Bag of Randomness

  • Later today, a private company called SpaceX will be launching a rocket with supplies to the International Space Station.  Also on board that rocket will be cremated remains of space enthusiasts, including Scotty from Star Trek and Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper.  Their remains are in the second stage of the rocket deployment which will be released and should orbit the Earth for a year before burning up into the atmosphere.  I guess attaching the remains from loved-ones and allowing them to, ahem, touch the face of God, is a good way to raise private funds.
  • WFAA had a segment about the new U.S.S. Fort Worth.  If you think about it, that’s an odd name for a ship.  The Navy ship is named after a city that was named after an old Army camp.
  • I’m not sure Bacon Armor provide good protection.
  • A Chinese firm bought AMC Theaters – That’s kind of a weird move for a country that  does so much censorship, but I guess when it comes to money there’s something they are willing to bow to capitalism for.
  • At the end of the Sunday morning worship service at our church, the graduating seniors were recognized and asked about their future.  One girl stated she’s going to Texas Tech and I jovially whispered to WifeGeeding that she’ll be home and pregnant a year from now.  But to make up for that crude joke, I actually congratulated her and gave her the church name and contact information of a pastor friend of mine in Lubbock should she be seeking a church home or just needs anything in general.
  • In this interview Will Smith tells the story about the great advice Alfonso Ribeiro gave him in choosing a character name for the Fresh Prince and raps the show intro with the studio audience.
  • If this 5th grade supply list is real, then times have changed.
  • I actually like the feeling of peeling and rubbing dried Elmer’s glue off my hands.  Oh, here’s a little known fact, but the bull on the Elmer’s glue bottle is the husband of Bordon’s Elsie the Cow.
  • House series finale thoughts:
    • The beginning of the show had a reference to the movie Dead Poets Society, which cracked me up because the actor that plays Wilson had a major role in that film.
    • It was nice seeing a lot of the old characters come back, but was a bit surprised to see that there was no Cuddy appearance.
    • I saw the fake death coming, but I would have been happy with either ending.
    • I’m glad they didn’t drag out Wilson’s death and left his remaining days and House’s future up to our imagination.
  • Current Mad Men thoughts:
    • The writers appear to be giving the audience what they’ve been wanting for this year with Pete Campbell getting beat up and Don and Peggy having spending time with one another.  I wonder if it’s their way of rewarding us for such a long lull between seasons.
    • What’s up with everyone wanting to be sci-fi writers?  Ken Cosgrove writes under a pen name and Paul Returns wanting to write for Star Trek.
    • Lakshmi’s visit to the office and “doing it for the movement” didn’t make sense to me.
    • Exactly when did Roger know he was the father of Joan’s baby?  I guess he always knew, since her husband was away and he slept with her.
    • Don’s comebacks or one-liners haven’t been that great in the last two episodes with Ginsberg (I don’t think of you) and Pete (I’d live here if it wasn’t a pipe dream).  Either the writers have lost their vernacular touch or they are showing that Don has lost a step.  But I did like this line of his towards the end of the show, “Prepare to swim the English channel and drown in champagne.”  During that speech he also said “the pitch” which made me wonder if that was a way of AMC trying to loosely advertise their latest show called The Pitch.
    • Pete can never get the reaction he’s looking for, and that cracks me up.  It also cracks me up that Lane has such poor communication skills that no one understood they were getting a bonus while the big-wigs were not.
    • It shall be interesting to see the forged Draper/Price check reappear.
    • The watches of Mad Men
  • Google Chrome has been my default browser for a while, and now it appears to be the most popular browser in the world.
  • I think in the future we’ll always see playoff NBA games where the home team gives away shirts so the crowd can all be uniform.
  • Parents at a laundromat put their child in a washing machine and didn’t realize it would autolock and start to understandingly freak out.  The YouTube description that the child thankfully had minor injuries, but there’s no telling how long the poor thing will be in therapy.  This description kinda give me chills: The toddler tumbles helplessly, trapped in the machine, water pouring in, while the parents struggle with the locked door and then search for help.
  • 72 not-Dr. Peppers
  • Something that might just replace the mouse and keyboard.
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RARE: Portraits of America’s Endangered Species

Earth’s biodiversity is vanishing at an alarming rate. This video from National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore shows what we stand to lose. More information is available in his forthcoming book, RARE: Portraits of America’s Endangered Species.

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