Is The Texan Accent America's Most Attractive?

This morning I learned via that well known, extremely reputable news source, the FOX News website, which North American accent is the most attractive.

The first sentence of the Which North American Accent Was Voted the Most Attractive? article answers that question...

If you hail from the Lone Star state or the Heart of Dixie, then chances are you won’t have any problems in the dating department.

Those of you who do not know what state the Lone Star state is, well, the Lone Star state is also known as Texas.

I pretty much agree with this most attractive accent conclusion. I have, multiple times, found myself totally charmed by a dripping honey Texas accent.

Years ago I made a website for a Texan named Ann. I usually try to get people to use email to communicate about website issues, due to that being much more efficient than talking on the phone. However, with Miss Ann, if she'd email me with a question, I'd call her, just to get to hear her dripping with honey accent.

Elsie Hotpepper is a native Texan. I would not describe the Elsie Hotpepper Texas accent as dripping with honey. The Elsie Hotpepper Texas accent is perfectly pleasant, just not a honey dripper. With Elsie Hotpepper her Texas accent comes in two versions. There is the professional spokeswoman Elsie Hotpepper Texas accent, which is subtle and understated.

And then there is the Elsie Hotpepper in informal mode Texas accent, which I characterize as Elsie Hotpepper being in Cowgirl mode, with her Texas accent much more twangy and peppered with barnyard vulgarisms spoken with that peppery twang.

Gar the Texan is another native Texan with his own spin on the Texas accent. Gar the Texan's Texas accent was acquired in West Texas, so I guess his version would be known as the West Texas accent variant. I would definitely not characterize Gar the Texan's Texas accent as dripping honey. It is more of a slow drawl with the Texas accent part of the drawl being very understated.

Understated, that is, until Gar the Texan has one of his bouts of the vapors. At that point his Texas accent gets extreme, to the point of being difficult to understand as the drawl starts dropping word endings, almost to the point of getting into slur mode.

Speaking of a hard to understand Texas accent, my best example of that variant is a neighbor all the neighbors call Crazy Greg. If you have yourself a Crazy Greg encounter you usually find yourself in a conversation which makes no sense, spoken in a twangy drawl that is very hard to comprehend.

Susan is another native Texan neighbor. Susan's Texas accent is another honey dripper. I particularly like talking to Susan because many of her sentences end with the word "Hon" which never fails to make me feel all cozy.

I don't know if it is what is known as a guilty pleasure, or just a regular pleasure, but one of the things which pleases me is to wander around Walmart hearing snippets of dialogue in multiple variations of Southern accents, including when the loudspeaker makes an announcement, like "Clean up on aisle 12" spoken with a Texas twang.

I have attempted to affect a Texas accent a time or two.

I have had a Texan, a time or two, tell me I fail at this effort.

Apparently my faked Texas accent, to a Texan's ears, sounds like an annoying Yankee trying to sound Texan.....

We Are Having Ourselves A Mid November Tropical Heatwave In North Texas

We're having a Heatwave, a Tropical Heatwave, a mid-November Tropical Heatwave in North Texas.

I did not drive to any of my regular haunts for one of my regular excursions today. Instead I prowled my neighborhood, eventually making it to Albertsons where I found this week's DFW.com Ink Edition.

Post-lunch I was starting to over heat in my abode.

I refuse to indulge in a mid-November re-igniting of the air-conditioner to abate the overheating.

Instead I opened all my windows and went for a rare Sunday afternoon bout in the pool, followed by poolside lounging, documented in the above photo.

I had not noticed what knobby knees I have til I saw them photo documented. They look like bulbous tumors.

Last week Miss Sampson documented her beachside lounging in Maui with a picture similar to the above photo, only Miss Sampson was wearing an itsy bitsy bikini and she made it look like she was lifting a palm tree with her left foot.

There are no palm trees anywhere in my vicinity, so I was not able to replicate Miss Sampson's photo with a Texas version.

When I was a youngster, decades ago, and I would go on a roadtrip, I would buy these things called postcards on which I would write something and then mail the postcards to lucky recipients.

How primitive.

I think it is both interesting and a little bizarre, that nowadays, one can easily keep any number of people instantly posted, via words, photos and video, of what you are doing on a trip, pretty much in realtime.

Currently Miss Sampson and entourage have returned to the mainland, so that insta-trip documentation has ended.

But an even more interestingly high-tech trip documentation continues with daily updates from the ongoing voyage of a boat called Daybreak. This particular Daybreak boat trip started in San Diego and is currently docked in Cabo San Lucas. The updates are via the Google Blogger method, with the link to that particular blog found on the list of blogs on the right column of this very blog you are currently reading.

