Bag of Randomness

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  • I can’t remember the last time the Cowboys played two games in a row wearing the dark blues, and that DeMarco Murray sure is consistent when it comes to fumbling in the first half.
  • Tony Romo now has 21 come from behind fourth quarter comebacks, more than any other quarterback in franchise history.
  • On ’60 Minutes’ last night I finally learned what’s written on the ISIS/ISIL flag – “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.”  [Insert fortune cookie joke here]
  • Columbia professor John Azumah, who specializes in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, delivered our church’s sermon and took questions for about an hour yesterday.  Going into to it I didn’t think our church would be all that active in the Q&A but I was wrong, and there was really only one boneheaded question about how ISIS/ISIL is on the Mexican border and how Christian rights are being taken away.  But the one that thing I’ll take away from the event that made me really stop down and reflect was his comment about Muslim extremism or radicalism.  Not only does it affect the Muslim world, but it affects Christians because it causes us to put hate and fear in our hearts towards the entire Muslim world, making us extremist to a certain extent, and keeps us from loving our neighbor and honoring God.
  • A Florida Baptist church turned an old FedEx truck into an ice cream truck to give away free Blue Bell ice cream to kids and to witness to them.  I bet if another faith did this a lot of folks would be up in arms.
  • Thoughts on ‘The Roosevelts’:
    • How much did TR’s family hate FDR? His daughter said she’d rather vote for Hitler than FDR.
    • Before our involvement in WWII the U.S. ranked 18th in military power.
    • It impressed me that Eleanor actually visited the the Japanese-Americans in their internment camps.
    • The town of Kermit, TX is named after TR’s son, Kermit.
    • FDR actually laid the keel for the U.S.S. Arizona.
    • Churchill was in attendance for a Christmas lighting ceremony and stayed for three weeks at the White House.  At one point FDR wheeled in on Churchill getting out of the bathtub.
    • There was a short clip of Indians putting on war paint and mohawks before the D-Day football but no comment was made of it.  It was neat, but just out of place.
    • TR Jr was part of the D-Day invasion at Utah Beach and died of a heart attack a month later.
    • I didn’t know FDR lead the nation in prayer in a D-Day prayer.
    • Seeing the poor health FDR was in during his last campaign, I’m surprised he lived through it.
    • FDR and Reagan both a certain likable charm when defending themselves and attacking the other party.  Clinton has it, but not quite as much as those men.
    • FDR could pull off wearing a cape, I’d like to see a modern politician do the same.
    • I was surprised that FDR once mentioned his leg braces in a national speech, but I guess when you are in your fourth term and don’t have much to lose.
    • Interesting that Eleanor was sitting next to Woodrow Wilson’s widow when FDR died.
    • Stalin thought FDR died as a result of poisoning.
    • Hitler died 18-days after FDR.
    • I had no idea that Jimmy Carter announced his candidacy in Warm Springs, GA, FDR’s getaway. And that Eleanor wasn’t a fan of JFK, but it seemed he eventually won her over.
  • If MTV still had ‘Celebrity Deathmatch’, I’d like to see a match between presidential biographers Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough.  McCullough’s middle name is Gaub.
  • I ended up not going to that high school football game because the friend that invited had an illness in the family to care to, so my streak continues.
  • I found out my old high school football coach is now the athletic director at Grapevine-Colleyville.  There are two things I’ll remember about his office, he had a framed picture of Oliver North when he was sworn in in front of Congress and a Kansas City Chiefs helmet.  He still has the same flattop haircut and I believe he was the last or one of the last starting quarterbacks for UTA, when they still had a football program.  He’s also the only coach in Mineral Wells history to have two 0-10 seasons.
  • Rachel Nichols is already an accomplished sports reporter, but she’s really making a name for herself over the last two weeks by the way she grilled Floyd Mayweather and then Roger Goodell.
  • Wendy Davis had a terrible debate performance but I rolled my eyes at Greg Abbott when he was given a chance to ask Davis a question.  He asked if she regretted voting for President Obama.  Sheesh, what a stupid question about Texas politics.  But I guess that tells you how serious he’s really taking Davis as a threat – Abbott feels like he’s running against Obama more than he is running against her.
  • I was surprised to see Oklahoma in new uniforms, but if Notre Dame is willing to do it, then there’s no such thing as tradition.
