Awakened By A Thud Before Finding Photo Of Birch Bay Driftwood

A couple years ago Spencer Jack took his dad up north near the Canadian border to go water sliding at Birch Bay.

Birch Bay is a bustling beach tourist zone in Whatcom County. Camping at Birch Bay State Park was the number one go to place when I was a kid going on summer camping trips every weekend with my parental units and siblings.

I remember Birch Bay with a fondness level I remember little else.

Well, there is Sun Lakes State Park in Eastern Washington which also provided a lot of fond memories, including going there well past my little kid family camping years.

So, when I was a little kid, on into my teenage years, and  maybe slightly beyond my teenage years, there was this chunk of driftwood on the beach in the state park area of Birch Bay.

After Spencer Jack took his dad water sliding at Birch Bay I asked about that chunk of driftwood down by the state park. Spencer Jack's dad said next time they were at the Bay they'd look for it.

I don't remember if I got a subsequent Birch Bay Driftwood Search Report.

Then last night, in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a concussive thud. I reached for my phone to see it was and hour and a half past midnight.

And that I had several text messages.

One of the text messages was from Spencer Jack's grandpa, also known as my little brother Jake. There was no message in Spencer Jack's grandpa's text message, just the photo you see above.

Is that the infamous chunk of Birch Bay driftwood I remember so fondly, still existing all these years later? I can not tell for sure. I suspect it must be. I am fairly certain my little brother would remember that chunk of driftwood as well as I do....

Polluted Public River Floating Is One Of Fort Worth's Great Imaginary Success Stories

That which you see here is not a guy fishing in a dirty brown river.

What you see here is a guy testing water in a dirty brown river near the location of the notorious Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats at an imaginary pavilion at an imaginary island in the great success story known as Fort Worth.

The photo of the guy testing the Trinity was part of a Bud Kennedy article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

I came to be looking at this July 1 Star-Telegram article after someone named Anonymous  made an anonymous  blog comment...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Are America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridges Dust In The Wind":

You might have missed this gem from the bloated face of Fort Worth journalism:

Here’s the straight poop on that muck in the Trinity last week

The river’s makeover into a busy downtown tubing-kayaking attraction is one of Fort Worth’s great success stories.

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Now, that is just rude to refer to Bud Kennedy as the bloated face of Fort Worth journalism.

I agree with Bud Kennedy more often than I don't.

But, sometimes I don't understand how Bud Kennedy can type with a straight face some of which he types. I always assume he knows what he is typing is ridiculous and internally giggles. Or that he is just a big fan of creating ridiculous propaganda.

"The river’s makeover into a busy downtown tubing-kayaking attraction is one of Fort Worth’s great success stories."

A river makeover? Nothing has been done to that river that anyone would call a makeover. Some sand has been sprinkled to create a pseudo beach, and a couple outhouses have been installed on the south side of what is bizarrely called Panther Island Pavilion. Where there is no pavilion. But there is a small covered stage on the north side of the river.

A busy downtown tubing-kaying attraction?

Attraction? Busy?

Are you attracted to that attraction? I know I never have been, nor has anyone I've talked to. I've long opined that it is a sad indicator, and should be viewed as such, that Fort Worth is badly lacking in the outdoor water sport venues department. Thus so many people willing to get wet in that dirty river at that location.

Has Bud Kennedy partaken of the tubing-kayaking attraction? I know he likes to participate in local events.

And finally, the river's imaginary makeover is "one of Fort Worth's great success stories."?

One of Fort Worth's great success stories? I'm really not trying to be unduly snarky here, but I really can not come up with a single Fort Worth success story. And can not imagine characterizing those sad river floating events at that imaginary island as a success.

Really, I'm serious here, I can not think of anything that I might characterize as a great Fort Worth success story.

Having the #1 tourist attraction in Texas, via the Cabela's sporting goods store? Is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories? Nope. That one did not work out, despite the Star-Telegram, and especially Bud Kennedy's, touting it as such.

