As mentioned in a previous post, my favorite NASCAR driver is Matt Kenseth.  With a Daytona win followed up by a California win this past weekend, I’m having a good year.  (WHY did I not enter a betting pool this year??)

In honor of Matt Kenseth, I propose true fan mania in the form of collecting all that is black and yellow and plastering the #17 on these items.  This is what the well-appointed outdoorsman will be sporting this NASCAR season:

1. Arbogast Hula Popper

2. Frabill Flo-troll Minnow Bucket

3. Malibu Kayaks X-13

4. Jig (www.custom-crappie-jigs.com)

5. Spyderco Tasman Salt knife

6. Garmin E-trex GPS

7. Frabill Magnum GT ice shelter

8. Grundens Rain Bibs

9. Black and yellow Clouser Minnow

10. Vans Era shoes

11. Ski-Doo Skandic WT

12. Abu Garcia Revo Reel

13. Mepps Black Fury spinners

14. Skeeter boat in custom colors

15. 2006 Roush F-150 Champion Edition

16. Piper J-3 Cub airplane

17. Sexy bee costume

You will see that the average NASCAR fan will not necessarily be able to afford all of these accoutrements. Piper Cubs were cheap when they were on the market, but are quite collectible now. $8,000 doesn’t just fall off trees for toys like snowmobiles (at least not in my spending climate). The F-150 Roush Edition would definitely break the bank for me. However, wheeled and winged things aside, I think I could afford to just possibly be the Best Matt Kenseth Fan Ever.

Now I’m scaring even myself. I dare Carl Edwards fans to come up with 99 duck-themed ways to honor their driver.

Ahh, to regain one’s youth.  I took a trip down memory lane on the Internet today as I found pictures of the little Benelli motorcycles that were sold in the 70s.  I remember when my dad completely went out of character one day and brought home not one, but two motorcycles!  I was knee-high to a grasshopper so I thought they were pretty cool.  My older brother, who was probably about 14, was less impressed than I was.  The little one was a 50cc Benelli about the size of a minibike (but with a horrifying top speed!).  The slightly larger one was a 65cc dirt bike like the one in the picture.  My brother used it very avidly, to the point of basically driving it into the ground.  It probably wasn’t quite the 125 he wanted, but it got him around on his rural paper route.

These little motorcycles (and other Benellis) have their own little niche on the internet at www.mybenellis.com

I kind of miss my little 50 (and seeing my father ride it around–a scene typical of an America’s Funniest Home Videos clip!).  It was the last motorcycle I owned or rode.

We had family friends who were into the little Honda motorcycles in the 70s.  They had the ubiquitous Honda 50 and a Trail 90, probably the coolest outdoorsman motorcyle around.  I confess to dreaming about one day restoring a Trail 90, but others have already had the same idea, so it doesn’t seem as original as it once did.  I see that Honda has reintroduced the Honda “Monkey” 50cc in Japan.  Maybe they will offer one over here if the child toy lead ban doesn’t shut them down here.  As a side note, if you haven’t heard about that debacle, read this article: Lead Ban Stops Youth ATV and Motorcycle Sales). I like the Polaris solution–put warning labels on them and sell them anyway.

For your viewing pleasure, a Honda Monkey from their corporate website and a very mint Trail 90 that is no longer for sale over at www.hondamotorcycles-used motorcycles.com:

Probably influenced by his attraction to such things as the Trail 90, my brother recently picked up what has been a very good (and practical) motorcyle for an outdoorsy guy.  I envy his Kawasaki Super Sherpa 250 (which is a 2006 model he picked up with very few miles).  I am happy to see that Kawasaki has reintroduced the Super Sherpa, which went away, at least from the U.S., for a couple of years.  I like the lower seat.  I’m not much for motocross style bikes.  I’m not much for motorcycles at all, but I think I could get used to tooling around on a Sherpa in the summer.  Go to Motorcylistonline.com’s breakdown of specifications for more info.

Kawasaki Super Sherpa 250

Finally, I don’t think motorcycles get any more interesting for outdoor applications than the Rokon Ranger, which is still in production.  Ever since seeing a couple of early Rokons in a guy’s storage garage, I have been semi-obsessed with them.  The pictures of them traversing snowy trails, desert dunes, and basically any terrain one can imagine, captures the imagination.  These are power tools, not motorcycles in the traditional sense.  Two wheel drive makes them very unique, although it’s not an idea that’s been lost on inventors over the years.  

What would I buy if I had unlimited quantities of money and an understanding wife who wouldn’t ask questions about why I need another set of wheels beyond my Arctic Cat 400 four wheeler?

I’d probably have to swallow my pride and copy my older brother, who would undoubtedly be pleased to set the example for me yet again in our lives.  The Super Sherpa would have to be the first choice.  Although I could re-enact and capture some of my fathers joeie de vivre on a Honda Monkey.  I’m sure my daughters would enjoy taking video and sending it in to America’s Funniest Home Videos.  It’s almost as fun of an image as the clown car at the circus.

Once again, the 3 Rs brings you fishing culture on a platter:

I found Eric Engbretson’s site www.underwaterfishphotos.com by way of Moldy Chum.  I love underwater photos of smallmouth bass.  It is very cool to be able to visualize what the fish look like “down there.”    

