Step Up to the Plate.

Many of the readers of this blog know Dutch Salmon, or know who he is. In addition to being one of the best outdoor writers in America, he's one of the true gentlemen of the sport of hounds and open field hunting.

We've known Dutch, and his wife, Cherie and son, Buddy for almost 10 years. Just before New Years, Buddy was air-lifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital with a sinus infection that got out of control, first with paralysis, then seizures. He's had at least one brain surgery, and is still hospitalized.

This has caused financial hardship, and untold wear and tear on vehicles, as there's no easy way to get from Silver City to Albuquerque.. just check a map.. not to mention the cost of lodging in a city hundreds of miles from home.

The coursing community of the southwest has stepped up to try and help defray some of these costs the Salmon family are facing. There is a raffle going on for a "Saluki quilt" for which I'll try and post the details of.

We'd like to expand the effort beyond New Mexico. One way you can help is to check out Dutch's bookstore. There are thousands of titles available, on subjects ranging from open field coursing and fly fishing, to biographies of the heroes and villains of the Old West, and more. If you've never checked it out, now would be the time. Books make great gifts!

Not content to sit and let others carry the load, we've come up with a unique fund raiser: The "Dutch" T-Shirt!

Yes, it's the same great style as the official poster for your favorite new President, and the image posted here recently of an eminent blogger/photographer.

The large (6.7" x 9.7") image will be displayed prominently on your choice of White or Natural cotton T-Shirts, in S-M-L-XL for $28 including shipping. All proceeds, less our raw materials and shipping costs, will be turned over to the Salmon family. Please email me: dan@shotonsite.us , or Margaret: margaretfairman@gmail.com with your order, and with questions about orders and sizes other than those listed. We'll accept payment by PayPal, or personal check. I've placed a tool at the top of the sidebar for PayPal orders directly on this site. If you use this method to order and pay, make sure you tell us the color and size of the shirt you want in the message box.

I heard from Dutch by email this morning. He says Buddy is improving, and may be able to come home soon. He also told me he hasn't chased a hare in more than a month.... possibly a personal record. All the more reason to hope for Buddy's return to health.

We hope you all can help. And pass this information on to those who aren't savvy and hip enough to read this blog!

UPDATE: Here are the details on the quilt raffle. I'm sorry, I couldn't add the pictures of the the quilt, but I've seen it, and it's pretty cool, especially if you have Salukis, or are close to someone who is:

"Cindy Brown has donated a 52 inch quilt in shades of blue and gray withSaluki heads in the corners (see photos), to be raffled off and all theproceeds will go to Dutch and his family. Cindy will bring the quilt andtickets to the hunt on January 17^th . The tickets will be $10 each or 3for $25.00. SWCC will offer tickets via the USPS. Send your check, madepayable to SWCC to the treasurer Bill Brown, PO Drawer 29, Mesquite, NM88048, sorry no paypal. The tickets will be returned to you and thedrawing will take place at the Dutch’s Pack Hunt on February 14^th .Checks will be taken up until the day of the drawing and tickets givenout if you are sending a check by mail it must be postmarked by February5^th so we have time to get the tickets back to you. If you are notpresent at the drawing the quilt will be mailed to you and watch for theannouncement on the lists we have posted information to."

That's Quite A Resumé , Norm...

Below is the funniest line I've read about the Minnesota senatorial race, and subsequent recount, which ended yesterday with a proclamation of victory for author/comedian/lecturer, Al Franken. It comes from this post by Nate Silver, of FiveThirtyEight.Com blog:

"Let's be frank: Norm Coleman doesn't have much of a future in electoral politics. Defeated Presidential candidates sometimes have nine lives, but defeated Senatorial candidates rarely do, and in his career running for statewide office, Coleman has lost to a professional wrestler, beaten a dead guy, and then tied a comedian. He doesn't have much to lose by fighting this to its bitter conclusion. But it's hard to envision how he'll come up with enough ballots to overtake Franken."

