Silflay Hraka

Above is Fishin’, Drinkin’ & Stinkin’ fishing buddy Andy Humer with the 26″ Red Drum he caught this afternoon. Yesterday’s fishing wasn’t great but at least four people caught decent sized Drum today. I caught a single 8″ throw-back flounder in two days of fishing.I also managed to find an unsecured wireless internet connection in the neighborhood. The signal strength is low and spotty but I can get the occasional connection. More pictures may show up later.

The scene was electric. Irving, Texas. Monday Night Football. Cowboys vs. Giants. Veteran Dallas quarterback Drew Bledsoe is not exactly setting the world on fire, but in spite of a lackluster first half, his Cowboys only trail 12 – 7. That’s not good enough for the Dallas faithful. They have a hard-on for Tony Romo, their backup quarterback. Bledsoe is old and slow. Tony is the man to lead them to the promised land. They’re screaming for Romo as the first half ends.

They’re screaming harder for Romo as the second half begins. What happens? Onto the field trots Tony Romo! The roar is deafening. Romo gets a standing ovation. I kid you not. A standing freaking ovation for a guy who has thrown exactly two passes in the NFL.

Everyone loves a Cinderella story. In part, because they’re so rare. This wasn’t one. Romo throws an interception on his very first play, and in spite of looking good at times, he throws a total of three interceptions in half a football game, and turns a close Monday night battle into a 36 – 22 ass-kicking. Only a late junk touchdown by Dallas prevented the score from looking as bad as the Cowboys did.

In the words of Stan Marsh, I’ve learned something today:

Lesson #1: Football is a game of preparation. You spend a week assembling the combination of personnel, strategy and training necessary to combat that week’s opponent. If you’re going to swap out personnel in mid-game at your most important position, you should have a better reason than a few thousand screaming drunks who think it would be a keen idea.

Lesson #2: Just because your starter sucks, doesn’t mean his backup doesn’t suck harder.

One final entry before I leave for Ocracoke–because I post so often, don’t you know.

Some advice for the Republican congressional candidates, though it comes too late.

Why not run with this motto? “The Contract with America. This time we mean it.”

Another reason why I’m sanguine when it comes to confronting those–typically my neighbors on the nights when we gather in the cul-de-sac and drink fine alcohols–who are enamored of doom and gloom when it comes to the world situation; Mark Steyn via Austin Bay.

— 1968, in “The Population Bomb,” distinguished scientist Paul Ehrlich declared, “In the 1970s the world will undergo famines — hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death.”

– 1972, in “The Limits to Growth,” the Club of Rome announced that the world would run out of gold by 1981, of mercury by 1985, tin by 1987, zinc by 1990, petroleum by 1992, and copper, lead and gas by 1993.

– 1976, Lowell Ponte published a huge bestseller called “The Cooling: Has the New Ice Age Already Begun? Can We Survive?”

– 1977, Jimmy Carter confidently predicted that “we could use up all of the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade.”

“None of these things occurred,” Steyn writes. “Contrary to the doom-mongers’ predictions, millions didn’t starve.” .

I’m even sanguine when it comes to predictions of Europe’s death by demography. Europeans as a whole are racists, despite the political contortions of the elites there to prove otherwise, and so a time will come when the Muslim populations there will either integrate or be forced out. It won’t be pretty, and it would be nice to think that the change will come peacefully, but the longer it takes to reach that tipping point, the more violent the change will be once it inevitably arrives.

I can not only hear but witness, Jawbreaker and his rendition of, “Spinning Wheel”

or “Sweet Home Alabama” by D-train

Nevertheless, I believe this might be the year – that the Great Eleanor will finally make her stop at the end of someone’s hook.

See you guys – soon.

Miss you guys that aren’t coming – esp. MASON!!!!

In England.

A JILTED teenager is lucky to be alive after drowning his sorrows with 24 cans of lager, a litre of Sambuca and 1½ litres of vodka.

Incredibly, Steve Webster was still STANDING after his marathon session — sparked by his girlfriend snogging another man at a party.

Stingrays, not content with killing famous people in the sea, are now attacking from the air.

A leaping stingray stabbed an 81-year-old Florida boater in the chest, authorities said Wednesday, leaving its poisonous stinger lodged close to his heart in an incident recalling the one that killed Australian TV naturalist Steve Irwin last month.

Fire Department officials in Lighthouse Point, about 30 miles north of Miami, said James Bertakis was in a small recreational boat with two grandchildren Tuesday when the spotted eagle ray leaped aboard and struck him.

This blog may be quiet for a while. I leave today to secure housing in Atlanta pending my upcoming move. As soon as I complete that task, I’m heading to Ocracoke to go fishing with the gang.

In years past, we’ve promised to post photos and notes from the fishing trip over at the Fishing, Drinking and Stinking blog and, every year, we take our laptops and cameras.There is internet access on the island but it just isn’t convenient enough to post anything. Still, I suppose it could happen. If you miss us terribly, be sure to check out the FDS blog. We may also appear in photos on the Tradewinds website.

I won’t appear there, mind you, but others of us might. I don’t catch fish. I just drink and stink. Look for the fancy Fishing, Drinking and Stinking t-shirts.

Alien Loves Predator: In New York, no one can hear you scream.

By request. Be sure to closely examine the third panel. Can they do that on the internet?

me-ander: The Lingo

Batya at Me-Ander responds to my Carnival of the Vanities gripe about the terminology she used in her Carnival submission. She still doesn’t explain what any of it meant, but she does share her thoughts on the subject. I guess I’ll have to go back and click on all the links in her post to figure it out.

Hey, a guy only has so much time when putting a carnival together. I can’t click every link out there you know.