Visit To DFW & Arlington's Little Vietnam Listening To WBAP Hate Radio Morons

Today was the day of my regularly scheduled doctor visit to the DFW Metroplex.

The drive from Wichita Falls to DFW and back was a mighty fine one today. Except for driving into the blinding bright early morning early rising sun.

Not a single cloud did any sun blotting today, that I saw.

It had been two months since I'd been to Little Vietnam in Arlington. Needing fresh supplies of Asian necessities, such as hoisin sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, chili sauce, rice noodles, jasmine rice, bok choy, ginger, mint, sesame oil, jicama, dragonfruit, and other stuff I am not remembering right now, I got my vittles at the Saigon Cho Market, and then drove to the heart of Little Vietnam a short distance east, to pay my respects at the Buddhist shrine you see above.

For awhile, whilst driving 360 from Hurst to Arlington, I listened to an insane talk radio moron on WBAP named something like Chris Salcedo. He comes on before the King of the Hate Radio nonsense spewers, Rush Dimbulb.

Today I could only listen to a few minutes of the guy who comes on before Dimbulb. He was literally screaming hissing nonsense, rattling on about the great divider, resident Obama, he can't force himself to call him President Obama, refers to Obama as the Occupier of the Oval Office. This guy is so dumb and spews so much idiotic nonsense. It's appalling.

Listening to this miscreant today one got the idea he doesn't understand Obama is no longer the American president, has not been for something like ten months. Replaced by a moron who is an embarrassment to most American's. And the World.

I think it is trying to defend the indefensible, that being Trump, which is making the right wing nut job radio hate speaker spewers spout even more idiotically than their moronic idiotic norm.

Ten minutes, of the local DFW WBAP hate monger, then Dimbulb came on, ranting more coherently, with a more original, literate mastery of the English language than the idiot who comes on before him, who bills himself as a "Liberty loving Latino, unlike those left wing Latinos, he loves this country."

See what I mean. Total idiot. Over compensating for something. Insulting the majority of American Latinos. I don't know what the Mexican/Latino term would be equivalent to being an Uncle Tom type, but that's what crosses my mind listening to this guy for the short durations I can stand it. That and classic Little Man Syndrome.

What is WBAP's excuse for airing this type idiotic hate speak? Does it bring in a lot of local advertising dollars? Are there actually a sufficient supply of ignorant morons out there who listen to this type nonsense without being offending by the wanton stupidity?

Sadly, real sadly, after years of exposure to the Idiot Class, via Facebook, it is all too painfully obvious to me that America's Idiot Class is BIG, hence us currently living in an Idiocracy. Until, hopefully, Trump is removed, but even then, all these idiots will still be among us.

Some with radio talk shows...

Stalled Drive By Arlington's Dallas Cowboy Stadium Waiting For Elsie Hotpepper

This last day of August, was the day of my regularly scheduled return to the Dallas/Fort Worth zone to buy a couple dozens bagels at WinCo, among many other things.

My first stop was at a Doctor in Euless, then it was south on Collin Street, where eventually I found myself stuck in traffic, stuck due to the chronic Arlington, Texas problem of a train rolling through town, stopping the traffic flow til the train has rolled on by.

Is there any other American city the size of Arlington which has itself cut in two by train tracks with only a couple overpasses, or underpasses in the entire town?

I think it'd been over a year since I'd seen the Dallas Cowboy stadium up close, not since I had the extremely exciting experience of watching the USA team play some other country in something called the World Cup.

I'd forgotten what an enormous monstrosity this stadium is. And how out of sync it looks with that which surrounds much of it. I would have thought by now some of the slum aspects would have been replaced by new development. But today I still saw pawn shops and run down looking motels and other eyesores.

Arlington does so much so well, like the town's parks, but in other things Arlington is a bit of a dud, such as in the public transportation realm. And cohesive development around a major development, like a HUMONGOUS football stadium.

I saw that which you see below on the east side of Collin Street on the south side of the stadium.

Still pushing the delusion that the Dallas Cowboys are America's Team, With that delusion apparently based on the Dallas Cowboys having had a few winning seasons at some point way back in the previous century.

Recently I saw, I think on Facebook, a graphic representing some scientific study showing who the majority in each state thought of as "their" football team.

Only one state thought of the Dallas Cowboys as "their" football team.

Texas.

All of the Pacific Northwest, plus, oddly, New  York, thought of the Seattle Seahawks as "their" football team.

I can't remember the favorites of the other states, but if memory is partly serving me right, the Green Bay Packer was consider "their" football team by more state than any other.

Methinks it is time for the Dallas Cowboys to hang up that America's Team nonsense.

After I was done with what I was doing in south Arlington I headed back north, stopping in River Legacy Park, where I called my mom and dad. Bad connection. That call did not last long.

I thought Elsie Hotpepper was going to meet me today, but the Hotpepper failed to show up.

The drive forth and back from D/FW today was extremely pleasant. Noticeable road improvements on I-287.

Arlington Pit & Fort Worth Wall Of Shame Examples Of Civic Irresponsibility

I saw that which you see here this morning on the front page of the online version of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Clicking the headline Creek erosion pits Arlington homeowner against school district actually worked, with the Star-Telegram allowing me to read the article without insisting I become a subscriber.

In that article I learned about a big pit growing from a creek in an Arlington resident's backyard, with the creek part of land owned by the Arlington school district.

A month or two ago I blogged about a Fort Worth erosion nightmare known as the Pulte Wall of Shame. I blogged about this in Why Is Fort Worth's Best Public Servant Ignoring The Pulte Wall Of Shame?

The best Fort Worth public servant being referred to is Fort Worth mayor, Betsy Price. As far as I know Fort Worth's best pubic servant has still not checked out the Pulte Wall of Shame, or directed the city to do anything about this growing menace.

The Arlington mayor apparently is slightly more deserving of a best public servant accolade, due to at least paying some minimal lip service to the nightmare being endured by one of his constituents. We learned this in the following paragraph in the Star-Telegram article...

Tinderholt and Scism have enlisted Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams in their cause. Williams said he has seen the erosion behind her house and found it distressing, but he said there are many others facing major erosion problems around the city.

