They Look A Little Nicer . . .

. . . than those at the Fort Worth Zoo who just stare at you like they want to kill you.

Edit: And I get this in my inbox shortly after I posted this. Coincidence?

Draft Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Former Facts of Life star Blair (and metroplex resident) is taking part in Survivor. But it was disheartening to hear that she and her husband have divorced after 24 years. 
• The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case concerning what you can recover if someone negligently kills your pet: The fair market value (which has always been the law) or the fair market value + the value of the loss of companionship (which the Fort Worth court of appeals ruled a few months back).
• Football point: I continue to believe there is no "neutral zone". You either line up offsides or you do not.
• Man, it was a bad week for Romney when he had to release his  income tax return to try and deflect from his 47% distraction.
• I never saw this story of a Texas lawyer who got fired because of a series of profane emails. It made the "Best Of' edition of the Dallas Observer.
• Whatever happened to Greg Kinnear?
• There's a show on PBS called The Daytripper which features a guy going to different Texas towns. This week he returned to Bastrop after the devasting fire last year.  Man, it made me sick. 
• More Americans now die of suicide than car crashes. And they believe suicides are probably under-reported.
• I mentioned a Tulane football player, Devon Walker, a couple of weeks ago who was the subject of an erroneous report that he received a tracheotomy on the field.  I heard over the weekend that he is still not breathing on his own.  There is a deep concern growing inside me about sacrificing young people for football.
• Greatest headline ever.
• Fox 4's Lauren Pryzbel is engaged. 
• The most gay Aggie football picture in the history of ever that doesn't involve Yell Leaders. Oh, my. (Thanks, emailer.)
• Not many details about a crime that left a lady in a ditch on the Wise-Tarrant-Denton county border
• Ann Coulter, who was on This Week, looks like she does meth. And I'm serious.

This Is The Guy . . .

. . . who fell out of a pickup last night near Alvord. (Facebook.)

Friday Night Lights

Alvord (1-3) 0
Bowie (4-0) 55

Boyd (2-2) 27
Sanger (0-4) 25

Bridgeport (2-2) 48
Burkburnett (0-4) 31

TLCA (3-1) 6
Chico (2-1) 43

Decatur (2-2)        49
WF Hirschi (0-4) 9

Paradise (0-4)  7
Krum (4-0)  54

The Messenger screwed up the Paradise score. Screenshot:

Messenger Above The Fold

Britney Taking You Into The Weekend

"Hey, Brit, you know you'll always be the number one Liberally Lean girl"

"But I think Wordkyle may have a crush on you"

"And Rage, too"

Romney Releases 2011 Tax Returns

Serious question: Did he have a job in 2011?

I Found A Clint Eastwood Fan

Story.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The "Oh. Seriously. So Gross." commercial makes me laugh every time.
• Texas high school football is turning into a video game: A kid from Marble Falls passed for 715 yards last night. I remember a time when there wouldn't be 715 yards in passing for a whole season.
• I'm an iPhone fan but I do not understand the fuss about the iPhone 5. (Here's a pic of the guy who was first in line in Fort Worth. He seems well rounded.)
• There's a Brandi's Country Kitchen in Bridgeport?
• Since Casa Torres in Decatur has reopened after the expansion, what's the verdict?
• Rick Perry said this week that the "separation of church and state" is a "myth." I'm speechless.
• Funny Fox 4 screenshot from this morning. (Facebook.)
• Cowboys Stadium will have a new addition of the home opener on Sunday: The five Super Bowl Champion banners. (Pic.) It was originally planned that they would be on display in an adjacent Cowboys Museum, but that didn't pan out. 
• This week an Iranian soccer player found a grenade on the soccer field, tossed it aside, and it exploded. Video. That's not a "grenade" as we commonly know one is it? I would think those guys by the explosion would have been brutalized by flying shrapnel. 
• Broke Vince Young once spent $6,000 at a T.G.I.F. restaurant, and bought about 120 seats on a Southwest Nashville to Houston flight so he could have the plane to himself. That's a good start on blowing $30 million. 
• I had another DWI set for trial yesterday but it settled at the last moment. A buddy later told me he was called to be on the jury panel and he intended to pelt me with Ticket shtick. 
• All the right wingers are going nutty over the Obama campaign's "Obama American Flag".  I think it's kind of cool. 
• Decatur teachers are getting 100 Macbook Airs. I make post like this all the time, and no one really seems to object to the subject.
• Chico is playing the Texas Leadership Charter Academy tonight. That's a three year old charter school out of San Angelo. I'll admit that I don't really understand the concept of a "charter school."
• "Moody's upgrades to Baa2 from Ba1 the rating of the City of Bridgeport's (TX) General Obligation Limited Tax debt." I don't really understand that either. 

