Legacy

If you have been reading this blog at all, surely you can understand why I say that I am not only the luckiest man on the planet........but......also truly blessed. My primary goal in life has been to have a family.........and by golly I have accomplished exactly that. It has been no easy ride.....no piece of cake......a real challenge.........sometimes even a harrowing experience. All of that and yet it has been my pleasure to do my share to increase the surface population.

Countless school visits........programs, ceremonies, performances along with more than a few confrontations with principals and teachers regarding their own ineptness at educational expertise. Hey.......I have an excuse.....but THEY are supposed to have credentials.........you know what I mean.

Unbelievably busy schedules where it seemed like we were booked so solid that sometimes there wasn't enough time to read the newspaper while on the toilet.......hehehe...........always on the run here and there.

Just about everything that was done was for the kids. They were the priority. Sometimes you wish you could relive alot of the experience just so you can slow things down and absorb what was taking place. Thankfully, I did take alot of video and snapshots throughout it all, and I often look back and say to myself, "What was I thinking!?".......hehehe. After I am long dead and gone, I have to know that a part of me will continue on through my kids. I am sure of that. For better or worse.............good with the bad................and I like that fact. I would imagine that if anyone had a family that was perfectly perfect it would be rather irritating. Imagine having kids that were always right to the extent that they would always be pointing out when you are wrong about stuff................Hey!.......I am entitled to be wrong about stuff! There is a certain glory in having been wrong about something and then correcting that wrong............accomplishment in the face of all odds against you kind of stuff.

So here is my legacy..........the kids...........imperfect, yet EXACTLY what I wanted and needed.

Yep........I have done good.

And the legacy continues on............

.........Look at all the little fartknockers!

Memories Of An Uncertain Past

Sometimes the past haunts you. Not necessarily in a bad way, but in all sorts of ways. You only get one childhood in your lifetime........unfortunately, when you are a child, not too many of the adults that surround you at that time are even thinking straight or even considering the various repercussions that will result for events that took place. This is not so much a complaint......think of it as simply a reflection. I have to sit here and hope that I have succeeded where others had failed before me. Failures in life are probably a necessary evil. It is what people do after a failed event that will be important to any child later in their lives. You wanna remember when the adults stepped up to the plate and made things right for you. Sadly, sometimes a ship sinks and not always do the captains survive and either make it to shore or get themselves a better boat.

Such is the story of my childhood, I suppose.

Without getting into sordid details, I shall share a bit of my childhood. No..........this is not going to hurt, it is not going to be hilarious, nor will it be like any epic tale..........whaddya expect?........this is just a blog entry......hehehe.

As it was, I was driving around about a week ago, and I decided to revisit one of the many old neighborhoods that I had lived in as a child. In particular, I drove through what is known as Waltherson.............but when I lived there it was called Gardenville. Go figure........it is one of those areas where community boundaries are very questionable. To me........it is Gardenville. Some of this neighborhood is the same as it was when I was a kid but with a few changes here and there. Of course, crime is a problem here now, yet not nearly as bad as other communities in Baltimore. Driving through, I am taken back to when I was a kid........I remember going "trick or treat" on all of these streets.........I remember walking.......I remember the other kids and wonder where they are now..........sometimes you would love to hear what others may have went through in life so that you have something to compare to. Surely, 99% of the families that once lived here have moved on.......and some have passed away. There is a part of me that wonders if any of them even remember the kids from 5009 Oaklyn Avenue.

This is how the house looks today. It is still the same except for a few things. Vinyl siding has replaced the old shingles.........different door.........the two large bushes that were at the beginning of the walkway are long gone..............a bay window was put in place. The living room was on the left...........my parent's bedroom was on the right. There was a fairly large tree that was in the middle of the grass on the left. I do not remember the bush that you can see further back.....maybe it was a very small bush some 42 years ago. On the right side of the front yard was a mimosa tree which I used to climb and play on..........it too is long gone. The azalea bush to the left of the front door is still there.........it has grown nicely and beautiful as ever.

