Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, March 22, 2017

  • For the first time in a long time, I drank an ICEE. As a child, the only times they were a possibility was when we took a road trip to Fort Worth and stopped at K-Mart where they were available in the snack bar. At the time, no ICEEs or Slurpees were available in Mineral Wells and there wasn’t even a McDonald’s. Slush Puppies were available, but they always seemed second-tier. And now I’m reminded of Dr. Evil, “You’re semi-evil. You’re quasi-evil. You’re the margarine of evil. You’re the Diet Coke of evil, just one calorie, not evil enough.“
  • Spring Training – BoyGeeding had his first tee-ball practice of the season yesterday. His team is the Thunder and he’s #2.
  • The higher number of windows opened on my computer the higher my stress is for that given day.
  • Not that anyone is happy paying taxes, but I wonder what most folks are “happy” their taxes go to – public schools, national defense, [insert polarizing item here], etc.
  • I’m not sure my friend Andy likes this idea of a circular or “endless” runway.
  • Japan’s elderly offered funeral discount to stop driving
  • It’s Buc-ee’s V. Bucky’s In Convenience Store Battle – A longtime truce between the two convenience store chains has been challenged by Bucky’s moving into Buc-ee’s territory.
  • Adam Sandler Had This to Say About Seagoville, Texas Residents – Near Dallas
    • During a radio interview this morning, Hollywood actor Adam Sandler took a moment to praise Seagoville, Texas residents – a small town just outside of Dallas – who had helped him with a mechanical issue with his rental car as he passed through the city recently
    • I’m telling you, these people in Seagoville are the real deal. I’m going to move there after I retire,” Sandler said with a laugh. Sandler added later, “You have to understand, this is something that would’ve never happened in L.A.! So yeah, that’s my story about Seagoville, Texas. It’s nice to know there are still places like this in America.”
  • It saddens me he dodged the question – A Senator Asked Neil Gorsuch If He’d Rather Fight a Horse-Sized Duck or 100 Duck-Sized Horses
  • VICE – The Contentious Relationship Between Evangelicals and Hollywood – While Christian films like ‘The Shack’ are scoring big at the box office, they also incite the ire of true believers.
Posted in Personal | 8 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, March 21, 2017

  • Last night’s ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ had Dorothy Hammill as a guest start. On Friday the two episode bicycle shop child molester aired and thankfully we missed that one.
  • Shortly before the inauguration, the president-elect said, “Sure it’s a big job, but I don’t think anybody who can do it any better than I can.” Some bravado, eh? But it wasn’t said by our current president but rather John F. Kennedy to a reporter from TIME. He followed it up with, “It isn’t going to be so bad, you’ve got time to think, and besides, the pay is pretty good.”
  • Alabama May Allow Church to Form Own Police Force
    • An Alabama megachurch is seeking to establish its own police department — and a bill that would green light the force is already moving through the state senate. The 4,100-member strong Briarwood Presbyterian Church, located in suburban Birmingham, contends it needs its own police force to counter any potential threats because it is also home to a K-12 school and a theological seminary with 2,000 students and teachers.
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson did the math –  David Rockefeller’s (1915-2017) $900M in lifetime philanthropy is equivalent to donating $24,000 for every day of his life.
  • Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to the Charles Manson murder house –
    • The caretaker who lived in the guest house moved in three weeks after the murders and resided there for 20 years.
      • During an interview on ABC’s show 20/20, he said that while living there, he felt “safe, secure, loved and beauty.” He sold the property for $1.6 million in 1989.
    • Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails started renting the house in 1992 and set up a recording studio “dubbed “Pig” (sometimes called “Le Pig”) in a reference to murderer Susan Atkins’ writing “Pig” in Tate’s blood on the front door of the house.” 
      • One day he randomly ran into Tate’s sister who confronted him about exploiting her death and moved out.
        • Reznor took the front door of the house with him when he moved out, installing it at Nothing Studios, his new recording studio/record label headquarters in New Orleans.
    • In 1994, the owner demolished the house and built a replacement home called Villa Bella, with a new street address.
  • Here’s What the Original, Far Less Tragic Ending of Rogue One Would Have Been
  • Mission: Impossible 6’ Producer Says Tom Cruise Has Been Training for ‘Mind-Blowing’ Stunt for a Year
  • Sweet 16 by shoe and apparel deals – Nike 12, 2 Addidas, 2 Under Armor
  • It’s not as cool as you’d hope, but a guy put his GoPro in a nuclear reactor.
  • Losing weight won’t make you happier—but eating a balanced diet will
    • Despite the message that the happiest you is just 10 pounds away, new research suggests that improving the quality of your diet may be the recipe to protecting and even improving your mental health, not losing weight.
Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Monday, March 20, 2017

