Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• That UIL reclassification was crazy yesterday because every school automatically moved up one classification simply because of renaming (i.e. all 3A schools became 4A schools) but the cut off student population numbers also changed. So if a school would normally move up one classification because of growth, they have now moved up two classifications (i.e. Highland Park is going from 4A to 6A). Got that?
• I got my outdoor Christmas lights fixed and it wasn't the lights: It was the tripping of the breaker. Here's one of the dumbest things I've ever done: I initially tested the outside outlet and found it to be working which led me to believe the lights were the issue. But here's what I did: I tested the outlet by grabbing the first electrical product I could find which happened to be a plugged in Dustbuster in the foyer. I plugged it into the outside outlet and it fired up right away. See the problem in my diagnosis technique? Thank goodness I figured out the blunder before anyone else did. 
• I've been a big fan of the Twitter account of @HistoryInPics and was stunned yesterday when it posted a photo of JFK and Marilyn Monroe snuggling through a creaked door which I had never seen. BagofNothing guy has alerted us that it is obviously fake. Now I don't have any faith in @HistoryInPics.
• I was skeptical of the Amazon drone story and someone commented yesterday that it was nothing more than a publicity trick. If it was, it was a great one. I saw that story a million times yesterday on TV and the Internet. 
• That being said, I wrote on this blog almost two years ago that I wanted to invest in a drone company if one was publicly traded. 
• The phrase, "If you don't like Texas weather just wait a minute" drives me as crazy as, "Jerry Jones the owner should fire Jerry Jones the general manager."
• I've got tickets to the Baylor/Texas game -- the last game ever in Baylor's stadium. But the temperature will be in 30s, which I can handle, but I'm not sure the roads will be clear enough to get there for a 2:30 start.
• This could be a movie: A bunch of former SMU frat boys, now in their 30s, have been sent to federal prison for a massive hydroponic marijuana operation that involved 11 houses in Dallas. It sounds like the houses were devoid of furniture and completely dedicated to marijuana growing. But it's still just weed. 
• I moved a bird-feeder yesterday to make room for Christmas lights. Little did I know that there was water underneath its leaf covered surface. Picking up the top of it and tilting it towards my waist was not pleasant. 
• Someone mentioned yesterday that the Boise State/Oklahoma bowl game might be the greatest game in history instead of Saturday's Auburn/Alabama. That's not a bad argument. 
• The Update reports that an Oklahoma man was arrested in Boyd last night on murder charges. Here's background on that case. 

I'm Sitting Here Wide Eyed

Ok, this is normally the kind of subject that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. But it involved a courtroom. And, more importantly, the goat was in the courtroom.

The only thing that would have been better if the goat had been given the right to make a Victim Impact Statement. Wait a second, I've found exclusive footage!:

That's A Bad Day

BREAKING NEWS: 18 Wheeler rollover on 101 3 miles north of Chico. Driver was up and walking around, truck was loaded with pipe. 

UIL Conference Realignment Announced

Conference Cutoffs 
6A: 2100 and above 
5A: 1060-2099 4A: 465-1059 
3A: 220-464 
2A: 105-219 
1A: 104.9 and below

Source. 

(1) I'm not sure where the 104.9 comes from. Perhaps there some weird averaging they do which means you can have average enrollment of a portion of  a kid.
(2) I'm too lazy to determine if those numbers impact any Wise County school. 

