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The Untold Truth Of Rogue One

As the first true standalone story in the Star Wars saga, there was a whole lot riding on Rogue One. But the story surrounding the film is almost as interesting as the one we watched on the big screen. From axed cameos to the film’s humble beginnings, there’s a whole lot more to Rogue One than just Jyn’s quest to snag the Death Star plans. So let’s dig into the untold truth of Rogue One…

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Different Types of Fuel Burning Inside A See-Though Engine

From Popular Mechanics

In the video above, the team builds a piston engine and fires it up while filming it in super slow motion. The result is that you can clearly see each step of the process as the engine goes through its cycle. The Warped Perception folks experiment with using isopropyl alcohol and acetylene as fuels instead of gas, and the engine clearly doesn’t care too much for those.

Posted in Interesting | 2 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, January, 24, 2017

I’ve been on a presidential trivia kick as of late and was surprised by these two tidbits, thinking both would have occurred much earlier in our nation’s history.
- Lady Bird became the first First Lady to hold the Bible as her husband took the oath of office. – Wikipedia
- Lyndon B. Johnson was the first POTUS since George Washington to dance at his own Inaugural Ball. – OurPresidents
Britney Spears’ Shaves Her Head And Marries ‘K-Fed’ In New Lifetime Biopic Trailer
Possible Trump Supreme Court nominee – East Texas judge calls Saturday’s marchers ‘a million fat women’ on Facebook
Cab Driver Calls John Elway Best QB Ever Without Realizing He’s Sitting In Backseat (Article w/video)
- I would have thought Elway and company would have had a personal driver or at least used Uber.
Committed to a cause – 2,000 gather in subzero Fairbanks, Alaska weather for Women’s March
Jim Hall and the Chaparral 2J: The Story of America’s Most Extreme Race Car – Jim Hall’s Chaparral built some of the wildest and most creative race cars ever seen. We visited Hall to see the amazing 2J and witness his first drive in it in 30 years.
China shuts down 111 golf courses as it continues its assault on ‘sport for millionaires’
ZIP code trivia
- 10048 (ZIP code) – 10048 was the ZIP code assigned to the original World Trade Center complex in New York City. It was discontinued following the September 11 attacks in 2001. Years afterward, mail continues to be sent to 10048 by senders who have not updated their mailing lists. The ZIP code is being kept active by the United States Postal Service (USPS). It has not been assigned to 1 World Trade Center and other buildings planned for the World Trade Center site, which use the ZIP code 10007 instead.
Eerie
- A silly theory I have about older folks who faint at public events – they dehydrate themselves so they don’t feel the urge to go pee during an important event. I only say that because I do this when I go to a concert or a movie, but then again, my bladder is tiny.
The out-going couple always are more relaxed, but then again, the new ones gotta show they are taking the new role seriously.
- Sidenote: Bob Schieffer recently spoke about how Harry Truman and his wife left the house simply by packing their own suitcases and driving back home. I think there’s even a book about it.

Posted in Personal | 4 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Monday, January 23, 2017

For years on Twitter, I’ve followed both the President and the White House Press Secretary. Now that there’s a new administration, the tone or personality of the tweets are quite different and I’m learning to adjust.
My one piece of advice for both the new press secretary and president… pick your battles. That was the best advice my worst manager ever gave me. I disagreed with that notion for about a decade, but I finally saw my feelings towards her was clouding my judgment. It then dawned on me how my rooting interests for sports clouds my judgment, not wanting to give credit where credit is due or agreeing or disagreeing with a ref or official’s call. Feelings will get the best of me, sometimes I wish I could go through life as a Vulcan and just make decisions out of logic.
I follow several of the presidential library Twitter accounts and on Friday the Nixon Presidential Library tweeted a photo of his first inauguration. I thought I spotted Reagan in the background and they confirmed it was him.
I thought this was a neat picture of LBJ shaking hands with George H.W. Bush.
The biography of our new First Lady on the White House’s website referenced her QVC success, but that tidbit has since been removed.
It was very nice of Melania to give the Obama’s a gift, though I was disappointed with Michelle looking like she was throwing serious shade. I’ve watched too many ‘House of Cards’ to think that the gift was only done to gain public favor and what was inside the gift was some sort of blackmail or insult. I don’t think that’s the case, but just thinking it would make for a good script.
- I also had similar thoughts when Trump acknowledged and said nice things about the Clintons at the inaugural luncheon. So if Frank Underwood was doing this, he’d turn to the camera and state he did that just to rub it in one last time.
I totally forgot that Michelle Obama gave the Bush’s a present when they greeted them before the inauguration. But Trump could have shown more gentleman-like manners by waiting on his wife and letting her walk ahead of him. He’s already having trouble with how women view him, some chivalry wouldn’t have hurt. Sorry for the small size of this GIF.
I knew Melania’s inaugural outfit was Jackie Kennedy inspired, but I thought the neckline or covering was unique, but I was wrong.
As much as Gov. Chris Christie supported Trump and then get dumped, I have a feeling he didn’t have a good weekend.
Three thoughts on how I’ve changed watching politics, or efforts I’ve taken:
- Don’t paint with a wide brush – Not all liberals and not all conservatives are exactly alike regarding their respected parties. There are a bunch of subgroups within each, and some are more vocal than others.
- Apples and Oranges – For the most part, comparing one administration, election, or action on an issue isn’t exactly fair. I don’t want to bore you with the details, but I’m basically saying don’t be so quick to judge when you may not have all the facts.
- Don’t forget the theater – Almost every politician will say one thing and mean another and contradict themselves. They do this to advance an issue, appease a group, or as a deal or bargain struck with a friend or foe.
With all that said, liberals take a presidential race harder and tend to be more violent at inaugurations.
With all that said that was said, it was nice to see there were zero reported arrests at the Women’s March on Washington.
Trump lost his home state but won the election, I had to look up the last time this happened. Wikipedia has this chart which shows the candidate’s birth state and state of residence. Nixon was the last to lose his state of residence, New York, and still win the election.
It would be nice to see how Tim Russert would be handling all of this.
Chelsea Clinton Says Barron Trump Deserves the Chance to Be a Kid
Prestonwood Baptist Pastor Dr. Jack Graham and Hardin-Simmons alumnus took part in the inaugural prayer service at the National Cathedral. I think he was/is part of some HSU board. I thought the university would make mention of him and his involvement but I couldn’t find it on the university webpage or Twitter.
The funniest SNL skit of the weekend goes to the woman trying to talk dirty to her husband. I haven’t laughed so much at an SNL skit in a very long time.
‘CBS Sunday Morning’ had a profile on Henry Winkler. He said the following and I thought it was worth sharing.
- Tenacity gets you where you want to be, and gratitude allows you not to be angry or frustrated along the way.
‘CBS Sunday Morning’ also had a small piece on soul singer Sam Cooke, who was killed by a hotel manager. I had no idea back in the day a body would be wheeled out upright.
I own a Google Pixel phone and Google has knocked thirty bucks off their virtual reality headset. Mine arrived in the mail on Saturday and it’s a big hit with the family. Funny thing, we were all blown away with the technology on Saturday, but on Sunday, I noticed we didn’t remove the protective film on the lenses. After that, we were really blown away. I did find one video of U2 singing “Song For Someone”. You are sitting in an empty arena, like during rehearsal, with each member of the band surrounding you singing and playing an instrument. You are then transported to different parts of the world with other people singing the song in their homes with the occasional appearance of a band member. The other fun thing I did was pull up WifeGeeding’s parent’s house in GoogleMaps which allowed her to “walk” up and down the street.
The Dallas Stars media folks are known for topical humor.