Premature Election Count?

OK, the numbers may very well hold up. But still seems a little close to say it has "apparently failed."

Random Mavs Thoughts

I didn't watch any of the game which makes me an expert. Mark Cuban shoved a reporter after the game? How Cuban got rich is beyond me. The NBA admitted that a critical foul was not called. There were 89 free throw attempts? Sheesh. Bring on college football season.

Star-Telegram Story

Photos of the casket in the boat soon found their way to a popular Wise County blog — Liberally Lean from the Land of Dairy Queen — with the headline "How you bury a Baptist deacon who loved fishing." Curious folks wanted to know the story behind the photos.

Here it is.

Link.

(And the paper credits local attorney Mark Howell for one photo.)

Prime (Time) Real Estate

In case you've been needing a little more space around the home, Deion Sanders is selling his little fixer upper in Prosper. Let's see, his jersey number was 21 so take a guess what the asking price is. Listing is here.

Dirk's Girlfriend

In the front in black. Girl, I'm sorry I ever said anything negative.

Ann Curry Twitter Feed This Morning

That gal is deep. And, if I've got my geography correct, the only way she could see the "sunrise in the crown of the Statue of Liberty" is if she woke up in New Jersey.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Around 10:30 p.m. last night, my front door made the sound as if someone had walked quickly to it from the outside, pushed the handle trigger, and then hit the door hard with their shoulder like they were surprised it didn't open.
• That scared the crap out of me. After ducking for cover, I looked out the window and didn't see a thing.
• I own a shotgun.
• Firing a shotgun in a house would make a mess.
• The history behind the "coffin in a boat" blog entry will become a feature story in Saturday's Star-Telegram. I talked to an editor yesterday who is pretty excited about it.
• I've been naive about this: If a political party were responsible for granting immunity to every illegal alien, the children of those aliens - born on American soil and thereby American citizens - would become a voting block that would be unbeatable.
• My family truckster, which is on its last legs, is burning oil like nobody's business. Dumb question: If I don't have a leak, where does the oil go?
• Heard often: "Man, you've got some crazy people that read that blog of yours."
• I had a childhood friend who lived on my street contact me yesterday on Facebook. I had not seen her since we were teens. Facebook is cool.
• There's a petition floating around Rhome requesting a council person resign. Seems easier just to find a candidate to run against her.
• Got behind the dreaded slow-self-checker-grocery-lady last night. You know: Pick up product. Hold it in front of you and slowly look for bar code. Slowly slide bar code over scanner. Take a step to grocery bag. Slowly place item in bag. Repeat.
• I rarely open up .wmv files that people send me via email. I figure if it's not on youtube or some other flash video site, it's probably not worth looking at.
• Women are excited about Sam Moon's opening this weekend in North Fort Worth. I have no idea what a Sam Moon is.
• It sounds like the end is near for Farrah Fawcett. And is sounds like she has suffered horribly over the last couple of years.
• I'm supposed to have an 8:00 a.m. appointment. Hadn't heard from the guy yet.

Chico "Scandal"

Link. Channel 8 actually ran this story last night. (Trying to see if they'll post the video.) It is incredibly vague and I'm not sure "scandal" is the most appropriate term.

Manny Ramirez And An Afternoon Pick Me Up

But I really don't care about the newest steroid scandal in baseball. Hey, what's the spare guy doing back there in the photo?

What Was That?

Anybody else hear that huge BOOM that rocked Decatur at 1:36 p.m. ? Edit: Got confirmation that it rattled Bridgeport and Paradise. Edit: Heck, it was heard in northern Tarrant County. Edit: If it was a sonic boom, it's the loudest one I've heard in 20 years. Edit: The bloodhounds at Fox 4 are on the case. Edit: Star-Telegram now has the answer.

Pulling Back The Curtain

A lot of people ask me, "How are you so awesome?" That's a good question, and I understand why you want to ask it. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. Ol' bu-bear fires up Cheers To You about three times a week. Just when I'm ready to get out the dress blues and down a bottle of Paxil, that does the trick. I'm back to my normal fun-filled self in a matter of moments.