That Amazon Drone Delivery System of the Future That I Mentioned

Still don't believe it'll happen in the next 25 years, if ever. But everyone sure is freaking out about it.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• That house explosion in Johnson County on Saturday night was crazy. It was a two story log cabin which was totally blown apart. Here's a before/after photo.
• College football: (1) I'll proclaim Auburn/Alabama is the greatest game - with the greatest ending play - ever but I saw basically none of it live because I was watching TCU/Baylor which might have been the worst game ever, (2) Both teams in the Baylor game tried to give it away -- it was just a question of who would give it away last, (3) Is Gary Patterson mentally unstable or does he have some anger issues? Going off on Art Briles in his post game press conference bordered on the bizarre especially knowing that Briles would attend his brother's funeral in less than 24 hours. (4) If you call Briles "classless" you might please a fraction of TCU fans but you are going to be killed in the Texas media. And in the high school coaching circles, maybe in recruiting.  
• The official GOP tweeter account posted yesterday: "Today we remember Rosa Parks’ bold stand and her role in ending racism." Ending? Ever see the comments on here?
• I felt out of the popular culture world over the weekend because I had to look up who Paul Walker was. 
• Plugged in the outdoor lights yesterday and they all went out within seconds. Popped open the fuse box by the plug in and didn't see a fuse at all. Just the lights' electrical line which snaked down to a connection. As with so many home projects, I was baffled. And still am. We are now in the middle of Christmas decoration chaos. And we've got less days between Thanksgiving and Christmas than anytime during the last decade. Edit: The electrical outlet is fine. It's the lights. And I thought there was always a fuse in the lights. 
• We've got the Elf On The Shelf up and running again this year. Every morning he is somewhere else and he's getting crazier and crazier.
• Got up at least three times last night to stop the Family Cat from playing basketball with Christmas tree balls. I finally got so frustrated that I put thing in the utility room only have to get the dang thing an hour later when the "meow!" became deafening. 
• I actually walked 60 Minutes last night where the president of Amazon demonstrated how packages could be delivered by drones to your doorstep in the future. The news media is all over it this morning like it's the world of the Jetsons. But the basic theme of 60 Minutes was "this is cool, but it's not happening anytime soon -- if at all."
• Trying to get any updated information on that massive wreck next to the Wise/Montague County line was next to impossible. The last report I saw there were four helicopter ambulances dispatched. 
• Craziest high school playoff game of the weekend came in 2A: Refugio 73, Rogers 72 in overtime.
• A guy was killed in the parking lot after the Chiefs/Broncos games.
• Bottom of the Update today was filled with this placeholder: "ALL THE REST OF THE UPDATE GOES HERE. ALL THE REST OF THE UPDATE GOES HERE. ALL THE REST OF THE UPDATE GOES HERE. ALL THE REST OF THE UPDATE GOES HERE. ALL THE REST OF THE UPDATE GOES HERE. ALL THE REST OF THE UPDATE GOES HERE.ALL THE REST OF THE UPDATE GOES HERE."

Talk About Water Works

Happened during the National Anthem but no one really knows what he was thinking. I don't care. But, man, those are some serious tears.

Above The Fold

Tweet from DFW Scanner (@DFWscanner)

	DFW Scanner (@DFWscanner)
11/30/13, 8:02 PM Wise/Montague County Accident *UPDATE - 4th helicopter requested will be CareFlite 1. Air Evac 68 and 55 along with PHI Med 10 all working.

University Park High Tone Family Chaos?

Amber Alert ~ Elle Holland, 12 yrs old & Asher Holland, 8 yrs old. Believed to be w/Clifford Holland, 43 yrs old. pic.twitter.com/W9V9jYbcZi
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) November 29, 2013

AMBER ALERT: Suspect driving black 2011 Mercedes w/ plate CC2T531 or red Mini Cooper w/ plate RHC920 @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/cdSvrHWM2r
— Marie Saavedra (@MSaavedraTV) November 29, 2013

University Park PD now says Amber Alert for Asher Holland "was not supposed to be activated." http://t.co/wszEjfpTwA
— Robert Wilonsky (@RobertWilonsky) November 29, 2013

Ain't No Black Friday Like A Puerto Rican Black Friday

Uh, For You People That Live At 2200 Thomas Pl., We Apologize

I finally got around to reading the Star-Telegram's commemorative edition of stories about the JFK assassination and remarked to Mrs. LL that most of the time anyone who was interviewed had their actual address printed. And I'm not talking about witnesses, I mean just the "man on the street" interview. And if the media would do that back then, they certainly would print the address of those who are the center of the current news.

