Category Archives: Native Texan

Tuesday, June 7, 2016 – Comity

Tuesday, June 7, 2016 – Comity

Good morning, boys and girls. Our word for the day is “comity.” It is a noun that means mutual courtesy or civility. It is also used as a “comity of nations” or a courtesy between nations, as in respect shown by one country for the laws, judicial decisions and institutions of another.

Comity was first used in Dante Alighieri’s (1265-1321) The Divine Comedy. The first part of The Divine Comedy is called The Inferno (Italian for Hell). It is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem Hell is depicted as nine circles of suffering located within the Earth and who is doomed to live in the various circles of Hell.

Comity is obviously not a word that is in Donald Trump’s vocabulary or understanding. FYI – The politicians are located in level eight of Hell.

Buddy Glasses

Buddy T. Cat – a scholar and a gentleman. Miss you!

Monday, June 6, 2016 – The Frogs from TCU are Hoping and Hopping

Monday, June 6, 2016 – The Frogs from TCU are Hoping and Hopping

That is correct. The TC PHEW horn frogs won the Fort Worth Regional baseball tournament. This means the Texas Aggies are waiting for you to take Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park this week. The bubbles will be waiting for you. And so will our Aggie memories from last year. So here’s to hoping, hopping and WHOOPING. BTHO TCU!

In other sports news I see where a blogger for Kansas (rock, chalk Jayhawk) wants The Big 12 to remove Baylor from the conference for the recent activity with the football team. Do you even play football, Kansas? I thought you only had a basketball team – a men’s team at that. Removing BU from the Big 12 will do what? I am not taking up for Baylor by any means. But it also serves no purpose for others to kick them when they are down. Especially since you bring nothing to the Big 12 yourself.

I am done. Over and out and off to the golf course. Hasta la manana.

Barn 1

 

Friday, June 3, 2016 – Baseball, Bubbles and Texas Aggies

Friday, June 3, 2016 – Baseball, Bubbles and Texas Aggies

It’s a long way to Tipparari and it’s a long way to Omaha, Nebraska, home of the Division I College Baseball World Series. But it begins today in Blue Bell Park on Olsen Field. Coming to visit the beautiful, if not still flooded, Brazos Valley are:

Beginning at 3:00 PM today, the teams taking to the field are:

The Wake Forest Deacon Demons and the Minnesota Gophers.

Wake Forest is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina – a city named after two brands of cigarettes. It was found in 1834 and first called The Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute. In 1839 the name was changed to Wake Forest College. That made it sound less like a prison. The mascot of Wake Forest is the Demon Deacons whose colors are Wake Forest gold and black. Everyone loves a good oxymoron mascot.

The University of Minnesota – represents the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Their mascot is the Gophers whose name is Goldy Gopher. They could be scary gophers. They have been to the CWS SEVEN times, have many conference baseball championships and have many players who play or have played in the MLB. Not just a pretty gopher face. The school colors are doo-doo brown and yellow.

At 8:00 the teams taking the field are:

The State University of New York Binghamton University Bearcats. BU, as they like to be known, was established in 1946 to meet the needs of the local World War II vets returning from war. The color is dark green. Just one color? Not even white? Is the Baxter the Bearcat dressed in all green?

And hosting the regional we have the #4 Top National Seed – The SEC Tournament Champions – Texas Aggie Baseball Team! WHOOP! Bring on the bubbles! When the Aggies score a run, the fans have bubble machines sending bubbles throughout the field.

The Aggies and the Bearcats can be seen on the SEC network. The rest of teams’ fans get to pay ESPN3 for streaming.

A word to the other teams – don’t forget to factor in the train schedule. I so enjoy hearing the train whistle as moves along the tracks next to Wellborn just as the visiting pitcher goes into his wind up. Scares the crap out of him and makes him throw the ball into the upper stands! Gig ‘Em!

Campus tour 7.5.2014 2014-07-05 101 (600x800)

A landmark in College Station. Do you know what it is?

Campus tour 7.5.2014 2014-07-05 056 (2) (600x800)

BTHO Binghamton

Wednesday, June 1, 2016 – June is Busting Out All Over – 161 Days

Wednesday, June 1, 2016 – June is Busting Out All Over – 161 Days

I was looking for something to think about today and found nothing of interest. I will play word association with myself.

Bouys

Donald Trump – Bombastic – even the PGA is leaving your Florida golf course and taking a tournament to Mexico City.

Hillary Clinton – I will email her later.

Bernie Sanders – The Supremes – You Just Keep Me Hanging On

ESPN/CBS/SEC Football Broadcasts – House Cleaning – Good Bye Vern Lunquist. Good Bye Chris Berman. Please take Brent Mushburger with you. See if Jesse Palmer can ride with you.

