Edith Ann--and that's the truth!

Breaking news...

2012-01-26T20:13:00.001-06:00

According to Kathleen who instructed Linda to tell Edith Ann, the new Economic Development Director for Goliad is...

[drum roll, please]

Bridgette Bise!

Kathleen says it was reported in the Goliad newspaper and she ought to know--she has a subscription!

Well, some anonymous poster had said a few weeks ago that she was rumored to be returning to the area. Who knew it would turn out to be true? Thank you anonymous poster! Thank you Kathleen and Linda!

So, until next time,

Edith Ann

(I'll be back later. I'm going to go buy a lottery ticket.)

And, in other news...

2012-01-24T07:56:00.000-06:00

Yeah, believe it or not, there is other news. There must be. I just don’t know where it is. It is drier than dust over on the Victoria Advocate. Oh, Gary White is still holding court, but no one takes him seriously. Most folks are not taking him too seriously.

The Advocate did do a story on a local filmmaker and his videos of kids fighting. John Jimenez, an 18-year-old high school sophomore (yeah, I know…) videos these kids fighting, uploads them and sells DVDs of the fights. He’s a regular little Donald Trump of business. He also has a filthy mouth and showed us why he is still a sophomore in high school.

As I posted on the Advocate, this is the reality of what kids are doing in Victoria, and it does need to be exposed. The exposure would hopefully generate community concern and action. However, what seems to have gotten the most exposure is Jimenez himself! As is often the case, the Advocate has a great story (violence among our kids) and blows it with a slant (the filmmaker) that takes the focus off of the more important facet.

The Advocate has published several things of late that have caused the posters to question their ethics. Perhaps in a response to that criticism, the Advocate now invites folks to watch, or actually attend, their ethics board meetings. The editor blogged about this and invited us to submit issues to the board for discussion.

I contributed “Here's an item I'd like to see your ethics board take on--Does a newspaper cross a line in regard to either publicly or privately chastising readers and commenters when opinions differ? An example would be found on the recent editorial about the Film Festival. "Rather, the opposition seems to come from the usual online suspects who are against every city action. Those who oppose any government spending are at least consistent in their position.”

We’ll see what kind of answer I get from the editorial board. The editor has answered it by saying “…If you're asking my personal take on the question, I'd say the editorial board exists to offer opinions, so I think it's perfectly appropriate for the board to do that in the online forums, too.” Not exactly my question, but it’s a start.

Did you all see where Victoria East has a new coach? Seriously, how many of you thought it would take years to find a coach as fabulous as Mickey Finley? Let’s see—didn’t he ‘retire’ over some issue about grades? Seems to be what I heard. In any event, after perusing 68 applications, we have a winner. Roland Gonzalez. I think his record is better than Finley’s recent record, but I think what tipped Superintendent Bob ‘the Builder’ Moore, and therefore AD Ralph Escalona, in Gonzalez’ favor were the phone calls from the college coaches. I’m not sure, but it’s what I think.

So, Mike Forman of the Advocate wrote this article about the new coach. In his article, Forman mentions the fact that the athletic facilities at both of our new—open for business school year 2010-2011—identical in every way high schools are lacking. That’s right, folks. There are no weight rooms and no indoor practice facilities! According to the article, Finley didn’t hold spring practice because of this. This news came as a shock to most, I’m sure. This is TEXAS for crying out loud! We say more prayers on Friday nights during football season that are probably said most Sunday mornings in church!

How did this happen? How did we pass a bond issue for two new high schools—identical in every way—and get not only those two new high schools, but a middle school and a couple of elementary school, not to mention a natatorium and a fine arts auditorium, and forget to include weight rooms and indoor practice facilities? Just exactly who’s responsible for this? Heads should roll! This is unacceptable! Even dinky little Refugio has an indoor practice facility, which probably explains their recent STATE CHAMPIONSHIP! I’m thinking VISD now has a good argument to float another bond issue to fix this. Stay tuned and remember—you heard it here!

Not news, but certainly worthy of mention:

When folks come to City Council for whatever reason—receiving funding, making a citizen comment on an issue before the council—I think it is the height of rudeness to get up and leave when your issue is done. It is particularly rude when a whole group gets up and exits. If you can’t hang in for the whole meeting—stay home! You will be less disruptive that way!

I have several friends (not as a group) dine at the Pumphouse Restaurant on Saturday. The reviews are mixed on the food, the prices, and the service. That’s what I am hearing. It’s just my opinion, but I think it is odd that entrees do not come with sides. No salad, no vegetables, no bread. Those are a la carte. I don’t know of any other restaurant that does that. I’ve eaten in some very nice places in Austin, and this style was news to me.

Honestly that is really neither here, nor there. What is truly bothersome to me is the fact that ash trays are not provided on the deck, where it is okay to smoke. When my friend asked what to do with the cigarette butts, she was advised by staff to flick them into the river. She opted instead to use an empty beer bottle.

Flick them into the river. I truly hope the owners correct this. It is not acceptable.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Ethics must begin at the top of an organization. It is a leadership issue and the chief executive must set the example.”--Edward Hennessy

Tommy blinked, and cha-ching!

2012-01-18T07:38:00.000-06:00

Last night the Victoria City Council met in a regularly scheduled meeting and one of the items up for vote was the financing of Anthony Pedone’s film festival. Pedone was in attendance with a full complement of his supporters. It should be noted that Victoria Preservation, Inc. and the Bach Festival were also represented. I guess they wanted to see if the city council was going to blink.

Well, the whole city council didn’t blink, but Cm. Tom Halepaska did and Pedone got his money. I say that, but in reality, Pedone was going to get his money last night anyway and I don’t think anyone ever thought differently. Mayor Armstrong, Cm. Denise Rangel, Paul Polasek and Joe Truman were on the record as being in favor of funding the project. Cm. David Hagan was on the record as a firm no, and Cm. Gabriel Solis offered an alternate plan to the funding. That left Halepaska, after his very impassioned speech at last Friday's workshop, in a position to take a stand on principle and vote no. But he didn’t. He caved and voted for. Surprise! Surprise! Good luck, Mr. Pedone!

Speaking of the city council taking votes, why does the mayor ask for a show of hands sometimes and at others, for a voice vote? What is the difference? Anyone have a clue about this?

In other city council news—Paul Polasek has apparently taken on the RV situation as a project. I have to say, I am completely with him here and I appreciate the fact that he is questioning staff as to why things are the way they are.

Here is what we know: According to the city, all of the private RV parks are at capacity. The city has an RV park down on Vine Street that can accommodate 18 RVs. It operates on the honor system and the RVs must be self contained. According to current regulations, an RV is allowed to stay at the city RV park for a maximum of 14 days, every six months. They cannot check out and then return a day or two later. That is not allowed.

Now, according to Doug Cochran, head of Parks and Rec, every three days staff cruises through this RV Park and checks license plates. If someone has overstayed their welcome in Victoria, they are sent a letter (sent a letter where?) and told to essentially, “Move on!” Also according to Cochran, many days there are available slips. The city RV Park does not currently operate at capacity. Business is up, but there is still plenty of room at the inn, so to speak.

So, let me see if I have this straight—a guest in our RV Park can only stay 14 days every six months. There are pretty much no other openings in other Victoria RV parks. So, folks have to move on to another town. Is it just me? Does anyone else see the ‘let’s shoot ourselves in the boot’ maneuver going on here? Uh—suddenly the RULES count! Yes! Bring your Boots, darlin’, cause we’re going to Victoria. Just don’t bother to unpack!

Why does it matter how long someone stays? Money is money, isn’t it? Oh, wait—my bad—the city has a money tree. It is planted underneath that ticking ‘emergency’ clock. Remember this comment from the ever astute Victoria Advocate, “To oppose a good idea because it didn't come fast enough strikes us as foolish."? Well, to pass up sure money is foolish! A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Paul, here’s your chance! Do something sensible!

Alrightythen—if I am a little scarce in the next few weeks, it is because I am working on my proposal for Victoria to host an international conference on schizophrenia and dementia. We’d be the perfect place, don’t you know. And we wouldn’t have to bring in case studies. They're already here.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Divide and rule, the politician cries; unite and lead, is watchword of the wise.”-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Rules! Smules!

2012-01-15T10:58:00.002-06:00

The Victoria City Council met Friday afternoon for a workshop session to consider the potential funding of a film festival here in our fair city. The workshop was open to the public, but poorly attended, perhaps due to the 4:00 time. Besides most of the usually city folks, it was me and Lewis Neitsch. Nonetheless, it was interesting. The Victoria Advocate has a nice story, although there is a mistake in the story. The council was divided, and when polled as to their support, we saw some interesting protests and some interesting alliances.

Well, this 45 minute meeting yielded quite a bit of discussion. The mayor spent over ten minutes talking about how wonderful downtown is, about how it is this huge tax base. He was buttering the council up for the kill by saying that the Welder Center was the only thing that drew folks downtown after 5:00 p.m. in the evening. I hope the Oak Room, Huvar’s, 77901 Wine Bar and the Golden Gecko don’t hear this. They may wonder why they bothered.

The mayor also expounded on the state of our hotels and the availability of rooms. Ground will be broken on a new hotel in February here in Victoria, and he mentioned that there are new motels being built in Gonzales, Cuero and Hallettsville. And it’s true, there are new motels being built in those other towns. It’s great for them, but it does Victoria absolutely no good. What does Victoria very ‘good’ is the amount of Hotel/Motel Occupancy Tax (HOT) that is collected. The mayor said this past year has been better than expected, and it was. Of course it is going to be good when rooms at the Holiday Inn Express are $250.00 a night. No restaurant, no valet parking, yet $250.00 a night! For purposes of comparison, a room at the Holiday Inn Express in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a true tourist city and the state capitol, is $89.00 a night. I’ll save the discussion on that for another blog.

But, back to the subject at hand—the workshop meeting on the proposed film festival. Anthony Pedone has come to the council asking for $43,150.00, about 43% of his proposed budget for his film festival. This festival will take place on March 22, 23 and 24, 2012. This is a Thursday, Friday and a Saturday. Pedone has already discovered that hotel rooms at this time are scarce and practically non-existent. That little fact is not deterring him,though. He plans, in all, to screen seven feature films and five to seven one-hour short films over the three days. Some of these will be children-oriented. Pedone said his plans for the $43,150.00 include providing airfare and lodging for the film makers as well as screening fees for the films. He hopes to have at least one actor from each film present, and there will be hors d’oeuvres for the VIP Sponsors.

Now, the best I can figure—it was all the politicians talking—Pedone came to the city council about six months ago asking for the city’s financial support for the creation of a Film Commission here in Victoria. That request was turned down. Subsequent to that request, the city announced that they would be taking applications for HOT funding from eligible applicants. There was a deadline and an allocations committee was formed. That committee had been formed by the city council to make the decision as to how these requests would be funded. Pedone did not submit an application to that committee.

Instead, Pedone retooled his original proposal and contacted someone on city council who then requested this workshop meeting. According to the mayor, it was necessary to have this meeting Friday because the public needed this information so they could come speak for, or against, this at the next city council meeting on Tuesday. Forget that on January 3, 2012, the mayor said the council was not going to second guess the decisions made by this committee. That is all, apparently, irrelevant now. Now they are going to second guess the committee.

That’s right—the mayor was pushing for this because it stands to be the best thing to ever happen to downtown Victoria. Where have we heard that before? New sidewalks with brick pavers? Parking for the zoo? Main Street funding? You now, if I was one of those other folks, I’d be highly offended right about now. I would be feeling kind of used. “I thought MY project was the one that was going to save downtown!” [Let me digress here for just a moment. I thought this repetition was a matter of certain folks thinking the rest of us were not paying attention to what was happening, but now I’m not so sure. I am now wondering if it is a memory issue for some…]

Anyway, this brings me back to the question of fairness that Councilman Tom Halepaska raised. Halepaska questioned whether the council should allow this request to be considered since it was not submitted in a timely fashion. Councilwoman Denise Rangel insisted that it had been, but there was no evidence of that. It seems Rangel is willing to consider Pedone's original request of months ago as ‘good enough’ to merit consideration after the fact. Halepaska disagreed.

Councilman Paul Polasek, in what seems to be a continued effort to distinguish himself as different from the rest of the Good Old Boys, stated, essentially, that the allocations committee was a great idea and that their meetings should be open to the public. He mentioned the word transparency. Later in the meeting, though, he launched into a little speech about how the council did not have to listen to the committee, that they had not been given any authority, that they were not elected and that the council could do what they wanted. Really? Well, I am sure the folks that served on that allocations committee YOU voted for will be glad to know that while you say you appreciate what they did, their hard work appears to be of no significance to you.

Do some of these folks stop to think before they open their mouths?

So, where does this leave the matter? The mayor polled the council as to their position on considering Pedone’s proposal. He put two questions to them—

1. Could you support funding this project as is, i.e., disregarding the recommendations of the committee, considering this project separately from all the others?

2. Could you support funding this project if it was put back in with all correctly submitted projects and considered on an equal basis?

Halepaska and Councilman Gabriel Soliz said they could support question number 2. Councilman Joe Truman and Rangel said they wanted to fund the project right then, right now. Councilman David Hagan said he could not support this project under any condition. The mayor said he will support it under any condition. Lastly, the councilman who began by singing the praises of the allocations committee—and eventually talked himself out of that thinking—said he didn’t need a committee to tell him what to do! Wow! What arrogance! Are you listening Parks Commission? Planning Commission? Sales Tax Development Commission?

Okay, let me state for the record that I can support a film festival in Victoria. This is exactly the kind of thing that the HOT dollars are for. Read my lips: I HAVE NOT PROBLEM WITH A FILM FESTIVAL IN VICTORIA! I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH HOT DOLLARS BEING USED FOR THIS PROJECT!

What I have a problem with is the city council’s continued disregard for the parameters THEY set out! For once I agree with Halepaska—they established a method by which the money would be distributed to the requesting parties and in the blink of an eye are willing to completely disregard what THEY put in place! How could this possibly make any sense to them? I just keep having this thought in my head that some on the council have the attitude of “Yeah, so I’m not playing by the rules! What are you going to do about it?” I hope others are seeing this, too. And I hope those folks go vote and vote out a some of these folks come election time.

This coming Tuesday there will be the regularly scheduled meeting (the one where this really could have been brought up) and on the agenda will be the vote on this matter. I urge folks to attend. I plan to be there again. Who I really hope to see there are the folks who applied for this funding and were rejected, or who received less than they had hoped for. They need to be there looking each council member straight in the eye. I hear that bothers some of them…

Well, there it is, for what it’s worth. Oh, before I forget—the Victoria Advocate covered this, of course, and provided us with an editorial where they have gone on record as being in favor of showing Pedone special consideration, i.e., the breaking of the rules. They give their reasoning in the comments section. There is also a news story on this matter.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.”--William Shakespeare

…and one more—for good measure

2012-01-06T22:02:00.001-06:00

While I am on the topic of the Victoria Advocate, I want to talk about the content of some of their stories—content that I think is questionable or unnecessary, at best.

Just a few days before Christmas, a local businessman ended his life. No doubt about it, it has to be tremendously hard for this family to deal with this man’s death and even harder to comprehend the circumstances around his death. What the Advocate did, essentially, was to give us the ‘police report’ of what happened. For folks who didn’t connect the dots, the break-out box on the side gave suicide information, leaving no doubt as to the cause of death.

Readers were quick to pick up on this and question the ethics of providing that kind of information. Isn’t it the family’s job to share what they want to share about his death? Isn’t it up to the family to decide who needs to know what? What gives the Advocate the moral right to barge in on this family’s grief? Their in-house ethics board? What a laugh! I thought it was in very poor taste.

Moving up to January 1st and the obligatory story on the first baby of the new year, we find just that—a story about the new baby. We also find out that the parents of this precious baby are not married, but will get married on the first anniversary of their first date—February 14, 2012. We learn that this baby is the young mother’s fourth child, but that the other three do not live with her. Was all of this extra information necessary? Some of this information did nothing to enhance the sweet story of a baby’s birth! Not one thing! Again, the Advocate acted in extremely poor taste on this.

Lastly, we have the story about the local OB/GYN, Tanya Seiler, being sued by a patient for malpractice. If you click on the story and read, you can see exactly what the allegations are and that Seiler and her attorney declined to comment. Several folks posted on the story, most in support of Seiler. One person who apparently felt very strongly about how the Advocate presented the story was Dr. John W. Vaughan.

Vaughan, a local ER doctor, wrote an excellent letter to the editor of the Advocate taking them to task for how this story was written. Not only does Vaughan correctly point out that medical malpractice suits are filed every day, thus making them not ‘news’, he talks about what this means for the plaintiff since they name her by name. Again, a serious lack of forethought on the matter.

Gabe Semenza, another rat off the sinking Advocate ship so to speak, said that the staff at the Advocate is forward thinking and talented. Doesn’t seem like it. It seems to be whatever sells a paper and if it is questionable, well, then Editor Chris Cobler will just post his old blog about ethical concerns and then claim that they are using industry standard (or something like that) to make their decisions about publishing information that may be questionable.

Is this good enough? I don’t think it is. We have been hammered forever about the posting rules over on the Advocate. The ‘Living Room Rules’. The St Louis Post-Dispatch rules. The ‘be nice rules’ as it were. Doesn’t this cover ethical questions? Sure, the stories I cite are really not crossing an ethical line, but does ALL of the information included add to the ‘community conversation’ that we hear so much about when WE make a tacky remark? Are we really better off for knowing all of the information we learned in these stories? I don't believe we are. Just because we can, should we? I don't believe so.

Well, what do you think? Has the Advocate made the giant drift over to tabloid, where anything goes, where whatever it takes to sell a paper will find its way into print? Tell me.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Newspapers are unable, seemingly to discriminate between a bicycle accident and the collapse of civilization”--George Bernard Shaw

One good turn deserves another…

2012-01-01T23:10:00.002-06:00

Have y’all had enough of the new Victoria Advocate online? Is it making you crazy, too? I don’t know what to think, except this is just one more step closer to completely giving up all hope that it can be better than this. Or will ever be better than this.

Seriously, have you tried to navigate this mess? They have several ‘categories’ and one story can be posted in two or three categories. How a news story that had been posted mere minutes ago can land in the ‘most popular’ category is a mystery to me. Why they do this puzzles me, except that I wonder if they think it makes them look like they have more substance, like there is more news than we think. I just don’t know.

The formatting is screwed up. One ‘section’ is superimposed on top of the top section. Do they ever look at their online edition? Do they not see this? I thought at first it was maybe my computer, but it isn’t. There is no search box. If I want to find something, I’m out of luck. For some reason, old stories are popping up in these new categories. This is confusing some folks who do not immediately see the date of the story.

The comment section is jacked up on several levels. Don’t bother clicking on the different tabs (Article Comments, Blog Comments) because they all take you to the same place. And of course, there is a noticeable absence of quality posters. Anyone who had an intelligent comment, for the most part, is rarely coming around to post. There are some there, but only a very few, and they will probably fade away, too. But I think this is just something we are going to have to get used to. The forum is not what it used to be, and I do not foresee any improvement on the horizon.

They were hyping their annual “Best of the Best” survey recently, but even that has been tucked safely away, with only the luckiest of hunters finding it. I think they did that because of some comments that were posted. Whatever the reason, the survey leaves a lot to be desired. First it is very bulky. There are pages and pages of questions. There are folks in categories that make you scratch your head and wonder why. There is at least one deceased person on the survey. There are a couple of closed businesses. There are two shoe repair places in a category with several shoe retailers for best shoe store. Buffalo Wild Wings is in a category for best beer joint. There are typos in several places. There are no stores listed in the best grocery store category. Why not? It’s not like there is more than six grocery stores in the whole city anyway!

There is, of course, the band Coastal Bend. Surprise! But, Bootfest is completely missing. Go figure. But here is a link to the survey. Check it out for yourself and see if you don’t agree.
Anyway, I’ve just decided I am really done with the Advocate for now. It is just not worth my time and effort anymore. It seems that every time there is a new incarnation of the forum, we are left with a lesser product, one that is not as good as the one we lost. But this seems to be what they want over there at the Advocate. I think they better step it up. Folks are not going to pay for the online version if it looks like this.

Tell me what you think—

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”--William A. Foster

[1/2/12] Oops! Forgot to direct your attention to a new blogger. Check out 'A Sleeping Bee'. The link is over on the right in my blog roll. Funny stuff...

Saturday Soup IV

2011-12-24T14:22:00.000-06:00

Today is Saturday, and the chicken noodle soup is simmering on the stove. The chicken is chopped and ready to be turned into chicken salad. The fancy bread has been bought. My kids and grandkids will be here for supper and for the first of three Christmases. But, before we have Christmas, we have my birthday. All you faithful readers know today is my birthday, and I milk it for all it's worth.

I expect Jake will sing Happy Birthday to me. I hope so, we've been practicing the one that goes, "Happy Birthday to you. You live in a zoo. You look like a monkey and you smell like one, too!" That's the version I will sing to him in February when he turns three.

Princess Grace will just be adorable and will, hopefully, delight in the festivities.

I am looking forward to having the commotion here this evening and I am ready. I think I'm ready. Well, if I'm not, too bad!

I'll be in and out of here with the family and the other Christmases, so let me leave you with my Christmas Wish for you--May each and every one of you have a Very Merry Christmas! I hope you are with the ones you want to be with this holiday and I hope the joy and love of the season is all yours! Blessings for the New Year, too!

So, until next time,
Edith Ann, the Birthday Girl!

“Last week the candle factory burned down. Everyone just stood around and sang Happy Birthday.”

--Stephen Wright

Well, we’re movin’ on up on the east side…

2011-12-21T21:18:00.001-06:00

…to a deluxe restroom in the park…

Folks, I have to tell you—I underestimated the impact that the CAT plant was going to have on Victoria! I know, Dale Fowler and the Mayor and the editorial board of the Victoria Advocate and other assorted movers and shakers have told us over and over again that CAT is going to make things happen, and by golly—they were right! I heard it with my own ears at the City Council meeting last night.

Over on the east side of Victoria, practically within spitting distance of the new CAT plant, we are getting a state of the art, probably one of a kind, public restroom. That’s right—a new public restroom. Now this isn’t just any restroom. It is as I said, a state of the art prefab number, seating for three women and seating for three men, all ADA compliant! Can you believe our good fortune over here! The Lone Tree Park will be sporting some might fine porcelain soon!

Yep, for a mere $174,313 and some change, this outfit in Reno, Nevada will prefab this facility and when it’s done, truck that sucker to the site it is to sit upon. No joke. And they do this while claiming to be 30% cheaper than site built. Seriously? Can you imagine the shipping on this thing? Let’s look at the math on this.

This six-seater will cost the city of Victoria $174,313. That is $29,052 a seat. A SEAT! Now before you all go getting all worked up over this, let me share the discussion with you from last night’s City Council meeting. Doug Cochran, department head over Parks and Rec tried to justify this Taj Mahal of crappers by saying that toilets of this nature (industrial strength) cost anywhere from “$400 to $500 up to $900 each”. Okay, so we’ve now spent $5,400. What is the other $168,913 for? The maid’s quarters? Cloth towels and bidets? Signage so folks can find it?

Cochran explained that this is the latest trend. Build the building elsewhere and then bringing it in. This company fabricates them in an assembly line production manner and this is how they are cost saving. (I know you’re thinking, “What a load of shit”, but hang with me—I’m getting there.) Cochran also explained that this fee included the architect, yes, architect who designed it. I thought that was part of the package with the Reno folks. Then, as is the tradition around these parts, Urban Engineering had to nod in the right direction, or this project would be dead in the water. Not dead like the UHV/TAMU/TEXAS TECH deal, but dead like Michael Jackson dead.

Councilmen Joe Truman, David Hagen and Gabriel Soliz all questioned the expense on this project, and wanted explanations for going out of state with the money. This is where the Mayor jumped in and said that ‘we’ buy stuff all the time that is assembled elsewhere. He said we do this with cars. Yes, he really used a car as an example. I don’t know where he buys his cars, but I usually pay the dealer, not the factory, but I could be buying cars all wrong.

Anyway, Councilman Paul Polasek must have been feeling left out, so he inquired about the money spent on the renovations of the girls’ softball complex. The sum spent there was roughly the same being proposed for the Lone Tree Park project. Truman came to the rescue and explained that it was a huge renovation—restrooms, snack bar, etc.—and that some of the work was handled by a local service club, Rotary. Councilwoman Denise Rangel mentioned the public restrooms in downtown Cuero and how wonderful they are and well used. Whatever—that is Cuero and Cuero is probably going to make a gazillion dollars somehow on the Eagle Ford Shale and we can’t compare this to Cuero anyway.

The Mayor must have had a Christmas party to get to because just as the discussion was getting good—read Doug Cochran squirming more with each question—the Mayor shut it down and called for a vote. (Are you surprised?) So, with Truman, Hagen and Soliz voting no, the motion to purchase this Throne Room fit for a king carried on the votes of Councilman Tom Halepaska, Mayor Will Armstrong, Councilman Paul Polasek (a fiscal conservative, local Tea Party organizer) and Councilwoman Denise Rangel.

So, over on the Victoria Advocate forum, the comments on this are running largely against this plan. I know folks like to express their opinions, but for the most part, they fall on deaf ears. Several of the comments have been pretty good. I particularly like Jeff Williams’s first comment, the one where he talks about ‘Legacy building”. Most of the posters are citing the City’s inability to keep up with what they have now, saying this is just going to be a huge additional expense in an already strapped budget. Many feel that this money needs to be spent on more pressing issues such as street repair and infrastructure. Some mentioned a lack of surplus money.

Well, whatever reason is cited, I personally can’t even get past the initial cost of this project to think about upkeep! I keep thinking 'three Habitat for Humanity homes could be built'. 'One larger home in a north side neighborhood could be built'. 'That's a butt-load of money for toilets!'

I can only imagine the struggle some must have, making these decisions, when they have, apparently, never had to be frugal with their money. Oh, my bad! It’s not their money—it’s ours!

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

With a nod to the man who embraced the assembly line manufacture of the automobile—

“Money doesn't change men, it merely unmasks them. If a man is naturally selfish or arrogant or greedy, the money brings that out, that's all.”—Henry Ford

An important message from Edith Ann

2011-12-14T20:51:00.003-06:00

***If you are a diehard Rick Perry fan, just stop reading right here. It will not do you any good to go down to the comment section and complain about what you read here. It won’t. So, continue at your own risk.***

As many of you have discovered by now, there is a whole boat load of folks wanting to be the republican nominee for the office of the President of the United States. I don’t intend to try to sway you in your selection, or even tell you to vote Democrat, but I am here to tell you, actually beg you, not to believe that Rick Perry represents the rest of us in Texas. I hope you don’t believe everything you’ve heard!

My statistics tracker tells me that since the first of the year, folks have been reading from 47 states and the District of Columbia. It is you—these 47 other states and D. C.—that I am talking to. All of you will be voting in this election. Folks here in Texas already know about Rick Perry.

We don’t all walk with a swagger. We don’t all carry a gun when we jog so we can shoot coyotes. We don’t all open our mouths to talk without engaging the brain. We don’t all talk affectionately about our religious beliefs without ever mentioning our pastor, or for that matter, what church we attend. We don’t all tell lies about our accomplishments. We don’t all live in a $10,000 per month condo at the State’s expense while our home is being repaired.

I know you have heard that things are bigger in Texas, and in some cases that is true. In Rick Perry’s case, it is absolutely true when you’re talking about his ego. Or when you’re talking about his budget gutting. And when you’re talking about the amount of his financial support from those he rewards with state contracts and appointments.

I realize this is pretty much a moot point right now, but the way those republican polls go, he could gain strength before this is all over. Folks could figure out that Newt Gingrich is really as skanky as we’ve heard and cause him to drop in the polls. It is too early to tell and too soon to predict.

So, please, just remember this: Texas is full of wonderfully nice folks who are smart, articulate and have a memory. We are honest, hardworking and generous to a fault. Most of us actually practice what we preach. And many of us are embarrassed by Rick Perry.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“The next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president, please pay attention!”—The late, great Molly Ivins

I like to move it, move it, move it

2011-12-06T21:04:00.003-06:00

The magazine arm of the Victoria Advocate newspaper is taking nominations for the Top Five Movers and Shakers in the Golden Crescent. Here is the actual news article so you can see exactly what they are looking for:

“GC, the magazine of the Golden Crescent, is accepting nominations for the April/May issue for Top 5 Movers-and-Shakers.

Is there a person in the Golden Crescent who has made an impact in the area through participation and support of local organizations or groups? Nominate an area mover-and-shaker by writing a one-page letter or less detailing why he or she should be featured as a top mover-and-shaker, and email it to gc@vicad.com or mail to: Jessica Rodrigo/Top 5 Movers and shakers, Victoria Advocate, 311 E. Constitution St., Victoria, TX 77901

All nominations must include the person's name, community involvement, address, telephone number, email address and your complete contact information. Deadline is Friday, Jan. 13.”

I might like to nominate someone because I think I might know a mover or a shaker or two. My only problem is this—do we nominate from the usual list of suspects, or is this to identify new movers and shakers?

Are we restricted to Will Armstrong and Geanie Morrison? Armstrong, who actually owns a moving company, serves on the Sales Tax Development Board, serves on the Geanie Morrison Crossroads Commission on Education and is Victoria's Mayor. Geanie Morrison, current State Rep, but rumored to be running for a State Senate seat since she has a strong challenger, could be a mover and a shaker. She did try to move the University of Houston Victoria into the Texas A&M System with the help of Armstrong. This was in response to the shake up at UHV when St. Tim Hudson was reassigned job duties.

So, so far, we have two movers and one shaker.

Perhaps we should choose from among Dale Fowler and Randy Vivian. Fowler managed to successfully move 320 acres from the city’s possession to the possession of the Caterpillar Company. Dale is the Executive Director of the Victoria Economic Development Corporation. Randy Vivian, Executive Director of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce, successfully moved Bridget Bise, Executive Director of the Visitors and Convention Bureau, from his problem to the City’s problem and they successfully moved her right out of a job. I’m surprised he didn’t get a hernia on that move.

The tally is four movers and one shaker.

Dennis Patillo, Louise Hull Patillo and Robby Burdge, maybe? The husband-wife duo of Dennis and Louise moved the City of Victoria several times in recent history. They moved three parking lots for the Texas Zoo next to their new restaurant, The Pumphouse, not near the Texas Zoo. On second thought, those parking spaces were moved by the Mayor, Tom Halepaska and Paul Polasek. (Sorry, Patillos, my bad.) But the Patillos did move the city to install trees along Main Street on the agreement that they would reimburse the city. At least that is the way I understood it. They, however, have apparently not been moved to make that reimbursement. But Louise is on the Planning Commission, the Main Street Project and the Sales Tax Development Corporation, and Dennis is on the Victoria Economic Development Corporation and the Crossroads Commission on Education.

Robby Burdge. A man with more money than he apparently knows what to do with. He is a driving financial force on the Main Street Project. He personally moved a whole lot of Victoria folks to Paducah, Kentucky for a sightseeing tour. He did this so they could see what a Main Street Town looked like. To thank him for his generosity, he was allowed to be the chair for a while. He got the City to move money to the local project when the State was slashing funds to the Main Street Project, a division of the Texas Historical Commission. He’s that good.

Seven Movers and still only one shaker.

What about Amy Mundy and Gary Moses? She’s one of our newest movers and shakers, having managed to move herself onto the Main Street Project advisory board. I understand she is trying to shake up the local republican party and engineer a move into possibly unseating Michal Cloud, County Chair. It seems the girls in the ladies club have pledged $5000 to take him out. Can’t wait to see how this turns out!

Well, you all know how Gary shakes. He shakes every hand he can get near. He’s so overrated and over exposed. But he’s a shaker.

So the score is now eight movers and two and a half shakers.

If we are limited to this cast of characters, then some of these folks are going to wind up losers. If it is an open casting call, then who do we need to nominate?

Who have I forgotten? Who would you put on the list and why?

Let me know when y’all get this all figured out. In the meanwhile, I’ll put on my thinking cap and see if I can come up with some new names.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones."-- Benjamin Franklin

♪♫♫♪ We're in the money... ♪♫♫♪

2011-11-30T13:00:00.000-06:00

♪♫♫♪We're in the money, we're in the money;

We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!

We're in the money, that sky is sunny,

Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong.

We never see a headline about breadlines today.

And when we see the landlord we can look that guy right in the eye

We're in the money, come on, my honey,

Let's lend it, spend it, send it rolling along! ♪♫♫♪

Yep, we’re in the money—sales tax money! According to all reports, the sales tax revenue for this quarter is up from this same period last year, and for some reason this is viewed as a ‘result’, or end, rather than a naturally occurring item in a chain of events.

The Victoria Advocate has devoted a story and an editorial to this breaking news. Frankly, folks, prices are up, so, duh!, tax receipts are up. But, please! Someone! Help me understand how the bond issue to build the two (three, four…) new schools contributes to this. First, even if the construction bills are just now being paid, the school district pays no sales tax. Secondly, they didn’t hire more teachers, per se, because thanks to Icky Ricky Perry, they had to cut positions at VISD. Why doesn’t one of you math geniuses explain how VISD is a contributor to this windfall? Thank you in advance.

But, hold on—is everything as rosy are we thought? According to Jeb Lacey, board member of the local chapter of the American Red Cross, contributions are down, and the economy is being blamed. I don’t know, is it good, or not? Read all about it here and decide for yourself.

On another note, filing for next November’s elections has started and folks are lining up to run! It should be a great year, and the comments here at Edith Ann are rolling in. Apparently there is some speculation that there will be some stiff competition over in the GOP camp. The current Sheriff, T. Michael O'Connor, has drawn an opponent, Scott Hornstein. Hornstein is a former employee of O'Connor's. State Rep. Geanie Morrison from our fair city and State Rep Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi, both republicans, are now opposing each other in the race to represent the newly created district. This should be fun. Rumor has it Hunter is gearing up and gunning up on his media stuff a la Sizemore Media Services. Stay tuned.

But, as I said, comments are already coming in. From that last blog: “It is filling date and the Republican Rumor Mill is saying:

a) Democrat Chuck Cole will run as a Republican in District Judge Kelly's position.

b) republican media consultant Mike Sizemore will run Geanie's opponents advertising campaign. (Where is the love? Guess Mike never got over having to refund the VEDC's $100,000 failed UHV switch campaign money).

c) GOP County Chair will receive a competitor from among one of the Republican Women members. Guess they didn't appreciate all of the meeting postponements Michael. Where's the love Michael? The ladies have pledged $5000 for the run. Woooo. This will be dirty.

d) Hear that Amy Munday will have competitition this time for her GOP precinct chair position. Bye-bye Ms. Munday.

e) Heard Lewis Neisch wants to resurrect the Moo-Moo meetings as a campaign promise when he runs against Mr Hagan. A free gizzard for all public attendees?”

and

“I hear the GOPsters warring faction is coming from within the existing GOP Executive Committee. The Victoria Republican Women unofficially supported Michael McCloud over Mary Anne Wyatt. The Cloud Campaign two years ago promised happy days and togetherness. Michael Cloud hasn't even held half of his meetings on time. And when he held a meeting most of the time he couldn't get a simple majority present. A number of precinct chairs have resigned in pure disgust of being associated with luke warm "republicans". The crowning blow was a 14 month process in just creating a mission statement and bylaws. Wait, but that is the way the National level Republicans do it. Scratch the failed local agenda idea... everything is operating ok... "all screwed up".

So, you know it doesn’t bother me if the local republicans are fighting again, but it does make for interesting alliances and couplings. We’ll just have to see how this all plays out, won’t we?

Keep those comments coming, boys and girls, but don’t shoot till you see the whites of their eyes.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“We always want the best man to win an election. Unfortunately, he never runs.”~~Will Rogers

Gobble, gobble!

2011-11-24T08:23:00.001-06:00

Today is Thanksgiving Day, and once again I find my friends and family reflecting back on the past year and reciting things they are thankful for. It is a real comfort to see that many who have had to weather life's storms have come through those storms intact.

As you gather with family and friends, I hope you take a moment to reflect back and I hope that you, indeed, find those things to be thankful for.

I have a few blessings I would like to mention, but this is certainly not an all-inclusive list--

My AMAZING children who make me old.

My AMAZING grandchildren who keep me young.

My AMAZING parents who, at 87 and 83, are still challenging me and my siblings.

My AMAZING siblings who help keep me sane when dealing with our parents.

My AMAZING larger family who keep me entertained and grounded.

My AMAZING friends who also keep me entertained and grounded.

And my AMAZING readers who are there no matter what, in agreement or not, and who never disappoint!

Have an AMAZING holiday all!

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

A Thanksgiving Blessing

May your stuffing be tasty,
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

With that exortation, let the feasting begin!
Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless you one and all.

As I was saying...

2011-11-15T09:55:00.001-06:00

Just when you think it can’t get any goofier, it does.

I want to know which city councilman had the RV parked on his street, causing him to come to the conclusion that this was something that need to be regulated? Really—more than two days being parked and there is a stiff fine? Is this really a problem in Victoria? I haven’t seen random RVs parked in my neighborhood, so I’m thinking this is much ado about nothing. Except I guess someone’s homeowner’s association got twisted up over Cousin Eddie and his family showing up for a visit with the family. The first reading of an ordinance will be tonight. Thomas Gwosdz, City Attorney, will do the reading as usual. Mr. Gwosdz, I have a request about your reading of things during City Council. Please slow down. What is the rush? What could you possibly be saving? Five minutes, maybe?

Anyway, apparently this is a terrible situation and must be dealt with immediately! That clock downtown is ticking, and Lord knows, who wants those RVs littering up the neighborhoods of Victoria. Gee, what if relatives showed up right before Thanksgiving and decided to stay until the first of the year? How awful would that be? What would folks think? Well, I think they will think that Victoria needs to change its new motto to “Bring your boots, but leave your RV at home!” I know that will make folks feel real welcomed.

Also on the agenda tonight is looking at safety measures for the Hike and Bike Trail. Recently a young woman was sexually assaulted on the trail, and now the local chapter of the NRA and the wannabes are ready to step up and shoot any suspicious looking folks on the trail. Never mind that a lot of the trail borders neighborhoods and folks’ backyard back up to it. No, these upstanding citizens all believe their concealed handgun permits will magically ensure that their suspicions will always be correct, their hands always steady and their aim always true. Well, good luck there.

Last but not least, Deputy City Manager Bruce Ure suddenly resigned yesterday, citing management style differences. I think we only have part of the story so far, but I know it could get interesting. It will also be interesting to see if this is addressed in any way at the City Council meeting this afternoon since this resignation seems to have come as a surprise to the Mayor and at least one City Councilman.

Well, there you have it—Victoria at its finest!

Do you agree yet that it time to see some new folks in those chairs up on the dais?

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

These are not aimed at any particular person, but if the boot fits, wear it!

“Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation.”--William Arthur Ward

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”--Jim Rohn

“One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.”--Arnold H. Glasgow

Just when I think...

2011-11-04T23:22:00.000-05:00

...people can’t get any more ignorant, or do anything more bizarre than has already been done, I am proven wrong. The sad thing is, it is happening all too often and mostly with things of importance. However, as we’ve seen in the recent headlines has shown us, sometimes it’s things that are not important at all.

Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries are getting a divorce. This has caught just a butt-load of folks by surprise—not that there is a divorce pending—but that it only took 72 days. This wedding supposedly cost $10 million and was viewed by a jillion people and mother of the bride, Kris Jenner, was just beaming while husband Bruce Jenner stood emotionless due to Botox injections. Whatever! I just really want to know what these folks do to merit this sort of celebrity. Really. I had heard that they are famous for being famous. At least Paris Hilton’s family has a business. I hope that this bunch can recover quickly from this sordid event. Kris Jenner, currently pushing her new autobiography, offended Native Americans to the point of chastisement over her remark about hating ‘Indian givers’ when asked if Kim would return the 20 carat ring. Oh, and something I learned--$10 million dollars will henceforth be known as 1 Kardashian. It simplifies things. Good luck, Kim.

Lindsay Lohan, train wreck heading for the wall, has been order back to jail for 6 months. In California months, that is about an hour. Seriously. The jails are so overcrowded, she will probably only have to stay an hour. Now that’s a real shame. Her community service is in jeopardy. One place, a women’s shelter, refused her as a community service worker because she was a ‘bad example’ to the women there! Can you believe that? Good luck, Lindsay. By the way, she doesn’t have to report until the 9th of November so she can complete her photo shoot with Playboy. Thank goodness!

Hey! It’s not all bad news! Kate Gosselin finally got a job. As a blogger. At CouponCabin.com. For real. Kate Gosselin, the woman who went into a full-blown panic when her show went off the air—‘I’ll be broke! I’ll be broke!’—is now qualified to tell the rest of us how to save money? Yes, that is exactly what is happening in her kooky world. Good luck, Kate.

Turning to the craziness called politics, we have Herman Cain. Whether you are a fan or not, and whether you believe the sexual harassment allegations or not, do you find it bothersome that his campaign contributions are on the rise? Are people endorsing sexual harassment with their dollars? Exactly what statement are they trying to make with this sudden influx of money?

Rick Perry—drunk? High? Just a moron? I’ll let you decide, but I am really concerned about the way he was gazing at that bottle of syrup and caressing it…

Locally, Bootfest has been declared a success. No doubt lots and lots of folks were in attendance. The report given to the City Council Tuesday night indicates that tons of beer and wine was sold. The crowds were estimated to total, overall, about 20,000. Folks loved the fireworks and the mayor said he heard they could be seen out the Goliad Highway. The music apparently was good. So, all in all, sound like a good event. No way to gauge the economic effect just yet, if at all. The Eagle Ford Shale folks are in that mix. And I'd like to see the figures on city staff connected to this event. Police, sanitation, and parks staff would take a big chunk it seems.
Just before O. C. Garza gave the report to the council, he played a short video of Bootfest. This is about forty minutes into the meeting. That meeting can be viewed here. You really ought to watch the whole meeting. And watch the previous meetings. See if you can figure out why Paul Polasek sits there looking like he’s been weaned on pickle juice. He looks like he is so out of sorts there would be no possible way to make him happy. He needs to take care of whatever issue has stolen his joy because no one is going to elect a sourpuss as mayor. And another thing—why does Polasek think he needs to explain everything that anyone else is talking about to ‘the viewers’ as if we were too stupid to have a clue here? That is another thing—the air of superiority—that will get you not elected real quick. Making me feel stupid always endears me to you.

Over on the forum at the Advocate, the pinheads are out in full force. At the risk of feeding into GetSmart’s ‘whatever drives him’ stuff, I’ll just report that he and his best buds rollinstone, observer and itisi are just twisted up like pretzels over the voter ID law being pushed by the republicans. Even thewaywardwind chimed in with the ‘if it is even just one case of voter fraud, it’s too many’ business. All I ever wanted to know was what was the actual incident rate of voter fraud by folks here illegally (that was suggested by a poster on a relate voter ID story). But, in their typical fashion they were everywhere with their posts and never got anywhere close.

Also being discussed on the forum is the viral video of Aransas County Judge William Adams beating his daughter. There is a lot of emotion attached to the comments. I am, as usual, surprised at the number of folks who are okay with hitting their children. I am not talking a beating like we witness on the video, but hitting of any sort. Rebecca and I are trying to hang tough on the no-hit policy, but we are definitely in the minority. I think it interesting that these folks who endorse hitting their children would never tolerate being hit by a coworker or a boss if they goofed something up. Could you see it? No more written reprimands in your personnel file. You’ll just get a slug in instead. I just find it hard to believe that these folks are willing, essentially, to admit that they are not smarter than their children. But then, again, just read their comments…

Alrightythen—I think I have covered everything I wanted to mention. Feel free to jump in, and yes, that includes you, GetSmart, and your friends.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"Infliction of pain or discomfort, however minor, is not a desirable method of communicating with children."—American Medical Association, (1985)

"Spanking is simply another form of terrorism. It teaches the victims that might makes right, and that problems can be solved through the use of violence by the strong against the weak."—Anonymous

"Researchers have also found that children who are spanked show higher rates of aggression and delinquency in childhood than those who were not spanked. As adults, they are more prone to depression, feelings of alienation, use of violence toward a spouse, and lower economic and professional achievement. None of this is what we want for our children."—Alvin Poussaint, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Fun Friday

2011-10-28T22:27:00.001-05:00

Okay, because my brain needs a rest from all the discussion over at the Advocate, I am going a different direction this evening. I am going to make a confession right here and right now. I am a commercial junkie. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE clever TV ads. I have said for years that if they ever come up with an all-commercial channel, I’m on it!

So, without further ado, let me share some of my favorites with you. I hope you enjoy them, too.

And who doesn’t like the E*Trade baby?

Or the Geico ads…

Okay, so you didn’t pee your pants. But wasn’t this a nice change from my usual stuff?

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need.”--Will Rogers

For Riverboat--

Stuff

2011-10-26T23:04:00.003-05:00

Gee, I can’t believe it has been forever since I posted a new blog! I really must apologize, but life has been getting the in the way of a lot of things I’d rather be doing. On the other hand, I’ll take life and all of its distractions. I still have lots to do!

Nevertheless, much has been happening in our fair city and much needs discussing. As always, in no particular order—

The Friends of Victoria vs. the City of Victoria. Like a lot of folks, the Advocate is trying to get to the bottom of this story. They have tried to talk to both sides, mostly without much luck. Doug Cochran, head of the Parks and Rec Department of the city, says he’ll lay it all out at the city council meeting next Tuesday November 1. The Friends of Victoria (FOV) are not inclined to speak at this time, so folks are left wondering.

I have heard that this is actually a good move because, contrary to what they say, the FOV have not been making improvements to Riverside Park as they claim. This has apparently been the situation for the last two years. I tend to believe this as the COV is claiming huge expenses related to Riverside Park. As I suggested on the Advocate forum, let’s see the FOV books. That could enlighten us a great deal, I would think. But you can form your own opinions. Read Brian Cuaron’s blog here.

Jeremy Weaver. Jeremy Weaver is a young man who was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He has a small variety of associated mental difficulties. He has been accused of sexually molesting two younger children. Weave is confined to jail by Judge Robert Cheshire while he awaits a bed in a state mental facility. His parents are not happy about this and have taken their story to the Advocate.

The Advocate has devoted lots of space to this issue, probably because it draws a lot of comments. The only problem with the Advocate coverage is that it is not the whole story. This kid has a criminal history, and not all of it can be blamed on FAS. When a dude gets whacked on the other side of town, the Advocate will print that person’s criminal history. Why not here? I personally have nothing against Weaver, but he is not in jail because he is mentally ill, he is in jail because he has engaged in criminal behavior.

Additionally, the Advocate has decided to perpetuate the false information that mental illness is being criminalized in Victoria County. This is simply not true. The editorial states, “The Advocate's recent story about Jeremy Weaver (front page, Oct. 16) is a case study for the criminalization of people who have mental illness, a problem we have pressed for more public awareness.” See what I mean? And I am calling big, fat bullshit on this part “...mental illness, a problem we have pressed for more public awareness.” If the Advocate ever did a thing when David Brown closed the mental health unit at Citizens Medical Center—depriving a seven county area of emergency mental health care—it was to virtually sit quietly by and not say a harsh word. Yep, that's exactly what they did.

The Pumphouse Restaurant. The Pedone-Whisenant Wedding. For a minute or so, I was certain Marilyn Waida had miraculously returned to the Society section of the Advocate! I remember when Waida was the ‘society’ editor of the Advocate. She was the Shelby Hodge of Victoria. The wedding was a great excuse to tout the Pumphouse Restaurant in one more way. Sure I get the historic part of the deal, but here’s a newsflash, folks—this is not the only historic structure in the area. Nor is this the first time a historic place is used in a non-traditional manner. And I also get that apparently the Patillos are golden right now. And that’s fine. Every dog has his day. Oh, and congrats to the Pedones. Everything did truly looked lovely.

All right, if you insist. Bootfest. It’s over. It was apparently satisfactory to the organizers in terms of attendance. According to Kurt Johnson at KAVU, an average of 600 $3 drink tickets an hour were sold the first evening. That’s a lot. $9,000 worth. And Johnson reported “That means the $100,000 dollars budgeted by the City was more than recouped by festival organizers over the weekend with Saturday night drawing even larger crowds than Friday.” Did they sell $91,000 worth of beer tickets on Saturday? That would have been over 7500 tickets an hour. It's possible, but doubtful. Remember this was a free event.

But, seriously, I’m sure this inaugural event came very close to meeting the expectations of the organizers. And that is a good thing. And I am done with Bootfest. The suggestions to create an organization like the Turkey Fest, or the Houston Stock Show and Rodeo just fall on deaf ears. Until they make it its own entity, worked on year around, the best it can ever be is a moderate success. You want to be like Turkey Fest, they you have to act like Turkey Fest. And they would not be a bad example to copy.

City Council elections. I understand Denise Rangel, Place 1 City Councilperson will have a challenger in May. Heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.

Well! Did I forget anything? Feel free to add to this short list. Thanks to Jared for the shout out in his blog. Don’t forget to check out the blog, Snarky in the Suburbs. Funny stuff as always!

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you in trouble."--Frank Tyger

Poker, porn, porking lots and politics

2011-10-17T22:09:00.006-05:00

No, I’m not talking about Washington, or even Austin. I’m referring to the latest goings-on here in little old Victoria.

The Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament scheduled as part of Victoria’s new Bootfest has been cancelled due to the lack of something that says it is legal. That’s right—the local District Attorney has advised the City that the planned event would be illegal. Too bad he waited until the last minute, so to speak to advise the City of this. Citing a lack of time sufficient to get a ruling from the Texas Attorney General, the tournament was cancelled. Now, all along, I had several folks telling me that tournaments of this kind were not kosher. It is something about the payouts, but I don’t fully understand it. But the whole situation makes me have a picture of Bridgette Bise with “Miss me yet?” on it in my head.

That aside, the rest of Bootfest should go without a glitch. Except for Randy Pollard, that is, who was complaining on KAVU this evening that his business (a photography studio) will be negatively affected by the road closures for Bootfest. Regardless of how you feel about Bootfest, I knew there would be someone downtown who would not be happy with the event happening down there. I think that is the best place for it. Not everything can happen in Riverside Park, or at the Community Center. Let’s see what happens this weekend. Maybe the Bise taint won’t be as bad as I think.

The good people of the rural Lakeview subdivision are up in arms over a new movie shop that is advertising XXX movies for rent. A group of the homeowners went to Commissioners Court this morning asking for help with shutting the shop down. They are citing safety issues as well as the possibility of losing property value. This movie shop is housed in an old mobile home on Carole Luster’s property, across the road from the subdivision. Luster, the operator, also has in that mobile home: family videos, costumes, Buzzard Gulch Old Time Photos and Shady Lady Brothel/Bordello Glamour Shots. That’s a lot of enterprises jam packed into that trailer. Keep in mind she is defending her right to do all of this while claiming to be God-fearing Christian woman. That deals in porn. That runs a business called Shady Lady Bordello Glamour Shots. I really don't know what these other folks are so upset about…

KAVU did a report on the situation, and from the looks of the situation, it pretty much comes across as a dumpy place. The grass is tall. There are lots of hand lettered signs advertising all there is available inside. In a word, it’s tacky. The homeowners across the road were hoping to appeal to the Commissioners Court with the porn angle, but I frankly believe their main objection may be the condition of the place and how it may negatively affect their property values. I understand where they are coming from. I really do. But, I don’t believe they can expect any relief from the county. Unless something has changed (and I’ll admit, I did not check), counties can’t pass ordinances. But until this matter is settled in some manner or another, Miss 3% will continue to scream at the detractors over on the Advocate. Frankly, since I don’t have a dog in this fight—I don’t really care who prevails here. She has her rights, and the home owners have theirs. Too bad they are not the same!

I am happy to report that al fresco dining will be available at the Pumphouse Restaurant. In fact, four spots are available now. The only hitch in the deal is that you will have to provide your own meal. I don’t believe the waiters will be making their way to these particular tables. But just today, the Patillos, RadioBabe and a couple of other diners were enjoying lunch at one of the outdoor dining tables. Check it out. Drive down and see the progress. The wall is up around the restaurant and the fence is down around the storage tank. They have kind of missed their projected opening date of last April, but they are getting there. I suspect it may be worth the wait.

Politics. Well, from where I sit, it has been very interesting watching the various republican candidates jockeying for position. It is truly like a horse race where the lead is always changing. I am happy to see (and really not just because they are republicans) folks doing their homework on the candidates. I am actually enjoying the debates. What puzzles me, though, are the attitudes of some of the posters on the Advocate. They hold very strict criteria for folks on the national level, but cannot apply those same criteria to the local level. I don’t get it. How much is too much when it comes to Koch Brothers money? How close is too close when it comes to the New Apostolic Reformation? Does fiscal conservatism only apply to folks in Washington, and not in Victoria? Does less government only apply to the federal government, but not the local city council?

Some of us are working very hard to implement change on the local level, but at times it seems like only a few of us really care. Those folks I mentioned that can’t apply the same criteria nationally and locally are just having hissy fits over on the forum. It is clear that many of them do not do their homework. We are just at a little more than 200 days from the city election. Place 1, Denise Rangel; Place 2, Gabriel Soliz; Place 3, Paul Polasek and Place 4, David Hagan are all up for re-election, if they are running. Rumor has it, Lewis Neitsch—unseated by surprise by Gabriel Soliz—wants back on the council and is going to challenge David Hagan. Rumor also has it that Paul Polasek will be trying to keep his seat until he runs for mayor in 2013. In my opinion, there is a lot of work to be done.

Brian Cuaron, the fairly new reporter at the Advocate covering city and county government, is planning an ongoing series of live interviews with local officials. Viewers will be able to ask questions and get answers. I think this could be a really good thing, and I look forward to the first installment. Watch the Advocate website for Cuaron’s first interview.

Well, that is all I have for this evening. There should be enough for you all to chew on. Let me hear what you think.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"The little things, I can obey. But the big things - how we think, what we value - those you must choose yourself. You can't let anyone - or any society - determine those for you."-- Morrie Schwartz

Same old stuff, v. 206

2011-10-09T00:25:00.004-05:00

How nice it is to be back among the sane and rational. Or is it? Everything is as nutty and convoluted as it was two weeks ago! Bat-shit crazy is still bat-shit crazy!

The duties associated with the place that writes the checks that pays the bills (work) were getting the better of me and I was feeling brain dead and unable to focus. It didn’t keep me from reading the Advocate and other blogs or watching what was going on here in Victoria. It did keep me from acting in haste in regard to blogging. Some of you—and you know who you are—should probably thank me for waiting.

The City of Victoria. What is up with the Friends of Victoria situation? I don’t think we have gotten a satisfactory explanation as to what was ‘broken’ here that needed fixing. I do, however, want to believe that the ‘fix’ is something that does not hamper the teams in their use of the facility. I mean, how are we supposed to promote stuff in our city—the Generals, the Jaguars, the high school teams—if folks are always jacking with what is actually working? I also hope that everyone was sincere when they said they were okay with the new arrangements.

One question for the City before I move on—Did y’all find some money to mow the right of ways? I noticed ya’ll have spruced up the council chambers and bought a big ol’ mower to take care of the baseball stadium, and I was just wondering if ya’ll found any gas money yet. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with maintaining your digs. I was just remembering how y’all didn’t have gas money a while back. That’s all.

Spotter posted a Ron Paul campaign ad on the Advocate forum. I cannot say I disagree with the general message of the ad, and I understand he wants to be the republican nominee to face President Obama, but why does the ad lead me to believe that Ron Paul is placing the responsibility of all of our overseas occupations (I guess that is what you would call it) with Obama? It’s true that he is responsible for going into Libya, but I am pretty sure that those bases in Germany and everywhere else have been there for a very, very long time. Spotter, help me out here—what did I miss? I’m just asking.

Also on Spotter’s blog post is a comment asking “why does the Chinese Communist Government own land next to me?” I don’t know the answer to that, but this is as good a place as any to remind folks that the Chinese government owns 33% of Chesapeake Energy, America’s #2 producer of natural gas, and in the top 15 producers of oil and natural gas liquids. Chesapeake is in the middle of the Barnett Shale, Haynesville Shale, Marcellus Shale, Niobrara Shale and Eagle Ford shale. I’m telling you this for informational purposes only. In case you were interested. In case you thought China was going to leave their share here.

Now I have a little housekeeping with a couple of folks. First, to Getsmart—surely you have figured by now that no one cares about your pontification award. We’re all trying to figure out why the guy who most loves to see his words in print—YOU—is giving the award to anyone else! Keep it! You come the closest to deserving your own award, even more than your friends do. Enjoy that seafood dinner.

Next, for you that felt a need to harangue me and mock me about my beliefs—Stop! There is nothing you can say that will make me change my mind at this point. I am more than willing to be happy for you that your life is very planned out, and that you have every expectation that things will never go awry or that you will ever need anyone’s assistance. I believe I correctly understood your many emails that you, in your infinite wisdom, have every inevitability taken care of and as a result, you won’t need anyone’s assistance. I’m glad to hear that. I’m sorry that you have been screwed over so many times by folks.

As to the rest of you, I would not be able to sleep at night nor look at myself in the mirror each day if I knew someone needed something I could provide or arrange for, but I chose to do nothing. I wasn’t raised that way. And even Jesus (those conservatives do like to remind us how Christian they are) said “The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” Matthew 25:40 KJV. He also said in Proverbs 14:31, “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” Lastly, I am trying to figure out how one can be a Christian and a conservative. To ignore suffering of any kind is not a Christian virtue. How can one be a Christian Conservative? To embrace the values of one is to deny the values of the other.

Anyway, for what it is worth, here it is.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” Elizabeth Kubler Ros

“Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.” Robert A. Heinlein

Once upon a time…

2011-09-25T13:12:00.000-05:00

…there was the Crossroads Commission on Education. They were a group pulled together by State Representative Geanie Morrison (R) and the membership included the usual suspects: Dennis Patillo, Bill Blanchard, Claud Jacobs, Jan Jacob, Robby Burdge, Randy Vivian and others, including the fabulous Dale Fowler.

They had a goal. It was, “to identify ways to help students reach their fullest educational potential.”

They had a plan. It was, “…will meet weekly.”

When is the last time you heard anything about this Commission? Since the end of May, when the Texas Legislature wrapped up after killing the UHV-TAMU switcheroo scam perpetrated by this group, we’ve heard nothing! Zip! Zilch! Nada!

Now, all along this bunch has denied having the sole focus of switching university systems. They claim they are going “…to see what we need to do to make sure we have more students graduating and getting the education we need more for jobs, and more economic prosperity to our area."

Really?

Seriously?

We live in a state that is 49th in the nation in education. We have a governor who passed on federal funds help with education because he didn’t want to be dictated to by the folks in Washington. We have a new state budget where education funding has been gutted so severely that over 10,000 teachers have lost their jobs. We have a new standardized test for our students because the last three or four have not been successful in making the kids smarter. We have more schools seeking waivers for large classrooms than ever before.

We have a problem. We have problems. We have a pseudo commission that is nothing more than a social group of friends formed with a solitary goal in mind. When that goal failed, they seem to have promptly forgotten their original intent. The only thing this group has actually achieved is causing division in this community over the UHV situation, which really never was a situation. It was someone’s hare-brained idea that burned out of control as the local newspaper fanned the flames.

Where is the Crossroads Commission on Education when you really need them?

Anyone?

That’s what I thought.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”--Nelson Mandela

The verdict is in

2011-09-21T17:05:00.006-05:00

And the verdict is guilty!

Taking just about 8 minutes to pick a foreman and render the verdict, the jury in the Billy Joe Harris sexual assault trial found Harris guilty!

To recap the day, we started with Dr. Richard Coons testifying for the State. He actually examined Harris and in describing that examination, he offered an opinion about Harris and his behaviors: "He wanted to focus on the goofy stuff which is another indication that it's all made up." Coons said goofy does not equate to mentally ill.

After Dr. Coons was finished, the jury was sent out 'for housekeeping purposes'. Bobby Bell, the District Attorney, then presented a motion to have the testimony of the quack psychiatrist, Dr. Collin Ross and the testimony of the psychologist, Dr. Walter Quijano thrown out under the Daubert standard. After hearing an objection from Alan Cohen, the defense attorney, Judge Skipper Koetter ruled in favor of the motion. This took a little while and finally the jury was returned to the courtroom, and the State and the defense both announced that they were resting their cases. It was 10:15, and the jury was dismissed one more time. The jury was told to be ready to go at 1:30 this afternoon at which time closing arguments would be made.

This afternoon, at the appointed time, the Judge explained to the jury that they were to disregard the entire testimony of Ross and most of Quijano's. With that ruling, the majority of Harris' defense evaporated into thin air. Closing arguments then began with Bell allowing Cohen to go first.

Cohen took right at 5 minutes for his closing statement. He told the jury there was a consensual relationship between Harris and the victim, and therefore his client was not guilty. I don't think he even mentioned insanity.

Bell took over 90 minutes to present his closing statement. He gave a very powerful recap of the testimony we heard. He showed photos and other important pieces of evidence. Jurors nodded in agreement with statements Bell made. At least one juror wept. He told the jury they had no choice but the obvious--to find him guilty. Bell told the jury that he expected that it would take them longer to pick a foreman that it would be to find a verdict. And he was right. Eight minutes and they were done.

The first person to say something to the victim was Alan Cohen who took her hand and said, "I am so very sorry. I sincerely mean that." I guess he does have a teeny bit of decency after all.

Tomorrow morning we will hear the first of 12 or so witnesses who are scheduled to testify in the punishment phase of this trial. It is expected to conclude by the middle of next week.

Sonny Long has posted a preliminary story at the Victoria Advocate. Do check back often on that link. I know Long will update the story with more of what took place today. **UPDATE** Check out Long's story today. Notice the mention of Harris' behavior. He was very interested today in the proceedings and did consult several times with his attorney.

It has been a very long day.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Whoever fights, whoever falls, Justice conquers evermore”--Ralph Waldo Emerson

If Thomas is a dog, then Dr. Collin Ross let the dog out.

2011-09-19T19:51:00.003-05:00

Testimony resumed today in the Billy Joe Harris trial currently underway in Edna, Texas. For those in the courtroom, it was an interesting day! The testimony included every freaky thing you could think of--bestiality, a crack-head transvestite, deer heads, Shetland ponies and illegal aliens. I don't mean illegal aliens from south of the border. I am talking about the kind who land their space ship in a trailer parks. And then cut off your left nut to keep as a souvenir. Seriously.

We had a defense attorney who discussed the bestiality aspect of Harris' history like one would discuss a human relationship. "So, Mr. Harris, after you ended the relationship with Lady, the Rottweiler, what did you do?" Seriously. This is the dog Harris said he loved more than his wife. And by 'loved', I mean 'LOVED', if you know what I mean.

Once again, Sonny Long of the Victoria Advocate has done a great job of bringing the story to the folks. Robert Zavala was there as well, and contributed courtroom drawings for the story.

Tomorrow we will hear from the defense experts, Dr. Collin Ross and another whose name I did not catch. Bobby Bell will put a couple of experts on after that.

Personally, I am very anxious to hear how Dr. Ross will explain his diagnosis of Harris. We already know by way of ‘evidence’ from the defense, that it is Dr. Ross who, after examining Harris, has discovered that there is a fourth personality, Thomas Simpson. Harris did not know about him until Dr. Ross told him. So, in a sense, it was Dr. Ross who let the dog out.

Go read Long’s story here. Be mindful that this story will most likely be updated again this evening.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”—Josh Billings

“Apparently the feeling was mutual.”—Edith Ann

Who let the dog out?

2011-09-15T08:30:00.001-05:00

We don’t know just yet. Maybe we will know more come next week.

For those of you who are not following the daily reports on the trial of Billy Joe Harris, the alleged ‘Twilight Rapist’, you do not know what you are missing! If it were not for the fact that there are about twelve victims in eight counties around the state of Texas, this would be the funniest thing around. But, there are about twelve victims in eight counties, and these women have to endure being insulted, humiliated and further traumatized by this creep and his equally creepy and skanky attorney, Alan Cohen. Despite those terribly disturbing facts, this guy and his attorney have scored points for “Most Creative Defense” that I’ve ever seen.

If you have been keeping up with this story, you already know that a task force was created by our Governor. Comprised of several Texas Rangers, the lead investigators in the targeted counties and the District Attorneys of those counties, this task force developed these cases to the point where they knew they were dealing with a serial rapist. It was through the coordinated efforts of these fine folks that this guy is being dealt with in a swift and efficient manner.

So you are asking, “What makes this so funny? This is serious stuff.” Yes, it is serious stuff, but here is where it gets amusing. In my opinion, and apparently that of the Jackson County District Attorney Bobby Bell, this guy committed these heinous crimes. They have the evidence on him. They recovered stolen items from his Missouri City home and his car. His DNA was found where it should not have been found. His attorney is not offering any resistance to those allegations. In fact, Cohen and his client agree that Harris did what he is accused of in Jackson County. Well, sort of…

In opening statements, Bell laid out the facts as he sees them, and promised that he would prove up those facts. Cohen, after initially telling the Court that his client is ‘Not guilty by reason of insanity’, laid out his reasons for that plea, and he promised to prove up his case by introducing experts who would testify that Harris is insane and therefore, did not know that raping women while burglarizing their homes was wrong. Not only that, but they are claiming that his lack of knowledge of right from wrong comes from the fact he suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (back in the day, this was called Multiple Personality Disorder) and it was one of his ‘alters’ that did the awful stuff. Cohen says Harris has three ‘personalities’—Billy Joe Harris, someone called Bobby, and David. The dog. David the dog did it according to Cohen.

Yes, Alan Cohen stood in front of the twelve jurors seated for this case—and the two alternates—and said the dog did it. Seriously. You should have seen their faces. I know several must have had a hard time keeping a straight face as they listened.

Now, I can see where Cohen would choose the crazy defense. It was all he had. That task force did their job, and this guy is, hopefully, toast at the end of the trial, but until then, Harris has to appear ‘insane’ so that all present will buy into the defense. Let me offer up a piece of advice here, you know, just in case any of you reading might want to use the insanity defense one day—google ‘insanity defense’ first and find out what it is. Then, when choosing your ‘mental impairment’ to support your claim, google that and see what the characteristics are so you don’t look like an idiot! Unfortunately for Harris, being an idiot is not a defense, because if it were, this dude would surely walk!

Here is where the defense failed to do their homework. First, Harris is sitting at the defense table with paper in his ears. I think he changes it every time there is a break. At times, the paper wads have looked like gum wrappers or cotton balls. The first afternoon, it looked like he had a piece of popped pop corn sitting in his ear. Cohen claims Harris does that so he doesn’t have to hear the voices in his head. Like he is schizophrenic.

Second, Harris sits, shackled and chained (at HIS attorney’s request) at the defense table making weird, quirky noises and flicking his head and jerking his body like he has tics. Spastic tics, not ticks like ‘fleas and ticks’. (Here is where one would insert a dog joke…) Like he has Tourette’s Syndrome.

Third, and I could be wrong here, DID does not include non-human alters, or personalities. If it did, Harris should have chosen something like a toaster as the real culprit.

Starting Monday, Cohen’s experts in DID will be explaining to the jurors exactly how Harris is affected by his mental condition. I, for one, cannot wait to hear this explanation. It ought to be good.

Back to the dog jokes. There was no shortage of jokes and even the posters on the Advocate posted a few. This stuff sort of writes itself. Perhaps the best joke of all is that the rookie cop who ran Harris down and captured him, Robert Chastain, also serves as Edna’s animal control officer. See—I tell you, this stuff writes itself!

I would strongly urge anyone looking for something to do, to motor over to Edna and check out this trial. It may be the only time you ever get to witness with your own eyes a schizophrenic dog with Tourette’s. The trial resumes Monday, September 19th at 9:00 a.m. And don’t forget to read Sonny Long's articles in the Advocate. He is doing a super job, as always, of recapping the day’s events. Juan Lozano of the Associated Press is also present and his AP stories are landing in the Star-Telegram and elsewhere.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.”--Mark Twain

From ashes...

2011-09-10T22:41:00.000-05:00

…can come better things. I do not know what is left to be said about those horribly tragic events of September 11, 2001. Haven’t we said it all, over and over again? We all remember where we were. We all remember how we felt. We all remember that we said we would never forget. And we haven’t.

Now, here we are, a fast ten years later. As we sit today, we are under an alert that there could be more attacks tomorrow, the 10th anniversary of one of the biggest and most damaging on American soil. As I posted over on another blog, I am really an optimistic person. I do believe that good can come of adversity. I do believe that folks will rise to the occasion when necessary. There is a lot of good in most folks. I have chosen to ‘never forget’ by remembering those things.

Here are two videos that are very poignant for me and I would like to share them with you. They are worth the time it takes to watch them. Perhaps they will remind you that there is reason to be optimistic. That good can come from evil. That we are survivors.

I could not get the second video to post, so please use this link and look at it.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/September_11/911-babies-fathers-killed-world-trade-center-attacks/story?id=14482589

You won't be sorry. Have tissues handy. That’s all I have.

Edith Ann

#200

2011-09-08T09:47:00.003-05:00

In my last blog I promised something very different for this, my 200th blog. This is quite a milestone for me. I never imagined that I would write more than a few blog before I would eventually lose interest. I’m glad to say that hasn’t happened. Here and there it is difficult to find a topic, but for the most part, all I have to do is check the online papers and watch some city council meetings. And I am still here writing because you are still reading and, more importantly, commenting. The comments are the best part of my blog! [Channeling Jared] I thank you all for your readership!

So, without further ado, let me explain what I had planned for this blog.

Chatting with Juanita one day about my upcoming 200th blog, she suggested I interview Chris Cobler, editor of the Victoria Advocate. Her thought was, “It was him banning you from the online forum AGAIN! that spurred you to start the blog, why not bring it full circle? You have a lot of on again-off again history with the paper and Cobler, why not give him the chance to say what he would like to say to the readers?” I thought she had a good idea, and as we discussed possible questions, it occurred to me that I should invite others I have had issue with.

Juanita thought that could be a good thing, too, so we made our list of folks to invite. While I am not so foolish to believe the chosen ones were going to fully embrace this effort, I really had hoped some would take the opportunity I was giving them to change my mind about them, and perhaps other minds as well. To set the record straight, if you will.

To say I am disappointed at the poor response is correct, but I am happy with my one participant and the other responses as well. The emails were sent BCC, so the recipients did not know who else was invited.

Here is what each participant was sent:

Greetings from Edith Ann!

Each of you has been specifically chosen to receive this special invitation to participate in an exclusive Edith Ann—and that’s the truth! blog interview. This special event is to commemorate my 200th blog and nearly 60,000 page loads, as well as to allow you to let us get to know you better.
I will be asking each of you the same five questions, and a bonus question, and I will not make any alterations to your answers. The questions can be found at the bottom of this email. You may ask, “What’s the catch?” There is no catch. I just thought it was time to set aside my perceptions of you and allow you to have a voice on my blog. I want to correct any misconceptions I have.

Please take this invitation in the spirit in which it is extended—a genuine desire to hear your thoughts and to let those faithful readers of Edith Ann learn a little more about you, straight from the horse’s mouth! Who knows—this could be a real turning point for some.

I sincerely hope you will decide that this could be fun and participate. If I could receive your replies in the next week, it would be great!

Most sincerely,

Edith Ann

The questions:

1. What is the public’s biggest misconception about you?

2. What do folks not know about you?

3. If you knew then what you know now, would you be where you are right now?

4. Have the citizens of Victoria been fair to you?

5. Where will we see you in 5 years? 10 years?

Bonus question: Boots or Flip-Flops?

Not so terrible, right? Well, here’s what happened—

My first response was from Chris Cobler. While he took the time to respond, he did politely decline my offer to participate. I was really thinking Cobler would be the one who would answer the questions. So strike one.

Next I heard back from County Commissioner Gary Burns. His was an interesting reply and I’ll let you read it for your self—

I would like to participate. The only thing I ask is that you and I sit down and talk, face to face. I would like to invite you and your husband to have lunch with me. I’m not very good on the computer (slow). I’m old school and prefer to have a conversation. Looking forward, Gary

So I had to reply—

Mr. Burns,

Thank you for your reply. I am afraid I must decline your kind offer to meet due to the demands of a very busy work schedule. I will be tied up with an out of county trial over the next few weeks and I cannot find space in my schedule to accommodate a face to face meeting.

I chose the email format as a time saver for all and usually it works very well. If you care to answer any or all of the questions I posed, that is great! I plan to work on this blog over the next week or so, when I can find the time. Since there is no hard and fast deadline, you might find you can participate after all.

Additionally, all participants were offered the same terms for their interview, as well, as the same questions, and it would not be fair to all to alter the interview arrangements.

In any event, I appreciate the fact that you did respond. I am sorry I am unable to accommodate a sit-down interview because those always yield so much more. I will eventually have more free time at some point, and perhaps I could treat you to a cup of coffee at that time.

Again, thanks and most sincerely,
Edith Ann

Well, that and I don’t have a husband to drag along. Wonder if I could have brought a date? Strike two.

Next I received this—

Your Royalness,

Here are my replies. I know they are short, but I did think long and hard on some of those.

The questions:

Let me first congratulate EdithAnn for her 200th post! A wonderful reason to celebrate, I recommend a room temperature 1554 by New Belgium Brewery.

1. What is the public’s biggest misconception about you?

It is hard for me to say, because I really do not know how the public perceives me. How do you, public, perceive me?

2. What do folks not know about you?

Looking back, I realize that I like Victoria. It must be evident in my speech with strangers and others outside Victoria because when I was in college and playing intramural football, the name I was given by my fraternity was “Victoria’s Secret.”

3. If you knew then what you know now, would you be where you are right now?

Of course, I have chosen to be here. Here can mean my marriage, family, geography, etc. If I had to do it again, I would. Life has thrown numerous curve balls but these have molded me.

4. Have the citizens of Victoria been fair to you?

Yes and no. Yes, they have been fair as I develop relationships. I think at first, people have knee-jerks, but once that is over and settled, fairness seems mutual.

5. Where will we see you in 5 years? 10 years?

God willing you will see me doing exactly what I ought to be doing.

Bonus question: Boots or Flip-Flops?

Seasonal. I like boots, but hardly touch them in the summer. I love flip-flops, would wear them all year round, but I am not crazy…or at least the voice in my head says I am not. ;) Have you seen those boot-flops, now those are crazy!

Finally, a hit! I knew Jared would respond. He has that enthusiasm about him, and I had to ask him—he refers to me as ‘Queen’ and such! But I sincerely thank you, Jared, for participating.

These were not the only folks I contacted. The rest of the invitees went AWOL and I never heard a word. Go figure!

Those who obviously were NOT interested in sharing with us were:

Victoria Mayor Will Armstrong, City Councilman Paul Polasek, Dale Fowler of VEDC fame,
Dennis Patillo, friend of the City Council and member of multiple boards and commissions in this town, and
Texas Tech’s Vice Chancellor Tim Hudson

And, if I had just had an email address for Bridgette Bise…

Wouldn’t it have been interesting to hear from these folks? I think so, too.

Well, it is what it is. This is my 200th blog. I guess I’ll have to get real creative for #250.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it."-- Julia Child

**DISCLAIMER—the comments on this blog will be moderated. This blog was never intended to be a Bash Fest on these folks. I made a sincere offer and I am a woman of my word. Please feel free to post, and I will post those comments that make the cut. Thank you for your indulgence in this matter.**

Me and my questions

2011-09-03T23:39:00.004-05:00

Okay, I have managed to fart off an entire day. I guess my brain understands that I have this extra day to do stuff this weekend. Or maybe I am just lazy. Whatever. In any event there are a few things going on that we may want to discuss. I’ll throw them out, in random order and let’s see what comes back.

Former Vice-President ‘Dead Eye’ Dick Cheney wrote a book. I hear it is 532 pages of rewritten history. I think it could be interesting to read. Or not. My question—will we find it in the history section of the local library, or under fiction?

Dancing With the Stars has announced the new season’s celebrities. The pickings must be very slim. Rob Kardashian? He’s famous for, what, being famous? Nancy Grace? Will she shut up long enough to dance? On a better note, J. R. Martinez, a wounded vet and actor is dancing, and I appreciate that. And of course, I have to mention Chaz Bono. Personally, since this show is about folks dancing, not fornicating, it really doesn’t matter to me what sort of equipment folks have, or how they use it or how they acquired it. My question—do y’all watch DWTS and speculate in your mind, or out loud, about the participants’ sexual habits? [Speculating over Edyta Sliwinska in her next-to-nothing costumes does not count.]

Well, apparently the Million Moms branch of the American Family Association does. Speculate out loud that is. In fact, it seems from all reports, not only do they speculate over others’ sex lives, they hold discussions during the program with their children. Seriously! They are concerned that young children are going to ask questions about Chaz Bono’s sexual equipment, or lack of, or something about penises, while he performs. Seriously! They want him removed from the show so they are not put in this awkward position by their children. If these young children are truly asking these questions, I’m concerned. My question—what are these folks exposing their children to?

Sarah Palin was the darling of the Tea Party of America Rally in Indianola, Iowa. Seems that Christine O’Donnell was invited to join Palin. Then she was uninvited. And finally, O’Donnell was re-invited. I have no clue if she ever showed up or not. Christine O’Donnell, if you will recall, confessed to dabbling in witchcraft as a college student when she appeared on the Bill Maher show. That confession has continued to haunt her. But, back to the point of mentioning Sarah Palin—she now says it will take her until the end of September to make up her mind about whether she wants to be president or not. My question—why the delay? We know she’s going to jump out there, so just go ahead and do it!

Well, one only has to peruse the Facebook page for the Armadillo Festival to see the comments of the many satisfied customers, **wink, wink**. If you are a member of Facebook, put Armadillo Fest in the search box and go check it out. I am pretty sure this will be considered a flop. They never should have posted this on their Facebook page: “Victoria's Original Festival is back! September 3, 2011. Stay Tuned for more Info.” Folks had a certain expectation, and it seems the event fell short. Very short, and I’m not just talking about the Midget Wrestling. However, maybe the organizer, Homer Escalante, Jr., will look at what he has and make the necessary improvements to bring this event up to the best it can be. He is to be commended for trying. My question—will we see a return of the armadillo next year?

The city council is still debating a tax rate while the county has declared Christmas in August! The city purchased iPads for the council and the other boards and commissions to use. That news made the paper. But have any of you noticed the new chairs in the city council chambers? They look pretty nice, but I’m a little surprised that has slipped under the radar.

As to the county’s action, just a year ago some folks were taking pay cuts while other folks were losing their jobs. Now, amazingly, there is enough money to grant a 2 to 4% raise across the board AND give bonuses to ELECTED officials. It’s a good thing their meetings are only 20 minutes long. I don’t know how they could look citizens in the eyes for longer than that. The editorial regarding this in the Victoria Advocate takes the Commissioners Court to task over these decisions. My question—wonder how that happened? The Advocate usually supports what local government does, no matter what.

The Victoria Police Officers Association has asked the city to approve a collective bargaining position for them. I think it is too early to completely say yay or nay at this point because I think there is more information to be had on the subject. I have heard that a huge part of this issue is the disparity in salaries between ranks. If this is indeed the case, my question is how was this allowed to be the case for so long? Why wasn’t the police pay scale revamped long ago? Perhaps this is what should be taking place. I don’t know. In any event, the Victoria Advocate has written an editorial denouncing the VPOA’s move. My question—why is the Advocate trying to stir the pot (as one poster on the Advocate suggested)?

For those of you keeping score, that 1 for the City and 1 against the County. Interesting.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one—three women walk into a bar. Two are holding hands. The bartender says “Hey! Get out of my bar! This is a country western bar, not a gay bar." Apparently there was too much affection on display. My question—do they also kick out heterosexual couples out of Cactus Canyon for displaying too much affection?

Gary White has been a little quiet of late. He hasn’t posted a comment since August 30th. He has missed the whole Ramadan event! He would have had the opportunity to proselytize to a whole bunch of folks. My question—where are you Gary? The heathens need you.

Well, that’s it for tonight!

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"When one finds oneself in a hole of one's own making, it is a good time to examine the quality of the workmanship."-- John Renmerde

**The next blog will be my 200th in two years. I have a special edition planned and hope I can pull it off. Stay tuned!**

Friday. Again.

2011-08-26T08:26:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are at Friday again. Frankly I thought we’d never get here. It has been a very slow news week. That is, until yesterday—we had rain! Not nearly enough rain, but a nice rain nonetheless. I know folks have been praying for rain for some time now, and I know our dear governor Rick Perry prayed for a break in the drought back in April. Looking back, I am pretty sure that was the beginning of the worst part of our drought here in Texas. I’m not saying that God doesn’t listen to Rick Perry, but, well, you know…I’m just saying.

God does, though, apparently listen to former County Commissioner Wayne Dierlam. Dierlam has secured the Bandstand (it is a bandstand, not a gazebo) at Deleon Plaza for one day next week to have a huge community wide gathering of folks for the purpose of praying for rain. All Dierlam had to do was promise prayer, and God responded with our rain yesterday! Don’t get me wrong—this is an excellent result, and we needed it badly! So, thank you Wayne Dierlam. I cannot wait to see what next week brings.

Speaking of God and all things religious, Gary White is certainly enjoying his moment in the spotlight over on the Advocate setting the rest of us straight on what the Bible says, who wrote the Bible, what God thinks about certain establishments and when it is okay to wish bad upon someone. Even Kenneth Schustereit was not this, uh, driven, if you will. Of course, all those folks who continue to engage him in conversation are not helping. He’s been ignoring me, and I am not sure why. But it’s fine. The others are doing a great job of sparring with him.

I truly believe he is convicted, but he just seems to be one of those folks who have some knowledge and a lot of passion and this fuels his sometimes very odd statements. White has taken on the chore of preaching against the new bars that are opening up in Victoria. [Economic development, folks.] When Jared—our resident good Catholic—said he would like to check out the new bars, White went straight for the gut and asked Jared if the Virgin Mary would approve of him drinking in a bar. Jared said he thinks she’d be okay with it, or something to that effect. I tell you—White is a hoot!

Still over at the Advocate, we have the “Did they raise or lower the taxes?” issue continuing. The local television station isn’t helping because I think they are getting their story straight from the paper. KAVU does not usually cover the City Council meetings. But, back to the tax issue. The headline to the article in the Advocate is what is throwing everyone a curve. The headline is "City council agrees to lower tax rate". Read one way, it sounds like the tax rate will be less this year than last, right? Nope. That’s not what it means at all. In fact, until the article was edited (read 'sanitized'), Cm. Paul Polasek was quoted as saying the city has raised taxes every year that he has been on the council. And that is the truth. After editing, Polasek’s comment was removed.

So, what is all the confusion about? Well, nothing that a couple of words could have taken care of. If the headline had read “City council agrees to a lower than proposed tax rate” it would be an accurate representation of what happened at that meeting. Or if it had simply said “Council adopts less than recommended tax rate”, most everyone would have gotten it. And while Brian Cuaron is doing a pretty good job of covering the city council meetings, his story is misleading in the first couple of paragraphs. We can get past that, though. The headlines, on the other hand continue to be a problem for me.

Lastly, two weeks ago the Pro—Con articles in the Advocate covered the topic of light bulbs. Last week the Pro—Con articles covered phone books. I don’t know if I can take the suspense of waiting to see what this week brings. Placemats?

Okay, that’s it. Stay cool if you can.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"To err is human, but when the eraser wears out ahead of the pencil, you're overdoing it."-- Josh Jenkins

I'm up for adoption

2011-08-19T08:48:00.000-05:00

That's right, I'm up for adoption! It is so very hard at times to keep up with all that needs cussing and discussing. If I could figure out how to go without sleep, I could probably manage all I'd like to do. But, if someone wants to adopt me, i.e., pay my bills, I'd like it very much.

I did get a message from Blogspot that said, "It looks like you have a popular blog. Why not monetize it?" I have always resisted advertising simply because I didn't ever want to be in conflict with or feel beholden to an advertiser. I don't know. What do y'all think? Y'all really don't care about that--y'all want to discuss last night's City Council meeting here because the Advocate won't let you do it there.

Well, knock yourselves out. I'm headed to Austin for the weekend, so I'm leaving Anonymous in charge. Behave and know I'll be watching

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something sometime in your life." ~Winston Churchill

Questions. I have questions.

2011-08-11T12:13:00.001-05:00

Golly gee wowzer! There is just so much to chat about and the list is growing. I apologize for not writing sooner, but life keeps getting in the way of my fun! In any event, here is just a bit of what is on my mind, as always in no particular order. I’ll tell you what I think and you can let me know what you think. Okay? Good!

The Mayor is in cheerleader mode, and he should be. That is his job. But he is also admitting that he is not forthcoming with visitors about the less than desirable features of our fair city. And honestly, I’m okay with that. You don’t want to talk folks out of being here, do you? So, since the Mayor is admitting we have our blemishes, I have a few questions. Where was the outrage when David Brown closed the only psychiatric unit in the area? What about having to go to San Antonio for a drug screening and assessment for rehab? These are major issues in this town, and we have a city government that is ignoring the lack of resources.

The Victoria Advocate is suffering an attack of something or another. They want to know how to handle unsubstantiated information posted on their website. They ask the question in their newest survey nine different ways. I see that they are planning a public meeting on this issue. As one who used to get a fair amount of emails about my comments there, I just have one question for the Advocate—if you deem my comment unsubstantiated information, why don’t you ask me to substantiate it? I’d have been more than happy to show my proof. I think it is because the Advocate cannot stand to be scooped! I don’t think it has anything to do with their worry over a rumor. But that’s just my opinion.

I still find it funny that Jared discovered the word ‘hornswaggle’. There has never been a better word to describe the governing style of the Good Ol’ Boys and their cronies here in Victoria. Now, Jared, the trick will be for you to keep that word in mind, and see how many times you see it ‘in action’ as you watch the GOBs do their work.

Gary White, the resident religion expert on the Advocate forum is really enjoying his place in the sun. Why folks are bothering with him is beyond me. But, nonetheless, old Gary really riles them up! Gary, it seems, is a fan of the New Apostolic Movement that has partnered with Tricky Icky Ricky Perry in his quest for the presidency of the United States. On the one hand, Gary is just filling the void left by Kenneth Schustereit's banishment from the Advocate pages, and thankfully he is not as hateful as Kenneth. But on the other hand, he is further proof that it takes all kinds, and one’s view is completely dependent upon which end of the periscope one is looking through.

The Porking Lot is finished!!! You need to take a cruise by and check out your tax dollars at work! It has been completed for a bit now, but they had to go back in the one lot and dig up the asphalt for Center Point Energy for a repair. It is very nice. You should be proud.

Okay, this should get you started. Y’all can take it from here.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious.”~~George Bernard Shaw

Henry reveals all...almost!

2011-08-04T08:56:00.003-05:00

As most of you have heard, the Armadillo Festival is back. Yep. It is scheduled for September 3rd in Riverside Park. They have a Facebook page and everything. They have booked several bands for entertainment, but there really hasn’t been much publicity in the way of what else to expect. Those of you of a certain age will remember the original International Armadillo Confab and Exposition from the early 70’s. It was quite an event as I recall, and I was stone cold sober during the ones I attended! I do remember my sister being a model for the body painting and I remember the armadillo races. I know we had a good time.

One of the names we often hear attached to the Armadillo Confab is Henry Wolff, Jr. Henry was a reporter for the Victoria Advocate and covered the event for the paper. Additionally, Henry has written the history of the Armadillo Confab for the The Heritage and History of Victoria County.

Here is a bit of an excerpt from Henry’s account as published in The Heritage and History of Victoria.

“There was not a lot to the first festival around Victoria’s historic old public De Leon Plaza, the crowd and participants mostly being locals out to have a good time. Then, faster than a speeding armadillo, word spread throughout the land and especially to Austin where the hippie culture was gaining a stronghold in Texas.

Longhaired boys and bra-less girls flocked to Victoria like it was migrating season and for a time the armadillo festival was a Texas version of Woodstock. Artist Jim Franklin, who had helped to make the armadillo a symbol of the hippie culture, showed up to participate in the body painting contest, and one year musicians were provided by the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin. Willie Nelson even showed up to play for a couple of hours in the hot sun in a vacant lot across from the plaza.

Cheap beer, lots of good food, “world champion” armadillo races, a beer can smash, cigarette roll-off, Miss Vacant Lot of the World and Surrounding Counties pageant, and other tongue-in-cheek events made it one of the most unusual festivals in Texas.”

Clearly a good time was had by all. And clearly, there was more to be learned about those original events. Henry Wolff was kind enough to answer a few questions about the first, and some subsequent Armadillo Confabs. I sure there are other questions I didn’t ask, so feel free to do so, and I am pretty sure we can get Henry to answer.

The interview:

Edith Ann: Henry, thank you so much for agreeing to share some of your thoughts and memories of the original International Armadillo Confab and Exposition. I think that most folks, that is, those who actually attended the original Armadillo Festivals, associate you with the Armadillo Festival. Tell us how you were involved.

Henry Wolff, Jr.: I was involved in some way with all the armadillo festivals, with the first ones during the 1970 mostly in promoting the festival as a part of my role as a reporter and photographer at the Victoria Advocate covering all aspects of the festival, the Chamber of Commerce and its tourist and convention committee where it all began, and later with the Jaycees where the festivals of that decade came to an end. With the second series of festivals in the 1980s and early 1990s, I was involved in the reorganization, also serving for a couple of years as co-chairman with Bob Nance, and chaired the armadillo races and most of the Miss Vacant Lot events during that period.

EA: I know a lot of folks, including Texas Monthly magazine place our mayor, Will Armstrong, as one of the organizers. Can you tell us who the brains were behind the original event?

HW: No, it was not Will, but his brother Fred who was the principal figure in creating the International Armadillo Confab and Exposition, he being the confab guru from 1971 until the Jaycees took it over from 1976 to 1978. It was not Fred, however, but the late local rancher and civic leader Robert Thomas who came up with the idea of the armadillo theme. I well remember when a bunch of us were gathered around a table in the coffee room at the Chamber of Commerce offices, then in the old South Texas Savings Building at Navarro and Rio Grande, all trying to think of a theme that would be different from other festivals in Texas. That was after the city had inaugurated a three-cent motel tax with part of the proceeds going to the chamber for tourist promotion. It was also a time when most every community of any size seemed to be trying to out do all others with some sort of unique festival. I had suggested having a Jackass Festival, not a new idea with me since I had first presented the idea some years before while with a local chamber group studying downtown redevelopments in Hobbs, N.M., Grand Junction, Colorado, and Tyler, Texas – just goes to show that nothing is new in Victoria. I could envision jackass races between local politicians. I also thought there were some unusual possibilities for a beauty contest, though it could not have been any more entertaining than the Miss Vacant Lot Extravaganzas would become with the armadillo confab, otherwise known as the Miss Vacant Lot of the World and Surrounding Counties pageant, it bringing national and even international attention for the tongue-in-cheek festival. There was an element to all the confabs that poked fun at festivals in general. From what I understand after Thomas brought up the idea of using the armadillo as a symbol that afternoon, in a meeting later with Armstrong and some of his cohorts it was adopted, and that just happened to be about the same time that the armadillo was become something of a symbol for the hippie movement that had finally reached Texas, especially in Austin. I had to save my jackass idea for later when I would organize the South Texas Beautiful Burro contest that was held annually for a dozen and more years at the Texas Zoo.

EA: What do you think they were trying to accomplish? Was this a fundraiser? Just a community event?

HW: I would say more just a community event and tourist attraction, but also to raise funds for local organizations with food booths, which it did turn out to be with tens of thousands of people flocking to Victoria at one point during some of the early festivals – all incidentally being “first annual,” like second first annual, third first annual, and so forth. I would say that it was it was more a three lettered “fun raiser” than anything else.

EA: Was the City or the County involved in the production or financing of the Armadillo Confab or was this strictly a Chamber event? If the City or County participated, in what way did they participate?

