10.06.2011

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • Mrs. LL went to bed early and emailed me this while I was still downstairs. Geek humor.
  • Funny: During jury selection in my trial this week, the prosecutor briefly brought up this blog. (Only five or six people had ever heard of it.) But as the prosecutor was leaving the subject he, mostly joking but perhaps 1% serious, said that he just wanted to make sure no one on the jury panel posted by the screen name "Rage". Good times.
  • Another odd moment. One potential juror identified himself as a state trooper. Five minutes later another potential juror said, "I don't trust what any cop says." 
  • I saw the breaking news of Steve Jobs' death on a device he invented. (After I wrote that sentence I looked over at bagofnothing.com and learned President Obama had already made that observation.)
  • Jobs' commencement speech at Stanford has been getting lots of buzz since his death yesterday. I actually sat down and watched it last night. The content is excellent. The delivery - reading without true emotion - is awful. (He talks about death at the 8:50 mark.)
  • Texas/OU is my favorite sporting event of the year. The Sooners are a 10 point favorite but, and I'm serious, I've got this weird feeling that the Empire might win that thing outright.
  • Newsweek had an interesting article last week about how much Fox News controls the GOP debates. Not only on what questions to ask, but when to go split screen or focus on a candidate's reaction when he's being skewered by another candidate. That's a lot of power.
  • I know no one heard it, but KLIF's morning talk show host did a segment this morning at 7:05 with the CEO of Worthington Bank to purportedly discuss bank fees that have been in the news this week. It was 100% a paid infomercial disguised as a talk show segment. I've been ranting about ads disguised as content for years now. Watch for it. 
  • I missed it, but a "Squirrel!!!" ran across home plate last night during the Phillies/Cardinals game. (Video.)
  • Anyone flown Spirit Airlines out of DFW? They have really good travel deals but I don't think I've ever even seen one of their planes. 
  • The most bizarre feeling in the world. Watching someone handcuffed and taken to jail inside of the courtroom and then walking outside and realizing how much I value simply, well, walking outside.
  • Sarah Palin announced she wasn't running for President at a carefully timed 5:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon so that it  would be the "news of the day" for Thursday. ("Family comes first.") Then word of Steve Jobs' death broke one hour later. Goodbye headline.