Are We Having A Showdown At The Fort Worth Stockyards Cattle Pen?

Big Ed emailed me asking why I'd not opined about this.

With the this to which Big Ed referred being the info contained in the article you see part of here, screen capped, titled Showdown: History and the future face off in Fort Worth Stockyards.

Recently something called the National Trust for Historic Preservation put out its annual list of what they considered to be America's Most Endangered Historic Places, with the Fort Worth Stockyards on this year's list.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation apparently thinks a $175 million project planned by Fort Worth's Hickman family, partnered with a California developer called Majestic Realty, is an "insensitive development" which threatens the historically significant Fort Worth Stockyards.

I don't know where in the Stockyards this proposed development is to take place, but one paragraph in the article tilted me to being against this development....

“It certainly ought to be a wake-up call to [Majestic owner Ed] Roski and the mayor that trading those cattle pens for modern-day restaurants and retail is foolish,” Murrin said. “Our national and international reputation is what tourism in the Stockyards is based on. It’s not just preservation for preservation’s sake. It’s good business.”

This project wants to take down the part of the Stockyards which is a stockyard? That being the cattle pens and the walkway that takes you above the cattle pens? That walkway is what the cowboy is standing on in the above photo.

And the cattle pens are where the Fort Worth Herd lives when the Longhorns are not in Trail Drive mode.

I was hoping this proposed development was an improvement, not something destructive, because the Fort Worth Stockyards could use some work.

Much has improved since I first visited the Stockyard, but many boarded up eyesores remain, such as the New Isis Theater.

Why does the city not do something about the New Isis eyesore is a question I have been asking since late in the last century.

The sidewalks in the Stockyards could use some work.

After dark the lighting in the Stockyards is terrible.

It has long seemed to me that Fort Worth sort of turns its back on its one and only actual tourist attraction that people in other parts of the planet actually know about. Visit the Stockyards on any summer Saturday and you will run into a European or two or three. Often Germans.

Spencer Jack's Driver's Training On the Beach In Ocean Shores Washington

A few hours ago an incoming email from Spencer Jack's dad had a picture of what looked like Spencer and his dad about to board a British Airways plane, with the text in the email telling me "Spencer Jack boards the Concorde en route to visit his Uncle."

The Concorde?

The Concorde has long gone to the same resting place as America's Space Shuttle.

En route to visit his uncle? As far as I know Spencer Jack has only two uncles. Those being me and my Favorite Nephew Joey. This is not a good time to be visiting Spencer Jack's Texas uncle, so I assumed the uncle being visited was Joey.

That Joey was the object of the visit was confirmed in follow up emails, one of which had a video attached, with the message in the email being "Killing time waiting to meet Uncle Joe."

That attached video you can watch below, where you will see Spencer Jack having his first driving lesson, on the sands of Ocean Shores. In the picture below, before you get to the video, Spencer Jack is waving at you, with waves of the Pacific Ocean coming to shore behind him.

I do not know if the Texas Gulf Coast has any beaches which are also highways. Washington has Ocean Shores with miles of beach road. If I am remembering right, Long Beach, south of Ocean Shores, also has beach driving.

My last time driving on the beach at Ocean Shores was in the summer of 2001. The driving was done on a real fun tricycle mountain bike type conveyance.

And now, the video of Spencer Jack taking his dad on a drive beside the Pacific Ocean...

Panther Island Pavilion Propaganda Claims No Gators Rockin' The River With The Tubers

A few minutes ago Elsie Hotpepper emailed me what you see here.

What you are looking at is a screen cap from America's Biggest Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion Facebook page.

Seems like just a couple days ago I blogged a blogging titled An Alligator Is Rockin' The River At Fort Worth's Imaginary Island Pavilion.

Two paragraphs from that blogging...

The TRWD spokesman is Matt Oliver, hired after an extensive search for a qualified experienced spokesman discovered that the son of the TRWD's manager, Jim Oliver, was best suited to adhere to the TRWD's policy of employing corrupt nepotism whenever possible.

Anyway, wildlife expert, Matt Oliver, informs us that there is nothing to fear from an alligator enjoying Rockin' the River near the imaginary island and pavilion. That alligators are just like turtles, what with being shy and minding their business unless intruded upon by hundreds of foolish people floating in inner tubes.

So, we have the spokesman for the parent of America's Biggest Boondoggle reassuring people there is no danger from the gator that took up residence in the Panther Island Pavilion zone, where there is no island or pavilion.

Meanwhile, America's Biggest Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion Facebook page is telling people there are no gators in the federal flood way were the tubing  takes place.

Federal flood way? This is the first time I've heard the confluence of those two forks of the Trinity identified as a federal flood way.

The Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision Boondoggle has always been big on exaggerated propaganda.

