Ok, some cool gear. Dig it.

Check out what some soldier is drivin' onto the base these days. It's got stickers and everything. Hilarious.



And a buddy sent this. You gear heads out there will love it.



And I guess this is the future for the logging industry. Freaky eh?

As long as I can remember, there's been something special about English blondes.

Petula Clark was very popular when I lived in England in the mid-to-late 1960s. I had a bunch of here 45s.



I tried to turn some folks on to her when we moved back to the states in 1970, but they were unimpressed. I couldn't believe it. Their little minds were already closed. They were into the Jackson Five, or the Osmonds, or the Monkeys, and they didn't have a clue. I kept her records in the box, stacked neatly, as a special memory of those days of living in an exotic foreign place.

OK, she was great, but here's the Queen, and I don't mean Lizzie.



How can ya not love Dusty Springfield?



And while were here, enjoy.



That look, the big hair and heavy eyeliner, is so synonymous with the times, and that voice was just dripping sex, even to an eight or nine year old kid. Denise is doubting as I write this how much I knew about sex back at that age, but I wanna tell ya, the best thing about that house we lived in in England was the set of stairs in the sidewalk leading from the road to our house. I used to watch my mom's boobs jump up and down as she skipped down those stairs, thinking "Damn, mom's stacked".

Yer thinkin' I was a freak, but my generation grew up with Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, not to mention all those cool Christopher Lee Dracula movies with all the buxom frauleins gettin' bitten all over the place. We used to look for naked mannequins in the store windows as the blue bus drove us through the little country towns on the way to school at the air base at Ruislip, and the whole bus would erupt when someone saw one.

We had a young cool bus driver at one time, and then suddenly he was transferred and we didn't see him for a while. Then, a few months later, we were passed by another bus from a private British girls school and guess who was driving it. We died laughin', and assumed that he'd gotten himself transferred on purpose. We knew about sex. We didn't have details, but we knew. We had to wait for details till someone found a stash of their dad's playboys somewhere and let us leaf through them.

The music from back then is some of the best music ever made. Can't imagine what the kids now are gonna be nostalgic about in thirty years. I shudder at the thought.

It's Friday again, and I've got more shit to tell ya.

First of all, today is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, 66 years ago (he says, counting on his fingers - there's a reason I don't teach math). Wednesday night at the weekly pool game/booze-up/ceeegar fest, someone said that Wednesday had been the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. I wasn't sure it was true, but we drank to it anyway.

That morning all those years ago, "Which will live in infamy", drew America fully into the Second World War, and changed my life. My dad says he walked right out when the news broke and wanted to join up, but his father talked him out of it. He eventually did join up mid way through 1942, after a stint in LA working in a defense plant building B-25s. He set out determined to become a pilot, having seen his first plane from the back of the family plow, and he eventually succeeded.



That's dad, center left, hand on cheek, out gettin' wide with his buds in Germany right after the war. You think they had a good time. I KNOW they did. The ladies LOVED those pilots wings. The guys didn't call them "leg spreaders" for nothin'.

He succeeded in everything he did, doing everything he dreamed of doing, including marrying a beautiful girl and having two children. In working for all of that he saved me from having to grow up picking cotton, and made it possible for me to become the guy I am today. You know, everything wasn't sweetness and light, but fuck all that. Pickin' cotton would have been worse than any stupid bullshit I had to deal with.

When I see him later today and we hit the buffet at Dynasty, I'll be sure and thank him again for that.

Now, for the really important shit...



I got a new box of cigars in the mail Wednesday. They're C.A.O. Gold Perfectos. A box of 10 6x60 torpedoes. Should be a good smoke. I've got a pretty good stash now, in a variety of brands, so when I'm drivin' to or from Florence (love the way the smoke drifts out through the sun roof), walkin' down the main street in Fredericksburg, or screwin' around in a pool hall on a Wednesday night, I can sample a different one and relax.