So, apparently neither the Arlington School District or the City of Arlington can do anything about a growing pit that gets closer to swallowing a home with each incoming storm.

Has the Star-Telegram reported, yet, on the Pulte Wall of Shame? Has anyone seen any mention made in the inner pages of that dwindling newspaper? I believe Fort Worth Weekly has also ignored the Pulte Wall of Shame, despite pleas by those affected for some sort of journalistic help.

Why would the City of Fort Worth, and its highly esteemed mayor, turn a deaf ear to something like a golf course's giant wall in the process of crumbling and tumbling onto Fort Worth resident's property?

Is the owner of the golf course a member of Fort Worth's ruling oligarchy, known locally as the Good Ol' Boy (and Girl) Network? Is Betsy Price, or her husband, or one of her many minions, somehow invested with a vested interest in the Eagle Golf Club Fossil Creek?

Why would a city wearing its grown up pants totally ignore a failing wall which was allowed to be built with substandard construction techniques approved by city inspectors?

When the Pulte Wall of Shame comes tumbling down, with property damage and possible loss of life, how BIG of an increased liability will the city face due to ignoring the many pleas to do something about this problem?

Making certain all the water features in the Fort Worth Water Garden were safe would have saved Fort Worth a lot of money, rather than waiting til one of those features turned into a Drowning Pool before fixing an obvious problem.

Very perplexing.

Equally perplexing is how could any legit media operation declare Betsy Price as being Fort Worth's Best Public Servant in its annual Best of edition? That is sort of like a damned by faint praise type thing. Because if that woman is the best Fort Worth has in the public servant department, well, it seems that is a big clue why the town has so many problems.

Problems like a severe sidewalk shortage and America's Biggest Boondoggle come quickly to mind, along with other problems I could probably think of if I took a minute or two to think about it.

Oh, I know, the majority of Fort Worth city parks have no modern plumbing. That's right, the city that is the envy of the nation has America's highest number of outhouses populating its city parks.

Would it not be a good thing if Fort Worth ever had itself a public servant of the mayor sort who was an advocate of things like sidewalks, modern facilities in the town's parks, public transit of the modern sort, easy access to help for citizens with problems like crumbing walls and an open mind, heart and ears?

I know, never gonna happen. Which is yet one more example of how I am a doomed eternal optimist partially braced for the horrific nightmare that Donald Trump or Ted Cruz could be the next president.....

A River Legacy Trinity River Walk On A Freshly Painted Boardwalk While In Fort Worth...

Today I needed a mouse. I targeted Target as the location to get a mouse.

Target is near where the Indian Ghosts haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area, so I figured after getting a mouse I'd go have myself a mighty fine time walking with my favorite ghosts.

Well, that plan went awry when I got to the Historical Area's parking lot to find it blocked, with the blocking gate telling me the park was closed due to flooding.

I then decided to drive a few more miles east and go walking in River Legacy Park, a location I don't think I had been to, this year, til today.

What you are looking at above is the Trinity River, flowing with a lot of water, with my river viewing vantage point provided by the River Legacy Park Boardwalk Overlook.

Arlington seems to maintain Boardwalks a bit better than Fort Worth maintains their Gateway Park Boardwalks, what with the River Legacy Park Boardwalk not being boarded up, not falling apart. And looking as if it has recently received a fresh coat of paint.

New signage has been installed at the trail head of the, currently closed, River Legacy Park mountain bike trail. There are three iterations of that which you see above. There's the big version you see here, in the parking lot, with two smaller versions, one at the entry to the mountain bike trail, one at the hiker's entry.

Very well done signage, showing all 12 miles plus of trail. The old sign was outdated, showing only the original few miles.

Arlington's River Legacy Park is, by far, the best park I've found in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

On Saturday I found rather bizarre signage in Fort Worth's Gateway Park, with that signage put up by America's Biggest Boondoggle.

I blogged about that signage in Finding Imaginative Sign Progress By America's Biggest Boondoggle On Saturday Gateway Park Bike Ride.

On that Gateway Park sign America's Biggest  Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision Boondoggle, tells the gullible The Boondoggle is launching projects which will turn Gateway into a "world class park" by adding some new restrooms and some other things, like benches and security lighting.

How it that Arlington builds what would seem to me to be what must be considered "world class parks" without putting up signs telling their park's many visitor that Arlington is turning a park into a "world class park"?

Would a world class city actually ever refer to anything about their town as "world class"?

It seems to me to be sort of, well, classless, to do so. That and tacky. And embarrassing.

Particularly when it is blatant propaganda puffery and not even remotely true....

Does Arlington's Founders Plaza Make Arlington The Top Downtown In America?

The past week or two we seem to have been inundated with propaganda puffery pieces from Fort Worth's Ministers of Propaganda.

Top Downtown in America. Sundance Square Plaza is an award winning novelty, which towns across America should emulate. Panther Island Pavilion is a huge success drawing thousands to festival after festival.

I have blogged about my various perplexations on these subjects in several bloggings, such as...

Did The Prophet JD Granger Foresee The Irving Music Factory Making Panther Island Pavilion Look Like A Hillbilly Mudpit? and The Futile Search For The Missing Pavilion, Island & Panther At Fort Worth's Panther Island Pavilion and Elsie Hotpepper Helped Me Learn How Fort Worth Became The Top Downtown In America.

I'd come to terms with the fact that there is no island or pavilion in Panther Island Pavilion. I'd already sort of addressed the fact that the music events that take place at the erroneously named Panther Island Pavilion are not as "special" as Trinity River Vision Boondogglers, like J.D. Granger, propagandasize.

But what has been nagging me in the back of my memory is the thing where the Fort Worth Ministers of Propaganda spew the propaganda that Sundance Square Plaza in Sundance Square, a square which suffered for decades without a real square, is anything all that special.

And then it came to me what has been nagging my memory.

The repetitive pattern of the Fort Worth propaganda.

I think the first time I was burned by Fort Worth propaganda was when I read, over and over again, in the main propaganda spewer, the Star-Telegram, that a new enterprise in Fort Worth, the Santa Fe Rail Market, was going to be the first public market in Texas, and was modeled after Seattle's Pike Place Market and public markets in Europe.

