Texas Comforts Oklahoma...

This is simply too enormously funny not to post here, given that the uncle of the star (the Texas girl, not the Oklahoma girl) is none other than the niece of our Mission Trace correspondent, Sid Seidenberger. Her name is Lindsay and we originally told you about her here.

Sid gives us some insight on the video:

Yes, this is Lindsay in the response video to the original CRYING SORORITY GIRL video.

This video TEXAS COMFORTS OKLAHOMA was made by a production company, Rooster Teeth, based in Austin. She was given a script to read, Rooster Teeth spliced and edited the original Oklahoma girl video, and Lindsay became the Texas girl in the video response, which took a turn toward the sports rivalry between Texas and OU.

If you have not seen the original Crying Sorority Girl on YouTube, it is actually pretty cruel (but I confess to laughing, since I don't know the girl). This version with Lindsay is by far a lot better use of the footage.

Here it is:

Strange in Obits: Jack Mildren

I've mentioned before that I grew up as a military brat so it shouldn't come as a shock that, in addition to the places I have visited courtesy of my own military service, I got to attend a number of schools in several states courtesy of my Dad's military service. If you haven't experienced making new friends every few years, I think you are missing an opportunity. And I mean that.

Anyway, aside from new schools and new homes and new friends, I also learned to adopt new sports teams. The very first team of any sport that I have any real memory of liking was The Sooners of OU.

I know, I've probably violated several Texas laws by even posting this information from such a close proximity to Austin and admitting to having once been a Sooner fan, but please consider that I was in the second or third grade. And this is back when the TV only came in CBS, ABC, NBC or PBS.

The thing is, I have vivid memories of incredible athletes from that period in about 1970 or so. We were stationed at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City and I suppose rooting for the Sooners was what one did in Oklahoma City (perhaps Bob will confirm this for us - he is a freind who comments from time to time on the Blog, and now lives in Oklahoma City).

There were these incredible players on the team back then - The Selmon Brothers: Leroy, Lucius, Dewey and Octavio (not real sure about the last one), Tinkerbell Owens, Joe Wylie, Greg Pruitt and my hero, Jack Mildren.

Jack Mildren was an awesome quarterback and though I have no memory of the team's particular stats or record at the time, I just knew that he was the greatest quarterback to ever play football. There was a time that in between John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, if asked, I was sure that my hero was Jack Mildren.

Later, we moved to Ohio and Jack Mildren moved on to the NFL. Our loyalties moved with us and we became fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes, but I continued to follow Jack Mildren. I simply could not understand how such a great quarterback could be relegated to playing cornerback for a few years with a few different teams then tossed aside. Of course, I was in the third or fourth grade - not necessarily ready for the anchor desk on ESPN.

So today I was looking at the obituaries - something I do often for no explainable reason other than I like to read about people I don't know, and lo and behold, I see the name of 58 year old, former Sooner QB Jack Mildren. It turns out that Larry Jack Mildren went on to have a successful career as a banker, a broadcaster and was even the Lt. Governor of Oklahoma. Who knew?

I read Jack's Wikipedia page and I also learned something else about the man I had idolized for so many years; his real last name.

The strange thing is, as a kid, I thought his name was Jack Mildred and I guess, it just stuck. I think back now, to all the times that I met someone who was from Oklahoma or was a Sooner fan and asked them about Jack Mildred and can suddenly appreciate why they looked at me like I was a real dumbass.

Well rest in peace Gov. Mildren, best quarterback of my memories, and a hero to a little kid. Perhaps now, in your beloved memory, I'll try to figure out the name of that other Selmon brother.

*Photo

Parade Report: Mexican Independence in Wichita Falls - A Week Early...

We got up Saturday morning and when I walked out into the hall way, I could see the street in front of our hotel being blocked off. A trailer had been parked directly across the street and a podium and seats were being set-up in a fashion similar to a rally or something. I wondered to myself if a delegation of vagabonds was going to protest the lack of soup kitchens or some such madness.

I waltzed down to the front desk so as to inquire within, and none of the assembled staff had a clue as to what was transpiring. Being the curious type, I headed across the street to discuss same with a gentleman setting up a sound mixer and microphones. As if I were Sam Donaldson or some other obnoxious reporter, I held my crappy digital camera in front of me and asked the gentleman what all the commotion was about, and why would microphones and podiums be needed? He helpfully informed me that they were having a parade to celebrate Mexican Independence. I asked him, "From Wichita Falls?" and he promptly laughed telling me no, from Spain.

Now I'm no math expert but I quickly ran upstairs to ask my wife if it was already the 16th of September, and she informed me that it was not. So, as close as we could figure, either the people in Wichita Falls were off on the dates, or all the Mexican people of Wichita Falls will be busy watching the Cowboys next Sunday, and figured they would knock it out on Saturday the 8th. That is flexibility if you ask me, and I like flexibility.

The good news is, I like a nice parade and we had great seats. So, without further ado - a few pictures of the event.

