Bag of Randomness for Friday, March 15, 2019

  • Sometimes I hear stories of high school seniors being accepted to something like 17 colleges and universities. I never understood why one would apply to so many other than vanity. If you can’t make it into your top five, then you need to reevaluate some things. I believe every application comes with a fee, so that can add up.
  • Virgin Trains USA, a transportation startup (Sir Richard Branson is a minority owner), is exploring two high-speed routes in Texas — one tying together Austin, Houston, and San Antonio, and the other between Dallas and Houston.
  • The Hottest Chat App for Teens Is … Google Docs – How a writing tool became the new default way to pass notes in class
  • Virginia Mother Admits Injecting Child With Her Own Blood
    • A Virginia woman who admitted putting her blood in her son’s nose and mouth while he was in the hospital said she did it because she wanted her son to get attention from the hospital staff.
  • Nebraska family builds lifelike Ford Mustang out of snow: Trooper gives it ticket
  • One heck of a collision
  • Armchair political pundit time
    • Candidates have to strike when the iron is hot, not when they are ready. If JFK or Obama would have postponed running until the next election cycle they never would have become president. I think Chris Christie could have become president if he ran 2012, but he stated he didn’t think he was ready and had too much respect for the office to run without being ready. With all that in mind, there’s no better opportunity for Beto to run than now. I’m not endorsing the man or prognosticating a victory, I’m just stating he’ll never have a better opportunity. He was on Ellen and Colbert, and HBO is even doing a documentary about his failed Senate run. LeBron wore a Beto hat, Steve Kerr expressed his hope hed run, and other celebrities love him – he’s got a bit of electricity around him and has great exposure. He’ll have to overcome the fact he couldn’t win a statewide election in his home state.
    • President Trump is right, he does talk with his hands a bit much.
    • One tweet about him which stuck with me through most of the day, “Beto’s got VP written all over him.” If the Dems don’t nominate him as their top candidate and certain he’ll be the second person on their ticket.
    • I know candidates get asked the same questions and often have the same formulaic answers and will give the same speech repeatedly at different events, but I felt like Beto sounded too rehearsed when interviewed or speaking at these things. It was a bit like Groundhog Day. He lost some genuineness and authenticity points with me.
  • Germany: Crematorium goes up in flames, bodies survive
  • A fun little chart – How People Meet Their Partners
  • College Basketball Player Perfectly Executes An Off-The-Butt Pass To Score Last-Second Game Winner

Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Thursday, March 14, 2019

  • I don’t get out much, but I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen someone carry a briefcase. When I kid, it was my job to carry my father’s briefcase when he arrived home and place it next to his desk. I did that from first grade all the way through my college years when I returned home. I thought if I ever had children, they would do something similar for me. Since I work from home, that’s not a possibility. But, sometimes when the kids arrive home from school I’ll carry their backpacks in.
  • BoyGeeding has been filming DaughterGeeding doing a newscast. Don’t worry, I’ll spare you and won’t post them, but other than news she also does the weather and traffic. I hope it’s simply them having fun, but it’s a slight concern it’s a way to get my attention since they always tell me my favorite tv show is the news.
  • President Trump wore a striped tie yesterday, I’ve grown accustomed to him only wearing solid colored ties.
  • I read something yesterday which led me to the following interrogative:
    Is the dreamer is always greater than the dream?
  • While watching a story about the college admissions scandal, I learned what school has the most Fortune 500 CEOs – The University of Wisconsin currently has 14 of them.
  • Google’s Lookout app says what it sees for blind users in the US
  • Restored footage of the first nuclear bomb detonation
  • The white crayon, for the most part, is useless. 
Posted in Personal | 1 Comment

Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, March 13, 2019

  • Whoever at the Justice Department came up with the name “Operation Varsity Blues” deserves a raise.
  • Yesterday, LiberallyLean mentioned the town of Wizard Wells. Never hearing of it before, I thought he was poking fun of my hometown of Mineral Wells, but he wasn’t.
  • I’ve watched both Creed movies. No disrespect to Micheal B. Jordan, but I think Carl Weathers looked bigger, was more cut, and much quicker. I also think Ivan Drago’s son would have gone into MMA instead of boxing.
    • Per IMDB – “Rocky, who is now training Apollo Creed’s son, is two years older than Mickey was when he trained Rocky in the original movie.”
  • Alphabet’s AI-powered Chrome extension hides toxic comments
    • Using “filter mix” controls, users can either turn toxic comments off altogether (what’s known as “zen mode”) or show selective types of posts containing attacks, insults, or profanity. Tune also works with Reddit, YouTube and Disqus.
  • The Songs That Saved Them From Suicide – The Science Around Music Therapy Is Nascent, But There’s No Doubt That It’s Already Saving Lives
  • Los Angeles Times – The official breakfast cereal power rankings: Part I
  • Senator Mitch Romney’s staff presented him with a birthday cake made of Twinkies, but the way he blew out the candles was a bit unique.

Posted in Personal | 3 Comments