"Guy hit by train in Alvord"

Edit: Turned out to be a teenage in Alvord who was walking on the tracks. Sounds like he had earphones in. There was at least one witness.

I think this is the fourth teenager killed in Alvord in the last couple of years.

Edit: The Messenger apparently posted a picture which they subsequently took down. I didn't see it. 

Taking You Into The Weekend

Dallas pool party.

And Another - Fort Worth

Another strong entry. (Edit: Star Telegram story.)

Maybe her in 2003 (this is Lubbock where she used to live):

Puppies Wake Up

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Unemployment news announced this morning: It remains at 8.2%.  I wonder how many right wingers wanted more people unemployed for political reasons?
• Britney in a bikini with her kids in a living room. (Facebook.) Attagirl.
• Lots of Mark Cuban hating going on in the talk radio world. I can't wait for his first interview where he'll say something like, "Have you read section 11 of the collective bargaining agreement? You haven't?" And then he'll fire off a bunch of terms that he knows the interviewer doesn't understand to take control of the conversation. Does it every time. 
• Mrs. LL took the kids to watch fireworks along the Trinity River Wednesday night. I learned yesterday they grabbed inner tubes and actually got in the river. She's always had a certain glow about her, but now I wonder if it will be radioactively induced.
• The Running of the Bulls begins today. A few years back ESPN would carry those daily runs live (they last about two minutes each time.) Love that stuff.
• Shout out to Tara in the County Attorney's office who gave birth yesterday to Olivia Paige. (She strong-armed me into promising I would mention this day a few months back.)
• Absolutely worth a watch: DART bus plows into stopped cars on the Tollway last Friday. Whoa. 
• I wonder if I can talk Mrs. LL into seeing Savages?
• Some how, some way, Mrs. LL has completed the entire series of Lost in record time. About ten episodes from the end I asked her is she was just "riding it out." Her (defeatedly): "Yes. I've come this far."  Me: "Lots of people on the island?" Her: [Failed smile.]
• I love Fiona on Fox 4 but recently she's been tweeting and facebooking that we should watch her "antics" on the morning show.  Others can say a person does wacky "antics" but the person doing the "antics" can't. It violates some rule. 
• Sports Talk Radio: Take a listen to Chris Arnold on The Fan in the evenings. The former Ticket host and Mavs MC may be the most clueless guy on radio. (But you have to fight through Gavin Dawson's made up opinions to listen to Arnold.) 
• Still love this line: "Mitt Romney has an albatross around his neck of providing health care to poor people while governor." 
• Adrianne Curry "Hey, Now."

Remember This Morning When I Made Fun Of Mark Cuban . . .

. . . because he had to settle for signing Jason Kidd because he had missed out on every other free agent? Well, I spoke to soon.

(But, remember kids, watch Shark Tank!)

Edit: Man, the Dallas Morning News was all over this story at 3:00 this afternoon. (And the link was still good two hours later.) "Pretty much official" is not the same as "official", we've learned.

Edit:

Liberty And Stuff

It looks like we had six Vampire Blood Warrants issued in Wise County over the 4th of July.

(That's a picture of the construction at the World Trade Center site posted by someone within the last couple of hours while visiting New York.)

Idiocracy

I've never really understood "fan voting" for the All Star Game since there was no limit on the number of times you could vote.  Throw in a major market (LA, NY or even DFW) and, with proper marketing, how one of those teams couldn't get one of its players to the top of the list seems baffling.

Well, apparently we've ramped it up a bit. Now you can vote via Twitter without, once again, limitation. That's the official Texas Rangers twitter feed up there.  By simply tweeting with the "#VoteYu" hashtag, that counts as an actual vote recognized by Major League Baseball to get Yu Darvish into the All Star Game.  Do it as much as you want. See a tweet with that hashtag in it and simply hit the "retweet" button and that counts as a vote.

Have I done it? Noooooooooo. The Bush v. Gore case was more legitimate than this process. #PowerDown #Beating #TiredHead

Man With No Feet Qualifies For Olympics

South African 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius has made the Olympic team and will compete in London in the 400 meters. Qualifying run is here.

Since I'm a big fan of fairness, I'd like to state my let's-all-hug-and-come-together opinion as follows: This ain't right. Yeah, it's a heart warming story, he's overcome great hardship, blah blah blah, but those blades are like something a character in The Avengers might wear. How much does that improve his stride by? It's like launching yourself with each step.

Next thing you know they'll allow him to attach giant springs to the bottom of his legs and let him compete in the high jump.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I dreamed I was in an airline check-in line and it was so long that they brought out the greatest pizza buffet ever. (Truly a dream.) But before I could get to it, it was all gone. That's part of my constant dream theme: I can't get to something/anything in time.
• Something I never used to have to deal with: Buy something at the grocery store I really want and then discover it has been eaten by others two days later. 
• Most overzealous law enforcement officers in Texas: Game Wardens on a lake.
• The Mavs re-signed 39 year old Jason Kidd! They've re-signed Jason Kidd! Folks, get ready for the real Mark Cuban Era.  (That team has been carried by Dirk for a decade and Cuban had nothing to do with him coming to Dallas.) 
• The Ticket ran "Rotten Radio" yesterday which is a compilation of bits over the last 15 years. I wish they would do that every holiday, although it sure reminded me of how the station has declined.
• Former Wise County prosecutor Kevin Henry announced on Facebook yesterday that his 26 year old son had died in Los Angeles. No details were given. 
• 45% of the population doesn't know how the Supreme Court ruled on Obamacare (15% incorrectly believe the court struck it down while an additional 30% have no idea at all about the ruling.)
• If you promise a Third Grader that you'll have a 4th of July party, she will not forget that promise.
• Former Bridgeport gal is now practicing criminal defense law in Waco and even got a press release. I've always said growing up on the mean streets of Bridgeport will give you an insight into crime.
• With all the technological changes in this world, why do fireworks look the same as they did 40 years ago? Oh, and did you see where all the fireworks accidentally went off at the exact same time to begin the big show in San Diego last night? It's fifteen seconds of fun.
• Did you see the story where an elderly couple in Mansfield claimed there home was physically broken into and burglarized of $20,000 of jewelry while they were watching TV with big headphones on? I guess I believe them. 
• Garland motorcycle death.
• Did any news station cover the Tarrant County DA's office silly "no refusal" news conference where one of the prosecutors would have his blood drawn in front of reporters? I didn't see anything on Fox 4. 
• My Mormon book update: The story about Joseph Smith is insane. 
• I think wisecounty.com is having trouble this morning.

I Miss Having The Wimbledon Finals On The 4th Of July

She wishes she would have ducked. But nice job on following through on the call.

On This 4th Of July . . .

. . .  I miss those "good old days" as much as you do. Andy was, after all, the government. And he understood that. I'm not sure at all that today's trooper, as he approaches a car, understands what a simple fictitious country sheriff did in the the 1960s.

One Random 4th Of July TV Observation

Actual tweet from Fox & Friends this morning. (Pic is old.)

My work is done here.

All American Mom Taking You Into The Fourth Of July

WFAA Shelly Slater Afternoon Pick Me Up

Two things about that bottom pic: (1) It was taken two weeks ago and then she announced this week she is pregnant with a due date in December, and (2) if that's not enough to ruin the pic, I'm pretty sure that's Scott Murray in the background.

Naked Man vs. Cops (And Security?) -- Who Ya Got?

There's so much going on here, my head is spinning. We've got guys in suits, cops, play-by-play comedy, stun guns, a haymaker that would cause Joe Frazier to go down, and a chick in a red dress holding some guy back trying to distract us all.

But that ending caught me totally by surprise. Ninja indeed.

(And I love one of the youtube comments:  "They censor the nudity so we can watch the violence . . . god bless the USA." )

Background.

First The TCU "Welcome To Freshman" Video, Now The Ags Say Hello To The SEC

Breaking: Andy Griffith Has Passed Away

Link.

And who knew the famous theme from the Andy Griffith Show had lyrics? Here's Andy singing it.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• A female middle school principal in Saginaw is put on administrative leave because she and her daughter conspired to video record in the locker room during halftime of a girl's basketball game to "get something" on the coach? That clear?
• Saginaw murder <--- I wrote those two words last night to remind me to create a bullet point this morning about it. Now I have no idea what I meant. 
• After the Obamacare ruling, I've never seen so many people become constitutional experts so quickly. 
• I record This Week With George Stephanopoulos but rarely go back and watch it. But I glanced at the "round table" segment on it last night and was surprised to see Keith Olbermann on there. I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying, however, because he looked HUGE at that table. (I meant to get a picture.)
• Someone told me yesterday that the 17 year old who was shot dead in Fort Worth had over 3,000 Facebook friends before she was killed. That's not normal, is it?
• Rangers play-by-play guy Dave Barnett has "chosen" to take a leave of absence for the rest of the year after his verbal 12 second meltdown a couple of weeks ago. Conspiracy theory: It's the last year of his contract and the Rangers don't want him back regardless of his health.
• Tom Cruise turns 50 today. Mrs. LL told me last weekend, in light of his break up with Katie Holmes, that she'd leave me for him. I don't recall hearing a "just kidding." 
• Whatever happened to the lawsuit against Domino's Pizza when one of its delivery guys was murdered in a "bad neighborhood"?
• The Tarrant County DA's office will post the pictures of those arrested for DWI over the 4th on its website. Shameful. Since hiring a PR person, they have done a full court press to promote the DA and the DA website. (I noticed they will have a news conference today at 10:00 a.m. to also promote the DA the "no refusal" holiday. But since those news conference aren't really news anymore, they will have a prosecutor have his blood drawn in front of the cameras in an effort to get someone to show up to cover it. No word of whether a dog and/or pony will be on stage.)
• The New Jersey Nets did some crazy trades yesterday (Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace) in an effort to re-sign the free agent targeted by the Mavs, Deron Williams. If they pull this off while Cuban is jacking around with Shark Tank, Cuban will get roasted. Please. Please. Please. 
• Lots of groups reading the Declaration of Independence tomorrow. Sounds good in theory until you realize it has 1,323 words in it. (I watched the reading of it bring a raucous Tea Party rally to a screeching halt one time.)

Wreck on FM 101 in Far North Wise County

If a Faithful Reader sends me a pic, I'm posting it. Lots of pipe on the road. (Not sure how that will impact gas prices tomorrow.)

Thanks, Brian.

West Virginia Judge Loses It

Warning: There is a speaker-busting-scream that comes right away.

Background.

Odd Pic Of 17 Year Old Fort Worth Murder Victim

From a tribute Facebook page.

That Liberal CNN Has A Gay Anchor --- I'm Shocked. Absolutely Shocked.

Flashback:

As Far As Belly Flops Go . . .

. . . she nailed it.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• If you got stuck in traffic on 380 headed into Denton on Saturday night, this is why.
• Mrs. LL and I had our anniversary dinner and Bob's Steak and Chophouse (thanks largely to a gift certificate.)   We had an issue when we realized we were completely full after an appetizer of lobster bisque and calamari. There was no way I was going to ask for a take out bag in that high-tone place but thankfully the waitress said, "Can I wrap any of this up for you?"
• I realized I would have hated to be the guest host on Man vs. Food. 
• And it must not be that unusual to get a take-out bag there -- the valet had the back seat door open for me to drop it in there. 
• The strangest story over the weekend concerned the 17 year old who was found shot to death on the doorstep of a home in Tanglewood in Fort Worth. The homeowner says he didn't know her. One of the news stations said she was shot in the head three times. Wow.
• Another weird death: A Weatherford college student's body was discovered when a person was seen attempting to be load it into a vehicle. The guy loading the body fled, got away, but was identified.
• Near death: A UT student in South Africa was brutally attacked by two chimpanzees. 
• Big wigs from the Dallas Mavericks meet with free agent Deron Williams in an effort to sign him.  Oddly, Mark Cuban will not be in that group because he will be in Los Angeles to film an episode of that awful Shark Tank. (But his absence probably improves the Mavs' odds of signing Williams which don't seem very good right now.)
• The reviews for Magic Mike are actually good, but I don't think most females care if it has a plot. I'm not sure it has hit Mrs. LL's radar yet.
• It's "Vampire Mid-Week" for the 4th of July in Wise County.  The government will be taking your blood against your will after DWI arrests.
• Wednesday is the worst day for a holiday to fall upon. 
• Whatever happened to "Dr. Laura"?