A Sunny Sunday In Texas Thinking Of Going Swimming Without A Bikini

As you can see looking out my viewing portal, the second Sunday of the second month of 2011 is a sunny Sunday.

And this is the first day in a long time that has not started off below freezing. It is a relatively balmy 38 degrees out there right now.

For the first time since the Super Bowl there was no fresh Dallas Cowboy Super Bowl Scandal news this morning that I noticed.

I heard from the revolting Elsie Hotpepper this morning. She seems still to be in revolution mode.

I also heard from the Scrabble Queen of Washington, who is currently holding court in Hawaii. She told me of an encounter with an "Earth Muffin" who was celebrating the "Queen of the Sea Month." Earth Muffin and Queen of the Sea are two concepts I had not heard of before. Apparently the Earth Muffin was wearing the world's teeniest bikini.

I think I'll go swimming now. But not in a bikini.

The Warm Shadow Of The Tandy Hills Thin Man Returns With Tootsie Tonasket & a Revolting Elsie Hotpepper

The Shadow of the Tandy Hills Thin Man returned today to the Tandy Hills.

Wearing no coat. Overdressed, with long pants on. It is currently 65, with my windows open, in formerly frigid Fort Worth.

And, according to the forecast, below, you can see we are heading into a week in the 70s. I suspect a dip in a swimming pool is in my future in the coming days.

This morning I sent a Facebook message to one of my Washington  Facebook Friends, Mrs. Dirtwash*, to make an inquiry regarding my favorite sister-in-law, who I'd not heard from in awhile. A short time later my favorite sister-in-law called.

We talked for an hour.

My favorite sister-in-law is technically my ex-sister-in-law, but the reality is, she really is the only sister-in-law I've ever had, in a meaningful way. I've not really known any of my brother's subsequent wives.

My favorite sister-in-law is my grand nephew, Spencer Jack's, grandma.

On the way to the Tandy Hills, Tootsie Tonasket called. I think I've mentioned previously that Tootsie Tonasket is a bit of a drama magnet, surrounded by small town soap opera antics.

It is a tossup between Tootsie Tonasket and Elsie Hotpepper who is the bigger Drama Queen.

Currently Elsie Hotpepper is very mad at me because she told me she needed a revolution. I then told Elsie something like you really don't wanna be any more revolting than you already are do you, so why would you need a revolution?

And that is the last I've heard from Elsie Hotpepper. And below you can see we are about to become almost as hot as a hotpepper...

*Some names on this blog are changed, slightly, to protect the identify of those who need their identities protected..

The Texas Dawn Of The Second Saturday Of The Second Month Of 2011 Is Abraham Lincoln's & My Little Sister's Birthday

The second Saturday of the second month of 2011 has dawned at 32 degrees with a nice clear blue sky heading to a possible high in the 60s today.

Today is the birthday of the Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln. It is also the birthday of My Great Little Sister, Jackie.

I spoke to my Great Little Sister last week and I know she told me what she was doing for her birthday, but my ever worse memory did not record what that was. I have a vague recollection either Las Vegas or a cruise was involved.

Each morning seems to be bringing fresh fodder to the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Seating Scandal. The City of Arlington released pages of emails which made it clear that Arlington building code inspectors were not happy with the temporary seating and how the Cowboys people were handling the problem.

I had the longest phone talk in over 2 and a half years with a Tacoma person last night. I learned all sorts of interesting things.

The big Fort Worth news in this morning's Star-Telegram is that Downtown Fort Worth is getting a grocery store.

Oliver's Fine Foods.

Downtown Fort Worth is currently the only city in America with a population over 500,000 without a downtown grocery store or department store.

I am not going swimming this morning.

Back On The Tandy Hills While Green With Envy Thinking About How Fort Worth Impresses America

I parked on top of Mount Tandy today to go do some cross country hilly trail hiking. I figured the trails would still be muddy, and they were, but making my own mud-free trail worked out fine.

In the picture we are to the south of the top of Mount Tandy and the Fort Worth Space Needle, looking west at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

I have not viewed the stunning skyline of beautiful Downtown Fort Worth from the Tandy Hills since before ESPN arrived on one of the Sundance Square parking lots to broadcast Super Bowl coverage to the world to change the world-wide image of Fort Worth forever.

Unfortunately that did not quite work out the way Fort Worth boosters hoped it would. Unless the hope was to change the world-wide image of Fort Worth to being a snowy, icebound location.

This morning, it was in the news that polling showed that the national image of Arlington went from 73.7 percent of America having no impression of Arlington, prior to the Super Bowl, to having even less of an impression, at 74.4 percent, after the Super Bowl.

That is not impressive.

I can't help but wonder if the same polling company that polled about the Super Bowl city, Arlington, also polled about Dallas and Fort Worth.

I really don't think any reasonable person would argue with the proposition that a much higher percentage of Americans have some impression of Dallas than they do of Fort Worth.

When I am on the road, out of Texas, and asked where I'm from, I say Dallas, because people know about Dallas. When I lived in Washington and was on the road, and asked where I was from, I usually did not say Mount Vernon, or the Skagit Valley. I'd say I was from Seattle, because people know about Seattle and where it is.

I'd guess a very high percentage of Americans have an impression of Dallas, J.R. Ewing, JFK, Cotton Bowl, a recognizable skyline, among other things.

I'd guess, if polled, the percent of Americans who have an impression of Fort Worth would be closer to the percentage of Americans who have an impression of Arlington.

