Random Monday Morning Thoughts

- The HBO election movie, Recount, which debuts May 25th looks really good.
-Crazy shooting at a Roanoke hotel (didn't realize there was a hotel there), but I'm not sure an arrest was necessary. But in this day and time, if a death is involved, regardless of whether it's an accident, someone's going to jail. Note to self: Don't take pants off to go swimming in the middle of the night with handgun left in said pants.
- I've beaten that Ralph Hardy thing to death, but I love stuff like that.
- A double amputee from South Africa will compete in the Olympics if he can beat a 45.55 second time in the 400 meters race. Have you seen those "specially-adapted carbon fibre blades" that he runs on? I think, with practice, a guy can run faster on those things than with legs.
- That Brian Loncar story below, based upon the updates after I linked to it, turned out to be pretty bad. (And I just saw one of his commercials on Channel 4 at 6:44 a.m. - "When speed is what you need.")
- Put a soft drink can in the freezer, and it'll be cool in a matter of minutes. Put a plastic bottle in there, and it takes forever.
- For the last few months, the Sunday Dallas Morning News has been putting the circulars in separate plastic wrapping. Makes throwing it away very easy.
- I watched Grizzly Man again this weekend. Good times.
- I drove through Silver Lakes Ranch in Wise County this weekend. I had never heard of it until Chief Deputy Doug Whitehead told me about it. They say the development has about 20+ miles of roadways in it. I believe it. I feel sorry for the deputy that has to respond to a call out there.
- Saw gas in several places at $3.79.
- Double take headline from this morning's DMN: "Man riding Moped on Dallas freeway dies." Fail.
- I'm not sure what the Legends of Fighting is, but I swore I saw this happen at the end of Rocky II.
- Watched a little bit of the CMA's last night. I didn't recognize Carrie Underwood. Taylor Swift had a crazy act where her hoodie and jeans were torn off. Garth Brooks beat me down like he did 10 years ago. Brooks and Dunn appeared for the 75th year in a row. I think Reba McEntire fakes that accent.
- Boyd's Greg "The Hammer" Williams was on Steve Doocy's sports show last night. He looked good. Didn't tell us much other than admitting to "illegal drug use" and kind of implied he'd be back on the radio soon.
- Pushing 100 degrees today? Remember this less than 75 days ago?

Funny Bit

Source.

Brit Goes To Costa Rica

Finally. You've been missed.

Random High School Sports Note

I think if Decatur wins next week, they go to the State Tournament as part of the final four. I really don't remember that happening before. (They will play Cooper who won over Andrews, 4-1, 1-2, 5-3). And I thought "Cooper" meant "Abilene Cooper" but I think that's wrong. There's a Cooper out in East Texas, and I think that's the opponent.

Edit: Or, as an astute commenter pointed out, it could be Lubbock Cooper. (The Denton Record Chronicle has they story of Decatur's win here.)

My Trip To Newark

For some reason, I decided to run in a 5K in Newark this morning. Not sure why. Random observations: (1) Nice people at the Seven Hills school that sponsored the event.. Although I had an awkward moment when I was greeted by a nice lady who wanted to know my name, and I replied "Barry." She responded. "Ok, Barry Green." (2) Didn't see the lady from the city court that made it on Fox 4 the other day. (3) That school is very nice. (4) The run was a little odd in that they sent you down three different roads and you had to do a U-turn and come back. (5) I had to dodge a three legged dog. (6) I had to dodge a pack of dogs. (7) At one point, three horses were running beside me on the other side of a fence. (8) I think I came in fourth. But third was a little girl. Seriously. And as I came to the finish line, I was finishing strong. And then, suddenly, I was passed by a guy who had more self-confidence and swagger than any man I had seen before. His name was . . . Ralph Hardy.

More Powerful Than A Letter To The Editor

A 16-year-old girl posted a cry for help on YouTube two weeks ago. She was allegedly drugged and raped by a 23-year-old man. In the video, she does not name the rapist, but instead focuses on her disappointment that the Florida state attorney's office refused to prosecute the case . . . . Source. One thing about being a prosecutor is that there will always be people unhappy with the decisions you make. But, man, the Internet sure changes the playing field.

If You Recognize The Name Brian Loncar . . .

. . . you'll love this. I can't remember if he used to be The Texas Hammer or The Texas Strongarm. (Thanks emailer Ken.)

Oh, My

From the DMN:

Joe Barron, 52, was arrested in Bryan, Texas, after he drove more than three hours to have sex with a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl, according to police.

