Sunday Music: Major Tom

There are a few reasons why this video seems appropos right now:

1. I recently visited the Houston Space Center. I'll get around to posting the pics eventually. I promise.

2. Hellasious yesterday wrote a post on his blog, Sudden Debt, called "Space Oddity" where he referred to David Bowie's Major Tom lyrics. Why am I not using David Bowie's song, then? Because I like this song more.

3. There are some reports of a bus-sized satellite hurtling toward earth that will hit sometime in early March. They don't know where it will hit yet. Or they are not telling us so that we won't panic. How big was the meteor that killed the dinosaurs again?

Peter Schilling - Major Tom

Gulf Coast Travels: Adventure Swamp Tours

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to be taken on a guided tour of the swamps along the Texas-Louisiana border. The tours cost is reasonable (about $25) and lasts about two hours. This pictorial post will take you through the tour in the order that I remember it.

Here is a flower that our guide showed us just before the tour began:

Here is an example of the kind of trees that grow in the brackish water (water that is part salt water and part fresh water). Their roots grow upward out of the water.

Our tour guide (I believe it was Eli Tate) explained that the Spanish moss that grows on the trees here is not really a moss at all, but is really part of the pineapple family.

On the tour you visit an old, abandoned shipyard used to build ships during World War II.

If you are lucky enough, you just might spot this eagle on your tour. Right before you get here, you will be taken through a maze of sunken ships that stick up out of the water.

This is a strip of land that had some unique cattle that are not easily tamed.

My photo does not show it well, but this area here was filled with lots of spiders with large webs in between the trees. (If you look just above the palm plant at the bottom of the photo, you can barely make out the spider.) I think the locals refer to the colorful spiders as "banana spiders" -- although I don't think that is what they really are.

And now the moment you take the tour for: our tour guide kept hitting the side of the boat and whistiling like a bird. Then he threw a white ball on a string out into the water to attract the alligators. (Cue the Jaws music....):

Nice alligator, nice alligator....

Finally, after showing an ancient native burial ground and attracting yet another alligator to the boat, he took us to an area with lots of lilies and lily pads.

Finally, I was surprised that mosquitos were not prevalent here. Apparently, they are in Louisiana, but not here along the Texas border. That's not to say that they are not prevalent elsewhere in southern Texas.

So if you are in the Orange, Texas area and want to learn more about the swamps, give Mr. Tate a call. He gives a very pleasant and informational tour of the swamps.

Gulf Coast Travels: Houston Museum District

There are several museums packed into a very small area in downtown Houston. The Houston Museum District has something for everyone, it seems.


This sculpture and another one just like it greets you at the entrance the the Museum of Fine Arts.


One of the entrances to the Museum of Natural Science


Outside this entrance you can spin a large 5000 pound granite globe suspended on a thin film of water.


At the other entrance is a nice fountain.


Across the street is a statue of Sam Houston. And if you go straight ahead from this picture you find...


A large park. If you turn around instead and walk straight ahead, you will run into...


another group of fountains. But don't get run over by the...


the train that stops in the Museum District.

Gulf Coast Travels: Kemah

Here is my first installment of photos I took while sightseeing around the Gulf Coast of Texas. I took these pictures during my Labor Day weekend travels to Kemah, Texas.


This is the Captain Kidd "pirate ship" sailboat.


This is the first scene I saw when we got out near the open water: a sunken sailboat. Yeah, that made me feel safer!


This a helicopter that flew over our vessel. It was a lot closer than the picture probably shows.


A nice scene on the Kemah boardwalk. You have to go into a little cubbyhole to take this photo.


Here is a street performer I watched on the Kemah boardwalk. He was so good, I gave him a donation.


A nice fountain at one of the entrances to the Kemah boardwalk.


This little pond is where children could drive toy boats around inside of it.

One thing I didn't take a picture of was the speedboat that I rode after the Captain Kidd. That speedboat is called "The Beast." Prepare to get soaking wet if you take that ride. You'll almost get dry from the wind when you are going at high speed. Some guys might take the ride just to watch the dancing girls on the boat. The boat is run by Joe's Crab Shack, I think, which is right next to it.

There is also a small amusement park on the boardwalk. You can find more information about it, here.

By the way, if you would like to eat at a nice Japanese restaurant, I recommend the Ichibon Japanese Seafood in Kemah.

Toil and Trouble

Image taken from Despair.com.

More problems. My electricity went out on my RV. It turned out that it was just a shorted wire that was easily fixed once I took the RV to the shop. The internet connection here is still inconsistent, so posting has been difficult. OK, these are minor problems, considering all I have been through.

I took a sailing trip (I Kidd you not) and then took a speedboat ride in Galveston Bay on Saturday. I went to a couple of museums and a Chinese Garden that had miniature replicas of China's Terracotta Army and Forbidden City, as well as a guided tour explaining Chinese history on Sunday and Monday. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

I was going to go swim in the Gulf of Mexico until I saw a news report while eating breakfast that showed thousands of fish getting washed up on the beach due to an unknown cause. I heard that the water here is dirty partly due to the pollution dumped into the Mississippi River, which then gets washed up on the beaches here. It's enough to galvanize you to action for environmental causes.

What did you all do this weekend? Anything interesting?

