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Easter doesn’t appear to be a big celebration here in the US. Normally its not much of a holiday for the school kids by UK standards, as they have only Good Friday and Easter Monday off. This year in Houston we are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Ike so Easter Monday is a normal school day, to make up for time lost in September when there was no power.
Another noticeable difference between the UK and US Easter holiday is the lack of large chocolate eggs. You can get chocolate eggs (including imports from the UK) but its clearly not a big thing. What is big, however, are the chocolate bunnies.
And so with at least one day off there was time to go to the beach at Galveston, just 80 or so miles south.
On the way to Galveston, it was only fair to call in and see how the Kemah Boardwalk had recovered from Hurricane Ike. The Boardwalk is an entertainment centre with restaurants and amusements on Galveston Bay. Its owned by Landry’s, a Texas company who also own, amongst other places, The Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.
Right after the hurricane hit, the Kemah Boardwalk looked like this:
Now, six months later, things are pretty much back to how they were:
But how would Galveston itself look six months on?
Well some places were still closed:
But a few streets further inland from the beach it was as if nothing had happened:
Down on the beach a lot of work had gone into restoring things like this:
To this:
Yes, all those rocks were somehow dredged up and tossed on the beach by the storm surge created by Ike. There has been a massive project ($13.5M, the largest ever undertaken by the Texas General Land Office) to restore and widen beaches by 200 feet using more than one million cubic feet of sand dredged from the east end of the island.
That’s good news for those of us who like to go to the beach...
[Thanks to Captain Oblivious for some of the above pictures]
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Just picking up the telephone directory sized programme for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo makes you realise that this is a very big event.
It turns out that this is the largest event of its kind in the world. Held over 20 days, the event has been running since 1932 and attracts close to 2 million visitors a year.
Many travel to the Houston Rodeo on one of the “trail rides” that end up in Houston just in time for the big parade which opens the event every year.
The first trail ride was started in 1952. Called the Salt Grass, it now gives its name to a chain of steak houses here. The Salt Grass is a fairly modest 85 miles. The longest trail ride, at 216 miles, is the Old Spanish Trail (which gives its name to a road by the Rodeo’s location at Reliant Park).
The Reliant stadium is normally home to the Houston Texans NFL team, and this houses the rodeo events which for us included:
- barrel racing - Which appeared to be the only event women were allowed to take part. This involved riding your horse as fast as possible round three barrels.
- bull riding - Sit on the back of an angry bull and try and stay on for 8 seconds. Not only that, but then you and the bull are scored by judges based on how much bucking goes on and how well you control things.
- tie-down roping - Lasso a calf from your horse, lay it down then tie its legs (any three count) as quickly as you can.
- bareback riding - Not as demonstrated by Coventry’s most famous lady. This is similar to bull riding but with an angry horse instead of a bull.
- team roping - Two riders attempt to catch a steer, one by the head and one by the hind legs, as quickly as possible.
- saddle bronc riding - Like bareback riding but with a saddle. No less easy as the horse is still pretty mad.
- steer wresting - Dive off your horse onto a running 450-750 pound steer (horns included) then wrestle it to the ground.
Steer wrestling, or bulldogging, was invented by Bill Pickett (or possibly a Canadian called John Ware - controversy as always). His technique included biting the steer on the lip although this doesn’t seem to be too popular these days (for cowboy or steer). Pickett was a cowboy entertainer along with Tom Mix, Buffalo Bill and others and was so famous he even had a stamp made with his picture on. Obviously he wasn’t that well known as the first version of the stamp had his brother on them by mistake. This is the corrected version.
Oh, and then there’s the daily event of the calf scramble shown above. 28 boys and girls chase after 14 calves to try and catch one, harness it and drag it back to “the winner’s square”. Those who succeed get a certificate to buy a heifer and have to raise it before bringing it back to the Rodeo the following year to show it.
There’s a live band every night at the rodeo. The first entertainer was Gene Autry, the singing cowboy and star of dozens of westerns. Since Gene Autry, many have played here, including Elvis Presley, but mainly they are of Country & Western extraction.
