THIS BLOG IS NO MORE. IT HAS CEASED TO BE

Sort of. It actually moved here. Update your RSS. This is the last transmission.

OOPS! I moved!

I've moved the blog. The new address is: www.mhaze.net/blog The new feed is: http://www.mhaze.net/blog/?feed=rss2. If you're subscribed to this blog you need to subscribe again.

Where's that pizza already?

Where's that pizza already?, originally uploaded by michael rupert.

Also, what's his name already? Yesterday I was close to calling him The Dude ala The Big Lebowski. That would work much better if I also had a Walter and a Donny, and I'm not about to. Not to mention the rug I would need to tie his room together too. STFU Donny!

Action Cats vs Laser Cats

Action Cats


Laser Cats

Green Tree Frog

Green Tree Frog, originally uploaded by michael rupert.

Saturday was Caturday - LOL Etc.

Long story short, I got a kitten. I adopted him from the Orange County Animal Shelter this past Caturday. They called him Elvis. I'm not sure what I'll call him yet. He's a sport. More later...

Lions, Water Buffalo, Crocodiles - Battle Royale

A battle between a pride of lions, a herd of buffalo, and 2 crocodiles at a watering hole in South Africa's Kruger National Park. It's an epic battle with an ending I never expected.



More wild animal video footage

Dramatic Chipmunk - er Prarie Dog

The sudden push in, dramatic music, and in ur face shot of this guy is being touted as the best 5 seconds of video on the internet by many blogs. I'll agree with that today.

You Stay Classy Something Mobile Company

This is a snippet from an email that went to all in our company regarding building rules. I have no idea what spawned this email, but lately nothing surprises me about this place and the people working here.

In accordance with Exhibit D from each of your office Leases, “Tenant shall not cause or permit any improper noises in the Building, or allow any unpleasant odors to emanate from the Premises, or otherwise interfere with, injure or annoy in any way other tenants, or persons having business with them.”

Please do not let anyone from your office conduct themselves in an unfit manner when outside your office. This includes riding scooters/skateboards through the corridors. Thanks for your help in this matter.

The real origin of Laugh-Out-Loud Cats

The real origin of Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Who knew they were IN UR NEWZ PAPER HAS'N CHEESEBURGERS in the early 1900's. LOL

Apple iPhone

This is the best Apple iPhone writeup I've read yet. Here are a few of my favorite bullets.

• Takes Polaroids


• When moved from hand to ear, makes Lightsaber sound effects


• Comes with an iPhone hat, so people know you own an iPhone during the brief periods you're not using it

Link

Microsoft Surface - Big Ass Table

SarcasticGamer.com cracked me up with this parody of Microsoft's Surface commercial.

Obituary of the year

Immendorff was discovered naked having his nipples licked by a retinue of seven young filles de joie, while 11 grams of cocaine lay ready for consumption on a Versace ashtray nearby. With an obituary like that, how can you be remembered for anything else? Found via Fark. Link

No Hand King

No Hand King, originally uploaded by michael rupert.

When I still worked downtown Raleigh, I would see this guy every morning on my way to work. We've since moved to another office. Traveling West on I-40, we spotted The King doing his thing. Hopefully I didn't interrupt an important call. Yep, he's even on myspace.

Hooray Beer!

I like Red Stripe, it's beer! I also like their new commercials.

Embed a flickr slideshow on any page with 123Flickr

Web site 123Flickr lets you embed Flickr slideshows on any web page. 123flickr.com. Found on Lifehacker.com.

Americans In France

My friends Kent, Josh, and Cassey aka Americans In France played their third show Saturday night at The Cave in Chapel Hill NC. They don't have a website...yet. The place was packed and they rocked as usual. (My 1964 Gibson SG Jr. was on loan for a few songs - nice!)

Alternate Sopranos Ending

I watched the Sopranos on HBO and I was a little disappointed by the ending. I get it, but I didn't love it. I knew it would only be a matter of time before fans created alternat endings. I can't wait for more of these to show up. I love the music reference to the finale of The OC (by Imogen Heap) (no I've never watched The OC) which was lampooned by SNL in the following skit. I guess it's a comment on what a great TV series would be like with a mainstream pop ending. The cat was Adriana! Oh! Hear what I said? I said the cat was Adriana! Oh!

Sopranos Alternate Ending


Here's the SNL parody of The OC finale (find the original of that one yourself if you must):

Mayaguana Mosaic

Mayaguana 2007, originally uploaded by michael rupert.

You can view the full set on flickr here.

Mayaguana 2007 - Betsy Bay: Graveyard flats

We decided to return to Blackwood Point on our last day of fishing. The bonefish were all schooled up into one huge group and trying not to become breakfast for some large barracuda. They were not interested in eating. Rather, they were intent on not being eaten. Such is the life of a bonefish. To add insult to injury, the rain poured on us again and we decided to move to another flat.


We rolled the dice and decided to try Betsy Bay. Other than knowing where it was on the map, it was new to us. When we nearly drove into the graveyard, we knew it was time to start walking. Now we knew where Trevor's graveyard flat was.


We walked about six miles in bad weather and never saw bonefish. I could imagine fish being there when the tide is dead low maybe, but that wasn't the case.


Betsy Bay might not be great bonefishing, but it seemed to have potential for some good snorkeling - maybe next time.


It wasn't the greatest day, but we did get to see the missile tracking station, more ospreys, and stopped at the Northeast point one last time. Tomorrow I'll wrap Mayaguana up and get back to the usual stuff. The worst thing about vacation is it ends.

Mayaguana 2007 - Northeast Point

On days that bonefishing was impossible or after the bonefish left the flats with the tide, we took a drive down this sandy road to the Northeast point.