Ahhhhhhh........I zoom in with my camera.........picture a kid in an Oriole shirt sitting on a pony right there in front of that window and azalea bush..........can you picture it? Back in the day......particularly the mid 1960's.......milk was delivered in glass bottles, Rice's Bakery delivered bread and doughnuts and cakes, topsoil vendors would come by and sell fresh dirt (hmmmm......what is stale dirt?), and the Good Humor Man came down the street once a day........and it just so happened that one day a truck came down Oaklyn Avenue with a horse trailer. A man got out of the truck and went to each door selling pony portraits. So you grab a kid, set him on the pony, the man takes the picture and they send them to you in the mail. Fantastic.........this kind of thing is sorely needed today. Most of today's kids never see a horse unless they go to the horse. 1965 and the horse comes to your home..........fantastic!.............and I, of course, just had to get on that pony!...........Can you see it? Can you picture a young Signtopia on a pony?.............sure you can............

.....and there I was. I was thrilled!..............this city boy was on a real horse! A moment in time that will last as long as I breathe.............gee..........I bet the photographer had no idea just how important he was in children's lives..........and I bet he didn't even make more than three or four dollars per picture.........probably less.

My bedroom was on the right at the back of the house. The bathroom was where that smaller window is. My sisters had the two rooms on the second floor. I remember a time when they had a sleepover and my dad took two poles and taped them together and strapped a doll to the end of the poles and raised it up to the second floor window...........hehehe...........my dad...........years later, I would do a variation of this trick on my own kids..........I would tie some jingle bells to a pole and lift them up outside the kids bedroom window and add to their Christmas fervor.....hehehe.
It's a shame that mimosa tree is gone...................it all seems so small now. I suppose the older you get, the smaller the world gets around you.

It was right there............that piece of roadway...........I fell off of my bike......hit a rock on the street, the front tire twists to the left and down I went. Face first into the cement street. Blood everywhere.......my oldest sister carries me into the house.........this was a "trauma" situation! We didn't have a car, so my uncle had to come and take us to the hospital. A lot of time went by recuperating from that accident.......no broken bones.......just some nasty road burn over a large portion of my face. I can still smell the Phisohex that the doctors wanted my mom to keep putting on my face. Oh well............I suppose I recovered okay and did not get scarred to badly........after all, I did grow up and marry Supernurse.......hehehe.

I remember just waisting some time and digging into the ground next to the large tree that once sat in the front yard. I had a small stick in my hand and I just kept digging a small hole......and then I hit something!........At first I had thought it was a root........but I kept digging and poking around it and I struck gold!..........well..........it wasn't gold......but it was BRONZE! I found about three or four old coins........and I remember looking at them and seeing how odd they were.....they were rather large for pennies.........about the size of a half dollar. Turned out that they were British Pennies with King George on them.........WOW! I wonder how they got there in the ground on that spot.

We used to think this was a steep hill.........hehehe. The sledding in the winter was fun.

We used to think that Oaklyn Avenue was wide and long, too. I remember that we would always take a popsicle stick and go sit in the street and pop the bubbles in the tar seams. Picture large cement road sections joined together with a bead of tar. In the hot sun, the tar would form bubbles and when you dragged a popsicle stick over those bubbles, they would pop. We didn't have no computer games back them.............so we had popsicle sticks.......hehehe. We would play games............Fifty Scatters, SPUD, Handball, Curb-ball, Dodge, Hide & Seek, Red Light.........every kid on the street would play. Me and Jimmy Cline would play "Army" and we both had our own GI JOE's. I remember the Blizzard of '66.......snow, snow and more snow! I remember the one day that the Good Humor Man stopped for us and Debbie Jones' parents were not home and she thought that someone was in the house. She told the Good Humor Man and he grabbed this large metal hook that he kept with him so that he could reach deep into the ice box and grab boxes of ice cream..........and he took that hook and went into her house and looked around to see if anyone was in there. It turned out that nobody was in her house and he went back to the ice cream truck and began to dispense with the ice cream as each one of us kids would climb up into the front seat and ring the jingle bells. It was a big deal.

