Sunday, April 29, 2007

The annual Relay for Life was held in McKinney on Friday night...really good turnout...really good cause!

Friday, April 27, 2007


Whew! I am tired today! For those who still live under the delusion that downtown McKinney is a dud during the week I am here to tell you thats not the case!...while the Cadillac Pizza Pub had the Vince Luhan Band playing good tunes for everyone until close, Poppy's had Banda Kenkajou playing salsa music... and some good folks from Art of Dance in McKinney out there teaching people how to salsa and tango - there was heaps and gobs of energy flowing at both places...


Last night also brought the grand opening of Rick's Chophouse at the Grand Hotel...
where I found these lovely ladies enjoying the charity benefit for McKinney Main Street, Samaritan Inn and Love Life Foundation...I probably owe the owner of Rick's Chophouse a public apology for barging in on his gala event with people all dressed to the tee and me wearing my levi's and a GMC hat, but I went there with someone who had been there earlier in the evening, to retrieve her purse...none the less I am sure it raised a few eyebrows when I walked in, and began blowing off flash and taking pictures, so I apologize for the intrusion even though I was there with good intentions...having said that the place looks fantastic and everyone there looked like they were having a great time...go try the place out, I am sure you will like it!

Thursday, April 26, 2007

McKinney, Texas – April 27, 2007

Alternative Furnishings Moves to New Location

Alternative Furnishings is proud to announce their new location at 105 W. Louisiana Street in historic downtown McKinney. The move is complete and Alternative Furnishings is open for business.

“We are very excited about our move. “The new location is a perfect place for us to beautifully display all our treasures,” says Charm Cameron, owner.

Specializing in architectural antiques, Alternative Furnishings will have a grand re-opening celebration on Saturday, May 19, from 7PM to 10PM. The public is invited to attend.

Alternative Furnishings is located just west of the square in downtown McKinney at 105 W. Louisiana Street.

Alternative Furnishings’ hours are Monday thru Saturday, 10am to 5pm and by appointment only on Sundays. For more information, call 972-547-0721.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Ted Nugent wrote this? Good for him!

WACO, Texas (CNN) -- Zero tolerance, huh? Gun-free zones, huh? Try this on for size: Columbine gun-free zone, New York City pizza shop gun-free zone, Luby's Cafeteria gun-free zone, Amish school in Pennsylvania gun-free zone and now Virginia Tech gun-free zone.

Anybody see what the evil Brady Campaign and other anti-gun cults have created? I personally have zero tolerance for evil and denial. And America had best wake up real fast that the brain-dead celebration of unarmed helplessness will get you killed every time, and I've about had enough of it.

Nearly a decade ago, a Springfield, Oregon, high schooler, a hunter familiar with firearms, was able to bring an unfolding rampage to an abrupt end when he identified a gunman attempting to reload his .22-caliber rifle, made the tactical decision to make a move and tackled the shooter.

A few years back, an assistant principal at Pearl High School in Mississippi, which was a gun-free zone, retrieved his legally owned Colt .45 from his car and stopped a Columbine wannabe from continuing his massacre at another school after he had killed two and wounded more at Pearl.

At an eighth-grade school dance in Pennsylvania, a boy fatally shot a teacher and wounded two students before the owner of the dance hall brought the killing to a halt with his own gun.

More recently, just a few miles up the road from Virginia Tech, two law school students ran to fetch their legally owned firearm to stop a madman from slaughtering anybody and everybody he pleased. These brave, average, armed citizens neutralized him pronto.

My hero, Dr. Suzanne Gratia Hupp, was not allowed by Texas law to carry her handgun into Luby's Cafeteria that fateful day in 1991, when due to bureaucrat-forced unarmed helplessness she could do nothing to stop satanic George Hennard from killing 23 people and wounding more than 20 others before he shot himself. Hupp was unarmed for no other reason than denial-ridden "feel good" politics.

She has since led the charge for concealed weapon upgrade in Texas, where we can now stop evil. Yet, there are still the mindless puppets of the Brady Campaign and other anti-gun organizations insisting on continuing the gun-free zone insanity by which innocents are forced into unarmed helplessness. Shame on them. Shame on America. Shame on the anti-gunners all.

No one was foolish enough to debate Ryder truck regulations or ammonia nitrate restrictions or a "cult of agriculture fertilizer" following the unabashed evil of Timothy McVeigh's heinous crime against America on that fateful day in Oklahoma City. No one faulted kitchen utensils or other hardware of choice after Jeffrey Dahmer was caught drugging, mutilating, raping, murdering and cannibalizing his victims. Nobody wanted "steak knife control" as they autopsied the dead nurses in Chicago, Illinois, as Richard Speck went on trial for mass murder.

Evil is as evil does, and laws disarming guaranteed victims make evil people very, very happy. Shame on us.

