Why I'm Freezing.....

If you get away from the frenzied dialogue of Global Warming, you probably know that the earth has been warming and cooling it's entire life. From the founder of The Weather Channel, an explanation.

A CHRISTMAS for CAROL

This will be the fourth Christmas I've spent with my Mom since my Dad passed away in November of 2006. Last year my Mom moved into the retirement community...to a nice little house just about right for her, but it's not the old family home on Douglas we're she had lived for the last 50 years. Those who have lost a close family member know how their absence changes the holidays. So, I've tried to think of ways to make our Christmas alone a little more special but, frankly, it's been a little hard and it hasn't felt much like Christmas to me.

My Mom has always been a hard person for me to find the appropriate gift to present to her. Being a child of the depression her answer to "what do you need, or want for Christmas?" has always been, "Oh nothing really, I don't need a thing". And now, later in her life being in good financial shape, this is all the more true.

So last year I was amazed when she volunteered that she had a present in mind for me to give to her. The present she wanted, and she brought it up several times, was ...........Stamps. Postage stamps. We both laughed, but she said she was serious. So, making me feel a tad ashamed, that's what she got for her present....and some festive flowers. But for several week I thought to myself, "great son....you give your Mom stamps for Christmas". But all through the year she brought up how wonderful it was to have these stamps. She is still a letter writer so she does use them.

And so this year she asked me with a gleam in her eye, if she was going to get more stamps. I said if that's what her heart desired, then stamps it is. But she added, "...and a Timex watch, I just need an ordinary watch". Today I went to buy the stamps, double the amount this year, and I bought her the most expensive Timex watch I could find. Total tab.....under $50. But you know, I'm going to see her smile broadly at these gifts which will bring a little more joy to me this Christmas.

Potholes.....kill or cost money

The story of potholes in Midland takes a costly turn.....
Mean Street Kick Ass

Mean Street Kick Ass.

We're back, were mad and we mean it!
MeanStreet Kick Ass

1 Billionth served....

Project "Honey Pot" is an anti-spam organization that I signed up with last year. People like me who have websites contribute to the "Honey Pot" by placing useless email addresses on our websites. These allow criminals to "harvest" these addresses with their computer "Bots" and so become part of a spammers hit list. What the bad guys don't know is that the future spam replies to these addresses go to the "Honey Pot" folks who then track and keep track of them.

I received an email this morning from them saying they had received their one billionth spam reply. They offer up the interesting spam stats below and you can see the entire stat sheet at: Honey Pot Stats Take a look, some very interesting findings.

- Monday is the busiest day of the week for email spam, Saturday is the
quietest
- 12:00 (GMT) is the busiest hour of the day for spam, 23:00 (GMT) is the
quietest
- Malicious bots have increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 378% since Project Honey Pot started
- Over the last five years, you'd have been 9 times more likely to get a
phishing message for Chase Bank than Bank of America, however Facebook is rapidly becoming the most phished organization online
- Finland has some of the best computer security in the world, China some of the worst
- It takes the average spammer 2 and a half weeks from when they first
harvest your email address to when they send you your first spam message,
but that's twice as fast as they were five years ago
- Every time your email address is harvested from a website, you can expect
to receive more than 850 spam messages
- Spammers take holidays too: spam volumes drop nearly 21% on Christmas Day and 32% on New Year's Day

Is it Easter yet......??

We Americans are a forward looking people.....and an impatient lot about our holidays. I sometimes miss the good ol' days, like way back 30 years or so ago and beyond. Holiday decorations were special then. Mostly people just did Christmas starting about 2 weeks before hand. Halloween decorations were few and far between.

I'm probably not telling you anything you don't know, but we apparently live for our parade of holidays. I was already seeing Halloween decorations in stores by September, and on November 1st the Thanksgiving decor goes up in the neighborhood. Some peopele even have Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations mixed up together.

And so now we come to Christmas. Some people in my neighborhood had their Santa's and lights up before Turkey Day, but Thanksgiving afternoon about 3 pm is when the Christmas season begins around here. You can see the flurry of activities as people bedeck trees, roofs and eaves with a dazzling display of lights.

But, alas, I'm now caught up in this cycle too. My neighbor across the street had her porch decorated by dark on Thanksgiving and I really don't want to be left behind in the decor race. Luckily all I have to do is flip a switch. For the last 5 years I'm prepared, leaving my small little twinkle lights in the trees around the front porch. I add a few wreaths and whatnots, but basically, it's just flipping the switch that controls the front porch circuits. Voila! It's Christmas.

However, every year I'm disappointed. You know they just don't make those Chinese twinkle lights like they used to. I pay top dollar, like $1.98 for 100' strings of those things which get left outside all year, you'd think $1.98 lights would last longer!

Nov 22, 1963 | Where were you.....?

In the last 40+ years it's become rather a part of the folk culture for those old enough to remember, to be asked, "where were you when Kennedy was shot". It's a fair question and one for which almost everyone has an answer. The Kennedy assasination was one of the most important pinpoint events of the 20th century in the US. Not like the depression or WWII that happened over a span of time, the JFK murder happened in an instant and changed so much.

Where was I? I know exactly where I was and remember it like it was yesterday. I was a Freshman at Midland High School in Coach Ed Nixon's albebra I class which was also my "home room" assigned class. The room is in what is now, the "old building" and one which I pass by several times a year when at the school.

Seated in front of me were Bonnie Craddick and Jimmy Cowden, behind was Margaret Crews. In those days we were model children who obeyed our elders even if they wanted us to sit in alphabetical order. Cowden, Craddick, Craig, Crews....you get it. I still email and talk with Bonnie, married in San Antonio, and trade occasional emails with Jimmy Cowden, an attorney in Austin. Margaret is in Dallas, I believe. Bonnie has always been a good friend and she was a brilliant student and "Miss Everything" at MHS. Over the years I've forgiven her for not letting me cheat from her in Algebra.....thus causing my life to go into a downward spiral. Bonnie is pictured here when she was running for Queen of England...as I recall the only thing she ever lost. :>]

So it was sitting with all these friends that, not long after the fact, we heard the news over the school's loud speaker system the news that JFK had been murdered in Dallas. That's all I remember of that day. I suppose they let us out of school early, though I'm not really sure. The next thing I remember was the following day.....because it was my birthday and the birthday of one of my best friends Ron Hunt. Ronnie and I got together the next day but there was little joy in birthdayville, the rest of the world being glued to their black and white television sets. I look into Coach Nixon's old room when I pass by now and I can almost see Cowden, Craddick, Craig and Crews sitting in the far right row from front to back. And I remember the day and think.....if only Bonnie had let me cheat, I might have made a "B"

Leaf Blower III....

