Time Out
We do not live by politics alone.
Sometimes we go fishing. Just got the pix from last weekend's local expedition and wanted to post them as a pause from our usual political chatter.
Here I am with a really big surf perch. About 15 inches and
somewhere around 3lbs. This is about as big as they get (by the way I'm the one wearing the hat). This is from last Saturday just north of Malibu.
And here is my friend Mark. His fish was bigger. It really was about 15 inches and 3 lbs. (And he's also the one wearing the hat).
The pix were snapped by our pal, Dick the Fishing Guru who owns Purfields tackle shop in West Los Angeles. He found the miracle bait, and it worked. He also caught way more of these critters than we did. And, yes, we released them all to fight another day.
I suppose this is photographic evidence that some real fish actually still remain in the oceans abutting Los Angeles. Whenever we're out fishing the surf, there will always be some citizen who will walk by and express astonishment. "Are there really fish out there? Can you really eat them?" The answer to both questions is yes. It's not surprising to realize that most people just assume the local ocean is dead but it's quite sad, and quite a commentary on what we have resigned ourselves to in terms of the environment.
That said, fishing in the So Cal waters sure ain't what it used to be 20, 30 or 40 years ago (Disclosure: my first rememberance of fishing is my father taking me to the old and long-gone Venice pier in 1954 -- I was 3 1/2 years old and I caught a mackerel).
Just to spook you a bit. These porker fish were caught no more than 15-20 feet from the edge of the water. As you can see we are using light spinning outfits (with 8lb test line). The miracle bait weighs only 1/2 oz. and we use no other weight, so do the math on just how far we can't cast it out.
We frequently make our catch right in the white foam where's there's only a foot or so of water, right where y'all stand and stick in your toes. So next time you do, make sure you've had a pedicure because there are a lot of eyes down there staring at your toe nails.
January 24th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Marc, i know you were bastante ocupado traduciendo and stuff, but did you do any fishing in Chile when you lived there?
When i was a kid, going to fish markets Chile was a wonderful sensual (and class-consciousness raising) experience. This was before the Pinochet era mass overfishing –and worse, industrial salmon farming.
To this day, I find fish market visits to be sublime, and when I visited Tokyo Japan in late 2002, I made a Tokyo subway ” pilgrimage” to Tsukiji, the world’s largest fish market.
I walked in at 300 AM late night, unhindered no gates or security guards to hassle me ( post- 9/11!) and took many cool pictures of stalls, scales, hooks, crates, and freshly iced fish ready for transport.
Then I ate like a barrracuda at a low-priced working folks’ sushi join in the market about 400 AM, the only non asian face in there.
It was like visting the Holy Land, except better– I didn’t see any Israeli aggression or Democrats supporting cluster bomb attacks on civilians.
The (possibly collapsing) state of World fisheries is a worthy investigative subject for you periodistas.
January 24th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Sergio: yes, I fished (sorta) in Chile. I had a great fishing partner, a retired American professor named Vince.
Here’s how we would go fishing: We’d be sitting around his apartment in Torres de Tajamar drinking a bottle of whiskey and plotting our trip. We’d get up the next morning (with a hangover) at about 4 am and go down to the Vega (the central market) to buy a bunch of super fresh live clams, razor clams (machas) and mussel. You know, about 5-10 lbs of it.
Then we would get into Vince’s old beat-to-hell Landrover and drive out to the beach, sometimes as far up as Zapallar. As dawn would break we would hurriedly and excitedly cast our lines from the beach.
After about an hour and no bites we would shift gears. We were smart enough to always bring with us plenty of lemons and a bottle or two of Viejo Robles white wine. We’d say, WTF, there are no fish anyway so why waste all the bait. We’d crack open the rest of the clams and mussels, bathe them in lemon, and slurp them down. We’d also suck up all the wine and usually by about 11 am we would be soundly asleep on the beach, basking in the sun. At around 2 pm we’d get up, change clothes and go have a formal lunch on the coast, usually in Vina or Valpo, eating more mariscos and having maybe one more bottle of wine. I’d usually be the one who drove back to Stgo because I was younger and could hold the wine better.
