Bag of Randomness for Monday, January 30, 2017

  • We ate at Hutchin’s BBQ in Frisco and decided to walk it off by visiting the Cowboys’ new headquarters. We didn’t take the tour, just roamed around a bit. You see a lot of kids playing football on the field, and BoyGeeding thought he’d try to rush the passer a few times. When we first arrived, we saw a missing top floor window along with a firetruck and ambulance with paramedics wheeling a gurney inside. I thought I may have had some sort of scoop on something, but nothing came of it. And I’m sure there’s some sort of joke you can come up with that picture and the playoff loss two weeks ago.
  • I’ve got a bad habit of answering phone calls from unknown numbers, but I don’t plan on doing it anymore because of this latest scam. Basically, they record you saying “yes” and can use the recording to bill you for products. At first, I thought the article was satire but it seems well sourced, although telling you to call 911 is a bit drastic.
  • However, last week my phone rang and the caller ID showed it was from the Bahamas, which raised an eyebrow. I answered and a man speaking with a South Asian accent claimed to be from the IRS. He referred to me as “sir” but I told him I was a woman, but in a very low voice. He apologized but said I  must send him money or go to jail. I then pretended I thought he was Donald Trump and excited to hear from the new president and would be happy to contribute to his re-election. For the next few minutes he frustratedly tried to convince me he wasn’t Donald Trump but I kept telling him that I knew for certain it was him and saw him on TV. Eventually, he started to call me some very vulgar names and told me I couldn’t be a woman. I told him it hurt my feelings he didn’t think I was a lady because the surgery cost me my retirement and then I placed the phone next to the radio so he could hear Norm on The TICKET.
  • Back in 2010, Donald Trump lobbied for Mike Leach to get the University of Miami head football coach job. I would have liked to see how that would have turned out. I also thought the possibility of Leach coaching at Miami was more probably than a Trump presidency.
  • It seems like VP Pence shadows the president a lot, more so than what I recall seeing from other VPs, and we are just a little more than a week in with this new administration.
  • I’d feel like President Trump’s heart would be in the right place if his executive order also included countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which had direct connections with the 9/11 hijackers – 15 of the 19 were citizens of Saudi Arabia, and the others were from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon.
  • I never heard of the Alfalfa dinner until yesterday, but it’s basically a more select and high profile version of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Presidents usually attend as the guest of honor, at least in their first term, so it was news that Trump didn’t attend, but V.P. Pence was there in his honor. I like it when the “powerful” have to drop their guard and roast each other, here are two things I thought was funny:
    • This line was thrown at Pence, “As a special treat, sir, we have arranged for the cast of ‘Hamilton’ to perform for you.”
    • The vice president said the administration planned to build a wall between the White House and the press — and that the New York Times was going to pay for it.
  • Liberals may have found someone to despise even more than Dick Cheney
    • Trump puts Bannon on security council, dropping joint chiefs
      • President Donald Trump is reshuffling the US National Security Council (NSC), downgrading the military chiefs of staff and giving a regular seat to his chief strategist Steve Bannon. Mr. Bannon, formerly the head of the populist right-wing, Breitbart News website, will join high-level discussions about national security.
  • I’ve seen presidents 43 and 44 put their feet up on the Resolute desk, but President Trump is the first I’ve seen to not use a coaster. But then again, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any sort of drink on the desk.
  • I’ve also noticed that President Trump tends to keep a messy desk. Well, maybe not so much a messy desk, but I’ve often seen a large stack of papers and folders.
  • It’s not apples to apples, but this reminded me of the time President George W. Bush held hands with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.
  • The Press Secretary retweeted an article from The Onion about himself, and he obviously didn’t thoroughly read it.
  • Pittsburgher Starts Petition To Rename Airport After Mr. Rogers
  • Dallas Morning News – National reaction: Baylor deserves death penalty; no defending Art Briles after new lawsuit
    • A new lawsuit filed against Baylor and obtained by The Dallas Morning News on Friday alleges that there were at least 52 “acts of rape” by 31 Baylor football players from 2011 to 2014. This included five gang rapes, at least two of which were committed by 10 or more players at one time, according to the lawsuit. These numbers are significantly higher than previously disclosed by Baylor’s regents.
  • In local Lewisville news, a massive pajama party got out of hand – 39 police officers shut down fraternity pajama party in Lewisville
    • Every available officer from Lewisville as well as officers from Carrollton, Flower Mound, Coppell, DPS and Denton County were called in to control the crowds. In all, there were 18 officers from Lewisville, and 21 officers from other agencies due to the size of the crowd.
  • Creepy GIF of the Day – Python climbing a tree, at least I think it’s a python.
  • Adorable GIF of the Day – Chubby weenie dogs “attacking” a lion
  • Interesting GIF of the Day – Frozen pike eating bass
  • I’m loving the music on HBO’s ‘The Young Pope’, here’s a GQ article on it –
    How The Young Pope Got Its Batshit Soundtrack
  • I had no idea actor Timothy Olyphant is the great-great-great-great grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt..
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Daddy Swan Makes Frozen Pond Swimmable

“The pond is frozen over. The Cob leading the way breaking through the thin ice layer making it easy for the Hen and Cygnets to follow. When the Cob became tired the Hen took over from him.”

