The Sudden Curve

Let's try a little boxing

Posted by Bob Wallace, who sez I saw this one-minute fight years ago, and thought, YEOW!

Corkball!

I was originally raised in the St. Louis area (actually, in Illinois, right across the Mississippi River).

A game that I have only seen played in that area is corkball. The bat is the same length as a regular bat, but only about one-third as thick. The balls aren't much bigger than a golfball.

Ideally it was played in a cage, with only a batter and a pitcher. I don't remember the rules, but I do remember I had a corkball bat as a kid.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who used to hit rocks with his corkball bat.

My Dog Would Fall In

I have a pug puppy, and like all pugs, he's mostly brainless. A few weeks ago he fell into a lake, and after I dragged him out, he turned around and fell in again. I could never take him on a boat like this, because he'd fall in.

This picture reminds me of a story I was told by a woman who used to work with dolphins. She, another woman and a guy were standing before a dolphin tank when one of the dolphins popped up in front of the guy and began bouncing up and down. The woman burst out laughing, much to the puzzlement of the other two. She explained dolphins are social creatures, and this particular dolphin--a female--was, um, rubbing herself against the side of the tank in front of the guy.

That sociability probably explains why dolphins will gather around a human swimmer in trouble. It's true that sometimes they do save them. Paradoxically, sometimes they'll desert them, too. Never can tell with these things.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who never wants to swim with the fishes.

Dam those Damns... and other environmental dam disasters ~ Updated

What with all this Branson talk and all, we thought we'd best dredge up Iffy's  fabulouso, award-wiiiining and wildly popular  - fishing in the Ozarks -post from years ago.  Iffy himself, dis-pond-ed after his failed Election '04 Presidential run as candidate of the Huge Ass Beers Party has  retreated to Lilly's Landing with a cane pole and a three-pack of Bud and hasn't been seen since ...

Trout Fishing in America is alive and well.  Even in places where there didn't used to be trout fishing in America.  Trout fishing in America is not my name, like the guy in that hippie book, written by the guy whose last name sounds like some kind of composted sandwich meat; it’s what I do when I don't hunt, and what I did again recently. 

I always like to enjoy Mother Nature at her finest, and where you can find her at her finest is in the shadow of a man made environmental disaster.  The man made disaster in this case is the Table Rock dam.  It’s one of several on the White river as it runs its course through southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas.  A chain of lakes were formed when hydroelectric dams were built back in the forties, fifties and sixties.   

Remember those days?  Back when the future looked like the Jetsons, and when man made stuff was regarded with awe and respect rather than labeled as an eco disaster?   Back when a facility for production of electricity meant improved standards of living and an increasing economy, and drew cheers of adulation instead of derelict hippy enviro-terrorists, fitted out like mountaineers and oozing filth and their filthy socialist rhetoric. 

The tail waters of the Table Rock dam become what is called “Lake Taneycomo”, bounded on the downstream end by the Powersite dam.  Lake Taynecomo is really more of a river than a lake, because when the generators at Table Rock are generating, the gates at Powersite have to be opened too, and there is a pretty hefty current.  The water that flows through the generators comes out at about 42 degrees, and with all the aeration it gets from running through the turbines, and flowing swiftly over the rocky streambed, it becomes just about perfect habitat for freshwater shrimp.  Those are tiny crustaceans which would be completely worthless were it not for the fact that they are a highly nutritious food source for Onchorincus Mykiss, a.k.a. the Rainbow Trout.  Lake Taneycomo is host to a huge population of rainbows, which is supplemented with hatchery stockings on a regular basis.

It also holds a naturally reproducing population of Brown Trout, which can easily reach 15 to 25 lb. sizes in its rich waters. 

I went fishing there this weekend.  We fished up close to the dam in the “Trophy” area, where you aren’t allowed to use anything but artificial baits.  It’s a great area for fly-fishing when the generators aren’t running because there is a huge open area on both sides of the stream, allowing for easy fly-casting.  The fish are plentiful but finicky.  We always catch and release there, mainly because if you don’t they’ll fine you about sixty bucks for keeping a fish that isn’t in the legal size bracket.  You can’t possess a fish that is between 12 and 20 inches long.  You can possess them if they are either shorter, or longer.  We seldom catch either in those ranges there. 

