This blogging stuff is silly.
But in looking around the Internet for funny and insightful stuff, I stumbled across someone doing pretty much the same thing I do. He calls his blog "Bag Of Nothing" which is a phrase stolen from the radio station The Ticket. It simply means there's nothing exciting going on in one's life. Someone will ask me "What's going on?" and sometimes I'll reply "I got a big bag of nothing."
The name of his blog amused me enough to check in on it frequently. It was good stuff. I would steal from it left and right. He'd do the same. It was a mutual respect.
But let me change directions.
About five days ago he abruptly wrote that his mother had fallen down a set of stairs and wasn't doing well. Frankly, although we are strangers, we ended up exchanging a couple of emails over the last couple of days.
And then tonight I learn that his mother had passed away.
The Internet is a strange world. I don't know my real next door neighbor, but I know my cyber-neighbor, Keith, the creater of BagOfNothing.com. And I don't feel silly at all for shedding a few tears for his grief tonight.
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11.18.2006
A Moment Of Reflection
This blogging stuff is silly.
But in looking around the Internet for funny and insightful stuff, I stumbled across someone doing pretty much the same thing I do. He calls his blog "Bag Of Nothing" which is a phrase stolen from the radio station The Ticket. It simply means there's nothing exciting going on in one's life. Someone will ask me "What's going on?" and sometimes I'll reply "I got a big bag of nothing."
The name of his blog amused me enough to check in on it frequently. It was good stuff. I would steal from it left and right. He'd do the same. It was a mutual respect.
But let me change directions.
About five days ago he abruptly wrote that his mother had fallen down a set of stairs and wasn't doing well. Frankly, although we are strangers, we ended up exchanging a couple of emails over the last couple of days.
And then tonight I learn that his mother had passed away.
The Internet is a strange world. I don't know my real next door neighbor, but I know my cyber-neighbor, Keith, the creater of BagOfNothing.com. And I don't feel silly at all for shedding a few tears for his grief tonight.
At Least This Interests Me
The actor who played the quarterback in Friday Night Lights was also the little kid in Sling Blade. His name is Lucas Black for those interested.
Brush With Greatness
Tonight I was invited to, and attended, the premiere party for the Lifetime Movie Network show called "Inspector Mom." (Don't ask.) The event was at the Angelika Theater in Dallas (maybe my favorite movie theater anywhere) and it was pretty interesting: The show is filmed in Dallas and I was in a movie theater where the show's debut was being simulcast on the big screen. The audience was full of the actors and workers of the project who screamed with joy at every scene.
The show's star, Danica McKellar - that would be Winnie of "The Wonder Years" - was in attendance. At one point I stood about three feet from her, and I'm fairly certain she was checking me out.
The "Huffing Story"
The Star Telegram now has the story about the Wise County kid that died due to "huffing" at a gas well. Here.
So I Heard That High School . . .
. . . playoff games would start at Texas Stadium today at 10:00 a.m. What a wacky time. So, loving anything unusual, I went.
Rumor Mill
There might be a story forthcoming about a public official in Wise County who was seen last night shooting a dog from a vehicle.
Developing.
Random John Cougar Mellencamp Commercial Thought
As I'm getting beaten down again with a new "Texas version" of that commercial, I learn at the end of it that I can "Text 'silverado' to 90430 for exclusive content and other great offers."
I'll do it on my death bed - but not before then. Can you imagine the crap you'll receive once they have your cell phone number?
An Update On The Death In Wise County
Based upon my conversation with the High Sheriff, this is what I learned (if there are any mistakes, they are mine and not his):
The Sheriff's office received a 911 call on Thursday night at about 11:55 p.m. The caller stated that they had an unresponsive male at the residence. When the fire department and the medics arrived, they began CPR. While all that was going on, it was learned that the 21 year old male had reportedly been "huffing" gas at a well site in the Oliver Creek area. (FM 4221). Once on the scene, medics and the fire department continued CPR and transported the guy to the hospital, where he was subsequently pronounced dead.
The deputies were able to locate witnesses and some of those that that may be possibly involved in the huffing. They allegedly crossed a fence onto a Devon well site (gas) and climbed to the top of a tank. According to witnesses,the deceased was huffing and then became unconscious. He was then carried to his residence and 911 was called.
