Saturday Reflections

Stumbled upon an old picture of me. The white shirt and tie is a good look.

Mama Tried Part 2 Taking You Into The Weekend

Lottery Winners From Missouri Come Forward

Story.

Hey, is that Texas State Senator Jane Nelson in there?

Tuesday In Oklahoma

Story.

Remember That New 85 MPH Texas Highway I Drove On?

DPS allowed a car to go 220 mph on it before it officially opened.

Source.

Poster Promoting Wise County's Toy Run

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The bunnies, after a false start two days ago, are now free. Welcome to their own Watership Down.
• Sports Illustrated changed the color of Baylor's uniforms. Some are really caught up in the journalistic integrity of such an alteration. 
• Another Texas life sentence for DWI. This time out of San Marcus.
• In Oregon, a guy is lucky to be alive after his car teeters on an overpass after crashing. Yep, DWI.
• Terry Dorsey and Hawkeye won the Ticket's "Emergency Brake of the Week" this morning but I didn't hear it. 
• The judge on highest Texas court had his warrant lifted after he paid $535.90 online. I would hope that might influence him to believe that parts of the criminal justice system are a racket, but he's already the court's most liberal judge.
• I think we are babysitting an actual baby tonight. Well, I'm going to watch Mrs. LL babysit a baby. 
• My car, like most, will tell me if I have a low tire. I'm no engineer, but I find that confusing when I consider the wiring that would have to be involved for low pressure to be detected.
• The "close encounter" with two whales that the BagofNothing guy posted is pretty amazing. 
• I guess I wasn't upset about the Dallas female officer rap video or the Hurst officer talking awful to the teenager because my expectations aren't that high. 
• An out of town blogger reviews Decatur's "Main Street Home and Gardens, Down The Street Cafe."  Health food? In Decatur?
• Oliver North will be at Ed Young's Fellowship Church in Grapevine this weekend. I wonder if he'll try to promote his new book which he does every time he can.  If he does, he should be treated like a money-changer. 
• How's the parking and service now that Casa Torres has expanded? At one time, they wanted the city of Decatur to allow parking for the restaurant on the other side of FM 51. Can you imagine trying to cross that on foot?
• There are eight Christmas related announcements in the Update this morning 

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Jump Started A Car Last Night (Without The Battery Blowing Up)

So she said here.

Is This A Coincidence?

The Tarrant County DA's office is promoting itself again by printing the names of those arrested for DWI over the Thanksgiving holiday.  As I tread on thin ice here, let me say that there appears to be a disproportionate number of Hispanic of "foreign" surnames on the list.  There are two explanations: (1) That accurately represents the proportional racial makeup of alleged drunk drivers on the road, or (2) Cops are paroling patrolling predominately minority areas.  Why would they do the latter?  Well one stereotype would lead to the conclusion that minorities are still historically poor and are more likely just to plea out as opposed to hire a lawyer who will question the officer's actions.

Crazy?  Maybe. But if you are a cop looking for DWI suspects and want to make it as easy on yourself as possible, are you going to arrest someone from Westover Hills (which guarantees a court date -- maybe many of them) or are you going to patrol poor east Fort Worth where you'll probably never hear about the case again other than a disposition sheet that reads "Pled Guilty. 24 months probation. $750 fine"?

Here's a portion of the full list.

Remember Those Vets Hit By A Train In During A Parade?

They decided to blame the train. And you have to love their lawyer's website. An out-of-state "train accident" lawyer.:

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Free Lindsay Lohan! (She was arrested last night for allegedly punching a woman in the face at a bar at 4 a.m.  That girl is full throttle.)
• A judge on Texas' highest criminal court (who is also from Fort Worth) has an arrest warrant issued for him for an unpaid traffic ticket. That's a different kind of full throttle.
• Mrs. LL ran out of gas last night. I responded with the speed of a NASCAR pit crew (after I went to the bathroom.)
• Should I know who Texas Ranger Clint Peoples was? He was born in Bridgeport and the same site that is auctioning off the JFK stuff has some of People's property for auction as well.
• Zig Ziglar died yesterday.  The guy made a fortune on motivational speaking but, with all due respect, he sounded like a beating to be around. I had a boss once who, if you told him "have a good day", would stop and say enthusiastically, "No. Make it a good day!" It was a complete power down.
• I almost bought a Power Ball ticket yesterday. I didn't but I would never buy more than one if I had made it to the store.
• One of the two winning Power Ball's was purchased in Arizona. I hope it is a Mexican who lives in Sheriff's Joe's county. 
• Every time I see a picture of a judge or a cop from before 1950 I just assume we wouldn't get along. 
• Sports: My list of most despised coaches: (1) Rick Carlisle, (2) Lane Kiffin, and (3) Will Muschamp. I think the common thread is that they all seem like a truly bad person. 
• Sounds like there were Internet issues in Decatur last night. 
• Fourth-Grader-In-The-House upon learning I've never eaten at Cracker Barrel: "You are kidding! It is the greatest restaurant ever!"
• How much does Dallas Morning News columnist Steve Blow make?  Seriously, I bet more people read my drivel every morning than his stuff. 
• Decatur now has three Subway Sandwiches shops. Three.
• There's a strip shopping center on the east side of 287 right by the FM 51 exit which has been absolutely empty from the time it was built five or so years ago. It has never had a tenant. 
• There was a former Texas Tech student convicted of Intoxication Manslaughter this week after agreeing to a plea bargain of 15 years. The bizarre aspect of the case is that she was allegedly drinking on a school sponsored field trip. 