Coleman should think about that before he puts the state through a long, drawn out, expensive, and ultimately futile legal challenge.

So, congratulations to Al Franken. Minnesotans have shown the guts that the Texans didn't have a few years back when they rejected Kinky Friedman as their governor.

Thats the Old Christmas Spirit!

The Farkers are having fun with this one... I particularly like the comment from the British MP who declares "These cards are profane. Christmas is a Christian festival and should not be associated with swearing and vulgarity."

So, on this shortest day of the year, I'd like to wish one and all a happy Festivus! Patrick the Terrierman, explains why the distinguished MP is basically full of crap.

Meanwhile... I do need to throw together at least one web card for this holiday season. If you know us, watch your inboxes!

Another Adolescent Fantasy Gone....

Bettie Page has left us, at age 85.

What? You don't know Bettie Page? Poor kids. Have Netflix send you a copy of The Notorious Bettie Page, the 2005 biopic starring Gretchan Mol.

I may cry.

Nearly SFW:

A Sirius Rant.

If you're a subscriber to satellite radio... either Sirius or XM, you already know what this is about. Like me you woke up last Wednesday, turned on your radio, got the message "Updating streams... this may take a few minutes". OK, this has happened before, no big..... WTF?!?!?!?!? Sirius Disorder, the station I listened to about 60% of the time, was gone. In its place, something called "The Bridge". I have no idea what format "The Bridge" is, because it's currently the home of "Led Zeppelin Radio" for a limited engagement.

Welcome to "Sirius XM"... the future of satellite radio. We know the merger was approved in the congress last Summer. We knew there were probably going to be some changes coming. We knew ...thought... there would be some time before the changes took effect that we would be sent an email, or got some kind of notice about what the changes would entail. Un-uh. I listened to Sirius all the way across New Mexico, and a hunk of Texas driving back to Oklahoma last Tuesday. Not a word was mentioned on any of the stations I listened to. Larry Kirwan spoke as if he'd be there the next day, and the day after that.

Wednesday morning some time.. probably right in the middle of a song on some channel, it all changed. I was pretty sure I knew what happened, but until I got an email, hours after the fact, from Sirius, trumpeting their wonderful new channel lineup, I could only guess. It took a lot of online time to ferret out the true nature of the beast. Indeed, Disorder was gone. As was the classic jazz channel I listened to, replaced by something lighter weight from XM. Left of Center.. the alternative, "college format" channel was replaced by "Sirius XM U". And on and on it goes.

Most media sources I Googled, agreed this transition was not handled well by the corporate brain-dead. (Read the article, but also the comments). While almost no one, in or out of the media, knew what the changes would be, or when, save this site, which let its readers in on it. It's now bookmarked on my computer, as I don't want to be, as The Who sang, fooled again.

Writing this one week after the fact, I can now say that this would be much more blistering had I responded immediately. But now I've got a week under my belt... or between my ears. Things may not be as bad as they seemed at first. The Loft, a station recommended by Sirius for folks who liked Disorder, is loading up with some of my favorite shows- "Vin Scelsa's Idiot's Delight", David Johansen's Mansion of Fun (perhaps the most eclectic bit of programming in the history of broadcasting), Lou Reed's New York Shuffle, and perhaps most importantly, Meg Griffin- the brains behind the Disorder channel will return December 1st with a program called..... Disorder.

I'll still miss Larry Kirwan's Celtic Crush, and The Kennedys' Dharma Cafe on Saturday mornings, but on the plus side- Outlaw Country remains, anchored by wild man Mojo Nixon, and it's been complemented by a new channel, Willie's Place, featuring Texas Honky Tonk music! All the NPR channels are untouched, and in December we'll also get a channel for movie soundtracks, so maybe things arent as dire as they seemed last week. Time will tell. It appears maybe our emails did some good.

Tell us about your transitory experiences last week when your favorite channels disappeared.. do it in the comments section.

