Deadliest Catch Premier, Tonight!

Trust me, I am not the Deadliest Fan, or even the Deadliest Groupie. Although I met several people that might qualify this weekend. I just like the show. A lot! And it's on tonight! Woot!

Here's my favorite pic from Catchcon...

Usually, I can't get within 20 feet of a smoker without the lungs bailing on me. While I was fully prepared to hold my breath, I didn't get even a whiff of Edgar's smoke. I did get a hug, though. Hi Norm! Hi Matt!

*giddy*

I may be a Deadliest Geek!

AG out!

Catchcon 2011

So this year, I set up my iphone to get the alert when Catchcon opened for reservations. And it worked so well, that I signed TOG up for a ticket as well! While he likes the show, he's not quite the fan that I am! Well, at least he wasn't until Saturday! The pic above is the cardboard cut out they have when you walk in. Discovery channel takes your picture for free and processes it in black and white and then you can snag it on line the next day! Don't we look salty?

We both enjoyed the boat tours. This is onboard the Wizard. I'm standing next to the coiler!

Here's TOG aboard the Northwestern with Matt, Norm and Edgar!

One of the best things though is meeting the Captains and the crews out on the dock after the relay races and before the crew panel. This is Captain Elliott who is not famous yet, but will be. He's one of the new captains this year and is very cocky. We'll see how he does!

This is Captain Scott of the Seabrooke! We had a few moments to talk about Alaska and how he likes it and how I was raised there and now live here. I think he doesn't quite get how close Seattle is to all the good stuff, like fishing and mountains! Anyway, he was great to talk with and I'm going to be rooting for the Seabrooke this season! Keep your eye on this guy!

I finally got to meet Wild Bill who is quite tall! I was not surprised to look down and find him with flip flops on! He is definitely a warm weather dude! And very cuddly!

I got to meet Captain Keith again who I think totally gets a bad rap on the show. During the deckhand panel, they all agreed that you have to be an ass to be in the wheelhouse. I think the show has shown a lot of Keith's warm side as well. And he has a great smile!

And I finally got to meet Mike Fourtner who is even taller than Wild Bill! Last year, I saw him let Wild Bill in when he arrived late to Catchcon... Mike gave him a bad time about being on Cancun time!

Just like last year, I could not get close to anyone with the last name of Hillstrand.

It was a fun day and I was really glad TOG enjoyed himself as much as I did! It's not every day you get to meet people you really admire. I have to admit that being raised in Alaska and meeting my dad's friends and hunting companions, I knew a lot of guys like these, salty language, uncomplaining, intolerant of slackers. They really resonate with me. For me, it's why the show works so well!

And much thanks to Discovery Channel for putting on Catchcon. Making the show so accessible to the fans is just an excellent thing to do!

In other news...

I had a power surge in my office last week. It blew the hard drive on my work computer, the network adapters on my laptop and the internal workings of my router. Good times!

I still have half a box of lemons left!

This is how Chihuahuas help when you are shampooing carpets. Thanks for sitting quietly in the chair ladies!

What's up in your life?

AG out!

PS ~ Did I mention I'm going to Catch Con 2011!!!

Deadliest Catch Debacle

Three of the five captains above, have quit the show over a contract dispute. Andy and Jonathon Hillstrand are in the actual dispute with Discovery and Sig Hansen left in a show of solidarity.

With only two weeks left until the start of crabbing season there are only a few things I'm sure of:

1. There's more to the story than what is being said.

2. Things will likely change rapidly over the next couple weeks... either in renegotiation/settlement with the existing captains, or in rapid recruitment of new captains to fill out the show. And that's assuming Wild Bill and Captain Keith don't walk too.

3. It's unlikely Discovery would close the show as it is their show with the greatest revenue.

4. Without giving any details, Edgar Hansen posted on facebook that they needed everyone's support right now and

No matter what direction this goes, I figure it's going to be a wild ride.

Hang on!

AG out!

Mother's Day

Of course I'm running behind this morning. It seems I never allow enough time for photo uploading and editing. In fact I got scolded yesterday for not editing the rest of my pictures from Catch Con. I suck. So the following photos are not representative of my entire mother's day, just what I was able to edit this morning before making myself late for work!

Mother's Day was beautiful here! Maddie offered to do her mountain lion pose in the flower beds!

Ben came over...

Tried to chew on the wood work...

Flirted with the camera... He's 9 months old now! I know...

He brought his dog, Angus!

To be continued!

AG out!

(hope your mother's day was all that!)

Tap, tap...yawn

Good morning...

