Football season approaches ... and the legandary "SEC Guy" is stirring around

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Crybaby

These athletes. Sometimes you just want to shake 'em.

Here we have an All-Everthing Tight End from OU. He'll make millions in the NFL a year from now.

But he's also a crybaby.

If you lived in or around Houston in the '60s, I hope you heard this song on the radio

Roky Erickson, 1984: Bob Dylan is a demon but he won't hurt you

The future of real journalism?

The Texas Tribune has made a series of splashes the past week and hasn't yet published (digitally) an edition yet.

First, there was the announcement that the nonprofit Texas Tribune was created, which made fairly big news since the editor of Texas Monthly, Evan Smith, was leaving the magazine to run the ship.

After that, there was series of announcements of staff hirings that included a pack of newshounds who made names for themselves in the dreaded mainstream Texas media, including Matt Stiles of the Houston daily and Ross Ramsey, who worked for the Houston Chronicle from '86 to '91, and four others -- all award winners in one way or another.

Today, Alan Mutter weighed in with the first substantive interview we've seen with John D. Thornton, the TT's founding chairman.

Mutter writes in his blog Reflections of a Newsosaur that Thornton doesn't seen why eventually up to $20 million per year in philanthropic donations can't be gathered from people who want to read quality journalism about important issues.

Thornton said he is more than half of the way toward raising the $4 million it will take to support the new venture to the point it can sustain itself through a combination of charitable contributions, NPR-style sponsorship fees, revenues from events and perhaps a few niche print publications.

He anticipates it will take “three to four years” to bring the Trib to the point it can generate $2 million in annual revenues to support a staff of 15 journalists without requiring further donations.

[snip]

Although Thornton believes the Texas Trib can make an impact with an endowment of $4 million or $5 million, he sees no reason why up to $20 million a year in donations could not be available to support non-profit journalism in Texas.

“Most of my family’s philanthropy in the past has been to support dance, because my wife is a former dancer,” said Thornton. “There is $20 million a year going to dance philanthropy in Texas. Why couldn’t there be the same amount for journalism? If we could be as big as dance, you could barely spend that money responsibly. A $20 million electronic newsroom could support 150 reporters. You would kind of run out of places to put those people.”

Will wealthy people who give lots of money to ballet (or whatever) because they love ballet (or whatever) give like amounts of money to muckracking news sites? (FYI: We don't consider "muckracking" a pejorative term.)

Not sure.

Wealthy people give money to ballet (or whatever) because of their spouse's love of same, which is the case with Mr. Thornton, as he says in the Newsosaur post, and I suppose some give because it gives them a certain standing on society circles, and some give cause they can afford to do so and they like the tax advantages (which may be greatly reduced soon.)

Will that happen with muckracking news sites that sometimes must step on the toes of the wealthy and powerful, which may not necessarily be something they "love" to do or enhance their social standing or be all that great a tax write-off?

Guess we'll see, but, hell, why not give it a shot.

A little more on Mr. Thornton.

He's been a contributor to Democratic Party candidates but is ending those partisan donations with the launch of TT.

In his blog he says the staff that's being gathered isn't partisan either, explaining it this way:

the members of the Journalism Tribe–particularly the young ones–tend to ostracize the partisans in their midsts, to make them eat lunch at Burger King rather than the place all the cool kids go. And I have to tell you: the team Evan and Ross have hired can smell a partisan from 50 paces. (A classic page out of the Wiccan book is to do a remote deadening of your olfactory nerve, so they’re more like a 10-pace deal.).

But, seriously. If we–I, I guess–would have wanted to build just another partisan echo chamber, we would have built a very different team. And attracting a Smith or a Ramsey would have been impossible. My money will go in up front, and sort of like KBH’s (ed. note: Kay Bailey Hutchison) campaign funds having been moved to a state-race account–once the coin is there, it’s there.

These troops are not partisans. They’re journalists, and I coudn’t influence them if I wanted to.

Finally, bride & groom smilin' down the aisle of holy matrimony

Two surprises on the Facebook: one from a relative and another involving a letter from an Alamo martyr

Facebook is OK. Just OK. Not as much fun as Twitter.

But once in a while, Facebook'll surprise you, so I guess I'll stay on it.

For instance, just a few days ago, a relative of mine announced on FB she had found the son she had given up for adoption 40 years ago.

Son? 40 years ago? Whaaaa?

She posted pictures of him and his wife and his daughter and seemed quite emotionally moved (and happy) by it all. And I don't blame her.

