Greg in Performance

My son Greg has played in a heavy/thrash metal band for a number of years.

 He's played with other bands and went on a three month tour with one, but Burning Shadows is always his main group.  Greg writes almost all the music, plays lead guitar, and does some of the vocals.






I chose these two images from the band's website.  I don't know who took the pictures.

Maryland Day

An annual family oriented event at the university.









Watched half of a lacrosse game:

Flags from many nations.  I'm not certain of the significance.

Beekeeping demonstrations...

 Cooking demos...











As always at these events, there was a wide variety of food.  I chose crab cakes which were very tasty, but the grilled food sure smelled good.

 
It's much less of a cow college than when I was an undergrad, but the College of Agriculture remains a place of interest.

Upper Patuxent Catch and Release Section

Hadn't fished the stretch of water down from the Hipsley Mill Road crossing in a number of years, so I drove up there yesterday afternoon.  Although I don't normally think of the Pax as pretty in comparison with most trout streams, it looked so nice and the day was so pleasant that I didn't feel all that disappointed that after two hours I caught only two fall fish and no trout. 

After a bite of lunch, I spent the last half hour walking back upstream towards the parking lot.  When I came to a deep slow moving run that looked very promising earlier, I decided to give it another try and was rewarded with what might be the best trout of the year so far.  The rainbow fought hard, and my estimate of him was about 14 inches when I got him into the net.  Used the same olive marabou streamer all day.

With George and Margaret at Bethany Beach

As always, we had a fun overnight with great food and conversation.  That's them above with some anonymous passer-by in the frame behind Margaret.

Foundations of Architecture

In the last few weeks of this class, we've been focusing on creating hypothetical changes for the Journalism building, one of the newer structures on campus.




My changes evolved into a greenhouse with an entrance from the atrium under the stairs. There would be brick walls leading into the greenhouse which would have a matching brick wall. Each wall would also serve as a planter for small shrubs.

The past 10 days fishing

Three trips total, two to the pond in the park and one to the Izaak Walton League Lake. Last week caught a largemouth bass on a short trip to the park, and some bluegills at the Izaak Walton League. Yesterday stayed at the park pond longer a got a couple of crappie, some bluegills, a largemouth, and a rainbow trout. Everything caught on marabou streamers, black last week and yesterday chartreuse was the most effective color.

University small band jazz

Having seen the big bands last month, last night Stan the Man and I went to the chamber jazz concert. Since it's still Passover, Stan and I had a kosher dinner at Hillel, the university's Jewish center. I don't often have kosher meals but I like the food, and it's healthier than I would have gotten at the barbeque place we often go to before a basketball game or a concert as Pam pointed out.


The first group was a sextet and this, the second group, had the same instrumentation but added a trumpeter as the seventh musician.

April walk in the park

Yesterday.










Pam has researched these yellow wildflowers, but I forget the name.

Another mixed bag from the pond

Largemouth bass, two crappie, and a bluegill, all on the same black marabou streamer. Fished for less than an hour today and about an hour and a half Sunday. Threw them back because Pam already had steak planned for dinner.

Mixed bag from the pond

Two crappie, one rainbow trout and a bluegill all caught on black bead head marabou streamer.





I stopped in mid-cleaning to take another picture because I decided a close-up of the stringer and the two yet to be cleaned fish was needed. The fly is visible attached to the reel.

The House and Yard, Early Spring

Shad Run

The annual spawning run of this salt water fish up into the rivers is early this year, so yesterday I rented a boat from Fletcher's and fished from about 11:30 to 3:30. At any given time there were about 6- 8 other boats of various types out, but the fishing was generally slow. Nevertheless, I did manage six hickory shad, all caught within about a twenty minute window on either side of 2:00 pm. I fished with both spinning and fly gear, but most of the action came while I had the spinning rod in my hand.

I believe that shad migrate in waves, and another wave may have been beginning as I was leaving because soon after I hooked and immediately lost one I saw two other anglers hook up as I was breaking down my tackle.

The picture above is looking upriver towards Key Bridge, and the shoreline to the right is about where I took the picture below last weekend. I love those old wooden row boats that Fletcher's rents and included the bow in the image. Water level was 3.9 at Little Falls.

The woods along the Potomac

Up from Fletcher's Boathouse:

Not what most people picture when Washington, DC is mentioned.





Pam says the yellow flower carpeting the woods is lesser celandine:

Back to the Little Patuxent

Got three rainbow trout today, more or less the same size as Wednesday.




The hike-in trail is well above the stream and switchbacks down to it.




The first two trout also came on the olive marabou streamer I used two days ago, as did a six inch fallfish. This time, however, when I found a fish rising to surface flies I nailed it with this dry stonefly pattern I probably tied a couple of years ago.

Phenology

phe·nol·o·gy (f-nl-j)
n.
1. The scientific study of periodic biological phenomena, such as flowering, breeding, and migration, in relation to climatic conditions.
2. The relationship between a periodic biological phenomenon and climatic conditions.
Although I don't know much about it, this subject often comes to mind this time of year. I'm probably thinking about phenology more this year because the weather's been unusually mild, and I wonder to the extent that normal spring patterns will occur earlier. This year we have noted the early blooming of the daffodils, and to me the woods look more characteristic of April than March.

Some folk sayings reflect a noted relationship between plants blooming and fish migration: "When the shadbush blooms, the shad will be in the rivers." Sometimes you hear that one as dogwood, but I think it's really shadbush, a different plant, and common names attached to different species sometimes cause confusion, I believe.

I've got a book titled Trout Flies and Flowers which consists mostly of pictures of flowering plants such as forsythia and violets and lists insect hatches of interest to trout fishermen that occur at the same time. The sulphur hatch and dogwoods, for example. The book leaves space for the reader to make his own notes for when these happen in his area. One of these years I'll try to do that.

Rainbow trout on the Little Patuxent

Caught two this afternoon, each about a foot long. Got them on an olive marabou streamer. There were lots of insects hatching in the near 80 degree weather- stoneflies, caddis, and midges, and I was surprised I wasn't seeing any rising fish. Then, shortly before leaving, I spotted some rises but couldn't fool them with the dry flies I tried.

Been a while since I fished that stream, and I had forgotten what pretty water it is in the stretch just before the confluence with the Middle Patuxent

University big band Jazz

Always enjoy these free concerts at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Went tonight with buddy Stan the Man.







Director Chris Vidala is a nice guy who puts on a fine show.

A graffiti artist...

...proudly proclaims his old school, Luddite orientation:

Maryland Basketball

The games are always colorful and entertaining, and this afternoon's was the last of the regular season.

Terps defend as Virginia goes on offense.





Athletic events are like circuses. When there's a time-out the cheerleaders and gymnasts come on court so that there's no let-up in action.





Maryland fans always try to distract the visiting team when they're shooting foul shots:







Although we lost in overtime, the mascot always keeps the fans' spirits up.

Izaak Walton League

Named after the 17th century author of The Compleat Angler, the Izaak Walton League is an organization of fishermen and hunters involved with conservation activities, and I recently became a member of a local chapter.

Located about a half hour's drive from my house, the wooded grounds and pond are a wild oasis in the suburbs. On a couple of mild days during the past week, I've caught a few bluegills. Any fish caught in February is a treasure.




There are the usual cast of suspects of wildlife to observe:

Tiefest 2012

This annual get-together of fly fishermen from Maryland and adjacent states was held on Kent Island yesterday. Attendees wander through tables where expert fly tiers, like the one pictured below, are passing on tips and answering questions as they work.

Even in mild winters like this one there's not much fishing, and the event is a nice time to renew friendships, eat, drink, and socialize.

Barry Hannah: A Musical Writer

Hannah died two years ago at 67. I recently read his semi-autobiographical first novel, Geronimo Rex, and enjoyed it very much. He was Mississippi born, and although it's a lightly populated state there must be something in that soil that produces so many writers, blues singers, and pro football quarterbacks.

