Hay Bale Snowman In Chico

The guy that sent this to me said it was 20' and wanted a little "blog love."  Heck, it's Christmas so here ya go.

Another Hurdler Video

Is this guy like the Charles Manson of China or something? I mean, he's throwing those hurdles everywhere and interfering with the other runners and no one calls him on the carpet when it's over.  Is everyone scared of the little dude? Weird.

But I do love it there at the end when he ends up tangled in one of the hurdles and busts it big time. At least there was on hurdle that wasn't going to take it.

From A Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer Message Board I Follow

Quite a few people chimed in with a "don't be a lawyer, be a parent" theme.  I agree. The cop was probably (hopefully) just bluffing in order to scare the kid to death.

Those Jackass movies are just great, right?

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I like the local Fox 4 News, but they went nuts over a kidnapped Denton County woman last night. They spent the first 12 minutes of the newscast covering the case mostly with fluff pieces (interviewing co-workers, etc.) and then later in the show interviewed a couple of spare "security experts." They even had a "continuing coverage" graphic.
• The lady was found safe hundreds of miles during the night by the way. They believe her abductors were ages 23, 19 and 17.
• I finally ate at a Which Wich the other day. It started off as a beating as they make you pick out one of eight different sandwich sacks (one for turkey, one for chicken, etc.) and then use checkboxes to order exactly what you want on it. I hated it at first then quickly warmed up to it. It's a heck of a lot better than going through the Subway line and answering ten questions.
• The ex-trooper who slammed the girl into the wall of the North Dallas tollway was sentenced to six months probation yesterday. I really don't have a problem with probation, but six months (when the maximum was two years) seems a little short. 
• Denton has two high schools in the state championship playoffs tomorrow. And Denton High School is not one of them. 
• Noticed in the Update that  Erick Blalock of Bridgeport has died. He was one year older than me and his health took a mysterious downturn about a month ago. Sad and scary. 
• I go to the grocery store a lot.
• Anyone eaten at the South Beach Taco Factory on the square in Decatur?
• With the price of gold having gone through the roof, do high school kids still purchase class rings?
• I think I kind of like that Julian Assange guy. 
• The security guard that shot the crazy guy who fired his gun at the Florida school board was all over the place yesterday giving interviews. Hero? They might want to tap the brakes on that.  He watched that lunatic for several minutes and it's by sheer luck that half the school board isn't dead.
• Weird: A 15 year old girl and her infant son (ugh) were found dead in their home in Irving but the coroner found "no trauma." 
• Tom Bishop took time to respond to his critics and I posted his comment below as an edit to the original post below. 
• Tony Romo got engaged last night at the restaurant atop Reunion Tower. Google images of her here.
• There's another slumber party at our house tonight? Really?

1981: An Aggie And His Sword

This is a clip from Pony Excess which showed a few seconds of old footage from an event that made big news back in the day. SMU cheerleaders ran onto the field at the Aggie's Kyle Field during an SMU/A&M game which is apparently a big no-no.  One of the Aggie cadets took such umbrage at the action that he pulled his sword on a cheerleader.

And a legend was made.

Credit.

Edit: Diggler, my email is blog2[at]wisecounty.com

From the Update

Now That's A Facebook Posting

See it here.

Edit: First found on D Magazine blog.

Get It Off My Screen

I never watch Survivor but Mrs. LL loves that junk.  While it was on last night she began to explain strategy to me, and I was nodding adorably like they taught me to in How Not To Get Divorced School.

But then this chick pops on my screen which made me fear for my life. Hey, I'm used to Cinemax at night, not some crazy gal named Jane who allegedly trains dogs for a living.

Then again, I did get to issue the line from the leprechaun video of, "It might be a crackhead, who got hold of the wrong stuff."

