BagOfNothing.com

• Man, that Rangers game sure took a lot out of the sports soul last night.  I applaud our local baseball club for how well they played the second half of the season.  As for the post-season, they had three straight games to wrap things up, two of them at home, and can only blame themselves as a team, not just Elvis for his mistakes yesterday.  I had no problem with taking Cole Hamels out when Jeff Banister did, the poor infielding after the relief of Hamels was the team’s downfall.
• @RickGosselinDMN – If it’s any consolation, DFW has a better hockey team than Toronto. #NoCupSince1967
• I forgot just how massive the home run Jose Conseco launched in Toronto back in 1989 was.  Yeah, he wasn’t clean at the time, but it still makes my jaw drop.
• When you watch a YouTube video, you’ll see the status bar at the bottom and the default color is red.  However, if you simply type “awesome” the status bar becomes multicolored and flashes.  Give it a try with this video Google Photos made from photos and videos of our first day at the Magic Kingdom.  At the 23-second mark you can see me marching at the back of the parade with BoyGeeding on my shoulders.  And please don’t ask any questions about the surprise guest you’ll see in the first ten seconds of the video.
• I’ve been prescribed Singulair to help with my allergies and one of the rare side effects is abnormal dreams.  The following night after taking my first dose I woke up screaming from an abnormal dream I couldn’t go back to sleep and started my day two hours earlier than normal.  This could be coincidence, me thinking that an abnormal dream could have happened and my mind made it happen, or an actual side effect.  We’ll see how night two goes.
• Buzzfeed – Tom Hanks Reveals The Movies That Have Meant The Most To Him – In these photos, Hanks is sporting white hair, which makes me wonder if that’s his natural look or colored for a role.  Sidenote: I’ve probably watched Splash more times than I’d like to admit.
• Buzzfeed – Steven Spielberg Reveals The Movies That’ve Meant The Most To Him – I was watching Catch Me If You Can exactly one week before my wedding when I got the phone call that the best man in my wedding drowned.  I never got the nerve to finish the movie and avoided it every time it’s come on television.
• RollingStone.com – Hear Elvis Presley’s Dramatic, Newly Orchestrated ‘American Trilogy’
• Wal-Mart Heirs See $11 Billion Vanish in a Day on Share Fall – The four shareholders, three children of Sam and Christy, the surviving spouse of a fourth sibling, are among the year’s worst-performing billionaires, losing a total of $41 billion since Jan. 1.
• Allison Stoke is a pole vaulter, and it never occurred to me that one could practice on their form using something as simple as a water hose in a pool.
• GIF – How curbs are made‏
• Random Grover Cleveland fact – Grover Cleveland personally executed two convicts while serving as the Sheriff of Erie County, New York. In July 1912, the New York Times reported that upon assuming office, Cleveland somberly took over hanging duties from his deputy because, ever the gentleman, he insisted “he had no moral right to impose upon a subordinate the obnoxious and degrading tasks that attached to his office.”
• Buzzfeed – 6 Evangelical Hell Houses That Will Literally Put The Fear Of God Into You – The one in Cedar Hill made the list, as well as one in Tyler.
• Two interactive charts that might interest you – Work Counts – How many have the same education, income, work hours, and commute as you do.
• People are getting shot by toddlers on a weekly basis this year
• Putin has one heck of a smile.
• The creator of the Fargo TV series is working on an X-Men show for FX
• Read Moby Dick one hyperlink at a time, it’s faster than you think.  It’s a little like Spritz, which I use all the time to read Internet articles that I just want to get the jist out of.
• An American biotech CEO claims she is the first to undergo gene therapy to reverse aging. Judge for yourself.
• Ohio Church gives $1000 dollar tip to pizza delivery driver – To witness to what they had learned, they decided to order a $5.99 Domino’s pizza during a service and give the $1,046 collected in the plate across three services to the driver as a tip.
• I found the top pic over at KindKerry, who may not post often, but has a good outlook on life.

