Public Service
It's been a busy week, performing Internet public service, and I have neglected my daily drivel on Streams. I have been working on two [2] websites for a non-profit group Midland Math Science Boosters Club and a church, True-Lite Christian Fellowship both of which are not complete by any means. A third for the Sibley Nature Center is yet to be started. I enjoy doing these "gratis" for people, but don't let the word of my kindness get around.......I have an image to protect!

My next Streams edition will feature my discovery of DVD! We watched We Were Soldiers, the true story of my good friend Joe Galloway's book We Were Soldiers Once and Young. Man o'man hooked up to my stereo system it was too much. More later.

A hot one....!
Well for the first time this summer, it's been hot. I mean really hot, hotter than a two dollar Mexican pistol. 105° in the shade today, and there ain't much shade. This is the part of the country where we have a town named Notrees. Named as such for a reason. But really, you know, 105° coupled with very dry humidity isn't all that bad. No it only felt like it was 103°. And with a strong breeze all day that was very iritating. Like having a fan blowing on you from your oven. The kind of day where, if you had cheese in your pocket, it would melt ruining your pants.

But then, much in contrast to the forecast, storm clouds appeared late in the afternoon from the West. These meandered over the city and some rain did come down, but mainly as virga, not hitting the ground. Well, nowhere except my car which was parked at Outback Steakhouse for Amanda's [Julie's daughter] birthday celebration. This in combination with the dust in the air did a fine job of creating big dusty sploches on my nice clean car. Then some thunder rumbles. And I have to say, that thunderstorms when it is that hot, create some very strange looking clouds. It was eerie.

This is the current church bulletin

Good Day Sir......May I cut down your tree?"
Direct marketing has filtered it's way down to the lowest echelons of the economy. One of my four trees in the front yard is showing signs of the drought, or possibly just old tree age, and has lost most of it's leaves. It's not a "good" tree, although all trees are my friends but I'm going to wait until next Spring to see if it might come back with more moisture from the winter snows. But I am prepared for the worst.

But what surprises me is the aggressiveness of our local "tree surgeons". In the last two [2] weeks I have had three [3] tree trimmers knock on my door and offer to cut it down and haul it off. "Good Day Sir, Just passing by and noticed your tree is a blight on the neighborhood and a personal reflection on your self worth.....want me to cut it down and haul it off?" These visits have all occured around five o'clock which is my nap time, but these look like hard working citizens so I have been pleasant enough.

But what is really starting to worry me is..."Where will this lead?". If a tire on my car is low or perhaps a little bald, will the Discount Tire guy knock on my door? "Good Day Sir, I'm Jim Bob from Discount Tires and I was just passing by and noticed that your tire is a little bald and will probably kill you...may I put a new one on for you?" Or my yard light burns out..."Good Evening Sir, I know it's 11 o'clock but I'm with Basin Electric and was just passing by when I noticed that your light is out....very dangerous sir, I have a supply of bulbs in my truck, may I up your wattage to the 200 watt model?" But I suppose that this is better than email Spam...at least I can look at these people in the eye and tell them to get lost.

Mosquitoes
This is purely a rhetorical question. but.......where in the damn hell do all the mosquitoes in West Texas come from? This is a semi-desert climate where so far this year we've gotten about five [5] inches of moisture. We have no streams, rivers, marshes or swamps. Yet when I step out on the patio for so much as 3-4 minutes I have 5-6 bites on my ankles. And this is serious business now what with that Wet Smile Virus going around. I think, perhaps, it's my slovenly neighbors who can't keep up their yard. They probably have five gallon Crisco cans strewn about their back yard with water in them.
I just might sue them......and I would too if he weren't the Assistant District Attorney!

LATE FLASH: RE BELOW......
I believe that Heather and I have worked out or differences and I have been reinstated per the latest update Into the Gloom! Therefore I have removed and edited some of the comments below as originally printed.

How I came to be banned from the Mirror Project
The image above has caused me to be banned from the Mirror Project by owner, Heather. I look for no sympathy here, nor do I apologize to you. The banishment came not from profanity, bad behavior, lewd sexual innuendo or off color comments. No it came because of humor, actually the lack thereof by owner Heather. To explain I must digress.

