Gal With Glasses Taking You Into The Weekend

Ugh

An historic home in Grapevine this morning caught fire. There are varying reports, but the house was built around 1900.  The top pic is from Google Streetview. The second was taken this morning per Facebook.

Snake On An Actual Plane

Story.

Fat Kid Sinks Last Second Three Pointer

I've got to admit, I'm confused by this video. Did this kid have the OK from the coach to launch that shot? Was the game firmly in hand? This looks like some spare weekend game but we've got two professional looking refs. Is that the word "church" around the center circle? And is that a chick in red jersey #42? And that kid in the plaid shirt who comes running in at the end sure is focused on  hugging.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• "The Texas attorney general's office has ruled that Tarrant County must make public information related to a sexual harassment complaint filed against District Attorney Joe Shannon." About a year ago, the DA's office hired a Public Information Director who I have dogged constantly as being nothing more than a mouthpiece for a re-election campaign.  Now we'll learn if I'm wrong. What will she say, if anything, about this?
• Mrs. LL waited up past midnight to open our house up to a couple (relatives on her side of the family) who are in the metroplex to begin an adoption process this weekend. At least I think she did. When I left this morning the guest bedroom door was shut, and I assumed there were people in there. 
• Nothing makes a house cleaner than having guests come over. You are all invited for the rest of the year. 
• Thoughts on the Cowboys hiring of 72 year old Monte Kiffin as defensive coordinator: (1) I guess his age doesn't bother me, but I can't convince myself, (2) He's the father of the "Tampa 2" defense (which I truly don't understand) but I'll credit The Ticket's Jake Kemp with a great line yesterday: "He invented a defense 20 years ago to stop the West Coast Offense that no one runs anymore", and (3) I wouldn't hire him because of his idiot son. 
• What a horrible fire: Four people, three of them children, dead in Haltom City. But there's something weird about that one. It looks like it was a small fire that was contained inside the house but filled the place up with toxic smoke. It occurred in the afternoon. My internal "something ain't right" alarm is going off. 
• The NRA and Joe Biden met yesterday. Afterwards, the NRA said that the Administration could now check the box that reads "met with the NRA" and now they'll "do what they want." Even I agree with that.
• The Wise County Republicans are holding a raffle with a chance to win a .22 rifle with a scope. Timing, people. Timing. 
• 71 degrees this afternoon. 39 degrees tomorrow afternoon. (But I'll never utter that "Texas Weather" cliche which is like nails on a chalkboard to me.)
• There's a lot of talk about the Second Amendment and what the "well regulated militia" phrase means.  A couple of year's ago the Supreme Court interpreted that Amendment and, although I haven't read it, I suspect the opinion contains a first rate history lesson. 
• I see lots of headlines about a "trillion dollar coin" in connection with the debt ceiling debate, but I've not clicked on a single headline. 
• I know I keep mentioning the X-Box and Kinect, but I continue to be amazed. You manipulate menus by sweeping your hands right to left. It is right out of Minority Report. (But I actually yelled at my virtual trainer in my exercise program last night when he said, "Come on. Don't stop on me" when the device detected that I wasn't completing an an exercise routine.)
• And apparently the Kinect is a big player in Paranormal Activity 4.  Mrs. LL, a huge fan of the series, will freak out. 
• Wow. Hunter S. Thompson and I have the exact same daily routine. 

"I’m a gunman and my target is on the inside."

Love this guy. This former firefighter went to the Celina Elementary School yesterday and made the above statement along with some others in order to test "the district’s security at his child’s school and wanted to expose weaknesses."

The school, and local police, were not amused.

He kind of reminds me of someone else who would do something similar.

"Fact: Celina Elementary is not secure."

This Gun Battle Is Very Nuanced

Random Thought: Time Travel

"If time travel were to one day be possible, why don't we run into people now who have traveled back in time to us?"

I'm not a science fiction guy, but I like this question. My first inclination was to answer that if time is a train, then we are simply at the front of the train and there's no one in the future who could "come back" to us.

But if time travel were to be invented tomorrow and I were to go back to, say, 1953, wouldn't the people of 1953 have believed up until that point were in the front of the train as well? So can we safely assume that we are in front of the train?

(Side note: Want to feel old? In Back To The Future II, Marty was transported into the future with a specific date of October 21, 2015.)

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• We had our carpets cleaned yesterday and they look fantastic. Check back with me in a couple of months, however. 
• Elections have consequences. 
• That being said, they are not coming for your guns. This crazy hysteria out there has those not suffering from the hysteria shaking our heads in amazement.
• Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who may be nuttier than Rick Perry or David Dewhurst, even quoted Hitler last night to pander to the Far Right.
• Who out there thinks the government should not provide flu shots to children who are not insured?
• Mark Davis had a legitimate thought this morning: Any chance those who sell the flu vaccine/medicine are behind this flu panic in the news? I sure would like to own the company that sells Tamiflu.
• Oscar nominations this morning for Best Picture:  Beasts of the Southern Wild, Silver Linings, Zero Dark 30, Lincoln, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Amour, Django, Argo. How many of those have I seen? None of them. 
• But, man, look at this list of Who's Who for Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, Robert De Niro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tommy Lee Jones, and Christopher Waltz.
• I watched Best Funeral Ever last night (filmed in Dallas, by the way.) That's not real, is it?
• Mrs. LL was shocked that anyone would ever write out a prayer in advance. 
• Any commercial that uses the phrase "what they don't want you to know" is an absolute tune out for me. 
• Very delayed: There will be graveside services Sunday for Samantha Jo McNorton who was found murdered in Wise County in November. (The suspect, David Malone, later killed himself in the Wise County Jail.)
• Ninety percent of drug related arrests in Texas are for possession. 
• I think the college head coaching job at a major college (Texas, Alabama, Florida, etc.) is a heck of a lot better job than an NFL head coaching position. 
• I don't understand this lengthy hearing for the Aurora shooter to determine if there "is enough evidence" in order for him to stand trial. I wish we had that right in Texas which, for all practical purposes, we don't. 
• Arguments were held in the Supreme Court yesterday on whether the cops can draw a DWI suspect's blood without a warrant because of the urgency created by the evidence of alcohol dissipating in the bloodstream. The State's attorney received a haymaker right out of the gate when one of the Justices asked him, "How come it took so long for this State to figure out that it needed to do this without a warrant?" Meaning, getting a search warrant has been good enough and fast enough in the past so what has changed?

The Drudge Report: Always Measured And Reserved

Ok, folks. Turn in your rifles on Thursday, shotguns on Friday, and handguns on Monday.  The White House has to take the weekend off to form a New World Order and write a new constitution based upon Sharia Law.

Sheesh.

That's Supposed To Be A Signature

And not just any signature. It belongs to Jack Lew who today was nominated to become Secretary of the United States Treasury.  So you know what that means? This:

Credit.

People Can Be In Horrific Pain

Turned out to be this lady, wife of the pastor of the Park Cities Presbyterian Church of Dallas:

The Dallas Observer reviewed the situation today and a column that was written about the death in the Dallas Morning News.  The author questions calling the underlying reasons that cause suicide to always be a "mental disease": "But I do have a mini-rant to offer on the assumption that suicide is automatically and always a symptom of disease. What if people really do have overwhelming problems they can't overcome? And here is the really tough one: what if they just don't want to be alive anymore?"

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Has Decatur's Firehouse Gym out on 287 shut down? Seems to have an empty parking lot this week.
• Decatur's Wise Regional Health System recently announced a new hospital in North Fort Worth. Yesterday, HCA North Texas announced plans of a $71 million hospital pretty close to it. 
• This time I think all this flu talk is based more reality than just the typical hype. (And don't you freak out a little if you believe you are beginning to feel anything other than normal?)
• On Cowboy's firing of defensive coordinator Rob Ryan: I won't miss him, not sure he deserved to be fired, but I'm not sure he should have ever been hired.
• I'm not sure why everyone got so bent out of shape about Brent Musburger's comments about the girlfriend of Alabama's quarterback. You can't mention that a girl is hot any more?
• I went through a preliminary workout with the Xbox using some Nike program. Sheesh. I'd rather run five miles any day. But I'm seriously thinking about retiring from jogging and going to some other fitness routine. Just seems time to move on. 
• I thought I was just kidding about building an ark.
• You always here about some shooting at some spare bar in the parking lot of some seedy Dallas bar but last night a guy was killed in the evening hours at Red Rock Bar at Midway and Frankford.  That's a pretty high tone area. To make the story more bizarre, it occurred on the patio of the bar after an argument. 
• When did Ruben's Ballroom on 380 towards Denton become the Crazy Horse? 
• After hearing everyone talk about it, I recorded Best Funeral Ever on The Learning Channel last night. Haven't watched it yet. 
• And I caught the first ten minutes of Frost/Nixon last weekend. Man, that really got my attention. Politics. Media. History. It's almost a trifecta for me. 
• Alabama playing the Aggies on September 14th this Fall might end up being the most hyped game ever. (And how did the Aggies manage to get eight home games next year?)

Above The Fold

A Single Digit Loss

The new Perot Museum Of Nature and Science in Dallas sounds fantastic. But about a week ago a wall of silence went up after a patron had suffered some type of injury on some type of interactive exhibit. The museum wouldn't say anything else.

Until this afternoon. Someone lost a finger. Oh, my.

Reunion At Wise County Animal Shelter

And look at that little thing in the background.

Gals Switch Channel From National Championship Game To "The Bachelor"

Thanks, Mrs. LL.

Someone Was Excited About Baseball Season

The official Dallas Cowboys twitter feed was not impressed. Story.

Couple Buys House For $500. Finds It Torn Down.

You hear stories like this all the time. Some demolition crew tears down the wrong house, someone mistakenly buys the wrong property, and in this case it looks like their new house was demolished after a tax auction.  Regarding the details, I don't really care. I just love this picture. He has the most beaten down look on his face in the history of ever. She has a subtle I'm-Dating-An-Idiot look.

Heck, that $500 is worth the story to tell your friends.  (And it kind of ruins the story to read that the $500 was refunded. Maybe he's just a beaten down guy in general.)

• There was a commercial before the National Championship game which featured the actor who played "Rudy". I mentioned it to Mrs. LL. She was confused because she thought I was talking about Rudy from the Cosby Show.
• There are rumors floating around that RG3 will need knee surgery and will be out 12 to 16 months. In this day and age where the NFL proclaims that player safety is its number one priority, I'm beyond angry. 
• Alabama's quarterback seems like a nice young man with a hot girlfriend, hot mom, but one freaky chest tattoo.
• In case you haven't heard, we might want to build an ark based upon the amount of rain we are about to get. 
• I think the Little Kid In The House (who is staying until Friday!) and Mrs. LL are about to go to war. They can only stay cute for so long, right?
• It was announced yesterday that our state government has an $8.8 billion surplus. Thanks for the conservative Texas GOP for not taxing us too much. 
• If you heard the Al Roker story from yesterday, you may never want to watch Al Roker again. That is beyond bizarre to tell that story.
• The Eighter From Decatur apartments caught on fire yesterday. That wasn't the first time. 
• Just think: President Obama's second term hasn't even started yet. 
• The Family Unit bought some Dance Game for the X-box.  Let me tell you, it ain't American Bandstand. It's all set in a club of your choosing. And let me tell you, it's not Frilly's or Bono's.
• The 911 operator who took the call from the guy in Grapevine who said he "might have two dead teenagers in his house" sounded like he almost passed out from shock. Don't blame him. (But they will never be able to tag the other surviving kid in the house with Criminally Negligent Homicide for not getting help in time -- there's just not going to be enough evidence.)

Is That A Trooper Car In A Handicap Spot At The Whataburger In Decatur?

Edit: That's one tricked up paint job. Maybe it's just an old handicap space.

And Another

2013 comes out the blocks fast. Story.

Very Random Federal Appeals Court Opinion Issued Today

Excerpt from it:

A prosecutor named Luke Skywalker? Really? Yep, he changed his name from Stephen Peters after seeing the original Star Wars.

Calling All English Minded Folks

The editor of D Magazine just posted this on Twitter with the caption of "Dangling modifier of the day."  Lord knows I can't see it. You? Teach us.

LeAnn Rimes Bringing in 2013 In Cabo

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Up until I tore my Achilles a few years back, I used to brag about never having spent a night in the hospital. Over Thanksgiving, I learned I was admitted to Cook's Children's Hospital when I was 18 months old. 
• X-box with the kinect is amazing technology. I'm giving big thumbs up.
• Sports: (1) RG3 had no business being on the field after the first quarter yesterday because he was so hobbled. If he hasn't torn his ACL or MCL, I'll be shocked. (2) I've watched a ton of college football in my life, but I've never seen a better performance than Johnny Manziel against Oklahoma. (3) Hockey is back? Meh. (4) I bet the Aggies will open up in the Top Five next year. 
• Two Southlake teens died of an overdose. I bet they "got hold of some of the wrong stuff."  And another guy was arrested in the incident who has one crazy book in photo.
• I mentioned my buddy Robert Wagstaff last Friday. His hunting accident made the Abilene news. He's lucky to be alive. 
• I've never had a flu shot. 
• There are lots of headlines about a Cleburne pastor having acted in prior porn films. His actual quote was, "Me and my ex-wife were in porn, we were in the booze and the drugs.” I think that's an admission of watching porn, not starring in it. (And after seeing his interview last night on the news, he was pretty easy to forgive.)
• The Ticket/Cumulus ran a radio ad a month or so ago advertising for a position in sales for females who were also young. Uh, you can't do that. I heard it once and have never heard it again. I'm guessing someone pointed that out to them. 
• And Another.