Eight Feet Deep

The good news is that my “stimulus” tax check was deposited in my account this morning in the amount of $600. Now I will have to find some depressing way to spend it. Still, there is no bad news.
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I read in today’s local newspaper that prostitution is on the rise in our fair town of Beaumont, Texas. I wonder if there is enough of an increase to support a “hookerware” boutique? Sorry but I am on a public library computer and my buttons on Blogger which allow me to link to various Web pages are not visible and thus unavailable for me to use. If you want to read the article go to www.beaumontenterprise.com.
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It seems like a long time has passed since any new “craze” sparked our national imaginations. You know what I am talking about? I speak of fad, furor, mode, rage, style, trend, vogue, such as duck tails, hula hoops, pet rocks, mood rings or Rubik’s cubes.

During that depressing period of time in which “cowboy chic” was in vogue after the release of the film “Urban Cowboy” with John Travolta and Debra Winger, I actually had an idea for something I think would have been a hot item for at least a short shelf life.

In the 80s when the film was released, Gilley’s nightclub in Pasadena, Texas, was the hot place to be. It featured a mechanical bull, the very one if I am not mistaken, that Travolta and Winger (the latter very suggestively)rode in the movie.

My idea was to collect a bunch of nuts and bolts and have them encased in plastic cubes and it would be sold at places such as Gilley’s as “Mechanical Bulls**t.” I am sorry I didn’t follow through with it at the time because it seemed such a good idea.

I must admit that I did see “Urban Cowboy” when it came out. It wasn’t my idea though. It just goes to show how women can get guys to do a lot of stupid things.

The sooner a new CEO of the United States is sworn in, the better.

Those of you who read my rantings and ravings over the past three years know that George “Gee Dubya” Bush isn’t my favorite president of the United States. But after reading this article about remarks he made in Israel, I think it is clearly time for our nation to move on no matter whether McCain, Obama, Hillary or Willie Nelson is elected president.

The article noted that Obama said Bush was taking a jab at him in an Israel speech warning that terrorists should not be appeased.

“We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history,” Bush said.

The White House, of course, denied Bush’s remarks were aimed at Obama but it seemed as if that was the case given the nature of the president’s remarks plus Obama’s past comments about meeting with some of our “enemies.” Hey, if a president wants to meet with a leader who poses a threat and tells that leader he or she should “watch their ass,” that would seem to be productive. And I know Bush is not the first president to conduct a political campaign while overseas. But that certainly doesn’t make such pronouncements groovy. Hmm, groovy, what a word.

So Bush should just confine his remarks to matters of which he has complete control, like cutting ashe juniper trees on his Crawford ranch. He should leave the politicking to the politickers, as he might say.

I spend 30 minutes writing and it is gone in a blink. Nothing is there except memories of what I wrote but did not publish. That leads me to ask: Where is this auto save function that Blogger allegedly has? Oh well, I guess I’ll just try again tomorrow.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that were it not for talk radio, many stupid thoughts would never see the light of day.

My prime example comes from a discussion on the Joe Pags Show on KTRH-AM in Houston this morning, which I listened to en route to a work site. Pags, short for Pagliarulo, has an occasional thoughtful caller or two but had some real idiots this morning as he discussed what the moderator believed to be one of the biggest mistakes a presidential candidate could ever make.

Apparently, Barack Obama said something during a speech during which he referred to the “57 states.” Obama’s spin doctors supposedly chalked up the miscue to fatigue. Pags remarked how he could not imagine anyone being so tired, drunk or otherwise incapacitated that they would not know that the U.S. has only 50 states. (Apparently he hasn’t known some of the drunks I have known). One caller had supposedly taken from that great mind of the right, Rushmore Limburger, that Obama was referring to the 57 states of Islam.

If indeed I thought that Obama really believed the U.S. had 57 states then I think there would be a great reason to shake my head and go “tsk, tsk.” Just as if I thought Obama’s remark about John McCain losing his “bearings” referred specifically to the presumptive GOP nominee being age-addled then I would have charged the Dem hopeful with taking a cheap shot.

But I believe that people, especially those prone to taking remarks out of context and making them into something supremely absurd, want to think what they want to think when it comes to their political world. So, if a person wants to believe that Obama doesn’t know how many states are in our union (excluding the state of confusion)or is a secret Islam man or an age-ist then those folks should have at it. Let them pronounce their great conspiracies all over talk radio land while the rest of us worry about whether Obama or Hillary or McCain can keep us safe from ists or prevent our economy from doing a repeat of the Roaring 20s.

Such pursuits will help me sleep better at night knowing there are plenty people around this land who are willing to stay awake in order to sweat the small stuff.

The great Daisetta sinkhole about 30 miles west of where I write this blog continues to gobble up parts of what was Liberty County.

Although scientists now say the gargantuan hole appears to be stabilizing, others think that huge chunks of Southeast Texas associated with the sinkhole may break off and fall into the Gulf of Mexico. Well, maybe not, since I am making that up. But at least the sinkhole is good for reporters to get a few corn pone or slightly humorous quotes into what would otherwise end up a depressing tale for news consumers. “Depressing” tale. Get it.

Reporters live for something offbeat to happen. And while a great portion of a small town collapsing into the Earth could be a tragic and even heartbreaking story, just the thought of a giant hole eating up the Texas countryside is perfectly ripe for comic relief.

Copy editors who write headlines are, at the very least, having a field day:

“Sinkhole and Town: Now You See It … ” “The New York Times”
“Giant sinkhole swallowing everything” “Melbourne Herald Sun”
“Massive Sinkhole Messes With Texas Town” “MyFOX Providence (RI)”

Hmm, that last one is a little difficult to interpret unless they are playing off the state transportation department’s famous “Don’t Mess With Texas” anti-litter campaign.

But yes even though some of those in the news biz may be getting a well-earned respite from dull city council and zoning stories, the sinking ground in Daisetta is a dire matter for those who worry about their homes or business disappearing into the ground.

And the more the thing grows the wackier the story will become. Pretty soon you will have doomsayers out there touting the world’s demise if you don’t already have them. It is also doubtless that someone will print up some kind of funny T-shirt about the great hole in Daisetta. Also, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary if the Republicans blame the Democrats for the huge sinkhole and vice versa.

I will keep tabs on the hole and head for higher ground if the hole decides to cross the county line into our county. But not before I sell a few T-shirts.