Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, April 9, 2024

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Bag of Randomness for Monday, April 8, 2024

  • I’m afraid this is what we’ll be in for. The total solar eclipse is today but it’s supposed to be really cloudy. The Earth typically experiences a total solar eclipse every 18 months, it’s just most of the time, they are over oceans.
  • Did you know that the 1919 total solar eclipse helped prove Einstein’s theory of relatively?
    • The eclipse presented a rare chance to verify one of the essential consequences of general relativity, the bending of light by gravity. Einstein’s theory predicted that rays of light passing near a massive body in space would be visibly bent as they followed the curve in space-time created by the body’s mass. In the case of a ray of light originating from a distant star and passing near the edge of the Sun, Einstein calculated a deflection of about 1.75 arc seconds.Under normal conditions, Einstein’s prediction was impossible to test, for the simple reason that sunlight drowns out the light from nearby stars, making them invisible to observers on Earth. The darkness of an eclipse, though, would allow the astronomers to observe and photograph the field of stars around the Sun. By comparing the photographs with reference images taken at night, it would be possible to measure how much the presence of the Sun had bent the stars’ light. Conveniently, a cluster of bright stars known as the Hyades would appear near the Sun during the eclipse.
  • The more I hear from Dawn Staley, the more I like her. And, we’re both owners of a Havanese.
  • On March 15 this year, I wrote about sending flowers to a friend’s mother. That it’s something I should do now as she fights cancer instead of sending them for her funeral. On Friday, my friend informed us the cancer had spread, probably was state four, and had anywhere from two weeks to two months to live. That friend called me using her phone a little after 3:00 pm on Sunday to tell me his mother passed around 2:00 pm that day. She loved me as if I was one of her sons. During my divorce and all the spinal surgeries, since I had no family (other than my kids), I would call and text her for support. On Sunday evening, I received a text from my friend’s wife. She told me she was going through her late mother-in-law’s journals and saw I was referenced several times. She was praying for me and thanking God when I was awarded more time with my children. Her funeral is set for this Friday in Brownwood. Yes, I plan on attending.
  • None of my old suits fit anymore, so I need a new one. It’s not just for the funeral; I’ll be in court for a family issue early next month. That just got me thinking that I’ve never bought a new suit other than for a bad or negative occasion. I rarely need to wear one, anymore. Fashion used to be a big deal for me, and I’d take suit shopping seriously and make sure the new one is tailored just right. Now, I think I’m just going to go to Kohl’s or KG Menstore and shop for something affordable, comfortable, and functional.
  • Kristen Wiig hosted SNL. In one skit, she played a pilates instructor wearing skintight workout gear with her stomach exposed. Although she was 50 years old, her stomach looked like it was still in her twenties.
  • The musical guest on SNL was Raye, a British singer-songwriter. I never heard of her before, but she was fantastic. I think years from now I’ll easily remember where I was the first time I heard her music. It’s hard to describe her music. Since I’ve incorporated using various AI search engines, I let it do it for me.
    • Raye blends various genres like doo-wop, hip-hop, rap, and pop on her debut album ‘My 21st Century Blues’. Her sound incorporates elements from jazz, gospel, and R&B inspirations like Etta James and Aretha Franklin.
    • Raye is brutally honest in her songwriting, tackling deeply personal topics like sexual abuse (“Ice Cream Man”), body dysmorphia, addiction (“Mary Jane”), and relationship struggles (“Black Mascara,” “Flip a Switch”). Her lyrics come from “a personal or medicinal place,” drawing from fragmented pieces of her life over the past seven years.
    • After fighting for independence from her former label, Raye now feels “creatively just so free” to make the music she wants without compromise. She’s “over being a ‘polite pop star'” and embraces an unapologetic, no-holds-barred approach in her style.
    • In summary, Raye’s singing style blends genres fluidly, showcasing her versatility, powerful vocals, brutally honest songwriting drawing from personal experiences, and a newfound creative freedom and unapologetic attitude
    • Give her a listen. There’s a long intro, but I have it qued to start at 1:05.
  • I overheard the funny line, “I wonder how long it takes my ex to put makeup on her two faces.”
  • Terrance Howard sure is sporting some interesting hair.