Looking around the internet, I found an interview that Hannah gave to The Paris Review a few years ago, and this passage caught my attention:

"Some writers are curiously unmusical. I don’t get it. I don’t get them. For me, music is essential. I always have music on when I’m doing well. Writing and music are two different mediums, but musical phrases can give you sentences that you didn’t think you ever had."

Those thoughts brought to mind what I liked best about his writing: it's the lyricism and rhythm of his prose. His love for music shows in his writing. Once I heard a lecture from poet and novelist Erica Jong who said that before she sends a book to the publisher she reads it aloud from beginning to end because her writing has to sound right to her ear.

I think that much of the writing I most admire has a pleasing, musical sound to it. I was generally a mediocre musician, but nobody appreciates listening to music more than I do. Similarly, I may never be any better than an adequate writer, but I sure enjoy and appreciate reading good writing, especially writing that reflects a love of music the way Barry Hannah's does.

Mallows Bay

Friday I drove down into Charles County to scout a fishing location along the tidal Potomac. Mallows Bay is best known for the large number of shipwrecks, some that rise above the surface and are visible from shore and others that lie underwater but are clearly visible from boats.



The area at Wilson Landing is now a park which provides recreational opportunities, nature views, and historical information. Most of the boats were hastily built on contract by the government for shipping in support of the WWI war effort, and they were later scrapped.








I thought this was an interesting looking tree near the boat ramp. There is also a floating dock for kayaks.







Some of the wrecks are out in the main area section of the river.










Others are back in the tidal creek.















This is the one most visible from shore.













The link below contains the full story of "The Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay":


http://www.dnr.state.md.us/naturalresource/winter2001/ghostship.html

Watching movies on TV

As a baby-boomer, the first TV generation, I've been watching movies on the tube since the 50's. Of course, it's a different experience than going to the theater, not necessarily better or worse, but certainly different. It might be better to fully appreciate a great film in the isolation of a darkened theater, but a mediocre movie is easier tolerated at home.

Television introduced me to some classic movies that I eventually saw on the big screen; Citizen Kane, the original King Kong, and Blade Runner come to mind. The accessibility of TV has also enabled me to repeatedly enjoy what I consider great scenes in less than great movies. A recent example is Meryl Streep's "hire the smart, fat girl" speech in The Devil Wears Prada, but there are many others. There are also movies that I think of as having seen many times but eventually realize that I've never seen the actual beginning until I happen to catch the whole thing.

Then there is the topic of buying favorite movies on DVD, VHS, or whatever is the popular format of the time. The Big Lebowski, and National Lampoon Christmas Vacation were thoughtful gifts from our children, but they've been watched many fewer times than when they've shown up on the channel rotation. It's possible that we've never watched The Godfather Trilogy in a box DVD set which was a Christmas gift six or seven years ago, but Pam and I will watch at least the first two anytime we spot on the TV listing and we're available.

We are not alone in this behavior, apparently. Not long ago, I heard Steve Van Zandt discussing his sometime occupation of disc jockey (along with musician and actor) on his satellite radio channel. He rhetorically posed the question of why middle-age people who owned a huge amount of rock music on record, tapes, and CD's still listened to disc jockeys on the radio. "The same reason you seldom watch movies you own, " he said, answering his own question. "It's the element of surprise of hearing the song or seeing the movie at a random time when a disc jockey or TV station chooses them."

That's the best explanation I've heard.

University Art Show

The "Wood, Paper, Fiber" exhibit is currently being shown in the gallery in the Art and Sociology Building. I really like the interior of the building which is pictured above.



Drew Goerlitz: "Propositum III" He's a Maryland graduate, and all his works shown in this exhibit are made from steel and paper.









"Vessel" by Millicent Young who lives in rural Virginia. That's horse hair hanging down.
"Globe" by Englishman Chris Gilmour using cardboard:Drew Goerlitz: "Vascellum"




"Monstrare II" by Drew Goerlitz






"Julius Ceasar" by Chris Gilmour









Close-up of the cardboard materials:






Curator Prof. Foon Sham says the artists "Skillfully transform these materials into art of great beauty and deep resonance."

I feel that way about this untitled work by Aeneas Wilder of Scotland: