Worthy Of Channel 8 Coverage?

Story and video.

Ton of comments on Facebook about this story.

Above The Fold

I'd Hate Having Friday Night Duty At The Messenger

But someone over there is not very familiar with how a box score works. (Original page.)

Fire

Structure Fire (Wise County, Newark) Multiple departments are working a structure fire off CR 4847 and FM 718.... http://t.co/y2hv3mZue6
— DFW Scanner (@DFWscanner) September 13, 2013

GIF Of The Day: Regretful Foul Mouthed Tech Girl

Crazy Like A Fox

From last night's Tech/TCU game.

Some speculated that this was a publicity stunt by Fox Sports which has launched its own all sports station.  What did they have to say for themselves? . . . .

We're getting a lot of tweets about a FOX on the field. We cannot confirm nor deny any involvement.
— FOXSportsLive (@FOXSportsLive) September 13, 2013

Greg Abbott Hired This Guy!!!!

Last year I went a little nuts over how horribly the campaigns of Rick Perry for President and David Dewhurst for Senate were conducted. And I was dang near giddy when (after more research than I normally would have to do, I discovered the campaigns were run by the same guy. My post began:

So yesterday there was some political commotion when Greg Abbott's "top political adviser" tweeted that Wendy Davis was "too stupid" to be Governor. Who was that "top political adviser", THAT GUY!!! He hired that guy!!!

I thought Abbott was a shoe-in for governor.  Not any more. That guy could screw up Ronald Reagan running for chairman of the the Tea Party in Wise County.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Email last night: "Rhome city council just voted to eliminate the paid first responder position on the fire department."  Sounds like there's lots going on in the background down there. 
• A female inmate in the Wise County Courthouse complimented my tie the other day as I passed her in the hallway. She didn't want any help because she was getting out of jail that day. She was just being nice. While in handcuffs. And in an orange jumpsuit.
• I had another inmate I was in the same room with say, "Hi, Mr. Green. Have you lost weight?" I have no idea who he was. (And I definitely haven't lost weight.)
• It's so easy to forget when watching Breaking Bad that we've already seen the future with Walt walking through his abandoned house (and buying a car with a machine gun in the trunk.) We just have to get there. 
• Tarrant County prosecutors are pursing a "deteminative sentencing" option against the teenager who allegedly drove drunk and killed four people in southern Tarrant County.  He faces up to 20 years with a twist. If sentenced, say, to 15 years. He serves up until his 18th birthday in a juvenile facility. Then there is an all important hearing where the juvenile judge decides whether the remainder of the sentence should be spent in adult TDC or whether he be released immediately on parole under juvenile jurisdiction until 21. (I think that's the way it works -- I'm not sure we've ever had a true determinative sentencing case in Wise County's history.)
• I heard that one Keller high school administrator came over the loud speaker on 9/11 to mention that historic day to the students but did so by referring to it as a day when "the Muslims" flew the planes into the World Trade Center. He later came back and apologized. This is unconfirmed, but I'm pretty sure it happened. 
• I really haven't listened to it, but it just seems weird that Kelli Rasberry and the bunch have continued with the Kidd Kraddick radio show. It would be like watching Seinfeld with Elaine, Kramer and George yuking it up in episodes after Jerry had suddenly passed away in real life. 
• I rarely use any type of paper. I've gotten to the point now where I email myself quick notes or use an iPad note taking app (using a stylus) for longer writing sessions.
• "A Keller man was sentenced to five years [deferred adjudication] probation Thursday for taking photographs up a woman’s skirt while she was shopping at a North Richland Hills store last year." I wonder if his lawyer knows that the statute his client was charged under was declared unconstitutional last week by a San Antonio court? (Maybe so. The San Antonio ruling is by no means the final word, and the lawyer might have agreed to give up a constitutional challenge in exchange for a good deal.)
• The other day my bank mailed me my bank statement as well as the statements of three other people. Somehow the three other statements got affixed to the back of my envelope. It was so weird that I'm surprised the post office didn't catch it.  
• Tech/TCU Thoughts: (1) I bet TCU will be yelling about the officiating for weeks. (2) Does Gary Patterson really have to scream at a player when he's two inches from his face? (3) Mrs. LL said during the game, "This is sooooo confusing." Due to all the crazy plays, replays, and rulings, I couldn't have agreed more. (4) There's a famous (and awkward) video clip of the Tech bell ringer. Deadspin put up a new one last night. 

Alabama Taking You Into The Weekend

Sorry Aggie.

This Guy Is Going To Die, Right?

Jonathan Trappe, 39, lifted off at 6.20 am EDT in heavy fog from Caribou, Maine, with the intention of making the 2,500 mile trip across the Atlantic to Europe.

Should he succeed, he would be the first ever person to cross the ocean by cluster ballooning. The journey is expected to take between three to five days, although the final destination could be anywhere.

More. (And youtube of lift off.)

Hey, I'm no Charles Lindbergh and my only experience in flying is sitting by a fat guy in coach from time to time, but this guy can't possibly make it.

I know how helium balloons work. I went to Six Flags as a kid. You bring it home and it's fat and tight and just wants to glue itself to the ceiling.   Then you wake up the next morning and you end up with little Barry tears rolling down your little Barry cheeks as the balloon is a shell of its once proud self. Heck, by evening your trying not to step on the dang thing. It's like watching the circle of life in 24 hours.

So this guy thinks those balloons are going to last three to five days? No way, buddy. I hope you've never watched Open Water -- this ain't gonna end pretty. Life's not a cartoon.

More Proof The World Has Gone Nuts

An Aggies fan just paid $115,000 for the rights to own this license plate http://t.co/tlH8VRAlUH
— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) September 12, 2013

Edit: That fan . . .

Edit: I forgot I kind of dogged this guy back in March. He was also mentioned in the May issue of Texas Monthly after suing Stanley Marsh, the eccentric artist out of Amarillo responsible for "ten tail-finned Cadillacs in a field alongside Route 66 . . . .  all of them inclined at the precise angle (52 degrees) of the sides of the Great Pyramid."

Somebody Put Michelle On The Horn!!!

Reddit  - It sounds like the original issue was that the company missed an appointment. Somehow the issue escalated to where a Michelle (probably a supervisor in a department who could do more to help) was made aware of the situation. She called him and left a voicemail and then probably went home. When the customer called back and tried to reach her or her department, because they had gone home, he kept being rerouted to the customer service/technical support department. After over 3 hours of it, he had had enough. This is his epic meltdown.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I checked on yesterday's ABC reporter's statement that a 9/11 victim was found in an apartment strapped in his plane seat. Yep, urban legend. But it's pretty shocking that a national reporter continues to believe it. 
• Boyd's own Chewbacca has had double knee replacement in Fort Worth. Has anyone ever seen him out and about in Wise County?
• I learned last night that the lyrics to Barbara Streisand's Memories are "light the corners of my mind" instead of my life long mistaken belief of "like the corners of my mind." Well, that certainly makes more sense. 
• If you are lower income and have been beaten down by the stupid Texas "surcharges" driving law, DPS announced a plan yesterday where you can get them sliced in half and get your driver's license back. 
• From the Update: "Boyd theater department is seeking a large cast of extras for a web-based show called Party Girl."  Is that part of the high school or some independent group? If its the school, I would think some administrator asked, "Now what exactly are you doing?"
• Fox 4 showed the video last night of Heath "Hooter" Boswell of Bridgeport getting stomped by the bull at a Decatur rodeo on Saturday but didn't show the moment of impact because it was too graphic. I bet it was. 
• I got 99 problems and my home air-conditioning, once again, is one of them. 
• The Fort Worth city council told Redneck Heaven (at Beach and 820) that it can no longer bypass city nudity ordinances by clarifying that body paint and liquid latex do not qualify as clothes. Does the Far Right Wing consider that to be an over-reaching act of Big Government? 
• Miss Montana Kansas is competing in the preliminaries of the Miss America pageant and is sporting a huge tattoo. (But don't you think she could have been a little more original than using the Serenity Prayer?)
• Sports: (1) I wouldn't bet a dime on TCU/Tech tonight -- I have no idea who will win. (2) The Rangers will stumble down the finish but barely hang on for the final wild card slot. (3) How bad was Dallas' defense on Sunday? They gave up a shocking and league leading 8.1 yards per play. (4) I have a lot of doubts if that lady truly swam unaided from Cuba to Key West.

