Penn State Tailgating !

Chris Mattise, Ed Sokoloski, Paul Sokoloski, Blaine Fawcett, Don Flynn, Jim Good, Keith Yurgosky & Tim Lutz

The boys from Lakeland made their way to Penn State yesterday for some tailgating at the Penn State vs. Temple game. The game was a rout but we had a great time.


Here is Blaine, Keith & Paul by the JoePa statue (with the bandaged knee).

Beauty is but a light switch away ... but fat is always there.
- Tim Lutz

I Spy !

I was wondering why my shrubs have been looking so bare ... hmm... seems I have a friend who finds them quite tasty.

Chuck E Cheese !

Annie had her birthday party at Chuck E Cheese tonight !


Here is Emily helping Annie celebrate her birthday with Chuck E


Here she is with a few of her friends who attended the party.

Santorum - Swann Song

(who dresses their kids like that ? that should be considered abuse)

The votes are still being counted but it looks like the Democrats are going to take the House of Representatives and maybe even the Senate. In Pennsylvania Bob Casey routed Rick Santorum.

I just heard that in Rhode Island an exit poll stated that 62% of voters were happy with the job their current Senator, Republican Lincoln Chafee, was doing, and yet they still voted him out of office. That can only say one thing... people are unhappy with Bush and taking it out on the republicans. These same exit poll results showed 75 percent of Rhode Island voters disapproved of Bush's job performance.

As for Lynn Swann ... well we all knew how that was going to turn out. He never had a prayer, the republican party hung him out to dry, they never gave him any support. Swann may be able to go back to the football booth for ABC ... after Craig James called Joe Paterno and "old fart", there may be a job opening.

John Kerry how can you be so stupid ?

The republican party has to live with the Mark Foley scandal this election, but not to be outdone... John Kerry has come to the rescue of the democratic party with a blunder of his own. Yesterday, even those his comments were taken out of context, he disrespected pretty much anyone who has ever put on a US military uniform. I have never served in the military and I was appalled at his comments, so I can't even imagine what those who serve are feeling right now. It's a good thing he married into money or he too might have found himself in Iraq. Looks like we won't have to worry about a Kerry 2008 campaign.



In other news , my nephew Brad came up to fish while on fall break from college. Brad landed this nice bass on a perfect day for fishing.

Trick or Treat !

Here is Marion and Emily at the Halloween Grand March fighting that Lakeland wind.



... and here are our two little halloweeners getting ready to head out and raid the neighbors of their candy. Emily said today was the greatest day of her whole life. :)

Cute as a Pumpkin !

Made our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch today! Here are the girls picking out their halloween pumpkins !

Casey - Santorum Debate

WOW ! I watched the Bob Casey - Rick Santorum debate last night. It should have been a pay per view event. They went at it like two junk yard dogs.

Best lines of the night:
Santorum: "I don't know how you can say so many words and say nothing."
Casey: "Hey Rick, I know things are tough, don't be a desperate campaigner."

I feel America has lost some of its luster recently, but after watching that debate last night I feel better. It's nice to know we live in a country where two guys from different political parties , and two different beliefs, can fight it out like that, and be civilized when it was over.

America there is still hope.

Perfect Weather !

Nice day to take off. Columbus Day and temps were in the 70's here at Newton Lake. Did some fishing in the morning and caught four bass, two of which were over 4 lbs.

Here is a picture of the house with the colorful leaves in the background. In a week's time we will be living in a the hellpit of NEPA again. We can look forward to 7 months of crappy weather.

The Honorable Mark Foley

Mark Foley has to be the pride of the republican party right about now.
The old saying is what comes around goes around. Let's see what all those pundits who bashed Clinton will say about Foley.

Yankees AAA team is coming to Scranton

The big news today is that the New York Yankees AAA team is coming to Scranton , PA. Hmmm... how very interesting ... I remember a little bird telling us that back on September 5th.

http://yurgo.blogspot.com/2006/09/scranton-wilkes-barre-clippers.html

Unfortunatly it looks like our county commissioners have sold the team right out from under us. So now as soon as attendance dips, this team will be gone from Northeast PA.

Montage and the Red Barons were two of the major building blocks in getting NEPA back from dispair. It's funny how history repeats itself. Only time will tell.

Newton Lake Tailgating

This is how we watch Monday Night Football here at Newton Lake. A twenty foot screen, firepit, and cold beer. Nothing better :)

Tiny Dancer

Emily took her first dance class today. I wonder if this is what Elton John meant when he was talking about a Tiny Dancer?

Emily's back to school !

Emily went back for her second year of pre-school today. Don't let the picture fool you...it wasn't pretty. She had a meltdown... but at least she's there.

Scranton Wilkes-Barre Clippers ?

Guess who is coming to Scranton ? You heard it here first !

First lost tooth !

Big day today for Annie ...she lost her first tooth ! I hope the tooth fairy comes !

Off to Princeton

Brad is off to Princeton. Best of luck !

Back to School

Annie started back to school today, 1st grade already. Here she is with mom before heading off to class.

Bye Bye Red Sox !

