Who Ya Got: Girls I've Never Heard Of And Who Aren't In Their 20s

40 Year Old Stephanie Seymour

OR 30 Year Old Sylvie Françoise Van Der Vaart (The girls are hanging out on a beach somewhere on the globe this week, and every photographer is just snapping picture after picture. )

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Santa, baby. Indeed.
• The closing of the big car dealership in North Richland Hills after 30 years didn't get enough notice yesterday. That should scare everyone. Big time.
• I think my outdoor temperature gauge in my car is messed up. It was raining while it said 31 degrees this morning. 
• The National Weather Service cancelled the freezing rain advisory around 6:30 this morning. But at 7:45 WBAP was reporting that people were crashing into each other all over the place in southern Tarrant County (Midilothian area in particular.)
• Just heard a siren in Decatur right before 8:00 a.m. 
• I don't like the Cowboys chances against the Eagles this weekend, but it would be just like them to win. And then get killed the next week in the playoffs.
• Those "he went to Jared's" commercials bug me. (I think I've said that before.)
• I've never understood intentionally loud exhaust pipes on autos.
• I think I like Christmas music so long as it is sung by one person and is "passionate."
• Everyone dismisses Al Franken, who is now winning a month after the Senate election in Minnesota, as some kind of clown. He's no dummy. I remember seeing him about 15 years ago on Jeopardy where he smoked his opponents on a wide variety of subjects.
• It would be hard to put a newspaper together on a daily basis.
• See the Fox 4 story last night of the "single mom with eight kids" who had her Christmas presents stolen from underneath her tree? I didn't hear anything after "eight kids."
• I'm torn by the show "Momma's Boy." It's sooo staged but half the time the women are in bikinis (so it's kinda of like watching PBS or the History Channel.)  But with all that Jewish Mom vs. Black Women controversy, they ought to rename the show Race Wars.
• Speaking of newspapers, has anyone seen the Paradise newspaper? I think I've figured it out: Post a picture of as many residents as you can and print as many names as you can.
• What might be my favorite book-in photo of the year occurred yesterday in Fort Worth. It's of Angela Smith. (And, so there is no confusion, that's not the Angela Smith married to my law partner.)
• That Dale Hansen video below really bugs me for some reason.

Dale Losing It?

Dale Hansen plays his "Thank God For Kids" video every year at this time and he did so last night. And he always follows it with a little message and, normally, it's great. (I still get a little misty when I think of the time he mentioned that his ex-wife lost her battle with cancer one year "because it wasn't a fair fight.") Anyway, last night was just plain weird. It's obviously scripted but he was all over the place. And, quite shockingly, he threw his two kids under the bus in a bizarre way --- in a burn-down-the-bridge kind of way. Link. (There's a quick commercial and then the "Thank God" video. His commentary -- which you can slide over to -- starts at 2:42.) (MzChief mentioned this a second ago in a comment. I promise I was going to post it anyway.) Edit: Crazy twist --- Eric Hansen, Dale's son, gets a mention in the crazy triple murder (?) case in Dallas that happened on Friday.

The Video That Saved Christmas

Youtube description: Girl sobs in a car about setting off the fire alarm while her friend tries to control her own laughter. Apparently, she wanted to make the hallway appear that it had snow in it, so she decided to use a fire extinguisher (this is something that her dad has successfully done in the past). Instead of there just being a "little poof", the entire hallway filled with chemicals that caused the fire alarm to go off in the middle of the night during finals week. Now this is her in the car upset that everyone at Alpha Chi (the sorority she wants to be in and presumably those who live where the fire alarm went off) hates her. She explains how she isn't a bad person and it was just an accident. As annoying as that chick is, I'm more infatuated with the girl filming it. She knows she's got some Academy Award winning material, and there is nothing that's going to keep her from rolling tape (and even zooming in.) That's a true professional. And a wise guy. I think I'm in love. And that crying girl might want to check into transferring schools. That Spring semester is going to be brutal.

