Motorcycle Death Update

Just heard about one on Fox 4 News that occurred in Sanger today off of FM 455. Looked like one of those Ninja things. (No pics or links. Too beaten down to put that much effort into this.)

Wise County News In Denton Record Chronicle

But not exciting news.

Weather Talk

Since I'm expecting to run in this stuff tomorrow, I've been interested in when the cold front was going to blow through. Listening to everyone yesterday (example above), it looked like Sunday afternoon.

Oops.

Try this morning. It's 46 degrees in Decatur at the time of this posting.

Lari Barager's Hot New Hairdo

Huge thumbs up.

Breaking Economic Data

Wise County reaches full emloyment. Eleven guys work on tarring the roof of County Clerk's office. Dow ends slightly higher. Fed to hold interest rates. Developing . . .

Motorcycle Chaos

The Star-Telegram just put up a couple of videos regarding a controversial police chase of a motorcycle in Watauga. Pretty crazy stuff.

"Don't Be Hatin'"

http://view.break.com/412146 - Watch more free videos And just think, while we all work everyone else is at home watching stuff like this. Man, I wish I was home.

I Can't Look Away

Lisa and Priscilla Presley.

Friday Dance Off

Entry #1: ABBA's "Dancing Queen" + Neiman Marcus 100th anniversary shindig in downtown Dallas + free alcohol + rented tuxedos + white people "dancing" = exactly what you'd expect. (Source) Entry #2: Memphis Black Pride Festival and"The Cupid Shuffle"

The Wedding Dance

I posted the crazy youtube clip a couple of weeks ago of a couple's first dance. They showed up on The Today Show this morning - good looking couple that seem to be on the same page. But there was nothing funnier than Matt Lauer recreating the "spank move."

Hey, Now

It's not the hottest pic of Lindsay Lohan, but I'll take it. But I think I'm more amused by the Spider Baby.

I'm sure there's an explanation to all of this.

Dirty, Unsexy Money

I'd never heard of Richard "Dickie" Scruggs. But I quickly learned today that he is an old school plaintiffs lawyer from Mississippi who got rich back in the day by suing everybody for everything. He made almost half a billion dollars by being a contract lawyer for state governments in the big Tobacco Settlements in the 1990s (never before have so few gotten so rich because of political connections - an embarrassment of riches.)

So I already don't like the guy.

But then I learned he was federally indicted last month for allegedly trying to bribe a judge with $40,000 for a favorable ruling in a lawsuit involving Katrina victims and insurance companies. Actually, the lawsuit involved a bunch of lawyers fighting over $26 million in attorneys fees that had already been awarded. Sheesh.

Yesterday, the lawyer that delivered the money to the judge, Tim Balducci, pled guilty to the charge and will cooperate with the Feds.

Dickie, things are about to get tough for you. You might want to ask former Texas AG Dan Morales what to expect.

And, I'll be, he's Trent Lott's brother-in-law.

Saw This In A Couple Of Places Today

Now Fox News has the story. I think that's more than 20% but I've never been good with math.

More . . . .

Boyd's own Greg "The Hammer" Williams news.

Thursday Morning Pick Me Up

Probably from the old Chico VFW.

My Inbox Between 8:43 and 8:45 This Morning

Just Stare At The Headline

And there is no way I can describe Lari Barager's report on this on Fox 4 last night. That bipolar lady is indeed bipolar if bipolar means "crazy."

And Lori ended her report saying, "And [the bi-polar lady] told me that she'll probably spend tonight with the monkey sleeping on her head." And Lari never cracked a smile.

Mall Shooting

With the bad deal in Omaha yesterday, I was reminded by WBAP this morning of the shooting at Irving Mall in 1993 when a guy got shot in the head at the food court. I think the victim had a famous name, but I haven't looked it up yet.

And I'm convinced the WBAP's Hal Jay (who is now co-hosting a one hour show between 8 and 9 with Mark Davis) may be the dumbest man in America. He asked this morning whether it would be legal for a licensed conceal and carry guy to shoot the killer yesterday if the same mall shooting had happened in Texas. Then he asked if the shooter in Omaha did it for publicity. Uh, the suicide note where he said he wanted to "go out in style" might answer that question. But Hal, who had been listening to the news all morning, didn't know there was a suicide note.

