November Football When It's 80 Degrees

As I wait for Oklahoma to hang half a hundred on Baylor tonight, I'll check in on The Pirates vs. The Evil Empire.

The Dark Angel Returns

Just saw that Decatur will face Abilene Wylie in the first round of the State Playoffs. Recent history:

2006: Lost 36-35 (Playoffs)
2005: Lost 43-33 (Regular Season)
2004: Lost 14-13 (Playoffs)

Welcome To Beverly Hills Southwest

Channel 8 News ran a story about the Barnett Shale's impact on Bridgeport - describing it as a "modern day boomtown" with virtually "no unemployment." Also, there are now "many million dollar houses."

Video here. (Although I difficulty getting it to play smoothly.)

Edit: I forgot to thank the emailer for pointing this out to me. I had missed it.

"Watch and learn, Bubba Jr."

Man robs bank inside grocery store while holding two year old.

This Picture . . .

. . . from a Bank Of America ad that has been appearing in the Dallas Morning News creeps me out.

Yep, That's Big

A while back I posted about those huge wing looking things that you would occasionally see being hauled through Decatur, northbound on 287. The general consensus were that they were for those wind farm turbines that generate energy.

A faithful reader sends a pic of one of them on the ground.

May I Dance With Your Date

I really haven't cared much about the Dog The Bounty Hunter story where he was recorded using the "n word" in a conversation with his son. (A recording made by his son and later sold which makes the son a sorry individual.)

Dog was on Larry King Live the other night asking for forgiveness. Here he is leaving the studio.

I. Can't. Stop. Staring.

Bush Quote Of The Day

I don't even know what that means.

More Coverage . . .

. . . (with some good background information) on the crash this week from the Dallas Morning News. Here.

Edit: The Star-Telegram has a similar article.

Scalpers

Fox 4 had a story tonight on the high cost of Hannah Montana tickets (which I wrote about weeks ago.) With advice on how to find tickets from a scalper, an "expert" was interviewed who said, "If you will wait until the last minute, scalping prices will drop."

I hear that crap all the time. And I can't tell you how untrue it is.

Back in the "old days", a buddy and I/me (?) went out to Texas Stadium on a Monday Night to buy tickets from a scalper for a Cowboys/Giants game. We saw a few sellers but only one guy was willing to stick around with an asking price of $80 a ticket (a fortune back then - circa 1988. We weren't gonna pay it.) So we had this theory: Wait until the game starts and he will unload them. So...the first quarter starts. He won't budge. The first quarter ends. He won't budge. The second quarter starts. He tries one more time to sell them for $80 and there are no takers. He then walks off to his car, eating the tickets.

I saw the same thing happen at Reunion Arena for an old Southwest Conference Basketball tournament.

I don't understand it, but the prices don't drop.

Screenshots . . .

. . . from Fox 4 News' story tonight on the wreck that killed a couple from Chico.

Emailed To Me

Don't know the story behind it.

Christmas Violation

I read about it so I tuned in to check it out: Yep, KVIL is playing Christmas music around the clock.

I Call It . . .

"Bullet Casing Found On Cracked Decatur Street As I Walked To The Courthouse This Morning"

Awful

The story is in the Update but the Star-Telegram is on it as well.

Hydrocodone In Crisis

This truck has had traffic shut down on 635 all morning long, and they were taking forever to upright the thing. I finally learned why via the radio: The truck is full of pharmaceuticals (i.e. legal dope) and everyone being extra careful.

As a sidenote, I can't imagine commuting within the metroplex. Every morning it seems 35, 30 or 635 is blocked for miles.

This Isn't . . .

. . . your daddy's Christian Coalition anymore.

Pakistan

Let's turn down the lights for a moment.

About three weeks ago, my subscribed issue of Newsweek arrived with the cover story being about Pakistan. That country doesn't cross my mind on a regular basis. But the weekly magazine proclaimed Pakistan the most dangerous country in the world over Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan with the following freaky foreshadowing:

Today no other country on earth is arguably more dangerous than Pakistan. It has everything Osama bin Laden could ask for: political instability, a trusted network of radical Islamists, an abundance of angry young anti-Western recruits, secluded training areas, access to state-of-the-art electronic technology, regular air service to the West and security services that don't always do what they're supposed to do. (Unlike in Iraq or Afghanistan, there also aren't thousands of American troops hunting down would-be terrorists.) Then there's the country's large and growing nuclear program. "If you were to look around the world for where Al Qaeda is going to find its bomb, it's right in their backyard," says Bruce Riedel, the former senior director for South Asia on the National Security Council.

