Chicken Shit Makes You A Winner

You are hollering. Loud. A simple number. 18. Over and over. Your eyes are fixed on a number grid. You are not alone, there are 50 others screaming numbers; just not yours. Some try it with "here, here,...." No, you are not in Las Vegas at a roulette table, you are cramped around a wire cage west of San Antonio, in Big T's Roadhouse and you watch a chicken strut the grid. Finally, relief is here, the chicken sets a wet one on a number and that number wins. Wins, wins big, the whole pot.

That's how you experience "Chicken Shit Bingo." What started out at carnivals under tents, is still played in the country. Also known as "Chicken Drop" it actually has universal appeal, in the Alps furry cows do it on a gridded meadow, they call it "Cow Patty Bingo." But back to the fowl in St. Hedwig, where Big T's draws a big crowd every Sunday.

Whenever the band takes a break people rush to the pool table covered in a randomly numbered and gridded plywood top with a chicken wire cage on top of it. Two dollars gets you in and gives you "your number." And then the protagonist of the afternoon arrives. Shiny feathers, a comb reaching the sky. He knows it's his 15 minutes of fame to make you a loser or a winner.






Normally the 15 minutes get cut short - a mild laxative helps to keep the attention span at bay. Originally brought into Austin by Country musician Dale Watson, the by now worldwide famous Chicken droppings event, started around 2000 in Ginny Kalmbach's bar, "Ginny's Little Longhorn." She retired in 2013, new owner Dale and part of his family took over. Dale also bought Big T's in St. Hedwig. By now Dale left the central Texas area, sold his interest in both bars and moved to Memphis. So I assume there soon will be a "Chicken Shit Bingo" - maybe at Graceland? But the tradition in Austin and St. Hedwig goes on, after church and lunch you spend the afternoon at the bar, having a couple of cold ones and scream your numbers.

And when relief comes, I heard more than one patron shout "shit," not to encourage the barnyard fowl, but realizing that they just lost. 5 won the pot, 18 the sneer. Glad there is another round of playing the next time the band takes a break. Let's get a beer and dance to the band like the dickens to the West Texas Waltz.

A Whole New World - At The India Market

Down the street a new India Market opened a couple of weeks ago, so we had to check it out.

Besides all the offerings (some obviously quite new to me) I was really impressed with the natural and artificial light-flow in the new building.

Unfortunately my ignorance is quite high when it comes to the different types of flours being offered; as a cook and baker, (visit my blog - Where In The Hell Is Carlton - for recipes) I love to make my own breads. Maybe some reader may enlighten me, what to use. Being raised in Europe where slightly different flours may go for different breads, the flours generally offered in US stores are of the "all purpose" variety.

A great plus was to actually find a store which has pastry dough (or puff pastry - mille feuille) on sale, which upto now was only available seasonally at Trader Joe's over the Holidays.

Nobody Too Small To Blow A Horn

I discovered this little feller last weekend at the State Fair of Texas. Obviously he had won this shiny metal toy trumpet and had to check it out right at the Fair. Not having any mutes (cup, harmon, plunger) with him, he just stuck his hand into the bell to alter his sound. While the sound it produces is not the same as a professional trumpet, he doesn't seem to care. I hope he soon gets a real trumpet in some years I ran again into him and he's playing with an orchestra or leading his own band, as a famous jazz musician.

Round And Round It Goes

My wife and I visited the State Fair of Texas this weekend. What a great cornucopia of events, products, rides and yes tons of fried foods. Even though we stayed there all day, I can't wait till next year's event is coming to go shoot some more, maybe with a season pass to be there several nights, when all the lights and sounds are in full swing.

This shot is also featured in my ClickASnap, Rabadaba, 8App & Flii.by portfolios and in my Niume photography sphere blog.

Keep Cool

There's a joke in Texas about the seasons, that the Lonestar state basically has two - a hot summer and a mild summer. Mild meaning, temperatures into the 80s (30 C) and that can actually happen year round. I remember days in the middle of "winter" as in January, where people would try to get comfortable in their swim suits.

And yes it can get scorching hot - where it's almost mandated to stay indoors while the AC is buzzing, as the quicksilver raises well into the 100s (>38 C). Not too long ago, we actually broke a record in Austin, where we had over 60 days of 100+ degree weather. Just a tad too hot to do outdoor chores, like digging a hole, spreading dirt.

This shot and others are available for publication through photo agency, Dispatch Press Images, DPI. It is also featured in my ClickASnap portfolio and in my Niume photo sphere blog.

Tip Toeing (Thru) The Tulips

A Dutchman came to Texas and missed his tulips so much, that he decided to grow his own and start the Texas Tulip Farm. Situated in North Texas near Pilot Point (about an hour north of the DFW area) if offers an amazing sight of a huge variety of the flowers not native to the Lonestar State.

