Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, February 6, 2024

  • One thing that stood out to me when I was in Las Vegas was the USB charge ports on some of the slot machines. That’s some smart thinking. I’m sure a lot of gamblers talk themself into staying longer just to get a fuller charge. Or, for anyone about to leave for a flight, what better way to pass the time than to get your phone fully charged so you can watch something on your phone during your flight.
  • You typically don’t see bodyguards carrying a shotgun. Also, I couldn’t help but notice how big Miley’s hair is. I’ve seen it somewhere else recently. I have a feeling big hair is going to make a comeback, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

  • Hear me out on this. Jerry Jones should sweet-talk and hire Bill Belichick as the new defensive coordinator and then sweet-talk Mike McCarthy into being okay with it. Then, if the team underperforms during the season, fire McCarthy midseason and promote Belichick. Or, if they don’t advance to the Super Bowl, then McCarthy leaves because he would have just finished his contract and Jerry could simply promote Belichick. Could Jerry talk Bill into this? Sure. What else does Belichick have to do without a team to prepare for and get ready to coach for next season? Belichick won’t know what to do with all this upcoming free time.
  • I didn’t particularly like his speech, but I’ve been thinking a lot about what Jay-Z said at the Grammys. How I’ve heard it said many times but when he said it, it registered, “I was once told the loudest person in the room never gets heard.“
  • A few more thoughts on the Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs performances at the Grammys.
    • I poke fun at modern country music a lot and consider it the Special Olympics of music. I don’t know Combs well at all, but I don’t mind his kind of country music. He covered the song because his father had Chapman’s cassette in his Ford truck and he heard it all the time as a kid. So, when you see him look back at Chapman with such respect and admiration, you can tell it’s authentic and must be a surreal experience for him.
    • I love how her face lights up as soon as the audience reacts when they realize it’s her.
    • When I was a kid and the song first came out, I made fun of Chapman’s look. To be blunt, I thought she was ugly. But three words crossed my mind when I saw her Sunday night, “Wow, she’s beautiful”
    • It’s not the same magnitude as Whitney Houston covering Dolly Parton’s I’ll Always Love You but that thought crossed my mind.
      https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1754318040890757205
  • A month before David Letterman stepped down from late night, he invited Tracy Chapman to sing Ben E. King’s classic Stand By Me. It’s very much worth a listen four minutes of your day, especially if things are a bit hectic.
  • Confession, regarding that last bullet. Instead of typing “Ben E. King” I first typed “Ben E. Keith.”
  • The NFL is going to have a game in Brazil next year? Well, I guess if the world’s version of football is going to invade the U.S. we are going to invade the world with our version of football. Think of it as modern-day colonialism.
  • I can’t recall if I mentioned this or not, but I was curious where U2 was staying during their Vegas residency. The Venetian would make the most sense as it is the closest and associated with the Sphere. But, I learned they actually fly back and forth from LA to stay in the homes they have there. I’m not sure if the band are environmentalists, but that wouldn’t help the image.
  • Maybe it shouldn’t have surprised me that an ancient ivory dildo was found in the stuffed seat of Louis XV’s armchair which was in storage at a local convent on a science museum’s webpage. Maybe the unique detail found on the tip shouldn’t have surprised me, or that it can simulate ejaculation. But, the cloth bag was a nice touch.
  • Out of all the things I felt most uncomfortable with regarding the previous bullet was my use of “webpage.” After typing it, it just felt like a very outdated term and made me question whether I should have used another word or phrased the sentence differently. But, I didn’t want to spend any mental anguish over it and preferred writing several sentences about my turmoil because it felt simpler.
  • I can’t get over the defender’s head. He totally fell for a fake shot that looked as slow as molasses. Then, Jokic did what he always does, drive the paint liking like he plays in flip-flops. Someone pointed that out to me about his play once and I can’t unsee it.
  • The first thought that went through my mind was the Branch Davidian Compound and how modern-day equivalents probably have these up and running. But I will admit, I’m impressed with the engineering. It kinda makes me think of what Walter White rigged up in the series finale of Breaking Bad
    https://twitter.com/KrumelsBunker/status/1754264827315269766
  • I was such a huge Joe Montana fan when I was a kid. You also know I’m a hopeless romantic. This made my heart swoon. Oh, how I miss trying to do things to show another how much I love and think of them, and I wonder what it feels like to be the unquestioned recipient of such love.

  • Along that same line:

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Bag of Randomness for Monday, February 5, 2024

  • Three big moments at last night’s Grammys. No matter what Taylor Swift fans will tell you, the most iconic was Tracy Chapman singing in public for the first time in nine years with Luke Combs. Swift announcing a new album might be the most remembered. And the most overlooked will be the arrest of Killer Mike, who I’m sure most of you aren’t familiar with. He won three Grammys at the pre-televised portion of the show and then was arrested. At the time of this writing, rumor has it was for something small, and LAPD couldn’t wait until he left the ceremony or met him at his hotel room.
    https://twitter.com/EZRideryoyall/status/1754317628661768555
  • Give me the Texas summer anytime over a harsh winter. I can’t imagine having to dig in snow just to find your car.

  • There are some words, no matter how hard I try to say them correctly, always come out wrong and sound like a similar word. Such is the case with syphilis and Sisyphus. I actually have a photo of the postage stamp of Sisyphus made in error from season four of Fargo hanging on my wall. When I first heard his story, I thought I feel what he feels every day.
  • I’m not a fan of subscription services, but I’m sensing that’s where our culture or free market is heading.
  • Uh, this heavily bearded and muscular guy (YouTube, language and modesty warning) being interviewed claims he rarely wipes his bottom because what he produces is “perfect.” But he did shower after a case of diarrhea.
  • Trauma doesn’t make you stronger. It makes you traumatized.
  • I’m on to Apple’s guerilla marketing. It’s a little on the nose.

    https://twitter.com/overtime/status/1754322459460063613?t=ZpCSC67McWYc1N-e6h6qtw

  • I would have thought they would have gone for more – Michael Jordan’s championship sneaker collection goes for $8 million at auction
  • A funny tweet I read recently – I’d like to thank @taylorswift13 for finally making a practical “if a plane leaves Tokyo at 11:30” problem that students will care about.
  • I’m not sure why, considering the venue and all, Bono told a recent crowd to Put your fkn phones down for a minute. The boys from The Ticket will be going to see U2 at the Sphere this week as they are in town for the Super Bowl. I’m looking forward to hearing their review.
  • Jennifer Lopez lost a chunk of her hair (extensions, I’m sure) during her SNL performance.

  • Masturbation abstinence is popular online. Doctors and therapists are worried
  • I thought the mood would have been more festive. I bet the reason they didn’t land the championship game was because of the lack of public transportation in Arlington.

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Monday, February 5, 2024

Bag of Randomness for Thursday, February 1, 2024

  • Dallas, Texas (2001 vs. 2021). I feel old.
  • Texas AG Paxton sues cities over marijuana decriminalization
  • I’m sure most of you will take this the wrong way, but when I read this, it got me to thinking.
    • Evangelicals get upset about Christians who attend queer weddings because it publicly “affirms sin” but I have yet to see them mad about Christians who attend someone’s 2nd, 3rd or 4th wedding… Something scripture would call the sin of adultery.
  • Houston County Schools to install bathroom cameras; parents express concerns to school system
  • Las Vegas driver with 19 tickets who killed bicyclist could get probation
  • The world will have its first trillionaire within a decade, but poverty won’t be eradicated for another 229 years, report finds
  • Yesterday, LiberallyLean posted some hot sports opinions about coin flip tosses“Coin flip talk: I distinctly remember that before any NFL game that the ref would tell a player to “call it in the air” for the initial coin toss.  Now they have the player choose heads or tails before it is flipped. That seems wrong.”I believe I know the history of this, and it involves a girl in my Sunday school class and her father who was a member of the church, an NFL referee.Here’s what started it all. On Thanksgiving 1998, the Steelers and Lions were heading to overtime. Overtime rules were different then, and involved a coinflip. Referee Phil Luckett explains the coin toss rules and tells Jerome Bettis to call it in the air. He distinctly says, “Tails.” But, Luckett said “heads” was called. The Lions instead got the ball and kicked a game-winning field goal 3 minutes into overtime. The NFL quickly changed the coin-flip format to prevent similar disputes. Now, instead of calling the toss while the coin is in the air, the team captain chooses heads or tails before the coin is flipped and the referee confirms the selection before he flips the coin. Luckett took a lot of heat and was later involved with two other controversial calls. One is the Music City Miracle “lateral.” You can read about the other one on his Wikipedia page. I believe there’s another one involving him and a receiver bumping into each other on a crucial play. I felt bad for the man and his daughter. So many people in the nation were calling him an idiot and I bet the family didn’t like the attention. Twitter wasn’t a thing back then. For the longest time, I thought her father had one of the coolest jobs. If my dad had that job, I’d probably be boasting about it. But then in an instant, everyone in the nation is making fun of or hating on the man you admire and love. I imagine despite the love and respect she had for her father it was hard to go to work and social events in the short term with everyone knowing who her father was and what he was responsible for. I did a little searching on what he’s doing today and it appears he does some speaking engagements, which I’m sure are interesting to hear.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsznFZv-wBs

  • San Angelo Live – Governor Abbott’s Initial Salvo in the 2024 “Revenge Primary” was a Dud
    • “Governor Greg Abbott’s first move in the “revenge primary” campaign, aimed at replacing Texas House representatives who oppose his private school voucher initiative, resulted in defeat for Abbott’s chosen candidate.”
  • I’ve got it cued up for you (4:04 in case it doesn’t work), but literally, you cannot get closer to Bono.
Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Thursday, February 1, 2024

Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, January 31, 2024

  • I bet that the picture above triggers a whole lot of people.
  • I’ve only seen Dr. Strangelove once, back in college, I think. I’ve been thinking I should revisit it as an adult. Recently I read some facts about the film and was surprised to learn there is only one woman in the film (a 1962 Playboy model). I had to verify it on IMDB. It’s true.
  • Yesterday, I had an interview with an investigator for a Department of Defense background check, which is required for my job. To reach the interview location, I drove through 17 green lights and not a single red light. On my way back, I stopped at a stoplight beside an elementary school where kids were playing during recess. I noticed an armed security guard wearing a bright yellow vest standing far away from the children. I couldn’t decide whether wearing such a bright vest was a good or bad thing. On one hand, the vest serves as a deterrent and makes some people feel safe. On the other hand, it also makes the security guard a marked target. If a shooter were to attack, they would likely target the guard first, eliminating their biggest obstacle.
  • A TikTok is going viral about a man delivering Chinese food and heavily mocking the Asian accent as he speaks into the doorbell cam. When I was a kid, a lot of white kids used to bully me by talking to me in that fashion because they knew my mother was Asian. I just couldn’t escape it, and too scared to tell my parents about it. Heck, I think Dad would have just told me to pop them in the nose, but I’ve never been a violent person. I remember my then-fiance doing this once after she and her mother hired a wedding photographer and I had to explain to her why it was offensive to me. So, when I read the comments on that TikTok and Twitter posts I found it on, I was surprised at how many people thought it was hilarious and wanted to see more of it. I guess I’m just overly sensitive and should grow some thicker skin. Maybe people like me are the problem.
  • Speaking of food and TikTok and people named Keith: Keith Lee is a popular social media food reviewer on the platform. He recently visited DFW and had some very favorable things to say about my favorite BBQ joint, Hutchins. I’m not sure how he confuses a pork rib from a beef rib.  Here’s a single beef rib just so you have an idea. They are HUGE.

    Here’s a slab of pork ribs for comparison.
  • Being of Vietnamese descent, I thought I would have known about this animal. My first thought was that it was blog-worthy, and I remembered how hesitant I used to be when I had the comments turned on at posting stuff like this because I felt all I was doing was setting myself up for an insulting racist joke. I showed it to someone on my trivia team, and his/her comment was, “I wonder what kind of sauce they use?” I frowned and mentioned that when I was a kid, others would say similar shit to me. I thought this friend would have noticed I was bothered by his/her comment and would offer some apology, but nothing. Again, I guess I’m just overly sensitive and I’m the problem.
    https://twitter.com/contextdogs/status/1752440230156628327?t=sxJNLtJLn9Zs-lONdzOdUw
  • Her mom has no sense of humor, and that laugh really bothered my dogs.

  • If this is a current photo, he looks good at 94, even if he’s thinner than we remember.

  • I think this is a good idea and would be entertaining. One thing I never understood about girls’ and women’s basketball is why they use a smaller and lighter ball? Why can’t we all use the same ball? It’s not like it’s a huge difference or advantage like having different tees in golf.
    https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1752391926353965134?t=KsBcINvAJ3bJrCmlmy7Mkw
  • I heard so many great things about this promo video for Universal Epic Universe. It looks like an okay destination, but doesn’t blow me away or would make me want to visit it over Disney World or Arby’s.
Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, January 31, 2024