Last Saturday, I made some effort to achieve a picture of me taking a picture of me in the DiamondVison screen at our local ballpark [available on request]. The picture was great and although not fitting the technical rules of Mirror Project to the exact "T", it was a work befitting the spirit of the project. Well not to Heather, as I received a short rejection note from her. OK, her site, her discretion. But I thought other "rejectees" might enjoy a bit of humor about our rejection. Thus the image above with a short narrative something to the effect of "After my rejection, I thought I'd get back to the basics of the Mirror Project". No accusatory tone, no resentment on my part. Shortly after submission I received a note from Heather to the effect of "if you got a problem, take it up directly with me Squirt". Being not quite a moron I picked up an angry tone.

At this time I must point out, that over the course of my Mirror Project career, I have sent this same Heather a nice note almost everytime my photos were added, telling her thanks and how much I appreciated the work she obviously put into the site. But, I thought, "I've offended poor Heather". So I wrote a very sincere note of appology telling her that no offense was meant, that again I appreciated her work and that if ever I was in San Francisco she could kick me really hard. I think most people would accept this and move on....but not our Heather. Today I submitted a tame no frills mirror shot, only to receive a "Rejection" almost instantly. xxxxxxxxxx [deleted items]. I mailed back asking if there was a problem with the photo. No she said, "the problem was me, and she could reject anyone she damn well pleased". Again I detected some bitterness.

So that's it. International banishment. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX [deleted items]. Oh and Have a Nice Day :>]

A name to be proud of.......!
We in our fair mid sized city have a brand new High School football stadium, which costs the taxpaying citizens $48 Million. That's $480 per man, woman, baby and dog. So let's say around $700 per person not including non taxpaying baby's, dog's and a few women. I want my money back.
I didn't vote for this stadium...it was too expensive considering we need new schools, books, streets, more cops. But being a civic booster I had gotten somewhat used to it. We needed a new stadium, but perhaps not a Taj Majal facility.

Now, now I'm as you say.....incensed. The esteemed city council auctioned off the name to the highest bidder......someone named, Grande Communications Corp. They are not based here and haven't even really started in business here yet. And..a big and. They are an Internet company. As you know Internet companies are the role model for stability and staying power. And the Generation "Xers" at the City Hall didn't even make a good deal with them. $48,000/year. A stinkin' $48,000/year. A great deal for the Grande Bozo Co. They go out of business in two years and they're only out $96K.

This deal may have been legal, but it's morally wrong. Just plain wrong. This is a High School public facility. I think that we need more old geezers in our city government. I can't write anymore..I'm too incensed. Real really, I'm Pissed Off!

Best Seller........
My close friend and business partner, Joe Galloway, tells me today that his book "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young" is back on the New York Times best seller list at #3! An accomplishment in and of itself, this is even more amazing as it is the third time it has achieved Best Seller status. Once ten years ago when it first came out, then again as a paperback this year.....and now once again in the re-released hardback. Congratulations are in order to Joe and co-author Gen. Hal Moore. And once again a fitting tribute to all the soldiers immortalized in the book, and the feature film.
For the occasion I have been redesigning our website We Were Soldiers which involved reconfiguring the "Shopping Cart" mostly by hand coding. Whew! Don't try this at home.......without some muscle relaxants handy. I invite you all to visit the site and see the images that Joe took during the battle on which the book and Mel Gibson film are based. And after all my hard work........buy something!

Quorn's Abound!
The true value in the Internet is in information gathering. And now, alert reader Jen in Australia sends in the report of yet another Village of Quorn. Jen, like myself, a famous Mirror Project artisté, reports this Quorn to be in South Australia. The Village of Quorn in S.A. must be the hot bed of sports, or perhaps that is all there is to do in Quorn, Australia. Their website, Quorn Sports Central is replete with any sporting activity you might want to participate in on your next trip "down-under". I personally think I'll join the Lawn Bowling Club and the Gyro-Copter crew. They sound like an active lot, eh mate?