Well, you can go to the webpage I made about being appalled about various aspects of this Sante Fe Market propaganda and see quite clearly why it clearly aggravated me. That being the propaganda that this totally lame group of "stores" was the first public market in Texas and was modeled after Seattle's Pike Place Market, with both claims being not even remotely legit.

What further aggravated me was just a short distance to the east, in this town called Dallas, there is a public market which every single one of my visitors from the Pacific Northwest have opined reminded them of Pike Place Market, that being the Dallas Farmers Market.

Okay, now let's switch to the subject of this little plaza that downtown Fort Worth's propaganda spewers are currently touting is drawing thousands of visitors a week.

There are a couple plazas in Dallas which actually do draw a lot of visitors. One is called Dealey Plaza. The other is called Pioneer Plaza. Dealey Plaza is known world-wide in a way I seriously hope Fort Worth's plaza never is. I have been in Dealey Plaza at an event, along with several thousand people, many more people than I think can cram into Fort Worth's Sundance Square Plaza.

But it is not in Dallas where the plaza is located that I finally remembered and realized came along before Fort Worth's, and is very similar to Fort Worth's. And is bigger.

The little town of Arlington, sandwiched between Dallas and Fort Worth, at its city center, you will find Founders Plaza. Founders Plaza has an actual pavilion, called Levitt Pavilion. There is no imaginary island surrounding Levitt Pavilion.

That is a screencap of the Founders Plaza Levitt Pavilion website at the top. Below  is a screen cap of a lot of people in Founders Plaza enjoying one of the 50 free music events held at Levitt Pavilion annually.

A description from the Founders Plaza website informs us that it has every feature you will find in the Fort Worth plaza. And more. Did the Fort Worth plaza people copy Arlington, I am wondering?

The Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts is inside Founders Plaza, a city park in the heart of Downtown Arlington at 100 W. Abram St. on the corner of Center and Abram streets directly across the street from City Hall. Founders Plaza is the crown jewel in the revitalization of Downtown Arlington and has become a favorite place for an impromptu picnic lunch, community gatherings and celebrations. The park includes a spacious lawn, walkways, seating walls, beautiful trees and flower beds, an interactive water fountain generously donated by the Junior League of Arlington, public art, a history garden and the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts.

Inside Founders Plaza, visitors will find two special areas: the History Garden and the Meditation Grove. The History Garden, near the northeast entrance to Founders Plaza directly across from City Hall and the library, features historical markers about Arlington and its founders along with native plants. The Meditation Grove, nestled in the southwest corner behind the Junior League fountain, offers a tranquil area for reflection.

I have been to an event at Founders Plaza, several years ago. I remember, also years ago, when the Super Bowl took place in Arlington, with ESPN setting up on a downtown Fort Worth parking lot, wondering why they did not use that plaza in downtown Arlington.

And then I forgot about that plaza til today.

So, did those who make what little happens in downtown Fort Worth get Green with Envy, years ago, upon seeing what Arlington had done, plaza-wise, and finally decide it was time to add a square to Sundance Square?

Modeled after the square in Arlington?

We all know how Fort Worth likes to model things after other things, like Pike Place Market. Only this time they did a good job of modeling. The similarities between the two plazas really are striking, however, with Arlington having a real stage, more landscaping, trees and a lawn.....

I Don't Think I Will Ever Get Maxed Out Riding Arlington's Public Transit To The Dallas Cowboy Stadium

Last week, the day before I drove to Arlington to watch the USA team get beat by Belgium in the Dallas Cowboy stadium I blog my lament about not being able to take any form of public transit to the Dallas Cowboy stadium.

That lament had someone calling him or herself Anonymous making a blog comment informing me that I could have used public transit to get within walking distance of the Dallas Cowboy stadium......

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "I Won't Be Pedaling The Cowtown Cycle Party To Arlington To Watch The USA Beat Belguim Today":

You could have gotten off of the Max bus at Collins and Andrews. It would have been a 10 minute walk to the stadium.

When I read the above suggestion from Anonymous I vaguely recollected reading about a new bus service in Arlington that was some sort of limited test type deal.

Googling brought me to the RIDE THE MAX website, a screencap of which is what you see above.

From the RIDE THE MAX website I learned that ".....for a roundtrip price of $5/day (or $80/month), Metro ArlingtonXpress buses will travel between the TRE CentrePort/DFW Airport Station and College Park Center at UT Arlington. From CentrePort/DFW Airport Station, riders access any DART bus or train or T bus to travel to Dallas or Fort Worth."

So, for me to take public transit to get myself to the Dallas Cowboy stadium I would need to figure out which Fort Worth T buses I needed to get on to get to the CentrePort DFW Airport Station where I would then get on a MAX bus which would then take me to the intersection of Collins and Andrews from whence I could take a brisk 10 minute HOT walk to the stadium.

Or, I could drive about two miles from my abode, to the Richland Hills Trinity Railway Express station and hop a train which would take me to CentrePort where I could get on a MAX bus to get to the point where I take a brisk 10 minute HOT walk to the stadium.

I am assuming that I would need to pay to ride the Fort Worth T bus or the TRE to CentrePort, adding to the $5 roundtrip MAX fare.

I don't think I burned $5 worth of gas driving to Arlington to watch the World Cup last week.

So, this method of getting oneself to the Dallas Cowboy stadium from my location in Fort Worth is what Anonymous thinks is functional public transit?

I have been in towns with functional public transit. I know what functional public transit is. You can use functional public transit to easily get yourself from one location to another. The town to the east of Fort Worth, called Dallas, has functional public transit in both bus and light rail form. Soon one will be able to take a DART train to D/FW Airport.

Vancouver, up north in this country called Canada, has a very cool public transit system called SkyTrain. You can get on SkyTrain south of Vancouver and have yourself a mighty fine ride into town, where you can hop on a seabus, included in your fare, and cross some saltwater to North Vancouver. And a SkyTrain line runs to the Vancouver airport.

Portland, in Oregon, has a light rail system which runs all over town, including the airport. If I remember right, and I am fairly certain I do, the Portland light rail is called the MAX.

Seattle, in Washington, has light rail known as the Link, which takes you from the downtown Seattle transit tunnel to the airport. Buses also travel through Seattle's downtown transit tunnel, with those buses taking you to locations all over Seattle, and beyond.

