Texas Tidbits: Blues, Texas Style: Struck By Lightnin'

Blues. Music that touches and tortures the soul. Music that sings of joy and triumph and, at the same time, despair and tragedy. We all, at one point or another, have experienced the gamut of emotions that is the blues. However, it takes an artist, a Van Gogh with a guitar, a Shakespeare with a song, to make someone feel the blues. One such man was born in Centerville, Texas on March 15, 1912, Sam "Lightnin' " Hopkins. As a young black boy growing up in Centerville (halfway between Dallas and Houston on I-45), Sam was immersed in the blues. At age eight, Sam met a true Blues Man, Blind Lemon Jefferson, at a church picnic in nearby Buffalo. That experience was Sam's baptism into the church of the blues. By the mid 1920's, Hopkins was jumping trains, throwing dice and playing the blues, living the blues. But a decade or so later Lightnin' was imprisoned in Houston County for reasons unclear. After prison, he moved to Houston to get in on the music scene there. Unsuccessful, Sam was soon back in Centerville working as a farm hand. Taking a second shot at Houston in 1946 turned out to be a monumental decision for Hopkins, the blues and, eventually, the world. From then until the early '50's, Lightnin' rarely played outside Texas, but when he did...as the late Paul Harvey said, "Now you know the rest of the story"- playing in countries around the globe, in front of monarchs and poor folks, Hopkins became a legend. On January 30, 1982 in his beloved Houston, Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins succumbed to cancer at age 69. Cue the the blues... "Lightnin'" has struck Texas.

It's Our 1st Birthday!!!

It was exactly one year ago today that I put up my first post Three States Plus One. It's difficult to believe that it has actually been a full year since I undertook this task. What's even more amazing is the fact that I am still doing this thing! The blog has changed in many ways since that day that seems like a lifetime ago. For one, the posts are a bit longer therefore allowing me to get more information to you the reader. I knew that would happen when I started the blog, as I was literally feeling my way through the process. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I take that back...I have written some stuff before, but that involved tens of thousands of radio and TV commercials, never a daily article about any chosen subject. Besides, radio and TV commercials are 30 and 60 seconds long requiring few words and, most of the time, just a few minutes of my time. Blogging, on the other hand, can take a few hours just to put one post together, depending on my mood, energy level, the state of my illnesses and whether or not Bailey the 4 Year Old is wound up like a cheap clock or taking a nap. Such is the life as the Head Honcho of the Next Big Blogging Empire.

I'd like to think that, as a blogger, I have grown in my writing and ability to make you a part of the experience I write about. I'll give myself an A- on that, as there is always room for improvement. The template of the blog has changed very little with the exception of the sidebar which gets a makeover every once in a while with new gadgets I find on the internet, but it's pretty much the same as it was on Day One. I am halfway in the mood to redesign the entire page, but that will take more effort that I am willing to put forth at this time...in the near future perhaps, but not now.

On May 24, 2010 all the stats for the blog read "zero". Let's take a look where they stand as of this writing:

• Page views - 24, 075 Total; 462.9 per week; 2006.25 per month; 65.9 per day
• Countries - We are now read in 98 countries around the with the USA, of course, leading the way with 5434 Unique Visitors followed by Canada, 325 and the UK, 192. Our newest country on the list is El Salvador. All told, we have accumulated 6712 Unique Visitors over the last twelve months. 
• States - Three States Plus One is read in all 50 states as well as Washington, D.C. Texas easily leads the way in total number of uniques with 1529, followed by Maine, 738 and California, 565.
• Number of Posts - 551

I don't want to bore you with a lot of numbers (and believe me, I could!), I just wanted you to get an idea of how far this blog has come. Despite the brilliant writing, biting humor and scathing satire, it's not my award-worthy writing that makes this thing click, it's you, the reader who are the bread and water, the sustenance if you will of Three States Plus One. I never in my wildest dreams thought that we'd reach such heights in such a short period of time.

I want to humbly thank you for sticking with me for the last year and I hope you'll hang in there with me for Year 2. Your support and acceptance of Three States Plus One has been nothing short of astonishing. I hope in some small way I have taught you something, provoked you to think or made you giggle out loud (or cursed like a sailor) during the past 12 months. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you and may God continue to bless America.

Adios,
Toby, Benevolent Blog Emporor, TexNetMaine Blogging Empire
threestatesplusone AT gmail DOT com

Looking Back: Texas Declares Independence

A Republic is Born

Today is such an important day to all Texans, that I am going to forego my usual brilliant insight and Nobel-worthy prose, to take a back seat to those who are far more qualified than I to inform you on this 175th Birthday of the Texas Constitution. On March 2, 1836, forty-one men gathered in a shack in Washington-On-The-Brazos and hammered out a document. A document that changed history. It was the Texas Declaration of Independence


"In October 1835, settlers in Mexican Texas launched the Texas Revolution. However, within Texas, many struggled with understanding what was the ultimate goal of the Revolution. Some believed that the goal should be total independence from Mexico, while others sought the reimplementation of the Mexican Constitution of 1824 (which offered greater freedoms than the centralist government declared in Mexico the prior year).^[1] To settle the issue, a convention was called for March 1836. This convention differed from the previous Texas councils of 1832, 1833, and the 1835 Consultation. Many of the delegates to the 1836 convention were young men who had only recently arrived in Texas, although many of them had participated in one of the battles in 1835. Most of the delegates were members of the War Party and were adamant that Texas must declare its independence from Mexico.^[2] Forty-one delegates arrived in Washington-on-the-Brazos on February 28" says Wikipedia.

If you want to learn as much Texas History as you can in one stop, there are few places, if any, more informative that the archives at Texas A & M University. The Aggies do Texas Independence with the pride and enthusiasm you'd expect from them. From the Aggie Archives we find this on the convention that brought us a Declaration of Independence for Texas.

The Handbook of Texas Online has several interesting links to the Texas Declaration of Independence, so it that would be great place as well.

I know you'll enjoy the Texas History lesson you'll get at any of the links in this post. I'll have more to say later today, so until then...God bless Texas!

A Post Rapture Look Back in Time

Big Bend Sunset

Since we made it through The Rapture, I guess I am obligated to post something today. :) You know, a Rapture just ain't what it used it be. Back when I was a kid, we'd have a Rapture in the morning, then I'd walk five miles uphill to school in the morning, five miles uphill back home after school, then we'd have another Rapture to top off the day. It was brutal, I tell you. We must be importing our Raptures from China these days. Oh, well.....

• The Blizzard of 2010 - The day after Christmas was the beginning of what felt like The Rapture here in Maine. We got hammered with several feet of snow in a weather event that lasted for what seemed like forever. Look back with me at this amazing couple of days and marvel at the power of Mother Nature.
• Lens Master - Bob Zeller is to a camera like a duck is to water -  a Natural.. Check out this post and be shocked and awed. It's beautiful stuff. I promise.
• A Spitfire of a Colorado Woman - Four words: The. Unsinkable. Molly. Brown. Enough said.

A Blogging Note: I am loaded down with Doctor's appointments tomorrow, so I'll be back with new and exciting material for you on Tuesday, which will mark the First Anniversary of my first post on Three States Plus One. That will be a fun day, as we look back at my initial year in blogging and see what has changed about the blog and what has happened in over the past 365 days. There's a lot to talk about, so it'll be a few days celebration with some wonderful recollections and updates. Until then, adios, y'all!

If Today's Rapture Day, I'm Goin' Fishin'

The Stripers Await Judgement

As you've probably heard by now, today is Rapture Day. Lord, hear my prayers...I figure that if I am gonna die today, I am gonna die doing what I like most - talking to God and fishin'. I've gotta cover my bases, you know. To further endear myself to the Almighty, my last blog post before we are all called Home will be about fishin' and places to fish. I'm thinking that if Jesus hung around a bunch of fisherman, then I've got an "in" with the Good Lord Hisownself by showing my Sonly qualities. :)

BTW, if you haven't done so yet, you can make a donation to my PayPal account by hitting the "Donate" button in the right sidebar. It being Rapture Day and all, it would be a lovely last gesture to make before you vanish from this earthly Veil of Tears. After all, you can't take it with you. But I can keep it here. :)

• Texas Tidbits: Lake Texoma - Catching big ass striper on Rapture Day is a must for those aspiring to get into Paradise.
• Maine Minutiae: Jackman - A little slice of Heaven in Maine.
• Colorado Chronicles: The Healing Waters - You gotta have a clean Soul to enter the Kingdom, so this is a great place to start cleansing.

Those are three of my choices I'd like to spend my last day on Earth. As for the reast of you sinners, hit the "Donate" button in the sidebar and just in case my name is not listed in the Book of Life, I'll make sure your money is well spent as I await my own Judgement. Amen.

Texas Tidbits: The Greatest Cowboy of 'em All!

On December 5, 1870 a little boy of African, Caucasian and Cherokee heritage was born near Taylor, Travis County, Texas, to a former slave named Thomas Jefferson Pickett and Mary "Janie" Gilbert. That little boy, William "Bill" Pickett would grow up to be one of the most famous cowboys of all time. Young Bill attended school through fifth grade, quit and began the epic journey from school boy to super star cowboy as a ranch hand. Pickett was so adept at things cowboy, in 1905 he joined the 101 Ranch Wild West Show. As a member of the 101 show, Bill worked along side some other fairly well-known cowboys - Will Rogers and Buffalo Bill, to name a couple. Considering the times and this man's heritage, what were the odds of him being perhaps the Greatest Cowboy of that era? Pickett thrilled audiences all over the world with his extraordinary skills and abilities. Bill Pickett died April 2, 1932 doing what he loved, being a cowboy and was honored accordingly in 1971 by being inducted to the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame and, in 1989, was named to the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. With credentials such as those, it's no wonder Pickett was and by many is still called, The Greatest Cowboy.

Texas Tidbits; Sam Rayburn, A Great Texan

Sam Rayburn

There are many legendary Texans. That fact is not in dispute. The degree of legendary status may be open to discussion, but there are certain Texas Legends where anything that open admiration and due reverence are all but expected. Men in this category include Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, Sam Houston, Earl Campbell, Bum Phillips, Tom Landry, Darrell Royal...you get the idea. One of the most powerful Texans ever is a name that many will recognize only as the name of a lake - Sam Rayburn.

Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn represented Texas in the US House of Representatives from 1913-1961, three times serving as Speaker of the House. For perspective, he was in the House for every president from Woodrow Wilson to John F. Kennedy, a span of forty-eight years. Another way to look at Mr. Sam's length of service is that he was elected to office before World War I and served until after the United States sent Alan B. Shepard into space in May, 1961. Wow!

In doing a write-up of a man like Sam Rayburn, it would take hours for me just to look up the man's accomplishments. In lieu of that, I'll link to a couple of pretty dang good sources that detail much of Speaker Rayburn's life, private and public. I first went to famoustexans.com and came up with a nice piece. It's a long but very informative article, so make sure you have a few minutes to spare before diving in. And, of course, there's the old stand by, Wikipedia.

As you can see from those two resources, Sam Rayburn was a powerful man in American politics for almost half a century. Few, if any, men or women have had such a profound influence on the policies affecting every day Americans for such an extended period of time as Mr. Sam. I think it's safe to say that Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn earned every tribute paid to him and then some. Hit that link and scroll down to see some of the honors bestowed upon this great man.

Mr. Sam. A great American. A great Texan.