The Best Burger Contest at DFW.com

DFW.com is having a best hamburger contest. I really never tire of the debate. Not that I pay that much attention to the winner. As they say, my mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts.

If you have visited all the best burger places in Fort Worth, you have your favorite. As do I. As does everyone, and that is as it should be.

Mine is still Kinkaid's, which has something to do with the ease of ordering, the location, the seating, the price, etc. I just like the way the place works and I always get a good burger.

I need to try the Love Shack burger with the egg. That looks good.

My favorite in the Metroplex will always be Coppell Deli. Their double burger is unbelievable.

If you are interested in voting:
http://www.dfw.com/118

It's Summertime, and that means . . .

Baseball. . . the great game.



At some point every summer, when the heat rises to a certain level and the smell of a fresh mown lawn blows my way, I think of baseball.

The game of summer. The game of skill, and strategy, and luck, and endurance. The game of failure.

The slow moving game with occasional seconds of excitement. Like life, itself.

I think of beer and hot dogs and mustard and peanuts. Of Col'beer here, Cooolers, and Hotdaaaawwgs, as the concessionaires used to say.

I think of the sound of the wood bat meeting the leather skinned ball and seeing that connection before hearing it.

I think of handsome Johnny Callison, Cookie Rojas, Tony Taylor, Richie Ashburn, Pete Incaviglia, Nolan Ryan, Julio-Julio, and Charlie Hough, who would catch a smoke between innings back when a knuckle ball pitcher could do such things.

I think of the red-capped Phillies, and Connie Mack stadium. I think of Willie Mays, and Say-Hey, and basket catches.

When summer hits, and the air is still, I'll hear a distant radio and the baritone-voiced announcer calling balls and strikes, and I will think of the nights at the ballpark watching the Texas Rangers with my boys, my daughter, and my wife. And the Pony League games, and hitting ground balls to the boys in the front yard and . . . there is no end of baseball memory.

God, I loved that game.

Palin - tology

I am amazed at the continued national interest in Governor Sarah Palin. I am amazed at my interest in Sarah Palin. But for some reason she gets our attention. After 4 days of non-stop news coverage I have just one word. GiveThatWomanABreakForCryingOutLoud.

Here's my opinion on why she is quitting the Alaska governorship before the end of her session:

Put your hand in front of you, 5 fingers extended, palm towards you. Take the first finger to the right and bend it palmwards, thumb holding it down, now take the two fingers to the left and again bend them over . . . what you have left is what she is telling the news media, and maybe you and me, and can you blame her? After 16 lawsuits, 15 of them dropped, and the 16th soon to be dropped? Not to mention the ridicule her daughters received.

Do I care for her home spun, soccer-mom-in-Alaska personna? Not really. Is she the sharpest knife in the drawer? No, again. Do I respect her? Yes, I do. Do the cannibalistic media drive me crazy with their holier than thou, what is the dumb broad thinking attitude? Yes, more than I can say here.

I hope she runs for President and wins just to piss them off.

Governor Palin, whatever you do, you are alright by me.
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Unrelated Cartoon of the Day:

Recession by Paul Zanetti, Australia

Dealing with My Lack of Outrage.

It is difficult for me to get indignant anymore.

I'm not sure why. I think I have eco-global-9/11 overload. Nothing bothers me.

• Landfills full? Who cares.

• New war in Iran/q/Korea? Yaaaawn.

• Melting glaciers? Call me when the water rises.
  

The probable cause of this burnout? Too damn much news. Too many cable news networks with too many "rise up, the sky is falling stories."

When I was a kid, yea, every once in a while a Cuban missile crisis would come along, we'd build a couple of fall out shelters and practice crouching under our desks, or march single file into the school basement. No biggee. Just a nuke or two from Khrushchev. Piece a cake.

Now, with the 24/7/365 news cycle we get a new indignator every day -- and I for one have had it.

So, listen up fear mongers. You pitchmen of panic.

I'm off to the beach. With no TV.
.

Why We Like This President.

<--- I am not the white guy playing the President.

It will surprise many of you that I like this President. I do. Not that my disposition matters, but when you get enough of dispositions like mine you get an approval rating in the mid-sixties, which he has, and you get things done, which he does.

Not that I like what he is getting done. I don't. But that's not the point.

This President has high approval ratings because he is liked. A few occurences last week illustrate why:

First is the fly swatting incident. President Obama killed a fly that had been swarming him and had landed on his arm. Swat. During a White House interview. Cameras rolling. If you haven't seen it, it is pretty impressive. It is something every guy has done or has tried to do and to be quick enough to get the fly gets points from me. Then there was the Father's Day address. He talked about the necessity and obligation of fathers to their children. I like that, too. Pretty basic stuff. Swatting a fly and talking about family. But that is, in essence, why he is given the okay sign from the average guy or girl . The fact that I disagree with him shouldn't keep me from treating him like anyone else I like.

President Obama's political ideology is a rebirth of Democratic party ideas that, I think, do us far more harm than good. Some of them are just flat wrong. But my disagreements notwithstanding, the President is a deservedly likable fellow, and he will have my respect and prayers while he holds the Presidential Office.

Elected officials do not establish the kind of people we are, the opposite is true, elected officials are the effect of the public disposition. They are a reflection. If you don't like them, change yourself.

I do wonder, though, can I get in on that game of one-on-one?