Greetings From Sodom and Gomorrah

Random Vegas thoughts, as postings might be a little slim today:

- The plane ride, on US Airways, was freakin' scary. I'm not saying I'm a world traveler, but the guy next to me was, and he proclaimed it the most turbulence he had ever gone through. (Bouncing around, losing altitude) But the pilot didn't even come on the intercom to assure us we weren't going to die.
- This place is incredible - I come here maybe once every five years and every time they are building more and more crap.
- And this place is expensive
- Certainly more and more of mixed culture - lots of Asian influence
- I got here to late to bet on the NCAA Tourney, but I'll try it today
- I always lose at gambling so I never gamble that much. I sit down at a video poker machine, and the beating immediately begins. Not much incentive to poor a ton a cash into those things
- Going to two shows today, Phantom of the Opera and The Blue Man Group. My buddy Clark told me that Phantom will whip my arse. I told him that I had read, "it's really short - like an hour and 20 minutes." He replied, "It seemed like seven or eight hours." Funny guy.

A rare weekend trip ...

.... for me awaits. Viva Las Vegas!

Radio Channel Surfing . . .

. . . this morning when I heard Big Al Mack of the Kidd Kraddick show jacking around with a cab driver. He was in the back of a cab with an air horn tormenting some foreign born guy in what I would refer to as a "failed bit."

Kidd probably didn't get the "breaking news" memo this morning that a Dallas "taxi driver was in critical condition Friday morning after he was beaten and shot."

Timing. The key to all comedy.

Big Bag . . .

. . . of nothing going on this Friday morning. I thought about linking to how rich Britney Spears is (and how hot she used to be), or linking to a video of Barbara Boxer really turning me on (political junkies only), or Wynona Ryder's cleavage.

Instead I'll just watch a million stories of John Edward's wife battling cancer.

Shout Out To The Aggies Who Play Tonight

Photo compliments of (kinda) Sigma Phi Lamba Sorority at A&M, otherwise known as "Sisters for the Lord" (which is extremely confusing.)

That Dang Internet

A group of people down in Cleburne decided to do an Open Records Request to the school district and then decided to create a web site and post some of the questionable expenditures.

Get In The real world.

From the Texas Prosecutor's Web Site: “I would be willing to bet—for all those people who testified against this bill, I’ll buy their lunch and dinner all next year if they can find one murderer in Harris County who is on deferred adjudication. All they got to do is bring me one. And I’ll bet you one of the things is—I’ll bet you he’s not black.” Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), testifying before the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence on HB 800, his bill to allow expunctions of any successfully-completed deferred adjudication, in reference to prosecutors who testified against HB 800 because the bill would apply to murderers, rapists, robbers, and others dangerous criminals. Give me 15 minutes in the District Clerk's office and I'll find you one. I suspect many, many times in Harris County, a prosecutor was holding a murder file that sucked. A dead witness, a serious self-defense issue, a senior-citizen-mercy-killing, etc. and, instead of dismissing it, he was able to cut a deal for deferred adjudication probation. (Although the "I'll bet you he's not black" was pretty funny.)

Reese Witherspoon . . .

. . . is a sweet and clean 31 today.

Channel 8 . . .

. . . follow-up to van accident on 1810 last week. (A fund has been set up at Wells Fargo.)

She Beat Me To It

I don't watch American Idol but I've seen news coverage of this kid wailing over some mop head singer. I was going to say the kid seems a little goofy but C4U beat me to it. Edit: Sheesh, this kid is on The Today Show. Edit #2: She's 13? I thought she was 8.

Cop Gone Wild

If you want to see an off duty Chicago cop beat the crap out of a little female bartender, you can do so here. (Man, it's crazy.)

Edit: Now on youtube.com.

I saw it on Fox4News tonight . . . although I can hardly move because I'm entranced by the beauty of Megan Henderson.

TheBaylor Women's Basketball Team Lost Last Night

And our General of All Things Baylor Women felt the pain in the second half. There are rumors that the Evil Empire, whose long time coach just retired, might want her.

Get thee behind me, Satan.

My Junk Email Doesn't Even Know Me Anymore

I just got this one in my Inbox.

Know Your Rights With The PO-lice

Quick eight question quiz. I got 7 or 8 right (but I should get them all right because it is what I do for a living every single day.)

Hint on question #7 that I got wrong: The word "random" should appear in the question. I was screwed.

Drug Running Boat?

Snopes.com says it's true.

And I'd guess that a 250 HP outboard would run you $15,000 a piece. (But it has been forever since I've priced a boat motor.)

My Columbo-Like Instincts . . .

. . . were right!!!

Do You Think . . .

. . . when this man was a cute little bitty baby and his parents took him home from the hospital and placed him in his crib, that those parents ever thought this headline would be associated with that bundle of joy?

(If you must, story here.)

I've Found Future Wives 9 through 18 . . .

. . . all in one place. (Once again, I'm offended by Spring Break.)

