There's a haunted place in Arlington - the city where I grew up - that is still haunting people to this day...
Screaming Bridge.
Here is the story as it was told to me...
The year is 1961. The month is February. Six young women ages 16 - 17, all students at Arlington High (Arlington's only high school at the time) piled into one of their parents' car and went to a drive-in movie (Butterfield 8). Afterwards, they drove out on Greenbelt to bounce over the dirt road.
Greenbelt (Arlington-Bedford) Road was a little-used dirt road at the time. There were wooden bridges that sloped upward on the north and south sides of the railroad tracks. In December of the previous year, some pranksters had set fire to the bridge on the south side of the tracks.
It has been assumed that the same pranksters (young men from Arlington High School) thought it would be funny to remove the barricades that had been placed in front of the burned-out bridge.
A young man and his girlfriend drove northward up Greenbelt, stopping at the foot of the burned out bridge. The young man had passed the girl's car, which was stopped on the side of the road, facing north, about a quarter mile south of the railroad. He decided to go back and warn the people in the car that the bridge was out and the barricades were down. When he approached the girls' car, the driver apparently got spooked and drove off at high speed, sailing straight off the burned out bridge, landing upside-down in the creek bed.
The story goes that if you hang out near the spot that the accident happened, at midnight (the time that the accident was supposed to have happened), you will hear girls screaming. There is no bridge there now, but the screams still echo...
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Thursday, September 08, 2005
New Orleans Aquarium of the Americas
This is sad. My wife and I visited the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans in 2002.
New Orleans' aquarium mostly killed off
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The world-renowned New Orleans Aquarium of the Americas has lost almost all of its fish after Hurricane Katrina knocked out the facility's electrical power.
The conservation Web site Mongabay.com said before the Aug. 29 storm, the aquarium had 10,000 fish representing more than 530 species. However, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association Web site reported some animals did survive.
"The sea otters, penguins, leafy and weedy sea dragons, birds (macaws and raptors), and the white alligator are fine," the association said. "Midas, the infamous 250-pound sea turtle, survived and has been coaxed into the holding area in the Gulf of Mexico Exhibit."
New Orleans' other animal centers fared better, with only a pair of river otters reported dead at the Audubon Zoo and a whooping crane lost at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, the 211-member American Zoo and Aquarium Association began a fund-raising relief initiative, headed by the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Galaxy Drive-In (www.galaxydriveintheater.com)
My wife and I went to the Drive-In last Saturday.
That's right. A real Drive-In theater. The Galaxy Drive-In is located on I-45 in Garret (about 40 miles South of Dallas).
For the unbelievable price of $6 per person, you get a double-feature. They usually do a great job of grouping the movies appropriately (two kids flicks, two action flicks, etc.)
We drove in, paid, and found our way around to Screen 1 to see "The Island" and "The War of the Worlds". As we parked, I noticed that the pole mounted speakers were not brand new. They seemed to be real, old fashioned Drive-In type speakers, probably 70's or 80's era. The sound was actually pretty good, too. I knew this because the speakers were blaring tapes of the Wolfman Jack show! I mean, c'mon! I'm at the Drive-In, listening to Wolfman Jack? I felt like I had driven through a time portal...
For those with whom mono sound is simply not an option, the Drive-In also plays the movie over a low-freq stereo FM broadcast. Between the pole-speakers and the cars around us playing their radios loud, we had no problems hearing.
We set up some chairs in front of the car, turned up the pole speaker, and enjoyed a coupla great movies. Sitting under the stars, flickers of lighting 50 miles south, a gentle breeze keeping us cool and the mosquitos away... I can say that I will definitely be enjoying the Galaxy Drive-In Theater again soon...
Unless they play "The Shining"... then I'm gettin in a damn closet and hoping that Bill Paxton doesnt' fuckin come to town!
That's right. A real Drive-In theater. The Galaxy Drive-In is located on I-45 in Garret (about 40 miles South of Dallas).