  • I know there are bigger things in this world to be concerned about, but I feel for those SMU football players.  They’ve gotten blown out by Baylor and North Texas, had their coach quit on them, and then Texas A&M blows you out at home.  I’m guessing the schedule makers thought this was going to be the season June Jones was going to have a great football program, but evidentially not.
  • There are a total of 128 Division 1 football teams in the NCAA.  I’m thinking that only the top 50 or 60 should only play each other as these blowouts are disgusting.  Heck, I’m surprised that people are even willing to pay to see these sort of things.
  • I caught the beginning of the new CBS drams ‘Madam Secretary’ and got a kick out the fact that three of their leading stars come from NBC sitcoms – Tea Leoni from ‘The Naked Truth’, Tim Daly from ‘Wings’, and Bebe Neuwirth from ‘Cheers’.
  • ‘South Park’ is going to take on the NFL this week regarding the Redskins name and I saw a clip that featured RGIII.
  • WifeGeeding asked me to watch Twelve Years a Slave with her I just couldn’t bring myself to do, I told her I did my service when I watched the entire Alex Haley series Roots, Roots: The Next Generations, and Queen.  I still shed a tear today when I think about that scene with a young Sandy Duncan’s character sending her best friend (and slave) away and breaks her from her family because of an argument.
  • Well, duh – The Washington Post: Texas has become epicenter of conservative movement
  • It’s a shame to hear local sports anchor Max Morgan and just retired weatherman Ron Jackson, both of Fox4, are hospitalized.
  • Freaky looking GIF – Kinesin (a motor protein) pulling a vesicle along cytoskeletal filament
  • Joan Rivers Promotes iPhone 6 on Facebook from Beyond the Grave  Related: Rick Perry: Joan Rivers’ death would have been prevented in a Texas abortion clinic
  • America’s Weirdest Yard Sale Is In This Beautiful, Defunct Church
  • Yesterday’s ‘Naked and Afraid’ was filmed at the sand dunes in Brazil.  The man brought the usual machete but the woman decided to bring a magnifying glass as her one survival item.  I thought she’d use it to start a fire, but instead she used it to try to kill bacteria and germs in a coconut cup.  She passed out a few times and eventually had to be extracted due to lack of nourishment on the sixteenth day.  When I say extracted, she was unconscious and rushed to a hospital.  I’ve seen every episode and I’ve seen a contestant so out of it mentally and physically.
  • Rolling Stone –  Readers’ Poll: The 10 Best U2 Deep Cuts
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Bag of Randomness

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  • ‘The Roosevelts’ thoughts:
    • I always heard of FDR’s fireside chats but until yesterday I never really understood how he used it as a tool.  Before radio, all leaders had to orate or yell because there was no microphone, but radio provided the ability to talk to the people in a conversational tone.  He was also the first president to use the press as an ally instead of a foe.
    • George Will stated only three presidents were bigger than the office they inherited = Washington, Lincoln, and FDR.
    • I was surprised that there was still an inaugural parade for FDR as it was at the start of the Depression.   He appeared to stand for the entire parade, but it was just an illusion as he was sitting on a very tall chair.
    • My old high school football stadium was built because of an FDR project.
    • The Secret Service allowed Eleanor go on a long road trip without any protection other than a revolver they put in the glove compartment with no ammunition, she was hardly recognized by anyone at the time.
    • It was incredible that FDR couldn’t and wouldn’t try to get an anti-lynching bill passed.  It’s crazy such a bill even had to be thought up.
    • I’m amazed that Ken Burns was able to track down some of his former employees of the health resort FDR bought for interviews.
    • When Obama came into office there was much talk about how he was studying the Lincoln presidency, especially the book Team of Rivals.  After viewing this documentary and seeing a lot of similarities with the Great Recession and other social programs, Obama would have been better off studying FDR, in particular, how he reacted to calls of socialism and communism thrown at his administration.
    • Man, those two sides of the Roosevelt family really didn’t get along.
    • I had no idea Hitler openly mocked FDR in a speech.
    • FDR at a White House toga party
    • Fidel Castro writes Pres Franklin Roosevelt, asking for 10-dollar bill
  • I’m going to a high school football game tonight, it will be my first in maybe 15 years.  If it wasn’t for a friend inviting me, I probably wouldn’t be going.