I feel that I am now one of the world's experts on Quorn. Both the fake meat and the Quorn villages of the world. I invite all readers to send reports of Quorn villages in locales yet unknown to me for further investigation and listing. I have aleady made the Town of Quorn, Leiceister, England my "Sister City" and hope to contact the residents of Quorn, NSW to bestow the same honor upon them.
Please send all information on Quorn's in your area to:

Quorn-at-biggolddog.com

Quorn Again
Alert readers, or even semi-alert readers, will remember that several days ago I brought up the issue of fake meat made from fungus, better known as Quorn©. Let me make it clear, I have nothing against fake meat, nor fungus. The combination of the two just seemed to me to be a little suspect. Well, not to make a judgement prior to full investigation, I went straight to the source. I cabled The Township of Quorn, England. Why, you ask? Well, it and the meat product were the only two entries to come up on my Google Search for Quorn©.
Well today my diligence paid off with a cable [actually an email, but cable sounds more dramatic] from Mr. Tim Rodgers, personal representative of the townsfolk of Quorn, England. The cable reads as follows:

------------------------------------------------
Hello Wallace,
Thanks for getting in touch with us here.

I think the product was in fact named after our village, but I don't think there is any real connection other than the name.
Certainly the company that manufactures Quorn©, Marlow Foods are not based anywhere near us.

As to gastric problems - no reports at all in the UK that I'm aware of - in fact, we had a Quorn meal in Quorn (if you see what I mean) just last week, and a bottle of Californian red made it disappear very quickly, with no dead animals complaining.

Anyway, should you visit us in the future, get in touch - it would be good to meet up.

Kind regards,
Tim Rodgers
Quorn Village Website


---------------------------------------------
I think that this dispells many of the worries that I might have concerning the ingestion of Quorn© as relates to the ingestors possiblity of death and diaherra. Additionally International reader Lisa of A Blog from A Broad actually claims to like the stuff. But, she adds, we in the US get the deep fat fried versions, while they, being cultured Europeans get the lightly breaded variety.
I would like to thank Tim and the townsfolk of Quorn for all their hard work in emailing their response, and wish them good luck in their Quorn© feasting. Actually the town of Quorn or Quordon, looks like a pleasantly quaint spot, a place you might like to stop to visit and feel right at home while in England. I urge you to visit their attractive website at: Quorn-the-Town-not-the-Meat.Com They have some interesting artists and the chocolate store will set your mouth to waterin'. And enjoy your Quorn©!

Thought for the day
Thoughts for the masses from my self help organization....

"It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us.
When we speak or act hastily or rashly, the ability to be fair-minded and tolerant evaporates on the spot. One unkind tirade or one willful snap judgement can ruin our relations with another person for a whole day, or maybe a whole year. Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen. We must avoid quick-tempered criticism and furious, power driven argument. The same goes for sulking and silent scorn. These are emotional booby traps baited by pride and vengefulness."
From: The Twelve and Twelve

Hail Shower: Late Report
As I sit here at the keyboard, I'm taking my life into my own hands. Hail larger than quarters is falling on my house.....and here I was worried about meteors. I have a 52 year old estate, and they built them to last back then, but I do have three [3] large skylights that I fear could go at any minute. But for you, my readers, I'll stick with it. If I'm kilt, somebody take up the slack on Streams and it's OK because we need the rain, and I'll sacrifice myself for the good of all. And with that lightning just struck not more than a block away! I may be mentally deficient but I ain't stupid, I'm shutting this electric devise dow.................oooooooooooo

Meteor Shower: Early Report
I have just returned from observing the Perseid Meteor Shower. Actually it was more like a Meteor Dribble. I think I saw one. I, however, as most other dopes go out in anticipation of a glorious display of cosmic fireballs the likes of which the earth has never seen before, only to be disappointed. In fact I keep hoping that one will land on my property, I'll retrieve it and get rich like the lucky morons down the road in Monahans, Texas. One fell into the street there and the kids who found it, I believe, got $20,000 cash money for it. After the city fathers sued them to get it back since it fell on a public street.


