Tweet from DFW Scanner (@DFWscanner)

	DFW Scanner (@DFWscanner)
11/30/13, 8:02 PM Wise/Montague County Accident *UPDATE - 4th helicopter requested will be CareFlite 1. Air Evac 68 and 55 along with PHI Med 10 all working.

University Park High Tone Family Chaos?

Amber Alert ~ Elle Holland, 12 yrs old & Asher Holland, 8 yrs old. Believed to be w/Clifford Holland, 43 yrs old. pic.twitter.com/W9V9jYbcZi
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) November 29, 2013

AMBER ALERT: Suspect driving black 2011 Mercedes w/ plate CC2T531 or red Mini Cooper w/ plate RHC920 @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/cdSvrHWM2r
— Marie Saavedra (@MSaavedraTV) November 29, 2013

University Park PD now says Amber Alert for Asher Holland "was not supposed to be activated." http://t.co/wszEjfpTwA
— Robert Wilonsky (@RobertWilonsky) November 29, 2013

Ain't No Black Friday Like A Puerto Rican Black Friday

Uh, For You People That Live At 2200 Thomas Pl., We Apologize

I finally got around to reading the Star-Telegram's commemorative edition of stories about the JFK assassination and remarked to Mrs. LL that most of the time anyone who was interviewed had their actual address printed. And I'm not talking about witnesses, I mean just the "man on the street" interview. And if the media would do that back then, they certainly would print the address of those who are the center of the current news.

And then I came across this retraction.

The whole newspaper is fascinating. There are so many gems like Dallas D.A. Henry Wade saying about Oswald after his arrest, "We will ask the jury to electrocute him." And that was less than 24 hours after the shooting.

380 Is A Mess

Fatality accident. Social media says it looks horrible.

New Fox 4 Gal Is Not A Favorite Of Every Viewer

RT @GoodDayFox4 Not sure we are watching the same newscast Rene??? pic.twitter.com/uE45oHFMnS
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) November 29, 2013

I feel she is looking at me in un-Christian like manner at this moment.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I've never shopped on Black Friday nor will I ever.
• And there's already been a Black Friday shopping fight. Edit: A ton of fights! Including one from Saginaw.
• I think Mrs. LL and the Kids went shopping at midnight, but I didn't stay up to find out. I was exhausted.
• I ran the Fort Worth Turkey Trot yesterday morning, and it was fantastic. Cold but clear weather with no wind. (And shout out to the Bridgeport person who said hi to me in the mass of people after it was over.) I ran the 8 mile Dallas Turkey Trot for fifteen years or more but have abandoned it over the last three. 
• A stranger and I actually fist bumped as we crossed the 10K finish line. And I initiated it. I don't do things like that. 
• During the race, I ran by one home which had a freshly mangled "Wrong Way" street sign laying in its front yard. That was both funny and disturbing. 
• Mrs. LL was up and cooking by 5:30 a.m. 
• Did you see that Baylor coach Art Briles' brother has died? He fell and hit his head. He was 57. Briles has had his share of tragedies. 
• Boy, did I get grilled about King's Spa at the Thanksgiving table.
• Another earthquake near Azle last night. So bizarre.
• "It looks like her clothes are made by Sherman Williams." - Random comment in the house yesterday during the Selena Gomez halftime show.
• Just when I was recovering from OSU's beat down of Baylor, now I've got to worry about the Evil Empire after its beating (41-16) of Texas Tech last night. And I'm not comfortable at all about Saturday's game against TCU.
• Mrs. LL discovered Coach Bro/Kliff Kingsbury last night. Calm yourself, girl. 
• Fox 4 was showing live shots of various stores and shopping malls this morning and the places were basically empty. Seriously.
• I haven't watched a second of their season, but Brooklyn Nets fans are apparently worried that new head coach Jason Kidd has no idea what he is doing. And that wasn't predictable? (Although I don't want to rain on his parade.) 
• If you had given me nine to twelve months to design healthcare.gov, I could have done it and done it well. And I'm serious. 
• I watched about 15 minutes of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. With the exception of the occasional high school band, that thing is one long commercial disguised as floats. And, man, that thing is lip-syncing city. 
• Speaking of, I listened to the Cowboys radio broadcast on the way home yesterday. Talk about sponsors. Domino's Pizza replay. The Sony monitor. The Star Power first down. 
• Great moment on The Today Show this morning as they were interviewing the CEO of U.S. Walmart, Bill Simmon, about the decision to open on Thanksgiving. "Before I let you go," the anchor said, "Walmart International announced a new CEO earlier in the week. A lot of people thought it would be you. It was not you. Are you disappointed? Do you feel snubbed?" You could almost see the fire in his eyes as he replied back, "I appreciate your interest in my career. Thank you very much." 
• I saw a billboard in Fort Worth of a lawyer who used to be fairly famous for personal injury suits. Now the billboard reads, "We Sue Bad Lawyers." 
• A Tony Romo press conference after a game is silly: "We just need to work hard at practice and get better."  He says it every single time. An RG3 press conference these days sounds like he is talking to a therapist. 

sdf

Thanksgiving

And my annual post from 2005.