HW: There was no direct financing as I recall from the city or county, only that portion of the motel tax that was passed though the chamber. No admission was charged either, it being just one big party around De Leon Plaza from 1971 to 1974, Riverside Park in 1975, and with the Jaycees at the Community Center from 1976 to 1978. The later festivals, with an effort to make it a more “family friendly” experience, but retaining some of the main events like the races and the Miss Vacant Lot contest, were held at the plaza in 1987 and 1988, skipping 1989, and then again in 1990 and 1991, finally in Riverside Park in 1992 and 1993.

EA: How many years did the Confab last? Was it successful each year? How big, attendance-wise, did the event get? What killed it?

HW: That would have been about 14 years including both periods. The first festival was pretty much local, with the big crowds coming during 1972 to 1974, thousands upon thousands, with a lot of longhaired young men and braless girls. It was indeed a happening during the time of happenings. There was some success at other times, but Riverside Park never had quite the same atmosphere, nor the Community Center, though the latter did solve some weather problems. The weather can always be a problem with outdoor festivals in Victoria. Downtown it didn’t seem to matter as much, like I can remember seeing members of local organizations in the food booths wading in curb high water around De Leon Plaza. That particular year it was pretty much like one giant wet T-shirt contest.

EA: Was it universally accepted by the citizens of Victoria, or did they have detractors? What were the detractors’ fears?

HW: There certainly were some detractors, even some of the downtown merchants – there still being quite a number of retail establishments at the time – who did not like all the people coming into their stores. I liked it, only a few days before the first festival my late first wife Nita and I had opened a sideline business, the General Store, in the old O’Connor Building that was at the corner of Main and Forrest. That first festival got our “hippie shop” off to a good start. There were some people who were simply frightened by all the commotion and “the strange looking people” in their weird clothes – like some of the local youngsters coming back from college to party. It was a new age and all sorts of rumors were floating around about dope, especially among those who had no idea what it even looked like, or smelled like. During the early years, mere possession of pot was a felony and I can truthfully say that I did not see any dope in public view. It was kept out of sight, not that it wasn’t there. I remember someone complained to Police Chief Kenneth Rosenquest about smelling all that marijuana being smoked, to which he replied that it was just the smell of all that incense that Henry Wolff was selling at the General Store. I also remember covering a Chamber of Commerce meeting -- one after the 1973 festival, believe it was, during which Willie Nelson had been a surprise performer -- when a number of preachers showed up to complain with Bibles in hand. The festival would continue in 1974 after a vote of chamber members, 184 in favor, 107 against, but it would be moved to Riverside Park the next year before the Jaycees took it over in 1976 at the Community Center.

EA: Can this new group of organizers pull off Armadillo Festival 2011? Did they contact you for assistance in any way?

HW: I know nothing of any new group or of anything symbolic of the armadillo festivals now being planned, though I have heard mention of something being called an armadillo festival. I am not aware of any direct connection, however, to the past festivals. We have been there and done that and the novelty eventually wore off as the day of happenings came to an end.

EA: The best moments? The worst moments? The most controversial?

HW: It was a lot of fun to be involved as a journalist and as a participant in one way or another, it being an event of a time past, one that could never be quite the same again. That we learned with even the second series of festivals.

EA: Okay, Henry, thanks for this enlightening exchange. Do you have just one “Oh my gosh!” tidbit to share with my readers about the original International Armadillo Confab and Exposition? You know, something that’s true, but folks will have a hard time believing. Something where maybe the statute of limitations has expired. Maybe like which old geezers (now) were smoking pot then.

HW: Just look around you, there is a pretty good chance you will see some of those old geezers who were in the big middle of it all, remember it was the 70s when the “Sixties” had finally come to Texas. As for interesting things that happened, I particularly remember the year 1973, not only because Willie was there, but when my young son Hank became the proud owner of the World Champion armadillo – remember everything at the festival was world champion. I had gone back to the newspaper office during the armadillo races to begin writing my article for the next morning’s paper. When I got back to the festival, the races were over and the winner that I had planned to photograph was nowhere in sight. About that time, Hank came strutting up with a big cardboard box. He had a won a few dollars in the body painting contest for his age group and had purchased the World Champion for 50 cents from some boys who told him they were about to put it down a storm drain. I rounded up the armadillo’s two handlers, Lisa Teinert and Gay Moulton, and got my picture. On the way home, we put the armadillo, much to Hank’s disappointment, out to pasture near Stroman High School where there are probably some of its descendants to this day. The next year I was less fortunate and missed the streaker, a jubilant young woman who dashed past the old downtown fire station wearing nary a stitch until some of our gallant firefighters managed to put a blanket around her, or so I was told. That year before, however, was my favorite of the all the festivals and recall describing it in a newspaper article as having been “a rousing good party, a little Woodstock, a little Mardi Gras, a little Rio, and a little Nashville.” That year the attendance was “officially estimated” at 40,000 to 50,000, but then, who was counting.

Henry will be presenting a program, “The Armadillo Confab: A Happening” at the Museum of the Coastal Bend on Sept. 1 at 5:30 p.m., a presentation that he also made at this year’s annual meeting of the Texas Folklore Society. Come check it out. I know you won’t be disappointed. I’ll be there!

Well, there you go!

Until next time,
Edith Ann

"There is no such thing as a weird human being. It's just that some people require more understanding than others."~~Tom Robbins

All dressed up and no where to go

2011-08-01T23:12:00.000-05:00

One of the popular topics among those who discuss such things is the question of whether our little village is growing or not. Are we correct to think there will be a boon to our community? Or is it just the status quo, redressed to look like a new package? There are those who believe we are (perpetually) on the cusp of an explosion in growth. These folks are kind of dating themselves with using the word ‘cusp’, in my opinion. Kind of an old-fashioned word, don’t you think? Then there are those who think we are stuck where we are, in a time warp, never to move an inch forward in this century. I happen to think we are somewhere in between. We want to view ourselves as all progressive, yet we are so stuck in outdated thinking about our community!

Those who say we are poised for this boon cite information like new business as proof of the impending growth. As recently reported in the Victoria Advocate, there are, indeed, new stores coming to Victoria. When I saw the headline, “Victoria Mall gets new stores…” I sort of got all excited. I wondered how many new stores we’d be getting Then, I saw that the new stores were a discount chain and an ice cream store! Wow! Can you believe it? One store and one snack stand! I am sure the discount chain is adequate, but if it’s true that T J Maxx is also coming to Victoria Mall, I guess I would have to ask if the mall is becoming a discount mall. I guess the ice cream stand will be a nice addition to the food court, though.

I really don’t know why I thought the facts would live up to the headline, but I did. That they didn’t was not nearly as surprising as the fact that this story was written without nary a comment from either Randy Vivian or Dale Fowler! I know—shocking! Vivian’s support was important enough to quote on the story about the waste water treatment plant, but apparently not so important on a story about retail business! Really? Am I the only one who doesn’t get this?

Along the lines of ‘growth’, remember that bond issue that brought us the new schools? Remember how Bob Moore stressed that the two new identical high schools would, essentially, make everything wonderful in VISD? Remember? Well, I guess things are not so bad, but the TAKS testing scores are down. VISD slipped in its rating. I can’t blame that on Moore, but I can point the finger at the State. Why is it that politicians, usually career politicians, think that testing kids to death somehow is a good thing?

I am all for what we used to call in the olden days, achievement tests. The teachers just went about their business teaching and, in the spring, we took one big test. Now days, because so much rides on the ‘standardized testing’ teachers are pressured to teach the test. This is just wrong! Even my son, when he was a senior in high school, had to still do the daily TAAS (at that time) worksheets and he had completed his high school TAAS testing the year before. Since the teacher had students who had not passed as juniors, everyone had to conform to the non-passers. It was impossible for the teacher to teach to ‘passers’ AND ‘non-passers’. Now isn’t that something!

While I am on the topic of VISD, it is Senior Portrait time. According to a story in the Advocate, “Seniors at West High School will this year be required to take their yearbook portraits with a single photography company. The San Antonio company Tilde will be in the West High School auditorium Friday and Saturday to capture six poses for each senior's portraits. Pictures taken by local photographers will be accepted for advertisements only. The sitting fee for the photo shoot is $15. Students can then purchase the rights to their photos for $100, which allows the pictures to be posted online or reprinted. If students are unable to attend the August shoot, they will have another opportunity to take portraits in September. To schedule a time to have your portrait taken, call 210-523-6139. Tilde will be on campus from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. The company will schedule photo shoots from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday."

Did you see the part about photos taken by local photographers? Whose idea was this? If I was a parent, I would not be so happy about this! Posters on the Victoria Advocate forum questioned this, also. Click here to see the comments.

Tuesday, August 2, the Victoria City Council will begin the process to set the tax rate. The County has already thrown some preliminary numbers out there. Yep. It’s tax time. I’ll let you guys who do math decipher this for the rest of us, if you don’t mind. I think we already know who is paying taxes and who isn’t. Just simplify the bottom line for us. Thanks!

Lastly, despite the fact that the event is over and done, Gary White, the resident Advocate Apostle is still holding court and entertaining those who, for some reason, think they can change this guy’s mind about gays and Gay Pride. I have no problem with that notion, but you all do realize you are feeding into his martyr scenario, don't you? Somewhere along the way White was probably told that he would be attacked for his beliefs and that he was to stand strong in the face of the attackers. You all are fulfilling the prophecy…

On that note, I’ll close.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

Meanwhile, back at City Hall…

2011-07-24T15:06:00.001-05:00

I think the heat has finally gotten to folks. We have been at 100+ degrees for days and days now. Sometimes it is the actual temperature and sometimes it is the heat index. Does it really matter? It is hotter than the seventh layer of Hell and it cannot cool off soon enough for me.

So, meanwhile back at City Hall, we had a public hearing before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality this week and folks got to come and share their thoughts on the proposed wastewater treatment plant, aka sewer plant, going in on the south side of Victoria. This has been an issue for a while, and is not a new topic. We knew this situation would have to eventually be addressed.

Henry Perez, a former regular at the City Council meetings, is not happy with the City’s plans to go ahead with the build. The new sewer plant will be very near Perez' property. According to the article I referenced above, Perez had a list of complaints. Other than he didn’t want the new sewer plant to negatively affect his property values, I have no idea what his complaints are. The article ends there. “Perez then listed his complaints against the city's application, and asked for either the commission's reconsideration or a contested hearing.” The End. With the exception of a couple of small comments by residents of the area, the entire article was gung-ho sewer plant. Right here. Right now.

We did hear from those couple of folks who would be affected, and their concerns seem legitimate. And of course, as expected, we did hear that Randy Vivian of the Chamber of Commerce and Adrian Cannady of the Victoria Economic Development Corporation voiced support for the project. No self-respecting Victoria Advocate story of importance would be caught dead without a mention of that bunch. I’ll guess that Cannady got mentioned because Dale Fowler was probably on well deserved vacation. He’s had a very busy year, you know.

Tell me, though, what in the hell does a wastewater treatment plant have to do with retail or economic development? It’s not like there is a viable by-product that will create a zillion dollar industry and facilitate economic prosperity, is there? On the other hand, if we could actually make money off all the shit that is packaged and sold in this town, we’d ALL have a Merry Christmas! Why should we care what Randy Vivian and Dale Fowler’s stand-in, Adrian Cannady, think about the sewer plant?

Aside from the obligatory mention of Vivian and Cannady, there was a priceless mention of the Mayor. The article says, “Mayor Will Armstrong gave his support. He said that he was elected at-large, and pointed out that he nominated three Hispanics onto the citizens redistricting committee.” Well, Mr. Mayor, technically yes, you did appoint three Hispanics to the citizen redistricting committee, but only because City Manager Charmelle Garrett said that is what you needed to do to follow the guidelines of the consultant. And a statement like this is almost like the ones from whose folks who say, “I’m not a racist, but, I don’t want my daughter marrying a black/Hispanic/Chinese/whatever…” It is kind of Val Huvar-ish. Remember that tacky incident? The article doesn't mention if the Mayor's sentiments made the south side folks feel any better about this.

In defense of the location of the new sewer plant, and I know those folks on the south side really want to see it placed somewhere in the area of Woodway, Benchmark and Country Club, I think Legion had one of the best comments. He said, “Ask any plumber, $hit runs downhill and don't chew your fingernails.” I do agree that it would be cost prohibitive to add additional pumping stations, and I hate that for those folks over in the south side of the City. I sympathize with Mr. Perez, and I know he will keep up the good fight. Perhaps this will spur him to consider running for Denise Rangel’s seat. I bet he could beat her about now.

Turning the page, is it my poor recollection, or has the Advocate actually done an about-face in their support of UHV? In their most recent editorial they could not be more supportive of UHV and their past accomplishments as well as their future plans. Why wasn’t the Advocate this supportive when that handful of Education Commission yahoos wanted to ditch the UH System for another? You know, if the Advocate had stuck by UHV then instead of jumping on the first bandwagon that rolled by, we could have saved this community a whole lot of grief over this matter. I hope one day, when folks look back at this divisive moment in our city, that not only do they remember who the trouble makers were, but who allowed the trouble makers the forum to do their deeds. The Advocate will have to take a top spot on that matter.

On a more global level, Sarah Palin’s abstinence platform is not working. Her son Track—you know, one of Bristol’s siblings that we rarely hear about—and his very new bride are due to welcome Sarah’s second grandchild very soon. I’m not going to judge their choices, but I absolutely am going to question Palin’s proclamation (and Bristol’s) that abstinence is the only answer to teen pregnancy. How are teens supposed to take her message seriously if her own kids aren’t? She can’t manage those closest to her, and we’re supposed to think her message will affect some kid in Florida? She’s got two strikes in the abstinence credibility category if you ask me. But anyway, from one grandmother to another—just enjoy your precious grandchildren and quit with the advice. They’re not listening anyway.

One last thing, folks. Leave Gary White alone on the Advocate forum. He has used more than enough words to say nothing so far, and there is no expectation that he will improve upon that. Do not encourage him. I’m thinking he’s the new Kenneth Schustereit, and that is the last thing we need. Next thing you know, Gary will be writing a blog, and you know how those blogger are...

That’s all I have today!

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"I would rather the man who presents something for my consideration subject me to a zephyr of truth and a gentle breeze of responsibility rather than blow me down with a curtain of hot wind."-- Grover Cleveland

All that and rumor has it, too

2011-07-16T20:08:00.009-05:00

Is it just me, or has this been a really crazy week? All sorts of wacky stuff has been going on here in our fair city, state and world. I know one thing I’ve learned is that there is no shortage of crazy folks out there. I hate that, and I am sorry that is the state of things. I’ve also learned there is no shortage of folks who love to talk! I love that, and am happy they do! I have jotted down a short list of topics to throw out this evening. I’ll address them in no particular order, so let’s get right to it, shall we?

All that

Billed as even too weird for Hollywood standards, have you seen the story about Doug Hutchinson, age 51, marrying the 16-year-old Courtney Stodden? He is known from the TV show “Lost” and she is a rising singer. The lovely couple proclaims that their relationship is for real, although they haven’t made the same declaration about the blushing bride’s bosom. I’ll let you look for yourself. Be sure to click on the video with the story, and don’t forget to Google 'Courtney Stodden'. You will probably be rendered as speechless as I was. Spoiler alert: They are being courted for a reality show. Go figure.

Our well coiffed governor, Icky Ricky Perry, is hosting a day-long event of prayer and fasting called ‘The Response’. Outdoors. In August. In Houston. When you hear the reports about folks falling out and losing consciousness, do not confuse that activity with some kind of religious fervor. It will be the humidity and low blood sugar that slays them, not the Holy Spirit. For those of you interested in who is slated to participate, check out this guy. John Benefiel is some kind of scary, as is another participant, John Hagee. But hey, we could be talking about the close friends of your next president…

Casey Anthony. By the time some of you read this, she will be a free woman. Free to resume her life and go about her business, to live her life anyway she chooses. She will no longer have to worry about spending the rest of her many, many days waiting on death. The irony in this is just amazing.

Speaking of folks in jail, this week Victoria saw one sex offender walk scott-free, and one get 4 life sentences. The unlucky guy who was convicted, Gerald Graves, has a history of offending, but back under our former DA, those charges were dropped. Any guess as to which ADA was responsible for that?

This past Tuesday, Dan Branch, chair of the House Committee on Higher Education for the Texas Legislature brought folks together from Texas A&M University, the University of Houston and University of Houston-Victoria to see if he could help iron out the wrinkles in this very wrinkled mess of Geanie Morrison’s doing. As you will recall, the bill Morrison wrote to move our local university from the University of Houston System to the Texas A&M University System failed to be passed out of committee. When that happened, and the Legislature ended this session (and didn’t pick it up in the Special Session), suddenly the focus turned to the second choice, the Texas Tech System. Talk about fickle!

Anyway, there were only a select few folks at the July 12th meeting, and there was not an Advocate reporter in the lot. However, there was a full report on the meeting, no doubt knitted together with bits and pieces of information. Nowhere does it mention that Victoria was somewhat chastised for their attitude. What I heard was that Branch instructed the locals to give the new UHV President a chance. Ha! What a novel idea! Now, never mind that it did not even closely resemble the actual meeting that took place. It didn’t. Apparently someone clued the Advocate in on that fact, and this story was published a couple of days later. This last story is more reflective of the actual meeting, and mentions the ‘get along’ part. (Remember how I said folks like to talk? Well…) The final piece this week was the Advocate editorial which would make us believe that a switch is still pretty certain. Honestly, I am not sure what is going to happen, but I am not holding my breath on TAMU. But, kudos to Branch, a voice of reason in the wilderness.

Speaking of the City, my friend Juanita took her kids to the Texas Zoo event where the Alligator Guy from TV was helping at the Zoo fundraiser. She reports that the parking spaces across the street from the zoo were blocked off during the event, and unusable. There was parking away from the zoo, but not right across the street. Once inside the zoo, she was asked by a lady with a clipboard if she had any difficulty finding parking. Extrapolate from that what you will.

And rumor has it, too

Have you noticed out on Highway 59 N where they are clearing land? Have you noticed the DC Realty signs? Want to know what’s up with that? Well, rumor has it that Marriot is building our new Convention Center and Hotel there. I understand the plans are drawn and all they are waiting on are the results of the ‘community survey’ we were all invited to participate in.

The Armadillo Festival is being resurrected! Yep! September 3, 2011. Mark your calendars now! They have a Facebook page and have been gathering lots of fans. They have booked several musical acts, and sounds like it could be fun. For those of us who attended the original Armadillo Festivals way back in the day, I’m sure we’ll think it is not as good as the original, but for the younger folks, they should find it to be to their liking. Rumor has it, Advocate poster holein1 is the person behind this. Remember how he claimed to have something in the works when we were all posting about the BootFest? He said it would be something big. This may be it. In any event, I messaged holein1 and asked him to confirm the rumor, but I have not heard back from him in the past week. So, I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.

Well, that is all I have for this wacky week!

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first." -- David H. Comins

Here's what I think

2011-07-11T00:19:00.002-05:00

I’m worried about Nancy Grace. Seriously. I’m worried about Nancy Grace. For three long years her entire reason for getting out of bed each day was to get justice for that precious Caylee Anthony. The Casey Anthony trial is over, the verdict is in, and Anthony is being released back into society on Sunday, July 17. What is Nancy Grace going to do? I mean after her nervous breakdown and collapse. What will she focus on next? I’ve heard it will be the doctor who was present when that icon of perverseness, Michael Jackson died. Better luck with that one, Nancy!

Did you watch any of the trial? I know folks who watched online during virtually the whole thing. I tried to catch the recaps at the end of the day on Dr. Drew and other HLN shows. Interestingly enough, Dr. Drew was absent during the last couple of weeks of the trial, and some dude named Vinnie Politan hosted for him and had a variety of folks on discussing what they thought had happened and what they thought the judge was going to do. They also weighed in on who was getting it right and who was not. Probably the most amusing part of this was the cast of characters invited to come on the Dr. Drew show to comment. One that struck me as very odd was Judge Larry from the Anna Nicole Smith case. Remember him? He’s the guy who cried during the trial.

So back to Nancy Grace. She has been running this marathon type show this weekend where she is presenting all of the highlights from the last three years. It truly is one of those things where, if this was all you ever saw, you would have a pretty good idea of the details. She is providing commentary in places, and it is clear that she is pissed! Showing up to add to this marathon program were some of the folks who provided commentary over the last three years, like Vinnie Politan and Jane Velez-Mitchell. I used to kind of like Velez-Mitchell, but now she sounds mad all the time. I think these folks need a nice, long vacation on an island somewhere where there are no televisions or cell phones.

All of these folks, including the woman who served as Casey Anthony’s body guard in between incarcerations, are being asked what they think happened. In as much as Casey Anthony has not confessed to anything, did not testify in her own trial and the medical examiner cannot determine cause of death, we may never know—unless and until Anthony decides to tell us what she knows. Of course, these folks we see on television are not the only ones who are being asked what happened. We are asking each other. We are discussing this case because it is so hard to wrap our brains around the circumstances of this case. The ones that we know, that is. Some folks are having a hard time understanding why she wasn’t convicted of the murder of her daughter. Let’s go back to the beginning and take a fast look at what we’ve got.

In his opening statement to the court, Anthony’s attorney Jose Baez made several startling statements that really raised some eyebrows. He said Anthony was the victim of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of not only her father, but her only sibling, her brother, Lee. He painted a picture of a young woman who was the product of that behavior, and an expert at dysfunctional behavior. He said that Caylee was never missing. If what he was saying in his opening statements is what Casey told him in the course of preparing for trial, then she threw everyone she knew under the bus. Through the duration of the trial, many of these statements were never returned to and never addressed. But it didn’t seem to matter. Baez apparently caused enough confusion that it got him what he needed to ensure Anthony would walk—reasonable doubt.

The prosecution team, led by Jeff Ashton, called her a pathological liar who manipulated everyone. Countless witnesses were brought forth to testify to this and to testify to that, and information flowed like water. They had every expert you can imagine, and they had Anthony’s parents, Cindy and George testifying. What they didn’t have was a motive or a cause of death. And it cost them. In the end, all she was convicted of was lying to law enforcement, four counts. From Murder One with the death penalty down to four counts of lying—what a shocker!

Helping achieve this outcome were the testimonies of Cindy and George Anthony. Cindy outright lied about doing the Google searches for the chloroform. She said she was trying to figure out why her dogs were sleepy. Her supervisor testified she was at work when the internet searches were being done. George testified about his suicide attempt. They talked about the money Casey had repeatedly stolen from them. They talked about many things, most of which confirmed for the rest of us that this is one very dysfunctional bunch.

So what do you think happened to little Caylee Anthony? As I said, unless and until Casey Anthony decides to tell us what she knows to be the truth—Jerry Springer has offered her a cool million to talk—we will just have to be content with our theories. Here is mine—

Casey Anthony had Caylee very young, and while unmarried. She still liked her social life and wanted to be with her friends. Between her reluctance to grow up and be a mother and her stealing from her parents, Casey was causing a lot of turmoil in the Anthony home where she lived with her daughter and her parents. Tired of their harping, Casey moves out of the Anthony home, and into the home of her boyfriend, Tony. Caylee went with her.

Not being able to hire babysitters as often as she would have liked to, and not being able to ask her parents to babysit, Casey had to come up with a way to party and have Caylee with her. Enter the chloroform. Never intending to kill Caylee, she began experimenting with the Anthony dogs to see how much it would take to put Caylee to sleep. [Thanks Juanita for that suggestion!] Cindy may have been telling the truth about her sleepy dogs. Using chloroform to put Caylee to sleep for a few hours allowed Casey to continue the party lifestyle, until the day she used too much.

I think she accidentally killed Caylee. I think she overdid the chloroform and it killed Caylee. Panicked, Casey started the stories about the nanny and the kidnapping. She could not produce the child for her parents, and kept putting them off with the lies about where Caylee was. If you will remember, it was only Cindy and George who insisted Caylee was missing. Remember, too, Jose Baez told us in opening statements that Caylee was never missing. Casey did not fail to report the child missing for 31 days; there was no need to report a missing child when there wasn’t one. Casey knew all along where Caylee was.

When Casey discovered what she had done—accidentally causing Caylee to die—she had to scramble to come up with the long range explanation because she knew a day of reckoning would come. I think Casey Anthony did have Caylee in her car for a couple of days while she figured out her plan. She had to make it look like a crime, but that someone else did it. She put the duct tape and the sticker on her dead child. She threw the body in the rain-filled swamp area. And the rest, well, we now know how it ended.

Yeah, I was expecting her to get off. I hadn’t really paid close attention to the prosecution’s case, but I felt Baez was setting the stage for at least a mistrial. While some thought he was an idiot and a poor attorney—supposedly it took him 7 years to pass the bar, and he’s only been practicing 5 years—he did his job and got her off. I’d say that is one lucky son of a gun. I hope he bought a Power Ball lottery ticket that night. Think lightening could strike twice?

I just hope after this weekend I never have to hear Nancy Grace utter the words, “Tot Mom” again.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.”~~Robert Frost

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

2011-06-30T16:43:00.032-05:00

Since I think we all, Advocate included, have exhausted the Tim Hudson LoveFest, let’s turn our attention back to our former Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director, Bridgette Bise and the BootFest.

Bise was relieved of her duties as the director of the CVB on or about June 20, 2011. A couple of blogs ago, we discussed this and I speculated as to what happened.

Well, I still don’t know the exact details, but for the record—even though the Advocate treated this as a voluntary split between Bise and the CVB—I’m sticking to my suspicion that she was, indeed, given the boot. Literally. Whoever did the deed—thank you!

So, the questions remain—what happens now?

This past weekend, I did see our new Assistant City Manager Bruce Ure discussing the BootFest on the local television station. He did say it was down to two days, as indicated on the VCVB website, but he said it should be a good event. Lots of music, a carnival, food. All stuff that can usually be sustained for a couple of days (not four!) in this town. He said it was going to take place downtown and I like that, except for the parking. And it’s all FREE! But, now, at least we have some clue as to what to expect.

Well, that takes care of one of Bise’s grand ideas. What happens to the rest of her ‘creative’ efforts? The rest of the money? The rest of the staff?

Glad you asked, because I’m fixing to tell you what I think.

This whole “Bring Your Boots” stuff needs to disappear quicker than it appeared. Someone needs to treat this like the big ol’ Band-aide on the hairy arm that it is and just grab it and pull it off! The faster this is behind us, the better. To drag out the demise of this ill-fated venture would just prolong our agony, and reinforce the negative aspect of it all.

Ditching this campaign as quickly as possible after BootFest would have a huge impact on many of the citizens of Victoria. I think there would be a huge groundswell of support for that decision, and I know I would personally consider the folks pushing that agenda big heroes for saving the day! They would score ginormous points for making lemonade out of that lemon. HUGE, HUGE POINTS with the WHOLE community!

The CVB needs to stay under the auspices of the City. That is the only way there will ever be monitoring of the funds. And the funds need to flow out a bit slower than they have been. I don’t care if the Hotel Occupancy Tax generates $80 gazillion dollars a day, you don’t have to spend it all at one time!

But you should have to spend every penny of it possible in Victoria, and in Texas! Victoria has most of what is needed to run this advertising campaign. Sure, some of it has to be sent out of town, but the locals felt that enough was going out that they complained to the City Council! They were right to do so. No more Jet Marketing. They are probably history anyway. I’m sure this was their biggest account.

I think the City should solicit input from the locals as to what Victoria is about. What we could market? What do we have? This doesn’t need to be any big formal thing. It could be as simple as sending an email to a designated person, or a post card, or returning a slip that comes with the water bill. No fancy questions. Just a ‘Tell us what you think.’ How hard is that? While this has been funded like a NASA project, and we have been told that it has all of these mysterious components, it’s not rocket science, folks!

Just as we have a Parks Commission and a Planning Commission, perhaps it is time for a CVB Commission. Seven or nine folks who will make the decisions for the CVB and direct the department head to execute them. [Someone mentioned last week the CVB would be under O. C. Garza’s watchful eye. Don’t know that for a fact, though.]

I don’t know. What do you think? Let’s talk.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"Think for a minute about what makes you [Victoria] fabulous and how you can celebrate it."
-- Laura Mercier

***UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE***

I pulled this blog a couple of days ago because I felt the comments had taken a very serious sideways turn. I really didn't think that so many of you would notice, but appearently you did. I received 10 emails inquiring about where this blog disappeared to.

I want you all to know that I thought long and hard before I made the decision to pull the blog. I never, ever want to stifle the commentary on my blog. Only a few comments were troublesome, but I felt the best choice was to start with a clean slate. So here it is again.

Fair? Should I have done something different? You guys are the folks I write for. I value your opinion.

Edith Ann

♪♫ Happy trails to you, until we meet again...♪♫♪♫

2011-06-26T12:13:00.005-05:00

Have you guys been reading the Victoria Advocate online? Not the digital, paid for edition, but the still-free-for-now-but-probably-not-for-long edition? The one where you can comment? Yeah, the one that is dead. I think the Advocate has finally succeeded in running off most of the posters. At least the ones that made some sense. New, thoughtful comments are few and far between. Why is this? Summer slump? No fun news? Some other reason? Maybe.

The Advocate was on a bit of a deletion frenzy last weekend, and I guess folks are finally at the point of ‘why bother’? It’s not the individual comments that are being deleted, it’s the whole story! Here's how that happens. They publish a story, folks begin to comment and then suddenly—there is the story, minus the comments! They aren’t just removing all of the comments; they are removing the story and then reposting the story, minus the comments. Oh, you can still post on the new story; the comment section has not been disabled. But it does bump certain stories back up to the top of the news lineup.

So, why is this a big deal? It’s not, really, but it does appear to be another way the Advocate controls the comments without looking like the delete Nazis that they are. It helps them control their agenda. Yep, they have an agenda. Apparently their current agenda is to continue the worship of St. Tim Hudson. I know he’s not really a saint—he’s still alive—but you’d never know this by reading the press on him! Lord, what are these folks going to say one day when Hudson finally goes to meet his maker? I think it’s all being said now. For the record, I think Tim Hudson is a decent guy. I just do not understand all of the hero worship! Geeze, Louise! It’s like a bunch of teenage girls! He’s gone (for now). Get over it already!

There are two stories on Hudson this weekend. One is telling us about his new appointment as Vice Chancellor at Texas Tech. The other is a collection of his accomplishments. While his accomplishments are significant, and I have had no problem with any of them, wasn’t he just doing his job? Just because others haven’t had the big vision he did—some did, though—why does he rate this extraordinary coverage?

Well, it never hurts to be best buds with one of the owners of the press. (Sounding as much as I can like BigJ) There! I said it! Yep. Obviously, the most visible push to exalt Hudson comes from the Advocate in their relentless efforts to not let us forget that Hudson is out there. They’ve railed against his reassignment by the UH System. They spoken about him in terms that one would reserve for a eulogy! We get it! We really, really do! You folks at the Advocate and others really, really like him! (Go Norma Rae!)

