Your Bag of Randomness for Thursday, August 8, 2024

  • I’m just going to say it. Night-time beach volleyball in front of the Eiffel Tower was a good idea.
  • Yup, it happens about this time every four years. When the Olympic games start, I’ll comment how I’m not that interested but will occasionally peak and at least watch the opening ceremony. Then, towards the end of it, I get caught up in the stories, action, ceremony, and history being made and wish I had tuned in sooner.
  • There is so much wrong in this world. So much hatred and negativity. The Olympics isn’t what it used to be, but that’s okay, and I’m grateful we have something that unites the world, or most of it, for a little over two weeks.
  • Snoop seemed genuinely touched when he found out his music was used for an artistic swimming routine by the Canadian women’s team.
  • This just in, the Dutch have beautiful women Olympians.
  • I used to dislike this guy, but over the the last few years and now after reading this article, I think about him differently. It’s stupid of me to think negatively because of stuff they used to do over twenty years ago.
    • Colin Farrell Starts Foundation in Honor of Son with Angelman Syndrome as He Opens Up About Their Life
      • Farrell, 48, is keeping tabs on his son James, 20, who has Angelman syndrome, a rare neurogenetic disorder. James, who is nonverbal, is sitting in the backyard playing catch with his live-in caregiver.
      • “I want the world to be kind to James,” the actor tells PEOPLE. “I want the world to treat him with kindness and respect.”
      • And that, ultimately, is the driving force behind Farrell’s decision to open up his home and talk in-depth about his life with his son for the first time.
      • “Once your child turns 21, they’re kind of on their own,” Farrell says. “All the safeguards that are put in place, special ed classes, that all goes away, so you’re left with a young adult who should be an integrated part of our modern society and more often than not is left behind.”
  • Arlington National Cemetary had an elaborate funeral for Marine Corps retired Gen. Alfred Gray.
    • Marines from the Marine Corps Band, “The President’s Own,” and the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. (8th and I) conduct military funeral honors with funeral escort for 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps retired Gen. Alfred Gray, Jr. in Section 35 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, July 29, 2024.
    • When I saw this, I thought how his children must be in awe and so proud. Then, I read this, “As Gray and his wife had no surviving family, U.S. Marine Corps retired Lt. Gen. George Flynn received the U.S. flag from Gray’s funeral service.“
  • Yesterday, I learned that Senator JD Vance has changed names four times, or he’s on his fourth name. Either way, he’s changed names a lot of times. I know that several presidents have changed their names from their birth names. Gerald Ford was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr., and Bill Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III. Clinton turns 78 in 11 days, by the way. Here’s a complete list. Ford definitely had the biggest name change.
  • Fourteen-year-old Australian Arisa Trew won skateboarding gold in the women’s park event to become Australia’s youngest-ever Olympic champion. Going into the Olympics, she worked out a deal with her parents to be awarded something should she win. What did she ask for? It’s not the latest phone, jewelry, or concert tickets Nope. Innocently enough, all she wants is to have a pet duck. It’s a treat watching her interview. She, as she should, comes across as a kid, and the Australian accent is adorable as she rambles along without any pause.

    • I have a 14-year-old daughter. I’m trying to imagine what it would be like if she were an Olympian.
    • This reminds me of a joke BoyGeeding told me, which gave me a bigger laugh than expected.
      • During the attempted assassination attempt, what did the Secret Service agent say to former President Trump right before the shooter pulled the trigger?
        • Donald, duck!
  • Good horsemanship.

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Your Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, August 7, 2024

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Your Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, August 6, 2024

  • Something sports-related that didn’t get much attention because of the Olympics is Steve McMichael, who was diagnosed with ALS and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame over the weekend. McMichael’s induction happened in his Illinois home, where his wife and teammates surrounded him, while festivities were happening in Canton, Ohio.

    Here’s the story behind the video:

    My Uncle John was one of the owners of the Washington Capitals at the time. We were at a Wizards game in the owner’s box. Michael Jordan was there, he was part of the Wizards organization back then, and I was eating my popcorn and Michael Jordan started playing peekaboo with me and I was totally unfazed, just kept eating my popcorn and he started covering my mouth to try to prevent me from getting the popcorn in my mouth. …

    I was definitely aware of how great he was, who he was, but totally unfazed by it. I do like to think that he inspired me and passed on a little bit of his greatness …

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Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, August 5, 2024

  • Man, NBC did a poor job of broadcasting the men’s 100-meter race. It came down to a photo finish, but the announcing team never mentioned what had to cross first. A foot, hand, or entire body? It wasn’t well until the race was over when Mike Tirico told the viewing audience from inside the studio it was the clavicle.

  • I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I know a world record wasn’t broken, but at some point, a human can only run so fast, and we’ll max out any technological advancement when it comes to shoes and apparel, so at some point, records will no longer be broken. I just wonder how close we are to that moment.
  • The story of Kristen Faulkner is amazing. She took up cycling only seven years ago and won gold over the weekend. She has another event to compete in tomorrow.
    • Faulkner is a relatively newcomer to the sport. She only started cycling in 2017. She lived in NYC and wanted an outdoor activity to balance out her full-time job and tried a free class in NYC’s central park. She told NBC Sports, “I showed up in running shorts and sneakers, and we learned how to clip in and ride around cones,” she wrote. “A few weeks later I won my first race, and that’s when I knew I wanted to see how far I could go in the sport.”
    • In case you are wondering, she went to Harvard but didn’t play any sport, but in high school, she participated in rowing, swimming, and running.
    • This isn’t her in this photo, but I just loved the photo and wanted to share it.
  • Philippines gold medal gymnast Carlos Yulo to receive house, cash, free ramen for life
  • Wow.

  • I recently learned of the world’s largest digital camera, the 3200-megapixel Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera. It is being installed in Chile at the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Unlike most cameras that take a single image, this one will scan a particular section of the sky 800 times.
    •  The Telescope’s compact shape allows it to move quickly from one point in the sky to the next. It will image the sky continuously each night, on an automated cadence, and over the course of the ten-year survey will collect about 800 images of each location in the sky. 
  • Louisiana becomes the first to legalize surgical castration for child rapists
    •  As of Thursday, August 1, for the first time in the country’s history, child rapists can now be ordered by a judge to have their testicles removed if the victim is under the age of 13 and if the offender is older than 17 years old. The law already allowed judges to issue an order of chemical castration.
    • The article mentions there are female child rapists, but it doesn’t state a punishment.
  • Cool moment.

  • RFK Jr. admits putting dead bear cub and old bicycle in New York City’s Central Park nearly 10 years ago
    • “So, I pulled over and I picked up the bear and put him in the back of my van because I was going to skin the bear, and it was in very good condition, and I was going to put the meat in my refrigerator,” Kennedy said. “And you can do that in New York state. You can get a bear tag for roadkill bear.”But the falconing day went longer than expected, and he had to go straight to a dinner in the city at Peter Luger Steakhouse, he recounted. That, too, ran late, and Kennedy said he realized he had to go to the airport and would not be able to go home to Westchester first.“And the bear was in my car, and I didn’t want to leave the bear in the car because that would have been bad,” he said.
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