Your Bag of Nothing for Thursday, August 15, 2024

  • I thought I had a decent poker face, but now I humbly admit I do not. I was on a date yesterday evening and was having a good time. My date was telling me a story and stopped out of concern, asking me what was wrong because my face changed, almost like I’d seen a ghost. That surprised me because I did all I could do to keep a straight face and stay engaged as my ex-wife walked by. I thought this stuff only happens in the movies. I think it’s all in my eyes because I really tried hard to act like nothing happened. At first, I was mad at myself, thinking it wasn’t her and I was letting her live rent-free in my head, again. But then I noticed a certain mannerism she always does when she gets stressed, and then I knew for sure it was her. It all worked out. I think it broke the ice, and she asked for my number after I escorted her to her car.
  • I ran across an article about Pamela Anderson’s son, which said, “Pamela Anderson’s 28-year-old son, Brandon Thomas Lee, was removed from the swanky country club he’s a member of after an altercation on the golf course.” I wonder why fathers, especially ones who are celebrities in their own right, aren’t included as a parent.
  • In retrospect, should they have used the Top Gun anthem during Tom Cruise’s entrance into the closing ceremony? I’m not complaining about the music; in fact, I’ve been scouring the web for the song H.E.R. played as he descended, but it seemed like a missed opportunity. For some reason, I can’t stop thinking about the moment, which I knew was coming because of press leaks. I really got a kick out of how he gazed into the camera just before he jumped as if it were nothing.
  • I like Simone Biles’ husband, Chicago Bear Jonathan Owens. The latest Hard Knocks focused on him a bit as he left training camp to support his wife. He’s obviously not as well known as her, but I liked the way he answered a question about how marrying her is a true prize, which it is. But he said he thinks of it as her winning the prize. He said in a non-selfish manner, which caught my attention. I wish I thought about myself as positively as he thinks about himself. Something else that caught my attention was how perceptive he was and his professional athletic mindset. He was commenting on a rope climbing contest he lost to his wife. He pointed out her form and how she didn’t waste any energy. That tells me he studies technique. And if I were a coach or fan of the Bears, I’d be happy that he’s our starting safety, who has to read defenses and constantly acts on his perceptions. It’s just a part of his personality and who he is. I wish I could identify something like that in me and be in a profession that takes advantage of it.
  • This isn’t all that surprising – Celebrities do have an impact on elections, Harvard study finds
  • LiberallyLean mentioned Willie Horton yesterday.
    • Curious, I searched to see if he was still alive and in prison. Yes, and yes, and he’s 73.
    • I also discovered that Dukakus is still alive and 90 years old.
    • That led me to read about the late Republican strategist Lee Atwater and a 2015 article on the Marshall Project’s website. This part stood out:
      • “My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart, a lot of brotherhood,” Atwater wrote in Life magazine just weeks before his death, at age 40, of a brain tumor. “In 1988,” he continued, “fighting Dukakis, I said that I ‘would strip the bark off the little bastard’ and ‘make Willie Horton his running mate.’ I am sorry for both statements: the first for its naked cruelty, the second because it makes me sound racist, which I am not.” There were rumors that Atwater sent Horton a personal letter of apology. Horton says he doesn’t remember that, but concedes he received so much mail during that time, it could have easily gotten lost or thrown away.

      • One cool feature of the Marshall’s Project website, at least that article, is how they embedded audio clips. I’m not sure how to describe it, but I liked it. The clips complimented the article and were nonintrusive. You simply click on the clip, and it plays and transcribes what was said with a countdown timer. I guess I’m too used to how most articles link to another page or pop-up video player and force you to watch an ad before hearing what you want.
  • A University of Kentucky student pleads guilty after singing the N-word 200 times at black staffer in 10-minute rant
    • You can watch a clip of the unfortunate event here. Those two black women were very composed.
  • It warms my heart when I hear random stories about Robin Williams’ kindness – Sally Field Recalls How Robin Williams Changed Mrs. Doubtfire Filming Schedule After Her Dad’s Sudden Death
    • There’s a push to put a statue of him as his Good Will Hunting character in Boston, and Matt Damon had some cool things to say about it, after hearing, I like the idea behind it,
      • “I don’t know if it will happen, but I really hope it does. Someone proposed to us an artist to do a bronze statue of Robin and permanently put it there, and the idea being that if you feel alone you can go sit next to him, which I think is the coolest idea.
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