Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, July 18, 2017

  • I used an air horn for the first time in my life yesterday. I woke WifeGeeding up with it to wish her a happy birthday early in the morning. There’s a lot of things I can’t provide for her, but I will always be full of surprises.
  • When I hear the name Barbara I think of the Beach Boys song “Barbara Anne” which then makes me think of the time Zack, Slater, and Screech lip synched the song.
  • Today’s dose of ‘MURICA! – O.J. Simpson’s Parole Hearing Will Air Live On ESPN
  • Armchair Political Consultant – It was great that the president showcased American made products from all 50 states at the White House, but I would have advised him to announced that all of his products, as well as Ivanka’s, would now be solely made in the United States as well. Any loss in profit from manufacturing wouldn’t compare to the publicity and benefit gained in campaigning.
  • The kids have been fascinated by magic as of late so I took them to a show last weekend. Tickets were twenty bucks for VIP seating and ten for general admission, which I thought was a great deal. However, there was a $20 overall ticket charge which couldn’t be avoided by either online or ticket window. On top of that, there was a minimum two item purchase per patron and an automatic 18% gratuity was added. But we were fortunate for purchasing the general admission tickets and being seated in the front row.
  • I was listening to NPR’s “This American Life” on the way home after eating with some friends on Saturday. The segment I caught was a bit odd and then turned very heavy. The host gave warning the material wouldn’t be appropriate for children and then started the segment which was about the amount of free porn that’s available online and how performers are now making money by making customized fetish material. As you’d expect, some were quite a bit out there and some were strangely ordinary. But the focus of the segment was the request from a customer who simply asked for a performer to be fully dressed, sit in a chair with her legs crossed, and look into the camera and tell him everything is going to be alright and there’s no need to resort to suicide. The performance company didn’t charge the guy and tried to contact him but never got a reply. Everyone associated with the shoot was very emotional and took great lengths to make sure it was their best work. The actress herself was deeply emotional. They shot the video as requested and sent it off, but ominously, never heard back.
  • New York Times Op-Ed – Why I’m Leaving the Southern Baptist Convention
  • I watched Arrival recently. The ending and contemplating the unique overall storyline had me deep in thought for several hours.
    • If you could view your life as an image, a story told in one nonlinear and infinite symbol, would you change it? What if the experience of knowing the future changed a person?
    • Is it best to embrace the sum of your life regardless of the tragic moments within it?
      • My parents gave me a dog when I was a kid and it lived for 17-years. Many years later I asked my mom if she would consider owning another, and she told me the heartache would be too hard to ever own another pet. She didn’t think the investment in developing a relationship with a pet outweighed the loss of a pet. I, obviously, think different. Well, maybe she didn’t quite so much think it was not worth it, but she’d rather avoid a road she knows will lead to heartache. If you’ve seen the movie, this totally would make sense.
    • One thing I really appreciated was naming the two aliens Abbott and Costello. It’s perfect once you understanding the complexity of communicating and their “Who’s on first” bit.
    • Something I never considered while watching other movies about aliens arriving on Earth is how each country would respond. Would a country’s first reaction be militarily and attack, would a nation start peacefully and attempt a friendly relationship? For instance, what would happen if aliens landed in North Korea first as opposed to Canada?
    • All of this “communicating” reminds me of my favorite part in the movie Thirteen Days. An admiral orders warning shots to be fired over Soviet vessels and gets into a heated exchanged with Secretary of Defense Bob McNamara who explains that the Soviets may not understand those to be warning shots.

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