It defies reason...

This from a recent Canadian newspaper...

America is, in fact, comprised of largely ignorant people who vote (conservatives), and apathetic people who have a clue, but don't vote (liberals).

And there you have it.

Marcus Marching Band 5-time Texas State Champion!

This from the Fort Worth Star Telegram this morning.

If Flower Mound Marcus High School’s band wasn’t a dynasty before, there is now no doubt.

Marcus won its fifth consecutive Class 6A UIL State Marching Band championship late Tuesday, completing a decade of dominance.

Competing in the San Antonio Alamodome, Marcus finished ahead of Carrollton Hebron and San Antonio Johnson.

Keller High School finished 10th.

North Texas showed its strength at state as six of the 10 finalists were from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Besides Marcus, Hebron and Keller, area bands in the finals included Flower Mound, Duncanville and Coppell high schools.

Haltom High School finished 12th in the preliminaries, two spots out of the finals, among the 37 Class 6A bands competing at state.

Because the University Interscholatic League rotates the band competition among classifciations each year, Marcus can only complete every other year. So while Class 4A and 6A competed at state this year, next year it will be Class 2A, 3A and 5A.

Marcus won previous state titles in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012. The last 6A band other than Marcus to win state was Hurst L.D. Bell, which won in 2004.

And as much as Marcus is best band in Class 6A, Argyle High School is in a league of its own in Class 4A. Argyle, which like Marcus is in Denton County, won the Class 4A crown for the fourth consecutive time on Monday. Argyle also won Class 2A (now 3A) titles in 2003 and 2005.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/11/05/6261393/flower-mound-marcus-wins-state.html#storylink=cpy

Ireland

Pics from Ireland in no particular order. Not cropped. Not color corrected.

 Dad, wife and Ann in Drogheda

Church in Drogheda

Gettin' our Jesus on in Drogheda

Random castle along main street in some small town in the countryside on the way to Castlebar

Abandoned castle along a coastal road. We jumped the fence and had a look around.

Inside the castle. Weird.

Wife and castle foundation

Stop along the road

Same place, tighter shot

A little further down the road

Sheep with graffiti all over the place. They just roam the countryside

Along the coast

Destination beach after driving down a single lane winding mountain road dodging sheep and other cars

Dunguaire Castle

Inside first floor. You can book parties here.

Second floor of castle

Staircase leading to all floors

From the top looking into the courtyard.

From the top looking out

Love these little windows

Wife feeling claustrophobic

Wife feeling claustrophobic while sitting

Another random castle.

Looking across the countryside at the top of "corkscrew road"

It was an insane drive up.

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher. Note the castle on the edge.

The sign I saw just prior to leaving everyone else behind and venturing out beyond the fence for a stroll along the edge of the cliffs. 

Standing at the edge. Three feet from the edge with no fence. It's 600 feet down, and people are warned that gusts of wind blow people off the edge occasionally. It was a little scary, but at least I wouldn't have had to drive anymore if a gust did take me down. That would have been a relief.

Fancy house built by rich people who are long dead.

Another castle near Wicklow Mountains

Nice door.

Looking out from the castle

I guess this is the front side of the castle

Dad posing next to the front door

In Dublin for a visit to the Guinness factory.

Nice tour, but wife and Ann were consumed by the barrel making video. 

I think that was the highlight of the trip for both of them. 

Barrel making. Seriously.

After the free pint of Guinness waiting for the bus

Inside Trinity University ancient library after seeing the Book of Kells

Door with fancy hinges

Church window

Little window inside church

St. Patricks in Dublin getting a little more Jesus

Inside the main area

A little church attached to the big church

Nice stone work

At the Powerscourt House and Garden. Considered the third nicest garden in the world

Nice planter

Garden path

One of the gardens

Looking up toward the house

Along the path they had a quirky pet cemetary

Dead pet headstones. These folks loved their pets.

Wife at gate to one of the gardens

Gardens were obviously past peak, but were still beautiful.

A little shrine to the owners mother.

My boy DaVinci

It took 100 men 10 years to build these gardens. It was impressive.

Standing on the edge of the Cliffs of Moher. Right at the edge.

And there you have it!