The Last Saturday Of February With A Big Party In Fort Worth

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the outer world at the time of the breaking of dawn on this final Saturday of the second month of 2012 it appears February 25 is a blue sky day in Texas.

Chilled, currently, to 39 degrees, according to my computer based temperature monitoring device.

Tonight The Party In Fort Worth takes place at Fort Worth's private party club known as the Fort Worth Convention Center.

If I remember right I have already mentioned that Chesapeake Energy is sponsoring The Party In Fort Worth, so it is Pirate Themed. I have grown myself a scraggly beard and dyed it black so I can attend costumed as Blackbeard. Elsie Hotpepper will be being Blackbeard's wench.

I rather enjoyed yesterday's return to getting some good endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation on the Tandy Hills. I think I will get myself some more endorphins today.

In the meantime I am not going swimming.

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Wikipedia Propaganda

I like Wikipedia. I like Wikipedia a lot.

I have heard the criticism of Wikipedia, along the reasoning line that the info in Wikipedia can not be trusted because anyone can edit the info.

I have edited a Wikipedia article or two. Not correcting anything erroneous, but rather to add info. For instance the Wikipedia article about Quanah Parker missed a few of the monuments to his memory. So, I added them.

Well, tonight, for the first time ever, I came upon a Wikipedia article that is really really bad with its inaccuracies. And needs to be deleted or edited to more accurately reflect the subject.

What is the subject you ask?

The Trinity River Vision.

Known to Wikipedia as the Trinity River Vision Project. Known to others as the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

At the start of the article Wikipedia has one of its warning messages telling the reader there are problems with the article, saying it has multiple issues, does not cite any sources, that it does not meet Wikipedia's standards.

Apparently Wikipedia has known this article had a problem since 2009.

Well, Wikipedia, I can make it real clear for you. This article is a propaganda piece obviously written by a Trinity River Vision Boondoggle shill. Or maybe J.D. Granger himself, what with the grammar and spelling errors.

The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the notorious J.D. Granger being given the job of overseeing the Boondoggle because his mommy is Congresswoman Kay Granger and her son's project is one of Kay's pet Earmark Projects. The article makes no mention of the fact that J.D. Granger has absolutely no qualifications for running such a project. Or the fact that Fort Worth apparently does not understand that nepotism has no place in a modern democratic city.

The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the fact that the first completed project of the Vision Boondoggle is the now flood damaged Cowtown Wakeboard Park, which the aforementioned unqualified J.D. Granger touted as the World's Premier Urban Wakeboard venue.

The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the fact that the second completed project of the Vision Boondoggle is a restaurant built for celebrity chef Tim Love in a secret sweetheart deal.

The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the fact that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle has had a citizen's revolt erupt in the form of the Trinity River Improvement Partnership (TRIP).

The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the amount of eminent domain abuse that is taking place to facilitate the Vision Boondoggle.

The Wikipedia article makes no mention of the fact that this billion dollar public works project was put in play without ever being put to a public vote.

Below is the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Wikipedia propaganda article in its entirety (I have added a comment or two in parentheses in the article)....

Trinity River Vision Project

The Trinity River Vision Project is a master plan for 88 miles (142 km) of the Trinity River (Texas) and its major tributaries in Fort Worth, Texas. The river is a significant part of the history of Fort Worth, and the city's downtown was developed in 1849 as an army outpost along its banks of. (this 'banks of' syntax error is in the article)

More than a decade in the making, the master plan was conceived by volunteers and community leaders, and adopted by the city, county, state and federal officials.[citation needed] (citation hard to find because it is not true) The goal of the master plan is to preserve and enhance the river and its corridors so they remain essential greenways for open space, trails, neighborhood focal points, wildlife and recreation areas.

Central City

Central City is one segment of the Trinity River Vision Master Plan. It focuses on the river as the key to help revitalize an aging area of Fort Worth's central city and open up a portion of the river that currently has limited visibility and access. Central City will provide the link from downtown to the Stockyards and the Cultural District. It will combine recreational opportunities with flood control and environmental enhancements to greatly improve public utilization of the river. This new infrastructure will offer 12 miles (19 km) of active urban waterfront and a 33-acre (130,000 m2) lake just North of downtown, making the entire area attractive for private development and mixed-income housing.

Infrastructure needed for flood control and transportation will restore an aging industrial area once devoted to oil refining, scrap metal yards, electrical and chemical plants. When the bypass channel is completed around 800 acres (3.2 km2) of underutilized land between the Tarrant County Courthouse and Northside Drive will be accessible for private redevelopment opportunities- in essence doubling the size of downtown. An envisioned 10,000 housing units and three million square feet of commercial, retail and educational space will make it possible for Fort Worth residents to live, work, shop, play and learn near the river.

Neighborhood and Recreational Enhancement Plan

The 2003 Trinity River Vision Master Plan was adopted by the Tarrant Regional Water District, Streams & Valleys, Inc., The City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Many projects including trail extensions, new trailheads, trail amenitites, (misspelling in article) additional low water dams and pedestrian bridges and private developments oriented to the Trinity Greenbelt have been implemented in the last six years.

The Vision since 1970 (since 1970???) has always been to advocate for this natural resource, bringinig (misspelling in article) back the beauty and recreational value of the Trinity. In recent years, water and environmental quality have become an important focus of the revival of this greenbelt corridor. All of this has been accomplished while maintaining important flood control management.

The TRVA strongly believes that we as a region can no longer take our air, water and overall environmental quality for granted, it is imperative that we keep moving forward now at a faster pace to protect these wonderful greenbelt systems.

Gateway Park

Another component of the Trinity River Vision is Gateway Park. The 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) park will be filled with new recreational amenities such as soccer fields, a softball complex, a water park, disk golf course, equestrian and biking trails just to name a few. (Gateway Park already has most of these amenities) This will make Gateway one of the nation's largest urban-programmed parks. The restoration of the Riverside Oxbow will preserve beautiful, 200-year-old trees and encourage the redevelopment of bottomland hardwood forest. The project will spur economic development around the park and will connect the East and Southeast neighborhoods of Fort Worth to the Trinity River Corridor.

Today's Return To The Tandy Hills Currently Free Of Raw Sewage Spills

Atop Lost Sunglasses Ridge On The Tandy Hills

Today marked the first time I've been on the Tandy Hills since Saturday, February 11. That's is a long long time ago.

The hills are still a bit damp in a few locations courtesy of our most recent deluge.

Today was my first bout of extreme endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation in what seem like a long long time.

I feel a lot better right now, with a fresh dose of endorphin meds coursing through my veins.

That aforementioned deluge must have unleashed quite a powerful flash flood into Tandy Creek. Powerful enough to move a large number of the large rocks that had been placed on top of one of the Tandy Creek crossings.

The Final Friday Of February Thinking About Breathing Evergreen Scented Air

I got up about the same time as the sun this last Friday of the second month of 2012. I stepped outside the bars of my patio prison cell to take a picture of this very blue morning to find myself instantly being a bit chilly.

According to my computer based temperature monitoring device it is only 45 degrees this morning. That is quite a precipitous drop from yesterday's balmy 80s.

Yesterday I thought I was over my bout of respiratory woes.

But.

This morning I found myself suddenly coughing, which had me suddenly with a headache, followed by other maladies.

Simply put, I think I am back being a mess again.

Is it a coincidence that my current bout of breathing woes began around the same time my neighborhood Chesapeake Energy well got fracked?

Right about now the idea of breathing the evergreen scented air of Washington is sounding real good.

The HOTTEST Day Of The New Year Walking With The Turtles Of Fosdic Lake

The Fresh Mowed Fosdic Lake Lawn

It is really being a really good thing to be back feeling almost like my old really healthy self.

I think this return to feeling good is being helped by the relatively balmy temperature in the outer world.

My walk today around Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park was heated to 77 degrees, heading to a predicted high today in the 80s.

If I was still living in Washington and it was in the 80s, today everyone would be whining about wilting in the incredibly HOT heat wave.

