Dallas and Death

No, no one died this week (at least that I know of) but I hope most folks know that John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. I went to the museum that they have on the floor of the building that the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald fired from. It's an interesting museum and although I've never been much interested in all the conspiracy theories, being there made me more curious about the different explanations disagreeing with the Warren Commission. It was genuinely chilling to be right next to where the shooter lay in wait to kill on of the great American presidents. A weird experience to say the least.

Dallas as a city didn't exactly win me over, but it wasn't as bad as I feared. Had some great TexMex (of course), a good steak, and some really good bar b q (didn't convert me from NC barbeque but that's another entry. The West End area of Dallas was quite decent, with some nice bars and good restaurants. I'm not champing at the bit to go back, but the edge has been taken off of my "hate." LOL.

Dallas

Speaking of ambivalence.... Headed to Dallas this week on a business trip. Always grew up hating Dallas from a distance, especially the Cowboys, but also the prime time soap. If anyone still remembers that!! I've always heard that downtown Dallas is pretty dead and that you need to go to Fort Worth or to Austin to have any fun. But on the other hand, this conference I'm attending apparently attracts a lot of law enforcement types and there is much, ummm, pushing the limits that goes on. We'll find out I guess, and someone has promised to send me some links for fun stuff downtown. Will my irrational hatred for Dallas survive the trip??? Tune in soon.

Olympics

Is it me, or is the fact that the Olympics are in China sucking the interest out of the whole thing? Not only will all the events be on at ODark30 in the morning, but I've got this moral ambivalence about the whole fact that they will be in China. I guess I'll still Tivo the men's and women's soccer and basketball and probably check in to see if Phelps beats Spitz's record (Mark Spitz inspired my own considerably less stellar swimming career). But I think I'll feel a little dirty about it.