I Read Blog for Bark Obama.

Well whaddya know.... news that will impress about 85% of our friends:

My partisan leanings have caught the attention of those lovable curmudgeons over at Bark Obama , and they have had the audacity to invite me in to their circle. You may have noticed that the widget in the sidebar has changed slightly.

Who are the Bark Obama writers? Well, just just check out this roster!. That's an all star cast of the folks who, when they're not proselytising on the merits of our next President, are writing the stuff you read the most.. on blogs, in books, and in magazines... about your pets.

And my non-dog aquaintances are always telling me to get a life. Hell... see? We got life!

Check it out, for sure.

Brother Patrick Explains it all for You!

Confused about the whirlwind of activity... the ups and downs... the panic and fear going on on Wall Street for the past couple of weeks? Like John McSame, I don't know as much about economics as I should.

Thanks to Pat Burns the Terrierman, I can point you to an explanation that will make it all clear... especially for our fellow dog friends. Prepare to be severely pissed.

But don't worry.. according the the alleged President this morning, wrongdoers are going to be "persecuted" . (That mean they'll have dollar signs burned on their lawns? Heckled at the workplace? Sugar in the gas tanks of their Escalades?)

RTWT.

Moron Report.

We needed to go out on some errands today. Simple stuff, like some plumbing supplies for the ongoing toilet project- don't ask- , a trip to the post office, Sam's Club. Travelling West on Michigan Ave in Jackson we came upon gas station after gas station with long lines of idling vehicles.. burning untold numbers of barrels of fuel while waiting to (wait for it)... fuel up. I asked, "what do they know that we don't?".

As we finished up we heard reports of "$5/gal gas" on the "east side". Well, when we got to "the east side", it was still $3.89. Just like it was when we began our errands. Ridiculously long lines, though. Fortunately, we're not going anywhere this weekend, so we just drove by and laughed at the morons. Must be some way to pin this on Republicans.

Nobody Does it Like Jon...

Tired of political bullshit, lying, and hypocrisy?

There are straight, academic places online where you can get the straight scoop. The best of these is Annenberg's FactCheck.Org which analyzes political ads and campaign statements for accuracy and context, regardless of political party. I check it out every time I see an ad that raises my blood pressure.

But I enjoy laughter and humor with my political exposés, and for that, there's only one place to go, (and all the great HBO and Showtime programming aside, the real reason I want satellite TV in the Express), and that's The Daily Show:



This segment is being hailed, on FARK, as the best Daily Show segment... ever. Pushes all of my (political) buttons.

Local Travel Alert!

We know from the tracking and counting aids we have on the Express blog, that we have readers from a little pocket of towns in southwest South Dakota.. Custer, Hot Springs, Buffalo Gap. Don't know who you are, but we wanted to let interested parties know we will be ducking into the state, briefly, on Friday to renew our driver's licenses. We picked the office in Hot Springs to be the most convenient for our schedule.

If anyone's interested in meeting us, and more importantly, the hounds ;o) , please get hold of us by email, or phone. (Phone number is listed at http://shotonsite.us ).

Last Stop.

Alpaugh, CA sunset.

We made it to Hollister today, the last stop (event-wise) on the California trip. They have larger-than-normal entries for Sunday, and possibly Saturday as well. Is it the "Shot On Site Effect"? We'd like to think so.

Anyway, there's a lot of activity behind us that still needs to be reported. Maybe on the way East, we'll stop at a WiFi-equipped campground for an day or two and get caught up.

Here's a partial list of some of the highlights you should look for:

• Restaurants


• Wine tastings


• Sandia and Fanny at the beach


• Hunting with Dr. John Burchard... (chasing, actually)


• Herb's Jackrabbit portfolio- Stunning!


• Los Tres Amigos


• Granite Construction tour of the big hole


• and, hummingbirds.

Mileage now stands at 2,900 miles..... exactly!

The future? Reno, Salt Lake, Medicine Bow, Badlands... and more.

