Two hundred years too late...

I've always been drawn to the Sea, but lived most of my life landlocked with frequent escapes to the water.
Having already been to the Caribbean this year, and with Buffett concert season starting soon, I'm ready to dive full force into the fun and fantasy of the life of a Pirate.
Yes, I've got a Texas heart and a Caribbean soul I can barely control.

So, with 61 days till the next Pirates of the Caribbean film is released, I found this fun quiz so you, too can see how much Pirate you have in your soul...

Jack Sparrow: [to Elizabeth] One word love; curiosity. You long for freedom. You long to do what you want to do because you want it. To act on selfish impulse. You want to see what it's like. One day you won't be able to resist.

What Pirates of the Caribbean character are you? Your Result: Jack Sparrow You are the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow! You disapeared under agents of the East India Trading Company, sacked Nassau port without firing a shot, and you managed to get so drunk that you are now considered a crazy person!
Will Turner
Elizabeth Swann
James Norrington
Tia Dalma
Cutler Beckett
Hector Barbossa
Davy Jones
What Pirates of the Caribbean character are you?

Elizabeth Swann: [to Jack] Curiosity. You're going to want it. A chance to be admired, and gain the rewards that follow. You won't be able to resist. You're going to want to know what it tastes like.

We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About…

Last night there was a phlocking of a few phriends from high school. We reminisced about old times and caught up about our current lives.


The occasion was because the daughter of one of us is getting married this weekend. Both she, her intended and her sister were there. That didn’t stop any of us “older” folks from cutting loose about who was “hot” or not, who was a gold digger or black widow, who was (un)ethical in business and what we thought about it.

One of us even had the foresight to bring our old school “yearbook” so we could gossip about the indiscretions of those who were unfortunate enough not to be in our good graces or intelligent enough to have hung out with us in our younger days… or stood the test of time with us.

Sigh…time.

Somewhere I took a right instead of a left, and I’m thankful of the phriends that persist in keeping up with me in spite of my windward ways. You are special to me…life is a hellova ride, let’s do it together.

And for AED and AI, I have only one word of advice for your marriage. Patience.

Pirates - At World's End

I can't tell you how excited I am to see the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean. Who's going to betray who? Can Will emerge in his own right? Where does Lizzy's heart truly lie? Will there be a wedding? Is Tia Dalma Calypso? What is the story between Captain Teague and Jack? Who will die?

The trailer has just been released and has some tantalizing clips, especially if you know about the mythology of the films.

Watch an HD version (720p) here
(please allow time for it to download).

Captain America, RIP

It's a slap in the face of American Patriotism, pure and simple.

Captain America was assassinated on the Courthouse steps by a sniper’s bullet.

The recent storyline is a foreign writer's attempt to force his personal opinion on the current climate in American Politics (i.e., the death of [personal] Liberty) on us.
(Mark Millar is Scottish born & raised, and currently lives in Glasgow.)

Wha??? Captain America has saved the world from those who would destroy freedom of expression countless times since he arrived on the scene in 1941 (just before the USA officially entered World War II).

Steve Rogers didn’t start out as a hero; he was a wimpy guy that didn’t make the cut, until he participated in a secret experiment to create an elite group of super soldiers. Every kid has insecurities, and the Captain America story let’s kids imagine that even the “square” kids can do something important…all you need is an indestructible shield and can do spirit.

While I haven’t kept up with the current “Civil War” being played out in the Marvel Universe, from what I understand, I don’t like it. Superheroes don’t fight superheroes. They are symbolic metaphors, not the personal platform for individual social commentary…seeing a superhero playing the role of social dissident doesn’t feel right to me. Captain America fights for the ideal of a free and democratic society…the greater good; not the selfish concerns of the one. We must “live together or die alone” and “justice for all”.

Captain America saves the world by riding a Nazi rocket to (his apparent doom) in the Atlantic Ocean, ultimately to be rescued by “The Avengers”. Captain America once considered whether being a superhero is worth it (what superhero hasn’t), but ultimately he chooses to keep fighting. Above all Captain America is a Patriot. For him to be gunned down by a mysterious sniper (ala Jack Ruby) symbolizes the loss of the American Dream. I get it, the symbol of freedom lies dying with handcuffs on; but I don’t believe that the American Dream is dying.

