Open Thread - 10/20/23 - Gruene Hall Stuff and Things
We went to a concert at the oldest dance hall in Texas. 4 1/2 hour drive through the country.
Except, GPS recommended this short cut, good, then a second short cut...BAD! We turned onto some road in the middle of nowhere, no traffic, just ranches on either side, and out of nowhere, with no rough road warning signs, at 65 mph, we hit dips and humps that sent the car airborne, landed with a thud, and we then drove 40 mph or slower. When we unloaded luggage, I discovered something had smacked my laptop and the screen was destroyed. Wish I could sue GPS Woman!
Here is a taste of the cool band we saw, a lead singer and super great guitarist who has not lost any of his voice or licks, 50 years into his career. Dear One had to stand on a bench to get this view.
So, the crowd was mixed between oldsters and youngsters. Limited seating, otherwise, SRO. Want to stand 3 hours with no chance of seeing the stage? Like, seeing the shoulders of the guy in front of you is way cool? This has us re-thinking our New Year's Eve Mavericks concert. They have tables and plenty of seating for bands, unless they are big names. Hmmm...we are thinking...At least the beer was cold.
Now, we drove home, thinking about a particular truck stop near Paige, Texas, as a good place to grab a lunch snack. It was early, and I figured Dear One would suggest we keep going, but we needed a pit stop, me especially.
I headed inside to the bathroom, and when I came back outside to the parking lot Dear One sputtered..."I think I just saw Lyle Lovett go inside with his son!"
On that day, at that time, at that place, Lyle's son needed to go to the bathroom at the same place and at the same time I did.
We waited for him to come out to his vehicle, then we got pictures, autographs, and I got to tell him about his 5 family members I do legal work for, and we both lamented the fact we had commitments, couldn't make to his uncle's funeral. Uncle was just a wonderful man. We miss him.
We are still in shock about the once in a lifetime meet up with Lyle in the middle of nowhere.
Lyle's most recent song is about the birth of his twins, and the place of the family cemetery along "the branch of the San Jacinto", the San Jacinto River and the Lovett family cemetery being near where I live. Lyle will be buried there one day.
Now, go and do. Karma might just one time be on your side, in your heart.
And, tell us all what memorable unexpected occurrence happened to you, and/or any damn thing that is on your mind, because we are Free Rangers.
Let'er rip!
Comments
Good morning, y'all!
At least, that's my hope for you.
I wish we could take a break from the constant threat of WWIII, but nobody in power anywhere outside Russia and China has any thought of an off ramp that I can see.
Let's wait and see how the day shakes out, and hope for a miracle.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
They tested the Emergency Alert System recently so at least
we’ll have time to kiss our asses goodbye!
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
I know folks who not
only turned off their phones, but put them inside a microwave.
I ask, exactly what f'king good does it do to be warned a nuke is heading our way?
No way to survive it. Go to the underground homes with swimming pools, rich folks. You will die at the hands of your security guards, or when you run out of food and water. Beware that doctor you brought with you and his medicines he has in store for you, rich f'cks. One wrong pill, unintentional, of course.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Strange Encounters
You get them if you attend science fiction conventions, like never knowing when you will encounter this or that famous author in the elevator. (Hal Clement with a button that said "Even Klingons don't smoke in elevators" comes to mind.)
But you don't expect them when you're just riding the commercial long-distance bus. That one wasn't exactly an "encounter", because I didn't have the nerve...but I looked around and there was Ben Bova sitting several rows back. I think he knew he was recognized, because he gave me a dirty look. So I turned back around and said nothing.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Dirty look! LOL!
I actually worried that we were being a pain in the ass to Lyle. His family was in his vehicle, waiting for him to get in and drive off.
I met Ronny Milsap on a flight out of Dallas, met Houston Oiler quarterback Dan Pastorini at a neighborhood bar in Houston, met quarterback Roger Staubach at a restaurant in Dallas,met Rep. Gifford and her husband on a flight from AZ to Houston. All of them were very nice.
Oh! I met Mr. Bean in Armenia. He was all smiles. But then, that is all he does anyway.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Wrong turn
When I drove OTR in the big rig, a wrong turn could ruin the whole day. So I triple checked my route plans when they were assigned. Typically, it took twenty minutes. I had the assigned route plan on the Qualcomm, which I then checked on a standard hard copy Road Atlas latest edition, wrote it down longhand on a "knee card," to clip to the dash, and then entered the destination into the navigator for a final check. Back then, the navigator was plugged into the cigarette lighter outlet.
