Man Fashion: Do You Know what Celebrities Have in Common for Fashion?

What do Madonna, Britney Spears, Snoop Dogg and Sylvester Stallone all have in common? No, it’s not the newest romantic scandal in Hollywood - In recent years one line of clothing has been by worn by all these celebrities and many more. It’s not Gucci, Louis Vuitton or Burberry, it’s Ed Hardy clothing, the hottest new brand by French designer Christian Audigier. Most important, this brand actually give you the celebrity style as well as the price that you and I are affordable.


Ed Hardy clothing takes its name from the man who inspired the line, Don Ed Hardy. Hardy is considered one of the best tattoo artists in the world and in tattoo circles he is called “the godfather of modern tattoo”. His Japanese meets American style is highly original and highly sought after around the globe.


Christian Audigier, who had previously designed lines for brands such as Urban Outfitters, Diesel and Von Dutch, saw a great opportunity in Hardy’s work. He approached Hardy in 2004 with an idea for a clothing line based around his art and tattoo work. Hardy granted Audigier a license to use his work, and Ed Hardy clothing was born.


Ed Hardy clothing quickly became a sensation across the world, but nobody took to the new range more than Hollywood’s celebrity elite. Madonna wears Ed Hardy caps and t-shirts almost daily, and Britney Spears was recently filmed raiding the designer’s massive California warehouse.

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Technorati Tags: Man Fashion, Ed Hardy, Celebrity Fashion

Hurricane Ike’s Lingering Effects: Day 8

It really is starting to feel more like normal. Even the weather is getting back to normal patterns: warm, but now with humidity back along with the stillness. It makes work chopping down branches and debris and hauling them to the street even more physically taxing.

Not only is there the heavy sweat to now contend with, we’ve also seen the return of something else we’re well acquainted with here: mosquitoes. They began coming in with the humidity last night, but I notice quite a number of them out back while I was toiling. During the heat of the day, they’re not too bad. But once the sun goes behind the fence and shade moves in, the swarms come out.

With so many other priorities around the region, spraying for bugs isn’t one of them. Making my situation worse is the fact that I have a bayou right out back. If that’s not great breeding ground, then just beyond my dead end is open fields and a series of large detention ponds (for those unfamiliar, in the flatlands, we have essentially pits dug into the ground to trap heavy rain runoff, or in my case, connected to the bayous or creeks to catch heavy waterflow into them and keep from overtaxing – flooding – the waterways leading to the ship channel. We have to have them because we’re flat, and the floods will otherwise just sit for long periods of time in wherever they would flood prior to the ponds system being built (like roads, or out of bayous’ banks).

All the detention ponds have a little water sitting in them, stagnating and waiting until the sun evaporates it. Meanwhile, they’re virtual mosquito metropolises.

Another part, not so enjoyable, is smelling the musky murk emanating from the bayou. With windows open, the smell permeates the house. It’s like living in a storm sewer pipe. It makes me wonder how people on the coast are living with the smell, much less the mosquito swarms. It’s going to be a while before either floods or our bloodsucking friends leave.

Just driving around tonight, it appears most every store is now open. With the exception of a few smaller storefront still struggling, all the major businesses have opened for business.

Businesses way outpaced the other infrastructure in getting back to normal. Driving down the street, you still see patches without streetlights. Store signs are occasionally there, but many are not or are darkened. Some of them appear not to be open, such as Starbucks with their intimate lighting inside … until you realize the parking lot is full of cars. There’s just no sign to display who it is.

Stop lights are also lagging behind business. We’re getting more of them back, but that’s only about half. The rest vary from blinking red lights, to darkened, to no lights at all – just wires, or dangling fixtures. Even some of the stop light street signs are dangling from the wires. A mile or so away, one stoplight installed on a pole had the pole itself blow completely 90 degrees – not even showing over the street it covers, but parallel to the curb right next to the other stop light.

With more stop lights coming on line, there’s a new problem. We’ve all become so used to all stop lights being treated as four-way stops that we now automatically presume that at every stop-lighted intersection. I did it too, and nearly got hit by the second car who tried to drive through the intersection. Only when the driver honked at me and gestured toward the stoplight did I realize it was functioning.

