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• The Musers on The Ticket’s morning show announced to extend their shelf life; they started to cut an hour from their show by ending an hour early. That’s cool and all, but if you are complaining about not getting enough sleep, how about cutting the first hour of the show and getting another hour of sleep instead of cutting off the end of the show? I wonder if they will continue to replay an entire segment from the previous day. They used to do that in case listeners missed the segment the day before, but that was back in the days of when you couldn’t get these segments online.
• German police 16 years looking for a serial killer whose DNA appeared at more than 40 crime scenes in three countries. The DNA turned out to be that of a worker at the factory that manufactured the cotton swaps the police used to collect evidence. The factory behind the cotton swabs clarified that their products were for medical purposes — and not qualified for DNA testing, according to the publication, which also reported that although cotton swabs are disinfected before leaving the factory, disinfecting them does not remove DNA.
• California man seeks reimbursement from raw milk dairy after two of his cats die
• Two death row inmates reject Biden’s commutation of their life sentences
  • They’re refusing to sign paperwork accepting his clemency action. The men believe that having their sentences commuted would put them at a legal disadvantage as they seek to appeal their cases based on claims of innocence.
• This short clip of Michael J. Fox receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom is worth watching.
  
• Governor Jimmy Carter appeared on What’s My Line in 1973 with Host Larry Blyden. No one had a clue who he was.
  
• That man really did not want to shake the Vice-President’s hand.
  

  We will stop talking about race when people stop doing things like this

  Deal? pic.twitter.com/epF29yiZ7U

  — Qondi (@QondiNtini) January 6, 2025

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• The holidays are behind us; let us all rejoice. As Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, the last game of college football is my marker for the unofficial end of the holidays. However, over the years, they keep moving the day deeper into January. The game is on January 20 this year, so I may have to find another marker.
• I watched a good portion of the Golden Globes. It seems everyone liked Nikki Glaser. You could certainly tell how much Demi Moore’s win meant to her as she rose above the notion of just being a popcorn actress. The most wholesome part of the evening may have been Colin Farrell thanking Carolina in craft services and her thoughtfulness. For the longest time, I couldn’t stand Farrell, but he’s grown on me.
• Some girl’s dating profile stated she was reading a book called Let Them. Curious, I researched the book and author. Intrigued, I downloaded the Kindle book sample. After reading that in one sitting, I bought the book and read a lot of it over the weekend. A handful of times, I implemented the technique, and I think it made life a bit more pleasant. It falls along that saving I’ve been focusing on, “Acceptance is the answer to all my problems.”
  • The Let Them Theory is a step-by-step guide on how to stop letting other people’s opinions, drama, and judgment impact your life. Two simple words, Let Them, will set you free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. It’s time to build a life where you come first—your dreams, your goals, your happiness.
• A few weeks ago, a friend asked if I was watching anything on any of the streaming services. I wasn’t, but for some reason, that made me think I should have been, so I started to watch Loudermilk since I’m a fan of Ron Livingst0n. If you like his Office Space character, it’s him but grown up, a music (rock) critic who leads a group similar to Alcoholics Anonymous in Seattle. One of the Farrelly brothers created it, but the other brother directed several of the episodes. I loved it. Sadly, Loudermilk consisted of only 30 half-hour shows. So, I needed something else to watch. Since the show paid homage of the popularity of how Ron Livingston and Kyle Chandler look alike. Those two really should play brothers in a movie; they are only two years apart in age.

  Being a fan of the Chandler, I decided to start watching Early Edition, an hour-long CBS show from the Nineties that ran for four seasons. It’s about a man who gets tomorrow’s newspaper a day in advance at his front door (along with a cat)  every morning, no matter where he wakes up. It allows him to prevent tragedies and help people in Chicago before they happen. Using his unique foreknowledge, Chandler’s character dedicates himself to changing potential future events and saving lives, all while wrestling with the moral complexity of altering destiny. Sadly, it’s not streaming anywhere, so I have resorted to alternative means to watch it.

• This will upset a lot of people, but I can’t fault Jerry for getting the most out of life and taking advantage of an opportunity laid before him. The clip is actually a bit longer, and I don’t know why the OP didn’t include it. But here’s the full version but with lackluster quality.
  

  Jerry Jones, one of the most (insert adjective of choice here) figures in Texas, has a minor part in the episode of Landman that was released today and actually comes off pretty well. https://t.co/SdRUnHGocP

  — Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) January 5, 2025

• Outraged by the January 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover, climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell the police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was ProPublica reporter Joshua Kaplan – The Militia and the Mole
  • He penetrated a new generation of militia leaders, which included doctors and government attorneys. He sent ProPublica a massive trove of documents. The conversations that he secretly recorded give a unique, startling window into the militia movement.
• I predict this will be the next big trend. You saw it here first.
  

