Bag of Randomness
Thursday, August 27, 2026

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the 9 to 5 lyric “Tumble out of bed and I stumble to the kitchen / Pour myself a cup of ambition” is a beautiful work of creative genius.

I can’t believe that, as many times as I’ve listened to that song, I never picked up on the typewriter key-striking sounds. She created the sound using her fingernails. I always picked up on the typewriter ding, but never the keys, or nails, until now.  The nail-clacking sound in the final recorded track includes a formal liner-note attribution in the album credits: “Nails by Dolly.”

She wrote the song during downtime between takes of the 1980 comedy, which took weeks to come together.

I’m also thinking about how wonderful it was that the song was played at Buckingham Palace. I’m trying to imagine what a 10-year-old Dolly would have thought if someone told her that one day a song she wrote would be played at the King’s home. Heck, I wonder what she would have thought if someone told her that when the movie came out.

For her 80th birthday on January 19, 2026, U2 frontman Bono surprised Dolly Parton with a live bagpiper playing “Happy Birthday,” a cake that read “Love… Bono,” and a pint of Guinness.

The Alamo Draft House asked Dolly to help the audience with their theater manners.

Now that Dolly is gone, who is our nation’s most unifying figure? Dolly was loved by the extremes and everyone in between. At one time, I’d say Tom Hanks, but he was unjustly attacked by the far right. So, it can’t be anyone who has ever been vocal or acted politically. No sports figures come to mind. Michael Jordon is respected, but most agree he’s a bit of a jerk because of his competitive nature. Bill Gates literally gave the title of World’s Richest Man away and dedicated his life to helping humanity, but his Epstein association has ruined his reputation. There’s Dick Van Dyke, but he’s not going to be with us much longer. Danny DeVito? I guess there’s something about having a “D” in your name, especially the double-D’s. Keanu Reeves, but he certainly doesn’t reach the same scale and impact as Dolly. Danny DeVito? Globally, 90-year-old Julie Andrews comes to mind. Locally, Roger Staubach, who is 84. But even when he does pass, I doubt it will be the first story on network national news like Dolly.

As much of a critic of President Trump as I am, the lowering of the flags is a wonderful gesture to honor her. And, as an armchair political consultant, a savvy move, especially as the midterms approach.

Usually, #2 is the funniest and #1 is mediocre. But she finishes with a strong #1 if you ask me.

A Robert Smigel Dolly/SNL tweet. He only posted a portion of the skit, but I was able to hunt down the full one. Gosh, this was such a great cast. I wonder how many of y’all are clueless about the pop culture she drops.

Needless to say, everyone at @nbcsnl adored @DollyParton when she hosted. As Jan Hooks said, her only two requests were “I won’t use any cuss words and I won’t make fun of Jesus.” Otherwise she was up for anything. Here’s a sketch I helped with that was Conan O’Brien’s idea .

I wasn’t a Tim Curry fan. But his comments about death in a CBS Sunday Morning interview last year, especially living after a debilitating stroke, really caught my attention and caused me to do a lot of reflecting.

I think it may be comforting to go bye bye.  And I want to earn it.

I want to earn the privledge of not being here.

Here’s the segment of the interview for the full quote in context.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by CBS News (@cbsnews)

This is about the dumbest thing TCU has ever done, and I’d be irate if I were affiliated with the school. Obviously, they have been influenced and emboldened by the current presidential administration. What do you expect when the Pentagon creates a policy mandating that reporters agree to sign a pledge, the censorship of Stars and Stripes, as well as all the other actions limiting a free press?

When I first saw the flooding footage out of Nepal, I thought it was AI.

Let’s see how the current administration is keeping Texans safe.

Just two weeks into the new school year, a Rio Grande Valley school district is closing all campuses for two days because of what officials described as the “rapid spread of COVID-19.”

Nearly 30,000 pounds of raw beef imported from Argentina and sold in Texas and Florida is under recall, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as questions swirl around the beef. And a string of food recalls issued this summer grows.

Yes, I’ve been more vocal lately. I’m complicit if I stay silent.

