Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Screenshot 2016-07-26 at 8.05.59 PM

  • I true test of cardio endurance is trying to teach your child to ride a bike. After dinner yesterday, DaughterGeeding asked if I would take her training wheels off and teach her to ride her bike like a big girl. I simply couldn’t say no. We started off in the grass, which I thought would help her with control and balance, and then graduated to the sidewalk. WifeGeeding and took turns and I think she may have been the better teacher. I think DaughterGeeding’s personal best was four seconds. She didn’t fall once, perhaps too dependent on her legs and not keeping her feet on the pedals. I hope this doesn’t sound bad, but I was hoping she’d fall down a few times and get some scrapes and bumps and bruises. Those little setbacks build character.
  • When I lived in Mineral Wells and something like the AC needed to be repaired, often times we’d be told they had to order a part and when it comes in, they could do the repair. At that time, I thought how great it would be to live in “the big city” and not have to wait for any parts to be ordered. Now that I live in “the big city”, it seems more times than not, parts still need to be ordered for a repair. I wonder if places like LA or NYC have this problem. Off hand, I’d think whatever part that’s needed is available, and since these businesses work with each other, it should be simple to get a part.
  • I love kickoffs in football, but with the focus on player safety, we’ll soon see that part of the game eliminated with the offense simply starting on the twenty. However, I’m curious to know how will the rules be modified to include the strategy of an onside kick. For instance, let’s say Hardin-Simmons is playing Alabama, and HSU is leading Bama 24-14 with one minute left in the game. Bama scores and makes the extra point to bring the score to 24-21. With the rules of today, Bama would try to get the ball back with an onside kick. But if the kickoff is eliminated, then HSU would simply get the ball at the twenty. The strategy and suspense of a comeback are now eliminated.
  • I’m shocked Bill Clinton’s speech didn’t extend into the late-night news. Usually, when given the stage, he’ll be long winded, more so than usual. Perhaps after that speech, Hillary will forgive him now.
  • Bob Schieffer stated the former president didn’t mention Donald Trump’s name a single time in his speech, though I think he was referenced. Armchair political pundit thought – Smart move, keep the focus on Hillary and off of him.
  • It was a neat moment seeing the 102-year-old female delegate from Arizona, older than women’s right to vote, announce her state party’s nomination for the first major party female candidate for president.
  • When Hillary appeared via video, it was done with some interesting special effects that mimicked a glass ceiling breaking. It might have been a bit overdone, but for the Dems, it seemed very on point and on message with the message they are throwing out there.
  • Business Insider – The 50 best barbecue joints in America, ranked
    • Notables: 49. Hutchins, 46. Meat U Anywhere, 40. Hard Eight, 36. Pecan Lodge, 33. Lockhart, 27. Franklin, 13. Rudy’s
      • Glad to see Hutchins was on the list as I think it gets overlooked.
      • Surprised to see Meat U Anywhere, points should be deducted because no BBQ place should offer valet service.
      • I would only send someone to Hard Eight if I really disliked the person. That place is all hat and no cattle.
      • Rudy’s is good, but it’s too commercial, inconsistent, and definitely isn’t as good as the other Texas places on the list, except for Hard Eight. But then again, my kids can smoke better than Hard Eight.
    • A Kansas City joint made first on the list, which tells me the critic likes sauce and doesn’t appreciate the art of a good smoke. Meat should stand out on its own, sauce is used to cover up or hide something.
  • The latest episode of  ‘BBQ with Franklin’ that I caught on PBS was Competition – Aaron travels to a BBQ cook-off competition in Kansas with his father-in-law, going way outside his comfort zone.
    • Doing such a thing shows he has an appreciation for the art of smoking. It’s one thing to be considered the best in Texas and then just rake in the money and sit still in your restaurant, it’s something else to go to another region with an entire different take on the art. He says he doesn’t expect to even place, but just wanted to experience it.
    • It’s stated that the first competition actually started as a sauce competition by Ardie Davis and some other “orignal founders”. It was called the Diddy-Wa-Diddy National Barbecue Sauce Contest and it was in his backyard. At some point, someone decided to make the sauce sweet and now that’s what dominates the area. Folks in this neck of the woods prefer not to use sauce, and if they do, most don’t go the sweet route.
    • He ended up placing somewhere in the middle, like 25th.
  • Olympics Committee Says Non-Sponsors Are Banned From Tweeting About the Olympics
  • It turns out that Ice Bucket Challenge that was all the craze two year ago actually did something significant. The funds raised helped discover the gene that is responsible for ALS.
  • Texas Cemetery Scraps “Whites Only” Policy
  • Austin man claims he hammered turtle to death in self-defense
  • ‘Miss Cleo,’ Fortuneteller Of ’90s TV Fame, Dies At 53 : The Two-Way : NPR‏
  • Here’s David Letterman’s 2015 Peabody Award acceptance speech which was just made available yesterday. It was actually delivered on May 21, 2016. Steve Martin introduced him, and he was his typical great self.
  • Highest-paid CEOs run worst-performing companies, research finds
    • The study, carried out by corporate research firm MSCI, found that for every $100 (£76) invested in companies with the highest-paid CEOs would have grown to $265 (£202) over 10 years.But the same amount invested in the companies with the lowest-paid CEOs would have grown to $367 (£279) over a decade.
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