I never knew about it and doubt many others in the extended family did either. (I could be wrong; it doesn't matter anyway)

Hey, thanks for the info Facebook.

If my mother was alive, I guess I mighta called her and said, "Hey, Mom, did you know that ..."

Then I woulda had to explain Facebook to her, which mighta been a mighty task, but since she's not around, I guess I'll just let Facebook spread this news to whomever, since I don't feel like talkin on the phone to anyone else.

OK.

And now, just a few minutes ago, I find out a former co-worker, Marla Cloud Molony, had a distant relative who died at the Alamo.

Not only that, but she posted a link to a letter her relative wrote that is part of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo.

As Marla explained on her FB entry: "Here is a copy of a letter written by my ancestor, Daniel William Cloud, that is on display at the Alamo."

(see pic of letter above)

Here's the link she posted.

So, without being on Facebook, it's quite possible, probably quite likely, I never would have come into possession of these two nuggets of information, as I haven't spoken face-to-face with either my relative or my former coworker for many years now, and I doubt either would have e-mailed me or telephoned to say what they said on FB.

So thanks Facebook. I guess I'll stay on you.

Fire Hot

Kevin Spacey trying to 'splain Twitter to a disengenuous David Letterman

Who I'd like to see on Twitter: Slampo, Mouth of the Brazos and The Fat Guy. I think TFG tried Twitter for a bit but threw in the towel.

Crazy, yoga-stretching hippies built a crazy, hippie house on a lake in Angleton in 1972

Neon Poisoning wrote about it first.

Hair Balls picked up the story and eventually found the place after two trips to Angleton, county seat of Brazoria.

Hairballs couldn't get up to the house since it was fenced-off and there was a lock on the gate. (They shoulda hopped in the fence, in our opinion.)

Anyway, the house, constructed by the Ant Farm Collective, the same people that planted the old Cadillacs in the ground up in Amarillo that's fairly well-known all over and which is called Cadillac Ranch, built this structure in Angleton in 1972 to commemorate man going to the moon.

The house now is flood-damaged, overgrown with vines and allegedly a haven for spiders and vultures.

Our question is this: Does anyone out there know who owns it now? I'd like to call them. Do a little phone interview.

(Editor's note: There's a brief glimpse of a completely naked woman in the embedded video, so be mindful of who you share the YouTube video with.)

9-2-63: Walter Cronkite, JFK, Negroes, clattering teletypes, Paxton cigarettes, Henry Cabot Lodge, Indochina, Geritol, Iron Poor Blood, Cuba

Beyond the 13th Floor: a brief treatise on Roky Erickson and his recent re-appearance in Houston, TX @ the Continental Club

Well, turns out there is life (and art) after too much LSD and too much mental illness.

Wednesday last was Roky Erickson’s birthday, and although Gov. Rick Perry once again failed to order state offices closed in observance we our own self did pause briefly during the hard turning of the day to consider the resiliency, the durability, the sheer Faulknerian indomitability of the human spirit, in particular the ragged-but-right spirit that we and a couple of hundred other Houstonians witnessed radiating outward last month at a downtown venue we will always know as the Former Site of Guy’s Newsstand.

That and more in this post from Slampo, as only Slampo can do.



(FYI: In locating the above image on Google Images, we came across the following on a ticket site promoting an appearance last year by RE in the UK at Jarvis Cocker's Meltdown Festival at the South Bank Centre.

( It says this: "As part of the band, The 13th Floor Elevators, Roky was to have a profound effect on rock culture. The band were the first to describe their sound as `Psychadelic' and their influence branches deep into contemporary and modern bands alike.")

Also,

in case you don't read comments on blogs, Robert Boyd, who writes the Wha' Happen? weblog, posted this reaction on Slampo's piece:

Great post. I wish I had seen the show--I love Roky and the Elevators, and I love his solo music.

There is a pretty exhaustive history of the 13th Floor Elevators called Eye Mind that is well worth reading, especially if you are a music nerd who reads books about your favorite bands. (Like me.) Erikson had a lot of bad luck that lead him to hit bottom--a band-leader, Tommy Hall, who wasn't all that concerned with how well the band did, a label that was not terribly supportive and was somewhat afraid of the drug-gobbling band, and a location--Texas--that had a vindictive justice system and a hard-on for drug-possessing hippies. One wonders if the 13th Floor Elevators had relocated to San Francisco and signed with Elektra, would Roky have had a smoother time of it? I think maybe.

