I was listening to the radio on the way home and a segment came up that I immediately (and permanently) thought was a tad bit creepy.
I imagine most of you have seen white crosses along local roadways for several years. Our fine busybody friends at MADD came up with that one to remember those killed by drunk drivers. At first, this was a laudable goal, but as time wore on, we started seeing more and more of these crosses springing up everywhere.
After some time, the decedent in a given accident didn’t even have to have been killed by an drunk driver, or a sober driver, or anyone else for that matter. Once someone had met his untimely demise on a highway or byway of our great land, it was suddenly imperative that someone memorialize the unfortunate.
Along the way, the simple (well-constructed) cross gave way to more ersatz and less structurally-sound versions. These were often festooned with (cheap plastic) flowers, balloons (the mylar kind that last forever), small stuffed animals, signs, etc.
They had become eyesores. Worse still, the local highway department or county road crews would not remove them for what I assume would be fear of some sort of angry response from the families of the casualties.
I understand that people have different grief processes, but do they really need to drop a load of what will be garbage within six months along a local street for the rest of us to endure simply because Johnny or Susie had an unfortunate accident and didn’t make it?
Is not a funeral adequate for the grief process? Is not an obituary notice sufficient for whatever public attention needs to be paid?
Back to the segment on the radio:
There is a group/movement called Ghost Bikes whose purpose is to memorialize bicycle enthusiasts who met their ultimate fate while riding a bicycle along a street or roadway. Instead of a cross (and teddy bears, ribbons, cards, plastic flowers, and other sundry crap), these people get a bicycle, paint it white, and chain it to a road sign, lamppost, tree, or other suitably immovable object or structure to memorialize their fallen comrade.
Some are simple (and creepy):
Some resemble the crosses that we have seen the past several years:
Can we please stop with this before we end up putting crosses in hospital rooms?
Wednesday Ghost Bikes Open Comments
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Our fine busybody friends at MADD came up with that one to remember those killed by drunk drivers.
I guess it depends upon the state. In Montana it was the busybodies at the American Legion.
The Montana American Legion White Cross Highway Fatality Marker Program began in 1953. The unique idea of marking fatal traffic accident sites with a white cross was the brain child of Floyd Eaheart, a member of the American Legion Hellgate Post #27, Missoula, Montana; after six lives were lost in the Missoula area over the 1952 Labor Day Holiday.
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OC subject is far too morose for a Wednesday morning.
Let me show you some Love, people !
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Yeah those hospital rooms could get crowded what with all the crosses, ghost bikes, ghost cars, ghost planes, ghost spouses, …..
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OK, I like Texpat’s OC topic better.
Hey, it’s hump day!
Mornin’ Gang -
Oh, and it was late last night that I remembered that Shannon had keys to the Dashboard, but why didn’t you give him keys to the executive restroom?
He can’t seem to master the “Spit Bucket” 😀 -
Well texpat wasn’t around when I was trying to find something that would
shut you people upkeep you people from whiningkeep you people happyfill some space. -
wogonburner 😀
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Well I think all the crosses was one of those tough things we needed to talk about.
Now, Mia for president! -
What? Did you have something end up in the bucket? Sorry, must have missed that.
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#9 Shannon, no but I think that it has happened before, with Sarge, I think.
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And in this picture, neither one of them is an Indian.
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Iowahawk
Still no proof that anybody in Elizabeth Warren’s family has ever ridden an Indian
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What? Did you have something end up in the bucket? Sorry, must have missed that.
And by “must have missed that”, he meant that he didn’t see it so’s he could “accidentally” delete it.
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#2 Texpat
Wish Mia Love could move to the 18th district in Texas.
Has she got a sister? -
Sure were a bunch of pole claimants late last night, you guys should mount an expedition.
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Sure were a bunch of pole claimants late last night, you guys should mount an expedition
Must. Not. Go. There.
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Breaking News:
Senate hopeful Todd Akin to stay in race, will introduce legislation to force victims of “legitimate rape” to marry their assailants.
Seriously, at this point nothing would surprise me. Comedians are going to have a field day with this crazy clown.
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Texas has post turtles.
California has balloon turtles. -
I need some assistance please! I am trying to create a newsletter for our company, I know how to make one easy peasey, but we are looking for a program (preferably free) that will send out a mass email to most of our clients. Does anyone know of such a program that we can use? Please and thank you!
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#21 lovelydaughter
Outlook can do that. You just create distribution lists, use them where the address goes (you’ll want to use the BCC field), hit send, and presto!
You can also do it via a mail merge to send out individual copies. -
Good morning Hamsters. Amazingly there’s still a light N to NE breeze hanging around this morning and lower humidity creeping in. We’ll take it.