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• One thing about Lady GaGa, who broke into the Top Ten Highest Grossing Concert Tours this year, she is willing to work. Her tour played 122 dates which far and away leads everyone else.
• I attended a middle school cross country meet recently - a first for me.  I found myself shouting words of encouragement to those at the back of the pack who were struggling to finish .
• Also recently  found myself caught up in the highway 114 area north of the airport. Traffic in that area is now beyond ridiculous. How do people do that everyday?
• That Florida school board shooting video was all over the news yesterday and might be one of the creepiest things I've ever seen. But I still watch it ever time it comes on. 
• I'm  a sucker for year end Top Ten Lists.
• Remember when ATM's were called "MPact" (sp?) machines and Decatur's first Internet provider was Webfire? 
• The Tea Party had a float in the Grapevine Christmas parade that irked some people. I guess that's OK, but I suspect a Tea Party member wouldn't want to see an Obama Float, an Immigration Reform Float, or an Islamic Alternative Float. 
• I've actually enjoyed Christmas this year. But I wonder if my traditional post-Christmas depression will be worse? 
• Larry King does his last show on CNN tonight, but I don't think a soul is noticing.  He gets a lot of criticism but I've always thought he was a great interviewer because he listened to the answer and followed-up. 
• A P Diddy (or whatever his name is) model's hair caught fire as she sat in a bathtub while he was promoting something on U-Stream. (Short video. Language warning.) 
• If I'm not rubbing the Family Pup's belly, she has no use for me. 
• Hey, long time Aggie fans, you'll get a kick out of these old pics of former coach R.C. Slocumb.
• A site that collects crazy comments posted to FoxNews.com.  I wish they would come here. 
• Maybe the best sports photo of the year was taken on accident. 

I'm Posting A Video Before I Watch It

The Florida School Board shooting yesterday where the only one ending up dead was the gunman.

Edit: Holy, cow. Shots fired near the end at the 5:50 mark.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was announced as Time's Person of the Year this morning. Here is the list of past winners. Here's the frightening Zuckerberg cover that was just released.
• In 2006 the winner of Time's award was "You" as social media began to blossom. We all laughed at the time, but Facebook and Twitter are revolutionary. I learn of more breaking news from Twitter than any other source. 
• One final note on the Time announcement (that you probably don't care about): Zuckerberg, 26, is the youngest person ever named other than Charles Lindbergh. 
• I attended a middle school Christmas band concert last night. Not saying a word. 
• The Family Unit does not understand my objection to a turtle as a pet. It's really not worth watching, it doesn't really move (even when the last one was alive), you feed the thing and it might get to the food in the next two hours, and it obviously shows no emotions. Why do we have to have one? 
• And the oldest girl was obsessed with where we put the turtle's body after telling her of its death. I told her she's been watching way too much vampire stuff.
• Baylor's men's and women's basketball teams are both in the Top 10 (with the Lady Bears thrashing #9 Tennessee last night.) 
• The Ticket boys were lauding this morning the practice of Dallas Police in creating decoy cars with Christmas gifts plainly visible so as to videotape, track, and arrest those who burglarize those cars.  I think it's dumb to facilitate new fake crime when there's enough of the real stuff going on. 
• Noticed the obituary announcement of Josh Wood, the son of car dealer James Wood, in the Update this morning.
• I'm absolutely insane now: Jerry Falwell's conservative Liberty University has an a capella group that sang the Antoine Dodson inspired "Bedroom Intruder Song" live on stage at a Christmas pageant. But I've got to admit, it was fantastic. (But notice how the edit out "rapin'".)
• I've always thought the Seinfeld episode of "Festivus" was stupid. 
• Mrs. LL never goes into funks. She'll normally laugh out loud about something within five minutes of waking up. 
• At the American Airline Center this weekend, there's a doubleheader basketball game with A&M v. Arkansas and Baylor v. Gonzaga. They must be struggling to sell tickets because it's being advertised everywhere. (And I think I know why because the tickets are a bit pricey for a run of the mill and meaningless regular season game.) 
• A bandit walked into the Las Vegas Bellagio and stole $1.5 million in chips from a craps table and then fled on a motorcycle. But since they have to be redeemed, I wonder if they have any system in place to prevent that from happening. 
• Universal complaint of criminal defense lawyers: When the prosecutor goes on a moral rant during plea negotiations. Hey, we didn't commit the crime.
• Almost every New York tabloid has a "Serial Killer" headline this morning. I don't recall hearing anything about that.

