Weather seems nicer here than in Houston.  🙂 Technically, I’m not in Dallas–I’m camped in a suburb called Richardson. If I have my geography correct, it’s a little bit north of Dallas. Downtown Dallas As always when I arrive in a new city, I spent the day doing housekeeping tasks–getting a bus pass, setting up … More Greetings From Dallas

OK, I admit it—I am basically an uncultured barbarian, and art museums have virtually no appeal for me. But, since the art museum here had a display of Imperial pottery and jade objects from China, and since the museum is free admission for this week (I think there is a football game or something here … More The Houston Museum of Fine Arts

Since I needed to make a new wallet for myself today, I decided to document the process and share it. I’ve been making my own hippie-dippie wallets out of duct tape (1,001 uses, now 1,002) for years now. They are lightweight, thin, waterproof, cheap (two rolls of duct tape will make a lot of wallets), … More Hippie Life Skills 101: Making a Duct Tape Wallet

As the Alamo was under siege by the Mexican forces under Santa Anna in 1836, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Texas, led by Sam Houston, was arguing ineffectually over what to do, and never acted in time to help the Alamo defenders. After the Alamo fell, the Texan rebels gained much sympathy in the … More San Jacinto Battlefield

The USS Texas, of the New York class, is the only pre-World War One “dreadnought” that still survives. Built in 1911 and launched in 1912, she has ten 14-inch main guns, and was the first US battleship to be fitted with anti-aircraft gunnery. While serving in World War One and World War Two the Texas … More Battleship USS Texas

Death is something most of us would prefer not to think about. As a society, we try to keep Death at a distance: we put our sick and dying behind hospital walls where they are invisible, and we process our dead in mortuaries behind closed doors. Most of us have never even seen an unembalmed … More National Museum of Funeral History

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a fan of aircraft of any era. But of course “airplanes” would not have much use if there were not “airports” for them. The earliest pilots had no airports—they just landed in any convenient farmer’s field. In 1928 the first purpose-made airport in Houston was built to support … More 1940 Airport Terminal Museum

Well, I’ve been having shit luck with museums this week. Yesterday I went to the Printing History Museum, only to find a sign on the door saying that the gift shop was still open but the galleries were closed. Apparently they are doing some remodelling. So today I went to the 9th cavalry Buffalo Soldiers … More Argh !!!

Visiting the Johnson Space Center completes a trifecta for me: I’ve now been to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Space Center in Huntsville AL, and now Johnson in Houston. Everyone beyond a particular age remembers watching space flights on TV and hearing the astronaut conversations with “Houston”. Some photos from a visit. A portion of … More NASA Johnson Space Center

OK, this is a cool little place. With several hundred bicycles on display, the museum depicts the history of the bike, from its beginnings in the 19th century to today’s carbon-frame racing cycles. Some photos from a visit. The museum Inside the museum Ivar Johnson 1899. Note the solid rubber tires, and the S-shock absorber … More Bicycle Museum