Bag of Randomness

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  • I usually don’t do New Year’s resolutions but I chose two last year.  Of all things, I wanted to take the time to learn how to solve a Rubik’s Cube.  I guess that’s not as much a resolution as a goal, but either way, it didn’t happen.
  • The other resolution was to show more affection to my wife, and since I’m from the project management world, I decided that it had to be S.M.A.R.T. – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable, Trackable.  The best idea I could come up with was to give her a foot massage at least twice a month, and it had to be one of those real good foot massages that involved warm lotion or oil and had to last at least five minutes.  I mostly delivered on the warm lotion and oil, all that took was popping them in the microwave for a bit and I fully delivered on the time limit.  As a way to keep track of my progress, I just noted it in a Google Docs spreadsheet.  Not only did I achieve my goal of two foot massages per month for a total of 24, but I exceeded it by giving her a total of 28.  She had no idea I was planning any of this, and I think the end result of affection was achieved, as well as her feeling more appreciated.
  • I figured if I was keeping track of the foot massages I might as well track some other stuff, such as all the time we had “relations” and some specifics which goes along with that.  You know by now that I tend to be very much TMI, so I won’t go into details other than to say we averaged relations 3.096 times a week, which for a married couple of eleven years isn’t all that bad.  The longest without any relations was seven days.
  • The Cotton Bowl organizers did the right thing years ago moving that thing to an indoor facility.  Somewhat related – Due to the game, the Cowboys had to practice at Highland Park High School’s indoor facility yesterday.  It cracks me up when a pro team has to use a high school facility.
  • One of my readers works in D.C. (on K Street) but is a Michigan State grad and a devout fan.  She made the trip to the Cotton Bowl and stated that the Baylor fans around here were so nice and friendly she hated them in a nice and friendly kind of way.  She also seemed surprised that a prayer was said before the game.
  • TCU annihilated their bowl opponent and on the night of their win, they weren’t even the top sports story on the local news (CBS 11 specifically).  The top sports story went to the Cowboys about their outdoor practice.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but TCU just doesn’t get the local support and respect that they’ve earned.  Heck, from what I see on television they even have an attendance problem.  A Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl win in the last four years along with top five rankings (surely they’ll crack the top five this year) with a two-time Coach of the Year isn’t anything to sneeze at.
  • I’m not sure how TCU would fair against Oregon or The Ohio State University.
  • Since my father and most Geeding lineage traces back to Ohio, I’ve always been a bit of an Ohio State fan as well as of all Cincinnati teams.  And no one expected The Ohio State University to make it this far, I sure didn’t.  It wasn’t until the Big10 championship game that people thought they were legit, and many still doubted because they won with a third string quarterback.  That’s a team that knows how to deal with adversity.  And dang, Urban Meyer is able to take his team to the championship game in just his third year of coaching there.
  • There’s something gleefully satisfying when television cameras focus on fans of Alabama (or traditional SEC schools) when they are in a state of disbelief.
  • Now that the attention shines to our neck of the woods for the national championship game at Jerry World, I fear a random ice storm or bad weather ruining things again.  It happened for the Super Bowl and the Final Four.
  • The number of empty seats at the Orange Bowl was embarrassing, especially when you consider its history and one in which the great Brent Musburger is doing the play-by-play.
  • How many times have two Heisman winners faced each other in a college game?  Was yesterday a first?
  • WifeGeeding and I like trying different burger joints and trying to rank them.  I took her to Off Site Kitchen and upon the first bite she thought it was the best burger she ever had in the area.  The place only seats ten, so we all had a fun picnic in the car.
  • T-Mobile should bring back that spokeswoman with the cute dresses, I miss her.
  • Back in the day we use to have to differentiate from Wal-Mart and Super Wal-Mart, but now there are only Super Wal-Marts which we only refer to as Wal-Marts, though there are some Neighborhood Wal-Marts.  A coworker use to get upset at me for calling them Super Wal-Marts because the actual name is Wal-Mart Supercenter.
  • A Circle K in Denton was selling gas for $1.69.
  • Possible repost – If you’re on a beach, this map will show you what country is directly across from you.
  • Couple high on drugs ‘trapped’ inside UNLOCKED closet for days
  • Four Economists Named ‘Goodman’ Co-Authored A Paper About Sharing The Name ‘Goodman’
  • Better late than never – Seven Inch Turn Signal From 1963 Car Wreck Removed From Illinois Man’s Arm
  • GIF – The new year countdown in Dubai was more than impressive – YouTube
  • I’ve never eaten black eyed peas.
  • Happy new year.
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Impressive Circular Spinning Firework

This is from a homemade fireworks festival in Thailand, the fun starts around the 30-second mark.  It’s really impressive how freaking high that thing goes.