I can imagine the opposite happening soon as well: once everyone becomes used to most intersections having working lights, then blow through one which is out and supposed to be a 4-way stop.

Even complaining about this makes me feel selfish. People on the opposite side of town, and more so on the coast, would give anything just to have this quasi-normal routine back now. It’s going to be months before these folks even reach our level of routine.

Hurricane Ike's Lingering Effects: Day 7

Each day brings the region a little closer to recovery, and one baby step closer to the ultimate goal of the long trip to normalcy. On my part, I actually feel a little guilty. We’ve had electricity for three days now, but 1.18 million – over half – are still without. I revisited my friends, Karen and Bunny, who I walked over to visit on Saturday night when I was bored. When I drove up, I noticed everyone was outside – they’d never gotten their power restored. I felt so bad for them.

The night I was at their place, they’d decided to reserve a room in a hotel to at least enjoy a couple days of air conditioning and get a shower. It turns out the hotel they’d reserved at also had no electricity or water. They’d been homebound since the storm.

On the subject of hotels, as FEMA has already announced that displaced residents whose homes were destroyed will receive housing vouchers, FEMA and the State of Texas put out a website showing hotels that will accept FEMA vouchers. You have to be careful when going through it though. It reportedly lists Galveston hotels among those that will accept FEMA vouchers.

You can’t get into Galveston! Strict restrictions on who can come onto Galveston island … only essential personnel.

Last night, the TV news highlighted a sensational story headline: are utility crews being redirected to wealthy neighborhoods and leaving poor neighborhoods in the dark? This was the case in Cypress (northwest outskirts of Houston). Utility crews from out-of-state were in the neighborhood, reconnecting customers to electricity. Then suddenly, with five more blocks left, the crews climbed back down from the poles, packed up and left.

They were reassigned to Bellaire (a high dollar inner-city suburb of Houston). Residents in Cypress were in disbelief, one lady said she cried. Electric service is the latest field to see classism’s ugly head rear.

The intrepid news crews called Reliant Energy, confirmed the story and caught up with the utility crews that were reassigned from Cypress. They found them in River Oaks – Houston’s version of Beverly Hills! When they caught up with the electrical crew, the utility workers said they were aggravated that they couldn’t finish their assignment and upset with having to re-deploy for no good reason. Six days without power was apparently more than River Oaks could handle – even though I’d wager there were few homes there without generators. Meanwhile, many in Cypress still use water wells, and their pumps don’t work without electricity. Apparently they can wait.

All I can say is whomever made that decision better not deploy a crew in an African-American neighborhood and pull them off to go hook up West University Place or other tony districts. That would not be taken kindly. Regardless of the neighborhood’s ethnic make up, or economic power, everyone should be treated equally. The process should be continuing as stated – with no arbitrary “special consideration” doled out. If we’re all in this, we should be all in this together. It shouldn’t mean rich folks, first.

They’ve begun the early stages of recovery along the coast. Today deaths were confirmed from seven bodies in Galveston County yesterday: two from drowning, five from other causes. With the surge washing everyone in, then the outflow taking them back out to the gulf, it may be months before all bodies are recovered.

They had one story on news of a man living on Bolivar Peninsula who attempted to ride out the storm. When the surge washed away his home, he managed to grab hold of his patio table washing by, grabbed hold, and rode it like a boogie board across Galveston Bay. He had to fight debris, dodge a snake and fight off an alligator, but in the end drifted over to the east end of the bay, where the Coast Guard finally found him. He said he’s had it with living on the coast and plans to move.

On hurricane victim assistance, the state will not issue payment vouchers. Texas authorities were going to do food stamp distributions for many families who (like myself) ended up having to get rid of their refrigerated items. As a result, the first food stamp location opened up Thursday, but they processed their “allotted number of applications” and then turned the rest away. Word spread of this, and with the pressing need, today (Friday) they have opened up with a huge, blocks-long line in wait.

Texas’ Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) websites showed they would raise the level of income in order to assist those moderately above the official wage level cutoff receive food stamps. Folks who stood in line all night then had HHS personnel distribute spreadsheets that showed the usual wage level cutoff (about $700/mo lower). Needless to say, the contradictory information between the web and what HHS was allowing caused quite a stir. There were folks who drove there from all around the area and some waited from the night before. One interviewed lady drove down (about 25 miles each way) and waited all night only to receive $14 per month assistance.

