Two Firsts At Cowboys Stadium

OK, I don't want to go all Silicone Alley on you, but this is history. The first regular season victory at Cowboys Stadium and the first confirmed members of "The Stadium Club".

The video is definitely NOT safe for work. You were warned.

Here's the link.

Now beyond the in flagrante delicto freak factor is WTF were they thinking getting on that floor? I know the cheering crowd urging you on, it's a new stadium and the usage is relatively low when you consider the lifespan of the facilities, but no way in hell is that floor clean enough for hardcore Irvin on Irvin action.

I hope they've had their shots.

Is This How Wyle E. Coyote Got Started?

Sorry about the lack of posts. You'll get used to that around here. But this gap was not mere lack of gumption slackerdom on my part. I pin the cause squarely on the shoulders of Partnership Broadband. For the last two days I can connect, but not connect (if that makes any sense).



They assure me they are hard at work on the problem. (cough)



Being the industrious, farm raised individual that I am, I immediately set to work with bailing wire and duct tape in hand. Thru a Rube Goldberg inspired device consisting of the previously mentioned material along with a washing machine, 30 feet of garden house, a 10 speed Huffy, an old CB antenna, kite string, tin cans and my cell phone I have managed to rig a backup connection.



No guarantee on how long it will stay together.

Bird Of Prey Returns To The Skies

For the unacquainted reader, I am an aviation nut. WWII warbirds to be more precise. I stumbled across this on one of the aviation forums I frequent.

A team of volunteers spent over 11 years and 12,000 manhours restoring a 1944 Douglas B-26B to flight status. The versatile twin engine B-26 medium bomber was an excellent design and saw action in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Bay of Pigs. It had many variations and played multiple roles. It was a sleek and deadly warbird.

Work on this aircraft, which came from a Forbes, Kansas museum, began in 1998 when the plane was disassembled, crated up and shipped in pieces to volunteers at the Fairfield County Airport in Ohio who had the means to restore it.

What a wonderful job they did!

A Slam Bang Weekend

I shoulda been all over this like white on rice, but to be painfully honest I forgot. Luckily, The Startlegram didn't and neither did a faithful reader who was kind enough to send this bit of gold across the editors desk.

Icky Twerp fans rejoice!

As previously reported on The South 40, this is the 50th Anniversary of Slam Bang Theater with Icky Twerp. Organized by Dallas' local cable-access iMedia Network, the three-day fest will include documentary screenings, '60s music, fan forums, slapstick workshops and a marathon TV screening of classic SBT episodes.

Events Saturday include appearances by Romper Room host Mary Lynn Crow and WFAA/Channel 8 children’s host Jerry Haynes of Mr. Peppermint fame.

You know, I'm sure she's a very sweet lady (and possibly my first case of hot for teacher) but I'm not sure Ms. Crow has quite the tale to tell beyond some wild accidents during the running around in cardboard cars segment. On the other hand, I'd love to get a chance to meet Jerry Haynes. He is a very unique individual. Besides being childhood icon Mr. Peppermint, he reported live on Channel 8 during the Kennedy assassination, appeared in RoboCop AND his son is a member of The Butthole Surfers. I'd love to sit and pick his brain for all the stories he must have stashed away.

But this celebration is about Bill Camfield, an even more unique individual and childhood icon of the 60's. Bill played a cast of characters at the old KFJZ/KTVT when they were a fledgling independent station with a powerhouse signal, but Icky Twerp was his most memorable role as host of Slam Bang Theater a daily schedule of cartoons, 3 Stooges and live skits.

The documentary film Icky Twerp: Electronic Babysitter will be screened. It reveals his tragic life behind the scenes. From his efforts to escape his dirt poor childhood in Mineral Wells, losing his wife to mental illness and a daughter in an car wreck, it shows you both sides of the coin. Thru it all he kept us glued to the tube not wanting to miss a second of him on TV and packing department store parking lots when he made personal appearances.

For a child of the 60's this is a chance to relive some long forgotten good times with old TV friends.

A complete schedule of this weekend's events can be found here.

I'll leave you with these nuggets. Here's a classic Icky Twerp skit, but first one of my earliest childhood memories, a song I still remember to this day...