Unlike Arlington, one can easily take public transit in both rail and bus form directly to the sports facilities in downtown Seattle. You don't get dumped off a 10 minute walk from the Seahawk Stadium or the Mariner's Ballpark.

The video below, which I took in August of 2008, should give Anonymous an idea of what actual functional public transit looks like. First I walk across Westlake Center, which is Seattle's version of Fort Worth's Sundance Square Plaza, only bigger and surrounded by big stores, like Nordstrom. I then walk into Westlake Center, which is a vertical  mall and the south terminus of the Seattle Monorail. I then descend to the Westlake Center transit station. There you will see the transit tunnel which runs under Seattle. Near the end of the video I exit a bus and you will see a long line of buses, filled with fans heading to a Seattle Mariners game, with no 10 minute walk needed, just an escalator ride to the street level.....

Today I Decided To Bike Through Viridian Rather Than The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle

I don't remember when it was I was last at Arlington's River Legacy Park, but I am fairly certain today was the first time I've been at this location this summer.

Due to it currently being the HOT time of the year the snake warning signs are up. Along with a new sign I've not seen before, as in "ATTENTION: We share the park with bobcats and other wildlife. Please use caution while in the park."

It has been years since I've had a bobcat encounter in River Legacy Park. I have had a bobcat encounter this summer in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

This morning I read that Tarrant County and the D/FW  Metroplex zone has been experiencing a home buying boom, with there being more people wanting to buy than the supply of homes available to buy.

The Formerly Blocked Trail To Viridian

Reading about the home buying boom caused me to wonder how much the Viridian development adjacent to River Legacy Park was booming. I last saw the Viridian development after reading that homes were now being built on the long stalled project. That was, maybe, 6 months ago, maybe longer, that I pedaled to check on Viridian.

Several years ago a paved trail was installed (and blocked) that led from the Gateway Park trail to Viridian. Today I was pleased to find that this trail is no longer blocked and one can now bike the trail to Viridian.

The paved trail entry to Viridian is quite welcoming. The entry is well landscaped. The completed parts of the Viridian development are all well landscaped.

A Viridian art installation overlooking one of the Viridian development's lakes. Is the above lake Lake Viridian? I have no idea. I do know that years ago, before the 2008 economic collapse that brought the Viridian development to a stall, I talked to a guy who was surveying the border with River Legacy Park and he told me the lake you see above was going to be developed into a public use swimming lake with a beach.

Today I saw no signs of a beach being installed around "Lake Viridian" but I did see plenty of landscaping around the lake. In the above photo my handlebars are on a bridge overlooking the lake.

Looking at "Lake Viridian" had me wondering how this lake compares in size to the shrinking proposed Pond Granger that is part of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle? In the middle of "Lake Viridian" there is a small island. Unlike the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle imaginary island, Viridian could actually name an actual island, Panther Island. Then put a pavilion on it and call it Panther Island Pavilion and Viridian would have created something that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle only pretends to have created.

Above is another view of "Lake Viridian" and the paved trails one can use to bike the lake. Or if one is walking there are plenty of benches on which to have oneself a sit down.

Unlike the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, Viridian is a private development. When first announced, sometime around the time the Dallas Cowboy stadium started getting constructed, the plans were quite elaborate, including restaurants, retail and an island with very expensive homes. Prior to the 2008 financial meltdown a lot of infrastructure work had been done. And then, after the meltdown, work on the Viridian project slowed to a crawl.

The Viridian crawl now seems to be sped way up.

Now, what I'm thinking is how interesting it is that something like the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle has been limping along for well over a decade, with Fort Worth still waiting for that much needed flood control project to start protecting Fort Worth, with the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle really not having all that much to show for itself after all this time.

Not much to show, unless one is impressed with the TRVB's creation of the world's premiere urban wakeboard lake, the world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century, the world's first inner tube happy hour floats in a polluted river and the world's premiere island-free polluted waterfront music venue.

Oh, and abusing eminent domain to steal, I mean, buy a lot of people's property. No eminent domain abuse has occurred to create Viridian. No businesses were destroyed. No lives were left in chaos.

Where the paved trail exits Viridian I was surprised to see what looked like a small mountain, of the sort of brown, grass covered hills one sees in Eastern Washington. I have no clue whether nor not this mountain is part of the Viridian development.

If such a mountain appeared in the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle zone I would expect to be reading breathless reports about the mountain becoming the world's premiere year round ski resort with the world's biggest artificial snow maker and the world's fastest open air ski lift, with a Tim Love restaurant at the summit, commanding a view of the Panther Island Pavilion music venue and those world famous Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats, along with the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth....

A Board Walk With My Sister In Arlington's Veterans Park

I was not bored walking the Veterans Park boardwalk today in Arlington.

This Arctic Blast which has returned natural cold air to North Texas, temporarily, is quite refreshing.

My sister who is usually in Arizona, but is currently in Idaho, went walking with me today.

Yesterday I mentioned my sister had a vehicular malfunction whilst driving to one of my other sister's wedding in Tacoma. I had been misinformed by my parental units that my sister was stranded in Twin Falls.

Instead my sister, and nephew, CJ, are stranded about 140 miles northwest of Twin Falls, in Nampa, Idaho. It was the air-conditioner that malfunctioned, with the repair to be made by this afternoon.

Meanwhile my mom  and dad arrived in Bend, Oregon much earlier than I, and my cousin, had anticipated. And so, my cousin was out of town, so, as far as I know, my mom did not get to see her sister. That will now need to wait for the return trip to Arizona.

Have I ever mentioned that Arlington's Veterans Park is an extremely well done park? With modern restroom facilities, with  no outhouses  to be seen anywhere, unlike that which is the park design aesthetic of the town to Arlington's west.

In Veterans Park there are locations where one can not tell one is at the heart of a 6 million plus people metropolitan zone, such as the location above with the gnarled tree, with green trees as far as one can see.

Veteran's Park has miles of paved trail, a boardwalk and landscaped walkway through a garden, a  Xeriscape, miles of unpaved, wooded trails, a music pavilion of the real permanent sort, again, unlike the design aesthetic of that town  to Arlington's west and many other amenities that add up to being a park a city can be proud to have in town.

