"Sic, Em!" (Maybe)

Slow afternoon. I'll be holding my Baylor pennant as I watch A&M and Baylor. It's tied 3-3 in the first quarter, but this will end badly. I've been here before. Many times before.

Halftime Edit: I feel comfortable in saying that I, a 40 something white guy with no athletic ability, could do a better job of quarterbacking Baylor than the spare currently under center. I'm getting gigged. Hard.

Frillys?

And it is soooooo necessary.

Uh, Anybody Notice That At The Planning Stage?

Someone looking at Google Earth discovered this 40 year old building owned by the military that kind of looks like a swastika. Uh, or exactly like a swastika.

Don't worry, your government will spend up to $600,000 to fix that little problem.

Source.

Law Notes

If you are interested in law and lawyers: (1) Check out this Wall Street Journal article this week which pretty much says the vast majority of new law school graduates can't expect to ever make much money in the profession. (And the comments are pretty good.) Even in Texas, I'd hate to be a new lawyer right now. The creation of Texas Wesleyan law school in Fort Worth has greatly changed the dynamics of the practice around here. Every time there is a docket call in Wise County, I'm seeing more and more new faces. Ten years ago it was a surprise if I saw any lawyer I didn't know. (2) There's a random Fort Worth lawyer blog written by a guy who gets upset about the strangest things. I don't know him. Don't really want to. (3) I finished The Sweet Hereafter about a plaintiff's lawyer that goes to a small town to sign up clients after a bus accident. It was great. Every plaintiff's lawyer I've ever met who was very successful had two unique qualities: (a) they were a little crazy, and (2) they absolutely believed in what they were doing. Case in point, the lawyer portrayed in the film looked at a potential client and, with all the passion he could muster, uttered, "There are no accidents!" Meaning, "someone is always at fault." That philosophy drives me nuts, but the movie was great.

Random Traffic Observations

(1) That headline just appeared on the Star-Telegram web site. There seems to be at least one motorcycle death per week. And considering how the Ninja type bikes swerve in and out of traffic in the metroplex, I'm not sure why there aren't more. (The Harley guys don't speed. They just irritate with sound.)
(2) I'm seeing more and more of a phenomenon between Decatur and Rhome: Big rigs pulling onto 287 (in either the right or left lane) and traveling at a snail's pace until they gear up. The normal traffic ends up hitting their collective brakes or weaving around them. I saw both lanes jammed up the other day by two trucks doing it at the same time.

Rarity

When the Cowboys play the Rams this weekend, you will see a rarity: The starting running back for the Rams is a white guy. (And he's starting only because of an injury to the first stringer.)

The Ticket just did an uncomfortable segment on why the NFL hasn't had a 1,000 yard white rusher since 1985. One guy called in and said Jimmy The Greek was right. All three hosts were too scared to respond.

For those that don't remember, Jimmy was essentially banned from TV after he said this in 1988:

The black is a better athlete to begin with because he's been bred to be that way -- because of his high thighs and big thighs that goes up into his back, and they can jump higher and run faster because of their bigger thighs. This goes back all the way to the Civil War when during the slave trading, the owner -- the slave owner would breed his big black to his big woman so that he could have a big black kid.

Beating

In general, I think the State Fair of Texas is a huge beating.

But as a kid I enjoyed it because it was so much different - especially the freak shows. Somehow I convinced my mom to let me go into one, but the only "freak" we got to see was the Lizard Woman - which was nothing more than a fat lady in a bikini who seemed to have green flour rubbed all over her body. But it was good stuff.

Doh!

The Parker referred to is the NFL player that was seriously injured about three weeks ago.

Random Memory

While The Ticket was doing another hypothetical this morning (How high would the denomination of the currency have to be before you would pick it up out of a public urinal?), I had this weird flashback: Didn't the stalls in public restrooms (not the urinals) used to be coin operated? That is, the doors wouldn't open unless you deposited fifty cents (or something like that.)

Thursday Afternoon Pick Me Up

I'm Burying The Lead . . .

. . . but if I was a teenage boy and this lady was trying to seduce me and used 1,000 text messages to do it, I'd probably think she might not be quite right.

And, on another note, you'd think her husband would have said, "Honey, who have you been sending 1,000 text messages to?"

Limited Interest

If you're a golfer (and have ever played Iron Horse Golf Course), this story is kind of interesting. The rest of you can move along. Nothing to see here.

Judge June Cleaver?

Any story about a judicial race or a DA race gets my attention. The Morning News had one today about long-time prosecutor Lee Ann Breading running for district judge over in Denton. The story ended with the avoe quote.

Every time I think I know what it means, I change my mind.

Chalk Another One Up

President Bush on Wednesday: "Childrens do learn."

Story and Official Transcript.

Directionally Challenged Grand Jury

CBS 11 News has learned indictments are imminent in the corruption probe hanging over Dallas City Hall for more than two years now. One source tells CBS 11 News that indictments could be handed up within 72 hours. Another source said charges would be coming in the next week or so. "I've been hearing rumors the indictments will be coming down pretty soon," said former Councilman James Fantroy, who is also being investigated. Source Up? Down? Those indictments could be coming at you from any direction.

"They're Lying Through Their Stinkin' Teeth . . . I Don't Know What They're Saying . . . . "

As I test this blog's new video upload function, I thought I'd upload this clip from Fox 4 News tonight. The City of Irving is now taking steps to contact the Feds every time they arrest a person who just happens to be an illegal immigrant. Some claim that the cops are profiling those that "look" like they may be illegal. Those featured in this clip, who might be a little bit "country", tend to disagree.

Spppppaaaaarrrrre

I don't know why Rudy gets under my skin, but I just think he's a huge fraud. Just like when this "impromptu" phone call from his wife came in as he was addressing the NRA. There's nothing worse than a candidate that thinks you're stupid. Rudy thinks you're stupid.

Let Me Find My Checkbook

So I pick up this week's "Best Of" issue of the Fort Worth Weekly since my new goal is to visit as many funky restaurants as I can this year. But as I'm flipping through it, I come across a full page color ad for real estate. Not very interested. But I see the name "Slidell". Our Slidell? In little Wise County? Land in Slidell is going for $4,000 an acre? That place can be mine for $1.2 million?

Someone asked about a picture of the plane crash at the Slidell racetrack. A faithful reader just sent me one in response: