Bag of Randomness for Monday, January 29, 2024

  • I’ve read different variations of this, and totally love the concept – I’m not saying football is bad. I’m saying it would be even BETTER if they made the mascots kick every field goal. Imagine, the final play of the big game, one second left on the game clock… and a big googly-eyed bird struts onto the field to thunderous applause, already a hero.
  • Dang, that’s pretty epic. I’m sure he did more damage to the car than what it would have cost to get it out the lot.

  • U2 started playing at the Sphere again last week. This weekend the Fonz was there, as was Bryan Adams.
    • Bono sang a snippet of “Everything I Do I Do it For You” during “WOWY” last night as Bryan Adams was in the crowd. “The Fly” was the song that unseated “Everything I Do” after 16 weeks at the top of the UK charts.
  • Tom Brady changed the focus of his workouts to pliability and credited that to the longevity of his career.
    https://twitter.com/bobbystroupe/status/1751762128371962111
  • They made some changes. Bono, in what appears to be a first for any U2 concert, is now playing the piano. I’m glad they didn’t play that song when I was there as it has some special meaning. The band will be playing at the Grammys live from the Sphere. I continue to worry about how that place is being managed. Two weeks ago I read there was a credible rumor that Sphere Entertainment offered U2 to do as many as 35 more shows, but they turned them down. Also, U2 is rumored to be taking in over 90% per ticket, 18,000 tickets per show.
    • According to Casino.org, U2 has reportedly been paid 90% of the earnings from ticket sales, in addition to an upfront $10 million to produce their own stage show.
    • While seats are pricey for the Jan. 25-26 gigs — at the time of publication, they start at a whopping $737 before fees on Vivid Seats — other nights have seats going for a much more reasonable $354 before fees.
    • As of November 30, 2023, the Sphere in Las Vegas has reported that 17 U2 performances have brought in $30.7 million in revenue, averaging $1.8 million per concert.
  • https://twitter.com/gunsnrosesgirl3/status/1751210615589261701
Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Monday, January 29, 2024

Bag of Randomness for Friday, January 26, 2024

  • Missouri Rule Change Would Allow Senators to Challenge Each Other to a Duel
  • Isn’t this a form of cancel culture conservative Christians are worried about?
  • Iowa bill would require teachers, students to sing national anthem at school every day
    • In 2021, state lawmakers required all Iowa students to recite the pledge of allegiance at school. Now, some Iowa House Republicans want to take that a step further and require students to study and sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” House Study Bill 587 would require all public school students and teachers to sing at least one verse of the national anthem every day. There is an option to opt out, but everyone would still be required to stand.
    • If a teacher does not want to sing the national anthem, they would be required to find someone else to lead their class in singing it.
  • If you were a bit confused about the “enlarge our territory” part, it’s from the prayer of Jabez which was extremely popular about 20 years ago.

  • I wish I could embed this video, but the Twitter account owner has enabled the settings that don’t allow it. However, this man and his wife get out of their minivan, insult the driver, and reach inside in an attempt to grab his phone.

    But I bet he wasn’t counting on the driver to be the size of a mountain.

    As the man cowers away, his sons thank the mountain for not squashing their idiot father.
Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Friday, January 26, 2024

Bag of Randomness for Thursday, January 25, 2024

  • I’m looking forward to Monday nights, Jon Stewart is returning to The Daily Show:
    • The comedian, who during his 16-year run as host of the Comedy Central program established it as an entertainment and cultural force, will return to host the show each week on Mondays starting February 12, Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios announced Wednesday. Stewart, who returns as the 2024 presidential election season heats up, will also executive produce the show and work with a rotating line-up of comedians who will helm the program the rest of the week, Tuesdays through Thursdays.
  • If I were Barron Trump, for Halloween, I’d just wear a red shirt with the “The” on the front and be the Red Barron.
  • I remember thinking ill of Pete Carroll when he left USC for the Seattle Seahawks. At the time, it appeared USC was about to be penalized for things he was responsible for and he left before they could be enforced, leaving his successor to deal with the ramifications. I feel like that’s what Jim Harbaugh is doing to Michigan.
  • Here’s one way to look at how college football has changed. Michigan, the national champs, will lose the following starters (and that’s before any portal departures):
    • • Starting QB • Leading Rusher • Leading Receiver • Starting LT • Starting LG • Starting C • Starting RG • Starting RT • Leading tackler (LB) • Starting DT • Starting EDGE • Starting EDGE • Starting WILL • Starting CB • Starting Nickel
  • When was the last time the Ravens hosted the AFC Championship game? Per Peter King, not since the very first AFC Championship game.
    • So now the Ravens move on to host the first AFC Championship Game in the city since, well, the first AFC Championship Game. True fact. The AFL and NFL merged in 1970, birthing the AFC and NFC. And in January 1971, John Madden brought his Raiders to Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium to play the Colts … and the Indianapolis Colts weren’t a gleam in anyone’s eye back then. Baltimore 27, Oakland 17, with one TD pass by the great Johnny Unitas. To Ray Perkins
  • Barry, over at LiberallyLean.com, posted this Gallup chart which really bugs me. The negative numbers are literally in the green. Green is typically used to promote growth and things in the positive. Damn media.
  • The U.S. Embassy in the UK with some diplomatic tea humor.
  • I sense the discussion in the country is shifting from who will win in November to how we will protect democracy and voting from a candidate who is at war with the country.
  • Our governor, or someone running his social media, decided to reply to a tweet that they thought belonged to an actor, but it’s a parody account (that last name is the car company, and on the owner’s profile page claims to be from pretend city Parody, TX), one I’ve been following for a while.
  • Since I mentioned that Twitter account, let me post something from it. Trump’s lawyer told the judge she was sick, so the trial got delayed, yet she was spotted at a Trump victory party because that kid posted a picture he took with her. That kid is learning a hard lesson many folks in Trump’s first (and hopefully only) administration learned the hard way. A top three rule in politics is, you gotta ask, what have you done for me lately?

