Baptist News

I noticed that the pastor of First Baptist Dallas appears to be headed to the First Baptist of Jacksonville, Florida. I found these two tidbits interesting: (1) Under former Pastor W. A. Criswell, First Baptist became the largest congregation in the Southern Baptist Convention and at one time had 26,000 members. The church and its private school occupy six city blocks. The membership is now about 10,000, according to Associated Baptist. (2) Associated Baptist Press said the Jacksonville church has 28,000 members and covers nine blocks of the downtown area.

Ok, My VERY Last Olympic Ceremony Thought

Wait until you hear 19 year old Shaun White speak. (He's the so called "Flying Tomato" - he's a snow snowboarder). I think he's a guy. Maybe.

My Last Olympic Ceremony Thought

Ok, the Games are in Italy. They speak Italian in Italy right? So what in the hell are these American pop tunes being played as the various country teams walk into the stadium tonight? My head just blew up when (and I am not making this up) the team from Mongolia walked into the stadium to the music of "Video Killed The Radio Star" (the first video ever on MTV). I'm insane now.

Edit: I have been redeemed. At 9:22 p.m., minutes after I wrote this, Bob Costas said: "Interesting that all the nations are marching in to the accompaniment of a seemingly random collection of 80s American pop tunes".

I'm Doing This To Impress My Next Blind Date

I Hate Ann Coulter

I wouldn't even take her to Casa Torres if she paid. And this certainly doesn't help our potentially failed marriage: On Friday, February 10, the rock star of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was none other than Ann Coulter. Before an overflow crowd of at least 1000 young right-wing activists, Coulter took her brand of performance art to new heights."I think our motto should be post-9-11, 'raghead talks tough, raghead faces consequences.'" (This declaration prompted a boisterous ovation.)

Then I stumbled onto this fake pic and my life was good again.

Stolen Thoughts From The Radio

As I fall asleep (although I'll probably go club hopping after midnight) watching the opening ceremony tonight of the Winter Olympics in Italy, I pondered this thought: Why do I/we no longer care about the Olympic Games? (1) The downfall of the Soviet Union and East Germany has a lot to do with it. We have no one to hate (which is half the fun of living). (2) We are saturated with SPORTS and the novelty of seeing sports on TV everyday died about 10 to 15 years ago.

You"ll Never Guess Who This Is

Answer.

Compassionate Conservatism

Say you are a city worker in New York City making $27,000 a year. (Which probably doesn't go very far in New York). Let's also make you a six year employee. Add to the equation that you occasionally play a game of Solitaire on your computer. Add the fact that the billionaire Republican Mayor happens to see that game of Solitaire on your computer screen. Result? The mayor just fired your butt.

My Vote For Funniest High School Kid

From the Update this morning regarding whether DHS should be an open or closed campus at lunch: DHS junior Dan Decker gave a different reason, however. “School is like a prison,” he said. “Our lunch off campus is like our hour in the yard.”

And Here's Some Salt For Your Wound

Garth Brook's will be on the cover of Parade Magazine on Sunday with this cover: "She Was Always The Woman I Loved"

Time Waste

Sketch Swap.

I Think . . .

. . . I've got more questions for the father than I do the mother. Story here.

Ladies, Take That Bra Off

"A 26-year-old Bridgeport woman is sentenced to 15 years in prison for biting a Palo Pinto County jailer back in August.Tiffany Jo Bond was being placed into a holding cell at the Palo Pinto County Jail when the incident occurred. Bond was instructed to remove her underwire bra during the booking process after her arrest on a Wise County probation violation. Underwire bras are outlawed for female inmates in most jails because the wire can be removed and used as a weapon or tool. According to testimony at the trial, Bond bit the male jailer on the hand when he tried to assist two female jailers during a struggle. Bond testified that she was high on Methamphetamine and Hydrodone when she fought off the jailers." Source.

Can We Look Away From A Traffic Accident?

A helicopter is filming a police chase and an SUV crashes, flips, and you can see the passenger fly out and then get run over by on coming traffic. Watch the video here. (Severe horror warning!! Don't you dare click on the link and then chew me out for posting it.) This was actually sent to me by a frequent courthouse visitor.

Bono Kisses HollaBackBaby

I Don't Understand

Everyone knows Bill Clinton's big lie of "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", but while browsing Newsweek last week, I learned (buried on p. 41) that President Bush said this on April 24, 2004 in Buffalo, New York: "Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution." I couldn't believe our beloved President would lie to us like that. (At least until I found the statement on the official White House web site - it's about halfway down). Someone please explain to me why lying about sex is sooooo much worse than lying about violating the Fourth Amendment? And why hasn't the "liberal media" covered this story like they jumped all over Clinton? I would like to have the facts reported so that I could decide.

I Don't Know Why I Like . . .

