Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, May 28, 2024

  • Dallas is ‘this’ close to being a professional sports mecca of champions. It’s too bad the Wings of the WNBA are the only team holding the city back from sports greatness.
  • Gosh, I hope you can tell I was being a bit sarcastic in that last bullet point. But really, even if you haven’t followed the Mavs and Stars very much, I hope you can acknowledge how special and rare this sort of thing is for a city. It’s one of those moments you should let your guard down and take in the moment of being part of a community. Surely, you will admit it’s better to come together as a city for sports than it is for grief over a mass shooting.
  • NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton has died. When I was in college, NBC just hired him and I couldn’t find a single person who liked his commentary. The man annoyed me for the longest time. Then, I slowly saw a man who was always at peace with himself and sought happiness without infringing on others. And, that’s a pretty cool thing.
  • This story has Dallas ties – After ‘whites only’ job posting, Va. tech company hit with fine from the Justice Department
    • The job posting by Ashburn-based Arthur Grand Technologies Inc. was published in March 2023 and said that the company was only looking for “U.S. Born Citizens [white] who are local within 60 miles from Dallas, TX [Don’t share with candidates],” according to a Justice Department news release.
  • Proposed Texas GOP platform calls for the Bible in schools
    • Republican Party of Texas delegates voted on a platform calling for new laws to require the Bible to be taught in public schools and a constitutional amendment requiring statewide elected leaders to win the popular vote in a majority of Texas counties.
    • Stay with me here. Prohibition happened because zealot Christians were trying to impose their beliefs on others. I have a feeling Trump is going to win and a lot of similar pro-Christian stuff will be implemented in all forms of government. Then, like prohibition, people will wise up and realize things were just fine the way we had them, that all this isn’t about Christian values but Christian power, and revert to separating church and state again.
    • And with all that said, I’m looking forward to watching this film.

  • Pope Francis was accused of making homophobic slur in a closed-door meeting. The newspaper articles, which were translated from Italian, claimed the Pope had said there is “frociaggine” – which translates in English to “faggotry” – in some seminaries. I’m willing to bet he’s not the only top-level church official associated with a branch of Christianity who has used a version of that word recently.
    • The last time I got together with my scholarship buddies, we talked about many friends we no longer keep in touch with. One of those we talked about was someone who came out after we all left HSU, and he went off to a well-respected grad school. One of my friends, the man who is the son of a preacher (and recently lost his mother to cancer) and has been preaching at the same church for over 20 years, mentioned that his biggest regret in college was all the gay jokes we made around him and how that must have made him feel. That friend kept shaking his head, saying, “I even roomed with the guy, and there’s no telling what I said out of humor that made him feel terrible inside. I wish I could take it all back.” I never knew he felt that way, and it was sincere. It showed me he’s grown a lot over the years. One person I’d like to recognize for the great man he turned into today is his devoted wife.
  • I knew there was more to that viral video of the single mother crying and making her own birthday cake. It’s all too common, and it’s been pointed out to me often. Either way, kids should get equal time with both parents as long as there’s no real safety concern and child support is being paid.

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, May 22, 2024

  • I enjoy etymology, the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. I even subscribe to the podcast/show A Way with Words. I encourage you to give it a try for at least ten minutes. I mention that because the Gettysburg Address was referenced in a Far Side comic, and I always wondered why “score” meant twenty. The term “score,” meaning 20 years, has an interesting origin. It traces back to Old Norse and Old English terms: “skor” (meaning notch or incision in rock) and “scoru” (meaning “twenty”). Shepherds would count their sheep by making notches in a stick for every 20 sheep, which led to the association of “a score” with twenty. Now, I’m wondering why the shepherds didn’t make a notch for five or ten; what made 20 so great?
  • Thinking like a Vulcan, that is, thinking more logically and scientifically than emotionally or spiritually, I considered the concept of marriage—something reasonable for those trying to find some wisdom after a failed one. In particular, the modern marriage. From a spiritual standpoint, I support marriage as a lifelong commitment. But from a legal or societal standpoint, I’ve been exploring the idea that a marriage should be renewable five-year contracts. The divorce rate continues to linger around 50%, and I’ve noticed a lot of people who have been married for around 20 years (give or take five) are getting divorced. Divorces are expensive and emotionally draining for a family. Hear me out.Traditional marriage is a blending of church and state. I don’t want to touch the church standpoint, just the legal standpoint. In my proposal, a married couple can choose not to renew their marriage contract after five years. So, from a legal standpoint, they are no longer married. From a religious standpoint, they would still be married. I know some Catholics do something similar. They believe divorce is a sin or not even an option, so they never get a divorce, but the couple no longer loves or lives with each other.So, what are the benefits of doing it this way? With a fixed-term commitment, couples feel less pressure to stay together “forever,” allowing them to focus more on the present and nurturing their relationship without fearing a lifelong obligation. It also provides a built-in opportunity for couples to reassess their relationship regularly. This periodic review can encourage open communication, mutual goal-setting, and proactive problem-solving, potentially strengthening the relationship. Ending a marriage after a contract term expires would be less contentious and legally complicated than traditional divorce proceedings. Contracts provide clear terms regarding finances, property, and other important aspects, reducing conflicts and misunderstandings. Life circumstances change (career shifts, relocations, family dynamics), and a renewable contract allows couples to adapt their commitments to their evolving needs and goals. Lastly, a new industry would be created: the five-year marriage renewal party planner. It would be like a gender reveal party, a great excuse to get together.
  • One thing led to another and I started to research Charles Lindbergh’s plane, The Spirit of Saint Lewis. I have a vivid memory of watching that Jimmy Stewart movie with my father. It amazed me that there was no windshield or any way to see straight ahead, and all the measures he took to reduce weight, like cutting the borders off on a paper map. Here’s one thing I didn’t know. A small swastika was painted on the inside of the propeller spinner, along with the names of all the employees who designed and built it. It was meant as a message of good luck before Lindbergh’s solo Atlantic crossing, as the symbol, when it faces left, was often used as a popular good luck charm with early aviators. That reminds me of a time in high school when I was in the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells with the grandchild of one of the owners. He showed me a bathroom that had swastika tiles, which were put there before Hitler became popular. And yes, I know there’s a connection between Lindbergh and Hitler, and if Lindbergh were alive today would be campaigning to re-elect the 45th president.
  • Tiny plastic shards found in human testicles, study says
  • Road trips are forever changed.