Our time here on Oaklyn Avenue was too short yet for a child it seemed much longer. That it still remains in my heart, makes that time an eternity.

Oaklyn Avenue intesects with Biddison Lane and above that, it intersects with Forrester Avenue. At that intersection, in the very middle of the intersection, is a cemetery. It is the Biddison Family Cemetery. It is still there after all these years and sadly, nobody has ever taken care of it. Tombstones are knocked over and the weeds and brush are overgrown. If you or I let our own property go like that, we would face some serious consequences. I have no idea why this has been let go as long as it has. It dishonors those whose remains are buried there. I remember the huge walnut trees and the hundreds of walnuts that would be on the street surrounding the cemetery. Today, walnuts have been replaced by trash, bottles, and used needles.

Surely, the Biddison family still has living people in it. Where are they and when are they going to do something about this? And if they have all passed.......the City Of Baltimore should cherish its history and honor the Biddisons by cleaning up this cemetery. From what I have read, the Biddison's once owned all of this land in this area.

On Biddison Lane, at the intersection with Eugene Avenue, sits what once was the Vitak family home and business. They had a grocery store here. They even had fresh meat, Mr Vitak was a butcher. I would go to this store very often. Mrs Vitak was a nice a lady as it gets. I would get candy here. I wonder what ever happened to them. Surely, they have passed away.

John's Bar.......as it looks today...........is on Belair Road on the corner of Bellwood. Every Saturday, me and my father would walk to the A&P Grocery Store and my dad would stop in here for a beer or two. Often there would be an Orioles game on the tv above the bar......I remember that it was a color tv except that the predominant color was green for some reason. John, the bartender, had really bad arthritis and his hands were distorted and he must have struggled to serve glasses of Natty Boh. Me?........I would have a Coke and my dad would give me some change for the nut machines.......and there were two of them......one had pistachios and one had cashews. My dad would knock down a couple of beers and we would go grocery shopping.......of course, after we were finished, we would cross the street and stop back in at John's Bar. After a few more beers, we would walk the rest of the way home with our groceries. Sometimes my dad hand carried four grocery bags.........that is until we got a two wheeled folding grocery cart. Then he would overload it with stuff until the tires would practically flatten. My dad really enjoyed grocery shopping..........but he enjoyed his Natty Boh a bit too much.

There's Gil's Pizza. Gil's originally was further down Belair Road up across from the Woodlea Bakery near the Earle Theater. Today, it is located just south of Biddison Lane in a place that was once a record shop. John's Bar was in the next block and my dad and I would have to walk right past the record shop every Saturday............twice! The importance of this little tidbit of information is that my life changed because of that record shop. Each time we passed by that record shop, I would look at the displays in the front window. There they were. Four half silhouetted faces on cardboard with a record half pulled out from it..........on display.....right there in that window. Oh the torture! The pain. The agony. I had to have one of them. I needed one of those. "Dad?........Look at that!"

After a few weeks of "Dad?.......Can I.......?".............he said "Yes!" Oh man........I was in heaven.
We went in and I became the proud owner of my first Beatles album. I wanted to be a Beatle. Oh yeah.....yeah.....yeah. It was beyond magical. The music was getting into my head.........it was an escape. Now, when times would get difficult, I could escape with the music. My dad got that record for me because he loved me.......no other reason. I don't know if he ever knew what that meant to me. Maybe I didn't even realize at that time what it would come to mean to me. Life continued on after that day. Life changed drastically. All that is left is the memories and perhaps that is the way it should be. Nobody can blemish or mar or trash those memories. Memories cannot go unkept, unless you have Alzheimer's. Good memories are never buried in an abandoned cemetery.

Interestingly, as I began my visit to the old neighborhood, I drove past Saint Anthony's Church on Frankford Avenue. It was where I recieved my first holy communion. The sign in front had a marquee on which it said "YOU CAN VISIT THE PAST BUT YOU CANNOT STAY".

Amazing, huh?

Enough Already!

