Along with the Greater Georgia Outdoor Fair, the Saddle Club Show, the Disaster Fair, a multitude of canoers, kayakers and cyclists, Ellijay was host to our annual Rabies Vaccination Day.
In Ellijay, the rabies clinic is a rather civilized afffair: cars que in a double line, car-hop attendants do the paperwork, fees are paid, vet techs vaccinate through the car window, and you and the pups are on your way.



As I eased into line at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, two vehicles drove in side-by-side behind me, and I hear the following:

"So you can't pay your child support, but you can bring your f**king dogs here for their G*d d**n shots!"

This was followed by an intense back-and-forth of expletives, the requisite slamming of doors and finally, the sqealing of tires.

Simba, Daisy and Greta were perfectly behaved.

CALABASAS (CBS) — Former Miss USA and Playboy model Shanna Moakler says one of her dogs is missing and another is under veterinary care after the animals were attacked by a hawk at her Calabasas home.

“A eagle attacked my 2 chi’s today, my girl pup is at the vet, my boy is missing, between my cat and my pups, i’m about to f**n kill things,” she tweeted Monday, but later referred to the animal as a hawk.

“Not gonna lie, feel like hunting hawks today… don’t feel bad about it either,” she tweeted Wednesday.

“I live in a neighborhood where coyotes and hawks are prevalent,” Moakler told Hollyscoop. “We took the dogs outside to go to the bathroom and they were attacked by a hawk. My one puppy may have lost an eye, we won’t know for a couple weeks and the bird flew off with my other puppy. It was like out of a movie.”

“I just hope people with small dogs will start taking precautions with their pets outside and try to protect them from predators. I hope people just remember not to take things for granted as you never know when they can be gone, both people and fur babies,” she added.

Seeing this vintage pic on Moldy Chum this morning, I wondered how many fellow fly fishers have fantasized about hitting the road with their home, tackle and tying room in tow.

Unfortunately, for most the reality is far from the fantasy (click on image).

How's Occupy WalMart for a fantasy.

Oh, by the way, I have a low mileage Dolphin motorhome for sale - video coming soon.

Fly fishing's favorite girl, Joan Salvato Wulff, pitches Garcia in this classic clip. Fifty + years later, Joan now pitches RL Winston Rod Company.

Friend, neighbor and the other Blackberry David talks to CNN about his role as textile conservatorr for the Titanic artifacts.

Click here if the video doesn't load.

Please excuse the lead-in commercial, CNN has to pay their bills.

The Titanic Artifact Exhibit is underway at Atlanta's Atlantic Station - check here for details.

For information about exhibits in other cities, click here.

Phenomenal work by a phenomenal guy!

A new treatment for prostate cancer can rid the disease from nine in ten men without debilitating side effects, a study has found, leading to new hope for tens of thousands of men.

It is hoped the new treatment, which involves heating only the tumors with a highly focused ultrasound, will mean men can be treated without an overnight stay in hospital and avoiding the distressing side effects associated with current therapies.

A study has found that focal HIFU, high-intensity focused ultrasound, provides the 'perfect' outcome of no major side effects and free of cancer 12 months after treatment, in nine out of ten cases.
Traditional surgery or radiotherapy can only provide the perfect outcome in half of cases currently.

Experts have said the results are 'very encouraging' and were a paradigm shift in treatment of the disease.

Whether you know them as bream or bluegills, these sunfish and their cousins the redears, pumpkinseeds and shellcrackers are some of the most plentiful fish in North American freshwaters.
The world record bluegill was caught in 1950 in Alabama's Ketona Lakes and weighed 4 lbs 12 oz. I caught this healthy specimen to the right this week in Arkansas where the state record is 3 lbs 4 oz.

Jose Wejebe, renowned Florida Keys guide in the 1980s and 90s who went on to become the popular host of the television series Spanish Fly, died Friday afternoon when his kit plane crashed in a field near the runway shortly after take-off from Everglades Airpark in Everglades City on the southwest coast of Florida.

Not really. What folks at South Carolina's Folly Beach thought was an unknown sea monster is actually an Atlantic Sturgeon. Atlantic Sturgeon usually grow to be as long as 15 feet, weigh as much as 800 pounds and have been swimming the seas for over a 100 million years.

In 1967, my parents were still in their 40s, my only grandparent was an ancient 67, and I was 19. That spring, the Beatles released Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. After hearing the second cut on side two, I clearly remember thinking that I was certain I would never make it to 64.
Well, in spite of that prediction, my best efforts otherwise and all odds, here I am!

After extensive networking and research, I have discovered Nancy Pelosi's secret that she says will deny Newt Gingrich the White House.

Click on the image to the right.

What is so special about April 29, 2009? It’s the last time Congress passed a budget. 1000 days later, we are operating without any plan.

• The last time the Senate passed a budget was on April 29, 2009.
• Since that date, the federal government has spent $9.4 trillion, adding $4.1 trillion in debt.
• As of January 20, the outstanding public debt stands at $15,240,174,635,409.
• Interest payments on the debt are now more than $200 billion per year.
• President Obama proposed a FY2012 budget last year, and the Senate voted it down 97–0. (And that budget was no prize—according to the Congressional Budget Office, that proposal never had an annual deficit of less than $748 billion, would double the national debt in 10 years and would see annual interest payments approach $1 trillion per year.)
• The Senate rejected House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R–WI) budget by 57–40 in May 2011, with no Democrats voting for it.
• In FY2011, Washington spent $3.6 trillion. Compare that to the last time the budget was balanced in 2001, when Washington spent $1.8 trillion ($2.1 trillion when you adjust for inflation).
• Entitlement spending will more than double by 2050. That includes spending on Medicare, Medicaid and the Obamacare subsidy program, and Social Security. Total spending on federal health care programs will triple.
• By 2050, the national debt is set to hit 344 percent of Gross Domestic Product.
• Taxes paid per household have risen dramatically, hitting $18,400 in 2010 (compared with $11,295 in 1965). If the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire and more middle-class Americans are required to pay the alternative minimum tax (AMT), taxes will reach unprecedented levels.
• Federal spending per household is skyrocketing. Since 1965, spending per household has grown by nearly 162 percent, from $11,431 in 1965 to $29,401 in 2010. From 2010 to 2021, it is projected to rise to $35,773, a 22 percent increase.

While some might say it is under-powered, my personal favorite daily carry is a Beretta Jetfire 25.

A while back. a buddy and I were fishing on Alaska's Raspberry Island near Kodiak, and out of nowhere came this very angry and large brown bear. Apparently we were threatening her cubs.

Anyway, if I had not had my little Jetfire I'd sure not be here today. Just one shot to my buddy's knee cap and I was able to escape by just briskly walking away.

It's not always the size that matters.