I'll Do That Every Time

(1) Head lamp, (2) Head lamp installation, and (3) they washed my filthy car. "Shop James Wood's - Decatur and Denton."

Fire

Well, at least a grass fire a second ago across from Lowe's in Decatur. I've ruled it "a little exciting but no big deal."

Fox News Reporter . . .

. . . is confused about advertising. Manages to make PETA spokesperson seem sexier than her.

High School Melee You Would Never See On Saved By The Bell

Happened yesterday.

Speaking Of Demographics

Story. Now how am I supposed to dance to Madonna's "Vogue" on Friday nights with the window blinds drawn?

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• If you want to see a nutcase prosecutor scream at a witness, go here. That judge needs to get control of his scene.
• I had 15 minutes of fame yesterday at the blog of The Texas Lawyer publication by getting handed a bag of popcorn.
• During some routine traffic report I heard on the radio yesterday, there was warning about a an unidentified funeral procession in north Dallas. From the news last night, I learned it was for a Frisco kid who was killed in Afghanistan.
• Is this Ross Johnson getting stomped by a bull the same Ross Johnson from Wise County? I actually saw it on the Versus Channel last night.
• I hate listening to 911 tapes that the news broadcasts. Makes me tense.
• Same holds true for radio pranks or watching that "What Would You Do" currently being broadcasted on ABC's Prime Time Live.
• Taking my car in to get the headlight changed this morning. I'm serious: The back of it is buried under a ton or parts wedged in there like sardines.
• I've changed my burnt out tail lights/brake lights before. That was easy.
• When I went to bed last night, everyone was looking for a missing three year old in Argyle. This morning, not good news.
• After a week being off of The Master Cleanse, I still haven't regained any of the weight I lost.
• The brohaha over Facebook changing its terms of use is silly. Call me cynical, but I think there's a great chance that any photo I upload is part of cyberspace forever.
• Megan Henderson used the term "atomic wedgie" in a news story this morning.
• I think you guys that blame the current financial crisis solely on the Community Reinvestment Act are crazy since it only applied to Depository Banks. Case in point: Insurance company AIG, which wasn't forced to do anything, still would have gone belly up due to investing in mortgage backed securities.
• For the third time, the current crisis is best explained - fairly and objectively - by This American Life's broadcast named "A Giant Pool of Money." Still one of the best shows I've ever listened to.
• Fergie at the beach. Hot.
• Out of the blue, I stopped wearing contacts, and I no longer have to use reading glasses. Weird. Probably need to check with a professional on this.

And Another

Story. Man, there is a dark trend happening. How far we've come since Debra Lavave.

Entitled "Compilation Of Bad Female Drivers"

I think this qualifies as a Pick Me Up.

Rare China News On Liberally Lean

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A married Chinese businessman who could no longer afford five mistresses held a competition to decide which one to keep. But the contest took a fatal turn when one of the women, eliminated for her looks, drove the man and the four other competitors off a cliff.. The spurned mistress died and the other passengers were injured, the reports said. The women knew of one another, but none elected to break up with the man and give up their rent-free apartment and a 5,000 yuan ($730) monthly allowance, the reports said. When the economy soured, the businessman apparently decided to let go of all but one mistress . . . Sheesh. Can you believe this? This economic downturn is getting so bad that married guys have to layoff their mistresses? When will the insanity end?

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Finished the Sicko documentary by Michael Moore last night. I know to take his schtick with a grain of salt, but if the health care systems in Canada, France, and England are that different, we are shockingly behind.
• I wonder if many Americans, for the first time, are thinking about moving out of the country because they don't see a future they want to be a part of.
• Get ready for three New Deal thoughts (which is certainly a first for me.)
• I question the motives of those that think FDR's New Deal didn't have a favorable impact on the U.S. economy.
• I didn't know the New Deal was responsible for building the Will Rogers complex in Fort Worth
• I tried to find out how much the New Deal would cost in today's dollars. Good luck with that search. Nut cases on both sides prevented me from finding that needle in a haystack.
• The word "companion" in yesterday's Random Thoughts got a surprising number of thoughts. Good thing I didn't go with "escort."
• A bar code tattoo is borderline clever.
• There's a move to impeach Court of Criminal Appeals judge Sharon Keller for closing the court at 5:00 p.m. when she knew an emergency writ was coming that good could have stopped an execution. I just want her impeached because she sides with the State 99.9% of the time.
• I'm not sure what is going on in the contract negotiations between Tech and Mike Leach, but it has become bizarre. And the school imposing a deadline of today for him to sign the extension is just silly.
• I ordered Nutrisystems for the heck of it. How they make that stuff so good is beyond me.
• When I see footage of any outdoor music festival where people are packed in as far as the eye can see, I can only think that would be the ultimate beating. (But Coachella in California looks like a good one.)
• I've been to the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas once but that was almost 15 years ago.
• I'm going to set my GPS to the Texas Theater where Oswald was captured, too.
• Lots of people have sent me a link to the Dallas Desire women's lingerie football team. Huh?
• Ugh. One of my headlights went out. I opened the hood to see how difficult it would be to replace, and I'm pretty sure I'd have to remove the engine block. James Wood, here I come. (It cost me about $70 two years ago for the other light.)

Bridgeport Prank On Saturday Night

Thanks emailer Melissa!

Monday Afternoon Pick Me Up

The Gun Show

So I went to the gun show at Will Rogers Coliseum yesterday because, well, I was bored and I wanted to be entertained. I hadn't been to one in over 15 years, and I still recall the last one being full of some colorful characters. Observations:

• There are no hot women at a gun show
• There are scary people carrying around guns
• There were no political signs or T-shirts. That really surprised me.
• The three inch beard was a big player
• There seem to be an ungodly number of obese people selling guns
• I saw a former Wise Count deputy selling firearms. Nice guy. He yelled at me as I walked by. He wasn't obese.
• They do not sell alcohol although the crowd looks like it consumes a lot of alcohol.
• Pic: Lots of knives
• Pic: Under Armor for the concealed weapon fan
• Pic: The Castle Doctrine lets you kill people. (By the way, the most overrated change in the law ever.)
• Pic: Lots of guys like this
• Pic: East Germany? I thought they got together. And you can learn about Hitler guns, too.
• Pic: The Obama Effect

But the highlight of the day came from some guy associated with the top photo. You see, I took that photo which prompted him to track me down 10 minutes later and two aisles away. Him: "Did you take a picture of our booth?" Me: "Uh, what booth is that?" Him: "The Border Volunteers." Me: "I absolutely did." Him: "Why?" Upon reflection, I'm mad at myself. Because I should have told him "none of your business" or "I'm with the CIA - the Obama one" or "Why do you hate freedom?" but the only thought that came to mind was, "Because I was fascinated with it." Which was true. (I think it was the photo they displayed of two guys tied up with the caption "Asian Nationals Caught At Border" that initially got my attention.) Anyway, the guy tells me that there was no photography allowed in the gun show (which I still seriously doubt) but he didn't want me to delete the picture. He really didn't want anything, and I'm still not sure why he even confronted me. I mean, they got that booth up for publicity but they don't want photographic publicity? Odd.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I live a life of distraction
• I kind of tear up every time I see the "In Memoriam" segment on "This Week With George Stephanopoulos."
• I like John Legend's "Save Room For My Love."
• Whatever happened to Annie Potts?
• Everyone is talking about Shaq's intro at the All Star game this weekend. Kind of Reminds me of Vanilla Sky.
• Speaking of Peter Gabriel (who had a song in Vanilla Sky), I had no idea what he looked like. The man is getting old.
• I had The Perfect Storm on yesterday and had forgotten that one of the characters was named "Sully."
• I went to the gun show yesterday in Fort Worth but it deserves its own post later.
• I do not understand NASCAR.
• Friday The 13th won the box office race this weekend with $42 million. Sheesh.
• I saw The Wrestler on Friday. My companion hated it while I was fairly fascinated. Something about an over-the-hill guy clinging to his past really grabbed my attention. (Go figure.) And Marisa Tomei was smokin' hot.
• A Wise County girl had back to back dates this weekend. (Although she isn't familiar with the paragraph.)

Secret Footage Of Me At Beach . . .

. . . confusing my pants with my shirt.

I'm Demographic Crazy

Took this pic out of a very-slick-but-way-too-expensive Trophy Club presentation. Breaking news: There are white people in that town.

Friday Afternoon Pick Me Up

I'm in a real quandary here. I was just going to post the bottom pic of "Katrina the Bikini Girl" from American Idol, but I couldn't let the top pic just fade off into Internet oblivion. Is that not one of the craziest pics you've ever seen? I mean, I could stare at that thing for two hours longer than I ever could at the greatest paintings in the world. The guy's stance. His expression. The fat chick's unadulterated anger. That thing belongs in a museum. It's inspirational.

Decatur ISD Demographics

An in-the-know reader sent along a spreadsheet of the make up of Decatur ISD. Link. As of last year: Students: 2,908 % White: 68.6 % Hispanic: 28.4 % Other: 2.9