Sleepless in Midland

Local crime spree ended

The Midland Police Department arrested a man on 8/27/04 who had kidnapped a woman earlier that day.  He is being charged with a similar crime that took place on July 12.  Here are the details from the Police Department press release:

ADDITIONAL CHARGES FILED AGAINST KIDNAPPER

Two additional charges were filed today, August 30, 2004, against a man arrested on Friday in connection with the Aggravated Kidnapping of a Midland woman.

34-year-old John David Bloise of Midland now faces charges of Aggravated Robbery and Aggravated Kidnapping in connection with the July 12, 2004, incident at the Target Store.  A woman in her mid-sixties was exiting the Target store, loaded her belongings, and entered her vehicle, when she was approached by Bloise armed with a handgun.  He got in the backseat of her vehicle and asked her to drive around while being held at gunpoint.  After asking her numerous questions, they drove to an ATM machine where the woman withdrew money from her account.  Bloise then took money from her purse and they drove back to the location near Target and Home Depot.  The suspect exited her car and got into his vehicle.  The woman reported the incident to a nearby bank.  Witnesses were able to get the vehicle description.

On August 27, 2004, Bloise rang the doorbell at 5200 Polo Club.  The housekeeper answered the door.  Bloise told her that his vehicle had broken down and he needed to use a phone.  She gave him a cordless phone and he then asked for a phone book.  When she returned, he had a gun.  Bloise went with her into the house and tied her up with plastic ties.  He then located the female homeowner inside.  He forced her outside to the housekeeper's vehicle, a Ford Excursion, and asked her to drive while he rode in the front passenger seat.  The housekeeper was able to get loose and call for help from a neighbor's residence.  At approximately 11:35 a.m., M.P.D. patrol officers and detectives spotted the suspect vehicle in the 300 block of Texas.  Several detectives and officers made the stop.  Bloise surrendered to officers and the woman was unharmed.  He was charged with Aggravated Kidnaping.

Bloise is cooperating with police and witnesses were able to identify him as the wanted suspect in the Target store case.

Scary stuff.  Thank goodness they caught the guy!

Maybe this is a good time to plug the Women on Target program.  WOT is a program to familiarize women with handguns.  The program started locally on May 1 with a classroom lecture followed by shooting of .22 caliber handguns at the Midland Shooters Association range.   The second clinic involved .22 rifles, and in the third clinic the participants were introduced to higher caliber handguns.  And on Saturday 8/28/04, the day following the last kidnapping, the Woman on Target program had Clinic 4 in which the participants used their own handguns.  Overall, the program was a good one with emphasis on gun safety - you can never hear the rules too many times.

Now for the good news.  The people who organized the local program are contemplating another program to begin sometime this fall.  So, women who missed out on the first one or who may have dropped out somewhere along the line will have a chance to take the class or continue with the program.   Stay tuned.  And be safe.

Dowdworld - Maureen Dowd on the talk show circuit

Maureen Dowd has been making the rounds of tv talk shows pitching her new book, Bushworld, which is a collection of some of her previous Bush bashings. And, she was on Fox News Sunday on August 29, 2004.

Ms. Dowd seems to be trying to convince us that George W. Bush invaded Iraq to show up his father. What a simplistic suggestion. But, she very cleverly dodges the "simplistic" label by laying the blame for the theory at the feet of William Shakespeare. Smooth move, Maureen.

The theory probably plays well with the Bush haters, but it's a hard sell outside of Dowdworld.

Bush the father did everything by the book regarding Iraq. He got the United Nations' approval. He got the famous coalition. He followed the U.N. edict by not going all the way after Saddam. And, his reward was to get voted out of office in the next election.

Never mind that the U.S. had been attacked on 9/11. Never mind that Saddam was believed by the entire world to have had weapons of mass destruction at his disposal. And never mind that a regime change in Iraq could itself result in some major positive changes in the safety of people around the globe not to mention putting rogue nations on notice that it could happen there too.

The Dowdworld view simply exacerbates the polarization that today is so thick that it's difficult to inhale. But, can a Shakespearean expert apply the same principles to herself? Ms. Dowd tells us that her entire family is Republican and that she's the black sheep. How did that come about? There's a Shakespean play in there somewhere.

Do not litter. Especially here.

There's probably a story behind this. But unfortunately, I don't know what it is.

But, I wonder, would J. E. Hoover have approved?