Or lower.

Afterall, Arlington has Six Flags, the Ballpark in Arlington and the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Those 3 things would seem likely to have left an impression on some Americans as being associated with Arlington.

But, the only thing in Fort Worth that is remotely iconic and is associated with Fort Worth is the Fort Worth Stockyards. The Stockyards would seem to be the only Fort Worth thing that might give Fort Worth a possibility of having made more of an impression on America than Arlington.

Methinks Fort Worth could do some work on making itself more known to the rest of America. Like the town could arrest its mayor on corruption charges. Or have big protests on the Sundance Square parking lots demanding Regime Change.

I am constantly appalled at my bad memory. I'd forgotten that Fort Worth was recently the Envy of the Nation because a Fort Worth school won the Rose Bowl. I'm sure that really amped up the national impression of Fort Worth as being a very impressive place.

I think Fort Worth's best hope to make a national impression may be through the good works of the Fort Worth savior, J.D. Granger, and his Trinity River Vision.

When the Trinity River Vision finally opens for business I am sure it will be the talk of the nation.

If not the world.

The Fort Worth version of San Antonio's Riverwalk will likely once more make Fort Worth the Envy of the Nation, with cities and towns, far and wide, Green with Envy.

I'm done now.

Texas Twitter Tweeting Brought Me The News That Egypt's Hosni Mubarak Has Stepped Down As Egypt's President

Today is the second time Twitter was where I learned of some big news deal. I don't remember what the previous instance was, but I'll likely remember today's.

The Tweet that caught my eye and had me turning on my TV was "President Mubarak has stepped down as president of Egypt."

Reading the Tweets about Egypt stream into Twitter is borderline addictive.

Some of the Twitter Tweets....

"My sisters and brothers in Egypt: I am American. I am a father. I am a Jew. I weep in joy for you."

"Dammit. All of us at work want to see Egypt coverage, but THE MAN has blocked all video streaming. I need a mini TV at my desk"

"And the people of Egypt have spoken...we celebrate with Egyptians!"

"Soooooo proud of Egypt."

"This just in: "Hosni Mubarak steps down as President of Egypt. Cable news networks have simultaneous orgasm."

"Breaking: Omar Suleiman announces that Mubarak has resigned."

"17 days to take down a 30 year regime."

"Mubarak has stepped down as president. Egypt liberated and no bloodshed which is good."

"Congratulations, Egypt!!! The determination and ferocity of the people inspires billions around the world...now who's next?"

"Mubarak-ectomy is COMPLETE!! the monster is OUT!! Long live Egypt. Long live Egyptian youth!! ya rab yehmeekom le mar."

"My officemate from Egypt has commenced squealing in celebration. Congratulations Egypt, Mubarak is gone."

"Only took him 2 weeks but he finally got the message."

"Ahh Egypt. Welcome to the world of unrestrained capitalism. Sorry, democracy, I meant democracy."

"Well done Egypt! How about you come here and work on Cameron?"

"Soooo now Egypt is under military rule? I'm going to hold off my bottle poppin for a bit."

"Touchdown! Do a little dance. Drink a little wine. Get down tonight! Congratulations! Egypt, Love you sooooo much!"

"Good for you Egypt! But be vigilant. We kicked out our Mubarak only to have him replaced with Mwaibarak."

"Congratulations, Egypt, you showed me how the power of the people can triumph."

""Brothers & sisters of Egypt, you have given the world the most precious gift: the belief that ultimately right will prevail. Desmond Tutu."

"Mubarak has gone. Egypt is free. The trouble is only just beginning."

"Uninstalling dictator.....99% complete."

"You did it Egypt...the whole world is watching you, and is standing with you. Tonight the Liberty Bell is ringing loud & clear in Cairo."

"For the 1st time in Egypt's history we have an ex-president!"

"Governments should work for their people, not the other way around. Egypt proved that. Well done."

"America liberates Iraq from dictator, installs democracy: Americans angry. America doesn't remove dictator from Egypt: Americans angry."

"Tunis. Egypt. May Iran be next..."

"Egypt becomes free on the same day Lady GaGa releases Born The Way. Conincidence??? I think not."

"Unbelievable!! He's gone! Scenes of jubilations in Tahir. I will never forget this moment."

"Please wait while uninstalling rest of dictators of the world."

"Yeahhh! One less crook in power. Egypt is free! Great example that should contaminate other societies where dictators rule!"

"Egypt conquered. What next? Saudi Arabia?"

"Knowledge is power! People of Egypt have spoken. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win-Ghandi."

NFL To Refund Thousands More Super Bowl Seat Victims Along With More Bad Super Bowl Blunder News

I don't think the Super Bowl ended up being quite the wonderful boost to North Texas that North Texas boosters hoped it would be.

This morning brought the news that approximately 2,000 more fans will be getting a ticket refund or a ticket to a future Super Bowl. These additional disgruntled fans were disgruntled due to being delayed in getting access to the seats they had paid for.

A research firm, San Diego based Competitive Edge Research & Communication is employed to survey opinions, nationwide, of Super Bowl host cities.

Polling data found that positive opinions of Arlington went from 17.4 percent before the game to 14.9 after the game.

Even worse for Arlington, 73.7 of those polled had no impression of the town before the game, with that number managing to increase to 74.4 percent after the game.

I'm thinking making no impression is better than making a bad impression.