At some point in time certain people need to just go away. Apparently former US President, Jimmy Carter, just can't grasp the concept of retirement. What is worse is that Carter is probably motivated by the Nobel prize that he was awarded. Hmmmmm.........this is the very same Carter that failed miserably at a rescue attempt of hostages..........oh and let's not forget just who was holding those hostages..........Iran. Yeah, I suppose the Iranian regime just loves Carter. Oh........and let's not forget that it has been Jimmy Carter going around and pretending to be overseeing elections in countries such as Venezuela.............yep.......Venezuela. You gotta just know that ole Chavez appreciates Carter's inability to sniff out stink even when he has shit on his shoes.

So now, Jimmy Carter goes over to "negotiate" with well established terror groups such as Hamas in the Holy Land. Great going Jimmy........maybe the morons at the United Nations will ask you to go to the inner city of Baltimore and "negotiate" with some of the "fine" citizenry here who love it when politicians get all warm and fuzzy with the homegrown terrorists that have been raping, robbing, and murdering at such a rate that even Jimmy Carter himself could count on two hands how many people are still alive that actually voted for him as president years ago.

In case anyone has forgotten.....like Carter.......or cannot grasp U.S. policy...............it is that we are NOT supposed to negotiate with terrorists.........and that includes countries that support and defend terrorists. Plain and simple. Now having said that, I am wondering why Carter has not had his passport seized and charges of the highest order levied against him. If any one of us ordinary citizens did any of the stuff that Carter is getting away with, we would be tried and convicted of treason.........which I believe the penalty is death by hanging or firing squad.

Furthermore, it is a sure sign of the end of this world, when it appears that only a few people notice this kind of stuff.

Jimmy, it is time for you to go away.........I hear that they need peanut farmers in Gaza.


Need I say more?..........what could I possibly add to this?..............oh well..........I have to ask the question.............WHEN are Marylanders gonna stand up and tell the politicians "ENOUGH ALREADY!" and vote these morons out of office?

I ran across this picture on the internet..........and darned if he doesn't look awfully familiar.
Yep............the Governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley...........and to think he has everyone hoodwinked into thinking he is Irish........hehehe.


Speaking of Maryland and taxes................let's take control of things and get all politicians corrupt hands off of our money.........it is time that EVERYBODY demand the Fairtax. Educate yourself by visiting www.fairtax.org. You might also educate yourself and start reading the Neil Boortz website everyday, as I do by visiting www.boortz.com.

What a joke!.............remember when your social security number was an "account number"? Surely, some of you remember that it even said so on your card............but not any more. It also was not to be used for identification purposes........hehehe.......what a joke.


Okay..........so just the other day there were reports of strange objects in the skies over Arizona and Florida. Hmmmm.........as you well know, this is NOT the first time such things have happened. It is about time for people to stand up and demand "Enough Already!". Time to demand that our government be honest about the issue and acknowledge that there may well be powers greater than they are.

If anything......what with all of these mysterious objects in the sky. at least Calypso Louie Farrakhan has yet to see his mothership arrive........hehehe.

Supernurse and I have a song that we both have to admit is "our song". "Two Tickets To Paradise".
Don't get me wrong..........it is a great song and even though it took over twenty-five years for us to actually go and see "paradise", whenever we hear that song......well......I am sure you understand.

Anyway, I heard the song again the other day and wondered about the dude that sang the song.......where has he been?........is he still at it?........what does he look like now after all these years?.........................and while I was watching television, I think I saw him!

EDDIE MONEY!

Jesus God!........everybody RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

Another Piece Of My Mind

I just had to mention this "stuff". I am sure I am not the only person on the planet that has noticed this "stuff".

So here is the "stuff":

1. Maryland should use the following slogan and put it on every sign where people enter the state. "Welcome To Maryland........The Land Of The Structural Deficit". Maryland was once touted as being the Land Of Pleasant Living, however.....we are quickly becoming the Land Of PEASANT Living" thanks to our politicians........lead by the number one moron, Gov. Martin O'Malley.