I've been in my house almost 10 years and for the first year I used to rake and sweep tree debris almost daily for many months. The house is surrounded by large pecan and live oak trees. I will warn homeowners here; Don't ever buy a house with live oaks or pecans anywhere near driveways or patios. They have developed a delicate symphony of nature whereby one or the other of the species is dropping somes sort of crap on your property at carefully orchestrated and different times. Except for the 3 months in the dead of winter, there is always something falling.

But I digressed. Having raked and swept for a year, a good friend mentioned that in West Texas a leaf blower is not a luxury, but a necessity. I took this to heart and in the last 9 years rarely do several days go by that I'm not blowing something noxious off my property. I have been through two Toro Super Vac Electric Leaf Blowers in that time. Big brutes with about 500 h.p. creating winds in excess of 2,000 mph. But they were expensive, as they came with all that power and the leaf sucker upper vacuum attachment. I'll add that it looks like the life of a Toro Super Sucker is about 4.5 years.

Today I purchased leaf blower number three. Number two had been sounding "raspy" and losing power for a month or so but still working although sometimes I had to use a very sophisticated system to get it going after being turned on. I hit it really hard. It worked okay, until Tuesday evening when I was blowing debris after dark and noticed a glow coming from the air vent holes in the motor cover. I was rather surprised to find the glow coming from a lot of swirling flames. Not sparks, real genuine fire. But it was working so what the heck.....it lit the way and the fire eventually stopped. The next day I took ol' number two over to the other family home to clean up 20 year old dust left by the roofers after they installed a new roof. Number two worked fine and I was just finishing up when the smell of burning electricity and plastic filled the garage and number two ground to a smokey end. I suppose it's gone for good. I don't think they were designed to have fire in them.

So today, to Ace Hardware I went and found the Number 3 blower of my dreams. A smaller compact Toro with no sucker apparatus that was twice as cheap as numbers 1 and 2. The downside is that it only puts out about 1,200 mph winds, but it sure is a lot easier to use, quieter and in 4.5 years the flames shouldn't be as large when it blows up.

Veteran's Day.....We Remember

On Veteran's Day, I remember and pay tribute to all those I served with and who came before us. Most particularly my family members.....my Dad and my Grandfather.

The Marine Corps globe and anchor were my grandfather's, Charles Wallace Craig who was a Marine Corps L/Cpl who fought at the Battle of Belleau Woods, WWI, 1918.

The Army Combat Infantry Badge rests on the Sgts. stripes of my father, Charles Wallace Craig II, who landed at Anzio, in 1944, fought his way up Italy and then participated in the second "D" Day in Southern France in August of 1944. He later became a cold weather casuality in the Vosges Mountains of France.

The Kingston Trio...

The Kingston Trio was a hit group a little before my musical day, but they are considered one of the most influential sounds that shaped the coming rock n' roll years. Their sound evolved into "folk pop" which guided such stars as Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The Byrds and The Mama's and Papa's. It was a pleaure to see and hear them up close and personal. Above, "Scotch and Soda" which is the most played Juke Box song of all times.

Good bye, city life.......

If you have ever heard the theme songs to Green Acres or The Addams Family...and not been able to get them out of your head, you have Vic Mizzy to thank.

Green acres is the place for me.
Farm livin' is the life for me.
Land spreadin' out so far and wide

Sad to note that Vic passed away this week.

Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside.
You are my wife.
Good bye, city life.
Green Acres we are there.

Jim Hall | Chaparrals honored...

In 1995 Jim Hall took a chance on a young Brazilian driver named Gil de Ferran, offering him a drivers spot with Chaparral Racing's Indy Car team. The rest as they say is history with Gil later winning the Indy 500 and the Indy Car Series championship twice, albeit with other teams. Gil has never forgotten Jim's confidence in him and so this past weekend when Gil finally retired from active racing he asked Jim to be at Laguna Seca for his final American Lemans Series race. We sent two Chaparrals along with Jim and he tells me they were the hit of the weekend. By the way.....Gil won the race! The video above is Gil and Jim Hall driving a parade lap around Laguna Seca. Gil is driving the Chaparral 2, while Jim is driving the Chaparral 2E.

Running into old friends...

Random meetings of old acquaintances is one of life's little joys. For the last 5 years at the annual Racquet Club NCAA Invitational Tournament, I've been a supporter of my old grad school, Pepperdine University and their women's tennis team. In between our matches I happened to be at the main stadium court watching a match involving Texas A&M and I noticed their coach, who looked fairly familiar, but at first I couldn't be sure.

Then it dawned on me that the coach was Bobby McKinley, who I had known at Trinity University. I hadn't seen Bob since an alunmi weekend long ago. Bob is now the Asst. Coach of Tennis for A&M, but is a tennis legend in his own right.

Bobby was a four-time All-American and was a team captain for our Trinity team which won the 1972 NCAA Championships. He was later the Coach at Trinity and the NCAA Coach of the Year in 1977. He was the No. 1-ranked Junior Tennis Player in the United States at one time. He reached the Round of 16 at Wimbledon in 1973, reached the doubles semifinals at the U.S. Open in 1972 and was part of the No. 2-ranked men's doubles team in the USA in 1972. At the time of his retirement, McKinley was ranked No. 50 in singles on the ATP Tour. His brother, Chuck McKinley, won the Wimbledon Men's Championship in 1963.

Glalmour Shots...

Always nice to see your photo on the cover of a website with worldwide importance.....with credit! Miss Texas Webshots

Thoughts on dogs | Revisited

I was at my "other" house last night watering and I always make sure I water the spot where two of my Golden Retrievers are buried. This gets my thinking about those wonderful dogs and friends. And reminded me of an article I wrote in 2004 while the Big Gold Dog was still very much alive, which I like...here it is again.

---------------------------
"Researchers have recently proven that people who talk to their dogs are cutting-edge communicators, not just a bunch of eccentrics."

Thanks for that, I'm glad to know I'm not just a kook, a complete kook that is. A new German study cited here says that most dogs understand language at a rate the scientists said was equivalent to that of a 3-year-old child...or an ape or dolphin. I'd prefer to communicate with an ape or dolphin more than with most 3 year olds, but that's another story.

I've always known that dogs have an innate ability to understand, and I've always talked to them. I guess that's why I love dogs so much and we've always gotten along. I've only been bitten by one dog in my life....my brother's French poodle. The reason for the bite is quite obvious; he didn't understand what I was saying.

