Random Flashback

The Destruction of the Decatur K-Bob's

A Nice Friday Evening In Paradise, Texas And . . .

It's a 106 at 7:30 after a comfortable afternoon high of 108.

We're ......not .......gonna.......make.........it.

I May Have To Move Liberally Lean To Cleburne -- It's Got A Lot Of Material

Marriage Proposal

I saw this a couple of days ago, and I really didn't think much of it. Kind of staged? Maybe.

But if it's real, I don't think it's that funny of a bit -- And I've got a heck of a sense of humor. Is there ever a situation where, as a joke, you want your loved one to earnestly believe you are dead? Noooooooooo. And did anyone in that group ever think to say, "Hey, hoss. It's a marriage proposal, not America's Funniest Home Videos"?

P.S. Check out her "no way" at around the :35 second mark. Sheesh. Now that would make me want to jump off the building.

OK, Boys: Give Me News

- Another wreck on 380 near the Sheriff's Office?

- Cops chasing down a guy on foot in Alvord?

Edit:

- Job related accident in the north part of the county where the JP has been called out (normally meaning a death)?

- There's a new beggar guy in Decatur by Jack In The Box?

Hey, Camera Guy, Get Ready To Pan Out So We Can See Him Take Off!

Okay, we're live! Go!

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I've never seen a Harry Potter movie or read a Harry Potter book. Absolutely no interest.
• The Update says a winery will sell "wine bottles and glasses" at the Alvord Watermelonfest even though the mayor objected. Is there wine in them there wine bottles?
• There's a new reality TV show called Texas Women on CMT that is filmed in and around Fort Worth. (They were at the Reata restaurant and at a place near Granbury last night.)  It's a knock off The Real World or Real Housewives. I saw five minutes of it and was interested simply because of the landmarks -- and chicks yelling at each other.
• Regarding the rent vouchers in Dallas, some guy on WBAP asked this morning if it were "American" to go running after free rent, and wondered whether the crowd would have ran after "those vouchers if they were job vouchers and not rent vouchers." Wow. Everyone sure is an expert on what it's like to grow up as a minority, poor, and in South Dallas.
• My back is still sore but I was able to jog --- which means it can't be that sore. 
• Fox 4 gals at a birthday party. (Facebook link).
• Speaking of Facebook, Google has launched a competitor called Google+ which is (1) going viral, and (2) is fantastic. They also have a pretty good marketing campaign because you have to be invited by email from a member. "They tell two friends and they tell two friends and so on and so on and so on."
• And a music service that everyone was talking about yesterday (but of which I have no understanding) is "Spotify".
• Nancy Pelosi compared President Obama to Job which got the conservatives all riled up.  But I got sidetracked thinking about how Job may be one of the most disturbing stories in the Bible. God gave Satan permission to test Job's righteousness which ultimately leads to Satan killing Job's 7 sons and 3 daughters. God ultimately rewards Job with a new 7 sons and 3 daughters.  A replacement family made him whole?
• I remember a 20 year old mother in Denton mysteriously disappearing in the middle of the day 14 years ago. The Star-Telegram has a follow-up story today. 
• For Tech fans who are stilled riled up over the firing of Mike Leach and the role that Craig James played, you will be extremely interested in this.
• The Family Puppy has had a cold for a few days. To the Vet today. We boarded her at Man's Best Friend on vacation which might have been the source of the problem. 
• A 26 year prosecutor in San Antonio gets a Boating While Intoxicated and resigns two days later. Seems harsh if he was forced to quit his job. (And he was approached by the cops on the lake when they had no probable cause or reasonable suspicion to do so. Amazingly, that's legal in Texas.)
• I think the Republicans are going to get out-politicked by Obama on this debt ceiling thing.

Thousands Turn Out For Government Assistance

Let the Christian love in the comments begin. (Story.)

Tattoo Thursday: Miley Cyrus and Her Momma

Breaking News and/or Prosecutor "Bashing"

Let me summarize with high tone legal analysis as to what just happened happened.

Judge: "Hey, prosecutor, do not make any reference to any statement of Mrs X where she says she believes her husband, Mr. X. I know that you are going to use the testimony of Mr. X who will say Clemens told him that he, Clemens, used performance enhancing drugs. I'm not going to have Mrs. X improperly bolster her husband's testimony by saying she believes Mr. X."

Prosecutor: "Gotcha judge!!! Sounds fair to me! I'm a federal prosecutor so I'm well prepared and will play by the rules! Promise!"

Judge: "Ok, then."

Prosecutor: "Judge, may I roll that beautiful bean footage of Clemens testifying before Congress? It's great stuff!!!"