Monday Afternoon Pick Me Up: Special Angler's Edition

Random Thoughts On The Governor's Christmas Card

• Is that an Aggie logo on his shirt? 
• It drives me nuts when the names on the card don't match up to the order of the people in the photo.  I had a girl send me one like that one time, and I had a heck of a time figuring out the names of her three kids. So, in the spirit of Christmas, I told her that her card was screwed up. The next year she she sent me another card but she had taken a pen and drew arrows from the kid's name to the kid. 
• If your not going to put the dog in the photo, don't put the dog's name on the card. 
• I didn't know he had a hot daughter. 

Something I Just Learned From Time Magazine

"Still [the shoe thrower] may have done Bush a favor. In an ABC News interview the next day, the President concceded for the first time that al Qaeda had no presence in Iraq before the U.S. invasion, adding, 'So what?' In another news cycle, this admission would have dominated the headlines . . . . "

Snowing In Seattle

Not that this is relevant to anything, but it snowed yesterday during the Seahawks/Jets game. Just saw this pic and thought it was cool.

Edit: And if you want to see a Jets player throw a giant snowball at a fan, go here. (40 second mark).

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I still believe that triple murder (?) in Dallas on Friday is the craziest story ever. If you're a woman (or a man, for that matter) and you've been kidnapped from you home a couple of days before, do you hang out there by yourself?
• The two long runs in the Cowboys game on Friday were surreal.(They were the 3rd and 4th longest TD runs ever given up by the Cowboys.)
• How could you leave the Cowboy game on Saturday after the game but before the final ceremony to shut down the old stadium?
• Hey, now from Saturday night.
• Started to head to the mall on Saturday and then suddenly gave up on the idea. The beat down factor overwhelmed me.
• Watched some of Midnight Express again last night. Pretty, pretty good.
• I'm getting interested in Facebook although I can't say I understand everything that is going on.
• Some folks in the office told me "not to eat too much" before I got to work today because there was a "big surprise" awaiting. If I don't see Hooters girls with wings in a second, I'm going to be pretty disappointed.
• Bacon.
• I wanted to go to the movies this weekend but there was absolutely nothing that I wanted to see.
• June Cleaver is an amazing 93 today.
• The older The Beaver got, the less entertaining Leave It To Beaver was.
• The AP has released its Top Ten Stories list but I'm always disappointed by it. I mean. This year's has generic entries like "Oil Prices" and "Sarah Palin." I'd like it much more if the list were of events (you know, things that would require a breaking news sounder.)
• My favorite sad Christmas song.

Decatur Beggar Spotted At Vista Ridge Mall Yesterday

(Thanks emailer.)

A Litttle Known (Recent) Texas Stadium Memory

A Euless Trinity football player has been disciplined for intentionally running over a game official during a playoff game two weeks ago.

"We did conduct an investigation and he is being disciplined according to the student code of conduct," said Judy Ramos, director of communications for the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD.

Ramos declined to name the player, but internet video of hit shows the player wearing No. 47, who is listed on the Trinity roster as senior linebacker Elikena Fieilo.

Fieilo, a second-team all-state linebacker, was the defensive MVP in Trinity's 2007 Class 5A Division I title game win over Converse Judson.

The University Interscholastic League is also investigating the incident and could levy additional sanctions. Trinity football coach Steve Lineweaver directed all inquiries to Ramos.

The video, taken from two angles, is from the late stages of Allen's 34-21 win over Trinity in the Class 5A Div. I Region I final at Texas Stadium Dec. 6.

At the snap of the ball, the Trinity linebacker immediately runs to his right and knocks the unidentified official to the ground, even though the play is a running play to his left.

Ramos said the student has mailed a formal letter of apology to the official.

"He's very remorseful," Ramos said.