  • WifeGeeding’s seventy-nine-year-old father recently rode Greyhound (long story) for a long road trip and they lost his luggage. It was found two days later.
  • Before ABC’s special on Charles Manson on Friday night, I only had a cursory knowledge about the guy. It felt weird hearing people referring to him as “Charlie” as if they were buddies. I also had no idea how involved he was in the music scene and the Beach Boys recorded one of his songs.
  • We traveled to Burleson for a wedding and on the way back tried Heim BBQ, which I’ve heard great things about. The brisket was above average but seemed a little too fatty and lacked some flavor; however, the bacon burnt ends were pretty good but I don’t think I could eat many of them though they offered a great range of flavor, char, and meat. I was impressed with the staff, they were exceptionally kind. When I was ordering I was choosing lots of samples the associate made the comment, “I’m not trying to upsell you or anything, but I’m not sure you ordered enough for you and all your family.” The restrooms were also interesting. Behind a door is a room with a community sink for about three people, and in that room is one men’s restroom and two women’s, though one had a nice changing table for a baby so that’s probably more of a family restroom.
  • I’m over-simplifying, but a lot of political headlines with the new administration are about Trump’s possible Russian ties and the accusation of Obama “wiretapping” Trump Tower. A lot of folks say this is unprecedented, but while reading my book about the relationships of presidents and former presidents, I think I found something comparable, and it involves an acting president basically accusing the previous president of helping the Russians spy.
    • Eisenhower’s attorney general, Herbert Brownell, opened an investigation into whether Truman had knowingly placed a Soviet spy named Harry Dexter White to become executive director of the International Monetary Fund. That’s right, Truman was being accused of being a traitor and was even subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activites Committee. He refused and instead defended himself in a televised national address winning public support and the investigation was dropped. There’s more detail to all of this, of course, but I’m trying to condense it as concisely as I can.
  • Jake Tapper’s stock is rising, at least his popularity.
  • Popular Mechanics – The Most Gruesome Government Report Ever Written Evaluates 34 Ways to Execute a Man – In 1887, New York State appointed three men to evaluate every possible way to execute a man—which they did in disturbing detail.
    • An excerpt:
      • Under the heading of burning they relate: “An extraordinary method of this punishment was known as ‘the illuminated body’ and invented by Sefi II, Shah of Persia. The victim was stretched on a slab and fastened to it. Innumerable little holes were bored all over his body. These were filled with oil, and all lighted together. The poor victim perished in the most unspeakable agony.”
  • Thank you, Netflix, just make it a permanent feature – Netflix is testing a button for skipping the opening credits
  • Random tidbits about Angela Merkel that I only discovered yesterday:
  • I only watched a little bit of the tournament, but when I first saw Wichita State’s Conner Frankamp I thought Prince William was playing basketball. The top of their heads is identical. Also, I don’t keep up with Michigan, but their uniforms look like what the Fab Five used to wear. Maybe that’s considered retro now, or maybe that’s always been their look, or I’m just totally off on all of this.
  • Indian engineer named Saddam Hussain cannot get a job
  • NYMag.com has a detailed feature on Kellyanne Conway and I thought some interesting photos of her as well.
  • Another interesting tidbit from that article I posted about what will happen after Queen Elizabeth dies.
    • British royals are buried in lead-lined coffins. Diana’s weighed a quarter of a ton.
  • These interesting things recently popped up in Texas’ Atlanta State Park. – It’s a wool sower gall, created after wool sower wasps lay their eggs in a white oak.
  • Why You Should Never, Ever Put Two Spaces After A Period
  • Buzzfeed – A Federal Judge Offers A Behind-The-Bench Look At Trump’s First Supreme Court Nominee – Judge Harris Hartz, who has served with Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch for the past decade, spoke with BuzzFeed News about what Gorsuch is like to work with and why be believes some of Gorsuch’s critics have it wrong about his record.
    • Hartz disputed criticism from liberal advocacy groups and Democrats in Congress that Gorsuch’s conservative approach to judicial decision-making means he is bad news for women, people of color, the LGBT community, and the environment, among others. “He’s conservative in the sense that he takes the language of statutes, for example, very seriously. But if by that you mean you always get a conservative outcome, that’s wrong,” Hartz said.
Posted in Personal | 4 Comments