9.25.2015

It's The Weekend: Let's Get Out Of Here


And one of my favorite old comic strip characters would be amused. That is, if Bill was capable of being amused.




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Well, This Is Crazy


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Not An Ad But I Do Accept Day Old Rolls As Compensation


Someone emailed me to point out that Texas Highways magazine had a story on a restaurant on the courthouse square in Decatur. The oddly named restaurant has been in existence for several years after replacing the institution known as Mattie's.
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Fox News Doing A "Random Thought Girl" Bit


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Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • Edit. Breaking: House Speaker Boehner will finally cave and resign at the end of October. 
  • Bridgeport vs. Decatur will be replayed on TXA 21 at 10:30 tonight.
  • The Update has a first entry about a horrible wreck that killed a man from Runaway Bay and involved a man from Boyd. It looks like both are very well liked in the county.
  • I don't think I've mentioned the Rangers in months, but what they have done is nothing short of amazing. I don't know if these stats are accurate, but on 8/26 they had a 4% chance to win the AL West. Today they stand at 89%.
  • For the guy who doesn't understand my reference of "pretty, pretty good", I suspect you wouldn't understand Curb Your Enthusiasm. 
  • Tomorrow, Saudi Arabia will behead and then crucify (yes, crucify a dead man) for taking part in the Arab Spring.  Where were most of the 9/11 hijackers from? Oh, yeah. Saudi Arabia. What was the name of that book from 2004? Oh, yeah. House of Bush, House of Saud.
  • We had an "Is the Aggie Band overrated" controversy break out in the comments section yesterday. Hey, I'm no Aggie fan, but it is the only band that has ever given me chills after hearing the first five seconds of their performance --- and they haven't even moved. 
  • I turned on NBC Nightly News last night and saw the live coverage of the Pope going down Fifth Avenue and then going into St. Patrick's Cathedral. I've been to New York twice and went into St. Patrick's both times. If I ever go again, I'll walk through those doors yet another time. Love that place. 
  • BagOfNothing mentioned Angry Birds this morning. One of the funniest moments of my life was being alone in the waiting area during an oil change and a little girl and her father came in. I was playing some golf game on my phone and she plopped down beside me and, in the loudest of voices and, with her face within six inches of mine, asked, "WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING?" I told her golf. "MY DAD GOLFS!" she said (and the dad is in the room ignoring her.) She then blasted out with intense eye to eye contact, "DO YOU LIKE ANGRY BIRD! I LIKE ANGRY BIRDS! YOU WANT TO SEE ME PLAY ANGRY BIRDS?!" And then I spent the next five minutes watching this little girl play Angry Birds. 
  • Whenever you are on a jury and the judge tells you that you "are the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses", take a look at the Good Morning America segment of the two high school football players who attacked a referee on the field and you will understand what that means. 





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9.24.2015

I Need Smart People To Tell Me What Is Going On Here


This gal just "Favorited" a tweet that my name was mentioned in last March. Very, very odd. I got an automatic notification from Twitter once it happened. Obviously, it is a fake profile, but what's going on?

You can see "her" twitter handle so you can look her up -- at least before "she" takes it down. (Nudity alert). And there is a phone number (I would use incredible caution if you are thinking about calling it as a joke.) Am I correct when I say the number comes back to Azle?

If you do look at her profile, do a Google image search on any of the images. They will lead to other profiles of the same "girl" on different sites but with different 817 numbers.

It's a scam. It's bait. But how does it work?

Edit: Someone said it's just "trolling". No it's not. There is an end game. What is it?

