Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I live in a subdivision not far from a creek.  About two weeks ago I started noticing a ton -- and I do mean a ton -- of birds everywhere and this weekend it dawned on me: Doves. 
• I watched the first episode of The Knick over the weekend. It's a medical drama set in 1900 New York starring Clive Owen as a cocaine addicted doctor. It was intense. It was fantastic. It was like House on acid. 
• Texas Police Chief shot dead. 
• One thing I noticed about the 1960s Bridgeport Indexes I've been going through is that there was a poll tax imposed at the time. In fact, there was a local vote on the issue and it was supported by a 2 to 1 margin. (Those issues are like a snapshot in time, and I'm posting quite a few of them this week.)
• Most of adult life I didn't have kids in the house but paid a fortune in school taxes. Socialism! And, you know, I didn't mind paying it one bit if I were helping contribute to the greater good.
• Texas Monthly's latest issue has a great article on the state of UT's athletic program. Let me tell you something, the Empire better keep an eye on new AD Steve Patterson and give him a very short leash.  (And doesn't he resemble the stuttering lawyer from my cousin Vinny?)
• Patterson defended players not being paid saying saying that, in essence, the school is doing them a favor. After all, "No corporations are going to be lining up to pay them money out of high school." Sheesh, buddy. That's because the slowly dying NCAA won't let them get paid by a corporation. Get ready, these times they are a changing. You don't think a corporation wouldn't sponsor players on Rivals.com Top 100 of 2014 list if they could? Patterson, by the way, earns $1.4 million a year.
• Texas Monthly, by the way, is my favorite magazine of all time.
• Up until 1989, only a metal rail separated those being subjected to a Texas execution and those who were there from the public to observe it. (Source: Texas Monthly.) More death penalty trivia: The first man in the U.S. ever executed by lethal injection was a Fort Worth man, Charlie Brooks. His last words will make some of you crazy.
• Football: (1) Denver receiver Wes Welker had his third concussion in less than a year, and Sam Bradford tore his ACL for the second time in a year.  The NFL won't survive fifty years from now --- Too big. Too fast. (2)  Michael Sams (the guy who just happens to be gay) sacked Johnny Football on Saturday and flashed the money sign. I'm surprised ESPN didn't go 24/7 coverage on that event alone. (3) I watched some of Sam Houston State play Eastern Washington on Saturday and almost had my eyes burned due to the red field. (Photo.) (4) I think Tony Romo has a tiny, tiny limp. That back isn't going to make it through the season. (5) Ticket reference: Michael Irvin was in the booth for the Cowboys game on Saturday and every time he spoke I could only hear, "Allen ISD, Closed! Alvord ISD, Closed!"
• More mothers are crying this morning than at any other time of the year. 
• The Junior in the House has four minutes between classes. 
• Journalist James Foley was executed by a 23 year old British rapper who joined ISIS?
• I woke up in the middle of Friday night and watched two episodes of The Simpsons -- part of an FXX marathon. I really hadn't watched that show in years but I had heard that the first part of this weekend would have shows from its "golden years". Verdict: I had forgotten how incredibly clever and funny that thing was. 
• If Jon Stewart doesn't target Fox News coverage of yesterday's earthquake, he's missing out on a goldmine. Case in point, reporter Claudia Cowan, showing a shot of several broken wine bottles on a convenience store floor, said, "As you can see, guys, there is just total devastation here."
• I mentioned that my high school class had somewhat spare Dallas Cowboy Scott Laidlaw speak at our Bridgeport All Sports Banquet. I learned the 1974 class had Lee Roy Jordan speak.
• Double motorcycle death in Grapevine over the weekend.
• There's an ad for a diet pill on The Ticket and it says it is "only for people who are overweight by thirty pounds" and to "discontinue to take this product if you lose too much weight too quickly."  I yell at the radio every time. What lies. 
• Fascinating story of a guy accused of shooting a drunk driver who killed two of his young sons in Alvin, Texas. Even more fascinating in that his defense is not "I'm sorry, I lost my mind. Give me probation" or "I was temporarily insane -- find me not guilty". Nope, his defense is, "I didn't shoot him."
• Holy crap: Official Liberally Lean baseball player Chris Davis is batting .191!
• Someone mentioned that there are people dying all over the world because of a lack of clean water and people in the U.S. are dumping it over their heads.