http://youtu.be/8w_ZbldVYR0

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Bag of Randomness

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  • I watched the ESPN Films ‘Nixon’s National Champions’ special yesterday which focused on the 1969 Texas vs Arkansas game, which was the 100th anniversary of college football (hence, Game of the Century) and also did a bit of research on my own:
    • It was hard to enjoy because it seemed like propaganda for ESPN’s involvement with the new college football playoff system, trying to state how good things are now since there’s a playoff system and how much chaos there was when there wasn’t.
    • Texas and Arkansas usually played each other in October, but both head coaches were persuaded to move the game to the final game of the regular season by ABC Sports executive Roone Arledge, who also promised Arkansas that Nixon would attend the game and ABC would televise Arkansas’ season opener in 1970 against Stanford and their star quarterback, Jim Plunkett.
    • ABC preferred the game to be played later in the afternoon, but scheduled it for a noon kickoff because Arkansas’ stadium didn’t have lights.  My, how times have changed.
    • I really didn’t know the backstory to the championship, and that Penn State felt shafted after completing their second straight season without a loss.  Back then, schools accepted invitations to bowl games with games still left on the schedule.  Penn State chose to play in the nice weather in Miami at the Orange Bowl and declined the Cotton Bowl invite, but if they would have chosen the Cotton Bowl, they would have played Texas in the last game of the season for the national championship.
    • Texas was on an 18 game winning streak and Arkanas was on a 15 game winning streak.  The first time I typed that sentence I actually typed “steak” twice, which I guess means I want me some steak.
    • I knew Nixon attended the game, which was in Arkansas, but I had no idea that he actually sat in the stands like any old spectator.  Stadiums back then didn’t really have luxury boxes like they do now, but post JFK, the Secret Service must have been freaked out.
    • On the way to the game Nixon picked up Heisman Trophy winner Steve Owens in Oklahoma to watch the game.  Also on that trip on board Air Force One was future president and recent hospital visitor George H.W. Bush.  Now that I think about it, from Washington D.C., picking up someone in Oklahoma on route to Arkansas isn’t exactly “on the way”.
    • Since LBJ was still alive at the time and his library was being built at UT, I wonder if Nixon was rooting for Arkansas.
    • I can’t believe Texas actually won that game with five turnovers.  It seems like Arkansas lost that game more than Texas won that game.
    • The game had a television rating of a 52.1 share, so more than half the televisions were tuned in.
    • Billy Graham gave the pre-game prayer.
    • Texas won 15-14 and Nixon game Texas a plaque stating the Longhorns were national champs, which ticked off a bunch of Penn State fans, but Nixon gave them a plaque congratulating them on their two undefeated seasons.  In the next presidential election, Nixon still won Pennsylvania.
    • Despite Nixon’s proclamation that Texas was the national champions, oddly, there was still a game left in the season to play for the Longhorns, the Cotton Bowl; which, as I mentioned, Penn State could have chosen to play in earlier in the season.  Texas won the Cotton Bowl 21-17 against ninth ranked Notre Dame.  Oh, what might have been.
    • It was the last major American sporting event played between two all-white teams, so the game was also called Dixie’s Last Stand.
  • Five years ago if you told me the legacies of Joe Paterno and Bill Cosby could be tarnished, I’d say you were nuts.
  • Yesterday someone left a comment about ‘The Knick’ – BTW, the nurse who was supposedly from West Virginia is actually British and has a very proper English accent when being interviewed. – Dude, that actress is Bono’s daughter and she has an Irish accent.
  • Indonesia will send divers to retrieve bodies from that doomed AirAsia flight, that’s one job I never would like to have.
  • I can see David Letterman becoming the “permanent” host of the Kennedy Center Honors like Walter Cronkite was for over 20 years.  Though at Letterman’s age, I wouldn’t expect him to do it for more than a decade.  I did think he and Colbert had a nice little bit last night.  During the broadcast, Letterman narrated Tom Hanks segment and stated that he had three separate step-mothers.  Oh, and they brought out Hooch.
  • Today’s dose of ‘MURICA!
  • I often complain how Hollywood doesn’t come out with any original movies anymore, and someone on Reddit agreed stating that out of the top ten grossing films this year, only Interstellar was not a reboot, remake, sequel, or part of a franchise.
  • I keep seeing a lot of Selma commercials and they way someone yells “Dr. King” makes me think of this scene from Coming to America.  The idea that a non-violent MLK would punch a man and hearing someone refer to him as “Martin Luther The King” cracks me up everytime.
  • The White House – 2014: A Year in Photos – I was a bit surprised at this photo of a woman slipping a note in the president’s shirt pocket, I’m sure the Secret Service doesn’t like that sort of thing.
  • Instead of saying “cheese” for pictures, say “cheeks”.
  • I wish I could see all of you mouthing those two words at this moment.
  • Cute Star Wars pic
  • This woman designs things on her computer using mostly her nose.
  • The most informative piece I’ve ever read about buying toothpaste.
  • I donated three bucks to Wikipedia, it’s the least I could do as much as I use that thing.
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