Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, January 13, 2016

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  • The State of the Union is important, and I suppose having all top levels of federal leadership present is symbolic, but it’s grown into a series of bits and I wish it would go back to the practice of a simply letter (thank you, Jefferson). Between the president having special guests (Clinton invited Sammy Sosa), senators and representatives saving seats for the likes of Ted Nugent, Ducky Dynasty television personalities, and Kim Davis, partisan clapping and standing, and the opposing party response that’s written before a draft of the speech is released, it’s just theater and what I think is now a waste of tax-payer dollars. It will never happen, the free air time and exposure is too much to pass up.
  • With that said, I thought President Obama’s opening line about making the speech short so many of them could get back to Iowa was pretty funny. And I thought it was an interesting sight seeing Joe Biden and Paul Ryan behind the President considering those two debated each other several times on national television for the same office. I think that speaks well of our imperfect system. What else caught my attention was when the camera was panning our elected representatives, many of which were looking down on their phones. My guess they were tweeting during the event.
  • Speaker Ryan should have kept his beard. And I may have missed it, but usually, a president will make some sort of acknowledgement of a new Speaker, and I think Obama failed to do that. I also think Obama didn’t reference anything about firearms, and if it was omitted, it was probably a good thing. Any comment from him on the comment would take the stage and the rest of his message would have been overshadowed.
  • What It’s Like to Be the “Designated Survivor” for the State of the Union
  • Interesting that Netflix aired a commercial for the new season of ‘House of Cards’ right after the SOTU, at least on CBS.
  • WifeGeeding’s first comment on Gov Nikki Haley speech – she keeps a closed mouth when she talks.
  • According to several articles, the first President to invite a guest to the State of the Union was Ronald Reagan. It was a federal employee who a few weeks earlier dove into the Potomac River to rescue a plane crash victim. Interestingly, George H.W. Bush once invited four governors as guests to the State of the Union, one of them was Bill Clinton.
  • A little bit of history regarding the opposing party’s response – The practice of the party not occupying the White House giving a response to the president’s speech began in 1966, when top Republicans successfully lobbied the networks for an opportunity to answer President Lyndon B. Johnson. Future commanders-in-chief Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush were among the first crop of opposition responders. – The article also states that Bill Clinton gave an infomercial type of response thirty years ago after Reagan’s SOTU.
  • I’m looking forward to President Trumps first SOTU. Actually, it will just be a joint session of congress, as it would be for any new president.
  • The Texas Tribune – GOP Leaders Mostly Quiet on Abbott Plan to Amend Constitution – I thought it was odd for Gov Abbott to announce this on a Friday, the worst news day of the week. Friday is the day to announce things you really don’t want the public to know or pay attention to.
  • KERA – Why Are There So Few Basements In North Texas? – In short:
    • The soil is very expansive. “When it gets wet, it swells up; when it dries up in the summer, it shrinks. Those are a lot of forces, and a lot of engineering that has to happen to build a basement.”
    • Up north, builders build down deeper to get the foundation below the freeze line. Since they’re already down there, it’s fairly inexpensive to make a basement and add square footage that way.
    • The article mentions a business that builds basements in the area, about 12 a year.
  • Disney seeks FAA approval to fly drones in new nighttime show (Thanks, Ben)
  • A giant thermometer scarf that displays the actual temperature.
  • Even a vasectomy can’t stop Antonio Cromartie from fathering 11th and 12th kids
  • Dallas Eater – The Most Anticipated Dallas Restaurant Openings, Winter 2016 – I hear great things about Shake Shack, hope they live up to the hype.
  • Today’s dose of ‘MURICA!
  • Arizona news – Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced yesterday the state would begin publicly shaming fathers who owe child support by posting on Twitter their names, photos, and the amount of child support they owe.
  • Guy Thrown Out of Donald Trump Rally for Holding a ‘Trump Likes Nickelback’ Sign
  • GIF – Two dogs have a midair collision
  • GIF – Wait for it – Toddler brings father water
  • DaughterGeeding is a kindergartner, here’s this week’s lessons plans:

    • Things we will learn:

      Grammar/ Phonics/ Spelling– Basic code practice (fluency for writing and reading), Phonograms ‘or’, Learning about nouns (what they are).

      Literature– Chicken Little, Ugly Duckling, Helen Keller, See Saw Margery, Baa Baa Black Sheep, The Tortoise and the Hare, Momotaro:Peach Boy, Patricia Palacco, The Story of Ruby Bridges, Finish My Father’s Dragon, Mr. Poppers Penguins.

      Science– 5 Senses smell, touch, sight, taste & hear

      History– Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson,Martin Luther King Day.

      Geography– 50 States

      Recitation– Three Little Pigs

      Homework:

      Homework will be the same on most nights unless I specify otherwise.

      Reading 30 minutes– I would prefer you read to them, if they want to read to you that is fine (please don’t make this stressful on either one of you).

      Math 15 minutes– something sent home to reinforce what was learned in class, work on simple addition, writing problems vertical and reciting addition math facts up to 20 (flash cards if you have them).

