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A visit to the clinic with an art showing on the side

“Lo and behold!” That is what I said this afternoon while awaiting my meds from the pharmacy at our local Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic. No epiphanies usually jump up and slap the heart-worm medicine out of the dog that is my soul. I have been accused of being a sick puppy. If that is so, I would figure the illness which would be dogging me (sorry) might run toward some psychiatric affliction.

I don’t know what the hell I am talking about, in reality. I am not a dog. I don’t have heart-worm. And I don’t have canine psychosis. I have enough on the health end of the spectrum to keep me too busy to sit around making up imaginary dog diseases. Poor sick puppy.

Back to hold and below or whatever. Parked out under the clinic portico was about the coolest car I have seen since my friend Blake drove his father’s Rolls Royce through the bumpy and manure-littered cow pasture road leading to the farmhouse I rented in the East Texas countryside. And that was a while ago.

Watch out! Art on wheels!
Watch out! Art on wheels!

I don’t know what one would call it. Well, “Honda Accord” for a start. But the toil and trouble put into this plastered and painted auto made it some kind of keen collage of rolling steel. From the “Hot-rod Era” to the 50s sex-kittens such as Monroe, for this “Hollywood Daddy-O” (Sorry, I haven’t mastered my iPhone camera and plus it was a day in which my essential tremors were shakin’ harder than Ol’ Pop down at the corner malt shop.) Even local sights from our fair city’s American Graffiti past were represented, as below.

Rolling history of Southeast Texas.
Rolling history of Southeast Texas.

I have to mention here that the photos (from top to bottom) of the Calder Avenue Pig Stand in Beaumont (Texas), now closed, and the sights from Vidor and Beaumont’s, may be copyrighted. I am sharing these pictures here under the Fair Use Doctrine. Look it up if you so desire. You really should read it if you are going to post pictures online. Oh, sorry for the headlight or whatever that is at the Pig Stand. That’s the photo though.

Studying the exhibition, I linked up with the artist. He turned out to be a 64-year-old Air Force veteran although he looked somewhat younger, even with whitish shoulder-length hair and beard to match. I believe his name was Dave. Sorry, I could just say I have problem remembering names. But I was so taken with his work that the car art overtook any profundity the artist might have exclaimed. It wasn’t a boring conversation, I really enjoyed the talk. But art is where you find it.

I happened to have found it at the VA. And it was free and close up and cool.

 

 

 

 

 

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Asteroids keep falling on my head …

The Ural Mountain region near the Kazakhstan border was the site of undoubtedly many freaked-out Russians Friday as a meteor estimated at 11 tons crashed into Earth. Some 1,100 people were injured from damage caused by shock waves. It was the most powerful such event since 1908 when a meteor fragment hit the Tunguska area in Siberia.

The early 20th century event struck with the power of from five to 30 megatons of TNT, according to scientists. That blast equaled about 1,000 times the power of the atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. over Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. An estimated 80 million trees were destroyed by the Tunguska event.

Massive numbers of windows were knocked out with shattered glass causing the majority of the injuries from the blast Friday. Many of the damaged buildings were in the town of Chelyabinsk. Scientists said the asteroid affecting the Ural region were unrelated to the DA-14 asteroid which was passing the Earth by 17,500 miles today.

Both the 1908 asteroid and the one falling to Earth today shows our planet with some incredible luck, provided DA-14 doesn’t go wildly off course. Both Russian events occurred near sparsely populated areas. Population also was not a factor with some asteroids through the Earth’s history which which were believed to have had a major influence on the planet ranging from vast changes in fauna to geology.