So the saga of Todd Akin continues in MO, now with suggestions for Ms. Steelman, the Tea Party-backed candidate, to run as an independent against him. It continues to be all about him as he insists it isn’t all about him. 🙁 -
My husband just returned from an outing, reporting he passed an incident where an HFD ambulance was attending what he thought looked like a man in a wheelchair that had been hit by a car. He couldn’t see much through a throng of bystanders, but the wheelchair was overturned and somewhat mangled, up on the sidewalk against a fence. We’ll have to watch that location to see if any white wheelchairs turn up there, chained to the fence. (In real life, I hope the man is OK of course.)
A major street runs through my subdivision and when I was on the HOA board, we adopted the esplanades and maintained them. Back in 2005, we planted several hundred trees and shrubs, and hauled water to them for several years. But that major street hosts cutthrough traffic from ‘hoods in both directions, and we have lots of incidents involving impaired drivers. In addition to loss of trees during several droughts since 2005, we’ve had a dozen or more that were mowed down when bad drivers jumped or rolled the curbs and smashed into them. Shoot, there have been 2 incidents where impaired drivers lost control at intersections and smashed into houses that border that street. (One reason why you never want to live on an edge of your neighborhood.)
To my knowledge, there has been only one fatality on our wooded esplanades, and that was an impaired driver who rolled his car over the curb, hit a tree and killed his toddler son in a carseat. The baby’s family has kept a teddy bear & balloons memorial at that site for several years now. The bedraggled toys and plastic flowers were cleared away once when the esplanade was mowed, but there were fresh items tied to the tree within a few days. -
Yea I thought of Outlook and we might still go that route, but the girl before me used this service called Constant Contact, and so in the email, the first page is embedded and if you clicked on the link in a blurb it took it to the web page, I believe. I am playing with it but I am not impressed especially since I might have to pay for it later.
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Shrines for the untimely dead are something you’re just going to have to live with, wagon. 🙂
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This is not actually my puppy but I could see him doing this. He barks at the oven if it looks at him the wrong way.
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So the saga of Todd Akin continues in MO, now with suggestions for Ms. Steelman, the Tea Party-backed candidate, to run as an independent against him. It continues to be all about him as he insists it isn’t all about him.
She can’t. Mo rules state that Third Party Candidates announced after the Primaries have to be write-ins and can’t be anyone who ran it the Primary.
Akin has to drop out. -
#25 lovelydaughter
You can still do that with outlook. Paste a hyperlink to your website in the email. -
From last night:
103 shamaal says: August 21, 2012 at 10:50 pm
Uh oh! Time to get serious.
Release the Biden!Vice President Joe Biden will be in Tampa during the Republican National Convention, a campaign official confirms.
Anyone given thought to the puzzle pieces from last week and think Vince Foster?
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An ancient, once great culture descends even further into insane madness.
In a move that has prompted a demand for a UN investigation by Iran’s most celebrated human rights campaigner, the Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, 36 universities have announced that 77 BA and BSc courses in the coming academic year will be “single gender” and effectively exclusive to men.
It follows years in which Iranian women students have outperformed men, a trend at odds with the traditional male-dominated outlook of the country’s religious leaders. Women outnumbered men by three to two in passing this year’s university entrance exam.
Senior clerics in Iran’s theocratic regime have become concerned about the social side-effects of rising educational standards among women, including declining birth and marriage rates.Tenty-first century Islam cannot sustain in the modern world on these terms. Its treatment of women represents it central and fundamental clutch on evil. What cannot last will not last.
Via Roger L. Simon -
Senior clerics in Iran’s theocratic regime have become concerned about the social side-effects of rising educational standards among women, including declining birth and marriage rates.
Maybe the wimmins learn that the Iranian men are a bunch of complete dolts and figure they’re better off by themselves or batting for the other team and wearing comfortable shoes.
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Wagon.
When traveling, do you pack your phone/computer recharging cords in your carry on or in your checked luggage? -
The banner picture shows a picture of 0 scratching his head, (not unlike this picture), and it reminds me of an old coon-a$$ expression: ‘the higher the monkey climbs the pole, the more he shows his a$$.’
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I travel a lot and always keep my laptop, cords and other stuff with me. When possible all I use is carry on to avoid having to wait for luggage. The TW has way more cords and junk than I have and only occasionally do they have her open her bag.
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When traveling, do you pack your phone/computer recharging cords in your carry on or in your checked luggage?
Only thing I ever check is suitcase with clothes, etc.
Anything electronic goes with me, especially while outbound and in transit. Also anything of any value whatsoever.
On the way back, I might throw the power adapters in the suitcase if I need to try to get more stuff into my backpack, but that’s pretty rare. -
Thanks.
I haven’t been on a plane since the mid-eighties…long before 9/11 and the advent of the airport gestapo. -
This is pretty neat; A floating golf course? It could be coming soon to the Maldives.
