Above The Fold

Well, That Went Just About The Way You'd Expect

She didn't end with a bang or a whimper.  Just another glitch.

Wow

A TV viewer on the scene got a hellish photo from the CA bus-truck wreck that killed 10 http://t.co/cf9B910UgF pic.twitter.com/pUTp2jz2Iy
— FW Star-Telegram (@startelegram) April 11, 2014

(But what's "TV viewer on the scene"?)

Tech Coach Gets In A Dance Off Yesterday

I'm not real sure what the purpose of this is (team building?), but Tech had a little dance off yesterday at spring practice.  Kliff Kingsbury gets involved at 1:40.

The Hillary Shoe Duck From Yesterday

Launched by this gal who, dare I say, is kinda hot?

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• "Your mail is going everywhere, but I'm tracking it down. I've got your back." -- Decatur mailman to me in the courthouse hallway yesterday. But I'm not really sure what he is talking about.
• Heard reports that a deputy had his radio mic open in one of the Wise County courthouse offices a few days ago which prompted a conversation amongst four or five employees to be broadcast county wide.
• It was the 35th Anniversary of Wichita Falls tornado yesterday. I remember where I was later that night: In a storm cellar (or a fallout shelter -- I'm not really sure what it was built for.)
• "Iraq poised to legalize marriage for girls as young as 9".  We love bringing democracy to other countries but are horrified when they exercise it in a way that we don't agree with. 
• I've only watched a few minutes, literally, of The Colbert Report -- the guy who is getting David Letterman's slot. Because of my lack of interest, I had no idea he was doing a "character".
• "Ten people - including five teenagers - have perished after a tour bus carrying high school students collided with a FedEx truck in a horrific fiery crash in Northern California on Thursday." Good grief. 
• I hate the USA Today's web site. It's like a page hovering over a page and some video commercial will ultimately fire up. 
• Mrs. LL bought the little Google's Chromecast gadget, but I'm still not sure how it works. She sure was giddy, however, of being to broadcast a video from her phone onto the TV with the greatest of ease. 
• "The NBA issued a two-game suspension to Dallas Mavericks public-address announcer Sean Heath due to tweets criticizing officiating." Is this Russia, Danny?
• Today is the 20th anniversary of the official opening of the The Ballpark in Arlington. I was reminded this morning that a lady fell over the railing that day and plunged about 30 something feet. She didn't die but broke a few bones. WFAA tracked her down four years ago. 
• I finally watched half of that Discovery Channel show on the Wylie Axe Murderer. It was horrible. The One Act Play group at Krum High (no offense) could have done a better job. 
• Man, I missed Jeb Bush's remarks about some illegal immigrants who come here to join their families: "Yes, they broke the law, but it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love." The Far Right isn't going to let him get away with that, are they? 
• What? There's news about Kathleen Sebelius? Hadn't heard a thing.
• "Chico Mayor J.D. Clark was named 2013 Small Community Library Advocate of the Year by the Texas Library Association and Small Communities Library Round Table." If we don't hear from the DF J.D. Clark on this, I'll be disappointed. 
• A guy gets caught taking "upskirt" photos at a Target in Rockwall and then tells police, “I was actually about to go meet my probation officer for my sex addiction class.” Wheels. Are. Off.

"Woman Mugged On Brazil TV While Discussing Crime"

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian TV is showing footage of a woman being robbed while being interviewed on television about crime near Rio de Janeiro's main train station.

The images of the interview conducted Wednesday by TV Globo were posted on its G1 internet news portal.

The woman is complaining in the clip about the lack of police presence near the station when the would-be mugger approaches her from behind and rips off what appears to be a gold necklace.

The clip shows the thief fleeing down a busy street, and the reporter is seen chasing him for a few seconds.

The thief, however, was left empty handed. He dropped the necklace, which was returned to the woman.

Medicare Payments to Health Care Providers in Decatur In 2012

On Wednesday, the federal government released a massive trove of Medicare data showing how much some 880,000-plus U.S. healthcare providers were paid for their services in 2012. Fully mining the data will take months or years, but using the data to compile a list of the top Medicare billers took mere minutes.

The database. I searched for Decatur and got four pages -- the first one is above. Hey, no one says the payments aren't legit (so don't start dogging the docs in the comments.) But since it deals with health insurance paid for by the government, I'm sure that'll fire someone up.