Oh, and I have two tickets to the Dallas/Philly game on the 16th. $65 a piece. Buddy of mine with season tickets gave 'em to me at cost. Denise and I'll get a room that Saturday night at the Hyatt and do it up right. Fuckin' Cowboys better win! Last time I went to a game was in the early '80s and they got beat by the Redskins. Aaaah, the Danny White era; The times that troubled men's souls.

Goin' to Fredericksburg this Saturday afternoon. Denise wants to Christmas shop and I want to try out another beergarten. I also want to pick up another bag of pecans. There's a party at a friend of hers here Saturday night, or we'd get a room and stay down in the hill country. There'll be another weekend for that.

Well, you guys take care and enjoy your weekend. I'll see ya later.

Here's a Brunoesque post for ya. Lots of stuff. See if you recognise anything.

First off, David over on the other side, where the water in the camodes goes the other way around, wants some scatological details from everyone. Check him out. The answer is yes. I take great pleasure in flushing while on the phone, particularly while talking to my sister. It freaks her out, and I've been getting pleasure freaking her out most of my life. Something to do.

Anyway, I guess you could say I've been accumulating stuff all my life. Click on these to see them up close.

I started doing that as a kid, picking up stuff from the countries we lived in or visited, mimicking what I saw my folks doing.

When we went to Europe in '70, my mom bought stuff all over the place. About a week after we got back, these boxes arrived from Italy and it was like Christmas. All sorts of cool stuff. They've still got most of it.

My room in the house was filled with postcards and banners from places in Germany and Italy. I had stacks of comics and a set of encyclopedias that usually could be found strewn about the floor next to my bed.

I made those things on the left. They work too.

So does the stuff in the case above.

Of course, my taste in stuff has gotten a bit more expensive as I've grown up. Also, I've gathered a lot of books, music and pictures that trace the range of my interests, witch are varied.


I guess you can see I'm into Indians and their gear. In general, people in history who lived their lives fully fascinate me. You can't say Indians ever did anything half assed.

I've developed an interest in guns, but I've always had a thing for weapons of all kinds. I guess a shrink might have something to say about that. You grow up feeling weak, so as an adult you surround yourself with weapons.

Hell, I just think they're cool. I grew up in a time when fast cars, large breasted women and guns ruled popular culture... So guess in what direction my interests evolved? Not too mysterious, but people who don't like weapons will always need to explain what they don't understand. Usually they characterize folks like me in a way that makes us seem weird and dysfunctional. Fuck them. They just don't get it.

I used to build models as a kid, and still have a few layin' around here.

I've been around the world a few times, boating with the Navy, and you can see some evidence of that.

Lots of books. And lots of dust. Jesus, I need to dust this stuff. Back when I was in high school I got really good at building models.

You can't tell it from these pictures, but these dudes in the early panzer 4 have eyes and hair, and medals painted on their uniforms. Lets just say I was spending WAY too much time alone in my room. Not a lot of girls in my life back then, but I could explain the differences between all these tanks in detail.

Yep...

One word...

NERD!

It's amazing to me that these things have stayed in tact, having been moved around the way they have.

Of course, there are hands and hats missing from some of these figures. Nothing gets away unscathed.

I carried this dude home from Kenya, in my luggage, after a particularly cool trip with the Navy.


He's my buddy. I've lugged him around the world. He represents power and dignity, both in the animal and the guy who carved him. Some dude carved him from a big piece of something that grew in the woods outside his village. That bastard is an artist.

Saturday was busy, but fun.

The trip to Fredericksburg Friday turned out to be a lot of fun. Dave and I got to town by about 11:30, found a parking place and headed to the Auslander for lunch. It was cold, in the low 40s, and there was a persistent wind blowing, so this time we avoided the outdoor tables and took seats inside the beergarten. I'm sittin' there, waitin' for the waitress to bring me my brew and take our order, I look up and guess what I see?



