Warning: Scooter has invited me to appear on InnerSide Radio, KPFT Houston 90.1, to talk about Texas, tonight at 9:30-10:00 Central (in about an hour). This could be dangerous.
I have a terrible confession to make. I have never in my life been to Texas, except for brief visits to an airport on my way to somewhere else. So Texas has a weirdly hellish fantasy quality to it…although I do know some people from Texas who are decent human beings. The good people have to be horribly outnumbered by the lunatics, though, to have elected Governor Perry and those ghastly board of education members.
Some of you Texans might have to tune in and call in to correct my terrible slanders.
Austin and the surrounding areas are nice. Everywhere else is mostly god country.
Professor Robert Jensen at UT Austin is indeed one of the good people.
Austin-area Pharyngulite here. I’m still waiting for you to slip up on some finer point of the Texas experience so I can claim your entire blogging endeavor to be dismissible.
Oh, and I’m signed up for the Texas Freethought Convention.
I went to Oshkosh in 1993 for the big air show they have every year. Now for a pilot that was a religious experience. Like aviation Mecca. However I did meet some awesome people there and one was from Texas. He started every sentence with ….”Why hell…..”. Like “Why hell, when I was a boy…” and Why hell, why you eat’n that…”. Funny bloke though, great stories that all started with….you guessed it….”Why hell…..”
Having lived in the Houston area for about four years, I can say that the Texans I’ve met have had kind of an unwarranted air of superiority about them. I think many if not most of them take the “Texas is bigger therefore better” meme too seriously, although they do enjoy the self-deprecating Aggie jokes. I didn’t get too much of the “God’s Country” bit except when one of the voting precincts in Harris County was renumbered to 666. The people there raised such a ruckus it was renumbered. Funny thing is that there is an area of Houston (near Rice University if I remember correctly) which has (or maybe had, since it’s been over 20 years since I moved from there) a 666 telephone exchange and I never heard anything about it.
Texas is weird. I don’t want to live there again.
Well there you go see. Texas isn’t big! Try setting your self down in central Western Australia and see how humble you become (not Vern Balbert above) but the big ego Texans.
Another Texas Pharyngulite, and old-time Molly. It’s not easy over here, especially since I’m not in one of the not-backwards big cities.
Oh, minor note: Got an ad that spoke to me, claiming I won something.
I cant find a live audio stream. Bugger.
PZ, if you ever do get dragged kicking and screaming down to the Lone Star State, please do make a point of visiting Austin. We’re the only civilized city in this forsaken land, and we’d love to cram you into another episode of The Non-Prophets or have a live Atheist Experience spot for you. Just say the word.
CORRECTION: Should be 10:30PM Central, according to the KPFT site
Sweet, I’ve found the stream.
Visit one of the College towns in the Metroplex.
Are mammals with wings becoming a theme here?. More cephalopods, please.
Ok
I just moved back to Chicago after living in Dallas for a year and a half (somewhat unwillingly). Most of the people I actually spent time with were somewhere between Democrat and outright socialist on the political spectrum and tended toward the liberal religion to non-religious ends of the spectrum. So I had a really weird experience, compared to the norm.
That said, Texas is a weird place. I don’t really feel the need to move back down there any time soon.
I’m listening right now…. I can’t tell if the recording of the crazy religious person talking over REM is for serious or for fun?
Ok, 10:50pm, I’m listening…. where’s PZ?
281 444 2372 <– phone number of kpft. Where's PZ?
10:30 Central? Whew, good! I thought I missed it. Who’s this guy ranting about the president? Is this Scooter? Rick Perry is connected? Mitt Romney? Could be a good show. 30 minutes to go!
Oh that wasn’t Scooter, and PZ is next. Scooter said so!
You are a wimp for not booking a plane flight to do the interview in-studio.
Kind of funny, but the climate change deniers who were yucking it up about the snowed-in Superbowl have been mighty silent this past month.
Thankfully, we have Rick Perry praying fervently for rain to soak our parched, scorched earth. If my rain gauge is working properly, we can conclude that god hates Rick Perry.
PZ on now! 10:10pm.
Crap. I just saw this now… awww… the sad thing is we deserve the hate. It’s just depressing to be surrounded by hate and then have hate from elsewhere too.
If I prayed, I’d pray to GTFO of Texas (especially due to this drought) and then I’d pray for people in Texas to wake the motherfucking fuck up.
But I don’t pray, so I recognize that these are (possibly both) dreams that will never materialize.
:(
Ha! I can finally lord something over PZ! I spent a night in Amarillo last year!
