I haven't gotten political or preachy. But, check out this video in response to Rush Limbaugh's silly response to Michael J. Fox's campaigning for democrat candidates in the midterm elections.

It's nice to see decent adult behavior on the tube.

Thanks for your indulgence, Hal

I think that there's a reason that red and white are the Canadian colors. For the first four days fishing, the only flies that would catch fish were either a red and white zonker leech or a red and white clouser minnow. The lake trout pictured above was pretty typical of what I caught. This was caught with a quite light 5 weight fly rod.

Bugs were non-existant. We were prepared with sprays, lotions, bug suits. Thankfully, the wind and cool weather kept them away.

About the fourth night, one of my tent mates answered the call of nature at 1a.m. and promptly roused everyone to come see the northern lights. It was our first clear night and the lights went from horizon to horizon at an angle of about 60 degrees and to the south of us. That's how far north we were.

I've been back now for two weeks and I'm just about finished scanning film. I've printed a few snapshots for friends. But, the exhibit images will start getting prepped in earnest this week.

We leave in five days. First we make our way to Edmonton then go north 1000 miles. Interestingly, the weather is real similar to here this time of year. The day we get there, Saturday, the high is supposed to be 58 with a low of 48 ... possible showers.

The purpose of the trip is two-fold. Photography; I'm packing 21 rolls of film, tripod, camera, and three lenses. Taking ASA100 for general purpose and 800 for possible aurora photos. Fishing is the second reason. When I was a teenager, I used to see an ad in the back of Field and Stream magazine. It showed a guy holding a lake trout up by the gills and the tail was dragging on the ground. I always wanted to go there. Now, I am. Jamie, the guy organizing the trip last year caught a 40lb lake trout from shore. I'll be out trolling for the big ones. I've made about 100 flies just for the trip and a half dozen giant poppers made from wine corks for the lunker northern pike.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going out with Bill, his dog Arnold, and his nephew Ian for my last steelhead tuneup trip. Earlier this week, I went kayak fishing with my wife at Stone Lagoon. Got skunked. I really wanted to hook into a steelhead from a kayak. We've been towed in an 11' outboard. Should be a really good ride in a kayak. That's it for now.

I'm really excited at the changes that I've made over at Lucid Works in the galleries. I've implemented a really cool effect for viewing the images. Go check it out and let me know what you think.

So that you don't have to go back and compare charts, here's our cumulative ratings for our chocolate tastings.


Interesting that Valrhona comes in both first and last. Our local chocolate maker, Sjaaks, placed second and third against extremely stiff competition from around the world.

Last week, Bill decided to take his #3 flyrod with him out to the lagoon. Great fun was had by all when Bill hooked into an over ten pound steelhead. Fun in hindsight ... a lot of work at the time. Not much you can do with a hog like that with a #3 rod. Took over 30 minutes to land her.

Once again, we had seven tasters. But, we pared the number of chocolates down to five. Our local choclate maker, Sjaaks, did quite well again coming in a solid second.

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• Valrhona Le Noir Amer was described as musky, honey, and fruity
  
• Sjaaks Extra Dark - smooth, strong, and sharp
  
• Domori Blend No 1 - fruity, caramel, and smooth
  
• Guittard Chucuri - bitter, floral, and nutty
  
• El Rey Apamate - mild, gritty, and bitter