Gulf's Rare Giants in Peril

What do the giant squid, giant jellyfish, killer whale and sperm whale have in common? As of 2010, they live in the Gulf of Mexico but most people don't know it.

The BP oil spill threatens not only the livelihoods of millions of coastal residents, the seafood industry, and sea creatures and sea birds of all sizes and shapes, it also threatens a few rare, exotic species.

Least rare of the creatures on the list is the sperm whale. The Gulf of Mexico supports a year-round population of around 1,500 sperm whales, which are huge, 60-foot-long mammals that sport the largest brain of any animal or fish. BP should hope they don't use their brains to come up with a fitting revenge for spoiling their habitat.

National Geographic reports that if the oil spill kills three whales per year over the next few years, the whales are likely doomed:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100521-science-environment-gulf-mexico-oil-spill-sperm-whales

NG notes that killer whale populations have yet to recover from the now not-so-impressive Exxon Valdez.

Killer whales, or orcas, also dwell in the Gulf, but there population until recently was thought to be about 150, that is, until a group of fishermen saw about 200 of them at one time last year:
http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/639954.html.

I don't know if BP should be afraid of killer whales or not, but they better be afraid of the squid that National Geographic reported on in 2008. These alien-like giant squid have elbows and seriously long tentacles:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081124-giant-squid-magnapinna.html.

Another 20-foot-long giant squid was caught in a net last year by a group of scientists studying the sperm whale's diet in the Gulf of Mexico:
http://www.livescience.com/animals/etc/090922-rare-giant-squid-caught-gulf.html.

It makes since that the big squid would be in the Gulf, because the sperm whales find them tasty. The giant jellyfish has a tasty-sounding name, but they don't look so good up close. Check this monster out:
http://news.discovery.com/videos/animals-rare-monster-jellyfish-caught-on-tape.html

With global climate change wreaking havoc on the world's ecosystems, perhaps some of these creatures have fled other regions looking for a more hospitable home in the Gulf of Mexico. I like the fact that these creatures are out there in the gulf, and I sure hope we can figure out a way to keep them safe from harm.

Happy Texas Independence Day

So, as I mentioned previously, I wrote this song about my Great, Great, Great Grandfather, whose name is Martin Palmer/Martin Parmer. Known as the Ringtail Panther, he died 160 years ago today, which incidentally is Texas Independence Day.

Parmer, which is how he signed his name on the Texas Declaration of Independence, was far from perfect, much like his contemporaries who organized the Texas Republic.

The things that brought him to Texas included unresolved assault charges in Ohio, a problem with selling booze to Indians in Arkansas, some issues over some land titles in Missouri, and a little problem with the U.S. government, where he might possibly have decided to cash a $500 check for becoming the federal Indian agent for the Little Osage Indians, and then declined the post.

But his importance as a figure in the years leading up to the Texas revolution has been overlooked, in my opinion. I read recently that the descendants of Stephen F. Austin were concerned that Austin's place in Texas history would not be fully recognized, so they worked diligently to make sure his place in history was secure. Parmer's family did not make the same efforts, but at the turn of the 20th century he was still popular enough that he was portrayed in a series of highly successful fiction books. Now, even though he's buried at the Texas State Cemetery, he's hardly mentioned in the cemetery's brochure.

While Austin clearly deserves his title as the Father of Texas, at least one writer is making the argument that Parmer deserves to be elevated to or above the level of another Texas icon, Davy Crockett. Daniel A. Hill, in his recently released book, "Martin Parmer: Lion of the West," says that Parmer was the more widely known figure in the early part of the 19th century, and the 1835 play, "Lion of the West," was more likely based on Parmer than Crockett.

I don't know about that, but I do know that Martin Parmer was the military leader of the first uprising against the Mexican government, a full ten years before the actual Texas revolution, and ten years before Crockett ever thought about moving to Texas.

And, even after the failure of the Fredonian Rebellion and a decade after his supposed banishment, Parmer was still regarded highly enough by his peers that he became the Chairman of the Committee that drafted the Constitution for the Republic of Texas. He was also appointed by the convention at Washington on the Brazos in 1836 as the only man responsible for securing armaments and supplies for the Texas army from the Texas populace — i.e. he was the only legally authorized horse thief in the history of Texas.

Anyway, my song "Ringtail" is my attempt to remind people about a pretty interesting character.

To hear it, go to http://www.myspace.com/georgepmacias. You can also click on the "lyrics" icon and read along. If you have any questions about the lyrics, let me know. you can also check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0SM8MIWyG4 and http://martinparmer.tripod.com/id9.html.

And happy Texas Independence Day!

What's in a name?

