TopShelf TG Fiction in the BigCloset!
Today in 1845 the Republic of Texas was formally admitted to the United States of America as the 28th state.
What the hell were they thinking?
Except for Dr Pepper and that black oily stuff what's Texas good for?
John in Wauwatosa
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Comments
Texas
John, if you ask Texans nowadays, they might reply that they wonder why they joined in the first place. :)
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
Finally a responce and NOT from wussy Texas -- pluuuuuub!-
Thanks O great termite terror, from the Carolinia's if I recall?
Hey Texas, yoozz has been insulted so why no responce? The NAVY has dismantled the ELF antenna facilities in Clam Lake and the UP so Wisconsin can't call a SSBN missle strike on you so why the timidity?
Afraid we'll use 15 year old cheddar or -- GASP -- Limburger on you?
John in Wauwatosa acting very silly.
John in Wauwatosa
Texas
May I ask why you choose to insult Texas? I went to high school in Houston and lived in El Paso for a couple of years. Most of my family lives there. Nice place. No state taxes, comparatively strong economy, and it's where armadillos beat up badgers and leave them in the middle of the road. :) I don't think native Texans are going to be angry with you because they know that most people are just jealous they aren't living there.
Texas: a taste of global warming -- if it ever arrives.
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Mahatma Gandhi
Ah, darn it. Can't we pick on one state, please?
Perhaps all those hillbillies in Arkan ... no Erin came from there.
The flat landers in Illinois? Nah Angela R.
How about Rhode Island. It's small and weird.
John in Wauwatosa
P.S. No cheese jokes, okay? But at least WE didn't have to pass a law about it. But then the Texas food slander suit against Oprah didn't go to good if I recall.
John in Wauwatosa
I'd be perfectly happy to volunteer New Jersey
...Hell, we're so embarrassed that we're the only state in the Union that didn't name the State University after the state...Rutgers? What the hell is that all about. We're good for a variety of things...Colorful yet stereotypical portrayals of folks of my ethnic background on pretentious TV shows....We have two professional football teams that seem to think Hackensack has been annexed by New York...a basketball team that set the record for most losses at the beginning of a season and is leaving for Brooklyn? Even in ratifying the Constitution, could we step up and be first...no, and that means we'll always be third rate. So have at it folks...We happen to be the only state named after a cow...Things could have been worse I suppose...New Guernsey? New Heifer? Oh well! Felice anno nuovo dal Lo stato di giardini!
She was born for all the wrong reasons but grew up for all the right ones.
Possa Dio riccamente vi benedica, tutto il mio amore, Andrea
Love, Andrea Lena
Given A Choice
Were I given a choice between Texas and California, I'd pick Texas everyday of the week, and twice on Sunday.
YEE HAW!
Nancy Cole
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
Hey ya wanna turn somebody's crank,
pick on them not their nationality. Yes, Texans know that Texas is a country and all those other states are provinces. Texas is a country, a state, and a state of mind. I know 'cause I lived in easTexas (pronounced as you see it written here) for 15 years, and my wife and I finally ceased to become "that nice young couple from California" sometime in the last 3 years we were there. We could never be natives, but at least we were accepted as locals.
What's it good for? I dunno, it's a place, but are some facts:
1. DFW was the first really BIG airport in the US. It covers a lot of acreage. I once had to walk from one side to the other and it is huge
2. It's the only state EVER to join the union that reserved it's right to secede. It lost that right when it allied itself to the southern states in the civil war and they lost in spite of Texas providing them with most of their raw materials. Incidentally Texans didn't go to war over the slavery question, they were just P'O'd that them *&@# yankees were telling them what to do!
3. It has one of the most confusing state constitutions and the weakest governor in the US, thanks to the carpetbaggers who coopted the state after the civil war. Yet somehow it has one of the smoother running state governments.
4. Students attending Texas A&M have been the target of some of the funniest and goofiest aggie jokes ever penned, most with good reason.
5. Texas invented barbeque. There can be no argument about this point!! Everything else is a fake. And if your sauce has maple syrup in it, it's not even barbeque!
6. Likewise, Texas invented chili. Again there can be NO argument! If your chili has beans in it, it may be tasty and it may even be hot but it definitely is not chili!
7. TexMex. If you're hungry that's all you need to say.
8. Texans showed us all how to make a stand for what is right against hopeless odds. Go to the Alamo and learn some history.
9. While you're there go to the Riverwalk in San Antonio and catch a set of classic jazz. Your ears will thank you.
10. Next time you use a piece of paper, think about where the pine trees were grown that went into that paper.
11. Listen to public radio and catch "Stardate"? It's recorded at the McDonald Observatory down near the Mexico border. They have one of the few working optical telescopes left in the US. All the others are pretty much restricted to looking at the moon and other bright objects due to light pollution.
12. Houston is where Dr. DeBakey pioneered open heart surgery.
13. If you live in California or states east of Ohio, you are probably using natural gas from Texas. One pipe that transmits that gas up north is about 4' in diameter and runs at about 1500 psi. One that goes to California is even bigger. Now that's a lot of gas!
14. You hear a lot about the electrical grid. A huge amount of power going into the grid originates from lignite fired (low output coal) plants in Texas. Think that California's power is coming from Hoover Dam? Think again.
15. Texas is the only state in the union to have ever given the US a battleship! Yup, the USS San Jacinto was built with money donated from citizens in Texas, built in Texas and after going through the Panama Canal, spent many years of service in the Pacific for the US Navy. You can go see it in a state park south of Houston.
