Osama bin Laden . . .

. . . turns 50 today.

50? That's it? That, sir, is a hard 50 years. (Sidenote: This photo reminded me of one my favorite moment of The Spin. It's here but you have to scroll down to the last entry.)

Blooms

Picture taken in a Fort Worth neighborhood today.

Things On YouTube.com

"A Quick Tour of Bridgeport, TX"

"I'm In Love With A Stripper"

Nothing here but a link to an updated Star Telegram story on the murder-suicide at the T&A bar in Fort Worth. Fascinating.

Federal Funding

Wise County residents in Bridgeport and Decatur who have made political donations in federal elections. (Search for other towns as well.)

"And I Closed My Eyes, And I Slipped Away"

The lead singer of Boston, on such hits as "More than a Feeling", "Long Time" and "Peace Of Mind" has died. That, my friends, makes me sad.

Boston was the first band I ever saw in concert. I was a sophomore in high school and traveled to the Tarrant County Convention Center to see them.

("More Than A Feeling" on YouTube here.)

Decatur: The Aftermath

It's been two weeks since the Great Windstorm of 2007, and Decatur still struggles to rebuild. Signs of the damage remain as residents wonder when FEMA will make good on the promises that now seem as empty and stale as an Allsup's burrito shelf at midnight. "We will rebuild into a Chocolate City, only whiter," said one high ranking official.

Carrie Underwood Counts Fat Grams . . . Big Time

Appeasing The Women

Watched "The Departed" the other night. Pretty good. Still thinking about it. But Mark Walberg has come a long way from his early days.

Crazy World

This is a picture of Jimmy Earl Adams last month after he was found not guilty in Tarrant County. He had been accused of sexually assaulting a woman while performing laser hair removal in that most sensitive of areas. Today he was found dead. Suicide, it is believed.

Stay Classy . . .

. . . USC fans. (Google 30 second video here.) Rated: May be a little offensive to some Blog viewers.

Pics, Pics, And More Pics

Messenger photographer Joe Duty has a ton of his photos online now.

Edit: Thanks, Raymond, for the link.

I Had Almost Forgotten About Her

This was pretty big news a couple of years ago: A mom allegedly abandoned her 22 month old twins in a median in Lake Worth. If I remember correctly, it would have been on "Jacksboro Highway" right before you get to Loop 820. That place is busy.

Anyway, she had fled the country after being released on bond. And, oddly, she was apprehended over the last few days with the help of INTERPOL, the agency which, until now, I thought was mostly responsible for busting into your house for illegally copying a DVD. (Or, at least that's what the warning at the front of every movie tells me.)

Friday Morning Pick Me Up

If you are interested in seeing a guy set up a sixth grade prank only for it to go wrong, click here.

The Housing Market Is Gonna What In 2007?

Price to Earning Ratios give me Tired Head, but that I understood.

(Source)

Nice Wheels

This Stopped Me Down

From the Star-Telegram: Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht wants the state to pay $340,000 he spent in legal fees defending his right to speak out for his friend, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.

Hecht said Thursday that he asked state Rep. Tony Goolsby, R-Dallas, to sponsor a bill that would allow a judge who wins an appeal of a sanction by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct to recover reasonable attorney's fees, litigation expenses and other costs.

The bill, which Goolsby filed Tuesday, would apply only to successful appeals between Jan. 1, 2006, and Jan. 1, 2008. Hecht's high-profile appeal before a special tribunal in Fort Worth is the only case so far that would qualify for reimbursement.

You gotta be kidding me? You get falsely accused of something (that wasn't even a criminal accusation) and you want the State to reimburse you for your ridiculous legal bill? And you want to do it by creating a special law that only applies to you? What are you? Freakin' royalty? What an arrogant &^%$&.

Hoss, I'll give you a long list of people who were accused of crimes who were found not guilty or had their case dismissed. Do you care about reimbursing them?

I Couldn't Find "The Range" . . .

. . .on my radio dial if you paid me, but I bet some of you Wise County folks could. Those that are familiar with the station might also be interested to know that the recently hired morning show host is dead.

My Favorite Commercial - "Secret Lover"

And I think the "foot massage" comment is a little bit of a Pulp Fiction reference.

Belated Republican Hypocrisy Exposed

WASHINGTON - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.

"The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to be aired Friday, according to a transcript provided to The Associated Press. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."

(Yahoo News Story.)

Lesbians Come Back To Haunt Baylor

Crazy story about how LSU's women's basketball coach (who had a heck of a record) has abruptly resigned amidst rumors that she had a relationship with a "former player."