Florida Kid Body Slams Ref During High School Game

Comes around the 1:25 mark.

Desoto High School in Arcadia, FL.

Fiona Killing It At Some Christmas Party

Whole album should be here.

Wise County Constable Tom Bishop Pursuing Car At Time Of Crash? Edit: Apparently Not

That's the word at the courthouse but no official confirmation yet. The Star-Telegram has identified both fatalities as Fort Worth residents (although one used to live in Decatur.)

And irony from the Update this morning:

Edit: The Messenger's Thursday-Edition-That-Comes-Out-On-Wednesday-But-Released-Online-On-Tuesday reports this quote from Bishop:

Edit: Tom has personally responded in the comments at 3:01:

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• That looked like a pretty big grass fire in Rhome yesterday with the charred grass getting really close to those home south of 287 and 114. The Update today says the fire is blamed on a "back firing car." Huh?
• A wrong way driver on 287 and Blue Mound Road left two dead yesterday evening. The Wise County Sheriff's Office was quoted in the short story so maybe one of the cars has a connection to us.
• Cliff Lee is headed to Philadelphia? I'm just glad I can stop hearing about it. (But this random Facebook guy did not take the news in a mature fashion last night.)
• Final Cliff Lee thought: Junior Miller of The Ticket said this morning at 6:15 a.m. that he thought Lee chose the Phillies since he wouldn't have to be "the guy" in the pitching rotation. At 8:11 a.m., WBAP's sports guy announced the very same theory. Coincidence?
• I'm about to end 10 years at the same job. Prior to that, it was 2, 3, 2, and 8 years. I once wrote about my first lawyer job here (including having a 13 page letter thrown at me by my boss). Edit: Nope, not going anywhere. 
• I know it doesn't matter, but our DA was the victim of a stunning fantasy football playoff comeback last night. (And it's a sad state of affairs that I  tend to watch up to the minute fantasy football scores on Yahoo than the actual score.)
• Hey, we are finally getting civilized: Texas had only eight people sentenced to death row this year. That's the lowest since the death penalty was found to be constitutional in 1976. I actually think that penalty will be abolished as an option throughout the U.S. within the next 20 years.
• The Family Pup graduated from Beginner's Dog School last night. Personally, I'm a little concerned about the state of the doggie educational system in this country. 
• I watched the first 30 minutes of Pony Excess, the 30 for 30 documentary on the SMU cheating scandal of the 1980s.  So far it's great but stunning that Craig James tries to come off as "above it all." And it's equally fascinating to see every local sports media guy of that era from DFW make an appearance.
• The University of Texas is required to officially post a job listing for its Defensive Coordinator position. At least it warns that you would have to work in front of "large crowds."
• Odd: Channel 5 News was setting up for a live shot at an ATM for a story about a man robbing ATM users when a guy comes up and robs someone using an ATM. The camera was rolling. 
• I'm so sick of that Honda "Holiday, it's a holiday" song.
• I've become a big fan of walking down the stairs first thing in the morning and looking at the lighted Christmas tree in the stillness of the house. Ok, maybe it's the stillness. 
• In a span of about 15 minutes last night, I found the cables to a TV unplugged, my treadmill headphones destroyed, and my outside jogging headphones missing. After a couple of audible sighs I was smart enough to just let it go. 
• Brett Favre's continuous game starting streak came to an end last night (yawn) and this morning his official web site is selling autograph footballs to "honor" the event for $500. Sorriness. Pure sorriness.
• I saw some teenager this weekend stand at a salsa bar in a restaurant and peel the wrapper off his straw into multiple pieces and just toss it on the ground. I almost said something. It really, really bugged me. 

Monday Afternoon Pick Me Up

The old Stark Club in Dallas reopened under a new name last weekend. Slideshow.