2. I would bet I can enter into any place where many people are gathered, anywhere in Maryland......except for the state assembly.......and ask "Who here voted for Martin O'Malley?" and I guarantee you that absolutely nobody would raise their hands and admit to being such a fool. Of course though.......alot of folks would not be raising their hands because they don't want to let O'Malley get a hold of their wallets.......hehehe.

3. A short while back, I was waiting at a traffic light and a MTA transit bus pulled up to the corner and dropped a few freedom riders off. I looked at all of the advertising that is plastered all over the sides of the bus.......but I could not read anything that was there. Every ad was in Spanish! The only English to be found was the destination banner in front of the bus. Is this kind of "stuff" supposed to get us all hungry for some tacos or chili? This is our tax dollars at work, eh? Before long, you will need pesos to get on that bus.

4. It is a fact that in Maryland an illegal immigrant can obtain a valid driver's license...........and it is also a fact that I cannot get my vehicle to pass the State Emissions Test because I have a "check engine" light lit up on the dashboard..........let's just say that if they could ignore the dummy light and test the emmissions, I could pass the test.....BUT NO WAY.....not here......that little light is a major block in the process..........meanwhile.....that MTA bus that I mentioned above, was spewing out so much smoke that I had to wait a couple of minutes before I could see if the light had changed. The emissions test is bogus and needs to be done away with.

5. I have never heard an "Air America" radio show, but I understand that it is a hard left liberal venture. I would have no reason to listen to it..............but somehow it keeps making the news. Aside from reports that Air America has had tremendous difficulty getting started.........reports of lack of finances etc etc............extreme lack of ratings..........hmmmm, I wonder why that is?....hehehehe.........I remember hearing about one of their program hosts flat out stating that the President of the US, George Bush, should be "assassinated". There was no outcry.........and no repercussions for the host having said such a thing. So now, that same host spews off a few choice words about a liberal, one Hillary Clinton. She called her a "fu#@*%! who$%!......imagine that! Days later, this moron host announces that she has resigned. Let's see........it's okay to say stuff about republicans or conservatives, but NEVER beat up on the liberals. I guess we know why Air America sucks so bad.

6. The price of blue crabs in Maryland is going up.....as it does every year. This is trickery at its finest. Just a few facts............when you buy a crabcake in a restaurant, the crabmeat used is NOT, for the most part, from Maryland. The infamous Phillips restaurant gets its crabmeat from their own facilities overseas where that bad tsunami hit......it's true....just look at the labels on the canned crab they sell. Also, it is a fact that restaurants do not steam crabs and pick them for the meat in order to make your crab cake.......they buy canned crab meat and that crab meat mostly comes from somewhere other than Maryland. I have yet to go to any grocery store here and find crabmeat containers that say "Maryland" on them. Now one could say "that's because there is a shortage"..........bullhockey. The crabbers know what the real problem is. The problem lies with the State of Maryland and its politicians. The State keeps cutting funds for the preservation of the Chesapeake Bay. There are things that would help enhance the population of crabs here but they just do not want to spend the money on it. Why?

I will tell you why. It is because the State Of Maryland, in particular the money grabber politicians, want us all to have to spend more money on crabs. The more you have to spend, the more you pay taxes. Plain and simple. Also, the less crabs, the less the processing companies can afford to pay non-immigrants. Getting the picture? The best solution for this problem is that the State politicians should have no say in the issue and leave it all up to the crabbers. As long as the State has their dog in the race, the prices will continue to rise and the crab population will continue to be minimalized. How do you explain any kind of shortage? Make more......grow more.....and you have more. Plain and simple.

7. I saw former professional wrestler/former Governor of Minnesota/former resident of the USA...Jesse Ventura....on television the other night. He said "If NONE OF THE ABOVE were on every ballot in the presidential election......NONE OF THE ABOVE would win". I agree. Having said that.........surely you all know full well that the majority does not rule in this country. Why?
Hmmmm......several reasons......one being that the majority of those eligible to vote, do not vote. And then...........you can only vote for those that some smaller group decides you get to choose from. Eventually, all of this nonsense has to implode. Oh........and yes.......Jesse Venture lives in Mexico now..........go figure. Why do you suppose he lives there? Aside from excellent beach views.......his money goes a hell of alot farther there then it does here. More bang for his buck. Nice, eh?

