Most Obscure NCAA Tourney Fact

San Diego forward Rob Jones "is the grandson of Jim Jones, the leader of the Jonestown jungle compound where more than 900 people were killed in 1978 in a mass urder/suicide."

Another Emailer

. . . sends this "wedding picture from the Brownwood newspaper."

I'm Not Posting Another Spring Break Pic

A Faithful Reader . . .

. . . claims that "the Community Church in RAB [Runaway Bay] is planning to hire a pastor (Ollin Collins) who" had a less than flattering story about him printed in the late 1990s in the Baptist Standard here. All the normal caveats are applicable: I don't know if the hiring is in fact true. I don't know if the allegations in the Baptist Standard were true (but scrolling down about a third of the way here claims that the Star Telegram reported the lawsuits were settled for $400,000.)

This Girl Says,

"It sure is raining in Wise County this morning. Makes me want to stay inside and turn sideways."

Guns 'N Justice

Today the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the meaning of the 2nd Amendment - whether this right to bear arms is individualized or only relevant to a well armed militia. There will be no skirting of this issue. The case won't get bounced on technicalities like jurisdiction, standing, or ripeness. The Court will address the issue head on (with an opinion probably released in June.)

But the Supreme Court, which is getting kind of hip these days, will release the audio of the oral arguments later today. It might be as exciting as watching paint dry, but I'll probably check it out. (But on the rare occasions they do release audio, they always do it in that stupid RealAudio format.) Edit: Here it is. Written transcript here.

Sidenote: Did you know it's still legal in Texas to walk down the street with a rifle or shotgun?

Edit: The most entertaining review (as always) is by Dahlia Lithwick over at Slate. I don't know what that lady looks like but I'd make her wife #9.

Odds To Win NCAA Tourney

The Evil Empire: 10 to 1 Texas A&M: 250 to 1 Baylor: 800 to 1 UTA: 5,000 to 1 (Others)

Gratiutious Spring Break Pic

The Big Picture

Rain this afternoon? 100% chance tomorrow?

Calling All Big Brains

The big news this morning is that Bear Stearns is being bought out for $2 a share. Basically, if you owned stock in that company, you're screwed. But someone explain to me how the price of the stock went from $30 on Friday (which, presumably, was the price a willing seller would pay to a willing buyer) to $2 over the weekend. It sounds like the equivalent of a "run on the bank" for Bear Stearns but I'm not sure why it happened.

And the story also mentioned that at $2 a share, the price of the takeover is actually less than the value of the real estate the soon to be defunked company owned.

And, one more thing, with gold at $1,000 an ounce and the Euro being worth a ton more than the dollar, are these dark days?

Random Observations During Spring Break

- I'm not on Spring Break. I don't think I've ever gone anywhere on Spring Break. - C4u (Incidental Remarkings blog over there ----->) is on a cruise. Probably someplace seedy. - Bag of Nothing (blog over there ---->) is on a road trip to Las Vegas but did mention that he passed through Decatur - Is that website down for everyone or is it just me? - Several people sent me the link of bootleggers of vodka in Palo Pinto that put rattlesnakes in the bottles. I'd cut 'em a break for creativity. - Heather Mills was just awarded $50 million for being married a couple of years to the great Paul McCartney. I'll put her in the trifecta of most despised women: Her, Nancy Grace, and Ann Curry. - Where's Boyd's The Hammer? Here, maybe. - The drummer for ABBA met his Waterloo in a very bad way. - Tiger Woods' winning putt yesterday. (youtube)

More St. Patrick's Day Love

From last year in Maine. Check out the girl in red getting laid out by the guy at around the 26 second mark. This prompts another guy to go Medieval on his arse right in front of the cops. Good times.

In Honor Of St. Patrick's Day . . .

. . . I give you what might be my favorite news report of all time. Yeah, we've seen it before, but it never gets old. (Or, in totally unrelated news, check out the indoor waterfall caused by the tornado in Atlanta this weekend.)

I've Always Liked Soccer

This fun spirited run this weekend:


Led to this hot mugshot:

In Orlando (with a couple of more pics there, as well).

Relatives Try To Kill Old Man . . .

. . . by taking him to Hooters to celebrate his 100th birthday.

Endless (Kind Of) Loop

Youtube now has the video of the (alleged) drunk hitting the Dallas County Sheriff's Office car last week. For some reason, the AP thought it would be a good idea to loop it a couple of times. (Proof of original AP version here.)

Blonde Haired Women. Tall Black Guys. Let's All Dance.

So after Baylor gets beat by the worst team in the Big 12 on Thursday, the chances of the Bears making this week's NCAA Tournament were getting dim. So I sit down today at 5:00 p.m. to see if they make it. The Lord must not have liked the Bears skipping Sunday night services because every other team was announced until it came down to the very final slot.....yep, the Bears made it after much wailing and gnashing of teeth. But, then again, so did UTA.

An Emailer . . .

. . . sent along a link to what could be the "And Another" Hall Of Fame.