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6.18.2011
Hail in Chico. Almost Artistic.
And, it's small, but this trailer has holes in it like it was hit with giant buckshot.
6.17.2011
Random Interesting Man
James Goldstein who made a fortune in real estate, attends most Laker games on the front row (even though he's not a team fan), and can be seen at a different NBA playoff game anywhere in the country almost every night (once again, on the front row.) He also has a cool house that was featured in Charlie's Angels.
And more of the girl here. (That pic was from Mavs/Lakers Game Two.)
Dear Mrs. LL:
I'll be home a little late tonight because I've joined eHarmony and taking this girl out on a date. I know that sounds crazy, but trust me on this one. Oh, yeah, The Family Cat is going with me.
Problem. Solved.
Problem. Solved.
"English. Do You Speak It?"
USA TODAY - During testimony at a committee hearing this week in Austin, a Texas state senator [Chris Harris from Arlington] interrupted a Spanish speaker to say that it was "insulting" that he was not addressing the panel of lawmakers in English. Antolin Aguirre, of the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition, was testifying against a bill that would help crack down on illegal immigrants in Texas, KTRH radio reports.
Aguirre, who came to the United States in 1988 and speaks some English, spoke through an interpreter.
(Right around the 40 second mark is when things kick off.)
Random Friday Morning Thoughts
- Edit: Repeat picture? No way.
- If aliens had landed this week, a huge question mark would form over their heads when they saw the the riots in Vancouver and the parade in Dallas. "Explain to us again what you are so emotional about?"
- It's amazing there were only three arrests in Dallas.
- "There sure aren't any lawns in Dallas being mowed right now." - The Ticket's Gordon Keith's (fake) claim of what Fox 4's Mike Doocy said off the air during the parade.
- The picture of the couple "making out" (if that's what you kids are calling it these days) during the Vancouver riot sure is getting a lot of play. (And then some claim to have evidence that it was staged while others say it is real but not what it appears to be.)
- Haven't watched a lot of the Casey Anthony trial, but I have seen enough to know the defense lawyer might have thought about the word "strategy" at some point.
- Is Charlie Sheen still alive?
- Diamondback fan pries a baseball away from mildly hot woman. (I think she gets it back when he drops it.)
- Obscure sports broadcasting name that I haven't heard about in a long time: Van Earl Wright.
- "It's Friday. Friday. Gotta Get Down on Friday," has been pulled off youtube. That song is a big player in my house.
- ESPN has begun promoting the debut of its Longhorn Network. ESPN has an inherent conflict of interest here, don't they? They are paying UT a fortune to produce the network, so they want UT to succeed so they can sell advertising. But if there happens to be a scandal break out at the Empire, it would be in ESPN's best interest to not report it.
- Gov. Perry has 1,170 bills on his desk that he must sign or veto before a Sunday deadline. (And he'll be going to New Orleans on Saturday to give a speech.) I'm sure he'll give careful deliberation to each one. Edit: I'll be. A bill will become law in Texas unless the governor vetoes it. I had no idea.
- A panel on the Fifth Circuit ruled this week that illegal immigrants do not have a Second Amendment right because that particular amendment gives the right to bear arms only to "the people." Where else does the phrase "the people" appear? In the Fourth Amendment which protects against illegal searches and seizures. Chances Wise County supports the decision: More than 98%.
- Aurora is having a fundraiser this weekend for its ballpark with an appearance by a special guest: Ned The Alien from the 1897 spaceship crash. Now this, I like. Who has a picture? And kudos for generically naming him "Ned".
6.16.2011
Gone
He gets heckled pretty good and most reports are that the most vocal heckler was a Howard Stern minion. (As much as I like the irreverent, I've always thought Stern had a big bag of nothing.)
Final Parade Shots
I think I'll just take in the TV coverage later.
And a tweet from Sybil of 105.3 The Fan:
Random Thursday Morning Thoughts
- The crowd for the Mavericks parade sounds like it will be insane. By 7:00 a.m., the crowd was jockeying for the best spots. And by 8:00 a.m., Victory Plaza had been shut down due to reaching a capacity of 3,000 or more.
- Random pic from a DART train this morning headed downtown. And the crowd outside the convention center (starting point) before 8:00 a.m. And a sneak peak of one of the (high school like) floats.
- Anybody at that parade have a job?
- The parade goes right by the old School Book Depository. I suppose it would be in bad taste to have the Mav's mascot "Champ" waiving from the Sixth Floor.
- I don't know if I've ever cared about any team long enough to stand around four hours to see them pass by.
- Electricity problems plagued Decatur yesterday. And some folks were reporting their electricity going off again this morning.
- I bet if the Lake Bridgeport Sunken Safe had been hidden on a 100 acre ranch instead, there would have been less effort expended to find it. But diving is fun.
- I'm hearing lots of radio personalities pimping themselves out for some weight loss program called Medifast. Sad to hear the Ticket's George Dunham do the same claiming that he had lost 10 pounds in one week. What was the weight loss promotional product scandal in the 1990s? Vigerfit?
- Sean Hannity thought his audience would enjoy him interviewing Larry The Cable Guy last night. Sadly, he's probably right.
- Looked up and saw Mrs. LL filling up at the gas station at the same time as me yesterday evening. Is it wrong to immediately think about how much money we were spending on gas at that moment after initially being glad to see her?
- The Maverick who was arrested for PI was interviewed by Fox 4's Shaun Rabb. The best part was Rabb going so street on us.
- Rep. Weiner college pics take the scandal to a whole new level. Edit: And we're getting the first reports that he has decided to resign.
- The Soon To Be Third Grader In The House has picked up the phrase, "This will not end well."
More Middle East Uprising?
Nope. It was crazy rioting in Vancouver after losing the Stanley Cup Finals last night. More. (And it's some serious rioting which apparently got lots of TV coverage last night after 10:00 p.m.)
How can this be? Hockey was still going on?
Edit: Yahoo has posted some pics on one page and they are pretty amazing.
6.15.2011
High School Kid On The Cover Of "Texas Football" (Just Announced)
The kid out of Aledo is great but has questionable judgment in that he has already announced he will play for the Evil Empire. (He rushed for 3,221 yards and a state record 59 touchdowns as a Junior last year.)
And is it just me, or does that cover look like a horrible photoshopped job?
Wednesday Morning Pick Me Up
"We're talking 'bout the U"
Countdown: 78 days until the first college football game.
Countdown #2: It's a little over two weeks until the NBA collective bargaining agreement ends which means no more pro basketball until a new one is signed.
Whoopi's Rant About Fox Business News
The Right better get Elisabeth Hasselbeck under control. She's just going to sit there and take that?
Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts
- That was a bizarre storm in Decatur last night with quite a few downed branches around town. And a lot of people are still without electricity. (Well, at least one of our staff members is without electricity so I consider that to be an adequate sample of the population.)
- Mark Cuban at a urinal holding the trophy. What?
- Journalism? WBAP does a quick story on the value of Mavericks memorabilia so they get a sound bite from an owner of a Dallas memorabilia store. Hmmmm. I wonder what he will possibly say?
- My wheels were completely off this weekend. It doesn't happen very often, and I hate it when it happens.
- Decatur's quarterback has a recruitment video.
- A guy in Fort Worth allegedly got drunk at a topless club and then killed four teenagers in a wreck way back in 2005. So the bar gets sued and finally gets to trial last week. Responsibility? 35% bar/65% driver. Really?
- Lawyers quote that jumped out at me: "These guys are so cheap and so greedy, they don't even buy insurance to protect the public." Translated: "I may never collect on this verdict."
- Quote #2: "[My clients are happy] the jury said, 'Alcohol dealers -- drug dealers -- you're partly responsible for this.'" Drug dealers?
- The WBAP traffic gal actually said this morning, "A family truckster is broken down on . . . . " I wonder if that was mine that I sold?
- A lot of people on criminal court dockets seem to have unexpected car trouble on the morning they are supposed to appear.
- Hey, I'm happy to see Michelle Bachmann enter the GOP presidential race. I need material.
- Pretty funny picture of the guns being recovered by the diver at Lake Bridgeport yesterday.
- There's still a safe out in the lake they found which is 50 yards off shore and 20 feet deep. Highway 380 will probably be shut down for a bit today so they can fish it out.
- DPS has been awfully quiet since its "shootout with the cartel" last week. Turns out the whole thing was over marijuana that some guys were trying to get to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande by a raft. Edit: To the commentor who question me about the marijuana going into Mexico, use something called "Google".
- I kept seeing the reference to an Australian reporter telling a joke to the Dalai Lama so I finally watched it. It was pretty funny (the interviewer reminds me of Andy Bernard from The Office.)
- Edit: Most offensive political ad in the history of ever.
6.14.2011
She Looks Talented
This former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, Erica Perry, will be singing as the opening act at Bono's in Decatur on Friday night.
Very Few Cases Go To Trial . . .
. . . it's even rarer for one to be retried after a reversal on appeal. I think that's whats going on today in Decatur.
Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts
- Still no official news story about it, but it appears a couple got into an argument and a man jumped to his death off the balcony of the Love Shack in the stockyards in Fort Worth yesterday. (Photo of balcony.) Now that's irony.
- On a lighter note, I heard that's a good place to eat.
- The Aggies and Longhorns both make the college world series. Dallas Baptist, which had a good story going, got knocked out by California.
- There is a Tarrant County trial that started yesterday which deals with some gruesome facts concerning alleged murders in Kennedale. Nevertheless, I'm not sure why the prosecutor needed an hour for an opening statement. I'm not sure I've ever seen a judge that would allow it.
- The Older Kid in the House was delivered at band camp yesterday. I think mom is realizing the goodbyes from a 13 year old aren't the same as they used to be. Uh oh.
- Add "Hard 8 BBQ" to the following restaurants in Roanoke: Babe's Chicken Dinner House, Twisted Root Burger Co., Classic Cafe, Prairie House, Tortilla Flats and Gerhard's.
- There is a bizarre case going on where the sheriff of Winkler County, Texas is facing criminal charges for retaliation against a couple of whistleblower nurses. If you are in the legal or medical profession, you'd probably be fascinated by it. It was also the subject of last week's radio show, This American Life. Good stuff.
- If you want to beat on me for my Mavs prediction, you should really jump on Morning News columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor. Check out what he had written here (about 75% of the way down.)
- At a Tea Party rally in Austin on Saturday, one speaker said that Texas won't pass illegal immigration legislation because there are "too many Hispanics" in the legislature and that needs to change. Oh, my. I wonder how the Hispanic leader of the Bridgeport Tea Party feels about that? (But, man, that audio is horrible.)
- A north Fort Worth strip club, a stabbing, a bouncer, and a dead patron does not sound like a good scene. And the place looks seedy.
- Dale Hansen went off last night on how it's a little silly to call the Mavericks the "world" champions.
6.13.2011
Guy Didn't Make It To Plea This Afternoon
Not Actual Arrest Team But I Hope It's Close
Turns out he was (allegedly) drunk and arrested for Public Intoxication. The same man was set to plead guilty in court at 1:00 p.m. and was to receive an eight year prison sentence. I don't think he made it.
Mindboggling
We hear about government waste all the time and normally it just gives us Tired Head. But today's story in the Los Angeles Times is shocking: $6.6 billion in cash intended for Iraq is not only missing -- it may have been stolen.
My Funny Feeling Wasn't All That Funny
Updates should be here.
It turns out being found guilty of Murder instead of Capital Murder was only a small victory for the defendant. (Or I guess a big victory if life in prison over death sounds good to him.)
He'll be eligible for parole in 40 years -- another small victory. (If he had been found guilty of Capital Murder and given Life instead of death, there would be no parole.) He's 29 years old.
Random Monday Morning Thoughts
- In case you missed it, more pics came out of Rep. Wiener over the weekend (in the Congressional Gym, no less), and now he's headed to "rehab." He's done.
- Also, Bruce Springsteen's saxophone playing band member Clarence Clemons suffered a stroke last night.
- I don't dislike the Mavs. I dislike their coach. And if you listen carefully to every one of his post-game press conference, his underlying and subtle theme is that the the Mavs are well coached. I have to admit that's true. I just don't need to hear it from him.
- It sounds like Mark Cuban's vow of silence during the playoffs was more about not wanting to field the same old irritating questions than not trying to jinx the playoff run. After a couple of S bombs last night, I wish he'd make it a year round policy. And has that guy gained a little weight?
- Weird/Funny Cuban tweet this morning.
- LeBron James to those who wished failure upon him: "[A]t the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today."
- There was some reporter on Channel 8 last night that was sticking her mic into the crowd at Victory Plaza. That was a dicey proposition, and I think I heard at least one F bomb.
- Power Down: Queen's "We Are The Champions" after any sports final.
- Caught a short documentary late Saturday on HBO about the John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg rivalry called "Fire and Ice." It game me Good Ol' Days Syndrome.
- Every speck of dirt from my driveway was moved over this weekend. (Changes in the backyard landscape took most of it.) I got so serious that I even put baseball bat grip tape on the handles of the wheelbarrow.
- McDonald's fought an African American surcharge hoax over the last few days.
- The media went through tons of Sarah Palin's emails over the last couple of days. Biggest revelation: We both use the word, "Sheesh."
- I think a regular season Cowboys game would win hands down compared to last night's Mavs game, but I can't back that up yet.
- I went outside during halftime of last night's game to water and piddle in the yard only to come back in to see the Disney Channel on the big screen.
6.12.2011
Just Like I Predicted
Ok, kidding.
But where did Dirk go right after the buzzer sounded? He was back out for the trophy presentation but he sure made a beeline for the locker room.
