Like all Americans, I have watched my share of TV dramas where homicide is the central theme. I have also read more than a few novels and even non-fiction books with the same theme. I believe I am typical as I read from the NY Times best seller list more often than not.
Without doing any research at all, after all this IS a blog, I believe we can all agree that homicide is probably the most common plot thickener of all time. And that goes way back. A quick memory search comes up with Cain and Abel. Then there is Romulus and Remus or something like that. Shakespeare used murder in more than one of his dramas. And the trend continues and gains momentum by the decade in spite of a rising voice of concern from parents about violence on TV and in video games.
With all of this violence, and specifically homicide, one could easily come to the conclusion that homicide is in fact a very common occurrence when the opposite is actually true. Here is a story from Seattle P-I.com on the official homicide statistics for Seattle going back to the 1950's . Granted, many other cities have considerably higher homicide rates, yet I have to guess it is not 10 or twenty times higher which makes these figures seem rather tame compared to the impression anyone might expect to have based upon the proliferation of homicidal maniacs populating our TV's and movies.
I expect the reader has checked out that P-I story. Bringing that story to the attention of the reader was my primary purpose in writing this blog entry. Reading that story and seeing those graphs and figures clicked with other information I have read over the years about the actual numbers of serial killers in our society and a proliferation of serial killer stories told through our TV and movies. Over the course of a year I might read ten different stories about serial killers and I finally swore off of them voluntarily. No intervention or 12 step program was necessary. I'd just had enough.
Consequently, I am looking for good books to read that do not include a serial killer. I recently saw the mini-series "I, Claudius" which had numerous and various forms of homicide, and technically at least, even one serial killer. However, given it was an historical drama about my brethren, and the serial killer was not a psychopath, but killed for political purposes, I did not censor this movie from my list.
My mother loved Greek and Roman mythology, having been educated at a classics based Catholic educational institution, and I am not sure if she ever saw this production. Dad? I know she would have put down whatever book she was reading at the moment and pulled up a chair to watch this show if she had noticed it in the paper or someone had brought it to her attention as she really loved programs like this.
Anyway.....it is nice to know that homicidal maniacs are actually quite uncommon, and does not seem to increase with increased TV, news, and movies concentrating so heavily on homicide whenever it actually happens or is depicted in fictional dramas. Actually, we are quite safe. Statistically speaking.
Soggyblogger
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Husky Basketball
The below was posted on the Seattle Times Husky Basketball Forum, and a thread titled: Disgrace to the program and embarrassed to be a Husky.
The original poster was over the top, and I deleted a bunch of my own complaining about him. What was left is below, and is my response to the recent downturn in the Husky BB fortunes.
I thought Romar's explanation was perfect. This is his fault. He accepted the blame, and yet most of you want to put it on the players. Some of you think coaching is easy, and have the
simple but PERFECT answer to every problem Romar faces.
Yes, it can get frustrating watching our team dismantled by seemingly inferior players. However, if I honestly approach the problem, I cannot think of easy answers. We only have one post
player who can reliably catch the ball. The opponents have learned to remove him from the game and force us to shoot threes.
So what is the answer? Put Suggs, Wilcox, IT, Ross, and MBA in game and bombs away? That was easy. Oh, but rebounding, and defense also comes into the equation. Wilcox, Ross, and Suggs are still developing their defensive skills.
Other than IT getting sloppy, which is a mental error, I thought the team gave a good effort. The first game Duke lost, coach K was very wise. He said, our team gave a good effort, but the other
team gave a better effort. They played really well. They were coached really well. ....that was about all he said, publicly.
Motivating and teaching young athletes is no science. Romar is learning just like everyone else. He is doing fine in my book. Not great, but fine. Let him do his job, and we should do our job which
I suppose does include pretending we are coach and offering ideas. Try to keep it inspirational. Or rationale.
Here is my coaching tip: Next practice, spend half the time allowing everyone to practice their three point shooting. Maybe one on one. The defender giving varied defense from open shots to loosely defended. Maybe a drill where the team plays one minute scrimmages and then immediately goes into the three point shooting practice. Other than Suggs, the entire team is shooting bricks. They are way too tense. They have lost confidence. They need to relax!
Please relax!
Aziz needs to practice CATCHING the ball in the post. Until he learns that he cannot be part of a half court offense. MBA cannot dish off to him when triple teamed. Anyone 7 foot tall
and athletic enough to be playing at the major college level is hoping to get rich in the NBA. Aziz will never make it until he can catch the ball more reliably. Maybe he will never make it, but if he is going to he will have to dedicate himself to putting in the work.
Good luck Huskies! Please spend 20 minutes relaxing before each game. Zen or prayer, it doesn't matter. Then hype yourself up for BATTLE.
***********
Then after the game on the game thread of Percy Allen's Seattle Times Husky Basketball Forum, I wrote the following comment after the Huskies lost a close game to the University of Quack. (Oregon U.)
Soggyblogger said:
"Good effort. Well played except for the early turnover problem. OK, the rest of the country is catching up to the leaders all over the country. Everybody is stepping it up and improving their games. That's what this is all about. Why cry about it? We made progress. I think we turned a corner. Now I think they will accept that nothing is going to be handed to them. Work hard on those things which you can control. Rebounding. Good D. Take care of the ball better.
Thomas was sloppy early, but clearly took control in the second half. I think he is mentally tough and will fight through this. Ross and Suggs are growing every game. Keep rebounding and take care of the ball and I think this team will mature into a top competitor. MBA was great, but either lost his focus or tired out at the end.
It isn't that we are less than we were, but others have turned up the heat and we need to make that next step to being tough AND talented. Go Huskies."
