Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• It's Christmas Eve and you still get Random Thoughts. I remain The Hardest Working Man in Show Business. (And I continue with my double Random Thought Girls as a Christmas present.)
• There's a house not far from ours which has synchronzed lights with music (not just one song, but about 10 on a loop -- including that Charlie Brown song). It is fantastic.
• The Family Unit went to see it last night and we sat across the street on the curb with other people who were doing the same thing. It was great. And I'm sentimental enough to remind my self, "Remember moments like this" when they are happening. Edit: Shout out to the guy who sent in a comment that my neighborhood needed to, essentially, get the name of particular (unprintable) song. It was signed as "Double Fake Prince." I'm still laughing. 
• And a shout out to Billie in the District Clerk's office for winning the "cookie contest". (When did that start?) She may be one of the sweetest people alive. I still remember when I announced I was leaving the DA's office that she stopped me in the hallway. She had read the Messenger article and said, "Barry, parts of that article made me cry."
• Texas has gone to mandatory electronic filing of civil documents. And you have to use one of "selected" services to do it. In concept, it is a good idea. But I had to file a two page civil Original Answer the other day in a civil forfeiture suit. However, where before I use to have my assistant walk over to the courthouse less than 100 yards away and file it for free now costs over $5 in a mysterious "electronic filing fee." I'm still trying to figure out where the money is going. 
• The other day I went on a rant about a civil forfeiture case in Wise County. Yesterday I saw a headline that I thought meant the federal government was going to suspend its forfeiture policy altogther. I was wrong. The actual story was "The Justice Department has suspended $1.2 billion in payments of asset forfeiture revenues to police departments across the country, citing budget constraints." They aren't suspending it at all. The federal government is just going to keep all the money. 
• I proposed to someone the other day that if they helped me with something I would actually sell out and run an ad buried in the middle of Random Thoughts. Think "Your ad here". 
• I've praised the book "Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History" to no end. I praise it, in part,  because it is fantastic and references Parker County and Wise County because of the extent of the Comanche Empire back in the day. (And when I say "back in the day"  it wasn't that long ago when you think about it.) Any way, I looked down the other day and saw an issue of the Fort Worth Weekly and saw the headline of "The Way We Were - A once-lost silent film tied to Cynthia Ann Parker's legacy is a bittersweet gem." I'm in. 
• I watched a DVD the other day in a DWI case where the officer was wearing a body cam. For the first time ever, in my 23 years doing criminal law in Wise County, I got to see a guy blow into the Intoxilyzer 5000 at the Wise County Jail  and what actually goes on. (There is no camera in there.) This is a game changer. Both ways.
• We have a hood rat cat in the neighborhood. He slowly walked past me the other day with a baby bird in its mouth from one of my trees and just stared at me. 
• I want to see Concussion, The Big Short, The Hateful Eight and maybe even Star Wars.
• There actually are two old school concerts coming to Dallas next year that I would consider going to. The Cure and Todd Rundgren.
• Mrs. LL  told me yesterday that Matthew McConaughey needed to be considered as one of the greatest actors of our generation. That's going too far but, when you think about it, he might be in the top ten. His performance as the DA in Bernie is fantastic. 
• Ticket Fans: In the very early morning hours yesterday Norm Hitzges said he was in a "contract year" and took a shot at Cumulus. He just threw it in while he was talking about who would be on the Cowboys' team next year because all of the contracts that are ending and who would become free agents.