An asteroid almost 60 million years ago crashed into Earth, forming a “so-called” impact crater, in what is now quiet pasture land outside of Marquez, Texas, (pronounced “mar-KAY”). The town is about 20 miles west of the intersection of Texas Hwy. 7, and Interstate 45, roughly halfway between Dallas and Houston. A good friend of mine wrote a 2004 story about the long-ago asteroid. The story quotes a scientist as saying the Marquez asteroid came crashing to earth with the power of between 10 and 100 hydrogen bombs. It created a crater about 8 miles in diameter and a mile deep. Over time, receding seawater and marsh filled up the crater and turned it into an uplift, or as Professor Arch Reid of the University of Houston said in the story, the crater became turned inside out. There are scientists who believe that a meteor about six miles in diameter killed off the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.

These occurrences remind us Earthlings that we are just sitting on piece of rock amongst countless others out there in the universe. Space specialists can estimate when a chunk of cosmos might be heading near us, like the DA-14, but pieces from asteroids do not need a humongous size to mess up the rest of our day, or, rest of our whatevers.

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Will Perry run or just hunt coyotes?

If I had access to Lexis-Nexis I bet I could find a quote where our Good-haired Guv, Mr. Perry, supports term limits. I say that because he has been in elected office for some time now. Maybe he didn’t say it at a press availability which now seems to be favored by both politicians and media alike because it is easy. Maybe he said at some small town function where he, as a young House member, didn’t figure the Whipoorwill City news made it to Austin or Dallas.

But I don’t have Lexis. I don’t even have PublicData at the moment. It would be something rich to throw in Good Hair’s face when he runs for Governor or President or Travis County commissioner. The GOP wouldn’t care. Hypocrites are no problem. The Democrats would make hay with such lines, for sure.

And we should care why? It looks like the Guv might just run again.

Perry told the Dallas Regional Chamber that his biggest potential foe as governor, Attorney General Greg Abbott has pledged he will not run against him if he decides to run for an unprecedented fourth term. Of course, that’s if Abbott doesn’t decide to have the governor indicted for some crime or the other. Then he runs for governor. That also depends whether one of the big powers in Texas politics decides to run against him. There are certainly some big pols circling the Governor’s Mansions like buzzards these days. I speak of Lite Gov. David Dewhurst, and others who have been patiently waiting their turn to be picked as the “Good Party Man,” or lady if, for instance, Comptroller Susan Combs decides it’s her turn.

The chamber types were told by the Guv that he would decide sometime this summer. I can’t hardly wait.

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Inaugural address was worth wake up; Local native killed in Algerian attack

A text message from my friend Tere woke me up this federal holiday around 10:30. That was quite all right of course. I needed to get up. Plus I woke just in time to see Barry O’Bama, my black Irish president, get sworn in a second time. Just kidding on the “black Irish” thing. I consider it a compliment since I am part Irish plus, everyone knows the President was born in Kenya!

I missed the infamous yawn laid down by little Obama Sasha, but did get to see the bizarre hat worn by Mr. Justice Scalia. I’m not going to link to the story about Sasha’s yawn because I don’t think it’s a worthy story. A photo maybe, but not a story about an 11-year-old who yawns at her daddy’s speech. She’s 11 years old, for God’s sake! And since I won’t share a link concerning a yawn, I won’t link with Justice Scalia’s strange hat. You all can be adventurous enough to find either one on the Internet if you so desire.

All inauguration speeches don’t have to be inspiring. I wouldn’t say President Obama’s second inaugural speech was totally inspiring although he uttered some inspiring phrases and thoughts. His was more a “let’s get to work” speech like you’d hear in a State of the Union address. But that is more than all right and even sort of inspirational in it own way. Perhaps the most uplifting paragraph the President said was:

 “We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.”

Those words are reminiscent of the great “I Have A Dream” speech given by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., on whose birthday American’s presidential welcoming party coincided. There was one big difference and that was “when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty,” and not “I have a dream that … “little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” In other words, the first black President of the United States of America has gone beyond hopes for just the little black children and little white children and instead wishes all little children will have freedom and equality. That, in itself, is inspiring.

The President’s other lines which I felt were encouraging, instructional or both:

 “We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.”

 “Our brave men and women in uniform tempered by the flames of battle are unmatched in skill and courage.”

  “America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe. And we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad. For no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation.”

And finally, Obama issues a call for those who feel their great gift to the union is to call others names is to get a civic life:

 ” … For now, decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.”

Barack Obama, whose favorite sport is shooting hoops, basically sounded the call to opponents and supporters alike that he is here to help to the best of his ability. But to ensure our nation accomplishes its needs, the ball is in the people’s court.

State Dept.: County native killed in Algerian raid.

The U.S. State Department confirmed today that a Jefferson County native was among the three Americans killed in a siege by Islamic terrorists at a BP gas plant in Algeria.

Family members of Victor Lynn Lovelady 57, of Houston, were notified of the BP conctract worker’s death, said KFDM Channel 6 News Website. He is a native of Nederland in mid-Jefferson County.

Early Wednesday, Algerian time, heavily armed militants attacked the BP In Amenas gas operation almost 20 miles west of the Libyan border. Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said his country’s special forces regained control of the site and killed about 29 of the militants, according to Euronews.

The oil and gas drilling news Website Rigzone, has reported 85 people were killed as a result of the invasion and resulting raid. BP group chief Bob Dudley this was the first time such an incident has happened to one of their plants.

 “As a precautionary measure we are of course, reviewing security at our other locations and operations in the region and elsewhere around the world,” Dudley said. “There will undoubtedly be government investigations into the horrendous events of the past few days. And we will participate in them fully.”

On April 10, 2010, an explosion rocked the BP project on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico killing 11 and injuring 16. The explosion and subsequent sinking of the rig led to the largest marine oil spill in history. BP had spent $16 billion by the end of 2011 in costs associated with the spill and rig incident, according to the company. Many other legal challenges and costs are anticipated.

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Five years ago today: We were left ‘Whipple-less’

Hidy hi friends and neighbors. I feel strange writing in the morning but I have to work from 1:30-8:00 this evening. I usually work an evening about once a month. It’s not something I relish but it helps pay for pickles. Did I say that? Seriously folks, I receive two hours of premium time working 6-8 p.m. which means I get paid two extra hours for working those two.

I haven’t had my fill of coffee yet this morning so I am about as sharp as a dull butter knife. So, for lack of something better to write about, I decided I would memorialize someone who made our lives better, or at least softer and gentler.

Reading the obituaries this morning, to make sure I am not listed in it, I noticed a “Legends and Legacies” article for one Dick Wilson. Looking at a picture of the man, who passed away five years ago, one might see a partly-bald, bespectacled gent with an odd inverted “V” mustache. He even looked as if he might have been a kindly fellow as he scrutinized the aisles of his grocery stores to ensure an item was where it should be. That kindness would quickly disappear though when some customer was found squeezing the Charmin’ TP.

Yes, Dick played Mr. Whipple, whose sole purpose in life was to keep folks from fondling the “squeezably soft” tissue.

Wilson was born Riccardo DiGuglielmo in Britain in 1916. His family moved to Hamilton, Ontario, where he landed a part-time radio job at the age of 15. After graduating from college he became a comedic dancer. When the war came Wilson joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in which he served as a fighter pilot. Wilson saw action in the Battle of Britain against the Luftwaffe.

During the 1960s and beyond Wilson appeared in numerous televisions shows some of which were recurring roles including ones in “Bewitched” and “Hogan Heroes.” But his biggest starring role was the often irritating television commercial. He once remarked: “I’ve done thirty-eight pictures and nobody remembers any of them, but they all remember me selling toilet paper.” TP was very, very good to him though. He earned $300,000 a year working only 12 days a year. Wilson also lived the rest of his lifetime supplied with free Charmin. Coincidentally, the first series of commercials were filmed in, ahem, Flushing, New York, according to Wikipedia.

Wilson, who died on this day in 2007, played Whipple from 1964-1985. The Charmin brand eventually used animated bears as spokepersons for the brand. Whether the bears came about from the old question: “Does a bear s**t in the woods?” has not been disclosed by the company.