It Never Rains Like That At My House

From The San Jose Mercury News

Shower of $100 bills in Sunnyvale, Ca

Amid the crushed soda cans, plastic bags and soiled cardboard, a shower of $100 bills started raining from the ceiling.

Workers at the Sunnyvale recycling station ran giddily about early Tuesday morning, catching the cash and stuffing the money inside a plastic bucket. They had even found a body among the hundreds of thousands of tons of recyclables sorted at the SMaRT plant over the years. But a shower of cash? Never.

"It just kept coming," Geronimo Martinez, 57, a supervisor at the station, said Wednesday, "more and more. It was crazy. I thought at first it was a joke."

All told, they retrieved $3,200 — and now Sunnyvale police are sorting out the mystery of how dozens of Ben Franklins ended up in the trash.

Pilger said the money has been booked with the city's Department of Public Safety. If the cash goes unclaimed for 90 days, it will be turned over to the city's general fund.

SMaRT station general manager Richard Gurney said the cascade of money is surely the best find to date at the sprawling — and very smelly — facility, where workers sort recyclables from Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto.

Sometime between 8 and 9 a.m., sorters who earn nearly $14 an hour discovered a few of the $100 bills getting sorted in a machine called the "in-feed conveyor belt," Gurney said. The piles of junk then snaked throughout the spacious building, finally getting shot from a conveyor belt, like a mechanical shower head attached to the ceiling.

Martinez started grabbing bills, stuffing them in a bucket. A few others came to help.

Gurney said the bills appeared to be real. Employees tested some of them with a special pen used to spot counterfeit money.

Martinez and Gurney are well aware of the rumors circulating that some employees were secretly stuffing wads of cash in their pockets. As far as they know, none of those stories is true. Police didn't return calls for comment.

"This is becoming a big fish story," Martinez said.

Although the money was found in the recycling, keeping the cash could be considered theft because California law requires anyone who finds lost property to make reasonable efforts to find the owner.

Besides, Gurney said, turning over the money to police was "the right thing to do." Sure, Martinez admits, it would have been nice to pocket some money — "I thought about eating at Red Lobster," he joked.

But his conscience, as well as his company's no-scavenger policy, got the better of him.
Instead, he said, "I ate at Taco Bell."

Good News For Glee

If you're not watching Glee, you're missing one of the most original and entertaining show on TV. Now usually being original and entertaining is the kiss of death for a TV show. Pushing Daisies is a perfect example. Great show, great cast, great writing, lousy ratings. Death. Oh yeah and by the way here's 4 posthumous Emmys.

Now comes this bit of surprising news. Glee and it's cast of unknowns is a bona fide hit!

The new musical comedy from Fox is only a few episodes into its initial 13-episode run but the network has decided to give it a full-season order, various news sites report.

This means an additional nine episodes will be commissioned, to bring the tally up to a full season's worth of 22.

Glee premiered early this month to rave reviews and pulled in an audience of about 7.3 million viewers, holding on to its numbers for the first three episodes. That's huge in network numbers.

The show's writers are spinning some juicy backstories. It's not all singing and dancing. It's a wickedly sharp edged and smart comedy as well. Good shows like this don't come around often. Ones that survive come around even less. I challenge you to watch an episode and not find yourself laughing, smiling or tapping your foot at some point. Possibly, all 3 at the same time.

Do yourself a favor and set your DVR for Glee!

Full episodes can also be found on Hulu.

Tip Of The Hat

A big tip of the hat to BG over at Liberally Lean for adding us to his blogroll. Tons of new readers are pouring in even as we speak. I hope I keep you informed and entertained.

Thanks, Barry. No pressure to perform now...

Do they make Viagra for blogs?

Idle Hands Are The Devil's Workshop

Well... Welcome to Devil's Workshop! I've done some remodeling. As you can see the dingy old curtain that went to the loft bunk is gone and replaced by a high grade synthetic fiber embossed with an inspirational message. I challenge you to figure out which high falootin' interior decorator/blogger/international man of mystery was my muse.