Apparently there’s some problems with the temporary FEMA application process as well, which was set up by Cong. Lampson to expedite the process. Those who applied are not receiving assistance. I’m unclear what the problem is with these applications. However, the news also noted FEMA was setting up their own location across the street from Cong. Lampson’s stop-gap site at the American Legion location across from Ellington Field. Why FEMA finds it necessary to open what appears to be a competing site when the one across the way already exists and was created to facilitate getting residents assistance is also unknown.

My personal opinion is that FEMA feels they’re not being assisted but being “shown up” by a congressman who just happens to be of the opposite political persuasion of the President. Gee, politics showing up during a disaster recovery process? I guess someone doesn’t want another black eye a la Katrina and Rita! Maybe something politically triumphant they can stand upon, like Giuliani atop the rubble of the Twin Towers post-9/11.

Well, at least they’re trying to be Johnny-on-the-spot. A week later. No hurry. We’re patient. We’ll wait for ya…. Heckuva job!

Hurricane Ike's Lingering Effects: Day 6

Things are finally getting back to some semblance of normalcy. More stores are open now and stocking some of their shelves. Dairy is beginning to show up, some bread. There are still empty shelves of canned goods, crackers and cleaning products. But the usual day-to-day is an osmosis that's gradually filling in all those exposed gaps.

More gas stations are opening around the Houston area: no more reports of the lines and the tempers. The media only note the newly discovered price hikes.

It was just today that I began taking stock of what's damaged here. There's the obvious roof leaks between my dining room and living room, but other odd little leaks in the living room and inexplicably in my wash room (which is under my bedroom!)

My biggest fear after losing power was losing my computer. The power surge on that initial outage made my 24-inch flat screen monitor audibly pop and flash! I scrambled in the dark and unplugged both it and the computer, but truly feared I had likely lost both of those. I also did likewise with my refrigerator. Amazingly there appears to be no problems!

However, other things didn't fare as well. My overhead fluorescent kitchen lights (which I'd left on), are out permanently. One of the sets of bulbs are brand new, so I know it can't be the light tubes. Another thing I didn't think of: my gas oven. The temperature gauge and timer runs off of an electric digital display. The gas probably works, but the computer display is fried -- nothing. Even though my ceiling fan on the back patio survived the wind and the power surges, the master bedroom ceiling fan didn't! As best as I can tell, those are the only electrical things that fried.

I'm just glad I've still got my computer, and truly dodged a bullet there!

I've got fences on two sides gone, a front gate that's trashed. My back deck oddly lost a number of boards. At daybreak, I saw one of them peel up, get caught by the wind and immediately disappear down the block somewhere. There were branches needing pruning from my trees. There were other trees' branches that had broken off and lodged in my trees! Apparently I lost screens, a loose one in my bedroom and a couple small ones in front of the house, and a cracked window on the back corner of my house. Lots of nagging little problems, but nothing major!

As FEMA is busy themselves with other priority issues, Cong. Nick Lampson (D-TX) from Tom DeLay's old district opened up a location on his own to begin the process of getting residents with damage a chance to log in and receive disaster help from the agency.

It actually brings up another issue: political campaigns. We're in the midst of key national campaign season. In gridiron terms, this is the "red zone." Yet, in the midst of this, Texas politicos have had to put campaigns on back burners. Lampson should be out campaigning hard to keep his seat. Instead, he's put it on hold and is in process of helping the region recover.

Our State Senate candidate, and likely my next State Senator, Chris Bell, has also suspended all fundraisers and campaign work for the next few weeks due to the hurricane's devastation to his senate district -- which took the brunt of Ike's impact.

President Bush, likewise, suspended the fundraisers he was to attend for Republican Party fundraisers yesterday, sending his wife Laura in his stead.

Even U.S. Senate candidate, Rick Noriega (D-TX), has been indefinitely impacted. In the midst of a tight race, as Lt. Col. in the National Guard, our State Rep. Noriega has been called back to duty and is directing recovery operations. It's not surprising – he had to go to active duty in Afghanistan in 2003. It's the downside of being a member of the Guard – you are duty-bound to serve when the call goes out. Needless to say, Sen. John Cornyn, the GOP incumbent, has no such restrictions or responsibilities.

