I've been blogging for Field & Stream for a year now, and to be honest it's grown a little stale for me. It's a lot of work to come up with a topic, a news item or a link every day and then figure out some way to make it relevant, thought-provoking or funny for the F&S readership.
 
You may not think so, but blogs are damn hard things to write and they often fail miserably. Sometimes the only reaction they get from you, the reader, is the sound of your mouse clicking to some other page. Other times you respond only to point out what an idiot you think I am. And you usually manage to misspell idiot in the process. More often than I care to admit I simply can't think of anything witty and I have to resort to that great suckhole of intelligence, Youtube. And let's face it, if you've seen one Youtube clip of some ignorant jack*ss and you've pretty much seen them all.
 
Quite frankly, I'm tired of thinking, and I want a job that doesn't require it. And I think I've found one ...
 
From the want ad on the PETA website:
Position: PETA Blog Writer
Position Objective: To write content for PETA's blog The PETA Files
Term of Employment: Full-time
Primary Responsibilities and Duties: Analyze and interpret public events and provide commentary via PETA's blog The PETA Files Write witty and unique blogs on topics ranging from PETA's naked demonstrations to regulatory testing on animals, dogfighting, and celebrities who support the cruel fur industry. Brainstorm daily content for PETA's blog with a small team. Monitor trends in blogs and assist with the implementation of new strategies for PETA's blog. Create and maintain relationships with other bloggers and pitch relevant content about PETA to them. Perform any other duties assigned by the supervisor
 
So long, folks. It was fun while it lasted. I've always wanted to know what color the sky was in their world, and now I'm finally going to get my chance.

In my first couple years with F&S, I edited a handful of articles by Bill Tapply. I didn’t know him as the literary force he was. The English professor and author of more than 40 books, including two dozen mystery novels, never let on to any of that in our few phone conversations. His writing was clean and tight—not much to discuss there. So we talked grouse hunting and flyfishing. I didn’t think anything of it. Having no clue of his stature, I saw no reason why he shouldn’t speak to a perfectly green editor as a friend and an equal. And what I’ll remember best about Bill is that despite his stature, he saw no reason not to, either.

Bill Tapply, long-time contributing editor with F&S, died Tuesday evening of luekemia. Those of us who worked with him will remember Bill as a pro’s pro, and I suspect anyone who knew him even a little will remember a kind and generous soul. We offer our condolences to the Tapply family.

For more, read the obituary posted by our friends at midcurrent.com. --DH

From the Billings Gazette:

Rainbow trout are rebounding in the Madison River, the world-class fishing stream where Montana's first known outbreak of whirling disease occurred about 15 years ago, devastating the rainbow fishery.

In the 1990s, whirling disease slashed the rainbow trout population by 90 percent compared to levels measured in the 1960s and '70s.

Now, after a succession of rebound years, rainbows under 10 inches have "pretty well recovered to pre-whirling levels" and the population of those larger is about 60 percent of what it was before the disease, said Dick Vincent, whirling-disease coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks until his retirement last winter.

I probably own about half a dozen Coleman lanterns – a couple of propane  and duel-fuel lights, but mostly those that run on Coleman fuel. My favorite is a lantern that my father used to have back in the 1950s. It’s in mint condition and it still works perfectly (though I had to replace the generator and O rings a couple of years ago).

When I first saw the LED Quad, my first reaction was, why isn’t it green? That can’t be a Coleman lantern! Well, it’s red, it’s a Coleman, and it’s a totally new twist on camp lights.

The deal with this is that it’s got a base that holds eight D-cell batteries.  Turn it on and it’s bright enough to light up the night – for 75 hours, according to the company. The cool thing is that the Quad has four lighting panels that can removed and used separately. Each has six 5mm white LEDS, for a total of 24 in the whole unit. A rechargeable NiMH battery runs each panel for half an hour it while it’s away from the mothership. Place it back in its docking station and it’ll recharge from the D batteries.

I’m not giving up my old Colemans, but I can see where this lantern is going to fit right into the mix.  It’s bright, it’s quiet (doesn’t hiss like the gas models), and it’s versatile. The $69.99 msrp is a bit higher than most gas lanterns, but the price doesn’t seem unreasonable.  It’s available from www.coleman.com – Jay Cassell