Mall Shooting

With the bad deal in Omaha yesterday, I was reminded by WBAP this morning of the shooting at Irving Mall in 1993 when a guy got shot in the head at the food court. I think the victim had a famous name, but I haven't looked it up yet.

And I'm convinced the WBAP's Hal Jay (who is now co-hosting a one hour show between 8 and 9 with Mark Davis) may be the dumbest man in America. He asked this morning whether it would be legal for a licensed conceal and carry guy to shoot the killer yesterday if the same mall shooting had happened in Texas. Then he asked if the shooter in Omaha did it for publicity. Uh, the suicide note where he said he wanted to "go out in style" might answer that question. But Hal, who had been listening to the news all morning, didn't know there was a suicide note.

Taken Tonight

(Credit: Tony via email)

Burning Down The Pasture

Decatur had a grass fire today that was quickly controlled. But one of the nearby landowners was so pleased with the quick response of the Decatur Fire Department that he sent me these pictures.

Random Thoughts

- Man, I've got allergies today like nobody's business. - I'm signed up to run the White Rock Half Marathon on Sunday and the forecast is for high winds and rain. - I learned the hard way this weekend that an outdoor string of lights has its own built in fuse. - North Texas plays the Evil Empire in basketball tonight but probably won't watch it - I think the phone call from Jenna Bush to her parents on the Ellen show today wasn't an impromptu call at all (saw it on The Today Show this morning.) - I bet that Mike Huckabee wins the Republican nomination. - Learned the other day at the courthouse that Santa doesn't handle everyone's presents the same way. With some kinds the gifts are neatly wrapped, at other houses no wrapping paper is used, and in others they are just covered up with paper or a blanket. - "No Country For Old Men" looks pretty good. - My cruise control wouldn't work the other day. It drove me nuts not to have it. But it came back to life. - I noticed there was a 30 minute Shrek Christmas cartoon on the other night ("Shrek The Halls") that ended up the #3 most watched prime time show. Charlie Brown came in at #15. - The Wise County Courthouse has never pushed the limits with religious theme decorations. Just lights and "Happy Holidays."

Holy Hanakaa!

I just learned that Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson are Jewish. When did this happen?

Wednesday Afternoon Pick Me Up

Tennessee Titan cheerleaders from last weekend.

I'm A Little Late To The Party On This

See this man. He's Weatherford mayor Joe Tison. He wants to kick Rep. Phil King to curb. King's response:

“He’s been a good friend and we’ve worked very closely together over the years,” King said. “My objective is going to be to not say bad things about Joe Tison, but to say good things about Phil King.”

King should be thrown out for referring to himself in third person.

Found This, Too

Found Found This On My Hard Drive (Do They Still Call It That?)

Obscure Legal Humor?

Today the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Snyder v. Louisiana where a guy was given the death penalty by an all white jury after the Government struck all five prospective black jurors. (The government and the defense are allowed to strike a certain number of people from the jury panel for any reason so long as they don't do it for racial reasons. A person is struck "for cause" when they are deemed to be unfair by the judge.) The above is an excerpt from the oral argument.

I don't think I've ever looked at judge and said "Are you crazy?"

And Scalia is so funny about death.

Those Canadians Are Crazy

A Public Service Announcement that runs in Canada. Uh, before you watch this cute little video of girls playing soccer, one word: Landmine.

Free Debra Lafave!!

Link

Not All That Exciting . . .

. . . but our High Sheriff is making news over at Channel 8.

Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson Proof. Attaboy!

Now I'm Off To Fort Worth

Anybody else think the bridge construction between Runaway Bay and Jacksboro is a little dangerous? (And I mean dangerous even when not trying to take a pic of it.)

I'm Off To Jacksboro

But if you want to waste some time and shake your head, read this story about Megan Meier and then pray that this blog is fake. Lori Drew is the adult neighbor that posed as a teenage boy - she's had her address and phone number posted all over the Internet as people harass her.

The Today Show has been covering the story and had Drew's attorney on this morning - but I had to leave before he would hopefully talk about the blog above.

Crazy Talk

Dale Hansen's Sports Special did a bit on the Cowboys last night and, to fill space, they threw in an quick interview with Randy Galloway from his ESPN radio gig. For a split second, the camera cut to the computer by Galloway to which was either showing emails or a list of callers. With the magic of TIVO, I was able to go back and stop on the split second.

