Today's Apocalypse Sign: In Which I'm Creeped Out

When Fox News came on tonight I about fell out of my chair at the lead story...especially after yesterday's post.

"7-month old baby dies in the heat after being locked in a car for more than 3 hours.

I was stunned and a little creeped out. Not that I feel any karmic responsibility due to my last post but more because it is not even summer yet. And yeah, caused I did somewhat predict this happening.

Here's what happened:

Oak Cliff, Dallas, TX

The mother entrusted a neighbor friend to help her out by taking her 7-month old daughter to daycare. The neighbor ran an errand and "forgot" to drop the baby at daycare (WTF???). She returned home at 9AM this morning and parked the car (with the baby still inside) with the windows rolled up. At 1PM she went back out to her car only to discover her deadly mistake.

Paramedics and police arrived but it was to late, little baby Brianna died of being left in a car during the heat of the day. And we only reached the low 80's here today.

This is so unbelievable that I have nothing else to say.

Todays Apocalypse Sign: Need For A Parenthood Test

There are probably many reasons that would/could/should justify the need for a parenthood test. That is, the fitness of one or both people to actually be a parent. I am talking about for the safety of the child (or in Kate's case, ocho ninos).

We have all read and heard about horrific things that have happened to children. If we were talking about sea turtles we would call it natural selection, but we are talking about small humans with each one having the possiblity of becoming something great (curing cancer, solving any number of the worlds problems, etc.). After all, sea turtles can only be, ya know, a sea turtle. Too much of the time it is through the bold ignorance of adults that bad things happen to children.

Invariably in most major cities there is a news story once or twice a week about child tragedy of some kind. Unfortunate accidents, while sad, happen to young and old a like. Put whatever name to that you like (fate, coincidence, God's will), it is a part of life. The preventable tragedy is the worst.

In Big D we have had our fair share of stories centered around children and bizarre behavior by adults trusted to keep them safe. But two items from the recent news have almost led me to take up a crusade for "parent fitness testing" couples BEFORE they are allowed to have kids. Seriously. Sort of a "no pass - no play" rule for adults.

Both stories share the same basic scenario - children left in vehicles.

The first one I have to say I would consider another party guilty in the second degree. The lady was spending the day driving around checking out rent houses...and left her kids in the car while she checked out the house! Each time she met the owner who did nothing about the fact she was leaving the kids in the car.

She was at one house for 45 minutes and never came out to check on them and fortunately some good citizen called the police when they saw this. In this day and age when children are stolen right off the street in the blink of an eye, there is no excuse for making it easier for child predators...oh yeah, she had left the car unlocked. In regards to the parent test: Verdict (in the words of the great Soup Nazi) "No Children for you, go to jail one year!"

The second story clearly categorizes this guy as a Moron, with a capital M. This genius decided since he had the kids for the night and he couldn't leave them home alone (of course not!) he leaves them in his car while he goes into...a strip club.

Not some upscale, valet-parking strip club but one where not all the parking lot lights work, ya know what I mean? He is in the club for three hours!!! When the cops came and he got busted, he claimed he just stopped to make a phone call. Yeah, right and several lap dances later...

This guy clearly should have had his dick nailed to a tree when he turned 18. A friend of mine claims this to be the surest form of keeping dumbasses from procreating. In this case, I might have to agree.

Fortunately all turned out alright for the children. However I can't help but think that between now and the end of September, during the baking heat of a DFW summer, at least one child will die from being left in a car. It happens every year. The test would help prevent this tragedy.

So I say keep your eyes open for your chance to be a hero because this is a nationwide problem. We have to look out for those that can't help themselves. Those of you who are parents know this.

Todays Apocalypse Sign: Yes, A Top Ten List

I thought today I would delve into something outside my main blog theme and get something out of my head that has been running around in there denting up my skull.

Once I decided to do a top ten on this subject, I quickly realized that this most likely will be a multi-part mini-theme as there are lots of...

Songs With Overt or Covert Drug Lyrics

I know top ten lists are not original and the subject most surely isn't but it is MY list in MY order and it may stimulate some memories, provoke some thoughts, and maybe stir up some controversy...who knows. Anyway, I wanted to do this to see how deep this really goes beyond the obvious songs (like "Cocaine") and once my brain latches onto a thought or a subject it runs off on its own to have fun exploring. Sooooo...

