Christmas At Arlington National Cemetery

Via Target Centermass.

Oh Tannenbaum

Looks like I'm not the only one nostaglic over those wonderful aluminum Christmas trees. According to the ABC News, the people of Manitowoc, Wisconsin say that shiny artificial trees are ready for comeback. "Manitowoc was put on the map nationally through this tree," says Jerry Waak, who once ran the sales force at the Aluminum Specialty Company. The downtown factory closed years ago.

There were millions of the trees sold in 60's and 70's. Now days, the only place you'll find them is on eBay, as collectors items. My family had one of those rotating lights that shined different colors on the tree. I can still remember marveling at how the magically changed colors.

Some blame the demise of aluminum Christmas trees on Charles Schultz, who satirized the tree in, "A Charlie Brown Christmas." In that classic, Lucy tells Charlie Brown to " get the biggest aluminum tree you can find -- maybe paint it pink." Funny, as a kid that sounded like a great idea to me, I wasn't smart enough to know I was being satirized. Truthfully, now days, I'm still not sure I'm smart enough to know when I'm being satirized.

Now some may find the aluminum Christmas tree rather kitschy. That's fine, you can have your dead tree and spend January vacuuming up needles. Me, I'm with aluminum tree collector Lisa Genske who said, "Anyone can go out in the forest and cut a tree, but this is history."

Hard To Imagine: John Lennon Doll

While it won't be out in time for Christmas, it's not too early to plan on picking up your very own John Lennon doll. The National Entertainment Collectibles Association has posted a picture of a new John Lennon, "action figure" that is expected to arrive in stores in the spring.

According to Reuters, the 18-inch doll, dubbed "The New York Years" John Lennon, will utter "authentic" phrases used by Lennon.

Redskins Scalp Cowboys 35-7

The hated Washington Redskins whipped the Dallas Cowboys 35-7 at FedEx field. The loss, was one of the worst in the history of the 'Boys. Considering some of the teams Jerry Jones put on the field following the departure of Jimmy Jones, that's saying something.

And if 35-7 seem like a lopsided loss, consider this. It really wasn't even that close as the Redskins dominated every aspect of the game from the start. I remember back in the summer Cowboys coach Bill Parcels saying that he wanted to be playing meaniful games in December. With the 'Boys in 2nd place in their division, this one was meaniful. And ugly.

Bah Humbug

I'm guessing that the Richland Elementary School music teacher that told her class of 1st graders that there was no such thing as Santa gets a lump of coal in her stocking.

The FW Star-Telegram has the details:

Guess what, kids? There's no such thing as Santa Claus!

That was a suburban music teacher's message to first-graders Monday -- a remark that angered parents and prompted the school district to issue a pro-Santa statement.

Several parents called Richland Elementary School after the teacher spilled the Santa scoop, according to KDFW/Channel 4.

"When you take a 6-year-old and tell him, you got to spend how much time to get him to believe again. The damage is done," parent Michael Millett said.

Later, however, Tim Clark, a Richardson school district spokesman, said he had good news.

"The teacher did hear from Santa Claus himself, who heard about the situation and let the teacher know that the spirit of the holidays is alive and well and to pass that message along to the students," Clark said.

The teacher will face no disciplinary action, Clark said.

Elephants Need A Little Luvin' Too

I guess the animal rights nuts must have run out of red paint to toss on fur-wearers 'cause the FW Star-Telegram is reporting about a group of them that showed up at the Fort Worth Zoo today.

Members of Animal Connection of Texas are upset that the Cowtown zoo is breeding female Asian elephants with a male elephant on loan from the Barnum & Bailey Circus. The circus says that there are only 35,000 Asian elephants left in the wild and their population is on the decline. But apparently that is too many to suit the animal rights types, 'cause the article says that they have determined that the world already has too many Asian elephants.

I'm curious if they asked the Asian elephants about this. I also wonder why they want to deny elephants a little lovin'?

The group's website is proud of their opposition to testing new drugs on animals. How wonder how many members have offered to take the animal's place?

Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N Roll Take Their Toll

Ozzy Osbourne told AFP that he was, "...a few beers away from mooning..." Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, during a Royal Variety Show last month. Said the mumbling, washed-up rock and roll star about the queen, "I don't understand why any of them would want to meet some tattoed lunatic from the back streets of Aston." Funny, I can't imagine why anyone would want to meet him either.

Regarding his wild partying days, which he claims to have put behind him, the aging former Black Sabbath singer said, "I used to drink in the house on me own and the next thing you knew it would be on fire." Yeah, you gotta hate it when that happens.

