Truth, Justice & The American Way Celebrated With Flags On Carter Avenue

Some time after 2 this afternoon an email came to my attention from a reliable source, let's call him Fort Worth's Deep Well, telling me that he'd been asked by another reliable source to tell me I should drive down Carter Avenue.

I always do what I'm told to do. Usually.

So, I stuck my camera in my pocket and hopped on my trusty steed and headed towards Carter Avenue, having no idea what I would find there.

I thought maybe a Thanksgiving Eve Block Party was underway, celebrating the news that Chesapeake Energy is backing off on their threat to run non-odorized natural gas through a pipeline running under the homes along Carter Avenue.

As soon as I turned off Beach Street on to Carter Avenue I saw flags, lots of American flags, in front of every home on Carter Avenue,
then more flags when I turned left on Sanborn Street, flags all the way to Mother Nature on Scott Avenue, a monument that continues to weep over the damage done to the Tandy Hills by Chesapeake Energy.

How has Mother Nature lasted so long? Has it not been 2 long hot summers and 2 long cold winters that she has sat there? She looks no worse than the last time I saw her, maybe as long as a year ago.

Back to the flags. Was this the people of Carter Avenue celebrating that the American Way had worked? That truth, justice and doing the right thing had prevailed. That they had used the power of their freedom of speech to let other Americans know about the threat being directed at Carter Avenue?

Following the American flags down Carter Avenue leads you to Mother Nature. That has to mean something....

Microsoft Extreme Wednesday Morning Suckitude In Texas

I've not often jumped on the Microsoft Sucks Bandwagon.

Til last night when Bill Gates rudely woke me up by taking control of my computer, again, against my will. And restarted it.

Yesterday afternoon I saw that there was yet another round of security updates to prevent someone horrible from taking control of my computer (like Microsoft does).

I read the details of the updates, saw one was irrelevant to me, de-selected it and hit the cancel button.

Now, I know I can somehow disable these Microsoft XP automatic updates, I think. But, I also know that it's likely a wise plan to do the updates. But, I really do not think I was in imminent danger of attack. I should have been allowed to install and re-start when I wanted to.

DOOM Presents The 3rd Annual Kennedy Assassination Race In Dallas November 28

It is not easy to disgust me with a display of bad taste. Like what Adam Lambert did on Sunday at the American Music Awards didn't disgust me, instead I was sort of embarrassed for him and his incredibly bad judgment.

Now the poster you see here, that does disgust me due to the extreme display of bad taste. I don't know who or what DOOM is. I do know DOOM convinced the Oak Cliff Bicycle Company in Dallas to display their race poster that says...

DOOM PRESENTS 3rd ANNUAL KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RACE, NOVEMBER 28, 1PM at GLENCOE PARK.

I assume it is bikes being raced.

What does "AFTER ALL, IT WAS YOU AND ME" mean? Again, I don't know.

I'm not alone in finding this poster to be a very bad thing. It has generated a lot of comments on the Oak Cliff Bicycle Company website. From reading the comments I think I gleaned this is a bike race, with one of the comments coming from the guy behind the DOOM poster, Alain, who writes a very long reply to Galen, explaining his rationale for the poster. You can go to the link to read what Alain had to say for himself. Below are some other comments...

The poster and, indeed, the whole idea is in very poor taste. I take it the folks behind the Assassination ride didn’t live through that terrible time.

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While I understand this flyer may be deemed offensive to many, our intention is to promote cycling and cycling events in our community. Period.

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Oh, I understand now. It’s like if I lived in NYC and owned a bungee jumping equipment store. OK, I want to promote bungee jumping, so I organize a 9/11 Twin Towers Memorial Bungee Jump, and on my flyer, I have pictures of the poor souls jumping to their death from the Twin Towers. Wow, what a great idea! It would really drum up support for my store and bungee jumping, wouldn’t it?

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In my mind, this poster is a symbol of so much that is wrong with our society. It is a reflection of how so many people, especially those of Gens X and Y, have become numb to images of graphic violence. From video games to movies, these young people have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of scenes of exploding brains, steaming entrails, and other gratuitous gore. It also expresses that desire to shock people’s sensibilities, just for the sake of being shocking.

Thanksgiving Turkey Trot In Dallas

Two Dallas Thanksgiving traditions take place tomorrow. I may participate in one of them, that being the Turkey Trot. The other tradition is the Dallas Cowboys always play a Thanksgiving Day Football Game.

Tomorrow Dallas is going to try and beat the Oakland Raiders in Arlington. Dallas never plays football in Dallas, which means Dallas never plays a home game. Dallas played football in Arlington this past Sunday. Tony Romo was slightly hurt. Four days is not much recovery time between games. Or so I would think.

Tomorrow's Turkey Trot in Dallas started way back on Thanksgiving of 1968. I believe that the original race ran from White Rock Lake to downtown Dallas. The current version of the Turkey Trot starts downtown at the Dallas City Hall and runs an 8K or 5K route in the downtown zone. Why the run is not around White Rock Lake, I do not know.

Back in 1968, in Dallas, there were few runners, that fad had not hit this part of the country yet. Now, 41 years later, the Turkey Trot, officially known by its sponsor's names as the Capital One Bank Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot, is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, race of its sort in America.

Over 37,000 runners, 15,000 spectators and 2,000 volunteers will be joining me at the Turkey Trot.

Running should work up a good appetite for a big feeding of turkey and other goodies tomorrow. See you in Dallas.

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.