My Banjo Playing Nephew David's Relationship With Stephen Foster

That is my nephew, David, staging one of his impromptu banjo concerts for his brother and sister, Theo and Ruby.

David will soon be 3 years old. Theo and Ruby have yet to cross the year one threshold.

When my sister told me David was fixated on Stephen Foster songs I Googled to jog my memory about Stephen Foster.

David's favorite Foster song is "Oh! Susanna". His concerts include others of Foster's well known songs, such as "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home", also known as "Swanee River", "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", "My Old Kentucky Home", "Old Black Joe", "Beautiful Dreamer" and "Hard Times Come Again No More".

That last song, the one about Hard Times was a bit ironic for Stephen Foster. He was only 37 when he died.

While Foster is known as the "Father of American Music" and the pre-eminent songwriter of the 19th century, he was unable to make a living as a professional songwriter, due to the fact that that field did not exist, in America, at that time.

In the early 19th century the concept of music copyrights and composer royalties was ill defined, allowing sheet music publishers to steal his tunes.

Stephen Foster made a measly $100 for "Oh Susanna."

Stephen Foster was born on the 4th of July in 1826. He died in New York City on January 1, 1864. Foster had moved to New York City in 1860. A year later his wife and daughter left him, moving back to Pittsburgh.

Foster began a collaboration with a lyricist named George Cooper, during the Civil War, and together they spewed out a lot of music with patriotic war themes. But this did not improve Foster's financial situation.

Stephen Foster died after he contracted a fever and collapsed against a wash basin, clunking his head hard. Foster was living in abject poverty when he died. In his old leather wallet there was a scrap of paper which only said, "Dear friends and gentle hearts", along with 3 pennies and 35 cents in Civil War scrip.

Stephen Foster was buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. One of his most popular songs, "Beautiful Dreamer", was published shortly after he died.

I don't know if his widow got any money for "Beautiful Dreamer."

I also don't know when David's next Stephen Foster Banjo Concert takes place. Currently I believe there is no admission fee to David's concerts.

Up Late The 2nd Thursday Of September Pondering Wednesday Night's Republican Debate

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the outer world you may be able to guess I am up and about well after that glowing yellow orb in the sky arrived on this 8th day of September.

I think I overstressed my personal infrastructure, so I am not going to additionally stress my personal infrastructure today. Which means, no pool or other stressing today.

Something is seriously irritating my eyes this morning. I am almost sure this was not caused by watching the Republican Debate last night.

I also do not think my eyes burning is being caused my toxic chemicals released in the air by my new Chesapeake Energy neighbor, because I have heard no screeching drilling noises so we are not at the squirting toxic water into the well part of the process yet.

Back to that debate. My little sister, the lawyer, told me that of the Republicans the only one she could remotely consider letting in her house, if he knocked on her door, was John Huntsman.

When my little sister said this to me I had no clue who John Huntsman was. I do now. He seems like a very bright guy.

Last night's debate was my first exposure to Michele Bachmann. I did not react well to Michele Bachmann. Not well at all.

I find Ron Paul amusing. No bat's chance in hell he'll be president.

I liked Herman Cain a lot. I could see him being our first successful black president.

Newt Gringrich seems like yesteday's news to me. I do think he's a smart guy though. But with way too much baggage to make it to being president.

I'd met Rick Santorum previously. I like the guy. He seems smart. I don't think he has a chance of winning.

I was sort of hoping Rick Perry would stage an epic fail in his first debate. I was disappointed in that hope. Rick Perry did a good job last night. This sort of surprised me. I might even have found myself liking him last night, if it were not for the weird history of wearing his religion on his sleeve.

Of the 8 debating last night, I can see Mitt Romney being a good president. I think any of the 8 would fare well against the current state of Barack Obama, with the possible exception of Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul.

Enough with the politics. I am not going swimming now.

Funhouse Village Creek Mirrors And Getting Cranky About Arlington's Really Bad Train & Transit Woes While Dressing Elsie Hotpepper

I find the Village Creek Natural Historic Area's funhouse mirror very useful. With it I can easily document my huge weight gain's ever swelling beer belly.

Accomplished with no beer consumption.

Well, there was that beer I had against my better judgement, last April, at the Prairie Fest. But, that seems too long ago to account for a beer belly.

Village Creek has shrunk a lot since my last viewing. Unlike my aforementioned beer belly.

After I was done getting fresh air in the shade of giant oak trees I headed to ALDI. The last time I went to ALDI I got stuck behind a malfunctioning train track crossing, heading north on Bowen, after leaving ALDI.

This time the track was stuck as I headed towards ALDI. I was about 10 cars back. Vehicles were getting out of line, turning around and heading the opposite direction. I would then move up a space. When I was 6 vehicles back, with no train and no train whistle, I decide to leave the heard of Sheeple behind and go around the crossing guard rail, or whatever it is the blockage is called.

In my rear view mirror I could see some Sheeple following my bad example.

When I was done at ALDI, about 20 minutes later, getting back on Bowen Street, heading north, back towards the train track, I could see the crossing lights were still flashing, but traffic did not seem to be backed up too bad.

Soon I saw why. There were now 3 Arlington cops directing traffic around the crossing guard rail barrier. Southbound would get a turn, then northbound.

How idiotic.

Arlington is the biggest town in America that is bisected by a train track, with only a couple streets that cross without being blocked. In other words, south/north bound traffic grinds to a halt whenever a train rolls through town.

That's bad enough.

But then you have train traffic signals that apparently regularly malfunction, I assume, unless it is a freak coincidence that I came upon this happening twice in the past 2 weeks.

And then you have the cost of cops being employed to direct traffic due to this malfunction. Is the railroad billed for this?

And then you have all the gas wasted by all the vehicles that can not move.

I really think it would behoove Arlington to spend less time worrying about building and helping pay for sports stadiums and a little more time worrying about and paying for some of Arlington's serious infrastructure woes. Including being the biggest city in America without any public mass transit.

Yes, America, you read that right, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Rangers and Six Flags Over Texas has no public mass transit. Not even a bus system.

I have to go now. I've received an urgent message from Elsie Hotpepper saying she needs help getting dressed.

Enjoying Big Tex Choice Winner Fried Bubblegum At The 2011 State Fair Of Texas

That delicious looking concoction you are looking at in the picture is Fried Bubblegum.

Justin Martinez's Fried Bubblegum creation won the 2011 Most Creative Big Tex Choice Award, for the 2011 State Fair of Texas which opens in Fair Park in Dallas on September 30, closing on October 23.

Fried Bubblegum is bubblegum-flavored marshmallows dipped in batter, fried and decorated with icing and powdered sugar.

The 2011 Best Taste Big Tex Choice Award went to Allan Weiss for his Buffalo Chicken in a Flapjack.

Buffalo Chicken in a Flapjack is a skewered buffalo chicken strip, coated with flapjack batter, rolled it in jalapeño bread crumbs before deep-frying, served with a side of syrup.

The top 2011 contenders which almost made it to Best Taste or Most Creative status were....

Deep Fried Pineapple Upside Down Cake is pineapple rings dipped in cake batter, fried, then topped with a glaze made of caramel, sugar and cinnamon, with a cherry on top.

Deep Fried Texas Salsa is a mix of jalapeños, roasted garlic, onion, tomato and pepper rolled together, dipped in corn masa and crunchy tortilla chips, then deep-fried and served with melted cheese.

El Bananarito is a deep-fried banana rolled in a flour tortilla then topped with whipped cream, powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, topped off with hot caramel or chocolate syrup.

Fried Autumn Pie is a puff pastry filled with pumpkin, cream cheese, powdered sugar and pumpkin spices, deep-fried then rolled in ginger, cinnamon and sugar.

Hans' Kraut Ball is browned pork sausage, onion, garlic, sauerkraut, mustard and seasonings rolled into a ball, covered with bread crumbs, deep-fried then served with spicy mustard, raspberry chipotle or ranch dressing.

The Walking Taco is seasoned ground beef, lettuce, onion, fresh tomato, grated cheese, sour cream and salsa in a nacho cheese-flavored Doritos bag.

During the course of the 7 years of the existence of the Big Tex Choice Awards there have been more than a few fried concoctions that sounded a bit on the disgusting side, to me. Along with a few I might consider trying. But never have. The Walking Taco sounds like I might be able to eat it, this year, but the Walking Taco was not a winner.

Below is the Most Creative and Best Taste Winners of the Big Tex Awards of the past 7 years. Of these Deep Fried Butter seems like it might be tasty....

2005 Most Creative    Viva Las Vegas Fried Ice Cream
2005 Best Taste         Fried PB, Jelly and Banana Sandwich
2006 Most Creative    Fried Coke
2006 Best Taste         Fried Praline Perfection
2007 Most Creative    Deep Fried Latte
2007 Best Taste        Texas Fried Cookie Dough
2008 Most Creative    Fried Banana Split
2008 Best Taste         Chicken Fried Bacon
2009 Most Creative    Deep Fried Butter
2009 Best Taste         Fernie's Deep Fried Peaches & Cream
2010 Most Creative    Fried Beer™
2010 Best Taste         Texas Fried FRITOS® Pie
2011 Most Creative    Fried Bubblegum
2011 Best Taste         Buffalo Chicken in a Flapjack

Up Before The Sun Again On Day 7 Of September Wondering Why I Can Not Catch A Salmon In The Trinity River

On this 7th morning of September I am again up before the sun, looking out my primary viewing portal on the outer world at swimming pool currently being chilled by a temperature of only 63.

It is being so much easier to get a good night's sleep with no A/C running and no ceiling fan spinning overheard.

I thought of my nephew Joey, up in Washington, in the town of Clear Lake, near the Skagit River in the Skagit Valley, this morning, whilst reading the Skagit Valley Herald online.

Joey is a fishing maniac. Every year Joey catches a lot of salmon, many of which get turned into smoked salmon.

There was a period of time when the salmon runs in the rivers of Washington were in danger, as in few salmon were returning to spawn.

This is no longer the case.

Currently it is the return of the pink salmon that is happening. Pink salmon are also known as humpies. What is happening on the rivers right now is known as humpy mania, as a lot of fishermen are catching a lot of fish.

An estimated 6 million pink salmon are heading up the Puget Sound rivers. Of those, about 1.2 million are swimming up the Skagit, where Joey will catch quite a few.

I don't know if Joey is mailing his favorite uncle any smoked salmon this year.

None of the Puget Sound rivers have signs warning an angler that consuming the fish caught may not be safe.

The same can not be said of Texas where there are rivers and lakes with signs warning anglers that consuming fish caught may not be safe.

 But, it is totally safe to go inner tubing in those unsafe to fish waters.

My Chesapeake Energy Neighbor's Collapsed Fence Is Blocking Foot Traffic

Sunday morning when I drove to Wal-Mart to go shopping with my mom I noticed that the chain link fence that surrounds my newest neighbor, that being the Chesapeake Energy drilling operation at Boca Raton Boulevard and Loop 820, had blown down.

It is now early Tuesday evening and that Chesapeake Energy chain link fence is still down, still blocking the sidewalk that leads to the Super Bowl Buffet and Albertsons, among other things, on the right.

I could sort of understand why this fence remained down on Labor Day, that being a day with no laboring from certain sectors of the laboring public. But today there was plenty of laboring activity at this particular Chesapeake Energy Barnett Shale drilling operation, but none of that activity was directed to fixing this impediment to foot traffic.

Shouldn't Chesapeake get a fine of some sort for this type negligence? What if a pedestrian, forced on to the street by the blocked sidewalk, gets hit by a passing car? Who is liable for that injury? Chesapeake? Or the City of Fort Worth for not adequately monitoring industrial activity within its borders, that it had given approval to?

I see this collapsed chain link fence as a metaphor of something. Of what, I lack the imagination to conjure....

400% Increase In The Tandy Hills Noontime Human Population Today

The spot of white that you see in the middle of the picture is photo documentation of a rare Tandy Hills phenomenon.

That being humans besides myself on the Tandy Hills in the noon time frame.

A trio of humans.

I think the precipitous drop in the temperature may be causing people to less cautiously venture out into the formerly HOT outer world.

It was in the low 80s when I hit the hills today. It is only 84, currently, coming up on 4 in the afternoon.

The temperature of my pool water has plummeted. It took a few seconds for the water to stop feeling cold this morning.

