Aggie87

My wife posted this on FB earlier this morning. I think it's a good read. Anti-intellectualism Is Killing America Social dysfunction can be traced to the abandonment of reason The tragedy in Charleston last week will no doubt lead to more discussion of several important and recurring issues in American culture—particularly racism and gun violence—but these dialogues are unlikely to bear much fruit until the nation undertakes a serious self-examination. Decrying racism and gun violence is fine, but for too long America’s social dysfunction has continued to intensify as the nation has ignored a key underlying pathology: anti-intellectualism. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201506/anti-intellectualism-is-killing-america

Count me as a fan (obviously). I once met him on the A&M campus back when I was a student, and looked at him in awe. I was young and he seemed legendary even then. Also met Jackie Sherrill a few times, and didn't look at him with the same reverence, but really enjoyed chatting with him.

They've been doing that for a while - I saw them in April last year together. War is down to one original member, Lonnie Jordan. They still sound good though!

That's all I have it for - too many (better) options for home listening, for me anyway. I am a luddite and still listen to cds (remember those thangs?) in my car as well. Everyone else in my family laughs at me.

We've renewed a couple times with them. You have to threaten to cancel, and then they typically connect you to someone else who offers better deals. We pay about $8 per month per car.

Kyrie Irving has a fractured kneecap and is out for at least a few months, if not longer. Add that to Kevin Love being out, and the Cavs simply don't have enough talent around LBJ to compete, I don't think. It's a shame, I would rather see two fully healthy teams play each other than one healthy and one not.

There's a free Steven Wilson solo sampler on Amazon right now if anyone's interested: http://www.amazon.com/Sampler-Steven-Wilson/dp/B00Y23BRLM/ref=sr_1_8?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1432630717&sr=1-8&keywords=steven+wilson#customerReviews

Jansen Barbieri Karn, with Steven Wilson & Theo Travis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNhMm5P_UmA

Could be. It seems like that is a consequence of buying public domain releases though, particularly when they're technically not meant for sale in the U.S.

I find this comment interesting. If you have no problem acquiring music without paying the artists or their estates or rights holders what is due them, do you have a problem with people acquiring your music without paying you what is due you?

I'm not a Yankees fan. A-roid belongs in the same conversations with Barroid. Both are cheaters. Rodriguez is not "the rage" in this country, and I doubt whether he is for most NY area fans, either. Ken Caminiti was one of my favorite players when he was on the Astros, who went on to win the NL MVP with the Padres. When it turned out that he'd taken PEDs, I adjusted my opinion of him accordingly. Wish you could do that with Bonds. He's a cheater. Thanks for the memories, Goodspeak.

I appreciate the abilities of non-native English speakers too, and I've actually defended a few who may not have been very fluent (on other boards) when somebody criticizes their grammar or spelling. In cases like these I'm more appreciative of their attempt than anything. You can get people's points, generally. Also, I think for many Americans, they have no real contact with people who speak other languages as their primary language. Other than Mexico and the French speaking parts of Canada, we don't border numerous other countries like many in Europe, where you have the opportunity to practice/interact with others perhaps a little more easily. Plus many Americans aren't interested in the world outside of our border, unfortunately.

Happy Birthday, Mark!

Thanks gents! 50 is the new 34, so I'm told. And yes, there was wayyy too much cake involved last night, Buzzzzz!

Yes, the Stearman is a Confederate Air Force plane, Bob! Though they've apparently changed their name to Commemorative Air Force now. Hope you're doing well! I miss our Stuttgart days! Well, day anyway.

Our Air Show is this weekend again. The Blue Angels got in yesterday and did some rehearsing. They didn't practice today due to the weather - low cloud cover and storms forecast. Hopefully Sat/Sun is better for the actual show. I did get to check out the static displays and some of the practice flights though. N2S Stearman - this was the US Army Air Force's primary trainer through WWII. A different B-25 from previous years, the Devil Dog. This is actually a Marine variant of the B-25, called the PBJ. The nose doesn't have a glass bombardier compartment, but is solid and contains 8 50 caliber machine guns. V-22 Osprey - these things are fascinating to me - helicopter/airplane hybrid. Watched a vertical takeoff and then the transition of the rotors/engines to the forward position for higher speed travel. And of course the Blue Angels, parked along the sea wall:

Hail to the King!

The "down and back" will cost you probably the equivalent of what a roundtrip airline ticket would cost from Dallas to Houston though. And takes longer than a flight - though I'll grant that the time getting to an airport early these days adds quite a bit too. So maybe the time difference between a plane and a train between the two cities is basically a wash. So what's the gain to be had for investing the $$$ to make this train system a reality, and are there really enough travelers that would prefer that to a flight or to driving? Who is the customer base? Business travelers? Vacationers? I can't imagine Houstoners vacationing in Dallas/Ft Worth specifically, or vice versa. But either way they're going to need a rental car or something once they get to the train terminal at the other city. If I'm a business person going up for a meeting it would almost be easier to drive, since you then have your car and can get to your business destination without having to take the time to get out of the train station and to a rental car location, rent the car and then drive to where you're headed. And then reverse that process for your return trip.

I ordered it from Amazon, but it's being "bundled" with the Yes Progeny 3LP set that isn't due out until May. Sigh. The Yes LP set was listed as $16.99 originally though (perhaps a mistake?), so I'm willing to wait.

I travel to San Antonio (2-2.5 hrs), Austin (3.5 hrs), and Houston (3 hrs) regularly. Occasionally to further destinations like Dallas, College Station, & San Angelo. When I was in college at A&M we thought nothing of driving 8-9 hours to Lubbock for the football game - luckily that only happened twice, but that's a long haul. Had to plan ahead when we got there too, because Lubbock was dry and you had to drive out of the city/county limits to Pinkie's to buy beer back then. I do appreciate these regular concert updates that include Austin, Houston, and SA though!

Maybe the one doing the hooking should be called The Hooker. Pitching sucks? "We want The Hooker, bring out The Hooker!!!" I could get behind that chant.

Fishing hook - it's a coastal thing. Kind of a silly name, but it's grown on me over the 10 years they've been here. Hunter Pence played for the Hooks before making it to the bigs, and is still beloved here, as is Altuve. Delino DeShields Jr was also a Hook last year, until the Rangers stole him away this offseason. The Hooks are the Astros' AA affiliate.

Caught the Houston Astros vs my hometown Corpus Christi Hooks tonight. 'Stros won 7-4. It was fun seeing the former Hooks who are playing for the Astros now (Jose Altuve & George Springer among others), versus some up and coming talent that will make it's way to Houston before too long. Carlos Correa (1st overall pick in the 2012 draft) looked good for the Hooks, hit a monster homer. The Astros aren't going to make the playoffs (again), but they're taking steady steps toward being respectable, at least.

Not quite the same topic, but some good recs in this thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqU9PqIhuIY edit - I'm not sure it actually was a Top 40 hit, but it hits your other criteria..