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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
‘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.
Circa 1998, I wrapping up my time in college and was a big fan of A&E’s ‘Biography’. In part because I wanted to know what all laid in front of me and if I would be brave and opportunistic enough to make my own history like all of these folks. I remember when ‘Biography’ decided to do one on Donald Trump and he called in the next day to ‘Live with Regis and Kathy Lee’ to discuss it. I recall Trump saying he was happy with the piece, but his tone and demeanor sounded like he was wondering if there would be much more left to write about him.
Two items of note I saw on the ‘CBS Evening News’
One segment showed the Secret Service training for all sorts of different scenarios that could happen at the inauguration, even role-playing with a weaponized drone. I’ve thought a lot about how a drone could be used as a weapon and if it’s been overlooked.
Scott Pelley introduced Bob Schieffer at the end of the telecast stating how the wise elder has reported on Washington and jokingly clarified he meant the city, not the first president.
When DaughterGeeding realized Donald Trump was to become our acting president tomorrow, she asked if we could go to the store to buy Oreos before Trump gets rid of them all. I totally forgot he said that, but it reminded me what can stay in a child’s mind.
My second thought was, there’s no need to upstage George Washington’s cabinet, which only had four members: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.
I’ve cooked bacon in the oven before, but yesterday was the first time I tried it by laying it on parchment paper. To my surprise, it worked great. Not so much by the cooking aspect, but the cleanup was a cinch. It was better than using aluminum foil. When I first read about this method I thought the grease would go through the paper and go all over the place, but not at all. Just make sure your paper is larger than your sheet pan.
If you are a fan of HBO’s ‘Westworld’, you might appreciate these pictures of an abandoned amusement park north of Tokyo.
I didn’t vote for Trump, but I’d prefer having him in the Oval Office than Ted Cruz. Go ahead, call my crazy, just refrain from any curse words or references to my mother, please.
I’m absolutely certain I have a better 40 time than Donald Trump.
I knew he’s frequently on Fox News, but had no idea he had a contract, “Jeffress declined to comment on his role in the inauguration, saying his contract with Fox News precludes him from speaking with CNN.“
We are the pastors of two New York churches with unique connections to President-elect Donald J. Trump. Patrick is the senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, where the President-elect’s mother, Mary, an immigrant from Scotland, was a member, and where her son was baptized and confirmed. When he takes the oath of office, Mr. Trump will rest his hand on the Lincoln Bible and on the Bible given to him “by the Sunday Church School of the First Presbyterian Church, Jamaica, New York, Children’s Day, June 12, 1955.” Scott is the senior pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue Presbyterian stands closer to Trump Tower than any church in the city. Sitting in his office, Mr. Trump has a direct view of the Celtic cross atop the church’s spire.
There’s a new trailer for the movie Logan, it’s the last time Hugh Jackman will play the role. You can tell in the opening scene they are in Texas, though I have no idea where or exactly how much of the film will take place in our state.
Reggie Love: I would say probably the most satisfying memory was having to coach Sasha’s middle school team and seeing seventh graders execute the pick-and-roll flawlessly.
