Top 25 Country Songs

TOP 25 COUNTRY SONGS

25. Get Your Tongue Outta My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissing You Goodbye.
24. Her Teeth Was Stained, But Her Heart Were Pure.
23. How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?
22. I Don't Know Whether To Kill Myself Or Go Bowling.
21. I Just Bought A Car From A Guy That Stole My Girl, But The Car Don't Run So I Figure We're Even.
20. I Keep Forgettin' I Forgot About You.
19. I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well.
18. I Still Miss You, Baby, But My Aim's Gettin' Better.
17. I Wouldn't Take Her To A Dog Fight, Cause I'm Afraid She'd Win.
16. I'll Marry You Tomorrow But Let's Honeymoon Tonight.
15. I'm So Miserable Without You, It's Like Having You Here
14. I've Got Tears In My Ears From Lyin' On My Back and Cryin' Over You.
13. If I Can't Be Number One In Your Life, Then Number Two On You.
12. If I Had Shot You When I Wanted To, I'd Be Out By Now.
11. Mama Get A Hammer (There's A Fly On Papa's Head).
10. My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, And I Don't Love You.
9. My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend And I Sure Do Miss Him.
8. Please Bypass This Heart.
7. She Got The Ring And I Got The Finger.
6. You Done Tore Out My Heart And Stomped That Sucker Flat.
5. You're The Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly.
4. If the Phone Don't Ring, You'll Know It's Me.
3. She's Actin' Single and I'm Drinkin' Doubles.
2. She's Looking Better After Every Beer.

And the Number 1 Country and Western song of all Time is...

1. I Haven't Gone To Bed With Any Ugly Women But I've Sure Woke Up

Cowboy poet goes home

From Texas Day-by-Day (feed in right-hand column)

On this day in 1940, the cowboy “poet laureate,” Lysius Gough, was found dead at his home in Amarillo. His latest poem, still scrolled in the typewriter, was appropriately titled “Gone.” Gough, born in Lamar County in 1862, was a man of diverse talents and interests. After running away from home as a teenager, he punched cattle on several drives and earned the nickname “Parson” at the T Anchor Ranch because he never swore.

In the mid-1880s Gough obtained his teaching certificate and became principal of Pilot Point Institute. During this time he also published his first book of cowboy verse, Western Travels and Other Rhymes. Eventually he studied law, married Ida Russell, and was one of the first settlers of Castro County, where he taught school at Dimmitt. He later engaged in real estate, irrigation well drilling, and farming. In the 1920s Gough served as president of the Texas Wheat Growers Association and also helped organize the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society. He published Spur Jingles and Saddle Songs in 1935.

Read more at Cowboy Poetry

What'd I Say - Ray Charles

Boomhauer on The Net

This is dedicated to our late friend Brad in Kentucky. He said he loved the Mike Judge animated series "King of the Hill" (a sweet little satire about life in Texas) mainly because of Boomhauer.

Brad said he knew a LOT of people in Kentucky who spoke that way.

Yeah, but my bark's worse than my bite.

In keeping with the procrastination-as-usual theme of this blog (and most any other thing I do), here's a Blogstuff thing I had saved for Halloween.

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You Are a Werewolf

You're unpredictable, moody, and downright freaky. You seem sweet and harmless, until you snap. Then you're a total monster. Very few people can predict if you're going to be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. But for you, all your transformations seem perfectly natural. Your greatest power: Your ability to tap into nature Your greatest weakness: Lack of self control You play well with: Vampires

What Kind of Monster Are You?

I'd cry, but...

I can't spare the water.

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Vote on Pickens project a sure bet

By BETSY BLANEY Associated Press

LUBBOCK -- It won't take long to count the votes next week on a plan that would help billionaire T. Boone Pickens deliver Panhandle water to growing North Texas communities. There's even less doubt about the outcome.

Just two people -- Pickens' ranch manager and his wife -- will cast ballots Tuesday on whether to confirm the creation of the Fresh Water Supply District in Roberts County.

Alton Boone, who manages Pickens' vast Canadian River Valley ranch, and his wife, Lu, live within the 8-acre water district and are its only eligible voters.

The couple also will vote to seat a five-member board of supervisors -- which would include themselves and three Pickens employees -- and to approve $101 million in revenue bonds to acquire rights of way through as many as 12 counties for delivering water- and wind-generated electricity.

The bonds would be repaid from money collected from water and electricity customers who benefit from Pickens' energy projects.

The election is the next step in a five-year effort by Pickens' Mesa Water to market and ship water from the Ogallala Aquifer to thirsty cities.

Pickens also wants to install 2,700 large wind turbines in four Panhandle counties. Together, they would be capable of producing 4,000 megawatts of electricity, making it the world's largest wind farm.

Roberts County commissioners formed the water district in September at the request of landowners in the district -- all of whom had recently bought their acreage from Pickens. Under Texas law, voters living on the affected land must ratify the change before it becomes official.

Texas' 55 freshwater districts have been established since 1919, when the Legislature authorized them for the exclusive purpose of providing and distributing water for domestic and commercial use.

Local officials say the election has drawn more interest from afar than from within the county.

"Most of them say, 'I can't believe he can do that"' County Judge Vernon Cook said. "I say, 'Yes, that's the way our fearless leaders [in Austin] changed the statute.'

"There's no doubt in my mind it'll be formed."

Texas lawmakers say they made the changes this year in an effort to standardize the state's water laws and to give property owners a greater say on issues affecting their land.

"In the end, it's not any special Pickens law," said Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe. "Nothing to do with Pickens was even remotely part of my efforts at all."

Others, however, suggest that money played a part in the changes. Andrew Wheat of Texans for Public Justice, a nonprofit watchdog group that tracks money in politics, said Pickens spent about $2.2 million on lobbyists this year and campaign contributions in 2006.

"It could be coincidence. But if it is, it's a hell of a coincidence," Wheat said. "No sooner did this law take effect, and his lawyers were already working on this particular proposal that seems to be framed by the very legal changes made."

But Monty Humble, Pickens' attorney, denied that the oil tycoon was behind the legislation.

"We had absolutely nothing to do with" those changes, Humble said.

Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, voiced other worries.

"What concerns me more is the potential to undermine the conservation of [Panhandle] groundwater that's facing some real challenges," he said. "Those changes [in the statutes] were not in anticipation of exportation of water" by Pickens or anyone else.