Among the Veterans Park amenities I forgot to mention is the Veterans Park Memorial.

At the base of the Veterans Park Memorial there are memorial bricks honoring soldiers from American Wars all the way back to the Mexican-American War.

There are Civil War bricks from both the Confederate and Union side of the War of Northern Aggression. Choctaw Code Talker bricks, Spanish-American War bricks, plus bricks from all the wars of the previous and current century, World Wars I & II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq War, War in Afghanistan and likely other wars I'm not remembering right now.

I  can not be the only one who notices that America seems to get into a lot of wars.....

Looking For Crystals In Arlington's Crystal Canyon Natural Area

Yesterday Miss Connie asked me if I'd been to Crystal Canyon Park in Arlington.

I vaguely recollected reading something about a new park in Arlington, with Crystal Canyon ringing a bell in my ever more unreliable memory.

Miss Connie came across Crystal Canyon whilst reading Fort Worth Weekly's Best of 2012 issue.

I thought I'd read all through FW Weekly's Best of 2012, not missing a single thing, but, I'd missed the entry about Crystal Canyon and it being FW Weekly Critic's Choice for Best Green Space. Below is the Crystal Canyon blurb from FW Weekly...

Green Space
Critic's Choice: Crystal Canyon Nature Preserve
1000 Brown Blvd. Arlington

This is the newest and most welcome effort to save Tarrant County's vanishing green spaces, which are being paved over at alarming speeds. Crystal Canyon is a 39-acre oasis of old-growth trees, clear-running creeks, and sandstone outcroppings sparkling with the selenite crystals that give the preserve its name. Nestled among homes and shopping areas in North Arlington, the canyon has remained wild, its topography probably saving it from developer's bulldozers. With a grant from the state, Arlington recently added hiking trails, benches, three pedestrian bridges, a drinking fountain, interpretive signage, and a small parking lot. The city plans to maintain Crystal Canyon as a preserve where families, bird watchers, wildflower enthusiasts, and hikers can enjoy its unspoiled natural beauty and find respite from the concrete canyons of the Metromess.

FW Weekly's description of Crystal Canyon pretty much matched my experience there, today, it being today's location for my regularly scheduled daily endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

However, as you might notice via the sign at the top, this park is named Crystal Canyon Natural Area, not Crystal Canyon Nature Preserve.

Also, I saw no creeks with any water running in them. I did see some dry creek beds.

FW Weekly indicates there are sandstone outcroppings sparkling with crystals. Maybe the cloud cover stopped the crystals from sparkling, because I saw no crystals, of the natural sort, in the Crystal Canyon Natural Area.

Maybe that crystal you see in the picture is actually one of the illusive Crystal Canyon crystals, and not the piece of broken glass that I thought it likely was.

I hiked off the trail in my futile search for crystals. Which is where I found the "crystal" in the picture.

The FW Weekly article mentions interpretive signage. There was a lot of interpretive signage. Very well done interpretive signange. Interpreting the crystals, interpreting the flora, the fauna and interpreting the very well done, eco-friendly trail and bridge engineering.

Above is the interpretive signage interpreting "What are the Crystals in Crystal Canyon Natural Area" without a question mark.

The Fauna interpretive signage had a lot of birds on the sign. And a Southern Copperhead, Texas Rat Snake and a Bobcat. The picture of the Bobcat, shows an orange Bobcat. I've seen a lot of Bobcats in various Texas parks, but I've never seen a cute orange Tiger kitty looking Bobcat, like the one on the sign in Crystal Canyon.

There are 3 pedestrian bridges in the Crystal Canyon Natural Area, spanning the canyon, or a dry creek. The bridges are made of a hard plastic-like material. I'd not seen this before. It would seem that these bridges will experience no rotting wood issues, unlike some bridges and boardwalks in Fort Worth's poorly maintained parks, like Gateway Park.

You see the above rock formation, in the dry creek bed, from the plastic bridge. I climbed down into the dry creek bed, keeping a watchful lookout for Southern Copperheads, Texas Rat Snakes and Orange Bobcats, to see if I could find some of the illusive crystals, to no avail.

Above you are looking at a section of Crystal Canyon Natural Area trail, as it switches back and forth to gain some elevation. I was very impressed with the Crystal Canyon trail and the engineering that went into the design. The trail is made to handle a flood of water, with multiple drains designed to keep water from eroding the trail.

Utah is my favorite place on the planet, scenery wise. I never fail to be very very happy when I am surrounded by redrock formations, when I am in Utah. Crystal Canyon reminded me, very much, of Utah, at times. The above rock formation was like a mini version of a rock formation I might see in Utah's Zion National Park.

FW Weekly mentioned wildflowers in Crystal Canyon. The above pink wildflower was one of many I saw today, including climbing vines sprouting wildflowers. We are no where near wildflower season. I imagine Crystal Canyon will be very colorful, next year, starting in March.

Crystal Canyon Natural Area was very easy to find. I  got off I-30 at Collins Street, headed north about a mile, turned right on Brown Boulevard, coasted down a steep hill, with the Crystal Canyon Natural Area parking lot on the right, soon after coasting down the steep hill.

The parking lot is not very big. It might hold 12 vehicles, maybe less, I did not think to count the number of stalls. Methinks Arlington is going to want to figure out how to add some more parking spaces.

All in all, I'd have to say that Crystal Canyon Natural Area is yet one more jewel in the City of Arlington's Crown of Parks.

Crystal Canyon Natural Area is less than 2 miles from one of Arlington's other park gems, that being River Legacy Park.

UPDATE: Crystal Canyon Natural Area (CCNA) is on Facebook.

Visiting Arlington's Veterans Park Soldier Talking To My Sister About Going To Alaska

I stopped for a walk in Veterans Park in Arlington on my way to Arlington's International District.

As you can see in the picture someone has laid flowers at the feet of the soldier who guards the Veterans Park Memorial.

It is Memorial Day Weekend, which likely is the reason for the flowers at the feet of the soldier who guards the Veterans Park Memorial.

I called my eldest sister whilst walking in Veterans Park. This eventually had me sitting on a park bench which caused my visit to Veterans Park to last much longer than I had anticipated.

