The 3rd Monday Of June Dawns Stormy In North Texas

In the picture you are outside, standing on my patio, overlooking the swimming pool below. I believe those odd blobs in the foreground are big raindrops, due to the fact that, at the time I stepped outside, my camera was under its Popabrella, due to a downpour pouring down.

When I exited my abode, to go swimming, this morning around 7, a strong wind was blowing. A noisy strong wind.

By the time I got to the pool zone drops of wet began to dot the ground.

I was not long in the pool when the power went poof, rendering the pool's fountain and waterfall silent. The silence was pleasantly eerie.

And then the rain went into downpour mode. I was having myself a really fine time, swimming in the rain.

And then I saw a flash of light. The power came back on, along with the fountain and waterfall. Eerie silence had been replaced by the noisy splashing of multitudes of swollen raindrops. Another flash of light and I counted 7 seconds before the boom.

The flash was to the west of me. Then there was a flash to the south of me. Still 7 seconds distant. Then a flash to the east of me. Still 7 seconds distant. Then a flash to the north of me, this one only 3 seconds distant, bringing a very loud boom.

Soon the flashes started growing brighter and more frequent, with the booms louder. A total surround sound storm.

I decided to err on the side of caution and exit the pool,  even though it is at a low spot, surrounded by trees which I assume would be the first choice lightning would make for a strike if it was striking in my location.

As you can see below, via the data graphic from my computer based weather monitoring device,  it is cold. Only 68 degrees, with the Wind Chill Factor making it feel even colder at 63. Brrrr.

Is someone making a typo error when they type "AREAL" I wondered when I saw the above FLOOD ADVISORY".

As you can see, stormy weather is in store for today and tomorrow at my location on the planet.

I suppose around noon I will find out if Village Creek is flooding again, with the Village Creek Natural Historical Area closed. If it is open I think I will have myself a humid walk with the Indian Ghosts who haunt their former hometown.

Happy Father's Day From Texas To All My Relative Fathers

Around noon, whilst doing hill hiking on the Tandy Hills, I made my annual Happy Father's Day call to my dear ol' dad.

No answer.

So, I left my dad a Happy Father's Day message on the answering machine.

And in this blogging venue I'm wishing a Happy Father's Day to all my other relative Father's.

That would be Spencer Jack's dad, my nephew, Jason, plus Spencer Jack's dad's dad, my brother, Jake, plus my nephew's CJ & JR's dad, he being my favorite brother-in-law, Jack.

I think that covers all my close relative Fathers.

Dark Clouds Over Fort Worth's Dickensian Debtor's Prison

There was a dark cloud hanging over the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth, this Father's Day Sunday in Texas, when I got myself some salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation via hill hiking in the Tandy Hills Sauna Steam Bath.

By dark cloud hanging over Fort Worth, I am referring to the dark cloud in the picture, not the one I read about in this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram in an article titled Is Fort Worth too tough on traffic offenders?

Too rough? That seems to be an understatement.

Apparently Fort Worth is running a totally idiotic Dickensian Debtor's Prison, throwing victims into squalid conditions, incarcerated while the victim's traffic violation fine is wiped out, credited at $338.45 per day of incarceration.

According to the Star-Telegram, the people of Fort Worth, via their inept city government, are spending $248 per inmate to incarcerate the victims in an out of town jail. The article did not indicate if this $248 per inmate is the per day cost, or the average cost, factoring the total paid, by Fort Worth, of $5.96 million per year, for the out of town jail, divided by the number of victims incarcerated, which, apparently, is around 24,000 hapless Fort Worthers per year.

Isn't there something in the U.S. Constitution that indicates that cruel and unusual punishment is a bad thing?

Today I Ran Into Fowl Play In Quanah Parker Park While Unable To Prevent Theft By Removing My Property

On my way to Town Talk this 3rd Saturday of June, I parked in the Quanah Parker Park parking lot to have myself a leisurely stroll under a cloudy sky which was blocking direct solar ray heating.

Before I got to the Quanah Parker Park parking lot, barely past the entry to Quanah Parker Park, on the left road shoulder, there was a big, dead dog.

Really big.

The big dead dog looked like it might be a St. Bernard. It was bloated, looking as if it was asleep, with its big head resting on its paws. Turkey vultures scurried as I drove past.

I called 911 to report the scene of Fowl Play. (Get it? Turkey Vultures. Fowl.)

When I parked at the Quanah Parker Park parking lot I made note of a sign I'd not made note of previously. The sign, in part, said, "PREVENT THEFT - Remove All Property from Your Vehicle - REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY DIAL 911."

Which is why I dialed 911 to report the Fowl Play.

