Wow

Just heard this on WBAP and by an email. Things are notta-good.

Long-time, national restaurant chains Bennigan's and Steak & Ale have
closed their doors and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection,
shuttering more than 300 sites and letting go of thousand of employees.
It is one of the country's largest restaurant bankruptcies and
eliminates two sit-down chains that have been part of the casual dining
landscape for decades. The chains will liquidate and are not likely to
re-open.

That'll Play Well Around Here

An emailer just pointed out this story that was just posted on CNN.

I fully expect the Wise County Commissioners to have a similar resolution on the next agenda.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• The AP did a story on Kenneth Copeland Ministries this weekend with the basic gist being: He's rich and so is his extended family. No surprises there.
• In a related note, they were discussing pastor wealth on KLIF this morning when I heard this odd caller: "I don't want my pastor driving a Hummer 2 with 26 inch rims, but if he has a standard Mercedes I don't have any problem with that." Huh?Actually watched the first half of the Cowboys/Giants playoff game from last year that I've had on my TIVO forever.
• Man, the testimony yesterday in the Intoxication Manslaughter case that killed the Fort Worth police officer was graphic. And with the blood-alcohol content of the driver being .20, I don't know why the defense lawyer just doesn't have the guy plead guilty, take responsibility, and have the jury assess punishment.
• But the defense lawyer, who was interviewed outside the courtroom, seems to struggle a little with his thoughts.
• I was bothered by this from the defense lawyer: "Sometimes blood alcohol tests may have some errors in it." Really? Breath tests, yes. Blood tests, not so much. And the prosecutor always has this ace in the hole: If our blood test was wrong, why didn't you take the sample an analyze it by your own experts?
• I saw some of the prosecutor's opening statement on TV and he did a good job. But this was an odd statement: "At the time he was making these choices, his alcohol level was over that objective limit," prosecutor Mark Thielman said. Why get fancy? Why not say is alcohol limit was "though the roof?"
• I had my iPhone lock up on me for only the second time in four or five months yesterday.
• Time waste? Some sportswriter in Oklahoma ranks in level of importance all of the 96 Big 12 games this year.
• Talked to a fellow lawyer yesterday who goes to Vegas every year for the opening weekend in the NFL. Good bit.
• Someone wrote in the comments about having trouble hearing the dialogue in the Batman movie. True that. I wanted subtitles.
• I'm through 9 episodes of the The Wire. Here's a bold statement: Best. TV. Series. Ever.
• Williamson County DA John Bradley (who used to be my nemesis but has turned out to be a really nice guy) emailed me to mention that he'll be speaking on blogs and ethics at the Advanced Criminal Law Course in San Antonio at the end of this month and that he'll mention my fine work here. I think he's amused at the Random Girl Pics every day.
• I almost went with this girl for today's pic.
  
• The Whataburger chicken salad is pretty good. But I think the lady on the speaker gets confused when I say "no dressing." (I use my own fat free stuff.)
• Apparently tires were getting worn down left and right at the NASCAR race at Indy this weekend. Here's what Dale Jr. had to say, "I've never seen nothing like it."
• Do you still have to register for the draft when you turn 18?
• After a week at an all inclusive resort, I only gained 2 pounds. (I think it takes a week or so for the extra weight to officially show up.)
• Flashback: 23 people killed in Luby's in Killeen in 1991. I'm pretty sure that gave rise to the concealed handgun law a few years later. (The shooting in the church in Tennessee this weekend made me think about it.)
• This youtube video has caused a NYC cop to be suspended.
• Suicide bombers killed 32 in Baghdad yesterday. Is The Surge really working?
• The "top party school" lists give me Tired Head. All of them on the new list make sense to me except for this entry at #6: Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va.
• And of course in a couple of years we'll have a new campus on the list: Weatherford College at Wise County, Texas.
• Documentary maker and Wise County commissioner Ken Burns is 55 today. Wait. Let me double check that.
• Not hearing much from the Global Warming naysayers right now, are we?

Here's My List

(1) Get out of car. Remove kid.
(2) See Rule #1.

My New Hero

I rant all the time about my weedeater because the dang thing would rather malfunction than wack some weeds. I "might" have actually tossed it a good 10 feet in disgust the other day in my front lawn. (I've noticed the neighbors have distanced from me ever since.)