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I Can't Believe I Didn't See This Coming


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Random Thursday Morning Thoughts





  • I received an email from a stranger yesterday praising Liberally Lean but strenuously objecting to the the Random Thought Girls because it objectifies women. I agreed with her, but I told her "they come for the girls but stick around for the content." Heck, Fox News even uses that method. She actually replied and said that made sense. 
  • I spoke with a former Wise County deputy yesterday who told me that he was taking his son to Van Halen and had second row seats. He later posted the following photo of Eddie Van Halen as proof. Pretty, pretty good seats. 
  • I think I'll go: "The over 2,500-member Texas A&M Corps of Cadets will march in Fort Worth beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday." That link will tell you the route they will take. I've never seen the whole group in a parade, but I certainly know their halftime band performance is the best in the nation. 
  • BagofNothing has a pic this morning of the Pope petting Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog, in the Oval Office in front of the President and the First Lady. The fact that Bo was born and raised in Boyd makes me smile to no end. If he could only talk. 
  • On Friday morning on The Ticket, the Pick-The-Weekend-Football-Games segment had a "guest picker" who was a female from Paradise.  She was pretty funny, and they liked her. And she said she commuted every day to Irving for work. (What a beating.) Who was she?
  • My obsession with Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)* continues. The ending confuses people (but not me - no spoilers), but I noticed last night there is audible yet subtle street chatter while the credits run. That was not done by accident.  *Great title, by the way. 
  • Do prosecutor offices still have "Hot Check Divisions".  I always thought it was was weird that a District or County Attorney could serve as a public debt collector for private entities in the first place. 
  • "There is something about the DA position which attracts the crazies." - Gordon Keith on the The Ticket morning at 7:18 a.m.  And that makes me un-crazy as of 1999 when I faxed the Messenger a press release saying I wouldn't run for a third term. (I wish I had just written, "I'm done.")
  • Much to Mrs. LL's chagrin, I'll go to sleep with the TV on but with the volume off. I'll wake up in the middle of the night and see some pretty crazy movies. (Many which cause me to sheepishly hope she doesn't wake up and see me watching.)  Nit I looked up two nights ago and had to hit the "info" button when I saw a 1991 movie starring Ed O'Neill (Modern Family), JoBeth Williams (Poltergiest), Ethan Embry (Rusty from Vegas Vacation and current commercial star), Christopher McDonald (Shooter McGavin from Happy Gilmore). Elizabeth Daily (the adorable Dolly from Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Lorny from Valley Girl), Laverne Scott Caldwell (Rose from Lost), and Arnold Palmer (playing himself.)  I thought I was insane. 
  • College Football: Here is a graphic of every college team that Lee Corso has not picked on College Gameday. He makes a selection every week based upon the campus they will visit on Saturday. Ole Miss and West Virginia stick out. Baylor is on the list but there's only been on chance for Corso to pick them which was last year. He was wrong and picked K-State.
  • This front page is presented only because of the very funny word of "Amarilloans" . . . 




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9.23.2015

Wow. Former Rhome Officer Talks About Using Deadly Force.



He went from Rhome PD to the Nocona PD and ended up being called to the home of an off duty Montague Deputy who was killed. This is pretty riveting. It is a verbatim reproduction of his post which you can see more of in the following link.

From Facebook this morning:

Dear folks, good people of Rhome, many of you have come to me personally in the past requesting assistance or simply providing information against this illegal organization calling itself the City Council of Rhome and/or it's police chief. Today Deborah Becraft made an attempt to manipulate my feelings on their behalf via a Facebook post. I am choosing to show that not only did her attempt fail, but just how desperate such a poor person must be.

 As those of you who reached out to me know, I have dedicated my life to serve and protect others. I am a police officer, a firefighter, and an EMT. I am a humble, servant-leader who wishes only to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and to protect the peaceful from violence and disorder. It is an oath I took and have remained faithful to.

 As a police officer, I have been trained to handle a variety of situations. I always strived to gain compliance with a gentle word and when that wouldn't do, the absolute minimal use of force. Unfortunately on the morning of February 9th I had to use the ultimate force. Deadly force.

