Sleepless in Midland

Loved the meat pies, Mrs. Lovett

Maybe it's an acquired taste.  Or maybe it's the simple appreciation of a well told story of pain, abuse of power, revenge and ultimate justice.  Also there's that touch of cannibalism.  It's the movie version of Sweeney Todd.  Here's the official site (all Flash).

It's the story of the London barber who was shanghaied and banished by a corrupt judge who lusted after the barber's wife.  And the story begins as the tortured barber returns and reunites with his razors to settle the score.

The Stephen Sondheim music and lyrics are mesmerizing and sung admirably by Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.  Even the quintessential villain Alan Rickman gets to belt out a tune.

Maybe fans of the stage version are tempted to turn up their noses at the movie version, but not I.  On stage what the audience saw is what the actors gave on that particular night.  But in a movie the viewers get to see the best of several takes of both acting and singing.  No late entrances.  No forgotten lines.  No missed notes.  Add a computer generated old London, and the result is a visual and auditory feast.

The squeamish might do well to remind themselves that movie makers can create an amazingly realistic look.  But the wounds are illusions, the blood is fake.  And remember, modern day barbers don't use straight razors.

Two thumbs way up, but count your fingers on the way out to assure yourself that it's only a movie.

Who would do such a thing?

Who would set fire to George H. W. Bush's house in Odessa, Texas?

It was one of the houses in which former President Bush and his family lived in Odessa and which had been restored and relocated to a spot behind the Presidential Museum.  And last week the house was damaged by fire.  See City Of Odessa News Release (pdf):  "Fire investigators have determined the structure fire at the former home of President George Bush located at the Presidential Museum, 4919 East University, was intentionally started."

And see this from the Odessa American:

Firefighters were called to the restored Bush home at 3:04 a.m.  Early investigation shows the fire likely started on the front, concrete porch near the wooden doorway, Odessa Fire Marshal Detra White said.

The front and back doors and the front window were boarded when I visited.  But a walk around reveals some of the things that fire investigators may have looked at to make the determination that the fire was intentionally set.

In the photo on the left, notice the "V" shape of the fire damage on the wall to the left of the front door suggesting that the heat spread upward from a point on the porch.  And you can also see a charred spot on the cement porch that could be the spot where the fire investigators thought the fire originated.  So one possible assumption is that an accelerant was poured on the cement porch and set ablaze.  But a chemical analysis would be necessary to confirm that.

Also of interest is the porch light fixture which you can see lying on the porch in the shadow of the vertical metal porch decoration.  The porch light fixture was probably attached to the wall above the door at a point which is now obscured by the board.  I point this out to demonstrate just how difficult a fire investigator's job is.  Check out this site and scroll down to the photos at "Figure 8 Below: Fire, Exterior Light Fixture" to see how similar the results of a fixture light fire are to the scene at the Bush house.

So right about now you are probably asking, "Who the heck do you think you are?  Some kind of a Monday morning fire expert?  No.  And I didn't even stay at that hotel that makes someone a smarty pants.  But one session of the Midland, Texas, Citizen Fire Academy which I attended a couple of years ago was about fire investigations.  It was taught by MFD Fire Inspector Michael Cota, and for such a short class it was extremely educational.  And there's a wealth of information on the subject available on the internet.  If you are interested here are a few particularly useful sources:

Arson Detection for the First Responder - Homeland Security 2002 (pdf);

The National Fire Investigator -  Fall 2005 (pdf); and

Interfire Online Pocket Guide to Accelerant Evidence Collection excerpts.

Finally, to see a video showing the fire damage to the inside of the house click this Odessa American video.

Merry Christmas, have fun, eat well

This is such a wonderful holiday season.  Those of us with families can take comfort in our families.  And those of us without families can do things we enjoy.

Merry Christmas to all.  And if you don't celebrate Christmas then appreciate the holiday.

And remember the reason for the season.  Giving, getting, and eating lots and lots of rich food.  Calories?  Cholesterol?  None of those things count during the Christmas season.  So have fun and don't leave any leftovers!

Boy, I sure can pick 'em

I was glancing at the Late Show Writers' blog and ran across an entry consisting of a top ten list they had pulled off the internet.  They can't actually write one, you see, because they are on strike.  So they simply searched the net and posted any list that said "top ten."  (Note to Dave Letterman: try looking for talent among non union writers.)