But what has this guy done? His lawnmower wouldn't start so he reacted like any good These-Colors-Don't-Run American and took the business end of his short barrelled shotgun and unloaded on his Lawn Boy. I'm right there with ya, brother.

But, since we now live in Communist Russia, he was arrested. If I were him, I'd whip out a copy of the U.S. Constitution and point to the Second Amendment. Our founding fathers certainly had the protection of a man in mind who wants to blast a crappy Lawn Boy. That's what's called an inalienable right.

Yearning For The Good Old Days

There used to be a time when Britney would give us four or five great pics a month. These days, however, she has become "responsible" and deprived my readership of some much needed entertainment. But at least someone got this pic of her from over the weekend. Not bad.

And if you want to walk down the long memory lane of this blog's love affair with this southern girl, click here.

I Was Close

I wrote this last week:


This is from the Morning News on today's practice:

Oliver Stone Won't Let The Terrorists WIn

First trailer of the upcoming movie "W". This, I think, will not disappoint.

Kind Of Funny Courtroom Moment This Morning

I was sitting to the side of the courtroom going over plea papers with a client while the judge was hearing an adoption prove-up. It's basically a formality of the attorney asking the prospective parents a series of questions that have to be on the record.

This one was a little unusual because I bet there were five kids up there with the parents. It was a little chaotic, but the judge allows a little bit of chaos during adoption hearings because, unlike almost everything else he handles, they are happy occasions. From the best I could tell, a very young child was the one that was subject to the adoption.

And then the funny part happened. The child was crying quite a bit as the attorney asked the mother if the adoption "was in the best interest of the child." Of course she will say "yes" and once she does so the judge can grant the adoption. But the moment after she uttered the
yes", the kid (who was oblivious to the whole process) really gave out a loud cry. The judge, in mock humor, then told the one, "I'll give you a chance to reconsider if you want to."

All went well. And a child has a new mom and dad this morning.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I'm so bummed that I didn't like the Batman movie. I think I've got a handle on pop culture - why things are popular and why things aren't - so I feel like I'm really missing something here.
• Soccer star David Beckham played in Frisco yesterday, but for some reason the game was scheduled for the middle of the afternoon. Temperature: 105. What a beating. But 21,000 people showed up.
  
• I went to the pool on Saturday afternoon and almost died of heat stroke. Well, not really. But it was hot.
• Jean Jacques Taylor of the Dallas Morning News seems to have a big bag of nothing. He writes a lot but never really says anything -- he just states the obvious amongst a bunch of throw away quotes. But that's what most sports columnist do.
  
• In case you missed it, a 55 foot, $2 million boat burned on Lake Lewisville yesterday. (But I think the world will survive the loss.) And, if Fox 4 Emily Lopez is correct in that report, the boat holds 800 gallons of diesel fuel (Is that possible????). If so, a fill up would cost $3,600 at $4.50 a gallon.
• This is Jerry Jones' 20th preseason with Cowboys. Man, time flies.
• Obama takes his largest lead so far per the Gallup Poll. But the electoral college break down doesn't look as favorable.
• And according to Dallas Morning News financial columnist Scott Burns, the income tax plans of Obama and McCain are essentially the same so long as you don't make over $200,000 a year.
• Funny line from The Ticket: If Mark Cuban buys the Cubs, he'll be the first owner to watch the game from the dugout and in full uniform.
• It has been announced that Hank Williams, Jr. will whip us again with "All My Rowdy Friends" on Monday Night Football.
  
• My debit card was "declined" this morning when making a purchase of $2.46. I presume I entered my PIN wrong but switched to a credit card to avoid Convenience Store Embarrassment.
• I almost wrote "PIN number" above but that wouldn't be right.
  
• I bet the guy with the 55 foot burned boat will vote for McCain.
• Recurring news over the weekend: Child dies after being left in car. Man dies while swimming in Lewisville lake.
• One of the worst experiences of my life, the Texas Bar Exam, will be given this week. And I remember I had to be thumbprinted before the test because, as the proctor explained in all seriousness, that was to insure that a "real lawyer" wouldn't sneak in and take the test for one of us. Trust me, the only time any lawyer can pass the bar exam is when he actually took the bar exam.
  
