Oh, My

A Waco sign company has created a decal that goes on the tailgate of a pickup showing a blonde woman, her hair covering her face and her hands and feet tied up. When placed on the tailgate, it creates the optical illusion that there’s actually a woman who’s tied up and in the bed of the truck.

Johnny Football At Cowboy Game Last Night

Not that there's anything wrong with that. And talk about "Hey, now."

Source.

I Think He And His Wife Are Divorcing

George Zimmerman in custody after gun incident - Full story: http://t.co/DkPCFav1E0
— ABC News (@ABC) September 9, 2013

$21,316,743

The amount Texas has received in federal funding for "Abstinence Only" Education under Obamacare.

I don't know where to start. Texas hates the federal government, and especially Obamacare, but readily accepts federal funds for programs that cater to the Far Right?

College Football GIFs From The Weekend

 Johnny Football being Johnny Football. In more ways than one. Alabama is a

 9 point favorite this week.

 Michigan's coach desperately tried to call a time out. The ref didn't see him. The play 

happened and Michigan scored anyway. His reaction. 

 Brent Musburger interviewing Eminem. Just because. 

Not technically a GIF, but this is how your boss looks at you when you'll be fired the next day. 

Idiocracy?

Lebron James, Jerry Jones, and Hulk Hogan last night.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• When did air travel turn into the equivalent of riding a bus. Sheesh, it's a beating these days. But the normally grumpy American Airlines flight attendants were in very positive moods.
• I am getting close to the ending of Empire of the Summer Moon and read it on the plane. An elderly guy in a Cowboy hat sitting next to me on the plane said, "I don't want to bother you, but you've got a great book there." For a little known book, I can't tell you the number of people who have told me they've read it. 
• On the way flight back we sat by a guy who looked like a thinner John Lock from Lost. We asked him if he had ever heard that before, and he said "all the time." 
• Leaving the Ole Miss game there was a college student on his cell phone calling a buddy to tell him that a girl was saying he (the buddy) had sexually assaulted her. The odds of Mrs. LL and I slowing our pace so we could hear the conversation? 100%.
• I don't know how we got around before the GPS guide. Mrs. LL's phone has one which is so good we can just have to listen for the instructions and hardly ever have to look down at it. 
• FBC of Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress somehow gets space in the Dallas Morning News to fire off an opinion on Syria. He opines that the President's wish to bomb Syria for using gassing children would be more persuasive if he didn't support abortion.  Way to stay focused there, pastor. 
• Memphis Beale Street: Meh. Much smaller than I thought it would be without that many people. (But there was a huge police presence with females having their purse searched before they entered the area. Which gives rise to an interesting Fourth Amendment issue: You have to agree to be searched before entering a public street?)
• Did we go the entire weekend without Memphis BBQ? Yes.  Arrived Friday and went to the rehearsal dinner. It was a Saturday morning wedding with a lunch reception. We then were at the Ole Miss game from 3:00 to 9:00 and snacked on stadium food. And our flight left the next morning at 11:00. 
• My nephew's wedding was great. I think that's the first person I've ever seen married who I was also at the the hospital for their birth. 
• They are going to Jamaica for their honeymoon. It reminded me of the time I was there and a guy on the beach tried to sell me and two New Jersey cops some weed. When they told they were with law enforcement, he fist bumped them and said, with a Jamaican accent,  "Respect!" 
• Sports: (1) Cowboy fans need to tap the brakes. They won last night because of six turnovers by the Giants. Otherwise, they would have gotten killed. (2) Evil Empire Chaos: The Horns gave up a shocking 550 yards on the ground to BYU and, on the following day, fire their defensive coordinator. That's borderline panic mode. (3) Baylor set a school record with 781 total yards against Buffalo and is averaging 47 points in the first half. 
• A fan fell to his death at the 49ers game. Man, that happens a lot these days.

The Ghosts Of My Ole Miss Field Trip

So Mrs. LL and I journeyed up to Memphis for my nephew's wedding, and then ventured on down Saturday afternoon to the University of Mississippi for a football game.  Random Thoughts . . .

