Your Bag of Nothing for Tuesday, August 27, 2024

  • I’m sorry I didn’t post anything yesterday. I had one of my worst weekends in a long while. It started with a bad second date and ended with two tow trucks and three rideshare rides.
  • I didn’t have any transportation to get to church on Sunday, but I dusted off my bike, aired up the tires, and rode to church. Despite it being a little warm outside, it was nice to get in a nature mindset for church.
    • We wrapped up our series on Psalms, focusing on the 23rd specifically. Obviously, it’s the most recognized of them all, but I’ll be honest, I never really understood or connected with it like most folks. What helped was discovering its historical context and how its origin was recited before a battle. That helped me better understand verse five’s reference to eating before your enemies.
    • We analyzed orientation, disorientation, and new orientation. Psalms of orientation affirm God’s control and well-ordered life. Psalms of disorientation lament and question God and God’s existence. Psalms of reorientation look back on past events and offer thanks to God for deliverance.
      • Our text cited Bono several times, discussing the Psalms and how the Blues are the modern-day equivalent. I mention that because throughout this series, we were encouraged to write our own Psalms and share it with the class. With disorientation and Bono in mind, I decided to be raw. Our writing prompt was, “The Lord is my…” This is what I started with, and I’m still not finished with it:
        • The Lord is my torment
          I feel so alone
          Abandoned and forgotten
          I don’t feel His comfort
          And I’m lost in my despair
          No longer able to trust
  • When the owner of this coin collection died, he forbade anyone from selling it for 100 years. That time is up
    • Following the death of the Danish butter magnate Lars Emil Bruun in 1923, his will had a curious order: His vast accumulation of coins, notes and medals, amassed over more than six decades, should be held as an emergency reserve for Denmark’s national collection in case it were ever destroyed. After a century, if all was well, his own cache could finally be sold to benefit his descendants. Next month, just under a year since the 100-year-old order expired, the first set of coins from Bruun’s personal 20,000-piece collection will go up for
  • Matching sets of dinosaur footprints found on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean
  • If you live in Texas and want to check your voter registration status, you can do so here.
  • Bald eagle thought to be injured later deemed “too fat to fly”
  • ‘Why not Dallas?’ How ‘Y’all Street’ aims to become America’s next financial titan
    • Dallas has nine Fortune 500 companies, 24 when counting the broader D-FW area. A Downtown-based stock exchange is on the horizon, corporate giants are moving headquarters and offices in the area and more wealthy individuals are beginning to call the city home. The city is sprouting from the roots of being the Sun Belt’s economic powerhouse into one of the biggest ones in the country. Though New York City and, to some extent Chicago, are still the kings, slow growth after COVID-19 means Dallas is in the right place at the right time to emerge with the financial crown.
  • Environmental group calls for investigation of RFK Jr. chainsawing whale head
    • Kennedy cut off a whale’s head with a chainsaw in or around 1994 after finding out that it washed up on Squaw Island in Hyannis Port, Mass., his daughter Kick Kennedy told Town & Country Magazine in 2012.
    • He bungee-corded it to the roof of the family’s minivan and drove it to Mount Kisco, N.Y., she said. “Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet,” Kick said in the interview.
  • San Diego’s ‘Bubble Man’ ticketed for liquid littering
    • “Basically he was saying when my bubbles pop the residue of the bubbles fall to the ground and kill the grass,” he said. “I explained to them I am full compliance. I am registered with San Diego Parks and Rec. I have insurance.”
  • Florida school board pauses chaplain plans following interest from ‘Ministers of Satan’
  • New startup wants to sell you “sunlight after dark” using mirrors
    • Reflect Orbitals is building space mirrors to reflect sunlight onto solar panels at night. The goal is to maximize solar farms’ energy production. According to their official website, you can also book a spot of light for yourself. 
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Your Bag of Nothing for Friday, August, 23, 2024