In the 50s and 60s, Texas was diligent in chasing many of its most talented artists, writers, and musicians away--through lack of opportunity, through lack of appreciation, through scary drug laws, etc. Fortunately this trend started reversing itself in the 70s. But not until after Roky had been sent to Rusk for possessing one joint.

Ron Paul say he'll have 2 opponents

Congressman Ron Paul of our Fightin' 14th District says he'll have two primary opponents come re-election time. He doesn't say who they are and we doubt he'll name them when he announces his candidacy on Aug. 15 in Galveston.

Among his special guests at the Galveston campaign launch: Judge Andrew Napolitano, the resident jurist on Fox News who has the lowest hairline in cable TV. Other special guests: former Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr., Dr. Tom Woods, author of the bestselling Meltdown, and Lew Rockwell, chairman of the Mises Institute.

With any luck, Dr. Paul's press secretary will be there with her camcorder and some fresh comedy skits.

We think it's not an overstatement to say that Dr. Paul's star has risen since his unsuccessful run for the Republican presidential nomination.

Two, three years ago, he was widely considered a nut by many people.

Today?

Two-thirds of the U.S. House have signed on to his bill to audit the Federal Reserve -- no small feat. [Click HERE to listen to an interview Dr. Paul did with The Economist, whose correspondent says the bill to authorize an audit of The Fed is "dangerous."]

Plus, he's got a whole lot of money in his campaign treasure chest and appeared, unwittingly, in the "Bruno" movie (haven't seen it yet.)

What else is he up to? He and three other congressmen have a bill to end federal penalties for the personal use of marijana; the states can keep their own pot laws.

Finally, if you really want to know what's on Dr. Paul's mind, you should seriously consider reading this speech have gave on the House floor regarding "the end of dollar hegemony." (You can watch a video of the speech at the same link if you don't feel like reading.)

No doubt, whoever is going to run against him in the Republican primary will bring up some of this stuff to tell 14th District voters the incumbent is a loose cannon.

That hasn't worked before.

And today? In the era of federal bailouts for corporate America, we kinda think voters like the idea of having a hell raiser in Congress.

Ron Paul's press secretary: sexy but shy

Rachel Mills has been the press secretary to our congressman, Ron Paul of the Fightin' 14th District, for two years now.

She's a lover of liberty, an avid YouTuber and once stripped down to bra & panties for a pin-up calendar of Libertarian ladies, but now she's gotten shy all of a sudden, pulling a video in which she appeared after some A-hole blogger asked her about it.

Read all about it in The Houston Press blog Hairballs.

it's all good at H.O.G. rally

Strange traffic patterns here at The B'port News

This past week or so we've had an unusually large traffic spike from some very far-away places.

Some days we've had around 3,000 hits on our counter.

They're all looking at a post we put up shortly after the death of Michael Jackson.

What's drawing the far-off readers is not the words we put up (we were just linking to and paraphrasing a story we liked in the LA Times) but a picture we found of MJ on Google images, in which he was all bundled up with a scarf around his face and a fedora on his head, lookin all mysterioso and weird.

The photo was striking to us.

The thing is, if you click on the post now, the image won't appear. One of those copyright problems, I guess.

The confusing part is, the traffic kept coming. From Slovenia, Lithuania and other places I've never been. Thousands of 'em. All from a Google image search to that photo.

So my question is, can those people way over there see the MJ photo on my Web site while us Americans can't see it? Why would that be?

Or do they just see the photo link to my Web site, and when they click on it, they don't see the photo, just the little blue box?

Sheila won't give up on JackO honor

Sheila Jackson Lee is not going to stop her effort to honor entertainer Michael Jackson with a Congressional resolution.

The congresswoman from Houston even compared the effort, which may take years to accomplish, with the long battle to honor murdered civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with a federal holiday.

She tells all this to Bennett Roth, a former Houston Chronicle reporter now writing for Congressional Quarterly.

In Roth's story, Lee agrees with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to shelf the JackO resolution, then goes on the blame JackO resolution opponents who would "make hay" over it (ie., Republicans.)

Of course, Lee's motives in presenting the resolution wouldn't have a smidge of political motivation attached to it, would it?

Maybe her fortitude in pressing on with the JackO resolution will be well-received in her 18th Congressional District, but in an ongoing poll hosted by the Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomoc blog, 88 percent of the respondents say they're opposed to it.

Maybe Lee miscalculated.