While we're on the subject of interiors, check out the floor and walls. Those are some busy patterns going on! The bathroom tile pattern is so bad I'm going to have to install those handicap rails in the shower so I can hang on thru the vertigo. The carpeting is hard to distinguish in the photo, but it's harvest gold shag. It's like a live action version of That 70's Show. I swear I expect Red Foreman to pop his head in the door at any second and call me a dumbass. I'd much rather have Jackie pop her head out of the loft bunk, but this is a semi-respectable blog so I won't go there.

I found a small 300 watt home theater system on eBay for under $100 and installed it in the rear bunk/lounge area. I also managed to resurrect my 26" LCD-TV that died last year. I'm a freakin' electronics genius! Just call me Jonas Nightingale. I'm going to have a bracket fabricated so it will hang in the rear window. It's the perfect size. That would keep the table cleared off for dining, handguns, empty beer cans, ect.

[edit: Let it be known that I did not premeditate bribing a certain metal fabricator into making previously mentioned TV bracket for me. Let it also be known that I'm a terrible liar.]

The only thing left to test is the LP gas system and appliances. I have to get the tank filled, but I can't drive it to get that done because I still don't have tags for it. What IS the freaking hold up?

[edit Part Deux: Huge thanks to Brotherinlaw over at M/R Fabrication for making the TV bracket. It looks great. Just like a professional did it or something. Best case of beer I've ever spent!]

Notes From The Flint, Michigan Arlington, Texas Megabowl

My new boss scheduled me early Sunday so I could watch the big Cowboys/Giants game at JerryWorld. It was a nice gesture on his part, but how was he to know I really don't care about the Cowboys? Note to Boss: The next time you're feeling generous with the schedule, I'm a NASCAR fan.

I decided to go ahead and watch the game so I could get a look at the stadium and have an semi-informed opinion of the team.

I fell asleep somewhere early in the 3rd quarter after the freaky interception that bounced off Jason Witten's foot. I guess my brain decided opinions were already formed and had seen enough. The only way Dallas was going to win that game was if the Giants also fell asleep or Tony Romo's Momma came to him in a concussion induced dream with the football equivalent of the Alley-Oop. That was some UGLY football.

Note to Jerry: The next time you have the option to choose your opponent for the Grand Opening of your new Billion dollar stadium, think Oakland Raiders. Heck, Philly would have been a perfect choice.

OK, here's my take on the whole shebang:

• Cowboys Stadium... reallly nice place, but overpriced. I fear the "bang for the buck" ratio is far out of whack. Maybe someday it will draw The Olympics to North Texas. Between it, the AAC and Northwest's home field you could hold any event needed. The overhype was overwhelming. 105.3 preempted their broadcast of the first race in the NASCAR "Chase" to do a live pregame show 5 hours before the game! Please tell me they won't be doing that anymore.


• '09 Cowboys... reality is finally sinking in. Tony Romo ain't all that. Think Gary Hogeboom. This is a bad team with a few good players. I really like their running backs. I think Wade Phillips is a good man, but I don't think he's a good head coach. I predict many more ugly games ahead.


• NBC's SNF coverage... greatness. They have taken the best of what ESPN and ABC had, reworked it and made it their own. They have a better opening montage (sorry Hank,Jr fans, but Faith Hill rocked the house with a remake of "I Hate Myself For Loving You")
  
  
  
  Dan Patrick and Keith Olberman are workin' their studio schtick just like the good ol' days and the play by play team of Al Michaels and Chris Collingsworth have great chemistry.
  
  The only complaint I might have is the stupid animated graphics they have for player stats.You'd never guess that those eye blinks and lip curls are computer generated.

Fried Mean Green Tomatoes

Oh, the humanity.

[ edit: Final Score 53-7 ]

"There are still a few sane people left in the United States"

Remember those "birther" nutbags? U.S. District Judge Clay Land is drawing praise for his full blown smackdown against a soldier's claims she doesn't have to go to Iraq because Obama isn't a natural citizen.

The icing on the cake is the fact Judge Land was appointed by Bush.

From The Atlanta Journal Constitution:

To press her “birther agenda,” Plaintiff’s counsel has filed the present action on behalf of Captain [Connie] Rhodes. Captain Rhodes entered the Army in March of 2005 and presently serves as a medical doctor.

