Bag of Randomness

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  • It’s one of my favorite days of the year – The TICKET’s White Elephant Day were all the personalities and their responsibilities are shuffled around.  Though I think Donovan is be M.I.A. because of a death in the family.
  • The kids really wanted to play in the leaves yesterday so I grabbed the rake and made a few piles.  My initial thought was my piles of leaves weren’t all that great, but then it dawned on me, from their vantage they are going to look huge.  That reminded me of the time I saw a friend’s father a few years after I got married, the first I’ve seen him since high school.  My memory of him was this gigantic man, but at that moment he just seemed so . . . normal.
  • A redditor wore a heart rate monitor as he proposed to his girlfriend in Rome and charted the data.  He provides a few details and some answers here, though not much.
  • My cell phone rang with the caller ID showing “82”.  When I answered it there was a recorded message saying my Visa was blocked and to unblock it press 1.  Yeah, I’m not falling for it.  Heck, they never even mentioned what bank or institution from, just generic “Visa”.
  • While watching ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’ a Pepsi commercial aired for the Super Bowl halftime show that was exactly like the one they aired last year, except it had Katy Perry music set to it.
  • I have to attend my place of employment’s holiday party tonight.  It’s the only time of year I actually see someone from work as we all work from home, but I really don’t know any of the Dallas folks since all my team is based in Austin.  Last year one guy got very drunk and berating our president and CEO with question after question.  Some of thought that when layoffs come around he’s sure be gone, but he survived them earlier this year.
  • I sure did pick a bad time to withhold Baylor criticisms, but can you image the reaction of all Baylor fans if TCU won the whole thing?  It all reminds me of how Longhorns felt back in 2008, even though it’s not quite apples to apples (different system, an actually conference championship game, a change in Big XII rules, different ranked opponent losses and wins, etc).  Fifth ranked Texas beat number one ranked Oklahoma.  Texas was later ranked #1 but had its only loss at #6 Texas Tech.  Despite Texas beating Oklahoma head-to-head and both teams with just one loss, Oklahoma got to play in the Big XII Championship game, win it, and then go on to lose in the BCS Championship game.  Final rankings, Texas #4 and Oklahoma #5 in the AP, Texas #3 and Oklahoma #5 in the USA Today/AFCA poll.
  • I really don’t think TCU gets much local media or public support, and they deserve better.
  • Speaking of commercials, the idea is funny but smart business – Arby’s Forgets Advertising Deal With Pepsi, Makes Apology Ad Entirely About Pepsi
  • Apple Patents An iPhone Drop Protection Mechanism That Changes Device Angle In Freefall
  • Dallas Cop Shooting Database Is Sobering, Fascinating
  • BBC – Why Texas is closing prisons in favour of rehab
  • Shark ‘photobombs’ Australian surfing competition
Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

“We were trusting God…we thought”

In Canada . . .

Peter Wald’s family truly believed he would rise from the dead.

They believed it because they had prayed for it, every single day, while his corpse lay rotting for six months in an upstairs bedroom of their Hamilton home.

When neighbours asked about her husband, curious about the 52-year-old man’s seeming disappearance, Kaling Wald would tell them he was “in God’s hands now.”

On Monday, Kaling, 50, pleaded guilty to failing to notify police or the coroner that her husband had died due to a sickness that was not being treated by a doctor. It’s the first known case of its kind (involving the resurrection belief) in Canada.

The criminal charges originally laid in the case – neglect of duty regarding a dead body and offering an indignity to a body – were withdrawn and replaced with that single charge under the Coroner’s Act.

Kaling had no ill intent, all agreed. As assistant crown attorney Janet Booy put it, the devout Christian woman’s faith had “tainted and warped her better judgment.”

“We were trusting God…we thought, ‘OK Lord, you know better,” Kaling told the Spectator after court Monday, with lawyer Peter Boushy by her side.

Full Article

One person’s faith is another person’s crazy, kinda like one woman’s romantic is another woman’s stalker.

Posted in Spiritual | 1 Comment

Bag of Randomness

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  • U2 (going by the name U2 Minus 1) played at Times Square for World AIDS Day with Chris Martin from Coldplay filling in for Bono.  I got a kick out of the shirt he wore that said “SUBSTITU2”.  He sang “Beautiful Day” and “With or Without You” which had a cool Coldplay/U2 vibe to it, duh.
  • I was surprised at the number of friends that contacted me during Martin’s performace.  It was nice to be thought of and be part of watching an event together.  I wonder if (RED) will start selling different versions of Martin’s shirt to help raise funds.
  • Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr actually spoke and introduced Kanye, and I ever seen Larry so animated.  There’s a U2 podcast I listen to and they only refer to him as Larry Mullen, Sr’s son, which cracks me up.
  • Springsteen came on stage wearing a jacket that Bono would have worn to finish out the event with U2 Minus 1 singing “Streets” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”.  I think I liked Martin’s performance better, but overall I have a better appreciation for Bono.
  • I wonder if Bono was there would the band have mixed in one of their new songs.
  • To much controversy, Rolling Stone has named U2’s latest album the best of 2014.   They must like older rock because Springsteen’s new album came in second.
  • I wonder how much alcohol Bono the Irishman has consumed during his recuperation.
  • I think the last season of ‘House of Cards’ were released on Valentine’s Day, the upcoming season will be released on February 27, 2015.  Man, 2015 . . . how time flies.
  • Watch out, doughnuts: Oreo biscuits are coming to Dallas via Church’s Chicken – The whole Oreo bit has run its course for me, I just like mine in ice cream.
  • SpaceX is looking to hire a farmer in McGregor , TX.
  • My dad use to tell me stories of growing up in Cincinnati and people doing crazy things on frozen lakes and rivers like driving a car on them.  Being so far south, I have no concept what any of that is like.
  • The first gay marriage in Texas happened in 1972 in Houston.
  • This website uses clips from ‘Seinfeld’ to explain basic economic concepts.  The name cracks me up – YadaYadaYadaEcon.com.  I needed this when I was in college as I made nothing but a C in all my econ classes, in both undergrad and graduate school.  However, I made A’s in all my accounting classes.  Perhaps I should have majored in that instead of finance, but then again, I now work in software QA as a business analyst.
  • Here’s a somewhat current picture of the blonde girl in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Alison Doody who is now 47.
  • Confessions of a mortician – Caleb Wilde is a sixth-generation funeral director who wants to reacquaint us all with the uncomfortable, eye-opening realities of death. It’ll make us more human, he says. If it doesn’t kill him first. – I think this part of the article stood out the most, “Of all the white lies of the funeral industry, the airtight coffin seemed perhaps the most absurd: Even dead and artificially colored, pumped full of chemicals, we need to pretend we’re special. We’re different from the dirt! We’re not dust in the wind, or pushing up daisies, or going into the fertilizer business. We’re tourists flying home in a spotless vessel.”
  • When recording video with a phone and holding it vertically, a message like “For optimal recording, turn phone horizontal.” should appear.
  • Buzzfeed – A Dog Has Died After He Jumped In Front Of Gunfire To Save His Family
  • Yesterday the CIA had a series of tweets about the President’s Daily Brief.  It now comes delivered on a tablet, an iPad I suspect.
  • If the Cowboys make the playoffs, I’d prefer all games to be on the road.  They just play better away from the Deathstar.
  • Last night Stephen Colbert had Senator John McCain on as a guest.  With just 12 shows remaining, McCain joked that Colbert must be scraping the bottom of the barrel, and Colbert retorted that he’s saved the best for last, paraphrasing from the Gospel.  McCain laughed at Colbert and asked him, “What chapter in the Bible is that?”  Colbert then, with a bit of seriousness on his face, talked about the marriage in Cana and Jesus turning the water into wine and saving the best for last, referencing John 2:10.  Even though I knew he taught Sunday school, I was most impressed.  He joked with McCain that he’s not going to appeal to Christian conservatives if he doesn’t know his gospel.
  • In that last bullet point, I decided to capitalize the first use of “gospel” because I was referencing a story from the four Gospels.  I didn’t capitalize the latter use because it was used in more of a general term, but I’m still not sure I used them quite correctly.
Posted in Personal | 6 Comments

U2 Performs Tonight With Chris Martin and Bruce Springsteen Filling in for Injured Bono

Friends have stepped in to save U2’s surprise World AIDS Day (RED) performance which was jeopardised by Bono’s November 16 bike accident in Central Park. 

Kanye West and Carrie Underwood will perform at the event – tonight at 7.30pm – and Chris Martin and Bruce Springsteen will join U2 Minus 1, as the singer remains under doctors’ orders to refrain from performing until fully recuperated from his injuries.

The World AIDS Day event in Times Square will begin promptly at 7.30pm and feature performances from special guests Kanye West and Carrie Underwood.

Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr. will be joined by Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, each of whom will take a turn as frontman on the U2 songs. Appearing at the personal invitation of U2, Springsteen and Martin have graciously donated their time and talents to save the World AIDS Day event from cancellation.

Link

Posted in U2 | Comments Off on U2 Performs Tonight With Chris Martin and Bruce Springsteen Filling in for Injured Bono