My Golden Retreivers have been amazing in their grasp of the English language however. Ranger, my dear comrade of the late 80's and 90's had quite a range of vocabulary. When I would say "Duck" [as in a waterfowl] he would immediately look up and start searching the sky for a stray gaggle of mallards. He was a retreiver yes, but I had never ever taken him duck hunting nor been around lakes with ducks. Where he got that trait I don't know, genetics maybe. And we had to spell out C-A-T, for if we uttered "CAT" he was at the front door barking furiously for 20 minutes. The same with "SQUIRREL", only this would send him out the back door trying to climb the mulberry tree. If we were, by chance, to utter the word "BATH" in his presence he would slowly start to slink away and if we made a move in his direction he would shift from "slink" to "haul ass" in a nanosecond.

Ranger was also adept in automotive language. Like most Golden Retreivers he relished being in the family bed. My mean and evil Ex Wife did not relish nor allow a 95 lb. dog in the bed. So whenever she would leave in the morning, into bed he would hop. If I came home first drving my Blazer, he would still be in full repose. However if the mean evil EX came home in her Volvo he was out of the linen in a flash. He knew the sound of a Swedish engine better than most humans I know.

The present Big Gold Dog, Tres, is less communicative than Ranger but in a way, smarter about his understanding of language. Tres knows all the words, but he also has me figured out. His dog notes on me read something like:

-Owner: soft touch, easy, pushover; don't have to do a thing he says.
-Important words to respond to: "Chow", "Ride", "Walk", "Treat". Ingore all else.

Actually Tres is more of a talker than a good listener. Thankfully for us, he's the only dog I've ever had that will tell you precisely when he needs to go out and do his duty so we never worry about him. He will go to the back door and utter one single muffled "woof". That's it..."woof", I need to go. If by chance we don't resond quickly enough, there is a second and very loud "Bark". We know then he really has to go. The same procedure applies when he wants to come back in.

Daphne is another matter entirely. Daphne is an Abyssinian Squirrelhound....aka "Mutt". Mutt's are genetically smarter than most other dogs since they most typically are the strays of the world and have had to fend for themselves over the eons. Daphne is as smart as they come, and like a precocious child is generally a wise ass when it comes to language. She understands everything we say, but does not comply with anything we wish, unless she wants to do it. She learned "sit", "lie down" and "roll over", I'm told, after only one or two training sessions. She knows not to dig, bark at squirrels and to stay out of the flower beds. Her reaction to a command to do, or not do, any of these is to run out of leash range and smirk. A very perturbing and frustrating trait in a dog. And when it comes time to scold her with the old favorite "Bad Dog!"....well she just looks the other way like we are talking to some imaginary other dog.

Ranger: good listener.
Tres: good talker.
Daphne: poor communication skills all around.

LeMans winner in Midland

I've been keeping it rather low profile, as some details are still being worked out, but my new job is as Managing Director of Chaparral Partners. Chaparral Partners is a new entity we are forming to market and develop the cars and history of Chaparral Racing in addition to some exciting things we're working on that for now need to be unnamed. A dream job for me, whose idol as a kid was Jim Hall.

We will be working directly with the Petroleum Museum and it's Chaparral Gallery on most projects. And one of the first is just too cool. Starting around the 1st of next April we will have on loan from the Henry Ford Museum, the Ford GT40 Mark IV, above, which won LeMans in 1967*. Cool enough, but the car was owned by Carroll Shelby and driven to victory by two of racing's biggest legends, Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt. Having a good contact in Dan Gurney's personal assistant, I've asked her to put this event on his calendar...and through other contacts we hope to have both Shelby and Foyt attend also. Nothing guaranteed, but we're hopeful. If it works out....a world class racing event on March 26th, the target for our exhibit kickoff gala.

*It was on the winners podium at this race, that Dan Gurney became the first driver, ever, to spray the crowd with the winners champagne instead of drinking it. A tradition continued in every motor sport today.

Woodstock: Peace, Love and Music.

Woodstock was in full swing on this date. One of the best and most memorable performances was by Joe Cocker. I have to say I'm glad to know that Joe is alive and well today, living in Colorado. As he appears in this video, he looks like he was one of those guys who was not going to survive the excesses of the 60's.

Birthday Remembered...

Today is my Dad's birthday. He would have been 86 years old. For most of his life he was active, interesting and loved sports. I like to remember him that way....especially with golf clubs.

Woodstock | Jimi Hendrix

To Me, probably no performer says Woodstock more than Jimi Hendrix, a guitar genius. Today, people think of Jimi as typifying the Hippie drug culture. Drugs yes, they killed him, but few people know that Hendix had served in the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division and was a fairly partiotic guy.

Wind Power....

As I have watched whole areas of West Texas become overwhelmed with wind farms, I've wondered, in point of fact, just how well these are working as a potential solution to future energy problems. Wind turbines are widely "touted" by those putting them up as the basic building block in our Green future. But those putting these monsters up atop scenic mesas are also hoping to cash in on our green future. So, has anyone done factual studies on their viability?

In Australia they have and have come up with some interesting findings about the true value of wind farms.... Wind farms downunder

Woodstock | Plus 40

In two weeks, it will be the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. Hard to believe. The Summer of Peace and Love not withstanding, it was a seminal event with some of the world's best rock musicians. Fitting that it occured in 1969, because to me, this was the year that the original and classic rock n' roll ended. In the 70's and afterward it was different, losing it's free spirited, hard driving enthusiasm to commercialism which ended up, temporarily, ending music as we know it with.....Disco. I'll be playing clips of some other classic performances in coming days. But above, probably my favorite....Santana. Rock on...!

The Eagle has landed.....

It's hard to believe that it's been 40 years since Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on another cosmic body.....the Moon. Hard to believe that from Alan Shepard's first 15 minute ride into space in 1961, we developed the technology to send men to land on the moon just 8 years later.

If you weren't old enough to have been around in the 1960's to witness the "space race" culminating in the "moon shot", it was an amazing time. The venture into space was the cutting edge of technology, at a time when new technology wasn't a daily part of life. We are technology jaded today. Then, with only three broadcast TV channels, most of the population was glued to the family TV watching this all unfold. The astronauts were tops on the hero list.

As has been noted in recent times, the computers that guided the Apollo 11 spacecraft had less computing power than today's small personal cellphones. Watching and listening as Neil Armstrong overrode the computer to land the Eagle moon lander by his own piloting skills has to be one of the most thrilling moments of TV history. In total, twenty-four American astronauts have traveled to the Moon, with twelve walking on its surface. The lunar landings occurred over a short 3 year period, the last coming in December of 1972. Quite frankly the technological task of getting us to the moon in 2009 would be a daunting prospect. To do it in 1969 was nothing short of phenomenal.

