We just finish a wonderful show in San Antonio with some great musicians; Dick Gimble, Emily Gimble, Ron Knuth, Rocco Fortunato, Herb Steiner, and Tena Rae.

Are Atheists’ hijacking academic freedom?
Why some might consider Ben Stein’s new movie to be political dynamite.
Intelligent Design: The theory of intelligent design (ID), holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selection. ID is thus a scientific disagreement with the core claim of evolutionary theory that the apparent design of living systems is an illusion.

Political dynamite.

There are folks working overtime to deny scientists who disagree with the core claim of evolutionary theory the right to pursue the scientific evidence for intelligent design theory. But there is more to this than meets the eye.
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 Tales from the Trail ....

To Forward or not to Forward

By Clover Carroll

Here at the BATR headquarters we receive emails from you, the fan, every day.  Some of you write to say hello or ask about our schedule, and some of you are concerned enough about our well being to forward emails to us that might keep us safe from an impending catastrophe.

It is becoming pretty obvious that any email that begins with "This is true! It happened to someone I know......" is mostly likely a urban legend. These emails are easy to identify because they are usually accompanied by a soap opera-type story. “…and after they (did whatever activity the email is warning about) they began to choke violently or a terrible headache ensued or they where in the hospital for 100 years”. 

These emails seem to be directed at older audiences because older audiences tend to be less knowledgeable about current trends on the internet, which makes them easy targets. These email hoaxes also seem to target women and intend to instill fear in them- “… the officer asked her to step out of the car, but she knew about the special cell phone number to call and check if he was a real cop. So she called it and found out just in time that the guy posing as a police officer was a convicted rapist who had been attacking women for months,” (…and he also just happened to have access to a realistic police uniform and police car). These emails take situations that have a heightened level of fear associated with them already. For example taking the wrong medication, being attacked at night, traveling alone, fear of the government etc… sometimes the hoax will even use a little truth to set the hook and get you to read further.  

            Why is it that we never just get a headline and a well-written article following the headline? We are living in the day of fast, cutting edge news services like Blogs (Web Logs) who specialize in news that the main stream media didn’t or won’t pick up. Why do we not hear about these things from them? Because some person with a lot of free time on their hands comes up with these ideas…probably up north somewhere. Remember, their goal is to get you to forward this to people on your email list and to waste your time. If they get you to do either they have accomplished their task. 

Trust me, this happened to my cousin …don’t let this happen to you. Pass this on to everyone on your email list or you will be cursed with bad luck for 7 days.

Bluebonnet Youth Ranch Fundraiser-What a neat show this was. Claude Jacobs does a great job every year of raising money for the Bluebonnet Youth Ranch. The Youth Ranch kids are just a wonderful. Last year little Rosa from the ranch was my dance partner for most of the night.  We had a chance to visit with old friends and make some news ones. Aubrey and Dave from Chuck Wagons for Christ were there as usual cooking breakfast. Red and Gail Steagall, my good friend Allen Shamblin, and new friend Aaron Barker (he wrote the Blue Bell Ice Cream jingle) were  there as well. Dave Strickland took some time to read us one of his new poems.

Allen Shamblin

Aubrey Lenamen

Dave Strickland

Wet Mountain Western Days-We just got back from Colorado where we performed at the Wet Mountain Western Days. What a great group of people. Good buddies Jon Chandler and Ernie Martinez were there as well as the Sons and Brothers Band. What a great show! Special thanks to the Gregg Family for all their help and Eric and Marsha Christman for their hospitality.

Dixie Leigh Update-For all you folks that have asked for updated pictures.

Cooper Carroll-is here

 Tales from the Trail ....

Milam County Cantaloupe

By Clover and Rachel Carroll 

Some of the best cantaloupe to be found in the summertime are in Milam County, Texas, specifically in Craig McGee’s garden. And there’s nothing sweeter on a long road trip than homegrown cantaloupe to supplement all the peanuts and candy bars we partake of along the way. The downside of a ripe cantaloupe is that if it isn’t eaten in time, it smells up an entire five-mile radius. Such was the dilemma of Back At The Ranch on our return trip from New Mexico. No one had gotten to the melon in time, and it rolled around in the van for a good 1,000 miles before Matthew took it upon himself to put the melon and ourselves out of misery. He related to us his theory that hypothetically if a half-rotten cantaloupe were hurled from 500 feet, its velocity could reach speeds up to 250 miles per hour. His dream to hurl the melon overtook him as the cantaloupe smell overtook the van. It came to fruition when we were halfway home and stopped off at a scenic overlook of the Sangre de Cristos. Matthew burst forth from the van and loped past Rachel and I right up to the edge of the canyon. Then, shot-put fashion, he catapulted the half-rotten Milam County cantaloupe over the edge. There was a moment of silence as we watched the melon bounce off the canyon walls and the mealy bits of peachy flesh cascade downward softly behind the main chunk, still intact. As our eyes traveled down the canyon, we realized there was a fly fishing camp right at the bottom. It was at that point we decided we had wasted valuable drive time and needed to hit the trail again. Matthew turned on one heel, threw himself toward the van and promptly tripped over a boulder. Eyeing the van, I seized my opportunity and using him as a springboard, leaped into the vehicle.  He later complained that I had shut the door too hard on his abdomen, although as I explained to him, if he hadn’t been attached to my heel, he might not have made it to the van at all. After crossing the state line in considerable time, we turned to see why Rachel hadn’t shared in the joke. But Rachel was not in the van. We though it prudent to stop for a snack and discuss our options for recovering our bass player and my wife. At a Quick-E Mart just east of Clovis we were perusing the snack aisle when we caught a faint whiff of cantaloupe. Peering through the rows of powdered doughnuts, I saw a man in full fly-fishing regalia with little mealy seeds adhered to his cap.  I signaled to Matthew and we cleverly disguised ourselves and slipped out the side door. Outside on the sidewalk, we heard a muffled sound. I lifted the edge of my disguise and saw Rachel tied to the front bumper of a Jeep. Matthew and I quickly freed her, (which is a little difficult to do with a paper bag on your head) and we sped to the van to resume our homeward trail.                                                                                                                                           

We all agreed, (excluding Rachel) it was one of the best BATR tours yet, but we never have figured out where that fishy smell is coming from….