Doubtless, Hurricane Ike is blowing holes in a number of our local political campaigns. Especially in a situation such as Noriega's it's sad, and really unfortunate timing. But another way to look at it, Noriega faithfully fulfills his obligations to the country. You can't criticize that!

Indeed, our political schedules are officially FUBAR. It brings up other issues as well: what happens to displaced residents' ability to vote? We've already heard of the caging issue in Ohio again this year, and 300,000 New Jersey residents suddenly discovering they're not registered. What would prevent local GOP authorities from sending out similar "do not forward" notices to registered voters, receiving them back, and disallowing and suspending their registrations? Galveston, Bolivar and the Golden Triangle (Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange area) are all heavily democratic areas with largely blue collar residents. That could effectively kill a lot of very close races right now.

It's no doubt Karl Rove and his McCain campaign acolytes have already noted this and are licking their lips in anticipation. It would not surprise me at all to see a serious spike in southeast Texas voters finding sudden problems and refusals from voting.

Hurricanes don't know politics, and the local folks lose it quickly. But the carpetbagging folks on the outside looking in aren't affected by Ike. They only see opportunity for victory.

Men Fashion Watch: Montblanc's Nicolas Rieussec Monopusher Chronograph

For those who still regards Montblanc as pen brand which happens to make watches, this stellar roll-out is going to make them eat their words. Just kidding.

With the Nicolas Rieussec Monopusher Chronograph, Montblanc now joins the ultra-elite club of watchmaking house who can lay claim to having their won in-house movement (the watch's innards that is conceived and produced entirely by the brand itself). Inspired by Nicolas Rieussec, a 19th century watchmaker who used to make watches for King Louis XIII, the elegantly appointed watch borrows its look from a pre-cursory chronograph mechanism that Rieussec himself created in 1821. On Montblanc's version, the watch is outfitted with the manual winding Calibre MB R100 that lets the users start, stop and reset the choronograph mechanism with just a single push button on the crown.

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Technorati Tags: Man Fashion, Men Fashion Watch, Montblanc

Desperate Republicans Pushing The Race Riot Road To Victory

My friend Deb had warned me this campaign season was gonna get ugly over a month ago. It’s become pathetic how ugly America has gotten. Republicans are desperate now and more openly angling for that race riot catalyst to scare over the rest of the white voters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Ca8reYEfQ [Exposé of product at their sales booth at the Values Voters Convention this year]
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/09/16/holt.obama.waffles.wkrn [Initial CNN news story on the controversial satirical product]

In a land where we create enemies around the world, declare war and send troops – including many minority troops – overseas to fight and die for their country, how bad does it look when they come back home to find blatant racism in the form of satirically created waffle mix that goes out of its way to tell minorities “you’re not good Americans like us, you’re merely here to be the butt of our cartoonish jokes.”

That’s exactly what a couple of admitted Republicans created: a waffle mix with a cartoon picture of Obama, the first black party nominee in American history, in place of where Aunt Jemima would be. It’s an intended throwback to the imagery of Jemima, the southern indentured, servant-class “black mammy” visage that haunted and indignified the entire African-American community in this nation until the civil rights bill was signed into law, and even well beyond.

[CNN's Lou Dobbs buys a box of Obama Waffle Mix and the creator grabs a quick souvenir photo during the Values Voters Convention]

Worse yet on one version of the waffle box, as one ‘person on the street’ in CNN’s story about this laughed and commented, “oh, he’s got a towel on his head!” Next to that caricature is a red arrow and instructions: “Point box toward Mecca for tastier waffles!” Yes, Obama the good Christian Sunni Muslim. Urban legend, again….

Furthermore, on the back, there’s even a recipe for Open Border Fiesta Waffles with a visual of Obama as a caricatured Mexican, replete with sombrero and a serape over one shoulder! Oh, and the recipe is precious too, beginning with a description: “The greatest danger of all is to allow walls to divide us. It’s time we opened our borders and our wallets to all who desire a taste of freedom. So put out the welcome mat and enjoy this multicultural celebration!”

