to slow your vehicle before actually coming to a stop. Think of yourself as moving half the distance to the goal line and then half again. You can accomplish this both through braking and by coasting into your buffer.
Why it is important to the fish: All vehicles produce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) when they burn gasoline.
Why it is important to you: Burn less gas, burn less cash. I'll repeat that:
BURN LESS GAS, BURN LESS CASH
The 2000 RPM Challenge
For the current tank of gas in the High Plains Drifter, I have vowed to NOT drive over 2000RPM, to see how much more mileage I can crank out of it.
Some basic stats:
I filled up yesterday, 11-Jan-12 at 2:40PM; the truck was almost empty (~80L gas tank)
It took 78.751L of mid-grade gasoline...that's 20.803 US gallons
The total price was $96.00
That's $1.219 per litre...that's $4.614 CDN per US gallon, or $4.531/gallon in US dollars
Driving normally, I drove 424.6km (263.8 miles) on the previous tank of gas
Approximate mileage calculation: 5.39km per litre, or 12.68 miles/gallon
90% of my driving on the previous tank was in the city
(Note: the Canadian economy hasn't screeched to a halt with these gas prices or public health care...something to think about)
I will update this once I fill up again. I'm hoping it's not for a while.
Here's what I've noticed following the first afternoon of my 2000 RPM Challenge: Fredericton has some steep-ass hills, and it is friggin' hard to get up them at or under 2000 RPM. Also there's a lot of old blue-hairs that accelerate slower than I do.
Think about that: I'm trying to accelerate my (automatic transmission-driven) truck from a dead stop, on an uphill grade, at under 2000 RPM, and I'm accelerating faster than granny in a Toyota Corolla.
No wonder people develop ulcers & eye twitches from commuting to work every day.
I'm glad I don't work every day.
The Tweet
I was interviewed by our regional newscast on Friday because of this:
Long story short: I was waiting in my truck (not idling, btw) for my lovely gf, saw this dude walk around his van with buckets in hand, I assumed (correctly) that he was going to dump them down the storm drain, snapped a pic, tweeted it.
The tweet got shared a bunch of times, a city councillor sent the photo to the public works department, and the mayor weighed in.
The company told the reporter it was just water.
But, if it was just water, why did he have to rinse his buckets multiple times, dumping them down the storm drain each time?
The newscast was more about "the power of Twitter" than it was the actual incident (you can watch it here; the segment is at 7 minute-mark); and the reporter didn't want to dive into what the company did/didn't do for legal matters; in fact, they enlarged the photo & cropped out the company van on the newscast.
Few things the news left out that I felt were important: while the reporter stated I was an "avid fisherman," they didn't mention anything about me being a geologist that works partly in the field of hydrogeology. That's somewhat relevant, me thinks. They also left out that I'm Vice-President of the Nashwaak Watershed Association...though I did manage to get the Association's logo pictured in the background. But still, also somewhat relevant.
Instead, come off as an unshaven, festively-plump busy-body, lurking in a parking lot with a camera phone...who is an avid fisherman...
They also didn't quote my off-camera best quote ever:
"I'm not in the marble business, so I can't tell you exactly what they were dumping. But I'm pretty much in the water business, and I can tell you it wasn't clean f**king water."
Speaking of the Nashwaak Watershed Association....
Our man in the know is cranking out the new website & we're getting our new & updated social media presence ready to rock; expect a launch in the very near-future.
If anyone is interested in learning more about the organization, or becoming a member (it's only $10/year!!), please get in touch with me!
And now some music
I've mentioned Ross Neilsen a few times before on the blog. Like here. And here.
I'm a big fan of his hard-rocking, whisky-chugging, grinding dirty blues (and his other stuff, too).
Ross and some special guests are playing at Dolan's Pub (King Street) on January 18th as a fundraiser for his upcoming trip to compete in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN.
Here's a little taste of what's been playing on my iPod while I've been slaving away on the rock pile:
Ross & his bastards are local guys, and they bring the rawk. Without a doubt, at any given time those guys are on a cross-country tour (tour dates here). They are musicians that work hard at what they do, and they're definitely worth going to see.
We all bonded over the booze back in the day, when I used to sling drinks at Lava Vodka Lounge. In fact, we hosted the after-party for his CD release bash for the Redemption album.
It was a pretty easy friendship: I made drinks, they drank them; I like hard-rawkin', whisky-chuggin', bar-brawlin' type blues, and that's what they play. A match made in heaven...if heaven was full of this type of people...
I am. Can't wait. Seriously counting the days until I can go see this:
I was a bit of a cowboy myself, back in the day in the rugged northeast of Nevada:
I really thought I'd get a call for a supporting role in True Grit, but the Coen Brothers must have thought differently. I thought I could win them over with this shot:
This was supposed to be a Vodka et Vendredi post last vendredi, but someone (me) forgot to bring their laptop when they went to work early that night, so here it is now.
As a bonus (and because I probably won't write a Vodka et Vendredi post tomorrow), you're getting a 2 for 1 deal on drink recipes AND music today. That's right! Two drink recipes AND two music videos. I'm good like that.
But first:
The crew from Here Magazine, a weekly "Urban Alternative" (i.e., entertainment) paper in Moncton, Saint John & Fredericton, popped in to Lava & really like what they saw, heard & drank. You can read what they had to say in Here, umm, here (pun kinda intended). Hats off to my buddy Dave for being an awesome host & mixologist!
(btw, I didn't realize Here was owned by Brunswick News. Brunswick News being a part of the Irving Group of Companies and owns EVERY news outlet in the province. I wonder how a free, weekly "Urban Alternative" paper fits into their business model. Oh well. Irving family, if you're reading this, I will write & fly fish & put up youtube videos of music for you guys for $200,000. That's right, 411#3 has prices, not principles. They're just high prices.)
Enough of that. On to the drink recipes!
Here's a tasty cocktail that I call the 'Pom & Cran-It,' aka 'the Katie drink,' after my lovely coworker Katie. In a moment of pure genius, Katie decided that Three Olives Pomegranate Vodka would be delicious mixed with cranberry juice. She was right.
So here is the Pom & Cran-It:
fill an 8-12 oz tumbler with ice
1 oz (or 2 oz, if you're so inclined) of Three Olives Pomegranate Vodka
top with cranberry juice
slice of lemon as garnish
That's it. Simple. Tasty.
For the anti-flavoured vodka purist, we have a special treat for you: Kissui Vodka. It's distilled in Japan from rice, so it leaves a faint aftertaste of Sake on the tongue. It's a special-order vodka at Lava, meaning you can't get it at NB Liquor. Our M.O. is get you hooked on something, and then tell you we're the only place you can get it. We're evil like that.
To best enjoy Kissui, I recommend:
small rocks glass, with 3-4 ice cubes
1-2 oz of Kissui Vodka
squeeze in juice from 1 lime wedge (1/8th of a lime)
But more importantly, fall fishing is starting to heat up!!! I'm slinging cocktails & dreams at Lava Vodka Lounge this week, Thursday through Saturday, and doing some dawn patrol fly fishing action at Big Hole Brook on the Main SW Miramichi, so I'm not planning on sleeping too much over the next few days.
Below are a few NB fishing links to help you find the info and/or gear you need to hit the water successfully this weekend. Plus some tunes from local blues legends (and fans of Lava Vodka Lounge), Ross Neilsen & the Sufferin' Bastards. Ross & the gang will be playing on Friday & Saturday of Harvest, check out his bio & schedule here.
Here's a preview of what's to come:
