Alma Sends Me From Texas To The Ukraine For Kseniya Simonova's Incredible Ukraine's Got Talent Performance

I have long known that when Alma, the songbird of the Texas Gulf Coast, sends me something she thinks is good, via email, to trust Alma's instincts.

Alma may get a bit testy at times, on Facebook, for instance, confusing some of my other Facebook friends, who don't know Alma. And so don't know that Alma is a good-hearted sweety-pie, very smart, very talented. And with one of the best senses of humor and good taste it has been my pleasure to encounter.

So, just seconds ago I watched a YouTube video Alma sent me. It was a jaw dropping video experience, the best since Susan Boyle shocked me on Britain's Got Talent.

And, as coincidence would have it, this YouTube video, that Alma sent me, is the Ukraine's winner of their version of Britain's Got Talent.

A very good looking Ukrainian, Kseniya Simonova, uses a light box, dramatic music and incredible sand painting skills to artfully make an interpretation of Germany's WWII invasion of Russia, and occupation of the Ukraine, that is so powerful it drives many in the audience to tears.

I have never seen anything like this. Thanks Alma....

Cable Gate & The Tandy Hills Blue Flags Mystery

I had not been back to the Tandy Hills Natural Area since our recent bout of rain here in Fort Worth. I figured we'd been dry long enough that the Tandy Hills would be dried out.

I was wrong. They were muddy spots. But, not too bad, so I was able to go up and down 2 hill climbs over and over again til the endorphins kicked in.

I was in desperate need of an endorphin fix. Being an endorphin addict and in dire need of a fix is not a good thing. I don't get an endorphin fix from swimming in the morning. That's more some form of aversion or shock therapy.

A couple weeks ago I was perplexed whilst hiking the Tandy Hills when I saw a couple small blue plastic flags on a spike stuck in the ground. Today I saw another pair.

What is the purpose of the unnatural plastic flags being stuck on the Natural Tandy Hills?

My way to the Tandy Hills today was from the playground main trail entry that goes by Fort Worth's most recent exhibit of stunning public art. As I left the grass/lawn zone, on to the trail, I was puzzled by big lumps of mud, some basketball size. What could have left those, I walked and wondered? There were a dozen, maybe 2 dozen, of these big lumps. From where were these lumps extracted?

And then as I neared the first trail junction, off the main trail, I started seeing tire ruts. Who is driving a 4 Wheeler on the Tandy Hills Natural Area? And leaving ruts? The ruts went no further than you see in the picture. You are looking south, back towards the playground/public art zone.

Are the ruts and the blue flags another Billy Hill antic?

And why is there no Cable Gate across the main entry trail to the Tandy Hills, blocking vehicles? Up by the tower, known as the Fort Worth Needle, there is a Cable Gate. This in a location that sees few vehicles. And then you start down the trail from the Needle and come to an intersection that has another Cable Gate across the trail that goes down the hill to the north. If you go down the trail to the south you will find another Cable Gate blocking the trail at the junction that goes north. Why these Cable Gates and none at the main entry where the rutting took place?

It's all very perplexing.

Going Swimming With The Polar Bears In Texas With Republic Tequila Following Me

Yeah, that's me in the pool this morning with one of my swimming buddies. It was so cold I had to wear a jacket, but forgot my stocking cap.

When I woke up the computer this morning, at 6am, WeatherBug told me it was 65. I thought, well, this is unexpected, I thought it was supposed to get cold overnight, the pool should be nicely warmed up.

And then WeatherBug refreshed its reading and told me it was 45 out there.

That had me thinking I might not last too long swimming this morning.

I was partly right. The water was warmer than the air, so that made getting in the ice water easily doable. I lasted about 10 minutes before requiring a warm up in the hot tub, in which I do not feel the heat when I first get in it. And then I overheat in about 3 minutes and get back in the ice water to cool down.

One would think that going from hot water to cold would be more bracing than my initial immersion, but it isn't. I've not been able to find a physiological explanation for this peculiar phenomenon. Then again, I really have not searched all that hard for an answer.

I see in incoming email that Republic Tequila is now following me on Twitter. Why do I seem to attract so many alcohol related Twitter Followers? It's very perplexing to me.

WeatherBug is chirping with a Weather Alert Message. These usually are annoying. And true to WeatherBug form, this one was annoying. And not at all weather related. It was a Child Abduction Alert. I've tried to change the settings in WeatherBug to only warn me if a severe Thunderstorm or Tornado is incoming, to no avail.

I should get rid of the WeatherBug nuisance. But I like being able to see what the temperature is. It's a conundrum.

Riding The Horse With The 2 Amigos To Wal-Mart To Get A Turkey Fryer Picture

A few minutes ago I drove to my nearby Wal-Mart Supercenter to get some vittles. Vittles means food items.

My route to Wal-Mart goes down a 4 lane boulevard called John T. White Road. It's got a wide median between the lanes.

This afternoon there were 3 amigos riding their horses on the John T. White Road median.

Is median the right word? My brain is being fuzzy right now.

