"Sic, Em!" (Maybe)

Slow afternoon. I'll be holding my Baylor pennant as I watch A&M and Baylor. It's tied 3-3 in the first quarter, but this will end badly. I've been here before. Many times before.

Halftime Edit: I feel comfortable in saying that I, a 40 something white guy with no athletic ability, could do a better job of quarterbacking Baylor than the spare currently under center. I'm getting gigged. Hard.

Frillys?

And it is soooooo necessary.

Uh, Anybody Notice That At The Planning Stage?

Someone looking at Google Earth discovered this 40 year old building owned by the military that kind of looks like a swastika. Uh, or exactly like a swastika.

Don't worry, your government will spend up to $600,000 to fix that little problem.

Source.

Law Notes

If you are interested in law and lawyers: (1) Check out this Wall Street Journal article this week which pretty much says the vast majority of new law school graduates can't expect to ever make much money in the profession. (And the comments are pretty good.) Even in Texas, I'd hate to be a new lawyer right now. The creation of Texas Wesleyan law school in Fort Worth has greatly changed the dynamics of the practice around here. Every time there is a docket call in Wise County, I'm seeing more and more new faces. Ten years ago it was a surprise if I saw any lawyer I didn't know. (2) There's a random Fort Worth lawyer blog written by a guy who gets upset about the strangest things. I don't know him. Don't really want to. (3) I finished The Sweet Hereafter about a plaintiff's lawyer that goes to a small town to sign up clients after a bus accident. It was great. Every plaintiff's lawyer I've ever met who was very successful had two unique qualities: (a) they were a little crazy, and (2) they absolutely believed in what they were doing. Case in point, the lawyer portrayed in the film looked at a potential client and, with all the passion he could muster, uttered, "There are no accidents!" Meaning, "someone is always at fault." That philosophy drives me nuts, but the movie was great.

Random Traffic Observations

(1) That headline just appeared on the Star-Telegram web site. There seems to be at least one motorcycle death per week. And considering how the Ninja type bikes swerve in and out of traffic in the metroplex, I'm not sure why there aren't more. (The Harley guys don't speed. They just irritate with sound.)
(2) I'm seeing more and more of a phenomenon between Decatur and Rhome: Big rigs pulling onto 287 (in either the right or left lane) and traveling at a snail's pace until they gear up. The normal traffic ends up hitting their collective brakes or weaving around them. I saw both lanes jammed up the other day by two trucks doing it at the same time.

Rarity

When the Cowboys play the Rams this weekend, you will see a rarity: The starting running back for the Rams is a white guy. (And he's starting only because of an injury to the first stringer.)

The Ticket just did an uncomfortable segment on why the NFL hasn't had a 1,000 yard white rusher since 1985. One guy called in and said Jimmy The Greek was right. All three hosts were too scared to respond.

For those that don't remember, Jimmy was essentially banned from TV after he said this in 1988:

The black is a better athlete to begin with because he's been bred to be that way -- because of his high thighs and big thighs that goes up into his back, and they can jump higher and run faster because of their bigger thighs. This goes back all the way to the Civil War when during the slave trading, the owner -- the slave owner would breed his big black to his big woman so that he could have a big black kid.

Beating

In general, I think the State Fair of Texas is a huge beating.

But as a kid I enjoyed it because it was so much different - especially the freak shows. Somehow I convinced my mom to let me go into one, but the only "freak" we got to see was the Lizard Woman - which was nothing more than a fat lady in a bikini who seemed to have green flour rubbed all over her body. But it was good stuff.

Doh!

The Parker referred to is the NFL player that was seriously injured about three weeks ago.

Random Memory

While The Ticket was doing another hypothetical this morning (How high would the denomination of the currency have to be before you would pick it up out of a public urinal?), I had this weird flashback: Didn't the stalls in public restrooms (not the urinals) used to be coin operated? That is, the doors wouldn't open unless you deposited fifty cents (or something like that.)

Thursday Afternoon Pick Me Up

I'm Burying The Lead . . .

. . . but if I was a teenage boy and this lady was trying to seduce me and used 1,000 text messages to do it, I'd probably think she might not be quite right.

And, on another note, you'd think her husband would have said, "Honey, who have you been sending 1,000 text messages to?"