Two Terms Is Enough

According to the Update, Jana Jones has announced that she won't seek a third term as DA. I don't know her reasons, but I can affirm that two terms will beat you down.

(Yeah, yeah, I turned the comments off.)

Edit: Most people know that County Attorney Greg Lowery intends to run for DA. He can't announce it because of some crazy law that won't let him do it until after the first of the year. I haven't heard any rumors of anyone else wanting to run for DA, but Jana's decision might cause someone to throw their hat in just for the heck of it. The County Attorney position has three candidates right now: Thomas Aaberg, James Stainton, and Marilyn Belew.

Edit: Ok, I'm turning the comments on. But no public official bashing or potential prosecutor winner bashing. I have to work with these guys.

"They Tried To Make Me Go To Rehab . . . . "

Amy Winehouse is getting crazier and crazier. (Click to enlarge. I dare you. (Although I think there is something wrong with Blogger's picture uploader today.))

Is That Two Guys?

Original here.

(Thanks to the emailer.)

"It's Maah Birfdays, Yawl!"

(I completely stole that caption from some other site.)

Flight Plan

I don't care who SMU's new coach is, but somebody noticed that big time alum Gerald Ford's private jet is scheduled to go back and forth from Baltimore today while spending only 1 hour and 10 minutes on the ground. That's where it would go if were picking up Navy's Paul Johnson. That flight tracking stuff is cool.

(Stolen from here.)

And on an unrelated note, Baylor's new coach Art Briles was on Dale Hansen's Sports Special last night and was asked what he thought about LSU and Ohio State being selected for the the championship game. Art said that was the first time he had heard that. Great. I care more about college football than the new coach.

Edit: And one more unrelated note, the folks out in Lubbock are now nervous.

Edit: Someone sent me a pic of Gerald Ford's plane.

Made Me Laugh Yesterday

Craziest Play Of The Weekend

The Washington Redskins decided to honor the deceased Sean Taylor by having only 10 people on the field for its first defensive play. See, that symbolizes that Sean was "still with them in spirit." Get it?

Well, the Buffalo Bills ran a running play that picked up 22 yards. Sorry? Not sorry?

And then I learn this morning that Head Coach Joe Gibbs didn't know his defensive coordinator was going to do that.

Roots

I just completed watching the 1970s mini-series Roots (which took quite a while since I viewed it in 40 minute segments whenever I was on the treadmill.)

For you youngsters in your 30s out there, Roots ran in January of 1977 and the entire nation stopped down to watch. Except me. It's a story of watching generation after generation of a black family from Africa to post Civil War days.

This year while watching the Golden Globes, the cast of the mini-series came out on stage for a 30th anniversary reunion. It dawned on me I had never seen it. So it's stuffed by Netflix queue ever since.

Verdict: Pretty darn good. And observations:

- Anyone who was anyone in the 70s had a role in the series. From a little Todd Bridges to Sandy Duncan to Burl Ives to O.J. Simpson to Robert Reed.
- There was some poor acting every now and then. I could have sworn that John Amos' character would sometimes morph into the the father he played in Good Times.
- The "n word" was thrown around so much that I'm not sure you could show it on regular TV today.
- Chuck Connors and Lloyd Bridges had the most uncomfortable black hating rolls of all. And Conners was great.
- There was no depiction of a plantation with 100s of slaves. Most just showed a nice home with a few acres around it with maybe 10 to 15 slaves.
- While I was watching it, I thought how much history would anger me if I were black man. And then I thought perhaps the series gave rise to some of the gang violence we saw in the 1980s. I mentioned my theory to someone else this weekend who retorted, "Blacks weren't angry before that?" Good point.
- A kind of dumb white guy made an extended appearance at the end. I thought he looked familiar and I was right. It was Brad Davis who I discovered last year in Midnight Express.
- I had more, but can't remember them right now.

Boyd's Road To The Final Four

Sketchy

Don't know much about it, but about 2 miles north of Decatur on 730 a guy ended up in a ravine after swerving to miss a deer.

On a similar note, the Star Telegram had an article today on the dangerousness of 380.

Bikers Invade Wise County This Morning

For a good cause: Christmas toys for the less fortunate. Good times.

(Pics by emailer Tony. Thanks.)