I knew she'd lived in Germany when she was younger, but I didn't know Denise had ever worked in a beergarten. Son of a bitch! We'll need to have a talk when she gets back Sunday night. She's got some esplainin' to do.



My drink of choice, despite the weather, was a Belgian Sunshine Wheat in a frozen mug. Good stuff. Goes great with the beer battered, fried mushrooms, and the same fat bacon cheeseburger I had last time I was here. They were all just as good as before. Dave chose the chicken fried steak and tea. We were both happy. After lunch we both had ice cream cones at the place next door (I know, it was cold, and people were in heavy coats, but when in Rome for Christ's sake), and then we headed over to the book signing.

I got in line behind this burly farmer/rancher type who was just gushing with praise for Mr. Kelton. He had a typed list of all the books he'd read and was tryin' to see if the store had any others. I enjoyed the hell out of meetin' him, and seein' how an author can influence the lives of people. It's a thing that has touched my own life, including the stuff I read on your blogs. You know who you are. "People don't realize how a man's life can be changed by one book". Malcom X said that. Pure wisdom. For me it was a book on Daniel Boone that I read when I was about 12. Never saw anything the same after that.

The line moved fast, and before you knew it I was shaking hands with the man himself. He was sitting in the back of a little book store with his wife, accepting the comments of admirers as he signed their books with whatever inscription they asked for. When I got there I handed him the two books I had and as he signed them I told him that I really appreciated him, that I loved his work, and that I hoped he would be able to keep doing what he was doing for a long time to come (He's at least in his mid-70s). He thanked me, smiled up at me and we shook hands again, a little tighter the second time, and then Dave and I were off.

Dave wanted to go to the East side of town and check out an old frontier fort, Fort Martin Scott, which was a big deal around here from the 1840s to the 1850s. It just so happened there was a rendezvous going on there, with reenactors having a good time portraying frontier life in the 1840s.



Now this is the kind of reenacting I could get into. One of these days I'll have a tipi.



There were all sorts of crafts and gear on display, and people selling cool stuff. We walked around for a while and I took pictures, and then we headed up to Enchanted Rock.



Dave had never climbed the rock, so I had the fun of taking him up the first time. The weather was chilly, but the exercise warmed us, and we made it in no time. Along the way, I took some nice shots and a lot of them came out.



I even took a few that I was able to merge later here at the house. This is a shot of Little Rock, which sits to the south of Enchanted Rock. The shots were taken from about 3/4ths the way up the big dome.



We made it up there, took a few pictures, made few phone calls, and then it was time to head out. I needed to get home in time to go get dad and take him to eat our traditional Friday fare.



This shot's for Bruno. Dude, it was Soooo good. Finger lickin' good. Look at those big juicy shrimp. I know. Never mind.

Anyway, many of the shots I took are already up at FlickR, so go check them out. A lot of them came out good, if I do say so myself.

I'll be up early Saturday. Dave and I are driving to Dallas to walk through a big gun show at Market Hall. I'll tote that new Garand around and see if I can get a sling and bayonet for it. It'll be fun. You guys have fun this weekend too. I'll see ya later. Cheers.

Postscript: Never mind. I ain't goin' anywhere today. It's pissin' down rain and about 40 degrees both here and in Dallas, and there'll be another gun show in a while. Meanwhile, that big bed of mine is warm and comfy. I'm out. Peace.

Had a great time in Ft. Worth.

We got out of town about an hour late. Too much piddlin' around on the computer, downloadin' good tunes and burnin' a CD for the road. The band didn't start playin' till 10:30, so I wasn't too worried about missin' anything. We got to Ft. Worth by about 7:30, and headed right for Pappasito's.



We ordered the usual - the queso dip with spicy ground beef mixed in.



She had the Chicken Enchiladas...



And I had the combination, with the Brochette shrimp on the side. Damn, those things are good, but we've talked. I won't tease you any further.

