Panther Island Noise Makes Fort Worth Residents Stark Raving Mad

The Fort Worth local news media of the TV sort continues to report, accurately, realistically, and non-propagandaly (to coin a word which should be one) about America's Biggest Boondoggle, that being the ongoing mess originally known as the Trinity River Vision, before going through multiple name changes before sort of landing on an imaginary island.

Last night a comment to a previous blog post from someone named Anonymous pointed us to another Fort Worth local TV report about yet one more instance of Panther Island absurdity...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Bridge Contractor Admits Panther Island Project Bungled & Woefully Mismanaged":

Party like a frat boy. The hits just keep hitting the mismanagement. Try this: Fort Worth residents complained about noise at Panther Island Pavilion rave

_____________________

Click the link to the WFAA report and you will see a video detailing Fort Worth resident's disgust regarding the noise pollution assaulting Fort Worth ears as far as 10 miles north of the source, that being some sort of Trinity River Vision sponsored loud music Rave event.

Apparently loud Rave event's emanating from an imaginary pavilion on an imaginary island have something to do with flood control and economic development.

And then this morning Fort Worth's sad excuse for being the town's only newspaper of the daily sort, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, had another article about the problems with bridge construction causing more delays with the bridge building which began with a TNT celebratory explosion way back in 2014, with a then astonishing four year project timeline.

Four years to build three simple little bridges over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to that aforementioned imaginary island. Now with a completion date moved forward to some to be determined year in the next decade.

Today's Star-Telegram article about the Boondoggle is titled Panther Island contractor: Bridge changes could drive up costs, delay project.

The above is an illustrative photo from that Star-Telegram article about the delayed bridge project. One look at that photo and you can clearly see this is one super complicated bridge building enterprise. Not some simple bridge to build, like the Golden Gate (built in less than four years) or other actual signature bridges of world renown.

Some have characterized these bridges as looking like freeway overpasses. That seems accurate. In the photo you can see part of one of those supposedly unique V-piers.

J.D. Granger, and other delusional sorts responsible for causing this nonsense, think those V-piers are some sort of signature design which will give some recognizable style to that future riverwalk which may never come to exist.

In this latest Star-Telegram article we learn of conflicts over serious, dangerous problems with the design between the bridge builder and those responsible for coming up with this bridge design .

The Star-Telegram has repeatedly made mention of design problems with these bridges. But, we never get a single detail as to what is the nature of those design problems.

Curious minds want to know. What is the actual problem?

In this latest Star-Telegram bridge problem article we learn that supposedly each V-pier somehow presents its own unique design problem. Why is each V-pier unique? Is this the first time on the planet a freeway overpass type bridge has been built?

Way back in 2014, we blogged A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late about that now infamous TNT explosion marking the late start of the building of these hapless bridges in which there is a J.D. Granger quote which now, years later, seems so ironic...

“The two big things you’ll see over the next year are the three bridges coming out of the ground showing vertical construction — in addition to that, a lot of people have been speculative buying of property waiting for the first sign,” J.D. Granger said.

Absurdly after J.D. Granger uttered those words the first year long stall happened with nothing being built showing any sort of vertical construction coming out of the ground.

And really, J.D., you're claiming way back then a lot of people were doing some speculative buying of property waiting for that imaginary vertical sign of construction?

And now, all these years later, basically nothing to show after an astonishingly long project construction timeline which seems to stretch forever further into the future...

A Look At Wichita Falls Pavilions & Fort Worth Imaginary Pavilions

I was back at Sikes Lake, yesterday, walking with the Pokemon Go Zombies.

Here you are looking at a pair of the Pokemon Go Getting Zombies crossing one of the bridges over Sikes Lake, heading towards the Wichita Falls Museum of Art and the Ruby & Robert Priddy Pavilion.

Why give something such a cumbersome name? Why not simply Priddy Pavilion?

Below is closer look at the Priddy Pavilion.

Last night I drove by this location and saw a swarm of Pokemon Go Zombies and a lot of people seated in the Priddy Pavilion area, appearing to be awaiting some sort of musical event to start up on the shores of Sikes Lake.

I am fairly certain no inner tube floating or beer drinking took place during this music event.

Last Sunday I came upon another full sized Wichita Falls pavilion. This one is called the Elizabeth Prothro Pavilion, located at the River Bend Nature Area adjacent to Lucy Park.

As you can see above, the Elizabeth Prothro Pavilion is a large structure. Most pavilions, in most towns, are large structures.

And then we get to Fort Worth, a city with imaginary pavilions on imaginary islands, such as Panther Island Pavilion on Panther Island, one of the town's great success stories.

Fort Worth really needs to stop with the false naming.

One would think the powers that misrule that town would have learned some sort of lesson from confusing, for decades, downtown Fort Worth's few tourists, with signs pointing to Sundance Square, where there was no square, til a  couple years ago when one of the downtown parking lots was turned into a little square, then named Sundance Square Plaza, with no one in the naming process apparently realizing that is a goofy redundant name.

If Fort Worth wants to have a Panther Island Pavilion, how about first coming up with something which bears some semblance to an island? And then add a building which bears some semblance to a pavilion.

What a concept....

A Postponed Airport Pickup Had Me Seeing New Scenery In Arlington's River Legacy Park

Last night I thought a change of plans had me driving to the airport this morning to pick up Miss Puerto Rico. By morning that plan had changed. More on that later.

I had myself a mighty stressful morning, so by the time the noon timeframe arrived I was in the mood for a relaxing contemplative walk. But, was in no mood to walk with Arlington's Village Creek Indian Ghosts.

Instead I went to Arlington's River Legacy Park, where the ghost haunting is kept to a minimum.

I'd not been to River Legacy Park since the Thanksgiving Flood. More on that later. But first I must mention that which you see above.

The River Legacy Park Pavilion.

This morning Elsie Hotpepper pointed me to an article about America's Biggest Boondoggle's V Piers being almost ready for their closeup with cement. Seems like it's been months since a fuss was made over those silly V Piers' wooden forms appearing, providing evidence that after a decade or so in the making something was rising from the ground due to the efforts of J.D. Granger and the slow motion Trinity River Vision Project.

I don't remember if it was in that article to which Elsie Hotpepper pointed me, or somewhere else, but somewhere this morning I read mention made of Panther Island and Panther Island Pavilion.

Panther Island is what The Boondoggle calls the imaginary island The Boondoggle is going to connect the Fort Worth mainland to, via those three bridges being built over dry land, currently consisting of some wooden V Pier forms.

So, today when I saw the River Legacy Park Pavilion I thought I should take a photo of it for those who don't know what an actual pavilion looks like. Have you seen anything like this in the area The Boondoggle refers to as Panther Island Pavilion? You know, where The Boondoggle has its Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats when the e.coli level is low enough to make floating in the Trinity River semi-safe.

Back to River Legacy Park and the Thanksgiving Flood. I visited River Legacy Park soon after the floods of last spring. No damage in evidence after that flood. Today I walked a few miles, from the south side of the Trinity River to the north side. I saw views of the river I'd never seen, in all the years I've enjoyed this park.

I soon realized what had caused the new views.

The Thanksgiving Flood tore away at the river's banks, causing big chunks of earth, with trees and shrubs and other foliage, to break away and fall into the river, bringing the brink closer to the paved trail and opening up expansive views, such as above.

Above you can see some of the yellow mesh fencing which has been put in place as a temporary barrier to keep people from falling over the new brink.

When I got to the bridge which takes walkers, jogger, bikers and bladers across the Trinity to the north side I could tell the river had risen high enough to deposit mud on the bridge. I believe this is the first time that has happened since that bridge opened earlier this century.

The flood left some damage in its wake, but, overall, I think Mother Nature has made some major improvements in the River Legacy Park scenic experience.

Changing the subject from Mother Nature to aborted trips to the airport.

I went to bed thinking Miss Puerto Rico was leaving the island around 4 this morning, arriving in Fort Lauderdale around 7,  and being back at D/FW around half past 9.

By morning my phone had multiple confusing messages. One of those messages said "come get me, i miss my babies."

Huh?

Did that mean Miss PR was already back in Texas, waiting at the airport? I checked the flight status online. Nothing had changed. Arrival in D/FW still when I expected.

But, then I was getting more confusing text messages, arriving while Miss Puerto Rico was  supposedly in the air, unable to use her phone. Several confusions later I figured out she was still in Florida. More messages later I learned that the plane got in from Aguadilla, PR too late for those on board to catch the flight leaving for Texas.

So, Miss Puerto Rico has been stuck in Florida since this morning. The next flight out is half past 8, arrival at D/FW a little before 11 tonight.

Weeks ago when Miss Puerto Rico told me she'd booked a flight on Spirit Airlines I reminded her of how upset she'd been at her previous experience with that airline, where she vowed to never fly them again. Maybe after this experience the lesson will remain learned.

Why No Residential Towers Are Currently Planned For Fort Worth's Imaginary Island

Continuing our popular series of bloggings about something I see in a west coast online newspaper, usually the Seattle Times, that I don't see in my current local newspaper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, we have what you see here, from the aforementioned Seattle Times.

I have mentioned before that rarely does a week ago by where I don't read about some new construction project in downtown Seattle; new skyscrapers, convention center expansion, Pike Place expansion, or, like you see here, new residential towers.

The text under the artist's rendering of the two tall towers says developers are proposing a slew of new residential towers over 400 feet high seizing on the City Council's rezone of South Lake Union to allow for greater height and density. And that developers are high on building Seattle high-rises.

I have not seen a high rise rise in Fort Worth since I have been in Texas.

A  few weeks ago Mr. Spiffy made an observation regarding the current stagnant state of development in downtown Fort Worth. Mr. Spiffy suggested that no developer is going to be wanting to develop anything while America's Biggest Boondoggle has the status of downtown Fort Worth in a state of confusion.

Will the imaginary island be where new growth will take place? Will that be where the focus of downtown Fort Worth will shift? Those are the questions a developer would be asking. That and when is that project slated to be completed?

And then when the developer learns America's Biggest Boondoggle has no project timeline, will that would be a real deal killer?

The Trinity River Uptown Central City Panther Island Vision Boondoggle is supposedly an economic development project, combined with an un-needed flood control project.

If this project was projected to be such a boon to the economy of Fort Worth, then why is it not already completed? Why is the project being built in slow motion?

Well, we all know the answer.

America's Biggest Boondoggle became such because the project is funded in a piecemeal fashion.

America's Biggest Boondoggle is not a public works project approved by the voting  public approving a bond measure to finance a project for the public's benefit.

It was thought by the Perpetrators of the Boondoggle that hiring local congresswoman, Kay Granger's son, J.D., a lawyer with no project engineering experience, would motivate Kay to secure federal pork barrel funding via earmarks.

But, that plan fell apart when the era of earmarks came to an end. So, Kay has not been able to secure as much federal money as was hoped.

Lacking the money to see the Boondoggle's Vision in a timely fashion, the Frat Boy hired to motivate his mother to get money for the project began to initiate events like Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats. Along with goofy things like naming the area where the floating beer parties take place, Panther Island Pavilion, along with calling a chunk of land Panther Island, where there is no island, and where there will only be a pseudo island if the long delayed flood diversion ditch is dug to go under the three bridges being built in slow motion over dry land to connect the mainland to that imaginary island.

The Frat Boy also helped bring the popular sport of wakeboarding to Fort Worth by having the Trinity River Vision build a pond so an enterprise called Cowtown Wakepark could provide the wakeboarding experience to the Fort Worth masses yearning to stand on a board while a cable drags them over dirty water.

As we learned yesterday, Cowtown Wakepark is now closed. The first of what will likely be many failures in the ongoing debacle that is America's Biggest Boondoggle.....

PIP Declares No E.Coli To Worry About While Rockin' The Trinity River In Fort Worth

Incoming from Elsie Hotpepper.

I believe this is an iPhone  screen cap of some Facebook postings, from the Panther Island Pavilion Facebook page.

That would make this a Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision product.

If you are new to Fort Worth and wondering what Panther Island Pavilion is, well, it is sort of hard to explain. Basically it is an imaginary pavilion on an imaginary island where people float in an imaginary pollution-free river while drinking beer and listening to music.

The message from Elsie Hotpepper accompanying the screen cap....

Cut and paste is all they do...and again if that deadly levels of E. coli test was wrong, what about all the tests that said the E. coli was at a safe level? Isn't it more than likely it is those tests that came up with wrong results? Are they actually trying to claim that the Trinity River does not have an E. coli contamination problem?

Well, Elsie, you must remember  the spokesman for the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle also claimed the water the Rockin' the River floaters float in was no different than the drinking water that flows from Fort Worth taps.

Which sounds to me to be a good reason to buy bottled water, if it were true that the water the floaters float in while Rockin' the River is the same quality level as Fort Worth drinking water.

Does it only occur to me that it is a rather sad reflection of the shortage of fun things to do in Fort Worth that so many people think they are having themselves a mighty fine time floating in a polluted river while drinking beer and listening to music coming from an imaginary pavilion on an imaginary island?

Panther Island Pavilion Propaganda Claims No Gators Rockin' The River With The Tubers

A few minutes ago Elsie Hotpepper emailed me what you see here.

What you are looking at is a screen cap from America's Biggest Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion Facebook page.

Seems like just a couple days ago I blogged a blogging titled An Alligator Is Rockin' The River At Fort Worth's Imaginary Island Pavilion.

Two paragraphs from that blogging...

The TRWD spokesman is Matt Oliver, hired after an extensive search for a qualified experienced spokesman discovered that the son of the TRWD's manager, Jim Oliver, was best suited to adhere to the TRWD's policy of employing corrupt nepotism whenever possible.

Anyway, wildlife expert, Matt Oliver, informs us that there is nothing to fear from an alligator enjoying Rockin' the River near the imaginary island and pavilion. That alligators are just like turtles, what with being shy and minding their business unless intruded upon by hundreds of foolish people floating in inner tubes.

So, we have the spokesman for the parent of America's Biggest Boondoggle reassuring people there is no danger from the gator that took up residence in the Panther Island Pavilion zone, where there is no island or pavilion.

Meanwhile, America's Biggest Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion Facebook page is telling people there are no gators in the federal flood way were the tubing  takes place.

Federal flood way? This is the first time I've heard the confluence of those two forks of the Trinity identified as a federal flood way.

The Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision Boondoggle has always been big on exaggerated propaganda.

Touting things like three simple little bridges being built in slow motion for four years are going to be signature bridges. You know, like the Golden Gate Bridge is.

Or propaganda like touting that Panther Island Pavilion, where I think I have already mentioned there is no island or pavilion, is the only urban waterfront music venue in Texas and other exaggerations regarding that rather sad, aesthetically speaking, music venue, with old subway stations turned into stages, a service garage turned into a beer hall/music stage, and for restrooms, a couple concrete enclosed outhouses.

Yeah, that is one world class music venue. Now with gators.....

UPDATE: I have been erroneous in saying TRWD spokesman, Matt Oliver, is TRWD mis-manager, Jim Oliver's son. Jim Oliver is Matt's uncle. I learned this from TRWD board director Mary Kelleher's blog in a blogging titled Croc In River....

An Alligator Is Rockin' The River At Fort Worth's Imaginary Island Pavilion

This morning Elsie Hotpepper in her ongoing campaign to convince me to cease with participating in America's Biggest Boondoggle's Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in the polluted Trinity River emailed me a link to a NBCDFW news story titled Alligator Spotted Near Downtown Fort Worth.

The spot where the alligator was spotted is the same spot where The Boondoggle's Rockin' the River takes place.

I have long wondered how long  it was going to be til something unwanted floated into the location where the River Rockin' takes place. Something like a water moccasin or a herd of snapping turtles or a big garfish or an alligator.

In addition to the information about the alligator what I also got out of this story was a feeling of how bizarre it is that the local idiocracy has gone along with The Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion nomenclature, what with the fact of the matter being there is no island or pavilion.

The talking heads used the Panther Island Pavilion misnomer and it was printed on the screen showing a flooded Trinity River lapping up against the stage which I think is what The Boondoggle is pretending is a pavilion.

In this location there is also a pretend beach with transplanted sand, likely in need of being re-transplanted when the river recedes.

Also included in this story was alligator information from the spokesman for the Tarrant Regional Water District.

The TRWD spokesman is Matt Oliver, hired after an extensive search for a qualified experienced spokesman discovered that the son of the TRWD's manager, Jim Oliver, was best suited to adhere to the TRWD's policy of employing corrupt nepotism whenever possible.

Anyway, wildlife expert, Matt Oliver, informs us that there is nothing to fear from an alligator enjoying Rockin' the River near the imaginary island and pavilion. That alligators are just like turtles, what with being shy and minding their business unless intruded upon by hundreds of foolish people floating in inner tubes.

I think I will likely stay out of the Trinity River for awhile....

America's Biggest Boondoggle's Imaginary Reality Programs & Products

Yesterday Elsie Hotpepper sent me a link to yet one more product of America's Biggest Boondoggle, telling me to check out the sponsors.

Fort Worth Weekly is now a proud sponsor of The Boondoggle's products?

What has gone wrong with The Weekly? This week's cover article covers the extremely serious situation regarding the rundown condition of the childhood home of a local golf legend.

It's a long article.

Back to The Boondoggle.

How many websites does The Boondoggle have under its boondoggle umbrella? Does The Boondoggle have in their employ a webmaster churning out these websites? How much is spent on the various Boondoggle domains and websites and all the other propaganda in various forms The Boondoggle churns out to create the illusion that The Boondoggle is a legit operation doing big things?

On The Boondoggle's Panther Fest website we learn....

You won’t want to miss this! Start your summer flying down a potentially world record-breaking 2,000 ft water slide–right on North Main Street.

Potential world breaking water slide? With beer, music and food? A new domain and website was needed for this? Why could this not simply been a sub-domain of The Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion website? As in pantherfest.pantherislandpavilion.com thus saving the cost of buying yet one more domain.

Speaking of The Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion website. On that website we learn that the venue is Texas's Premiere Waterfront Stage.

Stage? Pavilion?

Near as I can tell a platform with a  partial roof over it is what The Boondoggle is calling a pavilion. As for stages, the old subway waiting stations now are numbered, as in STAGE 1, STAGE 2. You get the idea.

The premiere waterfront stage in Texas? I would think other waterfront stages in Texas would take umbrage at this bogus claim.

I've said it before, but I will say it again. The supposed premiere music stage in Texas is serviced by outhouses. Not modern American restroom facilities. Outhouses.

You reading this in more civilized, modern areas of America, I am not making this up. The premiere waterfront stage in Texas is serviced by outhouses.

I also found the following blurb from The Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion website to be amusing...

Panther Island Pavilion is a product of, and programmed by the Trinity River Vision Authority as part of the Trinity River Vision Master Plan. © Panther Island Pavilion - All Rights Reserved.

Product? Programmed? Has The Boondoggle actually paid to copyright the Panther Island Pavilion name?

And then we have The Boondoggle's original Trinity River Vision Authority website. I have been amused at the hubris of the below paragraph of propaganda on The Boondoggle's home page, more than once...

The Trinity River Vision Authority (TRVA) is the organization responsible for the implementation of the Trinity River Vision (TRV) - a master plan for the Trinity River in Fort Worth, Texas. It is underway now - connecting every neighborhood in the city to the Trinity River corridor with new recreational amenities, improved infrastructure, environmental enhancements and event programming. The TRV will create Panther Island (formerly Trinity Uptown), a vibrant urban waterfront neighborhood, expand Gateway Park into one of the largest urban-programmed parks in the nation and enhance the river corridor with over 90 user-requested projects along the Trinity Trails.

On that aforementioned home page of The Boondoggle I saw a link.

 Panther Island Signature Bridges.

This is ridiculous, I thought to myself. The Boondoggle is still referring to those three simple little bridges, being built in slow motion, over dry land, as being Signature Bridges?

I clicked the link and soon saw that which you see below....

The Boondoggle is actually now calling these little bridges, being built to connect the mainland to an imaginary island, built over dry land, in a time frame longer than it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge, Panther Island Signature Bridges?

Below is the propaganda that you see in the screen cap above...

The Trinity River Vision is no longer a vision, it is a reality. For several years, work along the Trinity River has been on-going preparing for this project milestone. The signature bridges are a collaborative effort between the Trinity River Vision Authority, TxDOT, City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The three signature bridges positioned along the realigned Trinity River will begin construction in late summer 2014. The estimated construction cost for all bridges is $66 million. Serving as the gateways to Panther Island, the bridges create the foundation for a unique, urban waterfront community. The project partners will make every effort to minimize the inconvenience of this major construction project and will utilize multiple methods to keep residents and business owners informed. 

The Boondoggle is no longer a vision? It's a reality? Well, I guess that is true. Any project which has taken so long to do so little, well, that is a reality. For years work along the Trinity River has been on-going in preparation for this milestone?

Really? What would that work be. What would that milestone be?

Is the milestone starting the supposed construction of the three little bridges with the four year project timeline?

How come more taxpayers are not fed up with this embarrassing nonsense? How come so few people realize how embarrassing it is going to be, if those bridges ever actually get built, with the ditch dug under them actually filled with water, when one of Fort Worth's few tourists asks where this Panther Island island is, to have the local point across the ditch and say it's that there, on the other side of that signature bridge.

One would have thought the lesson of Sundance Square would have been learned. Where for decades there was no Square, with most of Fort Worth's few tourists  assuming Sundance Square to be the parking lots at the heart of downtown, where, finally, an actual little Square was built.

If The Boondoggle built Sundance Square Plaza they would have touted is as a Signature Plaza, the Premiere Plaza in Texas....

Army Corps Of Engineers Gives Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Millions To Keep Project On Imaginary Schedule

A few minutes ago Elsie Hotpepper forwarded me an email from the entity known to some as The Buzz.

That email contained the following memorable phrase, bolded end enlarged, I assume for emphasis...

A politician can steal more with a briefcase than a 100 men with guns!

The above memorable phrase was followed by a website link to the City of Fort Worth website, which had me wondering what fresh hell is this.

I clicked the link to see that which you see above, that being a headline saying Corps of Engineers awards $17.45 million for Trinity River Vision project.

The article which followed the headline (and the bizarre artist's imaginary rendering of what The Boondoggle may look like) was short, so I will copy it in its entirety followed by what I have to say about that...

The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded $17.4 million to the Panther Island/Central City Project.

The funds will go toward “valley storage” projects, better known as flood control basins, along the river, said Clay Church, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These funds allow the project to remain on schedule.

“We are honored that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recognizes this project as being worthy of funding and that we are capable of executing,” said TRVA Executive Director J.D. Granger. “We will work closely with USACE to put the money into construction projects immediately.

The Trinity River Vision Authority is responsible for implementing a public infrastructure project that provides needed flood protection and fosters the development of an exciting, pedestrian-oriented, urban waterfront neighborhood in Fort Worth. TRVA aims to attract business and entertainment to the district and is in charge of programming public spaces, including the Panther Island Pavilion, a waterfront music venue and festival space directly adjacent to downtown Fort Worth.

___________________________________________

I really do not know where to start.

Okay, first off, these federal funds are intended to go toward something called "valley storage" projects, better known as flood control basins?

Where is this valley? Where are these flood control basins?

In the second paragraph Kay Granger's boy, J.D., informs us that the money will be put into construction projects immediately.

Really?

And what would those construction projects be? Oh, that's right, those flood control basins, which are not currently under construction. So, how is it that this money will be put into construction projects immediately?

These funds will allow the project to remain on schedule?

Again. Really?

And what would that schedule be? There is no project timeline schedule for the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. Unless we count the four year construction schedule of The Boondoggle's Three Bridges Over Nothing.

Without these 17.45 million federal dollars The Boondoggle would not have been able to remain on its non-existent schedule?

