"He knew that this uniform represented something good and that he was part of a legacy of men and women who have protected what is good and right in this world.”
A eulogy for Staff Sgt. Jose A. Lanzarin, of Del Rio, and Pfc. Shane R. Austin, of Edgerton, Kansas, two of the dead in this deadly month of the war, as the bad guys try once again to influence an election.
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Tagged Kansas, of Del Rio, of Edgerton, Pfc. Shane R. Austin, Staff Sgt. Jose A. Lanzarin, Texas
Interesting tidbit from the Austin American-Statesman the other day about Saturday’s Texas vs. Nebraska game (ABC, 11 a.m. CDT). They are two of the only four college football programs with at least 800 wins. The other two are Michigan and Notre Dame.
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Posted in Texas Football
Tagged 800 win club, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Texas
The first Bowl Championship Series poll is out and Texas is almost out of the top ten, falling to 9th despite ranking 5th in the human polls. Texas fans are understandably irritated, especially since three other one-loss teams are ranked ahead of the Longhorns, but it’s early times with five games to go for the season–still plenty of time to rise, though one wonders if it would be high enough to make Texas a bowl defender of its own 2005 championship.
The Tuscola Kid is coming along nicely, just being ignored because of the chump nature of his recent opponents (with the exception of Oklahoma) but Texas is beginning a hard slog with Nebraska this weekend and winning out should raise its rankings significantly.
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Posted in Texas Football
Bob Rose and Troy Kimmel, my favorite Austin meteorologists, say we’re going to bust this drought any time now, as the strengthening El Nino in the eastern Pacific is going to bring us a rainy period this fall/winter here in Central Texas. That’ll be nice because, although the temps are dipping into the 50s overnight and the days are seldom above the low 90s, it’s still pretty dry.
"The latest measurements indicate that a couple regions of the Pacific have already reached moderate threshold while others are still categorized as weak," Rose writes. "The Nino 3.4 region, the one which typically has the greatest influence on Texas weather, is still showing weak. Overall, sea surface temperatures continue to warm…and the episode is forecast to become moderate in intensity by November or December.
"Historically, weak El Ninos typically have a somewhat dry signal for Texas. On the other hand, moderate to strong episodes show a strong correlation with above normal rainfall across Texas and the southern US. There is also a stronger signal for below normal winter temperatures with the moderate and strong events."
The outlook predicted by the National Weather Service? "…for November through February…above normal rainfall across almost all of Texas."
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Posted in Weather/Climate
Tagged Bob Rose, Elino, rain, Texas, Troy Kimmel
"’I did not want my tombstone to read, ‘She kept a really clean house.’ I think I’d like them to remember me by saying, ‘She opened government to everyone,’" Richards said shortly before leaving office in January 1995."
Yet, in her support of the death penalty and a few other ways, she may also have been one of the last conservative Texas Democrats.
UPDATE And on it goes, days of Texas news media stories about her and the state funeral to come.
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Posted in Obituaries
Tagged Ann Richards, death penalty, Democrat, Texas
Well, more or less. Gene Autry has been dead since 1998. Nevertheless his name gets invoked in some auction materials that came in the mail (Lord knows why) announcing the Sept. 22 sale of his uncle’s place, the T.L. Autry Ranch, near Gene’s hometown of Tioga, Texas. "This historic 116.89 (+/-) acres is the ultimate hideaway, just minutes from I-35 and Lake Ray Roberts."
If you’re not in the real estate market, there’s always the Gene Autry Centennial celebration next year in Tioga (where the child Gene shined shoes in the barber shop), a town so destitute that parts of it were auctioned off in 1982. I know. I was there. Hardly anyone bought anything–not even the barber shop. But the centennial looks like fun, and if you can’t wait there’s the annual Autry festival next month in Parker, Texas. But, then, I was always a fan of "America’s favorite singing cowboy." I was, in fact, unaware if there was another one. When other kids swooned over Roy Rogers or the Lone Ranger, I would just smile and whistle "Back In The Saddle Again."
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Posted in Scribbles
Tagged auction, centennial, Gene Autry, ranch, Texas, Tioga
Austin meteorologist Bob Rose says the federal Climate Prediction Center made the call Monday and the weather service will issue a news release on it tomorrow. Big rains a’comin’, probably.
"…the Climate Prediction Center stated that atmospheric conditions and oceanic temperatures in the Pacific have reached a critical threshold to declare El Nino conditions. Water temperatures in the tropical Pacific have been warming over the past couple of months. This warming combined with increased westerly trades and a negative Southern Oscillation Index all indicate the onset on El Nino.
"…El Ninos often bring Texas and the southern US increased rainfall during the fall and winter months. They also tend to bring our region cooler temperatures during the winter. El Nino will likely play a large role in our region’s weather over the next several months."
Like they say, in Texas it’s either droughtin’ or floodin’. We’ve had the former for almost a year (some say more) and the latter looks to be on the way. Some of the fall-winter storms we’ve had in El Nino years have been hellacious.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 