NCAA Women’s College World Series – there are some very large girls who play softball. If you have any eligibility left I am sure a Division III football team would be interested in your talents.

Baylor – WOW. How sad. And now Ken Starr. Who would have ever seen his demise due to a sex scandal? Talk about Karma. One of my mother’s favorite proverbs “Play in shit; gonna get shitty.”

New Favorite TV Show – Houdini and Doyle – Science vs. Spiritualism in London 1901 plus the suffragettes.

Texas – “Water, water, everywhere and oh the boards did shrink; water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.”

Transgender – Give me strength. Who gets to do the in-service next fall for teachers on who gets to tinkle where? Does it coincide with their concealed handgun workshop?

Nothing of interest – same old same old except for the 161 days. There are 161 days until Election Day. Then what?

Tuesday, May 31, 2016 – Football, Basketball and Baseball

Tuesday, May 31, 2016 – Football, Basketball and Baseball

NCAA Football – I have shied away from the Baylor University scandal. It is a sad situation and I know my personal Baylor family and my family of Baylor friends are heartbroken. I will take a bat-crap, mentally disturbed Heisman winner over this scandal any day.

However, I saw today that Baylor hired Wake Forest football coach Jim Grobe as acting head coach for 2016. He comes from a school whose mascot is the Demon Deacons. Here’s what I’m thinking – it was the demon deacons that got Baylor in this mess in the first place. The ultimate irony is Ken Starr being demoted in a sex scandal.

NBA Basketball – too much Curry and not enough KD (Kevin Durant) Sad for my OKC Thunder fans, but excited for my Golden State Warrior friends.

NCAA Baseball – THE University of Texas reassigned long-time baseball coach Augie Garrido. Meanwhile to those teams whose sights are set on the College World Series in Omaha get to play on. The CWS takes place in Omaha, Nebraska in case the Longhorns forgot where it is held since you have not visited in so long.

First, however, in order to play in Omaha eight teams must win through their NCAA College Baseball Regionals and Super Regionals beginning on Friday. Perhaps the name should be changed to “Welcome to the SEC and ACC College Baseball Tournaments.” Or maybe the name should be changed to the Southern NCAA Regionals, since most of the 64 teams and all of the hosting sites are in the south.

Meanwhile for the #4 National Seed – The Fighting Texas Aggies play Binghamton State University of New York. Who? More about the Binghamton Bearcats later. Until then,

BTHO Binghamton

Barn 1 (800x530)

Note the trespassing sign to the left. I am outside the fence with a telephoto lens. Photo by me.

Oh look – The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are in the College Station Regional too.

Monday, May 30, 2016 – Reflections and Sacrifices

Monday, May 30, 2016 – Reflections and Sacrifices

It is Memorial Day – a time to reflect and remember all who served and especially those who gave the greatest sacrifice to ensure our freedom. We are thankful and grateful for your service.

Korean Relfection (800x530)

Reflection Wall at Korean Monument – Washington D. C. – June 2013. Photo by me.

 

Friday, May 27, 2016 – It Did Not Seem Like Kansas At First, But…

Friday, May 27, 2016 – It Did Not Seem Like Kansas At First, But…

It did not seem like the opening scenes of The Wizard of Oz until about 1:00 PM yesterday when the pressure dropped sucking all the air out of my living room for a couple of seconds. Then the weather alarms went off saying “take shelter in inner room.”  I ensure I have car keys, wallet, flashlight, a charged phone, and a bottle of water. I also ensure I am wearing appropriate foundation garments, a nice t-shirt, jeans and proper shoes in the event I am on the evening news. I then seek shelter. And that’s when I saw my motorcycle helmet and thought what the hell?  I also took my tablet so I could stream the SEC baseball tournament on ESPN. So there I sat for about 15 minutes until weather app says it was safe to leave.

Helmet (800x800)

As the day stormed on and news reports were issued, I learned the tornado briefly touched down – first in the Lowe’s parking lot off of Briarcrest and Highway 6 (probably when the air got sucked out of my living room); then it crossed Highway 6 and touching down at Booneville Rd (Highway 158) and Briarcrest – directly across from Allen Academy and then proceeding cause significant damage to Wheeler Ridge subdivision.  Thankfully there were no injuries or lives lost. I mention these because if you have been to my house, you know those are the exits you take to my house.

Eagle tornado (800x450)

But Bryan, Texas made the ABC World News last evening.  Storms began around 3 AM this morning and have continued all morning.   I have gone to inflate my raft. Stay safe. Stay dry.  Thank you to all who checked on my safety.

