Things I Have Wondered About...

(some random musings)

• I wonder if the Alex Rodriguez steroid episode would have received much attention if A-Rod played in Minnesota, Kansas City, or Denver. Of course that is a silly thought. There isn't enough money in the three cities combined to obtain his services.
  

• I wonder why local (Kansas City area) sports fans, and especially my fellow Jayhawk faithful, get so upset when Jack Harry "dogs" their favorite team. In the bigger picture, what Jack says is not a big deal, maybe even irrelevant. His raison d'etre is to get people riled up and keep coming back to his station's so-called "news" show. He's in show business, folks. that's all, and his bosses want you to keep tuning in to see what he'll say next. At least Jack Harry is an equal opportunity "dogger," and gets on everybody's case at one time or another, although he does have a tendency to flip-flop from week to week on some subjects. To his credit, he's the best in town, and the guy is professional enough to read his scripts before he goes on the air, and he cares enough to correctly pronounce the names of athletes outside of the NFL - far more than anybody can say for Lenny the Cool(?). jack harry photo from nbcactionnews.com
  

• On the subject of NBC Action News, I wonder why Gary Hyper-Lezak gets SO much face time for the amount of usable information we receive. Apparently the highly-paid consultants looked at some charts and told the news director we won't stick around to watch the weather if we don't see X number of teasers and X minutes of "happy talk." Furthermore Gary - I don't give a rip about your theories and weather patterns, I just want to know how to dress tomorrow or if I can work in the yard. I go to my office and to the internet when the lengthy weather segment comes on now. Doggy tricks? - please send your tapes to Animal Planet Gary. (Side note: I will confess I am jealous that Elizabeth Alex isn't here to gently and lovingly pat me on the arm when the show, uh... news that is, is over.) gary lezak photo from nbcactionnews.com
  

• I wonder why UMKC is in NCAA Division I. They don't even belong in the MIAA with Central Missouri, Washburn, Nebraska-Omaha, et al. Those schools have better programs and draw far bigger crowds, plus support outstanding football programs. The area NAIA schools do better than the woeful 'Roos. Does the Bell Recreation Center still have midnight leagues?

• One final sports item - I wonder how long we will be forced to watch basketball games on the 38Spot. Watch a sports event on ESPN in hi def, then switch to the Blemish marketed as the Spot, it's as if they are televising the game with cell phone cameras and half of the arena lights turned off.

• I wonder why two baristas, working in the same establishment, using the same ingredients (supposedly in the same ratios), can make the same drink, but they don't taste the same?
  

• I wonder why my "intelligent" camera doesn't remind me to check all my settings before I start shooting an event that will never happen again.
• I wonder why some people talk so loudly when on cell phones in public places. Do they not comprehend that the phone and the carrier's system (you know - all those Verizon folks that follow you around) actually carries their voice to the person on the other end? Even if that person is across town or across the country? Or do they think that I, and everybody else in the establishment, needs to be included in the nitty-gritty, sometimes nasty details of their private life or business? I'm guessing these same people attach a privacy notice to their email messages in case the wrong person receives it. That information is private, after all.
  

• I wonder why, when I am dieting, that I can eat a short stack of light, fluffy blueberry pancakes with lite syrup, and gain two and a half pounds.
  

• I drive by the Williams Seasonings plant (shown above in a company website photo) almost daily. I have long wondered what it might smell like in there.
  

• I wonder why people publicly and loudly voice their hope that the Obama administration fails. Are these people so desperate to prove to the world that they alone are Godly and right? Are they willing that additional hundreds of thousands, even millions, of American workers lose their source of income? How many more companies do they wish to see fold? Are they eager for Americans who have saved and invested for years to see their kids' college funds or their retirement security dwindle away? Are they secure enough in their own jobs and resources they need not be concerned for even their own financial future? Americans - be you Red or be you Blue, of any shade or any hue, it is in the best interest of all of us that the current administration succeeds. If it fails, America and the world is in far deeper trouble than it is now. Think it is okay that the world is brought to its economic knees? Think the world will then repent and turn to God? History reminds us that the last time the whole world was brought to its knees by financial woes of that severity, charismatic, strong-armed leaders emerged from the rubble, people with names like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Hirohito, and Mao. That final statement is not opinion, it's history.
  

• You know those tunes that pop into your head on occasions, the ones that you can't get off of your mind? I wonder why mine are always dumb little ditties - songs I never did like.
  

• I wonder why Charlotte Church is called an opera singer. Has she ever appeared in an opera?
  

• I wonder why I spend time writing, editing, and re-writing a blog. Has anybody ever read one?