Say it Isn't So

“Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.” - Jean Sibelius

I have always heard that successful people always read the newspaper because they can always find something to capitalize on. I don't know if that,s true or not, I never had much luck on capitalizing on anything. The first sections of the news paper I always read is the obits and the court news looking for my name because I want to find out whether I'm dead and they forgot to tell me or if someone is suing me.

Newspapers are very informative, educational and can be down right amusing.  I don't think its the reporters intention to write comedy, sometimes its the subject matter and the characters portrayed that creates the story that sometimes leaves you smiling and  scratching your head.

Our daily newspaper is what I call  "The 1-Minute Read"  and costs fifty cents per issue. If you can't  read it from the front to back  including the sports section in 1-minute you should  be in a remedial reading class and they ought to refund half your money.

One of the first things I do in the morning after getting my first cup of coffee is read the paper.  I'm the first to admit that I'm not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree and I must have gave acceptable answers to the shrink when I took a Rorschach test because as of yet, I haven't been confined  to a rubber  room. So, if my perceptions seems to be OK, why do I find so much humor and irony when I read about whats happening in my community?

In our county, there are some people who just love to see their names in print, especially if it involves politics or the police blotter. Its a status symbol. They all ought to belong to the Gravediggers and Magicians Society.  Either they are digging up old skeletons or they are trying to bury a few and they can make things disappear from public view so fast it would put Penn & Teller to shame.
Here is one that would make you wonder who left the gates to the insane asylum open.

Thursday May 23, 2013   

Headline- Statue Debated in a Civil Way

The Lisbon Landmark Foundation, a committee of the Lisbon Area Chamber of Commerce wants the town council to approve erecting a statue of  Clement Vallandigham who was born in Lisbon and became  a controversial Civil War era figure after moving to Dayton,Ohio. He was arrested and charged with aiding abetting the South at the time of the Civil War. He was convicted and imprisoned but later commuted of his sentence and was released to be banished to the Confederacy.After the war he practiced law and accidentally shot himself in the head with a unloaded pistol while in court trying to prove his case defending a client. The client was acquitted of the charge but old Clement got death in return for his services.

Those for the statue argue that Vallandigham was a staunch supporter of states rights and was correct on on his criticism of Abraham Lincoln because Lincoln launched an unconstitutional invasion of the south and therefore he should be immortalized in bronze for being an outspoken critic of the opposite party. His statue will stand as a beacon for the right to dissent with government policy in time of war and what they did to him was a shame on the presidency of the United States.

Those against the statue argue who would want to honor a man who was convicted of showing sympathy to the enemy in time of war, A person who would split the Union to avoid war giving the Confederacy the right to own slaves instead of trying to preserve the union as a whole and abolish slavery.
Jean Sibelius quotes: “Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.”

In my opinion:

 $40,000 dollars is a very expensive bird perch even though the birds would  have something worthwhile to shit on.

Tenkara on a Poor Man's Budget

I finally had a chance to try out my Tenkara rod. Well maybe not an actual Tenkara outfit but you can't have a champagne taste on a beer income. A Tenkara "Ito" rod with an action index of 6.4 costs around $230.00 and everything needed such as the shooting line, leader, special Japanese tied fly's and other accessories will cost you another $75.00 so now your talking at least $300.00 for the whole enchilada.
After a lot of research on this method of fly fishing I found out that most diehards found it useful for small streams where casting is difficult due to foliage and overhanging trees but were very skeptical about hooking into a large steel head with this rig. Like anything, it will serve some purpose.
I went to Walmart and bought one of those telescoping 10 foot crappy poles, attached a 12ft section of shooting line and added a 6 ft leader,Walla- a Tenkara outfit that I could afford, all for less than $12.00 so now I'm ready to fly fish Japanese style with out busting my budget.
Anxious to try this rig out I called my fishing buddy and told him I wanted to field test my faux Tenkara rod and maybe we would get lucky this time and catch something. We ended up on a nice section creek with rapids and holding pools that looked promising and would be just the place to test my rod. Well my buddy ended up catching a couple of tree trout but finished out with a nice size bluegill. I was so engrossed with my rod that I forgot that the main objective was to catch some fish. Both of us had a great time and as I said everything has a purpose.This outfit is just the thing for someone who wants to learn fly fishing.Its light weight, they don't have to worry about winding in slack line and there is less chance of them hooking themselves. The crappy telescoping rod and the Tenkara "Ito" rod have something in common, they are both made in China.