Limited Interest

If you're a golfer (and have ever played Iron Horse Golf Course), this story is kind of interesting. The rest of you can move along. Nothing to see here.

Judge June Cleaver?

Any story about a judicial race or a DA race gets my attention. The Morning News had one today about long-time prosecutor Lee Ann Breading running for district judge over in Denton. The story ended with the avoe quote.

Every time I think I know what it means, I change my mind.

Chalk Another One Up

President Bush on Wednesday: "Childrens do learn."

Story and Official Transcript.

Directionally Challenged Grand Jury

CBS 11 News has learned indictments are imminent in the corruption probe hanging over Dallas City Hall for more than two years now. One source tells CBS 11 News that indictments could be handed up within 72 hours. Another source said charges would be coming in the next week or so. "I've been hearing rumors the indictments will be coming down pretty soon," said former Councilman James Fantroy, who is also being investigated. Source Up? Down? Those indictments could be coming at you from any direction.

"They're Lying Through Their Stinkin' Teeth . . . I Don't Know What They're Saying . . . . "

As I test this blog's new video upload function, I thought I'd upload this clip from Fox 4 News tonight. The City of Irving is now taking steps to contact the Feds every time they arrest a person who just happens to be an illegal immigrant. Some claim that the cops are profiling those that "look" like they may be illegal. Those featured in this clip, who might be a little bit "country", tend to disagree.

Spppppaaaaarrrrre

I don't know why Rudy gets under my skin, but I just think he's a huge fraud. Just like when this "impromptu" phone call from his wife came in as he was addressing the NRA. There's nothing worse than a candidate that thinks you're stupid. Rudy thinks you're stupid.

Let Me Find My Checkbook

So I pick up this week's "Best Of" issue of the Fort Worth Weekly since my new goal is to visit as many funky restaurants as I can this year. But as I'm flipping through it, I come across a full page color ad for real estate. Not very interested. But I see the name "Slidell". Our Slidell? In little Wise County? Land in Slidell is going for $4,000 an acre? That place can be mine for $1.2 million?

Someone asked about a picture of the plane crash at the Slidell racetrack. A faithful reader just sent me one in response:

What A Mess

I had heard about this FedEx truck wreck in Denton on I-35 today, but someone just sent me a video link. What a mess. I think this was a tandom truck (is that the word?) where two trailers were being pulled by the same big rig. At least for a while.

And to think I absolutely, positively had to . . . . nevermind.

Briefly

The very shocking clip of the Southpark episode re-creating Wheel of Fortune is on youtube now. It won't be for long. Credit: C4U Edit: It won't stay up long because Viacom will asked for it to be taken down. Quickly. The clip hasn't been on youtube for a "long time" as one of my faithful readers said.

Death To The Salad Wagon?

What's this about the Decatur K-Bobs closing its doors for good on Sunday? Could this rumor be true? Are we about to be deprived of chicken fried steak with french fries and gravy?

We've got a Red Alert.

Developing . . . . .

Oh, My

I actually tuned in to watch Mark Cuban dance last night. Not bad. A heck of a lot better than I could do. But I wouldn't make the crazy facial expressions.

But the most shocking moment of the night was when, in a pre-packaged "how I got ready to do this" segment, he hiked up his shorts and showed the scar from his hip replacement surgery he had about six weeks ago. Yep, that's it above.

High School Mascots

The Ticket just did a segment on Texas High School Mascots. The most common name was "Eagles" with 97 schools sharing that name (Decatur being the local connection). The Panthers (Paradise), Yellowjackets (Boyd), and Bulldogs (Alvord) made the Top Fifteen in occurrences. Heck, one of those three was the second most popular but I've already forgotten which one.

They specifically mentioned that there was only one Bulls mascot (obviously Bridgeport). There was no mention of Dragons.

Now go take on the day.

Edit: The picture has nothing to do with Texas High School but you don't see police using pepper spray very often to break up a post game brawl.

I'd Go Crazy, Too

So you're Britney Spears and you decide to jump into a Quizno's yesterday and use the bathroom. And look what's waiting for you when you come out. Sheesh. I'd be a nut, too.

Hate Crime?

