Woody Harrelson as LBJ

In a few of the scenes, Harrelson doesn’t seem to capture LBJ’s physical stature, he looks too short. The essence is there, but something’s a bit off.

Bryan Cranston did a great LBJ, but I didn’t like the material he had to work with.

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Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, August 2, 2017

  • My father would have turned 94 today. Well, I suppose he still turns 94 today, but he’s a dead 94. In 1985 we flew to Hawaii for his birthday, it was my first flight. I remember when we first entered the hotel room, turned on the television, and the news was covering the plane crash of Delta 191 at DFW.
  • Based upon a recommendation I decided to give Taco Casa a try, which I always felt had a Los Pollos Hermanos vibe. I walked in the same time as another gentleman and sat in a booth behind him. He answered his phone and talked to someone for less than a minute and hung up. He then left the table leaving behind a large drink and four wrapped tacos. I sat there for about 15-20 minutes and he never returned.
  • Back update:
    • If you’ve been keeping track, I’ve had three steroid epidurals, been going to physical therapy, and have been on pain medication. My pain is mainly related to the narrowing of space between my L4-L5 vertebrates. The space between them should be closer to 24 mm and mine is around 6mm. You can also add in herniation and arthritis. Sheesh, I’m only 41 and I sound old.
    • I visited my orthopedic on Friday and he’s now advising spinal fusion surgery. Funny thing, on Friday, I was over my deductible because it was still July. However, as of yesterday, August has begun and my health plan starts over and so does my deductible.
    • In case you are wondering, Tiger Woods’ fusion was at L5-S1, just one lower than what I’d be getting.
    • I asked if disk replacement (instead of a spinal fusion) was an option for me. It’s not because my degeneration would cause more stress on the adjacent vertebrates.
    • I asked if I could forgo surgery and just focus on pain management, like continued PT and medication. He said the issue isn’t so much my ability to tolerate the pain, but the nerve damage which could be permanent. I don’t feel like he was trying to scare me, but he stated the nerve damage most likely would lead to loss of bladder control and feeling in my lower extremities.
    • He encouraged me to get a second opinion, so I’m on the hunting for another. Without doing any research, the first place that pops in my mind is where Tiger went. He could have gone anywhere in the world but chose the Texas Back Institute. So at least I know they can treat half-Asians.
    • Circling back to my health plan and deductible starting over . . . even though my employer has chosen it to renew at the start of August, my flexible spending account aligns with the calendar year. I’ve already spent all the funds in it for this year but it will have a full balance when January hits. So it makes financial sense for me to get the procedure done in January. While I’m glad I’m not rushing into this decision and will be getting a second and probably a third opinion, I’m uncomfortable my health decisions are tied to timing and financing.
  • Joey Gallow may have hit the perfect home run in all of Texas Rangers history.
  • School named for Vince Lombardi cancels football because it can’t find coaches
  • Channeling my inner Magnum P.I.
Posted in Personal | 8 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, August 1, 2017

  • I don’t know why I never understood the concept of why time flies by for an adult and not a kid until yesterday.  If you are five-years-old, a year is a fifth of your life, so it’s a huge part of your life and seems long. As you get older, the year becomes a smaller and smaller part of the time you have experienced so it seems to go by quicker.
  • Not only do I grind my teeth at night (I wear one of those night guards) but I grind and clench my teeth all day, especially when I’m deep in thought.
  • What a crazy ten days it’s been for Anthony Scaramucci: He got a job, had a baby, ended his marriage, and lost a job. But I guess he holds no hard feelings for his former boss, he dined at one of his hotels after losing his job.
  • Scaramucci’s official start date was to be August 15.
  • On last night’s Colbert, Matthew McConaughey said his first three words on film were, as you would guess, “Alright, alright, alright” from Dazed and Confused. I wonder the last time McConaughey felt literally stressed, he always seems at ease, high or not.
  • “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” – Mark Twain
  • Today presidential history factoid – Andrew Johnson was buried with his body wrapped in an American flag and a copy of the Constitution placed under his head.
  • The 52-story downtown Dallas skyscraper formerly known as the First National Bank tower is getting a heck of a renovation.
    • Over the next year, the stone on the outside of the 52-year-old landmark will be taken down, shipped out of state and restored with a high-tech manufacturing process. Each of the inch or more thick marble slabs that cover the 1.5 million-square-foot high-rise will be sliced into two or more identical slabs, glued to a metal honeycomb backing and then replaced on the outside of the building.
    • Most of the stone panels from the outside of the Elm Street tower will be trucked to Florida to HyCOMB’s plant near Miami. A few curved panels will be shipped to China for a specialized reconstruction.
  • The Decline of the American Laundromat – The retreat of a longtime urban staple marks yet another way cities have changed after an influx of higher-earning residents.
  • Distractions – Martin Scorsese doesn’t allow watches on set. Christopher Nolan doesn’t allow chairs or water bottles
    • “They’re distractions – the noise of [the bottles], they’re like toys almost, playing around with toys. [The lack of chairs, meanwhile] keeps you on your toes, literally.”
    • It’s as though Scorsese wants his set to exist outside of time and outside of the world, a vacuum but for creativity, which is allowed to bounce uninhibited. 
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