This is the last in a series of four posts spotlighting music from the Fort Stockton (Texas) “Pride of Pantherland” High School band. [Previously: 1966-1967 | 1967-1968 | 1968-1969] These posts will span the school years corresponding to the time yours truly (and MLB) spent in the band. I’m doing this as a way of… Continue reading Fort Stockton High School Band (1969-1970)
Category: History
Fort Stockton High School Band (1967-1968)
This is the second in a series of four posts spotlighting music from the Fort Stockton (Texas) “Pride of Pantherland” High School band. [Jump to: 1966-1967 | 1968-1969 | 1969-1970] These posts will span the school years from 1966-67 through 1969-70, corresponding to the time yours truly (and MLB) spent in the band. I’m doing this as… Continue reading Fort Stockton High School Band (1967-1968)
Breaking the Bank for Fun and No Profit
So, it wasn’t Al Capone’s vault, but the outcome was about the same.
Vinyl Ripping (Bonus: Remember the Southwest Conference?)
1996 marked the end of the Southwest Conference, but the music lives on…somewhere.
The Greatest Generation: A POW’s Story
As they marched us back from the river, one soldier was carrying an American flag. That flag was a beautiful sight. I wish that flag could have the same meaning to everyone in this country now. — Loy Dean Lawler Dr. Loy Dean Lawler was an optometrist who practiced for many years in Mount Pleasant,… Continue reading The Greatest Generation: A POW’s Story
We’re gonna browse (and recruit) like it’s 1996
Travel back in time with me, if you will, to the year 1996, and contemplate the state of technology two decades ago. In 1996, just 20 million American adults had access to the Internet, about as many as subscribe to satellite radio today. The dot-com boom had already begun on Wall Street–Netscape went public in… Continue reading We’re gonna browse (and recruit) like it’s 1996
An Internet Pioneer: Me
Depending on usage, the Internet has the potential to become a wonderfully effective business tool, or a troublesome diversion of time and resources. The preceding quote – which today would likely be subject to an editorial “duh” – was lifted from a position paper dated December 14, 1994, authored by yours truly. I ran across… Continue reading An Internet Pioneer: Me
USAF/USMC Viet Nam-Era Recruiting “Infomercials”
Before we get started, take a listen to this (length – 39 sec): Your browser does not support the audio element. I’ve probably mentioned this before but I worked as a DJ at a small AM radio station in West Texas during my high school and early college years. That was back in the late… Continue reading USAF/USMC Viet Nam-Era Recruiting “Infomercials”
An exercise in observation and creativity
I was captivated by this photo someone shared on Twitter and tracked it down in the Library of Congress archives. It’s an undated, uncredited picture of what some have dubbed the “Mark Twain Tree” (which is how it was titled on the Twitter post). I can’t confirm this (and, in fact, I doubt it; see… Continue reading An exercise in observation and creativity
The Midland County Courthouse and Illogical Architectural Sentimentality
The planned Energy Tower now has its own Wikipedia page, so it will inevitably be built, because they can’t put anything in Wikipedia that’s misleading, right? That means that a large number (or small number or a handful or one-or-two) Midlanders will be inconsolable over the demolition of the now-vacant county courthouse occupying a full… Continue reading The Midland County Courthouse and Illogical Architectural Sentimentality