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I haven’t been on a plane since the mid-eighties…long before 9/11 and the advent of the airport gestapo.
It’s really not that bad. The thing that’ll bite you most in your carry-on(s) is liquids. Largest single bottle can be 100ml (3.4? oz). They’ve lightened up on “semi-liquids” like toothpaste, but mouthwash, contact fluid, drinks, etc. will really get you.
Are you going out of the country? -
41
No, the Bonneville Salt Flats via Salt Lake City. -
#42: Keep the rubber on the salt and the shiny side towards the sun.
Luck dawg! -
Time for me to be a cold hearted (fill in the blank ___________________)
Shrines for the untimely dead are something you’re just going to have to live with, wagon.
Those shrines are nothing more than self serving eyesores on the side of the road. I’d venture to guess that 99% of them get put up and the family never returns to the scene, the state has to mow and WEEDEAT (costing me more taxpayer money for the weedmuncher) around the things, they become an added hazard over time and how many people really notice the things much less “remember the loved one killed there”?
There are 3 crosses on 3083 and loop 336. I do not know why they are there? Did some law get changed because of what happened there. Do people look at those crosses and slow down approaching that intersection? Has anyone eve looked at those crosses and said “oh crap I am never going to drink and drive”? NO!!
They are hollow gestures just like the ribbon craze and some local radiot senator’s penchant to name legislation after some dead kid. About the only legislation that gets regular mention is Megan’s Law. Quick what is that law about anyway?
I am not without compassion for those that have lost loved ones but many of those “memorials” amount to nothing more than litter on the side of the highway. -
Oh yeah not to mention ANOTHER law was created to fine/punish people that “deface” the things.
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#44, 45 Curmudgeon: One could argue that the mere placement of said memorials represents litter/defacement of public property.
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Boneface
That has been tried by the anti-cross people. Mercifully (I guess) the argument for the memorials has centered around compassion for the grieving and not gone full blown tilt anti-cross on public land stuff. -
Shannon hasn’t been on an airplane since the mid-eighties !!?
Really ? -
It just doesn’t bother me.
There’s one out in the country near where I used to live. The deceased’s biker buddies regularly visit it and keep it tidy.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. -
Looking at the wind directions in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean it doesn’t appear that Tampa has a whole lot to be concerned with, Houston, however may be doomed.
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Hubby just called me. This is my third warning that we might have to cancel one of our inspections today.
He can’t just call me when he wants to cancel. I have to get three warnings.
/slowly banging my head on the nearest brick wall -
Pretty sure my return flight from Kansas City was my last flight. That was the Houston arrival when the pilot was testing the impact worthiness of the landing gear.
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Up the road from where I live is a memorial with flag poles and all kind of junk. The flags are tattered and faded, the junk around the crosses look more like an overflow from a garbage can yet monthly you find some poor state worker out there weed eating around that mess.
There has been attempts to legislate these things out of existence but there is not many legislators brave enough to fade the heat of being “uncompassionate” or whatever. Seniorator D_n Hatrick argued against any law banning the memorials. -
Welp I feel better knowing my status as resident curmudgeon has been bolstered for yet another day. I hereby declare today to be:
“National Cut-N-Shoot French Kiss Your Spouse While wearing a Leopard Print Speedo Day”.
/brushing your teeth first is not required. -
That’s because Senator Patrick wants to set up a DPS roadblock at every cross location.
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Shannon
Oh I get it the memorials are already at the best places for the roadblocks. -
“It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today, and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the tax rates…. [A]n economy constrained by high tax rates will never produce enough revenue to balance the budget, just as it will never create enough jobs or enough profits.”
—John F. Kennedy, 1963Steven Moore, senior economics writer for WSJ, has posted a lengthy and well-researched paper over at The Manhattan Institute site. Who pays how much and all the data in between. Plenty of graphs.
The U.S. Tax System: Who Really Pays? -
Mark me in the let it be column. I don’t recall seeing any Star of Davids or Crescents though. Perhaps semites don’t have roadside accidents?
And yes, I do notice them and think someone lost a loved one.
I’m just a sensitive guy -
I think anyone who puts up one of those memorials should be required to
1. Register with the city county and state for a nominal yearly fee of $1000 per governmental entity
2. Be required to make an appearance at the site at least 1 time a month to do homage. An office must be created that the registration fees will support that the grieving family must contact48 hours in advance of their visits. They must contact each agency.
3. Be required to clean and maintain the site, including, but not limited to, picking up the garbage, weathered teddy bears, broken candle glass, beer cans and paper bags etc that have collected around the site. They must also maintain the memorials in good repair. Flags cannot be torn or tattered, painted objects must be repainted quarterly. Cleaning and maintaining must be done on a separate day apart from the homage day
4. They must pay the state a yearly maintenance fee of $1000 or the equivalent 1/2 monthly wage of the guy that has to weed eat around these things whichever is less.
