We knew it was coming, but today Molly Ivins, the red-headed Texas troublemaker, died at her Austin, Texas, home after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 62. Damn.

More below, but here's a cool Molly Memphis fact I found Thursday morning: She wrote the New York Times's obit for Elvis in 1977! (For that nugget and more from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram obit; click here.)

ORLANDO -- I have no clue how the Tigers will play tonight, but I can assure you this will be the most hostile, emotional environment Memphis has played in this season. And that includes Tennessee and Arizona.

The people here are absolutely keyed up. As I was walking into UCF Arena, the students were lined up four-deep all the way down two flights of stairs to get in. With 50 minutes before tip-off, about 1/3 of the arena is already full.

Here's when you know this is the most-anticipated basketball game ever played on the UCF campus: I walked by a block of seats with "Obstructed View" signs. I'm almost positive they've never had to put that sign up before.

Yes, I know it'll be COLD this weekend, but that probably means you'll actually see some of the fabled bald eagles that nest this time of year at Reelfoot Lake in northwest Tennessee. We went last year on a warmish weekend, so we only spotted one of these amazing creatures, but man he was BIG. And, considering how close they came to extinction, the fact that they winter so close to Memphis is all the more reason to bundle everyone up and make the 100-mile trip.

This weekend is the time to go, since it's Eagle Fest....

Got a late night call from a sister-in-law who just saw her first head louse. It was crawling along her 9-year-old daughter's scalp. Mother and daughter are headed to their pediatrician's office this morning for some professional advice.

But experience is a great teacher, so please send along any tips picked up from your family's battles with the creepy critters. (That's them on the left with the penny. It's amazing how much effort it takes to get rid of something so small.) I'll pass them (the suggestions, not the lice) along.

Yeah, I should have written this post several hours (or days) ago, but it's been a pretty busy evening up here.

Anyway, there are (were) two big metal-themed events in Midtown tonight:

* The Hi-Tone's "Rock and Roll Drive-In" installment featuring a 1985 concert film of Venom, Slayer and Exodus. Eric "The Hook Up" has been putting this night together the past few weeks, showing films featuring Kraut-rockers Can, the Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, and others. Because of some glitches involving the promotional materials for this weekly, there is something of a running joke about dudes showing up at the Hi-Tone at 7 p.m. saying they drove all the way from Jonesboro to see Judas Priest for free, only to find out it's just a film!

* An actual live metal show at Murphy's, featuring Byzantine, Serapis and Cremains. I don't know much about any of these bands as I haven't listened to metal since puberty, but engineer Leo Goff has been working on the Cremains studio recording sessions, and describes them as "loud."

P.S. I'm listening to the tracks on the Cremains MySpace page, and my head is about to fall off.

I'm starting to feel that there is something of a metal resurgence going on, what with shows like these, and bands like Evil Army and Adios Gringo doing their thing. Am I on to something, or have I been listening to jazz for too long?

Anyone looking for on-the-job exercise should consider a career as a mail carrier.

A recent survey by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, found those folks walked roughly 7.5 miles during an average work day. That compares with secretaries, who had the least active of the 10 jobs surveyed. In this study they walked about 1.7 miles during a normal work day.

Custodians rated just behind postal worker for physical activity. At the other end of the spectrum

In the spirit of the overblown launch of Windows Vista, this'll give you a chuckle:

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0 ...