The Great Decatur Taco Casa Credit Card Number Heist Made WFAA News

Provided Without Comment

Story.

Her Facebook.

Tarrant County Death Row Inmate News

This morning, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals curtailed the death machine that is the Texas justice system in an opinion concerning a death penalty case out of Tarrant County.

It beings:

In this case, we are asked to decide whether state or federal law disallows the execution of a mentally ill inmate who was previously found incompetent to be executed and later became competent only after he was involuntarily medicated pursuant to a court order . . . .  [W]e hold that the trial court's order mandating involuntary medication of appellant was not permitted under the competency-to-be-executed statute and did not meet the requirements of other statutes that may permit involuntary medication. Because the trial court lacked authority to render it, we vacate the trial court's involuntary-medication order. Furthermore, we determine that, but for that unauthorized order, the evidence conclusively shows that appellant is incompetent to be executed, and, therefore, we also vacate the trial court's order finding appellant competent to be executed.

The trial court's decision to drug the guy so he could be executed even caught my attention in 2006.

Someone Is Having A Bad Day On 820 in Fort Worth

Source.

Film Crew In Decatur

Some series on the History Channel called Bullionaires which has to do with bull riding. (I can find basically nothing about the show.)

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Right out of The Wire:  It's now been revealed that a guy shot to death on his porch in Dallas had $900,000 in cash in his house along with ledgers that reveal he may have had proceeds of $28 million in drug sales over the last decade.
• The President's speech last night: Ok, that was a mess. It looked like he took his original text with the "we need to bomb" them theme and inserted a few sentences with the "maybe not" theme. He probably should have cancelled that. 
• Hey, I agree with most of The Right that bombing Syria is a silly idea, but it's funny to listen to the conservative pundits last night and pretend they were talking about Saddam Hussein and WMDs before the Iraq invasion. 
• There's a story in the Messenger about the survivors of the man killed at Bridgeport Tank Trucks earlier this year has filed a lawsuit. Hey, Messenger, name the lawyers involved next time. 
• The Mess's story about the rodeo participant from Bridgeport who had his face literally crushed by a bull last weekend in Decatur sounds horrific. 
• It's the 9/11 Anniversary with far less references to it, is seems, than in years pass. 
• WBAP had ABC News' Aaron Katersky on this morning to talk about the anniversary. He casually mentioned a New Yorker who was kept out of her apartment for a week after the attacks, but when she was allowed back in she discovered a plane seat had crashed through her apartment window and a body was still strapped in it. Anyone ever heard that before? Sounds very urban legend like.
• Hal Jay then asked him if there was any kind of memorial ceremony at the site today "which will draw 200,000 to 300,000" people. 
• The driver of [the car who was not killed by] the dump truck involved in the double fatality wreck on LBJ yesterday is 40 years old and has eight kids. The deceased couple is TD Mullikin, Jr., 83 and his wife Charlyn, 81 of Trophy Club. I think this is a Facebook photo of them and grandkids. 
• Mark Davis lost his mind again this morning proclaiming that America has not won a war since World War II (yep, he said that) because we don't have the resolve like we did back then. Vietnam, for example, is a place where we "cut and ran." He might want to consult the more than 50,000 families of dead soldiers if we should have stayed and continued to raise the casualty count. 
• And a tweet from Davis last night about current America: "The reason we are war weary is that we have been denied victory by our unwillingness to kill enough of the enemy to win." Sheesh. Yeah, nothing makes me less war weary than more dead bodies. 
• Nathan Hecht is set to be named Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. In 2007, he engaged in political conduct while a judge which I thought so shocking that I thought he needed to be removed from office. 
• From the archives . . . 