Having more wells fracked than another other city in the world? Is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Having more outhouses in its city parks than any other big city in America, is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Having fewer streets with sidewalks than any other big city in America, is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Please, someone help me out here, what in the world could Bud Kennedy be referring to when he refers to Fort Worth's great success stories?

Read all of Bud Kennedy's Here’s the straight poop on that muck in the Trinity last week piece and see how many ridiculously absurd propaganda items you can find.

Of course the polluted river floating being one of Fort Worth's great success stories is my favorite Orwellian bit of propaganda.

Another gem is this paragraph....

Panther Island is one of the cleanest parts of the river. It has been safe to swim, tube, raft or boat there most of the past year, but only boating or rafting is allowed along the Clear Fork stretch near Trinity Park or near South University Drive.

The embarrassing Panther Island nomenclature really needs to be put to rest.

What does that "Panther Island is one of the cleanest parts of the river" statement even purport to mean?

The chunk of land The Boondoggle identifies as Panther Island is dry land. The Trinity River is not nicknamed "Panther Island".

Or did I miss that memo?

Will Pacific Northwest Style Icon Queen V Soon Be A Real Housewife Of Tacoma?

The person you are looking at here, for those who do not know, is the Tacoma style icon known as Queen V.

Queen V is what is known as a trendsetter.

I met Queen V the summer of 2008. At one point in time during that Tacoma visit I had the extreme pleasure of receiving a personal tour of the Queen V Castle.

Suffice to say, the Queen V Castle is stylish. That and I have never been in any other home which had possums in residence, trained to use litter boxes.

I have heard rumors that Bravo TV is thinking of adding Tacoma to their Real Housewives franchise, as in The Real Housewives of Tacoma. With Queen V as the main housewife. Even though Queen V is currently not married.

I am pretty much current with the antics of Queen V. I know I would watch those antics on The Real Housewives of Tacoma.

One of the other potential Tacoma housewives is Miss Connie. Miss Connie is a cutie with a voice that drips honey, so much so, she really should be a Southern girl, I mean, housewife.

Anyway, I have no way of knowing how far along Andy Cohen is in the decision making process regarding whether or not to go ahead with The Real Housewives of Tacoma. He may be being a bit gun shy due to the disaster that was The Real Housewives of Dallas.

What was he thinking?

Bravo should have done The Real Housewives of Fort Worth. Think of the hilarity which would have ensued. Just the weekly Housewives Rockin' the River would have been ratings gold....

Today Spencer Jack Took Grandpa To Grandma's

Minutes ago incoming email.

Subject line:

Spencer Jack Takes Grandpa to Grandma's

No explanatory text included. Just three photos, the first of which you see here.

That would be Spencer Jack on the left, standing next to his grandpa, Spencer Jake.

I assume they are standing in front of my favorite ex-sister-in-law's house in Big Lake.

Big Lake is a little lake a couple miles east of my old home zone of Mount Vernon in the incredibly beautiful Skagit Valley in the equally incredibly beautiful state of Washington.

Spencer Jack's grandpa Jake is currently escaping the extreme heat of Arizona by spending a month with Spencer Jack and his dad.

UPDATE: Spencer Jack's dad has now explained that that which we see here is literally Spencer Jack taking his grandpa to his grandma's. As in that house behind the boys is Spencer's great great grandma Sylvia Jones home in Lynden, Washington. Totally remodeled.

Oh my, I just got all wistful thinking how happy grandma Jones would be to have Spencer Jack coming for a visit....

Joining Wichita Falls Sikes Lakes Throng Seeking Pokemon

I left my abode earlier than the norm due to the fact that my driveway is getting resurfaced today, which meant my motorized vehicular form of transport needed to be at a location other than the driveway.

I had intended to go climb Mount Wichita prior to going to ALDI.

But then I remembered something I read this morning in the Wichita Falls Times News Record newspaper online that made me think a visit to Sikes Lake might be interesting.

And educational.

The past several days I have been reading various references to a world-wide phenomenon regarding something called Pokemon. I knew it involved cell phones, a Japanese cartoon character, GPS directions and Pokemon-izers getting distracted due to staring at their phones.

This morning I read in the aforementioned Wichita Falls newspaper that hundreds of locals have been descending on Sikes Lake doing whatever it is you do with Pokemon and your phone.

Sikes Lakes is halfway to ALDI. And so I stopped there on my way to ALDI. The parking lot had a few more vehicles parked than the norm. A girl's soccer team was practicing. As I walked around the lake I noticed nothing unusual. Several joggers, several walkers.

No one staring at a cell phone.

Then I got to the location of the Wichita Falls Museum of Art and saw that which you see above on a concrete bench. Is that the Pokemon people seek and then take a cell phone photo of to prove they found it? Is that the deal, I wondered?

Less than a minute after that I noticed the museum parking lot had a lot of cars in it. Usually it is empty in the morning time frame. And then I noticed hordes of people looking like they were in zombie mode, staring at their phones.

I approached a young couple and asked the male of the pair if it was that Pokemon thing that they were doing. He confirmed that it was. I asked if he could explain it to me. Sure, said he. He then showed me his phone screen, explained they were looking for stuff via GPS coordinates and then when you found what you were looking for something happened on your phone that made you happy.

That is my short version of what I was told.

I really did not understand.

I continued on. That is the guy I spoke to on the right side of the picture below, walking along the paved trail around Sikes Lake, staring at his phone. You can see the guy in the center of the photo also staring at his phone. I don't know what the other guy is doing.

Continuing on I crossed the bridge heading towards the parking lot from whence I began my Pokemon walk. I soon came upon what looked to be a dad walking with his two pre-teen kids, a boy and a girl.

I asked the dad if he understood what the kids were doing. Not a clue was his reply. Me either, said I.

Are America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridges Dust In The Wind?

Months ago, the only one of America's Biggest Boondoggle's three bridges to nowhere, under construction, came to a halt due to the discovery of a design problem.

Make believe construction of that one bridge under construction began with a bang, literally, way back in 2014.

By "literally" we mean there actually was a big bang, as in J.D. Granger and his mama pushed the plunger on a device marked TNT to set off an explosion to celebrate the significant event of the imaginary beginning of construction on one of The Boondoggle's three simple little bridges connecting Fort Worth's mainland to an imaginary island.

Actual construction did not begin til much later than the time of the big bang.

The Boondoggle's apologists and propaganda purveyors long foisted the lie that the three bridges were being built over "dry land" so as to save money, when the fact of the matter is there was never going to  be any water under those bridges until a ditch was dug under them, with Trinity River water added to the channel.

Way back in 2013 I blogged about The Boondoggle's bridge building propaganda after receiving one of The Boondoggle's quarterly updates. A snippet of that blogging...

Speaking of Panther Island. On page 2 of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Update there is the headline "Paving the way to Panther Island."

Under that headline there is this short paragraph...

Three signature V-pier bridges will go out for bid together this November. By packaging the three bridges together a tremendous amount of money will be saved. Construction is scheduled to begin this winter.

Construction did not begin that winter. Or the next winter.

Recently I wondered about the current status of that one bridge The Boondoggle had under construction that had developed a design problem in need of a fix. I'd seen nothing in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about the bridge or the fix, since the initial news of the construction halt.

Then yesterday someone with the name Anonymous made a blog comment regarding the current status of The Boondoggle's bridge construction....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "J.D. Granger Takes Time Off From His Congressional Duties To Wade In The Trinity River":

Speaking of slow motion bridges... I drove by the sparkling trash can last weekend. All the rebar has been removed from the forms on the Jacksboro Hwy columns and the scene generally looks like a ghost town. Not sure how long the delay was said to be, but no visible progress is the update for now. 

_________________________

Wow.

It was way back in March I blogged Design Woes Are Not The Only Problem With Fort Worth's Panther Island Bridges.

At that point in time the Star-Telegram informed us the fix would take about a month. It is now about five months later.

Has anyone seen an article in the Star-Telegram informing its readers about the status of The Boondoggle's bridge?