This brown anole was basking under the overcast sky and allowed me to get close enough for this photo before scurrying away.


The reef meets the island at the Northeast point, allowing access to the deep ocean from shore. You could see blue tang fish the size of dinner plates swimming beneath the swells around the coral, and there were other players.




I tied a couple of these large green and white deceiver flies in between sips of Kalik the day before hoping to tempt some big barracuda. It proved to be a good grouper fly as well. One of them quickly took the fly and wedged itself in the rocks and coral. I was able to give it some slack line and fool it into thinking it was safe to come out again - landed! These were small and quickly released.


My father caught this houndfish. It's like an oversized needlefish with blue lipstick.




There were different types of jacks cruising the point as well. They took jigs and we kept a few of the larger ones by request for Trevor's dinner. The ones with the electric blue stripe are called bar jacks.


The tidal pools made handy live wells to keep the fish fresh while we continued to fish.


I'll definitely be exploring this water more the next time. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Mayaguana 2007 - Keeping an eye on Cuba Ospreys

This used to be a missile tracking station built by NASA to monitor the situation in nearby Cuba during the sixties. It was abandoned in 1970 and is now home to a family of Ospreys. The yellow building in front is a school.


This is located in the Betsy Bay settlement of Mayaguana. It is also near the graveyard flat that we visited on our last fishing day. Notice the weather in paradise...

Mayaguana 2007 - Usual (flats) Suspects

There are other players on the flats. Lots of them, like these lemon sharks, are also hunting bonefish. We were fortunate that they didn't swipe any of our hooked fish.



Mayaguana has a healthy population of Ospreys. I'm sure bonefish isn't on their every day menu, but I'm sure they pluck them from the water every now and then. These were much more approachable than the ones I encounter kayaking on Jordan Lake here in NC.



You can't write about flats players without mentioning Barracuda. Meet Mr. Teeth. He would like to steal all or a neatly cut part (sometimes all but the head) of your bonefish. We were fortunate, and I caught several Barracuda after the bonefishing tide passed. They're great sport on a fly rod and take handsome photos.


This is what's left of a Lefty's Deceiver after several barracuda thrashed it. They were still chasing it when it looked like this - voracious predators! Note the wire tippet. It is nearly impossible to catch them without it.

Mayaguana - Bahamas Air

I finally got my luggage back late last night - nearly a week after returning. Here are a couple of photos of the Mayaguana Airstrip. Yes, that's it. I can't remember ever boarding a plane without security before. The best part about traveling with Bahamas Air was not crashing. That's all I can say for them.

Bonefishing in Mayaguana - 2007 - Blackwood Point

This is the fly that all of my fish took. It doesn't look like much out of the water. To a bonefish underwater, it looks like a shrimp. The rabbit fur undulates in the water and gives it the look of swimming legs. We were told that we needed pink. I lost my best fly with the right amount of pink on the first fish I hooked. Natural colors always work.


Here's a really big bonefish right before it was landed. You can see mangrove trees in the background. Also notice how hard it is to see the fish even though it is up close and breaking the surface. They don't do that when they're not hooked.


This big fellow was the big fish of the week. It pains me to give credit to my dad for this one (I will take credit for the landing assist), but he deserves it. It was his first bonefish on a fly rod, and really his first real fish on a fly rod period. I think he's hooked a convert now. Nice!


The same fish again. What a beauty! We fished the Blackwood Point flat again on our last day of bonefishing. They were all bunched up into one huge paranoid school as they were chased by baracuda. I got the fly to them a few times, but ended up leaving them alone. They were concentrating on not becoming baracuda breakfast. Hooking one would have surely ended in half of a fish or less. It's no wonder why they're so wary.

Link to previous bonefishing post

Bonefishing in Mayaguana - 2007

I've decided to blog some highlights of my trip to Mayaguana. I am creating an annotated gallery to include all photography. When that's done, I'll post a link. Until then, I'll start with what this trip was all about: bonefish!


This fine specimen ate my #4 deep water shrimp fly, which is a variation of a Gotcha. Notice how it matches it's habitat, and it's hydrodynamic shape. They're like underwater cruise missiles. They race away with your fly at up to 32 feet per second. On the first run, that can be hundreds of yards. That is only part of the thrill.


Bonefishing is hunting. There are no blind casts. You have to find the fish and present the fly in a way that does not spook this extremely wary fish. It takes nothing to spook them right off of the shallow water flats where they feed. This means that seeing them before they see you is critical. (On this trip, we waded.) Notice the chrome sides. They reflect the bottom so perfectly that often their shadow is the first thing you notice. This is not the bait soaking, gear chunking fishing. It's an active hunt and stalk.


All the bonefish we caught were handled gently and quickly released unharmed. It is best to keep them in the water while you remove the fly and take a quick photo. (My father shot the bonefish pictures.) This particular fish was caught and released on a Curtis Creek flat on a day where we had wind gusting to 25 mph and torrential downpours. I was lucky to spot and seduce this fish in a small window of sunlight. The wind, however, never let up. It took some stealth stalking in order to position myself upwind and present the fly to the fish. That is what bonefishing is all about. More to come, as I have time to upload and write...

Back from an adventure

Back from an adventure, originally uploaded by michael rupert.

I'm back from a pretty rough fly fishing adventure on Mayaguana (a very small island of the Bahamas). I have lots of pictures and thoughts to process, but I will post a gallery soon. We had good fishing on a few days in spite of the weather...more on that later.

Hatched

Hatched, originally uploaded by michael rupert.

Looks like three of them hatched. Here is the mother on the nest. I'll post another picture when I'm back from Mayaguana. I hope there will be three feathered babies to show off.

The Shining Cuckoo Clock

Here's Johnny!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Oh, right...it's noon. All work and no play... Yeah, you get it. Link