I have inquired, via Facebook, as to how the Daybreak Adventures blogger is doing the blogging whilst floating in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico, but have yet to have my query answered. I suspect Facebook is being ignored while floating in the Pacific. I know I would.

I rather enjoy going on these virtual trips.

Speaking of Facebook. And who isn't? This morning I got an invite, via Facebook, to a reunion of my high school class, to take place the day after Christmas in a place called The Train Wreck in my old hometown of Burlington.

I strongly suspect I will not be at this particular Train Wreck at that particular time.

And now, back to the weather.

D/FW Record Temperature Update from WFAA-TV via Twitter.....

Record Breaking D/FW Temperatures Render Multiple Pleasant Benefits

My No Longer Cool Pool On Sunday November 17

Record breaking temperatures the past day or two in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone, as in record breaking of the HOT, not cold type of record breaking, has rendered my formerly cool pool not so cool.

In other words I had myself a mighty fine swim this morning of lengthy duration with no warm-up retreats to the hot tub.

I think the high yesterday was somewhere in the 80s. When I woke up my computer this morning the computer based temperature monitoring device informed me that the outer world was being heated to 67 degrees, just an hour after the sun had arrived to begin its daily lighting and heating duties.

I got myself plenty of aerobically induced endorphins via swimming this morning. Even so, a return to the Tandy Hills on such a pleasant Sunday is an inviting idea. Or a walk with the Village Creek Indian ghosts. Or just not drive anywhere and instead take one of my semi-regular walking inspections of my neighborhood...

On Monday The Capitol Christmas Tree Stops In Dallas On Its Journey From One Washington To The Other One

On the left you are looking at people standing around in the northeast corner of my old home state of Washington, watching the process by which an 88 foot tall Engelmann spruce tree gets prepared to begin its more than 5,000 mile journey from Washington to Washington, D.C., where it will serve as the Official 2013 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.

I did not know of this magnificent event until informed about it, this morning, by Fort Worth's renowned horticulturist, Ms. CatsPaw, pointing me to the well made Capitol Christmas Tree website which was obviously not made by the same people who made the dysfunctional Obamacare website.

On the Capitol Christmas Tree website I learned that Washington is proud to share its good nature by sending a tree from the Colville National Forest to the other Washington.

The People's Tree's journey to D.C. began on November 1 in Newport, Washington, where it stayed several days before taking a short journey to Colville, Washington. The next several days the Capitol Christmas Tree traveled all over Washington, to Spokane, Republic, Wenatchee, Yakima, and then over the Cascade Mountains to Western Washington to Everett, Olympia, Vancouver and then back east over the mountains to Kennewick before finally leaving Washington and arriving in Mountain Home, Idaho on the 10th.

From Idaho on the Capitol Christmas Tree has not lingered long in any one state. You can see all the Capitol Christmas Tree stops on the map below...

On its circuitous route to the other Washington the Capitol Christmas Tree makes two Texas stops.

Today, November 16 the Capitol Christmas Tree is in Amarillo at the downtown library for a holiday celebration with Park and Recreation mascots, serving up cookies and cider along with Santa Claus.

Then on November 18 the Capitol Christmas Tree bypasses Fort Worth to get to Dallas to the American Airlines Center where the tree will participate in pre-game hoopla with the Dallas Mavericks Mascots.

Seven days after leaving Dallas the Capitol Christmas Tree arrives at the Capitol where, in early December, there will be a tree lighting ceremony with the notorious Speaker of the House, John Boehner leading the lighting.

I do not know if throngs of Capitol Christmas Tree aficionados have been lining up to cheer on the passing tree like what happened when the Olympic Torch made its way across America to do its lighting duty at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. I remember joining the multitude doing so, somewhere between Seattle and Tacoma, and feeling a bit ridiculous, and yet strangely caught up in the event, as that torch passed by to the cheers of the onlookers.

Today On The Tandy Hills I Found A Partly Resurrected Hoodoo Before Finding A Lot Of Yogurt

Last Saturday I was totally distraught to discover that the Tandy Hills Hoodoo had been hoodlumized, toppled over and obliterated in a senseless act of eco-terrorism.

Today I returned to the Tandy Hills and was not too surprised to see that the Tandy Hills Hoodoo has been partly resurrected, but, as you can see, the partly resurrected Tandy Hills Hoodoo is just a shadow of its glorious former self.

The outer world is being heated to its hottest in several days, today. As in I had myself a summer-like HOT hike today.

When I woke up my computer this morning it informed me that the outer world was no longer chilly, at a relatively balmy 66 degrees, so I had myself a relatively long time in the no longer quite so cool pool this morning.

As you can see, via the picture below, this week's freeze amped up the color in the Tandy Hills' trees. Though some remain stubbornly green.

