Midwest Kings

Just a quick plug for a band I enjoy. They're outta Tulsa Oklahoma. www.midwestkings.com

Working

Well, I've got a job.. it's a job that I actually enjoy a lot, I just wish I could make more money doing it. I bag and stock groceries at a local grocery store. It isn't exactly the most prestigious job nor is it a get rich quick job, but for some reason I enjoy it. I really do wish I could land a job in the field I have chosen, which is law enforcement, but up here the going is rough in that field. A lot of other jobs I have applied for must look at my degree and chuckle or something. They must think, "A degree in law enforcement and he wants to install broadband.." or " A degree in law enforcement and this scumbag wants to run our store.." Oh well what's one to do. Someday.

More Sulfide Mining Factoids

Kennecott's mine in Alaska, called the Greens Creek Mine, has violated the Clean Water Act 391 times according to the EPA Fact Sheet for Permit No. Ak-0043206, 1998.
During operations in Wisconsin at the Flambeau Mine the discharge from the mine far exceeded groundwater standards. That was taken from the Enviromental Mining Coalition Report.
Kennecott does not respect it's workers.. "We can only conclude that this company has excercised targeted retaliation against union members and union-represented workers for excercising their legal and constitutional rights..." Leo Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers Association.
Studies show that communities that rely on mining see worsened income, unemployment rates and poverty once a mine closes. This especially holds true in the Great Lakes Region. The mine only wants to operate for 5-7 years. The outlook is bleak.
Kennecott stay the Hell out of my UP!!!!!!!!!

Interesting Day

Yesterday I had an interesting day. Me and my friend Don decided to go fishing up towards my grandpa's camp. We were gonna hit the Yellow Dog, but a tree had fallen on the road in, so we decided to hit the east branch of the Huron. I parked the car and we started to walk into what I thought was the trail to Huron. Instead it was a trail to getting lost in the woods. We spent a couple of hours trying to find the road that the car was parked on, after realizing we weren't gonna find the Huron. We eventually found our way out... but for a bit I was nervous, thinking about spending the night in the woods. We got out and fished for aprox. 10 minutes or so off of the bridge on 510.

Metallic Sulfide Mining

Kennecott Mining wants to mine the Yellow Dog plains area of the UP. I am opposed to this idea. Here are some facts to chew on.
1. Kennecott mining is on record as being the number 1 generator of toxic materials in the US.
2. Once the reaction caused by sulfide mining begins it is hard to contain and never fails to pollute the watershed being mined.
3. AMD needs to be put somewhere, usually ending up polluting streams and underground water supplies.
4. The effects are immediate and continue long after mining operations have ceased.
5. The area is virtually undeveloped right now. A mining operation would need electricity, causing an electrical grid to be put up, transportation, causing paved roads in an area with only seasonal dirt roads, they would need to get the mined materials out, causing them to build a railroad system in the pristine wilderness.
6. I was virtually raised in the Yellow Dog plains. My Grandpa Ron's camp is in that area, which is where I spent pretty much every weekend from 1989 to 1996. It would be a shame to see such prisine wilderness turned into nothing more then a stinky, polluted and downright nasty area. I want my kids to enjoy the area just as much as I did as a youngster. It is where I caught my first fish, hunted for the first time and learned to treasure the outdoors for the beauty, peace and serenity it offers.
These are just some facts. I am not well researched on the idea of sulfide mining the Yellow Dog plains but these facts alone scream to me, "NOOO don't let it happen!!"
Some pro-mining "facts."
1. It will provide jobs for the area.
WRONG-O: Kennecott plans to mine for 7-10 years in the area. With Kennecott mines constantly being shut down, they will just transfer the laid off miners from the other mines, such as one in Nevada currently shut down. The unemployment rates of the areas that they have mined remained at the same levels as before they started.
2. It will provide a great part of the economy for the UP.
WRONG-O: The materials mined will be shipped to foriegn countries and the UP will be lucky to see 10% of what Kennecott makes.
I hope anyone from Michigan reading this, especially the UP, will contact their State Reps, the governor, the media and anybody else that can help to prevent the Yellow Dog plains from being destroyed. I am usually not one to become an "activist" of any sort, but Sulfide Mining has no place in the Yellow Dog plains.

The Play

Last night I got to see the kids part in the play "The Wizard of Oz." They are both munchkins and in the lullaby league. It is soo darn cute. They have to do this little dance, and Lily being the youngest and smallest one on stage looks adorable. She's a litte bit out of step, not enough to matter, but enough to be just adorable. I cannot believe that they have the courage to be up on state with the lights on in front of all those people. I know I wouldn't be able to do it. I am green with envy as it makes me a bit sick to even think of myself up there onstage in front of a couple hundred people. I think the best part is, is the fact that they enjoy it so much. I think we are going to let them try out or audition if you'd prefer for more plays in the future. Well that's all for now.

Another night on the water.

Kerri and I went fishing tonight while the kids were at play rehearsal. It was an awesome night. It was a lot of fun watching Kerri fish. She's so cute. She was on a roll, catching at least 8 chubs and 1 brookie. She pulled another brookie out but he wriggled off the hook. The one she caught went for 8 1/2 inches the one she missed was at least that, but looked bigger. I reckon you're wondering how I did. Well, if I were playing cribbage, I would have "Fifed", "Barneyed", been "countin' 'em later" or had the classic 19 hand. Which means nothing, not a brookie to be had by the Bri-Man. Oh well, I am guaranteed a fishing trip for Sunday so hopefully things will go better.
Well, the Dodgers are 1 out from coming back in the 9th to beat the Braves. It really has been a good night. Fishing with my wife, the Dodgers win, now what can beat that... other then getting off my computer and joining my family in the living room. Thanks for checking, somebody please comment so I know I am at least typing to somebody not myself here.

Yet More Fishing

I am beginning to believe that I have problem. Every oppurtunity I get I hit the water to fly fish. Everytime I hit the water I enjoy myself immensely, even if I get skunked. I do not know if this is a normal reaction to wonders and joys of fly fishing but it is my reaction. I won't be able to fish tonight and knowing this is hurting my poor insides. I think I've an addiction of the worst (best) sort. It's an addiction that I don't want to leave my body. It's an addiction I want my wife to get so she can see and feel the same joy and mysteries that I am. I have a feeling both my girls will get it just as soon as I teach them how to fly fish. They enjoy fishing the "old barbaric" way using worms and big hooks to catch fish. That's fine by me that they enjoy that, but I will teach them a better way. It's very challenging to present a fly perfectly, to make a fish take it. You have to make it move and realisticly and that's the challenge as I am not an emotologist, in fact far from it as I dislike most bugs. It's also challenging to cast the fly into the water, especially with them dog gone tag elders and various other plants waiting to wave a leaf out to grab you fly out of mid air, leaving you to wonder, "Why did I do that?" As you're removing the fly from the leaf, you notice a decent size fish jump in the area you were going to cast, the excitement hits and BAM! that same leaf that reached just 15 seconds before does it yet again, leaving you to ponder you own intelligence for a moment, until you realize you are addicted to the great fighting nature and intelligence of the trout and you know that you're not the only one.

More fishing.

Last night Kerri, the kids and I went fishing. It was a really good time. Sophie caught two chubbs, one Lily insisted on gutting, which she did. I cut the fish open for her and she took the guts out. I think Lily has a career in the medical field waiting for her. With the way Sophie fishes I think she'll be a pro fisherwoman. Everytime I take her out fishing she catches something. She gets so excited and seems to enjoy it a lot. The look on her face when she gets a bite is unbeatable. It's just great. I tried a bit with the fly-rod and got skunked. I had a couple of good strikes though. I wish I could've hooked them and maybe brought home a brook trout supper. Oh well, it was an awesome night.
The girls are in a play. They are munchkins in the Wizard of Oz. It is going to be so cute. I cannot wait. It starts in a couple of weeks at the Vista theatre in Negaunee, MI. I've been to some rehearsals and I do believe the munchkin parts of the play are going to be worth the price of admission alone. It's going to be adorable. I don't think I am going to miss a show.
Sunday I am going to be helping at a Christian music fest. Our neighbors are going to be playing so I volunteered to help set-up. So I am going to be a roadie. I think that will be fun.
"Wake me up when September ends."

Packers

After looking at the Packers schedule I think they will go 10-6 at least. The first 5 games they play are against non play-off teams from last season, so I hope they pull out at least 4-1 from that. I think the NFC North is going to be tougher then previous years as the Bears and Lions seem to be coming around a bit more.
I think Favre will be his usual self and throw at least 30 tds with 3500 yards. With his off-season workout regimen I do expect more from him though. He is one of the toughtest QBs to ever play the game but age is kind of catching up with him. If that workout regimen worked then age won't be to big of a factor. He claims to have gained mobility, which is a good thing, let's see if he can match his numbers from one of his 3 MVP seasons.
The defense doesn't look to be a bright spot yet again. For the third season in a row they are changing schemes and just like last pre-season the attitude is "Just wait, we're going to surprise people." Last season I was surprised, surprised that they flat out sucked. I hope they do good with this scheme but if history repeats itself, the offense might be the best defense.
I really do hope this is a Super Bowl year for the Pack. If things go right, add a little bit of luck, some decent defense, with Favre regaining his MVP stats I think we have a shot at it. I do think the Pack will be in the NFC Championship game, unless Favre implodes during the play-offs like he's been known to do. Well here's to another great season of Packer football.. Go Pack Go.

More Fishing

Did some more fly-fishing yesterday, caught a bunch of fish but none big enough to keep. I also saw some of the great UP wildlife, 3 deer, a racoon, a beaver and last but most deadly a bear. It was kind of scary seeing the bear, every noise I heard after seeing it I thought was it coming after me. It wasn't a very big one so I figure Mommy wasn't lurking to far away and that's what scared me the most. But like any Yooper I kept fishing. It was amazing to watch all the fish surfacing and jumping. It seemed every cast I would get a strike which was exciting and fun. I missed a decent sized brook trout, it had to be at least 10 inches, which is the legal size limit in the stream I was fishing.
As much as I like Pres. Bush as a person, his presidency is starting to bother me now. He seems to stretch the truth a lot. 20/20 hindsight about the war in Iraq has me thinking "What the heck are we doing there???" It seems to me that the war was started on faulty intelligence that a lot of people knew about including Democrats alike but voted to use force anyway. I wonder what kind of vested interest these politicians have in the war, such as Haliburton and other contractors working there now. Don't get me wrong I still support the President and the troops but I truly feel sorry for them. One of my good friends downrange has told me stuff and the people in the military that I have seen and talked too say it's a terrible place. They support what we are doing now, the rebuilding and such but don't support why we were there in the first place. Not all mind you, but some. I don't want to sound like a whistleblower or anything it's almost equal, with the slight majority going to those troops who wonder WTF are we doing there. Oh well, I can sit here and whine all I want and it's not going to make much of a difference. Maybe 2008 will be better. As Green Day says "Wake me up when September ends."