An Oklahoman newspaper columnist, Jenni Carlson opined, "Our good friends in North Texas want the Super Bowl back in five years, want to host the biggest spectacle in sports again, want to be the site of the game's momentous 50th anniversary. Good luck with that. Super Bowl XLV? More like Blunder Bowl. Everything that could go wrong did. Some of it was out of anyone's control -- who could've foreseen not one but two snowstorms rolling through the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Super Bowl week? -- but plenty of other things were man-made disasters."

There were a couple good letters to the editor this morning in the Dallas Morning News regarding the man-made Super Bowl disasters....

Waiting for Super Bowl seats

Much has been made about the displaced fans in the temporary seats who were grossly inconvenienced, and my sympathies go out to them. 

However, little has been mentioned about the thousands of us who waited outside the Blue Entrance for over two hours without moving and with no one telling us what was going on.

Jerry Jones and the NFL cannot get a pass on this, as they had years to plan for all contingencies and severely dropped the ball. Spending thousands of dollars only to be frustrated with an organizational debacle of epic proportions is simply unacceptable.

Gary S. Black, Dallas

Jones disgraced many

Jerry Jones' enormous greed and ego has brought shame to Dallas and disgraced not only himself, but the city of Dallas, Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys Stadium and the NFL. His ego-driven attempt to set a new Super Bowl attendance record created not only safety issues for visiting Packer and Steeler fans, but destroyed what would have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

I can only imagine the grief, humiliation and discomfort these fans suffered, and that doesn't include enormous amounts of money that was spent for seats that weren't even available when they were purchased. 

To those fans, I apologize for the horrible experience, and I hope you don't associate most Cowboy fans and North Texans with Jones. We sincerely hope to see you again under better circumstances. We can and will do better.

Ronnie Smith, Garland

The Dawn Of A New Day In Texas Thinking About The Ousters Of Fort Worth's & Egypt's Dictators

The dawn of the second Friday of the second month of 2011 has dawned warmer than yesterday's dawn, currently only 9 degrees below freezing.

As you can see, looking out my window, there appears to be no ice or snow.

The current forecast for this coming Sunday is to possibly heat up into the 70s.

This morning I noticed a strange thing whilst looking at the newspapers I look at every morning.

Yesterday was a rather remarkable day, news-wise, regarding the uprising in Egypt and the aftermath to Hosni Mubarak's rather defiant speech.

On the front pages of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News there is nary a mention made of the Egyptian Revolution.

And then on the front pages of the Washington newspapers online that I read, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Skagit Valley Herald, the news about Egypt is prominently featured.

I have no idea what to think about the different focus of these different newspapers.

The Star-Telegram's big story of the day, on its front page, was regime change in Fort Worth, after weeks of protests on the downtown Fort Worth parking lots known as Sundance Square, demanding the ouster of Fort Worth's corrupt, conflicts of interest-laden mayor, Mike Moncrief.

On the Star-Telegram's front page there are multiple links to multiple reports about the startling news that Fort Worth's dictator is stepping down, including a propaganda piece by Bud Kennedy titled "Moncrief goes out a winner."

Well, that's true. Moncrief does go out a winner.

Moncrief may not have made billions of bucks during his reign, unlike fellow dictator, Hosni Mubarak. But, Moncrief did win himself a few dollars, what with the millions of bucks he made via his interests in the various Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers he helped poke thousands of holes in the town he ruled.

Just like Mubarak, Moncrief is not stepping down, but will wait til the next election replaces him. I've not heard if the protests at Sundance Square have amped up demanding an immediate end to the Moncrief regime.

One big difference between the two dictators is Mubarak was elected in a fraudulent election with no opposition and with something like 98% of the voters voting for him. While Moncrief was elected by around 70% of the 6% of Fort Worth's eligible voters who bothered to vote.

I don't know if an election where only 6% of the voters bother to vote qualifies as a fraudulent election, or not.

Glad To No Longer Be Freezing In North Texas While Being Perplexed By Hosni Mubarak & Thinking Of Going To Disneyland

You are looking at a rare afternoon look through the bars of my patio prison cell, at my tropical pool surrounded by lush greenery.

And no ice or snow.

We have heated up to above freezing in formerly frigid North Texas.

With the Real Feel supposedly being 45. I don't quite understand how that works. But it sounds good.

Speaking of prison cells, I was watching the Egyptian Soap Opera during lunch and got hooked on continuing to watch so as to witness the spectacle when Hosni Mubarak went on TV to announce he was stepping down as President.

And then the speech came on and instead Hosni Mubarak seemed really out of touch with the reality of the chaos spinning around him. When he finally stopped talking, the hundreds of thousands who had been happy and celebrating, pre-speech, went into heavy duty angry disappointment mode.

I would think if I had a run as a dictator for 30 years, had accrued billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains and was in my 80s, I think I'd call it a day, get out of the country and go to Disneyland. Maybe making a tour of all the Disneylands in the world. But skipping that one by Paris.

Now it is time for me to get out of here and enjoy some of this balmy weather we are currently basking in.

A Record Breaking Freeze Greets North Texas On The 10th Day Of The 2nd Month of 2011 Along With a $5 Million Super Bowl Lawsuit

Looking out my viewing portal about an hour before the daily sun arrival I can see the swimming pool glowing blue through the icy window on this second Thursday of the second month of 2011.

As you can see via the screen cap below, from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, North Texas is experiencing a record breaking low temperature this morning.