After having myself a mighty fine time hiking up multiple hills it was off to Town Talk for my regularly scheduled Saturday treasure hunt.

You would have really liked Town Talk today, MLK. Cases of yogurt, 3 for $5. I got a case each of Siggi's Pomegranate/Passion Fruit, Chobani Black Cherry and Cascade Fresh Lemon. I also got Havarti cheese to please the Dutch side of my nature. And my usual rabbit food in the form of lettuce and carrots. Plus Polish Kielbasa, sauerkraut, whole grain tortillas, a bag of Gala apples from Wenatchee and other stuff I am not remembering right now.

The lunch gong just sounded, so if you want lunch you need to be here in about 5 minutes or you are out of luck....

Did The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Erroneously Editorialize Regarding Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Too?

This morning I had an incoming email pointing me to an amusing story that has been all over the Internet the past couple days.

I am guessing the person who sent me this email would prefer I not identify her, because that is her norm, for the most part. Suffice to say this "anonymous" emailer is locally known, well, known by me, as a highly refined Queen of Snark.

In addition to the website link the body of the "anonymous" email said, "Does this mean there is hope for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram yet???"

This particular hope refers to the Harrisburg Patriot-News retracting an editorial from a century and a half ago, where that newspaper opined that Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address consisted of words which were "silly remarks deserving a veil of oblivion."

It took this newspaper this long to admit making this boo-boo?

I am not sure which of the Fort Worth Star-Telgram's multiple editorial boo-boos the "anonymous" Queen of Snark is referring to.

There are so many.

The ones I can think of, which are retraction worthy, would be editorials which spewed Chamber of Commerce type propaganda puffery.

Such as, the Star-Telegram opining that a very lame, little enterprise called the Santa Fe Rail Market would be the first public market in Texas, was modeled after Seattle's Pike Place and European public markets, when the reality was not only was this not the first public market in Texas, it was not even the first public market in Fort Worth, what with a Texas State Historical Marker marking the location of Fort Worth's first public market, a short distance from the bogus Santa Fe Rail Market.

And the Santa Fe Rail Market bore no resemblance to Seattle's Pike Place, while a short distance to the east, the Dallas Farmers Market bears a strong resemblance to Seattle's Pike Place.

Enough of this particular Star-Telegram editorial mis-step. Let's move on to Cabela's.

The Star-Telegram was all gungho about giving tax breaks and other enticements to the Cabela's sporting goods store, when Cabela's came calling making the same type con-man type pitch that had worked in other back waters in America.

As in Cabela's convinced the Star-Telegram that a sporting goods store would be the #1 tourist attraction in Texas.

You reading this in more sophisticated, better educated parts of America, I am not making this up.

The Star-Telegram touted the #1 tourist attraction nonsense over and over and over again, with the numbers of tourists projected varying from 5 to 7 million.

A short time after Cabela's opened in Fort Worth another Cabela's opened down by Austin. And now, just a few years later, the Fort Worth Cabela's is not even the only Cabela's in the D/FW Metroplex.

Has the Star-Telegram fessed up to their part in being snookered by the Cabela's #1 tourist attraction con?

No, they have not.

And then there was the time the Fort Worth Star-Telegram breathlessly informed its readers that a project then called Trinity Uptown would turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South.

Seems like I just recently blogged about the Vancouver of the South nonsensical propaganda.

I found it.

A blogging from just a couple days ago, titled Is A Fort Worth Arctic Blast Helping Freeze Panther Island Ice In The Vancouver Of The South? details, in part, the Vancouver of the South Star-Telegram irresponsible reporting.

Like I already said, I don't know what Star-Telegram editorials the "anonymous" Queen of Snark thinks the Star-Telegram should retract. I'm guessing there may be dozens....

Trying To Count A Village Creek Dead Tree's Rings While Walking With Indian Ghosts

I was in the mood to commune with nature and Native American ghosts today in the noon time frame.  My closest location for that type communing is to go walking in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

And so that is what I did, along with way more than the usual number of ghost walkers.

I think the cool temperature must appeal to some people who are usually averse to outdoor activity. Or maybe today's Village Creek crowd was just an odd fluke.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that whilst walking on the Village Creek NHA's paved trail I came upon a dead tree surrounded by what looked like crime scene tape. That dead tree was leaning, precariously, on a tree which was still among the living.

Today I was not too surprised to see that the corpse of the dead tree had been chainsawed into several big pieces.

When I saw the log on the ground, that you see above, I thought that this gave me an opportunity to solve a mystery that has been mystifying me ever since I learned the Village Creek location used to house one of America's biggest Indian villages, before Texans used a very primitive form of eminent domain abuse to force the Indians off their property.