**********
Other fans felt similar, and quite a few are filled with despair. Lots of blame. How sad. If the Huskies cannot get themselves together it is not a life changing problem for me. I will not need prozac. My goodness, it's shocking. Total despair over a college basketball team. Not good mental health.
When people's happiness is based upon a sporting event or season, they need to re-evaluate their priorities, and they are missing the best thing about being a fan of sports. Regardless of what happens, I will take pleasure in the Huskies successes and shrug my shoulders when they lose. Either they will help make me happy or I will find happiness somewhere else. Any other attitude seems self-destructive to me.
Oh, well.... [shrug]
Soggyblogger
The original poster was over the top, and I deleted a bunch of my own complaining about him. What was left is below, and is my response to the recent downturn in the Husky BB fortunes.
I thought Romar's explanation was perfect. This is his fault. He accepted the blame, and yet most of you want to put it on the players. Some of you think coaching is easy, and have the
simple but PERFECT answer to every problem Romar faces.
Yes, it can get frustrating watching our team dismantled by seemingly inferior players. However, if I honestly approach the problem, I cannot think of easy answers. We only have one post
player who can reliably catch the ball. The opponents have learned to remove him from the game and force us to shoot threes.
So what is the answer? Put Suggs, Wilcox, IT, Ross, and MBA in game and bombs away? That was easy. Oh, but rebounding, and defense also comes into the equation. Wilcox, Ross, and Suggs are still developing their defensive skills.
Other than IT getting sloppy, which is a mental error, I thought the team gave a good effort. The first game Duke lost, coach K was very wise. He said, our team gave a good effort, but the other
team gave a better effort. They played really well. They were coached really well. ....that was about all he said, publicly.
Motivating and teaching young athletes is no science. Romar is learning just like everyone else. He is doing fine in my book. Not great, but fine. Let him do his job, and we should do our job which
I suppose does include pretending we are coach and offering ideas. Try to keep it inspirational. Or rationale.
Here is my coaching tip: Next practice, spend half the time allowing everyone to practice their three point shooting. Maybe one on one. The defender giving varied defense from open shots to loosely defended. Maybe a drill where the team plays one minute scrimmages and then immediately goes into the three point shooting practice. Other than Suggs, the entire team is shooting bricks. They are way too tense. They have lost confidence. They need to relax!
Please relax!
Aziz needs to practice CATCHING the ball in the post. Until he learns that he cannot be part of a half court offense. MBA cannot dish off to him when triple teamed. Anyone 7 foot tall
and athletic enough to be playing at the major college level is hoping to get rich in the NBA. Aziz will never make it until he can catch the ball more reliably. Maybe he will never make it, but if he is going to he will have to dedicate himself to putting in the work.
Good luck Huskies! Please spend 20 minutes relaxing before each game. Zen or prayer, it doesn't matter. Then hype yourself up for BATTLE.
***********
Then after the game on the game thread of Percy Allen's Seattle Times Husky Basketball Forum, I wrote the following comment after the Huskies lost a close game to the University of Quack. (Oregon U.)
Soggyblogger said:
"Good effort. Well played except for the early turnover problem. OK, the rest of the country is catching up to the leaders all over the country. Everybody is stepping it up and improving their games. That's what this is all about. Why cry about it? We made progress. I think we turned a corner. Now I think they will accept that nothing is going to be handed to them. Work hard on those things which you can control. Rebounding. Good D. Take care of the ball better.
Thomas was sloppy early, but clearly took control in the second half. I think he is mentally tough and will fight through this. Ross and Suggs are growing every game. Keep rebounding and take care of the ball and I think this team will mature into a top competitor. MBA was great, but either lost his focus or tired out at the end.
It isn't that we are less than we were, but others have turned up the heat and we need to make that next step to being tough AND talented. Go Huskies."
**********
Other fans felt similar, and quite a few are filled with despair. Lots of blame. How sad. If the Huskies cannot get themselves together it is not a life changing problem for me. I will not need prozac. My goodness, it's shocking. Total despair over a college basketball team. Not good mental health.
When people's happiness is based upon a sporting event or season, they need to re-evaluate their priorities, and they are missing the best thing about being a fan of sports. Regardless of what happens, I will take pleasure in the Huskies successes and shrug my shoulders when they lose. Either they will help make me happy or I will find happiness somewhere else. Any other attitude seems self-destructive to me.
Oh, well.... [shrug]
Soggyblogger
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Mortal Enemies
I have spent the last week or two as a Husky Football fan following the recruiting process of high school stars. This process never ends, but each year culminates in the LOI day. Letter Of Intent signing day. Technically, athletes can sign any day after LOI day, but the first day has a carnival feel to it, and is much awaited by the growing internet fan base.
Nowadays, fans can get much more information, think about it, and write about it with other similarly interested fans and an education goes on elevating the discussion from the pre-internet sort which used to go on. I am a recently recruited internet fan. One of over 500 comments made on a thread on Husky recruiting from the Seattle Times Husky Football Blog.
Sark set up a camera panning the UW Football office's Fax machine, and over 700 people were viewing that awesome internet feed. 700 people stareing at a monitor showing an office and a fax machine! One could NOT read the faxes. So I am assuming much excitement was had when the fax machine began whirring and paper came out with fortune cookie expectations.
Twitter was being used for actual information announcements like "Kasen Williams confirmed." Other social networking sites for other schools were followed and reported on, and one such contribution got a rumor started that we were now on the list for the "Black Mamba" some guy defecting from U$C to Nike U (Zero University or Oregon U. are other aliases).
As the reader can see, this reporter has been converted from an objective observer to a homer journalist. In the past I would have said, "USC, and Oregon U...." but after reading 500 posts from the Husky faithful minus a few trolls from WSU and Oregon, I have been brainwashed into seeing both programs in a new light. Meaning, of course, as mortal enemies.
And speaking of enemies, how about that SEC conference? Wasn't I just rooting for the University of Quack against an SEC opponent for the national title?
This is a lot like fishing. While I have local opposition, competition, or enemies depending on a variety of emotional and environmental factors, but all of us locals are actually more in competition with non-locals. If the BIG SCHOOL OF KING SALMON decides to hang out up around Sitka, then those of us down around Noyes Island fight over the proverbial crumbs. I may catch more than my immediate neighbor, but the ones who are up around Sitka are catching many times more fish than any of us down around Noyes Island.
I guess the comparison is not enlightenment quality, but still I think I have made my point. I DO hate Oregon, USC, and all the rest of the football world, but I like our conference to get better together. The perception that Oregon and USC and UW are powerhouses actually helps each other recruit better athletes from out of the conference and to keep those from within from defecting.
Right now, the SEC sucks off of other parts of the country because of the perception, based upon strong evidence, that the SEC rules NCAA football. I think 8 or 9 teams from the SEC held places in the top 25 recruiting classes. Next best conference was the Pac 12 with 5 or 6. Then the ACC with 4 teams in the top 25.
Until people get tired of living in swamps filled with pollution from the industrial north, the SEC seems to have a decided edge on the rest of the world when it comes to high school talent for football. One other factor might be the education level of the west and east versus the south. I have heard professional athletes say that with what we now know about head injuries, he wouldn't want his child to play football. I suspect more and more parents with any education will be pushing their children to consider less violent sports to pursue. Tiger Woods is looking better and better all the time. Not only can you get as many women as you want playing a sport old men can play, you can make oodles of money without all of that pain. How many billionaire football players are there?
Well, that is about it for now....
Soggyblogger
Nowadays, fans can get much more information, think about it, and write about it with other similarly interested fans and an education goes on elevating the discussion from the pre-internet sort which used to go on. I am a recently recruited internet fan. One of over 500 comments made on a thread on Husky recruiting from the Seattle Times Husky Football Blog.
Sark set up a camera panning the UW Football office's Fax machine, and over 700 people were viewing that awesome internet feed. 700 people stareing at a monitor showing an office and a fax machine! One could NOT read the faxes. So I am assuming much excitement was had when the fax machine began whirring and paper came out with fortune cookie expectations.
Twitter was being used for actual information announcements like "Kasen Williams confirmed." Other social networking sites for other schools were followed and reported on, and one such contribution got a rumor started that we were now on the list for the "Black Mamba" some guy defecting from U$C to Nike U (Zero University or Oregon U. are other aliases).
As the reader can see, this reporter has been converted from an objective observer to a homer journalist. In the past I would have said, "USC, and Oregon U...." but after reading 500 posts from the Husky faithful minus a few trolls from WSU and Oregon, I have been brainwashed into seeing both programs in a new light. Meaning, of course, as mortal enemies.
And speaking of enemies, how about that SEC conference? Wasn't I just rooting for the University of Quack against an SEC opponent for the national title?
This is a lot like fishing. While I have local opposition, competition, or enemies depending on a variety of emotional and environmental factors, but all of us locals are actually more in competition with non-locals. If the BIG SCHOOL OF KING SALMON decides to hang out up around Sitka, then those of us down around Noyes Island fight over the proverbial crumbs. I may catch more than my immediate neighbor, but the ones who are up around Sitka are catching many times more fish than any of us down around Noyes Island.
I guess the comparison is not enlightenment quality, but still I think I have made my point. I DO hate Oregon, USC, and all the rest of the football world, but I like our conference to get better together. The perception that Oregon and USC and UW are powerhouses actually helps each other recruit better athletes from out of the conference and to keep those from within from defecting.
Right now, the SEC sucks off of other parts of the country because of the perception, based upon strong evidence, that the SEC rules NCAA football. I think 8 or 9 teams from the SEC held places in the top 25 recruiting classes. Next best conference was the Pac 12 with 5 or 6. Then the ACC with 4 teams in the top 25.
Until people get tired of living in swamps filled with pollution from the industrial north, the SEC seems to have a decided edge on the rest of the world when it comes to high school talent for football. One other factor might be the education level of the west and east versus the south. I have heard professional athletes say that with what we now know about head injuries, he wouldn't want his child to play football. I suspect more and more parents with any education will be pushing their children to consider less violent sports to pursue. Tiger Woods is looking better and better all the time. Not only can you get as many women as you want playing a sport old men can play, you can make oodles of money without all of that pain. How many billionaire football players are there?
Well, that is about it for now....
Soggyblogger
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Welcome Followers and Lurkers, Too
I am back. I was unable to enter my own blog! This is just a test to determine if I am truly back.
Since I have been gone, I have gained my first follower. How exciting! Too bad for all those lurkers who missed out on this hidden prize for being the first follower. My first follower is currently receiving her $600.00 per month award. Again, so sorry to all you lurkers who missed out on this fabulous award. In a previous post, I mentioned our upcoming reward program for news tips, gossip, Sloggyblogger's Investigative Journalistic Apprentice Program (SIJAP) which is waiting on a grant from the Federal Govt. We are still struggling with some of the requirements and translating the legaleze back into English. We may need to apply for a grant to supply us with a legaleze translator before we can complete our original grant request. SIJAP is just one of our proposed AWARDS PROGRAM. Check back for further updates on our exciting proposed AWARDS PROGRAM.
And don't miss out on any more hidden awards. Sign up as a follower today! Tell your friends and neighbors to sign up, too.
Today I had "frosted flakes" with half and half for breakfast. Welcome back to myself.
