July 4th Celebrations in Castle Hills

I blogged about the American Independence Day celebrations at Castle Hills, Lewisville yesterday but I wasn't able to upload any pictures of the event. Here are some pictures of the event for your reference.

July 4th celebrations at Castle Hills

Independence Day! (Photo credit: CR Artist)

Yesterday was America's independence day and I visited couple of friends in a nearby city to participate in their community's celebrations. For a small residential community the celebrations were pretty well orchestrated. The center of attraction was a live band belting out hit numbers. There were numerous games for kids to play, bounce houses, and of course lots and lots of eating stuff in the form of food trucks, booths and vendors.

Fireworks #1 (Photo credit: Camera Slayer)

Of course the highlight of the evening was the fireworks display. The fireworks were staged near the commercial strip of community and we got lucky in finding a slightly elevated spot which served as a vantage point for viewing the fireworks. The display started promptly after dusk. In the beginning it was rather slow and staid but soon picked up tempo and started attracting applause from the viewers. It ended as quickly as it started. The good part was that from our location we could view the fireworks of two other communities quite well and as we watched we drew comparisons and the one in Castle hills was not as good as the other one.

Even so I believe the other display we got to see was a city organized event and funded by the government. The one we were attending was a community organized event and there is a definite disparity in funding so I guess it was a pretty good effort despite a rather mellow showing.

A day in the Lake!

Lake Tawakoni at Hideaway Estates (Photo credit: Houstonian)

After many years I got the opportunity to swim in the open waters of the vast Lake Tawakoni. It was one of those rare summer days when the temperature was not too hot and the sun was not blazing town threatening to melt and vaporize our bodies. Along with a few friends we headed out for the Lake Tawakoni State Park sited about 60 miles from Dallas and one of the largest lakes in the state of Texas.

Few things bring me the peace of mind and pleasure like that of a large water body. Just sitting and looking at the vast expanse of azure beauty soothes my mind out of the worst crises and helps me find solutions and think of creative options.

Lake Tawakoni (Photo credit: Houstonian)

Anyway that was not the reason we went to Lake Tawakoni it was a pleasure picnic to enjoy the waters. The weather was just right, not too hot, not cold at all, the water was warm towards the bank and became refreshingly cooler as we waded deeper into the lake. The swimming area has been cordoned off with buoys by the state par authorities so that visitors may not venture out too deep and get drowned. The swimming beach, hiking trails, picnic areas, and boat ramps provide amazing activity options for the entire family.

We spent the whole time in the swimming beach, resting, dipping in water and enjoying the day.

Enter Atlantic/Legoland Sweepstakes to win a 2 day family vacation!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Atlantic Luggage for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

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The holiday prize package includes a 2 day vacation for two adult and two children to Legoland in Florida. Two nights in a comfortable hotel (one 4 occupancy room), a car voucher, a free set of Atlantic Luggage for your easy travel and a chance to meet with one of the Master Model Builders of Legoland is included in the package. Now that is what I call a real prize, it includes everything except you. All you need to do is to enjoy the holiday. Everything else is arranged.

Why is this holiday unique and different? That is because Legoland Florida has a spanking new attraction - a waterpark that was inaugurated in May 2012. The waterpark features a lazy river which is 1,000 ft and families on this holiday will have the opportunity to design, build and set afloat a Lego vessel. I am totally excited at this prospect and just think how thrilled kids are going to be if they can create a boat with their hands and see it floating.

Don't wait for too long the sweepstakes end soon. This is your unique opportunity use it immediately and wisely.

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Crazy Conditions in US Kills 15 and inconveniences many more

Waldo Canyon fire, Colorado Springs, CO (Photo credit: Beverly & Pack)

This summer has been odd in the US. Some states like Colorado, and New Mexico have been experiencing enormous wildfires that are causing damage to houses. The fire has led to evacuation of several thousand homes and many of these evacuees are wondering if they can return to their homes at all. Some of the neighborhoods have been flattened completely without trace thanks to the raging inferno that fire fighters have not been able to tame... yet.

Move south to Florida and the people there are facing the fury of nature in another form - floods and storms. Washington DC has been hit by a storm that has made thousands of homes go without power and in this triple digit summer heat it is almost impossible to stay alive. In Ohio over a million homes and businesses have no power today and there is no way it is going to be restored over the weekend. It is going to be a warm or rather a hot weekend for these people.

I wonder how these natural disasters will affect the economy of the states and the nation. There will be massive insurance payouts required and I am pretty sure corporations will not like to pay up. There will be NGOs asking for donations in the unaffected parts of the country to help in reconstruction efforts.

Fire Rages Across America

It is the same story every year this time. Wild fires across the dry parts of America i.e. mostly in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and this year Colorado also. The southern states mentioned here are known for their dry, arid and rugged landscapes. During summer months when mercury hits 100+ the surroundings become so dry that a small spark is enough to start a major blaze.

This has been happening with clockwork precision every year.. at least since 2008 when I began following the news and events here. It is hard for the thousands of people who are evacuated from their homes, harder for those who actually lose their homes to the fire. Then there are millions of $$$s spent on fire fighting and reconstruction.

I wonder if there could be any preventive measures that could be put in place so that this tragedy doesn't repeat year after year. This way everyone will be happy and there is no collateral damage to the environment.

Free Disney DVD! Just login and order

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Car-Mercial for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

An offer like this doesn't come around every day - A Free Disney DVD for you and your family. How do you get it, all you have to do is to visit the website of Disney Vacation Club and order your copy of the DVD. At the Disney Vacation Club you will discover much more than this free DVD you can learn how you and your family can enjoy unique vacations. The club now provides members access to all the Disney Vacation Club resorts and other exotic resorts at over 500 destinations worldwide.

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Bridges that link people!

The Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco, CA at sunset taken from the Marin Headlands (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bridges are mostly man made features that link places. It may be across a river, lake or even across a city/ neighborhood so that traffic can be avoided. I have found many bridges that serve only pedestrians, yet others that serve only fast moving vehicles, and there others that are shared by pedestrians and vehicles alike.

One unique feature of bridges in the US is that they are built in such a way that most of the time one can't see what is below the bridge. I am guessing this is done purposely so that the drivers concentrate on the road and not on the scenery around and stray from their lanes.

The Walnet Street Bridge, packed with pedestrians on Memorial Day weekend. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Bridge In the Tree Tops (Photo credit: Jon Person)

Road Trips!!!

Route dans les Pyrénées françaises (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Youth Hostels International has an interesting tagline:

Wandering one Gathers Honey

In short they were encouraging members to travel to different places and gather the honey of wisdom and travel survival skills. I have had the good fortune of having been part of many road trips in the past.

When I was in India a 60km (40 mile) bike ride would be a road trip to enjoy for a day. Here in the US I travel that much to reach my work. Road trips here take a completely new dimension. Long distances can be covered in short periods of time thanks to the super smooth, and relatively empty roads. No question of dodging people or cattle, or poultry. Of course there are small animals on the road that get squished under the tires of automobiles, but hey! who cares.

Then there are people who take their home with them while on the road. They travel in a recreational vehicle across the length and breadth of this continent-sized nation. How much ever one travels it is impossible to see everything in a small state let alone in the nation or the world. It takes a few lifetimes if one has to see the entire state of Texas for example. Then by the time one completes traveling there are bound to be some changes here and there which will need to be seen and experienced.

That makes one set off on yet another road trip!

Memories!!!

Memory is such a unique thing for everything with a brain... or a chip or a hard drive. An inanimate object like the computer hard drive doesn't have the choice of what to remember. We as living and autonomous creatures have this choice of storing what we want in our memories.

When we are young and cramming for exams we wish we had more memory. When we forget someone's phone number and trying desperately to remember we beat ourselves up for not noting it down. Even as the modern gadgets are making our memories smaller and smaller we rue the fact that there is so much information to remember while at school.

As we age our memories become weaker and we don't remember as much as we used to in our youth. For some of us this may be a great blessing because it is an opportunity to permanently forget all the bad things that happened to us. For others it may be a curse because we can't seem to remember those wonderful moments of our life.

Wouldn't it be nice if selective memory were possible. Just imagine if like all the physical enhancements are possible by modern medicine, mental or memory tuning were possible? I am pretty sure many of us would want to go in and get certain incidents of our life erased permanently from our memories.

Massachusetts teen sentenced to prison for texting while driving

Texting while driving or for that matter simply using the cellphone while driving is a huge distraction. This phenomenon is rampant across the world where cellphones are used. Be it America or India or China cellphone use while driving has become a menace and a cause of hundreds of accidents, crashes and fatalities across the world.