• The Drudge Report was hailing a new search engine this morning called Cuil that is said to "take on Google." I searched for "Wise County on the Web" and it came back with zero results.
• Hal Jay on WBAP this morning, "Pacman Jones doesn't want to be called 'Pacman' anymore. He wants to be called 'Jewel Quest' Jones." Followed by long pause. Followed by the sports guy saying, "You've had better Mondays." (Heck, I had to look up what he was talking about.)
  
• Speaking of movies, Swing Vote looks bad. "In a remarkable turn-of-events, the result of the presidential election comes down to one man's vote."
• I wouldn't wanted to have been the first person back in Burger's Lake
• So much for my knowledge of pop culture. I thought Soulja Boy was a group. Nope. It's just a guy. A guy who turns 18 today.
  

The Dark Knight

I think I'm the only person to say this: I think that movie is silly, boring, unbelievable and extremely long. And, maybe I'm just dumb, I think it is incredibly confusing.

I like back stories. I want to know who people are and why they are doing what they are doing. You won't get that here. (Extreme side note: I hate all Star Wars movies because I don't know how that civilization came to be. Case in point: Luke Skywalker says in the first movie to Obi-Wan Kenobi: "You fought in the clone wars?" without ever telling us what in the heck the "clone wars" were. I was out from that point forward. OK, extreme digression over.)

But this Batman movie is borderline awful. And I can't believe I'm saying that. I saw the last one and loved it and was really looking forward to this one. (Maybe that's why I try to live my life with extremely low expectations - that way I won't suffer disappointment. Try it - it works.)

Honestly, it started out with a bang and really had my attention. Well, there was a warning: Did you know you can back a bus through the wall of a bank, fill it with money, and then get away by joining a group of real school buses passing by just as the cops arrive. Yeah, rigggghhhhhttttt.

But Heath Ledger was great as the Joker, and I don't think I'm saying that simply because he's dead. (That sounds weird, doesn't' it?)

Not a spoiler: I knew the movie was also off to an unstable start when a courtroom scene had the actual DA of Gotham City trying a case when the witness pulls a gun on him during cross-examination. Yep, a gun. In the courtroom. The DA then nonchalantly slugs him and bailiffs quietly usher the defendant out like it's something that happens everyday. And did you know that no one in the courtroom panicked? Seems believable. Then, out in the hallway, someone tells the DA, "You've got quite the right hook." Groan.

This Place . . .

. . . is new and across the street from 7-11 on Western Center Boulevard. Had lunch there.

Verdict: Good stuff. Pricey if you are expecting a casual grill. Heck of a lot nicer on the inside than you would think. Waiter was grumpy (but maybe he was having a bad day.)

Mugshots Of The Week

Here. Which includes a former Miss Kansas (before after the brawl.) Edit: Funny comment about the error. Hey, it's Saturday morning.

Sheesh

Like I said, I've been looking at some old posts to prepare for the first leg of my Dying On Stage Tour. And then I came across this one from March of last year.

Denton's Goatman's Bridge

And how to get there along with other info. Which makes me wonder. Do we have any Wise County ghost legends? (Found on Dallas Observer blog.)

"The Last Lecture" Is Over

On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.

He died last night.

I had heard of the book and his speeches over the last couple of months, but I haven't gotten around to reading/listening to them. But on vacation I read a blurb about him in Time's "100 Most Influential People" issue.This line made me tear up:

After showing the walls of his childhood bedroom covered with his drawings of rocket ships and math equations, he tells his audience, "If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it."

I read that quote several times that day as I sat next to a pool, sunglasses on. I pretended to be wiping sweat from my face as I really was drying my eyes. And I think I'm going to tear up again.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

1. I've always liked the hot-girl-in-a-tricked-up-cowboy hat look. You boys shouldn't be hatin' like you did yesterday.
   
2. On Fox 4 this morning, they had a clip of a chimp almost getting a rifle away from a guy who was trying to track down the escaped animal. But the chimp dropped the gun. Man, there would be nothing funnier than a chimp on the run with a rifle. (Edit: You can see an extended one minute clip of the incident here and, if you are a good American who likes monkey humor, you've got to see it.)
   