But he got another job and he’s on his way to Lubbock. I know y’all will miss him. But not to fret—he’ll be back! Absolutely, he’ll be back. He’ll be back because those folks worshipping at the altar of Hudson are now going to concentrate their efforts on bringing Texas Tech to Victoria. If you will recall, that was the original thought. Claud Jacobs wanted this back last year. He must be beside himself with delight. In the same throes of deliria may be the other members of the Crossroads Commission on Education. I can only imagine.

With the big Texas A&M University/University of Houston Victoria ‘let’s get to know one another’ meeting postponed, this frees up these folks to concoct another plan by which Hudson can return to the place where he is the most revered—Victoria, Texas. I know it seems kind of far-fetched, but when you first heard that Hudson was hired by Texas Tech, didn’t you think to yourself, “Ha! When Tech takes over, Hudson will be perfectly positioned to slide right back into the office of the president!” Just sit back and watch this unfold. I do not believe I am far off on this. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so. Whatever. If I am wrong, Surffree will remind us all, so I’ll let her keep track.

Let's just say, "Happy trails to you, until we meet again, Mr. Hudson!" We should all experience that much love and devotion! In a world of impersonal social networking, tweets and text messaging, to find a friendship, or more, of this calibre is truly amazing.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“You should always believe all you read in the newspapers, for that makes them more interesting.”--Rose Macaulay

That’s the way the flip flops…

2011-06-20T22:28:00.004-05:00

Can you believe it? I’m still trying to wrap my head around the news…Bridgette has been given the boot! Like I said—can you believe it? Wonder what happened? Since we don’t know for sure—yet—let’s speculate, shall we?
I wonder if someone snapped to and finally saw the folly of this whole boots thing! If so, it was high time!

Here we sit just four months from the much touted BootFest, and she had not been able to secure any sponsors. She claimed it was because businesses already had their budgets set. For two years? I think there may have been a bit of that fudge factor in that excuse. Besides that, what started as a four-day event is now a two-day event. At least it was a few minutes ago when I checked the CVB page.

What happens to BootFest now? Can we scratch it off our schedule?

Along the lines of folly for this campaign, there were the expensive goofs Bise made in her product. Inaccuracies in the big, 27 page brochure caused her to have 80,000 reprinted. At least she told one consumer she was having them reprinted.

What happens to those? Hand them out anyway and hope no one notices? Use them for shims on wobbly tables?

She hired Casey Burdge Staudt as Tourism Services Manager. Yes, this is Robby’s daughter.

What happens to her? Does she just get absorbed by the City?

Jet Marketing relocated to Cuero to handle this campaign.

What happens to Bridgette’s friend Janell, owner of Jet Marketing?

Or did Bise try to go toe to toe with the new management only to find they are not quite as charmed by her coy act as others were? I really hope this is the case. I hope this action is the result of Charmelle Garrett’s good skills and sound judgment. She’s got a good head on her shoulders.

Sooner or later, the real facts will come out, however, and we’ll know who to thank.

What remains to be seen is how the City will try to make lemonade out of this lemon and how O. C. Garza is going to report this. Also, since they have been rah-rah on both sides of the deal—pro everything the City does, and pro everything the CVB does—wonder how the Advocate is going to cover this. Think we’ll see one of their editorials on it? I think the reason we haven’t seen even a blip at this point (the local TV station has covered it) is that they know forum folks are going to be all over this story like a duck on a junebug. Delaying the publication of the story only delays the inevitable. Folks are going to scream, “Finally!”

So, until we learn more,
Edith Ann

"The sweetest two words are 'next time.' The sourest word is 'if.'"-- Chi Chi Rodriguez

You know you're in Victoria when...

2011-06-15T17:22:00.000-05:00

I'm up here in Austin baby-sitting my precious grandbabies, and I thought the rest of you might need something to tide you over until I get back to Victoria.

We all have done our share of complaining about what Victoria does and doesn't have. Now here's your chance to state it out loud, for the record.

So answer this question--

You know you're in Victoria when...

Get to work. I know y'all have lots of good answers!

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"Bring your boots, darling! We're headed to Victoria!"--Victoria Convention and Visitors Bureau

And the beat goes on...

2011-06-12T09:59:00.009-05:00

I know. It’s hard to believe. But, really—you can believe it. It’s been over 48 hours since the last comment was posted on Mary Ann Wenske’s letter to the editor of the Victoria Advocate regarding the paper’s story on same-sex marriage! This subject is apparently a very hot topic for many as evidenced by the 272 comments posted there! These comments ran the gamut. There were some for same-sex, some against. Some cited religious reasons for opposition while others were able to take religion out of the debate. As always, some comments were real standouts. You can skim most of them, but many are very well thought out, on both sides. If I were scoring this boxing match, I’d call it a draw.

Still, I am curious as to why this cannot be viewed as a rights issue? I don’t mean the literal right to get married, but the right to make the decision for someone they care about. What would be the difference in two life-long platonic friends being afforded these rights? I think those opposed are still hung up on the ‘sex’ part of the relationship. But do we discriminate against heterosexual co-habitating couple the same way? Unfortunately, in some cases we do, and that’s a whole other blog.

So, why did we even have this discussion? We had this discussion because the headline writer at the Advocate called the original story a debate. Mary Ann disagreed, and she was right, and she said so.

The Advocate has taken a whole lot of heat on this same-sex marriage topic. Apparently they placed this collection of stories (I think there were three or four original stories) on the front page of the paper on Memorial Day weekend, and this upset a whole lot of folks. The Advocate knew the stories were dicey because they disabled the comments on all but one. James Coburn wrote a letter expressing his disgust with the Advocate putting the story on the front page. It garnered a couple of critical comments before the Advocate shut it down. The paper simply cannot tolerate those who are critical of them. Even the letter to the editor from former Advocate Senior Editor Jim Bishop criticizing the Advocate’s lack of D-Day coverage had a comment removed. How interesting that the criticisms of the lack of coverage of our historical events are so tied to the basic right of free speech afforded us under the Constitution of the United States! “You have the right to your opinion until it disagrees with mine!” Of course.

Be that as it may, whether we agree or not, the paper will do as they wish, and we will have to work within those confines. But I will probably always remain puzzled as to how they come to some of their conclusion. At least the ones that are not so transparent like those that criticize the paper. Limiting what some thought was their hard-earned right to free speech, especially during a time when we are remembering and honoring those who fought for that and other freedoms, was too much irony for me.

On a different note, I want to encourage my readers to check out some of the blogs I follow if you have not already done so. There are a couple of new ones listed there, Monologues of Dissent and The Perils of Palins. Monologues of Dissent is a protest blog, and the author is very clever and amusing. She is in Wisconsin where all hell is breaking loose with their wacky governor, Scott Walker. She’s worth the read. The Perils of Palins is a blog that, well, it’s hard to describe. Just click on it and take a look. I thought writing a blog was hard work. This blogger takes it to a whole other level. Again, worth a look, even if you are a Sarah Palin fan.

One last thing—raise your hand if you were surprised that the much touted meeting between TAMU and UHV officials is postponed, probably forever? That’s what I thought. A lack of a meeting, though, has not kept Stuwage, reeder and Bighorn from discussing the finer points of this mess. And it is a mess, thank you Geanie Morrison. Thanks, Legion, for providing some links to real facts. I’d like to know at what point the locals are going to step into reality and accept that their plan is dead.

Well, that is all I have for today.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

My new favorite quote, courtesy of Monologues of Dissent:
Raise your hand if you’re not afraid to ask a question.
Raise your voice if you’re not afraid of free speech.
Raise some hell if you’re not afraid to change the world.

Breaking up is hard to do…or is it?

2011-06-01T21:34:00.003-05:00

I suspect some of you were worried that I might have fallen off the face of the earth. Others were probably hoping I had done exactly that. But I’m here and that will gratify some while irritating others. So be it.

I feel like there is some unfinished business with Jared’s blog on leadership. There was a lot of back and forth on the comments, and the result, I’m afraid, was utter confusion. While Jared used the word ‘leadership’ in the blog, it appears that he was talking about volunteerism. He tried mixing volunteer opportunities—if you’re bored with Victoria—with service on boards and commissions, and those are two very different things.

As I said in the comments, I had hoped Jared was issuing the call to the current leaders to be more inclusive and less exclusive. Instead he suggested that folks who aren’t satisfied with the current boards and commissions start their own. I have to question the purpose of that. If Jared’s goal was to bring folks together for a common good, suggesting competing groups certain defeats that purpose, doesn’t it? I had to abandon the discussion on the Advocate because of an obnoxious poster or two, but I’d entertain more discussion of this over here. Not volunteer opportunities, but real leadership qualities. What say we talk about it?

Two-hundred plus comments into this story on same-sex marriages in Texas, and all I have learned is who is for it, and who is against it. This was just one of the related stories that the Advocate carried over the Memorial Day weekend, but it was the only one they allowed comments on. No doubt this was spurred by the recent Nikki Araguz story out of Wharton County. This is the transsexual who was married to a firefighter at the time of his death. She’d like to collect on the life insurance, but his family has different plans for those proceeds.

The story in the Advocate has really spurred folks to take a side in the debate. Most of the arguments against same-sex marriage used the Bible as the supporting evidence. The others, those ‘for’, mostly came from a practical non-religious angle with their reasoning. And a bunch of folks were not happy this topic was front page on Memorial Day weekend. Many felt it detracted from the spirit and the purpose of the holiday observance.

Did the debate solve anything? No, I don’t think it did. Jared even promised us a blog about same-sex marriage that did not invoke religion. I think he pretty much accomplished it with this blog. He’s racked up quite a few comments, too.

Over at the City and County governments, thanks to the latest census count, the first redistricting in twenty years is taking place. The county picked their committee of eight at the May 16th meeting. That committee is made up of Precinct 1: Ben Zeller, Precinct 2: Eli Garza, Tom Henley, Precinct 3: Tali Villafranca, Mannon Mints, Precinct 4: Michael Cloud, Dave Garza, and County Judge Don Pozzi's appointee, Chris Rivera, former Victoria County commissioner. Not a woman in the bunch! Like the GOB’s would include a woman.

The City Committee’s panel includes, District 1: Patricia Tally, Viola Saenz; District 2: Belinda Cardenas, Freddy Hobbs; District 3: Vic Caldwell, Cheryl Johnson; District 4: Laura Kinnison, Chad Byrd; District 5: Charla Borchers-Leon, Trinidad Ramos III; District 6: Wayne Dierlam, James Martinez. The mayor added, Tommy Tijerina Jose Trevino and James Villafranca. The City did a much better job of making the committee reflective of the community.

The County is done. The City hasn’t gotten started. Interesting, huh? I think so.

Last, but certainly not least, is the news this evening that the Victoria Convention and Visitors Bureau is moving under the auspices of City of Victoria. Yes, folks, it seems the honeymoon is over for Bridgette Bise, CVB director and Randy Vivian, Chamber of Commerce president. I had heard murmurings that the working relationship was becoming frosty, and now it appears they are headed to Splitsville! Bise had officed in the Chamber building, but now she will be housed over at 700 Main Center, sharing a space that currently is home to the City of Victoria’s Human Resource department. Personally, I think it is a great idea for the City to supervise her. Perhaps now we might see how the money is being spent.

Well, that is all I have for tonight. There’s a little something for everyone—

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought jewelry.”~~Rita Rudner

No need to apologize for me!

2011-05-22T11:28:00.005-05:00

I don’t know how many of you watch the televised City Council meetings on channel 15, but if you are not, you should be. Not only do they keep you informed on what is happening in our city to some extent, they let you know how well you are being represented, or not. For those of you without the fabulous Suddenlink, here is a link to the channel online. If you want to see the agenda for the next meeting or read the minutes of the last meeting, go here for that information. In any event, I think folks need to be watching if they are not attending. At best, it is entertaining. At worst, it's disconcerting.

One of the things I have started to notice with the meetings is that any time there is a project that might be slightly controversial, Councilman Paul Polasek feels a need to explain to the rest of us how the deal is going to go down. It’s not that we don’t deserve an explanation, it’s more like we’re too stupid to understand what is about to happen. I believe it is an effort to stave off questions and what they perceive as criticism. It’s extremely condescending at times. It’s also somewhat funny when he gets the information wrong.

At a meeting not so long ago, Polasek felt a need to explain the City’s role in the free parking spaces for the Pumphouse Restaurant. He carefully explained that the City was going to do certain things and the Patillos were going to do certain things and soon it would all be a wonderful win-win, signature Victoria City Council Sweetheart Deal. He then added a further explanation that, should the Pumphouse Restaurant cease to function, no problem—the Patillos will give the free parking spaces to the City. Not ‘back to the city’, but ‘to the City’. Our City Manager, Charmelle Garrett, quickly corrected Polasek and reminded him the parking spaces already belong to the city. Was this just a goof on Polasek’s part, or does he have the attitude that we’ve given the spaces to the Patillos? I do not envy Garrett’s job of having to ride herd on this bunch. She has her hands full with two or three of them.

Another, more recent phenomenon is the Mayor’s new habit of apologizing to folks for being questioned or held accountable in some way. Just this last meeting he could hardly wait for CVB director Bridgette Bise to conclude her quarterly update so he could spend five minutes telling her that she is doing a fabulous job, that she has taken a lot of criticism and that she should just basically forge ahead and pay no attention to those of us who dare wonder where the money is going. He didn’t name names this time (Ethan Allen thanks him), nor did he mention the form in which the criticism is delivered. Her reply? “I don’t read the blogs.” Oh yeah, sure she does! But what is with the Mayor labeling all of the accountability issues as criticism?

I realize this is a rhetorical question, but did our City Council really believe that some of us were not going to wake up one day and yell, “STOP!”? Did they think we would continue to blindly follow along like dolts and never question what they were doing? And let me make it perfectly clear, just because we question does not always mean we disagree. Sometimes we just need additional information. But I know, as most of you do also, the majority of the City Council would prefer that we just continue to look at them adoringly and hang on their every word as gospel. I guess all I can say to that is, the City Council needs to wake up and discover that they are not insulated. This is not 1959, and we’re not going to turn a blind eye to stuff that doesn’t pass the sniff test. Now, if they are not willing to accept that some of us need more information and are going to question, then they need to be figuring out what they are going to do with their spare time. They can be voted out!

No need to apologize for me, Mayor. You’re not in charge of others' feelings. Your time would be better spent working out the details completely before you try to sell the voters a poorly thought out plan. It would increase the odds of it being accepted and not questioned if you did.

One last thing—why is it when there is a vote that the Mayor (he’s the guy who calls for the vote) thinks will be unanimous, he’ll ask for a voice vote. If he thinks there will be any dissension, he’ll ask for a show of hands. How does he figure this stuff out? Is he psychic? Are the votes planned ahead of time? What is the deal?

This brings me to the issue of the Legacy. The Mayor is on record from the workshop meeting at the Spirit Inn that he wants to leave office with a Legacy. At first it seemed to be the Airline Road extension. If it had been necessary, that would have worked. Then it seemed to be moving an entire university to another location. Some say it is necessary, some say it is not. But it seems to be off the table for now. Then he got in the middle of switching university systems. That, too, is off the table for now. What’s next? Why is every project he’s associated with so controversial? There seems to be a pattern here. This seems to explain why everything is an emergency. His Legacy-building window is growing smaller every day. We are but one year away from voting on four of the City Council places.

There are those who believe the Mayor has already accomplished his Legacy. They think it is the massive debt he and his cohorts on the council have racked up. They say the extravagant spending will be his Legacy.

Thanks, Mayor Armstrong.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death."-- Leonardo da Vinci

Now, THIS is something I could get on board with!

2011-05-15T11:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday’s editorial from the Victoria Advocate folks is about urging the City to reconsider the idea of a Riverwalk down here on the Guadalupe River. Several good points are made in the item. One of the most important points made is that, back in the 80’s, private citizens incubated this idea, and financed it. Private citizens had a vision and explored the possibilities of what could be without depending on the taxpayer dollar to realize that vision. This is how it should be. Well, mostly how it should be.

I agree that the river is an important part of our history, and it can be a big part of our future. For many years now we have been drawing our drinking water from this river. We should view it, perhaps, as the life source that it is. It does remain the most sensible of the assets that the editorial presents. I am not sure that there is this great deal of momentum being generated by the sidewalk project. I don’t care what anyone says; precious parking space was lost to this project, not only due to the idiotic bump-outs for the trees, but by those huge jut-outs at the corners. Geeze, those monstrosities are not because of the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, they are to accommodate those fabulous Magnolia trees! Just wait until those suckers start dropping their leaves. Talk about a mess! Also, I want to see the commitment of funding of the Main Street Project. That is a project of the Texas Historical Commission and they have been gutted by the Legislature. Is there truly money for that? I hope so. I like the idea of the Main Street Project.

Al Groves, one of the engineers of the San Antonio Riverwalk, suggests that one of the difficulties in getting this project up and running may be getting the public’s support for the project. I don’t think that needs to be a stumbling block because the editorial offers an excellent solution to partial funding for the project. Utilize the Hotel/Motel tax money! Brilliant! Let Bridgette Bise continue to work the $1.5 million that she has received so far, and let’s channel some of the HOT tax to birthing this venture.

Now, that is where the tax money stops. Not another dime of general revenue should be spent. No more freebies! Make the viable areas along the river affordable to short term lease, and help the entrepreneurs that way. The last thing the city needs is another overpriced eatery. We have one fairly new one downtown, and another about to open on the river. We need shops and outlets that encourage actual shopping, not just window shopping. And let’s face it--this project needs to be located over by the Pumphouse. It only makes sense. There’s going to be plenty of parking there soon. If you haven’t driven through the park lately, go in through the Stayton Street entrance and check out the new parking spaces. Anyone who parks there to hike to zoo is obviously in it for the exercise. Same for the Pumphouse. You can work your appetite up walking from your car to the front door. Suggestion to the Patillos—have valet parking. You’re going to need it.

Okay, back to the Riverwalk project. This is not rocket surgery folks! Just remember these few steps:

1. Only spend Hotel/Motel Occupancy Tax money on this project. Not another dime of any other money.

2. Locate it near what you’ve already bought, i.e., the Porking Lot.

3. Make it attractive to the potential vendors. Do not price all but the hotsie-totsie crowd out of participating. Use the funds to offer competitive grants to potential vendors.

4. Short term leases for vendors. The last thing you want to do is kill someone’s business with some kind of iron clad convoluted lease. Those folks can lease from James Wayne of they want that kind of situation. See #3, also.

5. And for Pete’s sake—do not attempt to have the entire package in place in a few months. Quit listening to that mysterious ticking clock that constantly reminds the mayor and Paul Polasek that everything is an emergency. This should not be considered a partnership of the City with private enterprise.

6. Keep the City’s meddling to a minimum, and I think you will see some enthusiasm for a project of this sort. Form committees to oversee the planning and execution of the different aspects of the long term project and let everyday citizens participate. Those 21 folks on the Crossroads Commission on Education have not impressed me with their work. Let’s not use them to bungle another plan, okay? They seem to be in the business of killing stuff, not growing stuff.

7. Finally, give the entire project to the Parks Commission to oversee. They seem to do a pretty good job of most things they manage. (The adult softball complex is an exception.) Keep Dale Fowler and the VEDC out of it!

Folks have made some very good comments on this editorial. Be sure to read them at the bottom of the editorial. Pay careful attention to the comment by hewittjr. JackDeuce offers very viable suggestions and includes sports in the mix. But perhaps the best comment comes from San Antonio resident victorianbybirth who suggests a Riverwalk not as crowded as San Antonio’s might be refreshing! I agree. We are not San Antonio, and we shouldn’t try to be.

But, anyway, for what’s it’s worth, this is what I think!

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Goals. There's no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There's no telling what you can do when you believe in them. There's no telling what will happen when you act upon them.”—Jim Rohn

I can see the smoke from here. . .

2011-05-14T12:49:00.002-05:00

Since we have lost our way a bit on the last blog, that says it is time to move on to another installment in the UH/UHV/TAMU/TAMUV/ABC/123/XYZ/YOU&ME stuff going on here in little ol’ Victoria. That’s right. There’s more, and with each revelation, it seems that the ‘stuff’ gets dirtier and dirtier. Not tawdry dirty. Integrity dirty. Go figure. This is Victoria after all.

One of the latest, but not the last stories on this topic can be found here. This is the story where Rep. Geanie Morrison claims she was taken by surprise that the University of Houston System was taking steps to protect themselves. She claims Sen. Glenn Hegar never shared this information with her. Not one iota!

Hegar, on the other hand, claims she was privy to all of it, and she knew all along what was what.

My question—what do you think? Which one is lying, and which time did he or she lie?

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity”~~Tom Peters

Time out!

2011-05-14T11:53:00.004-05:00

Dear Readers:

I knew one day if I allowed folks free rein on my blog, I would eventually have to make some editing decisions.

I have the abilty to set the filters to hold all comments until I can screen them for content. I never wanted to do that. First I believe it is not generally necessary, and for the most part, you guys have done a great job of monitoring yourselves. I think I have only removed a very few comments out of over 3300+ comments.

I realize that by temporarily moving these last two blogs to a draft status so that I can evaluate what is what, I risk offending some while pleasing others.

Can you trust me on this? I need a time out! Will you give me 24 hours (or less, but I do have a life...) to see what makes me comfortable? Thank you for that.

I appreciate each and every one of you and your readership. I appreciate every comment you make. Your feedback is important to me and I take every suggestion seriously.

Feel free to park comments here until I get back to you.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there."
-- Yogi Berra

You mess with the bull, you get the horn

2011-05-09T21:37:00.002-05:00

That’s right! Just ask Geanie Morrison, Will Armstrong and the Crossroads Commission on Education.

The Victoria Advocate recently requested emails from the University of Houston System through the open records act. I am not sure what the Advocate’s intent was, but it did not go unnoticed that they did not ask the Commission on Education for their emails, and don’t you know there were a bunch of those flying through cyberspace!

I can’t help but wonder if this exercise was designed to discredit or embarrass the UH System. After all, the Advocate has been very rah-rah on the proposed switch. If so, it is a flop.

On the other hand, there have been some very thoughtful, and perhaps insightful, comments on the story that indicate folks’ general dissatisfaction with the locals who have been pushing this.

You know, I could copy and paste a million comments here and comment on them, but you guys can read for yourself. I know you guys have been wanting to comment because you have commented on this topic on my last blog.

Here’s your chance to say what you want, and I know you all have lots to say. Knock yourselves out—

I’ll start with “What was the Commission thinking? Did they think there would not be a backlash from their efforts to assassinate the local university? I think the ‘foxes’ have been out-foxed.”

An additional recent story on this can be found here.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"Turn out the lights, the party's over.
They say that all good things must end.
Call it a night, the party's over and
tomorrow starts the same old thing again.

But the crazy, crazy party. Never seen so many people.
Laughing, dancing. Look at you, you're having fun..."
~~Willie Nelson

Where do you stand?

2011-05-04T08:08:00.004-05:00

A few days ago the Victoria Advocate ran an editorial regarding the meeting scheduled for this summer between the Chancellors of the University of Houston System and the Texas A&M System. This meeting comes at the request of State Rep. Dan Branch, head of the Higher Education Committee of the Texas Legislature and is being billed as an event to get some answers. This is supposed be the opportunity for Texas A&M Systems to let the good folks of Victoria know what to expect when they take over our local university. According to the Advocate editorial, this meeting is the result of all those folks calling Austin to say they are supporting the switch. Edith Ann is calling foul on that, and let me tell you why—

Without going back to the very beginning and outlining the entire chain of events, in a nutshell, this project has moved along like a 16 year old girl learning to drive stick shift. In leaps and lurches and dead spots, the project has been kept alive, not only by the tenacity of those few who are on board, but by the local newspaper’s efforts to keep breathing life into the plan with every story and editorial they publish.

But in all fairness—and that is what I am about here, that and the truth—I feel it is a disservice to readers to not present all sides. I’m going to just list points I feel are important, and I’ll let you smart, thinking folks come to your own conclusions as to who has the agenda.

1. All the folks in the ‘for’ camp just know they are in the ‘for’ camp. They cannot really articulate exactly why they are in the ‘for’ camp. They say it is because the UH System has no vision for Victoria, but press them for specifics, and they are hard pressed to come up with details. I think it’s because it kind of hard to over look the downward expansion and the explosion of athletics at UHV. And why would the newspaper dog out the UH System so hard when not so long ago, they endowed a chair at the University? What, it was a fine institution of higher learning less than two years ago, but now it’s worthless?

2. All of the folks in the ‘against’ camp have different reasons for being against this switch. Some don’t think it is necessary. Some don’t like Texas A&M University and want another system. Some just don’t understand why there is this ‘emergency’ attitude about this plan to switch systems. I fall into the group that thinks this is neither necessary nor an emergency.

3. The comments posted on the Advocate forum by the ‘for’ group are largely from an emotional base. Even those posted by the staff of the paper seem somewhat emotional in that the comments, at times, attack the person posting them. The staff says they stand by their remarks, but it doesn’t lessen the emotional tone of the comments.

4. Most, but not all, of the ‘against’ comments are asking legitimate, thoughtful questions. Just because a notion or an opinion is repeated over and over, that does not make it fact. The paper disagrees with me on this, but I’m going to stick to my guns. Go back up and click on the story and follow the link to a survey that was conducted some months ago. The Advocate continues to promote the notion that 144 (of 175 returning the survey) people constitutes a majority. They couch this distortion in words like “Yes, we think a 5-to-1 response by chamber members in favor of aggressively growing the system is overwhelming.” Yes, they really said this. But if this is how they want to play this, then let me report that 9 out of 10 folks surveyed by Edith Ann said the Victoria Advocate is hardly worth the paper it is printed on. The 10th person responded with a string of expletives that I won’t repeat here. So, there’s my overwhelming evidence that the Advocate is not widely liked. You get my point, right?

5. This meeting—if the resounding majority wants this matter to go forward, why are we having this meeting? If all things as a go, as reported by the paper, why are we having this meeting? If there was little or no opposition, why are we having this meeting? I think we are having this meeting because the ‘for’s jumped in feet first without testing the waters. Someone, somewhere snapped to and decided they better get some answers because some of us are not going to quit asking questions. I figure the Houston area folks had a lot to do with this. The locals here act like this only affect Victoria, but there are two other campuses to be considered.

6. The Crossroads Commission on Education. Where are they now? What are they doing? Except in connection to the UHV stuff, when is the last time you heard about them doing anything? Randy Vivian hasn’t given an update in ages. We haven’t heard any plans to work on the drop-out rate in Victoria. We haven’t heard about any pre-school incentives in any county. I think the Commission has served its greater purpose, and we will see them slowly fade away. What a joke!

These seem to be the main points, and I certainly welcome anyone to share what they think. There is still plenty of discussion to go around, and this forum is as good as any. After all, the lobbyist/reeducation person has slowed way down on his output of stuff. Time for the rest of us to pick up the slack.

By the way, speaking of the lobbyist, that reminds me of the 100 grand. How funny it is to see the amount of time spent convincing us that the money has not been spent, and probably won’t be. All I can say to that is good! But it does not undo the possible wrongdoing back at the executive session where the money was appropriated. And I guess we can kiss that 1000 fold return good bye. The City Council even discussed it again last night at their meeting. I see where the Mayor gave Edith Ann a shout-out during the discussion! Way to go, Mr. Mayor! Thanks! But it's EDITH ANN, not Ethan Allen. I write blogs. He makes furniture.

This is all I’ve got. I just would like folks to get honest. The quickest way to quiet the masses who question is to answer the questions! How hard is that? They could start with the Commission on Education…

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"Integrity is the essence of everything successful."~~Richard Buckminster Fuller

Saturday Soup II

2011-04-30T22:31:00.004-05:00

Well, here we are, the day after the loveliest Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Hundreds of guests from around the world were in attendance, including two of Kate’s ex-boyfriends, and four of William’s ex-girlfriends. He did remember to include his childhood nanny Tiggy. It was quite the spectacle, and for us Yanks, it was quite interesting to see some of the hats. It seems that the more bizarre and outrageous each creation was, the more it was photographed. Every network was giving this event full coverage it seems, and we got to see some folks we haven’t seen in a while. Am I the only person who thought the Princesses of York, Eugenie and Beatrice might have been hookers for hire, invited by Prince Harry?

We are also just a couple of days past one of the worst natural disasters this country’s seen in a while. A near-record number of tornadoes cut across several states leaving over 350 folks dead. Entire towns were destroyed, and folks will be trying to pick up the pieces, so to speak, for a very long time. Terrible, terrible tragedy. Pretty much every news network covered the devastation and it just looks horrendous. Incredible how a minute’s worth of wind can do this kind of damage. My heart goes out to these families.

Back here in Victoria, the Universal Headquarters for all Things Intelligent, we have a handful of folks trying to figure how their plans for world dominance took a left turn. This motley crew has demanded that President Obama produce an American birth certificate over and over and over again. I think they wanted that birth certificate presented to someone at the Advocate here in Victoria. I’m not sure, but I think so. Well, a birth certificate was produced, but guess what? They hadn’t planned on the certificate being provided, and now they are in a quandary. What to do? Simple enough. Just keeping demanding away, except now add that what was produced was bogus. There is no person, no thing, no affidavit, no anything that would satisfy these folks. But I wish they would quit already. Really. It's just making them look stupid.

Also over at the Advocate, there was an editorial about the proposed summer meeting between the chancellors of TAMU and UHV. It is slanted to make folks think this meeting is occurring because so many folks called Dan Branch and his Committee on Higher Education in Austin. What makes me think this? The editorial says so. But, what if the meeting is in response to all the folks from Victoria and the Houston area that called and asked them not to approve it? That is what I think has prompted the meeting. If everyone was gung-ho, why would we need a meeting to get answers? Why would we need to postpone the passage of the bill? Why, indeed! Are y’all as tired as I am of folks thinking we aren’t smart enough to connect the dots? I’d appreciate just a bit of honesty for a change.

One last thing, and then I’ll get of the Advocate’s case. Who is writing the headlines? Are they reading the story before they write? This one absolutely slays me: “Man known for both his cooking and hit man skills sentenced to life in prison”. I guess most every activity requires a skill set, but to lump cooking and killing in the same phrase is, well, odd. But the one that takes the cake for me is this: "Victoria native had front-row seat to royal wedding". Did you see it? Did you think she was in Westminster Abbey, sitting up there with the royal family, perhaps right behind The Queen and Prince Phillip? Now, don't get me wrong--I think the Victoria native, Stacia Salas, will be forever glad she listened to her mother and went to London, but she was one of a gazillion plus folks crammed together across the road from Buckingham Palace. She had, at best, a front row 'stand'. She wasn't even near the wedding! Again, who writes this stuff?
Okay, that’s all I have this evening.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"It is hard to let old beliefs go. They are familiar. We are comfortable with them and have spent years building systems and developing habits that depend on them. Like a man who has worn eyeglasses so long that he forgets he has them on, we forget that the world looks to us the way it does because we have become used to seeing it that way through a particular set of lenses. Today, however, we need new lenses. And we need to throw the old ones away."- Kenichi Ohmae

Suckin’ hind tit

2011-04-26T09:51:00.001-05:00

This past weekend the Victoria Advocate finally reported what many of us already knew—HB2556 is dead. Elvis dead. Michael Jackson dead. Dead. Now while the Advocate put a different spin on the wording, they did essentially report that it was dead. We knew.