Saw This On The Courthouse Lawn This Morning

I would do a separation of church and state quip but I've got Tired Head.

Roamed Around The Wise County Courthouse Attic

A punching bag in the floor. A winding staircase to the bell tower.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• On yesterday's ABC's World News Tonight, Charlie Gibson said, "We can't put troops in Pakistan" while discussing the rising Taliban tension with a correspondent. We can't? Really?
• Obama pronounces Pakistan as PAWK-i-stan.
• Fox 4 had a story last night of some very old nude photos of a former public official being found in Krum's City Hall -- it was the most confusing story in the history of ever. But, whatever the point of the story, I couldn't get past every person in Krum being interviewed pronouncing "picture" as "pitcher."
• One of the best lawyer's I've ever seen does that.
• One of my 100 ex-girlfriend's does that.
• It drives me insane.
• I think "composite drawings" of a suspect border on being silly. They always look like aliens.
• Crazy news: Dirk Nowitzki has a crazy girlfriend who was arrested at his house. Crazier news: She's not hot at all.
• I got chewed out by someone from Fox 4 on Monday via email. Well, maybe I got a "stern talking to."
• Everyone yells at me for typos and grammar mistakes. First, I type this thing at 100 miles an hour at the crack of dawn. Secondly, I'm not that smart.
• I'm currently reading books about the Bible from a historical perspective. That is: when they were written, who wrote them, what was going on in the world at the time they were written, and how we might misinterpret the scriptures because of those factors. As a guy who grew up being able to quote scripture and verse, they are fascinating.
• The more I look at the "boat funeral" pictures below, the more I want to tell people about them.
• The top one deserves to be in a magazine. It borders on art. Heck, it is art. The golden field in the background. The clouded sky. The guy in the background with a cap on but a flower pinned to his shirt. The beaten down boat. The guys' respectful attitudes. It is sooo Texas Monthly material. (Here it is if you're too lazy to scroll down.)
• I went to the dentist yesterday and, after explaining the x-rays to me, he said, "I need to write all this down." I told him that was a very bad sign. He didn't laugh.
• The sound of the dentist's drill has to be one of the worst sounds in the world.
• A couple times a month I'll say in public (about someone who has struck me as a tad bit off), "That guy is a little odd." Without fail, someone always says, "Look who's talking."
• Hal Jay this morning: "The 15-12 Texas Rangers are not 3 games above .500. A .500 average after 27 games would be 13 1/2 - 13 1/2, so they are 2 1/2 games above .500."

Limited Interest: Greggo News

I know this won't interest the vast majority of my millions of readers, but I know quite a few of you listen to The Ticket (which, by the way, is the origin of the "Double Fake" references you see so often on here.) With that out of the way, there's some Greggo news.

Your Honor vs. Your Honor

Story here. This appears to be no big deal, but in this era of EVERYTHING requiring a Kenneth Starr-like investigation, the Texas Rangers have been called in to investigate. And then the DA's office will recuse itself and some special prosecutor will get involved. And then no some non-Dallas County judge will have to be brought in to hear the case if one is filed. And then there will be an investigation by the State Bar's judicial conduct commission. It will cost you a bunch of money when all that needs to be done is for these two guys to get together an apologize for acting like a couple of kids from Southpark.

Miss California Causes Our Moral Compass To Get Out Of Whack

• First, she doesn't back down from Perez Hilton at the Miss USA Pageant by declaring that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.
• Edge: Family Values
• Then we find out that she has implants and that the California pageant had paid for them.
• Edge: All men, everywhere.
• Then this picture shows up all over the place on the Inkernets with the dirty liberals claiming this shows she's not so "family value" oriented after all. The conservatives claim that it's just a smear job by the pro-gay marriage crowd.
• Edge: I don't know. My head just exploded.

There are sources for all of this. Just use The Google.

Decatur Related

Very few details, but the water tower was being built by Landmark which has the plant just south of Decatur.