Granger

On Sunday we drove out to a small farming town named Granger. A colleague of mine at work invited me to a picnic at a place called Wilson H. Fox Park.

The town of Granger (as of the last census) has a population of 1299. We saw farms (and cows) everywhere. There was also a pretty nice lake where you could swim, fish, or go kayaking.

It took about an hour to drive out there, and it was fun, but not a place I'm likely to go back to. My friend David in Taiwan wrote to me, and told me that the nicest place to go in Texas would be Corpus Christi.

Sure, I'd love to go to Corpus Christi, if it weren't about 5 hours away from here. We're right in the middle of Texas, so farms and lakes are pretty much all we have close by.

(Pictures: A nice view from the park. 2. The babies enjoying the flowers. 3. My co-worker Lourdes and her son cooking on the BBQ. 4. A view of the lake. 5. Christy and Kyle. 6. One more view of the lake.)

The Dr Pepper Museum

The Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas is considered a historical landmark, but unless you’re a real Dr. Pepper fanatic (like my friend David in Taiwan), you probably won’t find this place to be all that interesting (and at $7.00 a person, it’s a bit pricey for what is essentially a 45 minute visit.)

Over 3 floors, you’ll learn a lot about the history of Dr. Pepper (and the soda industry in general.) Some of it was interesting, some of it wasn’t. I wasn’t really sure why they had a display of clocks telling you the time in other parts of the world (like Bagdhad). What does this have to do with soda?

There are many old cans and vending machines on display. The one I liked was a pre-WWII vending machine, which was run on the “honor system”, meaning that you can take a Dr. Pepper, and they trust you to put in some money after you take it. I can see why this wasn’t around for very long.

The other part I found somewhat interesting was a display of all the Dr. Pepper clones, including Mr. Pibb, and Dr. B. There are literally dozens of sodas trying to copy Dr. Pepper.

Once you get to the third and final floor of the museum, there isn’t much left that’s of any interest. There was a small theatre showing never-ending commercials for Dr. Pepper, and a memorial to “Foots” Clements, the Chief Operating Officer of Dr. Pepper.

When you’re finished, you can go to their old-fashioned soda fountain and get an old style Dr. Pepper with sugar cane instead of corn syrup. This tasted a lot better than the canned soda, I thought.

So, overall, it wasn’t really worth the 90 minute drive to get there, but thankfully we also were able to visit the Cameron Park Zoo on the same day. I wouldn’t go to this museum again unless a friend of mine (ie David) came out to visit me and insisted we go there.

(Pictures: The family explores the Dr Pepper Museum)

Waco

On Sunday, we drove about 90 minutes north of Austin to a city called Waco. Waco probably wouldn't be known by anyone outside of Texas were it not for the "Waco Siege" in 1993, where the US government raided the compound of David Koresh, a religious fanatic who thought he was the "final prophet." Around 74 people died in the raid, including 21 children.

We didn't go there to see the site of the massacre. I wasn't even sure where it was, but I had read somewhere that nothing was left but a plaque in remembrance of the dead. We went to check out the famous "Dr Pepper Museum" and the "Cameron Park Zoo"

As we drove through downtown to the museum, I was surprised at how completely dead it was. I think we saw one person on a street corner, and that was it. It was a ghost town. I was kind of surprised to read that rock star Ted Nugent resides in Waco. This was by no means a bustling city. I think the thing I'll remember most about my trip to Waco is that for some odd, unexplainable reason, I was bitten by fire ants as I was walking to a Bank of America to take out some money from an ATM machine. Where the hell these fire ants came from, I have no idea, but they bit my toes and it hurt like hell.

The museum was okay (I'll have pictures and a brief story about that in the next blog). Cameron Park Zoo was really nice. It totally blows away the Austin Zoo. It wasn't too big and crowded like the LA or San Diego Zoo, and it wasn't too small like Austin's. Why the capital of Texas can't have a decent zoo, I have no idea. Still, unlike Ted Nugent, I have no desire to reside in Waco. It was fun while we were there (except for the ants), but would I go back? Probably not.

(Pictures: 1. The Waco county courthouse. 2. The Dr Pepper building next to the museum. 3. The street in downtown Waco where I was bitten by fire ants. 4. The "Alico" building. 5. Sara at the Cameron Park Zoo. 6. Giraffes at the zoo.)