Run!

Since he is accused of a crime from last year, I'm guessing he was reporting to probation because it was a condition of his bond.

Story.  And here's the back story.

America's Whipping Boy

This week's Sports Illustrated.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• I ended up at a "trampoline park" last night for a birthday party, and it was fantastic. I didn't anticipate doing a front flip into a pile of sponges, but I did.
• And then somehow I ended up in a dodgeball game played on trampolines. It was bizarrely fun with high school kids firing off foam balls at me at million miles an hour.  Of course, my enthusiasm was diffused a bit when this kid beside turned to me and said, "Don't have a heart attack." Wise guy. 
• If this picture is real from yesterday, Los Angeles traffic makes the metroplex look like NASCAR.
• It has been twenty years since the Leon Lett/Ice Field fumble.Twenty years! And it was fifteen years ago today that Ricky Williams broke the NCAA rushing record against the Aggies.
• You'll do a doubletake at the cover of the New York Times this morning.
• Alec Baldwin utters a homophobic slur and his show gets cancelled? Everyone sure is on a short leash these days. 
• We had the service tech out to fix the DVR/TV connection which required a complete reset. All shows had to be deleted. All "season passes" had to be cancelled. First world problems.
• UNT beat Incarnate Word in basketball yesterday.  I had heard of that school before but Incarnate Word is an odd name. "Incarnate", by the way, means a deity or spirit embodied in flesh (I had to look it up.)
• Finally!: The Star-Telegram, or more specifically Bud Kennedy, writes about the Judge Jerry Ray tirade. "Presiding juror Judy Kingman of Fort Worth, an elementary school speech therapist, said: 'It was horrible. He was horrible. I mean, we were absolutely chastised like children. Like we were total idiots.'"
• The new Hunger Games made $158,074,286 over the weekend. I think I heard that was the fourth best opening ever, but I'm not sure. 
• Sarah Silverman looking like a "Hey, Now."
• For the first time last night, I let the Sophomore in the House drive my car with me in the passenger seat. (She has her learner's permit.)  It was pretty white knuckled but she did really well. My only advice was "There are a lot of idiots on the road, so keep you head on a swivel."
• From the Update: "Wise Regional Health System will suspend inpatient services at its Bridgeport campus effective Dec. 1 . . . ." That's huge news, right? 
• And also a 14 year old from Chico has died. What happened? 
• Mark Davis told his audience this morning not to scoreboard fans of the President over Thanksgiving and to be respectful because "they've had a really hard month." I'm speechless. 

Above The Fold

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Great Denton book in photo.
• I was a below average athlete but I still  re-live one football play when I was a sophomore. I knew exactly what was going to happen -- a quick pass to a wide receiver that I had cheated up on as a cornerback -- and it happened exactly like I envisioned it. I was just a second to late.. Why do I still think about that?
• The Kids in the House are now becoming witty and funny. I wasn't prepared for that.
• My joke line to Mrs. LL has always been "They grow up so fast."  I'm beginning to regret that. 
• My commitment of not watching a single second of a Mavericks game is still intact.
• RG3 is in a bad way.
• A bizarre flashback yesterday. The Kids wanted to measure our living room (who knows why) so they took out the tape measure and got after it.When I was in fourth grade our class did the same thing and discovered it was 30 feet wide. I've used that standard forever. I guess that's why I told the Kids to "remember that number".
• There is not a JFK show that I'm not enthralled by.
• About 15 years ago I had the chance to buy an original AP bulletin (the thing that rolled off of a printer) of the JFK assassination for $10,000.  No way, I thought. I regret that now.
• I ran across "Panic In Needle Park" this weekend. Pacino is fantastic even at a young age
• .Mav's coach Rick Carlisle gave a terse interview a couple of nights ago and then "jokingly" called it a "Popovich" impersonation. Make no mistake: That guy is a jerk. A 100% jerk. His attempt at humor was last second damage control which, sadly, the public bought. 
• I don't think I'll ever own a home which is worthy of  being included in the  "The Tour of Homes" and I'm ok with that. 
• The "knock out game" may be the most horrific thing I've ever seen.

King's Spa

Mrs. LL and I live by Russians. Real Russians. Their accent is fantastic. And they are fantastic neighbors.

I'm not sure that matters but it makes this story a little better. The Russian mom texted Mrs. LL yesterday morning to invite the Fifth Grader in the House to go to King's Spa. Stay with me here.  For some reason, everyone in the house was downstairs before 8:00 a.m. so the morning was already surreal. It got more surreal when Mrs. LL simply handed me her phone with the King's Spa message jumping off the screen. My jaw dropped.

The only thing I could say was, "We're going, too."