J.D. is honored the Army Corps of Engineers recognizes this project as being worthy of funding? And that they are capable of executing the project?

If this project was worthy of being funded, why has funding not been found for this project in the way normal functioning towns fund public works projects? If this project is so worthy why has it not been put to any sort of public vote by which the public might indicate the public also feels the project is worthy and worthy of public funding funded by the public via their approval of a bond issue election?

The Boondoggle provides needed flood protection?

Once again. Really?

There has been no flooding in the area of The Boondoggle for well over a half a century. Not since the apparently now easily hoodwinked Army Corps of Engineers built flood control levees to control a flooding Trinity River as it passes by downtown Fort Worth.

The Boondoggle is "in charge of programming public spaces, including the Panther Island Pavilion, a waterfront music venue and festival space directly adjacent to downtown Fort Worth."

And one more time. Really?

The idea that the so called Panther Island Pavilion, and it being a waterfront music venue, is tout-worthy, is beyond embarrassingly absurd. If anything the shoddy tackiness of that which is called Panther Island Pavilion and its surrounding eyesores should be enough to send Panther Island to join Atlantis. It would be if this were happening in one of the more progressive, democratic parts of America, you know places which would not tolerate the nepotism of a local congresswoman's son being put in charge of a public works project so as to motivate her to help secure federal pork barrel earmark money.

I blogged about the embarrassing Panther Island Pavilion area a couple weeks ago after Taking A Look At The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Products.

Does the Army Corps of Engineers actually approve of outhouses being installed on the banks of a river?

That is the quality level of this project.

Concrete enclosed outhouses serving the Panther Island Pavilion waterfront music venue.

The Panther Island Pavilion outhouses are actual evidence of the quality level that J.D. Granger and The Boondoggle are capable of executing, which, apparently, the Army Corps of Engineers is endorsing.

To the tune of $17.4 million.

I tell you, the level of bald faced hubris of these people  is astounding.

Taking A Look At The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Products

Yesterday I found myself in downtown Fort Worth.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought it would be interesting to check out what I could find of the current state of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

It did not take long to notice that Panther Island signage, in various iterations, had proliferated since I'd last been in this location. Signage such as a billboard pointing to the parking lot for that which is called Panther Island Pavilion.

More on Panther Island Pavilion later on our tour, but first, before I got to that location I came upon something I had not expected to see.

As I walked towards Panther Island I saw cranes hovering above the Trinity River levees. Could those cranes have anything to do with the building of The Boondoggle's Three Bridges Over Nothing I wondered to myself.

When I got to the area of the cranes, by the Henderson Street bridge across the Trinity, I hiked up the levee to see that which you see above, that being signage touting The Boondoggle's bridges, claiming I was witnessing "Progress in Motion".

Below you can see what "Progress in Motion" looks like.

Traffic is now detoured off Henderson Street. I could not figure out what the cranes were doing. The only sign of construction that I could make out was it appeared some dirt has been moved. With these bridges being built over nothing, over where eventually, maybe, a ditch will be dug, one would assume that the bridge's foundations would be dug to ditch level, or deeper, to build a bridge over nothing.

Regarding bridges, yesterday during my walk along the Trinity River I discovered something shocking about one of the bridges over the Trinity, documented with a historical marker, which I will blog about in a subsequent blogging.

After marveling at The Boondoggle's bridge "Progress in Motion" I continued on to the Heart of The Boondoggle. Panther Island Pavilion, where there is no island or pavilion. Well, what most people would consider to be a pavilion in propaganda free locations on the planet where words have specific meanings.

I assume the sad structure in the foreground and the other structure on the other side of the river are what The Boondoggle is referring to as being pavilions. So, why is the venue not called Panther Island Pavilions, if there are two of the imaginary pavilions on the imaginary island?

I then crossed the Trinity to the "beach" side of the river, where I saw that the sophisticated restroom facilities for one of the world's premiere urban music venues had not been upgraded since my last visit.

Shouldn't that be "OMG" on the door of the outhouse? Not "MMG". What is the point of surrounding an outhouse with a concrete enclosure? To the left of the outhouse is a solitary shower, I assume so all the River Rockers can line up and wash off the river water when they are done with their happy hour inner tube floating.

I did not think anything could impress me more than the Panther Island Pavilion Outhouse, and then I came upon that which you see below.

The Boondoggle is now calling the area where the Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats take place a beach. For your amazed amusement I'll copy that which is on the sign on the lifeguard's perch below.

PANTHER ISLAND PAVILION

PUBLIC BEACH

CLOSED FROM 10pm - 5am

SWIM AT OWN RISK

NO LITTERING

NO GLASS OR STYROFOAM

NO FISHING FROM BEACH AREA

NO UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLES

NO OPEN FIRES

CLEAN UP AFTER PETS

NO DISORDERLY CONDUCT

A PRODUCT OF THE TRINITY RIVER VISION

I think the Panther Island Pavilion Outhouse and the Panther Island Pavilion Beach are perfect visual metaphors for the product quality level the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is bringing to Fort Worth and its millions of visitors.

Continuing on with my Boondoggle tour, just when I thought nothing could top the Panther Island Pavilion Outhouse and the Panther Island Pavilion Beach as visual metaphors for the product quality level the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is bringing to Fort Worth and its millions of visitors I came upon that which you see below.

The Panther Island Pavilion Shack. In an admirable example of recycling.

The garage which used to house the Tandy subway cars before the world's shortest subway was lost to the Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters debacle has been re-born as another product of the Trinity River Vision by being turned into a beer hall.

I was able to sneak a peak inside the Panther Island Pavilion Shack and realized I was looking at yet one more visual metaphor for the product quality level the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is bringing to Fort Worth and its millions of visitors.

Well, that concludes today's look at what some of what Fort Worth has bought with the millions of dollars already spent by the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

I wonder how much The Boondoggle has spent on all its self-serving signage? And how much concrete enclosed outhouses cost....

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....

