Blue Norther!-- 25 Years Later

While checking today's weather forecast from National Weather Service Fort Worth office, I came across a nice write-up about the coldest December on record for the Dallas/Fort Worth in 1983. The region went through a cold snap that brought temperatures upwards of 12 degrees Fahrenheit colder than normal with the entire month's average temperature 4 degrees colder than any other December in the record books. Fortunately, I was not in the Metroplex at the time, but I do remember this event fairly well, even in South Texas.

I was in fifth grade at the time and it was the last Friday before Christmas break. There was talk of a big cold front coming that day so I looked out a north facing window and saw this line of anvil shaped clouds off in the distance. Needless to say, I went to school prepared with a jacket and recall that there were very few of us who brought jackets to school that day. Well, what do you expect with the mild temps that greeted us that morning.-- I would venture a guess that it was a very windy 60-something that morning. I might have felt overdressed when I got dropped off, but I was so happy that I had brought a jacket as the thermometer's bottom essentially dropped out even before lunchtime. We didn't get any frozen precipitation that time around, it doesn't happen all that often anyway, but I do remember how surprised and shocked my classmates were because of how cold it had gotten that day. It was a blustery cold rain. I was one of the lucky ones to have a jacket and I was happy that my family watched the weather report that morning!

RE-elect John Cornyn for US Senate

This is not an endorsement for Mr. Cornyn, but being that he is running for RE-election to the United States Senate, I just find it odd that there is no mention of him being the incumbent or anything to that effect in his campaign's television ads. His campaign ads are full of rolling, Texas landscapes and how "Washington" is not working. What I find disheartening in all this is that he has been a part of that "Washington" which he refers to for the past 6 years and says that "It" needs to be fixed, yet he never mentions any of this. So what part of Cornyn + Washington + 6 years is he afraid of? Is he afraid that he will get lumped in with the rest of the GOP who have been blamed for the current economic downturn? I do not know, but he's been a decent senator from what I have seen these past 6 years.

All I know is that his campaign is pretty slick to run these ads without the mention of his previous six years of office as Texas' junior senator. He and his campaign must think that his constituents do not know what is going on. They must assume that because he does not say he is running for RE-election, that this is his first go at the United States Senate. Of course none of what I am saying will keep him from being RE-elected, but I just want to offer my kudos to his campaign staff for pulling a fast one on us.

Getting Bad Helmet

I wonder if folks are noticing that players in the NFL are losing their heads, so to speak, on a regular basis. What I mean is that players are getting their helmets knocked off with the slightest of hits. It's been something that seems to happen at least once a game. And I think it's getting done on purpose. Lemme esplain...

The NFL has a rule that keeps players from purposefully taking off their helmets on the field of play during or in between plays. If someone takes off their helmet, it's an automatic 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty. The League has this rule in place to keep the players from getting self promoting notoriety in a game that it has deemed as being team-first, with the individual being somewhere further down the line. I get the concept. There isn't a particular player who is the "face" of the league like you can see in the NBA. That's why elaborate on-field, post touchdown celebrations are frowned upon. See Chad Johnson's and Terrell Owens' penalty inducing celebrations.

So in light of this hinderance, I think players are doing is making their helmets fit loosely on their heads so that way their helmets will fly off "accidently" with the slightest breeze, err... tackle to gain some sort of face time. Normally I would say that this is done to circumvent the rules, but it may backfire because I've seen two players over this past NFL weekend get injured because their loose fitting helmets come off too easily and they end up eating turf. Let's hope guys see what's going on and try their best to keep their hats on because it's in their best interest to be as safe as possible in such a violent game.

As T.O.'s World Turns

The Dallas Cowboys lost a somewhat crucial game to division rival Washington Redskins, yet it is what was said afterward by its star wide receiver that's gained greater notice. Terrell Owens made it clear to the team that he wasn't thrown to enough in the game which in turn made the Cowboys lose.

Well, if he had said that after last week's game, where he only two passes, he'd have a legitimate gripe, but the thing is that they won. T.O. caught seven passes, had maybe two running plays, and was thrown to on several more occasions. An analyst on one of the Sunday football shows said he was directly involved in 20 of the 61 total plays ran by Dallas, which roughly equates to one-third of the team's play calling being for Terrell Owens.

I'm obviously disappointed in the game's outcome but I am more disappointed in T.O.'s words after the game, especially having seen some of the best teammate driven plays in last week's win over Green Bay. In one play, Owens popped a block for rookie running back Felix Jones and then escorted him to the end zone for a long rushing touchdown. The second play shows not only his speed but his grit. QB Tony Romo had just thrown another interception deep in Packers' territory, perhaps 15-20 yards in front of Owens. Yet as the interceptor ran back for an apparent score, here come T.O. veritably out of nowhere to help bring him down, perhaps saving a touchdown.

Two great plays showing hustle and teamwork. So maybe the reason why T.O. was miffed was because the Cowboys' loss tainted the upcoming release of his new exercise book which was slated to take two days later.

Rangers vs Yankees- Texas' highwater mark

The Texas Rangers finished a four game series with the New York Yankees last night with a 3-0 loss, to split the series 2-2. About a month ago the Rangers beat the Yankees by winning two out of three games in New York. The Yankees were in a mini slump at the time and have played much better since then. So when the Yanks came to Arlington to play a four game series, I took the series to be a precursor of how far along the Rangers have played so far and what to expect the rest of the way. If they played New York well I thought they'd have a shot at making the playoffs via the Wild Card.

To me this series would show me how good or bad Texas really is. They won the first two games of the series with bats-a-blazing, but New York's pitching extinguished the Rangers' hot scoring to hold them to 2 runs in two games with the 4th game being a shut-out. So what they showed me is that they can beat a good team if the opponents' pitching is mediocre and they can hold their own against an equally offensive minded team when faced with a top shelf pitcher. For example in game 4, the Rangers' starting pitcher gave up 2 runs in 7 innings. Not bad for a pitching staff that's not known for keeping opponents from scoring.

With all this said, I think Texas has an outside chance of making the playoffs this year. After the Yankees' series, they're heading out east to play Baltimore in a 3 game set and then Boston for 3 more before they host the East leading Tampa Bay Rays (still want to call them DevilRays) for the first 3 games of a 9 game homestand. Even if they don't come back from out East 3 out of 6 this time around, they will have laid the groundwork for next season. This team has shown that it can come back from 5 or 6 runs deficits to win games, and for all these young guys to experience these comebacks shows what they have the skills to be successful.

Daily Pendejadas- The High Five

It never ceases to amaze how such a beautiful and majestic feat of engineering and architecture has its shortcomings, but Dallas' High Five interchange between I-635 and Highway 75 is a prime example of this.

The westbound flyover off 75 to 635 West goes from a wide open and free flowing northbound NorthCentral-75 to a surprisingly and annoying glorified cattle shoot. It is a piss poor design, if you ask me. I don't understand how it's convenient to merge four lanes of exiting traffic into two lanes all within a few hundred feet. Even in the lightest side of traffic, like it happened to me the other, you can find yourself getting stuck in bumper-to-bumper gridlock without trying because not only are the northbound lanes of exiting traffic trying to get onto westbound LBJ, there's another set of two lanes exiting from southbound 75 trying to go West as well!

It really ticks me off. Why was that design settled in such a way? Who signed off on it? Who left their common sense at home the day the those two flyovers were settled on?

Texas Rangers Shine in NYC

The Texas Rangers' representatives to the All-Star Game events showed some grit and some big pop. The grit came from the bat of Michael Young as he drove in the game winning run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 15th inning. I am sorry to say that I didn't stay up to see that take place as I went to bed right after the American League couldn't win the game in the 13th inning.

The pop came from Josh Hamilton's bat with 28 home runs in the first round of the Home Run Derby Monday night. Though he didn't win the derby as he spent most of his energy racking up that gawdy tally of dingers in first round, Hamilton won over a mostly New York Yankee crowd with his bombardment of big flies that reached the reaches of the right field uppermost deck on a consistent basis. He three longest shots were more than 500 feet, with a couple of them clanging off the wall past the bleachers in right field.

