Character that last a lifetime!

Adopted by Justice Mike Missildine 

 by JB Blocker

 

  The Plano J.P. court room was full, and a clerk was sorting through a stack of files. Mine was in that stack. I was here to deal with a questionable ticket or three. Sitting in the back of the gallery, I saw the new Plano Justice of the Peace Michael Missildine poke his head in from the side door. I stood and waved at him.

  Mike and I have a special friendship. It goes back to when he was a teenager in Amarillo, and I was the new G.M. of the Mr. Burger chain known mostly throughout the Texas/Oklahoma panhandles.

   Wearing his new black robe, it was the first time for me to see him as Justice Missildine.  I have many friends and clients who are judges all the way to the Texas Supreme Court, but I was thinking more like a proud relative might.

  He called me out and we met in front of the bench where we exchanged brotherly hugs. He addressed the others in the room, wished them well, and then laid an honor on me I will never forget.

  “This is my good friend JB Blocker, the Lone Star Reporter, and he is like a second father to me!” People ooed and clapped, we shook hands and agreed to catch up afterwards, and the Justice went back to his court.

AMARILOANS: Some of Collin County’s best imports

 

  I have lived in Collin since ’07 but I was a student from Sunray in the north Texas panhandle, down to Lubbock and Texas Tech for college, and then to become a man in Amarillo. 

  Two men on this years ballot have been part of life changing encounters.

  Lt. Col./County Judge/U.S. Congressman Keith Self was a West Point Cadet when we met. He attended Tascosa High School in Amarillo.

Gazpacho by a Master

 

Elevated Shrimp Cocktail

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 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.

A New Years Tale

 

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. 

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:

The Magnetic Ant, GOP Senator New Mexico

 

Who Are These Two? 

 by J.B. Blocker

 

  I was in the mezzanine café’ of the Dallas Hilton Anatole for the 2022 CPAC. Across the round table was former ICE Director Tom Homan and FOX Contributor Larry Elder. My friend Mr. 2010 former ICE Special Agent Victor Avila worked for Tom, and we were discussing the border issues that the public never hears about. Victor is the World Record holder for the longest handgun shot. That’s 1.14 miles or 2010 yards! It takes 11.7 seconds for the bullet to hit its target!

   There was a group a few feet behind Tom and Larry, and I could see them clearly.  The interactions around a tall man who wore his Stetson well was entertaining. I couldn’t help but notice his easy smile and obvious courtesy to several people who approached him. Now, I don’t see colors or auras or any of that mystical stuff, but I’ve been around enough to see Character!

  When it was time for Larry Elder to go speak, we got up and photos were taken. I invited the man I had been watching to join us. I didn’t know who he was, but I knew he was Magnetic.

  We exchanged cards and I met Dr. Anthony (Ant) Thornton, the GOP Candidate for Lt. Governor of New Mexico! Ant has an athlete’s grace and natural smile that invites acceptance. He wears an aura of approach-ability like a welcome sign. I liked him immediately.