• Everyone has always told me, being the fan of the college football road trip, that I had to go to Ole Miss and see the tailgating at The Grove. Verdict: It was beyond fantastic. I've been to games at LSU, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan, Aggieland, UT, -- those come to mind. But nothing comes close to this. I want to go back in time and enroll there. 
• The campus has a few acres (the Grove)  in the middle of campus which is blanketed by old southern trees and every inch is taken over by tents on game day. And food. And alcohol. And friends.
• This photo doesn't do it justice. This is just the beginning as you walk into the masses . . . 
• 
• Mrs. LL insisted on wearing a breezy dress (she did some research online), and I told her she was crazy. She, as is so often the case, was right. From the sorority girls to moms to grand-moms, they all wore dresses. I've never seen so many red dresses in my life.
• If there was a uniform for the guys, it was a red shirt and khaki shorts. That's what I wore (as I dug through the closet before the trip to find a red shirt.) I just want to blend in and observe.
• The hospitality of almost everyone was fantastic. But, as in all places, there are the problem children in the world. These two gals saw the huge dog and wanted their picture taken with it. Apparently the cigarette smoking boyfriend wasn't prompt enough as the girl in the red yelled, "Take my [expletive deleted] picture!!!]. Some guy will marry her one day. Some guy will regret it. 
• 
• But I did see an old guy with, perhaps, a mail order bride. In leather pants. In hot weather. I'm not judging. Promise. (Mrs. LL noticed that there was a price tag on the bottom of her shoe.)
• 
• And it was Mrs. LL who scurried up to take that photo by the way. I would never do such a thing. 
• Lots of girls in heels. 
• One thing I was very interested in was any historical references to James Meredith, the first black man to enroll at the university in 1962 which led to a riot one night.  I had heard that you could still see bullet holes in the administration building's bricks which were caused either by the National Guard or rednecks with rifles. It's true. I put my finger in three or four of them and almost teared up.
• There's a statue of Meredith walking to a monument memorializing his enrollment. I thought it funny that three white boys were casually relaxing in it and had Mrs. LL snap a pic. One of them was bouncing a tennis ball against one of the columns. 
• 
• The game experience, against an opponent they were favored to beat by 54, was fantastic. The place was rockin'. And, dare I say, more electric that the LSU game I saw last year against Washington. 
• The stadium has signage noting that Ole Miss won the National Championship in 1959, 1960, and 1962. It also has signs for the school's SEC championships which does not include 1959. I didn't notice that. Mrs. LL did. She asked me, "How did they win the National Championship but not win their conference in 1959?" That's a great question. I can kind of see it happening now (with a bit of a fluke) but back then? I've got to research that. 
• It was a bit  of a delay to get in . . . 
• 
• I'll probably update this . . . but I'm tired. 

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Yesterday, the AP was floating around a shocking video of the Syrian Rebels executing government soldiers. And U.S. bombing will support those guys? 
• Prediction: Congress won't approve any Syrian strikes. Nor should they. 
• Peyton Manning through for seven touchdowns last night. Seven. I thought he was done two years ago when he sat out the year with a neck injury.
• Anyone else suffering from allergies? I had everyone in the house tell me last night that I sounded awful. 
• So what did Mrs. LL do after reading about wanting to go to the Ole Miss game and see The Grove on Saturday while in Memphis for the weekend? She bought tickets!
• And for those who have seen The Ghosts Of Ole Miss, I've read that bullet holes from that night of rioting can still be found on one of the famous campus buildings. I'll definitely track that down. 
• I'm hearing lots of good reviews about Drinking Buddies -- kind of a ramped up When Harry Met Sally.
• The Ticket's Mike Rhyner talked yesterday about his traffic accident I posted about. It is amazing he wasn't killed, and he attributes side air-bags for still being alive. I'm not sure I've got side air bags. 
• Is this really the aTm president mimicking the Johnny Manziel "I've got money" gesture?
• Hitler's bodyguard died yesterday. I would have lost a bet if you had asked me if he was alive. 
• A young Tarleton girl was bucked off her horse near Santo and has died. Seems so ironic. Everyone else is dodging in and out of traffic and she dies being in a serene environment. 
• Breaking: Unemployment rate drops to 7.3%.  (Funny, though. I can't find a single story in the "lame stream" media that doesn't say the drop is due to people who have stopped looking for work. Wordkyle's power is greater than I thought.)
• As expected, District Judge Sharen Wilson announced her intent to run for Tarrant County DA yesterday. So what does supporter Sheriff Dee Anderson say about her? “She is a tough but fair judge." Ok. I like that. Anything else? "She sided with law enforcement. She supported law enforcement. She continues to support law enforcement to this day,” said Anderson. So she was a judge who "sided with law enforcement"? That's fair? That's impartial? 
• It all kind of blurred together over Labor Day. We all jumped on the Rhome cop for shooting out the tires of the car with four kids in it, but in a second chase on Monday involving Chad Ervin of Springtown  (which ended up with a trooper crashing his patrol car "miles away") a trooper also shot out the tires of that car. Did everyone watch Smokey and The Bandit or something?
• And the trooper who wrecked his car "miles away" on a slick road during the chase was conveniently not named in any published report. 
• And in the Dallas DA dysfunctional world: "Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has launched a criminal investigation to find out whether two judges improperly encouraged a third judge to hold him in contempt of court."  (Behind paywall.)  Everyone in that sentence works for the government.

Uh, Oh

Major Accident (Wise Co. - Boyd) River Valley Motocross Park on CR4757 - Wise Co. EMS on scene of 2 motorcycles... http://t.co/6TbiMnjwo7
— DFW Scanner (@DFWscanner) September 5, 2013

War, Fashion, Advertising -- America!

"Boots on the ground" or not, let's not forget about sandals, pumps and loafers. #Footwear
— Kenneth Cole (@KennethCole) September 5, 2013

Ticket Fans: It Looks Like The Ol' Grey Wolf Was In A Car Accident Around Noon

pic.twitter.com/e0zH4LvlKF
— Mike Rhyner (@theoldgreywolf) September 5, 2013

I think Rhyner has been mailing it in for years, but I still like having him around on the radio dial. From the Twitter reaction, this seems to be his car. Probably some loaner from some car dealer advertiser -- I gather that's a typical perk in the radio business.

