Bag of Randomness

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  • An old friend (actually, my very first friend) called me to ask if I knew anything about our 20-year high school reunion.   He made an interesting point that at the 10-year reunion almost no one was married or had kids and he’s sure that has now changed.  All of that made me wonder about how much we’ve changed from previous generations as I’m sure most were married and had kids before their 10-year reunion.
  • There are lots of rumors of U2 playing the Apple event today but the Irish Times says it will only be an appearance and while the new album won’t be available for download, it can be streamed on the new device.
  • What will we discover first, the wreckage of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane or the reason why Ron Washington resigned?
  • CBS11’s lead story last night was on a sexual assault on the SMU campus.  A female student stated a man with a knife grabbed her from behind as she was jogging near campus around 11:15 PM.  WifeGeeding made a very valid point – don’t go jogging alone so late at night.
  • I’m surprised no one has mentioned the possibility of Jerry Jones signing Ray Rice when or if he becomes reinstated.  I’m thinking if Michael Vick can make a comeback, there’s a path Rice can take that involves all sorts of community service and whatnot.
  • A lot of folks can’t stand Chris Berman, but he was doing play-by-play last night and wasn’t bad or irritating.  But then again, I only listened for about ten minutes.
  • The only thing that I really wanted as a kid that I never got was a trampoline.  Thanks to Craig’s List I found a great one for just $80, new ones run around $250-$300.  WifeGeeding and I found it’s a great way to get the energy out of the kids when we are running on fumes.  I do get a kick out of DogGeedingII jumping on it on his own to bounce with the kids.
  • I caught the Bear Grylls special with Deion Sanders that aired last night.  Deion was hamming it up a bit too much and you could tell certain “spontaneous” things were planted.  Other than that and seeing how Deion was overly promote Under Armor, it was okay.  Several times Deion prayed in tongues, seriously.
  • There’s a new Auto Trader commercial with the original Bo and Luke Duke in the General Lee.   John Schneider has held up much better than Tom Wopat.
  • I hope my criticism of June Jones didn’t cause him to resign yesterday.  I’m sure he takes the comments of a chubby-half-Asian blogger seriously.
  • The one thing that has bugged me about the Frisco murder case is that the media will frequently mention that the Indian mother nodded yes when asked if she killed her son.  What I’ve never heard mentioned is that certain Indian subcultures, nodding the head means no and left/right is yes, exactly opposite of what Americans are use to.  I experienced this firsthand when I worked at Southwest and had to share a cube with an Indian who would do this all the time.  At first it was frustrating, because I would be explaining something to him and he would shake his head left/right in agreement but I thought he was saying no.  It wasn’t until another Indian coworker informed me that he was actually agreeing with me and that his culture’s head shaking is opposite from ours.  Here’s a clip in which the Indian Consulate in NY brings it up during an interview with ‘The Daily Show’ and here’s a BBC News article about it.
  • Bill Murray Likes Female Ghostbusters Idea, Has Casting Suggestions – Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Linda Cardellini, and Emma Stone
  • Today’s dose of ‘MURICA – If you like firearms, cowgirls, pickups, and the outdoors, here’s some sexy wallpaper for your computer.
  • The shotgun formation was created in 1961 by a San Francisco 49ers, not to help the quarterback to throw, but to run.  That coach later worked for Tom Landry who modified it for the passing game.  I found all of that in this interesting Rick Gosselin article.
  • Inside Capitol Hill’s black market: Snacks
  • I guess they just aren’t selling – Amazon Drops The Price Of The Fire Phone To 99 Cents
  • CBS Sports – Classic U.S. moment: European journalist to DeMarcus Cousins: “Do you know where Slovenia is?” Cousins: “No, do you know where Alabama is?”
Posted in Personal | 7 Comments