  • I’ve felt like this election cycle is going by pretty fast for the Republicans to find their presidential nominee, that 2024 is seeing a faster dropoff than in previous election cycles. It turns out I’m right, and this article has a chart, though not a great one, that compares this election cycle with previous ones.
  • Charles Osgood died earlier this week. He was a great host of CBS Sunday Morning and brought a grandfatherly charm. The ex and I discovered the program, which I like to describe as NPR for television, at the start of our marriage. I was tempted to send her a text about him, but that’s a boundary she made clear. But I miss the little stuff like that which comes in a relationship, and I wonder and hope that I can have something like that again. Oh, and copulation.
  • I don’t remember if I mentioned this or not, but one of my recent dates told me how excited she was that in a few months, she was going to become a grandmother. While I was happy for her, that was an instant turnoff. I don’t want to have a grandma girlfriend. My kids are still relatively young, they aren’t even in high school. Realizing people around my age (48) are becoming grandparents is a bit jarring, a huge coming-of-age moment. Speaking of coming-of-age moments, Tiffani Thiessen celebrated her 50th birthday this week by posting this on Instagram.
  • When I had disposable income, Woot.com was the fifth website I would visit as part of my morning routine. I’ve always appreciated their creative and quirky sense of humor. For instance, I saw something called the “Pointless Price” and wondered what that was.
  • Religion News Service – A Southern Baptist leader hid decades of abuse. Will his fall doom SBC abuse reforms?
  • An Oklahoma youth baseball coach has been arrested for raping a little girl & exposing her to HIV. He was drunk at a friend’s house, went into her daughter’s room, and then raped her. The mother held the pedophile at gunpoint and called the cops.
  • Take this as you will.
    https://twitter.com/Lesdoggg/status/1749915271048143272
  • Close call.

  • https://twitter.com/TheFigen_/status/1750264413775397186
Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Thursday, January 25, 2024

Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, January 23, 2024

  • Yesterday’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not stated that Chopin, who is Polish but died in France, was buried in that country with a small urn of Polish soil that he kept. That reminded me of one of my history lessons in junior high. Someone, but I can’t remember who had his heart removed and buried in another country.  It involved the U.S. Sounds like something Lafayette would have done, but I couldn’t find a record of it. However, this was the first time I heard of the practice but it made an impression on me. I did a little research and found heart burial was not uncommon, as it was easier and less smelly than transporting an entire body (usually a soldier). Interestingly, Chopin did this, which made me think Ripley’s led with the wrong story. Even though I couldn’t find the person I was looking for, I ran across articles from Atlas Obscura and Mental Floss about famous people who had it done. This little nugget about Thomas Hardy stood out, “A persistent, but unproven, story has it that a cat ate part of the heart when the doctor who was removing it got distracted; a gruesome addendum says the animal was killed and buried alongside the organ.
  • I think my next dog will be named Lafayette, and I hope I don’t have to make that decision for a very long time.
  • Random memory: Those commercials in which luggage was tested by a gorilla.
  • I knew 49’ers head coach Kyle Shanahan played football at the University of Texas and Lions head coach Dan Campell played at aTm. But I wasn’t sure if their time overlapped. I bring this up because their teams will be playing each other in the NFC Championship. Shanahan’s time was from 1999–2002 1995–1998.
    ​​
Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, January 23, 2024