- I recall an old Johnny Carson joke about the fatwa on Salman Rushdie. Something about him having the unfortunate last name, Rush-die.
- Alfred Hitchcock Refused To Meet Steven Spielberg When He Was Alive
- But this failure to get together was not from want of trying on Spielberg’s behalf. In his audio book Tales of Hollywood, storyteller Stephen Schochet explains that Hitchcock’s morning routine was once “upset by an uninvited young man hovering around the movie set” of his last film Family Plot’, released in 1976. The infamous director of Psycho and The Birds” is said to have called a crew member to have the trespasser removed. According to Schochet, that intruder was Spielberg, buoyed by the success of Jaws and anxious to meet his idol.Throughout his later life, Hitchcock repeatedly refused to meet Spielberg. The reason for his reluctance was only revealed when American actor Bruce Dern, who appeared in two of Hitchcock’s films including psychological thriller Marnie, released his autobiography. Dern says that he tried to convince Hitchcock to finally introduce himself to Spielberg: “I said, ‘You’re his idol. He just [wants] to sit at your feet for five minutes and chat with you’,” but Hitchcock refused, writes Dern. “He said, ‘Isn’t that the boy who made the fish movie?… I could never sit down and talk to him… because I look at him and feel like such a whore’.”
- Maybe it’s because I’m from this area, but I was surprised to know some people thought Half-Priced Books started in Austin. Either way, she turns 50.
- In keeping with the squirrel theme this week (I bet Texas squirrels make fun of NYC squirrels who complain about the heat just like us human Texans) – City tells New Yorkers: don’t panic about ‘splooting’ squirrels – Yes, it’s a real word. Here’s the science (and etymology) behind
- This week, with temperatures reaching 95F (35C), the city’s parks department urged residents not to worry about the health of squirrels seen sprawling on the ground, legs extended behind them like a person whose arms gave out halfway through a yoga class. “On hot days, squirrels keep cool by splooting (stretching out) on cool surfaces to reduce body heat,” the department tweeted.
- Primary care doctors would need more than 24 hours in a day to provide recommended care – If they followed national recommendation guidelines for preventive care, chronic disease care and acute care, it would take a primary care physician 26.7 hours per day to see an average number of patients, a new study finds.
- The windshield wipers on this RV fascinate me.
Bag of Randomness for Monday, August 15, 2022
- Yesterday was the blessing of the backpacks at our church. Parents were asked to walk with their children to the front of the church. I chose to stay seated, even though I wanted to go up and stand next to my son and daughter. But I feared my ex may claim I’m not being respectful of her space and boundaries.
- Today would have been my mother’s 75th birthday. When she died, she didn’t have a single gray or white strand of hair. Today is also the birthday of this blog. She turns 17.
- It’s hatch chili pepper season. I forgot how spicey those things can get, even in a bowl of queso.
- I didn’t know Emmitt Smith and his wife divorced a little while back.
- In Utah, no child support, no hunting or fishing
- Texas congressman swears off ‘eating a whole plate of dog penis’ again
- Jackson explained that he first tried the dish in South Korea, so he could potentially be referring to “Gaebul,” the word for a phallic-shaped fish eaten in South Korea that translates to “penis fish,” according to Travel Food Atlas.
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I35w southbound right lane blocked, now a boat-launch – @DFWscanner pic.twitter.com/7ALyorIiAC
— NHETexas (@NHETexas76) August 15, 2022 -
Whoever invented the Kmart “Double Take” method has to be considered the Thomas Edison of studio photography …
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) August 14, 2022
pic.twitter.com/Yxfs4Q52RT - I spoke to a few friends about the following Mark Rober squirrel YouTube video. If you aren’t familiar with Rober, he quit his job at NASA to make YouTube videos like this full time. He’s done well, as a matter of fact, he guest-hosted for Jimmy Kimmel last week.
Bag of Randomness for Friday, August 12, 2022
- John Smoltz’s father died yesterday and John still announced the Field of Dreams game on Fox last night. There’s no way I could do that without crying.
- I met a lady through a dating app for dinner last night. We decided to start a friendship. She’s pretty darn interesting.
- One thing I’m starting to notice in recent Beto town hall photos are the spectators have gray or white hair. His demographic used to be much younger.
- A Granbury mom’s campaign to ban library books divided her town — and her family
- Google to stop giving answers to silly questions
- Google will stop giving snappy answers to stupid questions, the company has announced, as it seeks to improve its search engine’s “featured snippets” service. That means users should see fewer answers to questions such as “When did Snoopy assassinate Abraham Lincoln?”, to which the service would once merrily respond with “1865” – the right date, but very much the wrong assassin.
- Sad if this is true.
Iowa doesn’t have an @MLB team yet we are blacked out of 6 different markets. ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/IBy7p9cJzn
— J.D. Scholten (@JDScholten) August 11, 2022
- This should help explain flash flood season.
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These are the muscles activated while swimming pic.twitter.com/NNTfOPD4AH
— H0W_THlNGS_W0RK (@wowinteresting8) August 11, 2022
Bag of Randomness for Thursday, August 11, 2022
- What do ya know, it is possible for rain to fall on North Texas in August. Grass will turn from brown to yellow.
- For the first day of school, I neither see my kids off or greet them when they get home. So, I called yesterday evening to see how things went. They are at that stage where they are too cool to talk about it.
- I have no problem with a defendant invoking the Fifth. The right exists for a reason. But if you consistently claim that only guilty people invoke it, and then invoke it yourself, that’s being a hypocrite.
- I’m glad to see Texas voters at least get to witness one debate – Greg Abbott agrees to one debate with Beto O’Rourke, but O’Rourke wants more
- This is disheartening – designed is getting more expensive… unless you want ads
- I have a dinner date tonight. I’m not a fan of meeting and eating. The emphasis is on getting to know one another, not the meal or venue. It’s awkward trying to talk and time your bite so you don’t have that awkward pause of chewing while trying to answer a question. It adds to the awkward silence.
- Big Bend National Park closes more sites due to increased bear activity
- CEO Mark Zuckerberg is ‘creepy and manipulative,’ says Meta’s new AI Chatbot
- Paraplegic shooting suspect can avoid trial and end his life, Spanish court says
- CEO’s LinkedIn Crying Selfie About Layoffs Met With Backlash
- LAPD: Body found on fire hanging in tree in Griffith Park likely a suicide
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Fixing a zipper with a fork pic.twitter.com/QVfSnC9T78
— H0W_THlNGS_W0RK (@wowinteresting8) August 10, 2022
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Do you want to understand why Texas is the way it is? You have to know who is funding the politicians. 26 people have poured over $56,000,000 in the past 12 months into Texas politics. This illustrates the who and where.#DeepInThePocketsOfTexas#txlege pic.twitter.com/3PIlQIQgNn
— Christopher Tackett (@cjtackett) August 10, 2022