 I was the only police officer on duty for the City of Nocona when I was sent to the home if an off-duty Sheriff's deputy. He was reported to be intoxicated, in possession of a weapon, and the caller was afraid that he was suicidal and/or would hurt someone. I requested back up from the Sheriff's Office and other officer's who lived in town but I knew that I didn't have time to wait the 20+ minutes it would take. I went to the home on Jordan drive and while my intent had been to wait for additional officers, I could hear the fight intensify and I became concerned for the safety of the innocent family inside. I entered the house and began calming the suspect. For nearly half an hour I gave my everything to calming the suspect and ultimately, my efforts allowed the wife and her four year old child to safely escape to safety.

 What happened next is still hard for me to tell. Three young boys remained asleep in an adjacent bedroom when additional law enforcement arrived outside. In the end, I'll never know if he intended to kill me and those children or if it was a suicide, but without warning, the suspect pulled a .40 caliber handgun from his pocket. I reacted as I had been trained and drew my weapon. I shouted the command "drop the gun!" before he forced me to fire.

 In less than a second it was over. As deputies rushed the house, I immediately called for EMS, a medevac helicopter, and had a deputy retrieve my EMT bag from my patrol car. The suspect's weapon was removed from him and I began to treat the injuries that I had been forced to inflict upon him. Despite my best efforts, he died.

 Outside the residence, I felt my legs buckle and I fell to my knees. Without warning I began to cry and to pray out for that man. I didn't want his little boys growing up without their dad. All I wanted then, was for him to be ok.

 In April 2015 the shooting was presented to a Montague County Grand Jury and I was cleared of any wrongdoing. I resigned from the agency the next week and chose to focus on my own health. I had to get away.

 My attempts to live a quiet life have been shattered by the blatant disregard for professionalism, manners, the rule of law, and plain common sense. I am an honorable man and could not stand aside and watch this town be destroyed.

 So go ahead Mrs Becraft, do your best to try and open that wound, but I assure you I have made peace with it. Also you're going to want to be careful with what information you release. Any attempt to release personal or identify information about me is not only criminal, but will be met with the swiftest legal action possible.

 To all those who read this story, I only ask that you keep the family of Larry Hostetter in your prayers, because they will forever be in mine.

 Truly,
Robert D Gillock
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Eagle Fans vs. Tony Romo Tackling Dummy: Who Ya Got?



There was no way I was going to watch all of this, so I'm guessing there has to be some NSFW/Language warnings.


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Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts






  • I guess it is the position of the sun in the sky this time time of year, but every dawn and every sunset will cause the greatest orange-ish color to appear on the bottom of clouds.
  • Fox 4's Jenny Anachondo thought: Pretty, pretty hot. 
  • I have never really understood the concept of the Pope. Until I see some super powers, I'm not particularly interested. 
  • The Clock-Making-Kid's sister was once suspended for issues related to a bomb threat which she denies: "I got suspended from school for three days from this stupid same district, from this girl saying I wanted to blow up the school, something I had nothing to do with.” (H/T Bud Kennedy)
  • Random post on a Rhome Facebook page at 6:49 a.m. this morning: "We [recently] moved here because of my husband's job. We are from a small town and were thrilled to find a house away from the craziness of more populated areas. I joined this group to learn about Rhome. After reading these posts, I'm really wishing we hadn't moved here. Has it always been like this?" Yes, darlin'. The answer is yes. 
  • I used to have a credit card which was associated with only one type of gas station. I think it was Shell or Texaco. How weird is that?
  • I think I may put up a sign up in my office which reads: "The more you talk to me, the more I can help you."
  • The Dallas Observer has released a list of the "10 Most Embarrassing People In North Texas". You'll notice that there are six people on the list that I've had in my figurative cross-hairs over the years.
  • Yogi Berra has died. The closest thing I ever got to one his crazy sayings was when I announced to my buddies that "We may have opened up a can of Pandora's boxes!" I still remember the look on their faces. 
  • I think Trump has realized he needs to get out of the public eye for a month or so. 
  • I think I just mowed the lawn for the last time this year.  Every March of April when I mow it for the first time, I tell myself I'll be doing this weekly until the third week of football season. 
  • I noticed that the Update had a notice about a government office "closed for training." 
  • Apparently I ruined BagOfNothing's plan to post a different version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" each day this week by linking to a site yesterday which has the ten greatest covers of the song. He has (jokingly) declared we now have a Gary Patterson/Art Briles relationship where he wishes to be Briles. No, sir. I will be playing the role of Art Briles in this playlet. And this was my reaction to your assertion to the contrary. (Side note: I'll say it again, the real life Patterson vs. Briles battle is one of the greatest things of all time in Texas football history.) 
  • Patterson yesterday said that once all the facts come out about the arrest of one of his players that the should media report it  "just as strongly as what" they were doing now. Man, that brought back memories of the Michael Irvin clip where he was outside of a bar in Valley Ranch and declaring (correctly) into the camera that he had been falsely accused of rape. "You report it with the same intensity!!!," he yelled. I couldn't find the video. 
  • Look at that headline below: "Should mentally ill be executed?" You think fifty years from now society will locate that edition of the paper and scream, "Are you kidding me??!!"


