One Day of the Iraq War

Not even counting the cost in lives and maimed survivors . . .

Big Boots in D-Town

Got any boots in a size 300? - Click photo for larger version

With apologies to George Strait for blatantly ripping off the title to this post from his hit record, Big Balls in Cowtown, I submit to you a giant pair of wireframe cowboy boots. While I imagine that the boots worn by Big Tex at the State Fair of Texas are bigger, these are no slouch in the size department. (Of course, any Texan knows that you never call that big annual event in Dallas, the Texas State Fair!) This sculpture resides at an unexpected place. I shot this photo at a RTD (Regional Transportation District) Park & Ride lot in Denver near Colorado Boulevard and I-25. While they are not placed in a very picturesque setting, they definitely add a point of interest to the mundane parking lot.

Like any good pair of cowboy boots, they have pointed toes. My dad has the humorous reason why that is so. Living near the Texas Gulf Coast, the area where he lives has an indigenous pest known in Florida as the Palmetto Bug. They are really giant flying cockroaches! My dad's story is that the boot is pointed so that you can squash the roaches when you get them trapped in a corner.

If you have never lived where these disgusting creatures abound, let me tell you, you ain't missing much. They fly at you, and when you squash them it makes a loud "SNAP" like breaking a twig. Then their white gooey insides ooze out like a giant Junior Mint being squeezed. People spread borax around to kill the bugs, which according to the bug experts, cause them to explode after they eat it. I am not making this up.

So let's see. . .Houston has giant cockroaches, killer bees, fire ants, chiggers, and other assorted insect critters. That explains why when I lived there, it was a quarterly affair to clear out the cabinets and have a proactive visit from the exterminator. As much as I love the Bayou City, there are good things about being here in Colorado.

Maybe I could have also titled this post Big Bugs in H-Town! Junior Mint anyone?

What if Mr. Freeze Met Spiderman?

If one keeps their eyes open, often they will find a new perspective on the very ordinary. That happened to me this morning. As I was letting Molly, the world's smartest Australian Cattle Dog, out to do her business in the zero-degree Fahrenheit cold, I looked up and saw what looked like white cords strung under the eaves by the patio. Although the weight of the snow had damaged the pristine structure of them, obviously these were spider webs that have gotten covered with snow.

These usually delicate threads of webbing had escaped my view, or I would have swept them down earlier. Today, it was hard to miss them, as the thin fibers now appear much thicker due to the build up of precipitation on them. I was still in my nightclothes, so it was quite cold out, but I had to grab the trusty Olympus and take a shot of this joint project by a spider and Old Man Winter.

Do You Recall These?

A while back, I wrote on this blog about going with my dad to replace the vacuum tubes in our old television when I was a kid. Thinking about that caused me to remember some other things that those of us who have reached "middle age" may recall that our younger friends and neighbors may not have any recollection about. Do you remember the following things? I do!

• Adjusting the "vertical hold" knob on the TV to stop the picture from rolling.
• TVs and "Hi-Fis" were built into a piece of furniture.
  
• Stacking records on the "changer", and using the fat spindle that went over the small one. The skinny one was for 33 rpm "LPs", while the fat one was for "45s". Then there were those "78s".
  
• Gathering pop bottles to return to the store for the 2 cents per bottle deposit refund.
• Regular Cokes came in 6.5 oz. bottles, King Size was 10 oz., and then they started making the extra tall 16 oz. bottles.
• Coke bottles has the name of the city where the bottle originated on the bottom.
• Bottle caps had cork inside rather than plastic.
• Appliance cords that had cloth insulation around them rather than plastic.
• Trading stamps, such as S&H, Top Value, and Plaid.
• Service station attendants who checked the oil, the tires, and pumped your gasoline for you. They also actually had service bays and mechanics on duty.
  
• Free road maps available at service stations.
• U.S. Currency was usually "Silver Certificates", redeemable on demand in pure silver.
• Ben Franklin silver dollars, Mercury dimes, indian head nickles, and wheat pennies.
• U.S. coins from before 1964, when they were not made of layers you could see on the edge.
• The NBC peacock on the TV, while the announcer intoned, "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC". In our house, it was black and white anyway.
• Parents warned us that sitting too close to the TV would ruin our eyes, as would watching it with the lights off. (Come to think of it, I DO wear glasses!)
  