Judge: "You, may"

[Tape showing Congressman questioning Clemens]: "Mr. Clemens, Mr. X testified that you admitted to him of using performance enhancing drugs, and I'm holding an affidavit of Mrs. X who says she believes her husband."

Judge (who palm slaps his forehead): "Stop the tape. Get the jury out of here. [Jury removed]. Mr. Prosecutor, you are so dumb. For sure."

Defense lawyer: "Can I have one of those mistrial thingies?"

Judge: "Boom! Granted!"

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I was surprised by the Casey Anthony verdict because I didn't think we had a rationale jury any more. Yeah, she probably did it. But how can you not have a doubt, and how can that doubt not be a  reasonable one? That, by law, means a Not Guilty Verdict.
• And the "proof" against her is 1000X greater than in the Denton No Body Case.
• Yeah, I dogged her defense lawyer, but I did tweet during his closing argument that he was doing a fantastic job hammering reasonable doubt. 
• And Nancy Grace is mailing it in by running hour long clips of the Casey Anthony jail visit tapes that the jury saw. But it occurred to me those tapes, which provided the prosecution with absolutely nothing, only helped the defense by humanizing Casey.
• Some "task force" is looking into a "suspicious" fire at home in Boyd yesterday. Here's a street view look at the neighborhood. 
• Highway 287 from Decatur to Fort Worth, due to recent paving, may be one of the smoothest highways in the nation right now. 
• The lady who led cops on a high speed chase through Dallas yesterday was kind of hot. (Or at least used to be hot.)
• Had a buddy tell me that there's a scandal brewing in the Dallas DA's office that is so bad that Craig Watkins might end up resigning. Then, lo and behold, yesterday the FBI paid his office a visit.  (Keep his wife's political consulting firm in mind for future reference.)
• Finally saw The Social Network. Verdict: Big thumbs up. And I was surprised as to how much I was on Zuckerberg's side. (There was a strange and passing Baylor reference during the movie.) 
• Hey, if I make a post indicating it's something I missed while on vacation, you don't have to tell me that it's "old news." 
• Decatur's 7 on 7 team will play today in Aggieland.
• UTA is joing the WAC? How desperate is the WAC (they invited Texas State and UT-San Antonio last year)?
• Wait, a second! Britney was in concert in Dallas two nights ago and I didn't know about it? 
• Messed around a little with the Nook e-book reader while away. I think I could get hooked on that thing if I had time to read. Hey, how does anyone have time to read?
• Moody's is considering lowering the U.S. bond rating? What a political hack move. And how they are still in business (after handing out Triple A ratings like candy on sub-prime mortgage bonds during the crisis) is beyond me. 
• I've never been a big fan of the Old 97's, but their first album was called "Hitchhike to Rhome" which wikipedia says refers to Rhome, Texas. Anybody got any background on that? 
• I didn't know anything about the little boy missing in New York that was the subject of the cover of the New York Post yesterday. But, man, what a horrible story.

News I Missed On Vacation -- Want To Make Sure You Didn't

(From Williams' affidavit)

(She's a former Miss Texas. He drops passes.)

Cowboys' Roy Williams mailed a $76,000 engagement ring as a surprise to his girlfriend, the girl won't marry him, and she wouldn't give back the ring. So he filed suit.

If Only She Had Drowned

I'd laugh at the water drop if I could get past how annoying this chick is.  Sheesh.  I think "Boom Goes The Dynamite" guy might have a brighter future in broadcasting than her.

The Bridgeport Index . . .

. . . has really stepped up its photos-on-the-cover. (Source)

Edit: Dang it!!!! Based upon the comments, I should have made this a "Caption This!" post. Maybe it's not too late.

Another Disturbing Cover From "The Texas Prosecutor"

Because it is another "look at me" article bragging about a conviction with little evidence to support it. Check out the sub-headline. (My last complaint with the taxpayer assisted publication is here.)

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island, died yesterday. His name is embedded in our minds because he would get credit at the beginning of every show with his name, and his name alone, being on the screen.
• Surprising facts if the radio didn't lie to me this morning: (1) Gilligan's Island was only on the air for three seasons, and (2) The Brady Bunch never cracked the Top 30.
• Some lady went all John Bobbitt on her husband.. 
• Mrs. LL went through a drive through for dinner for the two of us and ended up spending $25 last night. [**Head Shake**] But we'll make at least two meals out of it. 
• If someone agreed to fly you and two buddies to New Jersey, give you a luxury suite and another hotel room, a limo ride to Atlantic City, and pay you $10,000 for two hours to sign autographs, would you show up? Dez Bryant didn't. That guy's an idiot. 
• My back is significantly better today. But I've been old-man-with-a-heating-pad for two days. 
• $750,000 house for sale in Decatur.
• I got dogged yesterday for posting about the 1998 Wise County bomb plot? Really? That's not interesting? And I bet most loyal readers had never heard of it.
• Saw the season premiere of Curb Your Enthusiasm which debuted on Sunday. Boy, talk about jumping the shark. 
• A bought a book yesterday off of Amazon by an author from Decatur who died of cancer at age 31 and before the book was published. 
• Photo gallery of people hanging out at Northside bars. Wise County has to be representing in there somewhere.
• Nancy Grace has a countdown clock for the hours before Casey Anthony is freed. 
• Costa Rica was by far the best vacation of my life. A four hour rafting journey is still simply indescribable. (Junior Miller talked about his recent visit there this morning on The Ticket complete with an audio of Howler Monkeys.)
• Teenagers lured a Domino's Pizza man to their location in Fort Worth in 2009 and then robbed and killed him. So the guy's widow sues Domino's for wrongful death. The more things change . . . . 
• Coach-in-exile Mike Leach's new book looks delicious. I've said it before: He can't get a job because he's perceived as a Human Resources problem. 

Edit: Alleged Wise County related pics from the Northside photos referenced above:

#13

Dear Former State Rep. And Wise County Native Allen Vaught:

Your Facebook page seems to have been hacked. Or at least someone has all of your same friends, your identifying information, as well as most of your pics. But, you are now very, well, voluptuous. Hey, now.  (All the red markings are mine)

Michael Irvin On Cover Of Magazine For The Gay

And he's in support of same sex marriage:

“I don’t see how any African-American, with any inkling of history, can say that you don’t have the right to live your life how you want to live your life. No one should be telling you who you should love, no one should be telling you who you should be spending the rest of your life with. When we start talking about equality, and everybody being treated equally, I don’t want to know an African-American who will say everybody doesn’t deserve equality.”


Source.

Flashback 1998: The Silly Plot To Bomb Wise County

Texas Monthly article here. (There's a chance it requires a free and quick registration)

Interesting: If You Don't Die, You're Just An "Idiot"

Story.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• My back still hurts. A lot.
• A four year old girl was reported missing then found dead by deputies in the back seat of her family's SUV last night. If I've got the address correct near Cleburne, there are some pretty nice homes in that area. 
• It is kind of hard to explain how the funeral of the firefighter killed at the Ballpark turned out to be such a spectacle (probably wrong word) yesterday. He wasn't, after all, not killed in the line of duty.  What if the man had been killed in a car accident or at a little league park? The funeral would have then been a small and solemn affair.
• Lake Bridgeport is now dropping about a foot every two weeks and it's about to get a lot worse.
• The Ticket's Gordon Keith went to Africa on vacation and has posted some pics, including a couple of him kneeling over dead animals that he presumably shot. For the life of me, I don't understand why you would want to kill an animal like that. 
• The All Star game is in Arizona tonight. Wasn't there talk at one time about a boycott due to the state's immigration laws?
• The father of the Fort Worth kid bitten by a shark off the Texas coast last week was on WBAP this morning. Hal Jay asked the dad if the kid was wearing any type of "leather" at the time of the attack. (Referring to a skin-diving suit.)
• A Britney "Hey, now."
• Finally, DPS allows you to check the status of your driver's license online (i.e. is it suspended).  For years, you would have to call a non-toll free number and wait for at least 30 minutes. There's a fee but it's hard to tell when it applies. 
• Country boy shoots himself in the leg preparing to do battle with a paper target. (Language warning.)
• The Family Cat now wants to be petted for thirty seconds at the beginning of the day. It's like a Helen Keller break through. 
• Streaker gets the horns by a bull/cow in Pamplona. I cheer for the animals every year.
• Mrs. LL tried to make her own sushi or some kind of roll last night. I don't think that went very well. 

Kate Upton Killing It At The Home Run Derby

For the rest of us, we were killed by Chris Berman's "back back back" commentary --- something I rant about every year.  Each of us has a mission in life. A sacred mission. A mission that never rests. Mine is to see Berman removed from the airwaves.

And I'll be screaming "Freedom!!!" like that Mel Gibson character when it happens.

Liberally Lean Forecast: A Beating

The famous heat wave of 1980 had a streak of 42 consecutive days where the temperature exceeded 100 degrees. That streak ended on August 3rd.

Idiocracy Headline

Let me rephrase: "Twelve years ago, Terry Bradshaw was divorced from a lady who now is the alleged victim of a theft by her maid."  

And I kind of feel the need to explain who Terry Bradshaw is.