Above The Fold

Above The Fold - Delayed Edition From Last Weekend Because I Screwed Something Up

Time For The Internet Experts To Judge This Thing

This has gone viral. (Side note: What doesn't?) Basically, the premise is that this guy just had surgery and is waking up. But he's still out of it due to the drugs. Doesn't recognize his wife. Is surprised to learn they are married. He is stunned. Tells her she's beautiful, how he's hit the jackpot, yada yada yada.

Any of you guys think this is fake? I think I'm leaning that way. Does it make a difference that he's an actor.

Run To The Border

Story.

Jumped out at me:

So many dead bodies of those trying to enter the country are found that Brooks County will spend over $800,000 this year burying the unclaimed bodies.

But this is what really surprised me: “Probably 60 percent to 70 percent of the groups we encounter are not Mexican,” said Dr. Mike Vickers, who started the group and who owns a ranch in South Texas. “We see a lot of Chinese and people from India and Pakistan.”

Something's Not Right

The story says that the trooper who arrested her was suspended for misconduct, and that "Parker County, Texas, Prosecutor John Forest told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette . . .) that his office had two years to pursue the case against Walton. But the trooper's suspension won't be over by the Oct. 7 deadline."

Not so fast.  The County Attorney has two years to file the case. Not two years to "pursue" it. (Most DWI cases are filed within three months of the arrest.) And the fact that the trooper is still on suspension while the deadline expires means nothing -- the prosecutor doesn't even need the trooper's signature to formally file the case.

Now if the trooper's misconduct were to be admissible during the DWI trial (it isn't a foregone conclusion that it is), then I can see how the prosecutor might want to boot the case. But having two years to file the case has nothing to do with it.

Story.

LBJ Is Under Major Construction . . .

BREAKING: Dallas Fire confirms one dead in deadly wreck at 635 & Marsh pic.twitter.com/hxWstDtPbM
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) September 10, 2013

. . . at that location and it's always jammed pack with traffic with no shoulders to bail out on. A dump truck jumping the dividing barrier means big trouble.

Britney Spears Coming In Hot

She posted it yesterday on Twitter.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Barnes and Nobles in downtown Fort Worth is closing. I'm not sure there will be any physical book stores in a few years. 
• "Hundreds" of Texas judges were evacuated at a judicial conference last week after a threatening note was found. The evacuation occurred in the last two hours of a week long conference -- I'm stunned "hundreds" were still there. 
• Sports: (1) Everyone is freaking out about a Sports Illustrated five day report about corruption in the Oklahoma State football program. So far I haven't heard anything that we all didn't suspect was going on everywhere. Here's the cover of the new issue. Here's part one. (2) RG3 was awful in the first half last night but better in the second. Maybe not playing at all in the preseason wasn't a good idea after all. (3) Texas wasted another great pitching performance from Yu Darvish last night.  Since the ballpark opened, The Rangers have lost 16 games by a 1-0 score. Three of those are this season with Yu Darvish starting.
• The President is backing off his desire to bomb Syria but is still going to address the nation tonight. What in the heck for? 
• Had an appearance in the comments section yesterday by Double Fake Speaks Volumes Guy. That's funny. 
• Jenny McCarthy was (awkwardly) interviewed by WBAP's Hal Jay and Brian Estridge this morning. Estridge asked if she still believes that her son was "cured" of autism. She says she has never used that word in any of the books or newspaper columns she has written. Once the interview was over, Estridge said, "She's said her son was cured of autism." He either wasn't listening or didn't have the courage to challenge her. 
• Names on the North Texas delinquent tollway fare violators list: Dez Bryant ($162), Tony Romo ($1632), and Deion Sanders ($1035). When "fees" are added, they owe many times more than that. 
• Miley Cyrus releases a new music video and she's even crazier than before. 
• I've long been irritated about the cops/media using the term "person of interest" because it is just code for "suspect" with the hope that a defamation claim can be avoided if they are wrong. Now we've got a great example of Alan Mason who was named last week as a person of interest in a series of south Dallas rapes. Uh, he didn't do it. 
• "As many suspected but few wanted to believe, the 'Worst Twerk Fail EVER' video that went viral last week—including airtime on ABC's The View, CBS' The Talk and countless others, along with more than 9 million views on YouTube at last count—was a hoax. Watch Jimmy Kimmel and stuntwoman Daphne Avalon [who were responsible for it] with the big reveal."

