• Andrew Suber on Sound Off! : I’ll have to go in there and have a virgin pina colada one of these days. “Uh, can I have a colada and milk?”
• Andrew Suber on Sound Off! : Thank you, Paula. Say hi to Tony, Maria and the rugrats for me when you get the chance.
• Andrew Suber on Sound Off! : I give newspapers their due… classified ads are still useful in small geographic markets because everyone reads them. People expect online classifieds to...
• Anonymous on Sound Off! : Thank God we finally have a real bar in Alpine. The Saddle Club ROCKS!!
• PAULA on Sound Off! : THANKS ANDREW FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK . I LOVE ALL THE INTRESTING INFO YOU POST AND PEOPLES LIKES AND DISLIKE. MY MY HOW LUCKY WE ALL ARE JUST TO BE ABLE TO DISAGREE...
• Anonymous on Sound Off! : You should have job openings listed on here somewhere Andrew. I’ve been looking for a job in the area for a year now and it’s nearly impossible to find...
• Andrew Suber on ADVERTISING : The average wage here is low.
• Andrew Suber on Sound Off! : Thank you for the feedback.
• Yamnonamous on Sound Off! : West Texas Weekly should have a Calendar of events going on in West Texas at all times! I don’t have any central place to find out what’s going on,...
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[Big Bend Live Music is a feature brought to you by Matt Hodges, Contributing Editor Music. If you have a gig you'd like to share with the world, email him at matt.hodges@live.com]
Hey there West Texas Weekly readers! Things are still a little light on the music front as the SRSU school year starts though there is much promise to come. Six time Grammy Award winning Asleep at the Wheel will be playing at the Granada TheaterOctober 15th so make sure you purchase your tickets in advance to make sure you don’t miss it!
Enjoy a song that has been stuck in my head for the last week or so:
Taos – Black and white photos of Paris, Roma, and Mostar hang on the wall at a café in Taos. Bumper stickers for sale; “Round Up Monsanto”, “Defy Corporate Domination”. I look for “Re-Wolf Texas” but can’t find it. Salutations; “Have a nice day” “Thank yooooou,” punctuate the steady coffee drinking crowd where bicycles, talk of recipes, auras and carbon credits converge. A nest of tatterdemalions huddle at a corner table giving off egalitarian gas while pony-tailed execs wait in line. A huge Screw Bean Mesquite in full pod canopy shades the sidewalk, cars whirl by, mostly Subarus.
There are no edges in Taos. All things architectural are rounded; vigas, peripets, walls, — curvy streets and even the people, easy going.
Taos is a town of 25,000 people high in the mountains, nestled between Kit Carson National Forest, the Rio Grande Gorge, the Pueblo Indian Reservation and a sprawling community of Earth Ships on the high plains to the west.
A dude and his date drive up in a new Camaro with Texas plates. “Where can you get some breakfast around here?”
I point, “Try that Middle Eastern restaurant.”
“Whadda they got?”
“Cous-cous, hummus, babba ganosh”
He studies me. “We don’t do that,” he says and drives away.
My new friend Judd tells me everybody who works in Taos, works at a restaurant. But dentist Rivera tells me trustafarians rule.
If you got the bucks, Sid’s grocery is a good place to buy chai and organic figs and Patchouli oil and red fillets of salmon. Rural NM is another story, some of the town grocers there make Pueblo Marfa look HEBish.
There’s a city library, an alternative energy library, and at the University of New Mexico campus another library, sporting brochures of college courses at the front door. Where else can you get 3 hours of college credit for Intro to Fly Fishing or Balinese Traditional Massage or the History of Moroccan Cuisine?
We drive west out of Taos. A government billboard challenges smokers to get the patch – free and on the state. Quit if you can and we’ll help out.
There’s a different style to New Mexico, and the long serene stretches of road there, not unlike west Texas except they’re not in Texas, makes it a good place to turn-off the Texas state of mind and contemplate statehood ie check out the groove of another place.
Durango – The big news in Colorado, from lack of anything else I guess is marijuana. The Nation’s first state to allow legally prescribed weed to qualifying medical patients continues to be argued publically. Headlines in the Dove Creek Gazette (pop, 263) this week was an editorial from a medical doctor in Durango who was sermonizing about “fly by night” doctors for prescribing medical marijuana to anyone who could pay the 180 dollar office visit fee.
This got me to thinking and checking my wallet as well.
“What exactly are your symptoms?”
“Well, I think my perspective is tilting unreasonable.”
The doctor’s eyebrow quirks. “That’s abstract. Perhaps you need a psychiatrist.”