Bag of Randomness

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  • This is probably the most viewed version of the John Travolta and Princess Diana’s dance at a White House state dinner.  But I recently discovered the above version which includes President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher dancing hand-in-hand in the background.  From this vantage point, it looks like Nancy and Thatcher are almost wearing the same dress.
  • I caught the NFL Network’s ‘America’s Game’ for the Seattle Seahawks and came away extremely impressed with Russell Wilson’s desire for excellence and what he does to get there.  For instance right after they won the NFC Championship Game, Terry Bradshaw was on stage to do the trophy presentation.  The very first thing Wilson did when he saw Bradshaw was not a greeting but asking him what does he have to do, what mental approach does he need to take to win the Super Bowl.  While everyone else was celebrating he was already focused on the next and most important game.
  • That special also featured Richard Sherman.  Both Wilson and Sherman exude confidence, but both do it in very different ways.  I was also surprised that Sherman’s dad continues to work as a garbage man in Los Angeles.
  • The worst part of the Seahawks’ ‘America’s Game’ was that it was narrated by Jim Caviezel.  Yeah, Jesus narrated it, but he doesn’t have a good narrator voice and he spoke in the “anyone, anyone” voice tone and cadence.
  • A lot of Cowboys fans were surprised at the amount of red in the stands at yesterday’s game.  Hey, if the product on the field stinks, home fans aren’t going to attend and those tickets are being picked up by opposing fans that want to see the new stadium.
  • There’s just too much to rant about regarding the Cowboys game.  But a friend brought up the idea how crazy it would have been if Jerry did draft Manziel while at the same time signing Michael Sam along with the Jerry drunk women photos and that ESPN article about him.
  • While I was at my mother-in-law’s 70th birthday party I talked to my brothers-in-law who are huge Baylor fans, one is a long time season ticket holder and in some kind of sports area leadership position for the university.  I was surprised both weren’t all that impressed with the new stadium.  They both like it and all, but just expected them to be wowed by it.  I didn’t have the heart to bring up the fake bricks.
  • I was trying to help set up and tear down for the party, and when you are in East Texas “picture” and “pitcher” sound alike and I was confused in trying to help retrieve certain items.  It takes about a full 24-hours after a trip home for WifeGeeding to lose her East Texas swang.
  • On my way home I ran into traffic problems on 635 late at night.  It was caused by a car fire, and when I saw the vehicle, all that was left was the frame.
  • It seemed a bit weird for ESPN to have a two-hour NFL game day show and then go immediately to airing a Canadian football game.
  • Charles Woodson of the Raiders intercepted NY Jet Gino Smith.  When Woodson first entered the league, Smith was only six-years-old.
  • I feel like the first couple years of the Charlie Strong era at the University of Texas will be like Mack Brown’s with a lot of growing pains.  I remember Brown losing twice to UCLA, one time 66-3 at home back in 1997.  Oddly, Strong’s Longhorns play UCLA next.
  • I expected June Jones to have a much better program at SMU after leaving Hawaii.
  • I’m looking forward to seeing the Family Guy characters on The Simpsons.  In anticipation of the event, the show creators drew each other.
  • Pancake Breakfast Tacos
  • Southwest Airlines is set to make a special announcement this morning. There are leaked pictures of a new paint scheme that takes away the red belly.  It was my understanding that Colleen Barrett always wanted the bellies red so their planes could be easily identifiable.
  • Former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson is 71-years-old and that surprises me for some reason.
  • The Rangers knew what they were doing holding that press conference about Ron Washington’s resignation on a Friday and only giving reporters a half hour to attend – It’s now Monday and the Cowboys are the news item.  There’s a lot of weirdness about this story, but I’m most surprised that Wash never addressed this team as he’s such a players’ manager.
  • Buzzfeed – It Looks Like The Alternate “How I Met Your Mother” Ending Has Leaked Online
  • A good friend of mine just got back from a major camping trip that included Grand Teton National Park.  The twelve-year-old me giggled everytime he said “Grand Tetons”.
  • ‘Naked and Afraid’ thoughts:
    • Contestants can bring one survival item.  Usually that item is a knife, fire starter, or a metal pot.  Last night one self-described redneck brought duct/duck tape.  That wasn’t a bad idea, but the way he was going through it there was no way it was going to last him the entire 21 days.
    • The redneck was also a smoker and wanted to use this experience to stop cold turkey.  That’s right, he wanted to stop smoking while trying to survive in a Nicaraguan jungle going through dehydration and starvation.  He only lasted until day five and tapped out.
    • The redneck also stated he was not a religious man, but at one point said he was so weak and sick he considered praying.  At one point he started to sleepwalk.
    • There were some spider monkeys throwing nuts at the contestants trying to be territorial.
  • I. Love. My. Wife.  (I promise I’m not in trouble.)
Posted in Personal | 3 Comments