8. You have to wonder about the people that tested Preparation A through G.............nobody ever mentions them.

For Those Who Wanted To Know

I figured I would write a note here to inform everyone that happens to be a regular reader of this here blog of mine, that for the past few days I have spent an inordinate amount of time dealing with a computer virus............yep......a nasty malicious trojan had unleashed its evil deeds on my laptop. I pretty much could not do much of anything and my laptop was basically useless.

But.........as some people know.........I just so happen to be the "conqueror of all things evil and nasty"...........hehehehe.............and I managed to get my laptop functioning normally again.

Of course.....I had to reformat my hard drive.........but......that was no easy chore. It would be a very long story here for me to explain all of the details, so let's just say that it would have been a piece of cake to fix the problem in a more reasonable world........but persistence is mine......and I am like a fly on a piece of shit.....I keep coming back until I get what I want.........hehehe....just ask the Watchtower......hehehe.

Oh well.............by the way..........NONE of the available anti-virus or anti-spyware programs got rid of the problem. Furthermore, I have no way of knowing exactly how I got the virus on my laptop. One thing is for sure though............whoever is responsible for creating these viruses and spyware programs.....well......let's just say that if it were left up to me to decide punishment, the following acts should be applied to the perpetrators:

1. Because I am a nice guy, I would at least feed the moron. I am sure he or she would enjoy elephant shit meat loaf with vomit gravy. And to wash the generous meal down........a nice tall glass of sewage from the Back River Water Treatment Plant.

2. Because such morons use their fingers in what they do, those fingers need some serious care..............such as full, slow removal of each and every fingernail...........and once the nails are removed (which is painful) we could always stick toothpicks into the parts of the fingers where the nails once were. Oh, I forgot to mention that the toothpicks would be dipped in dogshit first before being poked into the fingertips.............I know.........it's a generous deed.

3. Hmmmmmmm...........aside from incarceration, maybe the perp needs some company in his cell...............hmmmmm........who could we put in the cell with him or her?.........maybe somebody like Hillary Clinton..........ahhhhhhhh....now THAT would be worth seeing on television.

4. The cell should be doused with stagnant water from a drainage ditch somewhere in Florida. I cannot think of a more pleasant or satisfying thing than watching "jungle rot" consume the morons. Think of it as a "natural" or "green" kind of punishment.

That's it!...............unless they would prefer Door Number Two.

Behind Door Number Two would be me. They would be subjected to me for the same amount of time I spent trying to fix my computer. This might be a very appealing option to them..........however, their expectations of survival would be very very slim. Need I say more?

Okay now.........back to the grind, there is a whole lotta "end of the world" stuff to write about.

Texas Trip - The Rodeo

While visiting in Texas........as it happened.........we were watching television at my daughter Noodle's house. It just so happened that my son-in-law Number Cruncher tuned into a channel with some bull riding competition going on. I remember him saying something about me getting interested........hmmmmm......well, yes....it was interesting. I did not quite understand why, who, or what the point of riding bulls was but I was watching the screen. Now I fully understand that this kind of stuff is a Texas staple........BUT..........this particular bull riding competition was being broadcast "live" from the First Mariner Arena in........BALTIMORE!!???.......huh? I travel hundreds of miles from Baltimore and I end up having to be subjected to Baltimore on television..........that alone has to be some sort of sign of the end of the world......hehehe.

Actually, Number Cruncher was warming me up for what was soon to come. He had plans to take us to Rodeo Austin that Sunday.

There I was.........looking at the Austin city skyline from the grounds of the rodeo.

And looking back..........beyond the sea of cars.........the Rodeo Austin.

These two were the reason for our visit. That's my Noodle Girl holding Signtopia Expansion Pack 2.1.........hehehe.