After eating, we went east on I-30 and then north on I-35 to NE28th street, got off and headed west to the stockyards and found Billy Bob's. It's supposedly the worlds largest honky tonk, and a perennial Ft. Worth tourist stop. It's got a few massive bars and a dance hall and pool tables. You name it. They even have bull riding indoors there every weekend. It's wonderful.

I hadn't been there in 20 years or so, and Denise had never been. She'd heard about the concert on the radio last week, and I'd bought tickets over the phone. All we had to do was pick them up at the Will Call window. She'd heard about the place and wanted to check it out. I tell ya, she was workin' that accent and those blue eyes. She had guys hittin' on her almost from the start. If the rodeo had been in town and the real cowboys had been fillin' the place, in stead of these "Rexall Rangers", she might have ditched me for some starched jeans and a big hat and belt buckle.



Peter Frampton rocked his little ass off, I wanna tell ya. It was kinda funny, seein' this old dude up there, lookin' like someones granddaddy, but the sounds he made with that guitar were amazing. I'd recommend seein' him if he comes by your town. He played all the classic tunes, and even a few contemporary covers.

He played a killer version "Black Hole Sun" about mid way through the night, and then a great cover of "My Guitar Gently Weeps" as a final encore. The sound was great in the small venue, and they played for two hours, without a break. The place erupted in applause as he and the band finished, and then Denise and I headed out to find a hotel room.

The next morning, we headed over to a friends house for breakfast. Jim and Terry are the folks I rafted the Grand Canyon with in 03 and 05. He's been my best buddy since about 1989 or so, when we met on a canoe trip.

We had breakfast burritos, and then headed up to Alliance Airport to watch the air show. As we drove up, the F-117 was taking off to do it's fly around. By the time we got situated it was over, so no pictures. Maybe next year. The big draw today was a flying demonstration by the Blue Angels. I've seen them many times before (growin' up on air bases, you see a lot of air shows), but their show is always worth seeing, no matter what.



If you look closely here, over the throngs of people, you can see the Blue Angels, their F-18s, lined up and ready to go. When I got the chance to walk around, I found some cool stuff.



This was my first close-up look at a V-22 Osprey. These things have had a trouble history, and have just been deployed for the first time. The Marines love them, so we'll see. Looks cool enough, fer sure.



Always love seein' the A-10s at these shows. This one had some nose art...



And a nice little illustration on the side of the fuselage. Didn't know they'd begin to let the troops express themselves like this again. Love it.



Here's a NASA F-18, the same plane the Blue Angels fly. Very cool.



When the Angels got going, I took a lot of pictures, and this one probably turned out the best. I'll post the rest of these air show shots over at FlickR later this week, when I have time.

Well, I hope your weekends were fun. Cheers.

It's been a busy week, and it's gonna be another full weekend.

I started 6 new classes on base this week. I start out in the morning, the butt crack of dawn, with 2 classes back to back at the high school (8 to 10am). Those are 16 week classes and they're about half over. This week I started 3 separate hour long daily classes from 11:30 to 2:30 every day, and 3 evening classes - M/W night from 4:45 to 7pm and T/Th night from 4:45 to 7 and then 7:30 to 10pm. In all, about 220 students taking US History and Government. One word... POOPED. One more online class starts Monday, but that's easy money.

This evening I'll be doing the usual, Friday night Chinese food and high school football with Dad. Here's a video to put us in the right mood to chow down on the buffet line at Dynasty.

Mmmmeow, I can just taste the generals chicken now.

Denise and I are taking a trip to Ft. Worth Saturday afternoon. We'll try to get there in time to have dinner, get stuffed on brochette shrimp and spicy queso dip and start to get liqueured up at Pappasito's (yep, they have one in Ft. Worth too). Then we'll head over to Billy Bob's on the North side of town and sit through a concert by the venerable Peter Frampton. We've got center seats, six rows back. Should be cool. After that we'll be gettin' a hotel room and spendin' the night in town.

Sunday morning we'll rise early and meet up with my buddy Jim, wolf down some breakfast burritos, pack a cooler and go sit in the sun and watch an Air Show all afternoon at Alliance Airport, North of Ft. Worth. We'll see the Blue Angels and all the works. Should be cool.

I'll try to get home at a decent hour Sunday so I can rest up for another week. You guys have a great weekend. I'll try to get some cool pictures and maybe post them Sunday night. Cheers.

Monday weekend wrap-up.

I'll tell ya about the weekend, but first, here's a hilarious little video for all you fantasy football players out there. Enjoy.

Recognize the homage to the movie "Weird Science". Kelly was so hot in that movie. Love it.

I had a great time at the game with dad on Friday. It was a hoot to be in Florence and see folks from the school, and have my kids names called out as they made plays on the field. It really brought the fun of it all home to me much more than usual. The kids even gave me hell for sittin' in the visiting stands. It was a lot of fun.

It was funny to see that the visitors stands were about as full as the home team stands.

The Florence Buffaloes are in purple here, and by this time, you probably recognise the Academy bees in green.

The weather has gotten chilly in the evening recently, so Dad was getting a bit cold by half time. Well, it was partly the weather and partly the illicit Diet Dr Pepper that I treated him to. He's not really supposed to have those, but he loves them. I hope there's someone there to slip me the generals chicken when I'm a geezer. Dudes have got to take care of one another. He's also floating the idea that I should let him drive the new Buick. He says things like "I'm not checked out in this one yet." I think I'll get him behind the wheel some night. The first time he let me drive we ended up going out on the highway. Was cool as hell. We'll see. If we wreck Moms new car, we'll both be in deep shit. In any case, I'll need to remember to bring a jacket for him next time we go out.

By the time we left, Academy had gone up by a few points. In the end, they took Florence 22 to 12. I'm sure they'll have something to say about it when I go back to class there on Tuesday.

Saturday evening I decided to go up to Ft. Worth early. I'd been planning to head up there Sunday morning, but I decided Saturday that I'd spend the evening with close friends, maybe talk a few things out, and avoid having to drive up at the crack of dawn Sunday morning. We had a great time. We watched TV, ate leftovers, and then I slept on their couch. The gun show Sunday was ok, but not really anything special. I didn't see anything I couldn't live without. The best thing about the weekend was the company I got to keep. These folks are some of my best friends, and I love them to death.

I headed back to Temple around 2PM, and got to Moms in time for dinner and the joy of watchin' the Cowboy game with the folks. I learned most of my best cuss woirds, and phrases, from sitting with mom whaile we watched the Cowboys play ball in the 70s and 80s. It's hilarious to hear her roll out a string of expletives when they do something stupid. If you watched the game Sunday, you know the language was prime. So was the food.

She cooked Pork ribs, scalloped potatoes, peas, and salad.

Mom makes a special sauce from Heinz 57th sauce and honey. Give it a try. It's great on ribs. The taters and peas were great too.

It was all finished off with peach cobbler and ice cream. Wait a sec... Yep, still holding the line at 291.

Spent a few hours at my sisters place after dinner, pickin' her brain about a few things, and then I headed home. Had to stop at HEB to get cat food, and it rained like crazy on me as I walked back to the car. Got home and went through a few blogs, but now it's time to hit the sack. You guys take care. Hope you had a great weekend. Cheers.

Truer words were never spoken.

Someone once said that "Youth was wasted on the young". Well, it was mostly wasted on me, but I still remember the feelings I had that made this song resonate for so long. Still does some times.

Here's The Who, recorded live at the Isle of Weight festival in 1970, doing one of my favorites of theirs, called "Young Man Blues". Best recorded version is on the CD Live at Leads. You may want to crank this puppy, and then stand back in wonder and amazement.