The American taxpayers paid for her third and fourth years of medical school and financially supported her during her subsequent medical internship and residency program. In exchange for this valuable free medical education, Captain Rhodes agreed to serve two years in active service in the Army.

She began that term of active service in July of 2008 and had no concerns about fulfilling her military obligation until she received orders notifying her that she would be deployed to Iraq in September of 2009.

Captain Rhodes does not seek a discharge from the Army; nor does she wish to be relieved entirely from her two year active service obligation. She has not previously made any official complaints regarding any orders or assignments that she has received, including orders that have been issued since President Obama became Commander in Chief.

But she does not want to go to Iraq (or to any other destination where she may be in harm’s way, for that matter). Her “conscientious objections” to serving under the current Commander in Chief apparently can be accommodated as long as she is permitted to remain on American soil.

Acknowledging the existence of a document that shows the President was born in Hawaii, Plaintiff alleges that the document “cannot be verified as genuine, and should be presumed fraudulent.” In further support of her claim, Plaintiff relies upon “the general opinion in the rest of the world” that “Barack Hussein Obama has, in essence, slipped through the guardrails to become President.”

Moreover, as though the “general opinion in the rest of the world” were not enough, Plaintiff alleges in her Complaint that according to an “AOL poll 85% of Americans believe that Obama was not vetted, needs to be vetted and his vital records need to be produced.”

Finally, in a remarkable shifting of the traditional legal burden of proof, Plaintiff unashamedly alleges that Defendant has the burden to prove his “natural born” status.

Thus, Plaintiff’s counsel, who champions herself as a defender of liberty and freedom, seeks to use the power of the judiciary to compel a citizen, albeit the President of the United States, to “prove his innocence” to “charges” that are based upon conjecture and speculation. Any middle school civics student would readily recognize the irony of abandoning fundamental principles upon which our Country was founded in order to purportedly “protect and preserve” those very principles.

I like this guy! He slapped the taste of Glenn Beck right outa their mouths. If I ever have to appear in federal court I want him as the judge.

His complete ruling, in all it's judicial greatness, can be read here.

PJTP Vol.XI

• I had Patrick Swayze on a 30 Day Celebrity Death Watch. I kinda feel bad that I won. I also had Betty Ford and Fidel Castro.
• Remember when everyone was complaining about the heat and lack of rain?
• My boss, who is a great guy and loved by all, got transferred. I'd hate to be the guy that replaced him. Transitions are hard. You really want to be the guy after the guy that replaces someone like that.
• Glee is on tonight. That show is too good to last for long. It will end up like Firefly or Jericho.
• Jay Leno's new show made a killing in the ratings it's first night with 18.4 Million viewers. It lost 7 Million viewers on the second night. It will unfortunately last for years.
• They may have discovered a gene therapy to cure color blindness.

Ugly Night For WC Football

Alvord 20
Valley View 41



Boyd 7
Glen Rose 21



Bridgeport 0
Prosper 24



Chico 0
Archer City 47



Paradise 0
Aubrey 41

The Decatur / Argyle Liberty Christian game was postponed due to weather? There's no weather in football!

On an inspirational note, Bridgeport students named Becca Logan Homecoming Queen.

(huge edit: I mistakenly said Leslie Denison. I read the headline and not the story. Sloppy reporting on my part.)

Remember

Back To Work!

It was fun while it lasted, but my mini vacation is over.

It's back to the mine for the hootowl shift.

It's A Dead Heat!

The polls have closed and it's a split decision!

Battlestar Redneckia has a slim 1 vote margin over:

M.P.U., a sentimental name taken from the '68 Mercury Montego I drove in the Coast Guard

Maude, a name I credit to Dad's '68 Kenworth, and

Gonzomobile, a tribute to the late Hunter S. Thompson

All 3 are tied with 2 votes each.

There is also a measurable voter unrest with the amount of write-in candidates.

We do not have a quorum and the issue is being sent back to committee.

In the meantime, temporary orders have been issued and the device has been given the interim designation XRV-1.

I'm not sure how, but I suspect Katherine Harris is involved in all of this...

I Need A Vacation From My Vacation!