At the suggestion of Austin legend Stephen Doster (the producer of Firefly), I attended the Austin Songwriter's Group symposium this past weekend here in Austin. There was some really magical stuff that happened, with the amazing Rodney Crowell giving the keynote address and lots of amazing music - and I actually learned stuff.

One of the DJ's at the event commented a couple of times about my name being interesting. I assume he meant that it's interesting because it has three parts, and some of the parts sound English and some of them sound foreign - not sure though since I didn't ask him.

Also at this conference, I was told once again, that it's important to Blog. Ergo . . .

No one has yet confronted me with why I have chosen to use all three of my given names, although a couple of folks have made passing snide comments about it.

The main reason I decided to use my middle name is because I wanted people to be aware that my song "Ringtail", is about someone who's related to me. He, Martin Parmer, was a signer of the Texas Independence and he changed the spelling of his name from Palmer to Parmer, probably because he was wanted in about four states for various charges, gunfighting, selling liquor to Indians, and maybe taking some property that didn't technically belong to him.

Ironically, the Republic of Texas ended up appointing him as the only legal agent who could go around stealing people's horses and guns for the Texas army.

So if Martin Parmer's offspring had decided to keep his name, I would have been George Parmer Macias. I read somewhere that "George" means "Farmer." So I could have been Farmer Parmer Macias.

Actually, my father's name was given to him because he was born on George Washington's birthday. Otherwise he would have been "Paul". So, I could have been Paul Palmer Macias.

As for my other name, "Macias", that also came from my father, who was born in Ybor City, Florida and whose ancestors spent a few generations on the island of Cuba. The most interesting "Macias" to date lived in the 14th century in Spain. He was known simply as "Macias."

Macias, called the "idol of lovers," was a poet who died tragically. Supposedly, a woman got thrown from a beautiful stallion into a beautiful river, and the "fearless" Macias dove in to save the beautiful woman. But it was not the river that killed Macias; it was the woman's husband, who apparently found the one-named senor poking around in the wrong casa.

So if I represent my name well in the course of my life, I will likely write a few poems, love a few women, do a bit of farming, get in a gunfight or two, and hopefully at the end, someone will erect a statue.

Words are all I have

As I write this, I am aware that I am lucky, lucky to be alive, lucky to have a gift that I can share, and lucky not to be in Haiti, where the earthquake has left thousands of people wondering aimlessly past piles of rubble and bodies.

Since I am currently broke, I guess the only thing I can do is suggest that people check out this brief video:
http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,61644731001_1953522,00.html.

Then you can donate some cash by going to http://www.redcross.org or to www.clintonfoundation.org/haitiearthquake.

Or, text "HAITI" to 20222 and $10 will be donated to relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

Now that I've done something good, I can without guilt, go back to talking about me and my fledgling music career. As you may know, I quit my job as a CEO about two years ago now and I have squandered my retirement and most of my other resources for the dream of somehow becoming a working songwriter.

I was surprised this morning to get my third positive review for my inaugural CD, Firefly (see http://seanclaesdotcom.blogspot.com/2010/01/week-19-george-palmer-macias-firefly.html). Thank you Sean! Now if I can just figure out how to get reviews from established music magazines - any tips?

My guitar player Bill Starrett and I played last night at the Carousel Lounge (http://www.carousellounge.net/) to a crowd that included four of our fans (who have become our dear friends), about 8 regulars, and ultimately to another 16 people who were members of the next two bands Funkotron and Uniphonics. Uniphonics had just arrived from Iowa for a three-night stint in Austin -- I hope they aren't counting on tips to get their way back to Iowa.

Sunday, we played at Hondo's on Main in Fredericksurg to a modest local crowd; it was a fun trip because we rented a van along with some fans. Fans are fun to have, but I probably need a few more to make this thing work.

This Friday we have a reunion of my old band, The Regulars, at the Saxon Pub (6ish to 8ish), which should be a blast, and next week Bill and I will be at a great little restaurant/bar on SoCo, Botticelli's (7:30 to 9:30), in the patio if the weather is reasonably good.

In attempts to increase my income, I put up a few ads on Craigslists and other web sites offering customized songs for $150. The idea is that people give me the description of someone they love (or hate) and I then write a song. So far, I've made one sale and wrote a song for a girl's sister, who is a flight attendant. The song is called "Over Little Sister's Town," and I think it's pretty good. The chorus: "Sometimes when I'm sleeping, I hear my sister's voice, it soothes me and it heals me, for her laughter is a force . . . I hope she knows my feelings, I wonder if she glances down, when she's flying off to somewhere, over little sister's town."

Even though I was pretty sure the song was good, I was thrilled when the reaction to it was very positive. When people cry, I've done my job.

So, if you haven't spent all your money on Haiti, yet, you could spend a little more cash and surprise a loved one AND help out a struggling American - me.