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Bring It On!







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9.22.2015

Tuesday Afternoon Golf Swing Analysis

A video posted by Katrina Brodsky (@keller_rose) on



Pretty ... pretty ... pretty good.
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Let's See If Gary Patterson Has Anything To Say About Those Arrests


Oh, my!!!

Story.

Art Briles is now looking North just like he looked across the sidelines at Patterson in 2011. This feud is beyond great.





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Get Me A Sphynx Cat!!!



And keep this Cat Lady away from me!!!
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Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • And I'm officially back. (And that photo reminds me of a Florida beach in the panhandle. Uh, the landscape, not the gal.) 
  • The City of Bowie is going to put "In God We Trust" on all first responder vehicles. The police chief thinks it will have a "calming effect" on those they are called to help. 
  • And the Montague County DA has still not released the records in the Pepper The Police Dog Shooting. Why not?
  • Mrs. LL was watching the horrible Twister movie this weekend when I perked up because I heard a familiar old voice on the screen. There was a brief scene of one of the characters watching TV, and the voice I heard was that of Judy Garland because the character was watching A Star is Born.  We backed it up to verify it was her. And then it took us thirty seconds to figure out how clever inserting Judy Garland into Twister was.
  • There have been a lot of conspiracy theorists about the clock-making-kid who was briefly arrested. Get prepared to be shocked: I think something is a little suspicious regarding how quickly the national media jumped in. And if you think the arrest was orchestrated and planned by his dad and the kid went along with it, I wouldn't necessarily agree with you, but I wouldn't call you crazy. 
  • I stumbled upon Rush Limbaugh yesterday. You know what he said? It's on his home page right now: "What's gonna happen next online is advertising is not gonna look like advertising.  And it's not gonna have pictures.  It's gonna [be] present[ed] to you as a news story." Rush and I are on the same page?
  • Presidential hopeful Dr. Ben Carson got into heat over the weekend for saying, "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that." I don't have any problem with him saying that. He said he wouldn't advocate (meaning "support" or "recommend") it. He didn't say that a Muslim should not be allowed to be president. That's a big difference. Side Note: Why would it be such a big deal if a Muslim was president? 
  • I just reread the last three bullet points. I'm worried about me. 
  • College Football: (1) That Longhorn loss was heartbreaking, but I've said from the beginning of last year that Heard needed to be given a chance. It's early, but he has a little Vince Young in him. (2) Two TCU players "were arrested Monday afternoon, accused of beating up fellow students and stealing their Keystone Light beer." Sheesh. But that will technically get you slapped with a robbery charge. (3) A Baylor coach was on the sideline of the OU/Tulsa game in violation of NCAA rules. Did you know that you can't scout a future season opponent in person? And that coach graduated from Oklahoma and is married to Art Briles daughter. He took his wife and kids with him. (4) Kliff Kingsbury calling out the Arkansas coach was great. (5) OU's quarterback looks fantastic. How does that guy walk on and be a starter at both Tech and Oklahoma? That's insane. (6) We are entering the era in the Big 12 where no one has a defense because of the crazy offenses. Every game will come down to outscoring the other. Expect to see a whole lot of final scores with both teams putting up at least 35 points. (I just typed "35" at 8:22 a.m. and George Dunham on The Ticket said the same thing two seconds later. I promise.)
  • The DWI case against a pretty hip Dallas prosecutor who through out the KKK during his arrest, has been dismissed. Hey, the dismissal may be justified but that just looks bad all the way around. 
  • BagOfNothing has mentioned a version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" the last couple of days. When mom was in the Memory Center, they would sometimes in the afternoon play really old songs. It was pretty cool to see the faces of those who would suddenly recognize an old favorite. One day, my favorite version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", sung by a guy who died in Honolulu, was played but that was in error. They stopped it and then fired up Judy Garland's original version.
  • The fact that Liza Minelli is Judy Garland's daughter still blows my mind for some reason. 
  • For fun: Ten great covers of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."
  • Looking at the Emmy winners made me realize (1) Network TV is dead, (2) Original programming on Amazon and Netflix programming might be the future of entertainment, (3) I'm missing a lot of great shows because I didn't recognize 75% of them. 
  • DA Susan Hawk is going to have to resign . . .