For the unbelievable price of $6 per person, you get a double-feature. They usually do a great job of grouping the movies appropriately (two kids flicks, two action flicks, etc.)
We drove in, paid, and found our way around to Screen 1 to see "The Island" and "The War of the Worlds". As we parked, I noticed that the pole mounted speakers were not brand new. They seemed to be real, old fashioned Drive-In type speakers, probably 70's or 80's era. The sound was actually pretty good, too. I knew this because the speakers were blaring tapes of the Wolfman Jack show! I mean, c'mon! I'm at the Drive-In, listening to Wolfman Jack? I felt like I had driven through a time portal...
For those with whom mono sound is simply not an option, the Drive-In also plays the movie over a low-freq stereo FM broadcast. Between the pole-speakers and the cars around us playing their radios loud, we had no problems hearing.
We set up some chairs in front of the car, turned up the pole speaker, and enjoyed a coupla great movies. Sitting under the stars, flickers of lighting 50 miles south, a gentle breeze keeping us cool and the mosquitos away... I can say that I will definitely be enjoying the Galaxy Drive-In Theater again soon...
Unless they play "The Shining"... then I'm gettin in a damn closet and hoping that Bill Paxton doesnt' fuckin come to town!
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Ow...
Ow...
See, two weeks ago (31 June 2005) I tripped and slammed the big toe of my left foot into my deck almost as hard as I possibly could have.
Result: I broke the end of the bone of my big toe off. I broke it so bad that the orthopedic physician said "Wayull, now... that thar's a break, idnit?"
Lemme back up a little... we were washing the dogs in the yard (as is normal for us during the summer months - cools them and us off), and I was going into the house to grab the other bottle of shampoo. I tripped. When you trip, you immediately throw the unhindered foot forward to catch yourself (try it... you'll see). When I tried to throw my left foot forward, my big toe met the top edge of the deck.
Hard.
I fell down.
Hard.
I crawled three feet to just inside the sliding glass door, closed it with my right foot, and let out a primal scream that caused nieghbors to look up from their yardwork. That's right, I was inside my house - a full two acres from my nearest neighbor - and they still heard me.
The wife comes in trying to figure out what the hell I did this time, as it is normal for me to fall down. This time, though, she could see that all the color had drained from my face and I was very near passing out. She consoled me and asked if it was broken (she's smart). I said "I'm not sure yet, it hurts to bad to tell." (I'm not smart)
After a couple of minutes of going "Ergh... cchhsssssshhhhhhh... ergh... cchhsssssshhhhhhh..." I went back out and finished washing the dogs. The rest of the day was spent in a chair on the back deck with my foot propped up and a beer in my hand. I drank myself numb and decided that if it still hurt as bad the next day, then it was probably broken.
Sunday - the next day - I decided it was broken.
Pain.
"Oh my GOD!" kinda pain.
Anyhow, as the doc I usually see is 40 miles from home, but only 10 miles from my work, I decided that I would go in on Monday... I drank myself numb again.
Monday: I go see the doc. I get X-Rays. The doc says, "You need to go see and orthopedic physician right now," writes a scrip for Ultracet and T3 (Tylenol with Codine), and sends me off with a list of orthopedic docs to contact.
I search the list for a name and location I like, and call. Nope, can't see me for a week. Try again... Nope, we don't look at toes (wtf?) Try again... Dr. Wong will see me today. Alright! Nothin' beats a little asian doctor when it comes to bones, right?
We (the wife is driving as I am now on hard core pain killers) get to Dr. Wong's office and are led to an exam room. After getting my history, the nurse says that the Dr. will be right in. Not even two minutes go by before this little asian guy walks in and says "Wayull, how y'all doon?"
This moment is so surreal that I immediately decide this guy is my orthopedic physician forever more...
He looks at everything, says that the x-rays show the bones to be in alignment, and it's a clean break. I tell him that I don't want any hardware in my toe that I was not born with. He tells me that as long as I wear "the boot" and stay off of it and let the Good Lord and my body heal it, then I won't need a screw. Then, an assistant brings in "the boot".