The sheriff's office is awaiting autopsy reports and will continue to investigate. At this point, there is no evidence of foul play.
Nerdy Consumerism
A faithful reader tells me there were at least 10 people camping out at the Decatur Walmart last night to get the new PS3 video gaming console.
Wise County Death
WBAP reported that 21 year old Ezekiel Thomas was found dead in Wise County near a gas well around midnight last night.
Details were very murky.
Developing . . .
A Little Drama
The big game in college football this week is #1 Ohio State v. #2 Michigan.
Both are unbeaten.
Things just got a little weird in that Michigan's former legendary coach Bo Schembechler, who coached the team for 20 years and amassed an amazing record of 143-24-3, collapsed and died this morning.
Comic Strip Reminiscing
A controversy over a gay penguin book this morning (yep, gay penguins) reminded me of the only penguin I ever loved: Opus of Bloom County.
11.16.2006
Royale With Cheese
I don't do Bond movies (I had a date drag me to one 15 years ago which promptly ended the relationship), and I doubt I'll see Casino Royale despite the debut of the new Bond, Daniel Craig.
But Craig was pretty good in Layer Cake and Munich but I don't remember him at all in Road To Perdition. (IMDB.com list of movies here.) And would I dare pander to my 1000s upon 1000s of female audience members with this pic? You bet.
And on a completely unrelated movie note: I finally saw The Cider House Rules. I'm sorry, but I have no idea what was supposed to be so great about that movie.
Linday Lohan . . .
. . . in a GQ pictorial this month. I'm think she's a good Baptist girl, but I'm not sure.
But it reminded me to put sheets on my bed.
Video Fun
(1) I think this could be a Wise County bar. (Did I meet my sixth wife in that place?)
(2) And I don't think this is good parenting.
(3) The Euless Trinity pre-gama Haka dance scares the crap out of me.
Presenting Me
I gave a presentation in Bridgeport tonight on the "court system" to an audience of, hang on, let me think . . . uh . . . seven people. (Nope, that pic isn't of me.)
You know, once I stand up I don't care if it is a crowd of one or a crowd of 100. I'll give it my best shot. (Although I'll admit a joke on prostitution wasn't delivered with precision comedic timing. I think I heard crickets.)
But my proudest moment was probably two years ago when I was invited to talk about The Spin to an audience of about 40 at Runaway Bay. The crowd there was older and I was scared they wouldn't quite understand my deadpan humor - or lack thereof. It worked out well. Not great. But well.
Bob Stoops is at the Top with $3.45 Million
USA Today released this morning a searchable database for the salary of all college coaches. For almost all of them, you can even see their actual contract in a pdf format. (The top salaries can be seen in the above graphic - click to enlarge.)
Story and database link is here.
11.15.2006
Money For Nothing
I had a funny conversation this afternoon with a guy that had left a nasty message with one of our staff members. He would only tell her that he was calling me "on a business matter."
Since he had called before and since he was throwing down some attitude, I decided to call him back.
He told me, quite indignantly, that he had tried to call many times before and then said, "I would like to know how you intend to structure the student loan that you defaulted on." Not ever having defaulted on a loan in my life, I politely pointed that out to him. Of course, he didn't believe me.
"You are Barry K. Green, a lawyer, aren't you?"
"Uh, no." I said. (That "K" doesn't belong to me.)
"You weren't born in 1956?" (Thankfully, I could answer that with a "hell, no" - which I didn't - but I did suddenly feel sad for some 50 year old guy that had defaulted on a student loan.")
While the debt collector was scribbling all the info down and sounding very confused on the phone, I decided to use The Google by typing in "Barry K. Green" followed by "attorney". I came up with a name and address of a guy by that name that was in Austin. So I told the collector, "Hey, I just found somebody by that name in Austin who is a lawyer."
"Really!" he replied (and I am not making this up.) "Could you tell me his address and phone number?"
Cliches Butchered
In reading a Star-Telegram story tonight regarding a capital murder case, I saw that the victim's daughter said, "We had decided it would be in God’s hands, but of course, in my heart of hearts, this is what I wanted.”
You know, I had always thought that phrase was "in my hard of hearts." I have no idea what either one means. Or which one is correct.
