In Texas Working With A Dying Asian In Dubai To Build Orphanages

Every few days I get an email plea for help. With me getting millions of dollars if I help.

I like to be a helpful person. But how many more millions of dollars do I need?

It started off only being Nigerians that I'd help, but now the needy have spread all over the world.

With people in the wealthy nation of Dubai lately sending me a lot of needy pleas for help.

I wish I could reply in a positive ways to all these pleas, but I am being selective about helping. The pleas has to have a really high pathos level combined with a healthy dose of altruism in order to get me to accept those millions of dollars.

Like the plea I got this morning from Mr. John Lalwani, dying of cancer, wanting me to help make his dying wish of funding orphanages come true. Of course I will help with this one. I love helping orphans.

Below is John's plea for help....

My name is Mr. John Lalwani, a real estate agent in Dubai. Am Asian and am dying of cancer. I have been on medical treatment after which it was confirmed by my doctor that I have cancer in 2009. I want to donate the sum of 24.5 Million Dollars to you in which 80% will be for helping me achieve my final wish on Earth by funding orphanage homes, help the needy and widows of your choice. I saw a profile of you on the net. After praying to God to make you the one for this assignment, I decided to contact you.  I want you to respond back to me only through my personal email address lalwanijohn@yahoo.com.hk as soon as possible for more information if you are interested. 

God Bless You
Mr. John Lalwani

If you are an orphan in need of a home, let me know. I'll try and get you a place to live as soon as I get my money from John.

An Hysterically Laughing Baby & Skiing In The Desert In Dubai

I have a few corespondents who consistently send me amusing things to see and read. I always see and read their incoming because of their established track records of good taste when it comes to what is interesting and funny.

One of my regulars who sends me good stuff is Alma, the Songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast. Another is Miss BSM in Hawaii. She has been absent for awhile, I believe due to acting on a TV show. And then there is Miss CVB up in Washington. She sent me the "Laughing Baby" video you see above. I've never before seen a baby laugh hysterically like this kid does.

Speaking of video. Last night I went to watch my DVR recorded latest episode of The Amazing Race. I have the DVR set to record 2 extra hours past the scheduled time due to football games running long. Last night an extra 2 hours was not enough. The recording stopped with 15 minutes left in The Amazing Race.

I did get a good look at Dubai though. The Amazing Racers had to fly from Phnom Penh to the Persian Gulf and find the tallest building in the world. Unlike most of the racers I knew this meant go to Dubai and find the Burj Tower. At least one of the racers thought Persian Gulf was a country.

Once they got to Dubai they had to get to the top of the still unfinished Burj Tower to find their next clue. Scary looking skinny skyscraper.

I've heard of the Dubai indoor ski attraction. Now I've seen it. I somehow thought this was in a mall. Instead it was in its own free-standing, sloped building. Inside it looked like night skiing, complete with ski lift. Outside, the racers were sweltering in the desert 100 degree plus heat, inside, the mountain was barely above freezing.

The task at the snow zone was a Detour. To non-viewers that means a choice between 2 tasks with varying levels of difficulty. All the teams chose dig through snow to find a little itty bitty figurine. I think it was a tiny snowman. One team found the thing and then one by one the teams gave up and decided to try the other task, which was using the snow to build a classic snowman, with coal chunks for eyes, a carrot nose, I forget what else. Oh, yeah, they had to build the snowman out in the desert heat and get it done to some judge's satisfaction to get their next clue.

My recording stopped before I saw a desert snowman building attempt.

Fort Worth's Rotating Tower

One of beautiful Fort Worth's identity problems stems from the fact that nothing in Fort Worth creates an iconic image that the rest of the nation or world sees and instantly knows it's Fort Worth. No Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Hollywood Sign, Reunion Tower, Riverwalk, Space Needle, Washington Monument, Eiffel Tower, you get the idea.

Fort Worth currently has this likely boondoggle called the Trinity River Vision that copied a bigger vision in Dallas that the citizens of Dallas got to vote on, but which was rammed through in Fort Worth by the Ruling Junta, without the good citizens of Fort Worth getting to vote on the destruction of the historic confluence of the West and Clear Forks of the Trinity River.

The Trinity River Vision is an un-needed diversion channel, a lake and some canals, ala San Antonio's Riverwalk and Oklahoma City's Bricktown. Trumpeted by the Ruling Junta's mouthpiece, known as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, to turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South. Without mountains. Or oceans. A Vancouver of the South, with a canal and a lake. This was the same mouthpiece which trumpeted the party line that Cabela's would be the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas. Til a month later when one opened by Austin.

So, I'm thinking if Fort Worth is trying to make something cool that might make someone somewhere see an image of it and instantly know it's Fort Worth, well, something tall is the way to go.

This month, in that zone of over the top architecture known as Dubai, a new tower will begin construction. So far the only name I've seen attached to it is The Rotating Tower.

The Rotatating Tower is 59 floors tall. Each of the 59 floors will be able to rotate independently. In between the floors, wind turbines will generate enough power to provide the electrical needs for 10 other towers, in addition to meeting all the Rotating Tower's power needs. There will be 48 wind turbines and solar panels on the roof.

I'm thinking scrap that silly Trinity River Vision and go for something that's not been done in Texas or America before. Fort Worth has plenty of sun, with lots of wind. It's a little weak on stunning views from the windows of those rotating floors, but it's not that weak. I remember the view from the Reata, before a tornado destroyed it, was quite scenic, especially at sunset.

Below is video of Dubai's soon to be Rotating Tower.