• Baby car seats that just hooked over the back of the seat, and had little steering wheels on them so the baby could pretend to drive.
• Tricycles, wagons, and such were made of metal. So were Tonka Toy trucks.
• Getting a polio vaccine, first as a shot, then on a sugar cube. Also getting the smallpox vaccination.
• Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, and Erector Sets (yeah, these are still around, but not so popular anymore).
• You could get spanked at school, and if you did, you'd probably get another one when you got home.
• TVs were made in the U.S. by companies like RCA, Zenith, Emerson, and Philco.
• AM radio was king, and the band entended only to 1600 kilocycles per second, now called kilohertz.
• Celsius temperatures were called Centigrade temperatures.
• Air raid drills at school where you crawled under your desk, tucked your head between your legs, and placed your hands over the back of your neck.
• A fun passtime in the spring was flying a kite, and the best ones were homemade.
• Clock radios with hands, before those "digital" ones came out with the flip digits.
• Radio was local, rather than the same syndicated junk coast to coast.
• Many drugstores had soda fountains where you could get something to eat and an ice cream treat.
• Fishing was catching a fish with a long bamboo pole, line, hook, a bobber, and a worm.
• Shampoo came in glass bottles that were easy to drop and break in the shower (e.g. Prell and Breck).
  
• Pycopay toothbrushes ("Get a Pycopay today!"), Pepsodent and Ipana toothpaste. ("You'll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent!")
• Brylcreem ("A little dab'll do ya!"), Vitalis, and Rose hair dressing for men.
• Five Day deodorant pads.
• Rotary dial telephones.
• Big Ben alarm clocks.
• Cigarette commercials on TV ("Over, under, around, and through; Pall Mall delivers flavor to you."; "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should."; "I'd walk a mile for a Camel!"; "Happiness is the taste of Kent"; "Show us your Lark!"; "LS/MFT, Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco"; "Come to where the flavor is, come to Marlboro Country."; "You can take Salem out of the country, but...you can't take the country out of Salem"; "Chesterfield 101s, a silly millimeter longer!"; "You've come a long way baby, now you have your own cigarette...Virginia Slims!")
• Flat tires were not the rare occurrence they are today.
• Chrysler experimented with an automatic transmission controlled by push buttons rather than a gear shift lever.
• Cars that you had to push a button after turning the key to start the engine.
• High beam switches on the floor board of cars.
• Those little spinner knobs people put on their steering wheels.
• Comic books were a dime, then went to 12 cents. Comics like Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and various western and science fiction comics were popular, as well as Superman and other super hero titles.
• A nickel Hershey bar that was bigger than the ones we have now for over half a dollar. The dime size was more than a kid could comfortably eat at once.
• A quarter was a good weekly allowance for a kid.
• Pic mosquito coils burned at the drive-in theater to keep the bugs at bay. The drive in also had playground equipment, and featured cartoons between the two main feature films.
• Dentists had drills run by an electric motor and a belt. You had to spit in a sink with swirly water, and the tray was rimmed with white pointy porcelain that looked like pointed little teeth.
• Movie monsters like Dracula, Wolfman and The Blob were scary!

What things do YOU remember?

Another Republican President, Another Erased Tape

Philosopher George Santayana was right, when he wrote that "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." The Bush administration appears to be fulfilling this sobering statement in many ways. If only President Bush had paid attention to the lessons of the 1960s & 1970s, he would not be taking the nation down a misguided path we have traveled before.

First, the involvement in Iraq and the saber rattling against Iran are reminiscent of the divisive Vietnam War and the expansion of hostilities into Cambodia and Laos. Now we have a Nixonesque incident involving the erasure of White House tapes.

This time, it is the recycling of email archival tapes that were a record of White House communications over eight months in 2003. This should be considered destruction of evidence, as the time period in question would have email related to both the military action in Iraq, but also the unmasking of CIA agent Valerie Plame. One has to wonder if this is not accidental, but rather done to protect those involved in the outing of Plame, including Scooter Libby and possibly others in the administration.

If our senators fail to impeach Bush and his cronies, the nation owes an apology to President Nixon. In this writer's humble opinion, the current president has committed acts far worse than those allegedly done by RMN. This in no way excuses President Nixon for the Watergate cover up, but merely points out the fact that if his actions deserved impeachment, then certainly those of this administration deserve no less.

It get back to the Watergate-era question . . . "What did the President know, and when did he know it?"

