Jack White Concert

Rocking ever onward through the Universe; I hope you are doing quite well.


Below is a link to a full length Jack White Concert from this year that was performed in New Orleans.  Excellent stuff.   Jack seems to bring the most out of the musicians.  I know for a while he has been touring with two complete bands and paying them both even for he nights they don't play.  The is the all male band called the "Buzzards"  He has some rocking females also who are called the "Peacocks".   All of the musicians are top notch and seem to give it thier all.

Click the button above and quit reading the crap I typed out.  To me, there isn't anybody I would rather see in concert.  His music really doesn't fit into a particular genre.   He draws from blues, punk, R&B, and rock and roll in general but he pretty much does his own thing.  Besides the fact that he might switch bands from night to night, he says he doesn't like to plan his sets out either.  

Now you may prefer to see Liberace, Wayne Newton,  or maybe even Garth Brooks but this guy puts on a good show his ownself.   If you are looking for someone to play a wedding, birthday party or bar miztvah, he should be your first choice.   Tell him Marc Twyman sent you.

Houston Zoo

Ungawa!

Being a long time Houston resident I have visited the Zoo here several times over the years.  Back in the day it was free to get in but at the same time it was depressing.   Last time we had visited was several years back and there was construction on progress and they were starging to make some changes.   One of the things that used to be depressing was how the chimps were kept in small concrete cages with bars and they seemed to be miserable.  You could tell they were sick of seeing people walk by.

The exibits now are much more focused on being a better place for the animals to live.   The chimps now live in a big open area and are allowed to interact with each other.  We were obseving them from an indoor area with glass windows and then when we went outside there was a large group of school children screaming and running towards us.  At first I though the kids just didn't know how to act but one of the kids told me that one of the chimps had just thrown some poo at them.   It really seemed like the kids got a kick out of it.  A guy from the zoo came by not too long after that and was talking into his walkie-talkie about the chimps throwing "baseballs" again.  I spoke to him and he told me that it is something happens when the zoo is crowded and he mentioned spring break.  I guess the chimps don't like the large crowds.

When we first arrived, we came upon a group of zoo-keepers walking a binturong which is pictured below:

The binturong's name is "Hanna" and she was pretty amazing to see.  She had pretty good sized claws and they wouldn't let anybody get close to her but the zoo employees were very friendly and didn't mind sharing information about Hanna.  


Here are a couple of other photos I took also:

The Houston Zoo has really become a first class operation.  The animals all appeared to be well cared for and in excellent health.   The cost for adults is $13 and it is well worth the investment.   If you live in Houston and haven't been for a number of years then I would highly recommend it. 

The primate section is really well laid out but I didn't know how to turn the flash off in the camera so I didn't want to be taking pictures in shaded areas.   The aquarium and reptile buildings are great also.  The elephant area is much improved and enlarged also.  There was a lady there who is a volenteer docent and she gave us some interesting background on the individual elephants and thier antics. All of  the elephants looked to be in good spirits a good health.  You can also see the Komodo Dragon which has his own display area but the windows were fogged up since it was kind of cool the day we visited last week.   Basically, I am saying that the pictures I did take don't really do the experience justice and if you like animals, then you will not be disappointed.   

Some good people

When I first read and then later heard about the killings of the children and teachers in Connecticut, I tried to tune it out.   The thought of children's lives just being instantly over for no good reason is too much to really too much to digest.  It is the kind of thing that will never make sense.

Today I read the following story about some people who put the safety of the kids in front of thier own.   They had to know they had little chance of stopping an armed gunman but they did it anyway.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/nyregion/gunman-kills-20-children-at-school-in-connecticut-28-dead-in-all.html?_r=0

The principal and another staff member at an elementary school in Connecticut had rushed a gunman who forced his way inside, an act of courage that cost both of them their lives, a school superintendent said on Saturday. In all, the gunman killed 26 people, 20 of them children, in the nation’s second-deadliest school shooting.   
    
The principal, Dawn Hochsprung, 47, of Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, was running at the gunman “in order to protect her students” when she was shot, the superintendent, Janet Robinson, said. The school psychologist also tried to stop the gunman and was killed, Ms. Robinson told reporters in brief remarks outside the school.

“Teachers were really, really focused on saving their students,” she added.

At least the parents and other family members will be able to know that somebody actually cared enough to try and stop the guy.