3. Obama in Germany yesterday was pretty impressive. He spoke to 200,000 which is more than Reagan ("tear down this wall") and Kennedy ("I am a Berliner") spoke to combined.
4. In the meantime, McCain was in a German restaurant in Ohio. Really.
   
5. Speaking of Germany, in elementary school we would have sauerkraut and wienies once a week for lunch. I hated those days.
   
6. Whoever is running the Obama campaign knows what he is doing
7. I'm seeing the new Batman movie tonight. I even bought tickets online beforehand - and I don't think I've ever done that before. And I'm seeing the film at a movie grille which is pretty much the only way I'll see a movie these days.
8. It supposed to be 104 degrees on Sunday, and it's not even August yet.
9. I saw a picture of Hugh Jackman on Yahoo Photo's and thought it was "Bud" from Married With Children. Bud was funny.
10. I went to a dance club in Cancun. The whole experience deserves its own post - I'll work on that.
    
11. Finding a login name and password to some sites (like the infuriating Dallas Morning News) here without having to register.
12. Booker T. Washington is a cool name.
13. It has been 4,227 daya since the last Cowboy playoff win.
14. Fat/Neighbor chicks fighting. (Language warning.) I'm pretty sure that happens in Wise County every day - especially the last part of "I'm calling the police right now!"
    
15. My multiple sources that extend to all parts of the county (including Boonesville) tell me that the lady that ran down the street light yesterday on the square was pretty old and pretty salty.
    
16. Do I use parenthesis too much? (That just dawned on me.) Dooh!
    
17. There was a minor controversy when President Bush was caught saying that the stock market had been "drunk" after he asked for the cameras to be turned off at a small gathering. That whole deal was silly and the guy that continued to roll video is a sorry individual.
    
18. I filled up my gas powered weedeater with, uh, gas yesterday, got distracted for a second, and then came back and grabbed it off the ground causing gasoline to go all over the garage since I had forgotten to put the gas cap back on. Even though it dried up, I could still smell it this morning. I fear my garage blowing up today.
    
19. The headline in the Dallas Morning News was that a teenager was sentenced pursuant to a plea bargain to 8 years in prison for causing a couple of 2 and 4 year old kids to smoke pot. The maximum was 10 years in prison so I was trying to figure out why he agreed to such a harsh plea bargain - then I saw it: "He also pleaded guilty to two charges of burglary of a habitation."
20. The prosecutor in the case had the last name of "Davila." (That's a Bridgeport reference for you out-of-county folks.) Around here we pronounce is DA-ville-ah as opposed to da-VEELA)
21. I wonder if anyone got drunk at the Reunion last night?
22. Christmas is on Thursday this year.
    
23. While looking through old blog posts yesterday, I found this one entitled "Luckiest Son In History Of Ever."
    
24. Baylor booted its president yesterday and it was only then I learned that earlier this year he tried to get rid of the interlocking "B" and "U" symbol. He need to be fired for that. (Local note: Decatur born Joe Armes used to be on the Baylor Regents but I don't know if he still is.)
25. I just heard the news of a noteworthy death. The story of the guy made me tear up a bit on vacation while reading a magazine. More on that in a minute.
26. Another blog flashback: I was shocked at gas prices in May of 2007. Can we have that back?
27. Edit: Shocking (at least to my civil libertarian bones) DWI courtroom story.

New edit: It's amazing how many lies are being told about Obama. In the comments, there have been a couple of references to him ignoring the troopers during his trip to the Middle East. To quote that great Oklahoma State coach rant from last year, "That ain't true!"

Flashback

I've agreed* to speak to about 90 Decatur teachers about blogging or technology overall silliness so I was going through some old posts to use in a power point presentation. I did this last year and I was sweating like Albert Brooks in Broadcast News.

Anyway, in looking back over the old stuff I discovered:

First, I think I used to be funnier.

Secondly, I noted the other day that I couldn't remember the last time some one drowned in Lake Bridgeport. Then a commenter reminded me I had written about one last year. I came across the above photo that accompanied that post.

_______________
* I would like to point out that there is one person in that school district who is very persistent on me being there.