I'm fairly certain I've never mentioned the James Madison University’s Duke Dog and the Coastal Carolina Chanticleer. Let me check my records. Yep. First time. Brief background. The Duke Dog refuses the handshake of the Chanticleer and then proceeds to kick the Chanticleer in the tailfeathers. Unfortunately for the Duke Dog, the Chanticleer don't take that kind of crap from no one. So he welcomed him to the octagon. But my favorite part is the cop breaking up the two. Good times.

Cupid Cuban Shuffle

To celebrate Mark Cuban's debut on Dancing With The Stars tonight, I give you this undated video. I have no idea when or where it was made. Cassidy's on Wednesday night?

Until Death Do Us Part

"But until [today], the justices had never agreed to consider the fundamental question of whether the mix of drugs used in Kentucky and elsewhere violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment."

My legal brain is confused on this one. If lethal injection is cruel and unusual, then what type of government imposed death is not? Firing squad? Hanging? The electric chair?

If I had my choice, I'm picking the needle.

D Magazine's . . .

. . . contest for the "10 Most Beautiful Women in Dallas." (Not exactly sure where they got the 20 finalists.) I was leaning towards Mandy Hamilton. Then I clicked on her profile and found out that she was "National field manager for Mothers Against Drunk Driving." Oh, the irony.

Tuesday Morning Pick Me Up

Ms. Alba gives a shoutout to Alvord. (The most flimsy premise for a post I could come up with.)

I Don't Think . . .

. . . that "Squirrel Melts" were on my Nutri-System diet.

Poll Results

Well, at least it's not a bunch of kids reading this silliness.

Random Monday Night Thoughts

- Monday Night Football is in New Orleans. But watching Vince Young is worth the price of admission if I had paid a price of admission.
- Steve Eagar on Fox 4 News had a three piece suit on. An actual three piece suit. The phrase that is often heard but never worn.
- I watched a little bit of Ken Burns "The War" on PBS but I'll probably have to rent this multi-hour documentary when it comes out on DVD. (His documentary about the Civil War was outstanding.)
- I tried to catch Mark Cuban busting a move on "Dancing With The Stars" but I don't think he danced tonight. But I saw him acting goofy in the background so I can't wait for him to get out there.
- A prison guard was killed today as two prisoners escaped. Both were captured. I saw her husband interviewed on Fox 4 and he didn't seem to be upset at all.
- It was jog night and I began watching the movie "The Sweet Hereafter" which was recommended to me by Netflix. "Director Atom Egoyan's haunting adaptation of Russell Banks' novel follows a grieving Canadian mountain community in the wake of a tragic school bus accident. Lawyer Mitchell Stephens (Ian Holm) arrives in town to persuade the survivors to initiate a class-action lawsuit, driving apart the once tight-knit hamlet." So far: outstanding. And my distaste for plaintiffs personal injury work is perfect for this movie.
- Speaking of Netflix, I just rented the entire DVD series of "Roots." Amazingly, I've never seen a single episode.
- Can they play the commercial for the movie "The Game Plan" starring The Rock any more than what they do. And it looks awful.
- I'm sooooo glad Columbia University invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak only to then ridicule him. Once Iran develops The Bomb, I'm sure he'll remember the incident.

Say What?

TMZ is reporting that this star of ABC's new series Dirty, Sexy Money was born . . . uh . . . a man. Yep, a man.

So . . .

. . . wrong.

Edit: And please note the name of the chief of police. (I didn't even catch that the first time.)

War On Drugs Update

Source.

A whole lot of your taxpayer money is being wasted on this. From cops, jailers, court administrators, court clerks, prosecutors, judges, lab technicians, to probation officers.

They could all be doing better things.

34-10

Dear Tony:

I'm sorry I doubted you. I'm sorry that I said several times during the off season that the Cowboys were "doomed" because you hung out with celebrities and didn't seem to think much about football.

You are a good football player.

Sincerely,

BSG

P.S. Did you know that the Cowboys haven't won a playoff game in 3,922 days? Really.

P.S.S. Did you know you're a free agent after this season? You gonna be rich.

It's Your Money

On the morning of May 23, 2005, the Texas State Capitol was rife with rumors that multimillionaire James Leininger was in the hall behind the House chambers pressuring lawmakers to vote for his pet project, school vouchers. The Texas Department of Public Safety has now spent more than two years and almost $166,000 in outside lawyer fees fighting a Texas Observer request to release the surveillance tapes to the Observer. The state attorney general and a state district judge believe should the tapes should clearly be made public. The Observer has obtained invoices from law firms defending DPS and we’ve taken the liberty of putting them on our Web site.

