It's Not Antoine Dodson Quality . . .

. . . but Eric Hubbard explaining at the 30 second mark what the tornado did with his tasty burger is pretty funny.

Monday Afternoon Pick Me Up

Wait a second. Is that McLovin? Twenty-one year old McLovin?

Source.

Baby News

Texas Ranger Colby Lewis skips the series with the Yankees to be with wife:

NBA player Shane Battier must have won a playoff game yesterday, but skipped the birth:

And I heard Messenger editor Brian Knox and wife just became parents to a 10 pounder. Yep. 10 pounds. Congrats. (No word yet whether Brian was out playing sports.)

(See what I did here? I'd post the baby pic if I had one)

Not Sure What The Reaction To This Story Is

I don't know if the public will be outraged, apathetic, or supportive.  I know online poker is big business (although I don't think I have a single friend who plays it), but most of these companies moved their operations overseas.  Now the U.S. shuts down their sites, issues indictments, and tries to confiscate their money.

Not to mention the millions of citizens who had credit balances with these companies who will now never get paid.

Since this is Tax Day, perhaps legalizing it and taxing it might be a better idea?

(Source).

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I don't think I recall a wildfire burning for four days in Texas like we have to the west.(But I do remember a really bad one around the Parker/Wise County border several years back that went on for a couple of days.)
• It is kind of ironic for Gov. Perry to basically run on an anti-federal government/State's rights platform, but is mighty quick to ask the government for federal aid in wake of the fires. 
• You would think one of those smart cars would blow over in this wind. 
• I didn't go to the Main Street Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth this weekend but that had to be like a wind tunnel. 
• Nicolas Cage was arrested over the weekend, but it was pretty funny when some gossip web sites used this book-in photo from Raising Arizona.
• Success of the weekend: I managed to drill three drainage holes in the bottom of a ceramic pot without shattering it.
• Failure of the weekend: Mrs. LL's hard drive on her laptop gave up the ghost. Recovery install wouldn't work.  And pulling it out and trying to access it as an external drive allowed it to be recognized but not read. Now New Hard Drive vs. New Laptop decision time. 
• I don't care about the NBA or Kobe Bryant, but I'm fascinated by this hi def screenshot of when he almost got injured yesterday.
• I didn't realize that Wise County would be the largest county in the new proposed Texas House District 88. And speculation has already begun regarding potential candidates. Who is the Wise County Republican Party Chairman again? Oh, yeah.
• The Update finally mentions the new district in today's issue.
• Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has a new goatee and is killin' it in a Vegas pool. 
• Wrong way head on collision in Grapevine last night. How no one died is amazing. 
• Any of you Northside hanger-outers familiar with Randy Rostetter who died in a freak DWI incident as he was walking home? Edit: Picture.
• A prosecutor calling you with "new information" about a pending case is normally very, very good or very, very bad. And it doesn't matter how good an investigation was, something always seems to come up when one is headed to trial. 
• After two experiences of looking like we'll never be seated and leaving, we finally went back to Fogatas on Friday evening. I think we were seated in the bar area where one guy was playing live music. #AlwaysGetWorstTable. (But there was absolutely no wait which is not a good sign.)
• Mrs. LL disassembled a great deal of a shower in a massive cleaning project. The reassembling part has become a massive construction project. And I'm pretty sure we've got every type of tub, tile, caulk, and general goo remover known to man up there. 
• Sports Illustrated estimated that the government's pursuit of Barry Bonds cost $6 million and that was before the trial began.  Talk about government waste.

More Proof That I'm A Modern Day Nostradamus

Friday's Random Thought:

Today's Paper:

Careful With The Word "Only"

If you've ever seen Mimi Coffey's billboards, you might get a kick out of this.

"Make up your mind. Decide to walk with me. Around the lake tonight."

Actual WFAA story and video link here. (Just a graphic above.)

Some have referred to a Stephens County fire and a Possum Kingdom fire but it looks like they are one and the same. (I think.) It has destroyed at least 30 homes. Fox 4 has helicopter up there this afternoon.  Amazing pictures. That fire is HUGE. Edit: It's two fires. Sheesh.

I've griped about the wind all Spring, but today is a doozy. The walls are rattling.  But I don't think we have any Wise County fires reported -- a nice change.

Edit: We've got a pretty big Boonesville fire at 1:15 p.m.  


Edit: Power lines down in Boyd.


Edit: Sheriff's Office just told me there was a guy who was burning leaves in Briar. 


Edit: Now with a report of people burning limbs on Hwy 51 south of FM 2123. Goofy, goofy people.


Edit: Bridgeport High School's gym roof severely damaged.


Edit: Fire north of Decatur reported around 4:30 p.m. 


Edit: Hide you wife, hide you kids . . . . 

First Verdict Of The Day

Motorcyclist 0
Fed Ex 1

(Unofficial way of saying that Fed Ex won the civil case and will not owe any money after the trial this week in Wise County.)

My source is impeccable*: Complete secondhand hearsay.

Edit: Getting comments about there being a "high/low agreement." If so, it works something like this (with completely made up numbers): Prior to trial the lawyers agree to a low figure of $200,000 and and a high figure of $1,000,000. If the verdict of the jury is anywhere within that range, it stands. If less than $200,000 the Plaintiff gets $200,000. If more than $1,000,000, the Plaintiff only gets $1,000,000.  It's a way of putting some absolute certainty into the jury system.
__________
The original version of this hard hitting news item contained a spelling error which caused an immediate dog pile. The current version has been revised accordingly. Liberally Lean regrets this error.