We fly-fish in the AM up by the dam, and then when the generators start and the water comes up, we go to boats and drift fish lower down on the lake.  Drifting with night crawlers, artificial eggs, or power baits will get you a boatful of nice eating size Rainbows in a day’s time if you are attentive enough to detect a hit as your drift rig bounces along the rocky bottom.

We always have a great fishing experience on Taneycomo, and besides the fishing, what makes it great is the place where we stay which is called Lilleys Landing  The cabins or apartments are well appointed with full kitchens, etc, and the hospitality and fishing expertise that are available from the staff there are without peer in the Taneycomo area.  We always bring steaks and booze, which combine for a mighty feast and bullshit festival after the first day’s fishing.  Then on the second night, after we have filled our creels, we have a fish feast.

   
            

Our day on Saturday found the fishing spottier than usual, and with many of the trout running smaller than we are used to.  We threw a bunch of dinks back, but managed to catch enough nice eating size fish for a filling feast.  Fresh trout fillets, a nicely chilled Pinot Grigio, salad, and a dessert of Opus X cigars and MacAllan 18 year old Single Malt made a fitting end to a glorious day of fishing, wrestling feisty rainbows and a couple of nice browns, watching eagles fly, beavers swimming and working like beavers, and all the sorts of beautiful wonders of nature I’ve come to expect when I visit the site of a man-made enviro-disaster.

If you look up Taneycomo, you'll find out that it runs right through the town of Branson, MO, which many know as a kind of elephant/s graveyard of country music and celebrities.  Don't let the tourist trap image fool you.  It's hellish for traffic during the summer, (and the fishing is still worth the hassle) but during the offseason, it becomes a true fisherman's paradise  

posted by IFYA, editor on the lam from the chops

   
         

Yech

I don't like vermin. Who does?

At least roaches, flies and other assorted monsters are tiny. If they were the size of this thing, we'd all have to carry shotguns.

image ed. note ~ Umm, we already do all carry shotguns  ... did you miss the memo?

 

Can't Drive Fifty-five!

Below: actual ticket for land speed record.

205 m.p.h. - WOOOOOOOSH!

1932 Chevrolet "Confederate"

Is this waycool or what?

A concours-quality Chevy Confederate Coach. It's actually stamped "confederate" because for one year they were made in Missouri instead of Michigan (or where-ever they usually made yankee cars). Only forty-thousand careful miles, and the going price for this rolling rebel iron is a bargain at ....

... Thirty Grand!

Slim's way back in a Maybach

In the market for a new car? Take a look at Maybach. If you have an extra $360,000.00 laying around the 2004 Maybach 62 LWB(Long Wheel Base) has got to be the perfect car.

In the late twenties Karl Maybach started making his high end luxury vehicles. In 1929 he introduced the first 12 cylinder engine in the Maybach Zeppelin. These were the first of his extraordinary hand crafted vehicles.
Today, the cars are still hand crafted. The leather seats are hand stitched and even the 12 cylinder gas engine is hand set. The driving gear consists of 750 parts that are all manually assembled.
The engine, while BIG is made of lightweight materials and weighs a mere 595 lbs. This helps in the get up and go. This engine provides more output and torque than any factory produced car engine going. The twin turbo maxes at 543 HP! Not bad for a big car.

Customers order the car to their specifications. There are 3 types of wood veneers to choose from. Amboina;the most exotic, and the most expensive, Burl walnut; classic in luxury cars, and Cherry wood which is usually paired with black lacquered veneer for more elegance.
The leather is another feature that the buyer chooses. The leather is made in Nappa from the finest skins available. It takes 7-8 skins for the interior and only the faultless skins are used. All the interior leather is hand stitched. The color choices for the leather are many, depending on what the customer likes.
The interior of this car is incredible. It is like a fancy living room in your back seat. The two captain's chairs in the back are fully reclining, with a state of the art seat belt system that ensures safe fit even when the seat is fully reclined. Both rear seats are heated and have a massage feature, and both have fold out tables.
The sound system in this car is beyond something else. Bose speakers throughout, 21 in all - that's TWENTY-ONE! You'll have Dolby surround no matter what seat you are in. 6 disc CD changer, a DVD player and two full sized color monitors in the backrests of both the front seats, that have built in T.V. receivers.

Then there is my favorite feature, the electro-transparent panoramic glass roof. This is an option that can replace a standard tilt/sliding moon roof. Hey, if you've got the money, why not? It is all hand built and trimmed with the matching wood grain from the interior. It adjusts the interior lighting by the touch of a button. A power sliding panel can turn the transparent sunlight to a romantic opaque, depending on the mood.
I know my mood, and I don't think that I could even feel romantic after laying out $360,000 for a car! Although, if someone were to give me one....oh there I go, dreaming again!

posted by SLIM, editor swathed in rich Corinthians

Iffy is ~ Speaking of Guns...

We got guns, we got guns, All God’s chillun got guns…. So sang Groucho Marx and so sing I today in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. The United States of America is indeed the land of plenty when it comes to guns. Some eighty million of us own at least one gun. Many of us own lots of guns. We generally like guns, except those few of us who hate them with a passion. Most of those who hate guns are women, with the notable exceptions being Michael Moore, James Brady and a smattering of gay leftist politicians.

Guns in Colonial hands put the British in their place and gave birth to the USA. We have used guns continuously to good (or less good) ends ever since, whether to fend off the British again, to settle disputes amongst ourselves over slavery and states rights, to punish the Spanish and other pirates for sinking our ships, to rid the threats to our sovereignty posed by Hitler, and Hirohito, and most recently to remove threats to our security from Saddam Hussein, the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists.

People may have differed as to the degree of threat any of the above presented, and differ as to which side should have won that awful internal squabble, but nobody can argue that our guns were effective in dealing with whatever threat was there. I am one who believes strongly that we need to keep our guns well regulated, (note for the unschooled: “regulated” means sighted in and tuned for accuracy) and also keep ourselves well practiced in their use. It is our civic duty. It is also a civic duty to own and learn to proficiently operate as many guns of as many types as one can afford.

S.A.S.S. is the fastest growing shooting sports society in America. Join up today, and if you aint cowboy now, you soon will be, pards.

I would like to see some of the great designers of guns honored with national holidays in their names. Three come to mind immediately; they are John Moses Browning, Samuel Colt, and Benjamin Tyler Henry. Each of these men deserve far more celebration and accolade than they are getting. Help me fix that, won’t you? Study up on these fine fellows at your leisure, and write your congresspersons asking them to make the birthdays of these great men as least as prominent as those of the politicians and other rabble rousers in whose names we suffer the wasted time and loss of productivity that is a “national holiday”. Thank you for your consideration.

posted by IFYA, editor at going BANG!

Sports Trivia

Who was born February 17, 1963, and changed the sports world forever?

Magnificent Mike!! I will always remember Michael (and his hair) flying through the air as if he had wings. Happy Birthday, Michael!! I will always love you! Thank you for making me love sports more than chocolate!

posted by Slim, editor just wantin' to be like MIKE!!

Return of the King, Bronco

Here is Ford's answer to all of those Hummers GM is giving out:

Definitely it would look better topless, but a new, nitro-boosted Bronco turbo diesel should get y'all there and back again.

Here are some specs of the concept

posted by SLIM, editor at getting out and rutting in the mud

and now, some Sporting News

... the big news on the sporting front is the Trade of Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod from here on) to the Yankees. A-Rod is a natural short stop, but NY already has the best SS...Derek Jeter (I have his jersey on now). So, they moved A-Rod to 3rd base...should be interesting. 2 of the 3 most eligible bachelor short stops on one team...hell yeah. Oh, A-Rod isn't a bachelor any more, but at one time him, DJ, and Nomar Garciaparra were the MEN!!

On with the story, see the thing is, to get A-Rod, NY got rid of all of their pitchers, any that were worth a damn anyway. How are you gonna win anything without a good pitching staff? Millions on fielders, and nothing in the pen...I think Georgy needs a check in the mental dept.

The cap has really affected the NFL...all 'round...people are scurrying all over making deals and scheming ... just to get under the cap. In a way it is stupid, but then again, I remember the days of the Cowboys and Jerry Jones' willingness to spend however much he had to to get a stacked deck ... not right either.

posted by SLIM, editor at just doing it!

An affordable Lotus?

That is, if you think $40,000 is affordable.

posted by SLIM, editor at taking the sudden curves FAST!

Nice Rear End ...

Saleen

posted by Slim, editor at fast and furiousness

We're not just a buncha' GUN nuts anymore ...

Peachy Day

S.A.S.S.

The Single Action Shooting Society

Geeks are encouraged to join.