What I Heard This Week 05-26-2022
When my kids were little, I always told them when they woke up each morning the devil would be sitting on one shoulder and good choices would be waiting on the other side. It was up to them. This morning I fixed myself a smoked turkey, cheese, and Wickle Pickle sandwich with fresh spinach, then grabbed the lonely bag of Lay’s potato chips that had been sitting in my cabinet for a couple of months. I’m a pretty healthy eater… most mornings it is Greek yogurt and raw oats for breakfast. But this morning on the way into office, the devil happened to be sitting on my shoulder ranting and raving about how good it would be to eat those chips, so I did what any red-blooded Texan would do, I opened the bag and ate about half of those delicious Lay’s potato chips. Oh, gosh, there’s just nothing better than old fashioned potato chips, licking salt off your fingers, then brushing off your face because it’s inevitable that you WILL have crumbs left, no matter how dainty you eat. Just wanted you to know that one must make a bad choice every once in a while.
There is no such thing as ‘away’. So, when we throw anything away, it must go somewhere.”
– Annie Leonard – (I just took a non-working microwave to Stella Roberts Recycling in Pearland along with all my recycling, including shredding. Last visit, I took fluorescent bulbs. Don’t just throw away stuff without thinking about where it is going.)
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation has announced a new partnership with H-E-B which will provide funding for conservation projects along the Texas Gulf Coast, black bear restoration in West Texas, and establishment of Palo Pinto Mountains State Park in north Texas, our state’s newest park. Since 2012, H-E-B has contributed more than $13 million to over 500 environmental organizations in land and water conservation, habitat and coastal preservation, and community cleanups. This includes more than $2 million in grants to organizations such as Keep Texas Beautiful, Texas Conservation Fund, and the Nature Conservancy of Texas. If you’re looking for ways to do your part, try Field & Future by H-E-B, a line of household and personal care products that are kind to Texas families and the environment.
The City of Freeport and Port Freeport have been negotiating with Volkswagen of America to make Port Freeport its new port of entry, receiving vehicles from Europe and Mexico for processing and delivery to dealerships. Ohhh, just think of the new jobs that could be available for our area. A 60-year-old South Carolina man strangled his girlfriend, then died of a heart attack while burying her body in their backyard. Karma. Russia has permanently banned more than 900 Americans from that country including Biden, Harris, and Zuckerberg. But not Trump. Hmmm.
The morning of my daughter’s graduation, I discovered there was a sheetrock screw in one of my tires. Hmmm. I needed to leave pretty soon for University of Houston because my goal had been to arrive two hours early, so I could scope out the best locations to record my daughter’s speech. I called David Novosad at Brazosport Tire and explained the situation. David didn’t hesitate and told me to get right on over there, so I threw on some jeans and walked out the door. But first, I had to pick up my car from the wonderful guys at Tri-City Auto Repair. David was outside and took my car straight into a bay while Teller and I waited out front. In a matter of minutes, he told me his favorite graduation story, then sent me on my way. When I arrived home, I realized it had only taken me 45 minutes from the phone call to driving back into my driveway. I jumped in the shower, washed my hair, and still arrived one hour before graduation. That my friends, is exactly why you should deal with local business owners who live, work, and raise their kids in your own community. Thank you, David & Bart.
Visit the LJ Historical Museum for their Shakespeare Exhibit, on view through July 9th. 249 Circle Way, LJ. Admission by donation. 979-297-1570. Don’t forget to grab a selfie with the bard himself and see some of the fabulous gowns and costumes from the Elizabethan Madrigal Feast, which by-the-way, is scheduled to return to The Center for the Arts and Sciences in late fall.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor Anthony Geary of General Hospital is 75. Singer LaToya Jackson is 66. Actor Annette Bening is 64. Actor Rupert Everett is 63. Singer Melissa Etheridge is 61. Actor Lisa Whelchel of The Facts of Life is 59. Guitarist Lenny Davidson of The Dave Clark Five is 78. Country singer Wynonna Judd is 58. Actor-director Clint Eastwood is 92. Singer Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary is 84. Actor Sharon Gless of Cagney and Lacey is 79. Actor Tom Berenger is 72. Actor Parker Stevenson is 70.
Actor Lea Thompson of Back to the Future is 61. Actor Brooke Shields is 57. Singer Pat Boone is 88. Actor Morgan Freeman is 85. Guitarist Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones is 75. Country singer Ronnie Dunn of Brooks and Dunn is 69. Actor Lisa Hartman Black is 66. Actor Ron Ely of Tarzan fame is 84. Actor Stacy Keach is 81. Actor Jerry Mathers of Leave It to Beaver is 74. Comedian Dana Carvey is 67. Bassist Too Slim of Riders in the Sky is 74. Singer Suzi Quatro is 72. Actor Bruce Dern is 86. Singer-actor Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas is 78.
The famous Gosselin sextuplets, Hannah, Aaden, Leah, Alexis, Joel and Collin, celebrated their 18th birthday last week. The father, Jon, has a relationship with Hannah and Collin, while the other four are still with their mom, Kate. What a mess for those kids.
Rosmarie Trapp, eldest child of famed Captain Georg Johannes von Trapp and Maria Augusta von Trapp, who inspired The Sound of Music, died at age 93. Maggie Peterson, best known for her role as Charlene Darling on The Andy Griffith Show died at 81. NBA Hall of Famer Bob Lanier died at 73.