In final round against Minnesota's Justin Morneau, the usually partisan Yankee crowd did their best to cheer Hamilton onto a derby win. Hamilton's story to reach the All-Star game, much less the homerun derby is one of perseverance and faith. A few year back Hamilton was under the influence of a drug-infested lifestyle, while addicted to the likes of meth and crack. Yet, here he is, wowing a baseball savvy crowd.

Needless to say that I'm so very proud to have these guys on my baseball team. I look forward to an exciting rest of the season, and do I dare say it, an exciting run of winning baseball in the years to come with the Texas Rangers.

Cool b-day gift- BEER!

I got some really cool gifts for my birthday the other day. One of them was a tattoo that I've been wanting to get since I got my first one in 1999 and one of my favorite movies on dvd, The Right Stuff. I'll probably talk about the significance of my tattoo at a latter time, but I wanted to get to my cool set of gifts.

The gift consisted of beer, but not your garden variety of domestic brews, but 5 different German-made beers. Four of them are hefeweizens, or wheat beers, which is my favorite type of beer. When I lived in San Antonio there's a place I used to visit exclusively for their wheat beers. Ever since then, I've come across alot of really good hefeweizens, including Paulaner, Franzikaner, and one of my all-time faves, Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat. But after trying one of my gift beers, I may have to fork out a nice chunk of change to enjoy these premiums weissbiers on a regular basis.

This is what I got:
Weihenstephaner: Hefeweissbier, Dunkelweizen, Kristallbier, Original
Schneider: Weisse

I haven't had a chance to drink all of them as of yet, but after having the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, I am so looking forward to the rest of them!

Perpertuating Perpetrators

I don't like to get involved in local politics, but with what happened during a Dallas County commissioners meeting last Tuesday, I have to say something. First off, I've respected Commissioner John Wiley Price in some way since I've lived here in Dallas, but after what transpired, I may have to take back some of my respect.

During the aforementioned meeting, fellow commissioner Kenneth Mayfield called Dallas County's central collections office a "black hole" because of the propensity of the office to lose traffic ticket payments and other paperwork. Well, Mr. Price took the low road and equated this statement as a racist diatribe. I don't know Mr. Mayfield so I can't say that he would be one to say a racist remark, but what Mr. Price said does indeed have a racist inclination. I say his rebuttal is somewhat racist because he thought it as much. It's that making a mountain of a molehill type of thing. Any nonracist thinking person would not have thought Mr. Mayfield's comment as racist and would have probably laughed with him considering the office's misplacing tendencies. Now, if Mr. Mayfield had said that the central collections office is a black hole like a "specific, predominantly Black neighborhood of Dallas," then I'd say he deserves all the flack he's catching right now.

What Mr. Price's statement also shows is his ignorance. If you ask anyone, Black, White, Hispanic, or whatever, if the statement made initially by Mr. Mayfield had any racist connotation, most if not all would say it is not a racist statement. A black hole, if anyone would be asked, would say something along the lines of cosmological term for the remains of a collapsed star where nothing can escape, matter and even light. What Mr. Price is doing is perpetuating the race card where none exists. In his mind, the only thing that can escape a black hole is a supposed racist remark.

Too late to dream? Inspired by The Last Lecture

Having been inspired by Randy Pauch's The Last Lecture, I've reflected on some things and came up with a list of things/dreams that I've always wanted to do and see. I call them Mis Diez Cosas, my ten things. I've done and seen a few of these from the list, so there are some that still need doing, but I may not be able to do them all.


Mis Diez Cosas

Snow
Mountains
Get a Corvette
Be an astronomer
Go to Argentina
Go to Spain, Barcelona
Snag a redhead
Chase tornadoes
Participate in Los San Fermines in Pamplona
Do the pilgrimage Road of Santiago de Compostela


As I kid there were two things that I wished to see: mountains and snow. I saw my first mountain range at age 9 and did not see any again until after I turned 22. The funny thing was that in each instance they were the same mountains of northern México. Mountains would be on my horizons when I visited Monterrey and Saltillo once a year during my university years and then again for my short stay in Spain in 1999; which is where I saw my first snow, albeit on the ground, in my first few days there. Although my first snow fall occurred in Dallas, the most memorable snowfall was on my 31st Christmas: a white Christmas in South Texas.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted a corvette and probably will never have one. At least I drove my uncle’s a couple times when I was in high school. There’s something about that car. Ask my dad. He’s always wanted one too and he’ll tell you that when I was a kid, I could spot one coming down the road before he noticed it too. I inherited my dad’s eagle eyes for sure.

My first science fair project was about stars and constellations. Astronomy was been a hobby of mine from early on; I was in 2nd grade for that Stars project. I got my first telescope around that time too: I remember waking up in the middle of night Christmas morning and seeing the telescope sitting in our living room right next to the Christmas tree. You can imagine my giddiness. We didn’t have much money those days, but “Santa” had enough to get me my first telescope. Though math and I never got along for me to do the astronomy thing professionally, but I aim to get one of those 12” Schmidt-Cassegrains to peruse the heavens with my daughter.

I did a report on Argentina when I was in the 4th grade and have always wanted to visit ever since. It was not until I got older that I wanted to go to Spain. We had a foreign exchange student from Barcelona spend my senior year at our high school, where we became pretty good friends, since then had wanted to visit Spain. A little later the 1992 Olympics reignited my wanting to visit and see Antoni Gaudí’s La Sagrada Familia in person. I was lucky and blessed to spend a short three-month semester in Madrid, where I took a few weekend trips throughout the Spanish countryside. The first chance I got I went to Barcelona where I spent a really quick day and a half there. I spent most of my 36 hours or so visiting and staring at La Sagrada Familia. Oh yeah, I stayed with my foreign exchange student friend and her family.

Redheads are a big weakness for me. I had a redheaded roommate in college and she was really cool. I’ve had redheaded friends: so close, yet so far. Gut wretching. I think Mary Ann from the next town over corrupted me forever.

I’ve always wanted to chase tornadoes. Perhaps they are as equally dangerous as chasing redheads I’m sure. I almost went to chase the Jarrell tornado of 1997 with an old friend who used to do it in college. Considering what we were hearing, we smartly opted to stay in San Antonio and wait for the storm to arrive.

The running of the bulls in Pamplona has always intrigued me. I already have it mapped it out in my head: I’m going to hang on for dear life at the very beginning of the run, wait for all the bulls to be a few blocks away and then I’ll take my time getting to the Plaza de Toros at the end. Perhaps I’ll spend one of my birthdays at Los San Fermines.

I got a tattoo of the cross of Santiago a couple months after I returned from Spain. It serves as a constant reminder to one day do the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella across the northern expanse of Spain. A grad school classmate and her husband did it the summer between our two years of our masters of history program. I was so jealous. Maybe I’ll do it one of these years after I’ve hooked up a redheaded Argentine astronomer, bought a corvette, run away from the bulls and chased a few tornadoes.

Please despair!

A few weeks back I saw a TV story about this company making spoofs of those infamous motivational posters and quotes. These demotivational snippets rock. Here are a couple of examples from Despair.com:

Adversity- That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
Attitude- Attitudes are contagious. Mine might kill you.
Change- When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles.

And a personal favorite:
Despair- It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black.

Do yourself a favor and check out the website. And if you'd like to buy me a t-shirt, get me either the "i > u" or the "How can I extract myself politely from this conversation?"

Texas Tornadoes- the real ones, not the music group

One of our local news station meteorologists mentioned that both Dallas and Tarrant counties made the top ten list of number of tornado reports in Texas since 1950, #7 and #9 respectively. Considering that both counties lie in the well known zone of the United States called Tornado Alley, it is surprising that five out of the top ten counties are situated along the Texas gulf coast.

