Skattershooting as I think about how much I don't understand rap music  . . . .

• ESPN broadcaster Dick Schapp died suddenly last month. Eerily, he published a book last year entitled "Flashing Before My Eyes".
• Country Singer Deana Carter was arrested last month for DWI. Coincidentally, her biggest hit is entitled "Strawberry Wine".
• Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11th, had Todd Beamer on board who was instrumental in trying to overcome the hijackers. His last words were, bravely, "Let's Roll". I'm afraid if I had two young children at home and a pregnant wife, I wouldn't have been quite so brazen. (The newest child, Morgan Kay Beamer,  was born today, 1/9/02)
• I thought I recalled a rock group named Anthrax when I was growing up. Low and behold, I picked up the paper the other day and saw they were playing in Deep Ellum on January 25, 2002, along with Judas Priest.
• There are some phrases that need to be retired from the English language: "I hate it when that happens", "If I told you I would have to kill you", and "If you don't like Texas weather, wait a minute" are the leading candidates.
• I wonder how much Motorola had to pay to get its name plastered on the headset of every NFL football coach. Whose ever idea it was, it was genius.
• Did not Richard Reed, who had an explosive device in his shoe while on his was from Paris to Miami, look exactly like you would expect a terrorist to look like?
• This photo, showing UT football coach Mack Brwon celebrating with OU coach Bob Stoops and Barry Switzer has been the subject of many a discussion among longhorn fans.
• Speaking of UT football, let me be the first to utter "I told you so" about the Major Applewhite v. Chris Simms debacle.
• Speaking of Mack Brown, he asked Barry Switzer to address the team before the Big 12 Championship game. Longhorn legend Darryl Royal, a Switzer-hater, was not pleased.
• A clash of cultures occurred on television at 7:00 pm on Christmas Eve. On NBC, you had a chance to see "It's a Wonderful Life". On ABC, you could have tuned in to "Ernest Saves Christmas".
• Speaking of "Wonderful Life", wasn't it a bit shocking, considering when the movie was made, when Donna Reed's character yells: "He's making violent love to me, mother!". (A .wav file of the sound bit is here).
• I've decided that the most important part of the President's job is to look presidential.
• I know it's nit-picking, but why did Katie Couric lie to the audience by telling us on Christmas Day that "Gene Shalit is up with us early to tell us what movies" we should rent. A tape of an obviously previously recorded segment then runs. Heck, I bet old Gene was in bed.
• Speaking of Katie, did she see she just received a raise to increase her salary to $16 million a year! Heck, I kinda like weekend host Soledad O'Brien.
• The mayor's race in Dallas is wide open but the Dallas Morning News has already run three editorials telling us why we should vote for Tom Dunning. Is it any coincidence that opponent Laura Miller just happened to be a former reporter with the Dallas Observer?
• Did the new Texaco near the Texas Motor Speedway shut down?
• Did you know they now have gambling casinos in Colorado?
• Talk about cross promotion, Disney was promoting itself left and right recently on ABC  which it happens to own. (Dick Clark cuts to Disney World during the always lame "New Year's Rockin' Eve"; during the Fiesta Bowl we had a pre-game show "live from Walt Disney World"; and before the national championship game, we saw videos of Miami and Nebraska players at Disneyland.)
• I've become a big fan of actor Owen Wilson. (He played the ex-boyfriend in "Meet the Parents").
• Talking football, what in the world is a "skinny post"?
• Federal Judge Joe Kendall is leaving a lifetime job appointment to go to work for one of the major law firms that made millions (if not billions) off of the state tobacco settlement. I don't know why, but that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.
• Whenever the federal government issues a warning for us to be on "high alert" for terrorism, what exactly does that mean? To paraphrase a line delivered on Saturday Night Live, "I can't be any more alert than I already am!"
• Juan Gonzales is set to come back to the Texas Rangers. Be prepared to hear that he is 'appy, 'xcited to be back.
• Speaking of divorce, what is the purpose of someone taking out a classified saying: "I will not be responsible for any debts other than my own"?
• Has Demi Moore made a movie lately?
• Ocean's 11 is not bad. I didn't understand Vanilla Sky. The most depressing movie I've seen is In The Bedroom, and feel free to pass on seeing The Royal Tenenbaums.
• Why is NFL Films (it is behind "Inside the NFL" on HBO) obsessed with a zooming in on a football in flight and also reducing the speed to slow motion. Boring. Boring. Boring.
• I liked Madonna's "Santa Baby".