I'm tired. Feeding two people and bathing two people and medicating two people... well, like I said before, only one person gets well taken care of, and it's not me. But I'm on schedule with all of K3's meds and cleaning. Myself, not so much.

Today is her follow up appt with the surgeon. Hopefully, she's well on the mend.

In the meantime, I'm putting in weird hours at my job, not visiting other people's blogs and sleeping sporadically.

And watching Deadliest Catch! 'Cause that's a must!

Picture taken at CatchCon 2010.

Yawn...

AG out!

Ack!

Trying to get ready for work in the morning AND get K3 medicated AND clean up the kitchen means very little time for blogging! So this will be quick!

The shot above was taken at CatchCon while I was waiting in line for boat tours. It's one of our Washington State ferries coming in to port.

K3 is making process. We thought it would be just an implant, so having an implant and a bone graft was a little more painful than we thought it would be. She is doing well, but is still on the cream of wheat. We aren't even up to milkshakes yet. For entertainment, we've been watching a lot of Monty Python's Flying Circus and trying not to laugh!

The brute squad has been on the job, I just hadn't mentioned them. I stayed up late processing photos last night....

That's K3 behind the ice pack!

Cassie making sure K3's hand is as clean as it can get!

An exhausted Maddie, taking a break in my lap while Cassie and Fiona oversee K3's healing process!

Okay... off to dispense cream of wheat and vicodin. I'm doing a half day this morning because I'm a dope and didn't take enough time off.

Hope your day is all that!

AG out!

CatchCon 2010 - Deadlist Catch ala Seattle!

What a busy weekend! Here's my CatchCon experience... I'll start off with two words:

Amazing!

Lines!

On one hand it was the dream experience... the captains are here, the boats are here, there's fun and games and this air of excitement that everyone feels...

And then there's the lines... a good 45 minutes to get in the door and register, an hour and a half wait to get on the Wizard and Northwestern. Lines for food, not enough seating for the panel discussions. I think because they had so few people last year, they didn't anticipate the crowd this year. There folks from all over the US and overseas there.

There was also a bit of chaos (thankfully). The rules for captain's autographs at the end of the day were: you could choose one captain and get one item autographed. So much for my hope of getting an item autographed by each of them to auction off at my agency's auction this year... And the thought of standing in those lines made my think I would just take off early and go home to K3. Then, after the captain's panel, all the captains were out on the pier and frankly... they were mobbed, politely mobbed. People were getting pictures, autographs, hugs... And I participated. I desperately wanted to be there, and I desperately wanted to get home and be with K3. So I took advantage of the opportunity...! here's my photo odyssey!

The captain's panel was awesome! Thank goodness for my 24-300 lens because I assure you, I was all the way in the back! The captains were unedited, salty and hilarious...

Just like I hoped they would be... They had fantastic stories about Cap'n Phil and each other and the pranks that never make the show. Totally entertaining!

Afterwards, I went outside and waited for my shot at a boat tour...

This is out on the pier... the space needle looks to be the same height as the mast from the Wizard (left), but it's much taller!

And this is where I was able to get two ladies from Oregon to save my place in line while I photo stalked captains and crew...!

Captain Keith... who was taller than I thought!

Jake from the Northwestern, who was thinner than I thought, and really nice!

Captain Sig!!!!!

And then... you get to the front of the line and onto the boats. It's surreal because you see these boats on the show with waves coming over the deck and ice all over them... did you know it takes like $80,000 in fuel to bring them down to Seattle?

Anyway... suddenly, there you are standing on the deck! And they have deckhands there waiting to have their picture taken with you! And you feel like you know them because you've been watching them forever! They also had helpers on the boats that you just hand your camera to and then you walk up and get your picture taken...

So here I am on the Wizard!

I did not know Paul, on the left... but I remember when Lynn, on the right was a greenhorn, maybe two seasons ago. And now I'm standing there getting my picture taken with him....!

On to the Northwestern, where I totally geeked out. Do not scroll down unless you're okay with that!

You've been warned!

I felt like I was gonna pop! Here I am ON THE NORTHWESTERN!!!! Standing between Nick and Matt!

When I saw Nick (on the right) I just blurted out "Oh my gosh, it's really you!" and hugged him! Poor guy. And Matt must have thought I was a loser because I couldn't even look at him!

Thankfully, when the lady taking the shot said I looked like an idiot (paraphrasing), Nick said it was cool to take one where I was actually able to compose myself...

Thusly!

So there you have it! A pretty cool experience all in all! I'm really glad I went! The Discovery channel crew and the captains and the deck hands were awesome! And in case you're interested, they had the best iced tea ever there. The cookies were pretty good too!

AG out!