Random Basketball Clip

Sudden death? In basketball? Yep, in this "D League" game last night, it came down to the first team to score wins.  If I've got this rule right, sudden death kicks in if the game goes to a second overtime.

I'd much rather see that then foul, free throw, foul, free throw. Time out. Repeat.

Public Service Announcement

Hey, all you kids out there. Now this is how you're supposed to react when you get a gift. Complete joy. Complete appreciation.

Now the fact I want that reaction when I bring home a loaf of bread from the store might require some adjustment of expectations. Other than that, let this be our guide.

Texting And Swimming

Random DWI Arrest

The only good thing for her is that the jail wouldn't release her book-in photo so they had to run a "Hey, now" pic.

Story.

Random Hail Storm On Beach In Siberia

I didn't know there were recreational beaches in Siberia.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Mrs. LL slept walked last week and ended up standing in the corner. After I got her in back in bed I started thinking about Paranormal Activity and couldn't go back to sleep. 
• Fox 4 did a feature on Bridgeport's "off road park" which is apparently quite popular. I'm not sure I understand that "sport".
• I stumbled upon a 30 for 30 on Marcus Dupree again and couldn't turn it off. 
• Ticket fans only: Jake Kemp was on WFAA last night and they used a graphic referring to him as a "space enthusiast."
• I fell asleep during the World Cup final.
• Israel doesn't seem to care if it kills innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip with the launch of all of those missiles. 
• I'm hearing there will be an NBA players strike in two years. I mentioned the other day that I thought their current union contract really screwed them over.
• KISS played in Dallas over the weekend and only went for 75 minutes -- which is apparently routine for them. (That'd be 75 minutes too long for me.)
• Headlines in the Texas Lawyer this week: "Firm Sues Former Partner Over $1.4 Million Trustee Fee Earned in Dreier Bankruptcy", "Law Firm Files Defamation Lawsuit Over Ex-Client's Yelp Review Lawyer", "Law Firm Deny Allegations in Ex-Client's $2.64 Million Lawsuit Over Postnup", and "Personal Injury Law Firm Asserts First Amendment Defense in Internet Defamation Suit Filed by Competing PI Firm." It is commonplace to see lawyers vs. lawyers, and lawyers vs. clients these day. 
• Rick Perry seems to have gotten off the pain pills. There is no way he can give that many interviews without screwing up. 
• I've watched some parts of We're The Millers over again. I think that it is really funny.  And I'm beginning to believe that Django Unchained may be one of my favorite Tarantino movies.
• I kept hearing references to Cyber Dust in some of these Maverick free agent discussions. It's an app which (1) causes text messages to disappear in 24 seconds, (2) sounds a lot like Snapchat, and (3) is funded by Mark Cuban so it has a high possibility of failing.
• Mrs. LL and I saw a video of that Tupac hologram and she thinks in the future you'll be able to project a deceased loved one right into your living room and even converse with them. That sounds crazy but will probably be true. Then she gave me a stop down moment when she said she'll bring me back but have the hologram make me taller. 
• One thing I won't watch a second of: ESPN's Home Run Derby. 

Above The Fold

Strange Bedfellows But They Are In Bed Together

Look what I saw on the DPS page about surcharges . . .

And look what is currently in the news . . .

Best Excuse Ever For Medical Marijuana

Texas Rangers catcher Geovany Soto arrested Wednesday in Grapevine for marijuana possession http://t.co/KnSzpRyvHr pic.twitter.com/YaR8fZkw65
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) July 11, 2014

In the middle of that losing streak, he has to be clinically depressed.

Our Week Long Nightmare Is Over

EXCLUSIVE: I'm Coming HOME by @KingJames http://t.co/3dAzWO3ZXH (via @SI_LeeJenkins) pic.twitter.com/wIxfyojPIQ
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 11, 2014

(So sick of everyone talking about this.)

Edit:

SICKENING CHAOS IN MIAMI pic.twitter.com/u3L9NGi778
— Ben Mathis-Lilley (@BenMathisLilley) July 11, 2014

Edit (one you'll either get or you won't):

http://t.co/gXw5RYRmrK
— mattisbear (@mattisbear) July 11, 2014

And Another - Denison

Story.