Democrats Have Cooler Funerals.

But Don't Let Him Pee on the Water Cooler!

Tomorrow is the 10th Annual "Take Your Dog to Work Day". I've been taking my dogs to work with me- every day- for the last 14 years! Does your company let you bring your dogs to work regularly? Will they let you bring your dog tomorrow (June 20th)? I'll bet my old employer won't. They've become quite boring over the years since I left.

Shots Up To Date?

Going to the II? (American Sighthound Field Association's "International Invitational").

While some are concerned that the temperatures will be intolerable for hounds and humans alike, Patrick has posted on a potentially more serious problem: Rabies. In the neighborhood.

Forewarned is forearmed.

We'll be there, of course. I've shot every II since 1996 except 1997. You could say I'm a fixture at this point. We'll be joined by my friend, Steve Surfman of Steve Surfman Photography. Steve has helped shoot a few previous II's.

We'll also be joined, briefly, on Saturday by the aforementioned working terrierman himself, Pat Burns.

A good time should be had by all. See you there, and make sure your rabies vaccinations are current!

But the Cops Wouldn't Have Padded His Bill...

The headline just grabbed me.. I had to look. And the Nakamuras were probably billed ¥10,000 for "daytime nursing care".

¡Hoy es Sandia del Primer Cumpleaños!

¡Que tienen muchos, muchos más!

Ageless.

Our deerhound, Randir, will be 12 in August. That will be an exceptional age for a male Scottish Deerhound.

That pales in comparison to Geenie the Greyhound in Florida. Wow.
HT Mary L Kenworthy.

What a Relief.

Now Margaret, who didn't know about our Meijer's boycott, won't have to return all the groceries she just walked in the door with...

After I had posted about the Meijer's donation program with H$U$, I tried to find info on it at Meijer's site, and could find nothing. Then I emailed USSA, and received this reply:

Dear Mr. Gauss:

Thank you for your message. Meijer has indeed dropped the donation portion of its photo contest. We are currently working on a news release about Meijer's decision to drop the program with HSUS. Thank you for your continued support of the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance.

Sincerely,

Cory Johnson I Director of Communications

You may now return to your normal shopping habits. Never underestimate the power of thousands of pissed off hunters.

For Midwesterners; Others May Audit the Course.

Meijer's invented the concept of the "hypermarket", long before there were WalMart "Supercenters". Groceries and dry goods and hardware and automotive and more, all under one roof. While they're slightly higher priced than Wal Mart (but not significantly so), we will usually choose to shop there when we're in their market areas (Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois).

The other day, I got this email notice from the United States Sportsmen Association, informing me that Meijer's had fallen into league with the devil.

I just sent my letter of "protest" to the Meijer CEO. I urge anyone reading this in the above states... or, what the hell, outside of it... to do the same. I told them if H$U$ gets their way, they will ultimately end up closing down their pet and sporting goods departments.

Just do it.

For information on how H$U$ works, check this out from, (where else), Patrick.

Join USSA's Sporting Dog Defense Coalition here. The Sporting Dog Defense Coalition was a major player in the defeat of the anti-coursing bill a couple of years ago in California.

Whose Ass They Gonna Kiss Now?

Sports journalism's ridiculous love affair with Green Bay Packers' quarterback, Brett Favre is finally going to end. Favre's agent has announced that the man I call the most overrated player in the history of sport, is going to retire. The media's lavish praise of the man who holds NFL records in interceptions... (yeah, touchdowns too... big deal) reminds me of the way the political media falls all over themselves to shower accolades on presidential candidate Barack Obama (all of which is warranted, by comparison.... Buckeye state: do something right for a change!). That Favre, he's no Tom Brady ;-) He wouldn't even have the one, lonely Super Bowl ring he owns if not for this former Wolverine, Heisman Trophy winner, and Super Bowl MVP...

So good bye, Brett. Go fishin', and don't let too many of your baitfish get "picked off".