The horse on the right was way too frisky, darting back and forth. I was concerned the horse would dart out on the road.

I remember previous recessions, recessions that were supposedly not as bad as the current one. During the previous recessions you would notice a big difference in customers in stores, as in way fewer of them. This afternoon Wal-Mart was a madhouse of people buying stuff, carts loaded. I do not remember a previous recession where I would see so many people yapping away on cell phones. Seems a luxury, like a cell phone, would be the first thing to go when times get tough. I guess cell phones have become a necessity, not a luxury. How could one get by not being able to call from Wal-Mart to ask what brand of beans to buy?

Speaking of things to buy. Wal-Mart had a big stack of Turkey Fryers Sets and Peanut Oil by the frozen foods. Do Turkey Fryer Sets show up in stores up north these days? Are they on the west coast? I'd never heard of frying a turkey or a Turkey Fryer til I came to Texas.

Click here to read everything I've learned about frying a turkey.

Finding Pig's Rectums & Strange Berries In Arlington Texas

I had to be in Arlington to sign something around noon. On the way to do that it was being such a perfect day I thought a walk around Veterans Park would be a good thing.

Many people thought the same thing. The desire to get outside and enjoy the nice day was likely somewhat prompted by relief at having the heavy fog of this morning disappear, replaced by a solid blue sky.

Walking Veterans Park I searched in vain for another Arlington outhouse for my Arlington Outhouse Series. I took a picture of the composting exhibit, but that's really not the same thing, even remotely, as an outhouse.

Walking through the Veterans Park Xeriscape I thought I was smelling roses, but could not find them. I did find a strange plant that had no leaves, but did have very colorful clusters of purple berry-like things dangling on twigs. My picture does not do justice to how both cool and odd, this plant looks.

After I finished signing something I decided to go to the Cho Saigon New Market to get an apple and orange for the cranberry chutney I'm making for Thanksgiving. I also needed fresh Ruot Gia for the exotic stuffing I'm sticking in my bird. For those of you who do not speak Vietnamese, Ruot Gia is Pig's Rectum. Yes, I know this sounds disgusting, but you really must try and expand your world into an appreciation of the foods of other cultures. I've learned to do this from watching Anthony Bordain's No Reservations show on the Travel Channel.

The party who rode with me to Arlington was not believing my account of the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium being surrounded by outhouses, despite the photo proof, so I had to do a drive-by of the stadium after I got my pig's rectum. This drive-by was coming from the south on Collins. I had not seen the extensive stadium outhouse collection on the west side of the stadium. I was in a hurry, so no photos were taken.

Who wants to come for Thanksgiving Dinner at my place now that you've heard about my tasty stuffing?

Jessica Simpson's Strange Smooch With Tony Romo Who Gave Dallas A Win With Last Minute Touchdown Pass

That is former newlywed, Dallas girl, Jessica Simpson, smooching her former boyfriend, Dallas Cowboy quarterback, Tony Romo.

Now that looks to me to be one disturbingly odd smooch, made more disturbing by the blue substance under Miss Simpson's nose.

Anyone have an answer to the question of what's going on here?

Thank you in advance for solving this mystery.

By the way, Tony won yesterday's game for Dallas, after being behind the Washington, I think, Redskins, 6 - 0, til the last few minutes of the game when Romo threw a touchdown pass with the extra point kick giving Dallas the win.

I am never happier than when Dallas wins a football game.

It Is Foggy In Fort Worth This Monday Morning In Texas

That is a very foggy Fort Worth you are looking at this morning around 8, looking out my patio window. I don't know where this fog came from or why. Fort Worth is hundreds of miles from the nearest large body of water, that being the Gulf of Mexico.

It is currently 45 degrees out there. That was also the temperature when I went swimming in the fog an hour and a half ago. I only lasted about 10 minutes in the cold water.

I'm going to Arlington around noon today. This trip to Arlington is not part of my very popular Outhouses of Arlington Series, but if I see an outhouse today in Arlington I will be sure to take a picture of it.

I Have Become Insane In Texas And Am Paying $450 For 10,000 Twitter Followers

Twitter continues to perplex me. There seems to be a lot of Twitter spamming and scamming. I've had someone somehow using my Twitter account to send out weird "Direct Messages" saying stuff like "I think you look weird in this picture." Of course, the person clicks on it. I did. Next thing you know you're taking an IQ Test that wants your cell phone number.

Then, just seconds ago, Irma Rogers became my latest ardent Twitter Follower. I clicked on Irma to see she wanted me to check out this wonderful thing that automatically got me Twitter Followers.

For a fee.

Why I would so desperately want Twitter Followers that I'd pay for them is a mystery to me. Somehow I've gotten some Twitter Followers, like Irma, without paying a single dime.

Apparently, for only $450.00 I can get myself 10,000 Twitter Followers. What a bargain. If I'm feeling like being cheap I can get 500 new Twitter Followers for only $50.00.

I think I'll take the go for the gusto option and get 10,000 Twitter Followers for a measly $450.00.

What a bargain! Follow me on Twitter!

A Blimp Leads Me To A Wal-Mart Closed By The Dallas Cowboys

After a quick visit to River Legacy Park I drove towards the Dallas Cowboy Stadium to see why a blimp was hovering in the vicinity. I did not think there was a game today because I thought the Dallas Cowboys always play on Thanksgiving because they are America's Team and for some reason that means they play football on Thursday.

I had not driven south on Cooper Street very far when I saw that the blimp said Direct TV on it. Not Goodyear. I took the picture you see above, that looks like someone has launched a missile to take down the blimp, and continued on towards the stadium.

Evidence quickly accumulated that indicated the Dallas Cowboys were playing football today. I saw dozens of buses, of the commercial sort, like Trailways, parked in one of the new lots that Arlington would not let Jerry Jones take by abusing eminent domain.

Soon I was at the intersection of Randol Mill Road and Collins. It was clearly obvious a football game was happening, due to all the tailgate parties on the corner of that particular parking lot, which you are looking at in the above picture.

Yesterday, that being Saturday, I dropped in on the Dallas Cowboy Stadium to take pictures of outhouses. I was surprised by what I found and blogged about it. There were high school football games going on, with lots of cars parked in the lots. I went to Wal-Mart yesterday, had no problem parking. Wal-Mart was busy, like the day before Christmas type busy. I thought to myself that I thought there had been complaints about Wal-Mart suffering a loss of business when the stadium was being used. I thought, well, one more crackpot making a bogus complaint.

So, imagine my surprise today. I wanted to go to Wal-Mart to get a missing ingredient for the curry thing I was making for lunch. The blimp had led me to the Stadium Wal-Mart so I figured I'd go there. Nope. Could not happen. There were a few cars in the Wal-Mart parking lot, but all entries off Randol Mill were blocked. The above picture shows the west entry blocked.

I figured maybe I could get to Wal-Mart via one of the side streets, and that maybe that was how the few cars in the lot had gotten in. Nope. All roads in were blocked. I was appalled. How is Wal-Mart being compensated for this?


Just past Wal-Mart I saw a pair of Pedicabs with no customers. I was to see maybe a dozen more, all with no customers.

Arlington is notorious for being the largest city in America with no public transit. That's right, the town that has Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane Harbor, The Ballpark in Arlington and the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, in what they call the Entertainment District, has no bus system. Except for the aforeseen Pedicabs and the trolleys you see above, that were lined up today by the Ballpark in Arlington, I assume after dropping people off for the game. The trolleys travel around the Entertainment District, stopping at the District's many lodging locations.

In the above picture you are looking past one of the Texas Ranger parking lot's outhouses at some Tailgaters having a BBQ. This particular lot charges $60. It is not close to the stadium. Maybe a 3/4 mile walk. How much did those first Tailgaters pay to park in that first lot I showed you, that is right up next to the stadium?

Above you see an Event Parking $60.00 sign. Along with another sign spelling out the Tailgating Rules. Such as you can only BBQ on the grass. And pick up your litter. Why must a sign tell Texans to pick up their litter?

The Outhouses Of Arlington Texas Series: The Outhouses of River Legacy Park

Yesterday I toured the Dallas Cowboy Stadium's Outhouses. And blogged about it. In that blogging I made mention of outhouses in my favorite Dallas/Fort Worth park, that being River Legacy Park in Arlington.

Today I decided to drive to River Legacy Park to continue my Outhouses of Arlington Texas series.

I was barely on the road when I saw a big blimp. No, I am not talking about a plus-sized person in the Albertson's parking lot. I'm talking about a Goodyear blimp type of big blimp. A couple miles further and it appeared to be hovering above the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

I was talking to Tootsie Tonasket on the way to River Legacy. Tootsie directed me to take pictures of the blimp after I was done with the River Legacy outhouses. Which is what I did. You don't say no to Tootsie Tonasket.

But, back to the River Legacy outhouses. The pair you see in the picture serve the River Legacy Pavilion. You can see the Pavilion in the background behind the outhouses. It is a very nice structure, with some glaring omissions. There is no sink or water faucet. There is a nearby drinking fountain, which would seem to indicate it would be possible to have running water in the River Legacy Wedding Pavilion. I have seen a dozen or so Saturday weddings taking place over the years in the River Legacy Pavilion. Usually with meat products being BBQed on the provided BBQ pit.

There is a modern facilities type restroom in River Legacy Park. It is built on a knoll, due to the fact that a large area of River Legacy, including the Pavilion, can go under water during a major flood of the Trinity River. I have seen that happen twice. The outhouses are evacuated prior to an incoming flood.

I know building another knoll and putting another restroom on it would be more expensive than outhouses. But, isn't it the right thing to do in such a nice park? In such a nice city as Arlington? And it would set a good example for Jerry Jones. Maybe he'd decided that real restrooms might be a nice thing to provide his customers who pay $60 or more to park on his lots and use his outhouses.

I wonder why Jerry has not thought of a way to monetize the Dallas Cowboy outhouses? He sells Party Passes for $29. I'm thinking a one use Potty Pass for $5 seems reasonable.