      Spelling- Study for the test on Thursday- 1/14 

Posted in Personal | 8 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, January 12, 2016

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  • I miss big time college football games being called by Keith Jackson or Brent Musburger.
  • I like the presentation of colors during last night’s College Football Playoff National Championship. The drumming was done with one drummer from each team’s band. It was a cool message, yes this is competition, but we are one nation.
  • ‏@darrenrovell – Bama’s strength coach made $420,000 this year, Clemson’s made $245,000 http://es.pn/1TppXmD – The highest paid strength coach in college is Iowa’s who earns $515,000. As for the top ten, an Oklahoma State and University of Texas coach make the list.
  • @darrenrovell – Nike bonuses for winning title: Clemson: $25,000 Alabama: $100,000
  • My first and only job in retail was at the now defunct Coach House Gifts in the Mall of Abilene. My manager was a huge fan of David Bowie, and I thought of her immediately when I learned of his death. She was a fan of ‘The Addams Family’, even naming her child Wednesday and used a modified child coffin as a baby crib. She later left Coach House Gifts to manage Victoria’s Secret where she tried to recruit me to be a stock boy and even offered a raise, but good ol’ BaptistGeeding just couldn’t do it, I feared the girls on the HSU campus would think I was a perv. Maybe I was, but I didn’t want them to think that, and my dating scene was already hurting pretty bad in the first place.
  • I recently bought one of those telescoping electric chainsaws to trim the trees. The box it came in was too big to fit in the recycling bin, but instead of cutting it up with a knife, I used my new electric chainsaw pole to cut it in pieces to fit in the bin.
  • I’m slowly becoming Mr. Mom. I the one in the family that cleans the bathrooms and does the laundry, and I also do my fair share of the cooking and the dishes. Yesterday I sewed a pair of WifeGeeding’s pants together where the split in the seam. And until now, I can’t believe I haven’t joked with her one bit that her rear was expanding.
  • I’m surprised the Texas Lottery is still around with conservatives solidly in control of the state government as long as they’ve been. They often claim it’s like a tax on the poor, immoral, and funds aren’t really going where they need to be going. At least, that’s what I hear.
  • If I ever won the lottery, I’d do whatever I could in my power to not let a soul know about it. If I were required to be in a press conference, I’d disguise myself to the best of my ability, change my voice, and speak with an accent. If I couldn’t wear a Chewbacca costume to the press conference, I’m going drag to the Nth degree.
  • I usually don’t post any newspaper opinion pieces, but one of Ted Cruz’s former law professors wrote about Cruz’s view of “original meaning” and “living Constitution” interpretations and how it applies to a “natural born citizen”. It’s always been my view, in order to be eligible for president, one would need to be born on U.S. soil. I would prefer that would include children born on a U.S. military base located in another country, but I recently found out they aren’t considered U.S. soil (see ‘Citizenship’) due to extraterritoriality. Basically, the country hosting the base agrees their laws don’t apply on the base, but the base is still on their land. Personally, I don’t like it. It doesn’t seem fair for someone serving their country to have their child disqualified because of their deployment or assignment. We’re still a young country, but this stuff should be clearly defined without any ambiguity for the highest office in the land. If John McCain (born at Coco Solo Naval Air Station, Panama Canal Zone) or Barry Goldwater (born in the Arizona Territory which would then become a state) would have won, perhaps it could have all been settled.
  • Random tidbit from Peter King’s MMQB – The Bengals last won a playoff game in 1990. Here’s how long ago that was: The playoff win was over the Houston Oilers. The next week, in Los Angeles, Bo Jackson suffered a hip injury that ended his football career and led to the end of his athletic career.
  • Cowboys Club in Frisco starts selling memberships to public
    • Membership includes access to the Cowboys Fit club, where the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders will train.
    • A family membership costs a one-time fee of $4,500 plus $350 per month.
    • The club has views from a terrace overlooking the team’s outdoor fields so members can watch practices. The opposite side offers views at the 50-yard line of the indoor stadium.
    • The club also offers multiple dining options, private and corporate meeting space, a private rooftop swimming pool and billiards tables.
    • The total number of memberships will be limited to 700 to 800.
  • ‘Sherlock’ beats ‘Star Wars’ at South Korean box office
  • The Daily Caller – Five Times Kids Defended Themselves From Crooks Using Guns 
  • Texas falls to 43 in national education ranking – Texas is now ranked 43rd in the nation, falling from 39th last year in the annual “Quality Counts” report from national education publication Education Week.
  • Bloomberg – This Football Helmet Crumples—and That’s Good
  • All The Money In The World, In A Single Chart – A recent chart from The Money Project attempts to visualize all of the money in the world, from Bitcoin to the mind-bogglingly massive derivatives market, and compares them by size. Each small square on the chart represents $100 billion.
  • The new trailer for the next season of Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’ is intense and I wouldn’t watch it at work.
  • Imgur – How to scare the crap out of your neighbors‏
  • Imgur – The inside of a fire alarm is just a simple switch.
  • The Verge – You can now play Jeopardy with your Amazon Echo speaker
  • The Verge – Watch the first minute of the X-Files revival (article) – www.DoYouStillBelieve.com (actual video)
  • Language warning – YouTube – Foo Fighters – Under Pressure
  • Buzzfeed – This Story Of David Bowie Blasting MTV For Not Playing Black Artists Is Going Viral
  • Reports: North Texas-raised model Jerry Hall is engaged to media mogul Rupert Murdoch
Posted in Personal | 11 Comments