"Sweeeeeet Fuck all!" Yep, that's how it feels some times. As I get older though, I find myself shifting away from envying the young, with all their zits and stupidity, their lousy music and their retread illusions of coolness, and looking up to the older boomers who've lived a rich life, did what they were supposed to do, and now, having retired relatively young, they have the freedom to enjoy themselves. That's what I'm shooting for. That's the real goal. I hope to God I get there some day. Someone should write a song called "Middle-aged and in debt up to your rusty ass blues".

Mushy's Brother-in-law Ron sent us some great vidoes last night from YouTube, and they got my juices flowin'.

He's got me lookin' around now, and I can't resist the urge to post some cool shit I've found. Hope you like it.

The video on this first one isn't the best, but the audio is wonderful. This is a tour I wish I'd seen. I love the Black Crowes, and what more could be said about Jimmy Page and his music? Page and the guys in the Crowes did a bang up job here. This is one of my favorite Zeppelin tunes - "Ten Years Gone". Hope you like it.



Now, as if that wasn't enough bliss for ya, here's the man himself again, and one of the greatest rock voices of all time - Jimmy Page and Paul Rogers of The Firm, doing "Midnight", live in the early 1980s. Page even busts into some Zeppelin noodlin' there for a minute. Can you recognize the riff? Enjoy.



Ok, and just because I love the hell out of it, here's an old Black Crowes video for a tune they never do live on tour any more. Pisses me off, but what can you do? The song just kills me. It's called "Sometimes Salvation". The guitar bit in the end is wonderful. You'll wanna crank this puppy, I'm tellin' ya. Enjoy.



Pfew, that was a trip. Thanks go out to Ron for gettin' me worked up tonight.

Well, it's Friday, so you all know where I'm headed later today. Dad and I will hit our regular Chinese food place, and then maybe a football game at his old high school. There's a gun show in Belton this weekend. I'll be hittin' it Saturday mornin'. A few days ago, Mom floated the idea of us goin' down to Austin to eat at Pappasito's (they haven't been in a while), so maybe we'll try that. Thing is, she just had a root canal and a new crown put in, so maybe we'll put it off a bit. We'll see how she feels.

Saturday evening I'll head up to Dallas. A friend up there has been wanting me to come up and hang out, maybe see a movie and stuff. I'll spend the night and then come home Sunday in time to pick Denise up at the Kileen airport at 9PM. She's coming back from Kentucky, where she's been visiting her kids for a few days. Yep, another full weekend. No rest for the weary.

I gave a slew of final exams Thursday afternoon and night, and then went out to watch my buddies play pool and smoke another cigar. This time it was an Ashton. Short, fat, and mild. The guys played well, for the most part, and towards the end of the night my buddy Dave and I played a few games on the side. He won two and I took the last one. Another one of the guys was chatting up the waitress, and the girls on the team were drinking shots, taking the glasses with their mouths from the others cleavage after licking the salt from one another's breasts. I tell ya, it was hard to concentrate on the game.

Thing is, both of these girls are married or connected, and their men were there playin' pool and watchin', enjoyin' the whole thing. They love to play around, but it never goes anywhere. Well, some times, to celebrate a victory, they like to flash their boobs to the other guys in their team. Every once and a while, when they're not playin' well, they draw themselves up to one of their teammates and ask for an "adjustment". That calls for reaching gently into their blouse and cupping their breasts for a few minutes. Part of me wishes I was on their team, but the drama gets pretty thick over there, so maybe I'm better off where I am. One of those girls did time in prison for something or other, and the other one is a drunk. Fun to watch, but me no touchie.

Anyway, it's late, and I need to get up early to head to school. The classes are mostly over on Ft. Hood, but I still have to get up at the butt crack of dawn and go to Florence. Well, maybe the little girls will be in their cheerleader outfits in the morning. Mmm, something to look forward to. Oh yea, it's payday tomorrow! Wweeeeallll, that perked me up. Have a great weekend folks. Cheers.