Once in 700,000 miles, I did the wrong turn thing and fortunately was able to extricate myself from the dirt road which ended at small river. There was an empty dirt parking lot there for bass boats which fortunately was large enough, dry enough to to turn around on. I got a case of nerves worrying about the bog on both sides of the dirt road and surrounding the lot. Had I not been able to get out it probably would have ended my truck driving "career" such as it was. Memory fail, I can't remember where it was Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, someplace like that.
In the what's next category, now there are two wild fires burning on the west side of I-95 after just one week without rain here. Before that the area was saturated with rain for days. The smoke is thick enough here to irritate my eyes.
Many years ago, my late brother brought me to a Buddy Guy concert at the Jacksonsville Jazz Festival. We sat right in front of him. There weren't many people there at all listening.
語必忠信 行必正直
Too bad Guy had few listeners,
but good that you guys got good seats.
I can only imagine the fear porn of the trucker's wrong turn!
Our GPS witch is constantly finding alternative routes to save 4 minutes here, 2 minutes there. She has taken us down cattle trails, dirt roads alongside railroad tracks, lots of subdivisions, and constantly tries to put us on toll roads.
Still, you have to admit, GPS does alert you to speed traps and clogged traffic due to accidents. So, damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Ooh, so sorry about the wildfires! Do you fear they might get to your home? Geebus, I hope that is not a possibility, soryang.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
No we are safe here
Thanks for asking OTC. Yes, Ms. So has a map ap on her phone that tells us the speed traps, traffic jams etc. It's a lot easier in a car to navigate.
My brother was a big rock concert fan and knew some of the acts doing some kind of injunction for them to prevent bootlegged videos and recordings. This was years ago. I don't know if they still do that at concert venues. He had an apartment in the Greenwich Village at one point, living the "dream."
語必忠信 行必正直
I haven't downloaded a map app
onto my phone, but I should. This GPS system came with the car. It has a big screen, and I like knowing how long it will take to get to the destination so I can look for places to stop for fuel, food, whatever. It helps you get into the correct turn lane well in advance.
Still, the witch is constantly trying to improve the route to save time.
Glad to hear your fire safety report.
Allowing recordings depends on the venue and the performer. It's been my experience that most small venues allow cell phone recording and many large auditoriums as well, but professional equipment would probably be frowned upon. I think most performers have realized that viewing videos on youtube will most likely lead to more attendance at their shows and more retail sales.
Also, if there is an issue with copyrighted material, youtube will let you know upon uploading the content.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Thanks for the update on recording
...at performances. I thought it might be impractical to do what he did back then.
Ms So. figured out how to upload her Iphone to the screen on the van dash only because the car salesman showed her how to do it. So I can read (and hear) her map app on there. I have no idea. I heard somewhere not to let you car computer get into your phone, or all your data would be uploaded to who knows who, so I didn't do it. Anyway the car manual is a pain in the butt, poorly written. The car is so ridiculously complicated I can't stand it. It's a Kia. South Koreans like to brag about how high tech their cars are. I'm a luddite, kick the tire, light the fire. The more complicated, the more failure modes. Already had two safety recalls, and a "product improvement" which they haven't shipped the parts for yet.
語必忠信 行必正直
Good morning...
I recommend the Gazetteer atlas for Texas. We have the TN, AL, GA, NC, and FL editions. Give me a hard copy map instead of a AI recommendation any day...but each to their own. Sorry about your laptop, but glad you didn't damage your car's front end.
A Texan was visiting an Alabama rancher. He said to the Alabama farmer, "On our farm you can drive 5 hours and never make it across." Alabama farmer said, "We had a truck like that once ourselves."
Hope the concert was big fun. Thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Smart ass Alabama farmer, eh? Lol!
We have an Atlas, but it does not show farm roads or country roads, many of which get you around cities and heavy traffic. Thanks for the Gazetteer suggestion.
Dear One slammed on the brakes, hoping that airborne landing didn't tear up the damn car. I would have not taken any more precaution on the lap top in my back pack other than to lay it down flat. There were no small flying objects to hit it. I think it smacked against the packed cord a couple of times. It left 2 pretty big dents. Just a strange and sudden dip in the road. It was maybe a 5 mile road. We were the only car on it. We got lucky with the car not being damaged.
When the GPS witch takes us through subdivisions and residential areas, I imagine she thinks we are house hunting.