Source.

Nate Newton was a patient in Decatur?

Watched the Great Wall of Dallas last night, the story of the 90s Cowboys offensive line and saw this pic.twitter.com/7vIw7dlQDi
— Richard Greene (@WCM_RGreene) April 10, 2014

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• The Drudge Report is all over an armed standoff between the feds and a Nevada rancher. Kind of reminds me Ruby Ridge.
• Sports: (1) Josh Hamilton will miss six to eight weeks after sliding into first and hurting his hand. He's got to be one of the dumbest guys ever to play baseball. (2) Ron Washington stopped down yesterday's game to go lefty against lefty which immediately backfired once again. (3) Food prices at The Masters are incredibly cheap. (4) Every time I hear Fuzzy Zoeller's name, I think of him referencing fried chicken and collard greens in 1997.
• The 16 year old allegedly responsible for the Pennsylvania school stabbing looks, well, 16.
• And the student who pulled a fire alarm during the attack took a selfie of himself later at the hospital. Well, of course. 
• Got home yesterday and there was a new carpenter's level equipped with a laser laying on the counter that Mrs. LL had bought. I didn't even ask. 
• Two days ago going into Decatur on 287 I saw a car with carefully stenciled letters on its bumper which read "Back The [Expletive] Off".  The letters were at least three to four inches tall, it was the only words/stickers on the back, and it was a regular sedan.  So weird. So disturbing.
• The prosecutor in the South African Blade Runner trial is doing lots of yelling during his cross-examination but making little headway. 
• Got some push back yesterday for allowing a fake WordKyle to post on here. I just don't think there's any chance people confusing the two. 
• One of the worst ideas ever placed into Texas Law: "The 'Driver Responsibility' surcharge in which . . . 60% of assessed penalties go uncollected. Around 1.3 million Texans currently have suspended licenses because of the surcharge, which is a civil penalty assessed in addition to criminal fines and penalties for offenses like driving with an invalid license, no insurance, and DWI." More.
• Mrs. LL has never been to Lone Star Park (today is Opening Day.) 
• Rick Perry was not at the Fort Hood Memorial Service yesterday.
• After that service, President Obama went to a fundraiser at the Houston home of plaintiff's lawyer John Eddie Williams. When I googled the guy, I learned he made a major donation for Baylor's new football stadium which, as a result of the gift, will surround "John Eddie Williams Field." Good grief. That's as bad as UT's Joe Jamail Field. 
• The biggest problem for the plaintiffs in the "fracking trial" mentioned in the Update is proving that any health problems were caused due to nearby gas wells. That's a heck of a hurdle.

Oops

Atlanta Braves lit an American flag on fire at their home opener http://t.co/AZDQSCOubL pic.twitter.com/od6HTUmMiF
— For The Win (@forthewin) April 9, 2014

Am I The Only Person Who Hasn't Seen Frozen?

Mrs. LL just sent me this. What is this? How has it had over 9 million hits?

And I plopped down with my laptop the other day and heard a disc spinning, so I popped open my DVD drive and there was a copy of Frozen.  We own the thing? I didn't even know it.

Pop culture is passing me by.

Aggie Professor Cheats Death! Oh, My!

KBTX - A College Station man walked away with his life and video of an accident that could have been much worse. Dr. Guan Zhu, a professor at Texas A&M University, was driving his Toyota Sienna minivan north on Wellborn road around 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, coming to a stop at the Rock Prairie intersection when a cement truck driver coming from the opposite direction ran the red light and lost control, causing his truck to roll over and smash into Dr. Zhu’s van. Incredibly, Dr. Zhu only suffered minor injuries. He installed a dash camera about a year ago in case he was involved in an accident. It came in handy today, as you can see from the video with this story. “It’s what happened, you know, I could not remember in my memory, a truck is coming, and I could not remember exactly how it happened and then the video says that’s how it happened, kind of turning like 45 degrees before it hits my vehicle,” Dr. Zhu said. The driver of the cement truck did not suffer major injuries and was given a ticket at the scene.

That Sounds Like A Wrestling Name At The Old Dallas Sportatorium

Back in the day, they'd have wrestlers like "Inca Peru" who would be announced as being from "Peru".  If you want a flashback, here are some Sportatorium results from 1974.

