Fort Worth Star-Telegram Continues To Shrink

This morning I read an interesting series of comments at the West & Clear Blog regarding reader's regard, well actually, lack of regard regarding the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's current state of failure.

After having spent a month reading another McClatchy newspaper, that being the Tacoma News Tribune, it is surprising how different the 2 papers are. One would think the Tacoma paper was the one serving the bigger market, but Tacoma's population is just a tad over 200,000. While Fort Worth has over 700,000 people currently residing within its borders. I believe the Star-Telegram circulates more newspapers than the News Tribune.

But the Star-Telegram is a much smaller paper, with a lot more ads and way fewer columnists. Somehow the News Tribune can afford to have more than one columnist on its editorial page.

The comments in West & Clear about the current state of the Star-Telegram's diminishing relevancy were interesting, matching much of what I've observed, including the weird role the paper assigns itself as being a city booster, rather than accurately reporting on the city's many shortcomings.

A guy named Greg wrote an interesting comment about the Star-Telegram's shortcoming's and its resultant disservice to the community. I'll copy what Greg wrote below....

"A paper whose purpose in life has its historic roots in boosterism for the home town is doomed in the long run. It won’t get into controversies that could make Fort Worth look anything less than perfect. And that’s just not interesting. By not digging and finding things that need improvement I guess it’s assumed Fort Worth can look great. The problem is if we don’t expose what’s wrong, how do we ever get better? I mean, I love Fort Worth but I still think we have some areas that fall short of perfection.

Worse, by not digging into city failures and bad ideas the paper leaves the casual observer thinking there’s no reason to take an interest in civic affairs. And so people don’t show up and they don’t pay attention.

A free press is critical to preserving our other freedoms, but only to the extent that it does its job to inform the citizens about their government, including criticizing it. Fortunately we have the Weekly and occasionally the Business Press taking a few shots, but that’s not enough.

I don’t want to imply, though, that the S-T doesn’t have some dedicated and talented people. What it lacks is vision."

Mount Rainier August 11 Video

Earlier this month I blogged about finally getting to see Mount Rainer up close. All previous visits found The Mountain shrouded in clouds.

Today I finally got around to YouTubing video of my day at The Mountain.

Some of what happened during the day I went to Mount Rainier I did not mention while I was still under the heavy censorship control of my temporary place of confinement. For fear of eviction, a fear I was constantly faced with due to my constant border-line unforgivable faux pas.

Now that I am safely back in Texas I can mention some things I kept quiet about previously. Like how Kristin almost broke my back.

The aforementioned Kristin took the above photo of me. At Kristin's insistence I climbed the treacherous ladder you see here. This is a tall shed made to store stuff when the snow gets high. The snow gets real deep at Mount Rainier. Kristin said she wanted a photo of me at the top of this ladder. When I got to the top Kristin directed me to hold onto a bar that was attached to the door and to lean out for the photo. I did as instructed, just like I always do. Well, as I leaned out the bar broke free, just after Kristin took the photo you see above. I nearly lost my balance, but caught myself right before I would have backflipped to the ground. You'll hear this incident discussed in the video below. Kristin had been to this location before, far more recently than I. Myself, being a totally paranoid suspicious sort, believe Kristin plotted this nefarious deed in an attempt to do me bodily harm. Why? I'm still pondering that.

A large number of people visit Mount Rainier National Park each day. There are many trails with a lot of people hiking on them. Very lush, green meadows with wildflowers. Including what looked to be bluebonnets. Just like the ones in Texas. I was told they are not the same. You'll hear that in the video.

A large group had gathered as we all watched the clouds disappear and The Mountain come out in all its glory. You'll see some of the crowd of people in the video below. You'll also see Kristin and her mom shake their butts at me. Those two were unruly video subjects.

Cody Linley aka Jake Ryan with Gar the Texan's Daughter

Earlier today I blogged about the upcoming Dancing with the Stars and about half the dancing stars being stars I'd never heard of.

One of the ones I'd not heard of was a guy named Cody Linley who is on a TV show called Hannah Montana.

So, Gar the Texan sent me a photo of his daughter, Riley, or is it Ryleigh, with this Cody guy I'd not heard of.

Gar the Texan's words:

"My daughter with Cody Linley. You said you didn't know him. He lives (or lived) in Lewisville. I'm surprised the Startlegram has not mentioned it."

What I find disturbing in all this is the idea that apparently Gar the Texan has watched this Hannah Montana show and knows the character's names, as in Cody Linley plays Jake Ryan. And that this Cody guy lives or lived in Lewisville. If my memory serves me correctly, and it often doesn't, it seems like Gar the Texan's daughter lived in one of those north Dallas suburb towns, like Lewisville.

So, how does Gar the Texan's daughter know this wannabe dancing star. Is this Cody guy her boyfriend? Will Gar the Texan's daughter get to go to Hollywood to watch her boyfriend dance? Does Gar the Texan approve of this relationship? How come he doesn't know if the guy still lives in Lewisville if his daughter is seeing him? So many questions. It's hell to have an inquiring mind.