During blooming season, late February to end of March, try to make it out on a weekday if you can. Saturday and Sundays can be quite populated and you may have to wait in line to park and get in. They charge $ 2.50 a head to get and then you can stroll for hours between the different beds.

It's also a great opportunity to take family pictures, put please don't put your children in the middle of the tulip beds and therefore crushing the flowers. Actually this is not an amusement park and children should be kept on a "leash." Also don't show up in your stilettos, it's a farm, so the ground is uneven, wear rugged pants so you can actually kneel down in the dirt if you want to take close up shots.

You can take (cut, or hand pick) tulips home, but at a rather steep price. To make your tulips last, pick them while they are still closed, they will last much longer at home and  will give you enjoyment for a couple of weeks.

This was the first year we went there and I know I want to go back next spring, tip toeing not thru but next to the tulips.

Sources: texas-tulips.com
This shot and others are available for publication through photo agency, Dispatch Press Images, DPI. It is also featured in my ClickASnap portfolio and in my Niume photo sphere blog.

Meeting

As urban communities grow more and more impersonal, where you hardly know your neighbour anymore, it's important to have public spaces where you can convene with other people and exchange more than pleasantries and simple hello.

Theaters, music halls, galleries etc. are great places to expand the horizon not only culturally, but also in a sense of community and meeting space.

The Courtyard Theater in Plano is such a place. Their offering of a Texas Music Series, in a seated, smoke free, listening environment helps to bring together all shapes of the community, who certainly share one thing in common - the admiration of the artist that invited them that night.

Lovely renovated from an old gym into a theater venue, it's quite dazzling. Reflecting the old agricultural background of the small town Plano, which by now is an bustling urban suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, with the use of aluminum siding with normally frames a Wilson livestock trailer. It combines old with new, and gives the whole room ample space to breath.

In this year's Texas Music Series, there are still two concerts scheduled - singer/songwriter Max Stalling (10/6) and country rockers Confederate Railroad (11/3), latter ones touring on their recently released album "Lucky To Be Alive" with a re-recording, a 20th anniversary version of their hit, the Chris Wall penned "Trashy Women." Besides music they also try to get a theater company into the building to offer the public a great variety of cultural events, who in end bring the people back together to meet.

Sources: plano.gov, wilsontrailer.com, maxstalling.com, confederaterailroad.net
This shot and others are available for publication through photo agency, Dispatch Press Images, DPI. It is also featured in my ClickASnap portfolio and in my Niume photo sphere blog.

The Big Illusion .

"To me, beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances." (Oscar Wilde - The Picture of Dorian Gray -1891)

A great provoking (and in the summary of the book sarcastic) paradox of Wilde, but spoken at a point where Dorian needs be sold in to believing in the never ending beauty and youth by Lord Henry.

So have we as a society arrived at the point (roughly 125 years after that quote) where commerce plays the role of Lord Henry on a daily basis and tries to seduce us, into the false world of artificial appearances while denying the community, the reality of the true life cycle.

Well if we can stay "Forever 21." Unfortunately working long term on three times 21, I have not met anybody, that got stuck at that age. I don't want to be 21 anymore. I would miss all my highs and lows, all my successes and failures - that so lovely frame our lives. And I hope there will be more highs and lows to come for a long time - even so it's not indefinite.









Sources: "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (Oscar Wilde).
These two shots and others of mine are available for publication  through a photo agency, Dispatch Press Images, DPI. The pictures are also featured in my ClickASnap portfolio and in my Niume blog.

Beat The Drum Slowly

Pow Wow - Austin 2014

Pow Wows are the Native American people’s way of meeting together, to join in dancing, singing, visiting, renewing old friendships, and making new ones.  This is a time method to renew Native American culture and preserve the rich heritage of American Indians.

A drum circle is as important as the singers and dancers to pass on the traditions; nt only to Native American people, but to everybody who likes to attend a Pow Wow. It's more than an educational experience, it's very spiritual and may open some hearts and minds.

So if you want to go on the Pow Wow trail or just visit one in your town or find the closest to where your are at, visit www.powwows.com

Sources: www.powwows.com
This shot as well as others are available for publication through the photo agency, Dispatch Press Images, DPI. This photo can also be found in my ClickASnap portfolio or in my Niume Blog.

On The Way

You never know when you're gonna need them. This Emergency Medical Technicians (or EMTs for short) have probably one of the most demanding jobs there is. Not only do they have to respond quickly, they also have to decide quickly how they can help with medical issues, traumatic injuries and accident scenes.