The Prophet J.D. Granger Failed To Predict An Extremely Low Turnout For PIP's Clearfork Music Festival

Last Thursday I blogged a blogging titled Today I Learned JD Granger Is A Panther Island Prophet With A Shack Fort Worth's Latest Music Venue after being appalled at a piece of propaganda puffery in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram publication called DFW.com which touted J.D. Granger as a prophet foreseeing turning the banks of the Trinity River into an extremely successful site for music festivals.

A couple hubris laden J.D. Granger quotes from that DFW.com article...

“When looking at the demographics we were excited to see that people from all over North Texas are coming to events held at Panther Island Pavilion,” Granger says. “Week in and week out, our summer series had the highest attendance we’ve seen in the history of the venue. It’s a great feeling to know this record-breaking summer was a result of people traveling from all over the Metroplex.”

“The success of Panther Island Pavilion has exceeded our expectatins,” Granger says. “We have a packed schedule, including seven events over the next month, but most importantly, it’s bringing a new and diverse audience to Panther Island.”

I remember reading the two above blurbs and thinking, right, people are coming from all over North Texas to record-breaking events on the Trinity River.

The DFW.com puff piece mentioned this past weekend's Clearfork Music Festival at Panther Island Pavilion as being one of the upcoming events which would draw in the throngs from all over the Dallas Metroplex and the rest of North Texas.

Well, an observer from Dallas observed Saturday's Clearfork Music Festival and then wrote an article in the online Dallas Observer titled Clearfork Music Festival was Plagued By Poor Attendance Saturday in Fort Worth.

The first and last two paragraphs from the Dallas Observer article...

Inside of the half-empty Clearfork Music Festival in Fort Worth this past Saturday, it was impossible to not wonder what exactly constitutes a true festival. Any view of the festival grounds at Panther Island Pavilion from one of the slightly elevated spots of the land provided a view of a vibrant festival skeleton complete with tents for local artisans and activists, food trucks, beer trailers and three performance stages. Indeed, Saturday at Clearfork looked very much like a proper festival, even if it failed to feel like one for the most part.

In what should've been the crowning hour for the Clearfork Music Festival was rather underwhelming. Taking only a few steps backwards to break free of the loosely gathered crowd to walk up the incline of a small hill for an overall view of the setting, it was clear that a true crowd hadn't formed even for the headlining set.

So, sure, Clearfork was a festival -- and a well-run, fan-friendly one at that. But regardless of the high quality of performances that saved the day and a staff that was eager to please, there's nothing fun in feeling sorry for the artist beginning a set that few attendees seem to care enough about to arrive before the first two songs are complete. When it comes to music festivals here in North Texas, just because one is built, doesn't mean anyone will come.

Now, the above is what a fair and balanced bit of reporting reads like.

I wonder what the propaganda spin on the Clearfork Music Festival might be in the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's propaganda mouthpiece?

I suspect something like "The Clearfork crowds broke all previous records, proving once again what a successful music venue the Panther Island Pavilion has become, attracting music lovers from all over the world, while making other music festivals in other towns, far and wide, green with envy....."

Did The Prophet JD Granger Foresee The Irving Music Factory Making Panther Island Pavilion Look Like A Hillbilly Mudpit?

No, that is not an artist's rendering of what the Panther Island Pavilion part of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle will look like upon completion.

What you are looking at is an artist's rendering of what another Dallas Metroplex music venue will look like upon completion.

This past Thursday I blogged a blogging titled Today I Learned JD Granger Is A Panther Island Prophet With A Shack Fort Worth's Latest Music Venue after I was appalled at the appalling propagandizing hubris in an article in DFW.com touting J.D. Granger as a prophet for having the imaginary vision to turn a chunk of land that is not an island into the world's premiere music venue.

I may be slightly exaggerating.

Earlier in the month I recollect complaining about the Fort Worth Star-Telegram blocking online articles from non-subscribers. I suggested that a much better local news source, one that covered the entire Dallas Metroplex, was WFAA's website. WFAA covers  local  news in a fair and unbiased way, free of propaganda, unlike the Star-Telegram.

In other words from WFAA you would not read things like a new Fort Worth sporting goods store would be the #1 tourist attraction in Texas, drawing millions of tourists a year. From WFAA you would not read that an extremely lame collection of little stores was the first public market in Texas and that it was modeled after Seattle's Pike Place Market, and public markets in Europe. From WFAA you would not read that a public works project the public has not voted for would turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South. From WFAA you would not read that J.D. Granger is a prophet.

No, for that type of idiotic propaganda you need to be a subscriber to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or read the Star-Telegram's  DFW.com publication.

Now, back to that artist's rendering at the top. That rendering is from WFAA's website, in an article titled Entertainment Destination Coming to Los Colinas. You likely will not be reading about this in the Star-Telegram. Telling its readers about this development in Irving would make the Panther Island Pavilion propaganda seem even sillier.

As in the development in Irving appears to be real, while J.D. Granger's Panther Island Pavilion seems to be lacking quite a few things, not the least of which is an actual island.

Saturday night ground was broken in Los Colinas for the Irving Music Factory. A complex with more than 25 restaurants and entertainment venues. With a movie theater, plus an indoor/outdoor concert hall.

How did this project come to be?

Well, seven years ago voters in Irving did something voters in Fort Worth are not allowed to do. Irving voters voted to fund a public works project. Complications arose after the BIG yes vote which kept construction from starting til August 30, 2014.

In the article about J.D. Granger being a prophet we learned he has prophesied that his Panther Island Pavilion music venue is nowhere near finished. And just like with most of J.D. Granger's projects, there is no project timeline letting us know when his Panther Island Pavilion project will be finished. Or an artist's rendering of what it will look like if it ever gets finished.

Meanwhile that voted for by the voters public works project in Irving is currently projected to be completed in spring of 2016. Two years before J.D. Granger's bridges over nothing are scheduled to be completed.

And it goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, eminent domain has not been abused in Irving to bring about the Irving Music Factory....

Today I Learned JD Granger Is A Panther Island Prophet With A Shack Fort Worth's Latest Music Venue

This morning Elsie Hotpepper emailed me an email which took hours to get to me. The subject line of that email simply said "I'm gagging".