He is one of about 20 ministers from Prestonwood Baptist Church, the Plano megachurch.

Here's a story from the Bryan College Station Eagle. We'll have our own story up and posted as soon as we can.


Prestonwood, understandably, has disabled the information on its website as to who this guy is but a Google cache lists him as "Minister Adult Married III." Oh, my, indeed. The privates are going to be the downfall of society.

News

We have an 'unattended death' of a 22 year old in Paradise area.

Developing.

Barry (from mobile)

Edit: I'm sure this happened, I just don't have any details. (4:13 p.m.)

At the jail ...

Edit: Somehow the text didn't come through with the email. If I remember correctly, this guy was an inmate in 1993 when the jail was being expanded. Inmates who were trustees (or "trusty" as they used to be called) were assisting in the construction. I think a wall of cinder blocks fell on this guy one morning. I can't remember what he was being incarcerated for.

American Gangster

I love movies about the illegal drug trade. Blow. Scarface. Traffic. And the great documentary Cocaine Cowboys.

And I'd put American Gangster right up there with them. Except for the ending. This thing is "based on a true story" but I really haven't checked it out yet. But I find that hard to believe.

Spoiler Alert:

The last 20 minutes turns into a bad Law & Order episode. And, without ruining the ending, if you hypothetically believe a person can be a cop investigating a high level drug trade, then graduate from law school and become a prosecutor in the very same case, and then later on a defense lawyer for the guy he prosecuted, this movie is for you.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

- Think about your tax bill. Ok, Ready. Headline: "Hutchison wants $100 mil for border drug war." When did she lose her mind?
- There's a road sign on 407 headed towards Justin that warns you of "low flying aircraft." Why? I mean, I know there's a little airport there but how exactly am I supposed to react to the warning?
- Odd moment of Fox 4 News at 6:53 this morning when they were showing us a dog ts back on the carpet they wanted us to adopt: "Show us that money shot," said Evan. I thought Tim was gonna lose it.
- Speaking of Fox 4, Todd Carruth is leaving as well. I'm afraid that I'm going to turn it on one morning and see nothing but an empty studio.
- Private poll dancing mishap. Good times.
- Don't care to much about the California Supreme Court ruling paving the way for gay marriage. But the fact that hottie Portia de Rossi plans to marry is deeply disconcerting.
- And it's good to see Sen. John Cornyn was quick to suggest that the federal government will get involved in the gay marriage debate. Thank goodness the federal government comes to save us again.
- More crazy federal intervention. That crazy story where some teenager killed herself after being duped on myspace?: The lady who might have done the duping was federally indicted. Incredible. Simply incredible.
- Geekiest thing I've done in a while: Learning PHP and mySQL. Ya know, if I could earn a living being locked in a room for nine hours a day writing code, I think I would.
- It's time for The Preakness and the very wheels off Running Of The Urinals.
- If you want to understand the mortgage crisis, check out this week's podcast of This American Life.

I've Been Busy But Did Notice This

One plane lands on another plane taking off today in Roanoke. It's hard to believe it actually happened and they stayed that way.

And on a completely unrelated note, I've changed the comments to allow them to "pop up" instead of taking you to a different page. Some people complained that hitting the "back" buttom after looking at comments was one of the problems with the speed.

Edit: And I'll try something else. I'll limit the number of my posts to 10 on the first page. Previously it was limited to the last four days, regardless of the number of posts. That will at least decrease the size.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

