J0nny Ling0

We are also currently swamped with Pink Salmon, the smallest of the salmon, which average six to eight pounds. I take my boys to where the creeks empty into the sea, and we catch 'em all day long! They love it. But we throw them back because they arethe least desireable salmon for eating. The best is the Sockeye which are kinda tough to catch. Real finicky. But I did get one on my fly rod the other day, and he she (full of eggs) was at least seven pounds or so. Fought like a steelhead!

Oh man! Smallmouths! I love fishing for those fiesty devils! I used to fish for Bronzebacks on the Upper Potomac near Harrper's Ferry when I was a kid. Once I caught a four pounder myself, right out of the rapids! What a fight that was!

Well, it is nice here when it comes to fishin'. But I also loved fishing for Pike when I was in Upstate New York once. I caught two Pike that were both 28 inches long, and lost one that was way bigger. He straightened out my hook after my friend's failed attempt at netting him! Agghh! But up here right now, the King Salmon are thick, and the Silvers (Coho) are starting to show up en force. I love trolling for Silvers, lots of action. Well Rascal, let's end this on a high note, ok? Have a great day, and be well...

Cool! How big is a "small" Pike?

You fish? I love to fish. Now we have something in common, and that's good. And if you catch a nice bass, you can bring it home and say to your husband and/or kids; "I caught for you a delicious bass", as in the movie "Napoleon Dynamite".

Well Rascal, that's just the way it is. If I say that I do not like them, and then tell you why, then there is always the possibility that my reasonings as to why I don't like them will be offensive to someone. That's just the way it is. and as CoolChef said, life would be boring if we agreed on everything... Hey Rascal, enjoy your Sunday. It's 8:06 here in Alaska, and I still have the whole day ahead of me. In fact, I get to take my whole family to the annual Carpenters Union Picnic! Complete with beer, steaks , burgers and dogs!

At the ROA 77 in Sidney, I worked the pizza stand. "Fort" Wayne Clapp ran it and we had a blast. We laughed and joked the whole time. We really got into "hawking" our pizzas to the passers by too. We'd yell things like; "Pizza! Pizza! Get yer No Condemnation Combination!" or, Get yer "Prayperroni" Pizza here! and, here's the one I made up; "Get yer Justification Combination! You don't gain weight cuz it's "Justified never ate!" And we all had to wear these goofy straw hats. And to this day, when I order up a pepperoni pizza from Dominoes, I still mutter "prayperoni" under my breath... :)-->

And by the way, you said; And that was insulting, particularly because it is not true. But you are entitled to think it, and even say it if you wish. The thing that confuses me, is that you say that it is wrong to state a position that may offend, yet you turn around and cast an insult? -->

Well, sorry if you don't like my opinion of the HP books, and my reasoning behind it. I guess we'll just have to disagree... :)-->

Geez Dmiller, this just happened to you sister a little over a week ago? I am so sorry brother. It's hard to think of what to say to you, but you are certainly in my prayers, as well as the rest of your family... And Excathedra, you are in my prayers too. It must be a very austere time with lots of conflicting emotions. And so, I wish for peace in your heart, ok? I was suspended by the Moderators once, and it really did feel like I had been "sent to the principle's office" again, or something. But if you'll recall, I deserved it. But they let me back in, as apparently you have been? Or are they"monitoring" your posts before they post them? Anyway, peace girl...

Oh, and by the way, that cleaned up paragraph of yours, Rascal, would be a deep insult to Mike, for to call studies in abundant living "deceptive rubbish" would by highly insulting to him, for that would be the same as calling him or anyone who believes that it is "good stuff" is decieved. But hell, that doesn't really matter anyway, because after all, it's only Mike. OR, That's your opinion and you are stickin to it! Fine with me...

However folks, it does not matter how you paint it or say it. If your belief is stated and is not in concert with another persons belief, then, it has the full capability to offend. The truth is, when someone states their opinion concerning "what is good or bad" for people to be involved with in life, then they really are "saying something about other people", and there is no way of getting around it. People very well may be insulted by a persons' stated beliefs, and that's just the way it is, so get over it. The good news is, at least in a forum such as this, honest communication can be made between those who come here to do what we do here. For example: I worked with a guy for years, and opnce when we had a discussion about God and the Bible, he told me that he believed that people who believed in God were just weaklings and were not strong enough to face life's tough realities, and therefore needed to believe in some higher power, kind of like a security blanket or something. Well, I must say that this offended me. It was an insult to me. Basically he just flat out called me a weakling. But, so what! He is entitled to his opinion, and I am entitled to mine. At least he left me no question as to where he stood on the issue...

Now see Rascal? Wasn't that nice? I thoroughly applaud your stand on what you believe. You are totally welcome to believe wht you want, and, I am not going to say that you are degrading me for my belief. We all have different beliefs, and we are entitled to them, and so, enjoy your beliefs! Zakamuka!

I never did give my opinion of the Harry Potter books as far as from a biblical Christian perspective, and so now I will. And no doubt this will offend some posters here: I believe that the Harry Potter books are inspired by Satan, the god of this world. Yet another reason they are not in my home...

Why, thank you White Dove! I'd love to chime in some more, but, it is 0623, and I have to go to work by 0700, and so, I gotta go. Thanks for the thread though, and may every one of you have a wonderful Saturday! I hope the sun is shining brightly for you!

I just wanted to say a few more things here. After I took part of "jumping on a major bandwagon", that is, TWI, I just plain decided that my earlier disdain for "not going for some trendy thing" (not reading the Hobitt, not seeing Star Wars (and "Rocky") for that matter), was a good thing. It seems to me that the "rush to Harry Potter" is nothing more than the "same old same old", of the World foisting it's usual trendiness upon all of us, and so, I will not bend to it, that's all... Does this anger you? Well, sorry, then be angry. I am simply sharing with you my opinion on this subject, which I was asked to do with the title of this thread. You are more than welcome to happily disagree!! :)-->

Wow! My post was referred to by at least three or four different posters! Seems as if my comments hit a nerve there! Well sorry, I was just telling you all how I happen to feel about it, that's all. You have your beliefs, and I have mine. Somebody opened this discussion up here, and asked for comments on the subject, and so, I presented mine. So, you do not like my opinion? Well, that's ok... Obviously, if I do not agree with you, then you will think that I think that your line of logic is wrong, or, whatever. Well, then, we happily disagree! I have been at work for ten long hours hanging sheetrock, and I am awfully tired. Plus, I stopped at the local neighborhood bar (G.W. Teals) and had a few drinks with the crew. And ya know, I am not really too ready to mount a defense here. Let's just say that my opinion is my own, and that it differs from yours. When it comes to your opinion, have at it and make it live! And I will do the same with mine... Zakamuka

No Harry Potter in my home. What disturbs me about it is the fact that it is such a "fad". I have always taught my kids that when it seems like people are acting like sheep and rushing and flocking to something like moths to a street lamp, that it is better to remain in the shadows and just watch for a while, instead of piling on. When I was a kid in fifth grade, at least 2/3ds of the class was flocking to "The Hobbitt". There they all were during reading time, reading The Hobbitt like a bunch of Bilbo Baggins wannabes. And so, I refused to read it. I read my books about the American Maountain Men such as Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Hugh Glass, and John Colter. I reveled in the historical reality of things that were filled with adventure and past realities, of life and death and "daring do". Now later on, after the big fad subsided, I did in fact read The Hobbit, and I did in fact enjoy it. But, it was just a passing enjoyment, and I was glad to know that I was not one of the "sheep" that was caught up in the fad of the moment. I never read any more of Tolkien. I had the same attitude to the first Star Wars movie. I refused to allow myself to stand in line with a bunch of "Spock ear wearing" Star Wars droolers". It just wasn't me. A few years later, when the lines finally shortened, I went to see it, and enjoyed it, but wasn't really caught up in it very much. Good story, neat effects. And so, no Harry Potter here. When the first flurry of Harry Potter books came around, I had the same attitude here in my home. And as time went on, I told my eldest son, hey, why don'tcha check out Harry Potter now that the fad has died out? And he did, and he thought the books were boring, and nowhere near the literary level of the phantasy novels that he enjoys. He, back in the day of the HP fad, always thought of his "HP flocking friends" as wannabes, and so, I knew that I had done my job as his Dad. But I am the kind of "Bad Dad" who from the git go have taught my kids that Santa Claus is a big load of BS, that there is no Easter Bunny, and that things that are not true, are not worth believing in. And my kids have always enjoyed the fact that they were "in the know" concerning the things that are true, and the things that are false. I have just wanted my kids to be able to stop and think; "Wait a minute, why should I be one of these people who jump on the "bandwagon of the moment" that the media is is urging society to participate in?" And so, that's my story, and I'm stickin to it...