The ingredients call for Obama waffle mix, oil, goat’s milk and jalapeño peppers, drizzled with chili con queso [sic], and suggests, “while waiting for these zesty treats to invade your home, why not learn a foreign language?” The recommended serving is “4 or more illegal aliens.”

Believe it – I can’t make this kind of stuff up!

These two GOP-folk, Bob DeMoss and Martin Whitlock of Franklin, TN felt a compelling need to speak their mind with their caricaturish concoction. They were open about discussing their brainchild, already spinning off sideline products like Obama Waffle Mix aprons, and were happy to have the free news publicity from CNN that their controversial products created. I predict they’ve hit upon a jackpot that will sell well to collectors, and especially so to rich, white Republican speaking events and fundraisers.

Actually, I’m amazed they didn’t just take that last step and call it Obamamima waffles. In fact, why not go all the way and to the bright red or white “Al Jolson” styled lips a-la minstrel show? Yeah, I know, the visuals were long-ago wrested from cartoons and deemed pejorative, but so was blatant racism. Now that that’s once again stylish among the hoi polloi, why not open up that trunk and bring it all back out into the open Sirs DeMoss and Whitlock? Why hold back, especially when there’s scads of good Republican money to be made?

In this day and age when so many in black America have transcended this stereotype and have attained prominent places in business, society and even government in both parties (Condolleeza Rice? Clarence Thomas? Remember them Republicans?) these GOP folk, and even the RNC and McCain campaign’s coy nibblings around the edges, all deem it AOK to put these “uppity nigras” who don’t genuflect and kiss their political masters’ rings duly back in their place! Are we not yet beyond the days of “yazzuh”?!?

And the precious part about it is these brainiacs don’t stop with African-Americans!

They also manage to take down Latinos as well with their caricature (which only missed the Frito Bandito mustachio)! All that effort John McCain (in retrospect, cynically) put forth to attract latino voters to the GOP by being a sponsor of immigration reform himself has now come into the harsh light of truth – and gets tossed right in the crapper! McCain now wants nothing to do with his former legislation, and further is now the figurehead of a party that openly belittles and stereotypes all minorities, including their former “amigos” who want to erase borders, “invade” from Mexico and eat waffles with jalapeños and chile con queso! Well, Olé!

Don’t forget pointing the box toward Mecca for “tastier waffles!” Surely that will go over well with Sunni Americans. It’ll surely bring a heartwarming smile to Republicans’ friends in the Bin Laden family, too! Not Osama, but the other Bin Ladens who are longtime friends and business partners to George Bush and family. No doubt it’ll also be an attention-getter with Prince “Bandar Bush” and the entire Saud family when time comes to ask for help when the oil prices get too high for America’s economy to function. Certainly they’ll see the humor in not only humans, but foods needing to bow to Mecca so they may be at their best, insh’allah!

It’s a xenophobe’s trifecta! They take out blacks, latinos and Arabs in one fell swoop. Moreover, they simultaneously help paint the entire white race as “good ol’ boys” with german shepherds in the backyard, wooden crosses in the garage and their oh-so-closeted billyclubs and spook-white sheets hanging in the closet.

Gee GOPs, thanks for reminding me how all Americans are nothing but broadly-painted, monolithic stereotypes! What a great, monochromatic image to show the rest of the world. Yes, this is the type of democratic ideals we want to export to those starving for “American style democracy” – get ready Iraq!

Half of my blood is white European, and these idiots are making me ashamed of it! In fact, they’ve made me furious! How dare they presume they can unilaterally decide to throw all Americans back into pigeonholed stereotypes, and throw America’s social progress into reverse a few decades? How hypocritical can these repugnant bastards be when they call Obama on the race card (a bit of a stretch) and yet let stand and fester this type of outrageous commentary and feign being oblivious and innocent? Who gave these Republicans the right to own and destroy our country at their sole discretion?

It’s truly amazing the studied restraint and maturity the African-American community has shown to date. Compare this to the Republicans’ histrionical response to “lipstick on a pig” (a phrase even John McCain uttered about Hillary Clinton’s health care plan).