If I have said it once I have said it twice, Fort Worth suffers due to lacking an actual newspaper practicing actual investigative journalism.

Speaking of the Star-Telegram's lack of investigative journalism, has anyone seen an article about that which Mary Kelleher dusted us with today in her blog post titled EAST FORT WORTH...NOT JUST DUST IN THE WIND?

J.D. Granger Takes Time Off From His Congressional Duties To Wade In The Trinity River

Someone calling him or herself "J.D.'s Ex" emailed me with a Facebook link and a question asking...

"What fresh nonsense is this?"

Apparently, on July 11, 2015, J.D. Granger started working at the U.S. House of Representatives, according to his Facebook page, with the germane part you see screen capped here.

I think Congress is currently on one of its long breaks from ill-serving the people, which would explain why J.D. Granger was documented to be semi-skinny dippping, wading in the Trinity River, in Fort Worth, on July 7, rather than attending to his congressional duties.

How is Mr. Granger working in Washington, one can not help but wonder? Is he employed on his mama's staff? How does  J.D. find the time to work in Washington and still manage all the various river parties he helps host in Fort Worth, in addition to overseeing the slow motion construction of three little bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island?

How was it not major news in the Fort Worth zone that J.D. Granger had started working at the U.S. House of Representative a year ago?

J.D. Granger Semi Skinny Dip In The Trinity River With One Of His Girl Friends

I have long opined it odd Fort Worth's favorite Frat Boy, J.D. Granger, he being the instigator behind Fort Worth's multitude of rabble getting wet in the polluted Trinity River, while not having been documented getting himself wet in the infamous river known to be infested with alligators and floating feces.

And then I heard from someone named Anonymous.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Saturday Roller Blading Around Wichita Falls Sikes Lakes":

JD Granger at Rockin' the River and in the water. Photo #20.

Rockin' the River July 7

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I got to Photo #20, as Anonymous suggested, to find myself shocked to be seeing a scantily clad J.D. Granger, with his current girl friend, Shanna Cate, standing in what I assume must be the Trinity River.

Then again, this is the Internet, and one can not trust what one sees, no matter how believable it appears.

Does anyone have photo documentation of  J.D. floating on an inner tube, splashing with the rabble? Confirming he actually got himself immersed in the Trinity River at one of his perverse Rockin' the River Happy Hour Floats?

Saturday Roller Blading Around Wichita Falls Sikes Lake

Years ago, after a bloody crash in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area, I gave up roller blading.

That bloody crash was bad. Half the skin off half the left side of my buttocks region was scraped off by sudden contact with cement.

After that bloody crash, I eventually got myself back vertical, slowly making my way back to my vehicular transport.

Dripping blood as I slowly rolled along.

I recollect hobbling into Walmart seeking bandage material, where I discovered a liquid bandage product.

The liquid bandage product worked, stopping the bleeding. Healing soon followed. Within a couple months the bruising subsided and my buttocks region was restored to its pre-crash pristine state.

But, I swore off roller blading. Did not want to go through that type trauma again.

Til this week.

I re-installed my roller blades and had myself a mighty fine time rolling the paved trail around Sikes Lake at Midwestern State University.

Roller blading came back to me like an easily recovered lost memory. That sort of surprised me. I guess it is like riding a bike. Once one masters that skill it stays with one forever.....

World Wonders If Any Officers Killed In Dallas Ambush Had Fort Worth Connections

I saw that which you see here this morning on the front page of the online version of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

My instant reaction to seeing this was to think how bizarre.

That this seemed to be a perverse iteration of the Star-Telegram's long discredited, embarrassing Green With Envy verbiage, which I came to be appalled by soon after my initial exposure to the Star-Telegram and its extreme small town way of covering news in a big city.

Is it really newsworthy that one of the police officers murdered in the Dallas tragedy had some connection to the town 30 miles west of Dallas?

Of all the myriad aspects of the Dallas tragedy that the Star-Telegram might cover I find a story headlined "One of officers killed in Dallas ambush had Fort Worth roots" to be so pointlessly shallow.