So much winning:

White House brags about ‘Lake America’ by sharing US map that puts DC in the middle of North Carolina – ‘You guys can’t even put DC in the right place on the map,’ one commenter wrote, while another chimed in: ‘Ah yes DC in lovely North Carolina’

Apple Maps is getting ads, and there’s no way to turn them off – Apple Maps loses one of its ad-free advantages over Google Maps as sponsored listings arrive

Be sure to like and subscribe. Actually, there’s nothing here for you to like or subscribe to. It’s not even possible. I just hear it so often; I felt compelled to type it.

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness
Thursday, August 27, 2026

Bag of Randomness
Monday, August 24, 2026

I’m really enjoying HBO’s Lanterns. And as much as I’m enjoying all the Tom Osborne references over the past two weeks, I highly doubt the majority of their viewers understand them. But I do question some of their casting decisions, especially the sheriff.

Republicans have controlled Congress and the White House for a while. I’m still waiting for their healthcare fix.

I watched Ryan Gosling’s Drive for the first time over the weekend. As I usually do, I read the IMDB trivia and Wikipedia pages after a film. Apparently, Hugh Jackman was originally going to star. As good as Gosling was, Jackman would have been a much better choice for a gritty and seasoned stoic stunt car driver.

The soundtrack was surprisingly good.

Sorority rush videos are trending a lot. It’s no surprise that so many brands try to align themselves with the yearly ritual. It’s so pitifully sad seeing so many young women reek of low self-esteem and acceptance.

While researching how much the early U.S. government borrowed from France and how quickly it repaid it, I discovered several interesting things.

  • Our government has an Office of the Historian.

    The Office of the Historian is staffed by professional historians who are experts in the history of U.S. foreign policy and the institutional history of the Department of State. Our historians possess unparalleled research experience in State Department and other government records. The Office is directed by The Historian of the U.S. Department of State.

    • The current Historian of the U.S. Department of State is John Powers, though I can’t find much information about him from a quick Google search. However, here’s his LinkedIn profile. I was a little surprised that he doesn’t have a doctorate, but he does have a master’s from William and Mary and has held his current role for a little over two years. It seems like he’s only held government jobs, starting as an archivist at the National Archives and working his way up to the National Security Council.
  • I also found the Grateful American Foundation, a cool nonpartisan organization founded on Presidents’ Day 2014, that aims to restore enthusiasm for American history among kids and adults.

As to answer my initial inquiry, the early American government borrowed over $2 million from France during the Revolutionary War, starting in 1775. The debt was cleared by 1795 using domestic funds, new loans, and a private buyout by an American banker, taking roughly 17 to 18 years to repay in full from the start of the primary loans.

The private buyout by an American banker was new to me, but it did sound like a very American capitalist thing to do, lol. The banker was James Swan. Though successful in his business activities related to the millions of dollars owed by the United States to France, he actually died in poverty. On principles of loyalty, he spent 22 years—more than a quarter of his life—in the Paris Sainte-Pélagie Prison.

A lot of folks are rooting for this undrafted Cowboys rookie, the first Navajo to sign a contract to play in the NFL. Some folks were wondering about Jim Thorpe, but he was part of the Sac and Fox Nation.

Surely, Jim Thorpe has to be the greatest athlete in Oklahoma history. Briefly:

  • Won gold in the 1912 Olympics in both the pentathlon and decathlon. For the latter, someone stole his shoes just before he was due to compete; he found a mismatched pair of replacements, including one from a trash can, and won the gold medal wearing them. Actually, he set a world record of 8,412 points in the decathlon that stood for 36 years.
  • He played 12 seasons in professional football and was part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class. As you walk into the entrance, you are greeted by his statue. He also served as the first president of the American Professional Football Association, which soon became the National Football League (NFL). And was the first president of the NFL.
  • Played six seasons of Major League Baseball for teams like the New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds.
  • He played professional basketball.
  • For a brief time in 1913, he was considering going into professional hockey for the Tecumseh Hockey Club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The prior year, he was the Inter-Collegiate Ballroom Dancing Champion.