Soggyblogger
Since I have been gone, I have gained my first follower. How exciting! Too bad for all those lurkers who missed out on this hidden prize for being the first follower. My first follower is currently receiving her $600.00 per month award. Again, so sorry to all you lurkers who missed out on this fabulous award. In a previous post, I mentioned our upcoming reward program for news tips, gossip, Sloggyblogger's Investigative Journalistic Apprentice Program (SIJAP) which is waiting on a grant from the Federal Govt. We are still struggling with some of the requirements and translating the legaleze back into English. We may need to apply for a grant to supply us with a legaleze translator before we can complete our original grant request. SIJAP is just one of our proposed AWARDS PROGRAM. Check back for further updates on our exciting proposed AWARDS PROGRAM.
And don't miss out on any more hidden awards. Sign up as a follower today! Tell your friends and neighbors to sign up, too.
Today I had "frosted flakes" with half and half for breakfast. Welcome back to myself.
Soggyblogger
Thursday, January 20, 2011
I CARE.......
I CARE about the Seahawks because I choose to care. On a day to day basis, I could watch C-Span and FOX and MSNBC and as many other news outlets as possible and CARE about the latest tragedy or flood victims. The latest scandal or the latest disaster or even the public debate on specific issues before congress. Perhaps that is what I OUGHT to do. But it's not. I am more hedonistic and selfish then that, I guess. But all of those disasters and wrangling over legislation seems so inevitably repetitious. So circular. Yet nothing of consequence seems to come of it. Also, I feel mostly powerless to affect the outcomes. My hat is off to all those who take a political stand and ring doorbells or go to meetings and watch the politicians to protect us from possible corruption. I have been there and done that. The FBI will confirm it. I cannot say I liked the person I became as I participated in the democratic process. I was argumentative and narrow minded. I became emotionally stressed out, and felt largely unappreciated and ineffectual. I and all of the other individuals involved were not, in the end, ineffectual as it turns out. History has vindicated us, and the records support the belief that the anti-Viet Nam war effort was very effective. We changed society in the process. We changed ourselves in the process as well.
Some changes were good and necessary. Some were not. I believe the entire Viet Nam war and all of its ramifications had HUGE affects on our country. Most of them good. That is not the subject of this article and adds a sort of mushiness to it, but I want to reflect reality. Perhaps I will return to this subject some day.
I believe when an issue as significant as the Viet Nam war presents itself again, many millions of otherwise content sports aficionados and couch potatoes, and Nascar fans, and grumpy old men and women will stand up and be counted.
Perhaps that issue exists today. Perhaps the core issue at the heart of the health care reform debate will gradually escalate to engage the attention of Nixon's "silent majority" of which I am a member now.
As I see it, the core issue of the health care reform debate is this: Has basic health care benefits become a basic right of citizenship in this country? Today, it is not. In Europe, it is. Personally, I like the idea of basic health care being part of a citizen's rights. There are many models to choose from to make that a reality without the upheaval of our way of life or bankrupting our government. Debating the specifics of those models and their inclusion or exclusion from various plans is not really relevant until the core issue is settled first.
Issues such as building more medical schools and producing more MD's would go a long way towards the goal of reducing health care costs across the board, but The AMA keeps tight control on the spigot producing MD's in this country, and that contributes mightily to the average earnings for doctors, and increases the cost of medical care significantly as well. However, that is a specifics of any plan to achieve the goal of making basic health care a basic citizen's right. Others include things like what procedures will be included in that "basic" level of protection. All doable. Certainly, no coverage at all does more harm and costs society even more in lost productivity, etc. by excluding preventative health care now before more costly therapies are required.
But debating the specifics of any changes in our health care system is more of a diversion by the opposition, who oppose ANY CHANGE to the status quo, when what we should be debating is simply: Is basic health care a citizens right? Is giving basic health care to virtually everyone a positive to the ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL health of our nation as a whole? I think the answer to that question is a resounding "YES!"
If that core principal was debated and voted upon by congress, citizens would clearly see where everyone stood. Just a proclamation that BASIC HEALTH CARE IS EVERY CITIZEN'S RIGHT would lead to further debates about the mechanics of systemic changes needed to bring about that idea. If we could get agreement to that concept, then bringing it about is not so difficult.
Honest and honorable people disagree on the question: Is basic health care a basic citizen's right? If this country were to debate this issue, and congress were to vote on it, I would accept defeat if that was the result. I would know where everyone stood on the issue, and who to vote for next time. All any of the politicians, or talking heads, and even the press is doing now is just obfuscating the real issue which needs to be decided before those ancillary issues ought to even be discussed. Wrangling over side issues before the core issue has been decided averts attention from that core issue. Yet that core issue will keep coming up until people stop getting sick and dying, or we decide to give every citizen a basic health care guarantee. Then and only then should we start debating how to achieve that goal. If it is not the goal, I want to know that, too. Right now I don't know who is in favor of it, and who is not.
Until some debate in politics engages my interest or ire, I will continue to choose to CARE more about whether Matt Hasselbeck gets re-signed by the Seahawks then the latest tragedy, or the latest scandal, or any of the political issues which are not clearly drawn debates - which simply frustrates or bores me at this point.
Bread and circuses. The Romans figured it out a long time ago. Maybe the political debates are intentionally boring and pointless so we do not pay attention, and go back to our circuses. I'd rather watch an honest circus then an intentionally obscure and pointless political debate that is essentially rigged.
Some changes were good and necessary. Some were not. I believe the entire Viet Nam war and all of its ramifications had HUGE affects on our country. Most of them good. That is not the subject of this article and adds a sort of mushiness to it, but I want to reflect reality. Perhaps I will return to this subject some day.
I believe when an issue as significant as the Viet Nam war presents itself again, many millions of otherwise content sports aficionados and couch potatoes, and Nascar fans, and grumpy old men and women will stand up and be counted.
Perhaps that issue exists today. Perhaps the core issue at the heart of the health care reform debate will gradually escalate to engage the attention of Nixon's "silent majority" of which I am a member now.