Dan Branch, chair of the House Committee on Higher Education, has suggested that the two systems involved in this get together this summer and look at what’s what. Great idea, Mr. Branch! Wonder if this is not something that should have been already done? Think it would have helped the cause of the Crossroads Commission on Education to have some of these details worked out before they asked for the swap? Talk about putting the cart before the horse! See? Sneaky never works out. It just doesn’t. What it does, though, is make the sneaks look foolish when it doesn’t.

So, since we are now further back than square 1, perhaps at square – 10, I’d like to know where Radiobabe, Lamppost, Surffree and others are on this latest development. I don’t see them commenting up a storm on the topic. Well, I'm not surprised. Not to mention the Advocate. Will we see an editorial extolling the wisdom of this summer meeting? Probably. That’s how it works.

But, as always, it is nice to be on the side of reason and reality. Much, much better than what my Daddy would call ‘suckin hind tit’.

So until next time,
Edith Ann

“It is always advisable to be a loser if you cannot become a winner.” --Frank Zappa

Pssst, Lamppost! Over here…

2011-04-21T16:38:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday of this week, the members of the Victoria City Council each brought forth two names to be considered for inclusion on a committee being formed to redistrict the City of Victoria. This has not been done since the 1990 census as it was not necessary after the 2000 census. The latest census, 2010, shows that it is now necessary. The Victoria Advocate provided adequate coverage of this action.

Every member had the opportunity to present any name they wished, and while I am not sure who has the final approval power, I am sure someone is going to maintain veto rights. After all, the city paid out a big ol’ chunk of change to a consultant to see how to proceed with this mission. Now Lamppost, not being one to miss an opportunity to be his usual bully self, has started posting comments about one of the appointees. Actually he poses some questions, and I, as a public service to Lamppost and the others who might be wondering, I will attempt to answer the questions. But fair is fair, and in return, Lamppost will owe me some answers.

So, Lamppost, this is for you—

Apparently not feeling the love when he posted a comment yesterday, Lamppost reposted that same comment, on another story. I guess the spoon he is trying to stir the pot with is just not big enough. No one is taking the bait, and I’m starting to feel sorry for the old boy. Here is his twice-posted comment:

“I see that Chad Byrd was nominated to the board that oversees this for Victoria.

Wasn't he the campaign finance manager for Matt Ocker?

Isn't he also the son of Ernie Byrd, the guy who ran against Clint Ives?

And now he's on the committee to re-draw the voting precincts?

Where is everyone at with the conspiracy theories?”

Let me tackle these astute observations and newsworthy items one at a time."

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

I don’t know where Radiobabe is. Maybe she is getting her resume together to present to the committee. Who knows?

Lamppost, what is your point with the information on Chad Byrd? Gee, anyone over the age of six who has been reading the Advocate for any amount of time knows this stuff already. Are you implying that City Councilman David Hagan had some sort of agenda in picking Chad Byrd? What kind of power could one person of 15 have alone? But if you think there is some kind of conspiracy at work here, for Pete’s sake Lamppost---spit it out!

The main body of the article that Lamppost is posting on deals with the need for additional hotel rooms in Victoria. They are going to hire another consultant for this endeavor. Several folks spoke to this need for more rooms. The usual suspects, Bridgette Bise and Dale Fowler said the rooms are necessary. The 1500 or so we have are not enough. I’ll take their word for it. But Hagan said his company has difficulty finding rooms for folks who come in on business. That’s a real situation. That’s something tangible.

Since it must have been ‘Pick on David Hagan’ Day for Lamppost, he posted this piece of brilliance, “So is David Hagan using his power, influence and our tax dollars to help out the company he works for? I wonder if he will get a bonus this year for his "hard work"

Huh?

Hagan’s employer spends corporate dollars to buy hotel rooms. Apparently they are having difficulty doing that as there is a room shortage. I can’t see his power, influence OR your tax dollars at work here, Lamppost!

Sometimes it is just better to remain quiet. Looking stupid is one thing. Looking stupid in print is another.

However, Lamppost, if you’d like to discuss this further, feel free to jump right in here. And that goes for you, too, g4further.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Provoking, isn't it, that when one is most in need of sensible words, one finds them not.”
~Charlotte L. Forten Grimke

How stupid do they really think we are?

2011-04-17T19:54:00.002-05:00

Someone, an unknown someone, but perhaps Mike Sizemore, is writing a blog on the Victoria Advocate. He goes by the name of TAMUV. I believe these blogs are the educational arm, if you will, of this master plan by the real estate sub-committee of the larger Crossroads Commission on Education. The writer of these blogs is publishing propaganda designed to sell the masses on their scheme. No doubt about it.

Since April 8th, there have been 5 blogs go up. That’s about one every other day. And of course, the Advocate gives them front page billing. But we would expect that. The Advocate has only published the ‘for’ side of the issues—save one article—as they are clearly taking a huge side in this matter. How the average person is expected to make an intelligent decision as to what is in the best interest of this community is beyond me. I don’t mean that folks are not smart enough to make the choice, but I do mean that folks are only getting one side of the issue.

The folks who are pushing this plan are trying to bolster their position by tossing out stats and data that may not be completely correct. I am certain this is a deliberate attempt to muddy the waters on this, and to lead those folks who haven’t been paying close attention down the wrong path, not to mention that inaccurate figures seem to be a way of life here on this topic. I believe the these same folks are placing a great deal of faith in those inattentive folks, hoping they are going to jump on board just because someone said they should.

Let’s look at some of this misinformation. In the blog titled Growing Demand for Higher Education in Victoria, Texas, the author cites an increase in enrollment. He states, “In Fall of 2010, UHV offers freshman and sophomore level courses.” Then he adds, “4,095 students enrolled for Fall 2010 - Compared to 3,655 in Fall 2009 - A 12% increase.” Wow! Who could have ever predicted enrollment would go up when they added lower division classes? Sounds great to those who haven’t been paying attention, I’m sure.

In his blog Victoria County Commissioners Court Passes Resolution for TAMUV, TAMUV mentions some of the entities that have publically pledged their support of the proposed switch. He mentions that the Victoria County Commissioners Court signed a resolution, but doesn’t mention that it took two tries to get it done. Wonder what their hesitation was? In any event, look at the memberships of the entities that are on board. It’s the same folks we see on every board and commission and committee in town. Why should we be surprised? I would have, however, chosen another person to quote than Gary Burns. TAMUV cites Burns as a supporter after Burns said, “My main loyalty is to Victoria County, not to any particular higher education system.” I don’t know how TAMUV got ‘undying support’ out of that, except that to take something different away from the quote would make the quote not fit the theme of the blog.

One of the more clever things the education commissioner has done is to make a video about what TAMU will bring to Victoria. Narrated by Bill Clough, it’s a slick package. First rattle out of the box we have Gary Burns (again!) trying to tell us what a good deal this is. Yawn. Then we have Geanie Morrison herself talking about how this is going to make education affordable! Seriously? Ms. “I deregulated college tuition!” Morrison actually says this is going to make college more affordable? I don’t know how she made the comment with a straight face. Or how she sleeps at night! The rest of the video—well, go here and look for yourself. See if you agree with me that Dennis Patillo looks like he was weaned on pickle juice. And, by the way, the best part of the very predictable video is Clough’s voice over.

Finally, in the latest blog we have Patillo outlining three missing elements in our current partnership with UHS. First he cites:

“(1.) Representation from Victoria on the Board of Regents. There has been no representation on the UH Board of Regents since the downward expansion.” No kidding! Downward expansion is in its 9th month. But, on the other hand, I agree it would be nice to have local representation on the Board. Thanks, Rick Perry, for seeing that we don’t have any.

“(2.) A long term planning program that works to better serve students. This would include learning more about student demographics, then applying the information during the processes of hiring teachers and creating classes.” TAMU has done this and I can see the results, where? Where is the list of things promised? Looking at other A&M expansions is not good enough.

“(3.) Open and honest communication where people can share ideas and visions so that all parties understand their benefit and contribution.” I can’t add anything to the comment I posted on the original blog: “Interesting that Patillo would include "(3.) Open and honest communication where people can share ideas and visions so that all parties understand their benefit and contribution." when this is pretty much NOT what the Commission on Education has been doing. Feeding us a steady diet of the committee's opinion is not open and honest communication. Presenting only one side (with one exception) of the issue is not open and honest communication. Having a public hearing back at the beginning of this process and then no more is not open and honest communication.”

There you have it. The propaganda machine is alive and well, and churning out the education for the masses.

Now, how stupid do you think they think we are?

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece." -- Ralph Charell

Ahhh, Victoria!

2011-04-09T23:06:00.002-05:00

It is Saturday night in our sleepy little burg, but unfortunately, all in not quiet. It was just reported on our local television station that there was a shooting in our town, and the condition of the victim is unknown. Sad. We were having a pretty good weekend until that happened.

Yes, this weekend, Victoria is celebrating the founding family of Victoria, Martin de Leon. There are many, many descendents of de Leon, and they are converging on Victoria from all parts of the country. Events highlighting this family’s history and contributions to this community began yesterday and continue through the weekend. While mostly a huge family reunion, the events are open to the public, and several of the lineage groups are participating with speakers and supplies and stuff. Even the Victoria Convention and Visitors Bureau is involved. They, actually the Chamber of Commerce, provided the Starbucks coffee this morning prior to the seminars at the local college.

I had several friends who, through one or another of the helping groups, attended the events today, and I have already received a report on how it went. Here is the report on the CVB’s participation:

“Twice in 24 hrs. I have been in the company of the Bise. But today took the cake. She was in a short strapless and I do mean strapless dress with her boots and she looked a mess. Little 4 inch pony tail held with a rubber band. ***** and I have been working the deLeon Reunion and she was at the meet & greet and this morning at the Speakers forum. Coffee by Starbucks was provided by the Chamber. Joe Truman was there and Emmett Alvarez was at both deals. Bridget needs to look around and see how us folks here in Victoria dress. She is not a good ambassador for Victorians.”

Not a good ambassador for Victoria, indeed! This is embarrasing! She claims to have invested around $11,000.00 in this reunion. That could be since she told one of the organizers that she would reprint the brochures that contained inaccurate information about the de Leon family. For more on the de Leon activities from this weekend, go here and here. This was truly a nice thing for Victoria and I am sure the de Leon family will look back on this weekend as something very special.

Also over on the Advocate, a very funny blogger named Kyle posted a hilarious blog about Donald Trump’s hair. This is a hysterical spoof of Trump. No one was taking Kyle seriously. No one. Except that goofball poster, Thor. Yes, Thor actually decided to hijack this blog to further promote the silly notion that President Obama is not a citizen. You know, the ‘birther’ spew. He even cited a convicted con artist and forger, Lucas Daniel Smith as one who has the goods on the Obama issue. Sadly, not all the nuts are in the can.

Last, but hardly least, the New York Times has picked up the story about the folks in the community who are pushing for the university switch. They give a nice summation of the situation. However, the word out of Austin is that the bill is as good as dead. Who knows? What I would like to know is what happens if the bill dies? What does the committee plan to do then? Anyway, here is that link.

Well, that’s about it for Hooterville.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one."-- Dolly Parton
"…or wait and the City of Victoria will pave one for you…”—Edith Ann

I just wanted to see dirt fly!

2011-04-07T23:14:00.001-05:00

Some time ago I stated on the Victoria Advocate forum that I did not think we would ever see the CAT plant built. I came to this conclusion based on a couple of things. First, CAT had virtually nothing invested, financially, in the Victoria project. Sure, they’d been here a time or two or three, but I am sure VEDC picked up the tab on most of that. Secondly, the sign offering the 320 acres for sale was still up and all one could see happening was the stubble growing. Add to that the fact that Caterpillar bought an existing excavator plant in another state. Why would they start from ground zero, particularly when they had very little invested? Hence, my conclusion. I also said if I was proved to be wrong, I would apologize. Publically. And I will. But—

A poster named Lamppost called me out first thing on the new story in the Advocate. The Caterpillar company moved several pieces of CAT heavy equipment onto the 320 acres and started working on making the land ready for construction. Lamppost and his alter ego g4further (notice that g4further NEVER posts unless Lamppost just did, or vice versa? Trust me, I know all the tricks!) along with spyderandfly posted their cute comments about my prediction. They were looking for their apology. They will have to continue to wait, though. I need to see some steel going up. And they need to hush up!

Once again, for the record, I am thrilled that CAT is coming to Victoria! This is a huge boost for our area, and I am delighted! I was never against the plant. If Lamppost and Company had just one brain between them, they would have remembered that the majority of my criticism was with folks lauding Dale Fowler like he was the best thing since, I don’t know—fire. He’s not. Far from it. The CAT plant was no small deal by any means, but I continue to be amazed at the reaction from the masses on this deal.

I certainly don’t mind being dogged out, but at least, you Einsteins—get your facts straight!

While we are on the CAT story, let’s talk about the push for the University of Houston Victoria to become Texas A&M University Victoria, or whatever system will have us. Juanita and I were discussing this whole mess the other day. Some folks claim the expansion of UHV is necessary because we must have an educated work force. We agree that sounds good, but our question is this: Why? Why do we need an educated workforce? For the assembly line jobs at the CAT plant? That’s what I thought. A suggestion to those speaking publically about these matters—pick a story and stick to it! As I so often have to remind you all, some of us are paying attention.

More UHV stuff: What was with the Victoria City Council rushing though a resolution supporting HB 2556, also known as the ‘Gig ‘em’ bill? Was it so it could be trotted up to Austin on Wednesday? Councilman Joe Truman made the motion using wording that not only supported Geanie Morrison’s efforts (Truman is a good republican) but indicated that the bill reflected the desires of the City. Maybe the City that was sitting around the City Council dais, but not necessarily outside of those doors. There are plenty of folks who find this whole movement distasteful. Personally, as I have stated before, I don’t care who we belong to, I just care how we got here. I don’t believe this deal has been entirely kosher from the get-go.

Earlier today, the Advocate posted a video and a story about a young man who is challenging the Victoria Independent School District dress code. Joey Ochoa wants to wear his cape to school, but VISD says a cape is prohibited because it is not specifically included. Ochoa disagrees with that opinion and is petitioning VISD to have capes included in the dress code. So far, he has collected about 80 signatures asking for just that.

This story drew a lot of comments and the comment thread was finally shut down. I wasn’t able to read all of the comments before it closed, but I believe the majority of the comments were negative as to the boy’s motive. Many questioned whether it was news worthy at all. In the grand scheme of things, it probably wasn’t newsworthy unless the focus of the story was that this student was doing what he has a right to do—petition for change. It’s not any harder than that. The article identified him as an honor student. He’s smart. He’s to be commended in my opinion. As I told a friend earlier today, I personally think he should be applauded and encouraged for exercising his rights. To shut him down now, to not validate his efforts, will just give us one more adult who believes they have no voice in their governance, which is completely against the rights we have been given as citizens. And in the midst of the UHV/TAMUV thing, I think we already have plenty of those folks. There are not enough speaking up now. Good citizenship habits should be fostered. It's what makes good, participating citizens.

There you go—

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” - Gloria Steinem

Open Mike Night at EA’s!

2011-04-01T20:25:00.002-05:00

Drinks are on the house!

I am up to my eyeballs in alligators with a work project and will be scarce until later this weekend. I cruised the Victoria Advocate forum, and folks are not too happy about most things over there. Folks are getting whacked, as are comments.

Here’s what we’re going to do. You can discuss any topic you would like tonight and every day after that until we're sick of discussing this stuff. Any topic. No topic is off limits. We’re all going to use common decency and we’re going to play nice.

But—bring it on! Let’s see what’s bugging you or how you feel about some of the local hot topics.

Knock yourselves out!

So, until I’m back,
Edith Ann

"There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud."-- Carl Sandburg

Oh, by the way, good luck collecting on those drinks…

Just when you thought it was safe...

2011-03-30T23:02:00.000-05:00

Gabe Semenza writes yet another piece on the pending legislation regarding the UHV switch to the TAMU system. Yep. I would have really thought by now that Gabe would have exhausted his angles on this business, but alas, apparently there a few things left…

One of the most recent stories looks at a comparison of UH and TAMU. Not UHV and TAMUV, but the parent schools. If you want to look at the entire story, go here and check it out. Pay particular attention to the comments. Most of the folks who have posted have the slant figured out. Some say it is a fair comparison, other say not. I’ll let you decide.

You can also read Matt Ocker’s blog here and see what he thinks. He is spot on in his assessments. Don’t stop at just one. Keep reading. Ocker writes good stuff.

As part of the reeducation of the masses, Mike Sizemore, I guess, has tapped into social media to let us know about all those folks who support the switch. Go here to view the Facebook page. Take a moment to look at the video testimonials. With very little exception, they have used the usual cast of characters. Besides the obvious waste of money that this may turn out to be, Sizemore is apparently drawing a salary to gather together the folks that we already know support this because they are on the Crossroads Commission on Education, or they are employed by VEDC or they are the elected officials or the Chamber of Commerce President who are pushing this. I know I am not alone when I say this—show me the parents of college kids. Show me the young professionals who are still paying off college debt. Show me the folks who don’t have an agenda. Then I will be impressed with the opinions expressed on the supporters’ page.

Until then, let me ask this question: For Dale Fowler, Randy Vivian, Don Pozzi, Paul Polasek, Gary Burns, et al., will you be encouraging your children or grandchildren to apply to our local university? Do you local Aggies want your children and grandchildren to attend TAMU College Station, or TAMU Victoria? It won’t make a difference, will it?

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there."
-- Charles F. Kettering

Schoolhouse Rock

2011-03-23T07:56:00.003-05:00

Remember the old Schoolhouse Rock? Conjunction Junction? See You Later, Estimator? I loved those catchy jingles that taught my kids important things. Remember the ‘bill’ standing on the steps of the Capitol explaining how he becomes a law? Good lesson there. Well, I don’t have any Schoolhouse Rock stuff, but I do have this--

In his monthly column, Dale Fowler encourages us to contact Geanie Morrison and Glenn Hegar to let them know we support the switch from UHV to TAMU. The continuing series by Gabe Semenza sort of does the same. None of these stories, though, tell us who to contact to express the opposite opinion.

So as a public service to my readers, and in all fairness, here is who you call if you want a “NO” vote on the proposed switch:

The following folks make up the House Committee on Higher Education who may or may not vote this bill though. These are the folks who need to hear from you if you are opposed to this bill.

Chair: Rep. Dan Branch R 512/463-0367

Vice Chair: Rep. Joaquin Castro D 512/463-0669

Rep. Eric Johnson D 512/463-0586

Rep. Donna Howard D 512/463-0631

Rep. Diane Patrick R 512/463-0624

Rep. Roberto Alonzo D 512/463-0408

Rep. Tryon Lewis R 512/463-0546

Rep. Fred Brown R 512/463-0698

Rep. Dennis Bonnen R 512/463-0564

It is in this committee where the bill can be killed. Only 5 votes are needed for this bill to progress. To track the progress of the bill, go here. If you are wondering how the whole process works on any bill, go here.

Now—who said Civics isn’t fun?

Never let it be said you didn’t learn something over here at Edith Ann’s!

Until next time,
Edith Ann

"Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers." -- Anthony Robbins

ASK QUESTIONS!

If you have to ask how much it costs, you probably can't afford it...

2011-03-21T22:29:00.001-05:00

Amazingly enough, folks over on the Advocate are not through discussing the pending legislation that would move the University of Houston-Victoria to the Texas A & M System. They still have plenty to say when commenting on the stories, and there is no shortage of stories on the scheme. At this point in the timeline, Gabe Semenza, Public Service Editor, has filed about 14 stories on the topic. What he has done is found 14 ways to say the same thing. The Advocate promotes his continuing series as a one that will answer the questions of the community about the switch. There is no new news in any of the articles, but he files a new one, or two, every day. I’m worried about him burning out.

On the 11th story there are quite a few comments about the anticipated cost of this project. Semenza gives us one quote from Geanie Morrison, author of the bill, as to the cost. He asks, “How much would a system switch cost?” The response? The university system switch would not cost taxpayers any money, Morrison said.

No further questions, your Honor!

That’s about right—no further questions. Now, do any of you believe there will not be costs involved in switching a university from one system to another? Folks all up and down the comment thread are posing very valid what ifs, but do we see Semenza addressing these queries? Not really. Maybe those questions will be in tomorrow’s story. But why wait for that? Let’s look at some of the better comments posted.

From justataxpayer, we have several comments that raise good points. Here are a couple. “And the transition will cost nothing? Computer compatability? Hardware? Software? System coordination? Travel back and forth? No cost, kind of like Geanie's tuition deregulation cost the students no extra fees.” I thought this was spot on: “A locale can only promote what it has. “Boots” suggests dance halls, cowboy bars, dancing, rodeos and even a great traditional West Texas town. Victoria is neither west Texas or nightlife A college town must be a college town from the beginning. Young, vibrant, fun, energizing, liberal. Does that describe Victoria?”

JackDeuce adds, “Letterhead, pens, pencils, signage on the buildings, signage on the highways that currently identify UHV will need to be changed. Signage on city streets that direct people to UHV, etc, etc. I could go on but you get my point.”

PatB called Semenza to task for not telling the real tale here. He posted, “Justataxpayer, I'm with you on the "no cost" pipedream. There is a thing named"rebranding" that is very expensive in the fact that anything and everything that mentions UHV or Jaguars will have to be changed. EVERYTHING! If not us taxpayers,then who? Come on Gabe,get real!!! Patrick Barnes” Good point, Pat!

BobbyTomek posted: “With a one-sentence statement from Morrison on the question of how much the switch would cost, it is clearly evident which side the Advocate is on. After all, it doesn't take much common sense or research to realize what is entailed. So why wasn't any of this addressed??? And back to Morrison's statement: If she honestly believes that it won't cost taxpayers a dime, I have some ocean-front property near Phoenix I'd love to sell to her.”

I’d like to see more questions asked. It is as if information is being withheld so that we don’t connect the dots once again. I’m growing weary of being treated like an idiot and I am offended for the other folks in Victoria. We deserve better than this. I think Bobby Tomek may be onto something. While not a conspiracy, there IS a concerted effort to present a united front on this deal, and the Advocate, as our only paper covering this, is complicit in that effort. They are helping to ‘filter’ the information being disseminated. Is this part of the ‘reeducation’ of Victorians to accept this plan?

Will Gabe ask more questions? Will Geanie come clean on the costs? Will Radiobabe weigh in on this? Stay tuned. It’s only going to get better.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

I think this is an appropriate quote here, from fellow blogger and known conspiracy theorist (I think that is what an anonymous poster called him…) Matt Ocker: "Just remember, they can only listen to whoever is talking to them. You know the ass bags are talking."

I agree.

Guess what? I've been looking at your junk since September 2009!

2011-03-14T22:34:00.006-05:00

What in the hell is up with the folks over on the Victoria Advocate forum? They seem to have lost all good sense of reason! Why, the paranoia and freaking out rival only that of teen girls standing in line for Justin Bieber tickets. Enough already! The sheer thought of trying to sort out all the goofy shit is more than I am up to tonight. Instead, I’ll just tackle important issues one at a time.

First off, I am hurt and insulted! I thought all you folks were faithfully reading Edith Ann! Have you already forgotten that I explained my blog traffic tracker in one of my earlier blogs this year? Instead of screen names, I get a city and a state, and a country if not the USA. I don't get a street address or any other identifying information. I know, for instance, that since the first of the year, someone at the Padre Island National Seashore has checked in 179 times. Or maybe it is 179 readers at the Padre Island National Seashore, each checking in once. Oh, whatever!

Why is this such a big deal now? I bet most of you folks who are getting all righteous over someone collecting screen names are also the folks who don’t mind typing in your credit card number to make an online purchase, not to mention putting personal stuff by the butt load out there on Facebook! What is anyone going to do with a screen name? Steal your identity? Hardly. But for those of you who still have a problem, I suggest you take mzmizer’s words to heart: “Everytime one logs on to the internet your location at the minimum is being collected. Geez, someone is showing their lack of basic internet knowledge.” Rebecca explains it nicely in her comment on the blog.

Over on the letter to the editor regarding Bob Moore’s rejection of the money from Mac Haik for the booster club, all the brains weighed in over there. Not ever one to disappoint, tstorm5 set us all straight. Bob Moore is the greatest thing for VISD since the invention of chalk, and don’t you ever forget it! ALL of VISD benefits from the Coke deal!

His best bud, RedRage00 chimed in with a comment, “I have trouble believing that EdithAnn would support The Legacy dance team getting $12k over the Golden Sabres LOL!! Keep telling yourself that Edith! I can see your new blog now! "Moore favors the Legacy Dance team!!" bahahahaha!” I had said, “Are you asking me if I would support this $24,000 contribution going to the Legacy Dance Team? If they had been selected in a process that is like the one described in Pullin's letter, sure, why not?” And why not? Any school that would have been selected this way should have been free to accept the money. RR00—you know you were just wanting a mention. Well, there you go! Enjoy!

By the way, tstorm5—except for the school-wide play day (if they still do that), nobody outside of the East and West athletes enjoy the Coca-Cola turf at Memorial Stadium. Just getting that on the record.

TxHunter, I suspected you were reading. Thanks for doing that! Yep, I was kicked off several times, but when I agreed to abide by the rules, I was allowed back. The Advocate knows my history. They read EA, too. Which reminds me, if you’re reading tonight VA, delete one of Lamppost’s blogs. One or the other violates the rule on frequency of posting. Thanks a bunch!

***Update*** The Advocate did not remove either of the out-of-compliance blogs, but they did adjust the posting time of the last one. It now indicates that the last blog was posted at approximately 8:00 p.m. 3/14/11. The odd thing is, the first comment to the blog was posted at 2:26 p.m. 3/14/11. Go figure...

Fair is fair and rules are rules, right? (Only for some.)

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“My favorite thing about the Internet is that you get to go into the private world of real creeps without having to smell them.”--Penn Jillett

The road to perdition

2011-03-09T23:31:00.002-06:00

Perdition, according to Dictionary.com is a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unpenitent person passes after death. I think, on some levels, my fair city, Victoria, is on a road to perdition of sorts. Things that are completely inexplicable happen and no one seems to notice or care. Huge sums of money move about and there is little to no oversight or accountability. A tiny group, comparatively speaking, dictates what the rest of us will have to tolerate and endure. And nowhere is anyone willing to listen. The one bastion of society that we expect to keep us alert to oppression and tyranny—our local paper—participates not as an independent and responsive provider of truth and enlightenment, but rather as an accessory to the murky dealings the rest of us are observing, enabling questionable actions to continue.

1. Our City Council continues to give the Victoria Convention and Visitors Bureau huge sums of money, $1.5 Million so far (and it’s rumored she’s coming back later this year and asking for $1.2 Million next time) without nary a care as to how it is spent. They don’t care if it is spent wisely, or if it is frittered away.

2. This same person, acing apparently upon bad advice, continues to take Gary Dunnam’s word for gospel on Victoria history, and thus gets it wrong sometimes. And the wrong is unfortunately discovered AFTER 80,000 full color brochures are printed. Someone should tell her that the County Historian is Charles Spurlin. If she hadn’t royally snubbed him and his Korean War Conference last summer, she may have discovered just how much Spurlin knows and how much more accurate Spurlin’s information is over Dunnam’s.

3. Our city Council allocated and transferred $100,000.00 to the Victoria Economic Development Corporation for a reason we don’t know. This decision was made in closed session (a big no-no), and I heard the Mayor himself say IF there was to be any public discussion on this matter, it would be after the fact (another no-no). They were very cryptic in the Advocate story on this, but Cm. Joe Truman assures us Victoria will see a return of a thousand fold. It was rumored that the money was to pay a lobbyist to work the Legislature in Austin so they would agree that our local university should detach from the University of Houston System to become part of the Texas A & M System.

Now this is a plan that has been hatching for quite some time. It goes back at least a year or more when Paco Buhler generously offered UHV 100 acres of free pasture land out by the airport. The mayor thought this was such a great idea, he managed, with the guaranteed consent and assistance of the Good old Boys—Councilmen Tom Halepaska, Paul Polasek and Denise Rangel—to commit $9,000,000.00 for the extension of Airline Road from where it ends at Loop 463, out to the Airport. Never mind that the current university is NOT on Airline Road, or that there is a perfectly nice four-lane highway that goes right past the entrance to the Airport. Those students need a road, a special road, a Legacy if you will, to get to class once the university relocates out there.

4. Speaking of students, I am growing weary of the attendance numbers being falsely reported to the public. From the get-go, the claim for relocating the university is that they are landlocked and overflowing. Numbers were being reported enrollment-wise that were not accurately reflecting the actual situation found at the corner of Red River and Ben Wilson. Only when challenged on the accuracy of the numbers repeatedly did we finally get the real truth—there are not 4000 plus students ON THE CAMPUS IN VICTORIA. There are about 500. Quite a difference, I'd say. The spring enrollment figures were recently released, and it’s the same kind of false, misleading report again. I’ve asked for clarification, but I seriously doubt it will be forthcoming.

5. The Patillo Pumphouse Parking lot. Do I really need to give you the details on this again? Most Favored Status was bestowed upon friends of the Good Old Boys, and the next thing you know, we have a parking crisis in the city park.

6. As to the newspaper and their part in a lot of this—there have been more than enough red flags raised to warrant a look-see at some of this stuff at a minimum. They have Gabe Semenza who does a ‘Watch Dog’ column, but I guess he is not clear what that actually means. I’d be much more impressed with the watch dog if he’d do a bit more digging. There are folks who will talk. Really there are. But you have to ask the questions to get the answers. On the other hand, though, it gets a little sticky when the folks you out as wrongdoers are your friends. And that is the problem here in Victoria. The Kevin Bacon game claims six degrees of separation. I’m here to tell you that in Victoria, it’s more like a degree and a half, if that.

7. The paper has also contributed significantly to the frenzy that is playing out right now on the online edition. Late last night there were no less than six stories on the subject of Geanie Morrison filing the UHV/TAMU bill. SIX! Then, in a flash—there was an editorial. All of that coverage is really fine. Seriously. What’s not fine are the misleading headlines. This scheme is only partly accomplished. If some of these headlines had stated something like, “First step in realignment…” or Realignment set in motion…”, then at least there would have been some kind of accuracy to them. Often, though, accuracy is not the case with the newspaper, headlines or otherwise. The startling thing in all of the reporting is the Advocate’s overuse of all things Aggie and maroon, particularly in the editorial piece and today's headline in the print edition. It makes them look a bit foolish. TAMU-V will not be the Aggies, and they will not be maroon. Ask an Aggie that attended TAMU in College Station. They’ll tell you very quickly who’s an Aggie and who’s not. Despite graduating from TAMU-CC, I am not an Aggie. I am an Islander.