  • My very first friend, who now lives in Stephenville, sent me a text saying ESPN2 would be broadcasting the Stephenville football game and I should check out their quarterback as he’s the number one dual threat quarterback in the nation.  The kid played well and had already made a verbal commitment to Texas Tech.  The camera panned to Kliff Kingsbury a few times, he was all bro’d up watching the future prospect.
  • I was surprise that high school game didn’t start until 8:00 PM.  That seems kind of late for a school night.  Stephenville hosted a team from Lubbock.  The game was scheduled to end around 11:00 PM, and it’s about a four hour drive between the two cities.   There’s no way those kids are going to morning classes in Lubbock.  Ah, Texas educational priorities at its best.
  • One of my best defensive games (albeit JV) was at Stephenville.  Art Briles was the head varsity coach checking out his JV squad roaming the sidelines and he tried to intimidate me a few times by yelling my number and throwing a few insults at me.  I can’t remember what he said specifically, but he basically said I wasn’t man enough to be on the field and after a tackle he yelled that I must think I’m big boy now.  It seemed strange for an opposing coach to be doing such a thing at the high school level.  And you wonder why I can’t stand the man.  But hey, that competitiveness got him to where he is today.
  • Last Friday we took the kids to the local roller skating rink.  I was surprised to see a training device made out of PVC for the kiddos.  It was one of those things where you ask yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that?”  A roller derby girl made a very impressive appearance working out and practicing some roller derby moves which kept me away from lacing up any skates.
  • I wonder how many Texans know there’s a debate gubernatorial debate tonight, and I wonder how many actually care.
  • Clinton was on Stewart last night.  The former prez has some really huge hands.  I expect conservatives to attack him today for saying that we proved we couldn’t win a land war in Iraq.
  • In this audio interview, Bono stated that 500 million people got the new U2 album, but only 38 million (at least partially) have actually listened to it.  He goes on to acknowledge and joke how many people hate it, even saying he’s surprised Sharon Osbourne didn’t take the high road, but just glad to be in the conversation.
  • Report: Apple and U2 to Debut New Music File Format – Bono also hints that the next album is 18 months away.  The article also goes on that a new file format is basically a bad idea as everything is moving toward streaming.
  • There was an estate sale down the street over the summer in which we bought a rug and bedside table.  Yesterday we found out the person that lived in the house was an athletic senior who lived alone, had a stroke, died in the house, and wasn’t discovered for several days.   Now it feels weird looking at the rug and bedside table.
  • Yesterday I found out that my next door neighbor in Mineral Wells became an author and has written books about some interesting topics, like Waco’s red light district.  His latest book is about  murder, white slavery, prostitution and mysterious deaths in Mineral Wells, and somewhere in the book it’s noted that George S. Patton once lived in the town.
  • One reason I love NASA is that a lot of advancements in everyday technology is a by product of their research and experiments.  You know, like UV coating for sunglasses and the use of GPS.  Here’s a website that provides you with an accomplishment and you get to judge if it’s cool or not.
  • The Cowboys are seventh from the bottom – INTERACTIVE | NFL player arrests by team
  • The NFL wanted to jam Thursday night football down our throats by giving CBS a package of competitive conference games.  So far the first two matchup have been nothing but blowouts.  I shouldn’t say the NFL gave those games to CBS, per one reporter on Twitter – CBS pays $39.2 million for each Thursday Night Football game.
  • Speaking of blowouts and one reason I can’t stand college football – Texas A&M plays SMU tomorrow.
  • D-FW sports radio ratings: The Ticket trounces contenders with key audience
  • Texas ag commissioner Todd Staples announces resignation in wake of Meatless Monday incident
  • Chart – Birthday Patterns in the U.S.
  • Here’s an interesting bird’s-eye view inside the Oval Office with President Obama and President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine with a lot of press.
  • Guess what day it is: Mavs’ Chandler Parsons, Devin Harris one-up Dirk for a good cause
  • Zipcar to roll out ‘a variety’ of vehicles in private parking spots throughout Dallas starting next week
  • Purrfect casting – Aubrey Plaza of ‘Parks and Rec’ will voice Grumpy Cat
  • GIF – A dog using her front leg to throw a puppy
  • 42 Sentences That Would Not Have Made Any Sense 10 Years Ago – A few that stood out:
    • I have Angry Birds on my phone.
    • I have over 2,000 followers.
    • I got a new Blu-ray at Redbox.
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