Wow

I always heard this guy was a jerk off the field, but no one deserves that. Link. (Although it has basically no information.) Edit @ 5:05 pm: Some reports are saying "suicide" by gun fire. Oh, my.

Monday Afternoon Pick Me Up

UIL Gerrymandering Time

Class 3A Football and Basketball District 7-3A Bridgeport Decatur Fort Worth Castleberry Lake Worth Mineral Wells

[Isn't that odd to have just five district teams? Or maybe that's always true.]

Class 2A Football Division I 2A District 5-2A Boyd Callisburg Howe Paradise Ponder Pottsboro

More.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• The killings in Juarez went to a shocking level over the weekend. And I do mean shocking.
• And in other uplifting news, 41 died in Iraq while you were sleeping. Sheesh. It wasn't this bad when Saddam was in power.
• I had a surprise not-really-your-birthday party this weekend. Good times. I don't spend enough time with friends. (But did we really debate the age of Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates?)
• Former football color commentator Pat Brookshier died over the weekend. Before John Madden, he was Pat Summerall's right hand man. And us old timers can remember both of them hosting the hour long program "This Week in the NFL" at a time when it was next to impossible to see NFL highlights.
• ESPN's Winter X-Games, which will probably be more popular than the Olympics in 50 years, can be mildly entertaining. At least the crashes can be. That snowboarder that looks like Carrot Top really smashed his face this weekend.
• I TIVO'd the Grammys but haven't watched them yet. But it sounds like I can look at a picture of Beyonce and Taylor Swift and pretty much get the idea.
• The governor debate on Friday evening was pretty entertaining. But it was tense when the panel began asking Jeopardy-like questions to the three candidates. (i.e. Who was the first governor of Texas? What is the average salary of a Texas teacher?)
• And Kay Bailey Hutchison pretending to be pro-life while supporting Roe v. Wade is just silly.
• As is Rick Perry pretending to be tough on border security but supporting same tuition rates for illegal immigrants to attend Texas colleges.
• Is there anything more confusing than waking up from a weekend nap and momentarily thinking you've overslept on Monday?
• Jarhead is going underground again. (Although we really haven't heard much from him lately.)
• Avatar won the box office again for the weekend. Sheesh. I'm going to have to see it.
• I've always considered Joe Montana the greatest quarterback ever, but I think Peyton Manning has overtaken him.
• For some reason, I don't consider the Lord of the Rings series or Harry Potter series to be "movies" at all. And I really don't have an explanation for that at all.
• Over the weekend Miss America was crowned. She wasn't from Texas. And she wasn't white.
• On ESPN last night, one of the hosts issued the line "Barney Rubble! What an actor!" I wonder how many people got the movie reference?

How's That War On Terror Going?

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Uh, not so good.

Breaking: Bridgeport Moves To Denton County

Thanks, Christine!

Sand Drawing

I may be late to the party on this, but I'd never seen it. As described in an email: This video shows the winner of 2009’s " Ukraine ’s Got Talent", Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch. The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about $75,000. She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated. It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears. She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier. This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house. In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye... The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine , resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

It's Back On! Somebody Get Pete Delkus Out Of Bed!

DWI Trial Update

Actual photo from yesterday taken with permission of Judge Cude. Exciting, no?

• They've been trying lots of cases in the County Court at Law.
• This one involves some full time firefighter who looks great on the videotape but blew over .08. (I'm not sure what the level was, but I'm thinking .11 or .12)
• Those cases can be won, but it takes a little bit of luck. It's just a "do you want to believe your eyes or do you want to believe a machine?" argument.
• The defense lawyer is out of Fort Worth and his style is completely different from mine. But to each his own.
• Oddest sight: There is a little 5" plastic Godzilla toy sitting on the counsel table. At first I thought it belonged to the defendant, but it actually belongs to the lawyer. I have no idea.
• I think the defense has hired a former cop as an expert to attack whether the field sobriety tests were administered properly. I like the effort, but I don't understand it. The defendant looked great on the field sobriety tests, the breath test is the problem.
• Every juror (four men, two women) either had on a black shirt or black jacket yesterday.
• One of the gals looks like Maggie Gyllenhaal.
• It should wrap up today.

Edit: Verdict of Guilty.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• For maybe the first time ever, I watched the Jay Leno monologue last night. I can't tell you how bad it was -- He actually made a cop and doughnut joke.
• He also had a bit on the number of times Biden and Pelosi blinked during the State of the Union. Wasn't that done a few years back with Dick Cheney?
• The temperature change yesterday was weird. It actually got warmer after the sun went down (see below.)
• In an article in the Star Telegram which seems to be written by cavemen due to its brevity, it is said that Devon Energy is ripe for a takeover.
• Sarah Palin said two days ago that she does not like the "mandation of health care". What?
• A caller on Mark Davis show said yesterday that Obama said during his inaugural address that the Constitution was a "flawed document" but, he continued, "if you look up the speech on the Internet you'll find that the transcripts have been doctored to eliminate that phrase." What a nut case. And Davis politely told him so.
• A red football field.
• I've heard a rumor that local authorities are going to try to seize and forfeit the real estate from yesterday's drug bust. They've got to be kidding.
• I questioned a couple of days ago whether a lady was really robbed of a $90,000 ring in a Whole Foods parking lot in north Dallas. Last night I saw the parking lot video of the crime. And her post injured face. Man, I was wrong. Very wrong.
• The Charging For Parking Without A Permit Case was tried yesterday in Arlington. The jury found him guilty on 31 cases and the judge assessed $500 fine on each for, according to the story, a total fine of $15,500. The defendant didn't have a lawyer --- he needs one. In my opinion, he only owes $500 based upon a case from a couple of years ago. Somebody needs to tell him.

