One That Got Away

A calm evening and the shank end of a holiday weekend conspired to find the cheeze and myself out in our canoe , bobbing about Lake Erie at dusk plugging away with our # 3 mepps spinners looking to the waters good graces to provide piscatorial thrills and our angling skills to perhaps catch a fine fish or three for dinner. Half way through the 2008 baseball season , and it is still difficult to forgive manager Wedge from his post season 2007 choke , against the Boston Red Sox. Now our Cy Young award pitcher C.C. Sabathia is headed for Milwaukee and a chance to play for the new York American League team next season , and I believe that the wrong player in this baseball travesty is being shipped out of town , to a New York American league farm club at that. General manager Shapiro and his bench lackey Wedge have held reign here long enough. Time for their bobble heads to roll along Carnegie Road and out of town for good.These two are the logical candidates for departure , not C.C. Sabathia. We kept meaning to get out fishing in June , though the Lake has been rough , and events have conspired otherwise. Thus , a calm night in July found us two hours into our casting about , with a single rock bass , and a undersized small mouth bass that spit out the spinner mid air as our only strikes while on the water. As we fished around a previously good bass spot along the shoreline , we passed numerous post fourth of July revelers that still found the combination of Lake Erie waters and food and beverage a good bet for their Sunday evening party minds , and a fair number of these folk were perched on a deck hanging over the water when the fish hit my spinner. A fair amount of fish weight is an easy read to gauge by the tension felt on hands and line , and this particular finned customer was no small potatoes. Hitting at some distance away , and bending line and pole gave me an idea that I was in for a fight. I was not disappointed in this department. As I reeled the fish towards the canoe I had already notified the cheeze , and he was ready with the net. Visions of fishy fleshpots most have dulled my senses , and it was after a few minutes strenuous fight that I felt the line go slack , and no fish was meant for our chops this evening. I felt bad enough loosing this battle , though in true Cleveland fashion a rousing chorus of boos and hisses greeted my flub from the near bye deck on the shore.Typical behavior of the native tribes mucking about these days. I laughed out loud at the irony of these events , and the cheeze and I had not another fish even approach our humble offerings for the remainder of our voyage. Some poor fish is now swimming about with a lure stuck in it's craw , and for that I am sorry. We had been fishing out at our dear friend's farm pond , a couple weeks ago , and I had not inspected my tackle prior to this canoe trip. My fault , plain and simple. Oh well , another day , another fish. Not so however for Wedge and his 2007 post season choke. Wedge let a real big fish get off his hook , and this 2008 baseball season is testimony to his sad managerial skills. Just ask Brandon Phillips? Eric Wedge did not see talent in Phillips , nor did Wedge get along with Mister Phillips.Phillips had the last laugh and his play against the Cleveland American League team this season said it all. In your face Eric Wedge. I only wish we could have at least caught a glimpse of the fish that got away? Walleye ? Small mouth ? Sheephead ? Never will know? Just like that 2007 choke by Wedge. Never will know if the Cleveland American league baseball team would have gone the distance and brought home Cleveland's first world series championship since 1948. Good bet we would have captured the flag however . Now , with the wrong player leaving the clubhouse in C.C. instead of Eric Wedge , it will be sometime before we will get another chance.Perhaps if Shapiro had traded Sabathia for Brandon Phillips , this whole baseball joke would be more palatable. As for fishing , we get another chance this evening , and I hope to land tonight's catch not fall victim to the boos , jeers and invectives again. I am saving my personal bile , jeers , and invective for that loser Wedge , and plan to give him my own version of the Lake Erie raspberries when fishing season is over , and it is time again to watch the 2008 Cleveland baseball team imitate the 1950 Saint Louis Browns .

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genus rana versus genus homo on wcpn ,City of Cleveland takes on Wall Street banksters, Breuer Tower, Peter Lewis