Oh, My

A Waco sign company has created a decal that goes on the tailgate of a pickup showing a blonde woman, her hair covering her face and her hands and feet tied up. When placed on the tailgate, it creates the optical illusion that there’s actually a woman who’s tied up and in the bed of the truck.

Johnny Football At Cowboy Game Last Night

Not that there's anything wrong with that. And talk about "Hey, now."

Source.

I Think He And His Wife Are Divorcing

George Zimmerman in custody after gun incident - Full story: http://t.co/DkPCFav1E0
— ABC News (@ABC) September 9, 2013

$21,316,743

The amount Texas has received in federal funding for "Abstinence Only" Education under Obamacare.

I don't know where to start. Texas hates the federal government, and especially Obamacare, but readily accepts federal funds for programs that cater to the Far Right?

College Football GIFs From The Weekend

 Johnny Football being Johnny Football. In more ways than one. Alabama is a

 9 point favorite this week.

 Michigan's coach desperately tried to call a time out. The ref didn't see him. The play 

happened and Michigan scored anyway. His reaction. 

 Brent Musburger interviewing Eminem. Just because. 

Not technically a GIF, but this is how your boss looks at you when you'll be fired the next day. 

Idiocracy?

Lebron James, Jerry Jones, and Hulk Hogan last night.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• When did air travel turn into the equivalent of riding a bus. Sheesh, it's a beating these days. But the normally grumpy American Airlines flight attendants were in very positive moods.
• I am getting close to the ending of Empire of the Summer Moon and read it on the plane. An elderly guy in a Cowboy hat sitting next to me on the plane said, "I don't want to bother you, but you've got a great book there." For a little known book, I can't tell you the number of people who have told me they've read it. 
• On the way flight back we sat by a guy who looked like a thinner John Lock from Lost. We asked him if he had ever heard that before, and he said "all the time." 
• Leaving the Ole Miss game there was a college student on his cell phone calling a buddy to tell him that a girl was saying he (the buddy) had sexually assaulted her. The odds of Mrs. LL and I slowing our pace so we could hear the conversation? 100%.
• I don't know how we got around before the GPS guide. Mrs. LL's phone has one which is so good we can just have to listen for the instructions and hardly ever have to look down at it. 
• FBC of Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress somehow gets space in the Dallas Morning News to fire off an opinion on Syria. He opines that the President's wish to bomb Syria for using gassing children would be more persuasive if he didn't support abortion.  Way to stay focused there, pastor. 
• Memphis Beale Street: Meh. Much smaller than I thought it would be without that many people. (But there was a huge police presence with females having their purse searched before they entered the area. Which gives rise to an interesting Fourth Amendment issue: You have to agree to be searched before entering a public street?)
• Did we go the entire weekend without Memphis BBQ? Yes.  Arrived Friday and went to the rehearsal dinner. It was a Saturday morning wedding with a lunch reception. We then were at the Ole Miss game from 3:00 to 9:00 and snacked on stadium food. And our flight left the next morning at 11:00. 
• My nephew's wedding was great. I think that's the first person I've ever seen married who I was also at the the hospital for their birth. 
• They are going to Jamaica for their honeymoon. It reminded me of the time I was there and a guy on the beach tried to sell me and two New Jersey cops some weed. When they told they were with law enforcement, he fist bumped them and said, with a Jamaican accent,  "Respect!" 
• Sports: (1) Cowboy fans need to tap the brakes. They won last night because of six turnovers by the Giants. Otherwise, they would have gotten killed. (2) Evil Empire Chaos: The Horns gave up a shocking 550 yards on the ground to BYU and, on the following day, fire their defensive coordinator. That's borderline panic mode. (3) Baylor set a school record with 781 total yards against Buffalo and is averaging 47 points in the first half. 
• A fan fell to his death at the 49ers game. Man, that happens a lot these days.

The Ghosts Of My Ole Miss Field Trip

So Mrs. LL and I journeyed up to Memphis for my nephew's wedding, and then ventured on down Saturday afternoon to the University of Mississippi for a football game.  Random Thoughts . . .

• Everyone has always told me, being the fan of the college football road trip, that I had to go to Ole Miss and see the tailgating at The Grove. Verdict: It was beyond fantastic. I've been to games at LSU, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan, Aggieland, UT, -- those come to mind. But nothing comes close to this. I want to go back in time and enroll there. 
• The campus has a few acres (the Grove)  in the middle of campus which is blanketed by old southern trees and every inch is taken over by tents on game day. And food. And alcohol. And friends.
• This photo doesn't do it justice. This is just the beginning as you walk into the masses . . . 
• 
• Mrs. LL insisted on wearing a breezy dress (she did some research online), and I told her she was crazy. She, as is so often the case, was right. From the sorority girls to moms to grand-moms, they all wore dresses. I've never seen so many red dresses in my life.
• If there was a uniform for the guys, it was a red shirt and khaki shorts. That's what I wore (as I dug through the closet before the trip to find a red shirt.) I just want to blend in and observe.
• The hospitality of almost everyone was fantastic. But, as in all places, there are the problem children in the world. These two gals saw the huge dog and wanted their picture taken with it. Apparently the cigarette smoking boyfriend wasn't prompt enough as the girl in the red yelled, "Take my [expletive deleted] picture!!!]. Some guy will marry her one day. Some guy will regret it. 
• 
• But I did see an old guy with, perhaps, a mail order bride. In leather pants. In hot weather. I'm not judging. Promise. (Mrs. LL noticed that there was a price tag on the bottom of her shoe.)
• 
• And it was Mrs. LL who scurried up to take that photo by the way. I would never do such a thing. 
• Lots of girls in heels. 
• One thing I was very interested in was any historical references to James Meredith, the first black man to enroll at the university in 1962 which led to a riot one night.  I had heard that you could still see bullet holes in the administration building's bricks which were caused either by the National Guard or rednecks with rifles. It's true. I put my finger in three or four of them and almost teared up.
• There's a statue of Meredith walking to a monument memorializing his enrollment. I thought it funny that three white boys were casually relaxing in it and had Mrs. LL snap a pic. One of them was bouncing a tennis ball against one of the columns. 
• 
• The game experience, against an opponent they were favored to beat by 54, was fantastic. The place was rockin'. And, dare I say, more electric that the LSU game I saw last year against Washington. 
• The stadium has signage noting that Ole Miss won the National Championship in 1959, 1960, and 1962. It also has signs for the school's SEC championships which does not include 1959. I didn't notice that. Mrs. LL did. She asked me, "How did they win the National Championship but not win their conference in 1959?" That's a great question. I can kind of see it happening now (with a bit of a fluke) but back then? I've got to research that. 
• It was a bit  of a delay to get in . . . 
• 
• I'll probably update this . . . but I'm tired.