Dead Of Death

Insightful article last year in the Dallas Observer about how Crazy Ray had fallen on hard times is here.

Edit: To be clear, there is an actual passing.

Bad Picture . . .

. . . of a parachuter I took yesterday off of 287 near Rhome. Not real sure I have seen that before.

Kind Of Makes A Man Want To Begin Watching "Lost" Again

Aggies In Round 2

And that may be the only interesting thing on today. (At 2:40 p.m. vs. Louisville.)

Some Kid . . .

. . . at Columbia is a technical wizard AND a huge March Madness fan AND is probably in big trouble due to the copyright laws. Link.

Stewie Has Been Served

If you have ever watched The Family Guy, then you know that it is one parody bit after another. No part of pop culture is left untouched.

So the show incorporates a few seconds of Carol Burnett's cleaning lady character (people actually remember that?) so she decides to sue. Sue? Did that darn Patriot Act repeal the First Amendment, too?

Not only does Ms. Burnett not have a sense of humor, her lawyer's don't understand copyright law.

Edit: Didn't she do a parody of Gone With The Wind?

Edit: The clip and the lawsuit can be seen here on The Smoking Gun.

Girl Licks Stanley Cup

Maybe hockey isn't so bad.

My Future Wife At Padre Island This Week

Shocking . . . It Won't Last . . . But Shocking

And that's Texas A&M at Corpus Christi.

You can find out what happened here.

That's One Strict Public University

There has to be more to it than firing off a curse word, but the story doesn't indicate it.

North Texas Goes Down. So Do Women.

As Good As It Gets?

Good Times

Ms. New Sore Booty

These two girls (Carmen Electra and some chick from Days of Our Lives) pose after just getting through busting their booties last night on some fashion show runway. The video footage was even on Channel 5 tonight. Carmen went down first and then the Days' lady comes running in to help her and just goes flying.

No Way

I was thumbing through the Fort Worth Weekly and saw an ad for Nokia Theater in Grand Praire. I've always wanted to go there so I glanced at the upcoming acts to see if anything interested me. (R.E.M. was there a couple of years ago.)

So what do I see? Ed McMahon. You can pay money - real money - to hear Ed McMahon talk about the dead Johnny Carson.

Tell me that's a very short line at the ticket office for that one.

AfricCam

Stolen from another blog: A [reader] sends this link to a live video feed from Nkorho pan (water hole) in Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve in South Africa. Warning: it is addicting. Right now you can hear turtle doves and monkeys getting ready to settle in for the night. Awe. Some. Oh, a cape buffalo just stopped in for a drink! It is dark there now but you can still see pretty well. I saw an elephant walk up. But the most amazing thing may be the sound. It's like you're in the jungle (although I really don't know what that sounds like.)

Get Your Guns Uuuuu........Oh, No

Cat Scratch Fever

There's a weird (and inconsequential) slice in the middle of the clip, but it's certainly real. And you have love the, "this little guy's having fun here." And here is a follow-up where they try to explain the cat is really adoption-worthy (riiiiiiiiight) and the news gal claims she wasn't crying (riiiiiiiiight.)

"One Time, At Band Camp"

Yep, same girl. And this is posted solely in celebration of March Madness which officially begins at 11:20 a.m. (Tech plays 5 minutes after that and the Aggies play at 2:00 p.m.) Baylor, uh, not so much.

Happy St. Paddy's Day Eve Eve

You Can Now Easily Change Directions

Even thought the Update mentioned it first, I saw this morning that the turn lanes at 730 and 287 are now open after months of government ineptness. No more barricades. Freedom is ours!

So everyone go do a U-Turn in celebration of a project that took nine months instead of nine weeks to complete.

This Guy . . .

. . . is all over the news this morning after alleging confessing to plotting 9/11 during a hearing in Guantanamo Bay (how many people are down there again?)

Anyway, the only thing I can think of when I see his picture is the late John Belushi. And that's the largest neck of any t-shirt I've ever seen.

Shocking Southpark Episode Everyone Is Talking About

Edit: Incredible. It has, in fact, been taken down since last night.

But the clip had a Southpark resident being on the Wheel of Fortune grand finale. The clue was "People that annoy you" with the exposed letters of "N_GGERS". An explanation in text doesn't do justice to what happened next.

Bridgeport Senior Prom?

Took me a while to see all five people in there.

