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

Who's Your Daddy?

How hard can it be to get a blood test?

In the continuing saga of Dannielynn Smith (the 5 month old daughter of Anna Nichole Smith for those of you who have been living under a rock), the various "interested" parties are flying from one port of call to another without anyone going to a medical clinic except for Anna Nichole who is, from my accounts laying in a Morgue in Florida 18 days after her death.

This child was born September 7 and almost immediately one of the people claiming to be the child's father requested paternity testing; but Anna Nichole and her Attorney/Companion/Common-Law Husband (?) skirted the issue, by placing his name on the birth certificate and started the P/R ball rolling to make this child's paternity a nasty public issue when it is, in fact a medical certainty.

The sad thing is that this woman chose to air a private conflict in a public forum.
Was she unaware that she had been used by others for their own personal gain for many years? Her self-image was so damaged that she escaped facing reality by sleeping around (e.g., being a "free spirit"), having multiple plastic surgeries and the consumption of untold amounts prescription medications. The woman was on a downward spiral that, through neglect and lack of self-awareness (IMHO) resulted in both her and her son's death. A sad state of affairs indeed.

Now the "Adults" left behind are continuing the public battle of a matter that should have been quickly and simply resolved shortly after Dannielynn's birth.

This child deserves a better life and I hope that the Judge and Guardian Ad-litum in the custody case have the courage to ensure that custody and visitation are arranged in HER best interests and she is able to grow up out of the spotlight and finds a way to cope with the spite and whirlwind that surrounded her Mother's short sad life.

Somebody order the DamB blood test and let this child get to the business of growing up.

The Astronaut Farmer

"If we don't have our dreams, we have nothing."

It appears that Desdemona isn't the only one building Rocketships.... *big grin*
While Charles Farmer's desire to reach the stars has a different genesis, the goal is the same.

It's what's in the heart that other's often cannot comprehend. Desdemona found that Joe Merchant was the missing link she needed to connect her with the stars.
What/Who is yours?

I think I'll go put on the blue jumpsuit that the Boomtown Boys gave me, and get back to work.

Go "Build Rocketships Now" *wink*

Film Review - The Dream is Alive: 'The Astronaut Farmer'
at Space.com

Said Mark Polish in Warner Brothers’ production notes, “The story was sparked by our interest in space exploration, but beyond that, it’s about a need to dream of adventures, whether it’s Neil Armstrong or Lewis and Clark. I think that, as a society, we’ve stopped dreaming about exploration.”

Farmer’s family, who dreams with and for him, is not unlike NASA’s workforce and its supporters. They understand the dream, even if those around them -- Farmer’s neighbors and the media who flock to his ranch -- do not.

"Somewhere along the line, we stopped believing that we can do anything," says Farmer. So, could be argued, has the nation, if not the world. We went to the Moon in 1969 because we didn’t know we couldn’t do so. Today, politicians and the public are too quick to assume that if a dream seems impossible, then it likely is.

"That kid can fly."

Surfer Girl and her husband have agreed on a name for their daughter. She picked the middle name and he the first.

After explaining the meaning of the name to our son, he commented that:
"The Prophecy is proceeding as I had forseen."

If you know ANYTHING about Star Wars, then you know that it is a story about family.
The interesting thing is that none of this was planned, sometimes the fates align and everything just falls into place.

The naming of this child appears to be one of those times...

And the name of Luke's Niece is Jaina Rose.

The name "Jaina" could originate from the Hindi word jaina.
This itself comes from the Sanskrit jina, which means "saint", and more literally, "overcomer" (triumph).
The root words for this are ji ("to conquer") and jayati ("he conquers").

Additionally, Jaina could also be derived from "Joan," which is Hebrew for "God's gracious gift."



"I name you the Sword of the Jedi. […] you shall be blessed for the peace you bring to others."
―Luke Skywalker

Little Miss Magic

Surfer Girl had a sonogram today and the Grandkeet is a healthy Girl!

So in less than three months this precious gift will come into the world and turn Surfer Girl and her husband’s lives upside down in the most wonderful way.

I told Junior Mint the news and could tell immediately that he was disappointed that the baby wasn’t a boy, but he took a breath and said…”Well, ok.”

How exciting to be an Uncle at eight!
I don’t mind being a crazy Grandma, as long as Kokomo is my AWEsome Grandpa.

Now, Little Miss Magic what are you gonna be?