My grandmother would say that many of our city leaders have gotten too big for their britches, and I would have to agree. They are acting like they have to answer to no one. They act like they don’t have to be responsible to anyone, or with our tax dollars. Remember—these are the guys who said the City did not have money for gas to mow the right of ways.

Well, there it is. If these things don’t concern you, then I have to wonder why. If these things do concern you, then good. In any event, make your opinion known. It doesn’t have to be this way. It really doesn’t.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

Note to Radiobabe, Surffree, holein1, Lamppost and those who are overly concerned with what I think—it truly matters not to me whether the local university stays UHV or becomes TAMU-V. That has never been my issue. What has been my issue, and my only issue with this topic is the amount of deception, no—downright lying—that is coming from folks in order to achieve their agendas. It is all documented in the pages of the Victoria Advocate—inflated numbers and the funky money business. They are all complicit. All I ask from my elected officials is that they attempt to be honest with me and other citizens. I know better than to ask for straight up honesty so I’ll just ask for an attempt. The end does not justify the means.

“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it”--Adolf Hitler

Manic Monday

2011-03-07T23:22:00.001-06:00

Yep. It’s Monday night and all sorts of foolishness is taking place all over the city and the state. Some of this stuff kind of bugs me and some of it just makes me wonder. In no particular order, here is my list of stuff.

I am really not happy that the Advocate is going to charge for the TV magazine. There was nothing wrong with what they had been providing, but I understand there is a need to get some cash flowing here. By their own report, they are choosing this particular option to satisfy the approximately 1 in 5 readers (20% of 33,368= 6674) who prefer a printed item. And the price for this is $39.00 a year. Do the math: 6674 X 39 = $260,286.00 a year, provided that number subscribe. Not bad figures for a business that has to close divisions of the business because of finances.

I don’t begrudge the Advocate trying to be profitable, not at all. That is why businesses are in business. I guess I am just old enough to remember when the newspaper provided certain services to the community, like printing obituaries for free. Not just 15 word death notices, but the whole obituary. Look at the obit page in the print edition. I am pretty sure it is the only revenue generating section of the paper. I think that charging a grieving family any rate, much less the display advertising rate is just, well—there is just something that feels very skuzzy about that. Now they want to charge us to see what is on TV, too. Well, whatever.

Jared announced that he is taking the Victoria Chamber of Commerce “Let’s all go to the Capitol” field trip to Austin tomorrow. I don’t know who all will be on this trip, and I know they do this every time the Legislature is in session, but I hope Jared will take notes and provide us with a roster of those who were in attendance. I bet the majority of the folks pushing for the realignment of our local university are on that bus. I’m sure they will make a bee-line to certain folks to plead their case for the Paco Cabanas. We’ll have to wait and see what Jared tell us.

Speaking of university realignment, I received an email today that was supposedly sent to UHV students and alumni urging them to call Geanie Morrison’s office in Austin to request that she not support this move. This is getting interesting. It seems that this matter is still not over. If these same folks spent this much time and effort on something that is viable for our community, who knows what we could have in this community that would actually attract visitors.

Over on BSspotter’s older blog a poster named N45BA is really getting riled up over the Pumphouse parking lot business. He asks some very good questions. These are questions that many are asking, and—“Surprise! Surprise!”—we’re still getting no answers. Radiobabe and surffree aren’t even commenting! However—I absolutely applaud him for keeping this issue on the radar. This is the only way folks are going to get educated on the issues, and hopefully this will help get folks out to vote. To vote out those who favor their friends. To vote out those who value campaign contributors over constituents. To those who take an oath to serve and then forget who elected them to that position.

Up in Austin folks are acting real stupid. Tea Party favorite Rep. Debbie Riddle has introduced legislation that is going to make it a crime to knowingly and willingly hire an illegal alien UNLESS you are hiring that person to provide services in your single family residence. Yep. You will be fined $10,000.00 for each violation and it will be a State Jail felony, should this become law, but you need not worry about your gardener or your maid. You’re safe there. Read all about it here.

Those dimwits in Austin are also working on that sonogram bill that is going to help women REALLY understand what they are doing when they make the decision to have an abortion. It’s crazy and I have discussed it every which way I can, but one poster, Ralph Wiggam, on Juanita Jean's blog sums up the reality of this legislation very nicely if you ask me. Scroll down until you see the long post from Wiggam, the one where he claims to be the voice of reason. And for those who are concerned with how some abortions are paid for, did you know that Crime Victims Compensation can pay for abortions in cases of sexual assault?

Okay, this is just some of the stuff that is bothering me tonight. Let me know what you think.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"This is as true in everyday life as it is in battle: we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live."

-- Omar Bradley

It’s all a matter of perspective…

2011-02-24T21:55:00.000-06:00

I don’t know if you all got the recent email entitled “An important example of point of view‏”, but it is a list of different well-known folks answering the question “Why did the chicken cross the road?” The comments attributed to each notable are hysterically funny. I know this because I got replies from friends telling me how funny this was. I’d love to take credit for composing this, but I can’t. My sister sent this to me. I can only take credit for some of the items toward the end of this post. A couple of friends added their suggestions and we are confident that you will be pleased with the result. It is only fair to warn some of you—and you know who you are—that you may need to visit the ladies room before you read any further.

So, without further ado, the answers to the question, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” from the original email:

SARAH PALIN: The chicken crossed the road because, gosh-darn it, he's a maverick!

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for change! The chicken wanted change!

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so badly. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a NEW CAR so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

DR. SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth? That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the Liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side.' That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Some pretty funny stuff, right? Here’s the funnier stuff—

RICK PERRY: To show that little Banty Rooster on the Victoria City Council how to do it.

KAY BAILEY HUTCHINSON: For appearances. (Note: she looks more like a chicken than any other target.)

DON POZZI: The chicken crossed the road safely for 8 years under my watch. I also attended the chicken's funeral 7 years ago.

GARY BURNS: The chicken crossed the road because it was stuck in John Clegg's ass as he crossed the road to pick up a check for the no-bid contract I secured for him.

CLINT IVES: I couldn't see the chicken cross the road because Gary's belt buckle was blocking my view.

KEVIN JANAK: The chicken crossed the road to accomplish something he could add to his list of accomplishments because he was accomplishmentally driven to accomplish things. Accomplishment.

DALE FOWLER: Because after 10 long years, I enticed him to cross it with other people's money. He was a free-range chicken and needed a lot of room. 320 acres to be exact.

BRIDGETTE BISE: I don't understand the concept of "crossing a road" but I'm going to float an answer out there and hope it's acceptable. Was he wearing his little chicken boots?

O. C. GARZA: I don't know if the chicken crossed the road. I was just told to tell you that it did happen. You can check 'Rumor Central' on the City's website for further updates.

BOB MOORE: There was no need for the chicken to cross the road. I told you all already—both schools are exactly equal!

WILL ARMSTRONG: The chicken had a road to cross because it was my legacy to build it. Wait, did he live in the city?

PAUL POLASEK: (At a Tea Party) The chicken crossed the road. (In Council chambers) The chicken did not cross the road. But I’ll ask Thomas to make sure.

TOM HALEPASKA: The chicken crossed the road because his handlers paid him to do so.

DENISE RANGEL: What they said.

LEWIS NEITSCH: To hop in my fryer in order to feed a quorum.

THOMAS GWOSDZ: I don't guard the hens; I watch over the foxes and coyotes. I can guarantee no chicken would ever be successful in crossing a road while I am on duty.

See what I mean? Now, here is your challenge, gentle readers—pick someone in the local community, at the state or national level, or even one of your favorite Victoria Advocate comment posters and tell the rest of us how they would answer the question:

“Why did the chicken cross the road?” Go! Get to writing!

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“There’s an old honky-tonk boast in Texas. When some drunk cowboy was feeling his oats, he’d ask for a fight by saying, ‘the big ones can line up and the little ones can gang up.”
--Juanita Jean, my newest pleasant discovery.

Read all about Texas politics and fools like Tom DeLay over at www.juanitajean.com

Time to give the Boot the boot?

2011-02-20T22:51:00.002-06:00

Have you seen the latest issue of Texas Monthly magazine? It is all about—Texas! It is being called the Terquasquicentennial Issue because it is celebrating the 175th anniversary of Texas’ independence. This issue of Texas Monthly is jammed packed with all things Texas and does not disappoint. According to the teaser at the beginning of the feature article The Great Terquasquicentennial Road Trip, “also known as the quartoseptcentennial odyssey, it begins on a Riverbank in Glen Rose where paluxysaurs roamed 113 million years ago; ends on the south steps of the Capitol, where Rick Perry took his fourth oath of office in January; and stops along the way in 173 other locations…” And I’ll be damned—not a one of those stops is in Victoria! But the online edition does make a stop in Chef Dean Fearing’s closet. Take a look. Think any local Victorian own that many pairs of boots?

That’s right. According to those fine folks at Texas Monthly, nothing of historical significance or otherwise noteworthy happened in Victoria. Now, I realize there are those folks who would disagree with that, and I agree we’ve had our moments, but that pretty much sums up Victoria. We are in close proximity to lots of great stuff, but we were not the center of any really great stuff. But, alas, we didn’t make the list of 175 events.

The Advocate, however, has given us another story on the Bring Your Boots Campaign. This time Gabe Semenza is trying to help us understand why it is hard to judge the success of the campaign thus far because, well, what are we going to look at as success markers? Short of forcing every person who buys a hotel or motel room to answer a survey as to why they bought a room in Victoria, I’m not sure how we are going to successfully assess this grand scheme.

This is the thing, though, that has concerned me from the start—this City Council, for the most part, was only too happy to fork over a humongous sum of money and essentially ask for little to nothing in return. I am not opposed to promoting Victoria. Not at all. I am opposed to the initial and subsequent price tag on this promotion. That has been my position all along. There are others who agree with me, and there are those who believe that this campaign is the greatest thing since, well, since Dale Fowler sweet-talked Caterpillar into accepting his generous gift of the free 320 acre rice paddy. Why that event wasn’t included in the 175 list at Texas Monthly, I’ll never know.

Now, those folks who question the ‘boot’ as a symbol of Victoria are right to do so. Sure, a hundred years ago a Lucchese did do a little boot work here in Victoria, but not THE Lucchese of the now very well know boot factory. It is a bit dishonest if you ask me. It would be like Victoria claiming to be the birthplace of John Smith and letting folks mistakenly believe it was the John Smith who founded Jamestown. I am sure Victoria has had at least one or two babies born here that ended up being named John Smith. True? Yes. Accurate? No. But fudging the numbers on things seems to be a popular pastime for many Victorians with an agenda.

Many folks are like me and wonder where in the world Bridgette Bise got her information about Victoria. I really want to think she went rogue on this and did not consult any of the locals. But, as jacked up as some of them are about Victoria, it is just as likely that she did talk to the locals, and she took a teensy bit of truth about Victoria and spun this whole myth about us. I mean Bise and her friend Janell McPhail of Jet Marketing. Question—had any of you heard of Jet Marketing BEFORE the brilliant “Bring Your Boots” campaign was hatched? I hadn’t either. I know I am not dreaming when I recall Jet Marketing being in Tennessee.

So as many questions as this article did not answer, there are those I’d like to see addressed. I don’t know why the obvious is so difficult. I’d like to know how much Victoria receives from each pair of boots sold. I’d like to know why the City did not require Bise to use local folks. Makes those generous folks look a bit disingenuous, doesn’t it? I’d like to know why Bise continues to use the approval of a handful of folks as a gauge of success for her project, and why those handful continue to support a project that is so not supported by the masses. I realize that ‘they’ think we do not know shit from Shinola because we are not one of ‘them’, but wonder how long it takes them to figure out we could hang with them, if they’d let us? Well, whatever.

Back over on the forum, the comments are being posted hot and heavy. Seventy-two at this point and counting. Most of the posters, actually all but Surffree and radiobabe, are not gung-ho on the boots thing. Not to belabor the point, but to give you an idea of how the comments are going, I’ll share a few bits and pieces.

From N45 BA we have “I have never liked the boot campaign and I especially disliked the Chamber of Commerce sneaking in at the final minute of the two new High Schools football support for this city I have seen to date, aside from spending large portions of the add [sic] campaign outside the city of Victoria.”

bigdogdaddy got it right, “And what's with using an ad firm from Cuero, when we have several award winning ad firms right here in Victoria? Do we want to send our tax money elsewhere?” and he got it wrong, “As far as the boots campaign goes, I don't think anyone has mentioned that some of the finest boots ever made, Luchese boots, started in Victoria. Why not include that in the campaign?” Remember, Victoria’s Lucchese is not the El Paso Lucchese. Related, but the current boot company did not start in Victoria. Plus, if he’s been paying attention, he’d already know about the $500.00 Lucchese Victoria Boots.

In an effort to point out that there is stuff to do in Victoria, Jared makes the suggestions of visiting Schroeder Hall, Brakenridge Recreation Center and the Shiner Brewery. Good suggestions, but those attractions are not in Victoria, and at the most 45 minutes away. Doesn’t help Victoria by putting a head in a bed, or change in a local till.

A poster named ned contributes, “It all is just silly. I think one thing that irritates people is the boot propaganda being designed to define Victoria, our city, instead of finding something that is really what Victoria is about. I have also noticed that Texas Monthly has not done a feature story on Victoria. Marfa....yes. Victoria....no.” Good point ned, for all the money Bise has spent with Texas Monthly, the absence of an article just tells me they see nothing unique here, either.

This, from kash, sums it up nicely,

“1. I just can't get the boot thing--what do boots have to do with Victoria? I searched Lucchese Boots history and have not found one mention of Victoria. Boots and Victoria are never in the same thought.

2. "The boots campaign largely targets residents in the Diamond Corridor - from Corpus Christi to San Antonio and Houston" Why? Wouldn't most people who live this close just drive back home after visiting?

3. Is Ms. Bise from Victoria? If not maybe that's why there is such a lack of sense of what Victoria is? Just where am I suppose to wear these boots?

4. Just think if this money had been used to improve what we have. Then we might have something to promote. Clean and update the park for one (doesn't mean put parking in a useless spot). Help the zoo to flourish. An outlet mall to shop, a beautiful park to relax and picnic, and a zoo for the kids to enjoy. I live in Victoria but I can't think what we have that would pull the tourists in.” Smart guy.

Surffree came on to fuss at N45BA about his criticism of the parking lot at the Pumphouse Restaurant. It really annoys her to no end when someone says anything negative about that ‘Sweetheart Deal’ as City Councilman Hagan no nicely put it. It almost makes me wonder what her connection is to the restaurant. I realize that is a stretch, but she does tell me all the time I make up conspiracies, so what the hell, right?

Then she comes back with this really stunning remark, “N45BA - The city is lending some unused plot of land, for private citizens to pay the cost to build parking that could be used by people that attend the park. In the future I think the restaurant will be a tourist destination for the city. You ask, Why would the city provide this land?. The restaurant will pay property taxes, sales taxes, provide a large number of jobs. For a small piece of unused property, it seems like a good deal for the city. If the city provides some land, that citizens can now utilize for parking if they need it, and the city is getting taxes in return, a tourist destination, then this seems like a great deal for the city. Or maybe the city can not do things like this and we can watch the park keep deteriorating, and watch Victoria boom at the amazing pace of 2% a year while the state of Texas sees increases of 20%.” I hope you all are paying attention because Surffree has just gone of record supporting free land for business owners. Step right up and get yours now!

Last, but not least, radiobabe finally posted a comment, and per her usual attitude, is not happy that the others are not happy. I’m sure they appreciate her support. I really think she was waiting for me to post something so she could pounce. Maybe it pissed her off. One can hope!

Okay, there it is. Tell me what you think.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and do not repeat it."-- Paul "Bear" Bryant

Welcome to progressive V-Town!

2011-02-16T08:26:00.002-06:00

Over on the Advocate online forum, the discussion of the recent production of The Vagina Monologues is still going kind of hot and heavy. The origin of this debate goes back to the humor column written by Aprill Brandon. In an effort, I guess, to be humorous about the word vagina, Aprill mentioned several slang words for vagina. I think her intent was to remove the taboo of saying vagina out loud, or at least in front of others. I’m not really sure if her column succeeded in what she set out to do, but I didn’t find any humor in effort to promote an upcoming event with the attention she gave it.

After much online discussion of this topic, Victoria Advocate reporter Trysta Eakin wrote a very excellent blog in support of Aprill’s column. I say it was very excellent, not because she supported Aprill, but because she gave victims a forum. In talking about her own victimization, Trysta allowed those with similar experiences to express their thoughts and feelings. I think that was very courageous for Trysta to do, and for those who responded like Carollee and Dennis. The honest discussion was more helpful than I think any of them realize. In my opinion, Trysta’s blog somewhat redeemed Aprill’s column.

So, that’s what’s happened in the last month, and the dreaded event—the play—finally occurred this past weekend. Everyone apparently survived as evidenced by the renewed chatter on the forum. In a story about the reception of the play, it seems that the play was well received. Even Wm. Paul Tasin was in attendance. He was outside protesting that the play would cause every woman in the audience to run out and get an abortion, but he was there just the same.

Speaking of W. Paul Tasin, over on the Advocate forum I pondered why he is always standing there alone, or with just Sam Valdiva, his partner in crime. Where are those others who so vocally march once a year, but seem to forget their convictions the other 364 days a year? While I may not agree with your convictions, I will give you full props for sticking with them no matter what.

Bottom line for me on this whole topic—it is still very clear that most folks are in the dark ages about sexual violence. Folks seem to think that a victim must be bruised, broken and bloody to be believed, or that maybe the assault wasn’t so bad if they're not. Folks seem to think that victims can just ‘get over it’ and have a normal life. Folks seem to think this kind of stuff doesn’t happen here. Again, thanks to Trysta, Carollee, Dennis, and those who read and took something positive away from the ensuing discussion. It is only though education and awareness that the veils of secrecy, shame and dishonesty will be lifted and victims will then have the ability to take back their lives to then live them in a healthier and more meaningful way.

Also on the Advocate we have the report that the Victoria City Council approved the movement of $100,000.00 to the Victoria Economic Development Corp. to use for. . . Well, we don’t know what for. Yet. Those in a position to say have given very cryptic comments to the Advocate reporter, but we are no closer to having a clue on this. City Councilmen Gabriel Soliz and David Hagan voted against the transfer, but the Fab Four—Mayor Armstrong, Councilpersons Tom Halepaska, Paul Polasek, and Denise Rangel—along with their new buddy, Joe Truman, voted for this deal. Truman was even quoted in the paper as saying, “The return on investment of $100,000 will be a thousand fold on this”. We shall see.

Last, I like to just briefly mention the ‘out of control’ controlled burn, times two, on Tim Rampey’s land at his subdivision Capstone Estates. For some reason, Rampey did not think he had to clear his controlled burn plans with the County Fire officials. It's required in this county, and you would think a college instructor could understand and follow the rules, wouldn’t you? Doesn’t matter anymore, he can’t strike a match without getting the nod from the Fire Marshall. See what happens when you play with fire? By the way, if he’s running a fire sale on his singed building lots, you might get that 125’ X 350’ lot that normally goes for $44,900.00 for a song…

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“If I break the silence, maybe others will, too. I think that's the toughest thing as a survivor. You're told to feel guilty. You're told it's your fault. When I realized it wasn't my fault, that's when the healing really began. For 20 years, I believed it was my fault. If you're a kid who is out there and this has happened, the adult knew better. You were taken advantage of. It's okay to talk about it.”--Chris Witty, survivor

Happy 2nd Birfday Jakester!

2011-02-10T07:37:00.001-06:00

My, but how far we’ve come! Today The Jake is two! Hard to believe we’ve managed another year, and it’s been a great year. Grandma Jo D. has been very busy, I’m sure, and she has made sure our little guy is safe and secure. I can't thank her enough for that.

Yes, Jake is two and ever bit a toddler. He is like a Tasmanian devil. He goes non-stop and never seems to run out of energy. Last year on his birthday I wrote about him taking a few steps. Now, he’s running everywhere, zipping around in his foot-powered Little Tykes Cozy Coupe, and generally leaving a huge wake behind him. He does now run and jump in my arms. JoNell was right—it doesn’t get better than that. At least for now, that is.

The jabbering has turned into real words and most of them we can understand. He knows his name is Daycub. He sang “Happy Birfday” to his Aunt Kiki last week. He answers the phone with a ‘Hello’ that sounds very much like his mother’s ‘hello’. We hear “uh oh!” a lot. We hear “NO!” more than we’d like. But I hear, “I wub you Lollie” every time we say good bye.

It’s been a blast. It’s been fun. It’s been the best year of MY life.

Happy, Happy Birfday Jacob! Lollie loves you to the moon, around the moon and back again! You continue to be my sunshine and the light of my life! I love you so very much!

For you, Jake:

For the rest of you:

XOXOXO

Love, Lollie

They are not all locked up, but perhaps they should be

2011-02-09T23:08:00.000-06:00

I know I constantly write about the goings on in our little spot of the Coastal Bend called Victoria, and often it is about some sort of stupid or whacky or idiotic thing that has drawn my attention. Just to prove that not all the nuts are in Victoria and/or safely locked up, here are some interesting and perhaps amusing stories I’ve run across.

A fellow blogger, The Grey-Beard Loon, has the very wonderful knack of finding the goofiest stories and videos ever! It is always a pleasant surprise to discover he’s posted a new blog. One never knows what one will find. I am not going to replicate his latest blog here, but instead I will post a link and ask that you go peruse his blog. Look for “Fred is dead” and “Cold enough fer ya?” You won’t be disappointed. The Loon also finds wonderful tango videos. Anyone who appreciates dance will love the Tangos that he posts. Go look!

Over on YouTube, I was looking at the latest Chester Cheetah Cheeto commercial and discovered this, “Cheesus, the Jesus looking Cheeto”. The video speaks for itself. I have to say, I agree that the Cheeto looks like an image of Jesus. Check it out for yourself here. And check out the Chester Cheetah commercials—they are funny!

This just in—San Antonio is now without a Miss San Antonio for the Miss Texas pageant pending the resolution of a lawsuit filed by Domonique Ramirez after pageant officials removed the crown from her head. This is dreadful. Read here and see who you believe. Only in Texas, huh?

Up in New York, Queens to be exact, we find the news story of the mom who treated her kids to a new “Go! Diego Go!” video—she thought. According to the article, the mom, Candice Conner, purchased the video from a local Toys “R” Us—not the one she had been recently fired from—but from the one in the Green Acres Mall. You know—the one where Mr. Haney runs the Sunglass Shack and Hank and Doris Ziffel have the sports bar with the dancing pig?

Anyway, this woman claims there was a porn video in the shrink wrapped package when her son went to pop it in the DVD player. According to the article, "I saw a Caucasian lady and man and they were naked," said Nigel, a sixth-grader at the Susan B. Anthony School in Hollis. I was surprised. I was very disgusted." Not to sound like I have my doubts, but—I’m sure that is EXACTLY what 11 year old Nigel said. Read this fascinating story and see what you think.

See what I mean? They are not all locked up.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night.'"-- Charles M. Schulz

It doesn't take a genius to use a computer...obviously

2011-02-06T00:05:00.002-06:00

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am about done with this freezing weather. I live in South Texas for several reasons, and snow and ice are not on that list. Snow and ice make folks in South Texas stupid. Yes, stupid. It comes from a lack of experience with the elements, but nonetheless, some are rendered brainless. Many are incapable of using good judgment. Most are incapable of using self control. Navigation is treacherous and they don’t know when to stay off….the computer!

Gee whiz! Between emails from friends, Facebook and the Victoria Advocate forum, I think I have laughed for two days solid and I know my sides were hurting last night. It has been a variety of things, but some of the best examples of what I am talking about at the top of this blog are found on the Advocate forum. Let me share with those of you who don’t frequent that online site a little about those who do. It’s quite the cast of characters. These are in random order, which means nothing.

itisi. (It is I) I am not sure what is up with this poster. I can’t tell gender here, but I suspect she’s female because she decorates her postings with little hearts and clubs and such. It’s a little cutsie for a guy, but I could be wrong.

itisi had posted a blog on the Advocate forum regarding liberalism. The main theme of her blog seems to be that American is going to hell in a hand basket, and a liberal nut job is carrying the basket. itisi is certainly entitled to post anything she’d like on the Advocate forum—within the guidelines of the forum rules—but she doesn’t allow others the same courtesy. Somewhere along the way in the 141 comments posted so far, I posted some facts that disputed itisi’s opinion of liberals.

It wasn’t my intent to change her mind. I had learned a long time ago that folks like this are usually very convicted in their ignorant bliss. She told me, “Edith Ann, Please refrain from web/sites or links to further your political correctness. This is about personal opinions and knowledge along with experience. It is not about people that have nothing to do other than setting around a computer surfing the net and think they have gathered enough intelligence in order to dictate to others how it should be done♣♣♣” <---See what I mean about the decorations? Far be it from me to confuse an already confused person with real information.

She had started the article by referring to her perception of a liberal bias as ‘artificial intelligence’. I am pretty sure what she meant is that anything uttered by a liberal who thinks he is smart is actually false, therefore, artificial. It is pretty much accepted that this is not the definition of artificial intelligence, and all I did was question itisi’s use of the term in this context. I suspected the question was over itisi’s head, and she confirmed it with this comment, “Edith Ann, I will put to you like this, I will use it in any dang context I choose, if it makes or breaks a point. I don’t need you are Kyle C to tell me how or what I can put in my article. Go write on dang blog♣♣♣ I’m sure it would be interesting♠ Then I can pull out Webster and see if you’re following liberal guide lines so that all of those expectation are up to standard. That is about all I have for you today.” OUCH! 8^( Dang!

Anyway, itisi and her buddy, holly1, are quite the pair on the forum. holly1, a guy, is every bit as obnoxious as itisi. It is like they are a tag team. But, holly1 can come up with some doozies himself. He is arguing with a blogger named Mike about all sorts of stuff, and posted this brilliant bit of wisdom, “Have you ever watch kids programing on cable NICK DISNEY these 2 channels have programing for kids with openly "gay" actors and other things that could be disturbing to some people. I myself do not care about this issue either way Music tv channels play heavy metal and rap that glorifies the killing of others and the abuse of women. video games are full of violent acts. movies are unfit for a person right of center because of the liberal view point in every program except fox news and we are bombarded with ambulance chasing lawyer adds on tv so I think i can state this as fact. Thanks for letting me explain a little about me.”

Clearly holly1 is a conservative as he used very little punctuation, but try to make it out anyway. And, while you’re reading, remember this is a guy named holly. Aren’t you glad he explained himself? Plus, I am so glad to hear he does not have a problem with any of the stuff he mentioned. I know…

I would have included rollingstone with this collection, however he has temporarily redeemed himself with his latest posting on itisi’s liberalism post. She’s not going to like rollingstone providing facts that screw with her opinion.

Over on a story about Convention and Visitors Bureau director Bridgette Bise’s unveiling of the new print items, 124 comments have been left. The majority of them have questioned various aspects of the project—the money being spent, the focus on the boots and the non-accountability. For the most part, the concerns seems reasonable, and most could probably be resolved if more information were forthcoming. But it’s not, and we’re left to debate it on the forum.

One of the more obnoxious posters is one who goes by the screen name of Lamppost. He is a know it all of the worst kind—he makes vague statements, but never has any facts to support his assertions. He just posts things and goes on the attack when challenged. Rather than make a reasonable argument, he comes off looking juvenile. He also is known for frequently changing his avatar. Look to your right where my followers are pictured. See the nun with the eye patch? Fourth one on the second row? That’s not Lamppost. It’s someone else. Lamppost just stole the picture. But on the other hand—thanks for reading, Lamppost!

More obnoxious that Lamppost, if that is even possible, is Pat_Murph. Let me tell you a little about Pat_Murph. Pat_Murph is bogus. He is trying to appear as a foreigner, and he butchers the English language. He misspells everyone’s name when he comments, and generally looks like an idiot. There’s really not much more to say about him, except my advice is to ignore him. He contributes exactly nothing to the conversation—sparse as it is on the forum—not even comic relief.

Well, this is why most of us are over here. Don’t get me wrong, these folks are welcome to come on over and join the conversation here. I just don’t think they have the courage to come to our turf and show their asses like they do on the Advocate. But that’s just my opinion, and I damn sure don’t want itisi coming here harshing my mellow!

And remember boys and girls—if folks will gossip WITH you, they will gossip ABOUT you. This is not a big town and as Garth so eloquently said, “I’ve got friends in low places". Just like you…

Go check out these two new blogs. They are not new bloggers, just new to Blogspot. Friends of Edith Ann's they are.

http://mike-ontheleftinvictoria.blogspot.com/
http://oldsoulfromthesouth.blogspot.com/

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“A wise man makes his own decisions; an ignorant man follows public opinion”—Chinese Proverb

“If you think knowledge is dangerous, try ignorance”—Mark Twain

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This is a test

2011-02-05T12:09:00.000-06:00

Several of my faithful readers are reporting difficulty posting comments. In an effort to trouble shoot this--and you have to understand I am CLUELESS about computers and all computer related things--I am adjusting some settings.

You will now see a different format to the comment posting page. You also will see that the posted comments page looks different. But, it's a small price to pay to get the comments up.

If you were having problems postings, and this is a fix, would you be so kind as to post a quick OKAY or FIXED or something to this blog to let me know this works?

I appreciate your assistance in keeping this blog among the best...

Edith Ann

Stuff.

2011-01-31T21:27:00.002-06:00

This is my favorite word for the subject line of my emails. It works all the time. Of course those folks I email probably look and say, “Stuff? Old stuff? New stuff? VEDC stuff? Work stuff? What kind of stuff is she sending this time?” That is kind of the theme of tonight’s blog. I bring you a collection of stuff. It’s your job to decide if it is of any value.

Do you all remember the election last November? There was a lot of turnover in Washington in the House and the Senate, that governor of ours got re-elected AFTER he passed on millions of ‘Race to the Top’ education funds and Victorians saw the membership in the Good Old Boys Club, Victoria County Chapter, change. Clint Ives defeated Wayne Dierlam, and is now serving the citizens of Precinct 4, my precinct.

One of the items Ives claimed to agree with prior to the election was the televising of the Commissioners Court meetings. Someone needs to follow up on this and see if he is still of this notion. If he is, great! If he isn’t then he needs to be reminded that he also called for transparency in county government. Not all of the commissioners agree with him, but that shouldn’t discourage us from holding Ives to his campaign promises, should it?

Jared the blogger on the Victoria Advocate posted a blog about participating in the local ‘Right to Life’ march held recently. Ninety comments were posted by a variety of posters. All the usual suspects weighed in, but Wm. Paul Tasin was absent. I thought this was odd because this is Tasin’s favorite topic. Personally, as I have stated many times over—I have a problem with the ‘concern’ for these folks ending at birth. Who is stepping up for abused children, battered women AND men or young folks dying in a needless war? Why does it have to be JUST unborn babies?

KyleC posted a link to a YouTube video that absolutely asks a question that needs to be answered. If abortion becomes illegal again, how do we punish the criminal, the woman having the abortion? Check this out. Feel free to offer suggestions as to how to handle this very touchy situation.

Citizen’s Medical Center. Remember how Administrator David Brown was offering paver bricks for sale? So far, they have sold a grand total of…ZIP! That’s right. Not only that, hardly anyone is parking in the new David Brown Parking Annex. Those folks who were paying for their reserved slot have largely given up those slots because their medical insurance went up. Folks had to make a decision as to where to cut, and the preferred parking lost out.

Speaking of Parking Places, I haven’t checked lately on the Pump House Porking Lot. Anyone know the status that lagniappe? Surely it is perking right along. Folks will probably be glad to see it open. At least those who have been eating at Huvar’s Artisan Market and Catering will probably be happy to see another choice. I understand all the entrees at Huvar’s are priced at $26.00. The sides, like vegetables or a baked potato are a la carte. Kind of pricey is you ask me. The chef is very proud of his stuff.

Last but not least, I checked on how the Victoria Convention and Visitors Bureau's “Bring Your Boots” boot sales at High-Brehm were going. When I inquired as to how many pairs had been sold, the very kind lady on the other end of the phone said, “A few.” I said, “Less than twenty pairs?” With a bit of a chuckle, she said, “Yes.” Alrightythen—I think we can declare that brilliant idea a success. I am going to seriously question the sanity of any city councilman who gives Bridgette Bise one more dime!

Well, kiddoes, that’s all I’ve got. Tell me what you know.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."-- Jon Hammond

I need a do-over, please

2011-01-21T22:56:00.003-06:00

All right, back over on the Advocate forum, we have three items up dealing with the upcoming production of The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler. This production is being staged at The Victoria College, and 90% of the admission price will be turned over to Mid-Coast Family Services to fund the services they provide to victims of domestic violence in their Women’s Crisis Center. These three items have caused some misinformation to be put out there, and it needs to be corrected.

The first article to appear, Victoria College to present "The Vagina Monologues" in support of V-Day, written by Aprill Brandon, laid out the history of the play and the purpose for doing it in February. The Vagina Monologues have become associated with “V-Day”, “a global activist movement started by Ensler to stop violence against women and girls.” Luckily for Victoria, President Tom Butler of the Victoria College supports this production. He said, “Victoria College is supportive of artistic expression, and in this case, raising awareness of women's issues is a positive thing."

That same day, Aprill Brandon posted her humor column entitled, Why are we so afraid of the V-word? I took a second to scan the column, and I was shocked. Really shocked. Brandon strung a list words used by folks to afraid saying ‘vagina and was actually doing just fine until she included the word ‘poontang’. That is a word I remember hearing in my high school days and to be sure that I was remembering it correctly, I put it in a google search to see what I’d get. I got plenty. Multiple definitions for the word, and all sources cited this word—poontang—as vulgar slang. I had remembered correctly.

Now personally, I have no problem calling my vagina what it is, a vagina. I have no problem calling my ears, ears, or my feet, feet—except when I am tickling Jake’s and then they are feetsies. But he is two. That is what they are. I find nothing vulgar about the word vagina, and frankly, I am wondering who Aprill was speaking with that found it difficult to say vagina. Maybe my friends and I have the age (read maturity) advantage on Brandon, but we all use the proper word on that extremely rare occasion that we find ourselves in conversation about someone’s vagina. I was just trying to remember when the last time that was, and I can’t.

Back to the vulgar word—poontang. I have a feeling that Brandon was taking suggestions around the news room, someone yelled out poontang, she used it without checking its meaning and the contributor probably would have bet his last paycheck it would never make it past an editor. Well, it got past an editor. I guess there is a possibility that the editor didn’t know the meaning. I don’t know. But I do know that I felt compelled to comment because of the vulgarity of the word. The other words were silly at best. Poontang was vulgar. My complaint was about that one word, and only that word. I still cannot believe the editors of the Advocate allowed that to fly.

I guess folks really do have an elementary reading comprehension level. Many of the posters complained about the word vagina! Many folks also commented about poontang. And far too many comments were folks trying to test the Chief Delete Nazi. A few comments got removed, but for the most part, they pretty much had to let some questionable comments remain since they let Brandon set the standard for the piece. Of course they will forget this come Monday. It will be a whole new week, and we will be back to what we know best.

Today, the Advocate Editorial Board published a piece about this production, gave us their spin on what it all means and made a pitch for all of us to support it. It was not a bad piece at all—except for the misleading headline, “Advocate editorial board opinion: Victoria College play aimed at ending violence against women, girls”. The play itself is not about ending violence against women per se, but the production is about benefitting the Women’s Crisis Center, a place where victims of domestic violence can go to be safe and get help.

The editorial brought out some of the posters on the forum, and Jared led the way with his comment, “After reading the script, I found that instead of offering a way out of abuse, Ensler offered more ways to abuse including the scene that celebrates a minor's abuse and seduction with alcohol with the acknowledgement that her mother would not approve of such actions.” This play is not about how to end abuse. This play is not about how to abuse. Do you really think the Women’s Crisis Center would sanction something that did? Really?

My favorite Catholic girl, Mary Ann, weighs in on the editorial, but, like Jared, she has missed the point. Yes, the teen girl had a different view of the assault by the adult. Gentle and loving as it may have seemed to the teen, it was still an assault. But, unlike all the previous assaults which were extremely violent and left the child physically injured, this last assault was not. Knowing that teens are not very adept at using good judgment, are either of you really surprised that this teen had a very distorted view of the ‘relationship’? It is what Ken Lanning, retired FBI agent who helped create the child exploitation division of the Bureau, would call a compliant victim. The ‘eat or be eaten’ philosophy. It's not that unusual.

Mary Ann asks, “How does a play billed as helping women overcome sexual abuse …" The play being billed as helping women overcome sexual abuse is misleading. The play proceeds benefit the Women’s Crisis Center. As I said on the Advocate forum, “The author of the play decided at some point that her play could be used for 'fund raising efforts' on behalf of sexual violence and domestic violence.” She then asks, “...how does the prevention aspect differ from the fund raising aspect of the play? Don't these two go hand-in-hand?” The prevention aspect is a separate item all together. To think they must be linked would be like saying that all Girl Scout activities have to be about baking since their fundraiser is about cookies. One is not necessarily tied to the other. Mid-Coast Family Services could have just as easily scheduled a spaghetti dinner with all the trimmings.

I don’t know if we are ever going to come to a consensus as to what is what on this topic. Three items later and we still can’t even agree what we are disagreeing about. Let me leave you with this, though. If you are still blaming a victim for their abuse, if you aren’t sure about the dynamics of sexual abuse, if you don’t understand it—talk to your local sexual abuse crisis center. The same goes for domestic violence. Educate yourself. Education is the key to enlightenment. And enlightenment is the key to zero tolerance. Perpetuating myths only hurt future victims.

Mary Ann, Jared and all others, I welcome your conversation over here. We can keep it civil, and perhaps some or all will learn something they didn’t know. For those who are interested, please check out David Finkelhor, world-renowned researcher and writer on the topic of child sexual abuse. He has no biases and his work is often the standard for the field.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“Everything about this show just feels like a vagina miracle to me. This may be one of the only times that a theater production has really been able to serve a social movement to this degree, particularly economically.”--Eve Ensler

Just for me? Really, you shouldn’t have!

2011-01-20T00:00:00.001-06:00

I was chatting with a reader yesterday, and she said, “I almost called you this weekend. Did you see the Victoria Advocate? It is as if it was written just for you!” And we laughed. But, over the long weekend, they did cover some of my favorite topics—The University of Houston Victoria, Dale Fowler and the VEDC. And the comments were not in short supply.

Just before Christmas we were all asked to answer two questions about the expansion of the University of Houston Victoria. These questions are supposed to provide ‘someone’ with a written result of the will of the community. The responses were gathered by the Chamber of Commerce and the results were made available in this most recent Advocate article.

To begin with, the headline writer at the Advocate either did not read the story and made an assumption, or was told to spin the headline in the most favorable way possible. It reads, “Survey shows community wants university system other than UH”. Did the survey really reveal that? Well, let’s see what the survey actually said. It said that from more than 1000 surveys mailed to members of the Victoria Economic Development Corp. and the Victoria Chamber of Commerce, plus an unknown number of folks who participated independently, only 173 surveys were returned. Just 173 surveys were returned. Our ‘community’ is somewhat larger than 173 folks. The mid-2009 population figure for Victoria was 63,147. This is not a mandate!

Erica Rodriguez, the reporter on the story seems as clueless as the headline writer. She states “Community members are clamoring for the University of Houston-Victoria to aggressively grow or leave the system.” In reality, only 75% of those 173, or 144 folks, want to aggressively grow the university. Again, this is not the ‘community'. Nonetheless, certain things were evident for our myopic mayor. “Mayor Will Armstrong, who sits on the commission and supports realigning the school, said the next step is clear. "The only thing that we can do is to try to align ourselves with another university system," he said.” The only thing we can do? Because why—waiting is not an option? However, Dennis Patillo of the Crossroads Commission on Education cautions, “a community cannot tell a system how to run its school.” Really? Patillo, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, apparently has no need to agree with the mayor anymore—he got his free parking lot courtesy of the Victoria City Council. Wake up, Victoria! Don’t believe everything you read. It may not be true. Here's the Advocate’s story.

Did you see the gigantic story on Dale Fowler, Executive Director of the Victoria Economic Development Corp., complete with the gigantic picture? A very positive piece, once again reminding us that even though our District Attorney claims to be just a 'hard working bore', he may not be the only one in town. Whatever. Read it here.

As you can see, it’s the same old stuff in our little hamlet. Not much changes. Really it doesn't.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move." –Arabian Proverb

What's the difference?

2011-01-14T23:55:00.000-06:00

Is it just me, or do the rest of you notice the surliness of our local newspaper? Gee whiz! The person anointed as Chief Delete Nazi has really been working hard. Stuff is disappearing right and left, and not only is stuff disappearing, but folks are too! I understand Bill Clough is gone. He was one of the few jewels down at the Advocate. His Advocasts were always first-rate, and I will miss his work, and miss hearing him give the headlines on the radio.

It was about this time last year when the CDN was on a tear. I blogged about it then (here), and as I reread it this morning, I thought, “Nothing has changed!” It still appears that the folks in charge at the Advocate want to filter what we read and what we think and what we say. I think most of us are quite capable of thinking for ourselves. I don’t need the Advocate to pass judgment on what someone else posts. Does it bother you like it bothers me?

Not only are in a deletion frenzy at times, they have a clever new feature on the forum. When they delete your comment, it is as if it never appeared. You have to go to a poster’s comment history to see the ‘removed’ comments. I don’t know what that is all about, except to fool some into thinking that the CDN is not as mean and unreasonable as some would think, which we know that is not true. And they are wasting no time in removing our ability to comment on certain stories. I am still trying to figure out what is up with the story on Dr. Mary Fineout hitting the guy on the bike and then leaving the scene. I fully understand this dude may have told her he was fine, but he ended up at the hospital. And she got a ticket for not reporting the accident. Since I wasn’t allowed to say what I think on the article, I’ll just post my comment here:

I think it is beyond comprehension that a chiropractor, a CHIROPRACTOR! would not make doubly sure someone was really not injured as determined by professionals before leaving the scene of an accident. But then, again, Dr. Fineout is not a medical doctor. She, her mother, her son and her daughter-in-law, though, probably have made and will make tons of money off of ‘treating’ wreck victims…

Okay, enough of that. Now I want to talk about this airport business that has resurfaced today. The Advocate ran an article entitled “Pilots attempt to ground lease agreement, rent increase”. This article can be found here. As you can see, the Victoria Regional Airport is hiking the hanger rent citing a gigantic budget deficit. What I don’t understand is why they wait until the situation is dire before they act. This isn’t the first year of a shortfall; why is this the first time to bring the problem up? Between the City and County and that big dang ticking clock they are always listening to, everything is an emergency. It really sucks for this town to be run by a bunch of drama queens who have no clue how to manage their time or our money!

So, we have this situation at the airport. And this situation prompted a butt-load of comments which I started off with a question about the relationship of J. R. ‘Jim’ Hartman of the Airport Commission being related to Jennifer Hartman of the Citizen’s Medical Center Board. They are indeed related. For the record, there is nothing wrong with a husband and a wife serving on two county boards, but it certainly does nothing to dispel my contention (and that of others) that there is a small handful of folks making all the decisions in our governments. Be that as it may, the comments came hot and heavy.

We have folks suggesting that if you can’t afford the services, then you shouldn’t use them. Others were asking for some actual figures. Then we had justataxpayer wade in and started throwing the budget around, pointing out where money is being spent. He cites chapter and verse and tells us that the Sky Restaurant gets $22,000.00 from the County, but not why they get it. So, I’m asking—do pilots who fuel up at Victoria Regional Airport really get a meal voucher at Sky Restaurant? If that is true, then it is only right and fair and EXPECTED that the owner of Sky Restaurant would contribute $5000.00 to County Judge Don Pozzi’s reelection campaign. In fact, he should have ponied up more. Cheapskate!

A poster called jrip starts to ask questions about the County doing business with Victoria County Commissioner Gary Burns wife’s business, Raines Brick and Tile, and the Hartmans’ company, VCS Security. I think that is a legitimate question. J. R. Raines is not the only vendor of tile in the area, and VCS Security is not the only camera vendor in the area either. I pass one in Luling each time I drive to Austin. But, hold the phone—not every comment questions the ethics of the county’s business practices. In fact, as if right on cue, in comes the all-knowing radiobabe who screams conspiracy! That’s the same thing that some folks at the Advocate have been known to allege. Problem is, putting information out there, and asking questions does not a conspiracy theory make. radiobabe, long the cheerleader of all things UHV and apparently now the County, makes the argument that it is hard, in a town this size, to not do business with family. Whatever!

When enough folks had made enough suggestions as to what needed to be done, the Victoria Advocate Staff posted, “We encourage anyone with specific information to share to call city and county reporter David Tewes at 361-580-6515. We agree with radiobabe and Grandpa that idle speculation is not particularly helpful.” Idle speculation? Well, edpost—a consumer of the airport services—came back with specifics. He has provided enough information to warrant some level of an investigative report. If the Advocate can push and probe into the ‘reassignment’ of Tim Hudson and slam the University of Houston System using the Freedom of Information act, why can’t they do the same here? If the Advocate can dig up and publish Matt Ocker’s criminal history during his political campaign, why can’t they dig up the facts on how the airport is managed and maintained?

I’ll tell you why—The University of Houston System is not a friend of the Victoria Advocate. Matt Ocker is not a friend of the Victoria Advocate. But, the possible guilty party responsible for the decisions made—Judge Don Pozzi—is a friend of the Advocate. That’s the difference.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“We have the best government that money can buy.”—Mark Twain

Quality of life you say...

2011-01-09T22:08:00.002-06:00

“There are essentially two perspectives taken in quality of life research: social indicators research which considers the elites' valuation of what the people need, and conventional quality of life research which studies what people want, in order to improve their quality of life.”--Quality of Life, Ramkrishna Mukherjee, Sage Publications, 1989

Last week, the editorial board of the Victoria Advocate pondered about what they consider the quality of life in Victoria. The focus of the editorial seemed to be the loss of retail outlets in Victoria. Different reasons were posed as were some positive selling points of Victoria. Go here to read the editorial in its entirety.

One of the reasons cited for the departure of stores from our local Mall is the price of the rent. Interestingly enough, though, not once in any of the articles or editorials on this matter has there been a mention of the going rate for the rent in the Mall. There’s been plenty of speculation that the rent amount is the reason for the stores pulling up stakes, but if it were a matter of rent, wouldn’t you think these stores would look to relocate here in Victoria? It’s not like there isn’t other retail space available or land available to build a free-standing store on.

This editorial also suggests that the Mall is not recruiting hard enough to get stores in. Perhaps, but I can remember a time when recruiting new retail business to Victoria was the job of the Chamber of Commerce. At least two of the previous directors really worked hard on this effort. Not so anymore. The current director of the Chamber of Commerce seems to believe that we have enough retail outlets apparently, and prefers to concentrate his efforts on tourism. Not that tourism isn’t important, but does the director of the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau really need that much help? Besides, as has been pointed out 80 gazillion times already, what are the tourists going to spend their tourist dollars on if we have nothing to sell them? In as much as Bridgette Bise has listed Victoria Mall (along with H-E-B, H-E-B Plus, Target and WalMart) as a shopping destination in Victoria, you would think Randy Vivian would be out there hustling up retailers to come to our fair city.

The editorial states, “While things look dismal at the mall, we have Caterpillar Inc. coming to town, we have a four-year destination university that is thriving and we have other manufacturing businesses waiting in the aisles to move to the area. This is a quality-of-life issue. Who is promoting Victoria's retail business? The city is moving toward prosperous times, so why aren't retailers moving into the mall or to the city in anticipation of the community's good fortune?” A four year destination university that is thriving? As the poster fatguy said, “Our "destination 4 year university" is thriving so much that there is lively local debate about dumping the UH in favor of other university systems.” New business connected to Caterpillar waiting to come? I’m sure. Just come on down--have we got a deal for you!

The editorial goes on to suggest that “Perhaps the city council should create a department that would take the reins and start a marketing program to attract retailers. After all, there's sales tax involved.” Are you serious? Does the City have to be up in the business of every business in this town? They don’t have a good track record for partnering with private business. When they do it, they tell us it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it’s not. The city gives away too much, we lose tax revenue and it takes them way too long to accomplish anything.

At some point, the editorial comes back to where it should have started—“Maybe the Chamber of Commerce or the Convention and Visitors Bureau should tackle this most important piece of the puzzle.” Really? Why? Because, perhaps, IT’S THEIR JOB? Sounds good to me! Just what exactly does the Victoria Chamber of Commerce do? I know they put out a newsletter of Chamber member events so other Chamber members can attend. They host a luncheon every month or so for members. There’s a speaker. Other than that, I’m at a loss. If they are doing any schmoozing around of potential business folks, hoping they’ll come to Victoria, I’m unaware of it. As I probably should be. But then again, other than a ribbon cutting, I don’t hear the Victoria Chamber of Commerce being connected to new business. Do you?

So back to the editorial and all it suggests. The editorial cites the renovated Padre Staples Mall, now called La Palmera, as an example of what could be. It also makes note that La Palmera, located in Corpus Christi, only accepts upscale stores. Has anyone on the Victoria Advocate editorial board bothered to look at what kind of folks are in Corpus? I used to live in Corpus. Corpus is a bit upscale. They can support a specialty mall. Corpus is like two and a half times the size of Victoria. They have the old money wealthy, the ones who shopped at Lichenstein’s and the other stores downtown for 100 years. They have the new money wealthy, too. The ones who shop at La Palmera now. And they have the entire Valley—those who don’t flock to McAllen—to shop in Corpus. It is relatively easy for Victorians to drive to Houston, San Antonio or even Austin for our shopping needs. Why would we shop here when we can go elsewhere? The folks in Corpus don’t necessarily want to drive three or four hours to shop, and mostly they don’t have to. Retailers studied the market in Corpus and made their decisions. I’m sure that is the exact case here in Victoria.

Now go back to the very top of this page and reread the quote at the top. I think we have a handful of folks confusing ‘social indicators’ with ‘conventional quality of life indicators’. If we are truly going to examine quality of life in the Crossroads area, let’s start with mental health services. Our county hospital closed the only psych ward in a 100-150 mile radius of Victoria with little or no warning, causing folks needing hospitalization to be transported to the Valley or San Antonio. We have a city council that has its priorities so screwed up, it will take years to get them straightened out. In the meanwhile, citizens on the south side of town are learning very quickly that this council is not all that interested in their sewer issues. We have four schools located in areas without sidewalks and are surprised when a child is struck by a car walking to school. No one wants to hold the school district or its leader, Bob Moore, accountable, but there is plenty of praise to go around when the city steps up to build sidewalks down Mockingbird.

Quality of life? Yeah, it sucks that there is not a Macy's or a Nordstrom’s in Victoria Mall. Where will we shop? If you figure it out, may I suggest that the first thing you buy is a clue. You can give it to the good old boys.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

"It is not who is right, but what is right, that is important." -- Thomas Henry Huxley

Fascinating, simply fascinating...

2011-01-05T23:05:00.005-06:00

My original idea to do a blog on the most fascinating folks in Victoria just wasn’t coming together as I had hoped, so I decided to set it aside and work on it another time. In the mean time, I received several requests to do one. After careful review of the nominations—I had asked several readers and my editorial board to make suggestions—I have decided to go ahead with what I have. What follows is a collection of folks that I think meet the definition of ‘fascinating’ in that they are charismatic, captivating, seductive or bewitching, or they just make me scratch my head, and ask, “What the hell were they thinking?”.

These folks are nominated by you, the reader, and unfortunately, several are made by ‘Anonymous’. I don’t know if that is one poster making multiple nominations, or multiple posters making one nomination each. When I can, I am including the little nomination blurb as written by the reader.

I am not ranking these in any particular order. This is just a list of names. If you agree, I’d love to have you post something. If you think there is someone missing from the list, please tell u s that also. If you see your name on the list, Congratulations!—you made it to Edith Ann’s Blog! Don’t be offended—not everyone makes it here.

Deborah Branch, “the non-candidate candidate who managed to lose an election when she 1. left the starting gate late, 2. refused to address the issues of most concern to this community and by doing so assured the incumbent a victory.” Nominated by “One Unhappy Voter”.

Brother Gary Moses, “I recently realized that his vocabulary exists of only a few phrases, "How are you ma'am, Good to see you, ma'am/sir, God bless you, honey, and Have a great day, ma'am/sir." We hear that over and over and over and over again everyday when we are at the hospital.” Nominated by “I don’t heart Gary Moses”.

David Brown, Citizen’s Medical Center Administrator who manages to scare the bejeesus out of the employees with just a look and thumb his nose at a Federal Judge all while closing down the only psych unit in a 100 miles radius of Victoria with virtually no notice. Nominated by Anonymous.

Omar Rachid, “It is extremely fascinating that he has any influence at all, yet he seems to be on the fringe of the decision making circle.” He is on multiple boards, and is on the United Way Board. His consulting firm, Middle East Consulting, and his partnership with Dr. Dean McDaniel, Bariatric Best, contribute zip to Victoria County United Way. Master of manipulating other’s money without touching a penny of his own. Nominated by “Trans Am”.

Will Armstrong, “Ok I wasn't going to nominate him but because he has the audacity to believe he is always right. He also has the ability to repeatedly tell people what he knows is not true and it doesn't bother him if people know he is lying.” Nominated by “lovin’ the mullet”.

Jared Q. Tomanek, “I'm continually amazed at how someone can emit so much sunshine without having a nuclear furnace at their core. He's turned enough blind eyes to be considered legally blind. His tongue must be permanently stained purple from the gallons of Kool-Aid he consumes daily. While most are frustrated by this walking contradiction, I find his willful naivety fascinating.” Nominated by Anonymous. **Jared, think of this like you are the sunshine in the Jimmy Dean Sausage commercial. **

Bridgette Bise for her ability to get the City Council to hand over large sums of money to her. And then do it again. And then not have to show much for it. And for "Bring Your Boots". Nominated by Edith Ann.

The Victoria City Council, (Armstrong, Halepaska, Polasek and Rangel) for their willingness to subsidize private enterprise with the taxpayers’ dollars. I do have to say, they are selective—they don’t do this for just anyone. And for their willingness to keep handing Bridgette Bise the money. Nominated by Edith Ann.

Bob Moore, for his salesmanship and math skills. Two high schools turned into two high schools, 1 middle school and two elementary schools. As a ‘gift with purchase’ we also got a Natatorium and a Fine Arts Center. Coming soon to a school near you…a new stadium. Just wait. Nominated by Anonymous.

Lastly, Dale Fowler “for his ability to make a whole bunch of folks believe he has been working hard rather than hardly working”. Nominated by Anonymous.

Well, there you have it. Feel free to add to the list, or tell me why someone should not be on the list.

Until next time,
Edith Ann

“So y'all are just having a donkey bar-b-que, and he's providing the ass.”--Dr. Phil McGraw

They brought their boots

2011-01-02T23:12:00.002-06:00

What do you get when you cross intelligent folks with independent thinkers? Good food and ‘fabulous’ door prizes? Beer and diet Coke? Toss in some boots and a Peace Sign and you get Edith Ann’s first Annual “Bring Your Boots”, Old Coots, Universal Truths, World Peace Conference and Whine Festival!

The ex-pat bloggers from the Victoria Advocate, and some who are still there, had a bit of a reunion today and were joined by some new bloggers and posters, some local historians and other assorted folks. We really had a great time with lots of wonderful conversation and a few funny stories from one of the journalists present. I’d repeat it, but it is one of those ‘you had to be there’ kind of stories, so I won’t ruin it. We had door prizes, and without revealing too much, I’ll just say that the current city officials are not the only ones sporting a pair of those fancy new Victoria boots!

The best part of the afternoon was cussing and discussing the state of affairs in Victoria and the area. Exchanging information is always fun at an event like this, and today was no exception. A local historian explained how the original El Camino Real did not run through Victoria County as proposed by Gary Dunnam. She explained that if the El Camino Real did run through Victoria County, it would have been the lower branch of the lower branch of the El Camino Real, not the original road. Somewhere around 1936, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (those Alamo gals) laid concrete markers every mile or so from Nacogdoches to Old Mexico, and nary a one is to be found in Victoria County. Go figure.

All in all, it appears folks had a great time. Thank you all for participating. YOU made it a fun afternoon. What say we do it again this summer?

Until next time,
Edith Ann

"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction."
-- George Horace Lorimer

The gifts that keep on giving...

2010-12-27T22:43:00.002-06:00

Well, here we sit in between Christmas and the New Year. I trust you all had a good holiday. I did and I had a great birthday also! My kids and Santa did it up right, and I made out like a bandit. I got all sorts of great gifts! Great gifts were in full supply, and just when I thought the local news might be the exception, I found they had saved some of the best for last, perhaps. Here are the gifts that keep on giving...

The Victoria Sales Tax Development Corp. and the City of Victoria are now the proud owners of 106 acres adjacent to the new Caterpillar site out off Lone Tree Road and Highway 59. In an article in the Victoria Advocate, we read that the two entities purchased this land so that they can use it to attract new business to Victoria. I guess they figured it worked once, it might work again. This time they say they will not be giving the land away. They will, however, consider selling it at a discount, i.e. loss, for the new owners. This new tract of land was purchased for the sum of 1.55 million, which breaks down to $14,622 an acre. What I wouldn’t give for just 5 or 10 acres out that way!

But Dale Fowler is being realistic about this new purchase. He is all optimistic that this will lure those businesses associated with supplying Caterpillar to Victoria. According to the story, "We strongly believe that Caterpillar's presence here will be a big help to us in marketing to others, whether they are suppliers to Caterpillar or other manufacturers," said Dale Fowler with the Victoria Economic Development Corp. "It only helps to market if you have land." So now Fowler has convinced the City and others that the only way to grow Victoria economically is to go into the real estate business. Lewis Neitsch, chairman of the STDC, agrees. And so does his good friend and running buddy, Dennis Caka, the real estate agent who brokered the deal. Do you think he charged a commission on the sale? Does an accordion player wear a pinkie ring?

The editorial board of the Victoria Advocate has weighed in this week on the Winter Texans coming to and through Victoria. For those of you unfamiliar with the term Winter Texan, it is what we friendly folks in Texas call those folks from any place north of the Red River who make the migration to the Rio Grande River to spend a milder winter. The focus of the editorial is that we need to make Victoria more ‘visitor friendly’ and part of that is providing more RV parks for these folks.

In fact, they asked Chamber president Randy Vivian and Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Bridgette Bise what they thought. According to the editorial, “…more full-scale recreational vehicle parks will need to be available for these visitors, according to Bridgette Bise, Victoria Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director. Right now, about a total of 500 RV spaces are available. Bise said the city could probably handle about three or four more RV parks. But people in the business of RV parks will have to build them. Vivian said the winter Texans "contribute to the economy." Bise agreed.” If these folks are contributing to the economy, why don’t we just give some of the new land for an RV park? Sounds like that is an immediate need, and not one that we’d have to wait for. Of course, that would kind of cut Dale Fowler out of the loop. I don’t think he does RV parks.

And speaking of Bridgette Bise and her awareness/advertising/economy building campaign, she is now telling us in another Victoria Advocate article that it is going to be hard to see that her “Bring Your Boots” campaign is having the desired result of upping tourism in Victoria. Of course. Who knew? With no outcome measures being required of her BEFORE she gets any more money, is anyone really surprised? Really?

According to Janell McPhail of Jet Marketing, the creator of the campaign, traffic at the website is up. She reports about 1000 ‘hits’ a month. I’m not sure I’m impressed with the figure on ‘hits’. Hits are tallied when someone finds your site in a search. I want to know how many folks are actually VISITING the site. That’s the number that counts. Unfortunately, according to the Advocate article, “Most visits to the site typically come from people in Victoria, although Houston, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Austin also make the list.” Victoria folks aren’t putting a head in a bed!

As evidenced by the comments posted on this article, folks are still skeptical about this whole project. N45BS has posted one of the best comments ever with this: “With a guaranteed $750,000.00 annual donation to this turd. I suspect that Bridgette will continue to move forward. Yes, I said turd.

If I were her I would continue to do everything I could to make it sound as if it were impossible to determine if this nightmare is succesful. The less people know about something as worthless as this the better off she is.

If I have this right, this program has..

1. Put up a few billboards
2. Given Victoria the crappiest football trophy in Texas history.
3. Put a few ads in Texas Monthly
4. Paid for some silly looking expensive boots that only the elite can afford.
5. Provided a few jobs for people that don't deserve them.

What else? Anyone? Anyone?

We're up to 1.5 million so far, right? Another year and that's 2.25 million for what???”

I think N45BS hit the nail on the head with this: “If I were her I would continue to do everything I could to make it sound as if it were impossible to determine if this nightmare is succesful. The less people know about something as worthless as this the better off she is.”

JackDeuce contributed, “Unless the CVB can get weekend "heads in beds" data it will be difficult to determine successfulness anyways. Even then, will they take credit for softball tournaments, Jaguars sports, Bach Festival, etc. During the week, the rooms are taken up by oil and gas workers.”

I think the only thing we will see in the future is Bise asking for more and more money. Have we heard yet how the boot sales are going?

Well, there it is, folks.

So, until next time,
Edith Ann

“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.”--Andrew Jackson