Monday Afternoon Pick Me Up

That's "Cora Skinner. AKA - Brody Jenner's girlfriend." Never heard of either one.

This Kid Will Mess You Up

Drives Me Nuts

From the Update.

Stories like this are pretty much: "Hey, something crazy is going on behind the scenes in Alvord. We've got a successful coach who has been relegated to coaching spare tennis. And that doesn't happen unless something big has happened."

Edit: Some submitters might note that their comment did not appear. Yep, some didn't make it through our Board Of Censorship Formerly Known As The USSR. But, sheesh people, you can't say some of those things!!!!!

Edit: Topic closed. Sorry. It's too much of a beating to go through them.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

- New report: "The Justice Department has released a new report showing the nation's prison and jail population reached a record 2.3 million people last year. The United States leads the industrialized world in incarceration . . . . In fact, the U.S. rate of incarceration (762 per 100,000) is five to eight times that of other highly developed countries, according to The Sentencing Project, a criminal justice think tank."
- The kid who played a young George Bailey and got slapped around by the drunken pharmacist in It's A Wonderful Life has died.
- Rangers manager Ron Washington said last night on Channel 4 that he wouldn't "validify" any rumors about why a pitcher was released.
- Read this somewhere: A District Attorney needs to be trusted but not necessarily loved. I'll buy that.
- The Cure was at American Airlines Center last week. And it's amazing how quickly video turns up on youtube. (Although a 50 year old Robert Smith dressed up all goth-like is a bit disconcerting.) But me loves me some Cure.
- Troy Aikman sounds mentally challenged when he appears in any commercial.
- You would think theft of gas by siphoning would become a problem
- Had "Special K With Cherries" for breakfast and the box had a ton on cherries in it.
- The Geico commercial with Mrs. Butterworth doing the speaking made me nervous the first time I saw it. I had her confused with Aunt Jemima.
- I ate at On The Border on Friday off Western Center Boulevard. When did your average dining crowd begin to look like it was headed to NASCAR?
- I don't know who Wayne Rooney of the soccer team Manchester United is, but this outdoor pic of his bachelor party makes me want to distance. He's the one wearing my bathing suit.
- Fox 4 weatherman Ron Jackson (who is filling in on the the morning show this week), just said he normally wakes up around 11:00 a.m.
- The two year old song, "85 Feet and Falling" by the Dallas band Sorta gets me every time. It's about a guy who killed his girlfriend by throwing her off a Dallas freewway and then jumping to his death as well ("It happened when they left their Knox/Henderson apartment . . . . Fifty miles away in roaring rush hour traffic, her body came to rest on Janet Durham's Crown Victoria." (That pick-me-up of a song is available in a free mp3 download here.)
- News about the new Apple iPhone as well as the software update news for the old one will be released today around 11:30 a.m.
- If it takes longer than 10 minutes to prepare, I won't cook it.
- Second gasoline thought: You would think that teleconferencing via webcams would finally come into its own.
- Third gasoline thought: How much is gas at a lake marina?
- Oddest article in this month's issue of the always horrible Texas Bar Journal: "Lawyer Marketing With Twitter." You think some question marks are going to be forming over some lawyer heads?
- After God ends poverty, I'd appreciate it if He'd work on the Texas wind.
- The Supreme Court opinion on the right to keep and bear arms should be released within the next two weeks and possibly today. I'm guessing you'll be able to keep your 12 gauge.
- D Magazine made a big mistake this month. And it does not involve pictures of high school seniors.
- WBAP's failed "The Reporter" bit was on this morning in an attempt to do comedy about the Governor Mansion fire. Bad idea. But, from a different source, I learned that Rick Perry was in Europe at the time of the fire. Best. Job. Ever.
- Not sure why five Aggies lost in the ocean for nine hours but being rescued is not a bigger story.
- Time lapse photos of Cowboys' new stadium.

Flashback: June 27, 2000

From the New York Times as pointed out by BagOfNothing.com.

Prepare for $4.00 gallon this week. And to think I posted this pic from Walmart on April 21st:

Governor's Mansion Fire

More here.

I've just been deprived

Random News Story In Morning News

Now 16, Catherine is one of 142 students from Arlington's 2,693-student [Arlington] Sam Houston High School who are either new or expecting parents. More than half are Hispanic.

Let's say half of the 2693 students are female and, we'll assume, capable of being pregnant. That leaves 142/1347 or 10.5% of the female population. (Edit: I wished I had thought about calling it a "government educational compound" and wondering if CPS will raid it.)