These rules will insure that the memorials are maintained and our highways will remain attractive to myself and out of state visitors. All moneys collected for the fees will go toward the administration of the over sight offices and state maintenance. Any excess above the cost of doing bidness will go to the HOME FOR WAYWARD SPEEDO WEARERS ( of which I am the curator and grand poobah). No tax money should be spent maintaing these roadside blights. -
There’s always someone attempting to remove evidence of religion from the public square. 😉
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Yup that is mois
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Wulp I have kilt der blog. C’mon out y’all I am in a good mood. It is a red letter day.
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A couple of our customers build roads, more than once I’ve seen them concrete around those little memorials (on the side, not on the main roadway smartbutt). I always think about them eventually abandoned and someone wondering 20 years from now why that square in the concrete.
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#49 –
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
AMEN Brother (provided the site in question gets cared for that is)
BACA has one just north of Kerrville on 16 (memorializing the spot our State VP went down) – it was torn down once by folks unknown————–the replacement is quite sturdy and set in sackcrete (with owners permission) right up against the fence where weed eating is needed anyways………….. -
I don’t recall seeing any Star of Davids…
Look closely, there may be a pile of pebbles.
I have a photo I took at the famous Jewish cemetery in Cologne, Germany.
According to wiki:
“The history of the Jews in Cologne is documented from the year 321 AD, almost as long as the history of Cologne. Because of this historical continuity, today’s Jewish synagogue community calls itself the “oldest Jewish congregation North of the Alps”.[1]”
That visit to the Jewish cemetery there was my first exposure to the Jewish custom of placing pebbles on the headstones.
It’s a beautiful photograph. -
I agree that the family should be responsible for maintaining the memorial. The state retains the right to remove the memorial if it violates certain standards – weeds over x inches high, no more than 1 foot of memorabilia around the main center of the item (leaves room for flowers, etc.), faded flowers and balloons must be removed, etc. I agree that a fee should be charged for the extra manpower required to maintain the sites. These do not serve a state purpose, after all, and are personal memorials.
The only “memorial” I’ve seen that I think actually does the job is a sign at the intersection near 59 & 610 – it warns of 23 deaths in the area. It’s at eye level (driving), and has a specific message directed to a specific result (safe driving in a dangerous area). It’s a state sign, and follows all state specs for signage. No teddy bears were killed in the erection of the sign. -
#57 TP: That was a fascinating article. The main thrust that needs to be broadcast from every rooftop is that lowering taxes makes the economic pie bigger, and always results in increased revenue to the treasury. Everybody benefits from a bigger pie, higher taxes shrink the pie, everybody suffers with increased tax rates, even the gov’t and those at the bottom suffer the most.
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I’m inclined to keep Big Brother – and his natural inclination to regulate all things –
at bay when it comes to roadside memorials. -
That visit to the Jewish cemetery there was my first exposure to the Jewish custom of placing pebbles on the headstones.
My first was a visit to the cemetery at West Point. I was visiting doing some research and the freind who accompanied me told me to be sure to bring a pebble from Texas to place here.
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Keeping Big Brother at bay in all things…
I have ongoing disappointment with Senator Patrick and others of his ilk.
They get up there and suddenly decide it’s their job to JUST DO SOMETHING about almost everything.
Were I to serve, my first question about any proposed State action would be how it impacts the general Liberty of all. And secondly, the taxpayers. -
Here’s an idea.
If a roadside memorial looks like an abandoned trash heap, get a trash
bag and clean it up.
Now that’s what I call self reliance. -
Katfish
BACA has one just north of Kerrville on 16 (memorializing the spot our State VP went down) – it was torn down once by folks unknown————–the replacement is quite sturdy and set in sackcrete (with owners permission) right up against the fence where weed eating is needed anyways…………..
BACA is an exception.
AND that is what sets your memorial apart from the rest. It is on private property, with proper permission and well maintained. With those provisos I have no complaints.
Really if you read real deep into what I said, it is the shallow, hollow act of most people that throw these things up that catches my attention. They get all sad and remorseful and mourning and stuff, spend money on some memorial that no one outside of them is aware of the meaning and then never return or if they return years later and it is gone they get their panties in a bunch. AND IT IS NOT ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. I do not spend a lot of time thinking about this but it does beg the question…… These people that put up these roadside memorials, how often do they visit the graves of their loved ones?
My complaint du jour is that most of these things cost taxpayers money to “maintain”, become a nuisance (see GJT #63), they become unkempt. Permission on private property is one thing, public right of away is quite another. -
If a roadside memorial looks like an abandoned trash heap, get a trash
bag and clean it up.I am into good citizenry and stuff, but if the people who put this thing up is not going to be responsible enough to clean the mess you can bet if I decide to clean it up it will be to restore the area to what it looked like the day before the thing went up.