And Another - Ohio

Strong to quite strong.

Story.

Driving While Intoxicated "Task Force" Now Arresting Bartenders

Story. That "Police State" keeps on creeping closer.

In Allen On I-75 Right Now

Republican Controlled House Selects House Committee Chairmen

And you wonder why demographics are going to kill the GOP?

(Credit.)

Greatest Wise County Book In Photo Ever

It was an arrest warrant issued out of Tarrant County and he was released four days ago. Classic.

Sophie Turner At Heathrow Airport

Hey, look! Her luggage matches her outfit!

Ghost Elevator Prank

Not sure the little girl would survive if this were in Texas.

Baylor Fan Gets Down

And you think we don't know how to party?

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Another police officer controversy in Dallas as a female officer who goes by the alternative name of "Lucille Baller" (funny, by the way) posts a video showing her in "provocative" clothes and brandishing a weapon. Maybe I'm getting soft, but for the second day in a row I'll say: "I doesn't both me at all."
• The "War on Christmas" rhetoric beats me down.
• I can finally see how people get attached to dogs.
• We've decided to release the wild bunnies into the wild. Let me tell you, tears flowed by some people in the house last night. (Not me. Those things are driving me nuts.)
• There are lots of jobs for commercial driver's license holders.  Is driving for a living a hard job? Stressful? Uncomfortable? Loud? 
• Golf will ban the "belly putter".  That device always looked unfair to me. 
• I-35 to Waco or to Austin has been under construction for all my life it seems.
• The please-move-the-deer-crossing audio has been around for about three months. I finally listened to it last night. That's fake, right? 
• Sports: (1) Gary Patterson rumored for the Auburn job? I'd stay at TCU, (2) Isn't it odd that #4 Florida will get an automatic BCS bid while the loser of higher ranked Georgia/Alabama game will end up at some spare bowl?, (3) If Baylor ended up in the Pinstripe Bowl, I'd be very tempted to go to New York City, and (4) Conspiracy theory: Dirk didn't have surgery. He's just old and they want to rest him for the first couple of months.
• Remember the model from Paradise?
• I hate those Facebook "postcard" postings (or whatever you call them) but I saw one which was a split screen photo with Shirley Temple on one side and Honey Boo Boo on the other with the caption of "What happened to us?" underneath it. Kind of funny. 
• Fox 4's Steve Eager made fun of Heather Hayes last night for using the word "gotta". 
• I got my two trial cases resolved yesterday. One little client hugged me because she was so excited but I still wonder if I did enough for her. 
• There's a 24 year old out of Aurora in the Update's death announcements. Anyone?
• About 15 years ago, I fascinated about buying at auction a old news teletype announcing the JFK assissantion. I think it went for $10,000 which I couldn't even justify as an "investment". I heard on the Ticket yesterday that Heritage Auctions was selling a "batch" of those teletypes. The current bid is only $600.
• Ticket Fans only: When I was at the in-laws in Arkansas, there was a huge breakfast going on where the cook kept yelling, "You want scrambled or an omelet ", "How many eggs do you want?" and "We are cooking eggs over here!" I promise my brain could only hear the Ticket drop of "What about eggs?!"
• I was a bum in Arkansas. All I did (when not playing Capture the Man With The Flag) was read magazines and watch football while Mrs. LL and a bunch of relatives I hardly know played marathon card sessions. It was fantastic. 

Above The Fold

Well Played, Sir

This guy snuck down onto the field at Alabama when the Aggies played the Crimson Tide. Since he basically looked like he was dressed as a coach or trainer, he managed to stay there. Love that expression as he ran off with the team at halftime.  He told his story (with photos) here.

One Of First Bills Filed In Texas Legislature

That "no big government" party is now having the State government tell local government what to do.

What A Beat Down

I suppose they good be "professional" and come out and give it their all in the second half, but that would be so demoralizing.  (But the guy who yells, "Save us, Tebow!!" was pretty funny.

"Men men men men, manly men men men!"

Huffpo – Angus T. Jones doesn’t want to be on “Two and a Half Men” anymore. In a video interview with the religious website Forerunner Chronicles, Jones spoke out against the show and called it “filth.” “If you watch ‘Two and a Half Men,’ please stop watching ‘Two and a Half Men,’” Jones says around the 7:45 mark in the video below, which the website billed as “The Testimony of the Awakening of [a] star.” “I’m on ‘Two and a Half Men,’ and I don’t want to be on it. Please stop watching it, please stop filling your head with filth,” he continues. “People say it’s just entertainment,” he said. “Do some research on the effects of television and your brain, and I promise you, you’ll have a decision to make when it comes to television, especially with what you watch on television. It’s bad news.” Jones earns more than $300,000 an episode The sitcom made Jones, who just turned 19, the highest paid child actor on TV. As an adult, he still is among the biggest sitcom earners.


I heard this story all day yesterday but finally got around to viewing that portion of the clip. I'm very confused. Is that the same kid? About the only Two and a Half Men I've seen is when the kid was actually a little kid. And what's up with the black guy? He's just keeps looking at the camera like he's going to go all Marcellus Wallace on us if we didn't listen to Mr. Angus T. Jones. Worked on me, though. I'm never watching that show again.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• I'm not particularly bent out of shape by the Hurst officer's treatment of the kid that has made the news recently. I'd suspend him for a couple of days, but that's about it. 
• The Texas Supreme Court approving forms for simple divorces is something I didn't think I would ever see. 
• I saw a lady testify in Wise County's district court yesterday who had the most high pitched and irritating voice I've ever heard. The whole place just stopped down when she uttered her first sentence. 
• TCU has a good team as they sit at 7-4. But let's face it, if they were in their old conference, they would be 11-0 and yelling about being shut out of the BCS Championship game.
• I've had several people mention that Michael Morton article in Texas Monthly (links below).  I've been bothered ever since I read it. 
• Man gets life sentence for DWI in Texas.  (It was also his eighth conviction and his blood alcohol concentration was a shocking .446).
• Had a client take a prison term plea bargain yesterday after she had been out on bond. I've said it before, but those are bad days at work no matter how fair the plea bargain.
• Every time I feel smart watching Jeopardy, they'll hit a category of literature or science and I then feel dumber than a fifth grader. 
• Our Christmas decorating is always delayed by the guy who we are willing to pay to get up on the high roof to hand the lights. Inside decorating is delayed because I hate to pull out what was once a beautiful fake tree which has been destroyed by The Family Cat. 
• I've got a DWI trial today barring a last second change of plans.

Shut Down The Internet

We've got 15 seconds of hot girls, a singing midget, and a face plant.

Guy Involved In Wise County Motorcycle Accident

Haven't found a picture of the girl yet.

Messenger story.

Justin Bieber Stylin'

As he meets the Canadian Prime Minister.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Being in the driver's seat with three people (two kids) fast asleep for six hours on the way to Arkansas is both equally relaxing and stressful.
• Auburn's coach gets fired two years after a National Championship. His consolation prize? He takes home $7.2 million buyout. Sign me up.
• I played "Capture The Man With The Flag" this weekend for the first time since I was a kid. I forgot that it involved sprinting, and my thighs are still on fire. But I would like to announce I won a game by juking a Freshman girl in high school.
• We later played basically Hide And Seek with flashlights.   I walked by a huge trash can and just casually looked in it expecting nothing. Instead I saw two eyes staring back at me. I screamed like a school girl and then laughed for the next five minutes. 
• Mrs. LL told me that Larry Hagman died. I asked her how she knew that. She told me, "He's a co-worker." (Remember she will be an extra which should make the cut on the next season of Dallas.)
• Wasn't the episode of "Who Shot J.R.?" on a Friday night during high school football season?
• How can Johnny Manziel not with the Heisman?
• I was watching the Baylor game on Saturday and would casually yell an "Oh, man!" every now and then. Mrs. LL told a relative, "Wait until the fourth quarter. He'll be standing in front of the TV yelling." Freshman-Girl-In-The-House: "Has he seen this game before?"
• Fourth-Grader-In-The-House: "That RG3 guy always makes a touchdown when he throws it a long way."
• The highways in Arkansas are fantastic. And I could see myself living up there.
• I don't believe the hype behind "Cyber Monday." (And isn't the term "cyber" just a little out-dated?)
• The Turkey Trot in Fort Worth was really fun. A 10K vs. the Dallas 8 Mile was a nice change and Fort Worth is just, well, Fort Worth. More friendly. More laid back. Just a fantastic morning. But I did have trouble finding my car on one of the streets in the Ridglea area after it was done.
• Ugly Christmas sweater T-shirts is a great idea.
• We are trying to talk the girls into letting the two remaining bunnies go free. They are getting big and wild. (That is, the bunnies. Come to think about it, that may be the girls, too.)
• The truce between Israel and Hamas was really bizarre. They struck the deal in the morning with it to take effect at 1:00 p.m. that afternoon. They continued to launch bombs at each other up until 1:00 p.m. 

On The Way Back From Arkansas

. . . Mrs. LL saw this sign in the women's restroom in a McDonald's.  This seems a bit insane. (No.  she didn't need a changing station -- just thought it was interesting.)