The conventional story about Pakistan has been that it is an unstable nuclear power, with distant tribal areas in terrorist hands. What is new, and more frightening, is the extent to which Taliban and Qaeda elements have now turned much of the country, including some cities, into a base that gives jihadists more room to maneuver, both in Pakistan and beyond.

Over the weekend, all hell broke out in Pakistan. Hold your breath. They have The Bomb.

"Get In My Belly!"

Kansas has amazingly gone undefeated thus far in college football, but my fascination with the team is the size of their head coach, Mark Mangino.

Stunt Plane

I saw a stunt plane over Decatur around dusk. Complete with fancy smoke coming out of it as it did some loops. Alas, no pictures. Which makes this bland post much more bland.

Might Have Another

Wednesday Afternoon Pick Me Up

I'm Torn

A Senator bears down on Kenneth Copeland ministries wanting the organization to pretty much open the books to him.

Sheesh. I hate Robert Tiltons of the world, but I also think government should butt out of any religious organizations inner workings.

(Image of Copeland's place in southern Wise County.)

WWJD?

Stumbled on this over at BagOfNothing.com Ya know, a good "Come on in and worship" just doesn't do the trick any more.

My Faithful Reader Photographer . . .

. . . came across this major accident tonight at US 287 & CR 2264. From what he wrote, this one looks "bad."

Video Fun Time

Ok, this certainly isn't the greatest video in the world, but it does have its redeeming qualities: - A tricked up beer bong shared by adults isn't something you see every day (other than at the Bridgeport Country Club on a really good Thursday night.) - Neither of the two guys with "Green" on their jerseys are me although it might be a tribute to me - The redheaded guy that never heard an "official 'go'" even though the starter screamed "go" looks like strangely like an ugly Tony Romo - I think that girl at the end might have been wife #5 before she discovered stuffed crust pizza.

One Year From The Presidential Elections

With Hillary and Rudy leading in the polls for their respective party nominations, ABC World News Tonight (which I always TIVO) took a look at what polls looked like one year before the last two elections.

One year before the 2000 Election, it was dead on (but, sheesh, how in love was everyone with W):



But one year before the 2004 election, it wasn't so clear (obviously, their was no dispute about the Republican nomination - although their should have been.)

Advertising and News

People in the metroplex media have pointed out this web page all day. The mixture of advertising and news is sooooo coincidental.

Jackie Murphree

A photo gallery is here. A myspace page to update folks on her condition is here.

Background for those not familiar with the story, is here.

Wise County Clouds Predicting Weather

The submitter wrote that the clouds indicate that it is about to turn colder. I don't know if that's true or not - taken around 2:40 p.m. today.

Edit: Yep, the original headline read, "Wise County Weather Predicting Clouds." My wheels were off.

OK, I Take It All Back

We need to ramp up the War On Drugs.......fast!

Deposition Humor

A faithful reading Wise County attorney just tipped me off to this. Sometimes I think the practice of civil law is crazier than criminal law.

Meet Josh McNeil: Man Among Boys

Story. Now I can't be condoning such behavior, but it's definitely blogworthy. Heck, it's almost worth creating a Liberaly Lean Hall Of Fame. But how does this guy answer the question, "Did you have a good weekend?", "Did you have fun this weekend?", or "Did you have a crazy weekend?"

No Justice. No Justice Of The Peace

Dateline: Abilene. Let's see, if a guy is riding in the back seat of a vehicle and accidentally fires a hunting rifle through the front seat killing the driver and causing a head on collision that injures five people, do you think an autopsy might be in order?

Not according to an Abilene Justice of the Peace who said there "wasn't enough evidence" to warrant one.

Huh?

It's Election Day

Don't ignore important issues like Prop 10.

I think there is also a vote to put a tollway along the Trinity River between Chico and Boyd, but I may have that wrong.

I Call It "Dawg Under Wise County Trees"

Not the most exciting reader submitted pic, but not bad for a Tuesday. I was jogging outside when the cold front hit last night and it was great. Love this time of year. (Except it'll get back up to 80 this weekend.)

I remember as a kid going to high school football games late in the year and it was always freezing.

It (Was) Your Money

Channel 5 had a story tonight on the Texas State Troopers Association which solicits funds from the public - normally by telephone.

Of the $3.7 million donated annually, less than $100,000 goes to the troopers. Shockingly, $3 million of that goes to "fundraising." That is, the telemarketers themselves.

Oddly, some guy name Tom Vinger of DPS said, "DPS does not endorse these associations. They operate separately . . . ."

What a scam.

Democrat Candidate Dennis Kucinich . . .

. . . has a very hot and very tall wife.