As I see it, the core issue of the health care reform debate is this: Has basic health care benefits become a basic right of citizenship in this country? Today, it is not. In Europe, it is. Personally, I like the idea of basic health care being part of a citizen's rights. There are many models to choose from to make that a reality without the upheaval of our way of life or bankrupting our government. Debating the specifics of those models and their inclusion or exclusion from various plans is not really relevant until the core issue is settled first.
Issues such as building more medical schools and producing more MD's would go a long way towards the goal of reducing health care costs across the board, but The AMA keeps tight control on the spigot producing MD's in this country, and that contributes mightily to the average earnings for doctors, and increases the cost of medical care significantly as well. However, that is a specifics of any plan to achieve the goal of making basic health care a basic citizen's right. Others include things like what procedures will be included in that "basic" level of protection. All doable. Certainly, no coverage at all does more harm and costs society even more in lost productivity, etc. by excluding preventative health care now before more costly therapies are required.
But debating the specifics of any changes in our health care system is more of a diversion by the opposition, who oppose ANY CHANGE to the status quo, when what we should be debating is simply: Is basic health care a citizens right? Is giving basic health care to virtually everyone a positive to the ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL health of our nation as a whole? I think the answer to that question is a resounding "YES!"
If that core principal was debated and voted upon by congress, citizens would clearly see where everyone stood. Just a proclamation that BASIC HEALTH CARE IS EVERY CITIZEN'S RIGHT would lead to further debates about the mechanics of systemic changes needed to bring about that idea. If we could get agreement to that concept, then bringing it about is not so difficult.
Honest and honorable people disagree on the question: Is basic health care a basic citizen's right? If this country were to debate this issue, and congress were to vote on it, I would accept defeat if that was the result. I would know where everyone stood on the issue, and who to vote for next time. All any of the politicians, or talking heads, and even the press is doing now is just obfuscating the real issue which needs to be decided before those ancillary issues ought to even be discussed. Wrangling over side issues before the core issue has been decided averts attention from that core issue. Yet that core issue will keep coming up until people stop getting sick and dying, or we decide to give every citizen a basic health care guarantee. Then and only then should we start debating how to achieve that goal. If it is not the goal, I want to know that, too. Right now I don't know who is in favor of it, and who is not.
Until some debate in politics engages my interest or ire, I will continue to choose to CARE more about whether Matt Hasselbeck gets re-signed by the Seahawks then the latest tragedy, or the latest scandal, or any of the political issues which are not clearly drawn debates - which simply frustrates or bores me at this point.
Bread and circuses. The Romans figured it out a long time ago. Maybe the political debates are intentionally boring and pointless so we do not pay attention, and go back to our circuses. I'd rather watch an honest circus then an intentionally obscure and pointless political debate that is essentially rigged.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
ALASKAN FISHING (TROLLING) ch1
Before I begin what will be a chapter by chapter story of fishing - though I cannot say I am not at all sure the direction it will take; I want to first talk a little about blogging. Blogging as differentiated from writing a book. If I were to write a book, I would somehow write the darn thing to a first draft completion, and then I would go through it and re-write, and edit, and re-write until I was happy or finished with it otherwise. Then I would, perhaps, attempt to get it published.
Blogging is different in that I just start writing. Then I transfer with copy and paste and check for spelling and glaring grammatical mistakes, and then I usually publish. Sometimes, upon publishing and reading what I publish I have to edit, and this process might go on through two or more cycles of that. In this chapter on fishing, I do not expect to do a lot of polishing. It felt like technical writing sort of. Almost inhuman. Though I hope to humanize it more in the future, I am not unsatisfied with this approach for the first chapter which is establishing the basis of fishing before we can get to actual fishing.
I am not vitally attached to this work, but who knows where it will go? I certainly am an expert on fishing in this part of Alaska. I am more qualified to write about Trolling in SE Alaska then on any other subject. In some ways, I feel too close to it, but that may change. For anyone who takes the time to read it, I hope you enjoy it or at least feel edified from your and my efforts.
Chapter 1 - Getting Started
Somewhere back in the stacks, I mentioned my boat. I live on my boat in Alaska. Craig, Alaska. That's in SE Alaska, or what some call the Panhandle. It is made up of an Island achepelagio or a group of Islands. Big and small. Mostly,the islands are thinner east to west and longer north to south. Waterways tend to run NW to SE.
Craig sits on the West side of one such island. At the middle measuring from North to South of the largest of all the islands in SE Alaska. That island is called Prince of Wales, and most locals call it POW. POW extends from the Canadian border North - away from Canada for over one hundred miles. Another row of smaller islands protect POW from direct contact with the Pacific Ocean.
Craig is a small fishing village, really. It's population of about 2000 is bolstered by the largest single employer in the area, the National Forest Service. Though tree cutting has almost entirely disappeared, the FS seems to be going at full capacity. Besides the bonus income the city derives from the Fed's, fishing is about the only other industry which produces anything but support services.
Tourism is almost entirely fish related, so I include that in the general fishing industry. That does not exactly tell the whole story. To understand Craig, and fishing, and fish tourism, one needs to understand that a non-shooting war exists between the different fishing groups. With all commercial fisherman on one side, and any charter fishing boat and operator on the exact opposite side of the war. It is mostly civil, but emotions run high.
Money is involved in all ways, but that doesn't tell the whole story at all. Commercial trolling has been unalterably changed by charter fishing. Up until about the late 1980's or so, there were near zero charter boats. Now they number in the hundreds and probably more than one thousand. The total number of available licences to troll commecialy has remained steady at around 1000 the whole time, but the effort level has increased perhaps 50% from 600 boats fishing to 900 boats fishing. During that same time the charter fishing industry began to expand like a metastasized cancer. Sprouting up simultaneously throughout SE Alaska until, today, there is no piece of water which has not been covered in the routine travels of some charter boat. They are seen in every bay and inlet. They know every fishy point. Every shallow spot on the ocean. They travel alone out to Forrester Island which is almost 20 miles offshore. They travel in massive trains of dozens of boats speeding down a straight.