But that was a pretty good pop. Hope he's OK.

Edit:

@theoldgreywolf Wow I work right next to that Qdoba in the bg. That was a mean wreck. You okay?
— Steven Korner (@guapozx) September 5, 2013

The Only Johnny Football Gif You'll Ever Need

This first appeared on Jay Leno (which is stunning that they did something actually funny.)

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• “I didn’t set a red line,” President Obama said during a news conference in Stockholm. “The world set a red line.”  Negative spin: That comes across as backing off the red line at best and lying at worst.  Positive spin: He's still says there's a red line (that was crossed so that's why he wants to bomb them), all he's saying that he didn't set the line personally.  
• Hearing WBAP's Hal Jay talk about Syria is painful. He wants to "kill them all" meaning "kill every man, woman and child" (his words) who supports terrorism -- although he hasn't quite figured out how you figure out who those people are. 
• I'm sticking with my theory: The President doesn't really want to bomb Syria but wants Congress to say "no". That way he has it both ways: (1) He will have honored Congress' and vicariously the People's wishes, and (2) he can always say he personally wanted to save lives but was not allowed to do so.
• Veteran state Tarrant District Judge Sharen Wilson is giving up her courtroom to run for Tarrant County district attorney. It's hard to think of someone I would want less in that office. In the interest of justice, she does not need to win.
• Sports issue I'm undecided on: I absolutely believe in the theory that some players can put a team on his back and carry them at the end of the game. RG3, Michael Jordan, Major Applewhite and Vince Young (at UT), Staubach, etc.  But what about a pitcher? Yu Darvish has been criticized lately for not being able to do that at the end of a game. But does that theory apply to that position? Doesn't an arm simply get tired and there's nothing you can do about it? Then again, did Clemens and Schilling just fight through it during the day?
• Johnny Football is on the cover of next week's Time with the title, "It's Time To Pay College Athletes."
• Does everyone who learns Spanish forget it if they don't use it?
• Whenever Karl Rove appears on TV (normally Fox), he always uses a handheld white board and a marker. That's such a (deceased) Tim Russert rip off that it's painful. 
• Thanks for all the tips about Memphis. I really appreciate it. We'll probably sneak over to West Memphis, Arkansas and see what little there is to about the Memphis 3. (Mrs. LL is obsessed with those HBO documentaries.) I wanted to see the courthouse of the trials but apparently they were tried in Jonesboro on a change of venue.
• I had no idea that Ole Miss was a relatively short drive from Memphis and that a home game was Saturday night. I could have added it to my football stadium tour list especially since I've always heard about The Grove. (I don't think Mrs. LL will go for it, but you never know.)
• Got mad at Mrs. LL over the weekend when I cleaned out the refrigerator and found basically a whole Domino's pizza that went to waste. Then I cleaned out the food pantry and found about three full cereal boxes of mine that I had let go to waste. 
• I purposely avoid Breaking Bad thoughts because I feel for those who don't watch it and are sick of hearing about it. 
• "Dozens" of Baylor students are under investigation for an alleged marijuana ring where they are only consumers. Like TCU, a bunch of kids will have their careers sidetracked because of a goofy weed investigation. (That link goes to the Baylor student newspaper which is like reading Pravda -- the administration of a private school basically controls the content.)

Our Wise County Republican Party Better Step It Up

Caldwell County is just crushing you. (And note the holster with a gun on one side and Bible in the other.)

For you very few Evil Roy Slade fans out there, I wonder if there's a stick of dynamite on page nine.

(Thanks, Jennifer.)

"Let me introduce you to my hand cannon."

Source – A thief who pulled a gun on a store cashier left with his tail between his legs when the clerk – an Iraq War veteran – reacted quickly using his years of training. Jon Lewis Alexander, 54, had a gun pulled on him while at work, but within a split second he’d pulled out his own firearm and had it inside the thief’s mouth. The tense exchange took place in a store in Marionville, Missouri, and was caught on CCTV.

Hey, it right up there with Jules Winnfield taking the gun from Honey Bunny's boyfriend in the restaurant near the end of Pulp Fiction. 

Edit: Lots of people are saying this is fake. If it is, basically every news organization in the country has been fooled. 

Breaking Near Houston

Link.

There are supposed to be some "social media pictures". Sheesh. Kids just can't put down the phones.

Burleson's Retta Baptist Church Going All Quentin Tarantino. Or Not.

It's a film that the church was heavily involved in And the pastor thinks the R rating slapped upon it by the MPAA may involve some religious discrimination. If the Dallas Observer story is correct, he may be right:

The R, according to the movie poster, is for "some" drug use (a young mother smokes weed, then gets her kid taken away) and violence (the boy's father arms himself and raids a church to get the child back), both of which seem fairly staid when compared with Hollywood fare.

 "When people have seen the film, they are shocked by the rating," [Pastor Chuck] Kitchens told the Southern Baptist Texan.