Bag of Randomness for Monday, July 27, 2015

Screenshot 2015-07-26 at 5.11.30 PM

  • Yesterday my pastor stated he was about to preach his 1,578th sermon.
  • The start of last night’s ‘True Detective’ felt like a Hano Solo and Greedo moment.
  • Tatooine Disney logo
  • Market Study:  Propose Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, TX (PDF) – It’s interesting that the Hotel Galvez in Galveston is mentioned as it was also owned/leased by Theodore Baker, and rooms appear they will go for about $200 a night.  They think they can make about $5 million a year after expenses.  Many thanks to the loyal reader that tweeted this to me last night.
  • Theodore Bakers headstone reads, “Theodore Baker, Texas Hotel Tycoon Of 1920s, Is Dead”.  He certainly wasn’t the Texas Hotel Tycoon Conrad Hilton was.  Everything you’d want to know about Baker can be found here.
  • It’s all good with Supergirl eating a donut, who doesn’t like a donut? But I’m going to say it’s impossible for her to have pierced ears, it’s impossible to pierce her skin.  Perhaps the earrings have a magnetic backing or that’s not the real Supergirl.  That’s right CBS, we’re already fact checking you even before the series airs.
  • Last week I mentioned I have some friends who think the local news has an agenda against the Christian faith.  On Saturday, CBS11 had two stories that showcased Christianity in a positive light.  They showed footage of a few citizens and a couple of Maypearl police officers praying together in front of city hall in response to their police chief’s accusations of sexual assault with a teenage girl. The other story was about 200 people in Irving to pray for first responders.  The coverage doesn’t bother me, I don’t I think our local media has a negative bias about the Christian faith as I see these type of stories all the time as they hit a very large demographic in the area.
  • I’ve been catching bits and pieces of Ken Burns’ ‘The Dust Bowl’ that’s been replaying on PBS.  I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to convince farmers to change to new farming practices.  I’d imagine there was a lot of talk about how they will farm how they want because it’s their land and they can do what they want.
  • I’m not proud that that last bullet point had three sentences that started with “I”, and that that this sentence and also started with “I”.  There’s just a bit of over-I-ing going on.
  • The documentary also referenced a visit by President Roosevelt to Amarillo, and city organizers got together 3,000 people to play the “Eyes of Texas” to make up the “world’s largest band”.  One of the pictures was of the Hardin-Simmons “World Famous” Cowboy band.
  • Dallas Morning News‏ – What a difference eight years makes: Uptown, downtown Dallas’ dramatic change in photos
  • Pizza scissors
  • There’s a new reality show competition to find ‘America’s Next Weatherman’.
  • The Decline of Church Cookbooks (and Civilization)‏ – Church and community cookbooks, like Rodney Dangerfield, don’t get no respect. And they deserve some. They were and are a venerable fundraising scheme for churches, charities, clubs, or other non-profits that want to raise a few bucks. Community cookbooks go back decades, to the advent of inexpensive printing technology. 
  • They like to go rouge and keep it old school – Rogue Dairy Queen has been ignoring corporate HQ since 1949
  • ‏If Bill Cosby hasn’t canceled his subscription to “New York Magazine”, he has now.
  • Next time, give God your full attention by first parking the vehicle – Woman says praying behind the wheel caused car crash – Authorities said Perry blamed the accident on prayer. She said she had been going through some personal problems and was praying as she drove, occasionally with her head down.
  • When I think of BBQ beef brisket, I don’t think of Starbucks.
  • I’m fascinated by this picture of a 1968 Pontiac Catalina that was pulled from a lake last week.  I guess that it held human remains, may help in solving a murder, and has been underwater for 43 adds to the allure.
  • Things I learned driving a supercar for the first time – Five days with the McLaren 650S Spider made me feel things
Posted in Personal | 2 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Friday, July 24, 2015

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  • I’ve found more and more of my male friends are wearing cowboy boots, but here’s the kicker, they never wore boots until sometime after they turned thirty and say they are more comfortable than sneakers.  Part of me wants to go boot shopping, but I hear a “decent” pair will cost over $200, which could buy several sneakers.
  • There was a murder about a mile away from my house yesterday.  I first found out about it from a text, and then found out much more about it on Twitter than I did from our local news.  That’s two murders within a mile of my house within a year, the other being a car-jacking in November.  Terminology speaking, I’m not sure if the latter is murder as he was killed by a police officer protecting the public.  And then back in January 2013, there was the suicide by gunshot to the head inside Vista Ridge Mall, which I can literally see from my backyard.
  • This Texas Monthly article is about a month old, but I didn’t know that some believe there’s a link between Blue Bell’s troubles and Jade Helm.
  • In other Texas monthly news – Spotify Charts The Favorite Songs of Texas Cities, & It Isn’t Surprising At All
  • Jalopnik – Here’s What Happened When I Cracked Open My 250,000 Mile Jeep Engine
  • Just about everyone is familiar with the iconic Vietnam war photo of the screaming naked young girl running from a napalm bombing, but yesterday was the first time I saw this photo of her holding a baby which stopped me down for a good minute.
  • A 560-pound man is trying to lose weight by cycling across the U.S.  He lost 60-pounds in the first few weeks.
  • Today’s dose of ‘MURICA!
  • In this article about a new sports drink, the creator stated why he used paint cans, “If you bought them from the local hardware store, they gave you lifetime free shaking on the machine,” he says. “I doubt they knew I wasn’t mixing paint.”
  • The Obsessively Detailed Map of American Literature’s Most Epic Road Trips
  • Meet the Man Who Beat the KKK With a Tuba
  • In 1994, Tim Brown had his first Pro Bowl season and was entering free agency.  He approached Michael Irvin at the  Pro Bowl and told him he wanted to come home to Dallas and be the number-two receiver.  Irvin hated that idea so much he said, “I’m glad you told me first. I’m calling Jerry right now and telling him don’t do it.”
  • Deadspin – NFL Changes The Dez Bryant Rule, Makes It Worse
  • This website will calculate the number of hours needed to binge watch a show.  I do question some of the data, it said it would take me over 347 days to watch all of ‘Star Blazers’.
  • Speaking of ‘Star Blazers’, the Japanese made a live-action version of the cartoon, and you can watch it on YouTube, and thankfully it has English subtitles.  I also discovered there’s a more modern version of the cartoon but what’s cool is they kept the original concept or style of the animation, but it’s nicer looking.  Here’s a trailer for the updated version, though it’s fanmade dubbing audio from the original series.
  • The White House has cancelled their reservation at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and many believe it’s because the hotel is now Chinese owned.  The White House has instead booked the New York Palace Hotel, which is South Korean owned.
  • I just don’t get what’s happening with DirecTV and the Sundance channel.  It has always been a non-HD channel on DirecTV until the world premiere of U2’s ‘Song for Someone’ after an episode of ‘Rectify’, the only show I watch on the channel. The next week, Sundance was back to ultra-low-definition (ULD). Last night, it was broadcasting back in HD.  Wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off.
  • Buzzfeed – Ned Stark’s Last Words Might Reveal A Secret About Jon Snow
  • Buzzfeed – This Map Shows You What The U.S. Would Look Like If Marvel Was Real
  • While watching Jimmy Kimmel last night, in what appeared to be an unscripted moment, right when Colin Farrel was introduced and sat down, a man ran up and kissed him on the neck or cheek.
  • Wyatt Cenac talks about the falling out he had with Jon Stewart.   It relates to a Herman Cain impersonation.  Personally, I think the name “Wyatt” is quite under-rated.
Posted in Personal | 6 Comments