Edgumacation

Someone collected a few short youtube.com clips of everyday life at James Madison High School in Dallas.

Shoot Me . . .

. . . if I'm ever in a Senior Citizens Center and actually want to be visited by clowns. Young private nurses, yes. Clowns, no. (You can bail on the video after about a minute).

Lindsay On The Cover of GQ This Month

Hey, now.

Marriage Is Grand

Did you catch the 911 where this guy admitted to shooting his wife in North Richland Hills. He said she had "enticed" him and "ridiculed" him all his life.

I thought that was the basis for really good relationship.

Call Me A Skeptic . . .

. . . but there is something suspicious about this story.

This Is The Last Day Of Winter

This Billboard . . .

. . . showing up in Los Angeles for the new movie Captivity has been causing lots of controversy. Which, I suppose, was exactly the plan.

The girl depicted in the ad is the smokin' hot Elisha Cuthbert.

Northwest ISD News

The Messenger always prints Northwest ISD news that I refuse to read because I don't consider the school to be part of the "old Wise County." But, alas, times change.

Northwest ISD announced today the creation of a new high school that will be located in the very high tone town of Trophy Club. (I must admit that my very first home I ever owned was in Trophy Club, but it was in "the poor section" to the west so I'm not sure it counted.)

Back to the high school. It will cost $96 million and will include, get this, an indoor football practice facility. Which, I guess, means that Trophy Club High School will have its own football team. And, I guess, it will need its own mascot. It will certainly have to have some type of Republican flavor considering the demographics. The Trophy Club Desert Storm? The Trophy Club Trickle Downs? The Trophy Club Shock and Awes? The Trophy Club Capital Gains?

I would say that a bunch of white boys will get killed in football but Highland Park and Southlake have proven that ain't necessarily so.

Random Thought

I just had a flashback because of a scene from Law and Order that just appeared on TV.

It was many, many years ago but once I attended an Episcopal church in Fort Worth with a new girlfriend. Hey, she was hot so I figured my Baptist God would cut me some slack.

Anyway, without any prep whatsoever (who knew you needed "prep"?), I walked in with her and had a seat. About 15 minutes into it, everyone turned to each other to exchange greetings (or so I thought.) To me, it seemed like the ol' Baptist "turn and say hi to your neighbor and greet them in Christian love" routine. So I turned to the lady to my right who said to me in the sweetest voice, "Peace be with you." A bit confused, but trying my best to fit right in, I replied, "Thanks! How are you?"

If you're laughing, you get it. If you've spent your whole life in a Baptist church, you won't.

Part Of An Anti-War Rally Last Weekend

Anti-War Rally 17 March 2007
Originally uploaded by smata2.

Awwwwww

Dad plays with the remote control for the Wii, and the baby laughs. Good times.

A Little Help Here

As I was in line at McDonald's to get the very low fat Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken Wrap, I was behind a vehicle with "Manufacturer" plates. What does that mean? I know what a "Dealer" plate means, but a "Manufacturer?"

And, man, they are tearing up that parking lot.

Spring Break Is Very Offensive.

I refuse to post this.

Kids Today

From Wikipedia

"On March 17th, 2007, [the most highly recruited basketball player in the Nation, O.J.] Mayo led Huntington High School to its 3rd straight Class AAA basketball championship in the state of West Virginia with 103-61 rout of South Charleston. Mayo finished with a triple-double: 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. In his final moments with a minute left in the game, Mayo threw the ball off the backboard from the free-throw line, caught it in midair and dunked. He then threw the ball deep into the stands and held up three fingers and was promptly ejected."

The youtube.com clip of it is here (the first 40 seconds are all that matters). Look at that kid strut around the court after being T'd up. Stay classy, West Virginia.

Gap Ad

Check out the gal's teeth. (Click to enlarge or the ad is here.)

It Could Be A Crackhead That Got Holt Of The Wrong Stuff

. . . or, actually, it is the mascot of Stanford University. Off.

One Of These Days, Before I Die . . .

. . . I want to show up in court in some crazy outfit with some crazy legal assistant. This, for example, would be a good look.

Throw Out Justice Nathan Hecht

Hecht is the Supreme Court judge who was sanctioned for his vocal support of failed Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers (uh, bad judgment for a judge). He fought the sanction and won but somehow ran up a legal bill of $340,000 (which is simply mind-boggling). So, as I wrote earlier, he gets some Texas stooge/representative to introduce a bill that would require the taxpayers to reimburse him for his legal fees.

Get this: Today we learn that the $340,000 bill had already been paid by contributions from outside sources (read: it was paid by other lawyers who will practice before him at the Supreme Court. Also read: Corrupt system.)

So today the representative withdraws the bill after noting he wasn't given all the necessary "information."

But you should throw up because of this quote from Justice Hecht: “Here is the problem: If judges are sanctioned like this and it’s unjust and it’s wrong and they want to prove it, they can represent themselves or hire a lawyer that you can’t pay for on a judge’s salary.” He is paid $150,000 a year of your taxpayer money.