WCPN did a fine job in discussing the environmental " canary in a mineshaft " theory concerning the depletion of frogs , genus rana , from the World's ecological grid. As opposed to the often biased political flavors sold by the same radio bunch when serving up da pd's propaganda wishes concerning local pet political projects , this mornings nine to ten a.m. slot , idea stream , worked well when discussing frogs , hell benders , mud puppies and other amphibians that we humans , genus homo , may have evolved from. Wait , take that back , we humans have crawled out of the muck and slime that our amphibious predecessors come from , yet the notion of human evolution still seems a work in progress , and given the accounting of our collective destructive and war like actions not fairing very well. The gist of this one hour frog fest was that as humans we have contributed mightily to the destruction of habitat for frogs and amphibians alike , in some cases existing in extinction . The tragic part of this equation is that the irony may be ours to embrace , seeing that robust frog populations serve as indicators to a healthy environment , and we are depleting these environments all over the world without deriving the important medical and genetic data the genus rana has to offer us. I recall one morning when camping in the wilds of upper Minnesota sometime after Labor Day 1978 , awaking to an entire majestic cover of thousands of bright green tree frogs that covered near every inch of the tent and the National Park area that we had camped in. What a unique sight! The frogs took cover after dawns early light passed , though I have never seen or experienced such frog sitings again in my life. Now if we could only figure a way to turn the politicians into frogs , we would have a better chance at surviving the ecological mess that the politicians and their less than ecological friendly business as usual types have created for us lowly humans. Kudos to wcpn for airing this timely and insightful ecological hour and the good job done by the host and guests alike. Keep up the good work , stay on the objective side of the street , and lay off da pd and civic cheerleader groups political agenda and propaganda that is so often found aired at this hour!.... Continuing on an upbeat note to begin the week, congratulations and kudos to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and City Law Director Robert Triozzi for the gumption and presence of mind to file a lawsuit against twenty one powerful Wall Street Investment banks , using the sound premise of arguing that the banks created a public nuisance by their unsound business practices in the issuing of inappropriate loans that have led to the ruination of some Cleveland neighborhoods when the aforesaid unsound loans defaulted and ended up in foreclosure. Filed in our Cuyahoga County Common Please Court , expect the big Wall Street banks to file motion for a Federal Court venue , and to throw their massive legal machinery against our City's brave and worthy legal efforts. Not since boy mayor Dennis Kucinich took on the greedy kilowatts of the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company in 1977 , has a Mayor and administration shown as much courage to fight for the very critical fallen soul of a City that's population is constantly penalized by the corporate banks and the real estate agents that do their dirty field work.It would behoove Mayor Jackson and Mister Triozzi to enlist pro bono help in this matter from some of the more civic minded Law firms that call Cleveland home. Great amounts of City of Cleveland funds have been paid out to large Cleveland Law firms during the past twenty years , see Roldo Bartimole"s Point Of View for the actual staggering amounts of millions of dollars spent , and it is time to approach these same said Law firms who profited at the citizens of Cleveland's expense to help us out with this righteous fight for our dignity and help us stabilize our neighborhoods and deliver the message to these Wall Street banksters that if you mess with Cleveland , Ohio we mess you up right back with you!....Still more good news! Baseball season is around the corner , and around the corner from this book store the former Jacobs Field stands , just now renamed Progressive Field , as the Progressive Insurance Company paid 3.6 million per year for the next sixteen years for the naming writes to this dubious local landmark. Since 1994 this ball yard has known the nickname " the Jake", and what fun pundits will have in hanging a new nickname on this home of the sorrows and broken dreams of Cleveland American League Baseball fans. Progressive Chairman of the Board Peter Lewis is a well known modern arts patron and philanthropist , and it would serve all of us Clevelanders greatly if he combined business and pleasure in purchasing the Marcel Breuer Cleveland Trust Tower down the block on East Ninth Street , that our Cuyahoga County Government now owns , and completes the second identical twin tower that Breuer had envisioned . While Mister Lewis is at it move a few of the 27,000 odd employees into the Breuer Towers. What a positive effect that could have on the future of Cleveland. The employee taxes gathered alone would help all Cleveland citizens survive a bit better via improved City services. If Marcel Breuer could return from his grave , tap Peter Lewis on the shoulder and ask him the favor to complete his vision of twin towers for this structure I am sure he would. Alas , only a pipe dream , yet one can always hope for logical civic improvement in a progressive fashion from Peter Lewis. If anyone is capable of sound judgement in the field of architecture and urbane affairs it just may be Peter Lewis. Mister Lewis has contributed generously in the past to Case Western Reserve University projects , though has been justifiably critical of the direction of CWRU of late and withdrawn some of his fiscal support. How appropriate it would be for the citizens of Cuyahoga County through our elected public officials to approach Mister Lewis in a polite fashion and enlist his help with regards to the currently vacant seeking tenant Breuer Tower. Pipe dream or not , seems like a sound pairing to me. While we are on the subject of pipes , it is high time to pass the peace pipe to the legion of offended Native Americans that consider the racist " wahoo " mascot the Cleveland Indians enlist as their team logo.Retire the nasty little red faced cartoon figure once and for all! The Cleveland American League team has won a total of two World Series Championships in it's one hundred and seven seasons while playing in the professional American League. Not a very stellar performance. Second place is no place , and all the American League Championships do not mean a thing unless the Cleveland AL team wins the World Series ring! Speaking of rings. Progressive Field has a nice sounding ring about it , and I sure would hate to hear any wag refer to it as a bastardized form of wahoo pee pee tepee ever again as the jake has been refered to in it's recent past. For those who would care to absorb this final nugget of knowledge try on for size the Progressive Insurance slogan in a Cleveland baseball context." It's about you. And it's about time.".Pass the peace pipe now!.....Book Selling Time! Not exactly a household necessity , but the $6.90 price is right. We offer today a copy of Phillipe Vosjoli's 32 page book entitled THE GENERAL CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF HORNED FROGS. Now , I do not really believe that many of you readers are interested in raising frogs , though if the Cleveland American League Baseball team threw over the lousy wahoo logo for a frog themed mascot and logo , I about guarantee you that a chorus of croaking frog sounding "ribbet" cheers would fill the Progressive Field grandstands with good clean green fun , not to metion a new found respect for our genus rana friends. I grew up with the weird Froggy the gremlin popping up from a puff of smoke via Andy Devine's jolly musings and incantation : " Plunk your magic twanger Froggy". " Highya kids , highya highya" ,was Froggy the Gremlin's response to Andy Devine's query . Cartoons and early television children's shows like " Andy's Gang " , warped me good for life. So now you have a better idea why I prefer a humorous frog logo like Froggy to the insipid likes of the racist wahoo as a baseball logo. If you wish to relive these magic childrens show memories with me , click on the link to froggythegremlin.com. Froggy the Gremlin is way too cool for school , and deserves a larger place of recognition in our popular culture mileau! Green is where it's at . Imagine the unique concession stand favorite an imitation boneless frogs leg sandwich would become. I know , tastes like chicken . Could be made from fish sticks to resemble frog legs. Froggy the gremlin sure would make a better team logo than that racist wahoo! And a bunch more green fun ta boot!

