We Do Love Lists

Sport's Illustrated has released its annual list. The only metroplex athlete I saw came in at #49. And the #1 money earner might as well spend it, because he's not going to get to keep it all.

I Just Like The Headline

Random Monkey

Story.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Awful suicide last night of a prominent Wise County man last night. I always thought it was weird how newspapers don't cover such things or report the names. I kind of understand now.
• A new TV action series called Chase was being filmed in West End in Dallas yesterday. With many of the scenes on rooftops, you'd have to think the actors were wondering why Dallas in the Summer was chosen.
• Ordered some new carpet for a couple of rooms last night. Sheesh. This home improvement is a beating.
• An Irving woman strangled her two young children a couple of days ago (the youngest one finally died this morning). Add her to the list of Darlie Routier, Dena Schlosser or Andrea Yates.
• I'm in a furniture store, select my purchase, the guy asks me how I wish to pay for it, I hand him my credit card and DL, and he spends the next five minutes at a computer terminal thinking I wanted to apply for store credit card. He was honestly confused, and apologized profusely once I pointed out that I didn't want one. (He didn't even suggest that I get one, or run down its benefits.)
• During Super Bowl week, ESPN will be broadcasting from downtown Fort Worth.
• Jimmy Johnson is going to be a contestant on Survivor?
• For as long as the oil spill went on, there really hasn't been much of it wash up on the beaches.
• Lindsay Lohan new book-in photo.
• Another Coppell mayor shocker: She rented a car and gave it to her daughter telling her it was a high school graduation present. She returned it one day before the murder/suicide.

Tuesday Afternoon Pick Me Up

That's Ashley Roberts. I don't know who Ashley Roberts is.

Free Lindsay!!!!

On her way to court where she was handcuffed and led away

They actually threw her in the hoosegow this morning!

Let's Declare War On Russia

I know they've been up to no good for the last few years (and even snuck in a bunch of inept spies lately), but this crosses the line. Hey, I've scene Shrek and learned a whole lot about donkeys. They're funny and loving and can talk like people. There is no reason in the world to terrify one of those little fellas.

Fire up the nukes, Obama. We've got some business to take care of.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• The Rangers won in 14 innings last night making them 4-1 on the roadtrip so far. Any believers yet?
• And you have to see the footage of pitcher Dustin Nippert getting hit in the head with a line drive last night in the sixth inning. But he got up and walked away. (Video is here before MLB takes it down.)
• Mike Huckabee strikes me as the most naive man alive.
• The forecast today was that it would be 95 but "it would feel like 100." That got me thinking? When it actually is 100 does it ever "feel like 100" or would it typically "feel like 105."
• A Dallas County deputy was fired when he tried to create his own real live "women in cages" movie.
• There was a low flying helicopter over Decatur this morning painted like a zebra. Yep. A zebra.
• A naked streaker at a Canadian football game looked like better than Emmitt Smith going through the Eagles defense. (First 10 seconds of video is all you need to watch.)
• Two 50 pound tigers spotted roaming in downtown Dallas last night? (Zebra painted helicopters and tigers in the streets? Am I feeling OK?)
• President Obama will be in Houston and Austin next month to help with Democratic fund raising. Let the hating begin.
• I've got a very tricked up and ultra modern living room which is about to be redone in a more traditional style. How often should you switch out couches and change things up? Five years? Ten? Never?
• Some pics of cheerleading auditions for LA Clippers.
• A lot of people are talking about Inception which opened over the weekend, but I swear I never heard anything about it beforehand. And it's a big budget ($160 million) film with a large advertising budget as well.
• Lindsay Lohan is supposed to start her 90 day jail sentence today. I bet she starts it, but doesn't stay long.

"Top Secret America": This Should Scare Democrats and Republicans Alike

The buzz today is the beginning of a series of bomb shell articles in the Washington Post. (I saw some stories last week that the White House was already preparing for the fallout.)

The beginning sentence is a great summary. We all think government is too big, but it's frightening to think it may be twice as big and twice as powerful then we believed.

And check out this tidbit from the first article: "Every day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications." Good grief.

Uh, Is That A Rocket Headed Towards Us?

Wise County Is Gang Free

Here's a list of metroplex cities involved as well as the ethical breakdown. (Lake Worth managed to get an arrest but that's as close as it got to Wise County). But this link also includes the list of gangs involved (which is reprinted only for comedic value):

15th Street, 18th Street, 6417 Melody Lane, Allen St. Crips, Brown Pride, Best for Less Club, Deuce Deuce Beckley, Eastside Homeboyz, Fantasmas, How High Crew, Jokers Only, La Mirada Locos, Lands of Shadow, Latin Kings, Los Pipis 25 in Mexico, Lynch Mob, Mexican Klan Locos, Mexican Society, Money Over Bitches, MS-13, Surenos, Sur-13, Swirving Heights, Tango Blast, Untamed Gorillas, Varrio Centro, Varrio Northside, Varrio Southside, and Webb Chapel Crips.

And if you name your gang "6417 Melody Lane" then you aren't too bright --- unless that's the address of your rivals. Then it's pretty ingenious.

