The only major battle of the Civil War was over control of Galveston.  That didn’t exactly happen on this day.  However, in 1862, Union Commander William B. Renshaw led a squadron of eight ships into Galveston harbor and demanded surrender of the only important Texas. Brig. Gen Paul O. Hebert had already removed most of the heavy artillery from Galveston Island wisely believing it to be indefensible.  In return, the garrison at Fort Point fired on the Union ships, which responded with volleys that dismounted the Confederate guns. The Confederate commander Col. Joseph J. Cook arranged a four-day truce and used it to evacuate his men to the mainland.

The latest 2014 read was Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.  I estimate that this was about the tenth time I have read this classic.  I discover something new each time I read it.  For those who have not read it (Really?), here is a brief synopsis (no real spoiler alert needed).

The book is unusual in that it has two narrators.  The first unnamed narrator is on a boat (likely a large yacht) on the lower reaches of the Thames.  He is gathered near dusk with the Director, Marlowe and some others. They are all of the sea, but Marlowe is the only one still making his living in that way.  Marlow remarks how this too was “once one of the dark places of the earth” imagining how a young Roman soldier must have felt going up against the native Britons.  Marlowe then begins to tell his tale.  Out of work, Marlowe travels to the Continent to the Sepulcher City to take a job as a riverboat captain for an ivory-trading company in the unnamed Congo.  In fact, no location but the Thames is ever named in this novel.  Marlowe tells of his travails in reaching his destination and finding his small paddle-wheeler sunk upstream from the main trading station.  It takes several months to fix during which time he learns more and more of Kurtz, manager of the Central Station.  Kurtz delivers more ivory than all of the other agents combined and there is a great mystery about his techniques.  With the steamer fixed, Kurtz begins a journey upriver with the manager and several “pilgrims.”  Just short of the Central Station, the boat is attacked by natives, but only the helmsman is killed by a spear.  When they finally arrive at the Central Station, Kurtz is ill and Marlowe encounters a Dutchman who has been living solitarily in the bush for several years and has befriended Kurtz in a manner of speaking.  The Dutchman tells Marlowe of Kurtz’ incredible strength, powers and resolve.  We are led to believe that Kurtz is a remarkable man.  Marlowe discover that Kurtz has written a monograph on his techniques that ends abruptly and has scrawled on the end “Exterminate all the brutes.”  Kurtz is taken on board the steamer, but escapes at night where Marlowe finds him crawling through the grass.  Kurtz dies, his last words having apparently been “The Horror, the Horror.”  Marlowe returns to the Sepulcher City in awe of Kurtz and with a bundle of letters and papers that he refuses to give to the Company.  The book ends with Marlowe visiting Kurtz’ “Intended”.  He gives her letters back to her and when she asks what Kurtz’ last words were – Marlowe lies telling her it was her name.

The plot is really incidental to the psychological drama in Marlowe’s mind as he struggles to make sense of the jungle, the preposterous characters around him and Kurtz who he ultimately concludes was a remarkable man.

Only three characters are ever named – Marlowe, Kurtz and Van Schuyten who is a trading post owner mentioned only once.  The book is clearly not PC by todays standards with frequent use of “nigger”, no thoughts about the  consequences of the ivory trade, and condescending descriptions of the Africans.  Still it is worth a read.

At eight o’clock in the evening on October 3, 1930, the Daisy Bradford No. 3 well struck oil. It was a gusher, and set of a spectacular oil rush in the East Texas field. It was the largest oilfield every discovered up to that time.  The well was brought in by Columbus Marion “Dad” Joiner.  Joiner had begun drilling in Rusk County in 1927 with rusted, third-hand equipment. According to legend, a geologist from Texaco told Joiner, “I’ll drink every barrel of oil you get out of that hole.”  In 1930 Joiner began to drill eight miles west of Henderson, Texas on Daisy Bradford’s farm with a wooden rig and used tools.  His first two wells were dry holes, but when the Daisy Bradford No. 3 came in, it changed Texas and the world.

A really big day in Texas history.  In 1835, the first “battle” of the Texas Revolution was fought at Gonzalez.

When Gen. Ugartechea, the Mexican military commander in Texas, learned that colonists in Gonzales had refused to surrender a small cannon that had been given to them to ward off attacks by Native Americans, he ordered Francisco de Castaneda and 100 dragoons under his command to seize it.  Hoping to avoid escalating the already tense relations between the Texas colonists and Santa Anna, Ugartechea ordered Castañeda to use force if necessary but to avoid conflict if possible.

When Castaneda reached the Guadalupe River opposite Gonzales, he found the ford impassable because of high water and was confronted by eighteen militiamen.  Unable to enter Gonzalez, Castañeda pitched camp near the ford. He later moved his camp 7 miles upriver when he received word that the Texan colonists were amassing a number of volunteers.

On October 1, the Texan colonists crossed the Guadalupe and marched upriver toward Castañeda’s new camp. On the morning of October 2 they attacked, Castaneda immediately ordered his men to fall back to a more defensible position behind the camp.

