Texas Bragging Rights?

This morning I found out what was going on at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium yesterday. I learned in this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Sunday was the Open House Day that had been announced weeks ago. With the stadium being open to residents of Arlington who helped pay for it, but likely will never be able to afford to attend an event there.

The Star-Telegram article had a dose of that peculiar verbiage that I have made note of previously in that paper. Only this peculiar verbiage was in quotes from Arlington people, not peculiar verbiage coined by the Star-Telegram writer.

A pair of friends from southwest Arlington, Brad Rodgers and Mike Jones (no relation to Jerry) said they voted for the stadium because they wanted to bring prosperity and recognition to the city.

Rodgers said, "People from all over the world will come here. There doesn't even have to be a game. People are going to make Arlington a destination just to see the stadium."

I wonder upon what in depth research Rodgers based his statement?

Jones added, "Just getting the Super Bowl will bring a huge economic boost to the whole Metroplex."

Again, I wonder upon what in depth research the above statement is based? Irving sure did not fight too hard to keep the Dallas Cowboys playing in their town. Irving must have somehow missed out on the economic boost brought by the old stadium.

Around 30,000 Arlingtonians visited the stadium during the free open house. They got to check out the seats, the pro shop, the concession stands and the giant video board. They were barred from checking out the luxury suites and the locker rooms.

Another Arlingtonian, Michael Douglas, said the Cowboys Stadium "has definitely brought residents some bragging rights. It's put Arlington on the map."

Bragging rights? I've been in Texas for almost 10 years and I still don't quite get the Texas concept of bragging rights. What is the circumstance where one has the right to brag about that stadium being in your town? How does one verbalize the brag? Do you say something like, "I am from Arlington where the Dallas Cowboy Stadium is?"

I also don't quite see how the new stadium has put Arlington on the map. Maybe if they insisted it be named Arlington Cowboy Stadium. Or changed the name of the team to the Arlington Cowboys.

I also think that some Arlington residents are likely going to be a bit disappointed when the national press starts looking at the new stadium. I've already read some descriptions in publications outside the local propaganda zone. One described the rundown nature of the area where the stadium sits, mentioning all the pawn shops and other blight. Another described the massive structure as looking like a futuristic spaceship, totally out of place.

I really don't think people all over the world are going to be making Arlington a destination just to look at that football stadium. That's just goofy.

Big New Balls By The Dallas Cowboy Stadium

Due to being near the Ballpark in Arlington, where a team called the Texas Rangers play baseball, the Wal-Mart Supercenter had a baseball theme to it. With big baseballs on the fences that surround the property. And on the Wal-Mart building.

I've made mention a time or two, on this very blog, that with the new Dallas Cowboy stadium being directly across the street, it would seem some footballs needed to be added.

Well, today I saw that footballs have been added. Quite a few of them. And the scoreboard inside the store has been modified for football. I think football season starts soon.

Judging by all the cars in the Cowboy Stadium parking lots, maybe football season started today.

Between all the road construction disruption on the I-30 freeway, building new bridges, new roads and I don't know what else, traffic is not an easy thing in the area around the new stadium. I don't think they did a very good job anticipating what was going to happen when a huge increase in cars hit that area.

I don't know how well Seattle handles football and baseball traffic, what with the 2 ballparks being even closer to each other than the 2 Arlington ballparks. In Arlington you also have Six Flags added to the mess. Last summer, when I was in Seattle, a Mariner game started in the early evening. I used the bus tunnel to get across town. The tunnel was packed with buses and the buses were packed with people. I assume some heading to the game.

Arlington has absolutely no mass transit system. Except for a quaint little trolley that runs around the Entertainment District. It seems like a DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) train would make sense, zipping people to the ballparks and Six Flags. The Dallas Cowboys built their stadium in Arlington, not Dallas, so why not run a Dallas DART line to Arlington and Tarrant County?

Ride with me in the Seattle Bus Tunnel, in the YouTube video below. It starts with a walk through Westlake Center, then escalatoring to the basement and the bus tunnel. It all looks very futuristic compared to what I see in these parts, except for that new Cowboy Stadium that looks like a giant spaceship has plopped down on an American slum.