More Texas Idiocy

I recently received confirmation that I am now a registered voter in the state of Texas. It took a while. I thought I was registered to vote months ago, long before the presidential election in November. Turns out I wasn't, so I registered again.

As a newly registered voter of Texas, one of the first things I'd like to do is vote against this fool who is the governor, Rick Perry.

It seems that our governor would like to secede from the United States. (you can read an article about it here): http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/04/17/0417gop.html

Excuse me, but wasn't this what the Civil War was all about? And didn't the secessionists already lose this fight?

Texas is already a laughing-stock to much of the country. Late night talk show hosts like Jay Leno frequently put down Texas, and I even saw a recent episode of "Family Guy" that completely roasted this gun-loving state. There are people here who want to allow guns in schools and churches, if you can believe that. It wouldn't surprise me if they tried to pass a law forcing every resident to own a gun, or be fined! That's how backwards it can be here, and Governor Rick Perry isn't helping the image of Texas one bit.

If there's one positive side to all of this, it's that the people of Texas don't approve of what the Governor is spouting. Thankfully, 75% of Texans disagree with him.

The gun issue, though, is another matter. I work in a hospital that has a sign displayed outside that says (basically) "No Guns Allowed." I see this sign a lot, and it really irks some people that they can't bring their guns to whatever public building they want to go to.

As long as Texas lawmakers and politicians keep up this kind of behavior; trying to turn this state into its own country known as "The Republic of Texas", and wanting guns in the hands of every man, woman, and child, I will never accept this place as my home. I don't think I'll ever "love" Texas in its current state. And if people tell me "Love it or leave it" then I'd be glad to pack my bags.

(Picture: Governor Rick "Secessionist" Perry)

Asian People, Change Your Names!

I was reading the local Austin newspaper recently, and I read a story about a Texas lawmaker, Betty Brown, who is suggesting that Asian people change their names to make it "easier for Americans to deal with."

Here's a link to the article online:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6365320.html

Here is her actual quote:

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?

“Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”

The Asian community, naturally, is furious over these comments. But, in a way, it's kind of understandable. I can't tell you how many times my wife's Chinese name is mangled by the local populace. It's just easier to call her "Christy."

Most importantly, the Asians are being hypocrites, because they do the same damn thing to us foreigners when we live in their country. As soon as I got a job in Taiwan, I was required to choose a Chinese name, or else have one chosen for me. Until I got married, I was known by the Chinese government as "KEN-ISH-SHA." That was the name the government gave me. Then, once I got married, I changed my name to "CHEN DA FOO." I adopted my wife's last name of "Chen", and she helped me pick the first name.

Did I want to be known by these ridiculous names? Hell no, but I did it to make it "easier for Chinese people to deal with." Plain and simple.

What goes around, comes around
.

(Picture: Betty Brown, Texas lawmaker who doesn't want to try to pronounce "Chen" or "Wong" anymore)

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Kyle celebrates his 2nd birthday today, April 13th. Just 20 days after Sara's birthday.

Kyle, like Sara, didn't have much of a birthday party, but the four of us still celebrated with a cake and some presents.

We gave Kyle a "Thomas the Tank Engine" train and we took him to his favorite restaurant here in Austin, "Luby's."

I don't know why Luby's is his favorite, but whenever we go there he seems to enjoy eating everything we put in front of his mouth, and he dances in his chair. The waitresses usually give him a balloon, too.

Easter

Yesterday, at the hospital where I work, they had an Easter egg hunt for the children of employees. Since both Sara and Kyle are at that age where they enjoy stuff like that, I decided it might be a fun idea for them to go.

I was right. They loved it.

I can only remember doing this as a child one time in my life. It was at this place called "Apollo Park" in Downey. I must have been around 8 years old, maybe younger. We just ran around picking up Easter eggs, then we counted them, and traded them in for some sort of candy. It was fun.

Since then, my family has never really celebrated Easter, other than my mom giving us some chocolate rabbits (or, in my brothers case, marshmallow "Peeps".)

Easter is one of those bizarre holidays that I had to explain to my students when I was a teacher in Taiwan. They wanted to know how the days when you're supposed to remember the death and resurrection of Christ turned into bunny rabbits and eggs. I honestly have no idea how this happened.

(Pictures: Sara, Kyle, and the Easter Bunny at the Easter Egg Hunt.)