When I read I was advised to remove all property from my vehicle, I was very perplexed, as in, where was I supposed to put the stuff I removed from my vehicle? I saw no lockable temporary storage units near the Quanah Parker Park parking lot.

It would not be possible to carry, walking with me, all that is in my vehicle. Among the property I haul around in my vehicle is a bike, tire pump, roller blades, snow chains, tool chest, ice chest and a big bag of golf balls, in addition to stuff I am likely not remembering.

After I was done being perplexing by this sign, not knowing what I should do with the property in my vehicle, I decided to walk on the wild side and take a huge risk by going on a walk without taking all my stuff with me.

Soon my attention was diverted by the scene you see below.

Acres of one type of wildflower, the name of which I do not know, a short distance from the Quanah Parker Park parking lot. Maybe Fort Worth's leading horticulturist, CatsPaw, can identify this sort of bee-like looking bloom.

I had myself a very relaxing Quanah Parker Park walk. I think I may have overdone the mountain biking yesterday, and, maybe, the swimming this morning. Hence I was feeling a bit over-exercised by the time the noon time frame rolled around.

Town Talk was busier than the Saturday norm today. Today's treasure hunting resulted in 2 bags of Clementine Oranges, 6 Orange Peppers, 3 bags of Bagels, 2 cases of Noosa Yogurt, one Strawberry-Rhubarb, the other Raspberry and a lot of Chicken Legs, plus other stuff I'm not remembering right now.

Today I Was Cautioned To Use Caution In River Legacy Park To Not Step On Anything Active

Those are my handlebars in front of a CAUTION sign that I came upon today before rolling my wheels on the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails.

Under the shouted CAUTION, the sign warns "In Spring & Summer animals are more active. Watch Your Step. Stay on Trails."

It is difficult to watch ones step when ones step is on a bike pedal.

It has been a couple months since I have biked the River Legacy Park mountain bike trails. These trails  cover a few more miles and are a bit more exhausting than the more sedate Gateway Park mountain bike trails I have been pedaling of late.

The only Spring & Summer activated animals I saw today were some humans, some squirrels and one harmless skinny green snake. I exercised extreme CAUTION and stepped on none of these critters.

Even though the outer world temperature was  in the 90 zone, with humidity making it feel hotter, zipping along on wheels creates quite a refreshing wind chill factor. Til one stops pedaling.

This morning's pool dip was not quite as refreshing, with the outer world chilled to the mid 70s and the pool warmer than the air.

Well, I see 3 urgent messages have arrived from Elsie Hotpepper that I must go attend to.

Enjoying The HOT 102 Degree Tandy Hills Sauna Steam Bath

In the picture you are midway down Mount Tandy, looking west across a Texas prairie at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

What you can not see in the picture is it is hot, very HOT.

The actual temperature is not all that HOT, at 89 degrees, but as it so often does, the humidity has the outer world feeling hotter than the thermometer indicates.

As in, according to my computer based temperature monitoring device, right now while it is a relatively chilly 89 degrees, it feels like 102.

Whilst doing some strenuous, windless hill hiking, it felt HOTTER than 102 to me.

Today marks the first time in 2013 I felt the salubrious benefit of getting my endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation in a sauna steambath. Don't knock this activity til you try it, because once you get past the fact of being an ultra sweaty HOT mess, it feels real good.

Before I left my abode to do some hill hiking the plumber arrived to do some upgrading to my shower. The upgrade was done upon my return. The upgrade is quite an improvement. I am totally cooled down now.

The pool was less refreshing than my shower, this morning. This will only become more so as we approach the ultra HOT days of summer.

As I did my HOT hiking I had cause to ponder how and why it is that some people end up so brittle and humorless as they get older, rather than becoming more easy going, with a well developed sense of humor.

This type thing perplexes me. And no, I am not talking about you....

Today There Were Fewer Signs Of Danger In Gateway Park With Snakes

Last Saturday I saw a Sign of Danger at Gateway Park at the  location you are looking at on the left.

Today, at that location, that particular DANGER sign was gone, so I was able to take a picture of my handlebars overlooking the currently green, and running a lot of water, due to recent rain, Trinity River.

DANGER signs still block the other locations, with red tape, that I came upon last Saturday.

Today there was no DANGER sign to warn me that I was about to roll over a snake with a diamond pattern to its snakeskin.

I spotted the snake in sufficient time to avoid hitting it. Though this snake had a diamond pattern, it was not a Diamondback Rattlesnake. Those have big heads and very noticeable rattles, which the snake tends to shake when a human on, or off, wheels gets too close.

Due to the temperature being in the 90 zone, snake mobility is much faster than when the air is in the chilly 70  zone. Which means the snake slithered out of sight before I could get my camera aimed at it.