Live Puppy Cam

Live TV : Ustream

Not Exactly The Gambino Crime Family

In case you missed it, the Messenger has published the mugshots of those arrested this morning for the (always vague) charge of "Organized Criminal Activity." And do you ever wonder why those accused of running some big time methamphetamine lab also appear to be dirt poor? And I'm not sure I understand the "State Police" jacket that the guy in the photo has on. I know the Texas Rangers and DPS troopers qualify as "state police" but I've never seen a jacket like that. Anyway, the War On Drugs marches on.

I May Revise My Winter Weather Triple Blizzard Advisory

Predicted: Actual: Artist's Rendition of Tomorrow Morning: I think that cold front hit with more impact than expected. At noon, it's already 42 degrees in good ol' Decatur. And dropping. Edit: Ok, maybe a weird temperature day after all. It's getting warmer after the sun went down.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Six cop cars around a house on 51 North out of Decatur this morning causing some traffic backup. What's up? Edit: It's the first entry in the Update.
• From my Weather Center: Looks like the Winter Blizzard Warning for tomorrow was premature since it may not be a big deal after all. (At least Fox 4 was downplaying it this morning. Channel 5 was still hyping it.)
• No speech, regardless of the subject, should last more than 15 minutes.
• The Republican response last night in front of a live audience was a much better idea than just throwing someone in front of a camera in a quiet room.
• More State of the Union: The calling out of the Supreme Court for its corporate campaign finance decision was tense.
• I saw a "Tea Party" sticker on a car in Fort Worth yesterday. As I passed him, I was able to determine the driver was an older, white guy. I was shocked. Absolutely shocked.
• Crazy this morning: I-35 by American Airlines Center was shut down around 5:00 a.m. this morning after a car was hit with gunfire and crashed into the median. The driver was hit but survived.
• The new iPad doesn't really do it for me.
• Update on the burglary of a motor vehicle trial this week: 270 days in jail and a $3,500 fine. It didn't help that he decided to burglarize a few cars in Bridgeport after the death of an officer last year because he figured the police force "would be short handed."
• Today a DWI trial starts up against an out-of-county full time fireman.
• "Fort Worth officer who spanked teen gets six-month sentence." (That one wasn't a Wise County case.)
• Government Heavy Hand: If you own private property near Cowboys stadium you can't charge others to park on your property without first paying the City of Arlington for a permit ($150-$400). And if you don't, they will criminally prosecute you. Like this guy.
• If you were going to have lunch at Abuelo's in Lewisville today, you might want to rethink that due to a fire last night.

iPad Pricey

I suppose if you are interested in the new Apple iPad you already know all about it, but look at those prices. And if you bought the 3G one, you've also have to pay between $15 and $30 per month for access to the 3G network.

Well, "Cancer Causing" Benzene Doesn't Sound Good

Link.

Privileged Kid Is An Idiot. Daddy Hires Lawyer

Link. (Thanks, Ken. I hadn't seen the story.)

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

Edit: I cannot believe you guys love this girl so much

• The Whataburger commercial that refers to your mouth as "your kisser" is funny. Or maybe it's just the sound of that guy's voice.
• The SMU student who died a week ago (alone and on campus) was a pro golfer's son. If you think that's hard on the dad, you should see what else he has been through recently (based upon Wikipedia.) Holy, cow.
• The Apple tablet computer may be announced today. Rumor: It'll run on the 3G network -- that gets my attention. Big time.
• I'm still a massive iPhone fan. Fantastic invention.
• There was a story on Fox 4 last night about a series of burglaries in Parker and Wise County before Christmas. A couple of things got my attention. First, one of the victims was described as "having a fiancee and six kids". What? Secondly, the victim allowed the crook, a female with children, to keep her stolen Christmas presents because "them kids doesn't know what the mom did."
• The Messenger has a story today that last year was the worst crime year in Decatur in 25 years. But I loved this next sentence in the story: "On the bright side, the Decatur Public Library has seen across-the-board increases in usage."
• Probably my favorite job aspect is the rare moment when I find myself in a room with four or five longtime Decatur lawyers without prosecutors, judges, or out-of-town attorneys. Yesterday we all quickly agreed we would be Libertarians if we had to pick a party. (Talk about a group that deals with government oppression.)
• A school outlaws "sexual bending" at a dance.
• I don't care who the President is, the State of the Union speech is always one big beating.
• I know there is grunting in women's tennis, but if you caught any of the match last night around 10:00 p.m. from the Australian Open, you would have off'd yourself. It was more like a squeal from one gal.
• Weird: Former Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee shows up in Parker County to campaign for a first time candidate for County Judge. (And Huckabee has driven me crazy ever since his short radio show started on WBAP -- he sounds like Mister Rogers for adults.)
• "Woman Beaten, Robbed of $90,000 Ring Outside Whole Foods In North Dallas." She called 911 after she got home. Hmmmmm.