Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Odd eighth grade Bridgeport basketball memory: Our team went into a "four corners" routine at a tournament and the other team didn't come out to guard. I bet we ran off half a quarter in one possession by just standing in place and dribbling. But I have no idea if we won the game.
• I used Google Street View to look at the Katrina damaged Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans the other day. It's pretty much a ghost town. I wonder if it's safe to drive through it?
• I haven't been inside a Dairy Queen in years.
• I never heard back from the lawyer that told me the use of "Dairy Queen" in my graphic might be a trademark infringement and that I needed to remove it. So long as I never hear from him again, I want you folks to go buy a bunch of Hungr Busters and stuff.
• I didn't watch Obama last night. Baylor was playing in the NIT on ESPN.
• The Messenger has a story today of a five and half year old Intoxication Manslaughter case that was finally indicted last week. I'm not sure what is going on there with the long delay, but our new DA seems to be going back and digging up some old cases.
• And the default statute of limitations for felonies is three years. There's a specific provision allowing for no limitation for "murder and manslaughter" but the question will be whether that "manslaughter" includes "intoxication manslaughter." They are not the same thing. There's a specific "manslaughter" crime (reckless killing) under one section of the Penal Code and "intoxication manslaughter" under another. That may have already been decided, but I don't know it off the top of my head.
• That gave me early morning Tired Head.
• I don't know what I think about the Messenger running out to an accident scene, videoing it, and then throwing the video up on youtube. They did it yesterday.
• A city wide nighttime curfew has always bugged me. The concept of a daytime curfew seems downright unAmerican.
• My dream last night consisted of two hot girls, an intentional car crash that resulted in a fiery death at the Bridgeport Dairy Queen parking lot, and a guy with a knife.
• The previous bullet point was in no way meant to disparage the parking lots of Dairy Queen.
• Kay Bailey Hutchison was on WBAP this morning and was specifically asked whether our military should be used to help secure the border with Mexico. She answered that we needed to "do more to increase border security." In typical WBAP fashion, they didn't force her to answer the question.
• We can now all get drunk at Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor.
• Watched a little of a DWI trial in Wise County yesterday. It involved an out of county teacher -- I felt sorry for her. And she looked pretty good on tape. The jury begins deliberations this morning.
• Official Liberally Lean figure skater: Tanith Belbin
• About once every 18 months I get a new credit card from Citibank with a new number because my old one "may have been compromised" due to a security breach.

Teacher Must Like R. Kelly's "Bump N' Grind"

And you teachers out there that have never gotten drunk and dirty danced in front of you eighth grade class while in school, cast the first stone. Yeah, that's what I thought.

I've Noticed They've Been Getting A Little Bold

Tuesday Afternoon Pick Me Up

Mind Burst

I just got distracted by this that someone placed on my desk: There are 7 girls in a bus. Each girl has 7 backpacks In each backpack, there are 7 big cats For every big cat there are 7 little cats There is no bus driver. How many legs are there on the bus? Answer in first comment.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• I've never really had any desire to go to South by Southwest.
• If you know the opening lyrics to Kanye West's "Stronger", you'll be tempted to mess around with this.
• I haven't found the audio online yet, but the Ticket has been playing a clip of Maverick's coach Rick Carlisle mocking Chuck Cooperstein during an interview last week. It was unbelievably condescending. And that's all I needed to hear to wish failure on the Mavericks. So I'm wishing. Real hard. Edit: Here's the audio ("HAHAHAHAHAHA")
• I saw a "smart car" in Fort Worth this weekend. Sheesh, those things are like glorified golf carts.
• Rep. Phil King has been amazingly quiet during this legislative session.
• I've awakened the last two mornings with only one sock on.
• That's better than waking up in an ice filled bathtub with my liver gone.
• What?
• Most confusing sketch ever.
• Most confusing treadmill ever.
• Start listening for the phrase "that was the tipping point." I've heard it three times in less than 24 hours.
• Bizarre news: A 29 and 39 year old couple were stabbed to death in Ferris while they slept in their home. Robbery was not a motive. Creeped me out.
• I always read the Notice of Class Action Settlements when they are published. I saw a new one in Parade magazine this weekend in connection with Bluetooth manufacturers. If you were a member of the class, you would not get any money because it was not "practical or economical" since "the class was so large" and the "amount each Class Member would receive would be very small." But the manufacturers did agree to put warning information on their web sites. Oh yeah, the Plaintiff's lawyers got $800.000. Sheesh.
• Some are making a big deal out of Steve Kroft asking Obama on 60 Minutes if he is "punch drunk." See the quick clip here. I'm not sure what the big deal is.
• I'm still convinced that the intensity of the hate of the Obama haters is far more than those that hated Bush.
• I've got one court appointed client who I really dislike.
• Peace, Interrupted: 14 dead in Iraq.
• Funny blog headline based upon this news: "Texas AG Bans 'Cocaine' Energy Drink, Real Cocaine Still Readily Available"
• I never saw the Cocaine energy drink in a convenience store but I was told it was sold in Rhome.
• That's Katrina The Bikini Girl from American Idol. (I think she was on the last episode of it that I watched.)