16. A critical part of Nasa's flight operations is south of Houston.
17. It's the only state in the union where you can drive for over 20 hours in one direction and still be in the state.
18. It's also one state where you call you friends 'Bubba' and it's not considered an insult!!
19. Finally, don't check the accuracy of all my facts. I learned truth in Texas, and we've never been bothered by complete accuracy!
A couple of points
#6. My mom put beans in her chili, but that was to make four bowels of chili feed seven people. One of those "necessity" things, ya know?
#17. I had a car like that when I was a teen, the one I have now runs considerably better (and faster). Speed limit? It ain't speedin' if they don't catch you!
Then there's the story about the Alaskan visiting Texas. No matter what the Alaskan said about his home state, it was always better, faster, bigger, cheaper, etc. in Texas. Finally he'd had enough.
"You know, mister, we have so much gold in Alaska we could build a six foot high wall all the way around Texas!"
The Texan ponders this for a moment.
"Tell ya what, Bubba. You go 'head and build it. If I like it, I'll buy it."
Ba-rump, TING!
KJT
"Being a girl is wonderful and to torture someone into that would be like the exact opposite of what it's like. I don’t know how anyone could act that way." College Girl - poetheather
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
About the car
We used to live in a small town north of Longview. Every year we would drive to California to visit relatives in Los Angeles. We'd leave home about 7:00PM, drive all night, and eat breakfast at a McDonalds next morning about 8:00 in El Paso (our kids were small, where else do you eat?). Las Cruces NM is about 28 miles west of El Paso, and somewhere between the two towns was halfway. What I was thinking though was if you were on I10 at the Louisiana border heading west. It would take even longer because it's not a straight shot to El Paso.
I had one of those cars too once. It was called a Chevette!
About the beans. Texans put beans into chili to stretch them. I know this. But they don't call it chili. It's kinda like putting dumplin's in with the chicken soup stock! 'Cause if company shows, and they do, you feed them. End of story.
Chili con Carne = Chili with meat
Real Texas chili is a treat but other places do make tasty dishes that they call chili, even if they are not the authentic San Antonio bowl-of-red. BTW, chili as the Texans make it was invented in Texas by the peculiar mix of cooks in and around San Antonio. Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, European-descent Americans and immigrants from the Canary Islands all added something to the mix. The original dish was probably a Native American soup made with beans, corn, squash and chili peppers. Meat was optional. Despite Texans' protests, poor people have been putting beans in their chili since the beginning.
In Arkansas, chili has beans in it, pinto beans are the national fruit of Arkansas. :) The Texas dish is called chili con carne. What Arkansas doesn't have in the chili is masa which Texans prefer as filler over beans. This is probably because it is difficult to get proper masa in Arkansas and cornmeal is not the same thing at all. So beans it is. In Oklahoma, they call the Texas version chili, and the Arkansas version chili beans. They will call the bean version chili if there is a Texan in the room, just to be irritating. :) But in Arkansas, chili beans is just bean soup with chili seasoning, it ain't chili at all.
In California, they know what Texans call chili and you can get that in places; it's called chili without beans. :) Otherwise, they put beans and Anaheim peppers in it, with or without masa. Another thing in California is chili dogs and chili burgers which are hot dogs and hamburgers with a chili-like sauce on them. It ain't Texas-style chili, it doesn't have beans in it, but it is sweeter than chili and has no masa though some versions do have cornmeal, which is weird since masa is as common in CA as in TX.
In Scotland, they put oatmeal in the chili. Wait, that's haggis, never mind. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
On the other hand, Chili in New Jersey
...is procured through the purchase of round metal cylinders called cans, found in such exotic establishments like Shop-Rite and A&P and likely imported from such far away places as Newark or Bayonne. Authentic gourmet New Jersey chili comes from New York City, obviously. Like I said...go ahead, everybody have at it!
She was born for all the wrong reasons but grew up for all the right ones.
Possa Dio riccamente vi benedica, tutto il mio amore, Felice Anno Nuovo, Andrea
Love, Andrea Lena
Must be made in
That chili must be made in the same plant that makes the picante sauce referred to in the Pace Picante Sauce TV commercials. I expect the original commercials are on utube somewhere, here's an article from USAToday.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2004-11-07...
Interestingly enough, my spell checker in Firefox keeps flagging "picante" as a misspelled word. So does MSWord. :-)
Karen J.
"Being a girl is wonderful and to torture someone into that would be like the exact opposite of what it's like. I don’t know how anyone could act that way." College Girl - poetheather
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
The original commercials
had the guy excaiming "New York City!?!"
Evidently the bureau of Tourism threatened to sue so they changed it to New Jersey. New Jersey, on the other hand seems to think that any publicity is good!
Hugs
Carla Ann
IIRC
Paula Dillion is from Texas, also.
They know they can survive
Andrea, if New Jersey is named for a cow does it mean ...
New Hampshire is named for the pig?
The mind boggles.
John in Wauwatosa where chilli except in national chain restarants is likely more of a goulash or even a tomatoe based stew.
John in Wauwatosa
You might not be on the internet, John, except for Texas
Texas Instruments, that is, where Jack Kilby invented the first Integrated circuit, without which the microprocessor would not exist.
Of course there is a theory which holds that when it is time for the world to have something, people will invent it.
Steam engines are sometimes given as an example.
Several people, unconnected to each-other, began working simultaneously on steam engines or some other device which will change the face of an industry, because the need becomes apparent.
Holly
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly