Bag of Randomness

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  • Someone from the City of Lewisville drove by all our neighboring houses and parked in front of GeedingManor.  Curious, I stepped outside and asked if there was anything I could help him with.  He said we were using drastically less water than the rest of the residents and was sent to check if the meter was malfunctioning.  It was, and he replaced it.
  • I think the best thing Brian Williams could have done would have been to stick with his appearance on Letterman.  It would have been the perfect forum to explain himself, casual and friendly.  And since it would be on another network, that takes away the perception of showing favoritism to a colleague or coworker, though you may have to look past their admiration for each other.  It would almost be akin to Cheney going on Hannity after shooting his friend in the face, the difference being we aren’t dealing with an elected official.  Sure, the NBC brass and Jimmy Fallon would not appreciate it, but it would have helped get him back on track.  I would tell the NBC and Fallon that you have to keep the long game in mind, not the short game.
  • ‘Better Call Saul’ – We’re just two shows in, but I like what I see.
  • There’s a house down the street from us that has a large stone in their yard with Texas A&M carved in it.  The family always flies their A&M flag on game days and you always see them wear Aggie gear.  Yesterday I found out their son is named Kyle, as in Kyle Field.  There’s such a thing as being a fan, there’s such a thing as being proud, and then there’s something called obsession.
  • Ugliest of College Football – What It’s Like to Have Bobby Petrino Pull Your Offer 48 Hours Before Signing Day
  • I really like the chemistry between Gordon and Bullock in ‘Gotham’.  It’s taken a bit for them to get there, but things are really starting to come together for that show.
  • Last night was date night and we used our $50 gift certificate to Fireside Pies.  If it wasn’t for the gift certificate we would have eaten at another establishment.  That place might serve the most overrated pizza in all of DFW.
  • Buzzfeed – 8 “Breaking Bad” References From The “Better Call Saul” Premiere – They’re reaching on a few of these.
  • Buzzfeed – Magical Then And Now Photos Of Disneyland Throughout The Years
  • Secret stash of Moon artifacts found hidden in Neil Armstrong’s closet – Of all the places that reported this, I like what this site did by showing you the objects from public pictures.
  • GIF – A pullout bunk bed
  • Something for you guitar folks – Chordify – a free online music service – made for and by music enthusiasts – that transforms music from YouTube, Deezer, SoundCloud or your private collection, into chords.
  • The 10 Biggest Blunders in The History Of Espionage
  • An interesting article about new technology, X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCT), that can read an ancient scroll while it is still rolled up.
  • Texas professor (Huston-Tillotson University) moving out of dumpster he lived in for 1 year
  • ​When Superintelligent AI Arrives, Will Religions Try to Convert It? – “I don’t see Christ’s redemption limited to human beings,” Reverend Dr. Christopher J. Benek told me in a recent interview. Benek is an Associate Pastor of Providence Presbyterian Church in Florida and holds masters degrees in divinity and theology from Princeton University. “It’s redemption to all of creation, even AI,” he said.
  • Winter Wonderland: Photos of an Abandoned Indoor Mall Filled with Snow
  • Today’s dose of ‘MURICA!
  • It’s nice to see Sony and Marvel reach a Spider-Man agreement.
Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

Netflix Comes To Cuba

Streaming video service Netflix will be available to Cuban customers starting today, at the $7.99 U.S. per month rate that it offers in the U.S., the company announced today. It’ll still require an international payment method for now, as well as Internet access (which still isn’t ubiquitous in the U.S.), but it’s an early start that Netflix says it wanted to offer in order to have it available as Cuban Internet access expands, and debit and credit cards become more available to Cuban citizens.

With this move, Netflix becomes one of the first U.S.-based companies to take advantage of the U.S. government’s decision to relax trade restrictions that have been imposed on Cuba since the 1960s.

TechCrunch

“Yeah capitalism!”

Posted in Political, Pop Culture | 1 Comment

Bag of Randomness

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  • The first time I saw this picture I could see that not all the letters were lit, but didn’t notice the lit letters spelled “adios”.
  • While at Klyde Warren Park on Saturday I watched a small group of people use a selfie stick and they couldn’t be happier.
  • While at the Nasher I noticed a gray-haired mustached man walking around and talking to people as if he was in charge of something.  Why did he catch my eye?  It wasn’t that he was wearing a dress shirt with a tie and appropriate dress shoes, it was because his dress shirt was tucked into blue sweat pants.  It reminded me of this Ronald Reagan picture.  Heck, it was as if he was trying to recreate this look.
  • I wasn’t a big fan of Dean Smith, though I had high appreciation and respect for the man.  Out of all things written or said about him since his death, I enjoyed this piece about him from 2013 the most – Charles Scott, the first black scholarship athlete at UNC, in his own words 
  • Dean Smith’s recruiting letter to Michael Jordan – The part that stood out to me, “give me a collect call.”  I can’t recall the last time I heard “collect call” referenced.
  • I found a major weakness of WifeGeeding this weekend as we were listening to Uptown Funk.   She can’t say “funk” without really concentrating about it and sounding it out, otherwise she just cursing.
  • Regarding my book about cadavers, I just finished the section on how they are used in automobile crash simulations and body examinations after airplane crashes.  If inspectors are trying to figure out if a plane had an explosion, they want to see how much bodies are left intact.  A lot of smaller scattered body parts likely means an explosion of some sorts.  Also, the cause of death from falling from the sky onto a body of water is often attributed to the aorta rupturing.  When a body hits the surface of water at terminal velocity (120 mph) the organs keep traveling for a fraction of a second longer until they hit the wall of the body cavity, which by that moment has started to rebound and ruptures the aorta.  It’s recommended that if you can, try to hit the water feet first instead of on your back or chest.
  • On Friday, LiberallyLean.com stated he watched a reality show on Lifetime and I thought I’d leave an innocent comment playfully teasing him about watching a network geared towards women.  It’s what we do, we tease each other about silly stuff through our blogs and Twitter.  But I thought it was strange and sad for someone to reference my comment and state that me doing so was basically hypocritical and how thin-skinned I must be.  But then I got to remember some people just like to troll and are clueless they are the epitome of a bigot.  Like the modern day songstress Taylor says . . . And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.  That person use to troll me on this blog calling me thin skinned and stating I was going through life with blinders on.  When you grow up being made fun of for having an Asian background (with a country the U.S. most recently had an unpopular war with) in a small hick town and for having a father that was 24-years older than his wife, and then go to Baptist churches being the only liberal amongst them, your skin thickens pretty quickly.  But no matter how much my skin thickened, I made the effort not to grow callouses so that I can still be sensitive and appreciative of others and their background and points of view, as I wish others would have done for me.  I’m totally cool with other people voicing an opposing thought on this blog, it brings me perspective and helps me grow, but per my comment policy, just don’t be crude.  That’s one of the benefits of owning your own blog, you get to make up the rules and enforce them for the atmosphere and forum you want to establish.
  • American Sniper’ statue can’t find a home in Texas
  • I guess I won’t be teaching at Harvard anytime soon – Harvard tells professors: No more sex with undergrads
  • I don’t think Brian Williams will last the week, journalistic crosshairs are justly focused on him and he’s become such a meme there’s no way to win the respect back it takes to be the figurehead of a news division.  I stated that Matt Laurer would take his place, but there’s a chance NBC wants to make history with Lester Holt as the first permanent black anchor of the big three networks.  If I had a choice in the matter, I’d appoint Mike Snyder his successor (local joke).
  • I’ll sum up last night’s ‘Walking Dead’ with one word . . . trippy.
  • I’m not going to ruin anything for those that haven’t seen ‘Better Call Saul’ yet but I will say I like how it’s a bit dated by focusing about 14 years and that it’s different in its own special way from ‘Breaking Bad’, which is a good thing.  I also have the feeling there’s a ton of references and easter eggs that I missed.  It’s gonna be a fun ride.
  • DFW is #1, but not in a good way.  Actually, Texas dominates the list – Safest and Most at Risk Places from Natural Disasters
  • John Oliver was back on the air last night, and the guy just doesn’t hold back.
Posted in Personal | 10 Comments