“I tried that and that’s when the tilting started.”
“I need something physical, Mr. ah, Glover. Do you have any physical symptoms?”
“Well, sometimes I’m shy around my wife.”
“You mean you have problems getting an erection?”
“Well no, that’s not really the problem.”
“What do you mean ‘shy’?”
“Sometimes I can’t look at her without grinning.”
He rubs the tip of his nose then says, “I need a physical condition to treat you with marijuana. “Headaches, cramps, scratching, have you ever had a disease?”
“I had hysteria before my first communion.”
“You’re not very funny,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Listen I’m a busy person. Either you have a physical symptom that can be treated with marijuana or not.” He looks in the window behind me, his eyes distant. “You wear glasses, right? Any abnormal vision, dots, colorations, dizziness, blurring?”
“No, not really.”
“What about breathing, chest pain, erratic pulse – any abnormalities there?”
“No.”
“High blood pressure, flushing of the face, diarrhea, muscle aches, numbness of the limbs?”
“No.”
“You’re not from around here, are you?”
“No.”
“You have to be a citizen of Colorado to qualify for medical marijuana.”
“Well I just moved here. My trailer’s down there in the parking lot.”
”Are you a government agent?”
“No”
“Have you ever had nausea?”
“No”
“Have you ever drank too much at a party and vomited?”
“Well sure, hasn’t everybody?”
He studied me again, then took a pen and scribbled on a pad.
“Take this to the receptionist and pay on the way out.”
Well, as you can see it’s not that easy to qualify.
[Recommend a West Texas web resource by emailing the editor at andrewsuber@hotmail.com or commenting on this post.]
The TXDoT tracker can show you all of the progress for TXDoT projects going on in your county. Below is the information for re-surfacing project going on in Alpine now, for instance. Here are the projects in Presidio County. Use this to plan road trips or see how efficaciously your tax dollars are being used by private contractors.
Bad news, Alpine residents, that infernal construction downtown on the sidewalks is only %15 done.
Current TxDOT Projects: Brewster County
Data updated on: 7/07/2010 12:59PM
Project Summary
Project ID
002011046
TxDOT District
El Paso
County Name
Brewster
Funding Status
Funded
Highway
US 67
Project Length
7.921 Miles
Project Type
Economic Stimulus
Bid Date
2009-May
Work From
MOSLEY LANE
Low Bid Amount
$2,377,158.87
Work To
7.921 MI W OF MOSLEY_LANE
Description
RESURFACE ROADWAY
Contact Information
TxDOT Contact
Mark Longenbaugh, P.E.
Phone:
(915) 790-4240
Construction Company
JONES BROS. DIRT & PAVING CONTRACTORS, INC.
Project Development Milestones
Start Design
Design Submittal
Receive Environmental Clearance
Utility Coordination
Right of Way Coordination
Project Ready to Bid
30% Complete
60% Complete
100% Complete
Target Date
02/2009
03/2009
03/2009
03/2009
04/2009
04/2009
Actual Date
02/2009
02/2009
02/2009
02/2009
02/2009
03/2009
Project Construction Information
Notice to Proceed Date
Work Begin Date
Total Project Days
Total Days Charged
Percentage of Time Used
Percentage of Project Complete
06/23/2009
08/03/2009
60
49
81.67 %
100.06 %
Budget Information
Project Cost
Original Budget
Current Estimate
Amount Paid to Date
Project Engineering
$0.00
$116,480.78
$8,020.74
Construction
$0.00
$3,169,263.19
$2,129,076.23
Construction Engineering
$0.00
$142,629.53
$58,786.97
Contingency
$0.00
$166,401.12
Indirect
$0.00
$182,090.37
Total Cost
$0.00
$3,776,864.99
$2,195,883.94
- Construction cost is the amount on this project that is either completely or partially paid through Economic Stimulus funding
[The Last Patriot is a right-wing extremist from Fort Davis, Texas. His opinions are generally in direct opposition to those of West Texas Weekly's editorial staff.]
SHAME SHAME SHAME, ALL WOMEN SEDUCED INTO WORLDLINESS BY THE WHORE OF BABYLON!!!
Finally, there is SOME REAL ROCK MUSIC ABOUT REAL ISSUES.
I don’t get all them glam rock fellers wearing lipstick and hairspray and playing checkerboard guitars.
Brother Steve Winter makes a good point about the presence of women in the Church WHILE WAILING ON THAT GITBOX LIKE A CHAMPION. 34 let the women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as also saith the law. 35 And if they would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home: for it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church.
Hosanna and Amen to you Brother Winter, we need more like you!!!