Territorial disputes exist. No one owns any piece of water, and trollers are by definition moving all the time. Charter boats will come in to an area and drift directly over bait balls and deny access to trollers. Legally, trollers have the right of way, and some trollers do endure the stress necessary to insist on their right of way, but mostly trollers have ceded most of the shallow water fishing in SE Alaska.
Trollers have watched this transformation over the course of twenty years, and see no end in sight. The economic downturn has temporarily slowed the growth like a mediocre chemo therapy treatment. For now, the charter boat industry is in remission, but will recover with the economy and then the growth will continue. The boat orders have been made, and the cabins are being built as I write.
The trolling industry has also been under siege from the fish farming industry which began almost simultaneously and kept pace with the growth rate of the charter boat industry. Though not visible on the fishing grounds, this incursion has had an even more disasterous effect on trolling. Starting with a few dozen million fish and growing to hundreds of millions of fish being dumped on the salmon markets, the price of salmon first stopped increasing and then started falling. The price of salmon peaked around 1984 or so, but would have reached a higher high had there been no farmed fish on the market. The following year, increased farm production drove the price of all salmon down. With few exceptions, each new year was worse than the year before. By the early 2000's the price finally bottomed out around $1.00 per pound for king salmon. The high was around $4.00/pound in 1984.
Many factors were involved in the final bottoming out of the price of salmon. One of the major reasons was that with all of the cheap salmon on the market, restaurants and families ate more of it. Consumers became accustomed to eating more salmon. It is not like the glut on the market caused fish to go bad and get thrown out. No. The price fell until someone was willing to buy. So the entire world supply of salmon increased by as much as 100% as a result of fish farming, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Fishermen might not like it, but all things being equal, the world needs more food, and salmon have become like pigs, chicken, and beef. Grow it for the lowest possible price. On land farms this causes pollution, but we have to eat, right? The same holds true for fish farms. There is pollution, and the reduction of shoreline for general use, and genetic issues when farmed fish escape from captivity.
These are much more complex issues than I can hope to explain adequately unless I were to make this book specifically about this subject, and I am no expert nor do I wish to become one, but you get the picture.
The big reason that the markets for salmon finally bottomed out is because of the real and perceived healthfulness differences between farmed fish and wild fish. More omega fatty acids and no dye to turn the meat red. Political correctness sided with wild fish. Consumers began to differentiate between the two products available. Consumer willingness to pay extra for wild fish combined with declining returns of wild fish everywhere but Alaska created a shortage of wild fish and an increasing price.
That's where we stand today. With more feeding from the same trough, but with increasing prices for the fish. It is not a picture of economic health, but it is better than the worst years, and a profit can be made catching fish.
I have stuck to it since I began back in the 1970's. I took two years off when my carpel tunnel syndrome required it, but after taking care of that with surgery, I got back into it. Then I took two years off to rebuild my boat's cabin and replace my engine and fuel tanks. Lots of other changes in the rigging and equipment, but this isn't a book about boat building, or worse, fiberglass laying. Neither activity suits my nature nor pleases me.
Fishing is fun. However, there are many things to do before one can go fishing. And to keep fishing. Things break and need to be fixed. Equipment needs to be maintained or it breaks more often. A boat is a complex group of equipment. When something breaks it either ends fishing or threatens the boat. Or both. Engine, shaft, propeller, rudder, cooling system, water pumps of dozens of types, hydraulics, electrical systems, electronics of multiple purposes, anchor and anchoring equipment, steering systems and auto pilots. The list seems endless before any fishing is even considered.
Every fisherman maintains and fixes almost every system on a boat except the engine. Engine repairs often require a professional. Some fishermen do these repairs, too. I have had a reduction gear apart and back together, which is the car equivalent of the transmission, but never an engine. Special tools are usually required, and some experience is more than useful.
None of this interests me even slightly. Except as much as a soldier takes an interest in his gun as a necessity. As my life depends on this stuff, I pay attention. That doesn't mean that taking apart a reduction gear is a pleasant experience. Nor is changing the oil in the engine.
Once everything is in working order, a fisherman can consider getting ready to fish. That would be a good place to start the next chapter....
Blogging is different in that I just start writing. Then I transfer with copy and paste and check for spelling and glaring grammatical mistakes, and then I usually publish. Sometimes, upon publishing and reading what I publish I have to edit, and this process might go on through two or more cycles of that. In this chapter on fishing, I do not expect to do a lot of polishing. It felt like technical writing sort of. Almost inhuman. Though I hope to humanize it more in the future, I am not unsatisfied with this approach for the first chapter which is establishing the basis of fishing before we can get to actual fishing.
I am not vitally attached to this work, but who knows where it will go? I certainly am an expert on fishing in this part of Alaska. I am more qualified to write about Trolling in SE Alaska then on any other subject. In some ways, I feel too close to it, but that may change. For anyone who takes the time to read it, I hope you enjoy it or at least feel edified from your and my efforts.
Chapter 1 - Getting Started
Somewhere back in the stacks, I mentioned my boat. I live on my boat in Alaska. Craig, Alaska. That's in SE Alaska, or what some call the Panhandle. It is made up of an Island achepelagio or a group of Islands. Big and small. Mostly,the islands are thinner east to west and longer north to south. Waterways tend to run NW to SE.