Joe Millionaire 2 meets "Friday Night Lights"

The April 22 addition of LufkinDailyNews.com contains the revelation that former Midlander, David Smith, who was Joe Millionaire 2 in "The Next Joe Millionaire, an International Affair," has a small role in the movie "Friday Night Lights." Here's the key graf:

These days, Smith is trying to get back into the entertainment business when he's not on the rodeo circuit. He said he recently had a small part as a press box coach in the "Friday Night Lights" being filmed in Texas.

See ya in the movies, David.

[Thanks to Westgate for the heads up.]

John Kerry's 4/21/71 Senate testimony, transcript.

"The committee will come to order..."

C-SPAN has a transcript of John Kerry's April 22, 1971, Senate testimony.

Unannounced Casting Call in Odessa 8/25/04

Odessa, Texas. The new Hollywood.

With nothing more than word of mouth and signs in front of two cafes for advertising, a crowd of around 200 people showed up Wednesday to apply for parts in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, a film to be directed by Tommy Lee Jones in Odessa, Van Horn and other places in West Texas.

The movie, set to begin filming on September 21 in Odessa, is supposed to be about a ranch hand who tries to keep a promise to a deceased friend to bury the friend in Mexico.

Apparently, many of the applicants also worked on Friday Night Lights.

Source: Odessa American.

"Friday Night Lights" - a revised opening date?

There's a short item in the Houston Chronicle about some celebrity sightings during the recent reshoot and new scene filming in Houston. And there was this line:

[Billy Bob] Thornton was in town for a quickie scene reshoot at the Astrodome for Friday Night Lights, which is scheduled to open in movie theaters Oct. 8.

Originally, the opening date was said to be October 15. So, either the author of the Chronicle article was misinformed or there's a new opening date.

And, here's a link to a Friday Night Lights trailer. Apparently, the trailers are being run on tv in Houston during the Olympics.

[Thanks to a Houston FNL extra for the pointer!]

Tricks of the Trade

Here's an article in The Morning News reporting some responses to a request for occupational tricks of the trade. Some of them are quite clever. Here are a few samples:

Attorney - Do whatever it takes to fit your contracts onto a single page: Format with single-spacing, use a 10- or 9-point font, and reduce the margins to less than an inch. Most people assume any contract that fits on one page will be simple and straightforward, and even sophisticated negotiators can be charmed by the lack of a staple.

Cartographer - Mapmakers will often use "copyright traps," bits of information in their maps that are purposefully wrong. They might label a body of water "Lake Strongbad," for instance, and then examine the next editions of competitors' maps to see if the incorrect information makes an appearance.

Photographer - When taking family portraits that include a dog, don't use the dog's name or say "doggie, doggie" to get its attention, because it might trot over to you. Instead, call out "kitty, kitty, kitty." The dog will perk up and look around for a cat, and you can get a great shot if you time it right.

Via Metafilter.

Travelocity's Roaming Gnome

I just knew that Travelocity's advertising agency got the idea for its traveling gnome from the movie "Amelie."  But, I was wrong.

Amelie, by the way, is a wonderfully entertaining movie if you can get beyond the fact that it's French.  In the movie Amelie is a very clever girl who plays delightful little tricks on people.  And, in one of them, she swiped a gnome from her father's garden.  Then the dad gets these post cards with pictures of the gnome in exotic places.   All of this was to encourage the dad to get out and do some traveling himself. 

But, back to the point.  I was sure that Travelocity's ad agency "borrowed" the idea from the movie.  But, the "Advert Mailbox" in today's print edition of the Wall Street Journal has the following explanation:

The idea for both gnomes actually comes from an Australian prank that took place in the mid-1980s.  According to Joel Frey, a Travelocity spokesman, legend has it that one Australian thought it would be funny to rip off his neighbor's garden gnome, and then send back pictures from the destinations to which it was taken.  "It's not something that's original to 'Amelie' and it's not something that's original to us.  The only thing original to us is the gnome that we are using," says Mr. Frey.  Travelocity had 50 of the 18 inch, 12 pound creatures made when its current ad effort, designed by Havas's McKinney + Silver, started in December 2003.

Well, it was a clever idea whosever it was. Oh, did I mention that "Amelie" is a great movie?

Updated one year later:  Turns out there's an another possible source for the idea.  It's the Harry Hood caper that took place in Boston in the 70's. You can read about at this web journal in an entry titled The idea for Travelocity's Roaming Gnome - another theory.   It's a fascinating story!