But, I am not in Washington, so I don't whine these days when the sun heats the outer world to the 80 degree zone. I don't whine in Texas, about the temperature, in Texas, til it goes over the 110 zone.

Dozens of people and turtles were enjoying the sun at Oakland Lake Park today. The turtles seemed particularly happy and were not being at all skittish.

The Oakland Lake Park grass is being mowed today. I'd forgotten how good fresh mowed grass smells on a warm winter day.

My attempt to go swimming today was aborted after going from the shallow end to the deep end without feeling like there was an indication I was going to quickly acclimate to the temperature. I may make another attempt tomorrow morning, due to it getting HOT here today.

Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Coyote Drive-In Movie Theater Boondoggle

Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Drive-In

I have been slightly ailing for the past couple weeks, so a thing or two has slipped past my notice.

Like the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle has now been expanded to provide Fort Worth with a much needed drive-in movie theater.

The Tarrant Regional Water District, it being the entity in cahoots with the TRV Boondoggle, is leasing 25 acres, give or take an acre or two, of land it owns south of LaGrave Field, to a Dallas startup business called Coyote Theaters.

Yes. That sounds like a good plan, lease land to a startup business starting up a new business they've not started up before. Sounds like a recipe for success. Sort of like building the world's premiere wakeboard park where it can get wiped out by a flood.

Tarrant Regional Water District board member, Jim Lane, is totally on board, thinking this is a great idea. Mr. Lane plans on borrowing a neighbor's 1957 Chevy to take his wife to the drive-in. I assume to recreate the wild drive-in nights of his youth.

I've been there, done that. My drive-in vehicle was a 65 Mustang Fastback. In the Skagit Drive-In. A drive-in theater long gone. As are most drive-ins in America. Outdated relics of the past.

The TRV Boondoggle Drive-In will have 3 screens. Each screen will be able to be watched by movie goers in up to 300 cars. Tickets will be in the $6 to $8 range.

The TRV Boondoggle Drive-In propaganda promoters are saying they anticipate around 300,000 TRVBDIT (Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Drive-In Theater) movie goers a year.

That works out to about 822 paying customers a day.

That sounds believable. Sort of like how the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and its propaganda co-horts claimed 7 to 8 million visitors a year to the Fort Worth Cabela's sporting goods store would make Cabela's the top tourist attraction in Texas. With apparently no one doing the math to see how unlikely was a daily average of around 22,000 visitors to a sporting goods store.

The Tarrant Regional Water District con jobbers are claiming they will realize $1.7 million in rent from the lease to the Coyote Theater start-up.

I have found no info as to how this deal came to be. Was it the same type machinations that got Tim Love his sweetheart deal for the cool new Woodshed Smokehouse?

I can not help but wonder if one of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Drive-In Movie Theater's screens will be facing the Trinity River, so that in summer, the Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Feces Infested Floats can enjoy watching a movie from the comfort of their favorite dangerously polluted river?

My only drive-in experiences have been in Washington, decades ago, before most cars had air conditioning. In Washington you don't often have any need for air-conditioning. With modern cars and air conditioners, how does that work at a movie drive-in theater?

Three screens with up to 500 cars each? That'd be 1,500 cars running their A/Cs to keep cool on a HOT Texas summer night. That does not sound very eco-friendly to me.

The Final Thursday Of February Underwhelmed By Last Night's Arizona Republican Debate

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the outer world on the final Thursday of the second month of 2012, the day appears to have dawned with a pleasantly blue sky.

I can tell via my computer based temperature monitoring device that the outer world at my location is currently heated to 56 degrees.

My attempt to go swimming yesterday morning did not succeed. I got waste deep and decided it was too cold to go any deeper.

The temperature got into the 70s yesterday and is almost 60 right now. I don't know if I will make another swimming attempt. I do know at this time last year I was swimming. I fear I may have become somewhat of a cold water wimp.

