Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Cowboy Poet Laureate


Hello folks in cyber-land, and thanks for checking in to the blog. Things will begin to pick up here pretty soon with the college's production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" set to go in a few weeks.

In the meantime, The Roswell Museum of Art had a big Gala celebration last Friday to officially open a new exhibit. For those of you in town, or coming to town, it is definitely worthwhile to take an hour out of your schedule and check it out. And...I am not just saying that because I am on the board of trustees either!

During that celebration there was a fancy-schmancy black tie dinner followed on Saturday by a festival. Yes...these small towns do love there festivals. Not only did I get to help set things up for these events, but I also attended them. The festival, that celebrated skills, arts and crafts of the southwest got off to a slow start, but business picked up. Of course there were the usual suspects there: the vendors selling funnel cakes, popcorn, burritos and the usual carney fare. But, the nice thing was that the people at most of the booths were not selling things, the were showing things and teaching things.

Two of the highlights for me were our own Doc Bender manning the Historical Society booth churning butter. That's right, good 'ol Doc was standing there for hours turning a handle and wondering if it would ever become butter. For all the ribbing he took, a couple of hours and viola! Butter. I was a bit afraid to taste it, but I did and it was good. I washed it down with some apple cider that I watched be made straight from the press!

The second highlight was getting to listen to and to meet Waddie Mitchell, the Cowboy Poet Laureate. He was the main attraction. This guy is great. He's been everywhere and done everything and his poetry is everything you would want: thought provoking, entertaining, funny, engaging. I can't say enough about him. The best part is, he was such a nice guy. I got a chance to meet him at the Gala and we talked for a few minutes about the importance of poetry and theater and the arts in general. He excused himself for a minute in our conversation and I thought he probably was just moving on to other more important people, but, instead, he walked back and handed me a drink and continued where we left off.

I think there is a picture of us out there and I'll post it when I get it. One of my colleagues took it and said to Waddie, "how about a picture of the two poets...East coast meets West coast". It was a thrill and honor to be even mentioned in the same sentence with Mr. Mitchell.

So...that's my excitement for the week...Remember: "The Importance of Being Earnest" at ENMU-R, November 17-19 at the Performing Arts Center! It's free, so unless you are more then 1000 miles away...you have no excuse!

Monday, October 16, 2006

Super Genius??

(For some reason I can't get a photo to upload today, so imagine Steve Lyons smiling face here.)

Not so fast sports fans! I'm not so quick to throw Steve Lyons to the wolves just yet. Instead, I am awarding my Super Genius award this month to Fox Sports for their immediate dismissal of Mr. Lyons.

For those of you who do not know, Mr. Lyons, nicknamed "pyscho" during his playing days and best known up until now for forgetting where he was and pulling his pants down at first base trying to get dirt out of his pant legs, has been fired from Fox Sports for making racially insensitive comments.

Here is a chunck from Sports Illustrated's website (linked above):

In the second inning of Friday's game between Detroit and Oakland, Piniella talked about the success light-hitting A's infielder Marco Scutaro had in the first round of the playoffs. Piniella said that slugger Frank Thomas and Eric Chavez needed to contribute, comparing Scutaro's production to finding a "wallet on Friday" and hoping it happened again the next week.
Later, Piniella said the A's needed Thomas to get "en fuego" -- hot in Spanish -- because he was currently "frio" -- or cold. After Brennaman praised Piniella for being bilingual, Lyons spoke up.Lyons said that Piniella was "hablaing Espanol" -- butchering the conjugation for the word "to speak" -- and added, "I still can't find my wallet."
"I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit too close to him now," Lyons continued.

Insensitive? Perhaps. Cause for losing your job? I'm not so sure. Did Lyons mean it the way it is being portrayed? Does it matter? I leave it up to you my much smarter than I readers!!!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Fore!!!

Last weekend I served as a volunteer at the ENMU-R Charity Golf Tournament. As many of you know, I am not a golfer. So, I was not playing, but rather helping to facilitate the event. It was quite a long day, but it was fun.

One thing I did was stand out at hole 13 and measure drives for the closest to the hole. For that particular hole, the closest drive won a nights stay at The Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruiodoso. Luckily I had good company at the hole with me or it could have been a bit boring.

There was also a drink cart roaming around the course and I tried my first Bloddy Mary. I should have known better. I don't like Tomato Juice and I am not big on Vodka, but I figured it was a good time to try one. Well...one swig and I knew i was a mistake. Ugghhh! Repulsive. I don't know how you people do it! For the rest of the day it was beer for me.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Now that's a big spider!


I finally got to see it. The New Mexico giant Tarantula. It was sitting right outside my door a few days ago. I have to say the chills, they went right up from my big toe to the top of my head. It was at least the size of my hand. I wanted to take a picture, but I only had my phone with me and I wasn't about to get close enough to get a good shot.

I have to admit I feel a bit silly being affraid of a bug that the local kids play with or squash, but I just can't help it. The thing was huge! My neighbor came outside and told me I could get close to it to take the picture and that it wouldn't try to attack, but as I started to move in ever so slowly he said to be careful not to upset it or it might jump at me. Not upset it!?!? How the heck am I supposed to know what might upset a tarantula???

Anyway, it has been a few days and every once in a while I see the thing crawling around the outside of the buildings. My rule is that I will kill anything that is in my home. Outside, well, that's their domain. But as I look upon the giant arachnid, I have to wonder: could I kill something that big? What the hell would I do if one was crawling inside my home? Ugghh.