Popcorn Showers

Everyday here along the coast of south Texas they have what are called "popcorn showers." The clouds build up throughout the day and then it rains hard for about 10 minutes in the afternoon. Then the clouds dissipate and it gets sunny again.

It is an interesting phenomenon.

I Have Arrived

I actually arrived at 12:15am on Wednesday, but I didn't get internet access until tonight.

So far, I am quite pleased with my job. I am working on a project that will use carbon dioxide that would normally be a waste product from petroleum exploration (and is believed to contribute to global warming) to help extract more oil from the ground. See this page for more information about it. It is being advertised as a kind of "green" solution to oil exploration.

We are extremely busy with our project. Beaumont, Texas is a nice town. It's small enough that you don't have traffic jams at 5:00, but it's large enough that you have access to major shopping centers that you would expect in a large town.

If you need to see major sporting events or shows, Houston is only a little more than an hour away.

I am slowly settling in. After the initial shock of moving, I am quickly discovering that things are pretty good here. The weather is a little hot and muggy, but it isn't anything a little air conditioning can't fix. Besides, the ocean is not too far away, either. That's a premium when you are from a landlocked state.

Another difference in the weather is that the biggest threat is hurricanes rather than tornadoes. I was told with hurricanes you get days of warning rather than minutes.

The people I have met have been friendly for the most part; and I am already starting to think that some of my observations in Oklahoma may have been somewhat myopic. On the other hand, I think I may be living in a kind of oasis given what happened on the stock market today (and reading Charles Smith's predictions today at Of Two Minds).

I don't know how long this will last, but I intend to enjoy it while I can.

Homecoming

I just got back from my vacation. On the plane back to Oklahoma City, I sat next to a semi-famous concert pianist, Peter Miyamoto. He held a concert here in Oklahoma City tonight somewhere near Oklahoma City University, although I couldn't find any information about it online.

Tomorrow it's Back To Reality for me. I hope to bring you some pictures of my furlough soon enough. I also hope to get back to serious business by tomorrow.

Lawsuit May Limit Access to Yosemite National Park

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - The plunging waterfalls and soaring crags chiseled by the Merced River draw millions of visitors each year, but the crowds are precisely what threatens the waterway and the park.

Efforts to safeguard the Merced have spawned a court battle over the future of development in Yosemite National Park's most popular stretch. The case may come down to the challenge facing all of America's parks: Should they remain open to everyone, or should access be limited in the interest of protecting them?

In November, a federal judge barred crews from finishing $60 million in construction projects in Yosemite Valley, siding with a small group of environmentalists who sued the federal government, saying further commercial development would bring greater numbers of visitors, thus threatening the Merced's fragile ecosystem.

"The park's plans for commercialization could damage Yosemite for future generations," said Bridget Kerr, a member of Friends of Yosemite Valley, one of two local environmental groups that filed the suit.

The government is appealing, fearing the ruling could force the National Park Service to limit the number of people allowed into Yosemite each day, a precedent it doesn't want to see echoed in other parks.

"I don't think we've ever had a ruling with these kind of implications," said Kerri Cahill, a Denver-based planner for the park service. "It's going to have a direct influence on the public who care about these places."

I had the fortune of visiting Yosemite National Park back in May 2004, if I remember correctly. I remember that the day after I arrived, the waterfalls were at their peak. It made for some great photographs. Here are some you can find at Webshots Yosemite gallery.

The Yosemite Valley is a pretty limited space; and the National Park Service has several buses that run throughout the Valley. If there really is a concern, why not create a parking area outside the park entrance -- or at least outside the Valley -- to reduce any potential harm from auto emissions? However, even I thought they could use more accommodations in Yosemite Valley itself -- or at least near it. As far as the limited parking space, I was usually able to find a spot while I was there, but then I didn't visit the park during its summer peak, either.

Many people have complained about the fact that the available lodging is a little too rustic. The walls are so thin that you can hear people in the next room pretty easily and the shower setup is such that you have to walk outside (even for the hotel rooms) and should probably be updated with a modern design. A lot of the lodges were built over a hundred years ago, and, honestly, the shortcomings they present can distract from the enjoyment of the park. I realize that most people will come back again and again despite having to "rough it." But I also think that continual upkeep and upgrades is a fact of life. I would rather that the National Park Service increase the cost of the accomodations that are available so that they can improve the services, and accommodations they provide, even at the risk that some will fear that it will become "a playground of the rich."

Ice Ice Baby

My yard and driveway (and the road in front of it) is a four-inch-thick solid sheet of ice. It is so thick and solid that even when I drive my car over it, it doesn't give. No tracks even. It is treacherous to walk on. And drive on. Good thing I don't live on a street with a slope.

Now we are being told to expect 8 inches of snow this weekend. Great.

I just went outside and saw that my carport has buckled under the weight of the ice. Had to call the insurance company. Great. That's all I need. At least I have homeowner's insurance. With 8 inches of snow, I have to worry a little about the roof because of the weight. I hope it holds up. We rarely get that much snow at once. Come to think of it, we rarely get that much snow all winter.

What I wouldn't give to be in New Zealand right now. It's summer there. The weather service there says it will reach 23 degrees Celsius with a low of 14C. That's about 75 and 57 Fahrenheit for us Americans.

We could sure use a little more of the "warming" part of Global Warming right about now.

They Were Dreaming of a White Christmas

But I don't think this is what they had in mind.