The non-Halloweenie Issue of the Underground
By Tom Chandler on Oct 31, 2006 in Underground Entertainment
Every other blog on the planet is running some sort of Halloween graphic, story, or joke. Not me.
With “Monster Deals” and “Spook-tacular Savings” headlines dotting the papers and TV commercials, it’s becoming clear that Halloween is the new Christmas - one more chance for the commerce machine to sell us stuff we’ll use once a year instead of spending that money on useful fishing gear.
And speaking of gear, I *am* going to get a few choice deals from Sierra Trading Post up soon, and I’ve also decided to write a few gear reviews.
I’m not much of a gearhead, but there’s a surprising amount of crummy/useless gear mixed in with the good in the fly fishing world, and given the absolute absence of any potentially-ad-dollar-reducing negative reviews from the mainstream mags, maybe it’s time we did the dirty deeds here.
Alistair in Scotland seems to think so - do you?
Show of hands? Yes? No? Do we rain fire and brimstone down on the fly fishing industry?
Windy Havoc in Ian Rutter Land
Ian Rutter - the Underground’s Official Tennessee Guide and the man with enough class to fry his PC keyboard by spilling good scotch on it - mentioned in his fishing report that he’d traveled back from a trip just before 100+ mph winds battered the Smokies
Now the most-excellent Two-Heel Drive blog tells us that many of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s trails are blocked by the more than 1,000 trees that fell during this windy mini-armageddon, and that most of the cleanup work won’t happen until spring.
Frankly, if I fished the park, I’d be pumped. And I’d be headed for the tree-blocked trails that lead to the best fishing since most fly fishers wouldn’t bother. But that’s just me. I’m odd. (Ask Ian).
Wally Watch
The Amazing Incredible Indestructible (Clumsy) Wally the Wonderdog continues to mend more quickly than could be imagined. In fact, I got up at 5:00 this morning and his cold nose immediately urged my backside to take him on a walk, something we hadn’t planned to do for a couple days.
And though he plunged headlong down a rocky cliff, at least Wally the Wonderdog didn’t suffer the indignities of “cute” Halloween costumes like these poor bastards. (The Underground warns sensitive viewers and diabetics to shield their eyes).
More to Come
There’s a lot happening at Underground World Headquarters, only some of which is good. Still, the weather forecasts are promising - we’re looking at some bona fide BWO weather starting tomorrow, so I’m staying home, working my butt off, handing out candy, and trying to be good so I can hit what could be some excellent fishing.
As always, we’ll taunt you about it here first. See you on the (rainy) river, Tom Chandler
Technorati Tags: halloween, wally the wonderdog, Smokies, GSMNP, fly fishing, BWO
tom | Oct 31, 2006 | Reply
Two-Hell Drive — hey, that’s my Halloween name, just like the Simpsons.
Tom Chandler | Oct 31, 2006 | Reply
I’m finished linking to the sites of copy editors. The risks are too great…
Dan (Grizzly Wulff) Sedergren | Nov 1, 2006 | Reply
Wile having opinions of various tackle manufactures provided by folks that are not dependent on said manufacturer seems as if it’s a good idea, one needs to be careful because of the litigious nature of the world today. Posts by “anonymous” reviewers are ripe grounds for law suites against a web site by those folks that think they’re “good name and reputation” have been besmirched. My advice is to tread this ground as if it’s sown with land mines.
That being said, Bill Edrington of Royal Gorge Anglers does exactly that each fall. So Tom, if this is something you wish to do as the owner of this web log, then I salute you. Maybe the best way is to solicit input from your readers directly to you, and you use those inputs to do the review. That way you have control over the content and can keep the less libelous statements off the site. Of course, then the rest of us will suspect that you have biases and wonder if you can be trusted.
Good Luck
Tom Chandler | Nov 1, 2006 | Reply
I think all but the most vicious and factually incorrect review would safely under the fair comment and criticism clause.
Not to mention that anyone initiating a libel suit would have to show concrete proof of damage, which is probably not possible in a case like this.
I think I’ll just let ‘er rip, and call ‘em like I seem ‘em. Starting wtih the boot review I posted today….