As you can also see below via another screen cap, with that screen cap coming from my computer monitor screen, when I woke up my computer this morning it was 13 degrees out there, with the wind making it feel like 8 degrees.

The other big North Texas news this morning, which you can see referenced in the same screen cap as the record breaking cold, is the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys have been hit with a $5 million class action lawsuit over the Super Bowl debacle involving game tickets sold to seats that did not exist.

The sun has now brought the dawn of the new day. And we have lost one more degree since the below screen cap was capped. It is now 12 degrees with a wind chill real feel of 10.

I am not going swimming this morning. I'm going to Hurst instead.

The Sun Sets On Yet One More Bitterly Cold Freezing Day In North Texas

Usually I start my blogging day with the sunrise view from my portal on the world.

Tonight I am really seriously mixing it up by ending my blogging day with the sunset view from my portal on the world.

It does not look all that different. Sun comes up, sun goes down.

It's been one more miserably cold day in Texas.

When I lived in the balmy, semi-tropical Pacific Northwest zone of Western Washington I was of the impression that winter in the south was like being in Southern California.

Not Siberia.

Today the sun  rose with a temperature of 14 with a REAL FEEL of -10. Tonight the sun goes down with a temperature of 23 with a REAL FEEL of 1. That is 1 degree Fahrenheit.

Right now, up in where I should be living, Seattle, it is currently 44, with a REAL FEEL of 41.

Looking at the Seattle 5 day forecast, above, it appears they will be having a couple sunny days, followed by a rather cloudy one, and then rain. And then some more rain.

This is reminding me why, usually, I remember what it is I like about living in Texas. That being the ability to enjoy the Great Outdoors whenever you want, for the most part. But not right now. Unless sliding on ice while being bitterly cold is your thing.

Driving To A Puerto Rican Balcony In A Texas Blizzard

It appears as if the blizzard-like action of the day has abated, with some blue sky poking through the clouds.

I bundled up and went out in it. At 14 degrees with the wind making it feel like -10.

I was able to drive through the blizzard, over to Miss Puerto Rico's, to take a picture of the snowy view from her balcony.

Being able to drive, so far, makes this week's bout of ice less dire than last week's. I hope it stays that way.

Due to all the woes from last week's Deep Freeze, this week's Deep Freeze News has warnings to leave faucets dripping, heat set at a minimum of 65 and other emergency measures. Having seen, first hand, last week, the results of bursting pipes, I am keeping the water dripping.

I wonder if Gar the Texan is now floating somewhere on his way to the Bahamas and remembering that he forgot to leave the heat on and faucets dripping in his house? I suspect he will return to a flooded house.

As you can see, the view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony is a bit monochromatic this morning. It is usually more colorful.

Below is a screencap from this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, with one more of the now ubiquitous pipe warnings.

Below is the current weather info provided me courtesy of my computer's Internet Browser Weather Plug-in.

The current weather info from my Weather Plug-in is from Accu-Weather. It appears to be accurate except for the Light Snow part. In my location no snow is falling. And the sun is now in full brightness mode.

Another Morning In The Deep Freeze In Texas Thinking Of Going To The Bahamas To Learn How To Spell Better & Arctic

You are looking out my portal on the world at what 16 degrees looks like on the second Wednesday of the second month of 2011.

I do not believe we have been covered with ice, overnight, like what happened last week. There appears to be a very light dusting of a white substance.

I can hear vehicles rolling on the road.

This morning I read that that well known Weather Wuss who calls himself Gar the Texan can not take this worst Texas winter weather he's ever shivered through anymore. So, he is going to the Bahamas.

While Gar the Texan is in the Bahamas I hope he has time to figure out how to enable the spell checker on the program he uses to write his blog. If he does this he may learn there are more c's in Arctic than he, apparently, currently thinks is the case.

Something hard and frozen is being blown against my window, sporadically. Currently, as you can see below, the wind is making it feel like -6 degrees out there.

I Wandered Around A Windy Fosdic Lake Today Wondering Why Fort Worth Is Not The Most Romantic Valentines Day City In America

I made it to Oakland Lake Park today for a very windy walk around Fosdic Lake.

The wind was blowing from the south. Which seemed odd since we are scheduled to get some very cold air later today from the north.

Right now it is 53 with the wind gusting in the 20 plus mph zone.

The current plan is for tomorrow to get to a low of 6, with a strong wind making it feel way below sub-zero.

With snow.

Will this be a blizzard? I've only experienced one blizzard. In October, back in the 1990s, in a log cabin on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

I am stocked up on vittles. I've got 10 sticks of firewood in case the power goes out again. I've got several containers filled with water in case the water disappears again.

On a totally different note, did you get the news that El Paso is the 5th Most Romantic City in America? And even weirder, that Tacoma is the #1 Most Romantic City in America. The Most Romantic City in America List is a Valentines Day thing.

Why is Fort Worth not on this list? We are very romantic in this town.

The Freezing Dawn Of The Second Tuesday Of The Second Month Of 2011 In Texas

The second Tuesday of the second month of 2011 has dawned with a clear blue sky with the sun heating the air to the freezing point of 32 degrees.

Tonight we are scheduled to get quite a bit colder, along with the reappearance of freezing rain followed by snow.

The National Weather Service's predicted low for tomorrow has now been lowered to 6 degrees.

I don't know if the Texas power plants that malfunctioned during last week's Big Chill have been made immune from whatever malfunctioned them. I'm guessing we have the possibility of Rolling Blackouts to look forward to again.