They really love their animals here...........I remember thinking "yeah....the only reason he kisses that longhorn is because it can't lick its.........well...........you know what I am getting at......hehehe. Yep.....that there animal is a bonafide Texas Longhorn.

It did not take very long before Princess Fartknocker found her way onto a horse. I stood there remembering a time when I was just a kid.........on a horse.............hmmm....maybe I will write about that one day soon.

In the animal world of things, there are stars of their own. This is one of the biggest stars standing right next to Princess Fartknocker and Supernurse.............of course.......it is none other than Elsie, the Borden Cow.

Princess Fartknocker enjoyed feeding the assorted animals in the petting "zoo".

Hmmmmm.......the significance of this picture......hmmmmmm. Well.......aside from just a nice simple picture of the two of them..............Supernurse just so happened to be wearing a Gilley's t-shirt that she got for riding the bull at Gilley's in Las Vegas.........and the sign above her head.........well............there ya go.

As for bull riding........one is supposed to ride the bull for eight full seconds without falling off. I could not resist taking this picture of a sign in one of the small shops inside the large arena.

And then I saw this sign..........

.........hehehe.......gotta love it.

Inside the large building was where the bull riding competition would be held. I was actually surprised to see how it looked inside. The last time I was surprised in that fashion, was when I saw the outside of the old Painters Mill Music Fair in Owings Mills, MD and thinking "uh oh" and then going inside and being awestruck by what I saw. Oh well.......never judge a book by it's cover.

This was a very decent facility.....I was impressed.

The competition was about to begin and the opening ceremonies fired up. The bull riders get introduced..........laser light show........and the ground is set on fire.......music is cranked up several decibels..........it is practically a rock and roll show!............wow! I didn't see THIS on tv the other day.

Yes...........cowboys do exist.

Nobody should ever question the patriotism of the folks in Texas. I felt good seeing this.........after all that has been going on in our lives recently in this country. Furthermore, they had no problem offending all of those non-religious, atheistic morons of the world, when they lead everyone in moments of silence for the fallen soldiers and begin the festivities with a very long prayer. Just maybe there is hope for this world........

...........and I really, truly, do hope that we all get through the mess we are in.....because Signtopia Expansion Pack 2.1 needs us to do better........the future is his and we have no right to ruin it for him. Here is where I gotta get political on you............on Election day, remember to vote every one of those bastards out of office.......every one of them. Overturn the entire operation.........after all.........if you have a glass of water of which half is a pollutant.......you cannot solve the problem by pouring out only a small portion of the solution in the glass. The water still ends up tainted.

It's a no-brainer, folks! (Note........I realize that there may well be some who read this and think "hmmm is he saying to vote for Obama?". Oh Please!..........Is he not a Senator now?..........yes he is........and that mean he needs to go away. So there.

Aside from bull riding, they also brought out the contestants for
"Best In Show". Prize cows and prize bulls. Exciting!.........hehehe.

Now THIS was far more interesting to me.......my very own cowgirl, Supernurse.

After the competitions, it was time for the musical entertainment. The Rodeo Austin is held something like two weeks or so and there is a major act booked for each night. Willie Nelson, Styx........a whole slew of acts.........and on this particular night we were to be entertained by one Rodney Atkins. I had no idea who he was, but I found out that he has had several number one records in the Country Music industry. It became quickly obvious that he is a fast rising country music star. The fans in the stands got all excited when the crews rolled out the portable stage. Everything was fully set up within the time span of one half hour. Wow!......a rotating stage at that!

I didn't take too many pictures during the show......and most of the ones I took were either too far away, or blurry. This is Rodney Atkins and his band........and I must say that they were top notch. Very, Very, Good.

The only way I could get a close enough picture of Rodney Atkins was to aim at his image up on the jumbo screens.

All in all..........the entire day at the Rodeo Austin was great. I really enjoyed myself there. I enjoyed myself the entire time we spent in Texas. I look forward to visiting again in the near future.

Someone once asked me........."What does it look like when you are up in a plane?"

This is how it looked on the way home.