Now rumors swirl that LSU will come calling for Baylor's National-Championship-Head-Coach Kim Mulkey. Lesbianism, for the moment, has become very offensive to me.

The Most Dangerous Strip Club Ever

Today this happens, and last month I noted that a guy was shot by police as he held a stripper hostage.

I'm Beat And Going Home

7:10 Watch The Today Show and eat a 2 gram of fat Egg Roll with Skim Milk 8:30 Pled a guy on a DWI 8:55 Engage in very funny conversation with five guys in County Attorney's office 9:00 Docket call in County Court at Law. 10:30 Pled a lady on a DWI 11:00 Deal with prosecutors on an upcoming docket that includes cases involving Sexual Assault, Aggravated Assault-Deadly Weapon, Possession of a Controlled Substance 12:00 Crappy lunch 1:00 Review new DPS lab report and get tired head over "semen" "no spermatozoa" "Y-STR" and "vaginal smear slide". Make calls related to same. Actually learn a lot. 2:30 Pled a DWI 3:30 Pled a DWI 4:00 Exchange multiple emails with prosecutors. 4:15 Meet with court appointed client who is in hoosegow 4:45 Meet with another court appointed client who is in the hoosegow 5:15 Visit with investigator in the parking lot at Sheriff's office over crazy Assault case 5:25 Almost run read light at McDonald's 5:45 Calls to clients 6:10 Look at Drew Barrymore on Internet 6:23 Going to Frilly's Happy Hour (kidding)

Drew Barrymore . . .

. . . in the upcoming issue of Glamour.

I suddenly recall a line of George Costanza from the memorable episode of "The Contest": I was just sitting there. I looked down. There was a Glamour.

Greatest First Name . . .

. . . in the history of ever. Here.

State Basketball

I mentioned last week that Josh Fostel, formerly of Decatur, would be coaching in the State Basketball tourney this week. His team, Clyde Eula, tips off at 8:30 a.m. with live scoring here. Update: Josh's team lost, 34-25. The home page for the Boys' Basketball Tourney is here.

What The?

I was looking at the new NBC Today Show site when I saw that Meredith Vieira had a blog. Since I wanted to be certain that I'd be bored to death by it, I clicked on it. On the second entry I learned something I didn't expect: She peed outside last weekend.

I didn't even do that.

To The F to E to the R G I E

I'm personally offended by Fergie as she was on the beach this weekend. If you want to be offended more, you can click on this link.

Hottest Local News Babes

Found a perpetual poll of the Hottest Local News Reporters here.

The more I watch Megan Henderson in the morning on Channel 4, the more I think she would make the perfect Mrs. Green #7.

Remember Those Dark Days . . .

. . . of Texas when a black man was dragged to death behind a truck in Jasper, Texas? It's good to know that it can't happen again . . . oh, my!

Edit: I didn't know this would be the lead story on Fox 4. They've got the soft talking Jeff Crilley on the case. (Must be big news.)

Most White Kids Shouldn't Box

And if you throw a punch like Rocky, you will end up on the canvas like Rocky should have. (Warning: One S-Bomb.)

Sleepers

The Morning News has been printing various stories of sexual abuse by guards at TYC (The "Texas Youth Commission" which equals "Juvenile Prison").

I couldn't help but think of the move Sleepers today when I saw the story. (And, yep, I heard the boys on The Ticket make the same observation after I thought about it. It probably jumps out at anybody that has seen the movie.)

That Wacky Star Telegram

While reading a story about how some priest was sentenced for allegedly sexually assaulting some kid almost 20 years ago (20 years ago?), the ad to the right of the story for "intimate dating" seemed a bit . . . uh . . . misplaced.

Traffic report

Hwy 287 is shut down in both directions at Rhome due to a downed powerline. Edit: Of course, that doesn't mean it'll be shut down forever.

Eternal Flame

The flame that sometimes fires off out at the Devon plant along 380 between Bridgeport and Runaway Bay was in full force this morning. I'm sure it has something to do with burning off excess something, I just don't know what.

But it reminded me of when my brother convinced his girlfriend in high school that it was a memorial of an "eternal flame" for JFK, "just like the one they have at his grave."

Comedic Genius.

Not Earthshaking . . . But Interesting

A buddy of mine from Abilene sent this series of pics from me. He said they were taken in Mason, TX last January during a snowstorm.

Edit: Kudos to a Commentor for discovering these pics are from Wyoming and not Texas. My friend in Abilene is a big fat liar. Or, in this case, as gullible as me.

If you want ...

... some Bugles they got em in the Jack County vending machine.

Wednesday Encouragement

You Probably Had To See It . . .