Speaking of the temperature, and who isn't? The temperature of the water in the pool has warmed up significantly in the past couple days. A week more of this near 100 degree HEAT and getting in the pool will start to be not as refreshing as one would like a dip in the pool to be.

You always hear people asking if a pool is a heated pool. No one ever asks if it is a cooled pool. A cooled pool would be a much bigger asset in Texas than a heated pool. In summer.

Every year there is a standard article in many North Texas news purveyor publications, advising people that it is not possible to add enough ice to ones pool to bring the temperature down to a noticeable degree of chill. Apparently there have been incidents where a Texan will order up a dump truck load of ice to be dumped into a pool, to find out that this was not such a good idea after all.

I noticed this morning that we have reached that time of the year where cold tap water is no longer very cold.  But makes for very refreshing showers, which I think I'll avail myself of, right now....

This Time The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Made A Fool Of Itself Over Policing Graduation Speeches

Something seems to have gone seriously awry at the fast failing Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Today the Star-Telegram hit a new low of journalistic ineptitude.

In an editorial titled Why graduation speeches might need policing the Star-Telegram went into full anti-freedom of speech propaganda mode over the ongoing controversy that erupted after a Joshua High School official stupidly cut the mic of their Valedictorian speaker, Remington Reimer, because he deviated from their pre-approved script.

To buttress their pro-censorship position the Star-Telegram quoted a speech by a professional baseballer and manager named Ozzie Guillen, in which Guillen said, “Man oh man, did you little [expletive deleted] pick the wrong time to graduate. For those of you lucky enough to get jobs, maybe half of you work at [expletive deleted] Popeye’s Chicken, and the other half get your [expletive deleted] blown off in Afghanistan.”

Trouble is, this Guillen guy never said this. The quote came from a satirical website called The Heckler.

Eventually the Star-Telegram re-edited the editorial to take out the part that made the paper seem like its run by idiots and then proceeded to be even more idiotic.

Of course, only the online version could be re-edited, the print version is still out there, for the few people who still buy this really sad excuse for a newspaper.

So,  what do the clever people at the Star-Telegram do when re-editing their embarrassing editorial?

They make up imaginary things a high school valedictorian might say to upset an unsuspecting crowd.

I am not making this up. I will copy and paste the current version of the Star-Telegram editorial in its entirety, before they re-edit it again to remove the latest idiocy. Before we get the new re-edited editorial, we have two Star-Telegram disclaimers, then the new re-edited editorial...

Editors note: This story has been modified from its original version. 

Correction:  A quote in the Tuesday editorial “Why graduation speeches might need policing,” attributed to former Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén, was created by the writers of a satirical website. Its inclusion in the editorial was an error.

Here’s why public school administrators review graduation speeches beforehand:

“I had an abortion my junior year. Let me tell you what that was like.”

“This school did its best to suppress my ability to think critically, but it failed. As soon as I leave here, I’m going to find a way to blow up the system.”

“You want prayer in public schools? I say what they need is anarchy, the more the better. Legalize pot so we can sell it on campus.”

“Heil, Hitler. Viva Castro. Marx is my hero.”

How might an unsuspecting crowd react to hearing any of those remarks from a high school valedictorian?

On Thursday, when Joshua High School valedictorian Remington Reimer veered off the comments administrators had approved for him, school officials turned off the microphone — just as they had warned him, the salutatorian and historian that they would if anyone went off-script.

The episode has generated plenty of buzz because of suggestions that Reimer was censored for speaking about his faith. But video shows that the sound system actually went off when he said, “Yesterday, I was threatened to have my mike turned off. …”

That, school officials said, wasn’t in his approved speech and triggered their response.

Indeed, the graduation ended with a prayer, which underscored that Reimer’s invoking God wasn’t the issue. Still, the U.S. Naval Academy appointee seems to have made the free-speech statement he wanted.

The Supreme Court has said that students don’t lose their free-speech rights at the schoolhouse gate but also that officials need leeway to maintain order not just in classrooms but also at school-sponsored events. Texas law also recognizes this and gives school officials authority to set boundaries besides time limits.

If they exercise it awkwardly and video circulates stirring up debate about First Amendment values, that’s actually healthy for free speech.

Has the Fort Worth Star-Telegram lost all its editors? How did that last sentence make it to being published?  I can not be the only one reading this who finds it ironic that the Star-Telegram is opining about something being healthy for free speech.

All those suggestions of horrific things a valedictorian might say, that supposedly justifies ham-handed censorship, have any incidents such as these actually occurred?

What happened at a Joshua High School graduation that has made that school's officials distrust the judgement of their top 3 students?

And if a valedictorian did say any or all of those stupid things, which the Star-Telegram is using as examples, what would be the result? Mass upset in the unsuspecting crowd?  Or befuddled giggling?