Link.

You Don't See This Every Day

The union that is the UAW has ordered a strike as of 10:00 a.m. this morning after contract negotiations with General Motors broke down.

A voice from my radio told me it was the first time this has happened in over 30 years.

And the voice also told me that the parking lot at the plant in Arlington is now emptying out.

Really?

I'm radio channel hopping this morning and stop on WBAP only to hear a commercial endorsement by the wife of on-air personality Hal Jay (he's the guy that wheeze laughs). But, once again, it was his wife.

She was going on and on about a new diet she had discovered (Meta-something). No big deal. But I kind of stopped down when she proclaimed she had only been on the diet one week but had already lost 9 1/2 pounds.

Really?

And I recall Hal Jay (along with a ton of other DJ's) catching heat a few years back after they promoted Body Soultions Solutions: "Eat all you want and lose weight while you sleep." A company that went bankrupt after all the false claims were revealed.

Note To Self

Get rid of open grease pit. (From the Update.)

Tech Chaos

Let's get our priorities straight, shall we.

Tech's head coach Mike Leach went on this rant after yesterday's loss to Oklahoma State: "Defensively, the entire first half we got hit in the mouth and acted like someone took our lunch money and all we wanted to do is have poutey expressions on our face and until somebody dobbed our little tears off and made us [insert F bomb here] feel better," Leach said. "Then we go out there and try harder once our mommies told us we were OK . . . . It doesn't matter if it's a player or a coach or somebody in the background or some support staff, if they're not on board, you get rid of them."

Tech fans agreed.

Today, the defensive coordinator, Lyle Setencich, quit.

I learned this today: In 2005, Setencich's wife, Kathy, suffered a life-threatening hemorrhage – a "brain bleed" in medical terms – and the complications are similar to that of a stroke. Setencich has taken care of his wife the last few years while trying to balance the hectic schedule of a major college football coach. He couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Que?

So I'm sitting here reading the sports page with the Cowboy game on at the same time. Then, suddenly, at 7:47 p.m., Spanish is engulfing the room.

Yep, for the first time in my life, a 30 second commercial in primetime was just broadcast totally in Spanish. For the Madden NFL video game with the caption of "Ya Esta A La Venta."

Edit: YouTube.com has the commercial here.

Ennis Motorplex Crash

I think this happened today. I once dated a girl that referred to the drag strip as the "Motorolaplex."

This, My Friends, Is A Rant

Oklahoma State's coach celebrates a victory over Texas Tech by calling out a columnist that wrote a negative column about his quarterback. And I do mean called out. Hard.

Edit: It finally dawned on me that a "slow clap" kind of broke out there at the end.

Edit: And this is the object of the coach's disdain.

Edit: Her response is here.

Sunday Afternoon Pick Me Up

Giraffe gang fight.

Random Thought

FORT WORTH -- A 15-year-old boy was fatally shot Saturday evening at La Gran Plaza shopping center, police reported.

You know, I think La Gran Plaza is the old Seminary South shopping center (actual photo). Although I could be wrong. I remember going to Seminary South as a kid before malls were popular. It was like a mall except it was outdoors. Goofy concept, but it was incredibly popular before someone came up with the idea to enclose all the stores under one roof.

But I think the old Seminary South is pretty much a mall catering to Hispanics now. The movie theater even shows current releases dubbed in Spanish.

Edit: While browsing for photos, I came across this. Three girls mysteriously dissappeared from the mall in 1974 and were never seen again. That rings a very vague bell.

Talk About Obsessed With Brit

I thought I was hallucinating last night. I'm watching Georgia and Alabama and the game is in overtime. For college football fans, this is big. Huge. The world hangs in the balance. And then, in this nationally televised game, out of no where (and I mean really out of no where) came this bizarre exchange: Patrick: I've got an important question. Blackledge:"Go ahead." Patrick: "What's Britney doing with her life?" Blackledge: "Who?" Patrick: "Britney." Blackledge: "Britney who?" Patrick: "Britney Spears. What's she doing with her career?" Blackledge: "Why do we care at this point? Is she here?"