Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, March 1, 2016

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  • For you voters in Dallas County that need a ride to vote – @dartmedia – Passengers displaying a valid voters registration card can ride DART free from 6am to 8pm on Texas Primary Day, Tues, Mar 1, 2016
  • Not that I’m really into Academy Award fashion, but I thought it was interesting that Whoopi Goldberg’s dress was inspired by Bette Davis’ dress in the movie All About Eve, which impresses me for some reason as I think the designer nailed the look. But that lead me to research the 1981 Kim Carnes song “Betty Davis Eyes” wondering what Davis thought of it. Per Wikipedia – “Bette Davis wrote letters to Carnes and the songwriters to thank them for making her “a part of modern times”, and said her grandson now looked up to her. After their Grammy wins, Davis sent them roses as well.”
  • I’ve been sneezing a lot as of late, which made me wonder if I ever sneezed in my sleep, or if it was possible. This is what I found – “As we fall asleep, the body relaxes parts of our brain which is responsible for reacting to certain stimuli. One of these parts is the part that triggers the reflex for sneezing. The part responsible isn’t completely shut-off however. It simply causes the reflex threshold which tells your body to sneeze to be raised. This means that it requires much more stimulation to initiate a sneeze. While it is possible to receive enough stimulation to sneeze while you are asleep, the amount required would wake you up long before you could actually sneeze.“
  • How To Fold an Origami Star Wars X-wing Starfighter
  • ‘Bernie Baby’ Dies of SIDS – “Bernie Baby” Oliver Lomas, whose photos became a hit among Bernie Sanders supporters, has reportedly died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. – Even though all parents of newborns don’t sleep well, I was especially fearful of SIDS and didn’t sleep well until I knew my child was strong enough to roll over on his and her own.
  • Take that Skynet! (Well, for now.) – Mercedes-Benz swaps robots for people on its assembly lines – The dizzying number of options for the cars – from heated or cooled cup holders, various wheels, carbon-fibre trims and decals, and even four types of caps for tire valves – demand adaptability and flexibility, two traits where humans currently outperform robots.
  • Free, as in, make a donation to charity . . .
  • Buzzfeed – This Puppy Had To Get Braces And Is So Awkwardly Cute
  • There’s one particular book I’ve really enjoyed reading to DaughterGeeding before bedtime, but now she no longer wants me to read, she wants to read it to me. It’s a cool milestone or accomplishment for her, but in a way, it bums me out.
  • D Magazine – You Could Design the New Mavericks’ Court
  • Last night’s episode of ‘Supergirl’ had her visiting the Fortress of Solitude for the first time. When I was in college, the one thing I craved the most was solitude because I was always surrounded by people in the dorm and had a hard time collecting my thoughts. Even if I was alone in my room, I could still hear noises upstairs or in the hall, so I never truly felt alone. Oftentimes, I’d say there was biblical precedent for this, as Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to pray. Eventually, I developed my own Fortress of Solitude, and I’m sure everyone in their own way has one as well.
  • Maybe only of interest to me, but both ‘Supergirl’ and ‘Gotham’ (which is based on Bruce Wayne as a child and how the villains became to be) compete in the same timeslot. That’s two DC Comics franchises going head to head. Yeah, they are on different networks, but it hurts DC.
  • Florida news – Blind man acquitted in fatal shooting gets guns back
Posted in Personal | 1 Comment

Another Image Problem For The Catholic Church

Catholic priest Fr Stephen Crossan ‘caught snorting cocaine in Nazi room’

Fr Stephen Crossan is reported to have sniffed coke through a £10 note on a night of drinking in July 2015 in Banbridge, County Down.

He was in a room with Nazi memorabilia and seemed to say “I shouldn’t” as he snorted, the Sun on Sunday reported.

