The Shadow Of The Bald Skinny Dipping Thin Man Ponders The Dark Full Moon

The Shadow of the Bald Skinny Dipping Thin Man is up well before the sun on the 15th day of August.

The moon is full this morning, hovering directly overhead, yet providing no darkness removing illumination.

A few weeks ago I saw photos of contemporaries of mine who have become follically challenged. When I saw these photos I thought to myself something I have thought to myself before.

As in if ones hair gets thin why not just go for a buzz cut instead of a diseased mange look?

So, yesterday I decided to see what it is like to have a total buzz cut. This is rather easy to do. I like the result. It is sort of convenient. Zero time spent drying hair. Definitely no combing is needed.

I don't think we made it to 100 degrees yesterday, but I'm not totally certain about that. If we didn't I am fairly certain that would make 4 days in a row under 100. Today the scheduled temperature is over 100.

Even though we are scheduled to be HOT today I think I will try to do some Tandy Hill hiking. I can not remember when last I have been on the Tandy Hills. Maybe 2 Saturdays ago.

In the meantime I am going swimming in the increasingly chilly pool.

Johns Hopkins Is Not Finally Admitting There Are Alternative Treatments To Chemotherapy For Cancer

I don't recollect if I've mentioned it before, but I probably have, that being that I am a 26 year cancer survivor.

This week a high school classmate of mine died after a 4 year battle with brain cancer.

He was not the first in my class to die from cancer.

Currently several girls from my class are fighting breast cancer.

I think a study should be done to see why so many of my fellow classmates from the Skagit Valley have contracted cancer. Could it be the pesticides used on the agricultural fields, where kids picked berries, that is the cancer causer?

When I found out I had cancer it was at the time that the AIDS epidemic was starting. AIDS compromised the immune system. What did most AIDS victims die from? Cancer.

But, when I mentioned the obvious connection between cancer and the immune system, back then, my doctor scoffed. This was to be the first of many incidents that thoroughly soured me on the medical business.

When the tumor results came back for my particular cancer there was a high necrosis factor, meaning the tumor was dying. I argued that my immune system was already taking care of the tumor. I argued that the human body constantly produces cancer cells which the immune system eliminates.

I was scoffed at.

I read all the alternative therapy info I could find.

I rebelled against the conventional treatment. After the surgery I refused a followup removal of half my lymph system, knowing, by then, that the lymph system was integral to the immune system.

It did not take much research to learn that the treatment protocol for my particular cancer had not changed since the 1950s, hence I was able to anticipate each recommendation by my doctor, to his increasing aggravation and eventual chastising of me for trying to be a doctor.

I am very grateful I did not follow my doctor's orders. Knowing what is known now.

Had I allowed the lymphadenectomy the next treatment would have been chemotherapy. Even though a CAT scan and a lymphangiogram and other tests found no tumors.

I was convinced my healthy lifestyle, at the time, of jogging, eating like a health nut and other immune system enhancing behaviors had me on the right track to beating cancer.

26 years later I think it would be hard to make the case I was wrong. Knock on wood.

What got cancer on my mind today, was Betty Jo Bouvier emailing me an article about a supposed Johns Hopkins Cancer Research Update.....

This is an extremely good article. Everyone should read it.

Well, maybe everyone should read it, but the trouble is, Johns Hopkins did not release this Cancer Research Update. It is what is known as an Internet Hoax. That is not to say that there is not a lot of truth in the points being made. It's just that Johns Hopkins did not make these particular points.

But, even though this does not come from Johns Hopkins, I'll print it below anyway, because a lot of it resonates with me as to what I believe to be the truth about cancer (I deleted what I thought were crackpotty parts of this pseudo Johns Hopkins Cancer Research Update).......

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins Cancer Research:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size. 
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime. 
3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors. 
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors. 
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system. 
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs. 
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction. 
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications. 
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

Sunny Sunday Melancholy Cured By Village Creek Oak Trees & Pico De Gallo

This semi-chilly sunny Sunday, heated to less than 100 degrees, had me feeling like a melancholy baby this morning.

Why?

I don't know.

Except the melancholy started with me thinking about Zion National Park. I do not care to elaborate.

Around noon I decided to become one with nature, such as it is in these parts of the planet, and walk in the shade under the giant old oak trees in the Village Creek Natural Historic Area.

The Village Creek oak trees always cause me to ponder all that those old trees have seen. Some of them likely date back to looking over a thriving Indian trading village with fields of corn and pumpkin patches.

Some of the Village Creek oak trees were likely providing shade the day the Texans arrived to issue their primitive eminent domain demands via lethal projectiles flying from firesticks.

I had not been back to see Village Creek since the rains of Friday. Enough rain had fallen that a dribble of Village Creek water was making it past the dam/bridge that leads to the bayou.

I was quite surprised to look at the formerly totally dry Village Creek Bayou today to see that it has been recharged with a lot of water. I don't know why Village Creek is running at a dribble pace, while the Village Creek Bayou appears to be full.

Walking amongst the tall oaks put me in a better frame of mind, sort of. Lunch, with made from scratch pico de gallo, totally revived me.

