Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Screenshot 2016-06-14 at 9.57.27 PM

  • I cried twice yesterday.
    • WifeGeeding and the kids are in East Texas visiting family and I was all alone. I received a phone call from my domain registrar and web hosting company inquiring about the quality of their service and the primary purpose of BagOfNothing.com and Micah68.com and if I’d like to extend my current contract. As I was explaining the purpose of the latter website, which is to provide information for a scholarship created by the mother of my friend that was to be my best man at my wedding, I choked up. Suddenly it hit me, it was the thirteenth anniversary of his death, a crazy kayak accident. He died exactly one week before our wedding. I can’t think of one event without the other. I apologized to the representative on the phone for making it suddenly awkward. Suddenly it as a whirlwind trip down memory lane of where I was thirteen years ago. I was in Mineral Wells with my family, and WifeGeeding was in East Texas with her family, where she is now. The coincidence of her being in East Texas on this date resurrected all those feelings and emotions of that day. While I was thankful I was with my mother at the time, and no one can comfort like a mother can, I just wanted to be wrapped up in my fiance’s arm but felt separated, and here I felt separated again.
    • Before bedtime, WifeGeeding sent me the above picture which my best man’s mother posted on FaceBook to honor her son. He looks so adorable, so innocent, so full of joy. It made me think of all the life that he had in front of him. It made me think of all the times I went bowling with him, and he was damn good, and the time we won the intramural tea bowling championship in college. It made me think of the few times I took my children bowling, and it made me think of my daughter who is named after him.
      • After I calmed down, I turned on the nightly news and saw a story about a two-year-old at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort being drug into the Seven Seas Lagoon. This was where WifeGeeding and I spent our honeymoon. I remember the day in which we went parasailing and jet skiing in the Seven Seas Lagoon. Right before the start of those activities I was warned about the possibilities of alligators and kept thinking about the loss of my friend a week prior and me making the headlines about being attacked by a gator on my honeymoon. The gator warning affected me so much I didn’t enjoy our time jet skiing or parasailing. Of all the tweets last night, this one stood out.

  • Yesterday, LiberallyLean mentioned a lawyer friend from another town dropped by and gave him some home grown tomatoes. Man, that brought back some memories. When I was a little-bitty-Geeding in Mineral Wells, my mother grew several things in the backyard – tomatoes, chili peppers, jalapeños, bitter melons (which I always thought was under-developed corn), okra, cucumbers, eggplant, and moqua, which has a fuzzy outside layer and was about a foot long in most cases. The tomatoes grow like crazy, and it was my job to deliver sackfuls of them to our friends and neighbors.
  • I knew someone that was very crude and perverted but said he likes Sinbad the comedian because his comedy is clean and without cursing.
  • From Texas Monthly – Waxahachie ISD, with about 8,200 students, approved the $500,000 purchase of a digital scoreboard
  • Baylor University Interim President told to remain silent
    • Baylor’s Interim President David Garland admitted he had been instructed not to speak with the media before having KCEN HD News thrown off campus on Tuesday.
    • I can see Art Briles coming back to Baylor after a year out of football and the spotlight. He’d have to stay off the grid for a long while, admit he’s made mistakes, repented, felt guilt, went to counseling, talked to victims, and now wants to do right and have some sort of platform based on the prevention of sexual violence. I’m not saying I’d want that to happen, but if crafted just right, our society is a forgiving one and likes a redemption story.
  • YES! – Curb Your Enthusiasm returning for 9th season
    • Asked why he decided to come back, David said, “In the immortal words of Julius Caesar, ‘I left, I did nothing, I returned.’”
  • Husband’s arm amputated, officer bitten after Alabama woman’s rampage
  • Google Fiber may expand to Dallas
    • The super speedy Internet service is eyeing Dallas, which would be its third city in the Lone Star state. It has already staked out Austin and San Antonio. Google Fiber must work out the logistics with city leaders before reaching a final decision on whether Dallas would become the 23rd U.S. city to have or to be scheduled to get Google Fiber.
  • Facebook Offers Tools for Those Who Fear a Friend May Be Suicidal
    • On Tuesday, in the biggest step by a major technology company to incorporate suicide prevention tools into its platform, the social network introduced mechanisms and processes to make it easier for people to help friends who post messages about suicide or self-harm. With the new features, people can flag friends’ posts that they deem suicidal; the posts will be reviewed by a team at the social network that will then provide language to communicate with the person who is at risk, as well as information on suicide prevention.
  • Netflix’s iPad app now supports Picture in Picture multitasking
  • Chick-fil-A Opens on Sunday to Feed Blood Donors in Orlando
  • F-bomb warning because of a Billy Ripken baseball card reference – Fun with Blasphemy: The Exciting World of Biblical Typos
  • Buzzfeed – People Diagnosed With Alzheimer’s Talk About The Memories They Never Want To Forget
  • While watching Colbert last night, I was surprised at his chalkboard skit, that he went that far with Tump. But it reminded me of the SNL skit of Tim Meadows playing OJ using the telestrator and “accidentally” writing “I Did It”.

