The World Is Ending!

It's snowing on the first day of Spring and Baylor is in the Sweet Sixteen. Is it 2012 already? Uh, and for all of you that picked Kansas to win, things are not-a-good. Updated standings:

I Know This Guy

I actually tried a case against him in Wise County as DA in the 1990s. He won, and I'm still not over it. But that seems insignificant now. But how in the world does a bass boat capsize? Story.

Liberally Lean Tourney Pick 'Em Leader Board: Day Two

Full board. Thanks to Stagecoach Steakhouse in Bridgeport.

Ladies And Gentlemen, I Bring You The First Day Of Spring

A strong cold front will move through North Texas late tonight with temperatures falling into the lower to mid 30s by noon Saturday. Meanwhile a powerful upper level storm system will move across the region and result in widespread precipitation across the area. Rain may mix with snow during the daytime hours Saturday... but is expected to become all snow by Saturday evening. Snowfall accumulations in the advisory area are expected to average 1 inch... but could be as high as 3 inches along the Red River. Snowfall amounts may be higher or lower... and are still dependent on the exact track of the upper level system. In addition to the snow... strong winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 mph are likely Saturday and Saturday night... which may result in periods of blowing snow and reduced visibilities.

Breaking: Explosion & Fire --- Unbreaking: It's Now Out

Edit: How it ended - with the fire raging, the firefighter (top of the ladder in lower right corner in above photo), pushed a hose over the edge and it was out within two minutes. People in that chat room on Fox 4 were throwing down a lot of "he's crazy!" Trust me, although not shown in the pic, those flames were the same size as those below.

Images Above From Fox 4 News (Live video as of 12:22 p.m. Ended around 12:45)

Edit: Twitpic from Messenger. Nice job.

Bad photo of smoke as seen from Whataburger parking lot

The Messenger broke the news at 11:30 that there's been an explosion at some gas well near Decatur with smoke being seen "several" miles away. Developing . . . Edit: From the Messenger's twitter feed:

Pic From Oak Hill Motocross Yesterday

Which apparently is in Wise County. Somewhere. (Thanks, Tony.)

What? These Three Tried To Sell THOSE Fake Tickets?

MARCH 19--A trio of Florida scammers is facing felony fraud and grand theft charges for allegedly selling tickets to a nonexistent rap concert. (More)

Liberally Lean Standings After Day One

Oh, my! Mzchief is in the mix! (Complete list here.) And you know who I picked to win the whole thing? Georgetown. You know who lost last night in the first round? Georgetown.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• If you were inside yesterday, the weather outside was like a magnet.
• I've begun reading Tears In The Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath. There's so much I didn't know about it. Heck, I knew nothing about it.
• Experienced the contrast (while listening to the book while jogging) of seeing a little girl pick a flower in the park while hearing about a 22 year old ranch hand sign up for the Army in 1940.
• And I watched the first episode of The Pacific mini-series on HBO. I can't tell you how underwhelmed I was by that.
• The mini-series, produced by Tom Hanks, is receiving criticism because it asserts that a lot of Japanese hatred during World War II was racially motivated. Criticism? Even I remember those Bugs Bunny cartoons.
• Next week is the 10 year anniversary of the Fort Worth tornado. Time does fly.
• Yeah, the health care congressional maneuvering is ridiculous.
• Texas lost in the first round last night in overtime and I slept right through it. Never has a team fallen so far so fast.
• In the Update, there's a story about Decatur's EDC giving away $200,000 to a private business. For the life of me, I don't understand EDCs.
• "Free throw" is actually a weird word for an uncontested basketball shot from a fixed distance. Edit: "Free" I understand. It's the "throw" that's a little unusual.
• Newark is considering a daytime curfew for minors in order to "discourage burglaries and truancy." That should solve the problem. "Jim Bob, we can't break into that house because if we get caught outside we'll be subject to a $500 fine!"
• WBAP's Hal Jay admitted this morning that this is his first year to fill out an NCAA bracket. How is that possible. I know girls that can't spell "NCAA" that always enter the office pool.
• Don't listen to local talk radio unless you want to hear about Ron Washington and drug use. Complete overkill.
• More text messages of Tiger Woods were released yesterday. Wow. The man sure did like getting his freak on.