. . . Usher's "Yeah" so much. (Sorry, he was Showtime tonight and the thought just popped in my mind).

Weather Rant

One thing that drives me crazy (and I'm getting closer to the edge all the time), is weathermen/weatherwomen telling me what the "high" is going to be for tomorrow. Take for example tomorrow (Friday). You'll hear various newscasts tell you that the "high" will be 52 degrees. BUT, that "high" will come at 6:00 a.m. with the temperature dropping towards the the 30s for the rest of the day. Translation: We're gonna freeze our booties off. Telling me the "high" is going to be 52 doesn't tell me a thing. One exception to this rule is Channel 8's Troy Dungan (at least for today). But, I still will never forgive him for being absolutely clueless as I watched him on live TV as the tornado hit downtown Fort Worth a few years ago. He was fixated on a storm headed towards Grapevine and had no idea what was going on.

Channel 8 News

. . . has a webcam in their "News Meeting Room". I'm not sure anyone ever works there. Edit: Watching the "studio cam" during a news cast is mildly entertaining.

Kelly Clarkson . . .

. . . recently moved to Mansfield. But not for long. For $358,000 you can sleep where Kelly once slept.

Teri Hatcher Came As Cruella Deville Last Night

Link. But the dress was, uh, sheer. Oh, my.

Happy 27th B-Day To Mena Suvari

Random Grammy Thoughts

• The opening Madonna/Gorillaz thing was odd but kinda cool (pic of Madonna performing / ton of pics here)
• How did Kelly Clarkson's hair get so long? (See pic below)
• U2 is cool. I want to be Bono. (Pic from tonight here)
• I think I sing better than Neil Young (who was awkwardly nominated for Best Rock Album)
• Stevie Wonder has been everywhere: Super Bowl on Sunday, Corretta Scott King's funeral yesterday, and the Grammys tonight
• I like John Legend's "Ordinary People"
• The pic is of Christina Aguiliar on the red carpet tonight (wasn't she dark headed in an earlier post?)
• Uh, oh, Kanye West just won Best Rap Album. President Bush don't like rap music.
• I love the guy, but I could have done without the Paul McCartney live spot and I gringed when he said "Thank you, Grammy people" as the crowd was cheering. But he kinda redeemed himself with "Helter Skelter".
• Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas has the oddest face.
• I can't believe that Mariah Carey has made the comeback that she has - but, as I've said before, that last album was great.
• Kelly Clarkson, bless her heart, sounds like a complete idiot during her acceptance speeches.
• I'm not too familiar with Keith Urban (I gave up country music 10 years ago), but he ain't exactly Brooks & Dunn (which is a good thing these days). And I think he gets to go to Chili's with Nicole Kidman.
• Faith Hill is getting a little older - but aren't we all.
• Carlos Santana looks like some of my meth clients.
• Is there anything in this world more a matter of personal taste than music?
• Sly and the Family Stone was honored tonight. How does one get to go by the name "Sly"?
• Fantasia could beat me up.
• Wow. Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone showed up. But his hair is worse that, say, a Flock of Seagulls. As soon as I get a pic, I'll post it. Edit: Found it. (A quick Internet search revealed a shocking tidbit: He had not performed in public since 1993!)
• Bruce Springsteen beats me down.
• I don't know if McCartney and Jay-Z singing "Yesterday" together was cool or unstable.
• "Bless This Broken Road" was nominated for Song of the Year. Yeah, I gave up country, but I still like it.
• U2's "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" won something (not sure what), but I really like that song.
• Jamie Foxx is talented.
• The "Gold Digger" song with the marching bands was a nice touch.
• Sheryl Crow suffers from "boney chest".
• Green Day is the most main stream "rebel band" I've ever seen. They won some award (I need to pay more attention") for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" but their song that has the lyrics of "wake me up when September ends" was so much better.
• I wonder if the Grammys represent the best singers in America? Probably not a chance.
• "Album of the Year" went to: U2's "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bond". Poor Mariah. You wuz robbed.
• So Bono is up accepting the award for Best Album and gives a shout out to Paul McCartney (a co-nominee) - but in doing so he makes this very odd statement: "To be in the company of Paul McCartney who discovered the country that we are all living in is a true honor indeed." I take back my earlier statement, I don't want to be like Bono.

On "The Family Channel" Tonight

We have (1) The 700 Club, (2) America's Funniest Home Videos (3) Whose Line Is it Anyway? and, to start it all off, we have . . . Cruel Intentions. If you've seen the movie, you know it's not exactly "gather the family around the TV set" friendly.

Kelly Clarkson's New Look

Animal Humor

I'm normally not a big fan, but this very short video clip of a dog and a goat is pretty funny.

Red Sky At Night

You may have heard of Google yielding to the Chinese government's call for censorship. You can see the results in action The following links pull up results for a Google Image search for the word "Tiananmen". Google USA. Google China.

As...

