just ignore and let this one die

You expect a cat to open a door for themselves? Why do you think they keep humans around anyway?

Don't bother. As much as I love our neighbors to the North I have nothing even remotely nice to say about the Mounties...except maybe, "Thanks for pussing out and running away when you were desperately needed in the Queen Charlottes circa 1989-90 and I and about 75 others were being held at gunpoint. The US Coast Guard would have sorted out that mess in less time than it took you to turn the boat around and head for safer water."

Go for the Texas Rangers. They don't turn tail and run.

Not that I'm bitter or anything. It was sort of traumatic.

Excellent pic! The daily news in the UK posted a handful online from that volcano and they are all stunning. The one you posted is my home computer's background now.

Wow, Trout...that's the first time I've heard anything bad about the Mounties. And you were held at gunpoint? A hostage? That must have been more than "sort of" traumatic.

WOW! That’s so low of them!
Texas had been part of Mexico for centuries and was annexed by the US a while back...so it's only natural that the ethnic culture in (at least southern) Texas would be of a Mexican extract...this happens to be where I live in the real world.
And NO you don’t need a Visa to visit here, but if you have a Visa Credit Card please bring it and spend your money here!...(Though you may need to know a bit of Spanish when you visit certain parts of Brownsville Texas)

On a different thought, has anyone seen the movie that just came out called: ‘Abajo de la misma Luna’ (Under the Same Moon)?
It gives a great POV of the Mexican immigrants and illegal aliens to the USA, and some of the struggles they go through.

Morgaine and Maureen were in competition to be selected as the model for next years Mardi Gras Floats:

Haven't seen it GG- I don't watch a lot of Spanish TV- for one thing it's mostly novelas and variety shows - they lack content. Wonder if Block Buster would carry it? PBS sometimes does specials on immigrant Americans, though...

My dad and I went for a fishing trip in the Queen Charlottes and there was apparently some sort of fishing territory dispute going on with the local Native American tribe - Haidas. We got into the boat not really knowing what was going on and not thinking there was more than a protest. They surrounded the boat we were staying on - it was sort of a big floating lodge with little boats tied up to a temporary dock, took it over and held us on it for about a week. The company that owned the lodge tried to bring in a helicopter to get us out and they opened fire on it as it got close, so it took off. Other than some shots into the air, those were the only rounds fired. We were pretty free on the ship - we could go where we wanted and the people from the lodge handled it very well - they stayed relatively calm, kept the food coming, and tried to make us as comfortable as we could be - although having a bunch of heavily-armed Haidas keeping you from leaving wasn't really conducive to hospitality.

About three days in, three boats of RCMP showed up, and parked a little ways out from the boat. We were ecstatic. The MOUNTIES! They'll straighten this out! They stuck around for a while, looked at us through binoculars, and then fired up the boat and hightailed it out of there. That's the last we saw of them. By this time, our families knew what was up and had contaced various state senators who were quietly raising hell through whatever channels they have. I was hoping that the US would invade British Columbia - mostly because it seemed that it was in the best interests of saving my hide (screw diplomacy - I can haz Navy SEALs now?).

After about a week, something broke and they agreed to allow a helicopter in to shuttle us out. Nobody was seriously hurt. A few guys got roughed up a little. No harm done. However, I'm eternally pissed at the Mounties. Hell, for all I know they negotiated my release, but seeing those boats speed out of sight was truly demoralizing.

Bad times. Good story now, but bad times then. My mom was hysterical. My dad and I drank our way back to California. All in all, he said it wasn't nearly as bad as Vietnam, lol.

Thanks for that Trout. I had been completely ignorant of the place or the tribe and did go on a Google hunt. Glad it worked out in the end - now your dad and you share a "war story".

It's in the theaters down here in the Southern Texas Valley...golly I assumed all the theatres world wide would be getting on the distro list...oh well.

I have heard of it, but not seen it - I gather it did well at the Sundance Festival...

EDIT: hey! I just found that it's playing in our neighborhood multiplex. Thanks for the suggestion, GG!

Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago, but we certainly did get a laugh over it after it was all over. I don't want to paint the tribe in a bad light. The Haidas are a huge conglomeration of smaller tribes. The guys who we had trouble with were a bunch of thugs and criminals trying to give themselves some legitimacy by cloaing their actions in their heritage. I absolutely love the Native Amercan heritage here in Western WA, which is derivative of the Haidas. It's one of the most fascinating histories I've ever encountered, and the people are, and have virtually always been, peaceful, kind and very community-minded. Please don't take my story as a condemnation of the Haidas.

Wow, CX... so glad you're all okay. Those storms can be truly terrifying, and so destructive.

Trout! What an ordeal that must have been. Talk about your fishing stories!

Good morning everyone... Another work day, too much to do, not enough time to do it, and the lure of wasting time on the forum as seductive as ever. *sigh*

*blushes*

Hey...who sent in our pics? Did we sign release forms?

Now, where did I stash that headdress? Morgaine, do you still have it?

New Orleans is on my short list of cities to visit. I've never been to New Orleans or a Mardi Gras celebration, with the exception of ones held in SL.

Hmm - did someone break into Trout's office maybe absconded with pix to be rated?

Allie thanks much. I just learned that the parents of a close friend lost thier house last night. No one was injured. The house had just completed extensive renovations and was his childhood home. I am truly blessed to have only lost my internet connection. "CX"

goodness, I had not considered that...hehe...I have not sent pics to Trout...yet...too embarrassed! (or perhaps I'm just a mediocre photographer) I mean, what if I get a -10.2 rating or something?

‘Abajo de la misma Luna’ is a movie I'm planning to see. It sounds as if it would be good for everyone to see. I always thought it was too bad more people didn't see "El Norte" .

Speaking of movies, Trout you should write a screenplay about your experience it could make a good movie.

Maybe a professional photographer... or hmm - maybe Trout who wears sooo many hats...

Thank your lucky stars indeed- when Andrew blew through town we had friends lose everything- we were very lucky not to even have a broken glass. These things stay with you - good luck to your friends.

Another really wonderful movie was "Maria, full of Grace", about a young girl and her journey as a drug mule. Very nuanced and thought-provoking.

uh oh!

*checks super secret security system*

Nope - it looks like my rottweiler is resting comfortably in front of the file cabinet and everything is still there.

I have two dogs...one is a Rottie the other a Papillon... guess who rules the roost?

/me closes the bag of doggie bisquits and calmly walks away with the file folder of pics.

I posted this on SLU, but wanted to share,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2t-CNR7YpE&feature=related