In about a week my eldest sister is leaving Washington on a 3 month trip to Alaska, via the Alaskan Highway. She will be transporting herself, my ex-wife and 3 dogs in a bus sized, high-tech RV, which gets a couple miles per gallon.

Behind the RV my sister will be towing her Honda SUV. At some point after they make it to Anchorage the RV will be anchored at a RV storage spot, with the Honda SUV unhitched to serve as their vehicular transport to the Arctic Circle.

I have seen my sister's latest RV only once, on August 4 of 2008 at Bay View State Park. The RV is push button operated. Push a button and the bedroom expands. Push a button and the living room expands. Push a button and the flat screen TV appears. Push a button and Rosie the Robot delivers an adult beverage.

I made that last one up.

I like to stay in motels, rather than drive a motel on wheels.

All but less than a mile of the Alaskan Highway is paved these days. There are no longer long stretches without services.  Wi-fi is available at the campgrounds along the highway, so my sister will be emailing photos.

I have only been to Alaska once, a long long time ago. That trip was not made via a RV and the Alaskan Highway, it was via Alaskan Airlines, landing in Juneau. And then getting on a float plane to go to Hoonah, then Alaska Ferry to Sitka, then Alaskan Airlines back to Seattle.

Visiting Veterans Park Before Visiting Arlington's International District

On my way to Arlington's International District, today, I stopped at Arlington's Veterans Park to visit the veteran who guards the Veterans Park Memorial.

As you can clearly see, this morning it was cloudy and windy in Arlington.

What you can not see is that both of the park's parking lots were almost full. There was not one large singular activity that accounted for the almost full parking lots, but a lot of individual activity of individuals and small groups of individuals.

After visiting Veterans Park I visited 3 stores in Arlington's International District. That being 2 stores that are Asian themed and one, Import Market, that is more Middle Eastern/Russian themed.

I got a jar of Ginger Paste at the Import Market. I have no idea what this is used for, but it was on sale for $3.99 and the description on the jar made it sound as if there are all sorts of uses for it. I also got Whole Wheat Pita Bread. I'd not seen Whole Wheat Pita Bread before.

I looked all over the Import Market for Hummus. I found cans of chickpeas, but no Hummus.

The customers in the Import Market appeared to be more multi-cultural than the Asian themed stores I went in, where I tend to be the only Anglo in the store.

I did see one other Anglo in one of the Asian stores. She was stunningly beautiful, exotically so.

Many of the Asians in the Asian stores are dressed very stylishly. The Asian stores are run very efficiently. The Middle Eastern/Russian store has some quirks in how it operates, with the quirks being part of what is interesting. For instance, many items have no indicator of the price. So, I bought the Whole Wheat Pita Bread not knowing what it cost til I saw it scan at $1.49.

If you live in the Arlington zone and have not shopped in Arlington's International District, you really should check it out.

I wonder why no one opens a Uwajimaya type complex in the D/FW zone? Uwajimaya is in Seattle's International District. Uwajimaya is an Asian store on steroids, with one of the best food courts I've ever had the pleasure of being pleased in.

In Veterans Park In Arlington Enjoying The Vast Wide Open Space

In the picture you are looking west, towards Fort Worth, from atop a hill in Veterans Park, in Arlington, at what appears to be a vast expanse of open land.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Veterans Park is near the center of the vast Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex that is home to somewhere around 6 million people.

6 million people is more than live in the entire state of Washington, crammed into a metro area, in Texas, about the size of Puerto Rico.

All of which is what makes seeing what appears to be such a vast expanse of open space seem surprising.

The walk around Veterans Park was slightly chilly today. There were not too many people out and about in the park. Actually, the only people I saw were some disc golfers. And groundskeeper Willie.

Funhouse Village Creek Mirrors And Getting Cranky About Arlington's Really Bad Train & Transit Woes While Dressing Elsie Hotpepper

I find the Village Creek Natural Historic Area's funhouse mirror very useful. With it I can easily document my huge weight gain's ever swelling beer belly.

Accomplished with no beer consumption.

Well, there was that beer I had against my better judgement, last April, at the Prairie Fest. But, that seems too long ago to account for a beer belly.

Village Creek has shrunk a lot since my last viewing. Unlike my aforementioned beer belly.

After I was done getting fresh air in the shade of giant oak trees I headed to ALDI. The last time I went to ALDI I got stuck behind a malfunctioning train track crossing, heading north on Bowen, after leaving ALDI.

This time the track was stuck as I headed towards ALDI. I was about 10 cars back. Vehicles were getting out of line, turning around and heading the opposite direction. I would then move up a space. When I was 6 vehicles back, with no train and no train whistle, I decide to leave the heard of Sheeple behind and go around the crossing guard rail, or whatever it is the blockage is called.

In my rear view mirror I could see some Sheeple following my bad example.

When I was done at ALDI, about 20 minutes later, getting back on Bowen Street, heading north, back towards the train track, I could see the crossing lights were still flashing, but traffic did not seem to be backed up too bad.

Soon I saw why. There were now 3 Arlington cops directing traffic around the crossing guard rail barrier. Southbound would get a turn, then northbound.

How idiotic.

Arlington is the biggest town in America that is bisected by a train track, with only a couple streets that cross without being blocked. In other words, south/north bound traffic grinds to a halt whenever a train rolls through town.

That's bad enough.

But then you have train traffic signals that apparently regularly malfunction, I assume, unless it is a freak coincidence that I came upon this happening twice in the past 2 weeks.

And then you have the cost of cops being employed to direct traffic due to this malfunction. Is the railroad billed for this?

And then you have all the gas wasted by all the vehicles that can not move.

I really think it would behoove Arlington to spend less time worrying about building and helping pay for sports stadiums and a little more time worrying about and paying for some of Arlington's serious infrastructure woes. Including being the biggest city in America without any public mass transit.

Yes, America, you read that right, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Rangers and Six Flags Over Texas has no public mass transit. Not even a bus system.

I have to go now. I've received an urgent message from Elsie Hotpepper saying she needs help getting dressed.

Visiting The Soldier Guarding Arlington's Veterans Park Memorial Worrying About My Double Dip Recession & My Nephew Shooting Himself

Today in the noon time frame I was heading to Chinatown in Arlington. On the way I decided to stop at Arlington's Veterans Park to pay my respects to the soldier guarding the memorial.