No Parade is complete without a visit from the fire department - Wichita Falls finest...Lots of nice pick-ups and flags and traditional costumes... High School bands were out in force...And it is good to know that there are portly children everywhere, not just San Antonio.I should mention that at the beginning of the parade, a kind lady annouced that parents should keep an eye on the little ones as some of the parade participants would be passing out candy. And all of the sudden, it was on!This little kid seemed to notice before others!Then suddenly, as if an unexpected verdict had been reached in the Phil Specter trial, there was near pandimonium of youngsters scrambling everywhere... As some kids ignored all rules of civility, others seemed to look for guidance from parents... And then some parents even joined the fray... Finally, one young man had put a halt to the chaos by simply taking all the candy from the other little children. Thank God, it was over.I was proud to salute the Mexican-American Vets as they passed by, in honor of my late father-in-law, who served in Korea.No parade is complete without representation from the Boy Scouts. This proud troop reminded me of our own recent GNW Labor Day Parade and the Scouts who came out.Perhaps at our next parade, the Scouts can have thier own go-kart to enter.Cheerleaders got the crowd back into the spirit following the short mele'...
And then tiny little people dressed in traditional Mexican outfits made an appearance.I don't believe this is the actual Taco Bell dog, at least he didn't talk like him, but the crowd cheered wildly as he walked by. As a side note, they should make tiny little Chihuahua jock straps. This little doggy was swingin'.This parade had many really unique automobiles as participants...Clowns in Clown cars...People on horses...I'm not sure this dude was actually in the parade, but he had a flag, so his bike fit right in...And Grizzly Adams here looks as though he walked off quite a few pounds down the route...And when all was said and done... we danced.
Well, some people danced. We went gambling at the Indian Casinos in Oklahoma.

Sight Seeing: Wichita Falls

Coming from San Antonio, a heavily tourist oriented town, we come to expect that cities of any size will have attractions to keep visitors occupied and out in public as opposed to sitting in a hotel room watching crappy TV and waiting to strap-on the feedbag for the next meal. Wichita Falls did not disappoint, having River Walk-like Park (a river and a walk, but certainly no Dick’s Last Resort), and a few points of interest worth stopping for.

Two places I wanted to see were the sculptures of the Indian Wee-chi-ta showing some fellow Indians how deep the water was, and the Falls themselves. As this link says, the original falls are gone but a replica has been built, conveniently located off I-44. Oh yeah, and they also turn the falls off with a spigot to save water.

The first thing that struck me about the Wichita River was how extremely, umm, colorful it is. The nice lady at the Texas Welcome area told me that it had to do with all the iron ore in the water being stirred up. When we happened a few miles north to the Texas Oklahoma border, we could see clearly why the body of water was called the Red River. I’m sure some people enjoy a nice refreshing swim on a hot day, but I’ll stick to a nice shower in a clean hotel, thanks.

The Falls really do make a nice scenic view from I-44, but I was mostly impressed with the public park created along the river leading to them. We only stopped briefly, but the walking path was very clean, easily accessible to the handicapped, and though I have to confess that I felt uneasy about leaving two laptops, a video camera and my 35mm camera kit in the van as we walked around (and seriously, is that not asking for trouble?), I was happy to find no burglary and also happy to see several female joggers including a senior hitting the path alone – a sign that the park is considered relatively safe.

Again, swimming certainly would not be an option, but I could see this park being used for a family picnic, or just a nice place to take a stroll.

The sculptures on the other hand, though very well done, were in an area of town that I have to guess is less than the Upper End. I used my Garmin Street Pilot to guide the way, only a few miles or so from the base, and I kept thinking to myself that it must be a mistake. But sure enough, we pulled into what at first looked like an abandoned grain elevator near an old bridge, and there it was.

I don’t know the history of the sculpture, though there was one of those self-congratulating markers listing the names of everyone involved etc, but all I can say is, Bravo! Again, with the ugly red water below, there was a very nice little walkway down to the structure and really, well done landscaping to give a good mix of metal (or whatever they make sculptures of) and plants and water.

Before you pack up the picnic basket, make no mistake; this is a place to come, look, take a few pictures and move along. There was a park bench and I can’t over emphasize how well the space was used, but if there was not some otherwise historic significance to the location, I would have placed the beautiful art work back at the park with the falls. Perhaps if you are familiar with story behind this, you can educate me.

When we first pulled up, my wife and daughter decided they would rather sit in the locked van and wait for me while I took pictures. Partly because it was raining, and partly because the place just looked scary in broad daylight. Once they saw that I was okay, they ventured out to see what I could see. Just as they made their way down to the sculpture, we looked up to see some lady standing by the van peering into the windows. In her heroine induced, white-trash state, she was able to determine that for a fat guy, I could probably still out run her and any attempt to bust into the vehicle would be ill-advised. So, she walked away. In fairness, there was a pay phone near where we parked, and she could have simply been making a call. To her pimp. Or drug dealer. With no intention of breaking into the van. While we watched.

After we took a few happy snaps, the rain started to come down a little more than just a sprinkle and the girls decided to go back to the van. I on the other hand decided I had to see the magnificent old bridge to get a few shots.

Oh, as it turns out, the big abandoned structure we saw has been converted into a climbing tower. What an awesome use of space and a great attraction for sports minded people. Once again, my first impression of the place was starting to fade and I could see that the people of Wichita Falls are trying to revitalize and area and make good use of the space.

One last picture I had to share of the bridge. I despise graffiti but there are certain times when a person finds it necessary to deface public property. Apparently, someone came to this bridge to ask that his prayer be answered, quite possibly before leaping off the bridge into a certain need for a bath, what with the color of the water below. If you click on the picture, you should be able to read it, but the gist of it is, some guy wants his wife to quit doing "wrongful and sinful things". Let's hope so.

Have you seen the Falls, the sculpture or ugly river? I’d like to hear your report.

Happy Father's Day

We are on the road up in Wichita Falls, TX near the Oklahoma border visiting my daughter. I have lots of news to report when I get home; the drive up 281, our visit to the town of Hico, sites around Wichita Falls, plus, I should have an update on Baby the Swan in the next day or so.

I've already called my Dad to wish him a happy Father's day, have you called your's. Uh, assuming he is still alive and all.