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NatWest Three meet the Pipestem, West Virginia Three

Both trios share some loose ethical space , and managed to rob seven million dollars plus from American concerns. The Pipestem , West Virginia Three? Yet another trio of American thieves from Liberty Township , Ohio who were apprehended with the 7.4 million dollars stolen from AT Systems , of Youngstown Ohio. Roger Lee Dillon , aged 22 years was formerly employed by AT Systems , which is in the business of transposing bucks to banks. Dillon and his 24 year old girlfriend Nicole Boyd holed up in a trailer owned by Dillon's mother Sharon Lee Gregory in Pipestem , West Virginia , where they were apprehended by a SWAT team. Mister Dillon appears the main culprit and stands charged with bank larceny. Boyd and Gregory face charges of aiding and abetting. Dillon after hours used the access his previous employers provided to abs comb with the 7.4 million , and did not show up for work the following day. Note that no violence or weapons were used in this heist. 7.4 million versus the 7.3 million that the NatWest Three plundered from Enron. Do the math! What's a mere one hundred thousand dollars when scheming to separate people from money? We will monitor these two cases closely in the months to come to see which of these two non violent " inside jobs" , both involving banking and larceny draw the harsher penalties for the criminals involved. My sincere hope s that justice is served in an equal fashion in both cases....................................While we are on the subject of banking , it appears that the current crop of United States banks business practices are less than prudent. In the past decade United States banks profits are at all time highs. It seems then that the folly and atrocities committed by the banks involved in the current sub prime freeze should be prepared to give back willingly some of these massive profits recently accrued. The onus probundi of these sub prime loans gone bad are based on the greedy desires of the banking industry to write and sell over two million sub prime loans to borrowers with lousy credit backgrounds who could not afford them. Foreclosures followed , with more to come. The dire effects of these sub prime loans are now bouncing back hot potato fashion into the laps of the banksters , leaving a depressed and uncertain United States housing market and a possible worldwide recession.Time has arrived to regulate these banksters. Gut this greedy bunch of cheap suited thieves out , and reform this sordid mess and the k-street gang that deliver's the banksters requests to our elected officials. Yes , it does take two to tango , and many of the home owners who borrowed against their futures from some of the banksters are not without fault. In the cases of the banksters selling " undocumented loans" to clients who could plainly not afford them , let the mantle of proof fall on the banksters corner. Remember , these same banksters considered it fair business practice to peddle credit cards to incoming collegiate freshmen at near usurious rates and string out the frosh's with debt for their student careers. Do not forget as well that this same industry has managed to provide enough credit cards , many at near usurious rates , to American consumers , that it results in a $12,000 plus credit card debt per card holder today. Again it takes two to tango , so why did the banksters need to hire the likes of the k-street gang to radically alter our Federal bankruptcy laws , tipping the bankruptcy consequences of these imprudent credit card loans more to the sucker, er I mean consumer who the banksters fleeced and busted out by charging eighteen percent plus vigrish , er I mean interest. Banker? Loan sharking Gangster? Unfortunately for the American consumer these two businesses share far too much space. Perhaps we can use the Federal Governments RICO program and apprehend and prosecute more of these white collared criminals................ Sports time . Former Cleveland Indians General Manager Gabe Paul was not elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Yes ,Virginia there is a "sanity clause". My old pal Dan Oak asked me via e-mail to comment on the Cleveland Browns , who are known here as the Oranges due to their unsightly orange uniforms sometimes worn . What can one say about these Cleveland footballers? The original Browns team was sold off by the previous owner who was in debt due to bad gambling habits. The new football team was orchestrated locally by some politically corrupt alpaca farmer , and has cost us our Lakefront access and our beloved Cleveland Municipal Stadium. In it's place we received a former mob lawyer from Youngstown to run affairs , a bankster owner , and a pug ugly new stadium , used perhaps ten times per year , in place of the old stadium. As usual we citizens get screwed , others get rich , and the rubes that really believe that the sports book in Las Vegas has nothing to do with the outcome of nfl games deserve to follow professional football today. I will stick with collegiate football, minor league hockey , and any well played hoops or baseball instead of the uninteresting sports folly that is pro football today. Go Oranges! Perhaps if we are fortunate The Oranges will leave in the middle of the night for Las Vegas! Book selling Time! It is as cold as a bankers heart outside , so we must think positive and warm thoughts to survive this frosty day. We will turn then to the fine illustrations of Maxfield Parrish and the text of Louise Saunders who conspired in 1925 to complete this over sized and highly prized example of 20Th Century Illustrated Children's book THE KNAVE OF HEARTS. Remember kids , it was not the banksters who stole the hearts . Not literally as of yet , though if it would prove profitable the bankster might face a conundrum of sorts.Though the banksters sure did break a lot of human hearts by imprudent and criminal business practices. Our best wishes for a speedy recovery to former Liberty Township Ohio sheriff Orlando " Orley" DiLullo who is currently recuperating from a illness . Best wishes to my Family , the DiLullo family , John and Kim.

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skid row cities

Time was ,not so many years ago that the " skid row" , or a visible and often distressed place of decline and public poverty , was a contained area of older buildings and sad faces and stories found often geographically on the older commercial edge of a City's downtown. Down around the rail yards. Wholesale produce districts. Cheap single room hotels. Funky , smelly old bars. Cheap hash house and chili parlor restaurants. Small retail stores featuring thousands of useful items for the laborer to purchase. Including. Splits of fortified wine with names like wild irish rose, thunderbird , pluck, and the like. Blister wrapped baloney . Smoked meats. Yellow cheese. Tins of mackerel or sardines. Sliced sunbeam white bread. Tobacco of all variety , pipes , papers , work gloves. nudie magazines. cold beer. playing cards. that lady sitting near the store's office door was for sale , or at least for rent.Recreational drugs no problem. Tiny bottles of hair oil , olive oil , tooth powders ,condoms, dice. Amazingly , every last item for sale was behind the store's counters. The store's ancient shylock clerk capable of just about any cash or credit transaction. In some skid row hotel's every floor served a function. Bootlegger in room thirteen. Floor three was for gambling ,y poker and barbut played with a heavy house cut and house armed protection provided . Never no questions asked! Problems with the police department , are you kidding? Fat envelopes of juiced cash with plenty of vig action slipped to the hotel's night clerk. The Old school pawn shops. Labor pools. Salvation Army thrift stores. Junk shops. Used furniture stores. Grocery stores with weathered vegetables and the acrid meat which hit your nostrils as soon as you opened the door. Fabled old neighborhoods , high and low victorian architecture. Federal style architecture. Weathered buildings and poverty apartment houses. //// Cleveland , Ohio and Detroit , Michigan are now skid row Cities. Not a very pretty site for the eyes. Mile after mile of abandoned lives and properties. East side and west side. North and South.Troubled affairs. Desperate people engaged in the pathos of living out lives that present ethical and moral quandaries . Rule not exception. Hunger visible and hang dog gaunt visage. The physical nature of the buildings and social environment are form fit to this raw stew of existence known as life in modern 21st century Cleveland , Ohio and Detroit , Michigan. Nothing much romantic or poetic found here save the waters of Lake Erie , the Detroit River , and the tragic and ironic souls of the survivors of these abandoned and destitute places. An old school bust out by any stretch.A sad state of affairs found today.Not that very long ago Cleveland , Ohio was a city described as having no major or quality hotels. Now corporate hotels dot the landscape , and we have no city. Poor judgement on the part of the politicians and what passes for leadership in contemporary Cleveland. The city of East Cleveland lies to the east and west of the City of Cleveland borders and should serve as a stern example as to how the mighty can tumble and fall. Described widely as a sister city to Lakewood , Ohio which is an inner ring suburb developed concurrently with East Cleveland at the turn of the twentieth century , Lakewood , Ohio survives as a viable place of residence to this day , and though the buildings and residences were constructed at the same time in history , once proud East Cleveland is now ravaged by years of neglect and crime and serves as great example of a contemporary skid row city. Similar elements and conditions at play in Cleveland, Ohio are working hard to insure at joining East Cleveland in this miserable ghetto existence . The true heroes are the brave and true law abiding citizens that remain committed to Cleveland and East Cleveland. Those said citizens who choose to remain and not flee to the beckoning further afield suburbs. These same citizens who might work a bit harder to help out a neighbor less fortunate. Crime always an issue. Detroit , Michigan has experienced a similar decline as Cleveland's , only on a larger scale , and for a longer period of time . Detroit is always a favorite city of mine. Difficult to perceive much hope for it's future , any more or less than Cleveland's own. Murder is a reality both places , and desperate people take extreme measure to settle disputes. Detroit , Michigan is the current " deadliest city in the United States of America" , according to a report issued by the FBI and Federal Government this past week. Cleveland, Ohio is seventh "deadliest city ". Cleveland , Ohio was once referred to reverently as the " Sixth City" in the 1920's , when at the same time Detroit , Michigan was the automotive and industrial giant of America. Both Cities have prospered previously , and are in great decline today in spite of political efforts to keep them alive and vibrant today in the 21st century. Not much positive hope in sight for either! A pair of post industrial 21st century stumble bum joker run politically incompetent cities . Both bleeding from crime and population loss today. No tourniquet seems to heal the open wounds. Detroit had a great skid row downtown , and as a youth in the sixties we would drive the two hours in search of fun of one form or another. We found what we were looking for in Detroit! Burlesque theatres with filthy comics and tawdry strippers. Bootleg bourbon whiskey . Grande Ballroom on Grand River. Rock and roll music with Stooges , MC5, Rationals , Up , Suzie Quatro and Bob Seger. Pale blue Motown sound abounding. Clang of the street level motor vehicle plants reminded us of Cleveland in a friendly fashion. Baseball games at Tiger Stadium when it was painted green and Kaline roamed the outfield. Years later we followed the Rick Manning era Cleveland Indians to Tiger Stadium to burn his rabbit ears with a sour chant of "Rickieeeeeeeee! " , while perched in the old section of the second tier grandstand in right field. Rick Manning had a great affinity for hitting into rally killing ninth innings 4 - 6 - 3 double plays. I believe the one Cleveland Indians record that Rick Manning owns is for hitting into game ending outs. After viewing his less than illustrious career , Manning is perhaps the most representative Cleveland Indians player of the late 20th century. Terrible baseball! Detroit on the other hand had damn good baseball teams , and it was always about going to an Indians game to watch the quality talented players on the opposing team. Having players like Manning in the starting lineup ensured a loosing season! Skid row baseball in Cleveland, Ohio. Well in all fairness they still made Cadillac's in Detroit back then. Cleveland made Ford's and they broke down a bunch. Professional baseball is healthy in both cities today , though not many citizens of Detroit , Michigan or Cleveland , Ohio can afford the price of admission to the baseball stadiums. Poverty budgets do not allow for paid admission to professional sporting events ., For all the public assistance that has been heaped on these baseball franchises , the least the Indians and Tigers organizations could do is to allow inner city geriatrics and youngsters free admission after the fifth inning. Children and their elders go first in a fit society that is able to imagine a healthy population of more value than mere profit. Not in the skid row cities of Detroit and Cleveland! Detroit and Cleveland politics share a sordid secret. Corruption at critical levels of their elected and appointed political positions . Unfit leadership. International perceptions of Detroit and Cleveland are dire. Note the former " devil's night" in Detroit as a model for the trash tourism that both cities have failed to embrace to date . Sordid sells! Detroit has embraced this trashy tourist notion more than Cleveland due to it's casino culture and international border . [ Always suspected that Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes only good idea that was not self serving was his proposal to build a bridge from Cleveland to Canada ] . A gambling culture promotes crime , as well as more negative than positive social behavior in the urban communities that reside within Detroit and Cleveland borders. Citizens of both cities historically have had access to municipal government sanctioned mob run versions of casinos . Detroit is sin city for the rest of Meeeshegan. Cleveland is the northern most part of the American south. Just above the Mason Dixon line. A blue Northern orphan city in a renegade county . Perched in anoxiated style on the south shores of Lake Erie, a sea of rednecks in the eighty seven counties below that comprise the hicksville that is the remainder of the State Of Ohio. Detroit and it's relationship to the remainder of the State of Michigan in geographically opposite fashion. With the Uppers and jackpine savages that inhabit the Michigan wilds above Detroit the addled equivalents of southern Ohio residents. Bookselling Time! Both Cleveland and Detroit have books that represent better days , and two of these visual documents are YESTERDAY'S DETROIT , and YESTERDAY'S CLEVELAND. George Condon the noted Cleveland journalist and author did a great job composing the Cleveland volume. George is a great writer , fine fellow , and you as readers should be familiar with his great wit and ironic sense of humor.