Better still, think of the shrill GOPer cries of foul when bloggers not even connected to the Obama campaign nor the DNC outed Sarah Palin’s unwed daughter’s pregnancy. Recall the response of Obama as this began hitting the news – agreeing with the RNC calls for hands off on Palin and calling for it to stop. Compare this to the McCain campaign and the RNC response to this half-veiled racial ridicule: silence.

It wouldn’t surprise me to know McCain’s off laughing at this small-minded comedy – after all, he gets into this mean-spirited, crude humor (admitted “bad boy” that he is).

McCain made comments that “Obama chooses his words carefully.” Well, the RNC and its supporters, and the Rovian campaign strategists are beyond careful with words. They’re masters at political marketing, at twisting phrases, manipulating meanings and using “coding” – words that speak to their base, but have little meaning outside of their nebular world.

This is distinctly coded Republican imagery, Sen. McCain, and your Republican party is making no bones about being open with it. Any attempt to flip this off as “unfortunate choice” of wording or ignorance is garbage! This is the most disingenuous “ignorance” possible. It’s nothing short of racially polarizing incitement.

Hurricane Ike's Lingering Effects: Days 4-5

[Photo of Point Bolivar Lighthouse in the foreground, and Crystal Beach TX further beyond, taken from the direction of Galveston Island the day after Hurricane Ike made landfall. Virtually everything's under water even hours after the water has begun receding back into the Gulf!]

Day Four

The tedium becomes overwhelming, so I'm really sinking myself into yardwork. After beginning the back yard yesterday, and getting the first two attacks from yellow jackets, I retreated. This afternoon, I got stung inside my own house! If the damn things are going to get me, then I'll take the war out to their turf -- not mine!

There isn't really much else I can do, and we're blessed with amazing cool weather -- low 80's! I can't emphasize how unusual it is to have decent weather after a hurricane! We really got fortunate.

With this weather, I shouldn't be short-tempered. But apparently frustration isn't only the product of the usual sticky heat and waiting in lines. Mine is clearly frustration borne of tedium and minor aggravations like those of the aggressive insect variety. Again today, I get two more stings -- one in my open eyeball! At least now I know the vitreous fluid doesn't come pouring out deflating your eye! Strangely, beyond the uncontrollable eye-watering, I actually caught a little buzz. It made the colors (once the white-out stopped) very intense in that eye. Nevertheless, it's not a trip I want to repeat: it's painful.

During the day, there's more activity in sound: frequent sirens from groups of either fire or paramedics vehicles (unsure which). One that was in my vicinity was clearly a fire, due to the black smoke, and brought both fire vehicles and even a chopper. It's noise! Maybe not the welcome kind, but it breaks the eerie silence that hovers in those immediate days after hurricanes.

Beyond that, the persistent uncertainty gnaws at you. I catch a little news on the car radio in spurts, but nothing personally useful. It would seem easy to drive to Katy, but a 30 mile roundtrip takes gas, and gas is still a long wait, to say nothing of people's temperament at the pumps. Staying in Katy is a different problem: leaving my home unattended and a looter's draw. So I stay home just to avoid that prospect. With 2/3 of a tank, I think I can wait it out. If I get down to 1/4 tank, I'll just drive out to Columbus an hour west. They'll have gas without the hassles.

This evening I drove to the Home Depot near my home to get wasp spray, and apparently they close early. Wasted trip, wasted gas, just another of those little cumulative frustrations of life in indefinite uncertainty.

Another is the frustration of intermittent cell phone signals. I've been very happy to have cell phone service (thankfully I had the presence to know I'd need a car charger at some point). That said, I've had a number of partial conversations with friends, unless it's under ten minutes or so. Trying to call back is usually fruitless – there's no available signal. Looking forward to another boring night in the dark, the only thing you can do to break the boredom besides walking around the darkened neighborhood is get on the phone with someone. But after a few minutes, getting cut off abruptly is no fun.

I'd noticed today the cell phone signal seemed to be more consistent, so I started making a couple calls. After the last one cut off, to my surprise I was able to get a signal about two minutes later -- a hopeful sign! During my last call, I nearly got heart palpitations as I saw a bright blue flash of light in back of me (I thought lightning!). Then a sound ... and TV! My electricity came on! Hallelujah! Four days was long enough!