But Monahans apparently has some extra "mojo" about stuff falling from the sky and citizens getting money for it. Alert readers will remember that Monahans is where, recently, the top secret Stealth fighter dropped it's precision guided smart bomb [practice version] on a citizens home. The lucky citizens got a new home. Anyway, back to the meteors. It will be my luck that a meteor will in fact fall on my property, but will hit the house, disenegrate and burn the house up leaving me with exactly jack squat.

Readers Beware!
In an never ending search to inform and protect you, the reader, I have now come across this:


WASHINGTON (AP) -- A health advocacy group accused the government Monday of allowing fake meat made from fungus to be sold even though it makes people sick and demanded the product, known as Quorn, be recalled.


If you might recall you heard about the dangers of Botox right here, and you probably have not tried that. Now I'm warning you about the dangers of fake meat. This is not hot dogs, vienna sausage or bologna which are reconstituted forms of mystery meat. We are talking "Genuine" fake meat here. And for the love of God, who would buy something called Quorn anyway and use it as meat. "Oh Honey let's have a Qourn loaf for dinner". No sir, not me.
As a general rule I try and stay away from products made from fungus, but will redouble my efforts in an attempt to avoid fake fungus meat. The article further states,

The Center for Science in the Public Interest said it had received reports from 33 people who had suffered vomiting, diarrhea and other ailments after eating Quorn. A North Carolina man broke out in hives and had trouble breathing, the group said.

Another rule of mine, hard and fast, is to stay away from products that cause vomiting, diarrhea and other ailments. I don't eat much meat anymore for many reasons, but I swear to you that I will not eat fake fungus meat. This almost makes Vienna Sausages sound like a health food!! Don't say you haven't been warned!

The Birthday
Today is my Dad's Birthday. He's 79 years of age....seen and done alot including a depression and a World War in which participated to the fullest extent. Although he's slowed down a bit, I'm just glad he [and my Mom] are alive and pretty well, living just several blocks away. Julie and I took them to eat Chinese food and then for cake, ice cream and a sing-a-long of "Happy Birthday to You....!" And I do wish him a Happy Birthday, and many more......he deserves it. And I'm full of gratitude for the life they've allowed me to have!

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Highest and best use......
I enjoy communicating on the web with people all over the world. I enjoy sharing my images and thoughts. But to be honest, much of the enjoyment of setting up webpages, blogs and the like is just plain in the doing. I remember the first webpage I ever created in 19 and 98. It is the Texas History Map. I learned the basics of web design for the most base of reasons........GREED. And indeed I've sold those maps to the tune of five figures. But I remember the power of creating the page, uploading it, not having any idea if it would work or not. And then typing in the the URL and !!Bingo!! there it was. It was magic and I was hooked. I've improved somewhat, to the point now that people pay me to do websites for them, I'm working on a large job The Lerwick Family which is just now under contruction and have several more jobs waiting. I enjoy the challenge of learning new techniques and the latest updates.
Therefore I enjoy recommending sites that have captured the "highest and best use" standards of Internet technology. Two of these are: The Ultimate Taxi an amazing "wired" cab in Aspen, Colorado, and The Icepick House an even more amazing house in the Netherlands.
I have chatted online with techno cabbie Jon Barnes, a nice guy, so I have added him to my Zany Characters links. I have emailed questions to Mr. and Mrs. Ice Pick, but they must be hoity-toity Europeans as they have not answered, so they can go to hell.......but I still like their website.

Things to do
We all have things in our lives that we mean to do. Things we've been putting off for days or months, perhaps even a year. I have a very nice piece of furniture, a two drawer chest of drawers. My problem is that I've been meaning to clean out this chest for the last twenty years. That's good intentions dating back well into the last century. This chest with two big deep drawers contains nothing but "T" shirts. These are mainly shirts dating back from three decades ago. Shirts from my running days and my life in Hawaii.....6.2K race shirts, Marathon shirts, Hawaiian canoe team shirts, surfing shirts, Army shirts. Most I have not worn in decades. Most would not fit me now. They do hold special meaning, but why in the name of God I can't seem to get the nerve to move them and free up this space I don't know. It is, I believe, a moral failing on my part.
I walk into my bedroom everyday and think how nice it would be to have this space for my current wardrobe. How easy it would be to put the shirts in plastic storage boxes and stow them away for safe keeping. But there the shirts still lie, cloth monuments to a bygone life. I did take them all out four years ago........to refold them and put them back in the drawers. Outwardly this did make me feel like I was making progress, but deep inside I knew this was a sham, I was just stalling.
So, if you read this, please leave a comment urging me to take action, do something, take back this space from the shirts. You will make me feel a whole lot better about myself.

Letting Go
Sometimes I think that the overriding emotion in my life is sadness. Sadness for the people no longer in my life, for lost opportunities with people and just plain missing some people from different eras in my past. These feelings seem to be triggered by insignificant thoughts or transient glimpses of things on TV, or smells, or songs. I had one of these moments this morning. I had no plan to think the thoughts that came from some ad on TV, no idea that this liltle snippet of advertising would start me thinking about the past. I cannot even remember the ad or the product, but there it was changing my brain chemistry in an instant.
These feeling don't make me despondant, don't keep me from going about life's business, but they change my day at least for awhile. I wonder the "what if's" the "why not's" and the dangerous question of "can I recapture the friend and the moment". Being a believer in the "Serenity Prayer" I know the meaning of "Accept the things I cannot Change", but damn I want to try. Honestly, I just miss a lot of people...very much.

TV Land
Well I try and force myself to watch at least a little TV each and every night. Sometimes I catch snippets of The History Channel, or PBS, or perhaps something on A&E. But if all else fails I make myself watch at least one half hour of the educational programming known as Leave it to Beaver. Pure pablum, escapism, frivolity you say. Damn right I say. But.....the Cleaver household was my own. This dates me. Beaver and I were the same age, and I had an older brother for whom everything came easily, and in whose shadow I seemed to live. My Mom was a "housewife" always home homemaking and waiting for Ward...er Wally, my Dad, to come home. Just like the Beav, we heard, "wait till your father" gets home.
The 50's appliances in the kitchen on Elm Street [the old Cleaver house] look like old friends to me. We sat down to eat homecooked food as a family every night. The boys room looks like mine, we hung college pennants on the wall. This was a great time for kids. What we did for fun was roam, we made forts, we rode our bikes, we went fishing after school. We didn't have "planned activities" ad infinitum. We created our own fun with our inventiveness. We went to vacant lots, we set small fires, we got into minor trouble.
And the cast of characters on Leave it to Beaver......We had them all as friends, my older brother and I. We had your goofy Lumpy's, we had the nerdy Tooey's, and of course there was an Eddie Haskell. My friends were the Gilberts, the Richards and the Larry Mondelo's of the world. Larry Mondelo...the quintessential role model for my childhood. Larry almost brings a tear to my eyes remembering the times my own personal real life Larry and I had.
But, of course, we all grew up into mostly responsible adults with our share of problems and the need to face the realities of life. Perhaps the parents of Rusty Stevens, the young actor who played Larry, knew this. After about the 4th year of the show, his father was transferred to Ohio. The parents told Rusty that his acting days were over and they all moved on and that was the last of Larry, who turned back into a real person.

Changes
It's starting to feel like changes are in the making, that summer could be slipping into Fall in the not to distant future. This is fine with me; Fall is my favorite season. Yes, it's still hot in West Texas, although unlike many other parts of the country we've had a very acceptable summer. Cooler [comparatively] than the last several and with just enough rain at crucial times to keep things alive. High School football is a key indicator of the change. The teams are doing "two-a-days". That's practice twice a day, in the anticipation of the start of school here, in just two weeks. The TV stations are doing "spots" on how not to die of heat prostration during "two-a-days". The high school seniors are registering for classes today. Though most of the seniors seemed most excited about registering just so they could get prime parking spots [some things never change].
But the real reason the progress to Fall seems close at hand, is that somehow, overnight, the light seems to have changed. Here in the Southwest the light in Fall has a magical quality. Just as on that one certain day I wake up and know that today I need a haircut, today I noticed that the light had changed.

Eleven Wow, Eleven!