The email had a link to an article in DFW.com titled Panther Island Pavilion roaring along on the Trinity.

It did not take much reading to come to verbiage that was gag worthy, as in the first sentence....

It’s tempting to call JD Granger a prophet.

Let's just go through this article, bit by bit, commenting as we go. It is tempting to call JD Granger a prophet? From what would such a temptation come? Well, the article tells us....

Last year, Granger, the executive director of the Trinity River Vision Authority, predicted what would happen at Panther Island Pavilion in 2014 with almost uncanny accuracy.

“Festivals are becoming a business unto themselves,” Granger told me in May 2013. “We are set up to do something really crazy with good services. We could do something that could really put Fort Worth on a competitive music footing.”

What an understatement that turned out to be.

Understatement? How about dumb statement? I vaguely recollect having fun making fun of these JD Granger quotes before, likely after a previous Preston Jones bit of propaganda buffoonery. So, JD's uncanny prediction was that festivals are becoming a business unto themselves, whatever that means. And that JD's boondoggle is set up to do something really crazy. With good services. Again, whatever that means. Really putting Fort Worth on a competitive music footing.

Yeah, that really sounds like one impressive uncanny prediction. A competitive music footing? Competitive with whom?

Panther Island Pavilion, perhaps more than any other venue of its size in the city, has become a hub of near-constant activity over the past 12 months, hosting multiple music-related events, including its popular Rockin’ the River concert series (full disclosure: DFW.com is a media sponsor), as well as the return of the Fort Worth Music Festival and Untapped.

Panther Island Pavilion, perhaps more than any other venue of its size in the city, has become a hub of near-constant activity? Perhaps more than any other venue of its size in the city? What other venues are there of whatever size, in Fort Worth, that Panther Island Pavilion perhaps is more busy than?

Full disclosure: DFW. com is a media sponsor? How about going for totally full disclosure and disclose that DFW.com is a Fort Worth Star-Telegram propaganda production designed to compete with Fort Worth Weekly?

“When looking at the demographics we were excited to see that people from all over North Texas are coming to events held at Panther Island Pavilion,” Granger says. “Week in and week out, our summer series had the highest attendance we’ve seen in the history of the venue. It’s a great feeling to know this record-breaking summer was a result of people traveling from all over the Metroplex.”

And how did Granger get this data that let him know that people were coming from all over North Texas to events at Panther Island Pavilion? Did JD and his minions wander around asking people where they were from? The highest attendance in the history of the venue? Uh, how long does that history go back? Three years? Or is it four? It feels great knowing that the record breaking crowds came about from people traveling from all over the Metroplex? I thought they were coming from all over North Texas?

And the outdoor venue, situated just outside downtown Fort Worth on the banks of the Trinity River, is nowhere near finished.

I would hope the outdoor venue is nowhere near finished. Its current state is extremely tacky. Although, I must say the outhouses are unusually elegant for a Fort Worth venue.

Along with this weekend’s Clearfork Music Festival, there are myriad events scheduled throughout September, from the Most Good Music Festival (Sept. 6), a Salvation Army benefit featuring performers such as Stoney LaRue and Jack Ingram, to the seventh annual Dia de Los Toadies (Sept. 12-13), which will feature Fort Worth rock legends the Toadies playing their acclaimed Rubberneck album in its entirety, and the Beer, Bourbon and Brisket Festival (Sept. 20), with Oktoberfest closing out the month of September (Sept. 25-27) at the Shack, Panther Island Pavilion’s newly opened indoor venue.

Okay, what I got out of the above paragraph of blah blah blah about all the famous performers set to perform at Panther Island Pavilion next month is the last part, that being the part about Oktoberfest closing out the month at the Shack, Panther Island Pavilion's newly opened venue.

I had not heard of the Shack. A little Googling brought me to the Shack, on the Panther Island Pavilion Facebook page. Below is a picture of the Shack? What is it? The abandoned building which used to house the Tandy Subway cars?

Also on the Panther Island Pavilion Facebook page I found the below entry about the article on DFW.com which we are currently discussing.

Yeah, they really should be blushing. Blushing from embarrassment. Now, back to the article...

It’s an eclectic flurry of events, designed to appeal to as broad a swath of the public as possible, bringing not only die-hard music fans out to Panther Island, but the city itself.

Does the above sentence make any sense to anyone? Designed not only to bring out die-hard music fans, but the city itself?

“The success of Panther Island Pavilion has exceeded our expectatins,” Granger says. “We have a packed schedule, including seven events over the next month, but most importantly, it’s bringing a new and diverse audience to Panther Island.”

I copied and pasted the above verbatim. The word out of JD Granger's mouth was "expectatins". The success has exceeded *expectatins? What were their expectatins? Limited success? Most importantly it's bringing a new and diverse audience to Panther Island? Why is this important? How does JD measure the diversity? And please the Panther Island nonsense really needs to stop. There is no island. And even if the un-needed flood diversion channel ever flows water under the three bridges over nothing, this really still will not be what anyone who respects the meaning of words could legitimately call an island.

And why does the Executive Director of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle spend time worrying about music venues and imaginary islands? Was he not hired, after an extensive search to find the most qualified man available, to over see the building of a much needed flood control project, along with some supposedly much needed economic development? I really don't think back when the Boondoggle first started Boondoggling that anyone thought that what was meant by economic development was "festivals becoming a business unto themselves."

And then there is the last sentence in this very bizarre propaganda piece...

In other words, one of the city’s marquee venues is roaring right along.

Marquee venues? One of Fort Worth's marquee venues? What are Fort Worth's other marquee venues? Billy Bob's Over Texas? The Concerts in the Gardens? The Coyote Drive-In Movie Theater? What? Where?

*As expected the Panther Island Pavilion roaring along on the Trinity article has changed JD Granger's colorful "expectatins" to "expectations".

This Morning I Learned J.D. Granger Is Promoting Little Kids Cheering For Beer & Going Nuts For Runner's Butts

I found the above picture in my email inbox this morning, sent by Elsie Hotpepper, with the subject line being "There are no words....".