Speaking of cold water. I made it through last night's Republican Debate in Arizona. I thought Newt Gingrich did the best. At times Rick Santorum seemed borderline convoluted. Mitt Romney continues to annoy me, but I'm not sure why. Maybe it's my aversion to used car salesmen. Ron Paul continues to amuse me.

But, where is a Ronald Reagan when the Republicans so desperately need one?

I think I will go try and go swimming now and take my mind off the sad state of American politics.

The Walls Of Fort Chesapeake Come Tumbling Down While Albertsons Draws A Yellow Line

The Walls Of Fort Chesapeake Come Tumbling Down

Yesterday I noticed new signs at my neighborhood Albertson's.

A few minutes ago I decided to walk over to Albertson's to get this week's FW Weekly and DFW.com.

And to take a picture of the new Albertson's signs.

I was surprised to see an unexpected bonus during my walk to Albertson's.

That unexpected bonus was to see that the walls of my neighborhood Fort Chesapeake are being taken down.

Last Thursday, in a blogging titled "When Will The Walls Of Chesapeake Energy Come Tumbling Down?"  I mentioned being appalled that these Fort Chesapeake eyesores were allowed to visually pollute residential neighborhoods.

I guess the answer to that when will the walls come tumbling question, asked last Thursday, was the following Wednesday.

Albertson's Cart Warning Sign

Back to Albertson's.

Signs have been placed at various locations on the Albertson's parking cautioning shoppers that their cart will STOP suddenly if taken beyond the yellow line.

I can't help but wonder how it was determined that it made business sense to invest in new high-tech shopping carts?

I do know, a time or two, I have noticed Albertson's grocery carts abandoned, off property.

I suspect shoppers use the grocery carts to haul their groceries back to their nearby abodes.

Rather than replace the old grocery carts with these new auto-lock ones, why not go for other options? To use an ALDI grocery cart you rent it for a quarter.

If a shopper is so desperate to haul their groceries home, due to not having a vehicle, that they roll their groceries home in the Albertson's grocery cart, why not come up with a way to solve that problem?

The Next To Last Wednesday Of February Dawns Warm

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell on this next to last Wednesday of the 2nd month of 2012 the swimming pool looks like it might be warmed to a swimmable temperature.

It is currently 55 degrees in the outer world at my location, soon after the daily arrival of the glowing sky orb.

I feel like I am at the tail end of my recent first viral bout of the new century. The fact that I'm going to test out the swimming pool this morning would seem to be indicative of a return to feeling healthy.

A week from today will be the last day of February. I totally tire of the ever increasing speed with which time flies.

Spencer Jack is flying to Phoenix on March 14 to visit my mom and dad. I told my mom and dad I'd fly to Phoenix in March. Now March is almost here and I'm not much in the mood to fly to Phoenix.

Before I moved to Texas I used to take off for long distance locations on momentary whims. I have no idea what about Texas has made me so stodgy about taking off for long distance locations on momentary whims. Maybe it is yet one more age-related malady.

I am going swimming now. For how long I do not know.

Walking With The Indian Ghosts In The Village Creek Natural Historical Area & Finding Mysterious Firewood

I am still not back to my regular healthy self. I do not like not being my regular healthy self.

Today I took my not back to my regular healthy self to the Village Creek Natural Historical Area to take a walk with the Indian Ghosts.

What you are looking at in the picture is some plastic wrapped store bought firewood and a barbecue grill sitting on the ground.

In the barbecue was an unopened self-starting log.

Finding firewood and barbecue grill in a park would not normally be at all perplexing or a mystery. Normally.

However.

These items were found about a mile and a half from either entry into the park, either the west parking lot on Dottie Lynn Parkway or from the Interlochen neighborhood.

Along the paved trail in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area are a lot of picnic tables with firepits.

The firewood and barbecue I saw today were about a half a mile from the paved trail.

Why would anyone go to the effort to haul firewood and a barbecue grill to this location?  And then leave it sitting there, unused?

Very perplexing.

Currently it is 65 degrees in the outer world at my location. I heard on the radio we may get heated to 80 tomorrow. That is a swimming temperature.