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Fishin' around

our friend's lovely Geauga County farm pond out near Ansel's Cave, on a slate gray early November afternoon. A last piscatory gasp for a dying season, this short burst of time suspended against the encroaching darkness of the winter's snow and shorter afternoons that will follow.


A few sugar maples still show their majestic reds and golden yellows of pre frost leafy splendor.

Most color is gone now from these trees, and a strong wind cuts across the pond's surface, creating circular ripples, and the fond idea of capturing some of the fish within. Fishing is an act of the suspension of time and space in the pursuit of a fresh air sport that allows eye hand coordination, guile, and just plain old good fortune as its bedrock.

Enjoyment of a seasonal glimpse of nature is also a great reward of this old idea of "angling."

My pal the Cheeze is along, and he has been teaching me the art of selecting artificial baits versus the primitive methods of bait fishing that I have practiced the majority of my fishing days.

Sure, as a youngster I flipped hula poppers, jitterbugs, and artificial worms around similar farm ponds in another nearby County, though no greater pleasure in fishing seems to be found than landing a large stringer of pan fish by any means of bait, cleaning them and serving them forth within the space of a few hours time from removing them from their cold watery digs.

Today's exercise was the acquisition of fish flesh, to be specific largemouth bass and the odd bluegill, for the evening's supper and to keep our wives appetites at bay. Our first casts produced a pair of keeper sized bluegills between us.

Both of us lost fish due to improper hooking, or the fish's wiser efforts in escape. An hour passed, and I was rewarded with a scrappy two pound largemouth, that fought well, flipping the surface with determination before being unhooked from the rapala lure he found to his liking and into the cooler.

Cheeze followed suit with an equal sized largemouth a few minutes later, and that was where the fishing ended for the day. Not for the want of further effort.

We fished another hour or better, with no cooperation from the fish inhabiting the pond.

Taking a break to let the pond calm a bit, we rehashed an event that occurred earlier in the summer, when my cousin Rajah was visiting from Arizona, and we were joined by our friend Bim for a late summer afternoon's fishing adventure at this same friendly pond. Rajah decided that he was interested in fishing the adjoining stream for the suckers that replaced the native brook trout some years ago.

Being a surgeon and somewhat peculiar in his mannerisms, Rajah proclaimed that he was "a suckah for a suckah" and that it was his intention to catch and then display for our mutual amusement the ugliest possible sucker fish he was to take.

Rajah delivered as promised some malformed inedible examples of this "trash fish," sharing their true ogre-like crania with us then tossing the still live suckers head over tail into the adjoining woods not far from were Bim had settled into fish along the pond's shore.

Cheeze and I had spread out and were casting into the pond for bass when we heard a loud scream emit from Bim's mouth that he had heard a "bear" and at that same moment a very large bass decided to attach itself to Bim's fishing line.

To make a short story shorter Bim's eyes bugged wide from the bear scare, dropped his fishing pole into the pond and took off running for higher ground, loosing his buster bass, and his fishing pole in the process.

As I referred earlier, this fine pond is near old Ansel's Cave, and bears are known to wander into this zip code, often from Pennsylvania in search of a new home. Sorta like all the people that have left Cleveland for the suburbs, these bears have the same sort of agenda in mind.

Well Bim found no bear, and we all agreed that the thrashing noise was either Rajah falling into the thickets, or a raccoon or coyote fetching up Rajah's discarded ugly suckers.

A good laugh was had all around, and we settled into a productive afternoon's fishing that odd summer day. Before the Cheeze and I departed this November's day , with the sky dropping dark to the west and city beyond, I looked to the ground not far from the pond's edge, and sure as life the small piles of coyote scat confirmed the yips and yowls of the coyotes we heard earlier this afternoon.

No bear, yet a funny tale of Bim, the Bass, and the Bear.

Hey Cookman!

A great way to prepare any freshly caught pan fish that has been filleted is simple as possible being the only manner for this delicate flesh.

I prefer to heat in a medium fashion a small amount of butter in a sauté pan and place the filet skin side down into the pan, cooking only a minute per side for the bluegill, the bass if in the two pound range when whole is cooked correctly in this fashion in no more than three to four minutes per side.