Finally I started seeing some of the images of the devastation on Bolivar Peninsula (across the pass from Galveston Island). It's wiped out. A friend of mine, Jackie bought an older beach house in Crystal Beach back in 2000 (one that's only about 4 feet off of ground level) and had mentioned at the time that she was going to sell her condo in Houston and move out there permanently. I have no idea if she did so.

But knowing Crystal Beach was ground zero for Ike's storm surge, and now seeing the town -- save for the lighthouse and the water tower -- has been virtually wiped clean off the map, I worry that she may have stayed. She's obviously transgendered (not a good mix in a shelter), and has her poodle. It strikes me that with her tough military background, she may have decided to stick it out and fight it. I'd drop her an Email, but that doesn't work well when you have no electricity.

Galveston is devastated. Bolivar's little towns are utterly destroyed. So much more damage further inland than I thought I'd see. And the flared tempers show on TV. Even the mayor is angered at FEMA, and is taking over the POD distribution. They apparently sent a truck from one of the POD sites -- against the mayor's protestations, as there were assigned police to guard -- back to the staging area at Reliant Stadium. 7AM Tuesday, the POD opened and there were no supplies. FEMA just can't seem to get it together!

Really, the county and city are the only ones who seem to have a grasp on things! Thank God for Mayor Bill White! He was great post-Katrina, and he's shining again now that we have our own unique version of it. There's been other confusions as well – communication by the mayor’s office and media that PODs were supposed to all be open until 8PM, but a few locations shutting down at 6PM.

KTRK, Channel 13, has been really digging to get the information this whole storm (kudos go out to Miya Shay, Wayne Dolcefino and Art Rascon for not being easily brushed off with fluff or vague responses). Tonight they showed President Bush who apparently visited the area today (maybe explaining all the helicopter activity I’d heard). According to reports, he disallowed any media from riding along with him, and did another fly-over, surveying damage from a helicopter. According to Melanie Lawson, the President gave a press briefing before doing his flyover survey, and gave a fluff-filled, soundbite pat on the back to Houston:

"I have been president long enough to have seen tough situations, and have seen the resilience of the people to be able to deal with the tough situations…. I know with proper help from the federal government and the state government, there will be a better tomorrow." What a feeling guy! He couldn’t buy a clue if it was given to him for free!

The electricity return is making progress, and I truly feel fortunate! I’m part of 836,000 people who’ve had power restored. That’s out of 2.26 million who lost it originally. Only 37% of us have gotten it back.

With all this communication breakdown and miscommunication, keep this in mind: the agency overseeing this is FEMA. Since Hurricane Katrina and Rita in 2005, FEMA has been wrapped up under the direct purview of Homeland Security Dept. and Michael Chertoff. Homeland Security Dept. answers to no one else, and directly reports to President George W. Bush. And as Dick Cheney has asserted numerous times, both he and the President have “unitary executive powers” – unrestricted powers to do anything they want without explanation, oversight or accountability for any of it. Houston has been hometown to Bush-daddy and Bush-mama since his junior high school days.

If Bush-baby had wanted this effort to run smoothly, he would have made it so with unfettered command. Or maybe he did exercise his authority and order Homeland Security Dept. to do so, which communicates a very different and disturbing message…. YOYO!

Finally, the came real shock of being in "Hurricane mode" this past week. The stock market tanked, badly! Trust me, there was no way for anyone in the Houston region to know! For those not in hurricane areas, this may be something you never have to live through, and so cannot relate. Since last Thursday, what media and news we've had has been commercial-free, non-stop news of the hurricane's track, the expected landfall and damage, and even this evening on TV, nothing but damage reports, POD reports, communication of needed information and press-conferences. We have zero news from the outside world! Absolutely nothing. There is no regular programming.

It wasn't until I went through this that I remembered back to my days in Corpus Christi and the same occurring there after Hurricane Allen, and Fern and Celia years before it. You become inured to focusing on locally surviving. But you forget the rest of the world goes on. The campaign stuff is infuriating and I'm worried about what's happening financially. And yet, we may as well have all been planted in Indonesia with no contact to the outside world. Without internet access, we're all clueless -- and even that's an understatement! I literally feel like Rip Van Winkle!