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Bag of Randomness for Friday, January, 27, 2017

  • DaughterGeeding didn’t finish her choirs before the start of ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ and we told her she couldn’t watch it until she finished all of them. I’ve never seen any person so devastated by not being able to watch ‘Diff’rent Strokes’. She “pleaded” that it was a “to be continued” episode from last night and she wanted to see how it turned out. I asked what was last night’s episode about, and she said, “I don’t know, I can’t remember, but it’s to be continued and I need to see what happens.”
  • A license plate caught my attention yesterday, and it didn’t appear to be a vanity plate. I’m leaving out the last few digits, but it was JFK 63–.
  • I was really disappointed in CBS11’s coverage of the Addison art teacher who shot a water gun at an image of President Donald Trump in the classroom. It was a stupid move on her part and shouldn’t have been done. However, CBS11 provided her name, which was appropriate, but what wasn’t appropriate was filming the front of her house with the street number clearly displayed. Anyone wanting to do harm to her or her family, and there are a lot of zealots out there, could easily harm her or her family. In less than three minutes I was able to find her house by looking at a local county appraisal website.
  • I’ve noticed the late Kidd Kraddick’s daughter has been doing commercials on radio and television.
  • There’s always that strange bit of awkward adjustment the country has when a new president starts his duties. The public is getting used to hearing “President” in front of the person’s name and wonder when he’ll have a good handle on things or fully adjusted. For me and this new president, I feel it’s going to take longer than usual.
  • About a year ago I started reading a book about presidents’ relationships with other presidents and how the acting president will often seek council from past presidents. I got sidetracked and forgot about it but started reading it again this week thanks to a reminder from a loyal reader. President Trump is so unique I’m curious to know if the following passages apply to him like it did the others
  • In much the same way about how an acting president will seek the counsel of former presidents, I wonder if Speaker Ryan has sought John Boehner’s counsel.
  • The new White House press secretary is not having a great first week –  Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer may have just tweeted his password
  • Tweets that caught my attention yesterday:
    • @LindseyGrahamSC – Simply put, any policy proposal which drives up costs of Corona, tequila, or margaritas is a big-time bad idea. Mucho Sad. (2)
    • @RichOToole – How in the world could they build a wall between Texas and Mexico.. In 15 years they still haven’t finished I-35 between Austin and Waco.
  • I realize just a few days ago I stated it’s apples to oranges comparing what goes on in politics. However, it was my understanding Republicans were very fiscally conservative and don’t want to spend funds on things unless those funds are already accounted for. So I’m surprised they are willing to go ahead and front the spending on the proposed border wall with Mexico.
  • I also get a kick out of the author’s name – O. Kay Henderson
  • The story itself is great marketing – Kraft Heinz to give all of their salaried employees the day after the Super Bowl off instead of buying multi-million-dollar game ad
  • Boeing’s New Spacesuit May Look Stylish as Hell, But It’s All Business
  • I get annoyed when the news does a story on a person who pays a tax or a fine or whatever by wheeling in pennies just to prove a point. It’s been done and covered so many times there’s no point. And maybe it’s because I’ve worked as a person who has had to count cash and coinage, but the only person who “gets the message” is the employee having to process all coinage.
  • I don’t read a lot about grand jury testimonies, but this is the funniest story about one  I’ve read which includes a professional sports team. Basically, the Yankees got in a brawl at the Copacabana nightclub when a drunk bowling team heckled Sammy Davis Jr. with racial slurs.
    • “Well,” asked a grand juror, “did you see a gentleman lying unconscious on the floor near the Copa entrance?
      “Yes I did,” Mantle answers.
      “All right. do you have an opinion as to how this could have happened?”
      Mantle thought about the question and then, with a serious look on his face, said “I think Roy Rogers rode through the Copa, and Trigger kicked the man in the head” The Grand Jury broke out laughing, and an hour later the district attorney threw out the case for insufficient evidence.
  • GIF – Man sneaks up and scares a tiger
  • Here’s a movie scene I think about often, mainly because I wonder about people’s perception of my intentions. It should be cued to the relevant part.

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