Slide these treats on to a warm plate, garnish with fresh sliced lemon wedges, and some fine chopped parsley, serve with homemade coleslaw and your favorite potato or rice dish.

Cold beverages are required.

Bookselling Time!

If you are like me, and can't always make time for quality fishing, curl up with a good fishing book. We offer today a great American classic concerning our friends the FRESHWATER BASS, by Ray Bergman.

A nice example of a limited edition outdoors book, that any bass fisherman would love to read and own. As a passing thought remember this old ditty that I am apt to mutter every springtime as a parable for the season to come.

In lieu of coition, might as well go fishing! Alright, the gale winds are upon us, time to concentrate on the former instead of the later.

Best wishes to all those who love to fish and eat 'em. My Father who taught me how to fish, my family. Best to Kim and John, and special thanks to Bill and Jane and all their lovely Family out by the pond.

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Beam Cleveland up Dennis!

Dennis Kucinich is in the news again, in a soon to be released book penned by Shirley MaClaine, entitled "Sage-ing while Age-ing" MaClaine accounts that while visiting her in her Washington state residence in the late 1980's."

He saw a giant triangular craft, silent, and observing him.

It hovered for about ten minutes or so, and sped away with a speed he couldn't comprehend. He felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind." Perhaps this reference will become the silver lining in regards to his 2008 presidential campaign.

After all , many assorted political beasts of American stripe have spotted a ufo, including recent presidents Ronald Reagan , and Jimmy Carter , both while serving as Governors of their respective states , California and Georgia.

I recall in 1973 when John Gilligan was governor of Ohio; he experienced a UFO sighting that was well documented. Ditto Arizona Governor Fife Symington. I am positive that other political types serving in our House of Representatives and Senate have had similar UFO moments.

I sure as hell hope that whoever is manning the spacecraft keeps a sharp eye on any of the politicians, seems due to varied consistent varied forms of media reports dating back to the beginning of humankind that using the words politician and trust in the same sentence can beget volatile and potentially hazardous results.

The one vote that I cast in my life that helped make a difference was my vote registered against the recall of Dennis Kucinich as Mayor of Cleveland in 1978.

My vote was one of 236 that saved Mayor Kucinich's term as mayor of a total of 60,014 total votes cast. Dennis was outspoken as Cleveland's mayor, taking on the very power structure of George Forbes and Cleveland City Council, labor unions, both the Democratic and Republican parties, two daily newspapers, corporate interests, and banking concerns that hoped to defeat him via the recall that hot Sunday August 13, 1978 election day.

After emerging victorious from doing battle with such a legion of political and business thugs, what's to fear from a mere UFO sighting? Dennis is still running for President, and he has my vote whether nominated or not.

The local fish wrapper disguised as a daily paper of record a.k.a. The Plain Dealer chose to lampoon Dennis in their op-ed page of October 29, 2007 via a rather uncomplimentary picture of Dennis and eighth odd lines of sophomoric attempts at humorous text.

What would one expect from Ohio's largest newspaper these days? The current pd seems to be run more akin to a quilting bee than a newspaper of note.

The problem with dedicating part of your op-ed page to such a hack piece of below the belt whimsy is that your readership might begin to take whatever you place before them as opinion to be as biased and self serving as this pd anti Kucinich missive.

A.J. Liebling, a fine example of a journalist as ever has lived and worked said years ago the "The power of the press is limited to those who own one."

Never could this be as true as the state of one horse, one newspaper towns such as Cleveland, Ohio today.

Book selling Time!

In keeping in the spirit of politics and ufos we offer two titles for your choice. The first is a tasty Epicurean compilation by The Cleveland Ufology Project entitled C.U.P.'S OUT OF THIS WORLD COOK BOOK, with a great picture of a spinning ufo on it's cover , and containing some other interesting flying saucer and alien themed tasty recipes.

Done in the spiral bound style of a Church cook book, the usual territory is covered by local ufologists. Nothing that strange about UFO sightings in Cleveland, Ohio, in fact the building at 1801 Superior Avenue is a well known alien spaceport.

Relive the not-so-glorious political days of Cleveland, Ohio and the cast of players involved, including a young Dennis Kucinich, in Estelle Zannes, CHECKMATE IN CLEVELAND, The Rhetoric Of Confrontation During The Stokes Years.

Read about Carl and Louis Stokes, Ralph Perk, George Forbes, and all the political players working over the citizens of Cleveland during the late 1960's and early 1970's.

Whew!

Much can be said of Carl Stokes administration while serving as the first Afro-American

Mayor of a major city and Estelle Zannes account of these times are accurate and done in a fair unbiased spirit. I have had the pleasure to have met both Carl Stokes, and Dennis Kucinich and both seemed to be fine men of character and dissimilar to most other politicians I have encountered.

Hats off to all the Cleveland citizens who voted to keep Dennis in office in 1978, and those who might still consider him a worthy presidential candidate in 2008.

Best wishes to my Mother, and family. Thanks again John and Kim. Time to go fishing down near the spaceport on Lake Erie where all of those three eyed winged glowing catfish are caught!

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Post mortem for Cleveland baseball

With apologies to Ernest Lawrence Thayer.

But there is no joy in muttville.
Chief Wahoo hangs in effigy.
For Eric Wedge mismanaged our Tribe
He choked and lost all three.
"Say it ain't so?"

Afraid the 2007 baseball season with all it's promise is as dead as "Kelsey's nuts". Or perhaps as brain dead as Eric Wedge's 2007 post season ALCS managerial efforts. Back to school on you Eric Wedge! Bone up on your three B's. Bench , Bunt , and Bullpen.

