Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Odd: The ex-boyfriend who allegedly killed the Frisco fitness instructor jumped into the Grand Canyon before he was arrested. He only fell 25 feet because he hit a ledge -- causing one bystander on the news I saw to refer to him as "lucky." I'm not so sure about that. 
• But it's really odd how no one that knows that guy has a bad thing to say about him.
• Odd #2: A Belo exec was gunned down in Arlington while picking up his kid by a UTA student who had received counseling from the exec's wife. The shooter then killed himself. Man, there has to be a heck of a back story on that one. 
• The Johnson County deputy killed over the weekend was hit by gunfire three times. (That's the second Texas deputy killed this month.) 
• I'm about to issue a No Piddling policy in the household. Let's get a move on!
• Anyone else think that the phrases "there are reports of golf ball size hail" and "weather watchers in the area report a funnel cloud has touched down" are inaccurate 99% of the time?
• Don't forget, that the Skinny Dipper 5K in Decatur at one of our local nudist results is this weekend. Trivia? Last year the top five women in the 19 to 29 year old range were named Jessica, Emily, Heather, Tiffany and Megan. 
• K.C. of K.C. and the Sunshine Band was interviewed at the Rangers game on Friday night by Jim Knox who had him sing a line of "Get Down Tonight."  He obliged. How he's not beaten down is beyond me. 
• Fox 4 weather man Ron Jackson's house burned. 
• Kate Middleton is about 100 times hotter than Princess Di was. 
• The Update this morning lists an obituary for someone who had the nickname of "Nig."
• News that just caught my eye: "Nearly 500 Taliban prisoners escaped from Kandahar prison in southern Afghanistan through a tunnel hundreds of yards long, officials said Monday." Good grief. 
• I felt like Michael Douglas in Falling Down this weekend when I actually uttered the phrase, "Yeah, I'd like the Mooyah burger . . . . "
• Had Easter lunch at the Gaylord Texan yesterday. Watching little kids all dressed up is really, really fun.
• Want to go on a cruise with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders? Well there was one but it was cancelled due to lack of interest (A Dallas Morning News story that's behind a paywall - a policy which has to be a failed bit.)

OK, Fox 4 Weather Guys, You've Out Done Yourselves

Just when you think there cannot be any more descriptive names for hail, we've got a new one. Pete Delkus, you better step it up. 

(9:00 p.m. newscast.)

Here We Go Again

6:40 on Sunday.

Funnel Cloud Near Bridgeport

A sixteen year old's pic  taken off of FM 2123 made it to KXAS Channel 5.

(Thanks Amy Lou for the tip.)

Edit: And hail in Runaway Bay (per Facebook report)

I Finally Watched A Mavs Game

The Head Coach aka A Miserable Human Being

The Owner: The Beneficiary of Yahoo's Stupid Money

Mrs. LL is out shopping for an Easter dress (it's not going well -- something about dresses being made for "short people") so I found myself with a drugged cat, puppy in my lap, and cloudy skies. Might as well channel surf. Oh, the Mavs are on? I'll stay on the channel while I read a magazine.

Oh, my.

The Mavs were up by 23 (23!!!!!) and then lost the game 84-82 (getting outscored in the 4th Quarter 35-15).  Same old song.

At 6:00 PM On Saturday, Bridgeport and Alvord Saw Something Called Rain

And it looks violent.

Edit: And at 7:00 pm Wise County got a purple box. I'm not sure what that means, but it can't be good. And Decatur joined the party.

Edit: A then they extended the Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 8:30 p.m. Man, that line of storns is not moving.

Edit: And then I get reports on Sunday that the rain, while heavy, wasn't anything over the top.

Free Antoine!!!

Story.

Taking Us Into The Weekend

And You Think This Country Is Going To Make It?

The Internet is blowing up (slight overstatement, maybe) of a video of a "fight" in McDonalds where one girl gets savagely beaten. I've mentioned before how I despise these things (I really do), but I bet this will make every news network in the nation over the next few days. And it should until her attackers are arrested. Heck, I'll volunteer to be special prosecutor.

We are a violent, stupid nation.