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#72 Squawk
BACA is an exception.
Hah.
Sounds like “crony memorializing” to me. -
Now if you really want to get me going, the Bellville Economic Development Councll (taking 0.25 percent sales tax) and the Bellville City Council – in their inestimable wisdom –
have decided to spend about Fifty Thousand Dollars to erect a GIGANTIC 20 foot bust of Stephen F. Austin at the Northern approach to our fair city (sculpted by the same guy who sculpted the Sam Houston statue in Huntsville).
This is one memorial you are welcome to remove when the time comes, squawk. -
#69 Sarge
Mickey Marcus was indeed a man among men.
After organizing the Nuremberg Trials, Marcus did this:In 1947, David Ben-Gurion asked Marcus to recruit an American officer to serve as military advisor to the nascent Jewish army, the Haganah. He could not recruit anyone suitable, so Marcus volunteered himself. In 1948, the United States War Department informally acquiesced to Marcus’ undertaking, provided he disguised his name and rank to avoid problems with the British authorities of Mandate Palestine.
Under the nom de guerre “Michael Stone”, he arrived in Palestine in January 1948, facing the Arab armies surrounding the soon-to-be declared State of Israel.
There, he designed a command and control structure for Israel, adapting his war experiences at the early Ranger school established in the Pacific theater to its special needs. He identified Israel’s weakest points in the Negev south, and Jerusalem.
Marcus was appointed as Commander of the Jerusalem front on May 28, 1948, and given the rank of Aluf. (Prior to the 1967 Six-Day War, “Aluf” was equivalent to a Brigadier General. In the present-day IDF table of ranks, Aluf” is equivalent to major general.)[3] As no ranks were granted to Israeli high command at that time, he became the first general in the fledgling nation’s army (see Israel Defense Forces).Killed tragically by friendly fire in Israel by an 18 year old sentry who spoke only Hebrew while Marcus spoke only English.
His body was returned to the United States for burial, accompanied by Moshe Dayan and his wife Ruth, Yoseph Harel, and the wife of his aide de camp, Alex Broida.
I wrote a long profile of Marcus for Lone Star Times on the 60th anniversary of his death.
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Sounds like “crony memorializing” to me.
Nope. It is the old “trucker versus biker” conflab that I have come out on the short end of too many times. As I have pointed out many times, fear of a greater force commands/demands respect of that greater force 😉
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Shannon
You have my condolences. Those statues are butt gaudy ugly. -
#75 Shannon
…to erect a GIGANTIC 20 foot bust of Stephen F. Austin…
Tell me it ain’t so.
To further clarify, this is a bust and not a full body sculptural representation ? A 20 foot tall bust of Austin’s head is going to make it onto all those websites of tacky roadside attractions. -
More graffiti space. Nice clean white canvas.
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PJ O’Rourke is kinda depressed today and I understand:
But if America is still rich and strong, why should it matter that we’re no longer interested in doing anything spectacular? Maybe critics of an America whose grasp exceeds its reach are victims of atavistic machismo. Maybe we have Freudian issues. Professional help might be in order. No Americans are scheduled to go to Mars, but plenty are scheduled to go to therapy. Perhaps the realities of 2012 demand a change in attitude.
Except the change has already happened, the result of our shift from an exterior to an interior existence. America once valued the high-skilled. Now we value the high-minded. We used to admire bold ideas. Now we admire benign idealism. This doesn’t make us good, it makes us wrong. The bold can be achieved. Of the ideal, there is none in this life.
We’ve given up what we think we can make for what we think can make us happy. We deplore all the effects of technology on the earth and the climate so that—while living our lives completely indoors, protected from dirt and weather—we can feel better about ourselves.
We’ve gone from hopeful thinking to wishful thinking. We have a belief that we can make things better with make-believe. The consequences of this worldview have been with us at least since the Vietnam War. Imagine the reaction of the American public on December 7, 1941, if President Roosevelt had proposed to win the hearts and minds of the Japanese. -
Bust, man.
Bust. -
I think they should have placed the butt-ugly bust on top of the butt-ugly Austin County Courthouse.
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Yanno I could defend the bust if was made of marble or bronzed but that cement paper machet’ looking style is terrible. I also falls apart real fast.
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#82 Shannon
That’s terrifying, just terrifying.
Who in town was responsible for this fiasco ? -
A 20 foot tall bust of Austin’s head is going to make it onto all those websites of tacky roadside attractions.
Just crying out for a Groucho Marx nose & glasses.
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Imagine the reaction of the American public on December 7, 1941, if President Roosevelt had proposed to win the hearts and minds of the Japanese.
