So many have done so much over the years for all of the rest of us that it seems apropos that I take a minute to pause & say thanks on behalf of a grateful nation for the military sacrifices *(up to & including loss of life) that our men & women in uniform have (& continue) made.

Today marks the 69^th anniversary of that early Sunday morning in 1941 when an audacious & cowardly surprise attack by the Japanese on the Naval Facility at Pearl Harbor left over 2400 personnel dead and over 1200 injured. The plan of the Japanese to thwart military involvement by the US failed. World War II ensued. America bandaged its wounds & came out swinging.

Then & now the thoughts & prayers of the American people are with our military!

People like Guy Harvey, Ron Jon (is that his real name?), & Christian Riese Lasson have made tons of dough creating clothing (and all sorts of other accessories) with fish (and other aquatic animals) on them.

Since I have never been in the habit (I don’t have a single Harvey t-shirt) of running with the “big dogs” (aforementioned) that’s where for me the “cheese” factor comes in. You see there is this whole subset of casual fishing-inspired wear by much lesser (if at all) known artisans. If you don’t know what I mean check any Goodwill or Salvation Army for budget-conscious choices as there are likely many shirts to be found there that have “accidentally” been “donated” by a caring (but insensitive) spouse.

It kind of goes without saying that to the angler whether they go mainstream or other stream in their attire choices it is almost guaranteed that their spouse will disdain or at very least look on with raised eyebrow when their sweetheart busts out his or her favorite fish shirt. Since the confused spouse is not dazed and confused by the overpowering urge to “represent” even while not in the act of fishing itself they just shrug.

In my fish shirt collection there are several standouts which I have included here for your assessment. My wife cringes when the black one comes out and has kindly asked that I not wear it when we are together if at all possible. I have done my best to honor this request but I cannot bring my self to jettison the shirt as I think it may have some really good karma and anglers are a somewhat superstitious lot. The yellow shirt featuring a fisherman and a small jon boat has been my lucky fishing shirt for years. When the chips are down or the bugs are up I break it out. I don’t think it’s been washed at all this year and it has remained in the trunk of the car (along with my fishing rod) so it’s handy at all times.

If you don’t collect fishing shirts you should. It’ll give your spouse something really legitimate to complain about.

From Wikipedia:
Longest professional match: The Wimbledon 2010 first round match in which John Isner took 11 hours and 5 minutes to defeat Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 70-68 over the three day period of 22–24 June 2010.[2][3] The fifth set was the longest set in history as determined by both duration and number of games (8 hours 11 minutes, 138 games); the set itself would have broken the duration (previous record: 6 hours 33 minutes)

USA Scores!

That was an unreal victory for the USA today in their game against Algeria The 2nd minute if extra time was the deciding moment when Landon Donovan was finally able to shoot one in after he and the rest of the team suffering a nearly heartbreaking loss featuring yet a another disallowed goal and a virtual early goal by the opposing team in minute 7 of the match. It was awesome to see the US go through the first round of play in the world cup for the first time in 80 years. That’s a lot of time to build a program capable of getting it done on the great international stage that is the World Cup.

Who’s next?

The Longest Set (& Match) EVER

Today the battle royal of certain tennis fame continued on court 18 @ Wimbledon. France’s Nicolas Mahut and John Isner from the US slugged it out for over 6 hours until the game was called for darkness for the second day in a row. Incredulous spectators and countless TV viewers wondered when the epic battle will end. No telling at this point. That the winner has his next match tomorrow afternoon does not bode well as they either won’t be done by then or more likely he will be in no condition to play after putting his current rival away in a match extended so long it is likely to never be repeated or exceeded.

Open Mouth, Insert...

The explosive Rolling Stone article* with the outrageous comments about the administration by Gen Stanley McChrystal and staff is getting some serious attention by media, pundits, and of course average joes (like me). Now he gets an all expenses paid trip to Washington to explain to the object of his derision why he said all that stuff about his boss.