Full BBC Article

Posted in Spiritual | 3 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Leap Year 2016

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  • I forgot that there are no Leap Year Days in any century year not divisible by 400.
  • WifeGeeding’s sister was running in her first ever race, the 5K part of the Cowtown Marathon. She didn’t know we were coming to support her, but she got a kick out of the posters the kids made for her. This was the first big race I ever visited, and I was surprised at all the non-race events that were going on, such as an expo. There was a runner from every state except for West Virginia.  Other than the charitable aspect of a race or a run, I never really understood why one would want to be in one since you can run any distance anytime you’d like, no event or organization is required. Other than the charitable aspect, it seems a bit vain and attention grabbing. Perhaps there’s a social aspect to it, and as an anti-social person, it’s hard for me to relate.
  • Yesterday my pastor talked about the time he crawled through the milk door in his house in Chicago when the entire family was locked out and didn’t have a key. Until yesterday, I never heard of a milk door. A lot of his sermon focused on the word parakletoß (parakletos), which might be of interest to lawyers that have an interest in Biblical times.
  • My alma mater, Hardin-Simmons University, has selected a new president. To my surprise, he doesn’t have a PhD or EdD, though he does have a JD (Baylor Law 1994 for the handful of Baylor Law grads that read this blog, CV is viewable in the link provided). When I was a student in the School of Bidness, there was a search for a new dean. The leading candidate was an existing professor, but we heard there was concern that he “only” had a JD, and he didn’t get the gig and left. After that dean left, a former dean’s son took the position, but he “only” had a JD. Who knows what really happened since rumors can run amok among students, but I’m reminded of something I was told long ago – A lot of life isn’t what you know, but who you know.
  • According to this Dallas Morning News article, the best time to book a flight is 54-days before the departure.
  • This Is the Inside of a Potato Chip as It’s Being Fried – Scientists at the University of Illinois have used a technique called X-ray micro-computed tomography to look at what happens inside a 1.65 millimeter potato disk as it is deep fried for different lengths of time.
  • GIF –  Chivalry is not dead‏, at least in the animal kingdom
  • Scalia’s Death Prompts Dow to Settle Suits for $835 Million – Dow Chemical Co. said it agreed to pay $835 million to settle an antitrust case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court after Justice Antonin Scalia’s death reduced its chances of overturning a jury award.
  • Buzzfeed – 23 DIY Costumes You’ll Only See At A Disney Princess Race
  • Speaking of Disney – Disney introduces seasonal pricing at theme parks –  The calendar will be divided into Value, Regular and Peak periods. The new pricing plan will apply to one-day tickets. A one-day park ticket at Orlando’s Magic Kingdom during a Value period will stay at current levels of $105 for those aged 10 and above. But tickets during Regular season days (most of April, for example) will rise to $110. The price will then shoot up to $124 for Peak days. That includes holidays like the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
  • ‘CBS Sunday Morning’
    • It wasn’t until their segment on movie trailers that I realized movie trailers don’t use a narrator anymore. And the reason we called them trailers is that they used to be shown after the movie.
    • IMDB.com was started by a guy from London that was basically keeping a movie journal. He later sold it to Amazon.com for an undisclosed sum, and the website just celebrated its 25th year of existence. Still to this day, he writes down the date and name of the movie when he first sees it for reference.
  • Woman, 90, chooses life on the road over cancer treatment
  • I was listening to the Feb 19th episode of “This American Life” which discussed organ donation in Iran. Every male is required to serve in the military but can get out of it by selling a kidney which is seen as a way of serving his country and contributing to humanity.
  • FiveThirtyEight – “A Statistical Analysis Of Stephen Colbert’s First 100 Episodes Of ‘The Late Show’” – The breakdown of each guest and their profession was interesting. Colbert really likes those in politics and writers, more than doubling and tripling Fallon and Kimmel combined.
  • The favorite job interview questions of Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and 26 other highly successful executives – I like this one, “On your very best day at work — the day you come home and think you have the best job in the world — what did you do that day?“
Posted in Personal | 8 Comments