Oops

Last year professional baseball player Raphael Palmeiro's made the following statement before Congress: "Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Rafael Palmeiro and I am a professional baseball player. I'll be brief in my remarks today. Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never. The reference to me in Mr. Canseco's book is absolutely false. " Today he was suspended 10 days for violating the drug policy of Major League Baseball. I wonder what drug that was?

OMG, They Killed .....

There's hardly any TV show that I always try to watch. HBO's very weird, very odd, and always shocking Six Feet Under is an exception. For fans of the show, it came as a shock last night when they killed off lead character Nate. (But I guess that's what he gets for telling his pregnant wife that he's leaving her). But I then reminded myself its only a TV show. A very good TV show.

It Seemed Appropriate

I attended a memorial service the other day, and the following quote was printed in the program: To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yahooty

"SUNNYVALE, Calif. - ABC News and CNN.com plan to start providing video news feeds to Yahoo Inc. news site, the companies have announced. CNN.com will offer daily video clips and ABC will offer on-demand video content, Yahoo officials said in a statement late Sunday. Video will be available for free to Yahoo users and supported by advertising." Slowly but surely, video is becoming more common place on the Internet. And Yahoo, which seems to be one of the few web sites that understands that clutter = bad, is the perfect company to provide it.

Back When You'd Pay $100 For a Biscuit

"NEW YORK - The company started by the late nutrition guru Dr. Robert C. Atkins to promote a low-carb lifestyle has filed for bankruptcy court protection, a further sign of the waning popularity of the diet. " I always thought the diet was a little wacky, but I never dreamed those in charge would squander krillions of dollars.

Maybe If Maverick Had Been The Pilot . . .

I think I'm pretty good about judging public opinion. But maybe I'm not. Take for example the movie Stealth which debuted this weekend. It's not exactly something I'm going to go see, but I would expect that the public would eat it up. It's big budget (cost over $100 million), it has a ton of special effects, it stars academy award winning Jamie Foxx, and has a huge advertising budget. So what does it do on opening weekend? It finishes fourth with an intake of $13.5 million. That has "bomb" written all over it.

It's Been That Long Ago?

It's been 20 years since a Delta plane crashed at DFW killing 137 people. I remember where I was when I heard the news (on I-35 in Fort Worth after driving back from Waco) . I was listening to Brad Sham's "Sports Central" on KRLD and it was amazing how long it took the news department to boot him off the air to cover the tragedy. I still think about the man who was killed by the plane - but he was not a passenger. He was driving on highway 114 very close to where the Marriott Hotel is when a portion of the falling plane killed him. Talk about fate. I learned this about him today from the Morning News: "William Mayberry died on his 28th birthday. He had arrived in the Dallas area six days before, looking for a better-paying job and a better life for his family. His wife and children, back in Vicksburg, Miss., planned to join him the following week."

And Most Kids Can't Commit to Dinner

The Morning News printed a list of "early commitments" for high school football players naming their school of choice for 2006. The University of Texas has 22 kids agreeing to play football for them while Tech has 11 and Baylor has, ugh, 4. TCU has only three but one of them was Colin Jones of Bridgeport.

"I got a stage-five clinger"

I finally saw Wedding Crashers.....verdict: pretty funny but not a classic. (Although some quotable lines will definitely come out of it). Probably the most surprising thing was how hot Jane Seymour looked (yep, that's 54 year old Jane Seymour). We should all age so well. And if your a Vince Vaughn fan (and I am), you have to see him in one of his first movies, Clay Pigeons. He's great in it.

I Know I'm In The Minority Here . . .

There is an intoxication manslaughter case going on in Tarrant County that is incredibly sad. Roy Alvin Adams Jr. (in photo) is on trial for causing the death of Grapevine officer Darren Medlin about a year ago. Adams seems genuinely remorseful, and the whole thing is a tragedy. DWI cases are odd in that the defendant's "intent" is irrelevant. As I often say, some DWI defendants hit a curb while others strike a person. The first is a misdemeanor while the latter is a second degree felony. Adams (who will probably be convicted) faces a range of punishment from probation to 20 years in prison. After seeing him in court for a week, a probated sentence wouldn't bother me at all. But, I'm not sure most people don't feel that way. It's all so sad.

I Bet He Could Throw A Baseball Over Them There Mountians

I'm not much of a baseball fan, but I appreciate greatness when I see it. Roger Clemens, now pitching for Houston (and never a pitcher for the Rangers despite going to UT), has a current ERA of 1.46. (For the uninitiated, that means over 9 innings, he averages giving up 1.46 runs). No other MLB pitcher has an ERA under 2.00. That is incredible for a man in his prime, but Clemens turns 43 in August. But, then again, for a salary of $18,000,022 in 2005, you better be good. (I don't know where the extra $22 came from).

That is No. 10

We have a new planet. Astronomers have found a planet that is larger than Pluto, and it is currently about 97 times further from the sun than the Earth. This picture is an artist conception of how the sun looks in the sky from that planet. I bet its mighty cold there.

Doesn't This Happen Waaaaaay Too Often?

In yet another crazy story involving old guys trying to hook up with (very) young girls via the Internet: "CANON CITY, Colo. — A Texas law enforcement officer was jailed on $100,000 bond after allegedly trying to solicit sex with a child. Police arrested Larry Dale Floyd, 62, the elected constable in Denton County's Precinct 2, near a restaurant Thursday. Police say Floyd had made arrangements via e-mail last month to meet a child, but he had unknowingly contacted an undercover officer." His government web site is still up where he proclaims, "As your elected Constable, I would like to thank you for the interest, support and trust that has been shown for this office by the citizens."

That's One Way To Prevent Jail Over Crowding

Most folks are familiar with the slaughter in the 1990s in Rwanda especially after the movie "Hotel Rwanda" was released late last year. Well today comes the news that "Thousands of Rwandan prisoners began streaming out of jail on Friday, following a government decision to free 36,000 inmates, the majority of whom have confessed to taking part in the country's 1994 genocide. "

Ok, You Other Countries, This Is How It Will Be

Did you know that long time W friend and advisor Karen Hughes now has a real job (at taxpayer expense)? She was approved by some Senate committee on Tuesday to serve as, get this, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. The position is part of the State Department. I never thought her personality was one synonomous with "diplomacy" or the "public".

My Head Hurts, Now

George Will wrote the following recently in Newsweek: "The sun around which Earth orbits is one of perhaps 400 billion stars in the Milky Way . . . There are perhaps 140 billion galaxies in the still-unfolding universe. If all the stars in the universe were only the size of the head of a pin, they still would fill Miami's Orange Bowl to overflowing more than 3 billion times." It kind of makes the Space Shuttle's voyage a little insignificant.

Maybe He's Saying He's #1

There's a video floating around the Internet which appears to show the President, er, making a, er, gesture towards the press. The clip can be found here (just click on the face of the video). Warning: It's an anti-Bush blog which is not exactly kid friendly.

Survivor In Suits

I normally distance myself from "reality TV" but I recorded and quickly watched "The Law Firm" on NBC last night. It's premise: Get a bunch of young lawyers together, give them little time to prepare a small civil case, and then have them present it to either a judge or an arbitrator. It was OK. One thing rang very true, however: The cross section of the lawyers on the show was very realistic. Some lawyers suck. Some lawyers have egos larger than their abilities. Some are pretty good and pretty smart. The most impressive contestant to me was Chris, the black guy. But I'll probably not watch the show again.