  • I haven’t seen or heard from Tom Brokaw for a while. He’s 85 and battling an incurable blood disease.
  • Hey, just so we’re clear. Yes, I lean left, but that doesn’t mean I think one political party loves the country more than the other. Sure, I differ in thought, but I respect your freedom to think differently.
  • I’d really like to follow the nominee for president for either party the day of their acceptance speech. There’s so much I’m curious about. Everything from how many times they will practice their speech to what their appetite is like.
  • Watching the DNC, some of it with BoyGeeding, reminded me of watching it with my family when I was little. One vivid memory sticks out, and I think it occurred when Dukakis (90 and still living, btw) was nominated. During one of the speeches, the camera focused on Jackie Kennedy Onassis for a few seconds. I recall asking my father why the heck she was there because it didn’t make sense to my young mind. Because of that, I did a little research on her and, of all things, watched coverage of her funeral on YouTube and read about her final days.
    • One thing that stood out was that she was embalmed inside of her New York apartment. I wonder how much that is done? Is that common for the elite and non-elite in New York?
    • Unlike something you’d see today, no videos or photos exist of her service inside the church cathedral. The national news was only allowed to carry the audio, which they did, and displayed photos of her life and of her with the people who were speaking.
    • Senator Ted Kennedy told a story about waiting with her for President Clinton to step off Marine One for the rededication of the Kennedy Library. She told him, “Teddy, go greet the president.” He replied there was no need since their close friend was already in place to do so. She replied, “Yes, Teddy, but our friend is not running for re-election, and you are.”
    • All but one of her pallbearers were nephews. The one who wasn’t was her family’s longtime Secret Service agent Jack Walsh. They became particularly close when she took her two kids to Ireland, something her husband wanted to do. She went swimming one day and got caught in a terrible current about to drown. Walsh saved her. There’s a good story about it here. I was impressed at how she wrote about it in a letter and that she asked the Secret Service to award Walsh with their highest decoration. I guess the head of the Secret Service has no choice but to follow through with that request, considering how they failed at protecting her husband. Walsh protected the Kennedy family until the kids aged out of protection.
    • She died at 64. Caroline is now 66, living longer than all of her immediate family. I’m sure that carries a bit of weight.
    • In her final weeks, she would invite close friends to her apartment individually. In front of the fireplace, she would read from a collection of letters and share some photos. Most of them were in association with that friend. Then, they would toss them in the fire together and lose them for all of history. It reminded me of John Adams’ wife. I’m pretty sure it was she who burned most of the correspondence between her and her husband, as she considered it a private affair.
    • She was buried in a model 710 casket from the Marsellus Casket Company. The same as her husband and other presidents such as Nixon and Ford. The company went out of business in 2003, with the last of the 710 sent to Houston to a funeral museum.
      • President Kennedy was initially placed in the finest casket from Vernon O’Neal Funeral Home in Dallas. However, it wouldn’t fit through the door of Air Force One, so the handles had to be removed. Talk about having to improvise and make the best of things. The president’s open wounds also damaged the interior. Bobby Kennedy feared it would end up as a morbid object of curiosity, so he worked with the Air Force to have holes drilled in the coffin, weighed down, and dropped in the Atlantic far from shipping lanes.
  • Kerry Washington’s bit with those two young girls was the most adorable part of last night.
  • I’m surprised we haven’t heard from Rex Tillerson or Jim Mattis this election cycle. Either reporters are stupid, or they refuse to do interviews.
  • Jon Stewart mentioned “joy” last night, and I automatically started to sing this song.
  • I thought it was funny.

  • A California school board terminated the contract of its superintendent Wednesday, months after it was alleged that a mid-level supervisor and friend of the administrator’s played a cruel joke on a subordinate by putting his desk on a roof.

  • I’m highly impressed with Maddux’s mental and long-game forethought. He set up Biggio before they even played in the playoffs, and he fell for it. It also shows his willingness to sacrifice personal statistics for team gain. Talk about a cerebral game.

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Your Bag of Nothing for Thursday, August, 22, 2024

  • I know Shaq has owned a home in DFW for a while, but it sounds like he’s going to spend more time in the area and has bought an upgraded house in Rockwall where’s he’s been spotted. Here’s info on the new restaurant he’s opening in the area:
    • Big Chicken, a chain O’Neal and his business partners founded in 2018, is opening a location in Fort Worth on Sept. 3. Big Chicken signed a lease for a space between Outback Steakhouse and Revfit in the Victory Shops at Heritage Trace at the northwest corner of I-35W and Heritage Trace Parkway in the Alliance area. And here’s an added bonus for customers: If you’re among the first 34 guests in line, you’ll get free Big Chicken for a year.
    • Shaq has quite a few nicknames, but in particular, I like The Big Aristotle and Shaq Diesel.
  • Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is now a 60-year-old father of twins. Who am I to judge when my father had me in his early fifties?
  • Longtime Chicago resident Oprah Winfrey spoke last night at the DNC, which was being hosted in the city. The crowd greeted her warmly, and she mentioned, “Who says you can’t go home again?” That made me wonder if she no longer has a residence in the Chicago area.
  • I’ve never trusted Rotten Tomatoes anyways – Rotten Tomatoes Introduces a New Audience Rating for People Who Actually Bought a Ticket
  • Longtime U2 fans are very familiar with their legendary concert at Red Rocks. The Edge was recently spotted there as an audience member with his wife and daughter supporting his son, who was performing with his band. Here’s a nice photo of the trio. The girl in the background caught my attention with her leg tattoo. Kids these days love their tattoos and I have a feeling tattoo removal services are going to be making a lot of money in the future.
  • Speaking of U2, I made a mistake about their latest film. I thought it was going to air on the Max streaming service, but I fell for a fake announcement. But, oddly, an abbreviated version of their concert at Sphere will be shown at Sphere with tickets around a $100. I’m surprised that venue isn’t holding more concerts and artists. And if you are wondering why I didn’t say “the Sphere” it’s because they are picky about their name, it’s just “Sphere.”

  • I heard a Cranberries song, and that caused me to do some research, which led me down a long path of finding out some interesting stuff about the band. But of all things, this photo of the lead singer’s bandmates serving as her pallbearers in 2018 moved me.
  • Do you know the difference between a coffin and a casket? Coffins are tapered to conform to the shape of a human body. They also have a removable lid, while caskets have lids with hinges. Coffins are usually made of wood and lined with cloth interiors. Unlike caskets, they do not have rails that make transportation easier.
  • I bet a lot of folks will make fun of this teacher. I’ll just say two things. One, we can’t see her audience, so we don’t know the age of the students she’s addressing. She probably had an idea that this would get out one way or another and still took a risk to connect with her students.

  • Germany recently invaded London militarily with a bit of humor.

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Your Bag of Nothing for August, 21, 2024

 

  • I saw this mentioned on Twitter, and a lot of folks were offended. I just read it as an observation. Obviously, Indians excel in other areas of life, but it’s still an interesting observation – Despite a population of 1.5 billion, India won zero gold medals in the Olympics this year.
  • There’s nothing graphic here, but here’s a Twitter video of a dog slowly descending his testicles into a stream to cool them off. Despite there being nothing to object to, I just couldn’t bring myself to embed the video.
  • The University of Texas Longhorns’ starting quarterback will appear in an upcoming Dr. Pepper commercial with former Oklahoma Sooner legend Brian Bosworth. During SEC media days, I couldn’t help but notice from several prominent Texas A&M fans and reporters how much they respect Ewers because he comes off as a very kind Christian man. I must admit I judged a book by its cover when he came out of Southlake and sported that mullet and a bunch of tats.
  • Even though I saw one of the shows, I’m still looking forward to this.
  • Fede Álvarez is the director and one of the writers of the new Alien: Romulus film that hit theaters last weekend.  He thought he’d be a nice guy and make a comment on the Alien subreddit. One of the moderators thought he was an imposter and permanently banned him. Thankfully, and with an apology, the error has been corrected.
  • When Obama was running for president, he was always introduced to U2’s City of Blinding Lights. It was nice to see the same song played as he was introduced by his wife last night.
  • I think most of my readers are conservative and can’t stand former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But I always thought this was a cool photo of a young Pelosi meeting President Kennedy. This week at the DNC, she got to meet his grandson Jack Schlossberg.

  • This moment last night still has me laughing. Yes, it was a moment of Idiocracy. He definitely brought more energy than Kid Rock did at the RNC.

  • Times have changed. But I still support what these two former Republicans said.

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