The shady walk on the Veterans Park boardwalk through the Wildscape slightly cheered me up.

I've been feeling a bit depressed, of late, worrying I may be slipping into a dreaded double dip recession. My credit rating recently took another hit. I had a nightmare where, someone who I thought liked me, suggested I was a parasite on the world.

That was harsh.

My stock in the world has really taken a hit lately.

On the positive side of my current state of mind, this morning I was surprised to check the mail to find a settlement for a class action suit in the form of a check. The lawyers took over half of the settlement.

A few minutes ago Elsie Hotpepper sent me a link to a disturbing video on MSNBC about a gun incident in Chandler, Arizona.

Where my nephews live.

Apparently a 27 year old male Chandlerite was in a grocery store fumbling in his pants pocket when his girl friend's pink gun, which for some reason he was carrying, without the safety on, went off, sending a bullet through his most private parts.

A full recovery is expected. I have not received a phone call from my sister or mom with tragic news, so I strongly suspect the shooter is not one of my nephews.

Speaking of places, like Arizona, where it is very HOT. Today, in Texas, it was a little under 100 when I visited the Veterans Park Soldier.

Currently, at a little past 4, it is 106.5, feeling like 111, at my location in HOT Texas. Right now Chandler is a relatively chilly 103.6.

Today is Day 39 Over 100 in North Texas. Tomorrow will be Day 40. When is this HOT madness going to end?

Walking Among Giant Yellow Flowers Today In Arlington's Veterans Park Thinking About Bad Girls Like Mother Nature & The Queen Of Wink

The hills were alive with a lot of color today. I'm not talking about the Tandy Hills. For all I know those hills are alive today with a lot of color, but not according to any eye witness account from my eyes.

The hills I saw alive, with a lot of color today, were the hills, well, glorified mounds, of Veterans Park in Arlington.

I was being a bit stir crazy this morning, a blogging and webpage making maniac. It is exhausting for me to spend more than a few hours of heavy duty thinking without a break.

I took off from here to go to Village Creek Natural Historic Area to talk to the Indian Spirits. But, that park was closed today, due to Village Creek being in water overload mode. So, I continued on another couple miles to Veterans Park.

There were some really big flowers being real colorful in Veterans Park today. I think I already said that.

My chronic typo problem continues to worsen. This morning the Queen of Wink humiliated me with a really bad one.

I typed "actua" when I meant to type "actual." The word "actua" totally changed the meaning of what I was saying, changing it from something like "Gar the Texan and I are going to an actual Hooters," to something like "Gar the Texan and I are joining a Canadian Charitable Organization in order to get some charitable attention from Hooters."

I really don't like it when hyper-intelligent people, like the Queen of Wink, use their intellectual advantage over me to make me feel even stupider than I already do. Like I said, it is humiliating. I can barely stand to log in to Facebook anymore, due to seeing that the Queen of Wink has scored yet one more Scrabble Bingo, while I can't even spell actual.

I did not walk for a very long distance today. I was not liking the humidity. I think the humidity was making my right knee hurt. Maybe I have arthritis that is acting up, due to what Elsie Hotpepper told me this afternoon, that being that we may be having a historically bad storm hitting North Texas in a few hours.

The maladies of getting ever more elderly really do get vexing after awhile. Reduced cerebral function manifesting itself in chronic typos. Failing body parts. Weakening vision. We won't talk about the other things that are in semi-fail mode.

I heard on the radio on my way to Veterans Park that I should have an Emergency Kit ready for an incoming emergency. I don't have an Emergency Kit ready. I do have flashlights strategically placed. I have a lantern I can find in the dark by using one of the strategically placed flashlights. I have a gas-powered cooking unit I can use to heat coffee and other essentials. I have water stored in several locations. I do not have much of a food supply. But, two grocery stores are within easy walking distance and could likely easily be looted if I get too hungry.

I am ready, Mother Nature. Hit me with your best shot.

I take that back. I just realized I sounded like George W. Bush telling the Iraqi insurgents to "Bring it on." I take it back, Mother Nature, I am not ready, please don't hit me with your best shot. Don't bring it on.

Up Early The 4th Day Of May Mostly Thinking About Chesapeake Energy's Dirty Dealings In The Barnett Shale

Taking a real close look through the bars of my patio prison cell, this 4th morning of May, at the steaming hot tub.

I usually don't get in the steaming hot tub.

But, yesterday I spent too much time in its nearby cousin and got way too cold. I should have warmed myself up in the hot tub after getting out of the ice tub.

Change of subject from getting cold to locals getting hot over Chesapeake Energy disingenuousness.

This morning the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in an article titled "Chesapeake Energy to make fixes on wells after Arlington gas leak" finally got around to mentioning a Chesapeake Energy gas pad incident that occurred in Arlington in early April.

Last week I opined that the fact of the lack of this incident being reported was a scandal, among other scandals. I'd first heard of the incident from Kim Feil, who verbalized her frustration and the frustration of those who had been affected by the incident, because they could get no answers as to what had been hissed into the air they breathe.

It the Star-Telegram article most of it is devoted to the Chesapeake spin. However, towards the end of the article it is acknowledged that those who were affected by the "incident" aren't buying Chesapeake's fox in the henhouse explanation about what killed the chickens.

And, in the section of the article that does acknowledge that there are those who do not believe Chesapeake, there is one line that stands alone, saying...

The report does contradict what Chesapeake previously reported to the council.

So, what did Chesapeake originally tell the council? Chesapeake's employee, Tony Rutigliano told the Arlington city council that "the safety devices worked as expected and no one was in danger." And that the released gas dissipated quickly.

What Chesapeake originally claimed is rendered very ironic by the first paragraph in this morning's Star-Telegram article about the "incident".......

ARLINGTON -- Chesapeake Energy will make safety improvements to its 1,800 natural gas wells across the Barnett Shale after equipment failures at a southeast Arlington site released a small amount of gas during a power outage last month, officials said Tuesday.

Taking A Hike On A Texas Desert In Arlington

Looking at the picture you might think you are looking at an isolated Texas desert landscape with civilization hundreds of mile distant.

You would be thinking wrong.

In the picture you are in Arlington, looking west, in Veterans Park, in the rugged, hilly area of the park.