The photo above is a shot I took with an old camera of the TV screen on July 20th 1969, with Neil Armstrong already on the lunar surface [right] and Buzz Aldrin climbing down the Eagle's ladder to join Armstrong. One of my prize possessions, courtesy of my brother at NASA is a personally autographed copy of Gene Cernans' great book, "Last Man on the Moon". Gene was the last man to have trod on the lunar surface.

Chaparral 2J | The Sucker Car

Yesterday, we ran the historic Chaparral 2J, "the sucker car" for it's semi-annual mainentance laps. One of the most historic and innovative racing cars ever built, the 2J always draws a big crowd, even some folks driving from Austin for the event. We run all the Chaparrals during a years time. If you want to be put on our mailing list to be notified when we are running the Chaparrals at The Petroleum Museum, let me know! The video above was shot in 2005 at Laguna Seca Raceway in California, when the Chaparrals were the featured cars at the Rolex Vintage Car event, the largest in the USA.

McNamara....

Probably you saw or read that Robert Strange McNamara died today...and yes his middle name was Strange. His passing is sad in a historical way, and for his family, but most of us of the Vietnam era who served in the military have fairly strong feelings about the man who directed and shaped the war.

Despite President Kennedy's and Johnson's philosophical leadership, McNamara, as Secretary of Defense, was the chief architect of how the war was fought. And for a good deal of the war it was poorly served by his leadership. It was the accountant and statistician McNamara who after the battles in the Ia Drang Valley where my friends fought, came up with the concept of the "body count" as a measure of how we were doing. After the battle at LZ Xray McNamara decided that if we could keep on killing the enemy in much greater numbers than they were killing our soldiers, the North Vietnamese could not sustain the war. In the end the North Vietnamese lost numbers some put close to three million soldiers and civilians, the U.S. lost close to 59,000 troops....and still we were defeated. While being interviewing for the book We Were Soldiers Once and Young, General Giap, the military commander of North Vietnamese forces, told General Hal Moore that North Vietnam would have been willing to endure three times the casualties that they did and would have fought for 20 years more if it meant winning the war.

Perhaps our disdain for McNamara stems from his lofty Ivy League "I'm obviously right, so let's stick to the business plan" attitude, which reduced our brother soldiers to statistical highlights making it seem OK to lose 100 Americans if only they killed 500 Viet Cong as they were dying. It was obvious to the troops dying in the mud that he certainly wasn't right about much nor had the willingness to change strategies or listen to the commanders in the field. And certainly his mea culpa book in 1995, admitting that early in the war he knew he was wrong but did nothing to change the outcome, has left his place in history with Vietnam Vets on the dung heap.

Added as it appeared, my friend Joe Galloway's comments on McNamara

4th of July | Midland

Happy Independence Day!
Photo slideshow of the 4th in Midland

The naked lamp is lit..

Perhaps you read the bizarre story about the airline passenger who suddenly felt the need to strip naked and lay in his seat thusly, causing the flight to land in Albuquerque. Obviously this poor fellow had some break with reality, but on some plane trips in the past I can almost identify with him. One such trip in 1988 comes to mind.

The wife, at the time, and I had been at my family's home on Torch Lake, Michigan an hour north of Traverse City. To return home we had to catch a commuter flight from Traverse City to either Detroit or Chicago. On this trip we changed planes in Detroit which required about a 2 hour wait in the airport. We boarded the American Airlines flight to Dallas, taxied out to wait our turn in line to take off at which point all hell broke loose in the unfriendly skies as a huge group of thunderstorms started letting loose over the airport. They went on.....and on, until the captain informed us that this might go on for awhile and so to save fuel he needed to shut the engines down and with all the gates full we were going to stay put on the taxiway.

So there we sat for the next 3 hours in the darkness, with only some emergency lighting on in the cabin. And with no engines powering the ventilation systems we sat in the stifling humid still air. The crew strongly suggested that we not leave our seats and being in the window seat I could not stretch my 6'2" frame out at all. To make matters worse, I had on my favorite lizard skin cowboy boots, which were only good for about 6 hours of comfort before they started feeling like beaver traps on my feet. Being the sort who likes to move around often, my only option was to squirm around which irritated the wife to no end.

Which brings me back to the naked guy in the paper today. I think that probably I was only minutes away from a claustrophobia attack, which is what could have happened to this guy. If I could have gotten out of my window seat I would have surely stripped off those lizard skin boots and may not have stopped there.

Kim Miller | Midland talent

Kim Miller was a classmate of my sister's at Midland High. Their class is having a reunion this week and I ran across Kim's entry on their website. Kim lives in Wimberely, as does my friend Connie Nelson who is still involved in the music business. I hope to put them together....

Preview more of Kim's music at Kim Miller.Com

Father's Day: Gone but never forgotten..

My Dad.....and Mom with me

Photographic legacy...

I'm daily being reminded of where my photographic interest, and whatever talent I have, came from. My Dad. After my Dad passed away I took possession of his photo archive; thousands of color slides, which he took from the late 1940's until the early 1990's. My goal is to put as many of them as I can into digital format to not only preserve them but also to give copies to my brother and sister.

I have about 20 slide carousals full, as well as a photo file box with many 100's of loose slides. I was helped along by my Mom, who some years ago made a good effort at organizing the carousals into topics roughly by the years in which they were taken and/or by subject. So I have many from the 40's and 50's of Mom and Dad's families, me and my siblings as small kids, trips taken over the decades [including to the original Disneyland not long after it opened], scout photos and memorable events. I have to admit that reviewing all these photos is a very poignant experience. Seeing family members [including dogs] long gone, remembering trips taken and reliving good times is a joyful yet very melancholy experience.

I really need to acquire a good slide scanner, but as I was reviewing the slide carousals shown on our original family slide screen, the thought occured to me that I might be able to photograph the slides with my digital camera. The old fashion slide screen provides excellent luminosity and the results have been mostly good.

The photo above is one. The shot taken by my Dad is of his mother, out rowing at our house in Michigan. She's probably close to 80 years old when the photo was taken in the late 70's. She was quite a woman. My Dad was in our vintage Old Town canoe, a beautiful creation of wood and canvas.

How hot is it.....?

How hot is it.....? Well in West Texas terms it's not that bad. It's been close to 100° every day for several days, but that's not too bad comparatively. In 1994 I lived through the hottest day on record here, 119°, that's hot. It's just that our daily weather is turning into those kinda' days that are like living on Mars. No clouds most of the day, so the sun is "on" with no breaks. We have had some thunderstorms build up in the afternoons, late in the afternoon, but these are just an irritant. As anyone who has lived in Midland knows, there is a phenomenon peculiar in these parts, that a storm, no matter how big will suddenly veer, or split, or just stop before it gets into the City of Midland. Weathermen friends confirm this. So......lot's of storms and rain around, none on our yards.

