Oktoberfest 2003

Well, Oktoberfest is over, and I think I have finally caught up on my sleep. I don't know what's worse: working all weekend, or just getting a day off on weekends.

We sure missed Gary. I drafted Rodney to take over his supervisor shifts, but we all still had to work from 10 am to midnight on Saturday night.

This year, I vowed that I would not serve one customer, what with the severity of the DWI and liability laws, but on a couple of shifts, we didn't have enough people show up. Plus, we had a hell of a time keeping the volunteers from serving more than two beers per customer. I had to tell one guy five freaking times!

I tried working on Chasing the Sun, but it has been raining all day. I can't seem to draw when the sky is gray and dreary. It only seems to work when it's a nice day outside. I'll try to work on it tomorrow.

Nick Benneck, one of the Oktoberfest beer supervisors. He and Gary compared motorcycle stories.

I am a degenerate. She was hot. My camera had a zoom lens. Voila!

Larry Garner and "Spriggles" Enderlin enjoy Sunday afternoon. It's

almost over!

Spriggles thought he would send Gary a message!

How not to make Gumbo

I am burning the last of my vacation days. Smell the smoke?

You probably can. This morning, dad strolled by and mentioned that he had okra ready for gumbo. I had told him I would cook some gumbo for him. Anyway, as he strolled back through my room, he mentioned that I needed to make hot sauce, since we had so many peppers.

So my first vacation day had been planned. I made hot sauce before lunch, and after lunch, I tried gumbo.

I used our smallest cast iron skillet. It's about 10 inches, with so much baked onto the sides that it looks like my face in high school. Bumps everywhere!

After getting all the ingredients together, I prepared to make my roux. "Time to start bouncing on the bed!" I announced. (only Rodney and Donn will get that. And anyone else who has attended the New Orleans Cooking School. If you ever get a chance to visit N'awlins, take the class and say hello to Kevin!)

So I started my roux. As I started stiring the flour and oil, I started wondering why I ever let Rodney make the roux when we make gumbo together. I quickly learned that I make a better gumbo sous chef than a gumbo chef.

As the roux assumed the proper color, all hell broke loose. The pimply outsides of the skillet caught fire!

As I tried to put the outside fire out, I noticed the roux was beginning to burn! Oh! Shit!

With one hand I dumped the veggies into the soup pot, and quickly dumped the rapidly burning roux on top. Then, the inside of the skillet caught on fire. Now the smoke alarm was demanding my attention.

I put the skillet in the sink and splashed water around it, then put the water in it. Congratulating myself for my quick thinking, I stirred my gumbo, and noticed that the brown roux was STILL COOKING itself so I stirred frantically, then, prematurely dumped the stock into the pot, and wisked like my life depended on it.

I spent the next hour scooping out the big black nuggets of charred flour.

Next time gumbo is made in this house, I'm gonna be the sous chef.

I Hate the RIAA

The RIAA just settled one of its lawsuits with a 12 year-old girl they accused of being an egregious file swapper. Her mom paid $2000, apologized and was made to stand in the corner for an hour to have the lawsuit dropped.

The RIAA is a lobbying organization that keeps Congress from looking at the price fixing that the record companies engage in. Now, however, they have become a de facto law enforcement organization. Only this organization is not restrained by the Bill of Rights. But that's okay, if the Patriot Act II is passed, we won't be using that anyway.

The RIAA says that file swappers are causing a slump in record sales. This slump apparently began long before Napster, but has gotten steadly worse over the last few years. They are convinced that if KaZaa and Napster weren't around, you and I would be shelling good money after bad for standardized pop rock the industry has been churning out for years.

Another reason for the decline in record sales in the consolidation of the broadcasting industry under the roof of Clear Channel Communications. Congress, in its infinite wisdom, deregulated the industry a few years ago. Apparently, companies could only own one radio station in any market. Today, Clear Channel can, and often does, own all the radio stations in any market. All of their programming comes from headquarters, no local DJs anymore to play songs popular in the region. Instead, it's the same playlist all across the country for each radio station in any genre.

"Last year, the Future of Music Coalition, or FMC, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group that studies the impact of technology and politics on musicians and popular culture, found that two corporations alone, Clear Channel and Viacom, earn 45 percent of the industry�s revenues and control stations that draw 42 percent of listeners.

"In June, the Federal Communications Commission opened the way for further consolidation, voting to let a media company own up to eight radio stations in a single listening area," says an article on MSNBC News.

Two companies control almost 50% of the market! Teddy Roosevelt must be spinning in his grave.

Since Internet radio was killed by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, Only big companies can create Internet Radio stations.

Combine centralized playlists and bland record company output and you have stagnant sales.