Hey, hoss, you should see the number of poor people who sit across my desk who have been wrongfully accused of something that could send them to jail or the pen. You want to help them out? I won't shed a tear for you - as you become another fine example of how the Republican Party (yep, he's one) possesses the incredible skill of imploding.

This drives me insane.

I Can't Stop Watching

A guy is about to get life in prison (he's been to the pen twice before) in Waco for breaking a huge bottle of alcohol over a clerk's head and then stealing money. The story (with a very quick loading video link at the bottom) is here.

SMU War Protest . . .

was today as featured on Fox 4 News. And the awards go to . . .

For worst produced anti-protest signs:
For the anti-protest-frat-boy who listens to too much Rush Limbaugh: ("It's terrible! It's unpatriotic! Support your troops! Support your troops, regardless of whether you have problems with the president, support your troops!")

And for the worst war protester - a cute little gal that couldn't help but constantly smile during her anti-war chant:

Legal Technology

I saw that the "Bong Hits For Jesus" case was argued today before the Supreme Court. (I blogged about it here in the past.) But I'm amazed at how much legal research has changed. In law school, there were two computer terminals at Baylor Law School that could access Westlaw (my a phone modem) - Westlaw was (an is) an expensive computer research system that wasn't particularly easy to understand. Other than that, you had to go find a book. But now, it's all changed. For example, at the click of a mouse from my comfy chair in front of a TV, I can read the lower court's opinion in the Bong Hits case, see the brief for both the Petitioner and Respondent (something that used to be impossible), and, more amazingly, read the official transcript of the oral argument that occurred today before the Supreme Court. And when the opinion is released on a Wednesday (probably in early June), a copy of it will be delivered to my Inbox within two hours of its release.

That's Weird

It's no longer Ameriquest Field. Now it's "The Rangers Ballpark In Arlington". For some reason the Rangers and Ameriquest have agreed to rescind the naming rights contract that obligated Ameriquest to pay $75 million over 30 years.

Troopapalooza

Just watched a bit of a DWI trial going on in the county court. One trooper testifying. Three troopers watching in the audience. And another trooper in the County Attorney's office (maybe waiting to testify - not sure.) I've never felt so safe and so nervous at the same time.

And the six person jury hearing the case?: All female.

Uh . . .

. . . no.

That'll Do It

Greenville Avenue in Dallas has become quite the party scene on St. Patrick's day -- A few blocks are shut down while a few thousand people get liquored up. And, as I learned from The Ticket this morning, when it comes time to shut it down and clear the streets (around 6:00 p.m.), the cops simply mount their horses and slowly walk down the street side by side. (Here's a pic before the cops went into Rawhide mode.)

Hot Chicks Falling Down Is Guaranteed Gold In My Book

From Croatia's "Big Brother".

Monday Reflections

Let me get this right: Texas is out and the Aggies are still in? I'm worried about the Evil Empire.

I Can't Say That I Keep Up With High School Long Jumping . . .

. . . but isn't 21'8" a long freakin' way?

(From last week's Denton Guyer Relays.)

And if you're interested in all-time Texas high school track records, here ya go.

What Kind Of Girls Do Get In?

I don't know who this girl is other than she is a former Playboy Playmate. Anyway, she tried to get into some club in Miami named Hyde on Friday night but was denied. Good grief, some standards are too high.

Video (yes, you want to waste your time) is here.

"He Might Be A Crackhead Who Got Holt Of The Wrong Stuff"

I'm off to Jacksboro tomorrow morning to try and work out a plea deal, so (because of my extended absence) I decided to post what may be my favorite news report of all time. (I posted it about a year ago, but I keep going back to it.)

Crazy Jessica Biel Picture

"You'll Put Your Eye Out"

So I was weed-eating with my new dual trim (bad, bad technology) Toro weed wacker when a piece of I-Don't-Know-What flew up and caught me on my left cheek. It hurt like a son of gun but it was only later that I learned I was bleeding. Actual red blood!

I never have thought about wearing protective goggles before, but that made me think about it.

County Leaders Caught At Gay Club!

Ok, kidding.

That's the High Sheriff David Walker and Wise County Republican Party [Edit: "Vice-"] Chairman Allen Williamson at recent Republican Party lovefest at the Decatur Convention Center. More pictures are here (but I promise you, it takes four days to download because the pics are so freakin' large.)

Politcal Junkies Only

First, John "I'm the Right Wing Candidate" McCain thinks we should send many more troops to Iraq, and now, aboard the "Straight Talk Express", he doesn't know whether condoms help prevent the transmission of STDs.

The GOP better pray Fred Thompson joins the race, because things are looking dim.

Stumble Across On "Yahoo's Most Viewed Photo's"

Jimmy Jenkins, left, and Izaak Parks look at an oil-on-linen entitled 'GirlChild' by Richard Phillips that is part of the 'Pretty Baby' exhibit at the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, Feb. 28, 2007. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

Source.

USC 87, Texas 68