The concert was fun, and the crowd was unusually friendly. We struck up conversations with people throughout the event. I am just thinking ahead about the travel to hear, but not see, The Mavericks. I am just no fan of SRO. The other issue is food. To get a seat, you need to be at the venue almost 2 hours ahead of the doors opening. There goes your dinner. The hall doesn't serve even snacks, nor do they have food carts on the grounds. We have to think it all through.
Have a fun weekend, LO.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Good morning otc, thanks for the OT and tunes. All those
stand-up venues, in retrospect, makes one appreciate stadium rock. When you're young you regret not standing on the infield, but when you're older you really begin to appreciate the seats, especially if they are good seats.
I've had my share of chance encounters but don't really recall any except 2, one of which, looking back, wasn't really such a chancy thing anyway. I turned up an aisle in a prototype big box store in my late teens and found myself staring up at Ernie Ladd, who blocked both the aisle and the sun. The other was a surprise at the time, because, in the mid sixties who would expect Lawrence Ferlinghetti to be manning the cash register at City Lights. Probably not that rare, but it sure surprised me.
Spent a lot of time on nowhere dirt roads and jeep trails as a kid, and my wife and I still indulge somewhat often. We call it "having an adventure", btw, not "getting lost". I learned early and still am in the habit of packing anything remotely breakable in such manner as it can't. Never owned a 4 by, but I've pulled some out of trouble, and driven the owners of others into the nearest town to get whatever it was that broke - when the nearest town is Needles, btw, you is out there.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Ladd was of monstrous size!
The poet at the cash register would have been a surprise!
Well, I typically pack protection against breakage, but it never crossed my mind the lap top would be bounced around. I learned my lesson. Shit truly does happen.
Yeah, so many dirt roads, so little time.
Well, in an hour and a half, I can close the office, and start my fun weekend. Lots of family violence in my cases. Lots of societal pressures are causing people to break. I do not want to see any more photos of cuts, bruises, and broken bones until Monday morning.
Have a good one, El!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Back in the 1970s . . .
… in Boston, once just by coincidence I wandered into a hotel ballroom where R. Buckminster Fuller was speaking in person and later got to shake his hand
… at a comic-con in Manhattan, a friend and I met the comic artist Vaughn Bodé and ended up going to a café with him and talking for an hour.
… I got an autograph from Timothy Leary when he gave a lecture at the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt (M) in Germany.
Some celebrities are very
humble and appreciative of being noticed.
Timothy Leary? WOW!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I also met Art Kleps, an associate of Dr. Leary’s at Millbrook
who — how’s this for another bit of obscure psychedelic historical flotsam and jetsam? — later went on to found the Neo-American Church . . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-American_Church
Unlike Leary, Kleps was never a “celebrity,” which rankled with him as he held himself to be a genuine philosopher. Whereas Leary, in Kleps’s view, had become, rather than a revolutionary, merely a kind of media manipulator and showman.
Highly recommended for anyone whose curiosity is piqued and would like to know more:
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Psychedelic-Church-Memories-Musings-ebook/dp...
Kleps tried to keep
an ancient tradition going, didn't he? No Incan or Mayan leader ever predicted or induced rain without a good dose of mescaline, among other drugs. The virgins in Delphi were high as a kite on ether.
Now, Jimmy Swaggart should have made a huge push to legalize prostitution, his special way of orgasmically connecting with God.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
The Eleusinian mysteries almost certainly involved a psychedelic
https://yandex.com/search/?text=eleusinian+mysteries+psychedelic
Interesting!
Wish that had been included in my tour of Greece.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
On my way home from Texas my GPS kept trying to direct me
to small roads which looked like driveways in the dark. When the sun came up I took the bait only to find myself on a farm road with deep gravel which then climbed up a hill over railroad tracks. Beware GPS woman!
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
I know all about
being routed to gravel roads! Maybe it is just Texas.
She also has some 'thing" against major intersections. That's when he get routed through a neighborhood. We go 20 mph and zig zag through the 'hood' but by golly, we didn't get stuck at a red light!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
You escaped being menaced by a gaggle of dangerous squeegee men?
One of the many sorts of adventures it is better not to have to experience.
I have only seen 2 or 3 of
the wipers guys, never in Texas.