It is rather amusing that the Star-Telegram, in its editorial, says "The episode has generated plenty of buzz because of suggestions that Reimer was censored for speaking about his faith. But video shows that the sound system actually went off when he said, “Yesterday, I was threatened to have my mike turned off.”"

It was the idiotic Star-Telegram, itself, that, for days following the episode, had an article about it with the headline being something like "Joshua Valedictorian's Mic Turned Off For Faith Remarks."

On Facebook, as the truth of the matter came out, the Star-Telegram's own Bud Kennedy was sharing the actual facts, but, apparently, did not relay those facts to the Star-Telegram.

The line in the editorial that says, "Here’s why public school administrators review graduation speeches beforehand" is also odd. This implies that this is a universal practice, rather than an isolated case of one school's administration's malpracticing of a dubious policy.

When I was in high school the graduation speeches were reviewed ahead of time by an advisor, so as to help the speaker give a good speech. There was no threat that if the student went off script the mic plug would be pulled.

I think this Remington Reimer kid showed way more mature common sense than the nincompoops who censored him. He did not like being told that if he did not stick to the approved script the mic would go dead.

Being told such a thing would have greatly annoyed me, because  I would be altering and tinkering with a speech right up the moment I gave it. If I was told I could not do that, I would likely have said I'm not giving the valedictorian speech and let my reason for refusing be known by contacting the local newspaper of record.

Except here in the Fort Worth zone there isn't an actual real newspaper of record of the normal daily sort.

We do have Fort Worth Weekly though. How much worse would Fort Worth be off if it did not have Fort Worth Weekly? I shudder to wonder.....

I Am Shocked To Learn Fort Worth's Panther Island Pavilion Is Not An Amazing Outdoor Music Venue

No, you are not looking at an artist's rendering of what the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion music venue will look like after J.D. Granger and his collaborators' mix of initiatives and ambitious goals turn Fort Worth into a live music capital.

The water you are looking at in the picture is not the Trinity River. It is the Columbia River. Which would make the music venue The Gorge Amphitheatre, in George, Washington.

Just minutes ago I came upon an article in CNN online, titled 8 amazing outdoor music venues,

I was sure that Fort Worth's Panther Island Pavilion would be on the list, remembering that we learned in a blogging titled The Propaganda Panther Rocks Tonight With J.D. Granger's Big Dose Of Hubris that, according to J.D. Granger, the Panther Island Pavilion music venue's “Backdrop is crazy. You’re right in the middle of an urban environment, but you’ve got waterfront [access] — it’s a very unique thing.”

How is it that J.D. Granger remains the Executive Director of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, one can not help but wonder?

Looking at the CNN list of 8 amazing outdoor music venues we have Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, New York,  Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah, Millennium Park in Chicago, The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, Gendarmenmarkt Square in Berlin and Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland.

I am shocked.

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion is not on this particular list of 8 of the world's amazing outdoor music venues. This leads me to think that CNN is not a reliable source of information regarding amazing outdoor music venues....

An Old Man In The Fosdick Sea Has Replaced The White Swan While Germany Floods

With the temperature a relatively chilly 87 degrees I thought it'd be a fine idea to drive to the relatively shadeless Oakland Lake Park to walk around Fosdick Lake.

And throw some swan food at the Fosdick White Swan.

However, the Fosdick White Swan was no where to be seen.

What I saw near the former residence of the Fosdick White Swan was the Old Man in the Fosdick Sea, sitting in the water, fishing for marlin, or maybe catfish.

Where did the Fosdick White Swan go?

Today I brought flour tortillas and brown rice tortillas for the Fosdick White Swan. With the Fosdick White Swan absent I threw chunks of the flour tortillas at the Fosdick Ducks. The ducks liked the flour tortillas, fighting over the chunks. But, there was no fighting over the brown rice tortillas. Those were totally rejected.

Fussy ducks.

I wonder if the Fosdick White Swan decided to fly out of town, heading north for the summer. Maybe a flock of swans flew overhead, with the Fosdick White Swan deciding to flock with birds of the same feather.

Speaking of strange bird behavior. This morning I was freshly reminded of my great disdain for passive-aggressive hypocritical neurotics.

No, I am not talking about Elsie Hotpepper, but I was sitting here thinking Miss Hotpepper has gone missing again when I saw Elsie show up, right now, via incoming email.

Let's open the Hotpepper email and see what's on Elsie's mind....

Flooding in Germany on the Elbe River.

Clearly Germany needs an Elbe River Vision to put a stop to this type flooding. Perhaps a flood diversion channel would have abated this disaster. J.D Granger really should lend his flood control expertise to Germany and help do to them what he's been doing for, and to, Fort Worth.