At one point, Castañeda arranged a parley with Texan commander  J. H. Moore.   Castañeda inquired why he had been attacked without provocation.  Moore answered that the Texans were fighting to keep the cannon and uphold the Constitution of 1824. Castaneda explained that he was a Federalist and personally opposed to the policies of Santa Anna.  He told Moore that he did not want to fight Moore’s men and only wanted to reclaim the Cannon.  Moore invited Castañeda to join them in fighting for the Constitution of 1824. Castaneda was unable to do so because as a soldier he was required to follow his orders and not engage in politics.  Unable to reach an agreement, the fighting resumed after the commanders returned to their positions.

Looking at the situation, Castaneda ordered a withdrawal to San Antonio.  In his later report, Castañeda stated that “since the orders from your Lordship were for me to withdraw without compromising the honor of Mexican arms, I did so.”  Despite Castañeda’s efforts to avoid war, the minor skirmish at Gonzales is now viewed as the breaking point that led to war between the American colonists and the Mexican government

I have to look at crap like this on the way to work.

I skipped the first 3 weeks of the season, but will try earnestly to make weekly picks for the remainder of the year. This year’s theme will be quotes from famous footballer’s past and present.

Quote of the Week:

“When it’s third and ten, you can take the milk drinkers and I’ll take the whiskey drinkers.”

I’ll always trust someone with that hairstyle.

Your Green Bay Packers Pick of the Week:

Packers over Bears.  I picked the Packers to make the playoffs and they are 1-2.  Of course, I picked the Bears to win the NFC North, so my hands are sort of tied here.  At this point in the season, this is an important match-up for both squads.  We have seen that the Bears have an offensive juggernaut that may just overwhelm a lot of teams this season.  They may end up with the best passing offense in the league with Cutler throwing to two brutally effective wide-outs and a running game that cannot be ignored.  Meanwhile, the Pack looks to be in disarray right now. All signs point to the Bears and even if they didn’t I should go with home field advantage when these two old rivals meet, but clearly that’s not my style.  This one has game of the week written all over it.  Green Bay 35 Chicago 34.

 Your Milk-Drinking Pick of the Week:

Texans over Bills. On Sunday, the Texans fell to earth which graciously accepted their lifeless corpse.  The Giants exposed the obvious flaws (turnover-happy QB, suspect front 7 against a running game, patchy special teams), but the game showed one thing and one thing only – the Texans are a different team when Arian Foster is in uniform.   They might be whiskey drinkers with him, but they have milk moustaches without him.  The Bills also returned to Terra getting whipped by the surprising Chargers.   Another mediocre match-up.  If Arian plays, he is the difference maker.  If not – all bets are off.  Houston 30 Orchard Park 20.

Your Whiskey-Drinking Pick of the Week:

Eagles over 49ers.  Going against the triple-reverse time zone hex this week to pick the Eagles on the road in California.  My pick to win it all has not disappointed so far, while the Niners look to be in disarray.  The only thing hard to believe is that the Eagles are second in passing offense so far.  The Eagles defense is somewhat suspect but should be good enough to handle the so-far anemic Niners’ second-half offense.  I am not a CK believer and he is showing me why right now.  I am calling for a major road-show ass-whipping and much whiskey drinking in Philly.  Philadelphia 45 Santa Clara 19.

Your Didn’t the Packers Always Beat the Cowboys Pick of the Week:

Saints over Cowboys.  Loyal readers know one thing – when I pick a Cowboys game, it is because I am picking them to lose.  The Saints will be the first real test for the Boys this season.  They will fail. New Orleans 17 Arlington 6.

Your Max Bet Pick of the Week:

Falcons over Vikings. Going to Vegas this week?  Here’s your bet – Falcons -3 on the road against Vikings.  Vikings will be lucky to score 3 points against even a pathetic Falcons defense.  They have no shot of keeping up with Falcons high-flying offense which should be good for 35 points on average this season.  Atlanta 42 Minnesota 13.

Your They Don’t Drink Milk with Whiskey in London Pick of the Week:

Dolphins over Raiders. Sometimes it’ hard to pick a really deserving Shit Bowl this early in the season as the really crappy teams have not revealed their utter crappiness yet.  Not this week.  Our friends at Wembley in London will have the rare treat of a completely legitimate, make no bones about it, sure-fire, run screaming from the telly, Shit Bowl on Sunday.  It would be hard to find two more deserving teams at this juncture in the season. The Raiders and Dolphins have the 29^th and 28^th worst passing attacks in the league.  Raiders have some defensive competence, but that is easily overcome by their offensive ineptitude.  Dolphins suck too (and have a looming quarterback controversy on their hands). But not quite as much as Los Raiders.  Keep the drain cleaner under lock and key if you dare to watch this Execrable Excrement Exhibition from England. Miami 26 Oakland 14.

Autumn did not disappoint this morning – a clear and crisp day with early morning temperatures in the 60s.  It’s just a teaser though.  We have many more weeks of summer weather ahead, but it is nice to know that there is hope.