• I took DaughterGeeding to Putt-Putt on her day off of school.  It must be a good decade since I’ve been to one.  To my surprise, tokens are no longer used.  Instead, you get a plastic card that works for go-karts, batting cages, games, and whatever else you can think of.
• Sometimes I’ll try to write something with humor and someone will not understand it and take offense.  But I have to admit, most of the time, I’m usually the one that doesn’t get the humor, especially in the written text.  If a sarcasm or humor font or punctuation ever becomes part of society, it will be because of people like me.
• The most overused joke I heard yesterday regarding Playboy no longer featuring nude women – The next thing you know, MTV will stop playing videos.
• I have an old laptop gathering dust because the motherboard died, but yesterday I was able to take the screen from the laptop and make a second monitor out of it.  All I had to do was order a $23 kit off eBay and follow these instructions.
• Amazon still sells Z Cavaricci clothing, but not as you remember it.
• I briefly switched to the Democratic debate on CNN last night.  I really liked Anderson Cooper’s purple tie and dark suit.
• I think last night’s episode of ‘Drunk History’ covered Apollo 13 with Colin Hanks portraying Jim Lovell, who Tom Hanks portrayed in the movie. I only caught the end credits before the start of the ‘Daily Show’ and that’s what it looked like.
• Esquire has named Emilia Clarke the sexiest woman of the year.  Oddly, I don’t find her all that sexy outside of ‘Game of Thrones’.
• Washington Post article – At Texas A&M, the state’s largest public university, for instance, candles, toasters and Nerf guns are expressly forbidden from students’ dorm rooms — but real handguns will be allowed with a permit.
• It states this will be the last Republican debate – University of Houston to host NBC News’ 2016 Republican presidential debate – I think Rick Perry now lives in Houston
• If cute dogs make your day, then you should check out this groomer’s Instagram.
• Buzzfeed – 23 Chilling Facts About Disney’s Haunted Mansion
• Buzzfeed – A Charity Set Up A Fake Homeless Shelter In Toronto And Locals Freaked Out – “You’re ruining a perfect neighbourhood.”
• Today’s dose of ‘MURICA!
• Today’s second dose of ‘MURICA! – How the US Air Force reloads the largest combat jet gun on the planet
• Our area is getting another IKEA that will open in the fall of 2017, but this one will be in Grand Prairie which should make my friend Andy’s wife pretty happy.  Smart idea by the company to have the two se well spread out.
• UK news – Church staff ‘hysterical’ as broken bell rings non-stop for 24 hours
• AT&T customer politely e-mails CEO, gets terse reply from AT&T lawyer

• That’s a girl that has total trust in her daddy.
• A major life goal was growing tall enough so my feet could be placed on the floor and no longer hang while sitting on the toilet.
• LiberallyLean went on a fantastic sports trip to Kansas over the weekend.  I like that he writes about his trips, but I wish he’d provide more details.  Perhaps that’s his secret, he leaves enough out which keeps us wanting more.  We both have many things in common, but one thing we differ on is food.  I would have definitely hit up one of their BBQ places.  But then again, perhaps that’s why he has seven-pack abs (at least that’s the word out on the streets about his physique).
• Well, now I know at least three people in Mineral Wells read this excuse for a blog.
• Gov. Greg Abbott jinxes Astros on Twitter, promptly deletes post
• According to the Christian History Institute –  Columbus estimated the size of the Atlantic Ocean partially from reading his Bible. He had read in the Second Book of Esdras (in the Apocrypha) that God created the world in seven parts, six of them dry land and the seventh water. He thus calculated that the ocean separating Portugal from Cipangu (Japan) was one-seventh of the earth’s circumference, or about 2,400 miles. He figured that by sailing 100 miles per day, he could reach the Indies in 30 days.
• Sometimes, you just need to avoid eye contact at the gym.
• Buzzfeed – Kanye West Auditioned For “American Idol” This Weekend
• Buzzfeed – Bryan Cranston Tried To Send DVDs Of “Breaking Bad” To The International Space Station – But the resupply rocket blew up
• PBS Newshour – In car-centric Texas, cities reap economic boon from light rail
• A drunk guy arrested at Texas A&M’s stadium thought he was at the Baylor-Texas Tech game 150 miles away
• Paul Ryan is going as Mitt Romney for Halloween
• Rand Paul is live-streaming his entire day today.
• I thought the new season of ‘Fargo’ got off to a solid start.  I’m really impressed with how well the sets and clothing from the Seventies stand out.  Spoiler warning – The story reminds me of this local tragedy that happened back in 2003.  If I recall correctly, my childhood pastor was slightly involved as he was the pastor of the victim’s son, who I remember did a live interview with the ‘Today’ show from Albany, TX.
• I wonder if this YouTube video about a flight attendant kicking a passenger off with sympathetic fellow passengers will go viral.
• Speaking of flight attendants, this Mental Floss article states the reason they aren’t tipped is because black men in similar occupations (porters on trains and boats) were tipped, and tipping white flight attendants would come about as an insult.
• Deadspin’s Twitter account suspended after NFL complains about GIFs
• Daredevil’s second season gets its first teaser
• Guess this is proof it’s read for the articles – Playboy to eliminate nude photos from the magazine