Here are the top ten for this post. Feel free to comment or get your brother to comment:

#10
      Snowblind Friend - Hoyt Axton/Steppenwolf     Drug Reference: Cocaine, whatelse?
         I first heard this song not long after Born To Be Wild came out. At the time I really didn't get it but the song had a nice melody to it and was somewhat catchy to sing a long to. Then I got it. Until recently I never new Hoyt Axton recorded this song.

#9
      Eight Miles High - The Byrds      Drug Reference: Take your pick, Pot, Heroin, LSD, etc.
         This is another one I heard when I was growing up and just liked the song for its ethereal sound. And like #10, I didn't get it at the time. it is however a keeper as I periodically listen to to this day.

#8
      Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix        Drug Reference: LSD
         This is the album you had to hide from your parents. I know I did. This represented a whole new kind of experience, if ya know what I mean. The song just screamed anti-establishment and counter-culture. It separated the enlightened from the squares. Alas I speak too much. Known of course for that early great mis-quoted lyric '' 'scuse me while I kiss this guy". I had friends wanting to fight someone who didn't believe that was the lyric.

#7
      White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane       Drug Reference: LSD
          With the unforgettable line "One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small, and the ones that mother gives don't do anything at all."  Pretty clear this was not Carroll's child's novel. As with most people who got into the Airplane, this song was my first flight.

#6
      Needle and Spoon - Lynerd Skynerd      Drug Reference: Heroin, obviously
          This song hit it hard, "with a needle and a spoon, take a trip to the moon." All of Skynerd's songs of that time were just rockers and I loved them all. But this one was a little intense like a shot between the eyes.

#5
      People Are Strange - The Doors       Drug Reference: LSD, peyote, etc.
          Ah...Jim Morrison...there was no hiding the intent of this song. Just review the lyrics and you can bet he was writing from experience. I am a huge Doors fan and I listened to their vinyl until it wouldn't play anymore.

#4
      Hotel California - The Eagles        Drug Reference: Heroin or none...this is a controversial one
          Most people think this song is just what it sounds like a good time California drug and sex orgy. Others believe it has to do with satanical cults and there are a couple other theorys. I side with most people. Who hasn't been drivin' late at night when this song came on and then sang every word to it? It is one of many great Eagles songs.

#3
      Cocaine - Eric Clapton          Drug Reference: Asprin...just kidding, cocaine of course
         To me Eric Clapton is one of the great musicians and guitar players. Layla is one of my all-time favorite songs and Cocaine is a close second. It has that instantly recognizable intro that just pounds your brain and runs for the whole song.

#2
      Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin        Drug Reference: Hallucinogens, take your pick
          This one is another controversial one. I just loved this song so much I never really tried to decode it. Zep is the be all end all when it comes to originality, creating outside the box, and staying power of the music. I am kind of on the fence with this one after reading so much about those  lyrics from so many people. It may or may not belong on this list but it is Zep, and it is one of the greatest songs of all time for both Plant and Page...just brilliant stuff. Probably some drug involvement given the times.

#1
       Sweet Leaf - Black Sabbath       Drug Reference: Marijuana
           Loved Sabbath in this whole era (when Ozzie was really Ozzie and not the mummy he is now). When the opening cords of this song come on, it's like a punch in the gut...hard driving bass that never lets up. Ozzie was at his best vocally and the song is just mesmerizing. I listen to it frequently still.

So there you it...the first ten. I am sure i should have organized better and maybe even sub-sorted by drug type but I really didn't want to overthink it. If you have something to say, please feel free to comment.

Until next time...don't try this at home.

Todays Apocalypse Sign: Shape-Shifting Pets

This may be a sign of the apocalypse for real. I have long suspected my dog of either being possessed, bi-polar, or having a split personality. I have never been able to fully determine which of these it is.

But today while fooling around with my new Fuji FinePix point and shoot, I think I have stumbled on what is really the cause of Caesar's mental state...he is an alien shape-shifter! No shit.

The camera, as we all know, catches things the human eye misses. Today I was in the right place at the right time and caught the following action.

You decide if what you see below justifies my statement above. Take a look:

Click on the pictures to enlarge. This is necessary.

Caesar just sitting by my desk. I wanted to try the new camera and get a few shots of him. But strangely I could not get him to look directly at me. Very suspicious...

Then he kind of half turns and gives me this evil look like only he knows whats going on and there is nothing I can do about it. Still not making direct eye contact, just a furtive sideways look...

THERE! You see that! Just at the exact moment I snapped the shutter...BAM..shape-shift occurs! See how he bent time AND space. You do see it right?

