Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• I don't think I 'm sick, but I woke up last night with chills. Shaking chills. I turned the heat up, snuggled under the covers, and woke up two hours later dripping in sweat (I know, appealing visual.) I guess that's progress.
• Had a dream about an old high school girlfriend. She kept whispering absolutely innocent things in my ear why her husband just glared at me. Very tense.
• All the news mentions on days like this is how busy the airport will be on the day before a holiday. One year I was right by DFW airport with absolutely nothing to do when I heard that report, so I ducked into the airport to watch some family reunions amongst the crowds. (This was when you could go inside the gates without a ticket.) There was no one there. Absolutely desolate. I've been skeptical of local news ever since.
• And I'm two days away from my biggest news beat down of the year: The day after Thanksgiving shopping reports live from the mall. (Let me guess: People arrived early. They looked for specials more than in years before. Money is tight. Retailers are slashing prices to move inventory.)
• More and more, I'm turning down potential clients if I think they are going to be nothing but trouble. Those hypothetical individuals arrested for DWI, admit they were drunk, and tell me they expect me to make the case go away. I'm a lawyer, not a miracle worker, and I don't need the hassle.
• The older I get, the more rapid fire these holidays seem to come around every year.
• Fox 4's Megan Henderson had her hair in a ponytail this morning. Very good look.
• Local homebuilder D.R. Horton announced last quarter losses of $800 million yesterday and it's stock price went up 38% because it wasn't as bad as expected. Odd world we live in when losing almost a billion dollars is good news.
• I had to leave early from Thanksgiving lunch one time when I went to the Cowboys game (they played Pittsburgh). My mom wasn't pleased. I've never tried to pull that stunt again.
• Thanksgiving parades don't interest me. Parades in general don't interest me. A parade involving spider monkeys on floats would interest me.
• If I feel well enough, and I expect to, I'll run in the eight mile Dallas Turkey Trot tomorrow. It is always a scene, and I bet I've done it 8 out of the last 10 years. When I first started, I ran the 3K course and was scared I wouldn't make it.
• I wonder if my nemesis Barron Green will be there? (Back story here and here.)
• In the run, which consists of thousands, I always see this very healthy guy wearing nothing but a a speedo with turkey feathers on his butt and carrying a huge American flag on a pole. Good times.

Oh Yeah, The Real Girls

Note To Self: Don't Go To Metroplex Today. It's Gone Crazy.

And what did the dog do to deserve that? Link.

Oh, My

That last sentence is horrific. Link. I can't imagine how distraught a person would have to be to do that.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Ugh, I might be getting sick. When that happens, the only thing I care about is good health.
• I took an Advil Cold and Sinus which is great for colds and making meth. And I bought a jug of Gatorade and downed it like nobody's business this morning.
• I didn't follow the Holy Land trial all that closely (it ended yesterday with convictions) but it seems wrong that a defendant can be retried after a hung jury. The government should have one bite at the apple. That's it.
• Dogs like me very quickly.
• The Dallas Morning News' twitter page is written by a sixth grader, I think.
• Bush issued a bunch of pardons yesterday and that's fine with me. Pardon away. But many of them are for penny-ante crimes that occurred years ago which resulted in a short probation.
• Funny line from a lady at the courthouse the other day: "We love you, Barry. There's a lot of people that love you . . . . (insert awkward pause) . . . But there's a lot of people that hate you, too."
• Under the radar: A Texas state trooper was arrested after picking up two suitcases of cocaine.
• I wish the Messenger would print the cause of death in it's funeral announcements. At least when it's obvious it was not a natural death. There was a lady a little younger than me who grew up in Chico that died last week, and I want to know what happened. But I don't know if that's morbid or not.
• Obscure beat down: I lost my fantasy football game this week 87.75-87.45 because I had a receiver in last night's game who threw an interception after I had the game won. It looks like that coveted fantasy football Super Bowl ring will elude me yet again.
• Someone chewed me out in the comments below the Indoor Practice Facility post for allowing anonymous comments. But he or she didn't sign her name.
• I'm pretty sure a 27 year old Sunday School teacher should not be sending topless pics of herself to a 14 year old male student. It's in the Bible. But we definitely need a face pic of her so we can judge the magnitude of this sin.
• If I wanted to take all my money and convert it all to Euros, can I? I guess that would be possible and easy. That sounds crazy, but if a person were to believe that inflation is about to go through the roof and a dollar is going to be almost worthless, that sounds like a good idea.
• That was some economic Crazy Talk.
• Alan Colmes is leaving Hannity and Colmes? That's not news. It's been the Sean "Look At Me" Hannity show for years. Colmes was just a prop.
• In New Jersey, you are not allowed to post your own gas. And the price was under $1.70.
• Sports Scenario: Oklahoma loses to Oklahoma State sending Tech to the Big 12 Championship game where they beat Missouri to win the Big 12 title. But the Evil Empire is ranked higher in the BCS and goes to the National Championship game. Could happen.
• Tiger Woods' hot wife and cute kid.
• People seem to slowly walk into the courthouse but hurry out of there. I understand that.

