Okay, the whirlwind Dexter-watching marathon is complete just in time for us to get ready for Season 4. My wife will need the short break in nightly serial killing in order dream about something besides how I might have a secret dark side she is unaware of. I assure you, I don’t even own a boat.And if you have no idea what the heck I’m talking about, you’d better get to Blockbuster or NetFlix so you can catch up on the first three seasons. Or, if you have a reader of your own named Deb who offers to lend you the DVD’s, that much better, but hurry, you will not be disappointed.
We of course had to put off some of our regular activities during the Dexter thing. It turns out; we find ourselves a few episodes behind on Son’s of Anarchy. We’ll have to correct that, immediately.
Have you looked at the new Prime Time Jay Leno Show? Of course we DVR everything, so I went back and started to watch it, but never got more than 15 or so minutes into it. Then, I went on Hulu.com while I was tread-milling and started watching another episode and realized that in his old time slot, I usually fell asleep before the first guest ever appeared. I find Jay’s monologues humorous and I was always a fan of Headlines. But since I was on the treadmill and not susceptible to drifting off to sleep, it occurred to me that not much else is funny. A few examples: There was some comedian who came on, I forget his name but he was called the “Uninvited Guest”. He had his own little monologue complete with staged photos so you could visualize the punch line of his jokes. His segment lasted about half an hour. Okay, maybe it was only two or three minutes, but everything after the first 15 seconds seemed like half an hour.
Another thing Jay had was this segment called 10 Questions or something like that. I saw Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz sitting on a movie set somewhere, answering 10 not so funny questions. I realize now that without the assistance of special hair gel, I don’t find Cameron Diaz that attractive or funny. And really, unless there is a couch involved, I don’t see anything humorous about Tom Cruise, either.
And speaking of Oprah, they had a little skit where Jay’s first guest, Jerry Seinfeld (or as my wife calls him, SignField) uses his clout to have Oprah appear via satellite feed. The dig is, Jay could not get her to be the first guest on his new show, but Jerry has no problem getting her. Then, Jerry proceeds to interview Oprah and she totally ignores Jay. Did I mention how enormous her face looks in High Definition? Attention Macy’s, your blimp got away…
Anyway, I suspect that aside from the first 15 minutes, there will be no requirement for me to catch the new Leno show, but that gives me time to catch up on other important viewing, like Hung.
I don’t know if you heard this or not, but on Thursday evening, our Community Improvement Association (CIA as opposed to HOA) appointed me to fill a vacancy on the Board of Directors. Obviously I am honored and will do my best to serve our community. There was another guy who was up for the position and we met for the first time last night. As it turns out, Chris is a reader of this blog and I might mention a very cool guy. It was one of those moments when you feel bad that you get picked over someone else. So if I didn’t feel bad enough, on the way home my wife, in a moment of pure spousal support says, “I think they should have picked the other guy.” In fairness though, this board thing may cut into our TV viewing time, at least until season 4 of Dexter starts.
Speaking of seasons (man, am I working the transition or what?), am I the only person who has noticed how wonderfully cool it has been the past few mornings? For readers outside of Texas, it probably is cool already where you are at, but here in San Antonio, we have had several months of record fireball action, with more 100+ days than ever. I know, see, AlGore was right; we’ll soon have beach front property. Anyway, I get up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and walk out on the back patio with my dog Gracie, (it is still dark at 5:30 and she is afraid), and both of us have noticed just how wonderful it feels. I’m ready for more of this weather.
And finally, again for the locals - we got the shocking news that Chris Marrou is going to hang up his anchorman hair at the end of the year. KENS-5 just won't be the same I tell ya, but I'm sure Chris will turn up somewhere. I know that many people just hate the way that Marrou has to add his little comments to the end of every single story; I for one love it. It was only that much better when his old friend Dan Cook was still around to join in on the off the cuff remarks.
For readers not familiar with Chris Marrou and Dan Cook, just imagine an anchorman and a crusty ol' sportscaster after a news story about a bank robber that gives the teller a withdraw slip complete with bank account number and real driver's license, before showing a gun and asking for all the money. Chris would say something like, "Well, that was pretty stupid." and Dan would say, "What a dumbass." Okay, maybe not those exact words, but you get the point. In the past year or so (since the long ago retired Dan Cook passed away), Chris has really stepped-up his commentary on news stories. Combined with his recent law degree, my amateur analysis says he will be running for political office. Hey, it runs in the family. You know his older brother, Andre Marrou, has been a candidate for president numerous times.
