2014 Flicks - The Final Verdict

Just as I predicted - Hollywood saved it's best for last.  It always does.  The final 2 months of the year produced three of my favorites - "American Sniper", "The Theory of Everything" and "The Imitation Game".  I loved each one of these movies!  Unfortunately the local theatre showed "Birdman" only for two weeks and I missed out on that one, but from the trailers it looked appealing.  So did "Grand Budapest Hotel"... hey, I'm a Wes Anderson fan!  Add to that, "Heaven is for Real" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" and that's my best list.

Another movie I wanted to see but didn't was "A Walk Among the Tombstones".  Liam Neeson movies are a coin flip - some good, some bad.  But from trailers this looked like positive.

I did see part of "Boyhood" and I'm thinking it got raves for it's very different approach.  But it put me to sleep.  Another movie I saw - "God is Not Dead" - was filmed in Louisiana.  Like the vast majority of movies made in part with our tax dollars, it was not good.  At least it didn't suck like "Benjamin Button",  "Dukes of Hazzard" or "Shark Night 3D".  The state legislature needs to make changes to the film credit program. Have the script reviewed by a panel before any scenes are shot.  If I was on such panel, there might've been three movies EVER made with the tax credits.

But I digress... the end of the year restored my faith in Hollywood.  What little there is! 

Garden update - 10/15/2014

Well the summer plot is still going strong.  I expected such from the sweet peppers... if they survive the summer heat, the plants have more production in the fall. Well, all the plants survived and we're picking bells daily.  The surprise has been the cucumbers. Hard to believe... a couple of the plants are still producing, albeit no longer on a daily basis.

The fall plot is going great.  All the broccoli and cauliflower plants continue to grow briskly and there's beaucoup snap pea vines climbing up on the six metal wire frames. No fruit showing yet, but it's still early. 

Tennessee Smallmouth

Our vacation this year was a trip to North Carolina, in part to visit our older son and his wife (who live in Raleigh) and to meet her parents who had flown in from El Salvador.  The other part was to take in the scenery of the Applachian mountains, as well as do some hiking and fly fishing.

During our return, we planned a one-day fly fishing trip with Josh Pfeiffer. Josh and his wife Ashley run Frontier Anglers, a fly fishing guide and outfitter service out of Maryville, TN. Josh grew up in the Smoky Mountains, fishing and hunting. These days he guides for trout and smallmouth bass on the Holston River, smallmouth on the French Broad River, and during the winter months, for trout in the park.

Lisa and I had smallmouth on the brain. Based on generation schedules, the Holston looked like the best bet. Josh took us to his launch spot with his compadre, Ronnie, who runs shuttles. Ronnie is quite the character, a true river man. Fly fishing from a raft was a new experience for me, but as the day progressed, I came to enjoy it.

 It was a slow start as the smallies repeatedly struck at, but short of ate, Lisa's swimming minnow. However, every now and then one found the hook and made Lisa a happy, happy woman!

Meanwhile, my popper went largely ignored. I told Josh that maybe a Fluff Butt would work, and he laughed, then inquired, "What's that?". Didn't take long for the Butt to do it's job.  On the first cast, I felt the fly line go tight, and set the hook hard. Some denizen below gave a hard-charging performance and a serious bend to my 6-weight Redington Predator rod.  A couple feet below the surface I recognized it as a 'killer gobbule'.

After landing it, I had to explain to Josh what a gobbule was (bream) and then what a killer gobbule was (river bream).

For the next 20 minutes, most of what came to the boat via the Fluff Butt were killer gobbules. Josh suggested trying a cicada pattern to avoid the sunfish.  He was wrong... there's no avoiding those gobbules!  These sunfish definitely fit their byname... they were big and thick and the fight was as hard as any sunfish I've ever caught.

Mixed in those gobbules was a smallie here and there. Nothing larger than 12 inches. At least Lisa was still catching a few.

By late morning, Josh was starting to lament that the bite was slow, and there was no doubt in our minds he was right. We could see these fish examining our flies, even taking nips, and then swimming away.  In some cases, we'd sightcast to a smallie only to have our offering completely ignored.

But that all changed when he tied on a Stealth Goober to my leader.