Background: A couple of years ago Mrs. LL and I got lost and actually ended up driving by King's Spa. It is massive. It is mysterious. We were convinced there was a ton of seediness going on in there. So when the Russians call to invite The Kid to the place, my head exploded. Either we've got crazy neighbors or the place was nothing like we feared. But we were going. It was an invitation to an adventure.

So we load up and headed to North Dallas (the place is somewhere off Luna and Royal).  I'm nervous and prepared to bolt the moment we walk in.

My head is still spinning as we walk through the front door. First, no wearing shoes inside. Secondly, you must change into "uniforms" which are pretty much pajamas.

So what is this place? It's huge (34,000 square feet!). It's bizarre. And the concept is very Korean and very un-American: The building  has basically ten different rooms with different themes: a hot room, a warm room, an ice room, an infrared room (still not sure what that was) and on and on. You walk into one and there are people laying on mats on the floor. Some people are sleeping. Some are meditating. Each one is beyond peaceful.

Kids? Yep, they are welcomed. They have their own kid's room. And the ones I saw were all incredibly well behaved. They actually embraced the relaxation.

Verdict: That place is fantastic. If you ever want to disappear for a few hours and relax, that place was Heaven. Absolute Zen. Clean. Safe. It was nothing like I expected it to be.

As we walked in, Mrs. LL said, "Opulence?"  I replied, "We has it."

(Dallas Observer review)

The Dog

Not the actual dog, but pretty dang close.

On the way to work this morning, not more than 100 yards from my driveway, I saw what appeared to be a lost German Shepherd.  Let me correct that, he was lost.

I'm not sure what has gotten into me lately, but for some reason I stopped the car and got out. Hey, before you jump on me for a "look at what a good guy I am" post, that's not my point. I've looked the other way a shameless amount of times. An embarrassing number of times, in fact.

But this time I got out of the car in my ridiculous white shirt, tie, and overcoat and coaxed the dog over to me. It had a collar and a tag. I grabbed the collar after getting on my knees and doing my best "here puppy" voice. Then the dog leaped on me (it was as big as me) and for a second I thought it was an aggressive move and it was going to bite my face off. Nope. The dog was happy. Just playing. So at that point I was prepared to walk the dog back up to Liberally Lean Manor and surprise everyone inside that I had brought a dog home.

But this kid suddenly showed up on a bike. Out of no where.  He first asked me if that was my dog and I told him "nope" but that I thought it was lost. Now, assured that I wasn't a dog kidnapper, he told me excitedly that it was his neighbor's dog. He then took the dog by the collar and walked quickly up the street -- his bike left behind.

A good kid.

What's the point of all of the? Maybe just a message to myself that I should no longer look the other way.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Mrs. LL became violently ill yesterday (if projectile vomiting equals violently ill). I proclaimed to the Kids in the House that I was the Best Husband In The World after cleaning up a bathroom that required a trip to the grocery store to get Drano. They told me "TMI". I agree.
• As good at weather forecasting has become, those boys missed the Arctic Blast Of 2013 like nobody's business.
• The OSU beat down of Baylor was just that: A beat down. The only consolation I have is that I'm not heart broken over a last second field goal.  Baylor was beaten. Badly. No excuses.
• Channel 8 replayed the original two hours of their coverage of the JFK assassination. It was fascinating. A ramped up anchor talking and smoking while he brings in Mr. Peppermint was golden TV.
• New Fox 4 gal Jenny Anchondo is pretty hot and pretty good. Is she the reason Fiona is leaving? 
• Mrs. LL took two kids to the new Hunger Games movie at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday.
• And I know nothing about the Hunger Games but the lead actress was on David Letterman last week. The girl looked high. When she revealed that she still had to go to a premiere and a party, Letterman asked how she could hold up. She said, "They will stick a needle in my butt and say 'Dance monkey.'" Someone needs to watch that girl. 
• If you are in a tent outside of a store waiting for "Black Friday", there's a reason your in a tent and waiting. Decision making does not come easy to you. 
• I've got a great post coming about a trip to King's Spa in Dallas. I ended there yesterday.
• Judge Jerry Ray's "bizarre outburst" at a Tarrant County jury has now found its way to American Bar Association Journal where they even gave proper credit to this here blog. 
• The Fifth Grader in the House will tell me from time to time, "Good luck. We're all counting on you." And I don't think she's ever seen Airplane.
• Can I admit that Mrs. LL and I woke up on Saturday morning at 3:00 a.m. and watched The Notebook? 
• BagofNothing guy opined this morning that the Bush family legacy trumps the Kennedy family legacy. Couldn't disagree more. Substance is what we will remember. 
• There was another Fort Worth police shooting which resulted in death. I'm sure it's justified but it doesn't help that the officer was part of an outfit called the "Fugitive Unit and Zero Tolerance Unit". 
• Another Eagle Mountain Lake earthquake over night. 
• Edit: Random college football observation -- The very dumb coached Florida Gators lost to Georgia Southern who, get this, did not complete a pass and only tried to throw three times.