Craig sits on the West side of one such island. At the middle measuring from North to South of the largest of all the islands in SE Alaska. That island is called Prince of Wales, and most locals call it POW. POW extends from the Canadian border North - away from Canada for over one hundred miles. Another row of smaller islands protect POW from direct contact with the Pacific Ocean.
Craig is a small fishing village, really. It's population of about 2000 is bolstered by the largest single employer in the area, the National Forest Service. Though tree cutting has almost entirely disappeared, the FS seems to be going at full capacity. Besides the bonus income the city derives from the Fed's, fishing is about the only other industry which produces anything but support services.
Tourism is almost entirely fish related, so I include that in the general fishing industry. That does not exactly tell the whole story. To understand Craig, and fishing, and fish tourism, one needs to understand that a non-shooting war exists between the different fishing groups. With all commercial fisherman on one side, and any charter fishing boat and operator on the exact opposite side of the war. It is mostly civil, but emotions run high.
Money is involved in all ways, but that doesn't tell the whole story at all. Commercial trolling has been unalterably changed by charter fishing. Up until about the late 1980's or so, there were near zero charter boats. Now they number in the hundreds and probably more than one thousand. The total number of available licences to troll commecialy has remained steady at around 1000 the whole time, but the effort level has increased perhaps 50% from 600 boats fishing to 900 boats fishing. During that same time the charter fishing industry began to expand like a metastasized cancer. Sprouting up simultaneously throughout SE Alaska until, today, there is no piece of water which has not been covered in the routine travels of some charter boat. They are seen in every bay and inlet. They know every fishy point. Every shallow spot on the ocean. They travel alone out to Forrester Island which is almost 20 miles offshore. They travel in massive trains of dozens of boats speeding down a straight.
Territorial disputes exist. No one owns any piece of water, and trollers are by definition moving all the time. Charter boats will come in to an area and drift directly over bait balls and deny access to trollers. Legally, trollers have the right of way, and some trollers do endure the stress necessary to insist on their right of way, but mostly trollers have ceded most of the shallow water fishing in SE Alaska.
Trollers have watched this transformation over the course of twenty years, and see no end in sight. The economic downturn has temporarily slowed the growth like a mediocre chemo therapy treatment. For now, the charter boat industry is in remission, but will recover with the economy and then the growth will continue. The boat orders have been made, and the cabins are being built as I write.
The trolling industry has also been under siege from the fish farming industry which began almost simultaneously and kept pace with the growth rate of the charter boat industry. Though not visible on the fishing grounds, this incursion has had an even more disasterous effect on trolling. Starting with a few dozen million fish and growing to hundreds of millions of fish being dumped on the salmon markets, the price of salmon first stopped increasing and then started falling. The price of salmon peaked around 1984 or so, but would have reached a higher high had there been no farmed fish on the market. The following year, increased farm production drove the price of all salmon down. With few exceptions, each new year was worse than the year before. By the early 2000's the price finally bottomed out around $1.00 per pound for king salmon. The high was around $4.00/pound in 1984.
Many factors were involved in the final bottoming out of the price of salmon. One of the major reasons was that with all of the cheap salmon on the market, restaurants and families ate more of it. Consumers became accustomed to eating more salmon. It is not like the glut on the market caused fish to go bad and get thrown out. No. The price fell until someone was willing to buy. So the entire world supply of salmon increased by as much as 100% as a result of fish farming, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Fishermen might not like it, but all things being equal, the world needs more food, and salmon have become like pigs, chicken, and beef. Grow it for the lowest possible price. On land farms this causes pollution, but we have to eat, right? The same holds true for fish farms. There is pollution, and the reduction of shoreline for general use, and genetic issues when farmed fish escape from captivity.
These are much more complex issues than I can hope to explain adequately unless I were to make this book specifically about this subject, and I am no expert nor do I wish to become one, but you get the picture.
The big reason that the markets for salmon finally bottomed out is because of the real and perceived healthfulness differences between farmed fish and wild fish. More omega fatty acids and no dye to turn the meat red. Political correctness sided with wild fish. Consumers began to differentiate between the two products available. Consumer willingness to pay extra for wild fish combined with declining returns of wild fish everywhere but Alaska created a shortage of wild fish and an increasing price.
That's where we stand today. With more feeding from the same trough, but with increasing prices for the fish. It is not a picture of economic health, but it is better than the worst years, and a profit can be made catching fish.
I have stuck to it since I began back in the 1970's. I took two years off when my carpel tunnel syndrome required it, but after taking care of that with surgery, I got back into it. Then I took two years off to rebuild my boat's cabin and replace my engine and fuel tanks. Lots of other changes in the rigging and equipment, but this isn't a book about boat building, or worse, fiberglass laying. Neither activity suits my nature nor pleases me.
Fishing is fun. However, there are many things to do before one can go fishing. And to keep fishing. Things break and need to be fixed. Equipment needs to be maintained or it breaks more often. A boat is a complex group of equipment. When something breaks it either ends fishing or threatens the boat. Or both. Engine, shaft, propeller, rudder, cooling system, water pumps of dozens of types, hydraulics, electrical systems, electronics of multiple purposes, anchor and anchoring equipment, steering systems and auto pilots. The list seems endless before any fishing is even considered.
Every fisherman maintains and fixes almost every system on a boat except the engine. Engine repairs often require a professional. Some fishermen do these repairs, too. I have had a reduction gear apart and back together, which is the car equivalent of the transmission, but never an engine. Special tools are usually required, and some experience is more than useful.
None of this interests me even slightly. Except as much as a soldier takes an interest in his gun as a necessity. As my life depends on this stuff, I pay attention. That doesn't mean that taking apart a reduction gear is a pleasant experience. Nor is changing the oil in the engine.
Once everything is in working order, a fisherman can consider getting ready to fish. That would be a good place to start the next chapter....