It's the kinda' hot now that starts to bug man and dog. I know when this starts because of D. Daphne Dog. Usually when I say the magic words, "out back" or "ride", she's on her feet like her legs were spring loaded. Now, with D. Daphne laying under the air conditioning vent the king of words, "ride", illicits that kind of look that says, "if you make me I'll go, otherwise I'm fine right here". That's kinda' the way I feel too.

Le Mans..

Jim Hall | Del Sloan
The 24 hours of Le Mans being run today is the premier sports car event in the world...in my opinion. Cars of all makes, models and capabilities running a grueling and long track for 24 hours. I'll be watching during the day....and night with special interest this year. My old friend and business partner Del Sloan is there.

I had some business with racing legend Jim Hall this week and Del accompanied me to my visit at Chaparral Racing to lend a hand in the oil business talk. But the highlight of the visit was hearing Jim talk about his career at Le Mans, especially the 1963 season when Jim teamed with another racing superstar, Dan Gurney, to drive Le Mans. Hearing some of the inside stories about those "golden days" of sports car racing from one of the legends of the era is magic!

A Good List....

By Regina Brett, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. Yield.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey
is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

June 6th 1944 | D-Day

Thank you for your sacrifice for our freedom....

Dogs in cars...

Many of you may remember the old photo website, "The Mirror Project", a great website that killed itself because it got so popular that it became too much work for it's creator. It's premise was to submit photos of yourself in reflective surfaces. I spent several years submitting over a 100 photos and I miss it. The photos chronicled my life for those good years.

So now I occasionally chronicle the life of D. Daphne Dog in a British based web vehicle called, "Dogs in Cars". You can guess the premise of this effort I suspect. If you're a dog lover you'll enjoy looking around.
Here's one of Daphne
And a recent one....

Firing up a Chaparral...

Too wet to drive the Chaparral 2E, but it sounds good, we try to run again on Friday, 29 May. The guy in the shorts and black shirt looks familiar :>]

Memorial Day

C.W. Craig, 1923-2006
45th Infantry Division: Italy, France
WWII 1943-1946

Springboard Center Grand Opening

Video of The Springboard Center grand opening [thanks to Jimmy Patterson]

Irish ancestral serendipity.....

Craig family home, Castlecatt, Country Antrim, Northern Ireland

A month ago I wrote that I found out the name of the small town in Northern Ireland where my Dad's grandfather emigrated from, Castlecatt, and that I had just Googled up names there and found the Craig Cottage B&B and that I had written the owner Rosemary seeing if she could help me learn a few things about my family.

Well Rosemary has sure come through, referring me to her older uncle, Robert and his friend Nevin Taggert. Nevin, I've learned, in many emails is rather the local historian, and I get the feeling he's helped many Irish expatriate families get in touch with their pasts. Amazingly it turns out that Robert's wife, Margaret, quite possibly is a distant cousin; not from the Craig family but from the Wallace side of my family [from whence is derived my first name]. That side of our family name stopped with my Great/Great Grandmother Ellen Wallace who married Robert Howard Craig on 18 August 1859 in the First Presbyterian Church in Bushmills, County Antrim [something that Nevin found out for me]. Margaret Thompson's old family name is Wallace and Nevin tells me he thinks all the Wallace's in the area are from one family.

I've enjoyed meeting such great people far away and people whose sense of family and history runs deep. Nevin has gone so far as to visit several places around Castlecatt that he knows are related to my family history, taking photos for me. Like the photo above which he took yesterday. The yellow house was my Great/Great Uncle Samuel Craig's home, my Dad's grandfather's brother Sam who built the home about 1900. Nevin also sent a photo of Margaret wearing the Wallace family ring inherited from her grandmother. Amazing.

Keni Thomas | Ranger, musician, good guy...

My friend Keni Thomas at the Houston Rodeo.

Fallen Heroes..

Late last year, Mayor Wes Perry asked me to help him think of meaningful ways the City of Midland could honor our local/area soldiers who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan. We've done several small things, but we were looking for something more permanent.

We were mulling over several ideas when serendipity intervened. Several months ago my friend Connie Nelson called to say that through her country music contacts, she had a professional portrait artist friend in Nashville, Corey Frizzell, who wanted to honor our fallen soldiers by doing portraits of them to present to their families. Connie asked me if I had any ideas to assist Corey in getting his "Fallen Heroes" project off the ground. And boy did I!

After consulting with Wes and other city officials I asked Corey if he would be willing to render portraits of all eleven area service members who have given their lives for America, to be placed in a prominent public memorial. As you watch the video clip, below, of Corey presenting his first portrait last week, know that soon he will be working on our Permian Basin Fallen Heroes. Corey is noted for his works of country music stars, including his famous uncles Lefty and David Frizzell.

Corey's story can be seen here as he presents his first portrait to the mother of a fallen Marine. Corey presents portrait

Machine.......heal thyself!

Now this is strange.....but true.

A week or so ago, I reported that I had injured my back while lifting my lawnmower out of the trunk of my car. Dumb idea, but thanks to the Midland High sports trainers, my back is much better. I had taken the mower to our other family home to touch up the grass there until we can find a suitable yard guy.

What I didn't report was that after all the effort to get the mower to the other house....I couldn't get it started. I had just used it at my home a week before, but when I tried to start it at the other house, the pull cord would not budge an inch. I tried gently nudging it out and I tried furious jerking...no movement at all; which is when I packed it up, came home and injured my back getting it out of the car.

The mower is about 9 years old, but I keep it in good shape so I was befuddled as to this sudden malfunction. My first thought was that perhaps the motor had seized up, but it was working fine when I shut it off the previous week. The second, and more logical thought, was that the starter cord had become entangled inside the mower, something I thought I might try fixing myself, although my confidence in this was shaken when my friend CJ, the air conditioning guy, told me he tried this once and that there is a very strong spring inside the cord assembly that nearly took his hand off when he had tried this same repair years ago.

But, early this morning I thought I'd at least get it out, take the cover off and see what I could manage to see. The mower has been inside the tool shed untouched since I painfully put it there last week. Before I disassembled anything, I thought I might just give the cord a tug to remind myself of the problem.....when I did, it pulled smartly out and the mower started right up as if there had never been any problem at all, so I proceeded to mow the yard.

Now in medical and psychological illnesses I've heard of spontaneous remission, but I never had any idea that a machine could heal itself. I'm still really perplexed, but as my neighbor said, and I had thought aleady, just be grateful. And I am.

