Daily Archives: December 12, 2005

Kinky Friedman interview

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kinky2.jpgMichael Schaub posts this interesting interview with Texas author, songwriter (The Ballad of Charles Whitman, They Ainít Makiní Jews Like Jesus Anymore and Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed), musician and independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, which includes the following pearls of wisdom from the self-styled original Texas Jewboy:

Q: Do you think youíd be able to work with the Democrats and the Republicans in the state legislature?
Absolutely. I will charm their pants off. Invite ëem over, weíll have some barbecue, smoke some cigars together, and weíll get this thing rolling. And a lot of things can be done without the legislature, . . . Iíd like to rename four state highways after Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Bob Wills, and Buddy Holly. Not toll roads, by the way.
Q: (State) Senator Jeff Wentworth objected to naming a road after Willie Nelson this year.
Thatís right! (Laughs.) But it was a toll road! Willie said heís worked hard his whole life, and doesnít want a toll road named after him, and that maybe the electric chair would be good.
Q: Who do you think was the last great governor that Texas had?
Great? Probably Sam Houston. Itís been downhill from there. I always like to quote Henry Kissinger, who said that 90 percent of politicians give the other 10 percent a bad name.
Q: Youíve talked about your ìanti-wussificationî campaign for Texas. What does that involve?
Making it okay to say ìMerry Christmas.î Making it okay to smoke where you want to. Bringing back the Ten Commandments. I may have to change their name to the Ten Suggestions. I want to bring them back to the public schools. They were taken out not because of church and state, but because of political correctness. Some atheist came up and said he didnít like the Ten Commandments. We all know what happens when an atheist dies. His tombstone reads ìAll dressed up and no place to go.î By the way, Iíve written my own epitaph, Mike, which is: ìIf you can read this, youíre standing on my head.î Itís a good one, ainít it?

Read the entire interview. If Friedman stays in the race, then the television ratings for the upcoming Texas gubernatorial debates in 2006 may set records. ;^)

ConocoPhillips makes big play for Burlington Resources

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burlington-logo.gifConocoPhillips is negotiating to purchase Burlington Resources Inc. in a huge $30 billion deal in a big bet that natural gas supplies will remain tight and higher prices the norm for the forseeable future. Burlington stock has been a hot item this year, trading at $40.40 a share in January and closing this past Friday at $76.09. ConocoPhillips shares closed Friday at $63.07 a share, giving it a hefty market cap of $87.5 billion. Although negotiations are still ongoing, a deal could be announced by the two Houston-based companies later this week.
Burlington Resources is one of the most successful companies developing natural-gas production from unconventional fields where the gas is embedded in rocky formations that make drilling difficult, expensive and dangerous. Inasmuch as natural gas is a relatively clean-burning fuel that heats a majority of U.S. homes and is widely used in industry, rising prices and improved technology are making unconventional natural gas fields much more attractive to energy companies that are increasingly desperate to increase reserves. About 80% of Burlington’s assets are related to North American natural gas fields.
The impending deal highlights conflicting views in the oil and gas industry as to whether such deals are good buys. On one hand, some traditional voices such as outgoing Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Lee Raymond take the position that current high energy prices reflect a business cycle and that, as a result, producing and reserve assets are over-priced during such cycles. On the other hand, there is a growing faction in the oil and gas industry that views rising commodity prices as a fundamental shift in the market resulting from growing world-wide demand and slowing growth in supplies. Thus, that view contends that even expensive deals for companies with solid asset portfolios are a good bet, which was the rationale for Chevron Corp.’s $18 billion acquisition of Unocal Corp. earlier this year.

2005 Weekly local football review

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David Carr grimacing.jpgTitans 13 Texans 10

Texans kicker Kris Brown made his contribution to the Reggie Bush sweepstakes today as he missed not one, but two, field goals in the closing minutes to ensure that the Texans (1-12) remain in position to have the worst record in the NFL this season and have the first draft choice in the 2006 NFL Draft. This was another particularly ugly game that pitted two bad teams playing in front of a half-filled stadium in Nashville on a cold, gray day. The Texans’ offense amassed a paltry 234 yards, including 82 through the air as Texans QB David Carr was sacked six times and hit or hurried countless other times — the Texans’ pass offense is the worst in the NFL this season and one of the worst in the NFL over the past several seasons. The Texans play Arizona and Jacksonville over the next two weeks at Reliant Stadium before mercifully finishing their abysmal season in San Francisco on New Year’s Day.

Cowboys 31 Kansas City 28

In the type of hugely entertaining game that Texans fans thought they were going to be seeing this season, the Cowboys (8-5) survived a wild last 22 seconds in this one to remain a game back of the Giants in the NFC East. After offensive line problems had constricted the Pokes’ offense over the past several games, the Cowboys burst out for 445 yards of total offense as QB Drew Bledsoe threw for three TD’s, including the game winner. Given the Cowboys remaining schedule (at Washington, at Carolina, and St. Louis at home), I’ve got my doubts that they can win all three, but this team is feisty and has played every game close this season. If the Pokes make the playoffs, no team is going to want to play them.

In other local football-related news, Texas Longhorn QB Vince Young, who hails from Houston Madison High School, came in second to Bush in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy. In most years, Young would have been a run-away winner of the award, which is college football’s most prestigious. However, Bush is a once-in-a-decade type of player and his exploits late in season for USC sealed the award for him.