Story.  (Which really isn't a big story, but I'm just trying to keep the wrestling theme going since Wise County is in mourning over the death of the Ultimate Warrior.)

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• How deep at the bottom of the ocean might the Malaysian missing aircraft be? Deep. Very deep. (That's a crazy graphic.)
• The revelation that Al Sharpton was an informant for the CIA against the Mafia is crazy. He's not a guy I would expect to cozy up with the government regardless of the cause. (But I think I like the old Fat Al over new Skinny Al.) 
• A documentary called American Bloggers looks as boring as you think it would be.
• I dog radio guy Dennis Prager about once a month (I refrain from mentioning him more because I know only 1% of my audience knows who he is), but this is what he looks like. And that's a borderline racist joke he made. Edit: Hey, goofballs, it's him pointing out which one he is that's borderline racist.
• When UConn cut down the nets on Tuesday they used a Werner ladder. You couldn't miss it, because Werner had paid for that right --- complete with a advertising graphic on screen. March Madne$$. Edit: Apparently they've had that deal for years.
• Draft Day, a new movie about the NFL draft, has three big things going against it: (1) Kevin Costner is in it, (2) Chris Berman is in it, and (3) The NFL cooperated with the film.
• The Ultimate Warrior (who I know nothing about) is dead. He used to be a local DFW figure? Edit: Link fixed
• Dueling news on "Equal Pay" this morning. I flipped over to Mark Davis who was telling me not to be fooled by the oft quoted figure that a woman makes only 77% of the average man because that is based upon the total salary of all men and women in the work force. I flipped over to The Ticket and Gordon Keith, who was also discussing the 77% figure at the exact same minute, said 77% factors in such things as education and length of employment. 
• Attorney General Eric Holder became visibly upset yesterday with Texas Rep. and Tea Party fac Louis Gohmert during a congressional hearing.  It's at the 2:30 part of the video and mildly entertaining. 
• Breaking this morning: Nine people taken to hospitals in Pennsylvania after stabbings in a high school.  Edit: WFAA says that number is 20. Fox is now going with 10. The AP is going with 4. (All those numbers were released within minutes.)
• Scantily clad Julie Louis-Dreyfus on the cover of Rolling Stone. 
• I think I finally found an Aerial America that I didn't enjoy: The one on Nebraska. Unless you love corn fields, there is not a whole lot to see in Nebraska from the air.
• The UConn women won their ninth NCAA title last night. Clever headline . . . 

Above The Fold

The Most Pretentious/Odd/Weird "Save The Date" Video Ever

A couple of high tone lawyers getting married. Him. Her. The wedding website.

(Source).

Innocent Mistake But Still Funny (And Possibly Freudian)

"Human Barbie" Doesn't Like Race Mixing

NYDN – She may be a living doll, but she doesn’t have a pretty mouth. Valeria Lukyanova, the Ukranian woman dubbed “Human Barbie” because of her multiple plastic surgeries, shared her thoughts on race and beauty in a new interview with GQ Magazine - implying that the push for plastic surgery procedures in the Western world is “because of the race-mixing.” “Ethnicities are mixing now, so there’s degeneration, and it didn’t used to be like that,” said Lukyanova, according to GQ. ”Remember how many beautiful women there were in the 1950s and 1960s, without any surgery? And now, thanks to degeneration, we have this.”

I suppose the article is about her views on race. I just can't get past her looks. Here she is on Google Images.

Houston Texans* Cheerleader Tryouts

More.

*This very important post originally left the "n" out of Texans. I regret this error.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• "Standup comic John Pinette dead at 50; acted in Seinfeld finale."  That headline reminded me of what a horrible episode that was. 
• I'm not sure if I'm more surprised that three McKinney teens have died of synthetic LSD or that it is called an "N-Bomb."
• America: Screen shot of Bill Clinton, George W, Jason Garrett and wife, Tony Romo and wife, and Jason Witten at the game last night.  
• Louisville beat national champion UConn three times this year (once by 33 points). SMU beat them twice. Even Houston beat them. 
• Taylor Swift and Jerry Jones' grandson, Spaulding, take  a selfie.
• President Bush and Jerry Jones' grandson, Spaulding, take a selfie.
• I threw the softball with the Sophomore In The House about three years ago. Back then, the chances of her throwing it into the ground two feet in front of her were great. Yesterday we played catch again. She dang near knocked me down.
• The Family Unit turned on me last night for calling Prince Fielder "fat". I revised it to "Big Boned."
• Ticket Fans: Nothing makes me laugh as much as Jake Kemp's prank phone calls with drops of George DiGianni and now Norm Hitzges. (Can't find the link.)
• I don't know much about golf, but when a Decatur sophomore wins the district tournament by 26 strokes, that gets my attention. 
• I haven't seen Mike Judge's Silicon Valley on HBO yet, but it's on my radar.
• First term Louisiana "Congressman Vance McAllister, who campaigned for office last fall as a devout Christian and devoted husband and father, was caught in video surveillance two days before Christmas passionately embracing and kissing one of his congressional aides." Here's the gal. Not bad. 
• If I was a great college athlete, I'm don't think I'd leave for the pros until my eligibility was up. What do you think Vince Young would give now to return for his senior year at UT?
• I watched A Football Life episode last weekend on Jimmy Johnson where, near the end of the show,he philosophizes about having "quality time left". It was funny because as he said, "In the end, it's not about the money" as the documentary cut to a clip of him in his "Three Rings" boat. 
• "This NCAA Championship brought to you by Ameritrade, Jeep Cherokee, and Godzilla." -- Actually heard last night.

Crazy Amanda Bynes Sighting

Girl is in Cabo.

She's looking better than when compared to a few months back:

Wrestlemania Was Last Night

That looks like a sold out Superdome. The Internet freaked out because "The Undertaker" lost. This is real life. This is America. We're all doomed.

Open-carry protestors rally at San Antoinio police substation

Story.

In addition to the Confederate flag, zooming in shows these gems:

 Where'd you get that badge?

And that badge? (But funny t-shirt)

Source.

We Have A Liberally Lean Pick 'Em Winner

Here's his bracket (tonight's game will not prevent him from winning.)

The list:

2014 - Chris R (tell me your last name if you want.)
2013 - Tad Billmire
2012 - ????
2011 - Wise County Attorney James Stainton
2010 - Nine year old Blake Cooper (son of former Decatur stationed DPS Trooper Scott Cooper)

And Another - Houston

Strong to quite strong.

Story.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I don't care about NASCAR but I feel bad for NASCAR fans. Normally we have beautiful April days, but not this weekend.
• There was a TV shot yesterday morning at Sundance Square where ESPN's Game Day was set up and it looked like a ghost town.
• I found Bruce Springfield [Edit: Make that Springsteen. Not sure what happened there.]  online last night and I'll give the guy credit: Cold and rainy and he was still giving it the what for.
• “They did everything they were supposed to do to win the game and we hit a ridiculous shot . . . . And the shot they took -- if it banks in, they win."  - Kentucky coach John Calipari explaining that there's not much of a difference between teams.
• "Nobody is better with concrete than Dallas-Fort Worth. It's everywhere and it somehow looks good." - CBS Reporter. I had friends visit from New Jersey a couple of years back, and they remarked on the amount of concrete in the area.
• Death Machine: "After the U.S. Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty in 1976, the first Texas execution took place in 1982; by the end of that decade, the state was responsible for 33 of the country’s 116 executions." 
• Where's the Right Wing applause?: More than 2 million illegal aliens have been deported under the Obama Administration. 
• There was a high school visitor of the Sophomore in the House this weekend who (1) asked me if the Cowboys used to be good, and (2) remarked "That song is so old!" when she heard Fergalicious in the background on TV.
• I saw a commercial for a ridiculous pillow shaped as a triangle  for the head of the bed. You know, not a bad idea. 
• No one saw it but UT beat Baylor 5-4 in baseball on Friday night when the Evil Empire, with two outs and a full count in the bottom of the ninth, hit a three run double. I was in a fetal position. 
• I have a wheel barrow and use it more than you would imagine
• Mrs. LL and I used to go out on Saturday night like crazy. In the last year we've become home bodies. I'm a little scared to ask her if it's OK. 
• Final Four tickets from $117 on Stubhub.
• Funny picture: Former Auburn coach Gene Chizik in the background of his daughter's prom picture. 
• I don't understand "Geocaching" but Mrs. LL is obsessed with it. 
• Oddest item from the Update this morning: "Funerals - None pending."
• "You're Americans. Act Like It."