Being that I'm from the Gulf Coast, I find this quite interesting. At first I thought it could be the number of tornadoes that a land-falling hurricane/tropical storm produces as it comes ashore, but the high number of gulf coast tornadoes could just come from the amount of storms produced in a given time period. Think about it, East Texas, namely the southeast corner of the state is the wettest part of the start. But consider the amount of tornadoes happening this year all across the country, I've noticed a spike in reported tornadoes in the Corpus Christi area as well.

The Insurance Council of Texas conducted a survey of tornado reports provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This survey confirmed that Harris County, Houston's home county, led all of Texas' counties with 210, almost doubling the second highest count.


Top 10 Texas counties with reported tornadoes from 1950-2007

County----------Location-------Major City-----------#
1. Harris............Gulf Coast.............Houston...............212
2. Hale..............Panhandle ...........Plainview..............116
3. Galveston.....Gulf Coast............Galveston................108
4. Jefferson.......Gulf Coast............Beaumont...............99
5. Nueces .........Gulf Coast.........Corpus Christi............93
6. Lubbock.......Panhandle............Lubbock.................83
7. Dallas..........North Texas...........Dallas....................82
8. Lamb............Panhandle...........Littlefield................82
9. Tarrant........North Texas.........Ft. Worth.................80
10. Johnson.....North Texas..........Cleburne..................79

Click here for an interactive map from ICT.
Sources: http://www.insurancecouncil.org/news/2008/6192008x.pdf
http://web2.airmail.net/danb1/tornado.htm

New Poem

I wrote this a while back and thought I'd share it.

The -line
-----------
You weren’t my first choice,
and probably not my last either.
Yet here you are.

I would’ve never thought you my type:
you tend to be moody and only come
around when it suits you,
rarely acquiescing to me.

But don’t get me wrong,
I’m glad when you decide to play,
although it’s usually when I’m busy
doing other things.

And even then, having been turned off
by your indifference,
I really don’t care for whatever
warmth you care to share.

Most of the time you lay
around waiting for bedtime.
I hope you’d change your ways,
as your fickleness hurts more than me.

Other times I’d like to be with my friends
but there’s a “you versus them” thing
that doesn’t allow that to happen.
I’m a revolving door of over used excuses.

There could’ve been another
if I’d been more patient and vocal-
and believe me,
I could’ve had another.

I’ve left the door open for you to walk out,
and I know you’ve thought about it,
yet you haven’t,
regardless of how bad I’ve treated you.

Nevertheless, I’ve chosen to stay with you,
mess and all, no matter
how wrong you may be for me on many levels.
Sure we can work this out, but only if I want it.

Who knows how long you’ll stay-
perhaps when I’ve gotten tired of your antics
or tired of looking the other way for so long.

You weren’t my first choice and
I wasn’t asked if it was okay to keep you around.
Yet here you are:

The subject of someone’s pity.
Someone’s pet.
The one who usually doesn’t wait up for me-

The fe- line:
our cat.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
f j de g y l
10 III 2008

Negro Leaguers Finally Drafted

Thirty former Negro Leaguers were drafted in a pre-draft ceremony in tribute to those players who were never allowed to play in Major League Baseball. Many former players of the Negro Leagues can thank Hall of Famer Dave Winfield for coming up with this idea. In an article written by Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, Winfield, who is vice president of the San Diego Padres, recalls a time when Satchel Paige once called him to say that he enjoyed the manner in which he played and hoped to meet him in person, but Paige, one of the Negro League's best players, died just weeks after the phone call.

Kudos to Mr. Winfield and Major League Baseball for arriving at such a touching tribute for all those players who were more than talented to play in the Major Leagues, yet were deemed unworthy to play.

Best Guitar Solos

Here's something that's been sitting in my mind's blog files for a while now and having just read a somewhat similar article in Yahoo!'s List of the Day, I thought I'd put in my two-cents about this. Yahoo! had an blurb listing their greatest 25 guitar riffs of all time. It was pretty good actually, but I have a different take on the guitar thing.

These are solos that not only consist of memorable guitar runs but may also provoke one to play the ever popular air guitar. Here are my favorite guitar solos in rock music, in no particular order:

Hotel California, The Eagles
Don Henley and crew create one Rock music's enduring songs. If I'm not mistaken, the guitar solo is played by more than one person. The acoustic version on the Hell Freezes Over video of this particular song rocks even without the help of electric guitars.

Will We Rock You, Queen
Talk about rocking hard, it's the quintessential rock anthem. I love how the guitar solo slowly crescendos almost from nothing and then hammers onto the scene with the force of a tornado through a trailer park. If you want to get technical, you can get a two-fer with this song, if you include We are the Champions as both are usually played back to back. More bang for your musical buck.

Rock Around the Clock, Bill Halley and His Comets
Maybe this is how rock and roll guitar solos started. That's some mighty fine guitar work here! It's an all-time great.

Like a Stone, Audioslave
We'll see if this becomes a classic but goosebumps usually accompany me when I listen to this one, especially at the solo.

Pride and Joy, Stevie Ray Vaughan
What's a guitar list without one of the gods of the guitar. Check this one out and you'll know what I mean.

What Would You Say, Dave Matthews Band
It's more than just a guitar solo-- the sax leads off and then concludes with a goosebump inducing harmonica riff.

When It's Love, Van Halen
The video for this song has a funny moment especially at the guitar solo. Eddie Van Halen plays the first chord, pauses, scratches his head and then proceeds with the rest of the solo.

Dust in the Wind, Kansas
Though not a guitar solo per se, but the string solo is quite memorable and accompanies great acoustic guitar work throughout the song.

If I come up with a few more, I'll be sure to add them to my list.

Vacation from Reality

I just got back from a somewhat lengthy family vacation. It was great to see my parents, my nieces and nephews and visit with my friends in San Antonio on our return swing back to Dallas. I only wished that my folks had internet access so that way I could've posted something whenever it came to mind and not all at once and after the fact which I'm about to do here.

Courtesy on the Road

Growing up we made plenty of roadtrips throughout Texas and most of time we took the roads less traveled or the smaller, two-lane highways. On these "back roads" there was alot of the letting of people pass, either ourselves or the person ahead of us. And when that occurred, whomever was the passer, up went our hands to show the passee that the move over to the road's shoulder was much appreciated. It happened every time. It happened in each instance. It was highway courtesy at its finest. But somewhere between the years of those memorable family trips and the present, folks are hardly ever showing their appreciative hand gesture. Although having thought about it a little more, the "thank you" wave have been in dwindling over the past several years, but on our way down to South Texas, I did not see a single "thank you" wave when we moved over to the shoulder to let folks pass us by! I'm happy to say that I waved thank you whenever someone moved over for me.

NBA Playoffs- The Champs are Defeated

The good thing about the San Antonio Spurs losing to the Los Angeles Lakers was that I only saw two complete games from beginning to end: that 20-point blown lead in game 1 and their game 3 win. Being that we were busy visiting family, we caught only fleeting glimpses of most of the series, which was a good thing because I hated to see the Spurs lose to LA. But I will give the Lakers this much, they were the better team, top to bottom, and they deserve to make it to the Finals after making those personnel moves to finally get over the Spurs hump. The Spurs looked like the old team they really are and only beat the New Orleans Hornets because of pure pride. I still haven't made up my mind who to cheer for in the finals. I could cheer for the Lakers because they beat the Spurs and to prove that Kobe doesn't need Shaquille O'Neal to win a championship. On the other hand, I would like to see Boston win so their "big 3" could finally win a championship. Either way, I expect this series to at least go 7 games unless the Celtics cannot win a road game in Los Angeles.

Putting the Guilt in the Trip

On our return trip back to town we visited our friends in San Antonio and I got my share of guilt thrown at me from a couple of my friends for living so far away. First off, one of my friends gave me her subtle shade of guilt like she usually does whenever she sends me an email. This usually consists of telling me that there's a few houses up for sale in the neighborhood where she and her husband live. Of course this feeds directly to my wife's line of thinking. Anyway, it gets worse.

We went over to visit my daughter's godparents. Mind you, each one of them has a Ph.D. in their field of expertise, so they're alot more driven than me. [On a side note, my compadre may ask me to draw him his maps for his upcoming book on the Spanish-French borderlands in what is now eastern Texas and western Louisiana.] During our visit, my daughter's godmother point blank asked me why we're still in Dallas. Having been caught off guard by the question, I didn't come up with any convincing reason. But having thought about it a bit, I figured it was because of my job. I really like my job and I doubt that I'd find a similar type job in San Antonio with the experience and degree that I have at this point like the one I have now. It's complicated really. It's all grey area. Perhaps it could be for a similar reason why I moved to SA in the first place.

NBA Playoffs- Spurs vs Hornets

The San Antonio Spurs dispatched the New Orleans Hornets in a rare game 7 win for the Spurs. Now the Spurs face MVP Kobe Bryant and his Los Angeles Lakers team. It should be an entertaining series. Let's see what the Spurs have left in their tank.

I read Johnny Ludden's article about Greg Popovich and the Spurs and a couple things stood out in my mind. The first thing that caught my eye was that he noticed that both Chris Paul and David West did not stop to shake their opponents’ hands after the game. I can understand the Detroit Pistons doing that to the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls after they finally lost to them in a tough, hard fought series in 1991, but the Pistons were the "Bad Boys" of the NBA in the late 1980s and briefly into the 1990s, so that sort of gamesmanship was standard for them. But the Hornets doing that to the Spurs? Gees, that just sounds like they let their youth and inexperience show them the way. Sure, they'll get their chance in the not too distant future to claim their championship, but leaving the court the way they did, Hornets showed that they never really respected the Spurs, and maybe that's why they lost the series.

Ludden also pointed out NBA commissioner David Stern's apparent dislike of Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. It's sad that he would rather see his most storied franchises meet in the NBA Finals in the Lakers and Celtics, and their television revenues, than a franchise that epitomizes teamwork from top to bottom. It is unfortunate that Stern's more worried about his bottom line.

Spurs Disappoint

The San Antonio Spurs blew a golden chance to take game 5 against the New Orleans Hornets in the Western Conference semifinals. Nursing a small lead at halftime, the Spurs let Chris Paul and his cohorts take control of the game and subsequently the series. The Spurs looked like the inexperienced team coming out at halftime, by turning the ball over on consecutive plays, taking ill-timed shots, not fighting hard enough for rebounds and barely scoring double digits (11) in the 3rd quarter. Instead the Hornets, the younger and apparently inexperienced group, looked like the team poised to take control.

If the Spurs continue their lackadaisical and inconsistent play, they will most definitely find themselves watching the rest of the NBA playoffs, not on the sidelines, but in the comfort of their own living rooms.

In the Changer- New(ish) Music

I've been sitting on this topic for months now and it's about time it gets posted. Well, it's just that I got tired of seeing my note about this blog sitting the desk for the past couple months. I've listened to these cds and I pretty much give them my thumbs up.



Radiohead's In Rainbows, their latest, is another great album from the lads from across the pond. Nothing new here, but why would you want them to do something new? Their sound is as fresh as ever and they continue to impress.











Colbie Caillat and Sara Bareilles each put out a great cds last year, Coco and Little Voice respectively, and while both releases contain catchy songs, but A Fine Frenzy's One Cell in the Sea is a vastly superior album. It is almost as if Enya put on a red wig and steered her way into the pop music scene. There are elements of Enya-inspired melodies scattered throughout which make for memorable ballads and melancholic lyrics. Sure there are a couple tracks that border on the cheesy like "You Picked Me," but songs such as "Almost Lover" vault this cd into instant classic for me.





Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D is another good cd from Nine Inch Nails, much better than the original Year Zero album from a earlier in the year, but nowhere near as good as NIN's With Teeth from two years before. This remixed version has also an enhanced cd so one could make up their own mixes since each song is separated in different tracks. Yet another brilliant move by Trent Reznor.





Cafe Tacvba released their newest album, Sino, in late 2007 and is their best studio album, maybe since Re. One could argue that Reves/Yo Soy is as good, but Sino is levels above their previous cd Cuarto Caminos. I'm still waiting to catch them in concert, who knows what'll happen, but having their music in my library is almost good enough for me.







There was a Beatles tribute album made back in 2005 called, This Bird has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to The Beatles' Rubber Soul. My buddy Gary also a Beatles-phile, first told me about this cd and it didn't disappoint. Included were some magnificent covers like The Donnas version of Drive My Car and the bluegrass inspired Think for Yourself. I especially loved Surjan Stevens' What Goes On; it's as if the song was deconstructed, reessembled and redone as a totally different song. There are few echoes of The Beatles in this track. But on the other hand there was at least song that I thought did not work as a cover. Unfortunately the title track of this album, Norwegian Wood (This Bird has Flown) did not do it for me. It seems like The Fiery Furnaces tried too hard to make this song sound Beatle-esque and may have lost the verve this song has in its original state. Otherwise, it's a nice album to add to anyone's Beatles musical library.

NBA Playoffs- One and Done: Mavericks and Suns

Soon, there will a big shake up in Dallas on account of the playoff demise of the Dallas Mavericks against the New Orleans Hornets. People will say that the Jason Kidd trade was a bust, especially since he was useless against Chris Paul. I agree. Some will say that Dirk Nowitski did not impose his will as he could have throughout the series. Yeah maybe. Yet others will say that Avery Johnson's coaching style does not fit with the team's roster. They may be right too. But with all this said, players will be traded and coaches fired, but what's missing in all this is owner Mark Cuban's hand in all this drama.

Cuban has been the triggerman in some of the lame brain moves he's made with this franchise. I have never been a fan of Mark Cuban, much less respected him as an NBA owner. Sure he's lavished his team with luxury items in the locker rooms and etc, but this guy is just a big spoiled kid, masquerading as an overzealous fan. I can honestly say that he's probably the reason the Mavs didn't win against the Miami Heat a few years back: all that whining about bad calls and fouls caught up to him in that Finals series- you've got to admit that there were some bad ones there.

He probably says stuff like this to himself in the mirror: "I bet I can run this team better than a guy who's been in the League (capitalized for emphasis) for 30 years plus as a player, coach and GM; Let me trade away a top point guard because I'm too cheap to pay what he's actually worth and I could win with whomever's sloppy seconds; Let's trade away our future point guard (again) for an aging point guard who's actually closer to entering the Hall of Fame than actually winning a championship."

Okay, I may have been over dramatizing things a little but you get the picture. No wonder Nellie left for Golden State. Poor Avery. In the midst of writing this, I heard that he got canned. Too bad. Well, he wasn't without fault either. Avery, you should have left Jason Kidd run the game like we all know he can. You should've checked your ego at the door and let the guy do his thing.

The Phoenix Suns came into their series against the San Antonio Spurs with their typical arrogance, saying that they're a better team. Whomever the game broadcasters were throughout the series, each mentioned how the Suns thought they are the better team. If you recall, the Suns had the same mentality when they played the Spurs last year. Sure, you have some supremely talented individuals at a few positions, but you can't talk the talk until you've walked the walk. Last year, even after San Antonio dispatched them from the playoffs, head coach Mike D'Antoni still stated that they "were a better, more talented team." Huh?! What?! Didn't you just lose a playoff series? I don't get it, until you can beat a team in a 7 game series, you cannot say things like this. Get over yourself. Maybe that's why he may find himself without a job in Phoenix. Reality and presumptions don't mix well.

MDA's Fill the Boot

At traffic intersections on the way home yesterday, I saw firefighters run from car to car asking for donations to MDA's Fill the Boot fundraiser. So if you see your local firefighers out on the streets this weekend, or any weekend for that matter, asking for donations to this great cause, please be mindful and donate what you can.

My dad used to be a volunteer firefighter in my hometown when I was younger and I remember he and his fellow volunteers doing these fundraisers at our town's major intersections. Seeing these guys out there yesterday brought back great memories. There were not, if at all, any hispanic volunteers in our town back then and I still feel quite proud of my father for being, if memory serves me correct, the only hispanic fireman during his time as a volunteer.

It's about time- Grey's Anatomy returns!

Though I did not go through withdrawals for not having seen Grey's Anatomy because of Hollywood's writers strike, but I might as well have because it was great to see the show again. Ever since the show's been around, at the end of each episode, I always say that each show needs to be at least two hours long. I think it's that good. Great writing and eye candy for both sexes aside, I will really miss the show when it runs its course-- hopefully many, many years from now.

Now I'm excited to see Meredith finally start to get over her abandonment issues; Izzy continues to be the same quirky, freakin' hottie; George still rocks being the heart of the gang and with the possibility of seeing a romantic hookup between nurse Rose and McDreamy, I can't wait for what the rest of the season holds!

Shoes- Do leave home without them?

I ran across this article about shoes on NPR the other day and thought it veddy eenteresting. The article says that the wearing of shoes is harmful to your feet. Yeah I can see the wearing of certain types of shoes, like 5" stilettos, could do specific damage, but this analysis states that most shoes create some sort of injury to the overall health of the human foot. Essentially it says that humans have survived for many millenia without the necessity of a pair of Jimmy Choo pumps or even some funky Birkenstocks.

Yeah, I'd like to see someone tell all these gals who looove shoes that they have to do away with them. Nor would I tell all these other people whose shoes are more than a way to cover one's foot, but as a hip-hop fashion statement. Do you remember people killing others just for a pair of Air Jordans? Yeah... that's gonna work.

I'd be the first one to tell you that most of the time shoes are just special ornaments that make or break an outfit. And there's nothing wrong with a pair of great looking shoes, but I'll tell you, I've worn some that had me wishing I had gotten the lame pair of work loafers instead of the rocking pair I went with in the end. Whether they are some cool, classic loafers for myself or some that I would love seeing a cute gal wear, shoes, harmful or not, are too ingrained in our modern society to get people to stop wearing them.

I'm your Huckleberry- Tombstone, a movie favorite

One of the better contemporary Western movies, if you ask folks, is 1993's Tombstone. This fairly unassuming flick with several well-known actors was a movie that still carries weight more than 15 years after its release. There are several aspects of the movie that I find intriguing but what I love about it is Val Kilmer's portrayal of Doc Holliday and the romantic undertone of Wyatt Earp's life story.

The constant stream of Doc Holliday one-liners gives one a stockpile of memorable utterances that to me are some of the best. Pick any line Holliday says, whether its his exchanges with Johnny Ringo,"I'm your huckleberry" or when he reunites with Wyatt Earp on the streets with of Tombstone and says to Billy Bob Thorton's Johnny Tyler, "I'm sorry Johnny, I forgot that you were there." Of course he says all this with the smooth lilt of the American South. And ya gotta dig that mustache. I wish mine looked as good as his.

The underlying romantic story between Earp and actress Josephine Marcus ties the movie together. Wyatt Earp first meets Marcus while he's married, but after ridding the Arizona countryside of the villainous Cowboys and after a timely death of his wife due to a drug overdose, Earp is finally reunited with Josephine.

It's a great flick with plenty of intrigue and fast paced action and with brief cameos of Charlton Heston and with an epilogue read by Robert Mitchum to give it the movie some clout, Tombstone is a wonderful movie to enjoy.

Daily Pendejadas- Updating Soaring Gas Prices

Okay, who's getting ticked off by the daily media barrage telling us that each day the price for a barrel of oil has hit an all-time high or that the price per gallon of gas has also hit a new high? Gees, we all know that-- we're not stupid. The prices for these commodities will continue to soar until our oil consumption drops. And the way things are going with gas prices zooming their way toward $5.00, we'll be there before we know it.

Now if gas prices have gone down for eight days straight and OPEC has agreed to release more oil reserves, let me know. Otherwise I don't want to hear anymore of the media's broken record of whining that we've been hearing everyday for as long as I can remember.

Thanks and Good-bye Steve McNair

One of my favorite NFL players retired the other day- Steve McNair. His thirteen years in the NFL proved that he belonged in the league after enduring much consternation early in his career. He came out of Alcorn State without much fanfare and was drafted by the Houston Oilers. Folks thought that the Oilers wasted a draft pick, but after a few years, he proved them all wrong by eventually leading the Tennessee Titans to what is now considered one of the best Super Bowl games of all time against the St. Louis Rams. Even to this day, I cannot think about that SB loss without getting a little misty-eyed. I so wanted Steve McNair to win that game, but the good thing was that he will always be remembered for the courageous manner in which he got the team close enough to have a chance to win the game.

I am still a little upset at the way the Titans franchise treated their one-time franchise quarterback by essentially kicking him out of their off-season facilities prior to the season a few years ago. It was a bit on the not-so-classy side of things. But it pales by comparison to how the city of Houston let the Oilers leave for Tennessee. I sooo wanted to drive to Houston to see them play, but no... they didn't want to fork over the money to build them a new stadium. Yet, you built a new one for the current franchise, the team I call the Houston Usurpers, otherwise known as the Texans (sarcastic applause for the creativity in choosing that team name!)

Anyhow, I digress. I'll be the first one to say that Steve McNair may not be a Hall of Famer, though he garnered a NFL Co-MVP award, but what I will always remember about him was his tenacity and heart and how he carried his teams each and every season. He'll always be a Hall of Famer in my mind.

A Rude Wake Up Call: Overnight storms

We had some major storms blast their through the Dallas/Fort Worth area overnight. Just prior to going to bed, I checked out NOAA's Storm Prediction Center's website to get the latest information. I saw that the immediate D/FW area was under a Tornado Watch until 6:00am. In all the time of being a weather watcher (nerd), I've never experienced a tornado watch to encompass the overnight hours such as this one. Not only did I see that, but I also saw that the region could sustain large hail and very strong winds, upwards of 80+ mph! Needless to say I brought down my patio garden plants off the ledge onto the floor and kept an ear to weather.

Many different areas in north and south Dallas experienced severe storms right around the 3:00 to 4:00am hour and then beyond. What came through our specific neighborhood arrived around 3:40-3:45 or so. What initially go my attention was hearing the hum of the bedroom fan turn off and then back on several times. I heard a few rumbles of thunder with an occasional knock of what I thought was hail on the windows and walls, but when I got to my feet and peeked outside the window, I saw the trees blowing around in a wind that I've never witnessed before: it was a howling, whistling type of wind. There was a eerie strangeness to it. Nevertheless, after blurting out a curse in my overnight stupor, I riled everyone out of bed and into the bathroom.

As soon as everyone got settled in the bathroom, I ran to the laptop to check the latest weather reports and radar. After a few tense moments, I was able to get a internet connection going and got to this radar image and took a picture of it shortly after the storm passed with my camera phone, hence the picture quality. But if you look closely, you'll see that in the radar image in the southern edges of Denton and Collin counties, there's a definite "kink" in the bow echo blowing through the area. In these type of storms, namely squall lines, the northern edge of a bow echo, may usually cause a quick spin-up or two of a tornado. Note the time in the upper right-hand corner of the image.

Who knows what the storm assessors will say with the damage connected to this part of the storm, but the areas around my part of town report the same type of damage: significant roof damage, blown down fences with uprooted and blown down trees, similar to those I've posted below from our apartment complex.

Play Ball!

Hold the presses! The Texas Rangers starting pitchers are pitching, dare I say it, they're pitching pretty good. Six games into the regular season and each starter has pitched at least 5 innings, with Kevin Millwood throwing a rare complete game with his second start. Not only are they reaching the later innings but they are doing it without giving up a lot of runs. Their cumulative ERA is under 3.00.