The 2006 Boston Red Sox Season Imploded over the weekend. They are done. The Yanks destroyed them taking 5 games in 4 days. Long live the Evil Empire !

New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Here are Marion & I in New Smyrna Beach, FL ... aka: the shark bite capital of the world !


That is the one minor detail they failed to mention in the travel brochure.

Penn Staters - The Next Generation

Here are the Sokoloski & Yurgosky kids beeming with Penn State Pride in the heart of Cane, Gator & Seminole Country. Luv Ya Lions !

Bathing Beauties !

Next Stop ... the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Here is Annie & Emily laying in the water at New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Perfect Sunday

Today was a perfect day. It was about 80 degrees and no humidity. Picture perfect ... couldn't script it any better. The water temperature in Newton Lake was 78 degree. Annie and Emily had a great time swimming. When we moved to the lake it was because of days like today.

So-Called Americans in Beirut

I am aggrevated as an American Tax Payer that money is being spent, and our troops put in danger to evacuate idiot American's from Beirut. If you chose to go to that part of the world ... find your own way to get back ... and use your own money ... not mine ... or better yet ... stay there :(

World Cup Moron !

I watched the World Cup Finals today. Italy won in OT. I am not a huge soccer fan, but it was very exciting to watch, and it is easy to see how people can get caught up in the euphoria surrounding it. As an American ... we found just another reason to dislike the French when their captain head butted an Italian Player and was kicked out the game, during a 1-1 tie in overtime. This guy is a moron ... to make a cheapshot play like that with so much on the line, he let down an entire nation. Here is a link to a video of the head butt.

In other news ... fished again this morning ... the fishing isn't the same since we got all that rain, but we did manage to land these two nice bass. The bass are definitly starting to fatten up.

Murphy's Law of Fishing

When you catch your biggest fish ... nobody will be around to see it.

I caught this 4 lb bass today while fishing by myself. The Gatorade bottle is 8 inches long ... this was a big fish.

Is Ken Lay Really Dead ?

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this way. If I had $100 million in the bank and I was looking at spending 20+ yrs in prison. I'd be gone. A little plastic surgery, a little bungalow on an island in the South Pacific. Why not take the chance ? So what if you get caught? What are they going to do... send you to jail for 20+ yrs ? Ken Lay didn't make all that money by being stupid.

Congrats to the Fawcett's

Congrats to Shannon & Blaine Fawcett who added a daughter Zoey to their family.

Here is a picture of Shannon and her 3 girls, Riley, Zoey & Molly. I guess this makes Shannon a MOAB ... Mother of All Babies !

We should have built an ark ...

This is the same view as taken 3 days ago ... you can see how much the water in the lake has risen. I measured 16 inches of water in my boat!



This boat and our dock didn't fair very well.

Rain, Rain, and more ####### Rain !

Great summer we are having here in NEPA. Flooding is becoming a major problem.


Here is the Lackawanna River spilling over its banks in Carbondale PA ... and...


This is photo taken on the Poplar Street Bridge in Mayfield PA.

Check out this video that shows the speed of the rushing water.


Here at Newton Lake, the lake has risen over a foot since Sunday ...docks are busting all over the lake. :(

Another great day for fishing !

Blaine Fawcett took this shot of Newton Lake at 5 am this morning. Another perfect day for bass fishing.

The Queen Bee

I keep spraying this bee, but it keeps coming back. It is quite a pest.

Annie the Athlete ! Yikes

2006 Kurtz Excavating Tee Ball Team



Here is Annie ready to make a play

Check out this video of Annie in action !

Nancy Grace fabricates Hugo Selenski story

I just wasted the last hour of my life watching Nancy Grace on CNN. The only reason I watched was because the show was about Hugo Selenski, our favorite NEPA mass murderer. She was reporting on her show that there was "breaking news" that 10-18 bodies had been buried on his property. I then watched our local news stations at 11:00 pm and their was no mention of Hugo Selenski.

She totally fabricated this information. To date 2 bodies had been found and bits and pieces of 3 more. This is old news. In an attempt to grab viewers attention she totally made things up. She should be kicked off the air for this. What a scum bag.

No wonder her boyfriend had himself killed ... I would have too if I had to date her.

Dance Recital ...on Father's Day :(

Went to Annie's Dance Recital today, yes they have it on Father's Day, stupid I know, anyway, ... she did great.



...of course, we already knew she could dance :)

1st Day of Bass Season

Today was the 1st Day of the 2006 Bass Season and the lake was pristine at 5:30 AM



Al Guari caught a nice smallmouth to get us started.


I followed up with a nice bass to get the ball rolling.


Later in the evening, my brother-in-law, Ed Lupyak caught one to end a great day of fishing at Newton Lake.

1-2-3 KURTZ !

I wonder if this is how Charlie's Angel's started ?

Here is Annie, Molly & Elisa after a hard fought tee ball victory !

what a crew

Princeton University Bound !

Leah, Tony, Brad & Joellen



Congratulations to my nephew Brad. He graduated from Lakeland High School tonight, and is now headed to Princeton University. Best of luck to you !

Great fishing weekend !

Had a lot of fun catching bass this weekend ! Here is a sample of the 8 bass I caught today !