The mystery that had long mystified me was wondering if the big trees I see in the Village Creek zone date back to the time when Indians still called this home.

I've counted rings on a stump, in my Pacific Northwest past, to determine how old a tree was. The Pacific Northwest tree ring counting took place on fir, pine and cedar trees. Not oak.

The ringage on the Village Creek dead oak tree was not clear enough to allow for counting the years it had been alive.

So, the age of the Village Creek trees remains a mystery.....

Gas Pipeline Explodes In Milford Texas Sending Black Smoke Plume North Of Dallas

Before leaving my abode to drive to Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area I heard on the radio that a Chevron gas pipeline had exploded in south Ellis County, south of Waxahachie, near the little town of Milford.

The radio report said the black smoke plume from the explosion was visible for miles and would be heading north, staying close to the ground due to a temperature inversion.

I did not expect to see this black smoke plume, but, see it I did, when I drove north on Eastchase Parkway to Walmart.

That is the black smoke plume you see, low on the horizon, in the picture above, looking east, towards Dallas, from the Walmart parking lot.

My camera could not catch the entire plume, but it extended as far as I could see south and as far as I could see north.

The entire town of Milford was evacuated following the explosion and the resulting ongoing fire, including 230 students and faculty. The students were taken to the town of Italy's high school's Gladiator Coliseum.

Apparently no one has yet been reported injured or killed by this explosion, which occurred at a drill site where workers were penetrating the ground.

The exact location of the big boom is south of Milford, close to the intersection of Farm Road 308 and U.S. Highway 77.

I do not know if the black smoke plume's fumes are toxic.

Is A Fort Worth Arctic Blast Helping Freeze Panther Island Ice In The Vancouver Of The South?

Yesterday after I mentioned that an Arctic Blast was scheduled to arrive, today, in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex zone, along with the rest of North Texas, someone, calling him or herself Anonymous, made the following comment, with a website link....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "A Drizzly Swim Before Today's Arctic Blast Blew Cold In To Texas": 

The Arctic Blast should go well with Panther Island Ice.

http://www.trinityrivervision.org/pantherislandice/ 

Panther Island Ice. An ice rink located at the world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century, that being the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Coyote Drive-In.

Why is the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle persisting in this Panther Island name foolishness?

Was nothing learned from the debacle of decades of confusing Fort Worth's few tourists by naming its downtown Sundance Square, with that confusion only recently slightly mitigated by actually adding a square in downtown Fort Worth, but then goofily naming that square Sundance Square Plaza?

So, decades from now when, or if, the Trinity River Vision ever becomes clear, a future tourist may ask what makes this Panther Island place an island to be told that the island is surrounded by the Trinity River and an un-needed flood diversion channel, that may, or may not, have water in it.

As for this Panther Island Ice ice rink, which opens for business November 22, 50 years, to the day, after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, well.....

Who would have thought, over a decade ago, when we first learned of the Trinity River Vision, in a totally breathless piece of propaganda puffery in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in which the Star-Telegram informed us that what was then called Trinity Uptown would transform Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South, that that lofty expectation would come to this.

An ice rink.

You reading this in Vancouver, or other locations in the Pacific Northwest, I guarantee I am not making this up. The local newspaper of record informed its readers that this public works project, which the public has never voted on, would transform Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South.

Vancouver of the South without mountains, large bodies of saltwater, cruise ships or a highly educated population with an annoying tendency to add "eh" to the end of every sentence....

29 Degrees Freezing In Texas While Warming Up In A Hot Hot Tub

Well, the Arctic Blast delivered a freeze to North Texas just like the weather predictors predicted.

It was 29 degrees in the outer world when the sun arrived to begin it daily heating duty.

Last night was my best slumbering in a long long time. I don't like running the furnace at night. Like the A/C, it wakes me up when it cycles on and off.

So, when the outer world gets frigid it is time to get into multiple blanket mode.

I had such a pleasant, cold weather enhanced, multi-hour period of being restfully horizontal, that come morning, despite saying I would not, I decided to take a chilly walk to the pool.

With a heavy frost covering the roofs, it was fairly obvious the water in the pool was not as cool as the frigid air. So, I quickly dipped and just as quickly retreated to the hot tub.

The hot tub is big enough that I can get in swimming type exercise, sort of. But, with the hot tub heated to the low 90s, I quickly start feeling too HOT.

Feeling too HOT in the hot tub my solution is another quick dip in the cooling pool.  Sort of the opposite of the norm when I escape to the hot tub to warm up from the chilly pool.

By Sunday, according to the temperature predictors, my location on the planet will be heated to 50 degrees above freezing, at 82 degrees.

82 degrees is almost as HOT as the hot tub....