Super Bowl fallout continues to be amusing. Hapless Jerry Jones continues to seem to take the brunt of the blame, though a lot of the problems don't seem to be his fault. Blame seems more appropriate to be pointed towards the NFL for snafus like selling tickets to seats that did not exist.

But, this morning I learned of a new Super Bowl woe that Jerry Jones does sort of own. Apparently the roof of the new Cowboys Stadium had leaks. I don't know if it was dripping caused by condensation due to the Big Chill. Or actually water infiltrated from the outside.

Speaking of the outside. I have a strong inkling that I will not be going there tomorrow. So, I need to get in some salubrious endorphin producing aerobic activity today. What that will be I currently have no idea.

Below is the forecast for the next 3 days for the frigid part of the world I am currently living in...

Getting Some Endorphins At The Village Creek Bayou With Egrets & A New Incoming Arctic Blast Freezing Texas

You are looking at the clouds in the blue sky, being reflected in the Village Creek Bayou, today around noon.

Due to our recent multiple instances of unpleasantness, I thought I'd see more people today, walking the trails of Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historic Area, out enjoying the semi-pleasant weather.

I did see more than the norm, though, including one odd couple who were walking with what appeared to be cross country ski poles. They were stabbing the poles into the trail like they thought they were skiing.

This morning I was suffering a sad case of BLAH. This worried my therapist, Dr. L.C., who asked me, quite concerned, if I was okay.

I am now.

Okay, I mean.

The walking did me good. I have been having a weather related severe downturn in my usual endorphin producing activity. Combine that with the BIG pizza I ate during the Super Bowl and I had a recipe for feeling today like a BLAH Bloated Boy.

An Egret in the Village Creek Bayou let me get real close while taking pictures of him, or her, today.

Previous encounters with Village Creek Bayou Egrets have had them spooked just at the sound of the camera turning on.

The camera makes a bird chirping noise.

I wondered if this particular Egret was ailing, maybe it caught cold during the recent cold. Or maybe it is a smart bird and figured out the humans are not a danger.

If it is cold that has the Egret under the weather, he, she or it should get ready for some more, if the forecast is to believed, and I suspect it should.

We are back freezing tonight, down to 12 on Wednesday. With snow.

Meanwhile, while I suffer with Arctic frigidity, the Scrabble Queen of Washington is currently the Scrabble Queen of Hawaii, sending me daily updates of her current tropical paradise. And continuing to beat me at Scrabble via the i-Pad she got for Christmas.

WFAA Channel 8's Dale Hansen Reports Super Bowl Was A Disorganized Mess

Yesterday while watching the Super Bowl and the pre-Super Bowl on TV I was getting the impression that after a week of nothing but problems that in the end the actual game day was a success.

As is my norm, my impression was inaccurate.

The worst of the problems that I've heard of, so far, is that around 1,250 people who had tickets were stopped by the NFL from sitting in the seats they had paid for.

The NFL supposedly claimed the seats were not safe. But no one has been able to get an answer as to why they were unsafe. Or how it was that tickets were sold to seats that had not been verified as seatable.

The NFL claims that 850 of the seatless fans were moved to comparable or better seats. Some seatless fans were moved outside the stadium. Others were allowed to wander the concourse watching the game on TVs. Those for whom a seat was not found will, supposedly, receive a refund of $2,400, three times the value of their $800 ticket.

I read a comment on Bud Kennedy's Facebook entry about Dale Hansen's Super Bowl report that said...

"Personal opinions aside, Dale's not saying anything that isn't being said nationally. Let's face it, Fort Worth was the lone bright spot of this thing. Be proud.........if you're from Fort Worth."

Okay, I am currently sitting in Fort Worth. I was in Fort Worth during the Super Bowl. I am totally not getting how it was that Fort Worth was the bright spot in this debacle.

As for what Dale Hansen had to say about this particular Super Bowl and why he thought it was a disorganized mess, watch the video below....

A Case Of The Monday Morning Texas Blues And A Missing Sedro-Woolley Gas Pump

I was up way before the sun, this day after the Super Bowl, first Monday of the second month of 2011.

But, I was not in the mood to blog about anything.

I'm suffering a big, bad case of BLAH.

As you can via the view through the bars of my prison cell patio my case of BLAH is not due to a lack of blue sky.

I think I may be feeling BLAH due to having too much pizza during the Super Bowl.

I managed to watch almost all of the Super Bowl, except for a blogging break after the halftime show.

Til I read about the stadium malfunctions, this morning, I was thinking after a week of woes the actual event went off well. I'll blog about the stadium malfunctions in a subsequent blogging.

A couple days ago Betty Jo Bouvier, she being the Wild Woman of Woolley, suffered the same fate as I did when someone stole my bike from my van. Only in Betty Jo's case it was not a stolen bike from her van, but a stolen antique Chevron Gas Pump from her yard.

Betty Jo asked me to blog about the heist of the Gas Pump on my Washington Blog in case anyone in the Washington zone has seen a Gas Pump show up recently. And so I blogged about "The Case of the Missing Sedro-Woolley Gas Pump."

Cowboys Stadium & The Black Eyed Peas Put On The Best Super Bowl Halftime Show Ever In My Ever So Humble Opinion

The screencap is from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, right after the Super Bowl halftime show.

Green Bay is currently ahead.

But.