Edit: And Another Another - Pennsylvania

Story

Friday Random Morning Thoughts

• Small deal: The Tarrant Regional Water District had been sponsoring segments on WBAP until a taxpayer called them out. When contacted, the Board said that WBAP had screwed up and the sponsorship should have been for its program called savenorthtexaswater.com instead of the Water Board. They then said they corrected the error. Then yesterday on The Ticket I heard traffic brought to me by "The Tarrant Regional Water District." 
• The Ticket's Bob Sturm said last year that if a sport has to "tell its fans to read a league's CBA to understand it" then you've got a league that is in trouble with fans. Man, does that apply this week to the NBA.
• We've got a cold front coming in with highs in the 80s next Wednesday and Thursday. 
• I never watch a video or click on a twitter link that reads, "You have to see this" or "You'll never believe what happens next." And my max wait time for a commercial before an online video is 15 seconds. If it's 30 seconds, I'm out. 
• I stumbled across the Trinity Broadcasting Network last night (so horrible I hit record) and learned there was a "Holy Land Experience" amusement park in Orlando. 
• I would like to see a list of the all the property sold by Wise County governmental entities at the mass auction this week, for what price, and the name of the purchaser. 
• Colby Lewis had the worst outing of any Texas pitcher in Ranger history last night. 
• Does Uncle Nate still hang out with Johnny Football or has be been kicked to the curb?
• Mrs. LL gave the pig a bath yesterday. Due to all the pig squealing, I had to go up to the bathroom to make sure she hadn't decided to create a slaughterhouse. 
• I've touted the greatness of Aerial America before and their recent show on Alaska was fantastic. We got hi-def helicopter flyovers of the path that Christopher McCandless took (and the bus he died in) which was the subject of Into The Wild, an extended segment on the Iditarod while it was ongoing, and spent time on the area often camped in by the Grizzly Man.
• The Sixteen Year in The House has finally become serious about getting her license. I'm not sure what all this online studying is, but it seems a lot more complicated than when I was a kid. 
• I made fun of those DPS Gun Boats on the Rio Grande back when they were purchased, and I still think that was an enormous waste of taxpayer money. 
• That Houston area mass execution is an incredibly horrible story. The way the victims were tied up and then shot reminds me of In Cold Blood.

Crazy Video Of The Day

Thankful she wasn't killed. Confused that no one seemed to be helping. And then a bigger question mark formed over my head when I learned this wasn't a car race.

On The President Not Visiting The Border

 "I'm not interested in photo-ops" - The President yesterday in Dallas
.
Today Gov. Perry and Fox News' Sean Hannity:

Edit: Keeping us safe from the children?

That Houston Area Shooting Last Evening

Meet the victims. Only the girl on the left survived. Good grief. The accused "was estranged from a woman related to the couple."

Story.

"Texas In One Vine"

"@BoyBlue__: Texas in one vine 💯https://t.co/8xfZFTWXoS"
— Dre (@dravionn18) June 20, 2014

This went somewhat viral yesterday and, honestly, I have no idea what the heck is going on. (I'm guessing its the lyrics and the reaction). But it's oddly hypnotic -- like a great work of art which causes you to see something different in it every time you look at it.

I Get Some Odd Mail Sometimes

That was it.

Irrelevant sidenote: Since the communication deals with "water" and "Rhome", I had forgotten that the top of the city's water tower looks like this from the air.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• There were thirteen death notices in the Update yesterday.
• Some guy in our district court, who was either there as a defendant or supporting one, looked at my shoes and said something like, "There's a lot of oil there." What did that mean? Something to do with leather? 
• These were the two most circulated photos last night: Johnny Football with hot chicks at Fenway Park, and Rick Perry looking like he was about to die sitting across from the President. But probably the craziest one was one of all those police cars that were on the residential street where an alleged killer was on the loose around Houston.
• My stomach is better. Not perfect. But better. 
• NBA: Mark Cuban was in a Florida club last night signing an offer sheet with Houston Rockets restricted free agent Chandler Parsons for three years and $45 million. The Rockets will have the absolute right to match the offer which they'll do if LeBron goes back to Miami with Chris Bosh, who the Rockets have a huge offer out to. Then Cuban will have gotten nothing. 
• Someone wanted me to read a Michelle Malkin article yesterday on the immigration process so I glanced at it and, as expected, it was the same basic rhetoric. But most of her facts on the issue were based on this: "An attorney who worked as a law clerk in the Fifth Circuit shared his firsthand experience with me several years ago." Look at the phrase in the Fifth Circuit and not on the Fifth Circuit court. That could be anyone. Isn't a private law clerk working in Decatur who later gets licensed and moves away "an attorney who worked as a law clerk in the the Fifth Circuit" (since Decatur is in the Fifth Circuit.) Not sure why that jumped out at me so much. 
• The Family Pig might be the most well behaved of all the living creatures in the house -- human or otherwise. And it likes Cheerios for snacks. 
• The President had a long day yesterday. And I'll agree that its crazy that we let presidents use so many taxpayer resources on fundraising but they all have done it. 
• Julian Castro, the Latino mayor of San Antonio, was overwhelming confirmed by the Senate yesterday to be lead the Housing of Urban Development. But Sen. Ted Cruz voted against him. Why? (Cornyn voted in favor of him.)
• Israel is blowing up the Gaza Strip. Or seems like it.
• I didn't know until yesterday that Sarah Palin has threatened to leave the Republican Party. With the exception of short interviews on Hannity, she basically doesn't have that big of a forum these days. 
• I didn't even know the Dallas Morning News had a dual paid website (that they are now shutting down.) But I think it's funny that the News' reporter supposedly interviews the News' Chief Marketing Officer and has to act objective with sentences like, "He declined to provide the paid website’s traffic and number of subscriptions or to disclose the company’s total investment in the project." Hey, that story is nothing more than a press release.  
• "Google exec’s heroin death on yacht brings arrest of woman police say is call girl." That'll make you do a double take. 
• If you watch an old episode of Hard Knocks when Wade Phillips coached the Cowboys, you'll be stunned at how uninspiring he was. Or maybe it'll all come back to. "Let the Cowboys ride!"