The Air-Conditioned Outdoor Cool Of The Dawn Of The 2nd Sunday Of August In Texas

I'm looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at a very inviting pool on this 2nd Sunday of the 14th morning of August.

Already we are almost at the mid-point of August. September is rapidly approaching.

23 days in to September Fall of 2011 begins, soon followed by cooler temperatures.

We got a reminder of what cooler temperatures are like on Saturday. And of what rain is like. The high on Saturday was in the 85 degree zone.

Our respite from the HEAT apparently will be short lived. Even though the dawn of the 2nd Sunday of August is cooled to 79.5, the day is scheduled to be heated to an almost HOT 99.

I think I will go take my Sunday morning swim now, while the water is still way warmer than the air.

Drinking $200 Margaritas With Naughty Schoolgirls While Helping A Stripper With Her Tuition & Riding Elephants

If I remember right I think I have mentioned previously that I am a fan of the ads I find in Fort Worth Weekly.

I have never been to the Mule Pub. Looking at the ad it appears that the Mule Pub is way too expensive for my tastes.

I can not imagine paying $200 for a Margarita. Even if the Mule Pub is the "Home of the $200 Margarita."

And "World Famous."

But it was not the expensive cocktail that intrigued me about this particular ad. What intrigued me was trying to figure out what message the photo of the two elephants in the ad was supposed to convey. Is the ad suggesting if you consume one of those $200 Margaritas that you will soon be frolicking like those elephants?

It's very perplexing.

The other ad in this week's FW Weekly that caught my eye was the ad for Buck's Cabaret.

Buck's Cabaret's ad commands "Attention All Sugar Daddies."

And then says "Buck's Cabaret Presents the First Annual Back to School Naughty School Girl Party..."

Bucks asks ad readers to "Join us and help a stripper pay her tuition."

Apparently, according to the ad, "The Naughtiest School Girl Will Win a $1000 Scholarship from Buck's Cabaret."

The Naughty School Girl Party is on Thursday, August 25. This conflicts with that Thursday's Rockin' the River Inner Tube Happy Hour Float.

I am torn as to which of these events I will attend. I do like to help a stripper get through school. But I am also a huge fan of getting wet in very dirty water.

Enjoying A Naturally Cool Saturday In North Texas While Fishing, Walking & Town Talking

Swimming in the rain this morning was a wonderful thing. The air was heated to a temperature somewhere in the mid 70s. The water in the pool was quite a bit warmer than the mid 70s.

I have no idea what the temperature was of the raindrops that kept falling on my head.

The rain dropped for several hours. At the current point in time, a bit past 3 on this Saturday, it is only 84.2.

I went to Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdic Lake and visit the Fosducks again today. The Fosducks, recently traumatized by the HEAT, today were ducking in the lake, out in full force, paddling all over Fosdic Lake,

The cool temperatures brought out a long of anglers, angling for fish one is warned not to consume. The fishermen seem to have themselves a real fine time.

Yesterday when I walked around Fosdic Lake, talking to my mom, my mom asked me if I could find out if a high school classmate of mom's was still among the living. A few minutes ago I Googled the classmate's name and then called mom to tell her where the classmate can be found.

This had me thinking back to 1962 and the World of Tomorrow in the Seattle World's Fair Century 21 predictions of the future. The video phones predicted in 1962 were huge clunky things. Certainly not mobile. 1962 saw nothing like the Internet in the future.

So, in 2011 I am walking around a lake in Texas, not tethered to a land line, talking to my mom in Arizona, in a long distance call that adds not a penny to my phone bill, with my mom asking if I can find out if a friend of hers from long ago is still alive. Then via this invention called the Interet I use this thing called Google to quickly find the answer to my mom's question.

If the World of Tomorrow told people at the Seattle World's Fair that a searching thing called Google would be a really big deal in the 21st Century, people would have giggled.

After Fosdic Lake was done with me I did my regular Saturday thing and went to Town Talk. I thought Oakland Lake Park was a lot busier than usual, attributing the activity to the sudden cool weather. I have never seen Town Talk so busy as it was today. I had trouble finding a parking spot.

I imagine most of North Texas is likely out and about enjoying the natural air-conditioning.

It won't last. Tomorrow we are scheduled to be back over 100.

Swimming In The Rain Chilled To 74 Degrees In Formerly HOT Texas

When I woke up this 2nd Saturday, 13th Day of August I heard an unfamiliar sound. I thought something had gone wrong with the fountain by the pool and it was spewing way more water than it should be spewing.

I looked out my primary viewing window and what do I see?

Rain hitting the window.

I stepped outside on to my patio prison cell to retrieve my swimming suit and take a picture of the falling drops. My limited photographic skills sort of captured the falling rain.

I must say, a warm summer rain falling on my parched skin was very refreshing.

Apparently the rain started falling around 6 this morning, accompanied, in some locations, by lightning and thunder.

I have my windows open for the first time in a long time. It is only 74.9 degrees out there right now. That is over 6 degrees cooler than I usually have my A/C set to.