Tarp Guy Gets Rolled

Not sure why this video is so jumpy it looks like the Internet in the 1990s, but that guy looks like Mike Tyson just gave him a left hook once he gets back on his feet.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The Wise County case of Motorcyclist vs. Fed Ex went to the jury yesterday afternoon. They went home without a verdict and will return this morning. I haven't watched a second of it.
• The Denton drunk-dad-shoots-daughter case goes to the jury today with a range of punishment of probation to 20 years in prison. I predict 13 years. 
• There was some controversy over a low pre-game flyover at a college game earlier this year, and then someone found footage of an insanely low flyover at involving TCU in 2000. Man, that plane is lower than the top of the press box. (Begins at :16 mark with three views.)
• Another Fort Worth police officer arrested for DWI.
• Got word that an ex-Boyd coach was arrested yesterday for online solicitation of a minor. (Hey, jail, fix your online inmate directory!)
• Cliff Lee last night: 9 innings, 0 runs, 12 strikeouts.
• I've been working with the Second Grader In The House on how to hit a softball. Never knew I would get so much satisfaction of now seeing her regularly getting hits in games. 
• Somebody pointed out yesterday that the Tarrant County Medical Examiners site listed a double fatality motorcycle accident near Alliance Airport on April 9th. I wonder why that didn't make the news? Edit: As many pointed out, it did make the news.
• Googling "fixing a toilet" is not a high point in one's life. 
• We had an impromptu test this morning in the house as to the cause of the sinking of the Titanic. All passed. (It's the anniversary of its sinking. All together now: "Jack! Jack!")
• PGA tour member Kevin Na shot a 16 on a par 4 hole yesterday in Houston. Yep, one hole. Hello, record books.
• If you were on Camp Bowie yesterday in Fort Worth (like I was) you would have been buzzed by the Blue Angels practicing for this weekend's air show. 

I'm hearing one child was hung, photo'd, and picture sent to mother.

Shocking.


Edit: Star Telegram story. Wichita Falls story.

Some stories say a photo was sent before the murder. My source on the pic being sent after the murder was based upon conversation at the Graham courthouse this morning. Either way, this thing is bad.

Is Fox News Trying To Mimic "The Onion"?

Nope, they run this as a real story.

I wonder what else happened in this country at the time of Obama's speech?

Everyone Is A Comedian

Me in Costa Rica last year (a photo I have on Facebook)  . . .

Picture sent to me by a wise guy claiming it must have been taken from a different angle.

I Want To Go On Record

I've just been joking about my disdain for the LL Family Cat and my desire to do horrible things to it.  Absolutely joking. I wasn't even close to going over the edge and becoming a Mass Cat Killer.

Note to self: Find program that deletes "kill" "cat" "hate" "strangle" "dismember" from blog posts.

(Story.)

One Second You're Sipping Drinks In Monte Carlo . . .

. . . and the next second you realize that five digit subtraction is really hard.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• The video of the 12 year old in Desoto getting run over after others had a street fight (causing one kid to flee in a car) was hard to watch even though Fox 4 cut the tape short.
• I actually proclaimed to the girls in the house as I watched it, "If you ever see a group of kids acting like fools, get out of there!"  If only I had listened to that advice as a kid. 
• One thing I've grown tired of is Internet videos of street fights --- the amount of violence (and ignorance) out there is shocking.
• Big 12 football fans: The conference signed a massive deal with Fox Sports which guarantees that every Big 12 home game will be televised for the next decade.
• Ever try to practice softball with a Second Grader when a few yards away is a little girls soccer team playing Simon Says? You can only say "Focus!" so many times.
• Someone speculated that Barry Bonds could be sentenced to eight months home confinement. Heck, I'd volunteer for that. 
• Every time a president - any president - says he is going to dramatically cut the budget in future years, I'm reminded of the person who says he is going to start a diet on Monday.  Why not start right now?
• Mav Dancer wardrobe malfunction last night?
• "She was delivering her grandchild to her ex-husband's stepmother." - A sentence that was actually uttered to me yesterday. 
• Never a good start when there's a note in the kitchen that reads, "The potty is broken."
• Yeah, we can all go nuts when a little kid is patted down by airport security, but we'd all go nuts if a plane blew up because a bomb was hidden on a little kid. 
• For all you conspiracy nuts, here's a college professors investigation into whether Sarah Palin is actually the grandmother of Trig. Did you know she won't produce a birth certificate? Sound familiar?
• Pete Delkus has already tweeted this morning about afternoon tornadoes and severe storms. He's even using exclamation points!!!

Real News: Proposed Legislature Redistricting Map Has Major Impact On Wise County

If I've got my facts right (always a dicey proposition), Wise County very possibly will be in a new state legislative house district (#88) joining a bunch of west Texas conservative (and slightly populated) counties.  This also means that Rep. Phil King would no longer represent us. (The horror!)

And since District 88 used to surround Amarillo with the current representative being moved to District 87, it would become an "open seat" meaning there will be no incumbent in the next election.

(If this makes the Messenger's Update, I want full credit or I'll unleash a team of lawyers bigger than those involved in Motorcycle Guy vs. Fed Ex. In the meantime, I'll credit the Star-Telegrams's Bud Kennedy who provided this info to me directly. Follow him on Twitter.)