Does not seem like a fun time to me.

That he feels frustrated, forgotten, under appreciated, and a whole host of other emotions is not surprising (he’s been in the “mouth of the cat” for years now and there doesn’t appear to be any end in sight).  That he elected to share his ongoing discontent with Rolling Stone is another matter.

I knew Rolling Stone enjoys having a provocative article from time to time but this time the scoop & controversy is unreal!

* That the mag allowed it’s proprietary content to be disseminated in the manner it did seems a serious miscalculation for the sales department. Having placed it on the Internet it got some serious amplification but I don’t imagine that will move any more mags this weekend.

Jodie Watley Then & Now

This is unreal.

You may remember the vicious beating of a Deerfield Beach, Florida teen several months back.

The 13 year old accomplice to the perpetrator is now in the process of trying to disentangle herself from the grisly proceedings.

Kayla Manson (below) allegedly pointed out her friend Josie Ratley [15] (above) to her assailant, Wayne Treacy, who then later proceeded to beat her very near death.

Kayla appeared with her lawyers yesterday (10 Jun 10) on the Today Show . She is “sorry” for her involvement in the case but was quite comfortable in revealing that Josie had texted Wayne calling him a “rapist” and that he had texted back calling her a c**t (this term was repeated twice by Kayla before Meredith Viera could get a lid on it). Keep in mind these were two kids (Josie & Wayne) who did not know each other. Their common bond and the thing that brought them together was Josie’s disapproval of Wayne as a boyfriend for 13 yr old Kayla. Wow!

I bet she’s sorry.

Shocked is what I am. That a 13 year old so world-wise and innocent looking but yet so wrapped up in a sordid affair such as this seems horribly wrong.

That Josie has to learn to speak and write and so forth again underscores the fact that Kayla clearly had no business having a boyfriend in the first place and especially not someone as troubled and violent as Wayne Treacy. What’s the deal with her parents anyway? Where are they in this picture?

So sad.

The video will break your heart.

Kayla Manson on MySpace (then)

Kayla Now

Have You Looked in the Mirror?

My wife pointed out that she was taught in kindergarten not to say mean things about others.

Apparently Carly Fiorina the erstwhile (and ousted) HP CEO and current political candidate must have missed that module or maybe forgotten about it.Now she says she was “quoting a friend” (Greta you’re too nice)!

Yeah Right Carly. How about just owning it and saying “I was a bit fat jerk and a snark, and I’m truly sorry for my rudeness”. That sounds pretty good to me. That or maybe  ‘go to your room until you can say nice things’. That’ll also work!

The funny thing is that her hairdo sucks too! It’s not like she has some amazing coif cause she doesn’t.

Muted Celebration

I watched game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (along with millions of other hockey fans around the globe) and was left wanting. The Chicago Blackhawks leading the series had only to win to put a “w” on the board and erase 49 years of Stanley Cup drought for their club, city, and fans. How many hockey fans come and go in 49 years anyway?

The game was exciting as the Philadelphia Flyers weren’t playing along with the underdog script and just kept tying the score. Well this went on for all 3 periods of regulation bringing on the regulation length overtime period. By this time several things were occurring

1) it was late in the Eastern Time Zone (where I live)
2) the game was getting very exciting (bye bye sleep)
3) Flyers fans were raising the roof to incite their players on to victory

Then there’s what actually occurred:

Patrick Kane of the Blackhawks buzzed an obtuse angle lightning strike of a goal that was so fast and low that it was hard to tell to the naked eye if it was a goal or not. PK was initially the only guy celebrating. Meanwhile the stunned Philly crowd came to grips while all of us in TV land where going “umm, was that it?”

I was left unsatisfied for sure with that one. That the long awaited win (49+ yrs) had to come on the road was one thing. That it came the way it did is another. I didn’t even hear the announcement that the reviewed goal was good! In a word: Disappointing.