Random NYC Pics (Click to Enlarge)

Walking towards Empire State Building - now the main fixture of the skyline. Outside the studio of where "The Today Show" is shot: You can walk for miles and see people everywhere. These are decorations outside Lord & Taylor's: Taxicab Confrontation: The limo makes a left turn in front of taxi. Unsuccessfully. Tourists on the bar at Coyote Ugly. I kept waiting for the lady on the left to go down. Times Square: Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral. Those are flat screens on each pillar There are three or four of these settings in the church. Maybe more. And multiple sculptures carved into the walls. This one may be 15 feet tall. It was the seventh one in a series of 12 or so.

After Plotting The Path Of Travel With Pinpoint Accuracy

So you sit around with your buddies and decide, "Hey, I'm gonna jump off the roof and go through a basketball rim. Grab two video cameras. Nothing could go wrong." And the moaning may be the best part.

Monday Afternoon Pick Me Up

Not Exactly the "Junction Boys"

Full story. Being out of town on Friday caused me to miss out on a story (I'm guessing) that would this crowd pretty riled up. But I could be wrong. (And the Junction Boys refers to this.)

I'm Torn

Two classic videos have just been produced. One was Christina Aguilera preforming a medley of her songs on the American Music Awareds. The second is the crazy Mexican midget's latest offering. I'm not sure I truly understand either one.

I Cover Forestburg News. All The Time.

A loyal reader snapped this pic this morning of a Forestburg school. I know an upside down American flag is a distress signal, but I'm not sure of the meaning of an upside down Texas flag.

And To Think I Just Wrote Them A Check For My Credit Card

I think we're getting numb to "bailout news" but the one this morning would have sent shock waves around the world if it had been done a year ago. Here's my understanding. The guvm'ent is sending Citigroup $20 billion of your tax dollars which is in addition to the $25 billion about a month ago (and which we've already forgotten about.) But get this: As part of the plan, the U.S. will guarantee against the "possibility of unusually large losses" on up to $306 billion of risky loans that Citigroup holds. We're doomed.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts - NYC Roundup