Sure, some people use KaZaa to get free music. But a lot of swappers I know downloaded albumns and listened to them. If they didn't like it they deleted it. If they liked it, they would go and buy the CD. KaZaa and Napster were ways to find out if an album only had one good song. I've got a thousand cassettes with only one good song.

The RIAA doesn't get it. People want to download songs, and they will pay for it. ITunes recently downloaded its ten millionth song at 99 cents a pop! But the RIAA, and the recording industry, doesn't like that business model. They would rather you drop $20 for the latest Britany/Christina/Jessica/J Lo/Madonna CD than let you download what songs you like. How many do they want us to buy? (Now if they could get Britany, Madonna and Christia to do the nasty and put it on a CD, well. . .) It would be okay if the money went to the artist, but it doesn't. The money goes tot he record company. I read somewhere that an artist receives less than buck from every CD sold. That's why they tour. To make money there. The recording industry has never been on the artist's side. If they were, why did so many top selling 50s artist die broke?

So i am boycotting the RIAA and the record companies that support them. I won't use KaZaa either. I'll get my music from the people who need the money: the artists. I'll go to the artists' websites and purchase the CDs directly from them.

Join me. The water's fine! And besides, you'll discover a wider variety of music than is being released by the big guys and played on the radio.

Read Orson Scott Card's take on this whole thing.

Leo LaPorte of Tech TV chimes in.

And here's how NOT to get sued by the RIAA from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Another redesign

I am doing another redesign. I thought I would do this page in the style of the front page. I will be incorporating the photos into the column on the right. Let me know what you think.

I'm not sure how long the redesign will last, since it looks like I'm going to have to hand coded everything on the page. Hmm. I got some thinking to do.

I did a minor redesign of the page. I have uploaded so many pictures that I was running out of space on my Yahoo! server. So I resized some pictures to fit the column on the left, and deleted the larger pictures. If you want copies of them, just let me know. I also deleted my photo page, and put in some of the photos on the archive page.

The Virginia Holts

Sean, who is stationed in Norfolk, VA, had Steve and Donn pick him up for a Labor Day visit. Steve wrote me and said that Sean suggested they meet at Hooters, and Steve marvelled at how great minds think alike. I reminded Steve that he was fond of telling stories about Hooters, so Sean probably thought that was the only restaurant Steve was familiar with.

Steve also told me that once Donn found out where they were meeting, Donn asked to come along.

Steve had Brazillian ju jitsu tournament that weekend. Sean got to watch for a while. Click here to see the results. Scroll down the list a bit.

Donn called on Tuesday to tell us they had a good time and to let us know that they were amazed at how well behaved Sean was. He even made a good impression on Rachel, Steve's fiancee. I hate to tell her that he's better behaved than Rodney and me.

Sean and Rachel inspect the work in Donn's new home. Photo by Donn Holt.

Trip to Dallas

Over the weekend we went to Denton and Frisco to see family. Mom, Dad and I went up there on highway 16. Dad drove until Comanche. Then I drove to Sam's house in Denton. It took about 4 1/2 hours, and was a pleasant drive until we got to Granbury.

It's not Granbury's fault exactly, it's just that we passed several dozen Home Depots, and Super Wal-Marts. Between these huge islands of commerce were twice as many strip centers with Barnes and Nobles, pain-free dentists, insurance agents, Chinese restaurants and liquor stores and the back of large parking lots. Along the road were Chilis, Outback Steakhouse, McDonalds, Whataburgers, Arbys, KFCs, and convenience stores.

Honestly, you can't tell Granbury apart from the outskirts of San Antonio. The stores and the layouts are the same.

*sigh*

Anyway, we had a good time visiting with Sam and MJ and their kids, (see pictures at left) and Bob and Ann who had come up to visit too.

Sam and Garret at play



Samantha



Grant on Ann's lap

Since there isn't a lot of room at Sam's house, we spent the night at a Best Western around the corner. What a great motel! They had big beds, big rooms and were easy to get to.

Sunday, we went to see Johnny and William in Frisco. The area between Frisco and Denton is subdivision land, with each development trying to build a bigger club house. What was really funny was that the first development advertised homes from the 90s. The second from the $100s, the next from the $110s. We wondered how high the bidding would go. "Live here! We're more expensive than them!" It's a perfect symbol of the way we Americans like to consume conspicuously.

Frisco reminded me of Wells Branch Parkway in Austin, where I lived a few years ago. The housing developments were shrouded in tall fences, and sat conveniently behind all the commercial lots that lined the main street. As Bill Bryson wrote, "We used to build civilization. Now we build shopping malls." Behind the strip centers, the houses had brick fronts, shallow front yards, wood siding in the back with shallow backyards, and chimneys encased in wood. It also looked like the subdivisions going up around Nueva Vista golf course in Midland. Or like the ones going up on the outskirts of Austin. Or the ones I have seen in Virginia. It's like there is no more originality in home design.

*sigh*

Actually, William and Johnny's house was all brick, and larger than some of the ones I had been looking at from the street. As we drove through the neighborhood, watching the weekend yard warriors working over their lawns, I was reminded of the Monkees song "Pleasant Valley Sunday."

Pleasant Valley Sunday Lyrics:

The local rock group down the street

Is trying hard to learn their song

To serenade the weekend squire, who just came out to mow his lawn

Another pleasant valley sunday

Charcoal burning everywhere

Rows of houses that are all the same

And no one seems to care

See Mrs. Gray she’s proud today

because her roses are in bloom

See Mr. Green he’s so serene,

he’s got a t.v. in every room

Another pleasant valley sunday

Here in status symbol land

Mothers complain about how hard life is

And the kids just don’t understand

Creature comfort goals

They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see

My thoughts all seem to stray, to places far away

I need a change of scenery

Ta ta ta...

Another pleasant valley sunday

Charcoal burning everywhere

Another pleasant valley sunday

Here in status symbol land

Another pleasant valley sunday...

You know, when I brought that up, I was thinking about the line of people mowing lawns, tending gardens and barbecueing. Reading the lyrics, I realize it perfectly describes my feelings about the Urban Sprawl that is threatening to make Texas one big city. And here I thought the Monkees were a kids' band.

We left Johnnie's at 2:30 pm and headed home down I-35. Travel was fine through Dallas. But once we got out of town, I realized I-35 was nothing more that a long ribbon of cars heading south. A couple of times we crested hills and could see miles down the road. There was no break in the traffic.

There were brake lights, though. Seven or eight times between Hillsboro and Temple, traffic would come to a complete stop for no reason. Then everyone would race off at 75 mph until the next time traffic stopped. I had originally planned to go to Georgetown and cut across through Burnet to get home, but by the time we got to Temple, I altered the plan and we cut across to Lampasas.

We stopped at Rodney's house at about 6:30 pm. I'm sure they are insulted by how little time we spent there. But we knew if we went in, we would use the bathrooms, have something to drink, watch some TV and we wouldn't have left until much later. So we chatted in the yard for a minute, then jumped back into the car and hauled ass home. We got in at about 8 pm.

I made myself a promise as I drifted off to sleep Sunday night. I would NEVER drive I-35 again!

NIOF

Last night, dad and I worked at Night in Old Fredericksburg. It is July's excuse for the city to fleece the tourists on Market Square. We had fun, since we only had to work for three hours. Then we came home and got under the air conditioning. I won't have that option come Oktoberfest.

I am officialy pissed off, now. I just got off the phone with Chevron. They told me I was behind on my bill. Patiently, I explained to the lady who all but called me a deadbeat that two weeks ago, a gentleman from Chevron called and told me the same thing. I told him that I had paid online. I said I don't remember getting an online confirmation, and asked him if the payment went through. He said, "Well, now that your mention it, it has. I don't know why you are on this list. Never mind. You next payment is due July 25th." I asked him five times if he was sure. Absolutely, he said. You are caught up.

Now this little chickee is saying the guy lied. I told her I would send her the payment, but she better damn well get her f-ing website fixed because I made the payment on the 20th and it was confirmed on the 6th or so. She then informed me that because I was late, they had put a temporary hold on my account. I replied, "Well naturally they did. I did exactly what the last caller said and now I am being punished for it. Well, you've taught me one thing! Never beleive what anyone from Chevron says." Then I hung up as she was saying something else. Bitch!

Woe is me

My van is starting to get old. It's lost it's voice. There's a short in the power switch on the radio, so it doesn't turn on. The power windows on the driver's side is slowly going out. And every once in a while, the air conditioning decides to stop. So my thoughts are, reluctantly, turning to buying a new car

I have a couple of problems, however. First, I cannot save money. If I have it, I have to spend it. And second, if I don't have it, I have to borrow it. As a consequence, I have no money now, and I will have no money in the future. As Gary says, "C,mon, Lotto!"

One whole month crammed into one entry

My computer has developed this nasty habit of crashing every few minutes. I have had it since 1997 or 1998, and I am afraid it is getting old. I bought an MP3 player on Ebay and I installed the software to load the player. Everytime I started it, the program would lock up and I had to use the old "three finger salute" (CTRL+ALT+DEL)! Followed up with a more traditional, and appropriate, single finger salute. (I HATE Windows. A pox on Bill Gates for releasing the most bug ridden, fragile, piece of crap software!)