I know it's very early to make this statement, but it's a step in the right direction. What a difference it makes when you have good starting pitching.

Singing in the Car

There's nothing like hearing a favorite song while driving in your car. Who cares what the other drivers may think, but doesn't it feel good to belt out the song's lyrics? I had such an instance just a few days ago on my way to work.

It had been a while since I've listened to the radio as I've been busy listening to cds for the better part of two weeks (the cds of which will be subject of a future posting). I spent the first part of my commute switching from station to station, with many of them stucks in commercials, until I nailed with the one playing December by Collective Soul. I don't know why I love this song, perhaps the lyrics or that I know them all, or whatever, but whenever this song comes on the radio, it's crank up the volume and rev up the singing! First off I'm not a bad singer. I used to accompany one of my buddies when he sang at Saturday evening mass, so I'm not tone deaf to begin with and could carry a tune whenever possible.

Once I get into December, it's a constant flood of memories, a recollection of my younger days, among them being: listening to a newly purchased Collective Soul album as I drove three hours to visit a gal, then becoming part of my daily soundtrack when I moved to San Antonio, and then it being a part of a music compilation a friend gave me a couple years ago. Whatever the case may be, it's a great song, and for me, many mental souvenirs are attached to it. So if you ever see a crazy looking guy singing in his car, know you may know why.

Drummers Are We- Continued

There were a couple drumming songs I'd like to add to my list from a few days back: Every Little Thing She Does is Magic by the Police and Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.

That Police song has some great hi-hat stick work. It's a wonderful song from an awesome band. It's amazing to hear such power from a 3 man group. Speaking of power, that aforementioned Led Zeppelin song is probably everyone's Zeppelin track. Except for Robert Plant that is. I heard in an interview from waaaay back that Stairway was not one of his favorite songs for whatever reason. Who knows... Maybe if they tour again, he'll get asked that specific question. I really hope that a Led Zeppelin reunion tour happens!

Daily Pendejadas- Definition of a Maverick

Define a Maverick

I live in Dallas, so I get my daily dose of Dallas Maverick bumper stickers and the like. What I see is the franchise's version of what a "maverick" is: a horse. For as long as I can remember a "maverick" is essentially a cow. So I've always found the use of a horse on the Dallas NBA franchise logo a little strange.

Here's what the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary says:
Main Entry: 1mav·er·ick
Pronunciation: \ˈmav-rik, ˈma-və-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Samuel A. Maverick died 1870 American pioneer who did not brand his calves
Date: 1867
1: an unbranded range animal; especially : a motherless calf
2: an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party

But here's a sad note to this connotation. The University of Texas at Arlington, who recently made news with their first entrance to the NCAA Basketball Tournament, also calls their sports mascot the Mavericks. The sad part is that they also use a horse to personify their mascot. You'd think being at a university that someone would've pointed out this misnomer.

I guess both the NBA's Mavericks and UTA's Mavericks are mavericks in their own rights by choosing the wrong animal for their mascots.

Daily Pendejadas- Signal Lights

I want to make a blog series consisting of stupid things, pendejadas, that I see people do, or in most cases, things they don't do. I know I won't be able to make daily entries for this series, but I couldn't pass up the title.

Signal lights or lack thereof

It seems like the signal lights in most people's cars do not work. People do not use them at all. Of course it just ticks me off when the car in front of me slows down and turns in one direction or the other without the notion of letting you know what he or she is going to do. Apparently the sudden flash of the vehicle's brake lights are enough of a "signal" for the fellow motorist. Seriously, it happens so infrequently that when I come across folks who do indeed use their turn signals on the roadways, I feel like getting out of my car and giving them a gold star.

Drummers Are We

My little brother called me last night to say that he finally bought himself an electric drumset. He'd be wanting one for years, as so have I, but since he's the engineer and married with no kids, he was more apt to get one before me. Either way, I'm quite psyched for him.

Since we both were percussionists in high school, me a one-time all-district and he a two-time all-stater, we had plenty to chat about drum-wise. He told me he's tried to get the drumming down for the title track of Tool's album Undertow, in all it's intricate glory, but he's had issues with it. We both agreed that this song has to be one of the more complicated rock drumming song out there. When you get a chance, listen to it and you'll agree. He said that he's taking the drum part of that song piece by piece, kind of like this: "you do a 2-e-&-a rhythm on the hi-hat and pedal down(left foot) on every other upbeat, while you do a 1-&-a beat on the bass drum pedal (right foot...)." Ya know, simple shtuff like that. Seriously, I really think it's a tough way to start, but nevertheless he'll start some drum kit lessons he picked up at a all-state band camp several years ago.

Since we talked about that specific Tool song, which is one of my favorite song of theirs, namely because of the drumming, I brought up other songs that I've considered my favorite drumming songs. My list consisted of Again by Alice in Chains, Led Zeppelin's Ocean, Go by Pearl Jam, One by Metallica, and Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! by The Beatles.

While we're on the subject of drummers, I thought I'd share what I think who've been the best in the past couple decades. It's hard to dispute the creative and bombastic style of Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, who's arguably one of Rock's all-time best. During the mid to late 1980s you heard Tommy Lee's name thrown around as being the best at that point, but I always thought him to be just alright for the most part. But who I thought was a better drummer around that same time frame was Lars Ulrich from Metallica. The track One from And Justice for All.. is a stand-alone, I think one of the most difficult songs for a drummer. But as Metallica's music softened and became more mainstream, Ulrich's drumming suffered. However, as he and Metallica waned, another band swept into prominence, Tool. And with that came the superb body of work of Danny Carey.

As mentioned in a previous post, I've been a big fan of this group for a long time. Although it wasn't their first studio album, but the first album of theirs that I got was Undertow and they've had me hooked ever since. Over the years, their music has evolved into symphonic orchestrations of sorts. There's just something about their stuff that keeps me coming back for more. Perhaps a reason for that is the percussive prowess of Danny Carey. And in my opinion he's the best Rock drummer in the current era.

The first time I saw Tool was in a small venue in San Antonio that would be the ideal place to hold wedding receptions and some gal's sweet sixteen, but what I saw was a great show. In that concert I was most mesmerized by the dynamic playing of Carey in Undertow. There near the end, perhaps 15-20 seconds before the song ends, there's this jazz inspired cymbal work that melts into a percussive guitar laden conclusion. And as I stood there watching, there's Danny looking calm, while his arms flail away. UH-mazing! To get an idea of what I'm talking about check out these short flicks to see what I mean: 46 & 2 and Lateralus. If you had any doubt about who's Rock's best drummer before, I'd be very surprised if you didn't agree with me after seeing and hearing his stick work.

To further my point, check out this tutorial video of Eulogy played by an obvious fan of Carey's work. And that's just one of their songs. Talk about having your work cut out for you. Try it for youself and you'll know. Perhaps my brother needs to start with an easier drummer to emulate!

A Barry Big Sigh of Relief

The San Antonio Spurs re-signed Brent Barry today after having been involved in the Kurt Thomas-Francisco Elson trade with the Seattle Supersonics last month. Since the trade the Spurs' offense have been, well...fairly offensive, especially in the last couple weeks. With Barry coming back, that will give Michael Finley a little extra rest because he's been in a horrible shooting slump lately, which I think comes from playing so much. He's not a spring chicken anymore, so any little rest will go a long way.

Maybe with a rested, and hopefully healthy Brent Barry, the Spurs will regain some of the momentum they lost when they were atop the Western Conference, a mere few weeks ago.

War's 5th Anniversary

The fifth anniversary of George W. Bush's war in Iraq came and went just recently. He's still saying that "removing Saddam Hussein" was the right thing to do. And he continues to say that the current war is "a fight that America can and must win." Well, yeah...duh. First of all, he still thinks that Saddam and all his weapons of mass destruction were behind the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the United States has to win this war in Iraq. So Bush saying that the Iraq war is a must win is an understatement. The United States' status in the world depends on how we win the war, or better yet, how get out of this mess that the Bush administration has created.

