Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, August 2, 2016

P25_Geeding_007

  • DadGeeding would have turned 93 today. That’s a childhood picture of him taken sometime during the Great Depression (1929-1939), I’m sure. He definitely had some ears on him. His sister died on his birthday, I remember that well, it might have been the first time I saw him cry as he said he was the only one left from his family that grew up in the house in Cincinnati.
  • WifeGeeding’s nephew had a mid-afternoon baseball game in McKinney on Sunday, so we thought we’d eat at the Hutchins BBQ McKinney location and was surprised the line was still long. The place got so full, they announced there were no more tables available and would stop serving until some freed up. But I thought this was cool, they chopped up some ribs, sausage, and brisket, put it on a tray, and passed it around for those of us in line.
  • I had to track down my Selective Service Number as well as the date I registered with them. If you ever need to do the same or print an official letter of verification, you can simply do so at their website. It turns out I did it within a week of turning eighteen. Figures, I tend to like to get stuff like that out of the way as soon as I can.
  • I’m a little slow, and it wasn’t until last night I realized that Memphis, Tennessee was named after the ancient capital of Egypt. Both are located on the banks of large rivers –  the Mississippi and the Nile. Now I need to relisten to “Walking in Memphis“. Fun fact, the song writer and original performer, Marc Cohn, is married to ABC News’ Elizabeth Vargas.
    • When I hear “Memphis” my first thought is of the X-Files episode “Never Again”. That’s the one where Scully gets a tattoo, and Mulder is forced to take a vacation and chooses to go to Graceland. The audience is teased early in the episode of the mysterious place Mulder plans to go, and I love the dialog –
      • “Ironically enough, it’s personal. It’s a place…that I always wanted to go. What I anticipate to be a spiritual journey. I hope to discover something about myself. Maybe you should do the same.”
      • This scene played through my mind over and over again as I prepared for my hike up Guadalupe Peak almost a year ago. A tiny part of me wants to do it again on my upcoming birthday, despite stating after the climb I would never want to do it again.
      • Other than Graceland, I’d want to visit the Lorraine Hotel, where MLK was shot and which is now a civil rights museum. If I recall correctly, his hotel room was kept as is.
      • Loved Mulder’s Elvis impersonation. (GIF)
      • I’d be remiss if I didn’t post a clip from one of the greatest Mulder and Scully moments, the one they dance with each other to Cher’s cover of “Walking in Memphis”.

  • Did any character in television or cinematic history ever pull off “smart is sexy” more than Scully?
  • Chernobyl nuclear exclusion zone could become the world’s largest solar farm‏
    • Because Chernobyl was a site for energy production in its former capacity, transmission lines already exist. “The Chernobyl site has really good potential for renewable energy,” Semerak said. “We already have high-voltage transmission lines that were previously used for the nuclear stations, the land is very cheap and we have many people trained to work at power plants.”
  • I don’t typically post stuff from the Huffington Post (or opinion pieces) because it’s obviously slanted, but this is topical and a lot of lawyers read this blog – Donald Trump Hired Me As An Attorney. Please Don’t Support Him For President.
  • Just when I wanted to give Hillary a chance, since I’m not fond of the other option, she lies to Fox News, of all places about FBI Director James Comey saying her answers were truthful – Why Can’t Hillary Clinton Stop Lying?The Democratic presidential nominee came off a successful convention week in Philadelphia and landed right back in hot water with another fabrication.
  • The Washington Post – Clinton and Trump will soon receive classified briefings. Here’s how that works.
    • If he wanted to, President Obama could deny either or both of them the now-traditional briefings. The process doesn’t work the way you might think. For one thing, the briefings are not legally mandated. They are a courtesy provided by the sitting president, nothing more.
    • It all started with Truman – In 1952, as Truman was preparing to leave the White House, he ordered that the CIA brief Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson “so that they would campaign with greater insight and also know key national security players once elected
    • They aren’t as regular or as detailed as the Presidential Daily Brief
    • “The briefings have to take place in SCIFs” — sensitive compartmented information facilities — “or secure conferencing facilities that the government has, so it’s not like you can just get the briefing on the campaign bus,”
  • NCAA changes rule to allow coaches to like, retweet recruits
  • 536 people total who have been into space, but only 24 have traveled to deep space. At least that’s what this article about having sex in space said. Deep space is a general term, but basically is anything beyond the influence of Earth.

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3 Responses to Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, August 2, 2016

  1. RPM says:

    Did any character in television or cinematic history ever pull off “smart is sexy” more than Scully?
    Emily Procter as Ainsley Hayes in The West Wing.

  2. John Mackovic says:

    Nobody's really left Earth's orbit. Those 24 just traveled to the Moon, which is still orbiting Earth. Culturally speaking, I guess Luna is pretty far from us, with those Loonies and their line marriages .

    Happy birthday DadGeeding!

  3. ALEC says:

    I just got back form Washington DC (drove). On the way back the family and I stopped at the Civil Rights Museum. It was a great experience, not only is Dr. King's room as he left it, but the rooming house from where he was shot is also part of the museum, one can see exactly where James Earl Ray stood as he fired the shot that killed Dr. King. The rifle and the bullet casing is also on display. It was comparable to anything we saw in Washington, it was incredible, so glad we opted for that instead of Graceland.

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