As a survivor a bad motorcycle accident I will always be in debt to the EMTs who were able to "ship" me as fast as possible to the next hospital, where I spent the next 13 weeks.

So pay attention, get off your freaking cell phone, while you drive and get out of the way, so they can tend to the person who needs most. The next time it might be you, waiting for an ambulance to show up. And sometimes it may only be minutes deciding if you live or not.

This and other images are mine, are available for publication through Dispatch Press Images, a photo agency.

Made It Clean

"I told you, I made the shot, clean. No I did not touch the four ball on the way to the hole." The statement is imagined but it goes well with image. That said I feel comfortable and love to shoot in bars, there is something special about it.

And the only way to improve your aim and your shooting in pool, is HAMB - Hit a Million Balls. That said, I'm up to play next.

This and other shots of mine are available for publication through Dispatch Press Images.

Around White Rock Lake - Dallas

With cooler temperatures in the 80's (around 30C), after the sweltering summer heat, people are starting to come out again and to enjoy a leisurely Sunday. Biking around "White Rock Lake" in Dallas. The trail around the lake is 9.33 miles (15km) long and also serves for the White Rock Marathon, a qualifier for the more famous Boston race.

If not biking, you can stroll along the lake and find a variety of flora and fauna to explore. Basically a water reservoir in the middle of the metroplex this place also offers casual fun, not just on Sundays.

This and other shots of mine are available for publication through Dispatch Press Images.

MOB Ties? Jack Ruby Ate Here! - Campisi's In Dallas

Sinatra and the rat pack on the jukebox. Jack Ruby ate here the night before John F. Kennedy was shot. It's dark and it's rumored to be a MOB hangout of old. Great-great granddaughter Amber appeared as a Playboy centerfold.

Yes, you are at Campisi's Egyptian Restaurant in Dallas.

I tried to give this place a dark look, as in "film noir" to enhance the mystery of Campisi's Egyptian Restaurant on Mockingbird.

For a full article (including a food review) about Campisi's please visit my other more food & travel oriented blog "Where In The Hell Is Carlton, Texas?"
This and other shots of mine are available for publication through Dispatch Press Images.

Howdy Y'All

Close to Lyndon B. Johnson's birth place Stonewall, is a small ghost town called Albert. Once a town with a post office (1877 - 86) it's now unincorporated. You may have heard the name of Albert because in 2007 it was up for sale on eBay, according to a CBS/AP article it wasn't the first town for sale on the internet bidding site. 

According to the towns own website it was originally called Martinsburg but changed name to Albert, when "Albert Luckenbach" (aka August Engel) and his sister Minnie (or Sophie) sold the general store in Luckenbach and moved in 1892 20 miles east to Martinsburg and renamed the town Albert. The renovated dancehall, a new watering hole and pecan and peach trees were bought in 2009 by Easley family who still run the town. 

The dancehall still holds concerts and dances and the watering hole is open Wednesdays through Sundays and also offers on a smaller scale live music entertainment. 

Friendly people and y'all are greeted with a fine "Howdy Y'All"  

This shot and other photography of mine are available through Dispatch Press Images for publication.

Sources: CBS/AP, AlbertTexas.com

Dreamin' About All Them Tools

I hate malls. I think these consumer palaces are responsible, besides the big box stores, in destroying or at least eliminating every single Mom & Pop store there is, or bettter there was.  
So normally I just tag along with my cameras, always trying to find something to shoot.

Well this was just to precious, this senior taking a nap in front of the Sears store, not at least bothered by the people meandering and rummaging around him. He probably hates malls as much as I do. Or he may have had a tool overload (as in a sugar overload) that mad him take a nap and dream about all the tools he could buy and take home to do his projects.

Daily Life. Sleep and dream well.

This shot and other photography of mine are available through Dispatch Press Images for publication.

In Line At The Convenience Store

Standing in line, waiting. It suddenly hit me, the anonymity of convenience. What used to be a meeting point, and everybody knew at least somebody, has become just another place you visit. A place to make a brief deal. To satisfy your urges. Your addictions. Sugar. Coffee To Go. Nicotine. Alcohol. On the spur of the moment instant satisfaction is guaranteed.
But where are the stories, where is the human interaction. Shouldn't I be writing a book about the four lives reflecting so many different truths, hopes and feelings in this store?

I hope that pictures captures part of this.

These shots and other photography of mine are available through Dispatch Press Images for publication.

Technology Training

The gossip factory is working overtime. Will the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus see the light of day on 9/7, will CEO Tim Cook lift the veil, what about the design and all the features. Leaks are already talking about a dual-camera, a new operating system IOS 10 with 75 new features and changes. And if you're lost you will have to go back to training to use tomorrow's technology today.

These shots and other photography of mine are available through Dispatch Press Images for publication.