Easy to be hard......

Weird dream spawns eclectic memories......

Blogging anniversary...or two

The remembrance of my anniversary into blogging is not a high priority, but I should note it I suppose, if not a little late. Officially Streams came into being on March 9th 2002 with these sage remarks. Before that, however, my official entry using actual blogging technology came about in an earlier effort entitled, "Pedro's Dreamland" starting on June 18th, 2001.

And, even before I found "Blogger" and started using their ready made technology I had been producing a similarly formatted effort called "The Adventures of Pedro" which premiered on March 20, 2001. I produced this daily using photos and short stories of my dull daily life, using a new hand produced html page each and every day. Obviously this was some effort, so when I found that the newly introduced "Blogger" could do the same thing, the technology intrigued me and I starting using it. The old "Adventures of Pedro" are still up and can be seen here [all links at bottom]. These completely fabricated stories which started as a joke were, really, some of my best work and I actually had quite a following of readers.

What started out in 2001 as complete fun and moronic entertainment got lost, for awhile, in becoming too serious as blogging grew into a national pasttime and I had the mistaken impression that people really cared what I had to say on the deep issues of the day. So now, and maybe this is why I'm still around when others have tired of the effort; I post items that interest me, only when......I have items that interest me. I don't worry about putting up something everyday nor care much about entering into the fray of big stories. And generally I am more diligent about my daily photos at Eclectic Photography. But for those who occasionally still wander in after 8 years of blogging.....thanks.

Older....but not too damn much wiser

Here's a helpful hint for those of around my age...over 35. Don't try and pick up a lawn mower and put it into the trunk of your car.

I'm looking after my folks vacant house a few blocks away which includes keeping the yard up. For the last two years we've had a young guy doing it, but seeing greener pastures and larger yard jobs, he let us go. I have a temporary yard guy, but he only comes occasionally, so early Tuesday morning I thought I'd take my lawn mower over and clean things up a bit. Since it's only blocks away I don't mind setting my mower in the trunk for the short trip. I had done this once before.....after Tuesday I won't do it again.

I got the mower in and out at the other house and back into the car with not much problem. The mower is moderately heavy but nothing a He-Man can't handle, the problem is that it's unwieldy. Back at my house, as I was lowering it to the ground I was hit with PAIN. I'm used to some pain, but this was PAIN, the kind where you see bright lights and feel sick and about to faint kinda' PAIN. Lower back PAIN. The kind of pain that mostly paralyzes you and I had visions of the neighbors having to carry me in.

But I finally limped inside, took a bottle of Aleve and somehow got changed and went to a meeting. I found that if I stood up, straight up, I was able to function. So I stood up most all day and then went to photograph a baseball game that night. All the standing and moving, I suppose, loosening things up where I felt a little better by then and at bed time.

Here's my second tip. When you sleep all night on an injured back, don't try and jump out of bed in the morning. I tried.....and almost cried the PAIN was so bad, the back having tightened up again overnight. Luckily, with my sports connections at Midland High, I am able to avail myself of the Bulldog's professional training staff and equipment, which is what I did Wednesday morning along with a call to the world's best trainer, Doc Dodson. The trainers gave me a going over and recommended some helpful tips, especially about sleeping. I just love a pillow between my knees all night. But today it's somewhat better if I mind what I'm doing like not bending over, turning quickly or sitting crooked. I'm trying to teach D. Daphne Dog how to tie my shoes.

500 Wins...

Congratulations to Midland High School baseball coach Barry Russell on achieving his 500th career coaching win last week. A big accomplishment considering, at Midland High, it includes 11 consecutive playoff appearances, 10 straight seasons with 23 or more wins-- including owning all or part of the District Championships in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006. The Bulldogs were the Texas State 5-A Champions in 2001 and state semi-finalists in 2006.

On Wednesday night Coach Russell was honored with a dinner by players, fans and the baseball booster club....cake and all! Photo Slideshow..

Heritage explained.....

And now I know of the genes responsible for my fondness for the military......and whiskey!!

Over decades, my Mom did extensive genealogical work on her family and my Dads, all without the Internet. She called people all over the states and wrote to people in Europe. Her family went back to North Carolina in the early 1700's, getting her in the DAR. My Dad's came from Germany on his Mom's side, and from Northern Ireland, after migrating from Scotland, on his father's side. His Grandad's name was Robert Howard Craig. They actually went to N. Ireland twice and met some distant relatives.

Recently she gave me a lot of her work which included the Obit of my Great Grand Uncle, Sir James Craig M.D. who became the President of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. He was also a knight...always nice to have one knight in the family. It listed his birthplace as Castlecatt, County Antrim, thusly telllng me where my Great Grandfather came from. I knew we came from County Antrim but not the exact village. It is about 3 miles from Bushmills....and we know what they make there. Thus my obvious love of whiskey, though I haven't had a dram in 15 years.

So, with the Internet I decided to see what I could find out about Craig's in Castlecatt and Bushmills. Finding no official town websites I ended up writing to a couple of B&B's in the area figuring they'd be nice people....and they were. One actually owns The Craig Cottage B&B right up the road from Bushmills. She tells me that there are still Craigs galore in the area. Another lady who owns the Primrose Inn in Castlecatt sent me a lead on the war memorial to the WWI dead from Bushmills listing several Craigs...and a Wallace. My Great Grandfather married a Wallace from around Bushmills. And so now we know where my name, Wallace Howard Craig, came from....my Great Grandparents, Robert Howard Craig, and wife Ellen Wallace

These are the WWI dead, sharing my family names, from the Memorial to the 12th Royal Irish Rifles, a central County Antrim unit raised for the war. Look at the dates of death for the first three.....all the same day at the battle of the Somme.

CRAIG, Rifleman, SAMUEL, 1712. 12th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles. Co. Antrim 1st July 1916. XI. M. 5.
CRAIG, Rifleman, ALEXANDER, 614. 12th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles. Co. Antrim 1st July 1916. Pier and Face 15 A and 15 B
WALLACE, Rifleman, ALEXANDER, 19242. 12th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles. 1st July 1916. Age 26. Husband of Amy Wallace, of 5, Gilmore St., Ballymena, Co. Antrim. Pier and Face 15 A and 15 B
CRAIG, Lance Corporal, JAMES, 47837. 12th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles. Co. Antrim 11th April 1918. Panel 138 to 140 and 162 to 162A and 163A

Here's an interesting website detailing the history of the 12th Royal Irish Rifles ........

Doc Dodson Field...