Edit: Heck with that, just saw that Jim McKay has passed away. As a kid, that's a voice I heard every Saturday afternoon.

Edit #2: Man, this is turning into random thoughts as I just ran across the following. I had that toy as a kid. It'd go about six feet and fall over.

Greatest Masthead Ever

Thanks to Todd who fired up his Flux Capacitor Commodore 64 and created the above masthead today. Well done, sir.

Life Of Its Own

I got an email today attaching a pdf file of an Original Answer "filed" a couple of days ago in Harris County. It was shocking because it contain an F Bomb, so I immediately showed it to a couple of lawyers in the Jack County Courthouse. Now back at the office, I did a quick check to see if someone had already blogged about it. Yep, they had. But it turns out that the pleading was a practical joke although now the "pleading" has already taken on a life of its own. The story here.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

- Regarding the guy in Dallas that was convicted of capital murder of an officer yesterday, Fox 4's Clarice Tinsley said, "we'll learn next when the judge will hand down the sentence." Uh, it's a death penalty case. The last time a judge handed down a sentence, and not the jury, in a death penalty case was . . . never.
- But, sheesh, the penalty phase won't resume until June 23rd. Crazy. Not sure I've ever heard of that long of a delay.
- And we had the steroid couple found dead of death in Dallas. See her here. Or her myspace here.One oddity was the news footage of the cops hauling "evidence" out of the garage. They all had these dark masks on. So strange. It was like they were "playing cops". (More shocking is the steroid dead guy's myspace page and his unfortunate nickname - as pointed out by Frontburner blog.)
- I have never looked at one myspace page that I didn't think, "Does anyone really think you can read that crap with that background?"
- New stuff for Gmail users.
- Looked at airline prices yesterday. Oh, my.
- Usher, who just released a new album and whose last hit "Yeah" will always get my attention, is married to a lady seven years his senior and who already had three kids.
- Creepy public service announcement.
- I'm halfway through the Pat Tillman book I keep referencing. Man, that thing is great. And, to add to the drama, the audiobook I'm listening to is read by the author: His mom. I'm not sure how she made it through the recording. ( AndI feel bad for being a little hard on her yesterday.)
- I'm about 75% through The Savages. I might hang myself.
- Pussycat Dolls at MTV Movie Awards. I don't know if like them or not, but they sure give it the What For when they perform.
- Someone decided to have a fireworks display for the public last night at Gateway Park in Fort Worth. Uh, fire without the works, ensued. And I used to make errors in a lawyer's softball league at that park about two decades ago. That's some good trivia right there.
- Before the fireworks display, there was a softball game with this girl pitching. Holy moley.
- I drink way too many diet cokes in a day.
- Robbie Knievel is supposed to jump a bunch of Hummers tomorrow at the Speedway. Now if he had done it yesterday in the wind, I'd pay to see it.
- And Robbie told a joke on The Ticket yesterday: "I rear-ended a guy outside of the Marriott last week. He got out and said, 'I'm not happy.' I said, 'Well which one are you?'" Kinda funny.
- I think I hit on this lady at Cassidy's last Wednesday.
- $1.3 million condo for sale at Texas Motor Speedway. Keystone Light not included. Pics.
- The fact that Ed McMahon's home is up for foreclosure is mindboggling. He apparently took out a $4.8 million mortgage from Countrywide (he needed a mortgage?). I'm not sure how much he made off of standing around on the Tonight Show, but throw in Star Search, a couple of books, and general appearance fees, and that guy should be rolling in dough. Something is going on.
- Gotta go to Jacksboro this morning.
- Had a guy tell me yesterday that the font on my Liberally Lean graphic above looked "cheap." I agree. I'll work on it. Unless there's some graphic artist out there that wants to throw a little graphic love this way. Uh, you know what I mean.

Fire

Based upon a comment, I have verified that we've got a pretty big fire north of Runaway Bay near the Boy Scout Ranch. Not many structures, but a pretty area.

And, man, in this wind.

Allow Me To Retort

I know I shouldn't speculate, but allow me to speculate.

The Keller police released this drawing today of a suspect in a rape case. Here's what's weird: (1) The attack allegedly occurred in broad daylight near noon* near midnight on a Friday, (2) in fairly upscale Keller, (3) in a public park (4) with no witnesses, (5) while an accomplice stood as look-out for almost 30 minutes, and (6) and the victim didn't report it until the 5:00 p.m. the next day.