But seriously, what would be considered a win in Iraq? A photo op aboard a US warship? Oh wait, that's already been done. I don't know about you, but not only do I not see an "end" to this war anytime soon, but unless we just turn our backs on the Iraqis, a protracted US occupation is inevitable. I've always been against this particular theatre of the "war on terror," but if we just pull up stakes and leave without some sort of safeguards for the Iraqi people, this region will be another ethnic tinderbox. Yugoslavia, anyone?

I'd also like to comment on something I saw a couple weeks ago related to this fifth anniversary. While out on a lunch break, I drove up to an intersection were two different rallies were occurring simultaneously. On one side of the road, a group of peace activists rallied against the war in Iraq by holding up signs and flags with peace signs, in other words a group of modern day hippies. Conversely, the other group of people was composed of biker types that held signs supporting the troops, and with American flags placed all over: in waving hands and poles staked in the ground.

Although I consider myself against the Iraqi war, I also am a proud supporter of our troops. So as I pulled up to that intersection I felt the pull from each group. But what struck me more than anything, and what really turned me off, was the lack of American flags on the side of the peace activists. My thing is that if you live in this great country, regardless of how you feel about who's running the government, you better damn well respect the freedoms we have and be proud (blessed, lucky...) that we can readily voice our opinions (within the law) about the government without repercussions. Dissent is as American as apple pie and baseball. So what these peace folks told me with their lack of American flags was that they've turned their back on this country and for that I feel sorry for them. Because they like President Bush, still don't get it.


Source: G.W. Bush quotes: New York Times, March 20.

Bracket (not so) Busted

Even with all the upsets in the first two days of the NCAA basketball tournament, my bracket's doing pretty good. It helps to have a couple upsets picked in there, but it can be tough watching these games because on one hand, I love to see the upsets, but on the other, those said upsets screw up your brackets. Either way, it's fun no matter what.

I have two brackets actually-- I have one at home and another that's set up through Yahoo!. For as long as I can remember, I do the Yahoo! bracket every tourney time, but the thing is, you have to have all your picks done ahead of time and not go game by game. Either way, if you happen to be on Yahoo!'s Pick'Em the bracket set called And the Winner is, is mine.

Kiss Me, I'm Irish

I'm proud of my Irish heritage. What the...?! Yep, you heard me, I am proud of my Irish forebears. Although my family's heritage is Spanish, Basque, Mexican and a little French, I can say that I'm part Irish. Just hear me out. Sure, if you've seen me you might think I may be a little Irish because my beard is definitively auburn and my hair also has a reddish tinge to it, but that's because of something altogether different. There are redheads on my Mom's side of the family, with a couple of her aunts being redheads- albeit grey now. And then further back, some of the men where called "hilos de maíz" because their beards looked like the threads, or silks, of an ear of corn. But as far as we all know, that's all from my Spanish ancestry. But all this doesn't explain why I've always had a "thing" for redheaded gals. Anyhow, I digress. What I mean about all this talk about being Irish comes from, well, where I've come from. My hometown in South Texas, resides in San Patricio County, which was home to one of the first Irish settlements in Texas.

In 1828, the first group of families recruited from the Irish population of New York came to the then Mexican province of Coahuila y Texas and settled along the Nueces River, northwest of present day Corpus Christi. The settlement was called San Patricio de Hibernia, after their patron saint, St. Patrick. A few years later, the settlement was legally established as the Municipality of San Patricio. Later still, after the Texas Revolution, San Patricio County was created by the 1836 Congress of the new Republic of Texas, with the initial Irish settlement of San Patricio, being the county seat.

The period between the Texas Revolution and the US-Mexican War, this area was known as a "depopulated area" because gangs of former Mexican soldiers and gringo cattle rustlers roamed this zone relatively unchecked. Once the US annexed Texas in 1845, and with the arrival of General Zachary Taylor, the region began to stabilize. One of the fascinating aspects of the early San Patricio County was that it encompassed a far greater territory than its current size and that most of the surrounding counties came from the original county.

Although predominantly known for crop cultivation in the present, much of the remaining 19th century San Patricio County was known for cattle ranching. One of the largest cattle firms in Texas called San Pat County home, The Coleman, Mathis, & Fulton Pasture Company. By then other small towns began to spring up along the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway. Subsequently, several out of state developers, including David B. Sinton and his son-in-law Charles P. Taft, half brother of President William H. Taft, began to see the area grow, and then created the Taft Ranch, one of the largest ranches in South Texas.

More towns sprouted up from the black soils of the county, again along the rail lines. From those lines also came trainloads of Mexican laborers who were brought in to help clear the land of mesquite and associated brush to prepare the land for farming. Once farming became established, cotton became king, and then later, shared with the cultivating of sorghum grain, both became the county's cash crops. Even though the county is home to several large companies including OxyChem, Sherwin Alumina, and Naval Station Ingleside, cultivated crops still dominate the county's landscape.

The land is still as flat as it was when the first Irish New Yorkers arrived, but the terrain is more cropped covered than with tall prairie grasses. Though the Irish have dispersed throughout the region, there's still some vestiges of Irish culture remaining- The World Champion Rattlesnake Races are held in "Old San Patricio" every March!

Source: The New Handbook of Texas, 1996.

Dems are Gonna Blow It!

Somebody better tell the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to stop screwing with each other and start readying themselves to mess witht the GOP. If you thought the November elections would come with a regime change, you've got another thing coming.

The only sure thing at this point is that the Republicans are licking their chops at all the incessant bickering and in-fighting occuring with the Democratic party. Even they thought they'd lose the 2008 presidential election! Yet with the way things are going with the Democratic primary process, John McCain might breeze his way into the White House. And by the way, did you see how uncomfortable he looked when he stood behind when George W. Bush endorsed him? Maybe he was embarrassed with the little jig George did while he waited for McCain to arrive.

Anyhow, the Democratic presidential candidates better get their shit together or they will see the Republicans sitting in the White House for at least another four years. Then they'll be wishing and thinking about what could have been. Get over yourselves and think about what's important, the good of our country.

Personal Political See-saw & Dream Ticket

I'm having the hardest time choosing between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the March 4th Texas Primary. It's a toss up between hope and experience: Obama has brought hope and inspiration, while Clinton has been there before, so to speak. So it's a tough call.

I've been caught up in Obama's inspiring words and I want to send my vote his way, but his relative lack of experience bugs me just enough to let doubt creep into the room. But hearing him speak really moves me. He gives Bill Clinton, whom I've thought to be the best orator of my generation, a run for his money. Gees, he beat out Bill for the Spoken Word Grammy just recently!

On the other hand, I think Hillary Clinton has the best experience of all candidates, as she's lived in the White House as First Lady for 8 years. It's hard to beat that kind of experience. But she's such a polarizing figure on the political scene, and I think that has become a liability. Many Republicans have a tremendous hatred for her and see her as a divisive individual. So I guess it depends on if one seeks inspiration or experience. Unless....

...you talk about my Dream Ticket: Clinton/Obama.

First of all, having Obama on your ticket means that he'll bring in a serious amount of crossover voters, these so-called Obama-cans: Republicans voting for Obama. That's a big plus. Clinton has all that White House experience and hopefully a sense of knowing what not to do and how to do things the right way and not waste her chance at righting the ship that is America.

Having Obama as VP means that he'll be the "president" of the Senate. He'll more apt to create a sense of togetherness, a "uniter" if you will. No longer will the US have someone who's first inclination will be to look after the betterment of his political party, i.e., Dick Cheney, but finally someone who will have the interests of the American people in mind. Obama will serve as a gentle persuader to remind those across the aisle that all their work is the American people and not for political gains.

That would be something, wouldn't it: Hillary Clinton for President and Barack Obama as Vice President? It's possible, but it could work the other way around, but I don't think it'll be the same as the first option.

We'll see how things turn out after March 4th. Either way, it'll be very exciting whatever the outcome.

A Local Gem: Miguel Antonio

I had the pleasure of visiting De Tapas in Addison over the weekend and had a wonderful time listening to the classical guitar sounds of Miguel Antonio. Being that I had to take my wife out for our anniversary, hearing his beautiful flamenco inspired riffs more than made up for that. All I can say is: Wow! The way he strummed through Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasía para un Gentilhombre were beyond spectacular.

The first time I saw him was several years ago at SMU's Caruth Auditorium while I was in graduate school there. Talk about an amazing show! The Dallas/Fort Worth music scene is better because of Miguel Antonio's talent. This cabellero is truly a local gem. And it is a privilege to see and hear him play.

¡Olé!

Super Bowl

Yahoo! Sports columnist Michael Silver gives his top picks for the best Super Bowl game of all time in his most recent column. I pretty much agree with his picks, especially that he put the most recent game on the list and along with the St. Louis-Tennessee game from 2000. I still can't bear to watch the last second play without getting emotional. Even when I replay it in my head, I still hope for Kevin Dyson to elude the game saving tackle!

Further down the column you should come across the "Lyric-Altered Song Dedication of the Week" for everyone's enjoyment. The altered song is Radiohead's Karma Police and the alteration is great. I love to alter song lyrics and am pretty notorious for doing that to beloved songs. My favorite is to one of REO Speedwagon's best known hits. It starts a little like this: "Heard it from a friend who... heard it from a friend who... heard it from a friend you've been fucking around." Love it!

Unhappy Valentine

I hate Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is my least favorite holiday, it even lags behind Arbor Day and Flag Day, and that's because I could care less about those "holidays." And the thing is, I've always considered myself a romantic, but I guess several years of marriage will do that to a guy. But I've always felt this way about Valentine's Day. It must be all the hype surrounding this holiday that really gets me. It's like, "Here honey, he's bunch of flowers that will wilt and die in a few days time and you'll end up getting me to clean up all the dead leaves and flowers." Or, "Here's a box of chocolates for you dear. Just don't come complaining back to me in a few days saying how fat you feel." It's just a big waste in my opinion. And don't get me started on much they jack up the prices for a measely dozen roses! They cost at least twice as much another other day throughout the year.

I also have another reason why I feel a certain disdain for this "special" day: my wedding anniversary is a few days prior so I have to deal with the ramifications of having to endure both days in a week's time. I used to joke that no one would get any Christmas gifts from me because I would have save up the money to get my wife something for our anniversary, Valentine's Day, and her birthday because they all occur in the month of February.

Spiral out: Tool and the Fibonacci Sequence

My brother forwarded me a link about Tool's use of the Fibonacci Sequence in the title track of the Laterlus album from a few years back. Having been a fan of theirs for a long time, at least 15 years, it did not surprise me that they use this sort of numerological sequence in their music. Check it out.

Spiral out, keep going...

Im-Perfect Season

The Perfect NFL Season lies somewhere out there in the mythical ether. A place where only the memories of the 1972 Miami Dolphins team reside. Having been born a year after that magical run, I have no point of reference in which to compare that team's season with any I have seen in my lifetime. There have been a couple close calls, namely the 1986 Chicago Bears, and most recently, the New England Patriots team that went into last Sunday's Super Bowl LXII 18-0.

Perhaps we'll see a perfect season in our lifetime. It could even be New England who'll do it next year. They've got the best chance to do it, as long as they avoid all bad karmic situations such as this season's Spygate incident. I swear, as bad karma goes, that was as bad as it could get. And I for one am glad that they didn't win the Super Bowl and go 19-0. This team had no business stooping down to that level and cheat lke they did. I've liked the Pats in the past and how they've won championships with a bunch of no-name players, but after having been caught breaking some NFL Rules, I've lost respect for them.

And in no way am I discounting the play of the New York Giants. Are you kidding? I'm a huge Dallas Cowboys fan, but I appreciate how the Giants played Sunday and my hoarse voice postgame was indicative of how much cheering I did for New York. That was some of the best defense play I have ever seen. I think that Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan were as worthy to receive the game's MVP honors as Eli Manning. Though that sack escape and pass to David Tyree on the game winning drive was great enough for him to win all in itself. Speaking of which, who's seen a better play in Super Bowl history?

Yes, I am sorry that history was not made last Sunday evening, because that's one of a plethora of reasons why I watch sports, but the team which wanted it more won and that's what it's all about in the end.

A few things

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything. It's not that I haven't had anything to share, but I've been spending my extra time getting back on the exercise wagon. I'd essentially fallen of the wagon, so to speak, toward the end of last year and it took a couple visits to the doctor to get me back on track.

1). I had picked up a cold back in December so I visited my doctor just to make sure. While there he saw that my blood pressure was higher than it should and said that this had been something he had noticed for the better part of a year. I had attributed my high bp in December to not having done much of any exercising in the previous month or so. But why did I stop working out to begin with? I really do not know. Perhaps it had to do with my aunt's passing in October or maybe letting the eye rolling I'd get everytime I'd go workout get the better of me. Either way, I'm on medication now and have gotten back into the exercising groove of things. There's nothing better than waking up sore the morning after a good workout.

If you've got some iffy health issues going on, please go get yourself checked out and be proactive about it. Talk to your friends and family and go from there.

2). Actor Heath Ledger passed away quite unexpectedly today. It is a tremendous shock to any movie fan. I've only seen a few of his movies, although none of his newer flicks, but I do know that we've lost a great actor and person. Please say a little prayer for him and his family. It is certainly a sad day for us all.

3). Hopefully the Dallas Cowboys have a better year next year. To be honest with you, I did not think they'd be this "good" this year. I thought they'd be 10-6 or even 11-5, but not the 13-3 the pulled off this regular season. Knowing how well they did this, however, I'm expecting them to do alot more than to have a great regular season, and get to the playoffs. Nothing short of making it to the Super Bowl next year will be unacceptable. Good thing that Jerry Jones re-signed Jason Garrett. They'd go nowhere without him into the future. Now if Tony Romo could find himself an honest, likeable, no-name girlfriend...

New Year's Day Sports at Its Finest

From about 10:30 am, local time New Year's Day, until the start of the Rose Bowl, I endured what one could call, sports heaven. I put my remote to the ultimate test yesterday with all the games a guy can handle. For starters, the Cotton Bowl game between Missouri and Arkansas was a great game, especially if you were pulling for Mizzou. Sorry Hogs fans, my burnt Orange blood was a little too thick to root for you yesterday. Then at 12pm, the game of the day came on from Orchard Park, New York. Eh, what?! Yes, you heard me, I watched the Pittsburgh Penguins versus Buffalo Sabres game played outside in the elements.

What a wonderful concept. Though I didn't catch the first time the NHL played an outdoor game a few years back, I made a point to watch this one. First of all, it the game was played in front of 73,000+ plus fans. Secondly and more importantly, they played in the snow. The lake effect snow machine was in full force, okay, I exaggerate, but it snowed for most of the game. If you didn't see the game, you missed something special.

During and after this game were too equally intriguing bowl games, Michigan vs Florida and Virginia vs Texas Tech. Although I could have had a split loyalty for each team in the first set of games, my rooting for Michigan superceded any small allegiance I had for Florida. What a way to send off outgoing headcoach Lloyd Carr. In what was one of the biggest upsets of the day, Big Blue sent the cocky Gators on a long drive up the interstate from Orlando to Gainesville.

Texas Tech spent most of their game playing catch-up with Virginia. But thanks to heroics by their stud quarterback Graham Harrell and his offense, Tech was able to surpass the Cavaliers with a game-winning field goal with a couple seconds left.

(On a related note, I don't know about you, but I think the Big 12 will have a great season next year. Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas Tech among others will return most of their starting line-ups. Can't wait for that!)

If it wasn't for the two blowouts in the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl, New Year's Day 2008 could've been a perfect way to start the sports year.