I Don't Know

Contemplation

This guy, Brian Cantrell, was killed in what is believed to be a road rage incident in Fort Worth last August. I'm constantly reminded of it because there is a huge picture hanging on a tree where his vehicle came to rest. It's kind of a make-shift memorial that goes on and on, and I drive by it whenever I go to a driver's license hearing. (It's located on the south side of I-30 off of the Bryant-Irvin exit.)

I stumbled across his still alive myspace page a second ago. Although he could have picked a better name, it's pretty touching to look at.

Pretend You Are At A Concert

"The Wreckers" (who I don't know much about other than Michelle Branch is one-half of the group) were at Billy Bob's this weekend. In the middle of a song, Kelly Clarkson got up on stage for a surprise appearance. And if that interests you, you'd also be interested in this shaky youtube.com clip of the incident.

You're Out Of Order! The Whole Trial Is Out Of Order!

I just received a court appointment, by mail, on a guy who is in jail for "Contempt of Court." Unless this is for failure to pay child support, something crazy happened at the courthouse.

The "Black Widow" Arrested

Background here (too much for me to digest.) It's just kind of cool to see an arrest go down (about a minute into the video.)

Decatur Whataburger Witnessing

I don't think they mean he is in the car.

Big (Bag of a) Journey

Interesting stuff going on over at BagOfNothing.com - a blog of a friend, Keith, whom I have never met or spoken with.

Keith's Vietnamese mother died a few months back and he is on a journey to Vietnam to scatter her ashes there. Pretty moving stuff. He's been posting pictures along the way and it's been good reading. For instance, he took a four hour trip across the county yesterday and took pictures of some of the 35 Christian churches he saw.

But this picture of a "Vietnamese toilet" got my attention.

Now That's A Very, Very Bad Day

A sexual assault suspect was in critical condition Wednesday after he allegedly followed his victim to a Denton hospital, opened fire at a police officer, engaged four law enforcement agencies in a chase and took a hostage before attempting suicide at a Gainesville [IHOP] restaurant. And the guy even screwed up the suicide. He's still hanging on. Story.

CBS's Vern Lundquist Watches Happy Pants

This was after last Sunday's basketball game where Florida won the SEC Tournament. I wonder how many DFW people don't know that Vern used to be the Channel 8 sport's guy before Dale Hansen was Dale Hansen. Huh?

Small Pic . . .

. . . but an awful looking crash on 114 just west of the Texas Motor Speedway yesterday.

Let Me Sound Like A Republican

I think this so-called "scandal" over the firing of a handful of U.S. Attorney's by Bush is silly.

U.S. Attorneys are the equivalent of District Attorneys but, instead, they are in the federal system. And there is one huge difference: U.S. Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President. He can fire them for whatever reason he wants.

And whenever a new President from a party other than the incumbent is elected, he fires all of the sitting U.S. Attorneys.

(But Alberto Gonzales is ill-qualified for the position of Attorney General.)

Getting High

Taken from the convenience store across from James Wood Motors.

Star-Telegram Story . . .

. . . here.

9/11

I had seen footage shot by the French documentary team of the first plane flying into the World Trade Center but I have never seen this footage of the second plane. (It occurs at 54 seconds in.)

Volleyball Thoughts During March Madness?

Poster At Our County Jail

2:58 In Decatur

Only 10 Days Left . . .

. . . in the glorious one year reign of Miss USA Tara Conner. (Or TAR-uh as Donald Trump calls her.)

Baby, we'll miss you. And may you be released from the smothering bonds of the Code of Conduct that comes with your soon to be retired title. Godspeed.

Taco Bell Chaos

And this is after three cars gave up.

Secret Lover

This kid, who admittedly had sex while 17 with the 29 year old wife of his high school principal, was on The Today Show this morning.

One word: Goooooofy.

And the principal's wife was/is hot.

Mark Cuban Predicted This

He said that Google would never buy YouTube.com because once they did (thereby creating a deep pocket)they would be sue into oblivion. As goofy as he is, he might be right.

Story.

Sounds Bad

Wreck this morning per the Update.

Edit: I used to drive down that road every day a few years back, and it was incredibly dangerous. But at least the whole thing has been rebuilt to provide shoulders and a couple of turn lanes. The intersection where the accident happened is normally pretty open with a great line of sight - the fog must have messed with it this morning. Possibly.

Random Bundle Of Joy

This Is Frighteningly True

See full political cartoon here.