Another site that has some spectacular underwater footage is Kim Stricker’s Hook and Look.  His website also has multiple species photographed by sneaking up on them with scuba gear.  If you get a chance to see the TV show, he also shows lures in action and the responses of fish.

Finally, you owe it to yourself if you love trout to visit Pat Clayton’s FishEyeGuy Photography.  His underwater pictures of trout in streams are the finest I have seen.  Please go to his gallery and look at his photo of Yellowstone Cutthroats and the other gorgeous streambed scenes.  You will probably ooh and ahh and call someone else over to show them the pictures.  Incredible stuff!

Who needs Photoshop?  Since finding this web-app, I’ve gone on a binge of placing my head on such diverse figures as Augusto Pinochet and Lindsay Lohan. 

I’m wondering if I’ll have the nerve to post my most brilliant work: Obama and Biden as the creepy twins from “The Shining.”

Having nearly worn out a Fuji S-5000 digital camera, and with a birthday coming up in June, my excellent wife prodded me into allowing myself to buy a digital SLR the other day.  To satisfy the equipmentheads who may be reading this, it is an Olympus E-500 with 14-45 and 40-150mm lenses.  One of my wife’s areas of excellence is in finding good deals, especially with power tools.  Her latest achievement was finding me a $150 Milwaukee jigsaw for $50.  As for the camera deal, it was the E-500 with both lenses for $420 brand new.  

One of my strengths (or weaknesses) is looking at nearly every piece of equipment I buy as part of a system.  In this case, I realized that I could not just buy a camera and carry it around in a dufflebag and use it as-is.  Perhaps others can learn from my experience in setting up this rig for less than $550, including accessories.

Item #1:  Clear and polarized filters.  For outdoor photography especially, having some filters screwed on the lenses is a good idea.  It is a lot cheaper to replace a scratched filter than it is to replace a lens.  The polarized filter is probably the only filter that you cannot replicate in Photoshop, and is an obvious need for the outdoor photographer.  

Item #2:  Camera bag.  I chose a Tamrac Expedition 3 backpack because it would carry the camera and an extra lens, and I liked the idea of the waterproof zipper cover.  These will run anywhere between 50 and 75 dollars.  

Item #3:  Extra memory card.  I chose a high speed 2 GB CompactFlash card.  The extra few bucks for the higher-speed card means a faster write from the camera to the card, which translates into faster shooting.  

Item #4:  This one is free.  Read one of the many tutorials on Digital SLR Basics on the Web.  Then read the advice at Thomas Hawk’s website.  His discussion of such things as ISO is a good addition to a basic tour of the camera.  From one hour of reading, I was able to learn how to take slower shutter speed waterfall photos, how to manage ISO settings for low light, and aperture settings for different depths of field (i.e. how you can set your camera to have the hummingbird in focus and the background blurred).  Of course, the other required reading is your camera manual.

Item #5:  A beanbag.  It sounds silly, but rather than a hard window mount, a beanbag is very versatile.  While there are some on the market that reportedly do a passable job, the do-it-yourself system by Fred Hurteau looks like it should be hard to beat.  He even posts patterns for sewing the Butterfly Beanbag on his website, along with other DIY accessories such as the Flying Saucer Ballhead.  With the bag and the Flying Saucer, one should be able to do some pretty good shooting with a long lens over the car window, off a fencepost, or even from the ground.  And it can be used for digiscoping or a spotting scope setup, as well.  My wife’s sewing machine (and my woodworking tools) are going to get a workout.

Item #6:  Sign up for Flickr.  It’s free (or $25 a year for the pro account).  There is a lot of expertise and inspiration lurking on Flickr, and it is the easiest to use photo sharing site I have come across.  You can control permissions of your photos and keep certain photos private, share with only family and friends, or share with the world.  It’s also a good way to organize and back up your photo collection offsite.

Future plans for the camera include a lens topping out at 300mm and a macro lens, but for now I have a machine to do the majority of what I have been doing with my mostly-automatic Fuji.  I’m sure the Olympus E-500 will increase the quality of my photos, as well as provide me opportunities for shots I was simply unable to perform in the past.

You can view my wildlife and outdoor photography in the My Photos section of this blog.  It links to my Flickr galleries.

Whilst chewing the fat with my Mythology class today, I came to a realization. This god-forsaken edge of the prairie (that I really do love, really) doesn’t have any mythical creatures. Growing up near Flathead Lake in northwestern Montana, we had the aptly named Flathead Lake Monster. Hell, for that matter, we had Bigfoot and UFOs, too. And the woods seemed to attract all kinds of wierdos (like my seventh grade shop teacher) who almost qualified as mythical figures.

Fast forward twenty some years and I’m living near the point where North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota all come together. And there ain’t no mythical creatures. No Chupacabra (my favorite legend–and one that even stretches as far north as Huron, South Dakota according to my sources). No big hairy ape-like dudes. No dragon-like sea serpents in the water.

Just stories about getting drunk and falling out of the car on the highway. Farm accidents. Stories about “it’s so frickin’ cold that my [insert anything here] froze.”

I guess the giant mythical beasts don’t have anywhere to hide on the prairie tundra we have been blessed with. The biggest myths are the stories about the ones that got away, whether they are fish or girls or opportunities.

Signing off from the cultural lowlands, I bid you good day. Be happy if you have local scary monster stories to tell your children. I will steal another culture’s myth and let my kids go to sleep thinking about El Chupacabra tonight.