Our live act was Brooks and Dunn. Despite sounding like an old-fashioned tailor or shoe shop, they have the fifth highest attendance record at the rodeo (at just under 73,000 - This year’s act from Ramon Ayala and Alacranes Musical has the highest at just over 74,000) and 8 platinum or multi-platinum albums.
We managed to make it through “Cowboy Town”, “You Can’t Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl” and “Hillbilly Deluxe” before we had reached our Country & Western allowance for the year.
Once you’ve watched the rodeo events and the live act you can do the carnival. Better still see the carnival from 58 feet in the air on the sky ride like this:
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The Harlem Globetrotters beat the Washington Generals again yesterday in a game played at Houston’s Toyota Center. This means the ‘Trotters have not lost a game since since 1971. Surely it can’t all be staged?
Well it turns out that the original Harlem Globetrotters didn’t even come from Harlem, New York. Instead they were formed in Chicago in the 1920s. The name “New York Harlem Globetrotters” was used to create some mystique. The team didn’t even play in Harlem until 1968. They originally played real games but gradually became better known for entertaining that real sport.
It seems that when the ‘Trotters lost in 1971 (to the New Jersey Reds, another stooge team) the fans were upset, especially the children. The official Harlem Globetrotters website claims the games are real but who would want to upset the fans again?
Today the ‘Trotters continue to travel the world demonstrating their amazing coordination,dribbling and ball control in a match against the Generals that is basketball’s equivalent of UK wrestling in the 1970s (but with much more skill involved).
Ah, those were the days: Mick McManus, Kendo Nagasaki, Catweasel and of course Big Daddy (don’t call him Shirley) and Giant Haystacks, seen here in the good old days of Saturday afternoon TV.
Altogether now: “Easy...Easy...Easy...”
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Punxsutawney, PA is only about 85 miles from Pittsburgh, home of the Steelers who beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in yesterday’s Superbowl.
The Superbowl, in case you don’t already know, is like the FA Cup on steriods. Superbowl day is the top “at-home” party event of the year in the USA, ahead of New Year’s Eve and is second only to Thanksgiving for food consumption. Nothing escapes Superbowl treatment, including last Friday’s school lunch options which included “football-shaped chicken nuggets”.
Anyway, back to Punxsutawney: Phil is Punxsutawney’s most famous resident. Phil is a groundhog, otherwise known as a woodchuck (“How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”), land beaver or whistlepig. According to www.groundhog.com (the offical Punxsutawney Groundhog Day website) Phil is at least 123 years old but like Fidel Castro (who must be of a similar age now) how are we to know its really still him?
Today at about 7:25 am Eastern Time Phil predicted that winter is set to continue, based on the old German superstition that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Candlemas (February 2nd) then winter will last 6 more weeks.
Since the records began Phil has seen his shadow 97 times and hasn’t seen it 15 times. Despite what the official website says about Phil’s accuracy, it is reported to be around 39% so he’s not much better than Michael Fish (the UK’s animal weather forecaster).
In Houston, groundhogs are apparently not reliable enough (“Texas is too big for a mere groundhog to predict its weather” says one source) so in past years they’ve had Meerkats, Willie the Spectacled Bear, a Guinea Hog (no, I don’t know what that is either) and Tuck the Southern Three Banded Armadillo (who is shown in the picture above) all performing this important meteorological service.
This year it seems they haven’t bothered, relying instead on Phil. Clearly Phil has never been to Houston though, as its currently in the 60s (15C+ for those who’ve adopted the metric system) and sunny and likely to be so all week. No sign of winter here...
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Did you know that if James Earl Ray hadn’t shot him in 1968, the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr (who presumably still holds the record for the most pre- and post-nominals ever) would have been 80 this year?
We, along with the rest of the US, celebrated his birthday on Monday. Martin Luther King, Jr Day is observed on the third Monday of January, which is near his real birthday of January 15th. Interestingly, although he was assassinated in 1968 it took until 1986 before this holiday was observed, and even then it was not recognised properly everywhere. Its only for the last 8 years that all 50 states have called it by its proper name. Even now, unlike other official holidays, this day is not a day off for all. Although its a Federal holiday (so schools are off) only about one third of the businesses give this day off to their employees.