I think we did this about 15 times while I was in Chile. I dont remember ever catching a fish. Vince, by the way, died of liver disease.
Todo verdad.
P.S. whenever I or my wife are in Chile we make a trip to the mercado central and feast on the seafood. I love machas a la parmesana, locos mayo and the classic paila marino. My wife loves those damn sea urchins. I cant stand them. It’s like sucking on iodine.
January 24th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
The Department of Defense has identified 3,044 American service members who have died since the start of the Iraq war. It confirmed the deaths of the following Americans this week:
ALLGOOD, Brian D., 46, Col., Army; Oklahoma; 30th Medical Brigade, European Regional Medical Command.
BISSON, Jeffrey D., 22, Specialist, Army; Vista, Calif.; 25th Infantry Division.
BOOKER, Darryl D., 37, Staff Sgt., Army National Guard; Midlothian, Va.; 29th Infantry Division.
BROWN, John G., 43, Sgt. First Class, Army; Little Rock, Ark.; First Battalion, 185th Aviation; 77th Aviation Brigade.
CANEGATA, David C., 50, Lt. Col., Army National Guard; St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands; Virgin Islands Army National Guard.
CHISM, Johnathan B., 22, Specialist, Army; Gonzales, La.; 25th Infantry Division.
FALTER, Shawn P., 25, Pfc., Army; Cortland, N.Y.; 25th Infantry Division.
FENNERTY, Sean P., 25, Sgt., Army; Corvallis, Ore.; 25th Infantry Division.
FRITZ, Jacob N., 25, First Lt., Army; Verdon, Neb.; 25th Infantry Division.
GABBARD, Marilyn L., 46, Command Sgt. Maj., Army National Guard; Polk City, Iowa; Joint Forces Headquarters.
HALLER, Roger W., 49, Command Sgt. Maj.; Army National Guard; Davidsonville, Md.; Regional Training Institute.
KELLY, Paul M., 45, Col., Army National Guard; Stafford, Va.; Joint Force Headquarters.
LAKE, Floyd E., 43, Staff Sgt., Army National Guard; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Virgin Islands Army National Guard.
LANGARICA, Victor M., 29, Cpl., Army; Decatur, Ga.; 86th Signal Battalion.
LYERLY, Sean E., 31, Capt., Army National Guard; Pflugerville, Tex.; 36th Infantry Division.
McNEILL, Phillip D., 22, Sgt., Army; Sunrise, Fla.; 25th Infantry Division.
MILLICAN, Johnathon M., 20, Pvt., Army; Trafford, Ala.; 25th Infantry Division.
MORRIS, Darrel J., 21, Cpl., Marines; Spokane, Wash.; Second Marine Division.
OLSEN, Toby R., 28, Specialist, Army; Manchester, N.H.; 25th Infantry Division.
SANCHEZ, Emilian D., 20, Lance Cpl., Marines; Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.; 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
TAYLOR, Michael V., 40, Maj., Army National Guard; North Little Rock, Ark.; 77th Aviation Brigade.
WARREN, William T., 48, First Sgt., Army National Guard; North Little Rock, Ark.; 77th Aviation Brigade.
January 25th, 2007 at 12:04 am
thanks Marc!
My right wing Chile-residing brother brings me canned machas every time when he visits the US every couple of years.
http://www.amigofoods.com has them, “Robinson Crusoe” brand…pretty good!
i LOVE urchins ( ” erizos”), your wife is right on! I’m eating uni (their Japanese name) Friday in Gardena to celebrate my 44th birthday. Locos are SO overfished because of heavy demand by China , which has also pushed copper prices (and Chilean arrogance) sky high.
And La Vega! great childhood memories!
I’ll go on more about wine and fish later (unless Bush attacks Iran, or Pelosi actually opposes him ), as I’ll be ingesting plenty of both for the next 48 hours.
Salud, Marc!
January 25th, 2007 at 6:52 am
Amazing. Surf fishers in Texas walk a couple of hundred yards out through three or four rows of surf, cast, then unspool back to the beach.
Not as bad as it sounds, though. I once spent a day surfing in water that was 91 degrees.
January 25th, 2007 at 7:57 am
I had incredible machas in Sitges, Spain (there they call them navajas, IIRC): smoky and garlicky.
My best fishing experience: mangrove flats near Caye Caulker in Belize 1992. Everyone else got bonefish, tarpon and permit. I got a barracuda which got filleted, grilled and eaten that night.
What I remember most was the water: like bath water, crystalline and shallow. Unlike off LA, the part to protect is your head as the sun is brutal.
I’m with you on the sea urchins, Marc.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:24 am
I know Mr. Balter would love to report this himself, given his interest in mortuary data, but since he hasn’t I’ll scoop him. Go to Confererate Yankee blog to read how U.S. and iraqi forces killed 100 enemy and caused 50 more to surrender. Good fishing all around. You won’t see this in the MSM.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Wow - 100 dead people.
I prefer hearing about fishing. I am like freshwater flyfishing myself. It reminds me of the tale I was told at an antiglobalization “affinity group” a few years back…though I probably tell it wrong.
A fisherman who sells his extras to make a living lives a good life, sleeps in, catchs some fish, feeds his family the good fish, relaxes, enjoys life. Corporation comes in, finding out he catches good fish and his spot is particularly fertile, etc. - and encourages him to hire a lot of fisherman and become a subsidiary of their corporation. Then he could make a lot of money. Asking what he could do when he made a lot of money, he was old he could retire. What then? “Sleep in, catch some fish, feed youf family, relax, enjoy life.”
January 25th, 2007 at 8:37 am
I am like = I like
January 25th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Great, Marc, just when I thought I was starting to get over my SoCal homesickness, you have to post pictures of the beautiful Malibu-area beaches. The only sea I can see outside is an ocean of white… brrrrr.
Keep fishin’, keep writin’…
January 25th, 2007 at 8:42 am
You won’t see this in the MSM
It’s called Google. Took me all of thirty seconds.
I like fish with white wine, not whine.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:30 am
I responded to Fred Beloit on the previous thread. But don’t beat around the bush, Fred, tell us what you think about listing the names of the dead (I get the list from the New York Times which publishes it every day) and don’t be coy. Let it all hang out. Give us your detailed thoughts on the matter so we can discuss it here.
January 25th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Fred…does the Washington Post count ?
January 25th, 2007 at 10:38 am
What I said on the previous thread is that the names of the dead are something like a mirror. What someone sees in them tells us a lot about who they are. But perhaps Fred would care to tell us more.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Miracle “bait?” What would this be?
January 25th, 2007 at 11:10 am
And Fred, what you don’t read at “Confederate Yankee” is this part of the story, which took place as the figures you cite were being released to the press from Diyala:
BAGHDAD, Jan. 22 — U.S. Army officers described Monday how they disbanded what they called a terrorist network whose members killed tribesmen and otherwise sowed fear across large pockets of Diyala province north of Baghdad.
“There are shopkeepers who had closed their doors out of fear, that are now beginning to open their doors,” said Maj. Brett G. Sylvia, speaking from Diyala through a satellite video link to reporters in Baghdad. “Families are starting to move back into the area. A sense of normalcy is attempting to be reestablished in this area.”
Minutes before the news conference began, armed men kidnapped the mayor of the provincial capital, Baqubah, blew up his office and stole six government cars, including three new Chevrolet police pickup trucks, officials in the province said.
The near-simultaneous scenarios played out like a tale of two Iraqs, one inching toward stability, the other engulfed in chaos.
(WaPo, 1/23/07)
Take off the blinders and quit blaming the MSM for the bullshit you’re knee-deep in. Bush and his sycophants such as yourself might just as well be working for al Qaeda for all the damage you’ve done to our national security with your self-hypnosis and recklessness.
“Bush Derangement Syndrome” ? Uh…yeah. The concept defines this jerk’s presidency and the people who’ve clung to it like a security blanket.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Wonder how the fishing is in Basra?
