Graduation Day

I went down to Baylor today for my niece's graduation -- And I hadn't been to a college graduation since my own. I took my camera and snapped a ton of photos. One thing my family always kids me about is my distaste for "posed photos." You know, the typical "walk over there and smile at the camera pic." I hate them simply because I'd rather capture a moment of raw emotion and candor. Which brings me to this pic. It's not the best in the world, but it's my favorite of the day. That's my brother and his daughter after sharing their first post-graduation hug. From there they simply turned and looked out over the auditorium. That's the Baylor seal far off in the background. It is a picture of emotion. At least it is for me.

I'm A Believer In Statistics And Polls

But what in the world has happened to cause this dramatic change? I also trust Yahoo but that second sentence doesn't make sense when compared to the graph.

Charles Barkley Kills A Man?

• If you don't know who he is, just know he's a former NBA player who is a bad golfer.
• If you know who he is (and his legendary golf swing), you couldn't wait to hit "play".
• I don't know anything about golf, but weren't his feet lined up almost directly at the camera man?
• The camera man almost got killed.
• I like the little kid looking at his (presumably) dad with that, "He's not invincible, is he?" look.
• I loved the guy who was hit simply yelling, "Ow!!!" two seconds after the fact.
• That shot was turrrrible.

City of Denton Book In Photo Of The Day

They are throwing 17 year olds in the hoosegow for contempt of court? Sheesh. And since this is the City of Denton jail, I'm pretty sure the "court" was the Denton Municipal Court. Here's another 17 year old booked in for the same thing about 30 minutes later. He doesn't look too happy.

Friday Afternoon Pick Me Up

And she's a pro golfer. Plus, she's a Ruskie which makes her even hotter with that accent.

Girl Didn't Wear Underwear -- World Now Knows

Link. (The news story's embeddable video didn't embed at all.) Note to high schoolers: When you are going to get a group yearbook picture taken, remember it is a yearbook - not Maxim. Edit: CNN video here. Home girl still ain't sittin' properly.

From December 2005:

Well, now there has been a big development.

It's A Mystery

Yesterday, Chrysler fired off a press release listing all the to-be-closed dealerships. GM, at least as of noon, didn't handle it the same way causing media outlets to pull their collective hair out trying to figure out who got the axe. I haven't heard of a single one yet.

And Now Girls Jumping On Trampolines

I'm sure the web video doesn't do it justice, but Fox 4's very hawt Fiona Gorostiza bounced around on a trampoline this morning. Now if they'll only make that a daily gig instead of "Water Cooler Talk".

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Channel 8 covered Jackie Murphree's return to Texas from China yesterday.
• There was a Euless motorcycle death last night. It had been kind of quiet on that front for a couple of weeks.
• GM announces dealership closings today. There is no way in the world that James Wood Motors would be on the list. But wouldn't it be a Wise County earthquake if it was?
• I don't think I've ever said this: There is nothing wrong with Texas Ranger pitching.
• Richardson has elected a Muslim to its city council. Two words: Sleeper. Cell.
• Video one: ESPN anchor giggles through marijuana story. Good times.
• Video two: Minor league pitcher has a very difficult time trying to execute back to back intentional walks. Fail.
• I looked through four marijuana criminal cases yesterday that have been filed in Wise County. As I thought about how much taxpayer dollars had been dedicated to each case it made me want to scream.
• I managed to get a guy released from the Wise County Jail yesterday who had been transferred there after being granted parole from TDC. He had been imprisoned since 2005. His dad was giddy. (Oddly, he was being held here on hot check charges -- don't worry, the merchants got paid.)
• Everyone was talking about Grey's Anatomy yesterday so I watched about 10 minutes of it last night. It seemed very soap operaree (my made up word.) Lots of the characters staring at one another as the show faded to commercial breaks.
• Good observation from Jarhead this morning: "Isn't it funny how little kids run everywhere they go? Imagine what a goofy place the world would be if grown-ups did that as well."
• There are now three sports radio station in Dallas. I promise you can get in your car in the last afternoon/early evening and click through all three and you'll hear commercials on each one.
• A big law firm in Texas has slashed first year associates salaries by $15,000 due to the economy. Three observations: (1) I've never seen that happen before, (2) they still make more than everyone in Wise County, (3) their lives are an absolute beating.
• I'm now considering a two week vacation year: Florida Keys in the summer and my drive through the South in the fall. (Driving through the South in the summer seems like a whipping.)
• I'm driving down to Waco tomorrow - something I haven't done in quite a while. Everyone tells me I-35 is becoming incredibly congested. (But I think it's worse if you continued on to Austin or San Antonio.)
• It's a graduation ceremony. I guess it would be rude to take a couple of magazines. Or would it?