Dodging Discs, Looking For Daisy & Being A Giant In Chinatown

No. That's not the deck in my backyard. It's a deck in the Xeriscape Garden at Veterans Park in Arlington. I went Cicada hunting there today. I was unsuccessful. I heard the noisy buggers, but I saw none, nor the remains of one.

Today there were way too many Disc Golfers filling the air with spinning little flying saucers. Those things can fly quite a distance and make no warning noise. I've only been hit once and have had a couple close calls.

There was a poster stuck to a sign in Veterans Park. Someone lost their Brindle Boxer named Daisy. She being a 10 year old with a graying beard. If you know Daisy's whereabouts, call Steve at 817.944.1559. There's a reward.

When I was done Cicada hunting I went to the Hong Kong Market in Chinatown. I always feel like a giant when I'm there, today more so than usual, because a pair of really tiny Chinese ladies seemed to be following me around. They were speaking Chinese. I guess it could have been Korean. Or Vietnamese. It's not like I can tell the difference. I liked listening to them. Their voices were very high pitched and melodious. I often see Chinese, well, let's just call them women from Asia, since I realize I don't know what Asian country they are from, dressed in native garb when I'm in Chinatown, with their faces made up real nice.

When I left Hong Kong I went to the Dallas Cowboy Wal-Mart Supercenter. But, that's a separate blogging.

Sunday In Texas With Chinatown & Cicadas

Another Sunny Sunday in Texas. With me falling deeper into that rut I must like falling in to.

That rut included the usual morning swim, though this morning's was longer than the norm, so that was slightly out of the same old rut.

I'm going to Arlington's Chinatown today. This is another thing I seem to do over and over again. On the way to Chinatown it is pretty predictable that I will go to Veterans Park and walk around for awhile.

I'm going to look for some cicada corpses at Veterans Park. Ever since I watched a video about cicadas I've wondered why I've seen no corpses. I thought the cicadas were done mating for the year because I've not been serenaded by them of late while in the pool. But yesterday the cicadas were in full cacophony mode at the Tandy Hills.

Since I'm going to Chinatown today, part of that rut is I go to the Wal-Mart across the street from the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. The last time I did that I had myself all sorts of traffic woes that had me heading towards Dallas when I wanted to go the opposite direction. I hope I remember not to make that same mistake today.

A Wind Chills Texas A Little & Big Fish In A Big Tank

In the picture you are standing on the best place to stand in this locale, looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

It was barely 90 when I took off out of here to go hike around the Tandy Hills for awhile. A good wind was blowing, so the wind chill factor made for a very comfortable temperature. Which is rare this time of year in these parts.

Earlier today a picture of Snoqualmie Falls had me missing Washington. This afternoon I saw a couple good videos of the Falls, so I added them to the earlier blogging.

When I came in here after lunch and checked email, there was one from Miss C showing one of the world's biggest aquarium tanks. It's located on Okinawa. Some say it's the biggest, others the 2nd biggest. It looked plenty big to me. But what I got out of it was I miss saltwater and the creatures that live there.

There is saltwater where I'm living right now, but it's not natural. It's this toxic saltwater brine, oozing with dangerous chemicals, that the Barnett Shale gas drillers inject into the thousands of holes they've poked in the ground here. Somehow the toxic brine cracks, well, the Texas-speak for this is fracks, the hard shale, shattering it, somehow releasing natural gas.

Besides introducing a lot of toxic saltwater into holes in the ground, those holes have been causing another thing rare in these parts. Earthquakes. I've not felt one. They are rather puny earthquakes.

Below is the YouTube video Miss C sent me. This is one cool looking aquarium.

Snoqualmie Falls & The Queen Of Wink

I am back in I miss Washington mode again this morning. That is Snoqualmie Falls in the picture. If you were a Twin Peaks fan you likely recognize the Falls and the Lodge above the Falls, from that TV show.

The Queen of Wink has never seen a waterfall. When I saw this picture of Snoqualmie Falls this morning when I logged into Facebook, I felt compelled to swipe it and blog it to show the Queen what a big waterfall looks like.

Before I forget, I must credit Mike Bullock for the photo. It was from him I swiped it.

This picture appears to have been taken from the Park/Overlook. I have been at this location when the Snoqualmie River is in full flood mode. The only more powerful acts of Mother Nature I have experienced was a 6.5 earthquake and a volcano exploding.