As if a Federal holiday wasn’t enough, Tuesday was all taken up with the inauguration of 44th President of the United States. That’s Barack Obama, in case you hadn’t heard, or you’re a Texan Republican (actually, that’s pretty much the same thing) who can’t believe McCain didn’t get in.
Its not clear yet whether this day will be best remembered for the inauguration of the first African American President or for the fact that the actual swearing-in ceremony was bungled so badly that it had to be repeated the following day. This is only the third time this has had to be done - Chester A. Arthur (No 21, 1881-1885) and Calvin Coolidge (No 30, 1923-1929) were the other two.
US Presidents giving speeches and answering press questions brought back fond memories of Not The Nine O’Clock News and their sketch on this:
Had Starbucks been around in the early ‘80s when this show was originally airing, the quote “Harmony, Democracy, Freedom, Cup-cakes, Crumbly-Candy-Bars” may have been modified somewhat. Indeed Starbucks celebrated the inauguration in their own way, with special cardboard heat sleeves in red, white (well, cardboard colour) and blue with famous quotes from previous Presidential inaugurations.
There’s the one above, which is from JFK’s address in 1961 - “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country” and then there’s FDR’s from 1933 - “...The only thing we have to fear is feat itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance”.
The FDR quote “nothing to fear but fear itself” is best remembered (by me at least) as being part of the lyrics to “The Weapon” by Rush, from their 1982 album “Signals”.
I suppose there were many others but there’s only so many cups of coffee you can drink in one week...
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The period between Christmas Day and Twelfth Night was traditionally known as Christmastide and has long been a time for over indulgence in all manner of ways.
But how’s it done Texas Style? Well in our case...
On the first day of Christmas, we...
Saw our neighborhood light up with Christmas lights that would make Chevy Chase (in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation) envious, such as these:
Despite the poor state of the economy, it was clear that the electricity industry would not be suffering.
On the second day of Christmas, we...
Won prestigious awards from the Woodlands Masters Swim Team at their annual Christmas Party:
On the third day of Christmas, we...
Watched “Its a Wonderful Life” (again). Fortunately Frank Capra’s seminal taste of “Capra-corn” is still well worth another watch.
This film didn’t even earn enough to cover its costs when released in 1946 (it cost $3.7M and made $3.3M) but has since been established as a Christmas favourite and has been voted highly in many industry polls, such as “#1 most power movie of all time”. Apparently there’s no truth that the muppets Bert and Ernie got their names from two of the characters in this movie.
On the fourth day of Christmas, thankfully no one got...
Burger King’s new fragrance, called Flame.
Flame is being promoted as "the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broilled meat". Burger King’s advertising says "Flame by BK captures the essence of that love and gives it to you. Behold ... now you can set the mood for whatever you're in the mood for."
Now who wouldn’t want to smell like cooked meat?
On the fifth day of Christmas, we...
Went to Six Flags Fiesta theme park in San Antonio.
More Christmas lights, but this time seen at high speed and at great heights. If you go, do try the Boomerang, Superman and Goliath.
And since you asked, the name Six Flags theme parks take their name from their first park (in Dallas) and the reference to the six national flags that have flown over Texas since it was explored by Cortez in 1519. And here are the flags themselves:
Spain: 1519-1685 and 1690-1821
France: 1685-1690
Mexico: 1821-1836
Texas Republic: 1836-1845
Confederacy: 1861-1865
USA: 1845-1861 and 1865-Present day
On the sixth day of Christmas we...
Went to Austin, the capital (or capitol) of Texas.
This is Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin, home to the largest urban bat colony in North America (estimated at 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats). People come from miles around to see the bats coming out to feed each night. Unfortunately they are only here from mid-March to November, when they go to Mexico for the Winter (as well as presumably buying prescription drugs and coca-cola, two other reasons why people go from the US to Mexico - apparently drugs are a lot cheaper there and coke is still made with sugar rather than corn syrup so connoisseurs go there to get the “real thing” [(c) Coca Cola Company]).
On the seventh day of Christmas, we...
Went to Old Town Spring.
