Bag of Randomness for Friday, January 29, 2016

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  • When we got married, my friends gave me and WifeGeeding the same present, a toaster, six of the same kind. It really was a great idea. Wedding guests were trying to figure out what was in all of the same sized boxes all wrapped identical, we got a good laugh and memory out of it, we got something we actually registered for, and returned the other five toasters which were as good as getting cash. Well, the toaster we saved died on us this week, it almost made it 13 years.
  • Yesterday was Donuts with Dad at BoyGeeding’s preschool. Major props to the single mom that showed up wearing a men’s suit complete with a tie and fake moustache.
  • There are many songs I like but can’t understand the lyrics and sometimes the meaning. One of those songs came on the radio yesterday and thanks to my smartphone I was able to identify the song and the lyrics – “Kryie” by Mr. Mister. It’s a fun song, but I could never understand what or how to actually say”Kryie eleison” and chalked it up as some love song. Per the song’s Wiki page:
    • Kýrie, eléison means “Lord, have mercy” in Greek, and is a part of many liturgical rites in Eastern and Western Christianity. Kýrie, eléison; Christé, eléison; Kýrie, eléison is a prayer that asks “Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy”. According to author, the entire song is, essentially, a prayer.
  • The New York Times has a feature on Franklin’s Barbeque in Austin, along with a video segment. One set of tourists woke up at 2:00 AM to drive there and get in line at 6:20 AM.
  • News from the capital of Wales – The Guardian – An investigation has been launched after a pornographic film was accidentally shown during the funeral of a father and his baby son.
  • James Robinson – Should Religious Leaders ‘Get Political’? Yes, But … – I have often said that religious leaders should champion principles rather than parties and personalities. When pastors rush to jump on board this or that politician’s campaign, it risks making the church appear to be an arm of a party or politician. But the solution isn’t to disengage from politics. 
  • Benjamin L. Corey – 10 Tips To Raising Christian Kids After Fundamentalism – I feel like the title of the post sounds a bit hard (I’m a pretty passive guy, anyways), but the material in the article is more thought out and I really like #9 and #8, though many of you will vehemently disagree. I think the author needs to distinguish there are varying levels of fundamentalism, because sometimes there’s not a difference in these parental approaches, and at times he appears overly critical. But with many things in life, it isn’t about agreeing or disagreeing, but promoting thought.
  • Trump tweeted something when he should have checked Snopes first.
  • PunditFact‏ – How often do presidential candidates skip debates? More than you think – In 1980, Ronald Reagan passed on the last debate before the Iowa caucus, thinking he had the state in the bag. However, he lost the caucus to George H.W. Bush, who had a strong performance.
  • The NY Times – Donald Trump’s Twitter Insults: The Complete List (So Far)
  • I want what’s best for the country. I don’t think Trump is best for the country. But, I so want to see a Trump presidency. It would be a true test of balance of powers, me thinks.
  • Hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger – Eric Dickerson and Ricky Williams will rep Texas on upcoming ‘Celebrity Apprentice’
  • A website dedicated to businesses that are now housed in old Pizza Hut buildings.
  • CNN has an interactive tool to help you find your preferred presidential candidate.
  • The admiral in charge of Navy intelligence has not been allowed to see military secrets for years
  • GIF – Cow escape
  • House of Cards Renewed for Season 5, Creator Beau Willimon Leaving
  • It looks like they reunited at the University of North Texas – NFL legend, Coke kid reunite nearly 40 years after iconic Super Bowl ad – Pittsburgh Steelers legend “mean” Joe Greene and an all-grown-up Tommy Okon are reunited at a football stadium in Texas, reports CBS Pittsburgh.
  • This stuff is sold locally, in case you were wondering – GQ – What It’s Like to Eat Nothing but This Magical, Healthy Ice Cream for 10 Days – Halo Top is low in calories, low in carbs, and loaded with protein. But is it too good to be true? Our brave guinea pig puts the ice cream of the future to the test  
    • And here are his results – After 50 straight pints of ice cream, I clock in at 143.5 lbs (down 9.9 lbs) and 12% body fat (down 3%). I’ve lost some water weight, but no discernible muscle mass. I’ve added half an inch of muscle to my chest and slimmed my waist 1.5” to 29.5”. My biceps are the same size as they began.
Posted in Personal | 4 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Thursday, January 28, 2016

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  • Man, 30-years sure does fly by. I was in the fourth grade and the school didn’t inform the students. That couldn’t happen in today’s world. I walked home from school and the first thing my mom told me was about the space shuttle explosion, and it was so unbelievable to me, I thought she was confusing things. The next morning at school our teacher had a very intimate talk to us which I can still remember, she was extremely compassionate yet didn’t beat around the bush.