Huckabee's Theocratic Agenda

Mike Huckabee is showing his true colors. This pandering theocrat wants to toss out the separation of state and church, replacing it with an altered U.S. Constitution that enshrines his view of God's standards as the law of the land. He wants to amend it to line the Constitution with the Bible, and obviously is isn't the Catholic or Mormon perspective of that tome.

What theocrats and theocons like the Huckster don't seem to realize is that there is no freedom of religion without freedom from religion. The two go hand in hand, by way of the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment. This shyster baptist preacher in politicians clothing needs to be kicked to the curb, hard and fast! People like him are not interested in having the freedom to worship as their conscience dictates. No, Huckabee and his followers will not be satisfied until they can dictate that we all follow their religion, or else become second class citizens in our own country.

Huckabee, if you love theocracy, may I suggest you run for President of Iran. You and Ahmadinejad are cut from the same cloth, and it is a moldy, foul, and mildewed cloth at that! You two would get along very well.

CES Redux

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I didn't get much time to wander around CES while working there last week, but from what I did see, I have to somewhat agree with Leo Laporte's assessment, where he called it the Craptastic Electronics Show. Leo thinks it could be following Comdex into history. Given what I saw, I think he is onto something here.

Putting Hillary in Context

I have made no secret of my dislike for President Bush's policies and unconstitutional attacks on our liberty. Yet, I cannot give unconditional support for any Democratic candidate to replace him either. I was, quite frankly, sickened by the weasely waffling and failure to take any responsibility for her own voting record, by Senator Hillary Clinton on today's broadcast of NBC's Meet The Press. Everytime host Tim Russert would call Hillary on some of her votes or speeches made back in 2002 when she voted to give Bush authority to invade Iraq, she would cry "context". Senator Clinton, with all due respect, you cannot context away your record. You ask us to vote for you because of your experience and record, yet every time some of your record makes you uncomfortable, you cite context. In fact, during the MTP broadcast, Hillary did this six times! Look at the transcript:

I understand the taking out of context and the mischaracterization.

Well, Tim, let's put this in context.

Let's look at the entire context.

. . .let's look at the context here.

Now, I think it's important to take a look at the entire context here.

But you know, Tim, I think that it's only fair to look at the entire context . . .

Also, Hillary is running on her "35 years of experience". She is a U.S. Senator who has been in office for not quite 8 years. She has 20 years experience of being either the First Lady of Arkansas or the First Lady of the United States; hardly relevant political experience. Where does she figure this 35 years? No doubt, she is a smart woman, but she overstates her experience and runs from her record. Look at what she said when Russert pressed on about her vote to give Bush war powers:

Now, we can sit here and argue about 2002 or we can say what has happened since and what needs to happen going forward in the future.

In other words, "Let's not talk about my record, Tim." I am all for a woman as President of the United States. Hillary just isn't my choice. It is my belief that the Democrats, and the nation, would be best served if the junior U.S. Senator from New York would drop out of the race. As that isn't likely that will happen any time soon, it is therefore time for Democrats to smack her down at every primary and caucus in this year's presidential campaign. If she becomes the nominee, I will be very disappointed, as I cannot vote for any of the Republicans, and I think Hillary is a politician who wavers with the political wind. I hope that isn't the choice remaining when it's all said and done.

Sunday Morning at the Stock Show

This week, one of the largest rodeo and stock shows in the United States is making its annual stop in Denver. The National Western Stock Show comes to town every January, with its array of livestock. Roosters, hogs, goats, steers, llamas, horses and many other animals are all there to compete, along with their owners. I had a couple of hours to kill, so this morning the lovely spouse and I made the trip to the National Western Complex to take a look.

One of the events today is the Colorado Fiddle Championship competition. Yesterday, a number of fiddlers were eliminated, and the winners of that contest compete today in the finals. The first entertainment was a group of talented fiddling kids known collectively as Fiddleocity. They ranged in age from five years old to early teens. These kids are learning by the Suzuki method, and play both fiddle and guitar, so they can play accompaniment for one another.


Fiddleocity on stage

It was interesting that the only boy in the group was the five year old. The youngest girl was eight. Quite a good bunch of kids, and the talents they are developing will enrich their lives for years to come. I imagine they will always remember performing at the National Western Complex.


Some of the kids - Click any picture for a larger version

Before the adult competition starts up in the afternoon, the judges come onto the stage to display their musical abilities. Each took a turn on both fiddle and guitar, and played some rousing "hoe-down" music and western swing. Quite entertaining.