I am thinking who is even further ahead is Arlington. And Dallas. And Fort Worth. And North Texas.

Because.

After a Super Bowl Week of Weather Misery it appears to me that this zone I am living in is putting on one very impressive Super Bowl.

I now understand that much of what was put up around Cowboys Stadium was actually a well-designed television studio.

But where this went over the top, into impressive zone, was the Halftime Show.

Best ever. In my humble opinion.

And even more impressive. To me. Is this seemed to out-do any Olympics Opening Ceremony Show I've watched. Like that Canadian lame production for the most recent Winter Olympics.

And it was so American. By that I mean, so free-spirited. Right before the Super Bowl started tossing footballs there was a slickly produced reading of the Declaration of Independence. I was starting to think I was watching a propaganda production of the United States Government.

I figured there would be an Air Force fly-by after the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. So, as Christine Aquilera warbled the National Anthem I fired up my camera in anticipation of taking a picture of the Air Force fly-by.

Well, on the TV screen we saw the fly-by, below blue sky, while I looked at a cloudy sky. I thought I may have heard jets.

But.

I think that Air Force fly-by at the end of the National Anthem was totally faked. As in filmed before the event.

I am so disillusioned. But that will not stop me from still thinking this is being one well done Super Bowl.

With a Super great Super Bowl Halftime Show.

I guess I will leave blogging world now and go watch some more boring football.

But, before I subject myself to that, I have to say, the commercials this year have been pretty good.

And now. More football...

I Talked To My Sister In Washington While The Super Bowl Pre-Game Show Answered Some Super Bowl Mysteries

I was heading west on a countrified section of Randol Mill Road on my way back from Hurst when the bright blue sky and snow-free road looked as if it would make a good photo. I do not know how I managed to zoom in on my hand on the wheel. Or that I had the camera on the wrong setting.

This makes 2 days in a row where I've had a camera malfunction. Yesterday's was the battery going dead when I was down taking pictures at the Cowboys Stadium.

Speaking of which. I watched some of the Super Bowl Pre-Game Show. I now know what the big temporary buildings at the west end zone are. A red carpet deal with people screaming on either side of the carpet. I saw Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston get the screams. I  assume the red carpet leads into the stadium. Or it may lead to another one of the temporary buildings, where I saw Maroon Five on a stage singing to a large group.

Who were the people listening to Maroon Five and watching the people walk the red carpet? Ticketholders? Arlington residents invited as a thank you for hosting the monster deal in their town and helping build the stadium? The people who's homes and apartments were taken to build the stadium?

The east end zone, where the Party Pass People get to stand outside the stadium during the Super Bowl, was also shown. Already with a lot of people standing. Also screaming when the camera panned them. TV made it look like quite a raucous scene, with a lot of people outside the stadium, about 5 miles to the east of where I am sitting right now. The screaming sounds are not making it through my windows.

The Super Bowl thing makes for a long day for those attending. It's about 2 hours til the actual game and already people are there screaming.

On the way to Hurst I returned a call to Elsie Hotpepper who was all in a tizzy due to a cat getting loose. Elsie is not going to the Super Bowl.

On my way back here from Hurst I took the scenic, non-freeway route of Precinct Line Road to Randol Mill.

I called my sister who lives in Kent on her cell phone. No answer. So, I called her house on Lake Cushman, where she often goes on weekends. Lake Cushman in on the Olympic Peninsula. My sister answered that phone. I asked what time the Super Bowl Party was and what I needed to bring.

When I lived in Washington I would rotate Super Bowl Parties, one year at my house, next year at my sister's.

My sister told me I lived right by the Super Bowl, why would I want to go to her party? Right when she said that I saw planes with banners circling the stadium. Told my sister that and that the stadium would soon come into view. And it did.

Soon after the stadium came into view my sister told me they'd arrived at the location of their Super Bowl Party. A friend's place on the way back from Lake Cushman.

I said good-bye. Hung up. And was perplexed about a minute later when I realized I'd called the Lake Cushman number. It is a land line. How could my sister arrive at her friend's house when she was talking to me on the Lake Cushman land line?

It is very perplexing. I've come to the conclusion my sister used this as an excuse to get me off the phone. I shall make inquiries and get to the bottom of this.

In the meantime, I've got a pizza to shove in the oven in a couple hours for my raucous Super Bowl Party. With Pomegranate Juice.

I Predict Super Bowl Week In The 817 Will End With A Massive Traffic Jam

I was not able to get this week's FW Weekly til the Big Thaw occurred on Saturday. I suspect that was true for a lot of FW Weekly readers.

Judging by the cover it appears this week's FW Weekly focuses on the Super Bowl. I did not get around to reading it til this morning, to find, in this case, judging by the cover is a correct judgement.

Much of what is inside the cover of FW Weekly was rendered a bit ironic due to how Super Bowl week actually played out.

Like an article titled "From Sundance to the World" with a Fort Worth Star-Telegram level of almost breathless puffery, all atwitter that the world was coming to downtown Fort Worth courtesy of ESPN, saying ESPN reaches about 100 million U.S. households with ESPN International reaching 53 million more in 59 other countries.

I think more properly stated ESPN is a channel on various cable networks, with those cable networks reaching a total of 153 million households worldwide.

FW Weekly can't really be thinking that downtown Fort Worth has been seen this week in 153 million houses worldwide. If that did happen the world was not seeing the type images that makes a Chamber of Commerce happy.