It took me a second or two to figure out that which left Miss Hotpepper speechless.

I will try to see if I can find the words which eluded Elsie.

Well, this picture is some sort of Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, I mean, Panther Island Pavilion Boondoggle promotion.

That is J.D. Granger in the yellow shirt standing behind a little kid holding a sign. It is what is on the signs which rendered Elsie Hotpepper speechless.

Let's look closeup at the three signs nearest J.D. Granger....

Two little kids holding Panther Island Pavilion signs with the first kid's sign saying "I go nuts for runner's butts" with the next kid's sign saying "Will cheer for beer" with the third sign saying "Run quietly when hungover".

The messages on the others signs were gems like "If this was any easier it would be your mom". I have no idea what that means.

Then there was this one, "You make chafing look sexy". What in the world is being promoted here?

"You've got stamina? Call me".

"You're almost there. That's what she said".

Are some of these signs supposed to be funny by being real juvenile type double entendre type messages?

There are signs sitting on the two chairs on the right side of the picture. I could only make out part of one of the sitting signs, that being the one on the right. The part I could make out is "If peeing your pants is cool then you're.....". I could not make out the next two words.

I don't know what you are thinking about this latest bit of Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, I mean, Panther Island Pavilion Boondoggle bizarreness, but what I'm thinking is whoever it was who thought it a good idea to make these signs and have a photo taken with little kids holding signs saying one goes nuts for runner's butts while the other little kid cheers for beer, well, methinks terminated without severance pay would seem to be a fitting response.

Should not the buck for something like this stop at the top? As in, J.D. Granger must have signed on to make these signs. He certainly signed on to promote them. Will the Tarrant Regional Water District Board have a Censure Hearing regarding this?

Or am I just an old fuddy duddy who does not get the highly evolved, sophisticated Fort Worth sense of humor?

Extremely perplexing.....

I Am Really Looking Forward To The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Sunday Funday With Award Winning Beer

Yesterday I blogged about the latest Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Update mailing in a blogging titled The Trinity River Vision Spring 2014 Update's Perplexing Propaganda.

I went a bit long-winded in that blogging, which caused me to not mention a thing or two. And then today I realized I'd not paid any attention to a separate part of the four page mailer, that being an insert which is the Panther Island Pavilion 2014 Events Calendar.

First, from the TRVB Update, yesterday I did not mention the news that the Trinity River Vision is going to be (according to the blurb's headline) "Bringing Culture to Cowtown", by bringing opera to the Coyote Drive-In. Apparently the Fort Worth Opera is working with the Coyote Drive-In to "bring opera right to drive-in patrons' car speakers".

It really is this type thing which has made Fort Worth the Best City in America.

And in more Trinity River Vision Update news we also learned The Yoga Project-Riverside Studio opened in January.

Over a decade ago, back when the Trinity River Vision was first seen, who could have predicted way back then what we'd be seeing from the Trinity River Vision in 2014?

Yoga, opera, a brewery, a wakeboard lake, an island, a pavilion, a music venue, a drive-in movie theater and inner tubing happy hour parties in the Trinity River.

This really is all quite breathtaking.

Yet somehow perplexing at the same time.

Wasn't flood control part of what was originally touted as being core to this particular vision? You know, a much needed plan to prevent damaging floods where no damaging flood had occurred for well over half a century, because after the last bad flood massive levees were built which have done their job ever since.

On the flip side of the 2014 Events Calendar, which is what you see a scanned image of above, we learn that Rockin' the River is returning for its fourth year. With this year adding a fireworks show at the end of every Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Float.

And for the Fourth of July Fort Worth's Fourth of July Festival is back once more at Panther Island Pavilion, with more fireworks, and with any luck this year the Trinity River levees won't catch fire.

We also learn that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is "excited to announce a NEW weekly Sunday Funday summer series at Panther Island Pavilion" featuring "tubing, food trucks, music, kayaks, canoes, pedal boats and stand up paddle boards".

Since Sunday Funday runs from 1 - 6 pm, what with it being Sunday, and what with Fort Worth being part of the Buckle of the Bible Belt, shouldn't some sort of non-denominational church service be part of the Boondoggle's Sunday Funday?

In addition to Sunday Funday we also learn "Award winning Panther Island Brewing will be serving several of their beers on the site." On Sunday.

This brewery is barely open. How did it already win an award?

In other event news we learn "Waterboard pro, Shane Bonifay is coming to Cowtown Wakepark to hold a clinic! It's an experience that you can't pass up."

Oh, I really think it won't take much effort on my part to pass on this experience.

A Look At The Amazing Stage 3 Of The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion

 I can't be the only person who finds it odd that out of the blue someone decided it was clever to call a location, located in part of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle project zone, "Panther Island".

And then give the name "Panther Island Pavilion" to what the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's chief propagandist, J.D. Granger, has described, and I am working from memory here, as "a rare downtown urban waterfront music venue".

Which is sort of true, actually. I mean what other town in America encourages people to drink beer while floating on inner tubes in a polluted river while listening to live music?

So, the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle really has created a rare downtown urban waterfront venue.

I do not know what decade in the future that which is referred to as Panther Island will actually become a faux island. The un-needed flood diversion channel is what will create the faux island. And that un-needed, un-voted for, flood diversion channel is nothing but an un-funded pipe dream, at present, with no known project timeline for its construction.

A couple months ago I pedaled my bike to the Panther Island Pavilion area. At that point in time I was focused on what a mess of cyclone fences and clutter the area was.

Last week I discovered that the cyclone fencing is now gone, and the clutter is greatly reduced.

And I noticed something else.

I do not know why the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle has not trumpeted the fact that, apparently, their Panther Island Pavilion operation is of the recycling, green sort.

Very admirable.

Several of the long gone Tandy Subway's train boarding stations have been re-purposed as Panther Island Pavilion music stages.

You are looking at STAGE 3 in the picture.

STAGE 3 with a couple Panther Island Pavilion outhouses to the left.

Classy.

Can we conclude that this type development is indicative of the quality level we can expect from any of the other parts of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle that actually ever become anything anyone is able to see?