Touting things like three simple little bridges being built in slow motion for four years are going to be signature bridges. You know, like the Golden Gate Bridge is.

Or propaganda like touting that Panther Island Pavilion, where I think I have already mentioned there is no island or pavilion, is the only urban waterfront music venue in Texas and other exaggerations regarding that rather sad, aesthetically speaking, music venue, with old subway stations turned into stages, a service garage turned into a beer hall/music stage, and for restrooms, a couple concrete enclosed outhouses.

Yeah, that is one world class music venue. Now with gators.....

UPDATE: I have been erroneous in saying TRWD spokesman, Matt Oliver, is TRWD mis-manager, Jim Oliver's son. Jim Oliver is Matt's uncle. I learned this from TRWD board director Mary Kelleher's blog in a blogging titled Croc In River....

Jumpin Rudy Wants You To Check Out The VIP Bathroom Amenities At Fort Worth's Fourth

Incoming email this morning from the entity who goes by the name of Jumpin Rudy.

Subject line: FORT WORTH'S FOURTH
Text in email: In Sunday's paper. Sorry for the potato quality pic. Check out the VIP amenities: VIP BATHROOMS!

I am not sure I know what a potato quality pic is, but I cropped the pic Jumpin Rudy included in the email and ran it through a photo filter to render it less potato-ish.

I blogged about those VIP bathrooms a week or two ago in a blogging titled Fort Worth's Fourth Has Five VIP Levels With Some Having Private Bathrooms & Cash Bars.

Now, here is what I am thinking.

With my perspective tainted by being from way up north and the west coast, where modern restroom facilities are the norm, not the exception, it strikes me as really embarrassing that a city would have an event where it is advertised as a VIP extra that you get access to a bathroom.

The advertisement in the Star-Telegram made it clear this embarrassment is yet one more product of America's Biggest Boondoggle. I ran the proud "PRODUCED BY TRINITY RIVER VISION AUTHORITY" part of the ad through the potato filter, with below being the barely legible result.

Does it only seem odd to me that America's Biggest Boondoggle goes by so many different names? Trinity River Vision Authority. Trinity Uptown. Central City. Panther Island. Why not just settle on calling it America's Biggest Boondoggle, which is an accurate name?

No Indian Ghosts Haunting Arlington's Village Creek On This Last Sunday Of June

My handlebars went to Arlington this last Sunday of June to the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

What the handlebars are looking at is the scourged ground left behind when Village Creek ceased being in flood mode.

Village Creek was flowing with crystal clear water today, the likes of which I have not seen before with Village Creek.

If the Trinity River ever got as crystal clear as Village Creek is being today, well, inner tubing in that river would not seem nearly as unappealing, what with one then being able to see what was sharing the water with you.

The above view is looking northwest, from the Bob Findlay Linear Park that runs  through the Interlochen neighborhood.

The below view is also looking northwest from the Interlochen neighborhood, but not on the Bob Findlay Linear Park.

As I approached the area you see above I saw those two bikers struggling to lower their bikes to a dam I have walked across many times, but would never consider using as a bike crossing, due to what  is on the other side is not exactly bike friendly. The pair making this trek, a man and woman, were not youngsters, much closer to being elderly than youngsters.

The path the bikers were on eventually leads to the Village Creek Blue Bayou Overlook. I did not see them when I got to the overlook. They had plenty of time to beat me there, what with the route they were taking being much shorter than the paved route which brought me to the Overlook.

A teenage kayaker drowned in Village Creek when he tried to kayak the flooding rapids. Seeing the scourged remains of the flood today had me wondering where that kayaker kayaked, as in where did he put the kayak in, and where did it turn into a fatal accident?

Way too many locals seem to think it is a good idea to go kayaking in a flooding creek or river. Do there need to be "NO KAYAKING WHILE FLOODING" signs sharing space with the "FISH NOT SAFE TO EAT" signs?

I saw no Indian Ghosts today....

The Supreme Court Has Brought About An Unexpected Texas Wedding Boom

A week ago if I saw that which you see here in the Seattle Times I would have screen capped it and added it to my list of bloggings about things I see in west coast newspapers that I would never see in a Texas newspaper.

But, starting yesterday, items like you see here, from the Dallas Morning News, are showing up in newspapers all over Texas.

Yesterday morning, June 26, 2015, 82 year old George Harris and 85 year old Jack Evans became the first same sex pair to get themselves legally hitched in Dallas County.

Meanwhile, yesterday a Fort Worth policewoman became the first to get married to her now former girlfriend in Tarrant County.

On Friday same sex couples were showing  up in large numbers at county courthouses across Texas. It is sort of amazing how a ruling by SCOTUS could have such an immediate impact.