For anyone who’s a fan of the Traces of Texas X (Twitter) account, here’s a recent announcement.

An East Texas (Winnsboro ISD) school board president will keep his leadership position after fellow trustees declined to reorganize the board fewer than two weeks after he was arrested for allegedly failing to report the sexual abuse of a student.

LinkedIn says its “Seems like AI slop” feedback option has been used more than 1 million times since it launched on July 30.

 

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness
Monday, August 24, 2026

Bag of Randomness
Friday, August 21, 2026

Something else my kids’ school does that I found isn’t a unique tradition: the week of graduation, seniors walk the halls of all grade levels. But what might make it a bit more special for them is that their school is a single campus at one address. So all schools- grammar, middle, and high school- are all neighboring buildings. In case you are wondering why I said grammar, that’s the descriptor classical education schools use instead of elementary.

Possum Kingdom Lake before water.

Love it. I plan on eating my next cookie humming the Indiana Jones theme.

At some point, Jimmy, you gotta let this go. There’s not a person alive, even Gene Jones, who doesn’t believe your side of the story.

Earlier this week, a CBS News segment covered a 47-year-old pastor playing football at San Jose City College. Curious, I wanted to know more about the guy and his background. Playfully, the first thing I told myself was, “He’s got to be an Evangelical.”

He has his own website where you can purchase t-shirts and books he’s authored, and learn how to book him for speaking engagements. On top of that, he also offers coaching:

He’s also active on social media. It appears he started posting on X late last month. Here are three X posts that caught my attention.


I have just about zero doubt that during the midterms, Trump will have masked federal agents monitoring polling stations. That’s going to feel eerie, and sadly, some people won’t mind it. If masked federal agents aren’t there, you just know a lot of masked Trump supporters will.

He’s been showing off his White House renovations this week. I’m not sure if those columns are finished; I know he posted a photo of the floor around them getting an upgrade. But it wouldn’t surprise me one iota if he adds gold leaf to the top of them or the outside of the White House.

And it’s nauseating how many things he and his sycophants keep trying to slap his name on. The latest:

And yes, that tarp he placed on the front of the Kennedy Center when his name was removed is still there.

“The Odyssey” is still drawing crowds to Cinemark Dallas

Offhand, this doesn’t seem like sound military strategy.

The U.S. Army is planning to phase out a drone battalion tasked just last year with studying and taking on board lessons on drone warfare, including from the ongoing Ukraine war, an Army official confirmed to CBS News on Thursday.

And the ending of the segment didn’t instill confidence:

“In a sign of where things stand, in a mock drone battle between U.S. and Ukrainian forces last spring, sources say the Americans were soundly defeated.“

But hey, the top of the new White House ballroom will have a drone port.

It was a long shot, anyway, but sometimes you gotta go down trying and see what you can learn from the experience.

More evidence that my local NFL franchise will not win the Super Bowl this year. A hot dog fridge?

I meant to post this story earlier this month.

CBS Evening News finally cracked more than 4 million viewers for the first time since March, according to reporting by Status. However, the show reached the solid ratings while its main anchor, Tony Dokoupil, was on a two-week summer vacation.

Nebraska’s largest school district asks police to stop using electric shock gloves on students

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police agreed this week to stop carrying gloves that can deliver electric shocks to students in the halls of Nebraska’s largest public school district.

The decision affecting most Omaha middle and high schools came after The Associated Press first revealed Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plan to give officers the gloves, which are known as G.L.O.V.E.s or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitters. The devices have also been used in recent years by some jails.

Omaha Superintendent Matthew Ray requested that police working in the schools, known as school resource officers, stop using the gloves. Omaha Police agreed.

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Bag of Randomness
Friday, August 21, 2026

Public Service Announcement

For those of you who also like to read Barry’s LiberallyLean.com, you will temporarily need to go through WiseCounty.com or use this old link. Rumor has it that you can only complain about the current administration so much before they take you down (half-joking).

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

See ya tomorrow.

Posted in Personal | Comments Off on Public Service Announcement