. . . but Tim Russert made one of his many appearances today on The Today Show in connection with the Scooter Libby verdict (a verdict that the public really doesn't care too much about because it gives everyone Tired Head).

Man, that guy is so full of himself.

I Didn't Know . . .

. . . that Texas was part of the mega-millions lotto. I think the news just told me that the jackpot is like $35 Krillion tonight or something like that.

I actually was thinking about buying a ticket but, I talked to a buddy this afternoon that started talking about "mega-pliers" or something like that. I decided I couldn't handle the pressure at the convenience store counter so I passed on the purchase.

Edit: One winner in New Jersey. One winner in Georgia.

Edit 2: I was reminded of the meanest prank in the history of ever (warning: extreme - and I mean extreme - language warning.)

Gas Prices

I really don't believe this concept that the gas prices were lowered last November due to a mass conspiracy of corporate oil companies to keep the Republican party in power.

What is it now? $2.35 a gallon? Hmmmmm.

How About The Death Penalty For Hot Checks?

This legislature (currently in session) is obsessed with raising the penalty range for almost every crime. Note to elected officials: That doesn't make you tough on crime - it makes you a pandering-to-the-masses fool.

Take for instance a proposed bill (that looks like it will pass) that will raise the penalty for the offense of Intoxication Manslaughter from 2 to 20 years to 5 to 99 years if the person killed was a public official. Hey, I like most of the cops I deal with, but is their life worth more than the guy who works for Devon?

I Feel Sorry For The Support Staff That Had To Engage In "Fake Cheer"

I've written a couple of times about the ongoing demise of mega-law firm Jenkins and Gilchrist. This video was apparently a "recruiting video" to entice new lawyers to come to work at the firm. I question the firm's professional judgment in putting this together. And it would definitely make a segment of The Ticket's "Gay or Not Gay?"

Foreign Car Crash

If you want to see a car plow into a bunch of people (no one dies, amazingly) click here. For a different angle of the same incident, click here. And the crazy part is that the car keeps going. I only speak 'merican so I don't really know what they are saying. (Source.)

Kirsten Dunst At The Beach This Weekend

She looks like a drowned rat. If she's a celebrity, why can't I be a celebrity?

I Love The Internet

I really don't know who Dallas real estate attorney John Reoch is, but he's rich enough to be featured in the Dallas Morning News about his art collection. He's also famous enough to be recognized getting very handsy at the Ghostbar in the W hotel. (Source.)

I Understand Most Of This

If you had a stationary camera which was pointed it at the western sky and you took a picture every twelve days at 5:30 p.m., this is what the sun would look like in each of the photos. (This frequency and time is actually my best guess from looking at the photo, but I know the photo was taken at the exact time of day on several days throughout one year.) I knew the sun would be higher in the sky in summer and lower in the sky in winter but that figure eight kinda surprises me. (Source as found here.)

Dallas Mavericks Calculus

How's this for important information: The Mavs are currently 50-4 50 -9. If they lost all of their remaining games (all 28 of them), they would still make the playoffs.

Wise County Connection

Horrible story yesterday about two kids being shot to death in Irving. Based upon the funeral notices section of the Update today, it looks like there is a Wise County connection:

Caption This

I've Had A Couple Of People Ask If I Saw . . .

. . . this part of the front page Messenger story regarding the Texas First Lady's visit to Bridgeport. Some say it was a shot at Bridgeport by the "Decatur paper." What's missing is the actual quote from Ms. Perry. It's hard to get a sense of what happened without it.

Lithuanian Dunk Contest?

I'm posting a video of a Lithuanian dunk contest? Absolutely.

I Was Happy When Zippy The Drunk Clown Showed Up

According to Deadspin.com, Peyton Manning was paid $200,000 to show up at a Sweet Sixteen party. I absolutely believe insanity like this happens in America. (I stumbled across the most amazing one I'd ever seen just over a year ago.)

Quite The Phenomenon

The Grapevine baseball player (referenced below) had a myspace.com page which is still up. The comments left by friends and school mates are touching and respectful. Maybe kids aren't so bad after all.

"And Dance Like No One Is Watching" . . . .Uh, Not So Much

I was bustin' these same dance moves at City Streets last Saturday.

MySpace and Death

Crazy story this weekend about a married couple in two BMWs driving in a less than sober state. One bumps the other and a road worker ends up dead.

I'm not sure, but this might he her myspace page and this might be his. The names and ages match, but I don't know if it is them. (Language warning.)

"The Man" . . .

. . . was hassling some guy on 287 at lunch but Decatur PD let him go. (They let him go so fast that he drove away before I could get his picture.) But something must have happened to get three of Decatur's finest involved. Maybe it was a false alarm on an illegal immigrant?