One of the closest friends I made in college, and who I somewhat regularly keep in touch with, is from Spokane, Washington. Hearing about the recent wildfires, I thought I’d check in on him. Sadly, he lost his home, and this is all that’s left.
I’m trying to imagine not only what it’s like to lose all your possessions, but also to see your neighbors the day before and realize you may never see many of them again. Insurance will be a pain, and understandably not many will be patient enough or have the funds to rebuild.
I watch a lot of Jeopardy! and think Ken Jennings has done a fantastic job of succeeding the iconic Alex Trebek, who many thought was simply unreplaceable. He’s been the host for six years now, and was the first celebrity Jeopardy! contestant when he went on a crazy winning streak. Of course, that only came to be because the show decided to lift its rule of capping winning streaks at five.
But get this: his first win, the one that started that legendary winning streak, almost never happened because of his Final Jeopardy! answer.
In his first episode, the Final Jeopardy! answer was, “She’s the first female track and field athlete to win medals in five different events at a single Olympics.”
Jennings responded, “Who is Jones?”, using only the last name of Marion Jones (who was not stripped of her medals until 2007).
Host Alex Trebek said, “We will accept that; in terms of female athletes, there aren’t that many.”
And then he won 73 straight games.
And for the heck of it, another legendary Jeopardy! moment. Cliff’s opponent reminds me of Marcia Clark. I wish they didn’t cut off the first part with Woody and Norm in the audience and Woody talks about his excitement of seeing that giant blue ball from the intro explode.
I posted this less than three weeks ago:
And here are some headlines from yesterday:
This man was not happy with the Pitigliano travel guide he bought and promptly left a review on Amazon.
Here’s one of the oddest questions my trivia team had to answer this week: Name all six Matthew McConaughey romantic comedies since the year 2000. We got all but one.
In case you are wondering:
- Tiptoes (2003): Co-stars Gary Oldman, Kate Beckinsale, and Patricia Arquette; a man who must reveal to his pregnant fiancée that his entire family are little people, in case their own child is born with dwarfism.
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003): Co-stars Kate Hudson; an ad executive and a writer date with hidden agendas.
- The Wedding Planner (2001): Co-stars Jennifer Lopez; a wedding planner falls for a man whose wedding she is organizing.
- Failure to Launch (2006): Co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker; parents hire an interventionist to date their 35-year-old stay-at-home son.
- Fool’s Gold (2008): Re-teams McConaughey and Kate Hudson as a divorced couple hunting for lost treasure.
- Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009): Co-stars Jennifer Garner; a cynical photographer is haunted by past relationships in a twist on A Christmas Carol.
I think the History Channel does a good job of getting certain celebrities to host its shows, especially when you consider their backgrounds and some of their acting roles. For example, consider Dolph Lundgren, who hosts History’s Greatest Machines and has an engineering background. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT in 1983 and earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney.
Other examples:
- Tom Hanks: Narrator of World War II with Tom Hanks, focusing on critical global conflict operations.
- David Duchovny: Host of Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny, examining newly revealed government files.
- Pierce Brosnan: Host of History’s Greatest Heists with Pierce Brosnan, breaking down complex criminal plots.
- Laurence Fishburne: Host and narrator of History’s Greatest Mysteries, diving into unsolved historical enigmas.
- Morgan Freeman: Host of History’s Greatest Escapes with Morgan Freeman, detailing high-stakes prison breaks.
- Henry Winkler: Host of Hazardous History with Henry Winkler, exploring reckless pastimes and forgotten Americana.
- Ving Rhames: Host of History’s Deadliest, analyzing lethal historical events and figures.
- Danny Trejo: Host of Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo, uncovering strange artifacts and historical oddities.
- Dan Aykroyd: Host of The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd, showcasing bizarre real-life occurrences.
Upcoming will be Tom Selleck hosting Crime and Justice, Ted Danson with Extraordinary Origins, and there’s an unnamed Kevin Bacon project, which I hope covers uncured meats.
AI-powered Alpha Schools to expand in North Texas
The high-end, AI-powered private school Alpha Schools plans to grow from a dozen to roughly 50 campuses in the 2026 school year, its founder tells Axios.
Why it matters: While traditional schools navigate how to adopt AI, Alpha Schools has created an AI-dependent classroom model that the company claims reduces screen time and increases human interaction.
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- Tuition costs $45,000 to $75,000 a year.
Zoom in: This school year, Alpha plans to open campuses in 27 markets, including Highland Park, Carrollton and Southlake.
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- Some openings were previously announced and delayed, largely because of real estate issues, says MacKenzie Price, co-founder and CEO of Alpha Schools.
- Alpha currently has two locations in North Texas — Plano and Fort Worth.
How it works: Students spend no more than two hours a day on AI software to learn core subjects, Price says.
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- They spend the rest of the day developing life skills in workshops. (For example, students have organized a music festival for a nonprofit.)
- Instead of licensed teachers conducting lessons, Alpha Schools hires “guides” whose jobs are to motivate and coach students. They’re paid at least $100,000 a year.
Curious, I looked up one of their job descriptions.
The public hates Flock cameras.
20,000 People Are Publicly Vouching For a Man Accused of Cutting Down Flock Cameras – Thousands fabricate online alibis for Wesley Jackson, charged with destroying Flock Safety cameras.
Thousands of strangers are lining up to provide alibis for someone most of them have never met. When WDTV posted about the arrest of Wesley N. Jackson, a 20-year-old from Gerrardstown, West Virginia, the Facebook comment section turned into something between a character witness parade and performance art. Unverified claims poured in — users insisting Jackson was volunteering, rescuing animals, anywhere but near the Flock Safety cameras he allegedly destroyed around Morgantown on or about June 26.
Check out FlockHopper to see if any are in your area. There are five of them in my small hometown of Mineral Wells.
As Dak Prescott walked off the practice field, he thought a fan had given him a normal hat. It wasn’t until later he realized it wasn’t.
— Fort Worth Star-Telegram (@star-telegram.com) August 6, 2026 at 9:30 PM
today i learned prosthetics are allowed at all levels in both women and men’s baseball.
which is pretty effing awesome.
— John Bull (@garius.bsky.social) August 6, 2026 at 12:35 AM