Cowboys Come Back With A Win

The Dallas Cowboys ended a two-game losing streak with an exciting 31-28 come from behind win over the Kansas City Chiefs. In a game that was back and forth all day, Drew Bledsoe threw a touchdown pass to tightend Dan Campbell to give the 'Boys the lead with less than a minute to play.

With the ball on the one-yard line and the entire stadium looking for a run from Marion Barber, Bledsoe tossed the ball to Campbell, who is supposed to be the 'Boys blocking tightend. But it wasn't over yet as the Chiefs came back with two quick passes, leaving 2 seconds on the clock, only to miss on a 41 yard field goal try as time ran out.

Game balls go to Drew Bledsoe who showed that he can still light up the scoreboard, Aaron Gleen, who had several key receptions, including a 70+ yarder and to Marion Barber who had several nice runs on the winning drive.

The win keeps the Cowboys alive in the playoffs and they still have a chance to even win the NFC East, though it would take some help from the New York Giants.

Story from the FW Star-Telegram.

Conveniently Located Next To A Bank

The Dallas Morning News is reporting on the case of Michael Adair Mankin. Fort Worth police responded to an alarm from the National Bank of Texas on N.E. 28th Street. A man had come in to the bank and handed the teller a note demanding money. When the police got to the bank, a witness said that they saw the suspected bank robber running toward the Classic Inn across the street from the bank. So the police drove into the motel's parking lot. There they saw Mr. Mankin coming out of a motel room, and they arrested him. Alledgedly, Mr. Mankin had robbed the bank across the street from the motel he was staying at.

I guess I'll never understand the criminal mind. I mean, he's sitting there in his motel room and discovers that he's running low on cash. So what does he do? Walks across the street and robs a bank?

If The Shoe Fits...

I guess I'll never understand the criminal mind.

From KXAS:

Bedford police have joined the hunt for an armed robber who targets a specific shoe store chain in North Texas.Police believe a man who entered a SAS Factory Shoe Store Tuesday is responsible for six robberies at other SAS stores.The robber Tuesday asked about buying a gift certificate from store manager Pamela Zimmerman."As I was writing it up, that's when he pulled the gun and asked me for all my money," Zimmerman said.SAS stores have circulated a flyer and video warning employees about the robber.

Now, I can certainly understand that perhaps a disgruntled, former SAS employee might want to take his anger out on the chain by robbing them But how stupid is it to continue to rob the same shoe store chain?

Moving

Blogging's has been light lately due to moving. The lovely Mrs. Smith and I have taken up residence in the southwest part of Cowtown. So far, we really like the neighborhood. One neighbor brought us a pound cake as a housewarming gift. Another neighbor leaves his/her Wi-Fi unsecured, which comes in really handy.

Free food and free internet. What else could you want?

Have Another Cup

Coffee and tea may reduce the risk of serious liver damage in people who drink alcohol too much, are overweight, or have too much iron in the blood, researchers reported on Sunday.

The study of nearly 10,000 people showed that those who drank more than two cups of coffee or tea per day developed chronic liver disease at half the rate of those who drank less than one cup each day.

Complete story from Reuters.

Cowboys Fumble Away First Place

Hampered by a totally inept offense, the Dallas Cowboys fumbled away first place in the NFC East, losing 17-10 to the New York Giants. It's bad enough when your offense can't put points on the board, but when they start a critical drive at the beginning of the second half by putting points on the board for the opposition, it's hard for a defense as good as the Boy's to overcome it

Behind 10-0 to start the second half, Dallas coach Bill Parcels must have figured he'd start the offense with some easy that they could handle. Dallas Quarterback Drew Bledsoe tried to hand the ball off to Julius Jones. Unfortunately, the play proved too complicated for center Andre Gurode, who apparently didn't realize he was supposed to block the Giant's defender as he ran right by him, knocking the ball loose. The Giants took the fumble into the end zone.

The 'Boys did come back and score 10 point through the rest of the second half, and even had chances to win the game, since the Giants tried to give the game away several times. But if you take the 10 points the offense did score, subtract the 7 they cost the team with the stupid fumble, that leaves the offense with a net 3 points for the game. That won't win many games in the NFL.

Give a game ball to the 'Boys defense, which did more than enough to win the game. Special recognition goes to defensive back Aaron Glenn who had two interceptions.

Complete story from FW Star-Telegram.

Fort Worth Officer Loses Fight For Life

Fort Worth police officer Hank Nava died late Thursday afternoon at Harris Hospital in Fort Worth. His wife and family were at his side. Two days ago Officer Nava was shot in the head while searching a home for a paroled felon. He is survived by his wife and two children.

Complete story from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.