  I love this concept! pic.twitter.com/dQ3inAO2gt

  — Fascinating (@fasc1nate) January 5, 2025

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qhRsMYexg9I&si=PlhHXdiI1Phel4TW

• I’ve known one of my closest friends since he moved here in the eight grade and we attended college together. Like his father, he went into the ministry. I had concerns over that because I thought he lack compassion. It was definitely lacking in our relationship. I happy to report the man has grown by leaps and bounds, and I’m so proud of him. He was part of the group of friends going to Cosm to watch the Fiesta Bowl to honor another friend’s accomplishment of earning his MBA from LSU last month. This friend who I thought lacked any compassion has certainly been there for me for the roughest three or four year patch of my life. But this time he surprised me with a Christmas present. I don’t he he’s ever given me a present before. I was pleasantly surprised at how thoughtful of a gift it was. It was this U2 coffee mug with all their albums on a shelf. I think he said it popped up in an advertisement and he thought I’d like it. I used think he was disappointed in me for loving the band because they were faux-Christians, for lack of a better word. I felt a sense of judgement anytime I spoke of them or Bono. All that to say, I was impressed with this thoughtful gift and feel there’s some significance behind it.

• We are now a quarter of a way into this millennium. That’s a lot of progress from my birth year of 1975. Just reaching the year 2000 felt like a significant milestone. In some ways, the year 2000, a major non-event, by the way, feels like it was just yesterday, but in a weird sort of way, it feels like eons ago as well.
• It sure has been fun following the Texas Longhorn football team this season. I thought they were going to blow it yesterday, but they won in overtime against Arizona State at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Their next game will be a good one against The Ohio State University at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas. These are my two favorite football teams, so it will feel a bit weird. But I’m a Longhorn at heart. Depending on how you look at things, I might even be a Longhorn. But I tread lightly because I don’t want to be a poser or steal any valor. I earned a business certificate from the university, taking several classes on the Austin campus. The only reason I think that may qualify me is that during my JFK deep-dive, I ran across this article on the University of Michigan’s website about Marina Oswald, Lee Harvey Oswald’s widow, earning a certificate from the university. They literally call her an “alumna of Michigan.”

  

• This major incident seems under-reported – US Treasury says it was hacked by China in ‘major incident’
  • Chinese state-sponsored hackers broke into the US Treasury Department’s systems earlier this month and were able to access employee workstations and some unclassified documents, American officials have said.
• I thought I’d write about my Cosm experience in case you are interested in checking it out for yourself. They really don’t sell individual tickets; you buy them in pairs or up to eight for a booth and table. Depending on the game, the price will vary. For instance, as of last night, they still haven’t priced their tickets for the College Football Semi-Finals or for the NFL playoffs. They’ll base their price on the popularity of the teams and matchups. I thought the $ 50-a-piece tickets we bought were the best bang for the buck. Here’s a diagram of the venue, and I circled our seats. We knew going into it that our view was going to be slightly obstructed at the top. The table in front of us sat eight and I think it cost $550. Premium seating was right above us on the front row.

  

  This is what the domed screen looked like from my seat. You’ll notice the view is slightly cut off at the top. The sound was fantastic, maybe a little too loud.

  

  This is what I saw directly in front of me. I don’t know why I didn’t realize going into it that they intended for it to be an immersive experience as if you are either standing on the sidelines or in the crowd. They will switch from about five different views, and I think I captured all of them in the collage below.

  

  

  Every now and then, they would show a reply like this.

  

  However, looking all the way to the right or left while on the floor level, you’ll see the traditional telecast.

  

  Again, you can see how our view was slightly obstructed, but it wasn’t bad. But, if you are looking for an immersive experience, it may take away from that. It would have felt more immersive if we were about 10-15 feet closer. If you are curious about what the very top of the dome looks like, here you go. These photos might make it appear that there is a screen and the industrial roof at the top is part of Cosm, but what you are seeing is the bottom of the actual roof of the stadium in Arizona. I don’t think any of my photos show it, but there were empty seats at the corners of the stadium, which surprised me; I thought a big bowl game would sell out of every seat in the venue.

  

  Directly behind us were some white cushioned seats. Here’s the view from when I sat in them. You miss out on all the action.

  

  Behind those chairs (visible below) were several large couch sectionals, and this is the view when seated in them. At least there’s a television with the traditional telecast, but you still get a good audio experience with the sounds of the crowd.