Probably no person has done so much for sports..and kids in Midland over a longer period than Doc Dodson. Doc was the legendary athletic trainer at Midland High School for decades where he touched the lives of countless students and still does to this day. He touched my life early on, being my drivers education instructor when I was 13 years old and it's a privelage to be his friend today. Saturday morning, Doc was honored by having a Little League baseball field named in his honor. A memorable morning among his family and friends. Here is my photo slideshow.

Water "criminals"....beware!

I live a few houses up from "D" Street which is well traveled and also a "drainage" street for water runoff. For years there has been a daily flow of water running down the street from a neighbor's watering system and for years I have been reporting this to the zoning department of the City of Midland. I've come to know Ms. Mancha the enforcement officer, quite well.

Lest you think I'm a nitpicker about a little sprinkler water....this is not a little water; it's a lot of water. Click the picture above for a larger view and you'll see the water flowing into the distance; and it goes for another 3 blocks beyond what you can see here. Actually the water comes from high volume bubblers in a bermed planting area so the water runs rapidly and directly downhill into the street. In the mornings when the offender's system is running [which it does daily, 365 days a year] the water in "D" St. is about 4 feet wide and runs as a stream for about 6 blocks, turning onto Douglas Ave. until it finds a drain which is about a quarter of a mile from the source. In the Spring and Fall the wet street accumulates leaves and trash; in freezing winter weather it turns to solid ice, a feature that the morning's traffic of high school kids love to spin out in. Worst of all this permanent water inflicts great damage on the asphalt constantly creating numerous deep potholes. I've come close to breaking my car's suspension by driving through one of these 6 inch deep holes hidden by the water. Some years ago, an acquaintance reported that he almost broke his ankle while walking his dog; stepping into one of the water hidden cravasses. City repair crews are a constant sight on "D" Street costing who knows how much.

About 2 months ago I once again reported the problem to Ms. Mancha and today, although the wheels of government turn slowly, there was action. A friend, who knows of the problem, called to tell me that she had seen a NewsWest 9 news crew at my corner looking at the street and filming. And bless the Lord, upon pulling the story up online, there was Ms. Mancha with the news guys describing how the city intends to get tough on these types of contiuous violations. Here's the Text and video story... some of it filmed at my corner.

How are things in Iraq...?

Don't expect the President to call a news conference and give these amazing responses from Iraqis in an ABC/BBC News poll. Read the responses on the link, but 65% of Iraqis say that things are going well in their lives and 84% say security in their local area is good and not a concern. And in the area I'm familiar with, Kurdistan, I guarantee the numbers are better than this. They're building luxury condos and malls in Kirkuk and Arbil. No, the President probably won't be advertising this.

Good St. Anthony....

I have an old friend, a good Catholic girl, who taught me years ago that when you've lost something that seems gone forever, if you will say the little prayer.....

"Good St. Anthony, please come 'round
somethings lost and can't be found"

the thing lost will be reunited with you. As you may know, St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost causes.

On Monday my Mom called very distressed that she had lost her wedding ring of 63 years. She had called the Manor Park maintenance man to come to her home to help look, going so far as to take the disposal apart. All to no avail. We had been to the Celtic Fair the previous weekend, where she had tried on a few rings. My fear was that the wedding ring had come off at the Fair held in the large Midland County Horseshoe Exhibit complex, and that it was gone.

But on Monday evening I took a moment to say three "Good St. Anthony's" just in case. On Wednesday evening Mom called and the first thing I asked her was, "any sign of the ring". Her exact words were, "Oh, it's like a miracle! I happened to open my desk drawer to get an envelope and I noticed the ring under some papers".

We have no earthly idea how the ring got into the desk, but I have a clue as to how it was found.....

My Real Life Tour

I spoke with friend Michael Peterson tonight about bringing his "Real Life Tour" back to Midland this year. The video talks about what the tour is....and who Michael is. If you missed Michael last year, hopefully you can catch him soon this year.

Award Winner......

Congratulations to our friend Jeanne Cooper, who last week was given the AMEE Award by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists for "excellence in her craft and contributions to the fields of media and entertainment".

The Emmy Award winning star of The Young and The Restless is also the national spokesperson for Midland's Springboard Center. In her acceptance speech, Jeannne named The Springboard Center as one of her two chief national charities. Ms. Cooper will be in Midland on May 8th to help open the Center.

Pesky visitor..

When the doorbell rang, Daphne thought it was Art the postman. Instead it was that dumbass Mr. Potato Head again!!

First and Last....

My first rose..and hopefully the last ice!

Certified....

Consulting for and assisting with my old Infantry Division in Iraq has been an honor, a privelage, economically rewarding, more than a little interesting and hey.....it's alway nice to receive a Certificate of Appreciation.

Interesting Tidbit...

Those who have been around the Internet for 10 years or more will remember the "search engine turf wars" before Google and Yahoo became the main games in town. There were many contenders but 4 or 5 were probably dominant, including Lycos. Like modern day Yahoo, players in the search engine game were also trying to grab business by doing the whole gamut of web related business. As Google won the lead share many of the contenders evolved, or perhaps devolved, into mainly web portal and web service companies as has Lycos today. Lycos is still around and a viable company in such areas as purchasing and hosting domains.

So here's the interesting part. The founder of Lycos, Michael Mauldin is a Midland High School grad. Not only a grad, but he was the Valedictorian in 1977. Midland High, it turns out, has spawned a few noted scholars who have made good; too bad I'm not one of them.

Fifteen years.....

It was fifteen years ago today that I stopped drinking. I don't take much credit for myself, but defer the kudo's for that to a few good friends and family who never gave up hope, to AA and to the kindness of God. Though there have been some tough times, even sober, I'm grateful for every day I've been given in the last fifteen years. By all accounts I shouldn't be here today, one doctor had given me one more year to live if I didn't stop drinking.

When I think of that I think of my good friend Rufe, as I often do, who in fact did drink himself to death five years after I quit. As they say, "but for the grace of God.....there go I".

Fifteen years. That's a long time between cold beers, but frankly, given the options, I don't miss them. Thanks to all..

Build a high tech car..

There are Bubba's in Canada too! If you've never seen the Red Green Show, here's a preview with Red building his own high tech car on the cheap.

The Power of the Internet...

For me, probably the greatest miracle of the Internet has been connecting with people, both meeting new folks and connecting with friends from the past. I met one of my best friends, author Joe Galloway online in 1999. We communicate almost every day now, usually by email but also on the phone. And I have been put back in contact with a good many people whom I never would have found otherwise.

Back in June of last year I wrote an article about the passing of my old friend and outrigger canoe mentor Sam Steamboat in Hawaii. Yesterday I received this note from his daughter Samantha.

