Bag of Randomness for St. Patrick’s Day 2016

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  • I love the water bottle in that comic.
  • BoyGeeding had his first blastball practice yesterday, which is a simplified version of t-ball. Or if you think the world is evolving towards idiocracy, the future of baseball. Actually, I read somewhere a scene that didn’t make it into the movie Idiocracy was of one of baseball being so simplified it only had one base.
  • There’s absolutely no way I could ever coach a team of kids that young. I can deal with my kids, but I can’t deal with other people’s kids.
  • On an internal government website, I had to select a security question and provide an answer. One question was, “Where were you when you first heard about 9/11?”
  • That same government website asked for my Selective Service registration number. Uh, I have no idea, but I did tweet my grandfather’s the other day which he signed in 1917, the year the department was created.
  • With my new position at work, I’ve been working longer hours, and the desire to blog and the quality of my posts have suffered. Sorry.
  • Audition for Shark Tank in Dallas This Saturday
  • Last month I mentioned I bought some of Cumulus Media stock (owner of The TICKET) since it was hovering around a quarter, just for the heck of it. Yesterday it closed at $0.568. But there is no retirement for me as I didn’t buy many shares.
  • Nike will sell actual self-lacing sneakers, just like Back to the Future
  • Map – Where ‘Anglos’ are the Minority – The most-recent population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that non-Hispanic whites (or “Anglos,” as my Texas friends call them) are the minority in more than 364 counties. There are 151 that don’t have a single racial or ethnic group in the majority, making them the country’s most-diverse places.
  • Frank Sinatra Jr died yesterday, which made me think of his father who was buried with a roll of dimes in his pocket – The kidnappers demanded that all communication be conducted by payphone. During these conversations, Frank Sr. became concerned he would not have enough change. This prompted Frank Sr. to carry a roll of dimes (10 cent coins) with him at all times for the rest of his life; he was even buried with 10 dimes in his pocket.
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Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, March 16, 2016

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  • Edie Brickell & New Bohemians’ “What I Am” came on the radio yesterday morning on my way back from dropping DaughterGeeding off at school. I think it’s been a good decade since I heard that song. And then right before I went to bed, I saw that she and Steve Martin was going to be on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’. I don’t know why it always surprises me that she’s married to Paul Simon and a Dallas product.
  • AdvoCare seems to be pretty popular in the area, at least from all the stickers I see on cars, so some might find this ESPN article interesting which starts off with a scene in Fort Worth. – With the Saints QB leading the way, AdvoCare is using its sports ties to build a nutrition empire. But is the company really pushing false hope?
  • I’m looking forward to watching the new season of FX’s ‘The Americans’ tonight.
  • The Republican Convention will be in Cleveland this year, yet Dallas was one of the strong contenders to have hosted the event. That circus could have been in our backyard. And I’m only saying circus if Trump doest get the needed points to win and if there are locked door room conversations going on.
  • I can see Speaker Paul Ryan emerging as the Republican nominee if there’s a haywire convention in Cleveland – House Speaker Paul Ryan decided not to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, but he declined to rule out accepting it if a deadlocked party convention turns to him this summer.
  • Ryan hosted an Irish event yesterday and President Obama had some nice words to say to him “Speaker Ryan, you and I don’t agree on a lot of policy. But I know you are a great father and a great husband, and I know you want what’s best for America. And we may fiercely disagree on policy — and the NFC North — (laughter) — but I don’t have a bad word to say about you as a man. And I would never insult my fellow Irish like that.“
  • Today’s dose of ‘MURICA! – It is no surprise that 80 percent of U.S. consumers vote for American-made. But over 60 percent of Chinese consumers also say that they are willing to pay more for products labeled “Made in USA” than for those labeled “Made in China,” according to new research released by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
  • Today’s dose of TEXAS! – McKinney ISD moves closer to new stadium with council vote – $50 million will get you a 12,000 seat stadium.
  • Gizmodo – NASA Is Going to Light a ‘Large Fire’ on a Spaceship
  • Deadline – ‘Better Call Saul’ Renewed For Third Season At AMC
  • One of Whataburger’s biggest fans dies of cancer; visited over 730 locations – A Rockport woman who visited every Whataburger location in the country with her husband died of cancer this past week. Carol Hoepfner’s husband Karl Hoepfner had won the title of Whataburger’s biggest fan in 2010 after he wrote on essay about how he had visited Whataburger at least 7,000 times in his lifetime dating back to 1963.
  • @darrenrovell – Flashback: Dallas Cowboys “3D Experience” handout in 1994 when Jerry Jones announced his wish to build a theme park
  • Colt McCoy wrote a piece for The Players Tribune about how he went from a small Texas town to the NFL. Reading his version of his shoulder injury during the championship game against Alabama was most interesting to me. His father also wouldn’t allow him to play football until the seventh grade, an age he thought Colt could finally learn how to properly hit and take a hit.
  • In my world, the last Indiana Jones movie never happened, and my hopes for the just announced new one are pretty high.
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Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, March 15, 2016