Attn all Apostolics! This is a video studio version of the song Shame Shame Shame
(See 1 Corinthians 14:34-35) that we did wearing robes for you.
Philip Winter (drums) and Steve Winter guitar and vocals (singin’).
Special thanks to Bobo on bass, Hayseed on guitar and especially the Dept of Corrections for allowing them to do this as part of work release.
FREE THE HUTARI17– CHRISTIAN PHALANX FOR GOD AND COUNTRY
[Big Bend Live Music is a feature brought to you by Matt Hodges, Contributing Editor Music. If you have a gig you'd like to share with the world, email him at matt.hodges@live.com]
Just a little something from your Guru of the Guitar to keep the ball rollin’. Last week I hit you guys with a little classic Cooper. Similar theme this week, but with a twist. The Sul Ross students only have so much longer to sing along with this one:
[Big Bend Live Music is a feature brought to you by Matt Hodges, Contributing Editor Music. If you have a gig you'd like to share with the world, email him at matt.hodges@live.com]
Hey everyone, Just in case you needed a reminder, if you haven’t been out catching the local live music scene you’ve missed some great stuff already this year. Hopefully these recap videos will help you quit making excuses for not enjoying what the hard working local musicians and venue owners have been providing.
First up we have a video from when David Lowery and Johnny Hickman of Cracker came down and played an unforgettable set:
Next we have Donkey Parade, performing a cover of one of my personal favorite Toadies tunes – Away:
And last, but certainly not least, we have Adrian from Adrian and the Sickness (Austin, TX based all girl punk/hard rock band) shredding a little bit o’ the Flight of the Bumblebee on her Angus Young style SG:
Hope you enjoy the videos, and don’t forget that you can post any shows I miss or even videos you’ve made yourself, your local Big Bend band’s website or any music related discussion in the comments section for this post. Keep on rockin’ in the free world! Peace, I’m out!
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[Submit your press releases (formatted in a plain text file, please) for non-commercial events to andrewsuber@hotmail.com.]
The 10th annual Big Bend Ranch Rodeo is scheduled this weekend — Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 12-14 — at the SALE Arena at Sul Ross State University, featuring three days of non-stop action.
The weekend begins at 9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, with a SHOT (Stock Horse of Texas) Clinic at the SALE Arena.
The RCHA cutting competition gets under way at 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 13, at the o6 Flats Arena, and that evening brings the first of two performances of the rodeo at 7 p.m. Read More on this year’s Big Bend Ranch Rodeo
It was with great joy and pride that I saw my old boss Mike Perry’s new website: Alpine Daily Planet.
Mr. Perry has had a great positive influence on me. I think, in some strange way, I had a similar influence on him. When he was editor of the Alpine Avalanche after I had left, we had a very interesting meeting about the clunky and archaic web design that the Avalanche still has. The biggest offenders? Pop-ups, advertisements that are illegible, cramped small jpegs, irrelevant syndicated content, and ads that go on after the content has stopped.
Of course, because the Alpine Avalanche is not owned locally, each of their papers has the same terrible cookie cutter web design. Mr. Perry couldn’t do anything about it.
The Avalanche asked for Mr. Perry’s resignation recently due to some health problems that he was having. I was very disappointed by that. To me, it seems mighty stingy and petty to fire someone for something they can’t help.
This cloud has a silver lining, though, Mr. Perry is now as prolific as ever on the Alpine Daily Planet. I’ve also asked him to be the Contributing Editor Politics for my humble rag that you are perusing on your iPad.
Here’s Mike Perry’s description of what he does at his new website:
A daily look at Far West Texas through one man’s eyes. This news magazine is being set up as a nonprofit company. It is in no way meant to compete with our fine local newspapers. I’ll look daily at what interests me and comment as the mood strikes. Some of what I have to say will be amusing (at least to me), some will be serious, some will be rumor control, some will be on sports, some will be on politics. And I fervently hope that it all will be interesting. I do not intend to be critical of anyone and you will not find a mean-spirited edge to anything that I write. If you catch me swaying toward that dark side, let me know. I do intend to occasionally ask some serious questions and raise some serious issues.
Did you happen to smell an odor like burning pine leaves throughout the Big Bend? That was a wildfire that destroyed over 500 acres of foliage. It crept through overgrown brush approximately ten miles south of Alpine on 118.
The fires were started by lightning strikes, Tom Santry, Brewster county emergency management coordinator said. The Alpine, Marathon and Fort Davis fire departments battled the fires Saturday. Sunday morning, local officials were awaiting the arrival of Smoke Jumpers from Big Bend National Park to help in the effort. Cars lined the shoulder of 118 watching the blaze.