Well I'm 1/2 way thru my vacation and I'm beat! So far 3 trips to Lowe's, 2 trips to Wiley Hardware and a couple gallons of sweat working on the RV. I've replaced the kitchen faucet, rebuilt the shower faucet, attempted to unbolt the toilet (that ain't happening unless I find a reducto ray to use on my Magilla Gorilla arms!), replaced a couple leaky water lines, applied a second coat of roof sealer (now it can withstand a meteor strike!), then washed and waxed the beast.

To quote the Fake Ricardo Montalbán, "You look maaaarvelous!"

Let me add this tidbit of trashtalk, Mr. Miyagi and Danielsan ain't got nuthin' on me! Wax on, wax off my ass. Try hand washing & waxing a Holiday Rambler! Bring on the Cobra Kai!!!

It hasn't been all sweat and toil. Saturday afternoon I went over to BrotherInLaw's annual Opening Day Dove Massacre. It sounded like Saturday night on East Rosedale with all the gunfire. The birds were coming as fast as you could reload. He had a pretty good crowd and everyone got their limit. I even got a complement from one of the older hunters on a "sweet shot" I made on a bird that was nearly out of range.

Like my Daddy always said, "even a blind sow finds an acorn now and then."

I marinated my birds in a cab/shiraz, stuffed them with jalapeno and onion then wrapped them in bacon before throwing them on the grill. They were dee-lish!

Here's the leftovers:

I also got to catch last night's NASCAR race live from Atlanta! That doesn't happen often for me. It was a great race and Kasey Kahne came away with the checkers. Next week is the final race of the "regular season" at Richmond, Va. then "The Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship" begins.

59 Days until NASCAR returns to TMS! Invasion plans are clearing High Command as we speak.

So now if you'll pardon me, I have a case of beer with my name on it and 2 days to figure out what to do with it.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

I'm reminded of that old Heinz ketchup commercial with Carly Simon singing Anticipation. 1 more shift and I've got a 4 day weekend! (insert happy dance here) I'm ready for the break.

I had planned on taking the RV on a shakedown cruise to the lake. But I'm waiting on tags. I'm still a bit confused as to why I can't get them now, but Decatur says I'll get them in the mail. I'm sure there will not be any law enforcement patroling Wise County Park this weekend and I wouldn't get a ticket... So instead I'm going to drydock it in the backyard. If anything does go wrong at least I'll have all my stuff handy to fix it.

It's also opening weekend of Dove Season. Time to get the ol' Remmington oiled up if I'm having jalapeno stuffed dove breast wrapped in bacon for supper Saturday night!

Vote Early and Vote Often!

The early returns are in and Battlestar Redneckia holds the slimest of margins over bitter rivals M.P.U. and Gonzomobile.

Independant voters are making their voices heard with write-in candidates Mobile Mancave, Most-Interesting-Man-Mobile and Rural-Assault-Vehicle.

Stay tuned for complete election coverage.

Who's Reading The South 40?

It's more random than you'd think.

Recent viewers:
Wilmington, Delaware
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Grapevine, Texas
Athens, Ohio
Clifton, New Jersey
Merritt Island, Florida
Dearborn Heights, Michigan
Kirkland, Washington
Derby, Kansas
Harchies, Hainaut
Toronto, Ontario
Irvine, California
Ames, Iowa
Wenzenbach, Bayern
Millersville, Maryland
Southsea, Hampshire
and believe it or not...
Bridgeport, Texas

Thanks, ya'll!

Mark My Words

Rescue Me will get an Emmy nomination for their season finale. Lenny Clarke will get a Best Supporting Actor nod.

I've always thought Rescue Me was one of the smarter, edgier (sp?) dramadies ever made for TV. Tonight's season finale was the best episode Dennis Leary has ever produced and some of the best TV I've ever seen. The closing scene was excellence.

There was no "Who shot J.R.?" cliffhanger. You know who did it. You know why he did it. You can't argue with his reasoning for doing it.

I hate to call something thought provoking, but it made me take a step back and think about the unintended consequences of one's actions. The ripple effect, if you will.

If you missed tonight's showing you still have 2 chances to see it. FX will be have encore showings Friday and Sunday at 10pm.

Just a footnote, I'm pretty sure Sheila is based on one of my ex's.