 

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Ad battle over Baylor sexual assault scandal continues in newspaper

Another full-page editorial advertisement on the sexual assault scandal at Baylor University has appeared in an Austin newspaper and, this time, it is wholly uncharitable to Kenneth Starr, who was ousted as university president last month.

Last Sunday a full-page advertisement in the Austin American-Statesman praised Starr for his service to the Baptist university.

The ad, which directly addressed the former judge and special prosecutor, thanked him for his service to Baylor and extolled his “integrity, leadership, character and humble nature.” It also thanked him for his “exceptional care for students and their well-being.”

That ad, which cost many thousands of dollars, was paid for by seven prominent Baylor alumni couples in the Austin area. It avoided mentioning – and some say ignored – the sexual assault allegations a private investigative report claims Starr did little to address while still president.

The new ad was paid for by a single 1966 Baylor alumnus, Roger Sanders, who called himself a “country lawyer” from Sherman, Texas. By contrast, Sanders whitewashes little.

Full Christian Examiner Article

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Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Marsh, 1917. (Library of Congress)
Marsh, 1917. (Library of Congress)
  • That picture caught my attention. It, of course, was taken before the reflecting pool was constructed. But when you have a reflecting pool, you can do sweet stuff like this:

    Amphibian aircraft on reflecting pool in front of Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. in 1923. (Harris & Ewing / Library of Congress)
    Amphibian aircraft on reflecting pool in front of Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. in 1923. (Harris & Ewing / Library of Congress)
  • Here are other great pics of the Lincoln Memorial.
  • From everything I read on Twitter at the start of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, it sounded like Cleveland just gave up and it was going to be a blowout. Well, on to Game 6.
  • Last night Colbert he did a cold open sitting at his desk saying some meaningful things about what happened in Orlando and had Bill O’Reilly come out. Those two had a nice substantive conversation, and Colbert had to calm the crowd down a few times. Colbert is best when he can show his intellectual side.
  • I feel like everyone is in love with Jim Gaffigan except me. I don’t have anything against him and I do find him entertaining, I just don’t his material and routine sets him apart from other standups.
  • Found: A 2,000-Year-Old, 22-Pound, Still-Edible Hunk of Bog Butter
  • Buzzfeed – There Was A “Friday Night Lights” Reunion That Will Make Your Heart Explode‏ – But no Coach Taylor?!
  • Arthur Fonzarelli will always be cool, even if Herbert is his middle name and he once jumped a shark.
  • GIF – You’ll see a few curse words, but this kid practicing his karate skills on a branch cracked me up.
  • Spoilers beware, a few thoughts from the latest episode of ‘Game of Thrones’
    • Ayra was offered an opportunity to join the traveling play as an actor, which makes me wonder if she would play herself.
    • I like how they didn’t show two of the fight scenes. Sure, I like me a good fight, but sometimes I want more storyline.
    • It’s good to have The Hound back around, and I like this version, he’s a bit cleaner and funnier.
    • I totally forgot who Beric Dondarrion was and his connection with The Hound. This served as a nice refresher.
    • Jaime Lannister is one handsome man. That actor should be the People magazine’s next Sexiest Man Alive.
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