Dancing With The Stars Dancing Again

Yes, I have watched Dancing with the Stars. I find it entertaining. I like watching something where I know no matter how long I practiced I'd not be able to do what these people do.

Usually there is at least one "star" who is very entertaining. The last season of Dancing with the Stars I found no one entertaining. So I quit watching.

The season previous to the last one had Marie Osmond on it. She was very entertaining and provided good drama. Like fainting and deaths in her family.

The new Dancing with the Stars starts September 22 on ABC. As usual several of the "Stars" are stars I've never heard of.

Like Jeffrey Ross. He's a celebrity roaster and a comedian. Or Brooke Burke. Never head of this star. She's an actress. Never heard of a guy named Cody Linley. He's a "Star" on something called Hannah Montana. I've never heard of Warren Sapp. He's a football player. The football players they've had on Dancing with the Stars have been very entertaining, like Jerry Rice and Emmet Smith. If I remember right, Emmitt Smith won. There are two Olympic jocks I've never heard of on this edition of the show, those being Maurice Green and Misty May-Treanor, a sprinter and a volley baller.

And then there are the "Stars" I've heard of. Like Susan Lucci. She's Erica on All My Children. She should be fun to watch. I know who Cloris Leachman is. She's funny. In her 80s now. It embarrasses me to realize I know who Kim Kardashian is. She's on an awful reality show called Keeping Up with the Kardashians. She's also taken her clothes off for Playboy. Lance Bass sang in a boy band and likes boys more than girls. Rocco DiSpirito is a celebrity chef who had a reality show called The Restaurant. Rocco has the potential to provide some good drama. I wonder if his mama is still alive and cooking meatballs? Toni Braxton I know is a singer. Can't name one of her songs, though. I also know who Ted McGinley is. He was on Married With Children. I would bet he'll be one of the first kicked off the show this time.

So, of the 13 dancing "Stars" I have heard of 7 of them. I'm rooting for Cloris for the win. I hope she's paired with the Russian pro named Maks. They'd be funny together.

Olympic Lawn Mower Race

Last night I watched the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics. I made it as far as the athletes coming into the stadium. When I woke up this morning I had it in mind to blog about the ridiculousness of having a riding lawn mower competition in the Olympics.

I was certain I'd watched a riding lawn mower race last night where there was a big crash of dozens of lawn mowers with this guy from Kenya riding past the wreck and winning the gold medal. I remember thinking do they even have lawns to mow in Kenya?

So, this morning I Googled for images of last night's Olympic Riding Lawn Mower Race and was confused to not find any. And then I realized that I must have had a dream about the Olympic Riding Lawn Mower Race. And that there are no motorized competitions, as far as I know, in the Olympics. So, it had to be a figment of my bad imagination.

I did not watch much of the Olympics other than the opening and closing. Much of it seems ridiculous to me. Like one of the few things I watched was a men's gymnastic thing where a guy would flip himself off a vault and do twists in the air. He'd be judged as to how well he did his flips and twists and his landing.

The amount of time a guy would have to practice this bizarre feat in order to master it seems such a weird waste of effort. All so that you can compete at various events and possibly win a medal and the adulation of the millions of people who see this as a valuable, important activity.

Some of the Olympic stuff makes sense to me, due to it being things that humans actually do. Like run. Or swim. Or ride a bike. But to make a sport out of jumping on a trampoline and doing flips is just silly. Do they still have synchronized swimming? That one always seemed totally silly to me.

Anyway, I'm glad to see the Olympics go bye-bye for another 4 years, til 2012, when dozens of billions of dollars can be spent on it again, this time in London. I'll watch the opening ceremony, if I still have a TV, to see if the Brits top the spectacle the Chinese put on. I doubt that is possible.

Charter Communications Not Communicating

I did not watch much TV when I was up in Tacoma. I did not turn on my TV here til Friday night. I wanted to watch something on Bravo. But my Bravo channel, #72, was now a blue screen. I then switched to channel #49, Turner Classic Movies. Also blue.

What fresh hell is this I wondered?

So, even though I knew nothing good would come of it, I called Charter Customer Service. I don't know why they call it that. There is no service. The customer doesn't matter. I know I reached a call center in a foreign land. The Ukraine perhaps, maybe the Philippines, maybe India. I don't know. Joe wouldn't tell me where he was. These foreign customer service people always have fake American-type names, or so it seems.

I told Joe I wasn't getting Bravo or TCM on my cable connection. Joe told me that I was incorrect, that he can see I am getting Bravo and TCM. I told Joe all I'm getting is a blue screen.

Joe then asked me if I was interested in getting a Charter telephone. Why would I want a Charter Telephone, I asked Joe? You people are somehow losing my TV channels, why would I want to trust you with phone calls?

It is now Sunday and I'm still getting a blue screen of death when I want to watch Bravo. I talked to another Charter victim this morning and asked if she noticed any missing channels. She was missing SoapNet and is now 2 weeks behind on Young and the Restless. Quality of life is being detrimented by Charter's cavalier treatment of its customers. If you fall 2 weeks behind on Young and the Restless you may never catch up.