And then I came across this retraction.

The whole newspaper is fascinating. There are so many gems like Dallas D.A. Henry Wade saying about Oswald after his arrest, "We will ask the jury to electrocute him." And that was less than 24 hours after the shooting.

380 Is A Mess

Fatality accident. Social media says it looks horrible.

New Fox 4 Gal Is Not A Favorite Of Every Viewer

RT @GoodDayFox4 Not sure we are watching the same newscast Rene??? pic.twitter.com/uE45oHFMnS
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) November 29, 2013

I feel she is looking at me in un-Christian like manner at this moment.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I've never shopped on Black Friday nor will I ever.
• And there's already been a Black Friday shopping fight. Edit: A ton of fights! Including one from Saginaw.
• I think Mrs. LL and the Kids went shopping at midnight, but I didn't stay up to find out. I was exhausted.
• I ran the Fort Worth Turkey Trot yesterday morning, and it was fantastic. Cold but clear weather with no wind. (And shout out to the Bridgeport person who said hi to me in the mass of people after it was over.) I ran the 8 mile Dallas Turkey Trot for fifteen years or more but have abandoned it over the last three. 
• A stranger and I actually fist bumped as we crossed the 10K finish line. And I initiated it. I don't do things like that. 
• During the race, I ran by one home which had a freshly mangled "Wrong Way" street sign laying in its front yard. That was both funny and disturbing. 
• Mrs. LL was up and cooking by 5:30 a.m. 
• Did you see that Baylor coach Art Briles' brother has died? He fell and hit his head. He was 57. Briles has had his share of tragedies. 
• Boy, did I get grilled about King's Spa at the Thanksgiving table.
• Another earthquake near Azle last night. So bizarre.
• "It looks like her clothes are made by Sherman Williams." - Random comment in the house yesterday during the Selena Gomez halftime show.
• Just when I was recovering from OSU's beat down of Baylor, now I've got to worry about the Evil Empire after its beating (41-16) of Texas Tech last night. And I'm not comfortable at all about Saturday's game against TCU.
• Mrs. LL discovered Coach Bro/Kliff Kingsbury last night. Calm yourself, girl. 
• Fox 4 was showing live shots of various stores and shopping malls this morning and the places were basically empty. Seriously.
• I haven't watched a second of their season, but Brooklyn Nets fans are apparently worried that new head coach Jason Kidd has no idea what he is doing. And that wasn't predictable? (Although I don't want to rain on his parade.) 
• If you had given me nine to twelve months to design healthcare.gov, I could have done it and done it well. And I'm serious. 
• I watched about 15 minutes of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. With the exception of the occasional high school band, that thing is one long commercial disguised as floats. And, man, that thing is lip-syncing city. 
• Speaking of, I listened to the Cowboys radio broadcast on the way home yesterday. Talk about sponsors. Domino's Pizza replay. The Sony monitor. The Star Power first down. 
• Great moment on The Today Show this morning as they were interviewing the CEO of U.S. Walmart, Bill Simmon, about the decision to open on Thanksgiving. "Before I let you go," the anchor said, "Walmart International announced a new CEO earlier in the week. A lot of people thought it would be you. It was not you. Are you disappointed? Do you feel snubbed?" You could almost see the fire in his eyes as he replied back, "I appreciate your interest in my career. Thank you very much." 
• I saw a billboard in Fort Worth of a lawyer who used to be fairly famous for personal injury suits. Now the billboard reads, "We Sue Bad Lawyers." 
• A Tony Romo press conference after a game is silly: "We just need to work hard at practice and get better."  He says it every single time. An RG3 press conference these days sounds like he is talking to a therapist. 

sdf

Thanksgiving

And my annual post from 2005.

Run!

Since he is accused of a crime from last year, I'm guessing he was reporting to probation because it was a condition of his bond.

Story.  And here's the back story.

America's Whipping Boy

This week's Sports Illustrated.