The Fountain Show . . .

. . . at the Bellagio in Vegas is amazing.

No Child Left Behind

I demand that the Messenger do an Open Records request because I'm too lazy to do so.

Texas has announced that 40,182 seniors will not receive their diplomas because of failing the TAKS test. I want to know how many are in Wise County and what is the breakdown by school.

Shockingly (or maybe not), it appears to be the practice of local schools to allow those students failing the TAKS test to walk across the stage at commencement and receive a fake diploma. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Where Did This Come From?

I consider myself an expert in pop culture, but I had no idea that Eddie Murphy and Michael Jackson recorded a music video in 1993 for a song I have never heard of: "Whatzupwitu." It's almost hypnotizing. Hypnotizingly bad. And certainly qualifies for a poll of "Gay or Not Gay." But, at the risk of sounding gay, there's a reason that Michael Jackson sold a gazillion records/CDs. And it comes at he sings "falling, falling, falling" at the 2:07 mark (if your counter goes backwards) or 1:17 (if your count moves forward.)

I Forgot To Mention

That the Lady Bears of Baylor won the Big 12 Softball Championship a few days ago with a win over the Texas Agricultural & Mechanics Lien University. Then, by the looks of it, decided to eat a small child as part of the victory celebration.

Uh , ma'am? Do you have any interest in the position of middle linebacker this fall?

Just In Case

Son, That's Lindsay Lohan!

You OK Manny?

Red Sox Love
Uploaded by beisbolct

It's 1:30 and worth every second.

Two Men On The Loose. Probably Not Real Smart

MINERAL WELLS -- Authorities were searching Monday for two convicted burglars who escaped from a minimum-security West Texas lockup. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice identified the inmates as Joshua Hall and Carlos Goff, both 21, who were missing during a 3:45 a.m. inmate count Monday. Both men were wearing regular street clothes, the department said in a news release. Hall was serving a 5-year sentence for a 2006 Jefferson County burglary conviction, and Goff was serving 5 years for 2004 burglary convictions out of Denton County . . . . Inmates are assigned there when they come within one year of parole eligibility or release, the TDJC said.

Source.

And make that an extremely minimum security facility.

Edit: Nope, not that smart at all.

Oh, My

Link. (Although some of my more sensitive viewers will find it offensive and, uh, bizarre.) As the guy who found it says: "But every now and again something comes along that is so amazingly compelling that it demands to be linked from every web site in the universe." Edit: White boy parody. Edit #2: Jon Stewart finally played a clip of this on 5.15.07.

Just Heard This Advertised

It's not exactly the Boat Show, but I guess someone is interested. (Link. And it actually says in there, "fun for the entire family." Pray for those families.)

Dallas Has Gone A-Gay

Of the two finalists for mayor of Dallas, one of them is gay. If he wins, that would be a trifecta since the Dallas County Sheriff and Dallas County Judge are also a-gay. Not that there's anything . . . .

Edit: At least somebody in Dallas tried to make an issue of it.

Trump v. Cuban

In case you missed it, Donald Trump and Mark Cuban are acting like spoiled brats.

From Trump last week:

"Mark Cuban was extremely embarrassed when he copied 'The Apprentice' [with 'The Benefactor'] and failed," Trump raged. "They threw him off television like a dog. I wrote him a note and I said, 'Mark, you have absolutely no television persona. I wish you would have spoken to me previously or before you did this. I could have told you it was gonna fail.' And he failed. Same thing with the Mavericks. The Mavericks have a great team. They'll never win with Mark Cuban as the owner because he is not a winner."

Cuban today:

"I guess Donald is still upset that he can't afford to buy an NBA team. No doubt the cash requirements of more than $10,000 created a problem for him. Hopefully he will sell enough Trump Steaks, Trump Perfume and Trump Dolls to save some money and buy a team. Then we can see how he does. Until then he is a wannabe that needs to get a new spiel."

Stay classy, Dallas.

Brit Dressed To Go To The Decatur WalMart?

Dennis Rodman Says "Happy Mother's Day"

Forgot About This

As I was walking up to a driver's license hearing in Fort Worth last week, I was approached by a lady that asked me, "Do you know anything about UPS?" Uh.....no. (Other than the weird slogan of "What can brown do for you?")

Anyway, she tells me she's been looking for a UPS drop box and the only one she found was at this office building. "It said 'no pickups' but I put my package in there anyway. I hope it gets across town by tomorrow!" she told me.

So odd. Why not just drive it across town if it's that important? And why in the world would you risk putting it in the drop box?

(Pic is of the actual drop box where, I presume, her package still sits.)

Gettin' Licquored Up

"Meanwhile, the sale of all alcoholic beverages, including by the drink, passed in the city of Bridgeport by a lopsided 271 to 110 margin, according to Wise County Clerk Sherry Parker-Lemon."

All local election results over at the Messenger.

Hey, We Made The Paper

In a story about the downfall of the Rhome Traffic Cam, this blog got mentioned and one of the posted comments was even quoted. That's a first. Good job.

Edit: I completely overlooked this sentence in the story: "[T]he tickets start at $179, with Nestor [the company providing the camera] receiving about $25 for each one issued." Incredible. Completely incredible.

Just Once I Want To See This At Lone Star Park

One of the dogs gets a little loose in Turn Two causing a doggie spin out. However, he will not be denied.