  • Reagan was supposed to deliver the State of the Union that night but instead delivered an exceptional speech to the nation from the Oval Office. It was like a grandfather pulling up a chair and saying, “Let’s have a chat.” The “Great Communicator” was at his best when the nation needed it the most. Peggy Noonan wrote that speech, and it was a brilliant move to pull from the poem “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., ending with, “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’“
  • Regarding if the crew was alive after the explosion – The cabin hit the surface 2 minutes and 45 seconds after breakup, and all investigations indicate the crew was still alive until then. What’s less clear is whether they were conscious. The cabin hit the water at a speed greater than 200 mph, resulting in a force of about 200 G’s — crushing the structure and destroying everything inside.
    • Wikipedia
      • At least some of the crew were likely alive and at least briefly conscious after the breakup, as the four recovered Personal Egress Air Packs (PEAPs) on the flight deck were found to have been activated. Investigators found their remaining unused air supply consistent with the expected consumption during the 2 minute 45 second post-breakup trajectory.
      • While analyzing the wreckage, investigators discovered that several electrical system switches on Pilot Mike Smith’s right-hand panel had been moved from their usual launch positions. Fellow astronaut Richard Mullane wrote, “These switches were protected with lever locks that required them to be pulled outward against a spring force before they could be moved to a new position.” Later tests established that neither force of the explosion nor the impact with the ocean could have moved them, indicating that Smith made the switch changes, presumably in a futile attempt to restore electrical power to the cockpit after the crew cabin detached from the rest of the orbiter.
  • A 1986 article about recovering the remains of the crew – The remains of the astronauts were all within the rubble, Stock said. Out of deference to the families of the astronauts, the divers would not provide a detailed description of the condition of the remains, which had been in the water for more than a month. The bodies of the seven astronauts aboard were entangled in the wreckage and were not recognizable, divers said.
  • What happened to Christa McAuliffe’s family –
    • Her husband Steven J. McAuliffe remarried and in 1992 became a federal judge, serving with the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire in Concord. Her son, Scott, completed graduate studies in marine biology, and her daughter, Caroline, went on to pursue the same career as her mother: teaching.
  • Brush then floss, or floss, then brush? My dentist says the former because brushing can push stuff back into the spaces between your teeth.
  • The 40 ZIPs in Texas where the most CHL holders live – In total, there are 937,419 active CHL holders in Texas — about 3.6 percent of the state’s population – There’s an interactive map on the link that will help you find where your city ranks and how many have a CHL.
    • The top five on the list are in the cities of League City (4,822 CHL holders), Cypress, Spring, Burleson, and Katy. Loyal reader Ben and his home of McKinney come in sixth.
    • WifeGeeding’s home ZIP code (75771, 1,283) outnumbers mine (75067, 762).
    • For you Decatur folks, you have 1,074.
  • The University of Alabama’s band has a heck of a nice practice field.
  • Something for those of you that may be fan of ‘The Big Bang Theory’s’ Melissa Raunch (Bernadette) – She and her husband wrote a filthy comedy about a former Olympic gymnast. If crude humor offends you, don’t click the link.
  • Buzzfeed – This Historical Statue Looks Like Darth Vader When It Snows – It sure the heck does.
  • Ladies’ Senate: Only female lawmakers show up in D.C. to run chamber after weekend blizzard – Sen Lisa Murkowski (R) – “As we convene this morning, you look around the chamber, the presiding officer is female. All of our parliamentarians are female. Our floor managers are female. All of our pages are female.” Murkowski noted that she and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who was wielding the Senate gavel, hadn’t planned the all-women session. It was, she said, just a coincidence. “Something is genuinely different — and something is genuinely fabulous,” Murkowski said.
  • “An Evening with Lorne Michaels: Live from Dallas, It’s Saturday night” – SNL creator Lorne Michaels to speak at Bush Center about show’s comedic portrayal of presidency
  • This article has an interesting opening line – Police west of Toronto are searching for a pickup truck after witnessing an attempted ATM theft from a strip club that doubles as a church.
  • Florida Department of Transportation is sending 15 trucks to help Washington, D.C. with blizzard clean-up. – All of the deployed dump trucks are wrapped with a message for D.C.’s snow-covered residents and business owners to “visit Florida.”
  • Colorado adding ex-Texas Tech QB Davis Webb – I think it’s weird, but perhaps it’s just part of today’s world, for the kid to photoshop himself in action wearing a Colorado uniform and posting it to Twitter.
  • Vice Sports – What I Paid To Be A Division I Athlete
  • How Food Recalls Really Work – Companies pull 8,000 products off the shelves each year. Where do they go — and how much does that cost?
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