It's Kind Of Hard To Tell Who A Republican Is Anymore

Rudy Giuliani, the Republican front runner for president, firing off some extremely pro-choice (with your money) positions in 1989. Regardless of the comments, I think this guy is a complete spare. He walked down the streets of Manhattan on 9/11 and was somehow transformed into a "leader." He's got a big bag of nothing.

Crazy Gas Fire In Parker County.

Star-Telegram story is here. WBAP is reporting that three workers are "missing" but I haven't heard the name of their employer. KXAS has some pretty dramatic photos accessible from its home page.

Edit: Star Telegram now reporting that all employees are accounted for.

Hey, Now

The Smoking Gun has posted this book-in pic (for DWI) of a Memphis girl that was arrested last night. (And that's all hair.)

Rose McGowan

Never heard of her? Her next project is Quentin Tarantino's "Grindhouse," where she plays a biker chick with a machine gun for a leg. And if that doesn't turn you on, what will?

That Would Put A Damper On Spring Break

Story.

Oddest Email I Received Over The Weekend

-------------------------- Subject: Just my opinion Wesley Miller Time: Saturday 3/10/07 10:15 pm

You need to release Miller.. How do you really know he is at fault for all the crimes those bitches keep saying he is accused of?

Bring on the bitches stories... ----------------------------------------------- The Welsey Miller story is here. And, for the record, I'm not holding Mr. Miller, therefore, I cannot release him.

From The Update

FRIDAY FATALITY — A 75-year-old Weatherford woman late Friday afternoon was killed when she crashed her van in the yard of a Decatur residence on Farm Road 51 . . . . Justice of the Peace Terry Johnson pronounced the woman dead at the scene.

Why in the world does Texas still allow JPs to perform the very awkward "pronouncement of death"?

Baylor Will,Once Again, Not Dance

The NCAA Tournament starts this week, and Baylor will stay home for the 20th straight year (by my count). The Bears led Texas by 20 on Friday night but wilted under the heat of The Evil Empire.

And I am disturbed by the overly-close hug in the background.

Random Justice Thoughts

Let me summarize what happens to this guy: He was involved in an "armed robbery" when he was 17 where the victim was robbed of $2 and no one was hurt. He was given deferred adjudication probation for the offense. One danger of deferred adjudication is that a violation of probation can lead to a sentence from a judge (a jury is not an option) of anywhere within the range of punishment. The range of punishment for this guy's offense is that of a first degree felony meaning no less than 5 years and up to life in prison. In his case, he tested positive for smoking marijuana while on probation and the judge, for whatever reason, sentences him to the maximum: life in prison. This weekend, after spending 17 years in prison, he gets a very unusual pardon simply because his sentence was unfair.

Hey, man, get in line.

Our system is really weird when it comes to probation violations and revocations. For instance, every probation order I've ever seen (and I bet I've seen over a thousand), requires a defendant to "abstain from the use of illegal narcotics or drugs." But:

- There is no law that requires a probation officer to test a probationer for marijuana. Some guys get tested, others don't.
- If a person tests positive for marijuana, there is no law that says a probation officer must tell the prosecutor about the violation (if the prosecutor never knows, the probation can never be revoked.)
- If the probation officer tells the prosecutor about the positive test for marijuana, there is no law that says the prosecutor must try to revoke the probation. The prosecutor can simply determine, based upon his or her own standard of justice, whether the violation is "serious enough."
- If the prosecutor files a Motion to Revoke the probation for a marijuana violation, there is no law that says a judge must revoke a probation. A hearing could be held where the prosecutor "proves up" the violation, the judge can find that the defendant violated his probation, but the judge at that point can do everything from nothing to the maximum sentence.

Like I said, a weird system.

"300"

I saw 300 on an IMAX screen yesterday. First, an IMAX thought: In an IMAX theater, the screen is huge and slightly curved. The seating is steeper than what you're used to and you are very close to the screen. And the sound system is incredible. It's much different than a regular theater but not what I was expecting: I thought it would be like the IMAX at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History which, I learned, is called an IMAX dome. That, it ain't.

"300" is completely different than anything I've seen before. It's basically 90% computer graphics and, man, those graphics are great. The slow motion fight scenes are mesmerizing.

The movie was great. Part Sin City, part Gladiator, part Braveheart. But be prepared: It is the bloodiest mess you've ever seen. And, for the ladies, the warriors pretty much run around in their underwear, all sport abdominal "six packs", and are badasses.