Sarah Palin Invents New Word

(Like I should talk.) But she did pull it down over the weekend but stands by the sentiment.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I saw Tuesdays With Morrie at the Decatur Visitor's Center yesterday. Fantastic. It's being held over for a Saturday night performance and and a Sunday matinee.
• Performing arts people are different. Fun, but different.
• I sponsored Saturday night but didn't attend. It was a small crowd, but there was not a single person who ever heard of this blog. Fail.
• I painted indoors all weekend. Observations: It takes longer to prepare to paint than to actually paint. And I like painting.
• Obscure sports notes: If you saw the highlight of the Ranger's new catcher (who weighs more than a horse) hit a triple on Friday night, you were highly entertained.
• Watched Jennifer's Body after midnight on Saturday. Should have been in bed.
• My work computer died on Friday. Kaput. No life. That may make today's posts a little tricky.
• Watched some of the Tour de France this weekend. I'll make it to Europe one of these years, but I have no idea what country to make a priority. Probably the only way to do it would be to take two weeks and see multiple countries. (Although I can't see myself ever doing that.)
• That was the most insane story this weekend out of Mineral Wells: I guy kidnaps a four year old, holds him for ransom, police find the guy and he tells them where the kid is, they find the kid dead, the guy then sneaks away from police, and then they find him the next day and kill him. Wow.
• More Idiocracy.
• And somebody made a comment last week, oddly, about how crime in Mineral Wells was really rampant. (Bagofnothing.com guy grew up in Mineral Wells.)
• Katie Holmes has turned into a Stepford Wife.
• Just another day in Mexico over the weekend: A guy storms a party and kills 17. Even during the cocaine salad days, I don't remember Columbia being as bad as Mexico.
• Another small airplane crash in Denton yesterday. Does anyone know how to fly anymore?
• I think that "Who do you write like" web site that I posted last week is bunk.
• I have a CBS College Sports channel. As I type this, they are replaying a second round March Madness game between Wake Forest and Kentucky. Who in the world would watch that?
• A revised looking Star Telegram debuts today:

Truck on fire at Watts Excavation in Decatur

Sunday at around 6:30 p.m. I happened to see it even before the Fire Department arrived.

Short Article Comparing Reaction Regarding Coppell Mayor and Dallas Police Chief's Son

An excerpt:

Not only is Coppell flying flags at half mast at city facilities to mark the death of Mayor Jayne Peters, who shot her daughter and then herself Tuesday night: The city is bragging about it, according to this morning's story in The Dallas Morning News. A city spokesperson told reporter Brandon Formby: "She did a lot for this community, and that's simply what we're recognizing, that our head of state has passed." But in the wake of disclosure of a city investigation into the late mayor's expense account, we need to amend the spokesperson's statement in order to make it fully accurate: Coppell is honoring the death of its kid-killing, suicide-committing, possible embezzler mayor.

Link.

I Making This Guy My Parenting Role Model

Sheesh, this is easy. Let your emotionally immature daughter spend a lot of time on the Internet until something happens that gets her dog-piled and then you scream like Mel Gibson and threaten to call the cyber police. Where's that Father of The Year Award? (There might be a language warning. Not sure. But I swear I heard that female cop from Fargo in the background at one point.)

Barney?

Edit: Story. (And another reason to wear a bulletproof vest.)

Random Thursday Friday Morning Thoughts

• The murder/suicide involving the Coppell mayor gets weirder and weirder. She was being investigated about charges on her city issued credit card, her home had once been posted for foreclosure, and her daughter never applied to UT despite her assertions.
• It's long and I haven't read it, but I'm intrigued by a new article in Esquire about "the fascinating story about a man who made a perfect bid on The Price is Right." It's getting a lot of buzz. I'll read it over the weekend.
• Sadness: A couple in their 90s die after being trapped in their home elevator in Georgia.
• OK, the oil well is capped but why did that take so long?
• Funny line from yesterday: I think the well would have been capped a lot quicker if we would have had Mel Gibson call BP.
• It feels like global warming to me.
• Promo: This is the last weekend for the play Tuesdays With Morrie being performed in Decatur. Liberally Lean is actually sponsoring Saturday night. Doesn't mean I'll show up in public, but you should go and make me proud. Represent.
• Today is Phoebe Cates' birthday. Celebrate by slowly getting out of a pool.
• Waste of time: Dallas police used who knows how many tax dollars yesterday conducting a prostitution sting operation in Oak Cliff that netted four arrests.
• This video of a fight in a Burger King parking lot in Oakland has been floating around all week. It's the craziest thing you've ever seen (assuming you normally don't see pregnant people, hookers, and dope smoking pimps fight every day.) Warning: I watched it without the audio because my computer was screwed up but, from viewing the chaos, I'm guessing an EXTREME language warning should be issued.
• I came up on a multi car wreck on I-30 near downtown Fort Worth yesterday afternoon. There were two people in a pickup that didn't look like they were moving, but I haven't seen anything in the news about it. Man, that's so unnerving.

White Cop Slams Black Guy's Face Into Hood

Paris, TX.

Yep, we've come a long way. Sheesh.

(Sorry for the 30 second ad. All Internet ads should be 15 seconds or less.)