A Voting Disaster

 

Voting or Not Voting for the Wrong Reasons. jb blocker

So you think your candidate has it locked up because their district is heavily GOP. Or do you think your district will carry the DEM for the same reason? Guess again. There are several factors that could completely flip your reality. Here is just one.

Complacency is the Big Bad Wolf.

I guess after the liberals read this, then Climate Change might be their excuse this time!

But Weather has changed elections all over the world.

We need a Postman's commitment to vote!

Part I: Weather or not…Voter turnout is on the line.

Complacency is growing as quickly as confusion and frustration while candidates all over Texas and the rest of America campaign for seats from the Top on down.

If you are a candidate, this should concern you. If you are a Republican you have a bit of an advantage when the weather acts up. Here is an approach you should consider.

The Postman’s Pledge: Herodotus

  It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.

  What I suggest is that you gear your campaign toward pledges to vote no matter what! Not just for you, but for our country. If you are speaking, texting, or social mediatizing express the importance of committing to vote! Vote early if possible! And if they can’t do that, tell them to have their all-weather gear ready. This should be your campaign at this point. Taking anything for granted is a mistake.

   I understand the beauty of voting day. I have been involved in many campaigns over the years. I am captivated by the lines of committed citizens exercising their rights and their duty to vote. Parents bringing their children, whole family units from the aged to first-timers, couples, and of course those singles streaming in from every direction is inspirational. But there is still that chance that fickle nature gets in the way. You cannot count on great weather between early voting dates and the big day.

Campaigning 101

 The Andrew Principle

Campaigning 101

jb blocker

John 1: 40  One of the two who heard Jesus speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter)

  

  You don’t hear much about Andrew the apostle. We know he was one of the first to be chosen by Jesus along with James and John. Later in the Bible, he is the one who brings the boy to Jesus with the fish and loaves that feed thousands. He is also at the resurrection. But Andrew is also mentioned for one other thing that has resonated throughout the ages.
  You see, Andrew met Jesus and went to his brother Simon to tell him he had found the Savior! Simon's name was changed to Peter. "Upon this rock, I will build my church."

  That is some really good recruiting! That is like finding Babe Ruth and introducing him to baseball. 

I call it ‘The Andrew Principle’.

Great Chefs love thier coffee!

 

Romancing the Bean Series

by Caffeine Cowboy

 Chefs Werner Vogeli and Karl Haas share childhood memories.

Tales from the Old County

  I count among my friends and mentors some venerable and highly respected chefs and hospitality specialist.  These gentlemen are revered in the Dallas culinary community. They are iconic.

  Many learned their craft in the shadows of WWII. Swiss, Austrian, French, and German influences ignited their love of exquisite dining that they eventually brought to a booming Dallas of the 70’s. It was time of great hotels and the explosion of fine dining in downtown Dallas that brought these adventurous young chefs that changed the image of dining and brought European luxury and elegance to the table.

  I always felt that they liked me, but after the research for this story I realized that my charm my have been secondary to my devotion and accessibility to great coffees! 

Chefs Karl Haas and Peter Klaus Curley

 

  Many thanks to Chef Karl Haas and to the late great men Chef Werner Vogeli and the consummate G.M. Helmut Frenzen who as a team, made the 69^th floor City Club in Dallas a legendary experience. 

  My 1st Dallas account as the Caffeine Cowboy was the City Club. I would tell people, "the closest coffee to heaven in Dallas was mine!"

  They shared pieces of their personal memories of coffee in their post war youth with me.  jb

CONTEMPLATIVE CUPS

 Romancing the Bean Series

by Caffeine Cowboy

Tales from the Old Country

Coffee Cantata by Johan Sebastian Bach

  “No daughter of mine will drink coffee!” declares Schlendrian. (Stuffy in German)  “­­But father, if I don’t have at least three small cups a day, I’ll soon be as dried-out as an un-basted roast!”

  Cleverly, Schlendrian proposes, “Fine, then make your choice, a husband or coffee!”  His willful daughter seemingly demurs to her father's restriction but with a stage whisper tells the audience, “Any man who wishes to win my hand must first promise to supply all of the coffee I want!”

  Amused by the Parisian fad for coffee, Bach asked the famed poet and satirist Picador to write a libretto with coffee as its theme.  The story mirrored the attitude of the German elite toward women and the middle class. Coffee was too special for the commoner and coffeehouses were no place for a lady!

  As seen on U-tube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6-PRCv7SfM

  Before public music halls existed in Germany, cafés attracted music lovers by sponsoring performances by collegia musica (the association of private musicians).