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9.21.2015

First Jade Helm And Now This

And to think our governor was once a judge on the Texas Supreme Court. A judge whose judgment on all things seems to be beyond questionable.

It's enough to make me want to cry.


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I Fear The Natural Gas Explosion


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Give One Guy An Emmy And Get Another Guy An Ambulance


Texas lost on Saturday (talk about a heartbreaker) but may have it's wheels back on if they have found their quarterback.

But my favorite part was above.

And here's the guy that looked like he needed an ambulance:




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9.20.2015

Random Monday Morning Thoughts: Mom's Passing -- Final Thoughts Before Moving On



  • I want to say this first and foremost. I've cried a great deal over the last four days, but it has almost always been triggered by the outpouring of love expressed to me and my family. I don't care if it was a Facebook "like" or an email or a personal visit or flowers or attendance at the service or helping with food or just giving me a knowing glance. Those expressions of love have created joyous tears. And for those who I haven't even heard from, I feel your love. (Explained below).
  • The obvious finally dawned on me: What I was going through was not unique. Many of you have lost a parent. If not, you will. Every human on the face of this Earth will experience this. But I am ashamed of myself for not realizing the emotions others have felt even when the death was expected. 
  • I can't count the times that I've seen a notice in the Update about the death of the parent of a friend of mine. I'll be honest: I normally didn't send a card or message on most occasions. But my heart broke for them. I assumed they knew I loved them. And you know, I was right. I feel that love.
  • For those of you I hugged (and there were many), I apologize for holding on too long and too tightly. 
  • As I've said, my mom had a long and wonderful life. I knew the end was near. But for those of you who have had someone taken suddenly and/or at a young age, what you experienced is exponentially more heartbreaking than the passing of an elderly parent. There were many times over the last few days where I sat in silence and thought about what it would be like to have the person in the casket be your child or any close loved one who was taken away without warning. 
  • It is no secret that my mother suffered from dementia. I was slow to acknowledge it. And this is a warning to those who are dealing with or will deal with it: The closer you are, the slower you will be able to see it. 
  • And this is a promise: If you have to deal with the issue of dementia and are frightened out of your mind by what you are seeing, contact me. I will meet with you to talk about it any where and at any time -- on your terms. And that is exactly what my mom would want me to do. 
  • THIS is important: My mom spent time at Stagecoach Rehabilitation in Bridgeport and at the Willow Bend Memory Care Unit in Denton. I cannot express enough love and appreciation for every nurse  or attendant in both of those places. You do a job not for the money but because you love the elderly.  I watched every step you took and listened to every word you said, and all of you were fantastic.
  • Here's a snapshot of what I mean by that: Mom had been moved into Stagecoach and, as we were getting her settled in, she swore she had seen two people kidnapping two children at the airport about an hour earlier. (Sound crazy? That was just another day for us.) She was so upset and wanted us to do something. The pleas were nonstop. We had to help the children, she said! I had no idea what to say other than, "It will be all right and I'll check on it." But she wouldn't calm down. A cute little attendant at Stagecoach saw what was going on and told mom, "Don't you worry, honey! I'm leaving right now to track those people down and I'll beat the crap out of them!" And, with that, mom was calm. If I didn't tell her, "Girl, I love you and you are a genius!" I'm doing so now.