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  • I’ve been on a good streak of not letting things bug me, especially traffic, but yesterday I came close to losing it. After dropping DaughterGeeding off at school, I’m driving through our neighborhood and just a few blocks from home. There’s a Honda following me, but he’s not riding me or anything, and I was driving the speed limit. Kids are walking to school during this time, so it’s best to be careful. I do a few turns and he’s still following me, so it doesn’t appear he’s cutting through the neighborhood to get to work, as some folks are prone to do. Our ally is just ahead and I turn on the blinker to turn left and start my turn just as he speeds past me on my left. I came within inches of a coalition. Blood boiling, I wrestled with the decision of flooring it to catch up with him more than I should have. Eventually, I did the mature thing and just drove home, but for the first time in a very long time, I really wanted to get violent and ignore the ramifications. And by the looks of the driver, it wouldn’t have been hard, but then again, you never know.
  • Before I took DaughterGeeding to school, I make a cup of coffee using my Keurig. Yesterday, I failed miserably at this task because I forgot to place the cup under the spout and hot coffee spread all over the countertop.
  • CBS11 weather was having some technical difficulties so they went back to the drawing board.
  • Other than being windy yesterday, the weather was great, and I took BoyGeeding on a 45-minute bike ride. That extra hour of daylight sure makes it easier to fit in outdoor activities.
  • Mark Cuban (age 57) dyes his hair and I never thought it looked good, I think it looks particularly bad in this picture.
  • Professional cycling’s latest scandal: unshaved legs
  • “Pick your battles, don’t let them pick you.”
Posted in Personal | 2 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Monday, March 14, 2016