I appreciate your comments about my Dad. He certainly was proud of your crew accomplishment. He shared that particular story with us on a regular basis at home around the dinner table. I am sorry that you were not contacted with the communication of his death. I wish that I could have done more to reach all those who would have wanted to know. Please contact me so that I can get your mailing address and send you something that you might want to see.

Mahalo,
Samantha Mokuahi Moikeha,
Sam Steamboat's daughter

What a nice present to hear from a member of Sam's family after all these years. And as I reminded Samantha, I had actually met her at a number of canoe functions when she was a very young girl hanging around her Dad at the beach at Waikiki.

Paul Harvey....

I was saddened to note in Sunday's paper, the passing of Paul Harvey. He seemed like a gentleman and a gentle man too. He was also a link to my dim past.

When I was in the 6th grade at Bowie Elementary in Midland, our legendary teacher, Lucia Pearl Penney, had us listen to the Paul Harvey news each day before we went to eat at the school cafeteria. We weren't dismissed for lunch until Paul was through. This was back in the days when talking or whispering among the students was not tolerated, and so we listened with rapt attention to the radio. At any other time of the day we would have thought listening to the radio in class was a cool deal, but the length of Paul's news affected our lunch period so I think we were all anxious for Paul to wrap things up as quickly as possible.

Paul's newscast was full of pregnant pauses, so when he would come to what we percieved as the end, Paul would pause and utter those unwelcomed words......"and now.....page 2". Damn. But Paul usually had a personal interest story about some common citizen doing something uncommon at the end of the news and I think that made it all worthwhile to the sixth grade class. Something must have made a great impression on me, to remember this all so clearly all these many years later. I was in the sixth grade, many.....many years ago and Paul Harvey just quite broadcasting last year. Amazing.

And now....you know the rest of the story.

Life in Dogville..

This didn't win any Academy Awards, but it should have. Like "Best Dog in a Dramatic Role". From the 1930 "Dogville" serials.

Google Maps...360

I've always loved maps and aerial photos, so I go to Google Maps frequently to look and see what I can find in the way of interesting aerial views. I've looked at my old house in Dallas before, at 6266 Town Hill Lane, for there are usually updated, clearer photos on each visit.

But tonight when I went there, I was blown away. Not only by the fact that my old home has been torn down [burned?], and a new structure is under construction, but by the fact that now Google Maps allows me a ground level view of the whole street. By using my mouse, I found that I could switch from the standard aerial view, to a street level 360 degree movable panoramic view. It's simply astounding! Click on the photo above for a larger view....and if you have some familiar place to look at in Dallas give this a try! Or go to Google Maps, type in 6266 Town Hill Ln, Dallas, TX enter "search" and then use the pop up box to go to the "street view" shot. You can move the little yellow "man" in the lower right box to move around the street. Too cool.

And I have to say, that from the ground, except for the trees being larger, the street and homes look remarkably the same as when I left it almost 18 years ago. The tree next to the "porta potty" is a big magnolia tree that stood outside the guest room window of the old house. 18 years...where does the time go!

Later, update: I found that Midland Texas has been video mapped too, showing a wintery 360 degree view around 1207 Bedford Midland Texas.

Where are the frogs.....?

I'm not an alarmist, nor a believer in quack science but sometimes you have to listen to the evidence and be very concerned. While global warming gets all the media attention, there are probably more pressing issues. Tonight I attended a live webcast lecture by noted biologist Tyrone Hayes which we at the Sibley Nature Center sponsored with The University of Texas. Dr. Hayes is a noted amphibian researcher, who was hired as a consultant to the Swiss chemical company Syngenta to verify that it's fertilizer component atrazine was not a problem to the environment. What he found was quite the opposite.

It turns out that frogs, like the canaries in the old coal mine, are good predictors for health issues in humans. And what he noted is that frogs species all over the world are dying off and mutating at an alarming rate. As he noted, there are many causes, but his involvement with the chemical company showed that pesticide runoff from agricultural lands was one of the leading causes. And atrazine is one of the worst offenders as it does not easily naturally decompose.

As he noted. Atrazine has been totally banned in Europe, even in Switzerland home of atrazine. Angola, with it's decades long history of civil war induced death and violence, has banned atrazine as too dangerous to use! One part per billion in water has been shown to be life threatening to frogs...in the USA we use 80 million pounds a year. Dangerous levels of atrazine are now commonly found in natural rain water in heavily agricultural areas of the US midwest.

Poor frogs......poor humans, atrazine travels up the food chain to what we eat, and it is now commonly found in most water sources. The hormonal actions from atrazine which causes mutation and abnormal sex changes in frogs are the same ones that cause breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.

Dr Hayes has been noted in National Geographic and you can read more here about the story of his findings. Or read his website, to learn more.

Friends drop in....

Good friends Bruce and Arlene Crandall stop in Midland on their way back from the inauguration and annual Medal of Honor Ball in Washington. The very same function in the news for it's "non-attendee", the new president. Bruce is a Vietnam Medal of Honor recepient.

Bruce and Arlene travel across the country in a rather large RV and used to park their wheeled home in my driveway when they would stop in to visit. On one occasion some years ago, they deposited almost the entire load of the vehicle's hydraulic fluid on my driveway...and on the next visit Bruce adeptly knocked part of my brick wall down while parking. So...feeling some remorse, on their recent visits they've stayed at the RV campgrounds near the Interstate and the Warfield Truck Stop. Being worn out from their long RV drive from Dallas, they asked if I could drive out to meet them for some fine dining at the Truck Stop; a high end truck stop with some decent food and "interesting" dining companions. But, being outside the city limits they still allow the dining partons to smoke where ever they wish.....which being truckers is everywhere. I have forgotten what a foul experience dining ala smoke is!

Homecoming welcome..

It was an amazing event, seeing 30,000 of your townsfolk out for a singular event....the homecoming celebration for George and Laura Bush. Truly magical and best said by me in some of my photos taken from one of the best seats in the house thanks to a "White House Press Pool" pass!
Bush Homecoming Slideshow

Presidential Event..

If you are planning on attending the welcome home for President Bush next Tuesday, just a quick reminder. Please leave your ammunition and mace at home.

[from ticket reverse side]

Basketball......!

Three full days of basketball at the Byron Johnston Tournament in Midland, yielded great results. The MHS Lady Dawgs won the tournament and the MHS men's team were runner's up behind a very good Midland Lee team. Lot's of fun, good crowds and I got to see a lot of folks I hadn't seen in quite awhile. And as always interesting photos.

Lady Dawgs Photos
Bulldog Men's Photos