Some Questions About The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle & J.D. Granger's Beer Drinking

I am fairly certain that is not J.D. Granger having himself a Cannonball, Allergeez, Real Good or IPf'nA beer at PIB.

I do not know where it is J.D. Granger was whilst guzzling beer under a big sombrero.

A couple days ago in a blogging titled The Futile Search For The Missing Pavilion, Island & Panther At Fort Worth's Panther Island Pavilion I neglected to mention that Panther Island Brewing refers to itself as PIB.

Prior to forgetting to mention PIB I forgot to mention that Panther Island Pavilion has taken to referring to itself as PIP.

I do not know if Gladys Knight has been signed yet to appear at one of the PIP's many musical festivals.

Speaking of J.D. Granger. And who isn't? This morning I got an email asking me how much Mr. Granger is paid as Executive Director of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle for his music festival and flood control project building expertise.

The emailer also made the point that with the Boondoggle being built in slow motion that paying all the Boondoggle Visioneers all those extra years would seem to be greatly adding to the expense of this public works project the public has never voted for.

I thought this particular emailer raised some interesting points.

Years ago a Boondoggle insider emailed me due to being upset about what she was seeing up close in Boondoggle Headquarters. Everyone getting new iPhones, iPads, leased cars, junkets, expense accounts, hotel stays in Dallas, I forget what else.

Just remembered another, that being the big booze supply kept at Boondoggle Headquarters.

So, does anyone know how much J.D. Granger is being paid per year in salary plus perks? It would seem this must be public information, what with the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle sort of being a public agency, even though the public is not allowed to vote on anything related to the Boondoggle.

What is the total spent on salaries and perks for all the employees of the Boondoggle? It takes a lot of employees to run all those music festivals at the top music venue in the Dallas Metroplex.

So, the aforementioned emailer's point is a good one. What with the Boondoggle boondoggling along way longer than I think anyone anticipated back when the Boondoggle began, with very little to show for all these years of Boondoggling, paying all these Boondogglers all these extra years obviously has greatly added to the cost of the Boondoggle.

And as long as we are on the subject of the slow motion Boondoggle, how come there is no questioning, that I have made note of, in any of what passes for local media in the Fort Worth zone, asking why there is no project timeline for this extremely vital flood control project?

As in when is it we are finally going to be safe from a flooding Trinity River in the downtown Fort Worth zone?

Oh.

Is that why there is no urgency regarding the building of this extremely vital flood control project? Because the fact of the matter is there is no urgency because this flood control project is not even remotely vital.

Apparently what is vital is providing Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats, music festivals on an imaginary island with an imaginary pavilion, a drive-in movie theater, freshly brewed beer, ice skating, wake boarding and a riverside restaurant, because after all these years that is all you have to see when you look at the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle....

The Futile Search For The Missing Pavilion, Island & Panther At Fort Worth's Panther Island Pavilion

Yesterday I was perusing last week's Fort Worth Weekly when I came upon what sort of looked like an article, but was instead, I think, an advertisement for the latest addition to the Fort Worth playground currently known as Panther Island, with that latest addition being known as Panther Island Brewing.

Panther Island Brewing brews beer. You can go to their Panther Island Brewing website to find out what type beer they brew and how you can find yourself sampling some Panther Island Brewing beer.

Panther Island Brewing got me wondering how many things have now been added to the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle using the Panther Island name, in addition to Panther Island Pavilion.

Thinking about the absurdity of Panther Island Pavilion got me wondering about the Pavilion part of the name. As in, what is it on the banks of the Trinity River, in the area misrepresentatively called an island, which is a pavilion?

That had me Googling "pavilion" which soon had me reading the Wikipedia Pavilion article where I learned....

In architecture a pavilion (from French, "pavillon", from Latin "papilio") has two primary meanings. It can refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in its intended use. A pavilion built to take advantage of a view is referred to as a gazebo.

In its other primary meaning, in a symmetrical range of buildings in the classical styles, where there is a main central block – the corps de logis – the wings may end in pavilions that are emphasized in some fashion, in order to provide a full stop to the composition, like a period at the end of a sentence.

Okay, I admit I am no architectural genius, as witnessed, for example, by my failure to understand why the Kimbell Art Museum designed by Louis Kahn is a work of architectural genius achieving icon status recognized by those who know about the building in the art world, but, even though I clearly am no architectural genius, I really don't see how anything about that which is called Panther Island Pavilion is a pavilion, according to the two meanings of the word referenced above.

Yes, I am aware that there is a certain standard of word aesthetics as practiced in Fort Worth where those aesthetics are such that words really don't have to have meaning. This type aesthetic is key to a propaganda operation.

So, where words have no meaning, you can have a Trinity River Vision where there is no discernible vision, originally foisted upon the public announced in a HUGE headline in Fort Worth's propaganda purveyor, the Star-Telegram, as "Trinity Uptown Project to Make Fort Worth the Vancouver of the South."

Or, where words have no meaning, you can have a sporting goods store foisted on the public, with that same propaganda purveyor proclaiming the sporting goods store would be the #1 tourist attraction in Texas.

Or, where words have no meaning, you can stick up signs in your downtown, for years pointing tourists to Sundance Square where there is (was) no square, til recently.

And then there is Panther Island and Panther Island Pavilion.

Well, we all know there is no island. There may never be an island. And even if the large pseudo island making ditch is ever dug it still will not be what anyone with respect for the meaning of words would call an island.

And now we learn there is no actual pavilion at Panther Island Pavilion.

What about the Panther part? I know this comes from a story way back early in the last century where, supposedly, a Dallas reporter visited downtown Fort Worth and then went back to Dallas where he reported that downtown Fort Worth was so lifeless and sleepy that a panther was taking a nap on the City Hall's steps. Or was it the Tarrant County Courthouse steps?

Do we actually know for certain this panther sleeping story actually happened? Or was this just Fort Worth propaganda of that era, serving some odd purpose in furthering the villainification of Dallas?

Now, I can surely see where a reporter from lively Dallas might visit downtown Fort Worth and find it a bit laid back. Particularly if he visited on the day after Thanksgiving. Or a Sunday.

So, basically, unless we can somehow confirm this long ago sleeping panther story there is nothing with real meaning in the Panther Island Pavilion name.

But, with Panther Island Brewing at least part of the name is based on something real. At least I hope this brewery is really brewing beer.

I have already opined that the Panther Island nonsense needs to stop, so I won't repeat myself, yet again....