The super-rich are getting so much richer. The report said, a new billionaire was minted nearly every day during the pandemic. On his first trip to Asia since taking office, President Biden said that the U.S. would respond militarily if China tries to take Taiwan by force. 35 tons of baby formula arrived in Indiana on a U.S. military aircraft from Germany to help with the nationwide shortage, but none of it will be available on store shelves in the U.S. because the formula is a specialized prescription and will be for babies that can’t tolerant protein in cow’s milk. Saturday Night Live said good-bye to Kate McKinnon and Pete Davidson. A Milwaukee man charged with a hate crime in 2019, for throwing acid on the face of a US citizen born in Peru, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison.
A Wisconsin couple saw a bear eating from one of their bird feeders, so they opened a window and yelled, trying to get the bear to leave. The bear turned around, broke through a window and into the house. The couple stabbed the bear with a kitchen knife, then used a firearm to kill it. She was a momma bear just protecting her baby because a cub was seen running off. No wonder she charged them; she thought her baby was in harm’s way. Remember, the bears were here first.
A second set of human remains have been found at Lake Mead, the country’s largest reservoir, as water levels continue to fall. The first body was discovered in a barrel and was likely a murder victim who died from a gunshot wound sometime in the mid ’70s to early ’80s, based on clothing and footwear. The lake’s low water level exposed one of the reservoir’s original water intake valves recently. The valve had been in service since 1971, but it can no longer draw water. Since this reservoir is used to make electricity, this is more than just a drought, it is a tragic situation.
A man in India has a collection of old cell phones in perfect working condition, 2,300 of them to be exact, mostly Nokia. His dream is to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Friend: Hey man, what’s your cell number? This guy: Well, it’s complicated.
Last week I read about a lady that couldn’t get a certain politician to talk to her, ignoring many requests, so the lady and her friend wrote a nice peaceful, cordial, and polite message in chalk on the sidewalk in front of the politician’s home. Evidently, the news media got ahold of the chalk message story, then it was posted by absolutely everyone, therefore getting far more attention than the politician ever wanted or expected. The ladies were accused of defacing the sidewalk in this article, which made me laugh. My kids obviously defaced plenty of sidewalks in their lifetime. The article also mentioned the Streisand Effect. Hmmm. I didn’t know what that was, so, I looked it up on FourWeekMBA. The following is what it said:
Understanding the Streisand Effect: The Streisand Effect was named for American actor and singer Barbara Streisand. In 2003, Streisand attempted to suppress aerial photographs of her Californian home by suing photographer Kenneth Adelman for an invasion of privacy. Adelman, who Streisand assumed was paparazzi, was instead taking photographs to document and study coastal erosion. As part of the study, an image of Streisand’s private residence had been uploaded to a database where it had been viewed just six times. After a barrage of cease-and-desist letters, the case received public attention and the image was later viewed over a million times. In her quest for more privacy, Streisand’s efforts had the opposite effect. They went on to say, The Streisand Effect can be avoided in business by establishing protocols relating to customer service and public relations. Organizations must not attempt to hide or suppress information they see as damaging to their brand. Often, the effects of suppression are far worse than tackling the problem head-on. You owe me nothing for this lesson.
David Letterman has a Netflix series called, “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.” I bet everyone already knows about this because I’m always the last one to the party. The show’s theme song and bridging music were written and recorded by Letterman’s long-time bandleader, Paul Shaffer. Some of Letterman’s guests so far have been Robert Downey Jr., Lizzo, Melinda Gates, Kanye West, Jerry Seinfeld, George Clooney, Barack Obama and more. I have watched interviews with Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell, Will Smith and Cardi B. So far, I think it is an outstanding and very entertaining show. I’m going to watch him interview Ryan Reynolds this evening if I don’t fall asleep.
Remember Jaws 2? “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.” That was a great catchphrase and saying that we all remember and understand today, just like we did in 1978. Well, today I was thinking the same thing… just when we thought it was safe to go back to our familiar life after Covid. Dang. Monkeypox. Experts believe monkeypox is spreading between people by respiratory droplets or direct contact with lesion material. Pus. The symptoms of monkeypox in humans can be similar to the symptoms of smallpox, except for the fact that monkeypox causes lymph nodes to swell. The incubation period, or time from infection to showing symptoms, for monkeypox is usually seven to 14 days. It starts with fever, headache, muscle aches and exhaustion and usually within one to three days, the patient develops a rash, often beginning on the face and then spreading to other parts of the body. Now let me stop right here and tell you to look up pictures. It is NOT pretty. The disease is terrible looking. The lesions keep getting bigger, become filled with fluid, scab and fall off. At least with Covid, there were no tell-tell signs (but, yes, I realize that was a problem too). Monkeypox usually lasts for two to four weeks. In Africa, the disease causes death in as many as 1 in 10 people. Don’t forget to look up those pictures.
The Brazoria County SPCA is in desperate need. THE SHELTER is full. If you can adopt, foster an animal, volunteer to walk a dog, become a monthly donor, or donate food, cat litter, paper towels, towels…pretty much everything is needed right now. Adopt@spcabc.org OR CALL 979-285-2340. Thanks for reading us this week.
LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