This thing is 5 pounds, goes almost up to me knee, and is padded (in Texas, that means 'insulated') That means that it's awkward, heavy, and freakin' hot all at the same time!
So I have to wear the boot for maybe two months while my big toe (which you cannot balance without, FYI) heals.
Oh, and we're getting afternoon thunderstorms now... It's usually hot and dry this time of year, but Dennis is making sure that inclement weather sticks around. The reason this is a bad thing is that I know about 20 minutes before it's gonna rain cuz my toe freakin' HURTS!
so...
Ow.
See, two weeks ago (31 June 2005) I tripped and slammed the big toe of my left foot into my deck almost as hard as I possibly could have.
Result: I broke the end of the bone of my big toe off. I broke it so bad that the orthopedic physician said "Wayull, now... that thar's a break, idnit?"
Lemme back up a little... we were washing the dogs in the yard (as is normal for us during the summer months - cools them and us off), and I was going into the house to grab the other bottle of shampoo. I tripped. When you trip, you immediately throw the unhindered foot forward to catch yourself (try it... you'll see). When I tried to throw my left foot forward, my big toe met the top edge of the deck.
Hard.
I fell down.
Hard.
I crawled three feet to just inside the sliding glass door, closed it with my right foot, and let out a primal scream that caused nieghbors to look up from their yardwork. That's right, I was inside my house - a full two acres from my nearest neighbor - and they still heard me.
The wife comes in trying to figure out what the hell I did this time, as it is normal for me to fall down. This time, though, she could see that all the color had drained from my face and I was very near passing out. She consoled me and asked if it was broken (she's smart). I said "I'm not sure yet, it hurts to bad to tell." (I'm not smart)
After a couple of minutes of going "Ergh... cchhsssssshhhhhhh... ergh... cchhsssssshhhhhhh..." I went back out and finished washing the dogs. The rest of the day was spent in a chair on the back deck with my foot propped up and a beer in my hand. I drank myself numb and decided that if it still hurt as bad the next day, then it was probably broken.
Sunday - the next day - I decided it was broken.
Pain.
"Oh my GOD!" kinda pain.
Anyhow, as the doc I usually see is 40 miles from home, but only 10 miles from my work, I decided that I would go in on Monday... I drank myself numb again.
Monday: I go see the doc. I get X-Rays. The doc says, "You need to go see and orthopedic physician right now," writes a scrip for Ultracet and T3 (Tylenol with Codine), and sends me off with a list of orthopedic docs to contact.
I search the list for a name and location I like, and call. Nope, can't see me for a week. Try again... Nope, we don't look at toes (wtf?) Try again... Dr. Wong will see me today. Alright! Nothin' beats a little asian doctor when it comes to bones, right?
We (the wife is driving as I am now on hard core pain killers) get to Dr. Wong's office and are led to an exam room. After getting my history, the nurse says that the Dr. will be right in. Not even two minutes go by before this little asian guy walks in and says "Wayull, how y'all doon?"
This moment is so surreal that I immediately decide this guy is my orthopedic physician forever more...
He looks at everything, says that the x-rays show the bones to be in alignment, and it's a clean break. I tell him that I don't want any hardware in my toe that I was not born with. He tells me that as long as I wear "the boot" and stay off of it and let the Good Lord and my body heal it, then I won't need a screw. Then, an assistant brings in "the boot".
This thing is 5 pounds, goes almost up to me knee, and is padded (in Texas, that means 'insulated') That means that it's awkward, heavy, and freakin' hot all at the same time!
So I have to wear the boot for maybe two months while my big toe (which you cannot balance without, FYI) heals.
Oh, and we're getting afternoon thunderstorms now... It's usually hot and dry this time of year, but Dennis is making sure that inclement weather sticks around. The reason this is a bad thing is that I know about 20 minutes before it's gonna rain cuz my toe freakin' HURTS!
so...
Ow.
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