Seriously Kinky

Good reading: Robert Wilonsky's article: Seriously Kinky ("This Texas Jewboy wants to be the next governor of Texas, and if you think he's kidding, the joke may be on you")

Hey, I'm going to avoid voting in the primary so's I can sign the petition to get Kinky on the ballot. The opposition (so far) is Rick "Pretty Hair" Perry and some grandmother (Strayhorn, I think) .. neither of whom impresses me.

Unrelated, but I want to avoid the phone calls: the Sundry on Thursday blog is updated and ready for your browsin' .. have at it.

does this Coke make me look phat?

Okay, I think I get it. Maybe not.

Tonight, I tried the new Coca-Cola Zero and my first reaction is: it's okay. No aftertaste, and no calories. Does that mean it's targeting the Diet Coke crowd? Is it hoping to capture water drinkers? Other soda drinkers? Milk drinkers?

(after another sip:) It does have a beforetaste, I think. After nosing around several websites, I think the "sweeteners in Coca-Cola matrix" is:

	ace-k*	aspartame (NutraSweet™)	sucralose (Splenda™)	high fructose corn syrup	saccharin
Coca-Cola	-	-	-	yes	-
Coca-Cola Zero	yes	yes	-	-	-
Diet Coke	-	yes	-	-	-
Diet Coke w/Splenda	yes	-	yes	-	-
Tab	-	yes	-	-	yes
Coca-Cola C2	yes	yes	yes	-	-

* ace-k is shorthand for Acesulfame-Potassium (yet another artificial sweetener). There's a good explanation of diet soda sweeteners on answers.com.

After watching the commercial, I think it's targeted at the same group who buys cellphones off the rack at Target (Virgin Mobile). But hey - that's the cell carrier I use!

Okay, okay. As if! So like, lemme like .. axe you: does Coca-Cola Zero make me phat?

language barrier in Richardson

We fed at the Caravelle Restaurant in Richardson (in the China Town center on Upper Greenville) tonight. Cuisine is Chinese/Vietnamese. Boocoo choices (over 250). I had "Four Family" which consists of beef/pork/chicken/shrimp with garlic'ky noodles: yum. The "decor" of the place is PINK with a couple chandeliers. There was a bit of a language barrier, but that's usually a good sign, right?

road trip to Murchison

I survived today's road trip from Dallas to the outskirts of Murchison (northeast of Athens, in Henderson County). It's where the Black Beauty Ranch is located, where several hundred horses and donkeys (burros) found sanctuary, along with a few camels and zebras and other equines. They're only open Saturday and not at all in the hottest summer months, but well worth the (mostly mindless) drive east-southeast of Dallas.


I discovered the Black Beauty Ranch after it was mentioned in a Letter to the Editor in the Dallas Managed News. It struck me as a cross between Fossil Rim (Glen Rose, TX) and the Exotic Feline Sanctuary (Boyd, TX).


Judy-Bob and Cairo (one of the rescued camels) share a tender moment

They have a small set of "exotics" too .. chimpanzees and elephants .. but their claim to fame are the burros and horses (including some wild mustangs). The tour was a mix of walking and minibus-riding, and lasts about 2 hours. Many of the animals were rescues from circuses; some horses were rescued after being overworked on Amish farms. Others were discards from Prednisone (female hormone replacement therapy) breeders.

The trip (both going and coming) was uneventful; this is the first time I ever recall being on the CF Hawn* Freeway (US-175, which goes from Dallas to Jacksonville TX). Along the way, I spotted several dozen fireworks stands, set up to take your money from now until Independence Day. Fireworks are illegal in Dallas, but that doesn't mean that any of these businesses check ID's.

Charles F. Hawn was a Texas Highway Commissioner from 1957-1963. He owned a cattle ranch and a hardware store in Athens; no idea how/if he's related to the (now defunct) Hawn Lumber Company or Hawn Motor Company.

lowest expectations

It's Friday!! Another week, another dollar. Oh wait, that's back in The Old Days, when I had a job. Never mind.

Mike-Bob and I did a rendezvous at the Plano Waffle House this morning; I FineDined on country ham, "diced" hash browns (with tomatoes) and scrambled eggs, coated so thick with black pepper that they were unrecognizable. In other words, they were Perfect.

Somehow, the ambiance of this Waffle House wasn't up to par with Café Neuhaus (NW corner of Preston/Royal) last night. It wasn't bad, as far as bistros go. I sampled the Greek Chicken Sandwich, which was a broiled chicken with feta cheese tossed atop a couple slices of FunkyBread. I arrived there after an invitation that morning, following yet another chance for ZOAC [Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee] to prove they're not a complete waste of space.

ZOAC is the citizen committee (led by a Realtor, no less! - talk about a conflict of interest!) who's determined to allow the wholesale teardown of our neighborhoods, where older houses are replaced by behemoths reminiscent of those vapid, character-free cities like Plano. The meeting left me disgusted with how a handful of people (appointed and no longer answerable to anyone) can ruin so many lives by their cluelessness. Being a Citizen Committee, it's also an indictment of the Texas education system*. The arguments promulgated by some of the ZOAC members could've been better articulated by a 4th grade debate team. No, make that 3rd grade.

* currently in Yet Another Crisis due to Governor Rick "Pretty Hair" Perry pulling the funding for education - hence Yet Another Special Session of the Texas Legislature

When I set my expectations low enough, this becomes expected behavior. My elected representatives are ones for whom I didn't vote, and they've proven their ability to meet my expectations - zero.

City Directories

I spent most of the day Tuesday at the downtown Central Library. Parking's free at the branches, but $1.25 an hour at the palatial collection across from Dallas City Hall. Why was I at the library? I was on the 7th floor - officially the "Texas/Dallas History and Archives Division", working on the "research phase" of our neighborhood's Architectural Survey. Part of this involves checking the so-called "City Directories".

The Library has paper copies (and microfilm, if you're seeking pre-1976 stuff) of Cole's Criss Cross Directory which let you look up a street at once, which is helpful when you're trying to determine the prior owners of a house. The Polk Criss-Cross Directory is indexed by surname, allowing you to determine someone's occupation (presumably by public sources). I wonder if Karl Rove knows about this? He could simply scan for anyone labelled "terrorist" and send them to Guantanamo Bay for subsequent torture.

AutoArby's

Mike (not a Bob) explains the AutoArby's in/near Irvine, California:

You walk in.
You talk to nobody.
You touch some pictures on a screen.
The person on the other side of the counter touches pictures on their screen (the workers get a black & white screen - customers get color - and I think the workers get the order in their native language).
The screen displays how much cash you need to give.
You give the cash, then get any change.
You get the food.
You walk out.

Automatic.

Dern, I wish we had one of them here in BigHairVille. I'm tiring of ordering a Large Co-Cola (and an order of fries for Beta the wonder dog) and getting a Diet Sprite and a Moon Pie instead.