If you’ve got them by the testicules, their hearts & minds will follow.
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For me, the statue of Houston in Huntsville works.
This bust is going to be all out of scale and character for this town. -
I’m hoping they drill a hole down through the top of his head and turn it into a water feature.
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Dancing waters shooting out of the top of his head.
Blinking lights.
The whole nine yards. -
Reminiscent of the little train in Memorial Park, we could have a little train of cars that are replicas of covered wagons, running down the middle of Main Street.
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Dancing waters shooting out of the top of his head.
you sure you want that? If it breaks your company will prolly be contracted to fix it and BTW did I mention it is your turn in the barrel?
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And another thing, Texpat.
They dropped Ten Grand to have a bunch of volunteer Aggie students do a
“Downtown Study”.
One of my favorites from the as yet unadopted plan was to plant palm trees around the courthouse and downtown.
Palm trees for chrissakes! -
#93 Shannon
Pecan, yes. Oak, yes.
Palm, no. -
Might I suggest this for lighting of the bust
Or maybe we just need to send this guy in to talk to the town council. -
Could be worse.
Could be Barbara Jordan.
That would be a bust. -
To the palm trees, they should add a saltwater mote around the courthouse with a wave machine and a beach. Bikini clad beach bunnies serving free Mai Tais and Daquiris to visitors.
Let’s just turn the whole thing over to Tilman Fertitta and make it tacky as possible. -
#72 – Squawkster I cannot swear its on private property – it’s still on the “state” side of the ranchers fence but on the highway’s backslope right up against the fence (within a foot)
Wasn’t no piece of cake chippin out a post hole in that limestone with a posthole digger neither -
#83 – Brother I gotta concur – that is one fugly courthouse
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PALM TREES??? in Bellville??
holeeeeeSCHMIDT -
Speaking of Tilman’s folly…. BSue and I were watching ABC13 weather, home of the never ending Tilman Fertitta Pleasure Pier advertisement, and decided that pleasure pier has to be the tackiest mess one could have placed on the old hotel pier. Think about it. Ya rent a nice room in one of the hotels and all you want to do is look out over the gulf at sunset and you look to your east and there that abortion is on the skyline. So much for getting away form the bright lights etc.
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Kaffish
Still it is a whole bunch diff how you guys went about it and how most other people go about it. Night and day. I kinda doubt the state highway easement extends to that lofty perch. -
Heh and “they” griped about the fact you could see offshore rigs on the horizon. Am i missing sumtin here?
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#93 Shannon
Palm trees??!! Oy! Much of Houston is too far north for them to look decent.
Whoever suggested the sculpture and decor needs a psych exam. Good grief. I must agree that the courthouse is an example of mid-modern ugly architecture. -
The beautiful Austin County Courthouse burned in Apr. 1960.
The Sixties architects of the replacement were high on something.
The stately oak trees (planted in the Sixties) eventually caused damage to the basement in the Nineties and were removed. -
Ya rent a nice room in one of the hotels and all you want to do is look out over the gulf at sunset and you look to your east and there that abortion is on the skyline.
Well, now, there’s you’re problem right there.
For sunsets, turn around and look west.
And Shannon’s complaining about a big bust? -
I know how the students were thinking…
There really isn’t enough room for the more suitable oaks. Palms require little soil to thrive. Palms might soften up the hard rectangular lines of the courthouse. Palms, well-maintained, can be successfully grown here.
There’s only one thing…..
Palms look stupid in the middle of the Great Post Oak Savannah. -
Opening that big can of whoopass…
STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — LL COOL J, rapper and star of CBS’ “NCIS Los Angeles,” confronted a burglar in his Studio City home overnight and physically detained him with his own hands.
Los Angeles police officials confirmed to CBS2 that they received a call around 1 a.m. from a female who said there was a prowler in her home. She later told a 911 operator that her father was with the suspect downstairs. -
Sarge
Well, now, there’s you’re problem right there.
Awww c’mon Sarge. You know I need visual signs as to which way is which. I lost my uniform that had the rock in the “right” pocket. 😉
/Ya might need to have served in the military to get that joke. Fortunately Sarge did. -
OK, I just got home and scrolled through and I’m not really up to speed, but when I got home, the wimmins’, my bride and huntin’ buddy’s wife were out on the back deck with daughter on the phone trying to purchase tickets for a Clay Walker concert @ Billy Bobs.
Well, they had the laptop on while siting in the glider and my wife didn’t have her credit card because she left it at her office, so she axed me if she could my American Excuse or Visa, and I said of course and gave her the AMEX. To make a long story short, I went out and sat down and watched them type in the info and I noticed that the little window had http: Billybobs or some such thing but NO https, secured link! So I said there is NO WAY that my AMEX card, with NO LIMIT! will be entered in on that site. So my question is this; was the site legit? Could Billy Bobs be THAT stupid? I don’t think so! I’ve been to Billy Bobs once a loong time ago and since it’s been around so long, surly they would have a secure site. The wife was a little miffed but the girls decided that I was prolly right.