This is testament to how dependent we’ve now become on internet news. It’s happened gradually, but it’s had a comprehensive change on our lives – especially if you have any sociopolitical interests or activities. Now I've got new worries -- what else have I missed? Even with newfound electricity, it's going to be an unsettling night.

Day Five

A good portion of the morning was spent catching up! Catching up on outside news, catching up with friends who worried over me surviving the storm. After so long on the internet, I got a headache. So I decided to try to make my way to Home Depot and the grocery stores again. As it's Wednesday now, apparently traffic had picked up considerably. I tried three times unsuccessfully to attempt a trip and never made it out of my neighborhood. The east-west streets (Richmond and Westheimer further north) are clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Even my north-south artery (two-laned Synott Rd.) was clogged with traffic back ups, which is unusual.

I've become an involuntary urban shut-in!

Instead, I spent most of my day -- as before -- out in back, clearing vegetation debris to get to the downed fence debris. The angry yellow jackets are out in force. All their paper, honey-combed nests are down, and they're already hostile. My disruption of their new attempts at temporary homes is enraging them further. This takes up a good portion of the day.

After 8PM, I finally had a successful drive out of my neighborhood!

Unfortunately, stores are still closing early -- Home Depot at 7PM, Kroger at 8PM (I just missed it!). Again, more infuriating frustration over wasted trips! Waiting in long lines don't appeal to me, but making trips for nothing compounds the problem. But in my drive around, I noticed something good. Four gas stations are now open, with power and gasoline, and there was no waiting in multi-block lines! In fact, there was lots of business, but no lines at all -- a great sign. Noticing that the prices have gone up to $3.77/gal. -- a little over 10% rise from the $3.35 I paid two days before the storm -- was not so welcomed a sight.

But it is gasoline and I didn't have to drive 75 miles each way to get it. I topped off my tank, so it wasn't a totally wasted trip. The comfort level increases just a bit.

From what I see on TV, it seems FEMA is finally getting it together. Chertoff and the county and the mayor are all working in concert, and for the most part, everyone appears to be on the same page. It's about time.

Other things on hurricane news: there are over one hundred tankers parked in a line, anchored off of the Galveston coast. All of them are waiting to come into the Port of Houston to unload, maybe even some to load. Refineries are just in the beginning stages of bringing things online again, so it may be a while for some of those loading. This would be a horrible time for another storm to hit the western Gulf of Mexico -- thank God for the current weather patterns!

Only in Texas: after Ike devastated a lot of the coastal areas in Chambers County, across Galveston Bay from Houston / Galveston, many of the pastures lost fencing (and even some cattle). As there were numerous reports of wandering cattle, some of the ranchers have begun old-fashioned cattle drives of their herd to relocate their stock. TV news showed shots of the cattle drives heading up Hwy. 124.

There's actually a few hundred people still on Bolivar Peninsula, along with the thousands in Galveston. How these Bolivar folks survived, I don't know. But they stayed, and probably for good reason. Even in this difficult time and conditions, lootings are being reported. It makes it impossible for authorities or military to convince people to leave. They'll live with the hardships, they're staying with their homes and belongings.

Crazy Shirley, a Daily Kos contributor who has a beach home in Crystal Beach sent me a video response to my previous diary entry on Kos. It was well-done, with many photos of the old, casual Crystal Beach days. It reminded me of my days living on Corpus' North Beach, and days spent out at Port A or J. P. Luby Surf Park on Padre Island. Then showed the news shots and satellite photos of Ike bearing down. Finally a few shots of the devastation post-storm. It was all done to the tune of Green Day's "Good Riddance (I Hope You Had The Time Of Your Life)." I started worrying about Jackie again, remembering our GCTC beach parties on both West Beach and at Jackie's on Crystal Beach. I worried about whatever happened to the nursing home staff and residents from Baytown and where they ended up.

I also started remembering Corpus, in those first few months post-Celia.

That was too much -- I started crying uncontrollably. You can only stay numb for so long....
"All last night, sat on the levee and moaned
Thinking 'bout my baby and my happy home." — When The Levee Breaks, Led Zeppelin