Twenty five players suit up for your games, and you fail to utilize their talents. Shame on you Wedge! It took you until the eigth inning of the seventh and final game to have Grady Sizemore leading off lay down a bunt for a single. Sure wish you might of thought of utilizing the speed on your bench by bunting and running hard against Curt Schilling in game six.

C'mon, a forty year old pitcher on the mound for Boston and you miss the opportunity to make him field his position? Instead you turned game six into a boxing match and the Boston hitters delivered the knockout combination early on and put your team away.

No excuses for not having your bullpen up and ready in the three final games from the fourth inning on. Just what were you saving their arms for? Did you really believe C.C. Sabathia when he told you he still had gas and you sent him out to start the seventh inning in game five? Sabathia was well over one hundred pitches and it did not take a baseball Einstein to figure out he was heading for the showers.

And poor Travis Hafner having to suffer your obdurate and reckless inclusion of him as the three hole hitter while he is mired in an 0 for fourteen slump!

Give Travis a break and bat him down in the lineup and put your hottest hitter in the three slot.Mix up your lineups for heavens sake. Your predictable style of filling in your lineup card played right into Terry Francona's hand. Take up chess over the winter. All this is now water over the dam , and yeah I listened to your pathetic Wedge self offer to the tv talking head after loosing three straight , that Boston had lost three straight to begin the series. No shame Wedge , you and the Wahoo got to go.

Have a great winter , go take a long walk in the woods and consider a more cerebral manner of baseball management for next season. Your efforts expose you as the rube and boob of this post season. Shave off that ridiculous Popeye beard and stop using whatever is causing your nose to twitch like a rodent.

More than a few of us are fed up with your stodgy managerial style and it is high time you are called out on the carpet. In the baseball off season or "hot stove league" as it was once known, a great way to while away an evening while dreaming of spring training is curled up with a book in your lap.

We can suggest two that can help chase away the off season blues. First Lee Allen's THE HOT STOVE LEAGUE, or if you are in the mood to celebrate the last Cleveland American League World Series Championship Franklin Lewis THE CLEVELAND INDIANS, will fit the bill.

In all fairness the 2007 Cleveland baseball season was more than it promised in its snowy April infancy. The post season victory over the New York American League team featured great pitching and play worthy of celebration.

The Boston Red Sox choke difficult to swallow.Those of us born in Cleveland since 1948 have never had the occasion to celebrate a World Series championship season with the Cleveland baseball club. 2007 seemed as good a chance as any for this rare sporting occasion.

Tough to be left at the altar , and tougher to suffer an embarrassingly complacent manager in Wedge , not even strong enough to argue Kenny Lofton's being tossed "out" by Manny Rameriz in the critical early innings of game seven. Chemistry changes from season to season on a baseball team , and I do not see the Cleveland American League team returning to the post seson anytime soon.

Hats of to Zagreb Meats on Saint Clair Avenue, Milan, Sue, Larry, Rie, Drew , Deb, and all the other faithful. John, Kim, and Slim. My wife Deb , my brothers and our Mother, and all the other Cleveland baseball fans who felt that 2007 could have been a special year.

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Game Three - A new day dawns

and all of the baseball fans who wandered here to watch their beloved NY AL team loose two to the upstart 2007 Cleveland AL team are all rested up and ready to view a spirited third game played this evening in the old Bronx ballyard up near Arthur Avenue.

Good luck fans!

A crafty future hall of famer Roger Clemens takes the mound for the hometeam against a working man middle rotation starter for the visitors in Jake Westbrook. Irrespective of Clemens or Westbrooks outings this evening, NY AL slumbering bats will awaken, and the hometeam will win this evening.

Not so much the fabled "pride" often associated with the NY AL team, as much as saving face considering their current 2007 postseason team batting average of .121. will result in a fourth game in the 2007ALDS , and more likely than not a fifth game.

Friday evening's victory for the Cleveland AL team simply stated a masterpiece complete game for starter Fausto Carmona trumping the superb scoreless seven innings tossed by Andy Pettitte. Then came the Canadian soldiers to the rescue, extra innings, and finally sweet victory.

It was a pleasure to attend this pivotal game in person, due to the good graces of a fellow terminal baseball habitue, who laughed up his sleeve and broke into a rousing version of " Oh Canada,", while the person of NY reliever Joba Chamberlain was being sprayed with bug juice, and then proceeded to toss two wild pitches and pave the way for a hometown victory.

You see folks, those 'gnats' that offended Chamberlain so much are actually a late hatch of the Lake Erie "mayfly", also known as ' Canadian Soldiers'. Their collective appearance being enough to unhinge Chamberlain, despite the fact that they do not bite or sting in any way, they are totally impervious to bug sprays, and their life span is twenty four hours in length at best. Their timing sublime, their collective outcome ' priceless'.

As lucky as I was to have attended the game in the grandstands with my pals Rudy Shakes-Moore, James McKnight and his polite and savvy thirteen year old son Will, a mutual friend who is so known as Cheeze was doomed to a hellish baseball evening while in the left field bleachers.

The cheeze reported great drunken mayhem occurring between the hometown Cleveland fans and those NY visitors who insisted in wearing their hometown team garb. The cheeze is a polite fan, whose baseball knowledge is copious and not prone to braggadocio or venomous comments.

Our poor Cheezely was seated near a beer and nachos battle between rival fan factions resulting in a total drenching of beer and nachos on his person, and many others around him.

The cheeze got cheesed up!

Not a nice way to view a ballgame. The fan culprit most at fault was a Clevelander who insisted in pelting the ears of all around him, including a few children, with invective concerning the perceived sexual orientation of the NY AL Fan. No place for this inside a major sporting event where customers have laid down hard currency to view a game.

These 'lager louts' are best tossed from the venue as early as possible , and in no way should be allowed to create havoc among the relative civility of a baseball
game.

Shame on the Cleveland AL team security for not nipping this in the bud. A heartfelt apology goes out to any NY visitor to the "Jake", aptly named, having to have suffered this hooliganism of these hometown sots. An old adage concerning social behavior in a new situation is ' act like you have been there'.

Never would this be as true as to be embraced by current Cleveland baseball fans with social diseases, behavioral problems, and low self esteems. Grow up, and turn off your lousy diseased cheerleader, Mike ' twib' Trivisano, and his half baked "mister know it all" sports mentality!

While hoofing up East Ninth Street one mile north to our parking spot near the old Cleveland stadium, Rudy and I saw a fine elderly couple, in their eighties, holding hands, with matching HAFNER 48 team jerseys on their backs. A nice omen. Hafner having supplied the game winning RBI, and 48 being the last year the Cleveland AL team won the World Series. At least we can dream, and the fat lady has yet to sing, merely the buzz of our Canadian soldier pals.

Early results in the new nickname contest for the Cleveland AL baseball team. "Gnats", who woulda thunk it?

And the perennial "Tribe", our collective multi-cultural Midwest heritage expressed at its best, and my personal fave so far. Keep your suggestions coming, and do not forget we are renaming the NY AL team nickname as well.

Time to sell a book department. We have had two requests this past week towards the purchase of a truly rare baseball volume and are proud to offer a copy for sale of Gerald Beaumont's 1921 HEARTS AND THE DIAMOND.

The words of the author in his one paragraph introduction says it all:

"To the men of the diamond, worshipped yesterday, abused today, forgotten tomorrow, - and to their sweethearts, wives, and children, - who will understand."

A tip of the old Tacoma Tigers baseball cap to all of our own long suffering spouses, my wife Deb especially, John and Kim and all the good folk downstate, Every Family directly involved with any form of war on the face of this planet. We all deserve a better collective fate. Pray for peace.

Final note. Yes, LeBron James has the right to wear his NY AL baseball cap anytime, any place he chooses to. After all he is "King James", and we all know that what is “good for the King is good for his subjects".

Consider the previous paragraphs and the "Much to do about nothing" that the team garb clothing wars account for. Not much except the materials they are printed upon, and you will never catch this party advertising any sports team in cloth in public, save the Tacoma Tigers, while in Cleveland or on the road.

Go Tribe!

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One down three to go

and the hometown Cleveland Indians have taken the first game of a best of five series with the New York American League baseball team. It is of no use to refer to the losing NY team by its nickname ' yankees' of which it seems to have little more in common with than Cleveland has with it's Indians , nickname. I dislike both team nicknames for different reasons.

Indians are either folks that come from the continent of India and enjoy the ancient sport of cricket, not baseball as a National pastime , or native folk from the North or South American continent that resent being portrayed as mascots for a midwest North American sports franchise.

In any case not many of either of the above " Indians ' exist around here in Cleveland , Ohio. What passes for ' Indians ' are mostly caucasian suburban sports fans who like to paint and dress up in red and white attire and whoop it up while vomiting around the sidewalks of downtown Cleveland after watching their beloved 'Cleveland Indians' beat up the New York American league ' Yankess' or some other baseball team. These same fans often change color with the seasons.

Not uncommon for some of them to paint themselves orange and brown while stumbling around half baked and on all fours while barking like dogs and rooting for yet another local sports team nicknamed aptly enough , ' Browns'. This current strain of "Browns' however are actually alien invaders , the original 'Browns' having fled here sometime ago to become 'Ravens'. I realize all this is quite confusing and hardly literary , stick with me and I will finish soon.

Promise.

This being the 21st century no more actual "Yankees" reside in New York City. These mythical 'Yankees' became extinct around the time of the publication of Washington Irving's Knickerbocker Tales , or the Legend Of Sleepy Hollow.

These original 'Yankees' lived up the Hudson River and knocked around in canoes or horses , not the automobiles , taxicabs , or subway trains of today. Time has come to rename the above sports teams.

Send your suggestions here , the best entries will recieve a free sports book of our choice.

Speaking of books on baseball and sports we have many in our inventory these days of need of a new home. In keeping with the season, we can offer over four hundred different baseball titles for your reading pleasure.

Please go to olderiestreetbooks.com and have a look at our baseball titles offered for sale.

Reading about baseball is a far less expensive way to follow our American pastime than attending the actual games these days , and if you turn on the radio and close your eyes while listening to a baseball game perhaps you will be fortunate like myself to awake to find that the Cleveland ' Indians' gave the New York 'Yankees' a good old fashioned arse kicking by a score of 12 -3.

Rip Van Winkle's first name seems to spell out the remainder of the New York 2007 baseball futures.

RIP NY AL 2007.

Make a nice custom automobile license plate as well. Though not to worry , the Cleveland team is cursed as well, never will the Cleveland American League baseball franchise win the World Series while nicknamed ' Indians'. Better the Cleveland bunch is revived as one of their former nicknames 'Spiders', 'Naps', or 'Forest Cities'.

Or any modern moniker that reflects the rapidly deserting population of Cleveland ,Ohio.

Send suggestions.

I prefer 'Naps' , but will accept any nickname save 'Indians'.

Break the curse!

Curl up with a baseball book this winter . A great read I can recommend is DAMN YANKEE BY Maury Allen, available from olderiestreetbooks.com.

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