The judges pickin' and sawin' out a tune

Outside the main building, the food vendors had everything from turkey legs to fried Twinkies for sale. Here is a man working to grill turkey and chicken for the hungry masses.


Cooking up a tasty treat!

As the rodeo competition doesn't begin until later in the day, we didn't stick around for it, but we did notice the preparation going on in the main arena. The barrel races, cattle roping, and steer riding will be going on before you know it!


Prepping the rodeo arena

While waiting for the riding to begin, what cowboy doesn't need a bit of food to keep up his strength? I caught this young cowboy trying out

Sunday Morning at the Stock Show

This week, one of the largest rodeo and stock shows in the United States is making its annual stop in Denver. The National Western Stock Show comes to town every January, with its array of livestock. Roosters, hogs, goats, steers, llamas, horses and many other animals are all there to compete, along with their owners. I had a couple of hours to kill, so this morning the lovely spouse and I made the trip to the National Western Complex to take a look.

One of the events today is the Colorado Fiddle Championship competition. Yesterday, a number of fiddlers were eliminated, and the winners of that contest compete today in the finals. The first entertainment was a group of talented fiddling kids known collectively as Fiddleocity. They ranged in age from five years old to early teens. These kids are learning by the Suzuki method, and play both fiddle and guitar, so they can play accompaniment for one another.


Fiddleocity on stage

It was interesting that the only boy in the group was the five year old. The youngest girl was eight. Quite a good bunch of kids, and the talents they are developing will enrich their lives for years to come. I imagine they will always remember performing at the National Western Complex.


Some of the kids - Click any picture for a larger version

Before the adult competition starts up in the afternoon, the judges come onto the stage to display their musical abilities. Each took a turn on both fiddle and guitar, and played some rousing "hoe-down" music and western swing. Quite entertaining.


The judges pickin' and sawin' out a tune

Outside the main building, the food vendors had everything from turkey legs to fried Twinkies for sale. Here is a man working to grill turkey and chicken for the hungry masses.


Cooking up a tasty treat!

As the rodeo competition doesn't begin until later in the day, we didn't stick around for it, but we did notice the preparation going on in the main arena. The barrel races, cattle roping, and steer riding will be going on before you know it!


Prepping the rodeo arena

While waiting for the riding to begin, what cowboy doesn't need a bit of food to keep up his strength? I caught this young cowboy contemplating the competition ahead and admiring a corn dog before biting into it.


Git a long little corn doggie!

It's not just the cowboys that are awaiting their turn in the arena. The horses are also standing by, ready to show off their best stuff!


Put on a good show, but DON'T break a leg. They'll shoot you!

As we depart, we are reminded by this friendly hog that it all happens again next year!

Old DeSoto

An old DeSoto - photo taken with cell phone camera

Last week I pulled into the parking lot of the new Best Buy store in Parker and saw this rare sight. It is a late 1950s DeSoto, a now defunct brand of Chrysler (which has been joined in extinction by its sibling, Plymouth). This is either a '56, '57, or '58 model, but I don't know for sure, since there were subtle differences that I am not aware of. Also, that was the era when huge tail fins were all in vogue. In any case, this one is a little rusty, but is a prime candidate for a restoration. Given how it is parked in several spaces, I imagine the owner has that very thing in mind.

DeSoto always reminds me of the old TV show, You Bet Your Life, starring the late Groucho Marx. One of its sponsors was DeSoto, as seen in the clip below.



So many brands of that era are gone. Studebaker, Rambler, and more recently Plymouth and Oldsmobile. With Toyota passing Ford as the #2 brand in the U.S. you have to wonder how many more will be gone soon. Prime candidates would seem to be Mercury, Pontiac, and perhaps even Buick and Dodge. Time will tell.

Back From CES 2008

Every year, the largest trade show for electronics takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Consumer Electronics Show or CES proves that what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas. The electronic gadgets and innovations that are shown at CES make their way into homes and offices around the world. I have long wanted to attend CES, and this is the year I finally got to do it. However, since I was there to help staff my employer's booth at the show, I got just a precious few minutes to look around . . . less than an hour actually. Between 10 hour days and nightly planned dinners I didn't get to see much of anything. Still, I took the few minutes I did have to look around a small part of the show.

It seems that every year, electronics manufacturers vie for bragging rights for manufacturing the biggest television display. Three years ago, Samsung used CES to unveil its 80 inch set. Now it's 2008, and the newly renamed Panasonic Corporation (formerly Matsushita) unveiled a 150 inch, high-definition plasma display. Wow! The resolution and color was absolutely stunning! This baby is 11 feet wide by over 6 feet tall.


Panasonic's 150" HD television display panel at CES 2008

Too large for all but the largest of homes, I imagine this king-sized product will find its home in such venues as sports bars and casinos. You can read Yahoo! Tech's review of this set by Christopher Null HERE.

I have yet to make the leap to HDTV, but there a few things that are keeping me from doing so. One is the cost. I would have to toss a perfectly good 36" NTSC (standard definition) television and spend good money on a new HD set. Then I would have to upgrade my DVD recorder, and the war between HD-DVD and BluRay is far from over. Third, I would have to pay more for HD programming and a new DVR. Finally I have noticed that HD programs look absolutely stunning on an HDTV. However, regular programs look grainy, blurry, and contain compression artifacts, all resulting in a less than stellar experience when viewing standard tv programs, even on the best of HD sets. Ultimately, I suppose we will all have HD televisions, but for now, I am holding out.

There was one very annoying and obnoxious display at CES 2008. Across the aisle from my company's display, LG Electronics had a huge booth and a stage set up. All day long, incessant, loud, non-stop techno music was playing at a deafening level, with a bass beat every half second that shook you from the inside. It was so loud as to make conversation with visitors to our booth difficult. Then here's the totally ridiculous part . . . they had several "fashion shows" throughout the day. What this has to do with selling TVs is beyond me.

They had a male and female announcer who would alternate saying things like "Life is smart", "Life is stylish", "Life is sparkling", etc. After each line, a model would come out and strike a pose. Then, for watching, the audience would be given a writing pen after the show.

Someone actually came to work one day and pitched this idea. Then someone bought off on it. This could be the boss' idea, and all the "yes" men and women chimed in. Imagine a meeting at LG one day:

Boss: "I have this great idea. We'll sell TVs with a fashion show and play loud techno all day!"
Employee 1: "Great idea! We should have thought of that"
Employee 2: "That's why you're the boss!"
Employee 3: "This will sell thousands of TVs!!"

Here is what this extremely loud and annoying "fashion show" looked like:


"Life is stylish!"

This was so obnoxious that I have taken a vow to never buy an LG or Zenith product. Maybe this makes sense in Korea, but here it was just dumb. At least that's how I see it.

America's Most Lustful City? Denver!

Who'da thunk it? Nearby Denver, Colorado is officially America's Most Lustful City, according to ACNielsen, who rated cities based on over the counter sales of contraceptives. The Mile High City apparently has lots of people joining the Mile High Club, as sales of birth control is 189% of what would be expected for its market size.

Other cities that are near the top of the list? San Antonio, Washington, Cleveland, and Salt Lake City.

End of the Line - But Not for Long

One of my early childhood memories is riding the miniature train at Houston's Hermann Park. My mom & dad would take me and my sisters there to go to the park, the zoo, and to go on picnics. One of the highlights was the train ride through the park

When my own boys were small we did the same thing, only now the park has the Houston Natural History Museum as well, where my kids loved the T-Rex skeleton. Of course, the train was also a big part of the park then.

So it was with some sadness that I noticed the story in the Houston Chronicle that said the train made its last run on New Year's Day after a fifty-year run. Surely, they weren't going to do away with this Houston institution and important part of my childhood!

Well, they are, and they aren't. The old train is indeed shut down for good; but a new, improved version is slated to be open by March. The new train is to be longer, safer, and make stops at the Zoo, the Natural History Museum, the Miller Outdoor Theater, and the Texas Medical Center. It also will connect with a stop for MetroRail, the city's light rail system.

The next time I get down to Houston, I may just have to give the new "choo choo" a ride. Who knows, it could be fun!

Click on the video below to play it.

She Didn't Even Ask to Shop at Macy's

From the "you can't make this stuff up" files, the Austin American-Statesman is reporting today the bizarre case of an Austin police officer who has been accused of having a relationship with a prostitute. That's not the weird part. He pays her with clothing. That's weird, but still not the weird part. You want to know what the weird part is? He gets the clothing by taking her shopping at Wal-Mart and letting the prostitute shop from his wife's closet! Now that's weird! I told you...you can't make this stuff up!

No doubt, there is one pissed off wife in Austin, Texas tonight. Just when Texas Monthly publishes their 2007 "Bum Steer Awards", we have a contender for next year's list.

It's January 1!