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
THE TOP TEN MOST FAQ v.1
What IS a Soggyblogger??? is THE most frequently asked question by a four to one margin vs the next most FAQ.
The answer is neither simple nor facile, and in fact is a hotly debated topic amongst a small but militant arm of the philologist inteligencia. Some similarities have been noticed between this group and the Catholic sect known as Opus Dei made famous in the wildly popular work of fiction "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. But I digress....
Soggyblogger derives from the modern term "blog" and "blogger" which is an internet born form of news, opinion, journal, and other sorts of written expression on an internet "page" which doesn't actually exist at all except in the cyber world. Wow. This IS complicated.
Soggy: From Wikipedia (those unfamiliar with Wikipedia are beyond educating and may leave off reading this portion of this story) has only a referrence to "soggy biscuits" and "The Soggybottom Boys" from some movie, but no definition of just "soggy" so I will move on to a more reliable source....
From an online dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/soggy
sog·gy (sg, sôg)
adj. sog·gi·er, sog·gi·est
1. Saturated or sodden with moisture; soaked: soggy clothes.
2. Lacking spirit; dull: a soggy bit of dialogue.
3. Humid; sultry: a soggy afternoon in August.
I believe ALL of those definitions fit me in one way or another. A little like the way I see all of my characteristics represented in all of the signs of the Zodiac. Spooky.
No, really, I hadn't consulted a dictionary before choosing the name Soggyblogger, but now I see it was the hand of fate. It was MEANT TO BE. There ARE no coincindences.
I could NOT be happier. The first definition is, perfectly, first in my intentions. Sodden with moisture. In other words all wet. Perhaps a more common way of putting it is "full of shit" but normally I refrain from gratuitus crudities.
The second definition is highly prophetic as well as perceptive and I am surprised they did not publish my photograph alongside the definition as a demonstration, and cite my blog specifically when they said, "a soggy bit of dialogue." - though they may have intended that close comparison when they chose the wording.
The third definition treads lightly on the doorstep to porn, and I am reluctant to be drawn into that discussion, but as I am honest if nothing, I MUST confess to a "sultriness" which conjurs an image I am not reluctant to embrace and combined with all of the other definitions, in a massive gestalt, a totally acurate picture emerges of who I am. At the core. In essence.
Perhaps others would be reluctant to expose themselves in such a naked way without shame or remorse. Not all bloggers are created equal. Not all bloggers can bring themselves to expose the essence of who they are regardless of the mental anguish involved - sparing themselves no face whatsoever.
However, I am determined to be the most honest, the most exposed and introspective blogger on the entire internet - leaving off actual photographs of my genitalia. I do draw the line at pornography. I hate to even use the word - though I have noticed a direct correlation between an increased frequency in my use of the term "porn" and an increase in this website's popularity.
We do not have any fetish articles, nor PHOTOS OF BDSM, MASSIVE HOOTERS, BUXOM BABES, FREE PORN FOR U or GIRL ON GIRL SEX. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Soggyblogger
The answer is neither simple nor facile, and in fact is a hotly debated topic amongst a small but militant arm of the philologist inteligencia. Some similarities have been noticed between this group and the Catholic sect known as Opus Dei made famous in the wildly popular work of fiction "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. But I digress....
Soggyblogger derives from the modern term "blog" and "blogger" which is an internet born form of news, opinion, journal, and other sorts of written expression on an internet "page" which doesn't actually exist at all except in the cyber world. Wow. This IS complicated.
Soggy: From Wikipedia (those unfamiliar with Wikipedia are beyond educating and may leave off reading this portion of this story) has only a referrence to "soggy biscuits" and "The Soggybottom Boys" from some movie, but no definition of just "soggy" so I will move on to a more reliable source....
From an online dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/soggy
sog·gy (sg, sôg)
adj. sog·gi·er, sog·gi·est
1. Saturated or sodden with moisture; soaked: soggy clothes.
2. Lacking spirit; dull: a soggy bit of dialogue.
3. Humid; sultry: a soggy afternoon in August.
I believe ALL of those definitions fit me in one way or another. A little like the way I see all of my characteristics represented in all of the signs of the Zodiac. Spooky.
No, really, I hadn't consulted a dictionary before choosing the name Soggyblogger, but now I see it was the hand of fate. It was MEANT TO BE. There ARE no coincindences.
I could NOT be happier. The first definition is, perfectly, first in my intentions. Sodden with moisture. In other words all wet. Perhaps a more common way of putting it is "full of shit" but normally I refrain from gratuitus crudities.
The second definition is highly prophetic as well as perceptive and I am surprised they did not publish my photograph alongside the definition as a demonstration, and cite my blog specifically when they said, "a soggy bit of dialogue." - though they may have intended that close comparison when they chose the wording.
The third definition treads lightly on the doorstep to porn, and I am reluctant to be drawn into that discussion, but as I am honest if nothing, I MUST confess to a "sultriness" which conjurs an image I am not reluctant to embrace and combined with all of the other definitions, in a massive gestalt, a totally acurate picture emerges of who I am. At the core. In essence.
Perhaps others would be reluctant to expose themselves in such a naked way without shame or remorse. Not all bloggers are created equal. Not all bloggers can bring themselves to expose the essence of who they are regardless of the mental anguish involved - sparing themselves no face whatsoever.
However, I am determined to be the most honest, the most exposed and introspective blogger on the entire internet - leaving off actual photographs of my genitalia. I do draw the line at pornography. I hate to even use the word - though I have noticed a direct correlation between an increased frequency in my use of the term "porn" and an increase in this website's popularity.
We do not have any fetish articles, nor PHOTOS OF BDSM, MASSIVE HOOTERS, BUXOM BABES, FREE PORN FOR U or GIRL ON GIRL SEX. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Soggyblogger
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