January 25th, 2007 at 11:26 am
Thanks, Marc, for the respite from….uh…
Don’t you just love your readers ?
January 25th, 2007 at 11:50 am
I thought Marc might not release the names of the dead from moderation (some software glitch causes this) but he did, so fishing holiday is over, gang, back to life on dry land.
January 25th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
“…back to life on dry land.” Mr. Balter wrote: “…the list of the dead functions as a sort of mirror. What a person sees in it tells us a lot about who they are.” Really? I think a list tells us no more about its readers than about its author or republisher. For example it tells us something of the author’s interests or even his obsessions. After all lists of the dead are published in newspapers every day. What do we know about those who read them? Does reg read Mr. Balter’s lists? What is he like? How about Mr. locicero? Mr. Paul? The Senate of the United States can stop this war by cutting off funds. No more lists of war dead for Mr. Balter. Those, Dem and Repub, who are advocating a non-binding resolution are trying to have it both ways, don’t you think? The words feckless and cowardly come to mind.
January 25th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
By the way Marc, one of you is wearing a hat, the other a cap. Nits, nits. Thank you.
January 25th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Actually, Mr. Beloit, I read the lists in the paper each morning that they have them on the subway on my to work. I usually try to come up with an average age for the dead and reflect on the tragic waste. I think of the 19 year olds who will never become fathers or mothers, or if they are, see their children grow into adulthood.
I think of the children left fatherless or motherless. I think of the dreams shattered. I think of the deception and deceit that started this all.
Then I think of the vile man who started this war by pumping his fist and saying “I feel good!”.
Then I try not to let my anger consume my good sense.
January 25th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Nice to see!
Beautiful day, nice anecdote … thanks for the enjoyable break!
January 25th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Randy, when you see the lists you think about the dead and the tragic loss of these young soldiers. Fred Beloit thinks about Michael Balter. That’s the difference, a big one.
January 25th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Nice fishy, Marc.
That version of perch looks a bit bigger than the freshwater variety I used to catch in Michigan.
jcummings, are you still ‘up north’? How’s the ice there? Or, is there any at all?
While I was recently ‘wintering’ off the coast of Lake Huron, there was virtually no ice at all. Kinda took the fun out of driving the chevy out on the lake to go fishing.
January 25th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
“What do we know about those who read them?”
Obviously, we learn about the list readers via their responses to said lists. Hence, Mr. Balter’s mirror comment. Surely that wasn’t difficult to understand, no?
“By the way Marc, one of you is wearing a hat, the other a cap.”
Obviously, Marc was referring to himself (covered head) vs. the fish (hatless). Hence, the joke. Appears you missed that one, too.
My, the things we do learn about our readers! Mirror mirror, on the wall…
January 25th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Perhaps you might think, next time you are on the subway, Mr. Paul, just a little about two things. First, think about how you may be contributing just a little tiny bit to the enemy’s morale. Americans who outspokenly oppose the war and want to run out are giving what is commonly called comfort to the enemy, though they have a legal right to do so. This helps keep the enemy trying so hard. Second, think a little of what will happen to the Iraqis who are now assisting us if we leave. And Mr. Balter, I too think about soldiers dying when I read your lists. But you are quite right. I think of you as well when I read them and what it must be like to use the hallowed names in such a politcal and, if I may say so, cold-blooded way.
January 25th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Samuel, my dear fellow, do you always use the word obviously so often? Someone might get the silly idea you are pedantic.
January 25th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Perhaps one of you contributors to the discussion will be able to help me with this one. Why was it right to help those being oppresed in Bosnia,where we STILL have troops, but not some people feel, to help the oppressed in Iraq?