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  • The Selective Service System was formed on May 18, 1917. While doing some spring cleaning yesterday, I believe I found my grandfather’s registration certificate which shows it was signed June 1917. He was born on Nov 22, 1894 in case you were wondering. One thing perplexes me, the name on the card is “Walter Edgar Geeding”. My father was “Walter Everett Geeding Jr” and I was always told grandpa was “Walter Everett Geeding Sr”.
  • I was told my great-great-grandfather, Simon Geeding, was a drummer boy in the Civil War (1861 to 1865).  Everything but the drummer boy part checks out according to FindAGrave.com. But according to the free part of Ancestry.com, Simon’s father was also named Simon, and his birth is listed as “Washington, Maryland, USA on 29 Sep 1788″. I just discovered this last night and is the furthest I’ve been able to track my family tree, just twelve years after the birth of our nation. As of now, the trail ends.
  • I also found out last night that if you search for “Civil War” on Google, the first result is no longer the American Civil War, but the new Captain America movie that’s about to hit theaters.
  • One of my readers has a close association with Gregory Popovich, not to be confused with current San Antonio Spurs head coach, Gregg Popovich. Popovich is the creator of the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater, who usually performs in Las Vegas but is currently touring. My family was given tickets to the show (exceptional seats, btw) at SMU’s McFarlin Memorial Auditorium and it was the perfect endcap for spring break with animal tricks, juggling, acrobatics, and other fantastic routines. I was told to speak to Popovich after the show, as he greets his audience in the lobby, and after mentioning his friend, he was kind enough to give my kids a couple of DVDs of his performances.
  • During the show, there were a few minor sound issues, but at one point a video projection screen did not fully raise up and there were a few minutes of awkwardness, which appeared to be the venue’s fault. When I met Popovich after the show I didn’t bring it up, but he sincerely apologized for the “technical difficulties”. You could tell he really cared about his performance and the audience. I told him it wasn’t a bother, and I was more impressed with how professional he was about it and how he recovered, and that it was a beautiful lesson to teach our kids. He seemed very appreciative.
  • If you are ever in Vegas looking for a great family show or if the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater is in your neck of the woods, you can get tickets here. And no, I wasn’t asked to write any of this in exchange for anything, I just really enjoyed the show and the warm and kindness of the performer.
  • I was driving around the most opulent neighborhoods in Dallas on Saturday and passed an area that looked like it was blocked off for a motorcade. I knew President Obama was in Austin recently and then was going to speak in Dallas, but I thought he was already back in D.C., so I thought the blocked-off street was for local resident former President George W. Bush. However, when I turned on the news nightly news, it turns out it was for our sitting president. That made me wish I would have known about it earlier to watch the motorcade pass by. I’m not sure why I think it would be cool to watch a presidential motorcade drive by, it’s just security and limo driving by without any real view of the passenger, but it’s also one of those experiences one doesn’t get to see often.
  • Random political idea that would never happen – Republicans and Democrats nominate two presidential candidates from each party, so in November there would be a total of four candidates (and their VP picks) to vote for. It’s nothing I’m endorsing, I just like thinking of the possibility and outcomes. So if you want to vote for your party, but really don’t like the sole nominee, instead of not voting altogether (some Dems will choose not to vote altogether if Clinton is the nominee and same for some Republicans with Trump) then you have another choice. It would be interesting to see, with four choices, how much a political party would win compared to the actual winner. Of course, this wouldn’t work with the electoral college. Remember, I’m not saying I want it this way, I just like thinking about how it would all play out.
  • I was watching the evening news with DaughterGeeding and there was a clip of Donald Trump leading a chant of, “No more Oreos. No more Oreos. No more Oreos.” DaughterGeeding, with a look of equal parts astonishment and fear on her face, said, “I’m not voting for him!”
  • The time change gave me an extra hour to mow the lawn.
  • I’m going to continue my streak of never filling out an NCAA Final Four bracket.
  • ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ thoughts:
    • It was a special edition episode titled “Guns in America”. The substituting host for Charles Osgood started the show off saying, “Our intent is not to take sides or pass judgement, but rather to take stock and cast light on a debate that seems to be growing ever louder with committed and sincere advocates on both sides.” I thought that was a good way to start things off for such a touchy subject, which I’ve been both sides on, and now remain divided.
    • To my surprise, Ted Koppel is now part of ‘Sunday Morning’. I love Koppel, but I think he should be doing so much more, like hosting ‘Face the Nation’ or being a part of ’60 Minutes’. I miss the days when Letterman would crack how bad one of his segments were going and that people better tune in to ‘Nightline’. Back then, they competed against each other, and it was always great when Koppel was on the show.
    • The widow of firearms manufacturer Samuel Colt had an Episcopal church built as a memorial to her husband and the three children they lost. “The church’s architecture contains guns and gun-smithing tools sculpted in marble to commemorate her husband’s life as an arms maker.” Here’s an example.
  • Spoiler free season four ‘House of Cards’ thoughts:
    • I’m about five episodes in and thought it wouldn’t hold up, but so far it’s better than last season.
    • I really like the curtains in President Underwood’s Oval Office.
    • I’m not use to any Dallas references in any movie or television show, it just feels a bit surreal.
    • Ellen Burstyn was the mother of a president in a different television drama that was on ABC and now she’s the mother-in-law of a president. Her performance in both is solid.
    • Neve Campbell is surprisingly good.
    • The Samsung promotions last season was way too obvious and it’s the same this season.
    • As with all movies and television shows now, you see real world news anchors making cameos, but they drug a retired anchor, a well-established one, to lead a broadcast for a fake news network.
    • I’d love to see Robin Wright host SNL. I noticed she’s directed several of the new episodes of ‘House of Cards’.
    • It’s my understanding with the Roosevelt Room at the White House, tradition holds that a TDR portrait is displayed during a Republican administration and FDR with a Democratic administration. I noticed both in these episodes.
    • “If you don’t like the way the table is set, sometimes you have to turn over the table.”

 

 

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