After going down to check out the Super Bowl zone again, yesterday, along with thousands of others finally able to escape the Big Freeze and its Big Snow, and thinking about what I saw, I think we may be seeing one more weather related debacle today.

Yesterday the traffic coming from the east on I-30 was jammed up trying to get off the freeway to get to the Ballpark/Stadium area. This was around 3 in the afternoon.

Traffic was backed up all around the stadium area. On the south side of the stadium I saw the longest line of taxis I've ever seen. All stuck in the traffic jam.

I read today that a lot of Pittsburgh Steeler fans fly in to the Super Bowl city any time the Steelers are in the Super Bowl. Even if they don't have a ticket. I talked to several of those yesterday. The Steeler fans were easy to spot, many with cheese on their head.

I do not believe an event has taken place in Cowboys Stadium where the ticket holders get shuffled through a long security tent to get into the stadium.

I believe this will be the largest crowd to have attended an event in the stadium.

What I think may happen today is, just like yesterday, there will be a lot of formerly snowbound locals who decide to try to check out the Super Bowl. There will be no places for them to park, unless they want to pay an exorbitant fee. You'll have all the game goers arriving, by taxi or whatever means. I assume the Arlington trolley buses will be in the mix.

What I saw yesterday was a situation where traffic was not moving well. I think it will be much worse today.

So, that is my prediction for the day. The Final Debacle of Super Bowl Week and Super Bowl XLV will be a monster traffic jam with game goers not able to get into the stadium before the game starts.

Keep in mind, if you find this prediction unsettling, I am usually wrong whenever I predict anything.

Snow Is Forecast For The Super Bowl With A New Arctic Blast Heading To North Texas On Tuesday

It is first Sunday of the 2nd month of 2011. It is also the first day of February that has started above freezing.

The Super Bowl starts up in around 9 hours and 32 minutes. The Dallas Morning News conveniently has a Super Bowl Countdown Clock on their home page.

I've not seen a Super Bowl Countdown Clock on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's home page. But, unlike the Dallas paper the Star-Telegram's home page is pretty much all about the Super Bowl.

As you can see via the view from my patio viewing platform, most of the snow and ice has melted.

However, snow is in the forecast for today. I really don't see that happening.

But, the National Weather Service has issued one of its SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENTS. And in that statement we learn that another Arctic cold front will be arriving in North Texas on Tuesday, putting us back in the Deep Freeze and bringing with it more sleet and snow. The SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT is below, all in capitals, which I've mentioned before is Internet-speak for shouting. The National Weather Service should no better than to shout.

...WINTRY PRECIPITATION LIKELY WEDNESDAY...

A STRONG ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTH TEXAS TUESDAY NIGHT...BRINGING A GOOD CHANCE OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION LATE TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES ON TUESDAY AND MOVE EAST ACROSS OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS ON WEDNESDAY. WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION WILL AFFECT MUCH OF NORTH TEXAS TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. THE PRECIPITATION WILL START AS RAIN OR FREEZING RAIN...AND MAY TRANSITION TO SLEET AND SNOW. SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE BELOW FREEZING DURING MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION EVENT...WHICH WOULD RESULT IN ACCUMULATIONS OF ICE AND SNOW.

THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS TO TRAVEL. IF YOU ARE PLANNING TRAVEL ACROSS NORTH TEXAS OR SURROUNDING AREAS ON WEDNESDAY...CHECK THE LATEST FORECASTS BEFORE DEPARTING.

A Visit To The Dallas Cowboys Stadium The Day Before The Super Bowl Along With Thousands Of Other Visitors Finds People On The Stadium Roof

I headed to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium around 3 this afternoon.

I figured with our sudden thaw and return to semi-pleasant temperatures, that there would be a few people out and about.

Well, it was more than a few. Really bad traffic all around the stadium. Throngs of people. No event taking place besides tomorrow's Super Bowl. Near as I could find out.

I quickly realized how bad the traffic was and bailed on getting stuck going west on Randol Mill by the Stadium Wal-Mart. Later I was to see how lucky I was to avoid that traffic jam. The Ballpark in Arlington parking lots were open to the public. Free. I thought that was a nice touch for Arlington to do. If it was Arlington that did it.

Eventually I parked. I soon asked a couple of people if there was some event happening. They said they'd just come to check out the Super Bowl. Eventually I asked a cop the same question. He told me nothing was going on, that it was just people, like me, coming to check out the Super Bowl scene the day before the Super Bowl.

The first picture, at the top is interesting. I have no idea why there were people on the edge of the roof of the stadium. It looks like a helicopter is heading towards them. Being on that roof seemed a bit dicey, what with the fact that yesterday ice and snow was falling off it, hurting people. You could see there was still snow/ice on edge of the roof.

The Cowboys Stadium Wal-Mart Supercenter, across the street from the stadium, has taken some mocking heat in the national press covering the Super Bowl.

I've long thought it looked ridiculous. Somewhere on this computer I have a picture of the Wal-Mart, taken from the perspective of the stadium. It would take me way too long to find that picture.

Today the Stadium Wal-Mart was looking especially tacky due to the addition of porta-potties.

I assume the porta-potties were installed for the convenience of all the cops who appeared to be guarding the parking lot. I asked one of those cops about the huge crowd and he said it had been like this all day. And would be worse tomorrow. And he was glad he would not be on duty.

This particular Wal-Mart is very strict about anyone using their parking lot to park in to attend any event in the  stadium across the street.