Pete Delkus Is Crazy

But Saturday is going to be miserable. His twitter feed.

The First Baylor Tourney Win In My Lifetime

But that wasn't easy. And thanks to everyone who signed up for the Liberally Lean Tourney. We ended up with 222 people who took the time to enter -- an amazing number. (The popular D Magazine blog, who I stole the idea from and who also offers a $150 restaurant gift certificate, only had 209 people enter.) Once again, thanks to the Stagecoach Steakhouse in Bridgeport whose $150 gift certificate was both gracious and advertising genius.

Must Be The Director's Cut "Texas Edition"

An ad for our local movie theater that appeared last week. (Thanks, emailer.)

Would You Cheat On Sandra Bullock For This Girl?

As much as I love pop culture, I really have never been interested in celebrity relationships. Unil now. The news broke the other day about Sandra Bullock's husband was finding himself in the doghouse for cheating on his semi-hawt wife for this gal: Michelle "Bombshell" McGee. The girl's back is even more tatted than her front (google it.) I might miss Baylor's run to the Final Four because I can't take my eyes off of her. And I wonder how much it would cost to have "Trophy Guy" tattooed on my stomach?

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I'm not offended that Texas Ranger Ron Washington tested positive for cocaine. I am offended that he expects us to believe that it was the first time he ever tried the drug -- at age 57.
• A tweet by The Ticket's Junior Miller yesterday: "Is there any doubt that on the road when Wash makes a pitching change that some team's PA guy will roll Clapton's 'Cocaine'?"
• Edit: The Ron Washington animated GIF's have begun.
• 25,804 people were at the Fort Worth Zoo yesterday = Beating.
• You can now catch Baylor's first round NCAA game today at 1:45 p.m. on Channel 21.
• I was in the courtroom yesterday on a CPS case when I learned that two kids under 10, whose father had died in a Wise County crash, were receiving over $1,000 a month each in Social Security benefits.
• I checked a second ago and we now have 189 people signed up for the Liberally Lean Basketball Tourney sponsored by Stagecoach Steakhouse. And some of the names are pretty funny.
• Don't ask me why, but I jogged yesterday listening to a podcast from UC-Berkeley from iTunesU -- it was a history lecture about the Pacific Front in World War II. My impression: If that is as intense as UC-Berkley can get, then we'd all graduate with honors.
• I know someone who always uses the word "pathetic" when they have a meltdown. And they don't even know they do it.
• There are 3D TVs coming into the market? Speaking of TVs, I've never used picture-in-picture.

From The Email Bag

A couple of Decatur Texas Tech students run into form coach Mike Leach in Key West two days ago. Seen at the Decatur McDonald's yesterday.

Final Reminder

Tomorrow morning (at 11:00 or so) is the deadline to sign up for The Liberally Lean NCAA Pick 'Em Tourney. And for those that have signed up, be sure to have your selections finalized. As noted earlier, the winner gets a $150 gift certificate graciously donated by the Stagecoach Steakhouse in Bridgeport. As of this posting, we've got over 120 people participating. And I'm sooooo gonna trounce every one of you.

Oh, My

Link.

In Case You Didn't Know, Blockbuster Is In Trouble

When your stock is under a dollar and then plunges 32% on bankruptcy rumors, you've got issues. A more complete analysis is here. I know in North Fort Worth that three of the stores were shutdown as a cost cutting measure -- and they were all within a stone's throw of each other. Two near Basswood and Beach, and one near 377 by the Target Super Center. But the one in Decatur, with the smallest parking lot in the southwest proper, remains open.