  • Baby races are always fun to watch; you never know what will happen.

 

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, May 21, 2024

  • Isn’t this amazing in terms of timing and occurrence? Talk about being at and filming at the right place at the right time. The odds of recreating this are literally astronomical. Did Kal-El just crash land on a farm? You can read more about it at Space.com.

  • I’ve been saying or thinking it wrong all my life. It’s “piqued my interest” and not “peaked my interest.”  The verb “to pique” means to arouse or stimulate. “Peak” is a high point, like the top of a mountain, and “peek” means to take a quick look. To pique one’s interest means that his/her interest in a topic or something has been increased, raised to the maximum.
  • Johnson City, TN, is closer to Ontario, Canada, than it is to Memphis, TN.
  • Gov. Kristi Noem’s book contains more factual errors
    • Just for the heck of it, I’d like to see Sarah Palin and Kristi Noem debate. Over what, I’m not sure, and I don’t really care. I just want to see the results from the fact-checkers to see how much information they got wrong. 
  • I’m not sure how I feel about this. Aesthetically, no, but I can see them being very functional.

  • What a horrible call. Male or female, that’s trash commentating. The ball was gone the moment it left the bat. It’s not that women can’t do commentary, it’s just that this one woman can’t. No way she should deserve a mulligan.

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Bag of Randomness for Monday, May 20, 2024

  • If we really care about our country, want voters well informed, and want to hold our presidential candidates accountable during the debates, then join me in demanding Samuel L. Jackson moderate the debates.
  • Man, how about Dallas sports?! The city had a drone show to celebrate.
    • 12:58 am CT – the Dallas Stars defeat the Avalanche in overtime, 2-1, to clinch their berth in the Western Conference Final
    • 9:40 pm CT – the Dallas Mavericks defeat the Thunder, 117-116, to clinch their berth in the Western Conference Finals
    • Same day. Separated by 20 hours and 42 minutes. Both are going to their respective sports’ conference championship round. Insane.
    • I’m glad there will be no overlapping games in the same time slot like the last series.
      • 5/22 Mavs Game 1
        5/23 Stars Game 1
        5/24 Mavs Game 2
        5/25 Stars Game 2
        5/26 Mavs Game 3
        5/27 Stars Game 3
        5/28 Mavs Game 4
        5/29 Stars Game 4
        5/30 Mavs Game 5
        5/31 Stars Game 5
        6/01 Mavs Game 6
        6/02 Stars Game 6
        6/03 Mavs Game 7
        6/04 Stars Game 7
    • @Rangers
      WON THE WORLD SERIES

      @DallasStars
      ARE IN THE WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL

      @dallasmavs
      ARE IN THE WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL

  • A kind and loyal reader pointed out my embarrassing typo on Friday. I’m not sure how many of you laughed, but it gave me a good one. Basically, I misspelled “gentle” and spell-check provided these first two choices in this particular order: “genital” and “gentle.” As you guessed, I mistakenly chose the former.
  • I’ve always been a big fan of Texas Country Reporter. Heck, I remember when it was called Four Country Reporter. Now, there will be a new host as the original host and his wife step aside.
  • Former President Trump was in town recently, and Tony Romo played golf with him. Many are surprised, but I remember him attending Trump’s inauguration. Heck, he even met up with John Elway at the event. How do people forget stuff like this?

  •  

  • There’s been a lot of fear of what AI can do and what it can lead us to believe. Most of the concern has been being able to authenticate an image or video in the future. But I never looked at the converse way of thinking. For instance, I’m sure we’ve all seen this iconic bison skull pile photo at some point. Most of us have seen it during a time when we knew no such photo could be manipulated.
  • Recently, I came across these comments regarding the iconic photo. It never occurred to me that people of today would falsely label real authentic photos as products of AI.
  • I couldn’t get a tweet to embed recently, and as I looked for a resolution, I noticed this support page hasn’t been updated, as it still refers to the platform as Twitter.
  • This story has stuck with me:
    • Greenfield parents say their 10-year-old killed himself after relentless bullying – The parents of Sammy Teusch said they contacted their son’s school 20 times about bullying.
    • I have one large and strong friend who still insists the best thing to do is punch the person bullying you in the nose because it worked for him, and a high school coach praised his efforts.
    • I took a few minutes to search the internet to find out how the child killed himself. To me, I think it’s relevant and can be helpful to other parents looking for possible signs of potential self-harm.
    • I found a GoFundMe page. I’m surprised that none of the articles provided a link to it. I think it’s worth including because I wondered if the one I found was legit. I also want to understand how GoFundMe works, everything from verifying to how operational costs are paid for. Years ago, a friend sent me a link so I could donate to a cause and it gave me the option of paying the operational cost of the transaction, which I thought was cool.
  • Dallas will have some “interesting women” here this summer.
  • This is some amazing video:

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Monday, May 20, 2024