- Channel 5 did an alarmist "Date Rape Drug" story last night: Jane McGarry says "never put your drink down."
- Law and Order in some ways is kind of silly. Saw a defense lawyer, right in front of his client, ask for a plea bargain from the prosecutor last night and then accept it immediately. Ya might want to ask your client about that, hoss.
- John Edwards endorsed Obama yesterday. I think endorsements have no impact whatsoever - unless some nutcase endorses you. Uh, I endorse John McCain.
- Anybody found the Versus network yet?
- Check out the title bar at the very top of your screen.
- Every newscast last night warned me of "Crazy Raspberry Ants." They use their dead to build bridges, or so Channel 5 told me this morning. Do they scream, "Tonight we dine in hell!!!!"?
- The other day Kay Bailey Hutchison popped on Rush Limbaugh's show on WBAP and thanked him for all that he "did for America." And to think I shook her hand at the old Decatur K-Bob's once.
- Other than maybe two people, I don't know the identity of any of the commenters on here who have Google IDs associated with them. But I do see a pattern: Someone posts a lot, gets bombarded with attacks, and then they go back to anonymous posting. Don't blame 'em.
- Tonya Harding is on The Today Show this morning promoting a new book. That poor girl's wheels are still off.
- Pic of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's yacht that Brad and Angelina just vacationed on in Monaco. I was on an Alumacraft with a 15 hp motor on Lake Bridgeport once.
- That crazy Six Flags commercial of the old lady laughing as she shines a light on the wall causing her cat to go nuts is funny.
- And I still laugh at the new/old Bill O'Reilly tape when he screams, "We'll do it live!!!!!"
- A multi-million verdict against Vioxx which was awarded by some crazy South Texas jury was overturned yesterday. That crying you heard last night was a guy was a lawyer who went from poor to rich to poor again because of a "contingency fee."
- I've had a 7 gram of fat frozen quesadilla for dinner for five straight days.
- Our Presidet honors fallen soldiers by giving up golf. Didn't he do a skit once where he looked for WMDs in his office?
- Megan Henderson "Hey, Now." (Thanks emailer and Frontburner)

Ralph Hardy On Fox 4 - But We Have Issues

Tonight, Fox 4 News did a story on Blog Hero and Legend Ralph Hardy. Below are some screenshots,and we learned the following:

(1) There are no hookers in Newark - an assertion which can seriously be questioned.
(2) Court Clerk Amy Cromer (below in burnt orange) is a rising star in city government and could easily surpass a few "Hey, nows" that have heretofore been posted. (Edit: OK. Don't even try to make comments about, uh, stuff. Not gonna post 'em.)
(3) Lari Barager must hate me. She made reference to about three blogs but Liberally Lean didn't get a single mention. Nothing. Nada. Maybe it's because I referred to Megan Henderson as the hottest girl in local news. Maybe it's because she's been wronged by someone else and taking it out on me. Developing . . .
(4) Franklin Miller has proclaimed himself the "go to guy" for Newark for any and all information. Franklin could have been my BFF if he had said, "Yeah, I know Ralph. He's a playa." (And he had the very funny line last night of, "If there were hookers in Newark, I'd know it.")

Frilly's?

Let The Legend Begin: Ralph Hardy

WorldNetDaily.com appears to be the first reputable news organization (I'm not a news organization nor am I reputable) that has proclaimed the Newark "13 year old boy and hookers" story to be fake.

There is no Ralph Hardy.

But, like the ficticious Tyler Durden in Fight Club, he may become a legendary Wise County character. Like Rook Ramsey or George Harwood or Phil Ryan. Only fake.

So, dear Wise Countians, in all decisions in the future let this be your guide: what would Ralph Hardy do?

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

- "Kaptain Robbi Knievel" will jump a bunch of Hummers at the Motor Speedway next month. Saw him on the news last night - dumb as a box of rocks.
- A" longtime priest of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas resigned Tuesday from his new post at St. Michael the Archangel Church in McKinney amid complaints about his past participation with an Internet site for gay priests." That sentence makes my head hurt.
- But I think the Baptists need to trick up their church names a bit. Maybe, the Mark the Disciple of Jesus Immersed in the Jordan Baptist Church of Flatwood.
- Our jury cards used to have potential jurors fill out their religious affiliations. Baptist was oftentimes spelled as "Babtist" by lots of folks.
- The Rangers are 13-5 over the last 18 games. Don't get your hopes up. And from the number of empty seats on television, not many people are.
- "American Gangster" is very good but not great. But I'm not done with it yet.
- I've rented "Grizzly Man" again so I can once again enjoy the magic.
- The government told us last month that one of the girls taken into custody from the FLDS was a minor and pregnant. Now they say "Uh, nope. Our bad." Government incompetence or Government lies. Take your pick.
- Various local newscasts were covering people camping out to get season football tickets for Southlake Carroll this morning. Why don't they take some of their gold bullion and build a bigger stadium?
- Speaking of Southlake, heard one local church gave out a gift certificate last Sunday to a high tone spa in Southlake.
- The presidential election will be interesting. Will America put aside years of racism to elect a black man or will it settle for a George Bush third term? But it was funny to see the right wing go nuts two days ago when McCain spoke against "global warming."
- Google Maps, which I love, is incorporating real estate listings. To see it even in the Decatur area, go here and click on "show search options" at the top. It's far from complete,