Today I wandered over to the Dell website and started looking around. I found a few computers I liked. Now all I got to do is come up with the money. C'mon Lotto!

Sean will be coming home on leave this week, and will stop by over theweekend for some golf.

And I will close today's installment with another request that you check out my Chasing the Sun website. I have just finished drawing the 100th page! I have never had a comic project go past 40 pages, much less 100. Four chapters down! Only 20 to go!

Memorial Day

We finally finished the too breif family reunion that we had when Sean came home for a visit. I have created an album of photos here. The pictures have been saved for the Web, so the quality ain't so great. If you want the "good" pictures, let me know.

Sorry, Pete!

I owe an apology to Pete Townsend. I have made a lot of jokes at his expense the last few months. And then I went to Wal-Mart today.

I got in line behind a gorgeous brunette who was a head shorter than me. She was wearing a black top, white shorts, and who cares what else. Let me tell you that her legs were fabulous! Her quads curved seductively to her knees, while her calf muscle delicatly sloped to her ankles.

As she opened her wallet to pay for her purchase, I spotted her driver's license. (It was below her breasts. I couldn't help but notice.) Dammit! She was under 21! As Jimmy Carter said, I lusted in my heart, and that's why I must apologze to Pete Townsend. Of course, I didn't give her my credit card and call it research.

Purchases

I bought a smoker pit today. I tried to buy it at Wal-Mart, but they only had one that they had put on lay away for someone else. So dad and I drove to Kerrville and stopped at Lowe's and bought one.

We spent the early afternoon putting it together, and then we turned to Dad's latest toy, a 7 foot tall windmill. I don't know why he got one. The only time the wind blows around here is when a storm blows in.

GDT's

Luckenbach is having a motorcycle rally this weekend. Don't get your hopes up. It's not going to be real bikers. Just lawyers and doctors from Houston and Dallas who trailer their bikes down. Poser bikers, really.

Poser bikers are really annoying. They spend thousands of dollars on the proper outfits: Harley jeans, Harley boots, Harley socks, Harley wallets, Harley belts, Harley shirts, Harley dew rags, and, no doubt, Harley motorcycle trailers to go behind their SUVs. I bet they even have Harley cell phones, pagers, and answering machines. Then, they come to Fredericksburg, demand the nicest place for the cheapest price and bitch because we don't do cartwheels for them.

Bah! Tourists!

Golf day

Dad and I played golf today. We went to Buckhorn in Comfort. The course was really well-kept, and was beautiful. This is what Texas Golf should be; fairly cool weather, lush greens, smooth fairways and a great course.

I am thinking about starting yet another website: my golf experiences, photos and scores. But I am not sure revealing my scores would be flattering. Something to think about.

Proof that the golf gods don't like me. To be honest, I had aimed to the left of the hole, but c'mon!

Sue came down this weekend with her grandkids, Kelsey and Kyle. I had to work, so they had to do all their stuff without me. They went to a drive-through zoo and to some park near the river. Didn't ask too much.

I am proud of myself. I have managed to draw two pages of my comic book every day off I have had since February. I am about to finish chapter three and I can barely wait to get on to chapters four. Keep checking for more updates!

Gary and Amy

Yet another quick cold front and yet another bout of allergies. I think I'm allergic to Northers.

Gary came for a visit before he shipped out to the Middle East. Dad and I picked him up in San Antonio where he announced that he and Amy were getting married on Saturday. Amy had arranged everything, and so about 4 pm on Saturday afternoon, they were married at the Gillespie County Court House. Gary wore his desert uniform, and the JP was so choked up he told Gary that the wedding was on him. Mom decided to make them a wedding cake and have a little celebration when they got back.

The nest day, we drove on the Willow City Loop to see the bluebonnets.

Gary and Amy's Wedding cake.



Cutting the cake.

Beer Speech

I gave my speech at Los Patios today. I hope I didn't bore the poor guys. There was just so much to talk about and so little time.

Spring Break Trip

We just got back from a quick trip to Houston. Our first stop was in Shiner, were we toured the brewery. It was quite interesting, and like other factory tours taken in the last few years, included only a couple of stops: the brewing room and a gallery above the bottling line. No photos were allowed inside, darnnit!

Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. The Shiner Brewery.

Then we drove to Katy and visited Forbidden
Gardens. Texas Highways did an article about them recently, and I thought it would be fun to see. I never expected we would make it the goal of a trip.

On Saturday, we went to La Grange and stopped at Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Park. From there we went to the Bob Bullock Museum in Austin, and then, finally, home. Once again, there are photos.

The old Kreische Brewery.