Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• I had an impromptu (very random) discussion about Natalie Wood last night. I had forgotten that Christopher Walken was on the boat that she fell off of and drowned (or did she!?) Sadly, I was able to remember her last movie, Brainstorm, but then realized I have never seen Miracle on 34th Street, Rebel Without A Cause, or West Side Story.  
• I explained the plot of Brainstorm to Mrs. LL, but this morning I looked it up and realized I had mistakenly explained the plot of Dreamscape.  I began to feel senile then it dawned on me that those are two spare movies which I saw one time over thirty years ago. 
• Shin-Soo Choo hit for the cycle last night which again reminded me of how overrated that "achievement" is. Four home runs would be better. Four triples would be as well. Heck, four doubles is an equivalent number of bases. 
• I've not watched the Sandra Bland traffic stop video yet, but I've heard the trooper gets aggravated because she wouldn't put out her cigarette as she sat in her car. (If only she had invoked Basic Instinct and said, "What are you going to do? Arrest me for smoking?")
• But this may be the biggest news: "Texas Department of Public Safety authorities said late Tuesday they were looking into alleged edits to a 52-minute dashcam video of the traffic stop and arrest of Sandra Bland." First, I don't want DPS to investigate themselves. I don't even want the Texas Rangers (also DPS) to investigate it. Can we have someone independent without a law enforcement bias? And if it turns out that DPS edited a video and represented it to be true, DPS Director Steve McCraw should pay dearly. Edit: Here is DPS current position on the matter where they blame it on a technical issue. 
• I find it absolutely amazing that people try to defend Donald Trump. (Radio guy Mark Davis is among those.)  Even if you have only a passing interest in politics, watch what is going on right now. I been preaching for years that demographics would be the death of the Republican Party on the national level. It is now coming to fruition at warp speed. 
• I was told by a very reliable source that the Wise County Sheriff's Deputy accused of "improper photography" was actually charged in federal court.  I'm working on confirmation. (And, by the way, that seems prosecutorial overkill.)
• While trying to confirm it, somehow I came across the DEA "legal notice" filed yesterday listing various money and property they have seized. It's shocking. 
• Duck Dynasty: Cleburne Edition . . . 

Random Look At Lifelock's Stock Right Now

But you promised me!!!!!!

(I actually don't own a dime of the stock. But a 40% drop in a stock in a matter of moments will get a guy's attention.)

Donald Trump Just Went Full Throttle Again

Pretty much called Rick Perry stupid, and gave out Sen. Lindsay Graham's phone number (at 2:30).

And To Think This World Once Needed A Genius Like Don Draper As An Ad Man

Can They Put A Barbed Wire Cage Around The Stage?

Via @nbcnews: Who makes the 8/6 debate as of today, based on last 5 national polls pic.twitter.com/3RVc0ptYup

— Evan Smith (@evanasmith) July 21, 2015

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Over a week ago two people were shot and killed outside of an "after hours club" in Fort Worth named "Liquorville". What are the odds?
• Donald Trump: Keep talking, buddy. If I'm Hillary, I'm sitting on a beach for the next three months as I watch the implosion on the other side. 
• And I keep hearing Trump doesn't have the ready cash to keep the campaign going. Why does he need to spend a dime? He gets his message our for free. 
• I'm slow to the news of Sandra Bland, but it sounds like we'll have some info today. 
• Whatever happened to the case about the Wise County Sheriff's deputy accused of "improper photography" of registered sex offenders. The arrest was one year ago this month. (A civil case was filed against the county under cause number CV14-12-924 but it looks like it was removed to a federal court earlier this year.) 
• As the Dallas Mavericks were getting embarrassed by losing free agent DeAndre Jordan, Mark Cuban was firing off hot opinions on an app he has invested in and constantly promotes. Twitter was full of screenshots of Cuban's comments from the app -- an app which has one job: Your messages should disappear into history. Oh, the irony.
• You can buy the home of the pastor of First Baptist Decatur for $324,900.
• Two greatest investments for hiking I've ever made: A trekking pole and Merrell hiking shoes. 
• Dez Bryant gets a new deal for five years with $45 million guaranteed. You think that's a lot? It is. But consider that the NFL distributes $7.2 billion among the teams to start each year and that doesn't even count stadium/parking/concession/other revenues. Dez may be the best receiver in the NFL. Terrance Williams, by comparison, averages $750,000 a year. And his career will be over by age 30. 

Denton Dixie

Someone painted "this is racist" on memorial to #Confederate soldier in #Denton #TX #WFAA pic.twitter.com/fVxTTdqs0S

— Sebastian Robertson (@wfaasebastian) July 20, 2015

The Back Door To The Evil Empire

Story.

Monday Morning Pick Me Up

@BUFootball #Big12Hardware #Big12Trophy #SicEm pic.twitter.com/jJ2P3YTj0C

— Baylor Spirit Squads (@BaylorSpirit) July 20, 2015

Back To The Grind

Attorneys attack former prosecutor in another high-profile murder trial http://t.co/VSWiQUJ2ro

— TDCAANews (@TDCAANews) July 20, 2015

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I go away for a week and Donald Trump single handedly sends the Republican Party into oblivion? (But I can't wait to see the new poll numbers.)
• Cue the orchestra music, but walking five miles into a jungle and not seeing a soul is one of my life's greatest joys. (Whenever I left at the crack of dawn, I'd leave an email for Mrs. LL as to where I was going with the subject line reading "Coroner Info".)
• I also drank water out of a fresh spring river and then became violently sick for a day and half. But staying all that time in bed, which I loathed, might have been the greatest blessing in disguise I could have received. 
• I became an odd fan of Kermit Tyler on my vacation -- a plaque I read said he was "abused by history". 
• I watched last year's Baylor/TCU game on Fox Sports Southwest's "No Huddle" yesterday. I'll say it again: I have no idea how Baylor won that. And that may be one of the greatest games ever. 
• Random British Open Moment from this morning: Phil Mickelson hit a ball onto a hotel balcony. Photo. Video.
• Dallas Cowboy play by play man Brad Sham will miss the opening game due to a Jewish holiday. (He's either very faithful or wants a "look at me" moment.)
• I almost had a heart attack when I saw that George Will wrote a column suggesting that the Goofy Twittering Texas Supreme Court Justice should get a nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Side note: George Will is great on TV but an incomprehensible writer.) 
• Same sex marriage has been legal for about a month and the world didn't end. 
• There has been an insane number of ATM thefts in Dallas over the last few weeks but it went over the top last night when one was stolen from the Angelika.
• The hook-up-while married site AshleyMadison.com was hacked overnight. (Everyone walk away. Nothing to see here. Nothing to see here.)
• Tarrant County DA Sharen Wilson celebrated on Twitter an anniversary of Apollo 11 by posting a photo with her name next to Neil Armstrong's foot print.  (Who is her PR person?) 
• I let the soon to be Senior In The House (groan!) download some music on my laptop. One of her choices: Frank Sinatra's Fly Me To The Moon. Attagirl!
• A new photo of Pluto that I can't get out of my mind. 
• I watched a ton of sunsets over the last week, and I appreciated every single second and moment. 

In Random Surfing News

He's OK.

Bauum! I'm Back!

But give me a few hours.  After spending several days sharing one room with all the Females In The House, a man needs time to recover. (I think my portion of the luggage took 3%, I think hair and skin products took the rest.)

Are You Kidding Me?

Some people believe he deliberately misled the legislature in order to increase the budget of DPS.

One thing is true: He certainly got that budget increase.

(Now back to vacation).

Abbreviated Random Friday Morning Thoughts

. . . Because I'm mostly off the grid.  No girl. No front page. No links. Google is your friend.

• Decatur's Tuf Cooper disqualified for mistreatment of a horse? Strange Canada standard especially when you consider the end result in calf roping from the calf's perspective.
• A scandal in the Tarrant County DA's office.
• This is the official tenth year anniversary of Liberally Lean.
• Enterprise car rental gave me the greatest/easiest car rental experience today. Kiosks!
• Finally read the two part series on the "Silk Road" online at Wired. Beyond fantastic. It is soon to be a book. 
• A ten foot gator in the Trinity River?  If the bodies weren't enough to scare you off . . . .
• A cop is the grand jury foreman in the Waco Twin Hills Biker cases?

Random Thursday ... . Uh . . . Past Post Generator? Yep, It's My Vacation Time

I've tried to create a random post generator which you should see over to the right. Man, some of those are gold. Some are awful. And a lot of the formatting has been lost to the ages.

I think it will grab old posts which number over 1600. (Sheesh). The formatting in the old ones are gone. But it's funny to reflect and see the old comments.

I'll update later.

Comment review will be very delayed.

Am I To Understand The Mavericks Lost A "Committed" Free Agent?

pic.twitter.com/yfpd6O677L

— nick pants (@nick_pants) July 8, 2015

Even Brian Cuban got involved yesterday.

Let's Check In On Management/Employee Relations At Panera

"Oh, snap!" indeed.

(There sure is a lot of hitting going on these days.)

Source: Gawker.