Crazy News From This Morning

A lady and two kids were found dead today in a pretty nice area of Dallas. But the story is weird because she's the daughter of an ex district judge and had reported two crazy assault/kidnappings at the home from the week before. There's speculation that the attacks were because her father was a judge in a "high profile" case. Story. All the details are vague because these (presumably) murders just happened. I bet it's going to get pretty nutty. And weirder. Edit: Ex-judge identified as Mark Tolle by WBAP. Oddly, he died in 2007 and the most "high profile" case he presided over was that of Darlie Routier according to this obituary. That same obituary listed his only daughter as Jeanmarie Geis. The picture below is a lady by that name who owns a real estate agency in Dallas.

And, Now, It Becomes Real

Getting reports that 42 people are being laid off at the Decatur plant.

And Another

Story. Sheesh. These are almost the exact same facts of the last one that I couldn't support. These women are making it hard on me as the nationally renowned Champion for Hot Teacher Justice.

That's Messed Up

I think I would understand quantum physics before I understand the Duggar Family. You see, they are all gathered around momma holding a baby because that baby has just become the 18TH child in that family. 18!!!! For the record, the child has the tricked up name of Jordyn-Grace Makiya Her siblings:

• Joshua
• John-David
• Jana
• Jill
• Jessa
• Jinger <--- Most tricked up name
• Joseph
• Josiah
• Joy-Anna
• Jeremiah
• Jedidiah <---- Close second for most tricked up name
• Jason
• James
• Justin
• Jackson
• Johannah
• Jennifer

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The White House will announce its plan at 8:00 a.m. today for auto industry. Let me guess: Throw money at the problem and make it go away.
• I feel fat.
• I don't know Lanier of the "Lanier Law Firm" in Houston but he's rich enough to hire Hannah Montana to sing at his Christmas party.
• There used to be a band called "Buck Naked" that played in a little shack outside of Boyd in the 1990s.
• I couldn't afford to hire Buck Naked to play my firm's Christmas party right now.
• I'm calling for updates of the Christmas decorations around the Wise County Courthouse. It's looking a little shabby compared to the way the old Denton County Courthouse looks.
• I used to go in the district clerk's office and examine every Christmas decoration to make sure there weren't any religious reference while saying stuff like, "I better not find the baby Jesus in here!" I was joking, but I think it always made them uncomfortable.
• I don't know how you people afford kids.
• It's easier to search for a story in the Star Telegram or the Dallas Morning News by using Google instead of the paper's own search engines.
• Kristy Swanson is 39 today. I've been extremely jazzed by her ever since I saw her in a little known movie called The Chase.
• Drew Peterson, 54, (who is rumored to be responsible for the fact that his current wife, Lacey Stacy Peterson, is missing) is engaged to a 23 year old. Her picture should be here. Man's a playa. Edit: Yep, I had "Peterfusion"
• While looking for something I wrote one time, I stumbled across this gem that I penned on October 12, 2003 about the University of Texas: " . . . how long do you think Head Coach Mack Brown has left?" (Here, last item.) Might have missed on that one.
• I'm thinking about going to the last high school game ever in Texas Stadium which is played tonight. It's Celina vs. Carthage For the 3A-II championship. I suppose if Bridgeport had been lucky enough to win out, they would be playing there tonight. That would have been cool.
• I had a weird dream last night that I was in a 300 type of battle in a cornfield. Man, there have been some crazy nights in my head this week.

We Need More Lawyers

What story out of the Houston Chronicle could possibly prompt that many comments? Hints: Alcohol. DWI. Death. A lawsuit. A judge's daughter. And you'd still never guess. Answer. (Thanks, Keith from bagofnothing.com.)

Lunchtime Choice . . .

. . . as I noticed an Asian kid on the cover of "America's Best Popcorn" in my office kitchen. Now the choice: A. The "pictures of the year" as brought to you by the Boston Globe. -OR- B. Hot girl in her underwear sitting on Santa's lap. -OR- C. A Midlothian High School newscast that involves a Santa who may be Larry the Cable Guy and who also busts his arse getting on the set. (Warning: We must have a crisis in education because the web servers at Midlothian ISD require half a day before this video loads -- although it might be worth it to see the production value alone.)