That's it friends. We have a busy weekend of eating, garage sailing and perhaps a visit tomorrow to the bone orchard. It was 9 years ago today that my wife's father passed, and we would like to do a little yard work on his resting place. Which reminds me of something he told me once.
(Eva and Nando on his last visit to Garner State Park)
He told me that he had a job where he was "over" hundreds of people. "Oh really" I said, inquiring for more detail. He said "Yea, I used to mow the grass at the cemetery". Good ol' Scobey.
A few times a month, I have been taking pictures of the construction along the new sections of the River Walk because I think it will be interesting when it is completed to go back and see the different stages of progress. I think you can see from the outline of the walls being built that it will be a very nice place to visit, and hopefully, there will be plenty of new shops and restaurants to bring out of town guests for a visit.
But as residents of San Antonio, I find our River Walk to be a fine place for a visit, especially this time of the year with the lights and the cheery atmosphere. So my wife and I took our son down to take a look at the lights and grab a bite for dinner, and while there, I took a few pictures of the completed portion of the walk. 
We got downtown and parked just minutes before the lights would be coming on and before we hit the River Walk, we took a few minutes to enjoy the Alamo and the HEB Christmas Tree.
I love HEB and I especially appreciate how they market themselves by doing so much for the community. I'm not silly enough to think that they don't gain from the exposure of such high profile community participation, but then again, I don't see anything wrong with it.
Do you suppose the Spurs paid for this little tree ornament, or did the folks at HEB throw it in for free?
Looking away from the tree and the Alamo, you can see the new big Grand Hyatt San Antonio hotel being built over by the convention center. 
This was sort of interesting - Woolworth's is no longer with us downtown but I get the feeling that nobody wants to be the guy to dig up the letters that marked the entry. 
Down on the actual River Walk, the lights were on and it was rapidly turning dark. Like most amateurs, I have no idea what to do with my camera settings when it starts to get dark, so you get what you get. 
I could tell you that I was going for some artistic style here, but that would be a lie. I point and shoot and this is what the River Walk looks like.
I'm sure our visitors and conventions bureau will be thrilled with the national television quality of my shots. (But I do like this one).
So we walked up and down a portion of the River Walk, but in honesty, not even a quarter of it. I love seeing so many tourists from countries beyond Mexico (though they and their dollars are always welcomed), like Germany, Japan, UK and no telling where else. Unlike many of our own residents, they get it. The River Walk is a beautiful place and there are lots of different restaurants to try out. If you are going to visit one of the country's fattest cities, you need to waddle your ass into as many of these restaurants as possible during your stay so you can take home quite a physical souvenir from your visit - an extra 10 pounds!
There are so many places I haven't tried, but we settled on Republic of Texas for a bite to eat.
Wait staff on the River Walk is usually pretty good. If I had to be a waiter, this is where I would aspire to do it at (unless I was a woman - then I'd be the waitress at a strip club). Great service leads to great tips from drunk tourists who are here to spend money and have a good time. But they should give us locals little badges or something to let the waiter know we just want to eat.
Our waiter seemed to be really experienced and he was definitely working the crowd in the small section we sat in. At first, I thought he had some sort of speech impediment because his voice sounded pretty unnatural. When he would tell the guests, Merry Christmas, he seemed to shorten the "Merry" but drag out the "Istmaaaaaaaaaassssssss" like Oprah seems to do when she is looking for excited applause from her audience.
You know the drill. Say Oprah is telling her audience that they have all won a trip to Las Vegas. She will say, "We're all going to Las Vegaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssss!" and then people in the audience will applaud wildly and hug one another and cry. But, our waiter was not Oprah and we were in San Antonio. My son finally figured out that he was doing a Carlos Mencia voice and I have to admit, he was sort of fun. Regardless, the service was fast. 
We ordered up some chips con salsa y queso (cheese). The chips were pretty light and flavorful and the salsa was standard, but for some reason, the queso seemed as if someone had emptied a jar of Velveeta into a cup and heated it in the microwave. It had a very movie theater nacho cheese taste to it, not what I would expect at any restaurant in San Antonio.
My son ordered a Judge Roy Bean burger which was big, covered in refried beans, jack cheese, guacamole and jalapenos. That'll put a giddy up in your step. He was able to wolf it down without having to use a fork and knife, but if you are gonna try this one, watch out for the beans falling out of the bottom.