Emergency Landing

The video was uploaded to youtube.com in April. How it didn't become national news (in a "by the way" segment 10 minutes into a newscast) is puzzling. Stolen from bagofnothing.com

Civil Court News

A trial just wrapped up at the Decatur courthouse where a guy sued TxDOT and Martin Truck Enterprises out of Boyd. The Plaintiff had broken some bones when his motorcycle hit some hydraulic fluid which had leaked from a TxDOT truck in Bryan/College Station. The verdict was for $761,800 with TxDOT being found 90% at fault and Martin Truck being found 10% at fault. In an exclusive interview* with the winning lawyer Lane D. Thibodeaux of Bryan, he said that TxDOT has a statutory cap of $250,000 and never offered to settle the case. Martin Truck had actually settled for $202,000 prior to trial (so they really didn't participate in it.) _________ *Meaning I was alone with him in the courtroom and asked, "Hey, what happened?"

Thursday Afternoon Pick Me Up

I'm often criticized in the comments for posting pics of girls which are simply too young for my advanced old still youthful age. First, they aren't too young for me, and I don't want to hear any of that "you are sooooo in denial" crap that my therapist throws in my face. Secondly, that's not true -- I don't discriminate against the older woman! Heck, it's not unusual for me to post a pic of a woman in her late 20s. I'm open minded like that. But today I will try to silence my critics by bringing you 43 year old Cindy Crawford. Change has truly come to Liberally Lean. (More of Ms. Crawford.)

Lady Dodges Deer

Fails to dodge mailbox. I'm trying to get details on this Wise County photo. Edit: It was taken on May 1st but it qualifies as "breaking news" to me. (Thanks emailer.)

Fast And Furious Closings

The list of 15 North Texas Chrysler dealerships on the chopping block has been released. Edit: The GM list has just been released. Will have it in a moment. Edit: I thought.

Message To The POleece: There Are Cameras Out There

This may be the slowest loading video ever (and you have to suffer through an ad) but it's all worth it if we can see a little police brutality. Background info including book in photo of the kickee (who is very overly tattoed.)

I'm Looking At The Wise County Felony Trial Docket For Next Month . . .

. . . and I see this "Cause no. 14855: Aiding Suicide". I've been doing this criminal law gig for over 20 years and I've never seen an Aiding Suicide case. So I looked it up. Did you know if the suicide is unsuccessful that the punishment carries with it no jail time and "up to a $500 fine"? But if the suicide was, uh, successful or resulted in "serious bodily injury" then it is a State Jail Felony (up to 2 years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine.)

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• A shocking number of high profile celebrities turn 40 this year.
• CiCi's pizza has opened in Decatur. I love pizza. I eat it about once every two years.
• With the oil field bust the county is seeing, I'm really worried about all of these hotels under construction.
• Isn't it great when someone pulls you aside to tell you "what's really going on" in a hushed voice?
• I don't understand news of GM deciding to close some dealerships. Either they are profitable and deserve to stay in business or they are not -- and they'd go out of business on their own.
• Earlier this week there was a wreck on 287 that killed a Decatur man. There are remnants of the wreck - tire tracks to be exact - that come within feet of where a cross has been erected in honor of the Decatur High School student who died earlier this year in the same location.
• I'm not sure I buy all this "affair" business between the parents of John and Kate Plus 8. They couldn't buy this much publicity.
• Obama refuses to release photos of abuse of accused terrorist suspects (well, not formally accused but you know what I mean.) The ACLU cause him a flip flopper, but I don't mind a guy who is willing to change his mind.
• Talked to someone yesterday who had taken a Mediterranean cruise. Apparently there were lots of Russians on the ship. I would never have guessed that.
• A guy who doesn't get off work until after 6:00 p.m. and has toddlers at home probably doesn't see the kids awake a whole lot.
• Mavericks lost. Or so I've heard.
• The NBA season is too long. The Mav's first game was October 7th. If the Cowboys season were that long, they would have been playing football into last month.
• The civil personal injury trial in Decatur was rapping up yesterday afternoon. I'll try to find out what happened. The defendants were TxDOT and some company out of Boyd that helps in the manufacturing process of TxDOT trucks.
• First streaker at Mets' new stadium. The guy running the camera could star in Idiocracy.
• Had a client yell a greeting at me from her car yesterday. I asked her what she was doing. "Just heading to probation," she replied. Good times.
• The Dallas Chamber of Commerce has to love this statement from a deputy police chief: "I just don't recommend anybody being by themselves anywhere in the city [after dark]."
• What is up with all the cussing? I was in a convenience store yesterday and a guy was talking on his cell phone and dropping F bombs left and right.