• I like getting postcards and I like sending them, it’s just I don’t travel often so I don’t get an opportunity to mail them.  I often heard that the old-timey looking mailboxes on Main Street USA at Disney’s Magic Kingdom aren’t for decoration, but still in use.  And if you use them, you don’t have to apply postage, Disney would take care of that for you.  So I gave it a try.  It was a BagOfNothing.com version of Mythbusters.  Sure enough, the postcards mailed were delivered to all their destinations.
• As we flew back home last week, the pilot kept referring to our area as Northeast Texas.  That’s the first I’ve heard of that and thought it strange coming from an airline that’s based here.  Usually, you’ll hear this are referred to as either DFW, the Metroplex, or North Texas.  Also, when we landed, the pilot said we landed on the Dallas side of the airport and will take the long taxi to the Fort Worth side.  When I tracked it on GPS, that was one long ride.
• In one article this weekend I read Bryan Cranston said he wants to play a Marvel villain, but not an existing one, just one that would be created specifically for him.  And then I read another in which he said he wants to play Misters Sinister.
• I read somewhere that the Dutch driving school they teach you to open the door with the hand opposite from the door so you automatically look over your shoulder for any on-coming traffic or a person on a bicycle or motorbike.  I may have to start doing the same and turning this into a habbit.
• GIF – Underwater LEGO train
• College football thoughts, but mostly Texas/OU thoughts:
  • TCU’s offensive coordinator is a bit of a Matthew McConaughey doppelganger.
  • I admire TCU’s resilience, and that game might just have won Trevone Boykin the Heisman with how he put that team on his shoulders in the second half.
  • The last thing Baylor wants to see is a one loss TCU team that has “nothing to play for” and to make the last game of the regular season their Super Bowl.
  • Gary Patterson was interviewed by the Fox Sports sideline reporter right after the game and he said he didn’t yell at his team during halftime.  I’d like to know Patterson’s definition of “yell” because I’m pretty darn sure he raised his voice.
  • It’s interesting living close to I35-E, which is the route most University of Oklahoma fans take to get to the Cotton Bowl and the State Fair of Texas.  In the morning, you’ll see a lot of OU fans in local gas stations and restaurants breakfast, and then you’ll see them again around dinner time.  We ate at Babe’s Chicken Dinner House in Carrolton for dinner, and about every other person was wearing crimson and cream as they ate their sorrows away for that long road trip back home.
  • I really like Longhorn head coach Charlie Strong.  It’s a given as a fan of the university, but things like his attitude, discipline, and work ethic stand out.  Seeing his huge smile after the final first down made me happy for him, but then his team carried him and the crowd started to chant his name.
  • I read in a Dallas Morning News article that several of Strong’s players told him they were going to save his job and play hard for him.  But Strong’s reply is one reason why I really like the guy.  He said, “Don’t play for me, play for each other.” You got to love how a coach takes the attention off him himself and puts the players and team first.
  • One thing I love about sports are the life applications you can apply.  In the case of Texas, they got annihilated and embarrassed by TCU a week ago in our area.  Throughout the week, there were all sorts of talk about how bad the team is, division in the locker room between upper and lower classmen, and dismissing their head coach.  They were then slotted to return to DFW for a game against the number ten ranked team in the country.  They could have easily caved in, but they ignored the noise, focused on what’s ahead, put one foot in front of the other, and in a sense, redeemed themselves.  We’ve all had times in which we were embarrassed and focused on what everyone else was thinking, but sometimes you have to ignore the noise and believe in yourself.
  • Though it’s an abused cliche, I love how win/loss records and rankings go out the window in  rivalry games.
  • Despite what I said about rivalry games, the older I get, the more I understand that “hating” the other team is really a stupid thing.  Both teams have well-intentioned players and fans, and both have a few bad apples.¹  Except for location, uniform, mascots, colors, and a few other things, both teams and fans are pretty much the same.
• Everytime Phil Simms is part of the broadcast booth for a Dallas Cowboys home game he always has to mention the mediocre BBQ at Hard 8 in Coppell.  Speaking of BBQ, I gave Cattleack BBQ a try and it was most excellent.  Sadly, it’s only open on Thursday and Fridays, but thankfully they serve a beef rib. Their sauce is vinegar based, but I don’t like to judge a place off their sauce, I judge it off their meat, and it’s fantastic. It’s below Pecan Lodge (my number one) and either tied or slightly better than Lockhart.  I’m not a big potato salad eater, but WifeGeeding gave it a big thumbs up.
• I’m sure Arlington was a traffic nightmare yesterday evening with the Cowboys game scheduled to end at 6:30 PM and the Rangers game set to start at 7:10 PM.
• I read an article about Jim Carry attending the funeral of his former girlfriend in Ireland in which he helped carry the coffin from the church to the cemetery, and I immediately regretted it.  She committed suicided and you just see the pain and grief in his face.  I let the paparazzi win.  That sacred moment for family and friends should have been left private, and Carry should be able to express any feelings without the fear of someone snapping a photo.
• I sometimes wondered what it must have been like for my father to marry someone from another land that didn’t have any concept of pop-culture references and the like.  Sometimes I think I get a glimpse of it.  I made a My Cousin Vinny reference about “two yutes” and to my astonishment, WifeGeeding has never seen the flick.
• FiveThirtyEight – The 25 Most Rewatchable Movies Of All Time – I haven’t seen six on that list.
• Just a reminder for anyone that has an old JanSport backpack that’s ‏in need of repair – they carry a lifetime warranty and all you need to do is fill out a warranty return form and send it in.
• I’m not sure I can identify any of St Vincent’s music, but she guest waitressed at the opening of her sister and brother-in-law’s new Dallas restaurant Resident Taqueria.
• WifeGeeding has to work today at her preschool that’s BoyGeeding is attending.  I have the day off as does DaughterGeeding, so I think I’m going to make it a fun daddy/daughter day.
• @darrenrovell – Top salaries in the NFL in 1981: 1. Archie Manning ($600K), 2. Walter Payton ($500K), 3. Terry Bradshaw ($470K)
• If you didn’t catch it, former President George HW Bush threw out the first pitch in Houston last night.
• Nice home for sale in Alabama.

¹Except Baylor which is only full of bad apples.