I think I will go swimming in the rain now. Have not done that in a long long time.

The Trinity River Vision Updates Rockin' The River Live On The Trinity

I don't know who pays for the slick 4 page, full color brochures the Trinity River Vision mails to my mailbox every once in awhile.

I'm sure the taxpayers are not footing the bill for this particular extravagance.

The primary focus of this latest TRV mailing seems to be the raging success of the Trinity River Vision's Rockin' the River Live on the Trinity Summer Tubing & Music Series.

Who could have guessed, back when the Trinity River Vision was first being seen, that by summer of 2011 so much progress would have been made in remaking the Trinity River that thousands of Texans would come from far and wide to float in that formerly polluted river.

Or, as the TRV Brochure puts it...

The response to Rockin' the River - Live on the Trinity has been astonishing. The event has grown to attract more than a thousand people from all over North Texas at each concert, and continues to grow as more people hear about the good times being had on the river.

Well, that is impressive. More than a thousand people. From all over North Texas. Coming to Fort Worth because they've heard of the good times to be had on the river.

And then there is this blurb from a TRV minion...

"We are just happy to be able to provide the public with a fun and free event where they can come get in the cool water and enjoy some great music," said Shelby Lyon, a TRVA staff member who helped coordinate the series. "People really seem to be having the time of their lives out there, and that's what it is all about."

Now, that is just about the saddest thing I've read this week. People are having the time of their lives floating in a polluted river? And that is what the TRV is all about? Providing the public with fun, free events? Was this what was envisioned when the Trinity River Vision first saw its vision?

The brochure has some other information besides touting the tubing. Like the TRWD sponsoring of an "Our River, Our Children" Art Contest. Near as I can tell this is some sort of propaganda operation filling young minds with visions of boondoggle grandeur.

Then there is a blurb about new mountain bike trails in Gateway Park. I've not seen these new mountain bike trails. The blurb also mentions that phase two will add five miles of trail which will include an elevation gain of 250 feet. With spectacular views of downtown. Since there is currently very little elevation gain in Gateway Park I can not help but wonder how this spectacular view is going to be acheived.

A big headline announces that "Cobb Park Construction is in Full Swing!" Apparently this is a centerpiece for the southeast Fort Worth renaissance.

The brochure includes an invite to the TRV Education Center where you can gain an in-depth understanding of the difficult to understand project.

We also learn that the Trinity River Vision Master Plan was recognized for Development Excellence by getting a coveted 2011 CLIDE Award from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTGOC).

On page 3 of the brochure, there is a picture of JD Granger, Jennifer Harnish, Rachel Navejar and Shanna Cate at the NCTGOC luncheon.

I think I remember seeing JD and Shanna checking in to a Dallas hotel. I wonder if that was where the NCTGOC luncheon was held?

The back page of the TRV brochure is pretty much like the front page, devoted to Tubing the Trinity, with 9 photos of people doing the tubing.

Walking With My Mom Around Fosdic Lake While My Nephew David Goes Boating

Today I talked to my mom during my noonday constitutional walk around Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park.

No. That is not a kid in a boat on Fosdic Lake in the picture.

Boats are banned on Fosdic Lake. I assume because the caustic chemicals in that hazardous brew might eat a hole in a boat.

I talked to my mom the entire time I was walking, so my camera never left my pocket to take a photo documenting today's walk with the Fosducks around Fosdic Lake.

The lake in the picture is in my sister in Chandler, Arizona's backyard. That is my nephew, David, boating under the waterfall.

It seems a sad thing that a kid in Arizona can go boating in a backyard lake, while kids in Fort Worth have no public pools to swim in when it is very very HOT. And the town's lakes have signs warning that swimming and boating is not allowed.

It is currently over 100 degrees, again, according to my Weather Underground source. 100.9 to be precise.

I am starting to grow a bit tired of always being so HOT.

North Texas Days In A Row Of 100 Or Higher Ends At 40

You are not looking past the bars of my patio prison cell at the dawn of 42 Days in a Row of 100 Degrees or more in North Texas.

The official temperature measuring station at D/FW Airport did not go over 100 yesterday.

Which seems odd to me, due to the fact that yesterday, when I went walking in the shaded jungle of Village Creek, I thought it was the HOTTEST day yet. I'm guessing it must have been very very humid, thus feeling very very HOT.

Officially, the recorder had the temperature climbing to 96 by 3 in the afternoon, yesterday. Then dipping to a chilly 84, then bouncing back to 97. I did experience the odd drop in temperature around 3. I think I mentioned that yesterday. I did see some of what appeared to be thunderclouds.

But I heard no thunder. Apparently locations as close as downtown Fort Worth did hear the clap of thunder and felt a few minutes of rare rain dropping.

So, the record of 42 Days in a Row of 100 or higher, set in 1980 remains. 2011's total of 47 triple digit days is in 4th place. The record number of 100 degree days was also set in super HOT 1980, at 69.

We are scheduled to start being heated to 100 again on Saturday, with 100 degree days into the foreseeable future. I suspect we may still break a 1980 record, this year of 2011.

In the meantime I am going swimming.