The air chilled to just a few degrees above freezing by this morning. It has warmed to 51 now.

Because we got into the 80s yesterday, even though it got near freezing, the water in my swimming pool was at a temperature well above the air temperature this morning. In other words I had a nice long swim.

Being able to be back swimming again has quickly melted away that layer of insulative blubber that I'd grown due to way too much weather caused sloth.

I've gotten multiple reports of snow woes from Washington yesterday and today. People living in the lowlands of Western Washington handle snow about as well as North Texans do. As in not too well.

Ironically, I've gotten way more practice dealing with severe Winter Weather in Texas than I did living way up north near the Canadian border.

As you can see by looking at the flags not waving in front of the soldier who stands guard over the Veterans Park Memorial, it is being dead calm out there today. Absolutely no Wind Chill Factor.

Enduring A Cacophony Of Noise At Arlington's Veterans Park Today Along With Mellow Turtles

I was in Arlington around noon, heading to Pantego. I decided to stop at Arlington's Veterans Park and take a walk through the Texas Wildscape.

A lot of people were having some fun today in Veterans Park, enjoying temperatures in the 70s.

Being in the 70s is a huge difference from a week ago when we were all busy preparing to plunge down to near zero.

Today in the Veterans Park Pond I saw a lot of very happy turtles, with their necks stretched out trying to get as much sun as possible.

The Fosdic Lake Turtles are very skittish. The Veterans Park Pond Turtles are not skittish. I got right to the water's edge and still no turtles got spooked, with none diving under water. Maybe the turtles are so happy to be out of that Deep Freeze that they are temporarily throwing caution to the wind.

Veterans Park Pond is a noisy location due to a fountain. And today due to the return of a Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling Rig that was making an awful lot of screechy, metallic racket. Maybe the Veterans Park Pond Turtles are traumatized by all that noise and that is why they paid no attention to the human intruder.

Above you can see the noisy gas drilling rig in the background. Today the Veterans Park Veteran, who guards the memorial, was hanging his head down a bit lower than I remembered. I think the gas drilling noise is getting on his nerves. Or reminding him too much of being in a combat situation.

Looking at the flags at the Veterans Park Memorial, you can see there is a good wind today, doing some heavy duty flag flapping.

Also adding to the Veterans Park noise today was a large number of screaming brats, I mean, school children. They were in purple uniforms. They looked too young to be going to TCU. An adult male was directing them in a stirring game of Red Rover. I heard him say, "Red Rover, come over," or something like that.

I don't know if I have ever played the Red Rover game. Judging by the squealing and screaming this is a very fun game to play. When you are pre-teenager.

NFL To Refund Thousands More Super Bowl Seat Victims Along With More Bad Super Bowl Blunder News

I don't think the Super Bowl ended up being quite the wonderful boost to North Texas that North Texas boosters hoped it would be.

This morning brought the news that approximately 2,000 more fans will be getting a ticket refund or a ticket to a future Super Bowl. These additional disgruntled fans were disgruntled due to being delayed in getting access to the seats they had paid for.

A research firm, San Diego based Competitive Edge Research & Communication is employed to survey opinions, nationwide, of Super Bowl host cities.

Polling data found that positive opinions of Arlington went from 17.4 percent before the game to 14.9 after the game.

Even worse for Arlington, 73.7 of those polled had no impression of the town before the game, with that number managing to increase to 74.4 percent after the game.

I'm thinking making no impression is better than making a bad impression.

An Oklahoman newspaper columnist, Jenni Carlson opined, "Our good friends in North Texas want the Super Bowl back in five years, want to host the biggest spectacle in sports again, want to be the site of the game's momentous 50th anniversary. Good luck with that. Super Bowl XLV? More like Blunder Bowl. Everything that could go wrong did. Some of it was out of anyone's control -- who could've foreseen not one but two snowstorms rolling through the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Super Bowl week? -- but plenty of other things were man-made disasters."

There were a couple good letters to the editor this morning in the Dallas Morning News regarding the man-made Super Bowl disasters....

Waiting for Super Bowl seats

Much has been made about the displaced fans in the temporary seats who were grossly inconvenienced, and my sympathies go out to them. 

However, little has been mentioned about the thousands of us who waited outside the Blue Entrance for over two hours without moving and with no one telling us what was going on.

Jerry Jones and the NFL cannot get a pass on this, as they had years to plan for all contingencies and severely dropped the ball. Spending thousands of dollars only to be frustrated with an organizational debacle of epic proportions is simply unacceptable.

Gary S. Black, Dallas

Jones disgraced many

Jerry Jones' enormous greed and ego has brought shame to Dallas and disgraced not only himself, but the city of Dallas, Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys Stadium and the NFL. His ego-driven attempt to set a new Super Bowl attendance record created not only safety issues for visiting Packer and Steeler fans, but destroyed what would have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

I can only imagine the grief, humiliation and discomfort these fans suffered, and that doesn't include enormous amounts of money that was spent for seats that weren't even available when they were purchased. 

To those fans, I apologize for the horrible experience, and I hope you don't associate most Cowboy fans and North Texans with Jones. We sincerely hope to see you again under better circumstances. We can and will do better.

Ronnie Smith, Garland

According To Dolores The Super Bowl Will Be Played In Cowboys Stadium In Arlington

The weather info and countdown to the Super Bowl is a screencap from this morning's Dallas Morning News.

Note that the countdown is titled Super Bowl XLV - Arlington, TX.

Meanwhile, over in Fort Worth, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, there was an amusing letter to the editor this morning, written by a resident of Arlington who feels Arlington's honor is somehow being besmirched by the media and Jerry Jones.

Below is that letter, complete with the Star-Telegram's title for the letter...

Arlington's honor

Why is it so difficult for the media as well as Jerry Jones to acknowledge the fact that Cowboys Stadium is indeed in Arlington, where, I might add, the Super Bowl will be played? We, as residents of Arlington, voted to raise our sales tax to help pay for the stadium. Give us the courtesy of recognizing the city as the host of the Super Bowl. Our mayor, Dr. Robert Cluck, worked very hard to secure the honor of the stadium being built in Arlington. Please, give credit where credit is due.

-- Dolores Bielby, Arlington