What do y’all think? -
I might add that Clay Walker is a big hit at my place, the wimmins have been to umpteen concerts, from the rodeo to the LA/MS casinos’, to the Mitchell Pavilionm and Moody Gardens, daughter and the wife have met him backstage 3 different times, huntin’ buddy’s wife was with them for two of those. Her sister-in-law got them the passes in Gulfport. A few years ago, in the month of October, I think, they loaded up and went to an obscure lake for a night concert on the water. Only later did I learned that they went to LAKE FORK for a concert at a Bass tournament! I norther’ came through that night and with the wind off the water combined with the 30 deg temps, they dang near froze to death! For U folks in Rio Linda, the STATE RECORD largemouth bass came outta’ Lake Fork, my wife had NEVER heard of it. The lake that is. 🙁
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Is Clay Walker that new kid with the deep voice?
If so, I decided to wait until he gets a few lines in that cherub face to match his voice, before I watch him again.
It’s really disconcerting. -
Sorry, but 21st century Popular Country Music really sucks.
But I’m sure i’ve missed some gems in the dung heap by not listening to
Country radio. -
#110 Super Dave
I think you were wise to not shop on that site without the security coding. I almost made a campaign donation on a site (for which out of state candidate I don’t recall) and noticed that it was not coded secure, and so erased all info. Had not gotten as far as the credit card number. That incident was a great reminder to check any new site for the code. Good idea to check even familiar sites now and then. 🙂 -
Shannon
Is Clay Walker that new kid with the deep voice?
I have noo idea, what I do know is that the wimmins’ have been going to his concerts for at least 10 years, maybe 15?
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Here’s a headline you don’t see every day, even on Drudge:
University lab technician found partying with escaped monkeys…
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Lab-tech-parties-with-escaped-monkeys/-/1637132/16224040/-/format/rss_2.0/-/12ybs92z/-/index.html -
Texas proudly makes the news again
Lubbock County Judge Tom Head is convinced that Mr. Obama winning a second term would lead to a revolt by the American people and he’s is pushing a tax increase for the district attorney’s office and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office. He says the money is needed to “beef up” it’s resources in case President Obama wins the November election.
In the event of civil unrest Judge Head said he’s concerned the President would hand over sovereignty of the United States to the U.N. and that the American public would react violently.
“He’s going to try to hand over the sovereignty of the U.S. to the United Nations, what’s going to happen when that happens?” Judge Head told FOX 34 in Lubbock.
“I’m thinking worse case scenario,” Judge Head explained. “Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe…we’re not just talking a few riots or demonstrations.”Clearly he’s scare-mongering to get a tax increase. Who knows, maybe it will work.
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Michael Berry was talking about it today, the Beloit College Mindset List for 2016.
This year’s entering college class of 2016 was born into cyberspace and they have therefore measured their output in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and bauds. They have come to political consciousness during a time of increasing doubts about America’s future, and are entering college bombarded by questions about jobs and the value of a college degree. They have never needed an actual airline “ticket,” a set of bound encyclopedias, or Romper Room. Members of this year’s freshman class, most of them born in 1994, are probably the most tribal generation in history and they despise being separated from contact with friends. They prefer to watch television everywhere except on a television, have seen a woman lead the U.S. State Department for most of their lives, and can carry school books–those that are not on their e-Readers–in backpacks that roll.
The class of 2016 was born the year of the professional baseball strike and the last year for NFL football in Los Angeles. They have spent much of their lives helping their parents understand that you don’t take pictures on “film” and that CDs and DVDs are not “tapes.” Those parents have been able to review the crime statistics for the colleges their children have applied to and then pop an Aleve as needed. In these students’ lifetimes, with MP3 players and iPods, they seldom listen to the car radio………See the list at the link.
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Lab tech found partying with monkeys.
I’ve got a thousand dollars that says he’s a Democrat -
Ms Adee, I’m pretty careful about the fake sites because the bad boys can make them look just like the site that you want to go to. About 10 years ago, I was buying and selling a lot of gold and silver coins on E Bay and every now and then I’d get some fake E Mail wanting me to give someone my password and I never fell for it. One day I got one that said to click on the link and the link address was CORRECT so I clicked and the web site looked EXACTLY like E Bay, so I entered my password and the link went dead, so I logged on to Ebay and changed my password in a few seconds, but the BA$Tards had already canceled all the bids on two St Gaudens 20 dollar gold pieces. This was only a few hours before the auction was over so I guess that they thought that they could grab them for much less than they were worth.