Already spineless gun control advocates are squawking like chickens with their tiny-brained heads chopped off, making political hay over this most recent, devastating Virginia Tech massacre, when in fact it is their own forced gun-free zone policy that enabled the unchallenged methodical murder of 32 people.

Thirty-two people dead on a U.S. college campus pursuing their American Dream, mowed-down over an extended period of time by a lone, non-American gunman in illegal possession of a firearm on campus in defiance of a zero-tolerance gun law. Feel better yet? Didn't think so.

Who doesn't get this? Who has the audacity to demand unarmed helplessness? Who likes dead good guys?

I'll tell you who. People who tramp on the Second Amendment, that's who. People who refuse to accept the self-evident truth that free people have the God-given right to keep and bear arms, to defend themselves and their loved ones. People who are so desperate in their drive to control others, so mindless in their denial that they pretend access to gas causes arson, Ryder trucks and fertilizer cause terrorism, water causes drowning, forks and spoons cause obesity, dialing 911 will somehow save your life, and that their greedy clamoring to "feel good" is more important than admitting that armed citizens are much better equipped to stop evil than unarmed, helpless ones.

Pray for the families of victims everywhere, America. Study the methodology of evil. It has a profile, a system, a preferred environment where victims cannot fight back. Embrace the facts, demand upgrade and be certain that your children's school has a better plan than Virginia Tech or Columbine. Eliminate the insanity of gun-free zones, which will never, ever be gun-free zones. They will only be good guy gun-free zones, and that is a recipe for disaster written in blood on the altar of denial. I, for one, refuse to genuflect there.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/19/com...ent/index.html

Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Virginia Tech tragedy

This is hard...I did not know any of those kids, but you have to have empathy for ALL those folks who were involved...the town, the school, the kids, the families...as each day passes this story gets a little stranger, making it harder I would expect for people to grieve and get on with their lives in whatever way they can...for now I have only one question: Why is it that this kid was diagnosed with a mental disorder of some sort two years ago and then not followed up on? How does something like this slip thru the cracks when you have documented evidence by both mental health professionals and the school...and yet he was allowed to carry on as if there was nothing wrong??? Have we gotten so PC that we allow this sort of thing to go unnoticed because we are afraid to hurt another's sensibilities?

I am sure the answers to these questions will be answered in time, maybe, but that will do nothing to ease the pain of all those who suffered loss in the meantime...the loss of life here is not only tragic, but seems to have been preventable to some degree...if the spin is correct...and thats a mighty damn big "IF"...

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Wanda King @ Cadillac...she rocked the house!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Dinner on the patio at Poppy's...

Sunday, April 08, 2007

McKinney, Texas – March 22, 2007
Art Exhibit – “Inside Looking Out” at Carrie Garner’s
Galleria d’Arte April 14, 2007


Justin Hunt, one of Galleria d’Arte’s most successful and popular artists, debuts his newest paintings at a gallery reception on Saturday, April 14, from 7pm to 10pm. “Inside Looking Out” will feature the largest exhibit of Hunt’s newest glass paintings. The exhibit will be on display through May 8, 2007.

Hunt, a multi-talented artist, is primarily focused on glass paintings. Using the ancient technique known as reverse glass painting, Hunt uses old windows and glass panel doors in their original framework for his canvases. Painting on the back side of the glass, Hunt must paint the image in reverse for the observer to perceive the image correctly. In essence, Hunt paints inside out and backwards!

The artist believes glass is not only a beautiful medium but also allows the observer to view art in a more untraditional manner. Many of Hunt’s subjects convey a bit of a dark tone with an underlying sense of hope and faith. “They function, in part, to counter the prevailing images forced upon us by the media and the entertainment industry. My mission is to convey a story with every figure I paint and having that story change with each individual observer,” says Hunt.

Hunt’s first exhibit was a resounding success, and as a result, he was invited to become a permanent, resident artist at Carrie Garner’s Galleria d’Arte. As a McKinney resident, Hunt is a perfect fit for Galleria d’Arte, which features works of art by local artisans. “We are extremely excited and proud to host Justin’s second McKinney art exhibit. Justin’s work is so thought-provoking and always creates a positive vibe throughout the gallery,” says Tamara Paquée, Director at Galleria d’Arte.

Hunt’s work has made first-time art collectors of many gallery visitors, as the variety and breadth of Hunt’s subjects appeal to a wide audience. His portraits are studies of human emotion and expression, exquisitely painted with passion and feeling. Whatever the subject, Hunt’s style and individualism are strong qualities that are immediately evident in each of his creations.

Live entertainment by The Quentin Hope Trio, wine, and finger-foods await gallery guests and always assure a wonderful celebration of community and the arts. Co-sponsors of the reception are: A Twist of Lime, Alternative Furnishings, BLING!, Cadillac Pizza Pub, Main Street McKinney, Market Square Antiques, Market Street, and Poppy’s Garden Café.

For further information, contact Carrie Garner’s Galleria d’Arte at 469-742-9509 or visit us online at www.carriegarner.com.