From that time, to when we took out just before sunset, the SG didn't get 5 minutes of rest!  Most were 12 inches or under but occasionally a bigger one would eat. And when it did, you knew it.  As my friend Jeff Guerin likes to say of bigger smallies, "it's like fighting a wet cat"!  I even established a personal best, with a 17-incher. 

Lisa and I truly enjoyed our float trip, and our guide. A good guide isn't just someone who puts you on fish, or helps you catch them. They are well prepared, well mannered, good conservationlists, know a lot about the area, and in Les Miles terminology, have a want for you to catch fish. If you're looking to fish smallmouth (or trout) in east Tennessee, check out Frontier Anglers, website www.frontieranglerstn.com.

Wildwood: home-grown wood-fired pizza!

Being a fast-food junkie doesn't mean I accept mediocrity.  A list of my favorite FF joints includes  good stuff like Paneras and Schlotzkys (soups and sandwiches), Five Guys (burgers), Canes and Chick-Fil-A (chicken), and Eddies barbecue.

Of course, can't forget the pizza! Here in the Alexandria area, BJ's off Jackson Extension and Johnny's in Pineville offer pretty good pizza compared to the national brands.

But my new favorite spot - Wildwood Pizza - offers something totally unique. It's located in the center at the corner of Texas Street and Jackson, in the old location of Spirits (which moved to a larger building on Texas Street). Wildwood Pizza is a locally owned establishment that uses home-grown ingredients from area farmers and producers. The pizza comes in one size, 12 inches, for $8.50.  You choose the sauce, meat and veggies to add from a plethora of choices (up to 4 meats/veggies at no extra cost).  Our you can choose from the house specialities.  The pizza is then baked in a brick oven, and delivered to your table.

The pizza was delicious, albeit just a tad overdone. Fresh, organic ingredients do make a difference!

Check out their website at www.wildwood-pizza.com.  Based on the growing crowds at lunch, the word is out.  

2014 Garden - August 3rd update

In all the years I grew a garden in Baton Rouge, we never had cucumbers in August.  The plants would die and wilt off by July.  Here's my daughter's boyfriend with just a couple of the half-dozen we picked this morning.  Note the size.  This variety is Sweet Slice, a burpless cucumber that is the best tasting there is. Even when they're this large!

We pick cucumbers every day. Sometimes a couple, sometimes as many as 8. Buried under the cucumbers are bell peppers. The shade the cucumbers provide has allowed the peppers to stay very healthy even thru the dry spells. 

The tomatos are doing well also, even though the larger fruit varieties are struggling from stinkbug infestation. Somehow the stinkbugs avoid the cherry tomatos (which are my favorite).  So the daily pick of small toms continues to be outstanding.

At some point I'll have to terminate the cucumbers so the bell peppers can begin their autumn surge of growth and production. But I'm certainly in no rush!

Best of 2014 so far

Being a movie buff, I find 2014 a major disappointment. Here we are at the midpoint of the year, and unlike the last recent years, I can think of only a handful of movies possibly worthy of seeing a second time.  The short list includes "Captain America 2", "Heaven Is For Real", "Malificent" and "Edge of Tomorrow". We did see "The Monuments Men" early in the year, and that was outstanding. But according to Metacritics the release date for that film was in 2013.

Granted that's my opinion. Some will like movies I don't, just I like some movies others will not. And in fairness, I've only seen a small portion of films released so far.  But judging from the plots, as well as plethora of negative reviews posted on Metacritics, most of the movies this year just plain suck. I'm wondering if the problem in Hollywood is too much medical marijuana or too little!  

Now I realize that Hollywood saves it's best for last.There's still hope. Even this month, the list looks very promising:

•  "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes".  The reboot with Mark Wahlberg was okay, but the first sequel with James Franco was outstanding. Hope the trend continues.
• "A Most Wanted Man".  I thought the world of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Hopefully his last was his best. Even if it's just average PSH, it'll be worthy.
• "Guardians of the Galaxy". It's Marvel, so it can't be bad. Stan Lee won't permit it.

Later this year are other promising flicks: "The November Man", "The Hunger Games: MockingJay", "Exodus", "Hobbit 3", "Grace of Monaco" and "Unbroken". There's also a couple of comedies that probably won't get good reviews, but the kind that leave me in stitches: "Birdman" and "Dumb and Dumber To". Again, great movies aren't always about great stories and great performances. Sometimes we just want to be (well) entertained.