Here's a good boat for recreating up and down the Intracoastal Waterway

Don't say the Astros lack irony

A nasty, scandal-filled week in the Houston Fire Department was topped off Friday by the Houston Astros, who celebrated the greatness of the HFP by visiting local firehouses before taking the field Friday night wearing Houston Fire caps.

Nine Astros visited 9 Houston firehouses before the game. Astros outfield Hunter Pence, #9 in your program, for example, visited Station House 9 (note the symmetry?)

Is there a #54 on the team roster?

Let's look ...Nope, no #54.

So we assume Station House 54 didn't get a visit from a real, live Astros player (that's center fielder Michael Bourn in the photo above.)

Whew, that was close.

Station House 54, at Bush Intercontinental Airport, is where racist graffitti ("Die Nigger," etc.) was discovered and reported to the appropriate leaders.

Things only grew worse after that, not only for the city's self-promoted reputation as a happy melting pot of multicultural diversity, but for the mayor, who was getting pressure to bring in the feds to solve the problem.

Instead, Mayor White said he wants to bring in a consultant.

The mayor wasn't wearing a Fire Department cap when he said this, but the Astros were Friday night.

There wasn't a word about the Fire Department mess and the weird timing of the Astros' Fire Department promotion during the TV broadcast on Fox Sports Houston. Maybe Milo Hamilton touched on it during the radio broadcast, putting his signature positive spin on the affair, but I didn't have the radio on so I don't know.

We didn't do this in the Episcopalian Church

Funny, creepy & a lil' disturbing

Background: Mom cancels teen's Warcraft account.

Teen proceeds to freak out.

Delighted brother of teen hides camcorder in room to secretly tape bro's freak-out.

OK, it's:

1. funny cause ... it just is.

2. creepy cause this gaming shit really does get out of hand for some young people; I have this on good authority from a few people I know. There's gotta be some brain studies somewhere that shows a clinical addiction component is involved. And the utter delight of the younger brother who hides the camcorder and puts the viddy on YouTube is not kindly brotherly behavior (if such a thing exists.) Lil' bro is just a bit too excited to see his brother in such extremis.

3. disturbing cause, well, this kid's reaction is more in line with that of a 3-year-old. Hope that family has a good mental health clause in their insurance policy. LOL.

(Editor's note to our "young readers" -- if you haven't yet made the decision to procreate, consider not doing so. Otherwise, the scenes depicted above may be in your future.)

[YouTube viddy link via "Kangaroo Andy," a commenter on The Z. Report]

The Chia Obama -- go for two!

Saw a TV ad for Chia Obama just a minute ago during the CNN news and initially thought it was a joke.

But it's not.

Only $19.99.

Comes in either a happy Obama face or a determined Obama face, your choice.

Our suggestion: get both.

Place one in a spot of prominence, like on top of the TV, depending on your mood and/or the politics of the company comin over, or maybe the state of the nation at the moment.

Switch it out with the other Chia Obama if your mood changes or the politics of your company comin over changes or the nation takes a turn for the worse (or the better.)

Sound like a plan?

Walgreen's, it says here, has ordered its stores in Chicago and Tampa to pull the product from its shelves, saying it's racist.

I don't get that.

Joseph Enterprises, the maker of "The Clapper" , is the operation behind the Chia Obama.

It's just trying to turn a buck. That's the American way. And Mr. (or Ms.) Joseph is probably a great American.

If you want your baby to roller dance, don't give them tap water (or something like that)

Sheila kinda ruined MJ's funeral for me

I was just sitting there, enjoyin my afternoon coffee along with the Michael Jackson funeral, when it all came crashin down for me.

Readers outside the Petrochemical Underarm of Texas might not know the reputation of US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee for showing up at any and all funerals in her Houston congressional district, but trust us, it's been well-documented, most particularly by The Houston Press.

And then we and others annually take potshots at her for her camera-hogging appearances at State of the Union addresses and other media-heavy events where she always seems front and center when the cameras pan those crowding around the president. Even some of the national cable TV pundits make note of this, so don't say we're exaggeratin.


So I should have anticipated her appearance and subsequent speech at MJ's funeral, but I didn't. I just kept repeating, "I can't believe this. I can't believe this ... "

And then I muttered that some more when she gave MJ a John Kerry-style salute (see above photo.)

Some of my of-the-moment Twitter reactions went like this (presented here in chronological order):

--oh my god

--Sheila of the Fightin' 18th we saaaa-loot yooo! How you manage to do what you do is beyond us.

