Good Stuff

I'm a little into the second hour of the five hour documentary from National Geographic called Inside 9/11: Commemorative Edition. It's a two DVD set.

This thing is great. It never gets slow and provides (so far) the background of how 9/11 came to be. From Osama gaining his fame by being a soldier in the Soviet-Afghanistan war (did you know Al Qaeda basically whipped the Soviets with American provided ground-to-air missles?), to Saudi Arabia turning down Al-Qaeda's request to fight back Iraq after Iraq had invaded Kuwait (they turned to the U.S. instead which angered Osama to no end), to President Clinton turning down a chance to capture Osama (because Osama, at the time, was on a hunting trip with the prince of the United Arab Emirates.) Great stuff.

A Criminal Mastermind of Biblical Proportions

Saw this on the news this morning. Some guy robs a bank by "hiding" his identity with a disguise of tree limbs and duct tape. Yep, he dressed up as a tree. I think I saw this in Ocean's 11 when George Clooney turned to Brad Pitt and said, "We'll tape a hackberry limb to your forehead and then you'll just sneak past the guards down into the vault at the Bellagio. It's genius."

Nutrisystem Update

Ok, I've been on this freakin' Nutrisystem diet for three weeks (week four starts today.) Observations:

1. I've lost six pounds which some people don't think is very much. But I think I'm an oddity because I was probably only 10 pounds overweight to start with. I can seriously feel the loss: I'm a millimeter from taking my belt up a notch and all my clothes feel better. I talked to a buddy last week who said he lost 20 pounds in his first month (then gave the program up.)
2. Is it hard to stay on the system? At first, I was starving. But now my belly pretty much has adjusted to what little food I put in it. And the convenience of having all the food in pantry makes it really helpful to stay the course (except I'm always running to the grocery store for lettuce and tomatoes.)
3. Are the portions small? You bet. The lunches are ridiculous.
4. Desserts? Yep. You get one a day and that stuff is great.
5. Overall, does it taste good? No problem with the taste whatsoever.
6. Any exercise that goes with it? I always jog for 39 minutes on the treadmill every other day.
7. Am I going to do it a second month? Yeah, but I'm trying to take a vacation later this month so that doesn't really fit into my plans.

"Hey, baby . . .

. . . don't pull momma's wig and hand me another cig. We've got to run down to Allsups to get some corn dogs."

Jack Nicholson, 70, aboard a speedboat off the South of France

He's a playa's playa.

Wes Hardy . . .

. . . page at this web site is here.

(Thanks for the email from a reader.)

License To Wed

looks gawd-awful. (And everyone else thinks so to - box office rankings here.) I have a love hate relationship with Robin Williams (and most people, for that matter.) He's great in serious rolls (see Good Will Hunting or One Hour Photo) but is horrible as a comedian or comedic actor. Check out RV on HBO this month and see if you aren't reaching for the nearest pistol.

And I saw a preview this morning that he will be appearing on Martha Stewart's show today. Watching that guy run around the kitchen, picking up utensils, and using that goofy voice makes a Wise County docket call a joy in comparison.

Miss New Jersey . . .

. . . is being blackmailed. Someone is threatening to release photos taken off of her private Facebook account. This is so weird. She said on The Today Show that the photos don't contain nudity or any illegal activity, and "the [photos] I do recall were meant to be private and could only be viewed by my close friend and family." Huh? Family?

I Just Keep Watching It

I hope you saw the video of the couple that went over the spillway at Lake Lewisville. They both survived (but were hurt), and the video is incredible. (Here.) But you don't get a good idea that they landed on concrete covered by very shallow water until the end of the video.

Edit: And I still find it very odd that someone just happened to be filming it.

Horrible Local News

The officer is a former Wise County Sheriff's Office deputy. His dad is currently an investigator with the Wise County Attorney's Office. (The news stories should appear here.)

Edit: Dallas Morning News story here. ("He was a good ol' country boy," said Officer David Tilley, a Plano police spokesman. "He had that country accent. You could tell he was from Wise County. Former Wise County patrolman Billy Hamilton, a friend of the younger Hardy, said the news of his death had hit the Decatur-area law enforcement community hard.")
Fox 4 News story here.

Blade Runner

If you want to read a very long article about the "Flying Motorcycle" inventor from Boyd, you can do so in the Dallas Observer.

A sample: "Neal, though, came to the town of Boyd, literally just south of Paradise, and never left."

Local Ties

A faithful reader tells me that Sheila Reed had moved to Killeen from Slidell. She leaves behind three daughters, one whom is severely handicapped. (Story.)

Hmmm

Not Much Going On Today

But it is only 56 days until:

Baylor at TCU
Arkansas State at The Evil Empire
North Texas at Oklahoma
Montana State at Texas A&M
Texas Tech at SMU (two days later)

Jennifer Garner and I . . .

. . . have the same tan.

It's Over

After studying the weather charts all morning, I have come to the conclusion that the rain is over. Yeah, we might have a brief shower over the next couple of days, but the Big Stuff is over.

And I wonder if we will remember the weather over the last two months in the same way we remember the Heat Wave of 1980 or the Freeze of 1983-1984?

Are You Going To Cooperate Now?

Story here. But as far as falls go after being hit with a Tazer, that was a 10 in my book.

Want To . . .

. . . see Scooter Libby's check for $250,400?