What would be do without Hollywood liberals?

Janeane Garafalo was on a CNBC show last night, one I had not seen before hosted by a guy named Donny Deutsch. On the show she said this:

Bush was known as the "Texecutioner" when he was governor because of the death penalty, lack of gun control ... it's the Republican Party.

Thanks Janeane. Texecutioner. I did not know that. How could we have ever existed without these useless and stupid remarks?

Soggy Doggy Splash Day

This is sure to be loads of fun for local dogs and their owners. This Saturday (8/21/04) from 2 to 5 p.m. for a mere $5 dollar cover charge dogs will get to swim in the pool at Washington Park here in Midland. Humans can swim too, of course.

Some dogs don't like to swim, but many do. And for dog lovers it's a delight to watch them have a good time.

I was able to witness an impromptu doggy splash day at a pond in another city a few years ago. And it looked like the dogs were really enjoying themselves. It followed a K-9 fun run on a hot day, and the dogs were ready for a cool dip. Someone with a chew toy threw it into the pond, and around eight dogs took off after it.

Most of the dogs would run up to the edge of the pond and just keep running so that they ended up dog paddling once they were in the water. But, there was one who had an edge. It was a golden retriever, and he/she would run up to the water's edge then take a flying leap into the water gaining several feet of lead time against the other dogs.

After doing that a couple of times some of the other dogs figured it out and began taking the big jump too. But, about half of them kept doing it the old way. So, I guess that was a sort of a doggy I.Q. test separating the quick learners from the rest.

In any event, it was a fun experience, and the Soggy Doggy Splash Day is sure to be one too. Oh, almost forgot. The cover charge will help pay for the new dog park.

UPDATE - 8/22/04: It was a splashing success! Dogs living today are the result of thousands of years of domestication, but all of that goes out the window between 1 and 15 seconds after removing the leash. Yet, overall they were well behaved canines under the circumstances, and hopefully the dog park is a small step closer to reality.

"Friday Night Lights," a new scene filming in Houston

"GET ME REWRITE!"

The casting director has issued a call for the Houston extras to come back to work for more filming of "Friday Night Lights" on August 18, 19 and 20, 2004.

On Wednesday they are shooting some retakes at the Astrodome.

And, on Thursday and Friday nights they will be shooting a new scene called "Burger Joint." They are seeking three long haired white guys who look like teenage heavy metal rockers one of whom should be able to emulate Jon Bon Jovi from the 80s.

Hmmmmm. Two months before the planned release and they are shooting a brand new scene. That's an interesting development. Maybe the film scored poorly with the age 18 -34 focus groups. "It needs some rock and roll, dude!"

[To see all of the items at this weblog about making of the movie click "Friday Night Lights".]

John Kerry vs. John O'neill on Dick Cavett show 1971- rerun again

I wrote a short item on March 26, 2004, about the televised debate between John Kerry and John O'Neill which occurred in 1971 on the Dick Cavett show, and that entry has been hit consistently since then through search engine results. And, there have been some inquires about video or tapes of the show.

C-Span replayed that show in March, and an announcement earlier today said that they are going to show it again today (8/14/04) at 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM Eastern.

A transcript of the show can be found at Wintersoldier.

A National Sales Tax to replace the Income Tax

The Blind Hen has an interesting discussion about speculation of a proposal to eliminate the IRS and replace the income tax with a national sales tax. Excerpt:

I think the biggest attribute of the national sales tax is that it is collected at the point of sale. You buy a stapler and the tax is rolled in and you walk out the door with it. Bingo. You've just paid tax on the income you had to earn to buy the stapler. Sure, it jacks up the cost of the stapler, but by how much I can only speculate. Perhaps there is some equation to be calculated whereby the amount of money to run the national government is divided by the total of the GNP which will be subject to the tax. The resulting percentage will be the tax rate. How often will this be adjusted? Sadly, that will be up to the politicians.

/snip/

A national sales tax would make the burden of taxation visible instead of invisible. (This could be a good thing for those who want taxes cut, since the more aware the public is of how high taxes are, the more likely they will demand tax reduction. Hmmmm . . . do you think this is what the Republicans are really after?)

Interesting observations.

Light blogging

Blogging here has been and will probably continue to be light due to Preoccupied Blogger Syndrome. Hopefully, relief will come soon.