And I'm the last person to yell "lawsuit" (despite the claims of those that don't know me), but the McDonald's employees bear some responsibility here. It's one thing for a fight to break out and to kick them out, but it's quite another to stand back and watch a girl get beaten. The only honorable person is an old lady who tries to stop it.

Video here. (Insert you own disclaimer.)

Edit: The comments are almost as over the top as the video.

Edit: We have an update as to what's happened with this story. (Thanks commentor.)

Edit: Wow. The guy that filmed the incident was a McDonald's employee. He has been fired.

Controversial Images Of Kids And Violence? Art?

9/11 

Saw this story on CNN.  It's the photo art work of some guy name Jonathan Hobin. Google images search.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Just like Madonna got in trouble with the Catholic Church for Like A Prayer, now the Catholics are upset with Lady Gaga for her song "Judas" to be released over Easter.  Her and Donald Trump should hook up  - they are PR machines.
• But the song's reference to "Even after three times, he betrays me" indicates she has Disciple Confusion.
• Fox News had a priest on this morning who opined that Lady Gaga was "crying out" because of the songs. If that's his belief, I'm glad he's not my spiritual advisor. 
• Nothing like getting a text From Mrs. LL while driving home saying that we have had a "plumbing incident" but she's "close to having it under control."  Let's just say that I walked in and realized "ceiling" and "water" were involved. #headslap
• She explained that it all began with spiders in the backyard followed by panic followed by clothes thrown in the sink with water running over them. I'm not sure I heard all of it because I was staring at the ceiling. 
• Jim Carrey is in the season finale of The Office? Are they trying to ruin the legacy of a good sitcom? (But it sounds like there will be a ton of cameos from big name stars so hopefully he won't be on screen very long.) 
• Shakira watching a soccer match is a blueprint for all girls who wish to be sports fans. If a guy isn't jazzed by that, he's unjazzable™. (Yep, just trademarked a new word.)
• The Family Cat (yep, pic) is now post surgery, groggy, and has one of those goofy inverted half cones around her neck to keep her from chewing out her stitches. 
• News broke this week that the iPhone tracks where you've been (which really doesn't seem that surprising) and some speculated that such technology could help solve crimes. I bet less than 2% of the cases I handle involve the issue of whether the defendant was at the scene of the crime. 
• But it is kind of interesting on the issue of DWI -- could the police access data as to where the driver had been before the arrest?
• I now see how most American families struggle financially. Households spend a lot of money, don't they? And I'm not talking about extravagant or frilly purchases. 
• Six (mostly teenagers) were arrested in Florida after a 15 year old was lured by his ex-girlfriend and then ambushed and murdered. Man, that sounds like the plot of Bully (which was based both in Florida and on a true story.)
• And one of the teenage defendant's lawyer had a sound bite on The Today Show this morning: "'Did he do it?' is a different question than 'can they prove it?' I don't even reach the question of 'did he do it?' - that's kind of a moral question."   He might take some heat on that but that guy knows exactly what he's doing. 
• Even I'm tired of President Obama's pandering based upon current events. High gas prices? He promises to form a task force to investigate whether there is price gouging. Nuclear reactor melt down in Japan? He promises a safety check on every U.S. nuclear reactor. 

Kid Steals Mav's Player's Towel

Just rips it off his neck? And Tyson Chandler doesn't even bat an eye despite have a towel burn and, no doubt, a newly ruptured disc? And that kid just stares back with this "What are you looking at?" look? What the heck is going on?

And to think you guys believe they'll go far in the playoffs. Not with that kind of attitude. You've got to body slam that kid and send a message.

DPS Wants You To Know They Are All Over IT

I love the first sentence of the press release: "A sex offender wanted on 18 counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child is behind bars after his arrest last night at an international bridge in El Paso."  Wow. At an international bridge? Did they tackle him as he raced toward the border? Taze him as he tried to sneak back in? Was it a secret operation? Tell us! Tell us!

Nope. Read a little further and you'll find that Mexican officials arrested him and turned him over to DPS at the border. [Insert sound of Sad Trombone.]  Although DPS takes credit for learning of his location within Mexico.