My wife went with a Rio Grande Ensalade which in English breaks out to a big salad with chicken and avocado thrown on top. It was huge and she ended up only eating half of it. I must tell you that the croûtons were so fresh and fabulous that I sat there and dipped them in ranch dressing and ate them. When she busts out her salad from the refrigerator for a snack later, it will be without any hint of croûtons at all!
I always have a problem ordering and at first, I thought of doing the chicken fried steake (since there was no sign of a Reuben Sandwich on the menu). But I ended up choosing the Tacalado Salado or something. What it was was a taco salad with a really well done shell that was light and tasty - not too hard. I had asked for the beef but got chicken, but it wasn't worth mentioning because I like chicken too. Plus, who wants a pissed off cook spitting in your food? Either way, it was a great taco salad.
Overall, I don't really have anything to complain about other than to say, of all the restaurants on the River Walk, I have had better. Please don't take that as a slam on the place, and if you asked me if it was a good place to eat, I'd say sure - go for it. But would I make a special trip to San Antonio or even a special trip down to the River Walk just to eat there? No. It wasn't bad, just nothing special. So, take that how you want to take it.
For my wife, no trip to the River Walk is complete without a visit to the chocolate place for some chocolate covered strawberries.
And my son just needed a hug.
I'd love to hear about your trip to the River Walk or downtown SA. Tell me about it.
Can somebody just shoot me now?
I already had to ban Oprah from the TV's in our house, now I'm thinking Animal Planet is going to have to be put off limits.
So I'm minding my own business and I hear a shrieking coming from the living room and it is my wife, Eva calling for me at full volume. Not because there is a special report of some national emergency, but because someone on Animal Planet has come up with a way to convince dogs that they don't need to drink directly from the kitchen sink.
More than a year ago, my wife thought it would be cute to teach our big dog, Gracie to drink from the little spray hose on the kitchen sink. Yes, what a wonderful sight to see. Ha ha.
Well, after we had our fun and I took a few pictures to show the family, we thought we were done with it. Gracie had a different idea. Call us bad Pet Parents, but a year later Gracie will give us a knowing nudge and then head for the kitchen where she will walk right by the regular water bowl and wait for some good clean fresh sink sprayer water.
So the big revelation from the Animal Planet was that they have this continuous flowing water fountain type dog bowl that is guaranteed to make dogs forget the kitchen sink.
Through no choice of my own, we had actually looked it up on the Internet, called the store, and driven to PetSmart in eleven minutes and forty-two seconds. Yes, my wife timed it. I'm happy to report that unlike many other shoppers, we left our precious pets at home.
So, $75.00 later, the little dog, Panda is happy to drink out of this new over sized water trough but Gracie was not immediately sold on the idea. She knew exactly what the new bowl was all about, including the continuous flow of water streaming into the bowl below. I bet she even knew that the water is delivered to the bowl only after processing through a filter system. But she wanted to give the sink one last shot for old sake.
Nope. Attempting to be firm, my wife and I stood by, arms folded and refused to accommodate Gracie and her kitchen sink addiction. Tens of minutes went by.
The little dog drank enough from the new bowl that she required a visit to the ladies.
Finally, Gracie gave in and took her first hesitant sips from this new water delivery system. This $75.00 water delivery system.
We have genuinely lost our minds. First, a dog sweater for Panda, and now this - a dog watering system. What have we become? What's next, will we call upon that little guy who comes to your house and shows you who the leader of the pack is?
Oprah is not allowed in my house. Yes, yes, I understand that as the most powerful woman in the world, she could probably buy me off or pay somebody to force all of my TVs to play the Oprah Show all day on every channel, but assuming she leaves it my decision (and my wife goes along with it), I forbid Oprah from being here.
So, since I don't watch Entertainment Tonight either, I had not seen Oprah in quite sometime. Lo and behold, it turns out that she has her own magazine, and on top of that, she has infiltrated the Lowe's Home store off of 151 and 410. WTF!? Sweet sister of Frances in cut-offs and heels; now this lady has invaded the domain of all that is manliness.
So I am standing there in line purchasing some paint for my wife to get busy with this weekend, and staring me in the face at eye-level is Oprah, and she looks like a semi-slim caricature of herself. And, quite frankly, she looks a little like a hyena.
I have to wonder if this is a lot of air-brush action gone wrong, or does she really look like this when Stedman nudges her out of the bed each morning. Egad!
(Eva and Nando on his last visit to Garner State Park)