I guess I could go to the Charter website and see if there is any means to email a complaint. I think I've gone down that road before and found it fruitless.

Texas Armadillo Encounter at River Legacy Park

It has been a long long long time since I've biked the River Legacy Park paved trails. I used to pedal this almost daily. When I returned from a short visit to Washington in April of 2006, totally disgusted, I found that by pedaling hard at River Legacy the endorphins made me feel better. Soon, Washington was to fade from my memory. Where it remained, til recently.

I'm not suggesting there is any connection between today's pedaling and the fact that I returned on Wednesday from over a month in Washington.

But. Those endorphins did feel good today.

I pedaled a lot of it at over 18mph. I have about 25 fewer pounds on me than when I last pedaled this trail. It makes a difference. Was pretty easy to go 18mph.

And I saw a River Legacy armadillo. They are darn cute. No bobcats, snakes or tarantulas though.

Craig's List Vexes Me

I know Craig's List is a real good thing. Last winter I found a guy on Craig's List who fixed my brakes and all sorts of things. And it was way cheaper than going to one of those annoying car fix-it places.

During my brief time in Tacoma I put a dining room table for sale on Craig's List. It was easy to set up an account. But goofy things happened that vexed me. Like the listing would disappear. Or Craig's List would tell me to fix an error marked in red. This would bring up an accept the terms type thing, which I'd click and then get told I'm violating the rules by trying to post the same listing twice!

I figured this was a fluke due to me committing some obvious user error. But, this morning I put a Laser Hand Level on Craig's List, that you can go here to see and buy, and the same thing happened.

This time I got told to fix an error. This error was I'd not confirmed my email address. When I did so and clicked 'continue' I got that warning, again, about violating the rules by trying to post the same listing twice.

I'm guessing I'll have about the same luck selling this laser level tool as I did selling my sister's table. Which is still for sale.

Kroger: Wrong Store Wrong Price

An Albertsons is across the street from where I live. I don't get my groceries at Albertsons for the same reason I didn't shop at Albertsons when I lived in Washington. Because of a chronic problem with prices being wrong. And always in Albertsons favor.

A Krogers is about 2 blocks from where I live. When I'm in a hurry I'll go to Krogers. But Krogers is as bad, if not worse, than Albertsons with the price mistake problem.

This morning I wanted to make French Toast. I needed eggs. I was in a hurry so I went to Krogers. I only got eggs, bacon and orange juice. 3 items. On the shelf the sticker indicated the bacon was $2.99 with your Kroger Card.

But it rang up at $3.99 with 50 cents off, making it $3.49.

Krogers used to have a big sign telling you if the price rang up wrong you'd get the item for free. I've gone through that a few times at Krogers. You get to deal with a vacant-eyed teenager in customer service who has a real hard time understanding what you're complaining about.

So, today I was in a hurry. I saw two especially vacant-eyed looking teenagers at the customer service desk. It was not worth it to me to spend a half hour to get some free bacon.

I figured I'd get my revenge by blogging about Krogers. And in doing so I found I'm not the only one who has noticed Krogers has a chronic problem with the prices on the shelves not being the price you pay.

As in here you can read about another person's bad experiences with Krogers.

I may complain about Wal-Mart every once in awhile. But I buy most of my groceries at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart rarely makes a price mistake. When I catch Wal-Mart making a mistake, more often than not, it is in my favor. So, I don't complain.

No Eminent Domain Abuse in Washington

In the Washington town of Ballard, which is pretty much part of Seattle, a little old lady named Edith Macefield became a local legend when, at age 84, she refused to sell her little old house to developers.

Edith died June 15th at 86 years old. Her house still intact, as you can see in the photo. During the course of fighting the construction that surrounded her, Edith befriended many of the construction workers, including the construction's superintendent, Barry Martin.

Edith's last will and testament put Barry Martin in charge of her estate. During the course of constructing buildings that put concrete walls on 3 sides of her house, Edith charmed those building the walls. Barry Martin would drive Edith to appointments and help her with all sorts of things.

I've long said that the eminent domain abuse that occurs regularly in Texas to the benefit of private business, like the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal in Arlington or the Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters in Fort Worth or the mall parking lot scandal in Hurst would not occur in the more, well, progressive states on the west coast. Or the rest of America.

The survival of Edith's house is a prime example of how different things are in Texas compared with the rest of the United States. Edith was offered more than a million bucks for her $120,000 house. Which she refused. There was not even the remotest suggestion or attempt to abuse the concept of eminent domain to steal Edith's house, like what was done dozens of times in Arlington to get the land to build Jerry Jones his stadium.

Edith lived in a place that respected the basic American concept that one should be secure in ones home, safe from predators misusing the law for their own private gain. I still foolishly hold out the hope that the lingering court cases against the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones and Arlington will somehow reach a courtroom outside Texas and result, somehow, in criminal charges being brought against those who committed crimes against citizens of Arlington, with jail time and huge fines being imposed on those who did the dirty deeds. I know it won't happen, but I naively cling to the concept that justice prevails in America, while I now it often doesn't.