Category Archives: Texana

The Sportsman’s

One great barbershop in Austin, though recently undergoing changes as some of the old hands have died or moved on. The Sportsman’s even has a red-striped barber pole. I was reminded of how cool it is, and worthy of a post, after reading this lament by John Weidner, who is one of the few good things about San Francisco anymore.

Seems, in too many places, the government, feminism and political correctness have combined to destroy the old timey barbershop. I can believe it. Of course Austin, being the San Francisco of Texas (which is not a compliment), has more than its share of female barbers. But the Sportsman’s is Old School and hanging on. Mr. B. and I go there about once a month. It gives him a taste of what I grew up with in the 50s.

It is, I should add, run by a woman, a Vietnamese-American (one of the attractions for this Vietnam vet) but the otherwise all-male barber shop has not succumbed to the political claptrap of the day and, so far, the state is not requiring them to get junior college degrees to cut hair. They also offer shaves in this day of HIV fears. I especially like the sign on the wall soliciting a wife–if she will first send a good picture of her bass boat and motor. This Web site on them is a trifle dated as to personnel, but the decor remains the same.

Texas Bluebonnets

Texas Day-by-Day reminds me that today, in 1901, the bluebonnet became the official state flower. We love this Laurie Lewis song about them. Sounds like good Texas Swing:

“Those Texas bluebonnets how sweetly they grow, For all the wide prairies they’re scattered like snow,
They make all the meadows as blue as the skies, Reminding me of my little darling’s blue eyes.”

I should note that she mispronounces Burnet, but she has to make it rhyme. We forgive you, Laurie. Like your fiddling. Not many bluebonnets this year, alas, due to the awful drought that continues to parch the prairies, but do go hear the good song about them!

UPDATE:  We bought the CD the song is on, Earth & Sky, in which Lewis, who sings and plays fiddle, notes: “Apologies to the residents of Burnet – I really do know how to pronounce it.”  Heh.

Remember the Alamo

It fell this morning, one hundred seventy-three years ago, beginning right before dawn, with the Mexican army’s buglars sounding El Deguello, No Quarter. All the rest is glorious confusion.

Smile and wave, boys

refaeli.jpg

Nice artwork on our favorite airline, Southwest, considering it’s Israeli model Bar Refaeli. I hear some passengers complained. Well, there’s always that ten percent. Just keep up the no-crash policy, okay boys?

Via JammieWearingFool.

Texas Independence Day

As Lyle Lovette says: "No, you’re not from Texas. But Texas wants you anyway."

So, here’s what you do. Read the following aloud, with a measured cadence and a certain solemnity:

Commandancy of the Alamo
    Bexar, Feby. 24th, 1836

    To the People of Texas & all Americans in the World– Fellow
Citizens and Compatriots–

                         I am besieged by a thousand or more of the
Mexicans under Santa Anna–I have sustained a continual Bombardment &
cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man–The enemy has demanded a
surrender at discretion, otherwise the garrison are to be put to the
sword, if the fort is taken–I have answered the demand with a cannon
shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls–I shall never
surrender or retreat.
                         Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty,
of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to
our aid with all despatch–The enemy is receiving reinforcements
daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or
five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain
myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets
what is due to his own honor & that of his country–Victory or Death.

                               William Barret Travis, Lt. Col. comdt.

Much more detail at this classic site. And a contemporary view via the Alamo cam. And the Deguello bugle call of No Quarter which the Mexicans played before the final dawn assault on March 6, 1836.

(I left off the beeves and corn of the p.s. My precedent is what Barry is doing to the Defense budget in wartime.)

Forest fire

The months-long drought combined with a downed power line due to today’s strong wind started a forest fire in Bastrop County just east of Austin. Ten homes have been destroyed so far, with another two hundred threatened. No rain at all in the forecast, but the wind is expected to subside by tomorrow night.

UPDATE:  At least twenty-three homes and nine businesses taken by the fire through the Bastrop pines so far. More wind forecast tomorrow. SUNDAY: Wind is light and the fire seems to be mostly under control.

Losing Dr Pepper

Time was, in the 1880s, when a pharmacist would concoct his own soft drinks. Charles Courtice Alder, at the Old Corner Drug in Waco, came up with a popular combination of fruit extracts and sweeteners. So popular that the store’s owner, Wade Morrison, named it after a physician and pharmacist he’d once worked for in Virginia named Dr. Charles T. Pepper.

In 1898, the Southwestern Soda Fountain Company of Dallas bought the rights to the soft drink and renamed itself the Dr Pepper Company. The product sold very well until the early 1980s. The company began looking for a buyer. It turned out to be Forstmann and Little, a New York investment banking firm, (on this date in 1984) whose chosen managers had, within a year, established Dr Pepper as the third most popular soft drink in America. Corporate headquarters remained in Dallas. But manufacturing, after a merger with the Seven Up Company, moved to St. Louis, MO. Now all that Waco has is the Dr Pepper Museum. By the way, there’s been no period after the Dr in Dr Pepper since 1950.