Now a completely different and normal dog-like expression. Like, "What? What are you looking at? Nothing happened. Keep playing with your camera."

If there are other dogs out there like this and they are communicating on the sub-audio dog frequency, humans are in big trouble.

So get your cameras out you dog owners and see if you can catch your dog shape-shifting. I know I can't have the only one.

Will I be sleeping with one eye open now...you bet

Todays Apocalypse Sign: Scud Missile War Greecian Style

Rocket Wars Chios Greece

Picture this in your neghborhood:a quite Easter Sunday, family sitting down to dinner, the sun is setting, and then the sound of rockets flying around!

Well in Chios, Greece they have a decades old tradition where two churches fire off thousands of rockets at each other trying to be the first to hit the others bell tower. I assume there are extra points of some kind (a pound of goat cheese maybe) if you actually hit the bell and make it toll.

Residents have to cover their homes to protect against flying rockets and keep their house from catching fire. Can you get fire insurance in Chios I wonder??

Imagine a launch platform like 50 feet long with grooves in it to lay the rockets. After the rockets are all laid out, a guy walks along with a burning torch or something and lights them like hes strumming a giant guitar. Then they reload and do it again. Oh yeah, the other side is firing back at them at the same time!

Yes I know they are nothing more than giant bottle rockets, but the first time I saw the video (and I watched it on the news and several different Youtube vids) I thought I was seeing a renactment of the first Gulf war. (At least the scud missle part.) Then I realized these people are just friggn' nuts.

However, I could not find any documented death toll, at least not of any people. I am sure some houses have burned.

Oh well, as they say: Light it Up!

Today's Apocalypse Sign: Falling From The Sky

Drunk Bird

You know, the further you go in life the less you "hear for the first time". However, this week, I heard for the first time about the cedar waxwings and their penchant for yaupon berries.

I have heard about apocalyptic signs like plagues of locust and toads raining out of the sky, but this was a first.

In Garland, TX (which is where I live believe it or not, for 20 years) we were subject to birds flying along and just falling out of the sky. Streets in some neighborhoods were littered with dead and dying cedar waxwings. One busy highway had birds falling out of the sky onto the windshields of fast moving cars. Nothing like that to get your heart pumping on the way to work.

Apparently the berries of the yaupon bush are too tempting for these birds migrating back to Canada and they cannot stop eating them. The fermenting berries actually make these birds drunk and they pass out while flying. All the dead birds were found with mouthfuls of these berries.

Heaven help us.


I have missed updating on the STM. Which means I missed both the 10,000 follower and 5,000,000 hit mark. So this is where he is today:

STM Update

10,078 Followers

5,137,833 Unique Visitors

A Today Show appearance...the gift that keeps on giving.

Until next time...if you are driving through north Texas during the next month, watch for birds falling from the sky.

Today's Apocalypse Sign: The Last Round Up

I heard the other day that two states (Missouri and Tennessee, I believe) are actually voting to allow horses to be slaughtered and sold for meat...to grocery stores, restaurants, etc. This is their solution to horse over-population. I for one am appalled at this train of thought. Fire ant slaughter, locust and grass hopper slaughter, hell, mosquito slaughter, are all fine by me...but horses for food?? No way.

 Senseless killing of horses because of over-population seems like going the extremist  measure first. I would urge all citizens of those two states to write their state officials and voice a collective displeasure over this issue. As bad as that is, I am a little shocked to learn that the state I have called home for the last 30 years has two of only three operating horse slaughter houses in the US.

And since I live in Dallas it is even worse because one of the plants is in metro Ft. Worth and the other in Kaufman, TX about an hour southeast of Dallas. Both of them are owned by foreign interests (one Belgian and one French). They slaughter horses here and ship the meat to other parts of the world.

And now for the worst part of all, these are not the over-populated, or sick, injured or aged animals that are headed for the "glue factory", oh no, each year tens of thousands of healthy young animals are slaughtered for their meat as a food source. This is a delicacy business, like shark finning. It is outrageous!

A couple statistics from the Just Say Whoa! site:

                               Every 5 minutes an American horse is slaughtered for human consumption

                               Over 25,000 horses died in slaughter houses during 2007

On this site there is a link to a letter you can send to your congressman expressing your concern.

My wife and I are both huge animal lovers. We tolerate no mistreatment or abuse. There are even shows on TV we will not watch because of this. Killing horses for food is just plan wrong. Agree with me or not.