Tired Head Warning: Debt Ceiling Post

I know some of you will eat this stuff up, so I'll post it.  If I understand it correctly (which is highly, highly suspect), these are the ground/political rules:

• The U.S. has, or soon will, reach our legal debt ceiling which means that the U.S. can no longer borrow money.
• The Democrats don't have any problem raising the debt ceiling.
• Republican would agree to raise the debt ceiling but only if there was a budget cut equal to the raise. 
• The Tea Partiers will accept the Republican position but if they had it their way they wouldn't raise the ceiling under any circumstances.
• If the ceiling isn't raised, the U.S. can't borrow money to  make payments on its current debts meaning that debt could go into default. If the U.S. debt goes into default, we've got Armageddon. 
• In actuality, the U.S. wouldn't have to default on its debt but could instead not fund part of its everyday budget.  
• House Speaker John Boehner wants to stand his ground but doesn't want the President to make him look like the bad guy if this gets nasty.

Like I said, the Most Trusted Source In News is back in the States. 

Hey, We Might Get A "Bum Steer" Award After All

Totally missed this.

Credit: Fox 4. (Unrelated: is doing mugshot bits, now.)

I'm Still Sick About This

To fall in front of his son is heartbreaking.  And if I'm Josh Hamilton, who is absolutely faultless in tossing the ball in the man's direction, I'm really messed up right now.

Side note: Someone actually called up the Mark Davis Show and questioned whether firefighters from across the state should be attending today's memorial service in light of the fire danger everywhere.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Alert: I'm not coming back. I'm now an official Mexican Drug Lord. Or Mexican Drug Kingpin. (I've got to check my employee handbook to get the title right.)
• OK, I'm also not one of the at least 40 killed over the weekend in Mexico.
• Note to self: Try not to fly back on the day before a work day next year. Going from a week of sandals to a suit and oxford shoes is not a pleasant experience. 
• TSA wasn't a problem. Things moved smoothly without an issue.
• Cabo's airport still requires you to get off the plane by walking down to the tarmac. Weird.
• I thought I had screwed up my back on the morning of vacation by lifting a krillion pound suitcase of Mrs. LL. It rallied amazingly though. Then last night, once home, the excruciating pain returned just by bending over. Not a good sign even though it recovered fairly quickly.
• Morning number two of vacation was spent working on the logistics of putting in a new HVAC in the rent house. Put that out your mind and try to enjoy vacation, will ya?
• I like all-inclusive places even if you do begin to get sick of the food by the end of the week.
• Our housesitter's message on Tuesday (she's a teenage girl in the neighborhood who was just supposed to check in on the Family Cat once a day): "Can I use yall's shower?"  
• Mrs. LL left her cell phone in the transport van back to the airport. She actually had them look for it, they found it, and they promised to mail it. Place your bets. 
• For trip planning, I'm a fan of TripAdvisor.com. Most hotels have a ton of reviews which can be filtered by interest. 
• Saw a kid at the resort who was constantly escorted around in a stroller although he was far too old for it, and he was always playing on an iPad. I nicknamed him the "Boy King." 
• Another teenage gal spent two days being pushed around in a wheelchair after an injury. The only thing I could see wrong with her was a bandage around a big toe. 
• Saw a lady in her 50s go down from either heat exhaustion and/or alcohol consumption.  Mrs. LL ran over there to make sure she was breathing and had a pulse (she did), but the oddest part was the lady who came up and diagnosed her as "obviously drunk" and walked away. The quickness of her diagnosis seemed to be in direct correlation to the fact that everyone didn't take three steps back when she announced she was a nurse. 
• I'll admit, I'm still completely behind on the news.
• The firefighter who died after the fall at the Ballpark was named Shannon Stone. I kept thinking that name sounds familiar but I fear I'm just thinking of Sharon Stone. 
• A 16 pound baby was born in Longview? He is named JaMichael. 
• Of the many things I missed about the Casey Anthony trial, one of the biggest was not seeing the reaction of Nancy Grace. (Here's one clip I plan to watch today.)
• Read between the lines: A Tarrant County judge says she's really going to be strict with those who violate probation when the real story is "I'm not going to send you to prison for violating probation because that means more money for out probation department."
• Car bumps rider in Tour de France causing a pile up and one cyclist to meet the business end of a fence. Edit: Photo. OUCH!!!
• Keep hearing funny things about the movie Bridesmaids.
• Watched most of the documentary about the McDonald's hot coffee case on HBO. The injuries the elderly lady suffered as a passenger (yep, she wasn't driving) were incredibly severe. Shockingly severe. And I was torn between how that shouldn't matter (she's the one who spilled the coffee) versus how much it should (what if she had been handed a cup of acid instead of just coffee which was at a bizarrely high temperature level.)
• I'll try to go back on the "poll posts" from last week and add a remark as to whether I'm surprised by the results or not.