  From 1720 to1740, Bach performed for the public and experimented with new pieces at Zimmerman’s Kaffeehaus in Leipzig.  The Coffee Cantata was first performed there in 1734.  It was a musical and community success.

The most famous coffee snob:

What happened to Juan Valdez?

 

The possibly true story of Juan Valdez

Romancing the Bean 

A Series Of Short Stories

By J. B. Blocker
the Caffeine Cowboy

  

 
  In a little over 1000 years, coffee has been elevated to the second most traded commodity after oil and is the most prepared beverage in the world. 
  Kaldi the Ethiopian goat herder is said to have discovered coffees kick and introduced it to monks who were able to chant and pray longer. A French Lieutenant stole a kiss and two coffee plants from Napoleon's garden and brought it to the New World. Stories abound!

   I’ve got a long list of these stories if you’re interested. Most of them are true! At least parts of them are!

   The story I am about to share may or may not be true. No matter, it is close to my heart and carries a modern-day lesson somewhere inside.

   Our story begins on New Year’s Eve. In a small community hospital in South Texas, two young couples await their firstborns. All the while the hospital staff anxiously anticipate the race for the first birth of the New Year. Two expectant fathers pace into the midnight hour. As the town clocks strike midnight, simultaneous declarations of triumph announce two births!

   It is a tie! For the hospital and even the state of Texas, the firstborn pair of the new year are named Juan and Josephine. 

I am Adopted!

  I remember those windows. They are the windows that we would look out of and watch the people leave on visitation day at our Buddhist orphanage in Yokohama. We would stand in front of those windows and see friends leave with their new families. Other visitors would leave their children behind and the children would cry. 

  I am told that my mother visited me often but I don't remember that. I remember wondering why no one was taking me away. Maybe it was my clothes. 

  On one visitation day, I threw a fit. I was 5. I wanted nicer clothes for people to see me in. I refused to dress. I ran away. They found me half naked under the stilted building that housed the orphan girls.

 One visitor wanted to meet all the boys. 

 Charles Abraham Blocker wanted to be part of choosing his son. When they were told about me he offered to bring back new clothes. The visitor was a Navy Chief and his wife. They wanted a boy and girl to take back to America.

  I was too old. The lady wanted babies. I was 5.

  The couple went to the office to make arrangements for some clothes. Nancy saw the name and who my mother was! The Navy sailor said, "Nancy, meet your son."

 If my grandfather had had his way, I would never have been born! Many Japanese women of the post-WWII and Korean War era became pregnant by the military who were just passing through per-Se.

  Because of the extreme racism of the Japanese at that time and for many years after, such pregnancies were aborted so as to not bring shame to the family by corrupting the race.

  Fortunately, I had a mother who not only spared my life to her shame but also found a job at the local Naval Base beauty salon where she showed my pictures to prospective American service men's wives. 

  Nancy Blocker liked Nobuko Yoshimi. They actually became friendly. However by the time Nobuko was bravely showing photos of her son, I was too old!

  Nancy wanted babies. They did adopt Eri La Nea at birth. She would become my baby sister.

  Maybe she knew that it would be easier to adopt children that didn't already speak Japanese. That would make sense.

  Now you know that the story is probably more complicated than that, but the end result is that I am a Blocker! 

  I have no doubt that by the grace of God and the strength of conviction of my birth mother Nobuko, Chief PNC Charles Blocker and his wife Nancy took me away from that pitiful orphanage and raised me in Texas!

Nobuko

  I believe that 'All things are possible!' 

  I believe that two of the greatest sins is murder and suicide because that person has given up on God and taken away the opportunity to find peace, joy, and fulfillment through God's grace.

  I believe in mercy, hope, and faith.

  I am Pro-Life with consideration for the safety of mother and child. 

  I am no doctor or judge. But I believe that whenever possible we should give God a chance and give people like the Blockers the opportunity to raise the child they had wanted. 

  If they can turn them into a Texan, well, that's even better!

blessings, J.B. Blocker

Gazpacho!

 

Gazpacho

By J.B. Blocker

   When my eat healthy gene kicks in I have a tendency to go on auto-pilot when I grocery shop around the fresh produce section.  

  That is when the spirit of my recently passed chef mentor, the great French Master Chef Jean La Font speaks to me.

  “Gazpacho”, he whispers!
It has become one of my go-to dishes. My really healthy comfort food. It gets even better on day two and three but it rarely lasts that long. I don't even use a bowl. I fill a mug and add some chilled shrimp if I have it ready.