But that reminded me of ten years ago when I was being interviewed by a Messenger reporter when I used the phrase: "For all intensive purposes." The next day the paper came out and I was quoted as saying, "for all intents and purposes." I read that, scratched my head, looked it up, and then was relieved that I had not been exposed as an idiot.
I'll Admit
That I'm beginning to laugh at the Jessica Simpson/DirecTV HD ads where she says, "I totally don't know what that means, but I wooooon't it."
Tool
Buried in the news from last week was the fact that the state of Minnesota bravely electing to Congress a guy named Keith Ellison who is not only a democrat but a Muslim.
Good for them.
Browsing around the Internet tonight I saw that CNN's Glenn Beck interviewed him yesterday and started off the interview with: "I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.' " Beck added: "I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way."
Is Beck from around here?
Uh, Can We Get Back To The Garbage and Wild Dog Ordinances Now?
Who cares if city of Bedford has no authority over the issue. A little political timewaste grandstanding never hurt a politician.
No Wonder Our Kids Are Screwed Up
And I did not giggle at the booty kick. Much.
And I couldn't quite make out the name on her jersey.
Slow Posting Day
Every now and then I get buried. Today was one of them. Sexual Assault. DNA. Drugs. DWI. (Uh, that's representing, not doing.)
And I got to start the day off getting gasoline at 7:00 a.m. (in a freezing windstorm) only to have the wind shut down the power of the pump after two gallons. Good times.
And I haven't even seen a Dallas Morning News.
From The National Weather Service
At of 10:45 a.m.
Location / Maximum Wind Speed
Gainesville 46
Paris 38
Decatur 46
Denton 46
McKinney 46
dfw Airport 54
Dallas Love Field 46
Alliance Airport 49
Meacham Airport 53
Hillsboro 53
Corsicana 44
Stephenville 47
Waco 46
Palestine 41
Temple 51
11.14.2006
Incredible
Stuff like this drives me insane. Within days after two people were murdered execution style at a Pizza Hut in Terrell, four people were arrested on charges of capital murder. Uh, that carries the death penalty.
So today the last of the four arrestees were released. Oops. Not enough evidence.
Don't worry guys. That arrest and stigma that goes with it won't last long really. Maybe fifty years, tops.
Stuff I Like
With ESPN and Fox Sports, I've become beaten down by all the overly-produced, glossy, epic video productions I see.
More and more videos are showing up on youtube.com that are simply home-movie-quality clips taken by fans in the stands. I love 'em.
Like this one which captures the block of a potential game winning field goal by South Carolina at Florida this week. (The same place I visited a couple of months ago.)
That's A New One
This slight skirmish was before the Virginia Military-The Citadel football game last week. They replay in slow motion the best part: A cheerleader puts a cadet in a headlock.
That's almost as good as the famous Decatur/Bridgeport cheerleader rumble.
Chasin' Burglars . . .
. . . is gonna get a couple of Wise County residents on TV. This is Am I The Only One . . .
. . . that thinks its just a little sad to see the NFL Rushing Champion doing this stuff?
As a side note, Troy Aikman said on The Ticket last week that he was offered the gig but turned it down immediately because "I can't dance." But he did say that they were offering a "pretty good sum of money" to participate. He didn't say how much.
Star-Telegram Story . . .
. . . on the crash that killed a teenager yesterday in Wise County. (Here).
MyDeathRowSpace.com
Looks like there is some publicity arising over Texas death row inmates who have their own myspace page (designed, or course, by friends and family.)
Here is one of for Randy Halprin who is on death row for killing an Irving cop as one of the Texas Seven.
My favorite part:
"Besides all of that... I think I'm a pretty funny guy. I have a wacked sense of humor. I can be a big kid at heart. I'm a hopeless (and I mean HOPELESS) romatic. I pray that I will find that woman who can love and accept me for who I am, for my situation, for all of my flaws. I gotta whole lot of love to give ;-)"
Warning: If you've never clicked on a myspace page before, prepare to overloaded with ridiculous graphics, design, and music.
11.13.2006
Day #6 Of The Break Up
And Britney still looks OK. I'll keep you posted.
Edit: Things may not be going well after all.
Remind Me Never To Buy A Harley
A round-up of photos from an annual Harley gathering in upstate New York. (Warning: Some will find a couple of them offensive. I'm just offended by the body size.)