Old Town Spring was once a trading post and grew in the 1870s when the International & Great Northern Railroad made its way there. Spring gets its name from the fact that the Railroad construction reached there in the Spring after a particularly hard Winter (Something that’s hard to imagine given the 70-80 degree weather we experienced here in Spring in December). Originally called Camp Spring (three years later the “Camp” was dropped), there were 200 residents by 1903. Now (or at least as of the last census in 2000) there are over 36,000 residents (including us four) in an area of 24 square miles (about the size of Guernsey).
Old Town Spring is now home to a variety of shops (note that the term antique appears to mean junk here in the USA), restaurants, museums and art galleries.
On the eighth day of Christmas, we...
Got some sausages from Elgin. I realise this may seem like a random act in the middle of Christmastide. Surely Elgin is only famous as producing a nobleman that stole some marbles from the Greeks (or at least didn’t give them back when he’d finished playing with them).
However if you were driving back to Houston from Austin on highway 290 you would have passed through Elgin which claims to be the Sausage Capital of Texas (as well as the Brick Capital of the Southwest - and you wouldn’t want to get them mixed up).
We got the “deluxe sampler: a 1 lb package each of: beef smoked, garlic, smoked, smoked hot, smoked Mexican with jalapeno, Jalapeno with cheese, original summer sausage and jalapeno summer sausage.” Summer Sausage, by the way is made in the Autumn during the hunting season (you can take your deer to Meyers for “processing”
if you like). Its called Summer Sausage because it can be kept without refrigeration.
On the ninth day of Christmas we...
Did some Ice Skating
Once again the future of the local electricity company was secure as the Woodlands area north of Houston erected (if that is the correct term for constructing an ice rink) their traditional ice rink requiring vast amounts of energy to maintain a frozen area in a state that rarely gets below 0 degrees.
On the tenth day of Christmas we...
bought a Black and Decker Leaf Hog.
The Sisyphean task of sweeping up piles of leaves from the garden (sorry, its yard here) only to watch more start falling shall be no more.
Well, it still takes a long time, effectively hoovering the garden but I suppose even Sisyphus would have appreciated something to help roll his boulder up that hill in Ancient Greece. [This is a good point to remind you to listen to Chicago’s “Stone of Sisyphus” album, otherwise known as “Chicago XXXII”]
On the eleventh day of Christmas we...
Watched the ball drop in Times Square.
Well, we watched it on TV at least:
In fact we watched it twice. Once at midnight Eastern Time and then again at midnight Central Time when they seemed to want to pretend that it was happing for the first time.
This annual ball dropping has been going on since 1907 when New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs wanted something that would draw attention to the Square (which he managed to have renamed for his newspaper three years earlier - it was before that known as Longacre Square).
In an unusual energy efficient effort (perhaps to make up for the energy required in Texas for the lights and ice rinks) the new ball was made with LEDs and now consumes the same amount of energy as 10 toasters (which those of you who are married will be familiar with, as you will have received 10 toasters as gifts).
On the twelfth day of Christmas we...
Had some beer.
Surely no Christmastide would be complete without lashings of beer, ginger or otherwise (usually otherwise).
First its Big Woodrow’s, winner of various awards such as “Best Outdoor Bar”, “Ultimate Sportsbar” and one of the “Top 5 favorite places to watch an Astros game”.
We made it in time for Happy Hour (BW was nominated for Best Happy Hour in 2001) and I’m pleased to report that we got our money’s worth (but in a similar way to Las Vegas Casinos they more than got their money back as we pressed on long after Happy Hour ended).
Next it was off round the corner to the Richmond Arms, a one of those “traditional British pubs in America”. As usual his means a menu that includes a few token gestures amongst a menu that wouldn’t look out of place in TGI Fridays (I don’t remember my mum ever making “Jalapeno Meatloaf” for instance). Note to pub owner: Covering the walls with old British number plates can’t hide the fact that its not a traditional British menu.
Worse still they had the nerve to sell Newcastle Brown Ale on draught. This would be a serious offence anywhere in Britain, and probably punishable by death in Geordieland.
There were two redeeming features for the pub:
1. They had a Sunderland AFC scarf on the wall.
2. They had a great jukebox ($2 to play a 20 minute track by Rush is great value!).
So there you go, 12 Days of Christmas, Texas Style. Roll on the next holiday...