--this is the 5,345th funeral attended by US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. Believed to be a Guinness record for non-clergy persons

--the show must go on, and it will, either in London, Vegas, Broadway, Tokyo, somewhere ... it's a lock

(What? You're not on Twitter? If you're not on Twitter, you're not a playa baby...)



Alright, so the congresslady did have a "news hook" as they say in the news business. She has introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives honoring MJ.


The Houston Press blog Hairballs has some of the particulars, as does The Hill's Briefing Room blog, which noted the bill has been referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, WTF and LOL as we say on Twitter.

Of course, Jackson Lee's House bill and funeral speech, aside from her own self-aggrandizing political reasons, is a response to the comments of Republican House member Peter King of New York, who whined impertinently (in a video!) that MJ was a pervert and a low-life and shouldn't be lionized.

So, in the context of MJ's past legal travails, the Houston congressman's funeral speech, in which she noted all of us Americans are assured by the Constitution to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, is a relevant fact that should not be ignored.

To that we'll add that when a jury returns a "not guilty" verdict, it doesn't mean you're innocent; it means you're not guilty cause the government can't prove it.

And that's the way it should be. Can I get a witness?

(No idea, of course, what the truth is regarding MJ, but that's how we settle thing here in this great land -- in a courtroom, hopefully one in which the judge manages to stay awake and all the attorneys are zealous, certified and well-trained advocates.)

As for the non-Sheila parts of the funeral, Stevie Wonder was really good and Brooke Shield's remarks seemed most genuine. I was also glad John Mayer didn't sing and just played the electric guitar in an understated manner. And it was sad when MJ's daughter spoke.

Coulda done without Sheila, though. Sorry, Congresslady. See ya at the next State of the Union address.

-------------------------------------
update: 5:29 p.m.

Hairballs has tapped into a rich vein of Sheila reaction, both pro and con:

handymankyle: Sheila Jackson Lee compared MJ to people in the bible then said they work with all faiths, and then She called MJ the KING... Retard!!

georgejbrown: finally tweetin bout Sheila "Jackson" Lee ! How & who let her speak! that women is everywhere!

j_andersen: Sheila Jackson Lee says she "grew up with" MJ. First Jackson 5 single: Dec. 1969. Lee born: 1950. "Grew up" indeed! (via @jstrevino)

Dave2112: Sheila Jackson Lee is a political whore of the worst kind.

TweepTheLeg: RT @taylorich My congresswoman at work. Sheila Jackson Lee at MJ's Memorial. Think you could do something about the potholes on our road?

SLGreenJr: I need to recant statements earlier.. Sheila Jackson Lee.. did her thang at the funeral!.. Exactly what was needed for that occasion!

SungSings: BTW, Sheila Jackson Lee is an amazing speaker. behere_now:

RT @Chrystan_ i never thought i would see the day that Sheila Jackson Lee would be a trending topic on twitter......HTOWN BABY! lmao!

natalierose: Sheila Jackson Lee was brilliant! She showed the haters what time it is! littlesayings:

@KatieJarl WOW! Somebody who shares my sentiments. Sheila Jackson Lee spoke very eloquently! I don't know about the Bill, but YOU GO GIRL!!

Look, a spider!

The 4th of July: God or the Chi-Lites?

We hope there wasn't an unnecessary amount of evangelizing mixed in with your Fourth of July celebreation today, unless that's your specific cup o' tea and you can't wait til the Christian sabbath, which is what we would prefer, personally speaking.

Can't say the same for Lake Jackson, where some citizens, well-meaning and God-fearing no doubt, take the occassion of our nation's independence to tell us about all our salvation.

Really, how 'bout just a quickie history lesson, to remind all of this day was about a revolution?

But, as the local Clute paper helpfully explained, there was another idea.

"In the spirit of thanksgiving and celebration, community members have united to sing the praises of the nation and the Lord on Independence Day. First Baptist Church of Clute, First Baptist Church of Lake Jackson, Grace Fellowship, the Brazosport Community Orchestra and others have joined in a Community Choir."

Set up in the mall's parking lot, the musical revival took place before the annual local fireworks display, which also takes place near the shopping mall, so a captive audience was assured.

Frankly, we prefer a secular July 4th celebration, like they did in Houston, where the Chi-Lites (see photo above) performed. They're now in their 50th year of providing musical entertainment and they wore bright orange suits. (Thanks to Brazosport News reader Mike for shooting us the image via his Blackberry.)

No history lesson there, either, but at least we weren't reminded that a lot of us are going to burn in hell, allegedly.

Anyway, happy Fourth of July.