Anyway, to the point.  The list they had pulled up was the Top Ten Insurance Fraud Cases - Fiscal Year 2007, and lo and behold, there was the name of a doc whose services I had used in another city.  You can see his name at the link.  I'm not going to mention it here.  This was a doc who poked a tube where the sun don't shine, so perhaps you can imagine which muscle tightened when I saw this.  Here's what the Texas Department of Insurance said about him (name removed):

______, a former doctor from Houston, developed several schemes to defraud health insurers, including billing for services not rendered, unbundling pharmaceutical drugs and selling them at a substantial profit and up-coding. _____ was convicted in federal court on 44 counts of mail fraud and sentenced to serve 135 months in prison for his part in defrauding health insurers of more than $10 million dollars. Prior to his Texas court appearance, _____ was arrested in Florida for setting fire to a $3.2 million dollar house he purchased for his wife. Then while awaiting trial in a Texas jail, ____ attempted to execute a murder-for-hire plot against the federal prosecutor, FBI agent and wife number six. It was unfortunate for _____ who lost another $250,000 after the government forfeited the money he wired to pay for the murder-for-hire plot.  Authorities also seized in excess of $10 million of ____’s assets; those funds will be used to offset the court ordered restitution of $11 million dollars.

Just bend over and relax.  You won't feel a thing.

A recycled ambulance for the MCFAAA

When we last visited Kathy Hart she was distributing cold water and Gatorade to hot thirsty firefighters at the scene of a traffic accident and hazmat spill.  See Unsung Heroes .

She's the president of the Midland Citizen Fire Academy Alumni Association which is a small group of volunteers who work without pay assisting the fire department.  Firefighters wear thick rubber boots and bunkers when they work, and even on a cold day they can easily get overheated while fighting a fire.  So it's important that they keep hydrated.  And that's where the MCFAAA comes in.

They keep a supply of drinks on hand at all times, and when the pager goes off they take off.

Until now they used a van for hauling stuff to a fire scene.  But today Fire Chief Conley presented the group with a recycled ambulance for their use.  The 1998 Chevy ambulance was used as an emergency ambulance until recently, but because of it's age and mileage it had been retired from service and was headed for auction.  There had been talk for a long time of providing a better vehicle to the MCFAAA, and when this ambulance was taken out of service Midland Fire Department Captain Drew Peters sent an impassioned email to the people in charge about the possibility of dedicating the old vehicle to the new use.  And the decision was made.

The markings have been changed so as not to mislead people into thinking it's still an ambulance.  And it will be equipped with the things the group might need to help the firefighters, a coffee maker, a microwave oven, for examples.

But before they will be able to use this vehicle it's drivers ed for the people who would get behind the wheel.  The vehicle is about the size of a recreational vehicle.  So the driving course will teach them general driving skills for an over sized vehicle, how to back up, how to drive in a confined space, how to maneuver a narrow course, and the always popular parallel parking.

Good luck crew, and thanks for all you do!

Dear Zabby

Al Jazeera announced that Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's jurnior leader, is willing to answer questions:

"Anyone who would like to ask him a question must be concise and precise," a statement published on December 16 by media outlets As-Sahab and Al-Fajr said.

People are invited to pose questions to al-Zawahiri in writing via the two websites before January 16 and both media organisations and individuals are welcome to take part, it said.

The Sleepless headquarters was fortunate enough to get a peak at a CIA leak of some of those questions and answers.  Caution, they have not been edited or censored.

----

Dear Zabby I'm an attractive middle aged woman loyal to radical Islam, and I wear the full dress covering constantly, praise Allah.  The clothes I have to wear cover everything but my eyes.  So here's the problem.  My husband's younger wives get all of his attention because I have huge bags under my eyes.  So how can I get my husband to notice me?  Eye Full in Afghanistan.

Dear Eye Full , Praise Allah enough and you shouldn't have to worry about the other wives.  For you, 20 lashes.  For your eye bags, Preparation H.  Zabby.

Dear Zabby , I'm a suicide bomber in training, and my instructor can't answer all of my questions.  I'm in it for the 72 virgin babes, but once I blow myself up and get my heavenly reward, how can I be sure they are all virgins?  Also, how come it's always us grunts who end up with the suicide vest and not you guys at the top.  Ready to Blow.

Dear Ready, You will know that they are virgins because Osama and I say they are virgins.  This is a field in which you are very inexperienced, and rest assured that they are virgins because we have declared them to be.  For your second question, Osama and I must remain on Earth because we have been delegated the task by Allah to lead you bums.  So stop asking these silly questions and tell your team leader that your education is complete and to put you in the next suicide mission immediately!  No more questions!  No more questions!  Zabby.

Cross bar detention for girl who took steak knife to school

This is one of those overkill stories about how school administrators fear their elementary school students.  See Ocala.com:

OCALA - A 10-year-old elementary school student who brought a 4½-inch steak knife to school on Thursday and reportedly used it to cut her steak while eating lunch was charged with possession of a weapon on school property.

School officials at Sunrise Elementary School told Marion County sheriff's deputies the girl was eating lunch and using the knife to cut her steak when she was spotted by two school officials. They took the knife away from her.

... The girl was arrested on the felony charge and transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center.

That's so outlandish that it will surely come back to bite the school school officials.  But it leaves most of us who went to public schools scratching our heads in disbelief:  The school cafeteria serves STEAK??

When Ike and Tina hit town it was a show to remember

They say it was a heck of a time when Ike and Tina Turner put on a show way back in the days when they were playing the small town clubs. And there are probably some pretty good stories people could tell us today about the time Ike and Tina hit Midland, Texas.  Ike died yesterday, so while that's still on our minds, let's revisit the story about how a local woman got swept up in the Ike and Tina whirlwind and became part of the show.

She was Esther Faye Jones.  Ruth Campbell tells us all about her in the MR-T.

After graduating from Carver High School in 1964, she sang in a group called the B-29ers and Arty Tolliver. She got an audition as an Ikette with Ike and Tina Turner by word of mouth, [son Robert] Bills said. When she auditioned, they told her on the spot she was coming with them that night.

Jones asked if she could pack and they told her they would buy everything she needed, Bills said. That was in 1966. She stayed with Ike and Tina from 1966-1974, traveling Europe, Japan, Asia and Africa.

The proud lady kept on singing.  But she had a stroke at the age of 48 and passed away in 2006.

There must be dozens of youtube videos of Ike and Tina performing.  But here's one in which Tina introduces the Ikettes.  And there she is, Esther from Midland.  What a beautiful lady.  Click to watch it.  She's the one on our far left.

Not safe for work (tm?)

Fark.com is trying to trademark the phrase "not safe for work."

See status of case here.  Via Lost Remote via ARS Technia.

Gee, can't groups of words just be a phrase and not a product the use of which costs money?  Next thing you know someone will be trying to trademark common words like "Kleenex," "Xerox" or "Google."  Oh wait.  Never mind.

Riding the husband's coattails into political office

The husband, a Democrat, was impeached.  He couldn't run again.  Liberal wife ran for his old office.  There was a scandal involving pardons.

Everyone knows who I'm talking about.  It's Ma Ferguson, the first woman governor of Texas whose slogan was "Two governors for the price of one."

The high cost of car ownership

The high cost of gasoline has certainly made it more expensive to take that Sunday drive.  But there's more to it than just filling the tank.  Most of us have been in a situation in which a passenger offers to pitch in to help pay for the gas.  It's an uncomfortable situation to be in.  You politely decline  -- wouldn't want to appear ungenerous.  Also, they didn't offer enough money.

Runzheimer International has studied the annual cost of owning certain cars, and among the cars they examined it ranges from $19,537 per year for an eight cylinder Cadillac STS to $7,933 for a four cylinder Toyota Corolla.  Here's what they said they factored into the equation:

Costs include operating expenses (fuel, oil, maintenance and tires) and fixed expenses (insurance, depreciation, financing, taxes and licensing) based upon a 36 month/60,000 mile retention cycle.

That mileage seems a little high for a three years of personal use.  Business usage might  be a different matter.  And in that regard, for 2007 the IRS allows 48.5 cents per business mile; 20 cents per mile for going to see the doc; and 14 cents per mile for the volunteer work.  Those amounts are bumped up a few pennies for 2008.

Via the Car Connection.

Chavez taking Venezuela back in time

It's official.  Venezuela will now be 1/2 hour behind the times -- Hugo Chavez has ordered clocks set back.  This is not a joke.  See BBC:

But critics say the move is unnecessary and the president simply wants to be in a different time zone from his arch-rival, the United States.

But it's for the children:

And President Chavez said earlier this year that schoolchildren would arrive for lessons with more energy as a result of the change.

"These children have to get up at five in the morning... they arrive at school dead tired. And why? Because of our time."