• I've got some pictures that I'll try to post tonight.
• I look forward to cold weather as much as anyone, but after walking around in 31 degree temperature for three days, I'll take warm any day.
• There are a lot of people in this world.
• The Coyote Ugly bar (which I didn't really want to go to since I figured it would be a tourist trap) is frighteningly authentic. (At least until the tour bus arrived carrying a group of folks that I labeled "The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Goes Out Once Night A Year" arrived.)
• St. Patrick's Cathedral may be one of my favorite places ever to walk into. But it's awkward in that everyone is walking around flashing pictures in a place that seems very holy.
• The Christmas tree and ice rink at Rockefeller Center is surprisingly small. (And all I could think about was when Meredith Viera busted her head skating with Will Ferrell.)
• No general rudeness at all. Heard "excuse me" more often there than I do when I'm at home.
• Funny line heard when after arriving at La Guardia and seeing most of the airport stores and restaurant shut down: "For a city that never sleeps, there sure are a lot of things closed."
• Had and Arabic speaking cab driver that one on a long anti-George Bush rant. Had another one take us to his favorite pizza-by-the-slice place in order to avoid "those that sell cardboard."
• Had a cab driver who owned his own cab tell us it now costs "250" to get a medallion that authorizes a cab driver to do what he does. I haven't looked it up yet, but I bet he meant $250,000.
• Saw a cab crash into the side of a limo in downtown Manhattan which gave rise to a very tense standoff between the two drivers. And I saw an older couple just get out of the cab and get lost in the crowd.
• Didn't realize cabs now have a GPS screen in the back to show you where you are.
• One establishment, later at night, frisked ladies before they were allowed to enter but guys weren't searched at all. Odd.
• I managed to watch the first half of the Tech/OU game. What a disaster.
• Ordered a "sandwich" and it came out of as a bagel.
• Those menus aren't very health conscience up there. But they also walk everywhere.
• Stayed one night at the Affinia hotel. Nice.
• If you worked in Manhattan but lived outside of Manhattan, your life would be one big beating.
• I saw what had to be the equivalent of a bullet train going through New Jersey, and I was told it could be heading to a place like D.C. and travels over 100 mph. I had no idea we had those in this country.
• Overhead a guy on cell phone on a train say he was heading into the city because: "I gotta see about a girl."
• Overheard two other guys talking about the virtues of baseball player Mark Teixeira with amazing detail even though he's never played for a New York area team.They do like their baseball in the northeast.
• Walked by the Nasdaq building in Times Square and, inside, they were filming a group of people cheering the closing bell on a set that made it look like they were overlooking the trading floor. We've been lied to!!!
• Airports were more fun when you got to see friends and family waiting for other people inside the terminals. When I was in high school, Saturday Night Live did a touching (yes, touching) short film of nothing but airport greetings as the song "Homeward Bound" by Simon and Garfunkle played in the background. I've never forgotten it.
• I played Rock Band 2 (the bass guitar part) for the first ever this weekend. What a time wast but what incredible fun.

Girls Freak Out Watching American Idol Final

And they say understanding the opposite sex should be easy.

Ok, I'm Deliriously Tired

I'm pretty sure I ran into this girl in New York. (And I just noticed that it plays automatically which means I'll take down in a while because that is so annoying.) Edit: Ok, took it down. You can find it by googling "freaky chick split tongue" if you're the kind of person that would google for "freaky chick split tongue".

In Honor of Tech v. OU . . .

. . . and multiple requests, here's the "Texas Tech hot girl" link. But let me warn you, it takes forever to load. And on a programming note: I've off to NYC this afternoon but I'll try to throw a few observations this way over the next two or three days (and I can keep your comments rolling via the iPhone). And I'll also try to put up some pics through that Twitter link over there to the right. If I don't freeze:

The Rest Of The Story

This isn't worthy of a post, but it's bugging me. Paul Harvey is a guy who is paid a krillion dollars to do a 10 minute syndicated show where he reads stories off the AP Wire. It used to be really interesting when the only way to get news was from the newspaper thrown on your lawn (twice a day - a morning and evening edition) since he'd report on some pretty obscure stuff. These days, the Internets has made him pretty much irrelevant. Anyway, he comes on WBAP on Tuesday and tells the craziest story about actor Jack Black tying up his next door neighbor. I don't remember all the details, but it was insane. So I immediately go to the gossip sites thinking this will be huge news but there's nothing there. So I blow it off. Today, Ron Chapman is filling in for Paul Harvey and at the end of the segment he issues a retraction on the Jack Black story. "The information came from a source we now deem unreliable and have removed him from our Rolodex." Sheesh. But you know what's odd? (And this is really what's a little amazing.) If you use The Google and search "Paul Harvey" and "Jack Black" together you get nothing. Nada. You can even search under "news" or "blogs" and not a single mention of the whole mess. So what have I learned? Anyone who listens to Paul Harvey doesn't use the Internet but does use a Rolodex. The End.

Now This, I'm Interested In

The trial is about to begin where the federal government is prosecuting Lori Drew for allegedly making up a fake identity of a boy, and then befriending and breaking up with a teenage neighbor, Megan Meier, on Myspace. Megan then hung herself. First, the feds have no business being involved in this. If the State authorities didn't want to take the case, butt out. This is your federal government trying to imprison this lady. We're going to blame Lori Drew because Megan decided to hang herself because she was rejected online? That's the reason to kill yourself? Finally, Megan's mom is a nutcase who can't keep away from a television camera. Her hatred of Lori Drew is perhaps understandable, but she is completely over the top. And she might want to look in the mirror and consider her parenting skills since she raised a daughter which couldn't handle simply being a teenager.