I Would Dog Perry For Pandering But I Had A Different Thought

More.

And I've always wondered why we think the more people that pray, the more likely there will be results. That seems a little shallow and, in fact, demeaning to God. Are we trying to get His attention with numbers? I always thought that "go into your closet and pray alone" meant something.

Clemson Fantasy Camp

Hey, I didn't watch all of this nor do I expect you to. I think it's a bunch of middle aged guys going to a fantasy camp where they pretend they are Clemson football players. Hey, if Baylor held one and promised me I would be awarded the Fantasy Heisman Trophy at the end of it, there's no way I'd take part in that silliness.

But I do want you to watch one part: Go to the 1:35 mark where the old men recreate running down the famed Clemson hill in the end zone onto the field. That guy looks like John Candy in Stripes when he's running out of control through the trail in the woods.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Edit: Oops. Sorry for delay. Forgot to hit "publish". 
• The hype for next week's Royal Wedding really hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. 
• Helped try to hang curtains in a very small window last night. When the place is so cramped that you can't use a drill, it makes a simple job a beating. And the need to use a hack saw is always a bad sign. 
• Speaking of: In cleaning out the garage last weekend, I learned I had three hack saws, two sets of bolt cutters, and five tape measures.
• NBC 5's Jane McGarry big timed us last night on Twitter.
• If you've seen the Exorcist, you'll probably giggle/be disturbed by this.
• There's a viral video going around about a reporter with an awful runny nose. I'm not watching that. 
• I heard that "the Flip" had been discontinued this week and thought they were talking about a flip phone. Nope. It was the Flip video camera that was purchased by Cisco less than two years ago for more than a half billion dollars. They even ran a Super Bowl Ad a couple of months ago. Odd. 
• The Family Cat is at the cat hospital getting "fixed" right now. (Yep, we were a little slow in getting that done.)  Maybe that will give her an attitude adjustment in general as well as eliminate a severe personality change that occurred every three weeks that really creeped me out. 
• The murdered Frisco fitness instructor case gets more tragic as we learn she had an eight year old autistic son and an ex-boyfriend is a "person of interest.
• And I'll continue to point out that "person of interest" is a made up term in the last 15 years or so that has no legal meaning. It's simply a way for the media and law enforcement to refer to a suspect as something other than a suspect in order to avoid defamation issues. 
• Probably the best collection of Texas wildfire photos here. 
• Texas Rep. Kirk Watson was on the radio this morning promoting his bill that provides limited immunity for alcohol related crimes for minors if a person calls 911 to report possible alcohol poisoning of someone else. So a kid's buddy is dying and he's so morally bankrupt that he won't call in because he fears a $500 fine for Minor In Possession? And Watson thinks a law would change that? And how often does this happen anyway?
• Fox News this morning teased a story on the Houston child who dropped a gun at school with a graphic that read "Kindergarten Justice?". It then teased a story on President Obama's use of Facebook with the question "Does that give him a dangerous advantage?"  Dangerous?
• I think the new White House Press Secretary is the worst one in years. 
• I was finally disappointed with an episode of Modern Family last week. 

Just When You Think Wise County Is A Bit Sheltered

 And closer . . .

I'll admit that I saw this yesterday on the way to the courthouse and didn't have a clue what it meant. Only today, when by chance I was reading a movie review in Time, did I find out.

If you know,  I give you big props. For the rest of you, you'll only be interested if you like the Tea Party or are familiar with Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged (which has been released as an independent movie).  Safe to say we've got someone in the former category behind that door.

Sports Talk Interest Only

Deadspin (if I have to explain, stop reading) is after The Fan's Richie Whitt (ditto) for dogging Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis for missing his start in New York to see the birth of his second child. Lewis finally took the mound last night and got lite up.  Now Deadspin is trying to do the same to Whitt.

I wouldn't want Deadspin picking on me, but Whitt can't buy that much publicity. (Whitt's blog at the Dallas Observer is here and - trust me - no one has more haters in the comments that he does. Even I can't rival it.)

Edit: Richie's reply to the masses.