January 25th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Well we finally get to the point of those lists! Mr Beloit has decided to join “Holy Joe” Lieberman in claiming that anyone who disseingts from our Mesopotamian Misadventure is damage the troop’s morale and giving “Aid and Comfort” to the enemy. Curious phrase “Aid and Comfort.” I seem to recall seeing it in the Constitution. Article Three I believe. And I also believe that it is the legal definition of Treason and was put in that document for a reason. So future American governments couldn’t cavilerly use that charge to stifle dissent as the King of England had in the past. But Mr Beloit obviously is a “Deadender” who will stay with the mad children in office to the bitter end. I won’t say more. Just note what Senator Warner said the other day when suggesting to Gen Petreus that he be careful when he agreed with Lieberman that not supporting the escalation gave “Comfort” to the Jihadists.
You could also see Chuck Hagel’s remarks. But, hell, what does he know about the manly art of war? That is best left to the likes of Freddy Kagan and Jonah “Star Wars” Goldberg, right Mr Beloit?
January 25th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Well it seems the Chinese are taking us into the Star Wars realm whether we want to go or not, Mr. locicero. As to treason, I was careful to say people had a legal right to voice opposition to the war because I meant it. I felt Jane Fonda commited the treasonist kind of speaking when she visited enemy soldiers in Viet Nam and bopped around on one of their antiaircraft guns. But you folks? You have every right to voice your dissatisfaction with the war and Administration. I would never maintain you don’t. However, I do feel this war is right and increasing troop numbers and aggressive actions are right.
January 25th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Fine you like the war. Why? Chinese “Star Wars”? Sorry my friend but the big bad Chinese were the opening gambit of this crackbrained administration - remember that P5 that collided and landed in Kwangjou? And then there was the pulling out from under the rug of the S Koreans vis a vis N Korea. What happened to those? Simple, the US won’t attack its banker and the N Koreans are too tough for us. Hell, so are the Iraqis but we’ll leave that for another day.
January 25th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
And why is Bosnia different? Simple answer:
1. The US and its NATO allies were preventing Ethic Cleansing and other forms of genocide.
2. There was tacit UN approval
3. The Albanian Ethnic Majority did greet us with flowers,
4. Milosovich ended up in the Hague before a legitimate War Crimes Court
5. There have been no hostle deaths of US Troops.
6. There is no sectarian Civil war. In fact there is progress toward creating a “Civil Society” there and in all the Balkans - including Serbia, whose people threw out Slobbo themselves.
See the difference?
January 25th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
“I do feel this war is right”
Despite the fact that wishful thinking has been the driver all the way from the warbloggers to the very top, your “feelings” have nothing to do with it.
HIstory will not be kind to you and yours. Bin Laden loves you.
January 25th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
The real cowards are those who blame the media (!) or those of us who’ve called Bush’s folly from the vey beginning rather than admit their own failure and the enormous damage it’s done to the United States.
January 25th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
(Always amazing…Marc writes a story on fishing and someone relates it to Iraq.)
Marc, a little of a year ago you were writing for a fishing magazine. Are you still doing that and, if so, which one?
Speaking of fish coming close to the shore, one time at the beach the life guard told everyone to get out of the water. We scooted in and watched a shark chasing a school of fish jumping out of the water right where we had been swimming. I’m sure that has something to do with Iraq, too.
Jelly fish can be bad at the Gulf. Do you ever have that problem where you fish?
Finally, do you like using Ronco’s Pocket Fisherman?
January 25th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Thanks for the fish story, Marc…makes me homesick for L.A., if thats possible after only eight months.
Btw, you’re going to have to come to Carson City for some old style Blackjack. Much better than Vegas (though no Ziggy).
Oh, and to answer Woody…no, the jellyfish in So Cal are considered good eating
January 25th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
…fricaseed, ya know.
January 25th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Let me see if I get you. The Chinese didn’t just destroy an space vehicle in low level orbit with a missle? Or they did but so what? Are you serious? No, the only significant difference between Bosnia and Iraq is Clinton was the bomber man in Bosnia, not Bush. The “ethnic” Albanians, are there any other kind? Saddam had a trial. No hostile deaths in Bosnia? If there had been one, would you have said let’s get out of Bosnia? The North Koreans are too tough for us and are our bankers? If we were tough enough and they weren’t out bankers, you would want us to attack them? And what could you possibly mean by they are our bankers. You have just broken the record for goofy statements. You’ve had one martini too many , mister. Or you have lost your mind over this discussion.
January 25th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
“Miracle “bait?†What would this be?”
Fish flavored gummy bears!
January 25th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Bin Laden, if he’s alive, is too badly off to love anybody. But his understudy, the Z-man, he loves you, you bashful peacenik boy. Don’t be so modest. One of these days he’ll quote you in a video; you will have made it.
January 25th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
More “feelings” from Fred. Reality bites, doesn’t it little man ?
Your message is loud and clear. “If only the “MSM” had kept their mouths shut we’d be winning” and other of Fred’s Fairy Tales. Which planet are you commenting from ? Uranus ?
January 25th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Fred Beloit,
Actually, when I get off the subway at Rector Street I look two blocks to the north where I see the open pit known as Ground Zero and wonder why that bastard in the White House decided to invade a nation that had nothing to do with 9/11 and has left the job unfinished in Afghanistan more than five years later.
Shorter Fred Beloit:
All dissent is opposition. All opposition is counterrevolutionary.
Or was that Fidel Castro? These days it’s getting harder to tell.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Ethnic Albanians in Bosnia? I think that some of you have two Balkan conflicts mixed up - the Kosovo war which was stupid and counterproductive, even in the opinion of General W. Clark who admitted publicly that the war made the crisis worse - or the struggle of the Bosnians, which the United States did not help, but was at some level a just struggle? Both conflicts, by the way, the US was shoulder to shoulder with Bin Ladenites as well as Croation fascists (hmmm, combine the two and you get…Isla…oh never mind), by the way….
Beloit is on a perverse level right…..Saddam Hussein was FAR WORSE than milosevic….so if there’s a humanitarian case for either war, it was the current one - but neither wore worthwile, and both the US had no legitimcay with which to act, moral, legal or otherwise. Both were for the glory of empire, for building Camp Bondsteel and extending NATO’s reach in one case, for oil and geopoliticsi n the other. But you can’t get away from the inarguable fact that Saddam was worse than Milosevic.
The ice has been pretty crazy these last few weeks, but it otherwise has been a dsiturbingly warm winter…haven’t been icefishing (too much repetitition makes a man want to leave the only home he’s known - obscure, eh…) this year.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I was down in the gulf chasing redfish without much success over the holidays. It’s still nice to see fish leaping out of the water. In this case mullet, sometimes caught on doughballs tehtered from cane poles.
Spotted Sea trout were present too, but difficult to entice and complete the deal. That happens to be my beach too, so I’ll be tossing a few flies into that toe-splashing brine soon.
January 26th, 2007 at 11:17 am
I was speaking of Kosovo. But Bosnia is another good example. Look at the situation there today and it is far better. General Clark disaproved of the Kosovo action? Funny he was in charge of NATO forces there. On the Balkans see the dispatchs of Ian Williams. Slobbo got what he deserved - a fair trial. You cannot say that of Saddam and , unless we decide that some people are so evil that we should just string them up, I thought the rule of law was supposed to mean something and was one of those things we were tryting to teacg the Iraqis.
Mr Beloit the Chinese are our bankers as everyone in finance knows. The N Koreans are just too tough for us at the moment. Who would Bush send against them? Jenna and Babs?
January 26th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Marc,
Do you actually like fish… as in the food? I’m just curious. Living out in the flyovers makes me crave good seafood that much more. And going to a decent seafood market in a city on the coast — I’m thinking of Philly’s amazing Reading Terminal Market — is torturous.
Alas, in Denver I remain Whole Foods’s bitch.
Sigh.
January 26th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Clark didn’t disapprove - he admitted that it made the situation worse. I quote interviews at the time “it was entirely predictable” that the refugee crisis and Anti-Serb actions would become worse with US actions.
Bosnia, the situation may be better, no thanks to the US’s half-cocked actions. Kosovo is by all accounts far worse.
January 27th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Re: top photo
which one is the fish?
Bonus question: Who said it?
“The last time I saw a mouth like that, it had a hook in it”…
March 24th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
cars lyrics chasing cars dogs chasing