Today when I read this article titled "Massachusetts teen sentenced to prison for texting while driving" I am pretty impressed by the judge who pronounced this judgement. Though two years in prison for an 18-yr-old is not much in this country. He can come out two years later and with good family support start his life all over again, go to college, find a girl, marry, have kids, have a career and pretty much lead a normal life. But for the three children who lost their father, the woman who lost her boyfriend/ lover, the sibling who lost her bother there is no returning to normalcy. Their loss is permanent that nothing can replace. Prayers may give some solace but the loss will continue to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

I hope that this news article and the punishment will deter other cellphone users to desist from dangerous driving practices and keep the roadways safe for everyone.

Hoping for clout with women, Obama urges Congress to pass "Paycheck Fairness Act"

My Comments on this news: Politicians can stoop to any level to gain or retain power. This is one example of how President Obama is trying to gain his votes so he can get reelected come December. Equal pay for equal work should be implemented, I have no problems with the concept itself, but talking about it when elections are around the corner. That is what is not fair. This is simply trying to bribe the electorate and get their votes. In short going to any lengths to retain the presidency and power. No difference between politicians here and elsewhere in this regard. Hoping for clout with women, Obama urges Congress to pass 'Paycheck Fairness Act' | The Ticket - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/hoping-clout-women-voters-obama-urges-congress-pass-183701792.html Click image to see more photos. (Paul Beaty/AP) President Barack Obama, his re-election fortunes heavily dependent on women, pushed Congress on Monday to "step up and do its job" by passing a bill designed to erase the wage gap between male and female workers doing the same job. With Senate Republicans expected to block the [...] Read the full story

Softball coach claims reverse discrimination after ousting because school insisted on hiring a woman

My Observations on this newsreport: Heartening news for feminists and women's libbers, a male coach gets ousted to make way for a female. It is indeed celebration time for women across the world, their rights are being upheld. It is not bad for the ousted coach after all, he still gets to keep his job. Hey in this economy having a job is extremely important. I don't know the politics behind this incident but I can only say one thing. It is time men get used to such treatment, the future belongs to women who have started flexing their muscle in all arenas. After all according to a London researcher men will go extinct in the next 149,000 years :) Softball coach claims reverse discrimination after ousting because school insisted on hiring a woman | Prep Rally - Yahoo! Sports http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/softball-coach-claims-reverse-discrimination-ousting-because-school-100523488.html A highly respected softball coach in Alabama is raising claims of reverse discrimination after he was informed that he would not be allowed to keep his job because the school wanted a female softball coach. Continue reading → Read the full story

Cancer cases to surge 75 percent worldwide by 2030

It is well known that aping the west is not a good thing. This news report titled: "Cancer cases to surge 75 percent worldwide by 2030" should make people sit up and take notice. According to a paper published by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there is going to be a spurt in cancer cases worldwide. This is mostly due to the adaptation of westernization of third world nations. In India it is expected that cancer incidence will increase by 78 percent by 2030.

Aping the west is happening at a fast pace in India and truly cancer cases are increasing. I wonder if people will learn and stop aping the west.

Wild biker caught going faster than a 737 takes off

I read this newsreport titled Wild biker caught going faster than a 737 takes off on MSN. It is impressive that this guy could attain this speed on a motorcycle on the road, but because it is not the right place for this kind of stunts he has been caught and probably will not be able to ride for sometime or maybe he might even end up in prison.

If this guy had displayed his skill and dare devilry on the racetrack he would have won accolades, fans and more than that lots of money. Not to mention the global acclaim he would have received.

I guess some people are simply not interested in materialistic things. They want to get caught by the cops speeding and go to jail.

Indian state says it's OK now to kill tiger poachers on sight

Indian state says it's OK now to kill tiger poachers on sight

When I read this blaring headline on MSN I was surprised and gleeful at the same time. It is time Indian government and society at large took some serious steps to curb lawlessness, treason, terrorism, and crime in the country. This is the first step in the direction of protection of environment. I sure hope they take same steps while dealing with terrorists and enemies of the state including those inside the country but actively working against it.

I believe it is time India took this step. Looks the elephant is finally waking up and once it stands up and starts walking the whole world will begin to shiver. I sure hope that day is not too far away.

San Jacinto Battleground Monument

Here is an interesting sculpture I noticed installed at the San Jacinto Battleground Monument state park. I don't know what it is and there was no signage to educate visitors like me about it. Nevertheless I think it is an interesting piece of art sited strategically sited at the base of the battleground tower at the end of the long water body that seems to have been built just to reflect the battleground monument.