 

 

Tuesday, May 24, 2016 – The Mascots – They Are Part of the Family Too.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016 – The Mascots – They Are Part of the Family Too.

As the college football fanatics count down the days until kick off, we learn today of a sadness and a happiness regarding school mascots.

On the sadness side for all my LSU relatives and friends, Mike the Tiger was diagnosed with cancer.http://www.tmz.com/2016/05/23/lsu-tiger-mascot-diagnosed-with-cancer/?adid=hero2

Mike is indeed one of the most beautiful (and scary) mascots in all of college football. He will be provided with the best care possible to live his days in comfort. Would somebody living in Louisiana please go take a picture of Mike for me? I will repay you by renting my front bed room to you on Thanksgiving weekend for no charge.

On the happiness side for all of my friends who had to go THE University of Texas in Austin, their new mascot Bevo XV will be on the sidelines at the Longhorn vs Notre Dame game on September 4. Yeah – a Longhorn Steer and a Creepy Leprechaun.

Bevo XIV passed away from cancer last year. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2016/05/23/bevo-mascot-chosen-returns-to-texas-sideline-in-2016/84816762/

It really was strange to not have Bevo on the sidelines during the last football games. However, I do not think the missing mascot was the reason the Longhorns lost all of the games.

Was it really necessary to note that the premier of Bevo XV marks the 100th anniversary of its appearance with a victory over Texas A&M? If Bevo XV is “very gentle, smart and curious” as they say, then Bevo knows, The Aggies no longer care about the rivalry. We’ve got LSU.

Running Reveille (800x533)

Friday, May 20, 2016 – Snarky Friday! Is There an English Teacher in the House?

Friday, May 20, 2016 – Snarky Friday! Is There an English Teacher in the House? A Comma Mama? A Grammar Daddy? A Verb Virtuoso? How about a copy editor? A proof reader?

If so, please send your application to the Texas Republican Party.   It seems the GOP (Group of Penjedos) in their 2016 Party Platform called the majority of Texans homosexuals. I am pretty certain this was not what they intended the sentence to say. I would like to see the demographic study that provided that statistic.

All because of an out of place comma, the wrong verb tense and not to mention a missing possessive. I know the previous is a sentence fragment, but I am not running the state of Texas.

quote

NPR website – link below

As Texas Monthly rightly points out, the sentence actually says that homosexual behavior “has been ordained by God in the Bible, recognized by our nations founders, and shared by the majority of Texans.””

quote 2

A corrected by senior NPR editor

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/19/478720206/how-the-wrong-verb-meant-the-texas-gop-called-most-texans-gay

Does this new demographic get its own bathroom? Since the Republican Party took such an interest in my bedroom, in my body and my bodily functions and now who goes to the bathroom where, I am so confused. What if I want to go to Rocky Horror Picture Show and dress like Dr. Frank N Furter – the transsexual alien? Where do I go to the bathroom?

TGOP? Why didn’t you just use the 2014 plank with all of the verbs, commas and other grammatical boo boos correct? Better yet, why don’t you just change your entire platform to another year – perhaps something from when the dinosaurs roamed?

Living in Texas is like a rocky horror picture show.

Thursday, May 19, 2016 – The Memories Implode – Floyd Casey Stadium

Thursday, May 19, 2016 – The Memories Implode – Floyd Casey Stadium

On Saturday, May 14, 2016, Floyd Casey Stadium, home of Baylor Bears Football was imploded. https://vimeo.com/167029200

Implosion (800x619)

With the falling concrete and rising dust memories of good times and not so good times, filled the memory banks of players, coaches, spectators, graduates and even rivals.

On December 3, 2013 I drove to Waco to take photographs of Floyd Casey Stadium. The temperature was 87 degrees. I wore shorts and a T-shirt.

Floyd Casey Stadium 12.03.13 2013-12-03 012 (800x530)

box with bu (800x429)

Floyd Casey Stadium 12.03.13 2013-12-03 107 (800x528)

Floyd Casey Stadium 12.03.13 2013-12-03 164 (800x518)

My photographs show the perfect light and the last day the sun would shine on Floyd Casey Stadium. No photograph is retouched.

On December 7, 2013 the last football game in the stadium was played between Baylor and The University of Texas. The temperature was 14 degrees. I was home by the fire.

Field on 12.7.13 (800x451)

Stadium collage (800x634)

Oh yes, the Baylor Bears were victorious in their last game in Floyd Casey Stadium. Who did they defeat? Why, the Texas Longhorns.

How many days until kick off? As a few minutes ago, it was 99 days, 48 minutes and 22 seconds.

Countdown clock: https://days.to/until/ncaa-season