Feh. You should try going to the Sakha Republic in Russia some day.
This station blows, letting a show be taken over by a single caller for twenty minutes and failing to keep the other callers focused on the guest… what a waste of time
Yeah, this is a pretty dreadful show. Reminds me why I don’t listen to talk radio. Pointless callers and lots of dead air.
I agree. This is a strange show so far.
Also, when I click the download or play now links I am taken to a site for for “Arab music” which confuses me.
You’re doing it wrong. That’s an ad that you are clicking. here’s the link:
http://kpft.org/
at the top are the links for live listening:
# Listen Live (32k)
# Live HD-1 (64k)
# HD3 (32k)
# HD3 (64k)
# HD2 – KTRU
This is an absurdly bad show. The callers are allowed to take control and not a single one of them has been close to topical. It’s like they’re all calling just to get some attention on their own personal soapbox and then scuttle off after saying nothing.
The 2 lowest quality channels are the only ones that seem to be streaming PZ.
This has been a really strange show so far.
So the phone number is 713 526 5738, not what I wrote above, apparently. (I got that wrong number off the kpft website, so.. not my fault.)
Pacifica is notorious for it’s low production values, leftist conspiracy theorists and straight up aluminum hat wearing wing bats rants. I stopped listening to the station all together, years ago once Democracy Now moved.
“We’ve got one minute left, let’s go to the phones!” Boy, that’s some great radio.
Seriously? A caller with a viewpoint completely contrary to the invited guest gets the last word without even a chance to rebut? Texas blows.
Ok, IMHO, that would have worked better if it wasn’t in the call-in format. Too many people just interested in air time, and not interested in conversation.
PZ,
I lived and taught in Texas for seventeen years, and it’s just as nightmarish as you imagine, and hotter than Hades to boot. I am sooo loving living on the California coast now – this state has it’s problems, but it is much more civilized than Texas.
Unfortunately, hubby’s work insists that we return to Texas in a year. We are trying to find alternatives.
PZ, I’m the one that called in asking about how to give faith the reputation it deserved… I think I said (more or less) “I think faith is the deliberate attempt to believe something to a degree of certainty which exceeds what is warranted by the evidence. Many people view faith as a virtue, but I think it is the opposite of a virtue. What do you think we as atheists can do to give faith the reputation which it deserves?” I was on the phone, but the audio level of your mic on the phone was so low I could not hear you. So… I have no idea how you replied. Oh well. Maybe some Texas people heard your reply. (Also, sorry about all the Texan callers who called in about Glenn whats-is-name’s show who had no idea who you were or what the show was about.)
There’s Houston, Dallas, Austin, and then there’s the rest of Texas. Houston has an openly lesbian mayor and Houston proper is generally tolerant. Dallas went for Obama in the last election. Then, like I said, there is the rest of Texas. Austin is cool, but a lot of people from big cities who actually think they could live in Austin might find it a bit small.
If I were a family guy with kids I would give Texas serious consideration just on the practical stuff (cost of living,etc)
…and those ghastly board of education members.
Hmm, I guess, I have news for you:
http://ncse.com/news/2011/07/victory-evolution-texas-006802
Dearest PZ,
I don’t want to be difficult or anything as you move this new blog – congratulations! – between servers and take on Texas but …….
Whenever I come to FTB Pharyngula and click on the ‘comments’ button I get the audio of some ad or other – UK voices and jingles – for well-known cleaning products.
Is this on purpose?
It just did it again when I pressed the ‘submit comment’ button.
‘Tis a good thing I am relatively certain of my sanity.
I too don’t want to be giving out about the new site so soon, however, the ads are all god and jesus shit…
I remember trying to buy gas from a station in Houston, and the clerk freaking out because I tried to use the door to gain entrance after 11 PM. Through hand gestures and yells, he instructed me to use the transaction window. All the while I kept wondering, “So, when Americans watch The Silence of the Lambs, do they think Hannibal Lecter works the late shift at the Texaco?”
But such things are not unique to Texas of course.
We drove past the refineries at night. Reminded me of home.
I got my doctorate in Texas – the universities are great. Texas would be a great state, if only it weren’t so full of Texans! All kidding aside, I met some great people there, and some of them were only slightly less humble than the rest of us. Most, though, could dish out jokes (or truly nasty slurs) against other states, but they’re not very good about taking anything against Texas. Just remember one thing: they will get sensitive and huffy, and may call in to let you know it. Texans are the thinnest skinned people I’ve ever met.
I missed the show. Sorry. I was busy actually doing shit for a change.
