Bag of Randomness for Monday, February 4, 2019

  • I have no problem calling Bill Belichick the greatest coach of all time, he coached through several eras and adapted and conquered. However, I can’t say Tom Brady is the greatest QB of all time. I will concede he is the greatest QB of his era, and it’s not at fault for that. His era of football restricts defense and protects the quarterback, he’s never had to endure the punishment like a Steve Young or John Elway. It’s a different game, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
  • That Super Bowl halftime show was as disappointing as I expected. In all seriousness, I predict next year’s Super Bowl halftime show will be a WWE event.
  • WifeGeeding and I watched “The Book of Mormon” a few nights ago.
    • That was the loosest or most relaxed or carefree theater crowd I’ve ever seen.
    • As a product of inter-racial marriage, I tend to notice inter-racial couples, and I’ve never seen so many in one place before.
    • As we left the venue, real Mormons were outside handing out materials about their church.
    • The Music Hall at Fair Park is going through a renovation, and it’s about time, it’s sadly outdated and stuffy and depressing inside, it’s one of the least Dallas-like venues out there.
  • Not too long ago, I taught BoyGeeding a “trick” when adding eights and nines (take
    two/one less that number and put a one in front of it). His teacher informed us he wanted to share it with his class and asked to go to the board and demonstrated it, and in doing so, was “very professional” about it.
  • BoyGeeding’s seventh birthday is two weeks away. A few weeks ago, WifeGeeding asked BoyGeeding about planning a party, just to get an idea of what he wanted, but didn’t make any solid plans. He must have been pretty excited about it. The next day, he made invitations and handed them out to his classmates. At the top of the invitations, he wrote, “What it is: invitation birthday party” and at the bottom, WifeGeeding’s phone number. That evening, WifeGeeding received several texts from parents about the “unofficial invite”.
  • When I was a kid in the Eighties, I thought commercial airliners would look different and cooler on the outside.
  • For the first time in history, the U.S. Navy conducted a flyover using all female pilots on Saturday to honor of Capt. Rosemary Mariner, a retired Navy pilot who died last week.
  • Bob Parker, the president of the National Peanut Board, has a grandson who has allergic to peanuts.
  • Usain Bolt casually ties the NFL scouting combine’s 40-yard dash record in sweatpants
    • At the 2019 Super Bowl Experience on Saturday, Bolt unofficially tied the NFL scouting combine’s 40-yard dash record with a 4.22 rumble.
    • What makes things even more wild is that Bolt appeared to slow up at the end, in part because he was going to run into a padded barrier.
  • “You never know who you are until you encounter what you are not.”
  • The Wall Street Journal Bud Light made the ultimate sacrifice in its “Game of Thrones” Super Bowl ad: Inside one of the boldest marketing tie-ins ever orchestrated
  • Undoubtedly, the best part of the Super Bowl halftime show.

  • I like this GIF of the current North Star, Polaris. I say current because back in the year 3000 B.C., the North Star was a star was Thuban (also known as Alpha Draconis), and in about 13,000 years from now, Vega will be the North Star.
  • Wade Phillips, again, wearing the jacket and hat to honor his father, Bum.

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Bag of Randomness for Thursday, January 31, 2019

  • This picture is from BoyGeeding and DaughterGeeding’s baptism. I get a kick out of how WifeGeeding and DaughterGeeding will purse their lips when they are a bit nervous, like they were when all eyes were on us standing in front of the church congregation. In case you are wondering, I was up there as well, I cropped myself out so you could better see what I’m referencing. Other pics of the baptism if y’all are interested – Pic1, Pic2, Pic3, Pic4, Pic5
  • Often times in television and film, medical doctors will consult with their patients sitting behind a desk in an office setting, not an exam room. Does this ever happen in real life?
  • BaD Radio interviewed Bill Romanowski yesterday. Going into it, all I could think was how much I despised the guy, but dang it, in the middle of it he won me over. He’s not the same person he was when he was younger. None of us are. I often find myself at fault for judging people based on how they acted decades ago. To quote another great athlete, “I guess what I’m trying to say, is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!”
  • Patrick Stewart teases return of Jean-Luc Picard, says new ‘Star Trek’ series ‘is a 10-hour movie’
  • Two of my favorite foods – brisket and chicken-fried steak. However, I don’t think I’d like chicken fried brisket.
    • Some argue that brisket is sacred, but a Garland smokehouse is shaking things up. Behold Intrinsic Smokehouse’s “chicken fried brisket,” aka a thick slice of oak-smoked brisket (three quarters of a pound to be exact) that’s then breaded in craft beer-infused batter. It’s a thing of beauty, and it’s served alongside fluffy mashed potatoes and smothered burnt end white gravy.
  • Trump Met Heidi Cruz for World Bank Job But Passed on Her, Sources Say
  • La Joya ISD is helping to fund a waterpark – The school district spent about $20 million on a Sports and Learning Complex, which includes a planetarium, tennis courts, an indoor pool and a water park — complete with slides, splash pads and a “lazy river.”
    • In my lifetime, I predict a school district will build a football stadium with a lazy river circling it.
  • I love this sort of stuff and I hope you find it more interesting and entertaining than you suspect – Saturday Night Live’s cue card supervisor, Wally Feresten, gives a behind-the-scenes look at an integral and iconic part of the show’s production.
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Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, January 29, 2019

  • The story behind the photo –
    • Looking at the design of the empty windows, an idea struck me: put a woman wearing colourful clothes in each of the openings. I sent over someone from my staff to talk to the demolition supervisor. He agreed to let us go ahead – provided we used his wife in the photograph. We could shoot the next day during their lunch hour, he said. After that, the building would be gone.
    • I also found this note on the interview insightful as I didn’t know the first floor is referenced differently across the pond.
      • The references to floors in this article are in US English; in the photograph, Ormond’s wife was on what would usually be known as the first floor in British English, and the supervisor’s wife on the second floor.
  • The Equator passes through 13 countries. The Greenwich Prime Meridian goes through 8 countries. Why was Greenwich chosen as the center of the world’s time? A few reasons, but mainly because it would be advantageous to the largest number of people.
  • The average tenure for a White House press secretary is about 2.9 years. I expect the current occupant to last longer since she seems to love her job and doesn’t hold daily briefings like most of her predecessors, and they are nowhere as long. Her last time at the podium was 41 days ago, and President Trump has encouraged her not to be bothered having them, at least he tweeted so. My brief research shows she has served as press secretary for 551 days after her promotion from being the deputy press secretary.
  • The one-year anniversary of my back surgery was nine days ago. Yesterday, I received a $350 check in the mail from the hospital for an overcharge. I’m not complaining about getting a surprise check, it’s just odd it took so long for them to notice the over-charge. I tried to keep track of the charges myself but it got pretty complicated when you try to track who all was billed separately: the surgeon, endocrinologist, anesthesiologist, hospital, and the lab. It’s all a headache, and my heart goes out to those who have to deal with this sort of thing because of a chronic or drastic condition.
  • Texas lawmaker wants pricey cars exempt from front plate rule
    • But in requiring two plates, we’re only unique in our neck of the nation. None of our neighboring states requires front license plates. But we’re among 31 states that do.
    • I always thought the plates looked out of place on something like a Corvette, but don’t think they should be exempt.
  • I loved this ’60 Minutes’ story on how an old man in retirement used “basic arithmetic” to crack the code on certain state lottery games – “$26 million winning various state lottery games dozens of times.” And in case they were ever audited, they kept every losing lottery ticket – $18 million worth and built a shed to store them all in big plastic totes.
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