Man O'Man I can't believe it's eleven weeks, can you? And how lucky I am. I mean look at the photo above.......Julie is beautiful, charming, vivacious and so Ooo la la. And Me, I'm used dog food, a broken down wretch. How truly fortunate I am that Julie hit here head while flying and doesn't know what she's doing. How else can this be explained. Well, no matter, it is what it is and I will just have to accept this. And not too hard a thing to accept it is. Next week the big Three Month Anniversary.

And while you're here, with apparently nothing better to do, I ask that you go to The Yellow Bug News and take part in a scientific survey now being conducted on the use of Suppositories. There has been a debate raging concerning their use among the Blogging community. Remember this is a Scientific Survey and your help is needed!

Same Ol' Same Ol'
Well not much news from the town of Midland today. Except the seven [7] houses and one apartment building that caught on fire last night from the Xtreme lightning during the storm. And the trees, walls and mobil homes that were tumped over.
[editors note: if you are not from Texas, "tumped" is a legitimate word here. Formed from -tipped- and -dumped-.......most commonly used in accordance with a beverage accident. i.e "Hey Honey, I tumped my iced tea over...would you bring me another one?".]
Oh yes the other occurance was the kid who lost control of his car at an estimated speed of 100 mph and hit an Exxon station at 2:00 A.M this morning. Unfortunatly he was incinerated. Like I say not much news.

Rainy Day People*
Tonight was to be our semi-weekly miniature golf outing, a hot and mainly clear evening. A small thunderstorm was some distance out, it didn't appear to be a problem. But, problems can and do grow on us. A few rain drops blew in from a mile or so away, and I told the family, not to worry, no problem it's a small storm. By the 3rd hole it was raining enough to get us wet, and when lightning came from not to far away, we took shelter. Again, it looked like a 5 minute delay. The delay grew to 20 minutes, with lightning striking nearby. OK, we decided to head for the house in town, about 5 miles away, where it looked to be bright and sunny. We drove thru downtown where, strangely some streets were just about flooded, then several blocks away.....completely dry.
By the time we got home, it was constant thunder and pouring buckets. The Big Gold Dog who is "sensitive" to thunderstorms was more than glad to see us. Although he had had a "problem" on the floor in my office. Clean that up. We sent Amanda to Julies to get the Sorry game.....she almost didn't make it back. Then while Julie, Jack and Amanda were watching a baseball game, Amanda said she heard a drip, drip, dripping that sounded all too close. And it was. It was inside coming from one of the fireplaces. A big leak caused, I think, because the rain was coming from the Southeast, which it almost never does. Take down the art....fetch the buckets. By then the Bell family decided that they had had enough, and ran to the car screaming due to very close lightning strikes. They barely made it home thru the flood. But all is well now, and we needed the rain desparately though it was a very strange storm. We must have had 2" or more.
*Rainy Day People courtesy of Gordon Lightfoot....a great song.

Watch that remark...
Well today I read an article that will change the way I view "comments" on Streams. The article concerned the lengths to which some public and private institutions are going to make sure that no one's feelings are hurt. Being the sensitive sort, I was absorbed by this article like spilt milk to a sponge.
It seems that some organizations are worried about childrens sef-esteem and some adults are getting their feelings trampled by the majority in everyday life. Like the poor teenagers in Connecticut who broke into their Prep School and vandalized it. They were expelled. Now some of the parents of the offenders are suing the school stating that, the poor kids now had feelings of, get this: "feelings of unworthiness" and had their "self-worth impuned". Or take the housing project in Maine where the residents were made to take their Christmas decorations down because.....some residence tend to get depressed around Christmas and the "Happy Holidays" might make these people feel excluded. I ain' t makin' this up! The Sholom Middle School in Manhattan put the nix on Mother's Day [Mother's Day for God's sake!] because some kids didn't have a Mother at home [they had two Fathers] and the school administrators thought that celebrations "might not be a positive experience".
So for those posting messages on my comments, I want to make it clear. Though I am of a sensitive nature, I do stand behind the right to free speech, so leave any comment you want......but be sure to include your attorney's name and phone number. I won't stand idly by while you impune my self-worth, damage my psyche or make me feel unworthy with your snide remarks.