Does This Look Like A Man Who Is Running For Dallas City Council?

Why, yes. It does. But not to be confused with Alabama defensive lineman Andre Smith who recently scared half those in attendance by removing his shirt before running the 40 yard dash. (And you'd have to see the video to do it justice.)

Commercial Aircraft Down Near Olney?

Rumors are flying. (Thanks emailer Mike.) Edit: As a commenter pointed out, CNN says it was an Air Force C-17. Edit: Wichita Falls paper says, "Hold on. We're not so sure about that." CNN the altered its sources to say "callers to police said" instead of "an Air Force spokesperson said." Edit: Uh, false alarm.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I think this picture of the plane that crashed in Montana killing 17 yesterday is creepy.
• Just saw where Baylor's women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey had surgery for a kidney stone on Friday morning, flew with the team to Lubbock on Friday afternoon, and then ended up back in the hospital yesterday. She missed the team's game (an overtime win against #15 seeded UTSA.)
• My weekend: Mowed the lawn, edged, stained the front door, cleaned the house, washed my sheets, re-caulked the shower, cleaned the hardwood, changed the oil in the lawnmower, planted flowers, and took the hedger to one bush in my flower bed that was out of control.
• My Sunday afternoon was a little crazy.
• Bruce Willis married a Hey, Now over the weekend.
• There's supposed to be a re-designed Star Telegram hit the streets today. Let me guess: It's smaller.
• Winds up to 40 mph today? From what I can hear outside, I believe it.
• On Sunday morning I looked down in my garage only to see a cat (which scared me to death). I finally coaxed the thing over to me and saw that she had a tag on inscribed with an I.D. # and a website name like findmypet.com (or something like that). I go to the website and find that my only option is to call a phone number. I do. Some nice lady then gives me the phone number of the owner. I quickly call that number and discover the cat belonged to my next door neighbor and had been missing for about 10 minutes.
• I was probably closer to a catnabber than a cat finder.
• Weirdest DFW story over the weekend: "Man Killed Over Parking Space."
• Ashton Kutcher is on Twitter. Verified account. And he posts this? Oh, my.
• Craziest national story I read about this weekend but had not heard of: "Jury convicts Alabama dad of throwing 4 kids off bridge"
• I used the word "tump" as in "I saw a kid tump over out of a wheelbarrow" this weekend. A couple of folks said they hadn't heard that term in years.
• I really did see a little girl tump out of a wheelbarrow at Home Depot this weekend. She came inches from really gashing her head on a sharp corner. Made me tense.
• Edit: Sheesh, this thing disappeared for a bit. Not sure how that happened.

The NCAA Hates Jesus

Don't be sporting no John 3:16 signs in these here parts. Jarhead brought up the "John 3:16 guy" who used to appear in the end zone of many NFL games. His, not Jarhead's, wheels flew off.

Very Random "The Jerk" Thoughts

Watched most of this movie yesterday with a friend, and discovered:

• It's still very funny
• When Navin R. Johnson filled up a gas tank, he told the customer (a group of gang bangers) the charge was $26 and change. And that was in 1979 dollars.
• When he gets a check for $250,000 for developing the "Opti-Grab", it was the same as being insanely rich.
• Bernadette Peters was hot.
• The sniper after Navin was the same guy that uttered the phrase, "No, not that mother scratcher! Bill Parker!" in Raising Arizona.
• I still laugh when Navin yells, "He hates these cans!" as the sniper misses him and strikes the oil cans next to him. (Photo above)
• I remember the process of looking up a credit card in a booklet of thousands of numbers to check to see if it was stolen (as Navin does.)
• The funny/romantic scene on youtube.
• Random girl on youtube singing the song from the funny/romantic scene. And another. I'd marry either one of those girls based on principle.
• I'll be dang, here's a guy who did. (Greatest couple ever?)
• The original trailer to the movie -- which didn't do it justice.
• Steve Martin was 34 when the movie was released.
• I digress, but my favorite Steve Martin role maybe the little seen Shop Girl.
• The name of the movie has always confused me. The last thing that Navin R. Johnson was, was a jerk.
• Aww, the heck with it. Here are all the memorable quotes.

Free Money

Cops chase people as part of War On Drugs. People dump money onto highway. People risk life to get money. And that might be the only situation where I wouldn't turn in money that I found. Let's see? Money to me? Or money to cops? In that situation, me loves me some me. Back story.

Wreck Update: Not Good

Story.

And Another

It's hard to tell, but this gal was arrested on "annoyance" charges for kissing a 17 year old. Sheesh. The terrorists have finally won. Then again, this girl kissing anyone should probably be a crime. And we have one crazy DA in this case. Check out his quote: "But teachers are no more likely than doctors, lawyers or newspaper reporters to commit these crimes. Sex crimes affect a wide cross-section of demographics. I think it's just a fluke.'' Hey, those doctors and media types might be teenage kissers, but let's keep the legal profession out of this. Edit: My buddy Keith sends along this related post simply because of the mug shot.

If I Ever Needed A Cell Phone Pic, This Is It

Just got a call about a guy in a wheelchair, yep a wheelchair, being pulled over by two cops on the 380 bypass outside of Decatur. Edit: A faithful reader who must be ridin' dirty, sends along this pic

• Someone mentioned that the newly opened Huddle House in Decatur is newly closed. True?
• Those "reporters" on the TMZ tv show annoy the heck out of me.
• Get ready for this rant today: The liberal media won't report that Obama made fun of the handicapped on The Tonight Show last night. Puhleeze. (He said something along the lines that he bowls like he's in the Special Olympics.)
• I saw a report yesterday that DFW was the fastest growing area in the nation. My initial thought was how much worse traffic is going to get.
• WBAP question this morning: Is there a movie that has changed your life? It seems the winner from the calls received was Passion of the Christ (I've read the book, but not seen the movie.) I don't know if I had one although Jaws does come to mind. I've never stepped in the ocean again without thinking about it.
• Gmail has added a feature which will give you five seconds to kill an email that you just fired off. Not a bad idea.
• I have no idea what my "credit score" is. I would hope it would be very good.
• I finally bought a very few number of shares of Citigroup yesterday at $3.32. It immediately plummeted below $3.00. I'm the kiss of death.
• I like March Madness, and I fill out a bracket like everyone else, but as soon as I turn on a random game that's in the first half, I'm immediately bored.
• The Facebook status page of your friends can be really bizarre cross section of attitudes. You can see "I'm so hungover my head just exploded," "I'm so lucky how much God has blessed me," and "It's not even 7:30 in the morning and this day is already a cluster" right after one another.
• I'm convinced that more and more paid commercials are being disguised as news story on the radio.
• Case in point: WBAP had a segment today where the interviewed a local "mortgage expert" (who was identified by name and company) about the current low rates. He was asked questions like, "Should people refinance right now?" Anyone want to guess what his answer was?
• If Walmart could have created the Gang Initiation Hoax for the free publicity, would they? I think they would. Mention of Walmart's name > Small Lost Sales.
• I can't verify it, but I heard that some gal on Fox's Business Channel's Happy Hour show criticized Obama for wasting time "filling out his NAACP bracket." If true, that's funny.

The Walmart Death Rumor

Apparently a text message is spreading all over the county about a gang initiation that would happen tonight at Walmart where three women would be killed. The text even says this has been "confirmed by the Wise County Sheriff's Office." Uh........fake. Edit: Fox 4: Fake Channel 5: Fake Star-Telegram: Fake Messenger: Sending Joe Duty to cover it (kidding) Edit #2: Why does the Messenger go out of its way not to use the word "Walmart" in this Update blurb?

I Post Two Pics Of Women Near Water And This Happens

Story. I remember there being some question about the death when it happened, but haven't heard anything about it since then.