So, Excath, do you mean to say that someone in the "club" actually talked to you about giving yourself sexually (eauwww!)to the upper mucky mucks ? How did they present it to you?

Yeah, we shouldn't be naming names here, but; "Man! That Judas! Was he ever wild!! Ohh... sorry bout that. It just slipped out... :)-->

(((Excathedra))) It must be a rough time for you. You are in my prayers Sistah...

Yeah, I loved going to The Rock also. Good Food, Good Fellowship, and to me, Good Word of God. Seeing all of the old friends as many have said, from all over the country and the World was just so fine. One year, I had an experience that I relayed to my 20 year old daughter just the other day: I had become good friends with Andre Zakompani (God rest his soul), and Roger Lutambi, from Zaire, Africa, and they had taught me some greetings in their African language which is called "Tikongo". Andre's tribal name was "Ntsimba", and Roge's tribal name is "Kinkala". I know the national language is French, but their tribal language is "Tikongo". The spelling there may be way off. At any rate, they taught me to say this greeting that went like this: "Zakamuka! Ngiku zololay! Ozala kamoto!" Which means; "God bless you! I love you! You are the best!" Well, one day during the Rock of probably '85 (the last one before the big bomb dropped I think), my wife and I were sitting under the awning of our motor home in the RV section. And as we were drinking our morning coffee, we heard the babble of happy voices speaking French and getting louder coming in our direction. And as we looked out to the "street", we saw three or four young African believers brightly dressed (probably in their twenties), laughing and talking and looking at the RV's as if they were in wonderland. There was at least one woman in the bunch, but mostly they were guys, and none of them were Andre, Roger or Bayunga Niokasimbe. So right then I knew it was my chance to say my greeting in Tikongo. So, with a loud voice I yelled with a smile; "Zakamuka!" And they stopped and stared at us and then with huge animated smiles on their faces yelled back in unison; "Zakamuka!!" And then I yelled; "Ngiku zololay!" And they smiled even huge-er and yelled back in unison; "Ngiku zololay!!" And jumping up and down they slapped their legs in glee, held their hands to either side of their cheeks and smiled radiantly like the sun. And then, I yelled even louder; "Ozala kamoto!" And at a crescendo pitch they yelled; "Aww! Ozala-ka-moto!!!" And we all laughed and slapped our legs and smiled and reveled in the love of God which knows no bounds! It was truly joyous I tell ya! And then they came over to our rv where we got them some coffee, and we all failed miserably in trying to understand their French, and they our English, as we laughed about it. We did communicate some through hand signs and such, but it didn't matter in that we were having so much fun. We enjoyed such a moment of love and understanding between spiritual brothers and sisters regardless of our nationality, color or whatever, that it was truly lovely. And they were so overjoyed to hear their own native tongue in such a Faraway Land, that it brings tears to my eyes now as I think of it. We taught them to say; "God bless you, I love you, you are the best"! in English, and when we departed company, we went through the whole thing all over again, joyous smiles and all, and it was beautiful man, really. That was perhaps one of my finest times at the Rock Of Ages. I remember it like it was yesterday... And so; "Zakamuka! Ngiku zololay! Ozala kamoto!!" :)-->

(((((EXCATHEDRA))))) TO YOU TOO!!! Mwwaahh!!

I do want all to know that I do believe that men are far more "predatorial" than women, and the incidents of men abusing women far outweigh women abusing men, in The Way and out of The Way...

Hey Radar, how are you? After I looked at it, (before your post) I finally figured it to be H.A. But it did throw me for a loop for a sec. And, one could be led to believe it was "Howie Some One Else" had they not known better... But I am glad you got my overall point. Things happened the way they happened, and if there were women who were part of it, then their names should not be censored. OR... Nobody's names should be allowed to be mentioned, male or female, in "code form" or no... And; Why thank you Excathedra, I really appreciate that. And I hope you have a fine evening wherever you are, and once again, I am sorry for offending you in the past... :)-->