  • But I'll also admit there were bizarre moments even in the best of facilities: For example, I watched a wonderful volunteer folk band put on a concert to thirty Alzheimer's/Dementia patients. They were great and I was loving it. So was mom. Then they actually played a song named, "Time Is Not Your Friend." As I looked around the room, I realized I might be the only one shocked and horrified. 
  • No one wants to talk about the process of death as it is ongoing. And once it is over, no one wants to remember it and talk about it either. It's a sledgehammer that everyone refuses to acknowledge. 
  • Shout out to Hawkins Funeral Home. Good job. (But I did have scenes from Six Feet Under passing through my mind from time to time.)  My brother and I dealt with Brant. I've known him since we were  both children and he knew mom all his life. That was a comfort that most people don't have. 
  • If you want to know how pricing of a funeral works, I'll be happy to tell you. It was what I expected but didn't know how it worked. I have no complaints. 
  • As Mrs. LL was on the way to the funeral on 287, she passed a truck carrying the vault that my mom would eventually reside in. Have you ever seen a vault being transported? Me neither. 
  • Shout out to BagOfNothing on Friday for turning into Liberally Lean for the moment. 
  • Liberally Lean was mentioned during mom's funeral service. That will probably be the only time it is referenced again in a House of Worship. I fear mom turned to God at that moment, threw her hands up, and said, "Can't you do something about that boy?"
  • One thing I will never forget on Wednesday morning after receiving the call that something may be horribly wrong: As I was quickly walking towards the ER at Denton Regional, expecting to receive confirmation of my mom's death, I looked over to my left and saw my  brother walking just as fast from a different direction. We walked in together and were met by the chaplain. 
  • Maybe the oddest moment after I learned something may be wrong on Wednesday morning occurred right before I was about to rush to Denton. I saw Judge Cude walking around the courthouse square to pick up "steps"  for exercise. I had a simple plea hearing that morning and wanted to tell him I needed it rescheduled. (That was dumb. His staff would figure everything out in the next thirty minutes if I hadn't said a word.)  I stopped him and tried to say, "I think my mom has died . . . " but got choked up. Instinctively, I held up two fingers which is what I do for the Family Pups and my Family Members to give the signal of "Hang on for a second".  Judge Cude looked at me confused and asked, "Two?" A moment of humor that was desperately needed. 
  • I've kept the comments off for two reasons on the previous posts: (1) I don't want to be perceived as wanting sympathy, and (2) I did not want to find out there might be a troll out there that would dare say a hateful thing.  I didn't have the energy to go all Karl Childers on someone. I do now. 
  • I'll end with this: A dear friend emailed me in the late night hours after mom's funeral. She, too, had lost her mother recently. She wrote a loving note to me and then told me she wanted to end with some comedy.  After looking at photos of my beautiful mom in her younger days, she noticed that I looked exactly like her. So she mentioned that if I ever wanted to go "all Bruce Jenner" that I'd make a good looking woman. And with that, I laughed and went to sleep with a smile on my face.  That is a friend.
  • I will probably add/edit this post over the coming hours. And I have one more post coming right out of The Notebook. And then it will be time to move on. 

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