The Wal-Mart is already prepared for tomorrow's parking problems, with the sticking of a sign on the sidewalk that runs along Randol Mill Road that separates the Wal-Mart from Cowboys Stadium.

The sign says, "This parking lot is for Walmart customer parking only. If you park your vehicle to attend games or events, your vehicle may be towed at your expense. Thank you."

Doesn't Arlington have any city code type thing that prohibits sticking a sign like this on a public sidewalk?

One more exciting thing. As I walked across the pedestrian/golf cart bridge that crosses Johnson Creek to the parking lots on the east side of the creek, a golf cart passed by with 4 people on board, one of whom had people pointing and saying that is Jimmy Johnson on board.

I also recognized him. From watching him on Survivor.

Prior to seeing him on Survivor I knew nothing of him coaching the Dallas Cowboys back, long ago, when they actually won games and got to play in Super Bowls.

Is Johnson Creek named for Jimmy Johnson, I just this second found myself wondering?

We Almost Got To 60 In Fort Worth Today Causing Melting Snowmen But No Other Woes

The high today got much higher than the predicted high, with predictable results. As in most of the ice and snow has melted.

With the return of pleasant temperatures and the removal of that annoying slippery stuff the people of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex were able to finally escape their hunkered, bunkered down week and get out for some Super Bowl fun. More on that later.

But, before I blog about the Super Bowl fun in a subsequent blogging I must report on the sad demise of someone I showed you yesterday.

Above a proud snowman, or woman, I wasn't quite sure, was born yesterday, and seemed to enjoy basking in the icy cold.

And then today, when I left to go to Town Talk, around noon, I was shocked to pass by the Snowman or woman to find he or she had either been brutally attacked and dismembered. Or the heat was too much, causing a collapse.

My guess, even though I am no CSI, but judging by the look of the crime scene and the fact that the Snowman or woman was still cold in the shade, that this was an act of pre-mediated murder. Probably the same criminals who stole my bike.

The Super Bowl Big Chill Has Ended As The Big Melt Begins

We are above freezing for the first time since Monday, here in my formerly frigid zone of North Texas. I don't know how long we've been melting. A couple minutes ago I saw the temperature on my computer screen was 36. I checked another weather info source to confirm this was not a fluke.

I stepped outside to take a picture of the melting snow to hear a lot of dripping and cracking noises. I suspect the ice will be off the roads earlier than I thought it would.

Which means I will be going to Town Talk in a little while. But I am not going to attempt to go hiking at any of my regular Saturday hiking venues. That will need to wait for some more melting and drying.

I heard from Elsie Hotpepper this morning that the area of the D/FW Metroplex that she is currently broadcasting from is currently without power. It is not due to a Rolling Blackout.

As the temperature rises I suspect there will be some more pipes leaking water and a lot of very busy plumbers. I hope no new chunks of ice have plummeted from the Cowboys Stadium on to innocent bystanders.

Can those Party Pass People get refunds of the $200 they paid to stand outside Cowboys Stadium during the Super Bowl, what with it possibly snowing and being cold?

Dallas/Arlington/Fort Worth North Texas Super Bowl Has Turned In To A Worst Case Scenario Disaster In Multiple Ways

The above is a screen cap from this morning's Dallas Morning News. It about sums up the current Super Bowl status.

When it was announced that the Super Bowl had been awarded to Dallas. I mean, Arlington, with all the hoopla about what a boon this would be, image-wise and economic-wise, I opined on this very blog that when the national media got a look at the new Cowboy Stadium and its humdrum location surrounded by urban blight on 2 sides, that the exposure would not result in the good press that the locals were expecting.

Well, there have been some big events in the new stadium without, as far as I've noticed, my predicted bad publicity.

Til now. With the biggest event to be held in North Texas, ever, happening tomorrow. With what is being said about Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth and North Texas not being all that flattering.

Arlington was described in the New York Times as drab and featureless. Multiple writers have made fun of the stadium sitting across the street from a Wal-Mart.

The Ice and Snow Storms factor in to a lot of the bad publicity for North Texas.

An ESPN writer wondered what Jerry Jones did to Mother Nature's daughter.

A Denver Post columnist wondered what the North Texas Super Bowl Weather Disaster does to the NFL's long standing argument that a town like Denver can't host a Super Bowl.

I also wondered the same thing. But substituted Seattle for Denver. If tomorrow's Super Bowl was taking place in Seattle, the air would be heated to around 50 degrees. With the only snow being in the surrounding mountains. All events could take place right in Seattle's downtown. Adjacent to Seahawk Stadium is an Exhibition Hall with more display space than the demolished Kingdome. With mass transit, in the form of light rail and buses, delivering fans right to where the Super Bowl would be played, if it were played in Seattle.

A Sport Illustrated writer Twittered  about the North Texas mess Tweetng, "I'm telling you: I-30 between Dallas + Fort Worth is a plow-less, snow-windswept moonscape. This is officially a debacle."

NPR's Jim Rome said, "6 inches of snow? Really, Dallas? Good luck getting another Super Bowl."

On Friday chunks of ice and snow fell from the roof of Cowboys Stadium injuring 6 people, sending some to the hospital. One, photographer Win McNamee, was hit in the shoulder by ice, breaking it in 4 places.

And now the earlier optimistic forecast for better weather on the day of the Super Bowl has turned pessimistic, with a prediction of much colder temperatures and more snow possible....