Sunday in Austin.

Took my "Wowman" to her first gun show Sunday. We rolled around till about 10, and then she cooked an amazing breakfast. Taters and an amazing ham and cheese omelet. We headed down to Austin at around noon. I took the Enfield, thinking I'd find a bayonet for it. I'd seen a few at the show in Ft. Worth last weekend, but wasn't sure which one went with my rifle. I found the right kind in Austin, but they weren't as nice as the ones I'd seen In Ft. Worth, so I didn't get one. I can wait till I see the right one. It's not a big deal.



I found my knife guy at the show, and finally got the parts to make another bowie. Picked up the Damascus blade (same as the last one I used), a few different handle options, and a brass guard. The handle piece on the right is mountain goat horn. Those always polish out nice. If I don't use them on this one, I will on something else one of these days. Lookin' at them here, I think it'd be REALLY cool to have these set up as grips for a 1911. Ooooh, there's an idea. The grip material on the left is a piece of 12,000 year old petrified walrus penis bone. Yep, that's what I said. How cool would it be to have a big mean bowie knife with petrified penis bone grips? Somehow, it feels really natural, gripping it tightly in my hand. I'm just sayin'...

Denise really enjoyed the show. She was amazed at the variety of people you see there, and all the stuff other than guns to be found. It's a real slice of life. She's not a gun person, but she was looking at all the cool toys for sale, and asking me all sorts of questions about getting a concealed handgun permit. She was particularly fascinated by this little tazer that one dude was demonstrating. I wouldn't want to get jabbed with that thing, fer sure.

Then it was off to Papsito's for an early dinner. This time she had the "Top Shelf" strawberry margarita. My pictures of this stuff didn't come out, so I'll show you a few old ones to make up the difference.

Our selections were the same as last time. She had the chicken enchiladas...

And I had the combination; one chicken and one beef enchilada.

We had the spicy ground beef queso dip again, and this time they gave us the three dip choices with our endless chips, just like they did when I took the guys to the place in Ft. Worth. The one with the lid and spoon was the hot stuff. I'd put some of that on a chip and then spoon on some cheese dip, and chase it with Shiner. Nice combo.

The big difference this time was that I remembered to order six brochette shrimp on the side. These are jumbo shrimp, split and stuffed with a slice of bell pepper and cheese, wrapped in bacon, slathered in butter sauce and grilled. Here they are, on a sizzling platter, with one that I've already dunked in the butter/garlic/white wine sauce, getting it ready to go.

Here's the procedure; take the shrimp by the tail, having covered it in the dip sauce...

Place it in your mouth, slowly, so that all the flavors combine to knock your friggin' socks off. Notice the eyes. They tell the tale. Note also the gun show stamp on my right hand. Damn, those shrimp are good. You hungry yet?

After dinner, we drove up to the west side and walked through the R.E.I. store. I fondled the canoe paddles, and the canoes, and the backpacking equipment, while Denise checked out the clothes and camping gear. She's going to Terlingua with us this year, and is sweating out her first camping experience. I told her I'd hook her up. It'll be plush.

Then we walked over to the marble slab ice cream place, down the way from the R.E.I. store. I had my usual; cheese cake ice cream with heath bar crunchies mixed in, in a heath bar cone. Mmmm, now I bet you're hungry.

After that, we drove down town and into west Austin, to look at the cool houses and scenery, and then south to Bee Caves, to get on 71 west. We drove west to 281, and then north, driving home by the scenic rout. This drive takes you out through the Hill Country, which is some of the prettiest country in the state. We went north on 281 through Marble Falls and Burnet, to Lampasas, and then East to Killeen. We found a radio station that was broadcasting the Cowboy game, so the win really put a sweet cap on everything.

Well, I'm exhausted just tellin' you about it all. It was a great time. I hope all your teams won, and that your weekend was as fun as ours. Cheers.