...the Coretta King funeral turned into a Civil Rights rant, President Clinton took the podium and said: "I don't want us to forget that there's a woman in there, not a symbol," Clinton said, standing behind King's flower-covered casket. "A real woman who lived and breathed and got angry and got hurt and had dreams and disappointments." I miss the guy.

More From PostSecret.BlogSpot.Com

Those That Have Not Learned From The Past

The OU Sooners released their 2006 football schedule today. In a strange twist, the bye week comes before......some team that won the National Championship.

Dallas Maverick Marquis Daniels (Really)

Looks like something from Psalms.

Ouch

"We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there [standing ovation]... but Coretta knew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty aounds. For war billions more but no more for the poor." -Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery, at the Coretta Scott King funeral, in front of 4 presidents (including George W. Bush).

Photographic Evidence That Britney Is a Good Mom

Wowza

I'm a fan of Scarlett Johansson. I'm a fan of Keira Knightley. And, boy, are they throwing down some shock value on the cover of this month's Vanity Fair. (PG-13)

Valentine's Day Gift

Sorriness Part 2

Anyone else notice that former (and deceased) Cowboy Harvey Martin was not mentioned during the parade of MVPs before the Super Bowl? No so much as an acknowledgement that he was a former MVP.

Rah Rah

The Winter Olympics are set to begin, and then this tidbit comes along: "The committee in charge of organizing the games says about 150 female cheerleaders, from age 15 to 26, have been hired to pump up the crowds at Olympic ice hockey, speedskating and skiing events. They will dance to a mix of popular Italian music with traditional American cheerleading choreography."

The Star Telegram Is Bored

A former Fort Worth football player and now a member of the Denver Broncos gets stopped over the weekend and his passenger is arrested for a misdemeanor amount of marijuana. The story stayed up as the Lead Story on the Star-Telegrams' home page for over 12 hours.

The First Facial Transplant Patient . . .

. . . made an appearance today. Kinda makes you feel stoooopid that you fell for that Travolta/Cage movie. Edit: "Local newspapers have quoted one of [her] daughters as saying that on the night of May 27, the family dog scratched and bit away her mother's face after she had tried to kill herself with an overdose of sleeping pills."

Michael Douglas and Zeta-Jones . . .

. . . at the beach. (Click to enlarge).

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to persuade a Congressional committee today that the President listening to our telephone conversations without a warrant is OK. I think his argument was: "Trust us. We know what's good for you. And questioning us is really anti-American."

Super Bowl Commercials

My favorites were the Ameriquest "Don't Judge Too Quickly" ads. The doctor saying "that killed him" (referring to a fly as he stands over a man in a hospital bed - and with the patient's wife and daughter walking in - the balloon slipping from the kids hands was a nice touch), and the ad where the lady trips getting out of her seat in an airplane and ends up straddling the guy next to her. A great collection of all the ads is here (with a couple of "banned" ads)

I Wonder . . .

. . . if a football game was played yesterday with girls in their underwear? Oh, my.

Very odd . . .

. . . witnessing tool.

Sorriness

The parade of former MVPs before the Super Bowl was good stuff yesterday. But I noticed that Joe Montana wasn't there.

Here's the shocking reason why:

"Two sources close to the league said Montana refused to attend over money. One of the sources said Montana asked for a guarantee of at least $100,000 for appearances if he came here, and the league said it would not make that guarantee."

Why . . .

. . . on God's green earth are the Rolling Stones playing at halftime of the Super Bowl? I'm ....uh....in my forties and those guys were "before my time". You would think the NFL would want to appeal to the younger generation.

Sports Tidbit

The Dallas Morning News, of course, has a story today about the election of Cowboy Rayfield Wright into the Hall of Fame. He was in Detroit at the time (where the Super Bowl is being played). This sentence got my attention: "Wright said he'd driven here from his home in Weatherford to sell his new book, Wright Up Front, not to focus on Saturday's announcement."

Send A Cellular Text Message

You just need to know the phone number and the carrier of the recipient. (And be sure to tell the recipient who it is from). http://toolbar.google.com/send/sms/index.php

Wheels Are Off

A kid takes a hatchet in a gay bar and starts wailing on the patrons, flees with an old girlfriend, is stopped in another state by an officer who he shoots and kills - only to get shot in the head himself a few miles away in a police shootout. Now he's dead. Full story here. And the little dumpling had a myspace.com account (that's where the picture is from - notice the swastika in the background).

Puuleeeze

The Morning News had an article yesterday about Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes. He is recovering well from two strokes he suffered during the season. But the story was about how stubborn he is - even while the stroke was taking place. After denying he was having a problem to his wife (he had crawled to the bathroom), he also was uncooperative after arriving at the hospital because they asked him to get in a wheelchair. "That was hard for me - to get in a wheelchair," he said. "You lose your manhood." Sheesh.