PZ: You will be IN HOUSTON this fall for the freethough convention, right? Because me and my significant entomologist are about to drop $400 on registration, and you are an advertised headliner.
On Texas: I’ve lived here five years and I like it just fine. I have always lived in places with significant right-wing religiot populations. It keeps my fangs sharp and sniny IRL (not just on the interwebs). For those of you thinking about leaving: please don’t. I have a seven-year plan in action, to take control of this state. Within a decade, Texas will be as reasonable as your average New England state. In two decades, the only thing distinguishing Texas from Scandinavia will be excellent barbecue*, a plethora of inexpensive taquerias, unbearable heat**, and a glaring absence of fjords.
And this will all be accomplished via the magic of puppetry. You will never see the marionetteer.
Stay tuned.
*I plan on keeping this element of TX culture.
**It’s 101 right now. I would so change this if’n I could.
I will be in Houston in October, yes.
…Heck, with Algernon and AE here in Texas, my estimation of the place just went up by 200%.
Yeeeeehaaaa!
Are you in TX, Pteryxx?
@AE
*with great sadness* …Maaaaybe.
It’s suprising that rational people stereotype the citizens of an entire state. Yes Texas elected Perry but then again the USA elected Bush President twice also. Yes there are ignorant people in Texas as well as in the rest of the country. Please don’t stereotype. Visit any of the major cities like Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and you find plenty of Atheists and rational people. I was suprised that Russell Glasser from Austin said Austin is the only civilized city in Texas. Houston seems civilized to me, but maybe my standards aren’t sufficient.
From where I live, I could drive for a few hours and reach:
Brookeland TX, where a teacher was driven out because of RUMORS of atheism;
Cleveland TX, where the infamous gang-rape of an 11-year-old girl occurred;
Silsbee TX, where a high-school cheerleader was ordered to cheer for her rapist;
Paris TX, which in 2010 was the site of a “Jasper, TX – style lynching”, not to mention Jasper itself;
and Bastrop LA, where an atheist high-school student received harassment and death threats for objecting to prayer in the graduation ceremony.
When I sit in a restaurant here, I’ve heard people around me toss out casual racist or homophobic statements, accepted by everyone around them. I’ve heard strangers talk and laugh about that 11-year-old slut. (One group I overheard were COPS.) I’ve heard them growl and mutter about what they would’ve done to that awful atheist kid in Louisiana. They feel safe and accepted saying these things in public, while I’m sitting within touching distance, close enough to brush elbows and say “Pardon me” to each other, not quite freak enough to be noticed. I’ve gone to biker rallies and karaoke bars and fireworks, cheered with the crowd, and wondered how many of my smiling neighbors would cheer just as loudly at my killing if they but knew.
It’s bad here. There’s no denying that.
@ Jerry Houston, 3:06pm
Actually Jerry, bush stole both elections and there is ample evidence to actually prove both were stolen. But you will have to research it yourself as I am sure you will LOL.
And yes, I have spent time in texas and the great majority of texans are hate-filled, racist uneductated mean people. Austin and local is exception, don’t you agree Jerry. texas really sucks.
The atheist community here in Houston is one of the largest in the country, Mayor Parker is openly lesbian, and only 30,000 people showed up to the Governor’s rally yesterday. I’d say Houston is looking pretty darn good.
For what it’s worth, from this side of the pond I have to say I’ve heard some damn good things about Austin. The local music scene is said to be exceptional and I’ve even heard of people there cycling from A to B (no, that’s not snark on my part, I’m just quoting a friend). Can any resident comment?
Pteryxx you could find stories like those in any state. True Texas has some crazy people. Also true by insulting an entire state and it’s population your not going to get them to think about Atheism and consider it.
joed Yes your right Bush probably stole the elections. There are also a lot of ignorant assholes in Austin as in any city. Plus Austin has a lot of hipster cooler than thou douchebags. Just sayin.
I’ve lived in Houston, Dallas, and Austin. I’m currently in Dallas, and I do sometimes feel out of place as a godless liberal.
Austin is nice, but it’s a bit small for me. Plenty of liberals live there, but the friendliness is 100% Texan.
I’m a Texan through and through, and sure there are plenty of jerks here. I lived in NYC for 4 years, and I will never, ever, ever live in the Northeast again. Talk about JERKS!
People may hold silly views here, but for the most part, they are nice. Sure some horrible things have happened here (like the dragging murder of a man in Jasper), but horrible things happen all over the place.
There’s nothing particularly scary about Texas. That kind of stereotyping doesn’t reflect the reality of being here.