What's next on this common sense train America seems to be on? Universal decriminalization of marijuana? Amnesty for those in prison for some marijuana crime? Actual Universal Health Care like other advanced nations have?

And what's next for Texas?

Does Texas have any sort of recall the governor type deal to be used when the people realize they have elected a clueless moron?

An Alligator Is Rockin' The River At Fort Worth's Imaginary Island Pavilion

This morning Elsie Hotpepper in her ongoing campaign to convince me to cease with participating in America's Biggest Boondoggle's Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in the polluted Trinity River emailed me a link to a NBCDFW news story titled Alligator Spotted Near Downtown Fort Worth.

The spot where the alligator was spotted is the same spot where The Boondoggle's Rockin' the River takes place.

I have long wondered how long  it was going to be til something unwanted floated into the location where the River Rockin' takes place. Something like a water moccasin or a herd of snapping turtles or a big garfish or an alligator.

In addition to the information about the alligator what I also got out of this story was a feeling of how bizarre it is that the local idiocracy has gone along with The Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion nomenclature, what with the fact of the matter being there is no island or pavilion.

The talking heads used the Panther Island Pavilion misnomer and it was printed on the screen showing a flooded Trinity River lapping up against the stage which I think is what The Boondoggle is pretending is a pavilion.

In this location there is also a pretend beach with transplanted sand, likely in need of being re-transplanted when the river recedes.

Also included in this story was alligator information from the spokesman for the Tarrant Regional Water District.

The TRWD spokesman is Matt Oliver, hired after an extensive search for a qualified experienced spokesman discovered that the son of the TRWD's manager, Jim Oliver, was best suited to adhere to the TRWD's policy of employing corrupt nepotism whenever possible.

Anyway, wildlife expert, Matt Oliver, informs us that there is nothing to fear from an alligator enjoying Rockin' the River near the imaginary island and pavilion. That alligators are just like turtles, what with being shy and minding their business unless intruded upon by hundreds of foolish people floating in inner tubes.

I think I will likely stay out of the Trinity River for awhile....

A Happy Hour Rockin' The Indian Ghosts Bike Ride In Arlington's Interlochen

Can you see the Indian Ghosts sitting on the supposedly empty bench, looking out over the land on which their village was built a long long time ago?

What with there being Indian Ghosts sitting on a bench this would seem to indicate my handlebars are in the vicinity of Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area.

Specifically my handlebars are looking northwest from a sidewalk in the Interlochen neighborhood, looking at an Interlochen loch and Village Creek.

In the past week, or so, my attempts to visit the Indian Ghosts have been thwarted by the area being closed due to flooding.

Via muddy residue, well, what once was mud, but which has now been rendered into thick dust, I could see how high the water rose.

I don't know if Village Creek rose to a record breaking flood level, but if it didn't, I think it got close. A lot of flood damage residue has been left in the flood's wake.

More rain is on the menu for tomorrow, with possible thunderstorms. I hope we don't go into flood mode again.

It gets old.

That and all this flooding is causing my favorite local activity to be postponed over and over again. I am referring to the Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats in the currently bloated and polluted Trinity River, which America's Biggest Boondoggle is now touting as being the same water as our drinking water, with that lovely muddy brown color coming from clay.

Not pollution....

You Got A "C" On The History Of The Civil War Test

Of late, whilst reading comments about various current events issues, such as the ongoing Confederate flag controversy, I have found myself appalled more than once by how ignorant way too many people are about what are known as historical facts, along with being appalled at how readily these ignorant sorts share their ignorance.

It occurred to me that it is likely the majority of those making ignorant comments had their education career end at high school.

Or earlier.

And that the majority of those making ignorant comments were likely C Students.

Or worse.

So, I was thinking, you C Students out there, you know who you are, well, you really might want to think twice before sharing your opinion about anything to do with politics, science, economics, history and other subjects where your knowledge base is a bit undeveloped.

Consider maybe keeping your C Student commenting to subjects like sports and Kardashians and other subjects that don't require being well educated.

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful consideration of this suggestion....

Don't Drink And Facebook Unless You Are Living By The Golden Rule

I won't get specific about to whom this message is directed.

You know who you are and why you are reading this message.

What you need to do now that you are no longer under the influence is take the chilling out advice you were kindly given and then try hard to develop some compassion for your fellow humans and the myriad reasons they may not be living in a way your narrow mind approves of.

Or understands.

A wise man once allegedly said something along the line of "Judge not lest ye be judged." That same wise man also allegedly said something like "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

If I remember right that second piece of advice from the wise man is known as The Golden Rule. I may be wrong about that. Just a second while I visit Google. Yup, I was right....

The version I used sounds more poetic than this bloodless definition I got by Googling. But I should not judge....