If the Captain (aka “America”) is going to bite it, he deserves to go out in a blaze of glory, not some act of street violence. I don’t know about you, but I still believe in America and the fight for Justice, and feel certain that a lot of other folks do, too.

Can Captain America be resurrected? You bet, it is the comics after all..and Marvel is tops in the soap opera department.

Can you tell me where I might find my friend and companion?

Captain will help anyone a friend or a stranger
Now number one without a gun he's bypassed the Lone Ranger
He's a do good who loves apple pie and kisses little babies
He'll guard you against everything from atom bombs to rabies.

Captain America we love you, Captain America you're grand.
~Jimmy Buffett, Captain America,
originally from the album Down to Earth, 1970.

Blue Sun

And you thought you found me because of Firefly...

"Excuse me, while I kiss the sky."

That's ok. I'm a huge Firefly/Serenity fan.

I can do you one better.

Last weekend (2/24) over North Texas there was a REAL
Blue Sun.

No kidding.

Truly, dust can turn the sun blue. But it takes a special kind of dust. All the grains in the cloud must be about the same size and, for maximum blue, should measure about 1 millionth of a meter across. This makes the air behave like a blue filter.

And guess what, there was this weird dust storm that blew threw North Texas last Saturday that wreaked havoc, downing power lines with 60 mph winds, leaving homes without electricity and causing the cancellation of about 300 flights at DFW airport...and turned the sun blue.


The winds caused praire fires and even forced the evacuation of the Fort Hood Army base!

This was an eerie storm, but I am truly one of the priviledged few to experience a Blue Sun.

Take my love. Take my land.
Take me where I cannot stand.
I don't care, I'm still free.
You can't take the sky from me.

Harken: Seems odd you'd name your ship after a battle you were on the wrong side of.
Mal: May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.*

*Remember the Alamo, March 6

Independent Texans

Today is Texas Independence Day.

171 years ago today, Texas declared it's independence from Mexico as the Alamo was under it's final siege.
You remember the Alamo, right?

The Alamo fell 4 days later (March 6, 1836), and the decisive battle of the Revolution occurred on April 21 at San Jacinto.

Both Texicans and Tejanos should be proud of the Republic of Texas that existed for for nearly 10 years before joining America as the 28th State. And what a State it has become! There's nothing like Tex-Mex food or music that Tejano's have created here anywhere in Mexico...even the Spanglish is different in Texas. Texans are distinctive in our food music and culture, a blending of the American west and South of the Border. Texans aren't better than other folks...just different.

A few famous Texans I thought of while trying to think of an interesting quote for this page...

George Bush, George W. Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Adm. Chester Nimitz, Sissy Spacek, Lance Armstrong, Molly Ivans, Anna Nichole Smith, Beyoncé, Townes Van Zandt, Janis Joplin, Tommy Lee Jones, Barbara Jordan, Kris Kristofferson, Farrah Fawcett, Jayne Mansfied, Joan Crawford, Don Henley, Pat Green, Henry Cisneros, Nellie Connally, Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Matthew McConaughey, Gene Roddenberry, Bonnie & Clyde, Lee Harvey Oswald, Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, George Strait, The Dixie Chicks, Bob Wills, Buddy Holly, J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, Waylon Jennings, "Blind" Lemon Jefferson, T-Bone Walker, Howard Hughes, Roger Staubauch, Nolan Ryan, Selena, Los Loney Boys, Jimmie Vaughn, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Miller, ZZ Top...

...in the infamous words of (another) famous Texan

That's right your not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway.

So on this day of rememberance, hoist your Shiner (or Dr Pepper)and face toward Washington-on-the-Brazos, then give a toast. (something like "To Texas Independence" or "Long Live the Republic of Texas")

Be sure to remember next Tuesday, March 6th, commemorates the Battle of Alamo, and say a special prayer for all the brave souls that fought and died in the heroic stand of that great Mission in San Antonio.

Honor the Texas Flag.
I pledge allegiance to thee: Texas, one and indivisible.
~Pledge to the Texas Flag