The Boss in Austin!

Last night I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Frank Erwin Center here in Austin. It was the first concert I've been to since 2003, when I saw Simon & Garfunkel at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, before I had left for Taiwan. I had seen Bruce Springsteen in concert before, and this time, just the like the last, it was not disappointing. The guy still knows how to put on an amazing show.

I've probably been to about a hundred concerts since my first one back in 1985. Some of them bring back really good memories, and some bad ones. Some I can't even remember going to. I remember my first concert, which was "Foreigner" back in October of 1985. They were still famous back then, riding high on the success of the single "I Want to Know What Love Is." I remember the show was at Irvine Meadows, and when the first chords of "Feels Like the First Time" came on, I felt a slight chill. It wasn't necessarily because I was in the presence of greatness (as Foreigner certainly is not), but I was having a new experience....a concert!

Over the next 20 years or so, I would see much better bands, even most of the legendary, classic bands I grew up adoring. I saw Pink Floyd (several times), The Rolling Stones, The Who (before John Entwistle died), Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney, U2, Eagles, Elton John, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, Guns N Roses, Rush, Neil Young, and many others, some not so legendary.

I remember the Guns N Roses show pretty well because it was the time when they were the opening act for the Rolling Stones. Before lead singer Axl Rose began the first song, he went into a long rant about how this would be the last show because too many of the band members were on drugs. I remember the Metallica show at the Forum in L.A. It was during the "Black Album" tour and my ex-wife and I were nearly hit by flying chairs. It was almost like being in a controlled riot. U2 was probably one of my least favorite concerts. It was at Dodger Stadium, it was freezing cold, and the sound system sucked. I never want to go to another concert in a baseball or football stadium. They just aren't fun to me in any possible way.

I saw Pink Floyd at a football stadium once. It was the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1989. My only memory of that show was when the band played "Comfortably Numb." The entire football stadium literally became lit up by thousands and thousands of lighters. It was an incredible sight.

This leads me back to the Springsteen show Sunday night. After Bruce played his anthem "Born to Run", and left the stage before the encore, the theater became lit up just like the Pink Floyd show. However, this time it wasn't lighters. It was....illuminated cell phones!

It's amazing how things have changed in the last 20 years. Cell phones have replaced the lighters at concerts now. Whenever a great song comes up, you hold up your cell phone, or iPhone, or whatever electronic gizmo you're carrying. Sign o' the times, people.

The show itself ran 3 hours. Not as long as the marathon shows Bruce used to play in his 80's heyday, but still pretty long for someone his age. He played most of the songs I wanted to hear: Born to Run, Jungleland, Because the Night, Badlands, 10th Avenue Freeze Out, Glory Days, The Promised Land, and even a rarity from his Live 1975-85 album, Seeds.

There was one moment during the show I thought was a bit funny. During a quiet break in the show, he told the story of the first time he and his band came to Texas.

"This was back in 1974." he told the mostly young crowd. "Was anyone in the audience even alive in 1974?"

He noticed a couple of teenagers in the very front row.

"When were you born?" Bruce asked.

"1990." the kid replied.

"1990?? I was already old by then."

Yeah, just another reminder that our musical heroes are getting old.

If I had any gripe about the show, it's that whenever Bruce talks to the audience lately, he acts like he's a preacher in some old time gospel revue, instead of just talking. He didn't always do that in the past. Also, he took the great song "Johnny 99", a stark, acoustic piece on his all-acoustic album "Nebraska", and turned it into a 50's style rocker. I didn't dig that. I also didn't particularly like seeing how much concert T-shirts cost these days. $35 to $40 bucks for a simple T-shirt you can probably buy at any store for $10. That's just insane.

Still, overall it was a fun night, and I should thank my wife for giving me time away from the kids to get out and enjoy myself. Well, whenever Jolin Tsai comes to town, I'll let her go to the show.

(Picture: Bruce in action. For a clip from the show, plus the complete set list in Austin, you can visit www.brucespringsteen.net)

Kyle Video - Slide

One of my favorite videos of Sara is from December, 2006, when she went the wrong way down a slide. You can see it here if you want:

http://kenberglund.blogspot.com/2008/04/sara-video-1-december-2006.html


Yesterday I made a new "slide" video, but this time of Kyle. And this one is pretty funny too.