Here, they praise the Lord, hold a bucket. There are Big Guys who haul homeless folks to specific places. They beg. Then, the Big guys round them up at night, take their portion of the intersection charity money. Makes it very difficult to help anyone get enough money for a meal.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Sounds like the local Big Guy who ran a stable of child beggars
in the movie Slumdog Millionaire …
Or maybe the Big Guy who ran a stable of child buskers (♫) in the movie August Rush …
It is pretty common
at intersections in nearby smallish towns. They are also dropped off in Walmart parking lots and convenience stores.
For decades, I had dollar bills on the dash, ready to hand over, but I lost interest in funding Big Guy and drug dealers.
I am over my annual funding of large charities, mostly the ones who rescue animals. I think when Jane Goodall spoke at Davos, saying the way to save the animals was to reduce human population to 500 million, as though she and the other Davos folks had the superior right to determine who those allowed to live shall be, I basically said fuck it, and fuck them.
Usually no more than 10% of contributions goes to the animals, the rest goes to the Big Guys. They are more sophisticated that the intersection guys, but it is essentially the same business model.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
The shadier NGOs in Germany often outsource their fund-raising
… operations to so-called Drückerkolonnen — gangs of slimy professionals-for-hire who hawk whatever pitch or product they are paid to promote, door-to-door or in public places.
Even though it is not uncommon for the company providing the Drückerkolonnen to pocket most of the proceeds, some organizations still think it’s a good deal because it spares them the hassle of finding volunteers and organizing a fund-raising campaign themselves.
Reminds me
of the Gates Foundation organization. They pay doctors and scientists to hawk products in which they heavily invest. They get a good return on their labor costs.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hint regarding GPS. Google, in this case, is your friend.
For ages our cellphones and/or tablets have done all of our GPS choses:"Hey google, take me to Buena Vista Winery" -- "Sure ### old winery road, let's go" and directions follow, complete with alerts and warnings and all that. The new truck even has a good sized screen on the dash and the phone projects real time map on it as an added bonus. Even used an old tablet in Rome, never bought a GPS.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Google really does
"one good thing", huh? Who knew!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Apropos:
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
very apropos, Mister!
Seriously, we have never driven a rougher stretch of road in our whole lives like that 5 mile stretch.
We gave our seat belts a test.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
That song always reminds me of an 8th grade classmate, Mary M.
Home economics class — only we older folks will remember having gender-segregated “home ec”— was supposed to hold a fashion show in the cafeteria. The idea being, everyone would model a piece of clothing they had made themselves, like, sewn by hand?
That Duane Eddy song having made the K-POI top ten that week, Mary M. joked that we should call the show “Forty styles of bad skirts.”
Home ec was 2 or 3
semesters. Segregated by gender.
After enduring 1 year, I wanted to take industrial arts, drafting, for boys only. I was the first girl in my school districtic to give up learning to cook, sew, and clean, for training that might provide a roof over my head, other than marriage.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
GPS routing...
A few years back my husband and I decided to 'cement' our marriage of over 20 years, by then, by actually getting officially married. Heh. We did the official ceremony at my parents' house which is out in the middle of nowhere, but a straight drive from the closest town IF... IF you don't believe GPS. But most of our guests did use GPS (even though I sent them directions in the invitation), and ended up having to drive 20 miles up a state and federal logging road, into a national forest and then back down another logging road and then 4 miles down the 'far' end of my parents' gravel road. If the GPS had told the guests to head right, instead of left, at the first Y they came to, they've had gone 1 mile down a gravel road and then turned into my parents' driveway. After that, I never trust GPS... heh.
BTW I love the Junior Brown video and the story about Lyle Lovett (and that video as well!). Your unease about going to a concert where you don't have a good view of the stage echoes mine. Good seats, or don't go, is how I've come to feel about it.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
GPS has gotten us through
some very difficult places. Dallas, for one, Beaumont for another. Nevertheless, the GPS Witch has sent us on some of the goofiest little side roads evah!
We sort of gauge when we know how to get somewhere, or know which route we prefer, pull over, let her take us through places we have never been. At least we control some aspects.
Your friends are really good friends! They didn't give up! I guess GPS Witch didn't have the satellite photo of the one path that mattered most.
We are still debating the future SRO. Dammit, we hate to miss The Mavericks.
Glad you enjoyed Junior Brown. Lyle was so nice, so friendly.
Now, his first cousin is my client and good friend, and we giggled about him being crazy. Well, I called my friend to tell him we had met Lyle after seeing a Junior Brown concerrt. Guess who played at the cousin's wedding reception? Junior Brown!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981