  • The Rangers threw some serious shade at the Houston Astros, and I loved it. It makes a lot more sense if you aware of the recent history between the two clubs and cities.

  • A lot of sports fans were up in arms about an offensive foul called on UCon toward the end of their Final-Four matchup against Iowa. Everyone is showing only one angle, which makes the call look questionable, but when you see it from this angle, it’s totally justifiable.

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Bag of Randomness for Friday, April 5, 2024

 

Hold on to your Stetsons, folks! Looks like Reunion Tower stole the sun’s spotlight in Dallas. We’ve got a rare case of a “Ball-lipse” happening – Reunion’s got the sun all eclipsed!

DaughterGeeding got her second hit of the season. It got out of the infield and brought in a runner. You may or may not be able to hear me, and I may have or may not have added a tiny bit of flair. I thought she would be either impressed or upset at it, but her reactions was really more of a “meh.”

The solar eclipse will happen on Monday. Based on what happened during the 2017 solar eclipse in Denver and Wyoming, there will be a lot of traffic.

The Denver Post reported more than half a million cars hit the road in a record-breaking traffic jam total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. Drivers became frustrated after waiting in bumper-to-bumper traffic for about 10 to 12 hours, according to the Denver Post. Wyoming Department of Transportation spokesman Doug McGee told the publication the highway system was taxed like it’s never been before. He said roads weren’t designed for that volume of traffic. And, it wasn’t just Wyoming dealing with traffic. A recent analysis found an estimated 20 million people in the U.S. traveled away from home to another city to view the 2017 eclipse, resulting in substantial road traffic.

Many folks are wondering why a four-minute event will cause traffic issues. You have to remember that totality will only last four minutes, but the actual event will last over two hours. So, there’s probably about 40 minutes in the middle when traffic will congest because curiosity will get the best of us. Many drivers will pull over, and others will drive slowly, looking up at the sky and not paying attention to the road. That’s why I’ll be off the streets, and I’m sure there will be an increase in accidents. Rain is in the forecast, so it may not be as cool of an event as we hoped.

https://twitter.com/DFWscanner/status/1775889200258142441

Top Republican Says Party Base ‘Infected’ by Russian Propaganda

  • Here’s something for you baseball fans to pay attention to so you can say you heard of her before she was cast into the spotlight.
    • Australian two-way fireballer Genevieve Beacom commits to college baseball
      • She’s been on the mound — and at the plate — for Team Australia in the Women’s World Cup at the tender age of 18. She was the first woman to pitch in the Australia Baseball League, taking the mound for manager Peter Moylan’s Melbourne Aces in 2022. She can hit 86 mph on the radar gun. Now, Australian pitching sensation Genevieve Beacom has committed to East Central College, a DII junior college in Missouri.

         

    • I wasn’t aware there were already women playing baseball in college.
      • Beacom is just the latest woman to commit to playing college baseball, joining USA National Team players Olivia Pichardo (Brown University), Elise Berger (Bard College) and Alexia Jorge (St. Elizabeth University) as some of the trailblazers on campus. As women’s baseball continues to grow in popularity and with more baseball programs willing to give chances to female ballplayers, we should expect to see more of this in the years to come.
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Bag of Randomness for Thursday, April 4, 2024

  • I was a big fan of the X-Files. Apparently, it was announced in March last year that Ryan Coogler (Apollo, Black Panther) is doing a fresh reboot of the series. I missed the memo on that one, but I’m intrigued. But what was so great with the original series was the chemistry between the co-stars. I found out about this in this new Chris Carter article. It sounds like Carter no longer has any creative control, so it’s similar to what George Lucus is going through with Star Wars and Disney. The article also mentions how Fox initially wanted a Pamela Anderson type to take the role of Scully. In retrospect, that’s hilarious.
  • A lot of schools are canceling classes for the solar eclipse. That’s not happening at the school BoyGeeding and DaughterGeeding attend. But they will get to go outside and view it, and will be provided with protective sunglasses. In case you want to read the email about it, here you go.
  • I’m not posting this for political reasons; it’s the AI aspect that interests me – ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza – The Israeli army has marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using an AI targeting system with little human oversight and a permissive policy for casualties

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