Still Fighting the Civil War

Somewhere in my formal education I learned, or thought I did, that the question of whether states can secede from the Union had been settled once and for all by the Civil War. Now living in Texas, I realize that many Texans don't think it's as settled a question as I once thought. Even Texas Governor Rick Perry hinted that secession is not out of the question. At an Austin "Tea Party" in April, Perry said:

"When we came in the Union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that. My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot."

A Brainiac Calls Me Goofy

I'll take "Quiz Show Hosts" for $100, please.
A.) This quiz show host said he spent more time
      with Ken Jennings than with his wife.
Q.) Who is Alex Trebek?

You remember Ken Jennings, right? He's the former software engineer whose fifteen minutes of fame stretched to 74 days, the longest winning streak on the long-running television quiz show, Jeopardy!

Jennings wrote about Jeopardy! and trivia buffs in general in a book titled, "Brainiac". I won't say how the lead Brainiac himself has come to call me goofy (if not me, at least my hobbies), because that would require me to go into all sorts of detail defending myself, after which many readers are likely going to nod their heads and say something like, "Yeah, Jennings is right. That's goofy." So my best strategy is to lie low. All I'll say is that it has something to do with a new book Jennings is writing that has a chapter about games using a technology whose acronym is spelled S-P-G backwards. Buy the book. Unless it's goofy. ;-)

License Plates: Bad Design? Or Worst Design?

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People have been spotting evidence of the decline of Western Civilization at least as far back as The Three Stooges. Beginning in the 1970s, disco, punk, rap then hip-hop were decried as the degeneration of music. Today, it's the teabagger protestors who sound the alarm over America's descent into fascism, communism and universal health insurance. My own contribution to this growing body of work is the observation that the decline can be roughly traced in the history of Texas license plates.

The art of license plate design reached its pinnacle in the 1940s with a clean white plate with black numbers. Above the numbers was, simply, the name "TEXAS." Below the numbers was blank. The only decorative touch was a small, tasteful star in the center of the plate. The design was perfect. But good taste can't last forever. Feature creep began in the 1970s, the decade of leisure suits and wide neckties. The star was replaced with a small outline of the familiar shape of Texas. The sesquicentennial year of 1986 saw the introduction of the first slogan below the numbers, the obvious "SESQUICENTENNIAL", soon replaced permanently with "THE LONE STAR STATE". Then a big waving Texas flag was added to the top.

License plate design reached its nadir with the plate containing oil derricks, a cowboy on a horse, the space shuttle, a crescent moon and a landscape silhouette of mountains. It was a design that screamed "designed by committee." I think this excess was deliberate to drive people to buy one of the many specialized plates that began appearing at this time, collegiate plates, military or veteran plates, plates with horned frogs ("Keep Texas Wild"), cartoon dogs and cats ("Animal Friendly") or any of dozens of other designs someone must have said they wanted but later had second thoughts about, as you never see them on cars on the road.

Now, in 2009, yet another new design is appearing on Texas roads. This design was selected by an Internet poll, giving cover to the responsible officials at TxDOT ("Don't blame us, the public likes it"). Thankfully, the space shuttle and oil derricks and cowboy are gone. The silhouette of mountains is still there, although at first glance the blue tint makes the mountains look more like swelling seas. Across the top are swaths of blue and red that look like a kindergartner's crayon scrawls after having gone through the washing machine. If you recently took advantage of the government's "cash for clunkers" program, be warned that when the dealer puts this new license plate on your new car, it's halfway to clunker status itself.

The new design adds a seventh digit to the license number, allowing for billions of unique license plate numbers. That means this design could be with us for a very long time. Bad taste can't last forever, can it?

(Hat tip to Wick Allison.)

Great Fountain Plaza Festival - Rain or Shine

From 200909 Fountain Plaza Festival

The heavy rains didn't stop the fun at Richardson's Great Fountain Plaza Festival. Events simply moved indoors, including games, activities, animals, live entertainment and the dozens of booths and tables for everything from A (Altrusa) to Z (ZumbaDallas). Ellen was there with the League of Women Voters of Richardson facilitating voter registration and informing voters about the November 3rd election and the Texas constitutional amendments on the ballot. The League can always use new volunteers. Consider joining.

See more photos from the festival here.

Faded Photographs, Indelible Memories

From Genealogy

"Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, a time of confidences
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories; They're all that's left you"

-- Paul Simon, 1968