I'm not saying it didn't happen, I just saying that before we haul in some poor Hank Hill looking guy, convict him, and lock him up for 20 years before some Star Trek-like science clears him, we might want to tap the brakes on this one.
________
*OK, I've now learned the difference between "AM" and "PM". The victim just happened to be sitting in the grass by herself around midnight.

Edit: Two weeks later it was determined that the report was false.

Probably From The CNN "Situation Room"

Story.

And I can end this debate right now. Hot girls? Ok and probably part of nature's plan that we are only now just discovering - scientifically speaking, that is. Ugly girls? They should stop their sinning immediately.

But the girl reprimanded in this case was actually a contestant of Tila Tequila's A Shot At Love 2. I don't know how that changes things, but it does.

(Thanks emailer.)

Edit: On a related note, we bring you the next Installment of "And Another."

NBA

Someone told me the NBA Championship starts tonight althoug I really don't care. But, since it involves the Lakers (who the last time I watched had some guy named Abdul-Jabbar on the roster), I will provide this link so you can peruse every single Laker girl. Me loves me some Laker Girls.

And here is some old man trivia: Back when L.A. Law was on (which was a silly show because they would have partner meetings at 8:00 a.m. where one guy would casually say "Jury selection in my very complicated murder case starts in 15 minutes" ), I could have sworn there was an episode where one of the lawyers was dating a Laker Girl. And I could have sworn it was Courtney Thorne-Smith (sp). Or it may be just a dream I had last night. I'm too lazy to look it up.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

- Double motorcycle death in Fort Worth where the two riders came to a rest in the drive through of Taco Bueno on Camp Bowie.
- "Gas saving" tips like "slowly depressing the accelerator" beat me down. It's kind of like "drink lots of fluids" to avoid dehydration in the summer.
- Haven't really had to water my lawn this year but that's about to change.
- This is the 40th anniversary of Robert Kennedy's assassination. As a kid, I just remember how odd the killer's name was to me: Sirhan Sirhan.
- I'm trying to schedule a vacation for August but scared to look at airline flight prices. I've got a ton of Advantage Miles but they never seem to work like I want.
- Saw that Michelle Obama is to be a guest host on "The View." Seems like a greater chance for disaster than for benefit.
- Odd moment: Yesterday evening in Decatur a bunch of young military guys were kind of hitting on the clerk at a convenience store (the one that houses the Quizno's and Burger King.) She tells them she doesn't date military guys. "Why?" they ask. "Because the last one hit me in the face." Awkward silence ensued.
- Thing you already know: It's amazingly windy outside.
- John McCain threw down a challenge yesterday for Obama to join him in ten "town hall debates." Careful there, hoss.
- On the cover of People this week is the headline, "From Meth Addict To Mom" in connection with a story about some girl that used to be on "Full House." I'm so confused. Aren't we supposed to lock people like her up in cages for drug use?
- Marky Mark turns 37 today. I thought about him when I looked in the mirror this morning.
- Worst business timing: Owning Hummer dealership right now.
- Asian worker meltdown is like me by 11:00 a.m.
- Danica Patrick puts me in a bad mood every time I see her. Personality challenged - Big time. And as long as she has her helmet on, I kind of want someone to deck her next time she goes into "confrontation mode."
- Very random thought. "Big Media" trying to act like "New Media" is a failed bit. Take for example the Dallas Morning News "blog" featuring entries by Steve Blow, Jacquielynn Floyd, and Ed Housewright et. al. Yesterday the spent some time discussing the merits of tomatoes. Not salmonella poisoning. Just whether tomatoes are good to eat. Riveting.
- I've still got HBO's "Recount" saved on my TIVO but haven't watched it yet.
- Still working on my Pat Tillman book "written" by his mother. Man, if you want to hear some George Bush hating bitterness, listen to her for a while. And, with all due respect, she's not that smart.
- Blurb in the Update about Rep. Phil King being concerned about the high energy rates. The quote from a Few Good Men comes to mind: "I strenuously object?" Is that how it works? Hmm? "Objection." "Overruled." "Oh, no, no, no. No, I STRENUOUSLY object." "Oh. Well, if you strenuously object then I should take some time to reconsider."

Wednesday Afternoon Pick Me Uuuuu.....Wait A Second

Federal Judge Losing Mind

It's probably more worthy of a Random Thought post, but the Texas Lawyer blog just posted a copy of an Order by a federal judge which contains some cRAzY tALk involving The Evil Empire. Edit: Pic of courthouse steps which are actually split between the two states.