In the end, our copious summer rains extinguished the blaze.
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[Submit your press releases (formatted in a plain text file, please) for non-commercial events to andrewsuber@hotmail.com.]
MARFA – Wildlife management will be the topic of a free seminar to be conducted by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service from 8 a.m. until 4:15 p.m. Sept. 1 in Marfa’s Paisano Hotel Ballroom.
“Wildlife plays a big part in the economics and culture of far West Texas,” said Jesse Schneider, AgriLife Extension agent in Presidio County. “It’s something we put great value in and strive to preserve. This seminar is meant to help our area’s landowners do that by providing them with the latest information available on pronghorn antelope and mule deer, two of our most important game animals.” Click for more…
Is this a case of over-reaction on the part of our neighbors? In my opinion, yes. I don’t think NPR was sufficiently neutral in covering this in this fashion. According to the Texas Tribune, the last person successfully prosecuted for a wrongful death in Hudspeth was Greg Degrate in 2000. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, but he doesn’t sound like a cartel soldier.
Last week, residents held a town-hall meeting in Fort Hancock, Texas — a sleepy agricultural town on the border, about an hour southeast of El Paso, that looks like the bleak set of No Country for Old Men.
A couple hundred people crowded into the grade-school gym to hear a chilling message from Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West.
“You farmers, I’m telling you right now, arm yourselves,” he said. “As they say the old story is, it’s better to be tried by 12 than carried by six. Damn it, I don’t want to see six people carrying you.”
His warning was prompted by the killing of the Arizona rancher, and the spiraling violence a couple of miles away in Mexico in a region known as the Valley of Juarez. The notorious smuggling territory is being fought over by the Sinaloa and the Juarez cartels.
“One of the men that works for me had five people killed in front of his house over there [in Mexico] this past weekend,” says Curtis Carr, who is a farmer and county commissioner. “And he’s moving his family over here this week. It’s serious over there. Whether or not it’s gonna spill over here, I don’t know.”
“The camp meetings were begun in 1890 by William Benjamin Bloys, a Presbyterian home missionary serving in Fort Davis. Because the ranches of the region were widely separated by vast, uninhabited areas, it was virtually impossible for frontier families to worship with their neighbors and friends. Bloys rode to many of the outlying ranches from Fort Davis, but he was rarely able to minister to the whole community at one time. In October 1890, while visiting the family of John Z. Means, Bloys devised a plan to bring local families together annually for religious services. An old-style camp meeting was organized, and on October 10, 1890, forty-three people gathered in Skillman’s Grove for the first time. The two-day meeting included Bible instruction and sermons as well as a great deal of socializing. The meetings were first held under a brush arbor and then for many years in a canvas tent. A permanent tabernacle was built in 1912 and expanded as attendance grew. It still serves as the central meeting place. As more people attended the camp meetings, the camp was divided into six areas where families gathered and ate. These evolved into the six eating sheds that now feed the entire camp. Cooking is still done ranch-style on open fires. The average number attending was more than 3,000 by 1988.”
[Contact the Editor at andrewsuber@hotmail.com or call at 432 294 2549 to have your restaurant featured in Big Bend Dining.]
We are not elitist or snobbish here at West Texas Weekly. If anything, I would rather have a fresh meal out al fresco from a spic-and-span dining truck than be stuck in some dank, over-priced fern bar. The Big Bend is starting to assemble a fleet of excellent, inexpensive mobile dining experiences. I am proud to say that Cow Dog has joined that fleet.
My sampling order today went back to basics: a small Hangover, small Mexican, small German, Zapp’s Jalapeno potato chips and a Dr. Pepper for $12.50. This is a lot of food; a small dog, chips and a drink is a substantial lunch. I thought the Mexican (see above) was the best of the bunch: fresh home-made pico de gallo, sharp cheddar, bacon, mayo and ketchup on a plump Hebrew National. This is the hot dog style in Arizona and Sonora state, Mexico. The fresh jalapeno is offset by the coolness of the mayo.
The Hangover featured some pretty tasty homemade chili and fritos in addition to bacon and cheese. I was not bowled over by the German; a little too much kraut for my taste. These are minor quibbles; the key to this dining experience is a plump, high quality frank fried up on the grill for a bit of “bite” and a fresh, soft bun toasted with a hint of margarine.
Local artist Alan Vannoy runs this operation. You can find Cow Dog at the Big Bend Thrift store, 104 W Avenue A, Alpine, Texas on Wed-Sat. lunchtimes. He’s also at the Railroad Blues on Saturday nights.
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