Does This Look Like A Group Of Guys At A Pep Rally . . .

. . . dressed up as cheerleaders with one of them holding a fake baby because their rival school had a cheerleader who gave birth and couldn't try out for this year's squad? Why yes it does.

I'd hate to be the principal at that school. Every time I would try to chew them out, I think I'd crack a smile.

"Waiting For Tony Romo"

Some reporter just tweeted this pic as the press waits for Romo to appear at Valley Ranch.

What a beating. All those guys trying to get a sound bite from Romo for TV or radio.  And you know, he'll say nothing. Absolutely nothing. But there is a 100% chance that he'll say, "We just have to work hard and get better." Bank on it.

But the picture does remind me of a story I heard on The Fan last year about the insufferable Terrance Newman. He walked up in a similar situation and said he would only talk to one reporter who they had to select. Once that reporter was chosen, Newman intentionally began quickly pacing back and forth in the locker room thereby forcing the reporter to try and keep up while holding the recording device.  

The life of a sports reporter doesn't seem to glamorous sometimes.

First Photo From Upcoming Scary Movie 5

That's funny. (Source.)

Reefer Madness

Fiona Apple arrested for hash in same Texas town as Snoop, Willie Nelson and Armie Hammer ow.ly/dRG6I
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) September 20, 2012

Better days:

And I'm sure how well her career was going. She's playing in Thackerville, OK in two days.

Hey, I Finally Got A Scam Opportunity

I've heard about these emails forever but had never received one. (And despite gMail being the greatest email provider ever, even I'm surprised it flagged the message with the warning.)

I know one of the boys at The Ticket fell for this, and I kind of remember hearing about someone from Wise County. Oddly, this email was "from" an agent with Century 21 who I had only shared one email with in the past. I guess that's all it took.

Cop v. Dog

Ain't no way I'm watching that.  Link.

Get Me This Pig Who Saved A Drowning Baby Goat!

No nonsense. Responsible. Sees a problem and takes action. That's exactly the kind of pet we need at Liberally Lean Manor.  The Family Cat could learn something.

Texas Cheerleaders Gettin' All Biblical

They might have more religious street cred if they could get the Bible verse correct. (Not sure why the story quoted the banner with the correct verse.)

Story.

Edit: I blame the producer of the Mark Davis Show. She tweeted the "error" but she, like me, didn't take time to actually read the sign. She's corrected the error.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• American Airlines is walking a tightrope with news of over 300 flights having been cancelled this weekend due to pilots calling in sick, and yesterday an American Eagle jet was delayed for five hours because of a fight - - between flight attendants.
• It's behind a paywall, but Dallas DA Craig Watkins hired a lawyer to run the DA's Civil Division. Eyebrows are raised because that new hire paid the DA's wife $88,000 in fees for her role as a political consultant. Watkins borders on sleazy.
• The vibe of the news surrounding ABC's Robin Roberts ongoing medical condition is not good. 
• I lost my DWI trial. I thought it was a tough case going in but became optimistic with the make up of the jury. They deliberated almost three hours, and went over the roadside video with a fine tooth comb. They worked hard and took their job seriously -- can't ask for more than that.
• It was still a kick in the gut, though. Almost everyone else involved in the criminal trial process is pretty relaxed and carefree -- but the criminal defense side of the table is exactly the opposite. The stakes are so much higher. 
• After is was over, the lead State's witness (a trooper) kindly acknowledged me as he headed for the stairwell. That was nice and professional. Some of those guys take a trial personally. 
• I'll admit I was weeks behind the "Gangnam Style" phenomenon. In case you're like me, you can see the video here which has 221 million youtube hits.
• The four story, 188,000 square foot Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital - Alliance has opened at I-35 and Golden Triangle Boulevard.  That's only 33 miles away from Decatur
• The big wigs at Fox are denying it, but allegedly the local Fox 4 affiliate has interviewed a "Hey, now" for an anchor position. If hired, that means a big shake up.
• I doubt if this will get any traction but there's now an old video of Mitt Romney surfacing where he kinda-joking-kinda-not says, "When I was a boy, I used to think that becoming rich and becoming famous would make me happy. Boy was I right."
• This appears to be the kid who was driving the vehicle that went off the road near Alvord yesterday. (Facebook.)
• I haven't done a Lake Bridgeport fishing report in a while, but you might want to know "Black bass are good on Texas rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hogs in California 420 and Darkhorse Custom Jigs in pumpkin/orange." California 420?
• A rich and high profile Dallas guy gets a girl pregnant, tricks her into having an abortion because of a genetic flaw he convinces her the child will have, and then agrees to pay her a quarter of a million dollars. She then sues him.