Speaking of the temperature. And who isn't? Someone calling him or herself "Anonymous" commenting on a blogging from yesterday, gave me some good advice.

This is what Anonymous had to say...

Move back to the hot and humid Skagit County. Highs expected near 90 all week.

If it gets in the high 80s this week in the Puget Sound zone, I expect to be hearing some weather whining from up north.

My #1 Puget Sounder, with an extreme temperature aversion, is Carlotta Camano. Last summer, after suffering a rare Pacific Northwest heat wave, Carlotta vowed to have air-conditioning installed in her Puget Sound viewing home by the time the summer of 2011 arrived.

That never happened. And until now, Carlotta has had no need to for air-conditioning. Carlotta may have lost her HEAT aversion. She spent a weekend in Super HOT Las Vegas last month. August in Vegas is HOT.

Well, I'm out of here for a bit. I need to go out into the naturally air-conditioned outer world and drive myself to a store to buy something I need to buy.

38 Degrees Under 100 This First Tuesday Of September In Formerly HOT Texas

Outside, in the pre-dawn darkness, looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at a chilly pool, on this, the 6th Day of September, I am feeling good, because I had myself one very good night's sleep, due to no air conditioner running, no ceiling fan spinning, no hot temperatures in the outer world and windows able to be wide open.

Even though my windows were wide open I smelled no wildfire smoke, even though this morning I learned we have a wildfire, or two, burning in Fort Worth.

Currently, just minutes before 7 in the morning and the arrival of the daily nuclear explosions in the sky, my zone of Texas is chilled to 62 degrees.

Yesterday getting in the pool was actually slightly bracing, which seemed to be a good thing. This morning I suspect the bracing level will be higher. I hope that is a good thing.

Monster Wildfires Scorching Texas During Worst Drought Since The 1950s

In the picture you are looking at the current headline on Fox News online, in the early Labor Day evening.

Monster wildfires are scorching Texas.

Today, a wildfire burning near Austin killed 2 people and destroyed about 300 homes. This particular wildfire is advancing across parched ranch land, unchecked, on a 16 mile front. So far this fire has burned 17,500 acres.

Texas is in the midst of the worst drought since the 1950s.

So far, during this bad bout of wildfires I have yet to smell the burn of a single fire. The smoke from the Possum Kingdom Lake fires, burning to the west of my location, has not reached my olfactory senses.

Several years ago we had a bad wildfire outbreak in North Texas. I remember getting quite familiar with that acrid odor.

I recollect driving back to the D/FW Metroplex from the east and wondering what the strange black wall was that seemed to be advancing on D/FW.

It was the smoke from a massive wildfire.

I have never seen these parts of the planet as parched as they are right now. I've never seen the Tandy Hills looking like a tinderbox, like it is right now.

I suspect before we finally get some fire damping precipitation we are going to have a bad wildfire too close to the D/FW Metroplex, generating a wall of smoke and that awful acrid odor I really don't want to be smelling.

First Photo Of Layla Caraway Accepting GRNRFF Award For Up A Creek

On of my sources who was in Glen Rose for the Labor Day Weekend Glen Rose Neo-Relix Film Festival sent me this photo of Ms. Layla Caraway receiving the coveted Grand Prize Award in the Conservation Category.

I think I may have already mentioned the film that won the award at the GRNRFF was a Trinity River Improvement Partnership (TRIP) documentary titled "Up A Creek."

You can watch Up A Creek in 4 parts on this very blog. If I remember right at the end of the documentary, when the credits scroll by so does the name of this very blog. I think some photos I took of Trinity River litter may have been used in the documentary. I may be wrong about that.

You can also watch Up A Creek on TRIP's website.

If I had the energy to do so, I would re-watch Up A Creek to see if the part is still there where Adrian Murray makes remarks about Fort Worth's lack of a real newspaper playing the role of Fifth Column (referring to the Star-Telegram) when the term Mr. Murray was intending to use was "Fourth Estate."

However, I think a case could be made that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram does sort of act as a Fifth Column when it comes to how it looks after all the interests of the citizens in the area it covers.

Or doesn't look after all the interests of the citizens in the area it covers.

The Star-Telegram definitely does not play a Fourth Estate role in Fort Worth.