BTW; The St Gaudens is my second favorite coin ever, the first being the Morgan Silver Dollar, that siad I my as well add my third favorite, the Indian Head Penny, I have a butt-load of them, a few of the are worth a pretty penny. 😉 -
An elderly parishioner has stunned Spanish cultural officials with an alarming and unauthorised attempt to restore a prized Jesus Christ fresco.
….
BBC Europe correspondent Christian Fraser says the delicate brush strokes of Elias Garcia Martinez have been buried under a haphazard splattering of paint.
The once-dignified portrait now resembles a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic, he says.In her defense she was copying His likeness from a piece of toast …………….
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OK, I did show a toned Morgan, because they’re my favorite. But I like these coins because they have neat features AND almost all of them are very detailed, struck with very detailed dies, this makes them stand out. The Peace Dollar is a beautiful coin, BUTT ALL the dies were crap, a MS 67 Peace Dollar has less detail than a Morgan AU 58.
If the Peace Dollar had been made with the same quality of dies as the Morgans, it would be my favorite coin. -
I thought clay Walker was the guy who played Cheyenne on TV back in the 60’s—–or was it the gay dude on American Idol?
I get confused. -
#123 Sarge, I have NOO idea, but I’ll not tell the wimmins’ because two of them are armed and I’m pretty sure that they’re at least as good a shot as you if not better. 😀
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mharper42, From your link;
Hasan has grown a beard apparently to express his Muslim faith. His defense attorneys have said he won’t shave since he’s had a premonition that his death is imminent, and he doesn’t want to die without a beard because he believes not having one is a sin.
This useless, filthy, disgusting animal that wishes he had been born in the fifth century is growing a beard so that he’ll go to heaven!! I’m pretty sure that it’s TOO late now……Spits!
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#125 M42: I still say that they should dry shave the SOB with a dull blade. They will prolly use an electric so the guy shaving him doesn’t have an “accident.”
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I had a rather stressful day today, so I moved and leveled about 20 loads of dirt, and broke up a bunch of it for next time. I moved the front face back about a foot and took a little off the top. I found a grub while I was digging, and it gave me pause. I used to save those for my sister’s chickens; it made her so happy when I did that for her. She loved her chickens.
I put it somewhere where a bluejay or something will find it.
In the meantime, maybe I should take some aspirin to ward off the anticipated soreness. I haven’t done much earth moving this summer, and the last time I only did about 12 loads. -
#129, Tedtam, I’d say that your day ended on a high note! Nothing like good old fashioned hard work to work through the stress and get your mind back to where it belongs. Now the body at
ouryour may not be as cooperative.
Remember, God loves a “WorkingManWoman” 😀 -
Yep, I have a pile of work waiting for me in the office…but I think I may do some writing. The loaves and fishes kid has been running through my head for some days now. I think I need to get him on paper so he’ll leave me alone.
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Oh , my #130, my wife always worked in her flower beds to counteract the stress she had in the insurance business, said it was her therapy. Now that she is semi-retired, the flower beds look good, but not nothing like they did when she worked full time, and had LESS time. She did clean up the one across the front of the house yesterday because it had become a little unruly after all the rain, but the two in the back are still somewhat lacking.
FWIW; Since we’re having the family reunion at theold farm housemy grandmother’s house this year, the wife and lil’ sister planted a neat flower bed in front of the old house, but they’ll have add some fall plants in September. -
Hubby almost got a shovel in the face this evening. I had wrapped up the digging, and was sitting on the porch with my water, cooling down. He came outside and asked “How’s it going, backhoe girl?”
Oh, hell no, he didn’t call me that, did he? -
As another wimminz not afraid to get my hands dirty, I will say I would take that as a compliment.
I’ve been busy this week billable-hours-wise, and have not finished the front yard cleanup from the 2 limbs that came down in the storm on Saturday. But I still look forward to finishing that. I am doing the cuts by handsaw. Obviously that takes longer, but it is better exercise. If I didn’t need (and enjoy) exercise, I’d have found myself an on-call handy man 10 years ago. -
I’ve been watching “Star Trek: Enterprise” lately, and I tried to pull up the list of episodes at the website. There’s a glitch (it may be my script blocker), and I get this one the screen:
A background shot of the bridge, overlaid with “I’m giving it all she’s got, captain!” Below that, in large letters: “Primary Servers Overloaded. Rerouting power through secondary EPS conduits.”
Cute. -
Well, it’s way past ole Dave’s bedtime, but I’d say we have some Fine Wimmins’ right here on this blog.
Nytol 😉 -
OK someone overslept, how about THIS for Thursdays OC Pix? 😀
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Clint Walker played Cheyenne in the TV series. 🙂
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Is it time for another Plain Jane OC thread?
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OC thread is up.
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