2010's Quotes Of The Year

I feel pretty good in that I only had not heard of #6 and #10. 

And concerning the first #1, Time magazine ran an article on the guy who created the ad and he's got quite the "go to" reputation. The ad, actually, is pretty good. It's just that the opening line caused the message to be lost in the noise.

Source of this list:

1. (TIE) "I'm not a witch." Christine O'Donnell, television advertisement, Oct. 4

1. (TIE) "I'd like my life back." Tony Hayward, comment to reporters, May 30.

3. "If you touch my junk, I'm gonna have you arrested." airline passenger John Tyner, remark to Transportation Security Administration worker at San Diego airport, Nov. 13, 2010

4. "Don't retreat. Instead — reload!" Sarah Palin, Tweet, March 23.

5. "Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le! Los mineros de Chile!" Chant at Chilean mine rescue, Oct. 13.

6. "I hope that's not where we're going, but you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies. They're saying: My goodness, what can we do to turn this country around?" Sharron Angle, radio interview in January.

7. "We have to pass the (health care) bill so you can find out what is in it." Nancy Pelosi, speech to National Association of Counties, March 9.

8. "I'm going to take my talents to South Beach." LeBron James, television broadcast, July 8.

9. "You're telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?" Christine O'Donnell, Delaware senatorial debate, Oct. 19. (The Associated Press reported the quote: "So you're telling me that the separation of church and state, the phrase `separation of church and state,' is in the First Amendment?")

10. "They should never have put me with that woman. ... She was just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to be Labour." Gordon Brown, comments about a voter he met while campaigning for British general election, Apr. 28.

ObamaCare Slapped Down This Morning

Story.

(That brings the total court rulings score to 2-1 in favor of the President.)

Channel 33 Posts 77 Pics of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders In Christmas Outfits

Let's work on the resolution and variety next time people. Take your hard-hitting journalism seriously!!!

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• A horrific event: Kid stows away in a jet's wheel well and, oh. no. [Link fixed.]
• The video inside the Metrodome's roof collapsing was fascinating. Almost as fascinating as Fox Sports thinking is was going to happen and deciding to roll video all night long in order to catch it.
• I wrote two years ago that it was "just weird" for the Evil Empire to name Will Muschamp as "coach in waiting." I guess he did too since he fled the 2010 train wreck and is heading to Florida. (How did that team go from playing for a National Championship to complete chaos in less that 11 months?)
• What a funny story: A guy gets arrested in Dallas, handcuffed behind his back, placed in the squad car, and then manages to drive away in it while the cops weren't watching. And he got away with it. For now.
• CNN had a bit or Idiocracy this morning when they had a "Feels Like Temperature Map" instead of a "Wind Chill Map."
• I think freezing to death would be the worst way to go. 
• I ate at Cantina Laredo in downtown Fort Worth on Friday night. I've always liked all the free parking down there and looked online to see if there was some I had missed: Yes and no. The map said the parking garage by The Tower condos was available, but it was a mess with all of the reserved spaces.
• Cowboy Tashard Choice getting Michael Vick's autograph after last night's game was unstable. But he defended himself this morning on Twitter claiming it was for his nephew and doesn't impact how he plays on "da field." Plus, "ya'll are a trip foreal."
• DeSean Jackson's fall-backwards-into-the-end-zone score was funny. It happened while I was in the store, but the missus hit pause because she knew I'd get a kick out of it. 
• Watched the first two episodes of Breaking Bad on AMC. It has potential. 
• Texas is only one of 16 states that allows "straight ticket" voting. The Morning News criticized the practice in today's edition and pointed out that some proposed bills have tried to ban it. But that's not going to happen when the majority was voted in due to straight ticket voting. 
• Wheels Off radio interview of Joe Paterno. 
• I put up (down?) lights to outline the front yard.  You'd think that would be a quick and easy job -- but that would be wrong. (And nothing says Christmas like one particular socket that blows out every light I put in it.)
• Did I tell you we also had a pet turtle? Did I tell you that we now have a dead pet turtle?