When the Snoqualmie River is flooding the Falls has the ground shaking, the roar is deafening and so much spray is in the air you end up as wet as you'd be in a downpour.

Snoqualmie Falls is only about 20 miles east of Seattle, a short distance north of I-90. North Bend is a couple miles to the east. You can go there to the Mar-T Cafe and get some of that famous Twin Peaks cherry pie and coffee. I have had the Mar-T Cafe cherry pie and coffee. It really was not all that good. I don't know what Agent Cooper was thinking.

Below is a YouTube video of Snoqualmie Falls, taken on January 9, 2009, when the Snoqualmie River was in flood mode. And another YouTube video is below the flood, showing Snoqualmie Falls and the surrounding park area like it's looking right now, in summer...

I've Been Told To Take A Long Walk In China

Someone calling him/herself Dynamo Hum Tweeted or Twittered me, or whatever you call it, with the suggestion that I take a long walk across China, like the guy in the above video did. The guy walking is a 27 year old German from Hanover named Christoph Rehage. He was a China Studies major in college, which may explain why he started his walk in Beijing. His goal was to walk all the way back to Germany, passing through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Armenia, Turkey and then a couple Slavic countries before getting back to Deutschland.

Sadly, real life intervened with personal issues bringing Christoph back to Germany before he was done walking. He is now back going to school to finish his degree and made the video you see above. It starts off a bit slow. Stay with it til it speeds up. You'll be glad you did. For the best viewing, click the full screen option. It's to the left of the word VIMEO on the lower right.

Walking Around Fosdic Lake While Thinking About Birthing A Giraffe And Going To Durango

That is Oakland Lake, also known as Fosdic Lake, in the picture. I have not been able to learn why it is called Oakland Lake Park, with another sign talking about the ecological issues involving Fosdic Lake.

I'm losing my enthusiasm for going swimming every morning, though I did so this morning. I had a rough night. Nightmares about giraffes birthing babies.

A friend of mine, who specializes in interesting, but disturbing videos, sent me a link to a video of a Masai Giraffe giving birth. First the hoofs come out, then the head, then the baby drops 6 feet to the ground. I've never been a farmboy. I've never seen such a thing.

The giraffe birthing was not as disturbing and sleep disruptive as the video from a week or two ago of the guy pulling a woman apart, with the upper half pushing herself away using her arms.

I am guessing that the 'Free Hug' video the disturbing video specialist sent me this morning is going to give me nightmares tonight.

I virtually went to Durango this morning, among other places, before escaping from here for a bit to bask in the natural sauna.

Watch the YouTube video below if you've not attended a giraffe birthing before. It's a pretty impressive work of Mother Nature...

Is Only Child Syndrome A Terrible Disease?

I've heard from another Only Child. This ones name is Drew. Drew is doing research into Only Child Syndrome. I think I've mentioned before that I've managed to become, inadvertently, one of the world's experts on this subject.

Drew seemed quite upset at what some people had to say about the syndrome. And just like other Only Children who have commented, Drew demonstrates the syndrome right in his comment.

Here is the Internet's Urban Dictionary's definition...

Only Child Syndrome

A terrible disease that typically effects only-children, but can occasionally strike people with siblings. It may also effect children whose parents divorce.

Symptoms include: playing mind games with members of the opposite sex, a crippling desire for instant gratification, the inability to compromise or share, and a total disregard for anyone's thoughts or feelings but their own.

Below is Drew's comment about one of the bloggings about Only Child Syndrome...

ok im doing research on overcoming part of my only child syndrome...sure we have issues....some of us more than others.....but everyone else has issues as well.....im trying to make myself a better person and understand why i do some of the things i do.....to be honest, i am taken aback by the amount of bias and criticism some of the people here have to say..... to make a statement saying that people who have noticed the symptoms of being an only child are angry and not articulate is silly, dont you think? ....this world has no absolute truths.....honestly that may be one of the most ridiculous stereotypes ive ever heard....nobody is perfect.....everyone has their issues......not every only child is like that....

Hug Aversion Therapy

I get so tired of so many people thinking I need to be cured of my hug aversion. I don't think it is an ailment in need of a cure. Miss C sent me a YouTube video this morning about a guy on the opposite side of the hugging spectrum from me. I found it amusing. And a bit disturbing. Hugging so many strangers. That is way too much contact with way too many potential germs.