April 2011 Archives

Ahem.  Ever dreamed of being able to sit in the most advantageous spot to view the Bathing Beauties.  I'm not just talking about getting to the event early enough to grab a front-row-joe space.  I'm talking about being a JUDGE!  Yep.  This year IBC is giving one lucky fan of the event an opportunity to bask in all the glory that is involved with judging the 2011 Galveston Island Beach Revue Bathing Beauties Contest.

All you have to do is click here in order to fill out the application.

It's simple, really.  We just want to gather a few tidbits of information from you including what you love about Galveston Island and why you of all people would make the best judge.  And try to be unique and creative in your responses.  You have until May 12th to get your application submitted, and the winner will be announced on May 13th.  Of course, if you are applying you must be available to attend the Bathing Beauties Contest and be available starting at 1:30.

So come on Islanders, or non-Islanders.  Give it a shot and come mingle with our other fine judges, Joe Jaworski (Mayor of Galveston Island), Cheryl Vaiani (president of GHF), and Laura Elder (GCDN reporter).  Who knows?  You could be this year's difference maker.
 

When you hear "Galvescan" I imagine many people would start thinking:  big brother, microchips, around the clock monitoring, the patriot act, and other radical espionage programs.  For others, maybe that scene in Scanners where the dude's head blew up comes to mind.

To the conspiracy theorists and the Sci-fi marathonists, I say rest assured.  Galvescan is a service that the Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) is offering free to the public.  Here's how it works:  If you have some old (or not so old) pictures that you'd like to have scanned and archived for future Galvestonians to enjoy and study, Tom Green, Galvescan 2011 Coordinator, will pick them up from you, scan them, and return them to you with digital copies on a CD for you to keep.

 

If you've ever bought an old house or building, or even if you have a favorite that you'd like to know more about, you know the frustration of trying to gather materials and picture of the place.  Some of these pictures could be used to restore a home or architectural detail; others could confirm former owners' identities.  Well the GHF is trying to build a database of as many historic Galveston photos as possible so that future generations have another source to tell the history of this island.

I lost a lot of Galveston's historic photos and memorabilia to Hurricane IKE.  It really made me sick to my stomach.  What's more sickening is the total sum of Galveston's history lost in September of 2008.  And it's not just storms.  Every day, someone throws out a shoebox of photos due to divorce or death or apathy.  Perhaps the one bit of information that you're looking for is in your neighbor's attic or in a shoebox underneath a bed at Holland House.  If we all came together for this very worthy cause and had our Historic Galveston pictures and documents scanned,  we could have some small piece of mind the next time our island floods or we read an obituary.

After all, a picture IS worth a thousand words.

For more information, go to the Galvescan website: https://sites.google.com/site/galvescan2011/
To schedule an appointment or pickup of pictures, email Tom at: Photos@GalvestonHistory.org
 

I had another Island first this week.  Jury duty.  In fact, it was the first time I've ever had to participate in the process.  I'd been summoned once prior when I was in college, so I was eligible for dismissal.

 

So off to the Galveston County courthouse I went Monday morning.  And man, what a fine building that place is.

 

It's quite a process, indeed.  In short I was chosen to report later that afternoon to Judge Susan Criss' 212^th District Courtroom, and after lawyers from both sides of the case questioned the 36 individuals I was picked as one of the 12 jurors.

 

It was crazy how quick everything happens.  I mean once the 12 were picked the judge says, "Ok, let's get started."  And we did.  The lawyers moved their chairs from one side of the tables to the other (meaning they had been facing us sitting in the audience section of the courtroom, so they had to move to the other side to face the judge) and the trial began.

 

I don't want to say too much about the trial, but I will say that it involved a slip-and-fall case at a local Island resort/hotel.  So after an afternoon followed by the next morning's testimony the twelve of us jurors gathered in our deliberation room to, well, deliberate.  I must admit I was quite surprised at my excitement level.  And I really enjoyed serving.  I'd say after about an hour we had our decision.

 

All in all it was a great experience to meet other folks from the Island and surrounding county communities.  Not to mention gain some insight into an Island business' legal matters.

 

Islanders - wanna play a game?  (Ew, that sounded awfully similar to the scary dude in Scream).  Anyway, here's my game:  Can you tell me: Where is this?

 

We were leaving The Lunchbox Cafe the other day (first hint) after lunch and took a little different route (hint #2) back to the shop to resume our 2011 paint-a-thon-that-never-ends.

The route we chose happened to be one of the best smelling, most pleasantly fragrant (hint #3) walks we've had in a while and I stopped to take a picture.

Then I had a thought for a fun (okay, so my definition of "fun" is subjective) blog series for us Islanders.  Take a shot anywhere in Galveston that you frequent or that you experience for the first time or even that you see every day and let everyone try and figure out "where am I?".

I already have a few more in the kitty and I won't give as many hints after this one, but just to start us off, where am I in photo #1?

Who loves Artwalk?!

Everyone I suppose and here's another reason why: "TWELVE" which is the latest artistic idea from the folks at Willthing will be ON at the next Artwalk, Saturday April 30th (inside "Edna's Room" adjacent to The Grand Opera House). 

I know I'm really excited about this showing because I have always loved photography - especially "amateur" photography, that is - a really cool shot taken by some Joe Schmo with no real training or expertise - just their eye, a lens and how they see something.  Thanks to digital cameras these days, it doesn't matter that I'm not very good at it, but I really do like the thought of seeing people's individual perspective of something through how they take a photo of it.

So twelve different people - all Islanders - have been armed with the same exact camera for the past couple months given the same task: capture Galveston.  One could expect an "expected" outcome:  the student takes pictures of their friends on campus, the City worker takes pictures of their job site, the historic homeowner takes pictures of their Weekend Warrior works. 

BUT, since Galveston isn't a status-quo kinda place, and we all know that her inhabitants are not status-quo kinda folks, I think we might be in for a few surprises.

And I think we're gonna get to see some pretty cool photos.

The ASPCA is hosting a $100,000 Challenge for shelters in need, and the Galveston Island Humane Society needs your vote. You can vote once per day between now and April 15, 2011 (so you've got a week - GET VOTING!).  It made the top 100 shelters and now need to make the top 50 in order to move on in this challenge and get a step closer to this desperately needed funding.

Please click on the link below, vote for Galveston Island Humane Society and forward this email on.  With your help they can continue saving animal's lives, placing them in loving homes and educating others about responsible pet ownership.

http://challenge.aspcapro.org/

Click on the purple bar across the top that reads "VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SHELTER HERE" and follow then follow the directions.

Thank you friends! Your vote counts! Spread the word for our animals!

 

What are you doing tomorrow night?

There are always fun things to do over at Mod Coffeehouse (22nd & Postoffice) - and with the weather as nice as it has been lately, it's fun to just sit outside and soak it in.

Tomorrow, though there'll be some extra special fun when The Flip Council plays at MOD from 7-9pm.  (P.S. Mod isn't just coffee - they've got delicious treats, refreshing summery drinks, and a great selection of bottled beer!)

Hope you can make it!

Holy moly.  Rumors are abound that Dairy Queen will make a return to the Island.  You have no idea how excited this makes me.  You see, often my lady friend and I will hit the causeway and make our way to Dickinson just to score a steak-finger basket and a Blizzard.  And as expensive as gas is these days it'll be real nice (insert wink and A-ok hand signal) not to have to hit the ol' mainland for a fix.

Man I'm stoked.  Let's hope that the rumors prove true and that DQ makes another stop on the Island.

So what's your favorite DQ treat?