Have you heard about the red mass?

Apparently it's a special mass that they hold for the Supreme Court

Yes, held in DC at St. Matthew's Cathedral.

Seems to have been controversial mass this year.

What do you think?

Yes it seems very controversial especially since they were trying to confirm Kavanaugh at the time.

Have you ever visited the United States Senate before

The Senate chambers?

No.

Never was inside St. Matthews, either.

Do know Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault by h.s.

classmate in '80's.

Don't know where that allegation stands.

Do you?

No I think they determined it didn't happen, but I'm not a hundred percent sure on that it's crazy that there is a candy drawer in the Senate with unlimited candy LOL I want some of the Milky Way is right now

Been there since '68.

Maybe the jellybeans are an homage to Ronald Reagan, who kept a jar on his desk.

Have you ever witnessed a Senate session?

No I haven't.

I only know that there are two senators per state so there are a total of 100 senators in the chamber

Right.

Powerful chamber of Congress since 1789.

Did you know Nixon cracked the gavel that had been used for 165 years.

Heard about that?

Haha I did hear about that that's very sad because that is a good history that the gavel had, what do you think about why Michael Jordan would not endorse a Democratic candidate?

I think it was smart that he never picked a side with politics

Yeah, but savvy to say, Republicans buy shoes, too".

His $$$ sponsor, Nike, must have loved that.

Yep it's better if celebrities just don't get involved, but I was shocked to learn that women could not wear pants in the Senate until about the year 1993, that seems very stupid

Agree.

In 1993, 1st lady Hillary C. was occasionally wearing pantsuits.

Trend change, and celebs affect those changes....Agree?

Yep I could agree with that.

What do you think about the top three most wealthy presidents though?

Shocking that Trump is not one of them

We don't know.

He wont make his tax returns public.

Fishy.

Washington & Jefferson made $$ as slave owners.

JFK's wealth was built on his father's businesses, especially liquor sales.

JFK submitted tax returns, though.

Yep that's true.

I wonder if president banana of Zimbabwe is Rich from bananas LOL maybe we should see his tax returns

LOL for President Banana!

What do you think about the president of Indonesia by the way?

Maybe he is Rich from the three pop albums that he wrote while in office to LOL

Heard about that.

If referring to the current Pres., I don't know much about him.

Yeah I don't know much about him unfortunately, I do know that we used to have a different role for vice presidents, did you hear about the rule change back in 1805?

Sort of recall.

Jefferson was re-elected in 1804, but think the runner-up may have been James Madison.

Now, at least, we can vote for a ticket, Pres.

& VP candidates.

Better, don't you think?

Yep I think it's better this way.

Emagine with President Trump and vice president Hillary Clinton, you would have so much drama


Hi there.

Do you know much about the US Congress?

The term originally was used to signify a parley during battle in the Late Middle Ages.

That is interesting, considering how the battle rages on today.

An issue before congress is the privatization of the US mail service.

Thoughts?

Yes very true.

I don't think it should be privatized.

The postal service doesn't need greater freedom like some say.

It would seem that the government control has held costs down, perhaps if private they would be bought by Fed Ex or other carrier.

Yes.

And a privatized Postal Service may have substantially lower cost structure but that is just theoretical.

the parley about this in the Senate has about 50 votes against.

The congress has 239 against.

I expect this number to increase.

Yes me too.

It doesn't surprise me that the Trump administration is pushing this though, as he is a businessman.

Yes.

Cutting cost, or the potential drives the change from trumps point of view.

The labor leaders of the postal unions are saying no to privatization.

It is not clear to me why labor opposes.

I think it's because some people think it would harm the industry in general and thus put an undue risk on the millions of US citizens who work for the Postal Service.

So, returns the essential question, should the postal service operate at a profit, or a break even?

Force them to profit and service cuts are inevitable.

Risk goes up.

Yes I am beginning to be convinced they should privatize.

More freedom would allow them to do the things that any normal business would do in times of low volume.

Including go out of business?

At one time, it was an essential service to deliver mail.

I am surprised to learn that federal workers do not have the right to collective bargaining, yet join a union.

Yeah it may be time we change that.

But it would face strong opposition from Congress.

Private sub way lines?

I had no idea.

The post office will deliver packages on Sunday.

Thats flexible I think, compared to years ago.

I think the question of essential service is not trivial in this matter.

E file taxes?

I have no idea honestly.

I will leave it up to Congress to decide.

That is their job.

There is even a fantasy congress where you can draft members of congress!

Hah.

If the function of the post office can be replaced by email, then it can die.

I wonder if fantasy leagues can play out historical votes.

That would be kind of fun.

Because points for the fantasy league are based off legislative success.

So it might be easy to predict if it used historical data.

President Wilson vetoed the Volstead Act.

Congress passed it and Prohibition began.

My fantasy congress would never have passed that.

Yeah I totally agree with you there.

Who do you think is going to win in the Republicans vs Democrats baseball game this year?

Well I enjoyed chatting with you today.

That is a big game.

I would say the team with the youngest average age.

It has been a good chat.

Good call.
Historically the Republicans win!
Have a good one.


Whats up?

Have you heard that more than 80% of Earth's forrest's have been destroyed?

Yes,  sad.

When earth was first formed a day was only 5.5 hours long

Wow!

I never knew that, must of been real close to the sun or was spinning much faster.

Yeah super short days.

I wouldnt mind going to work for only 2 hours though!

Earth will be virtually helium-free by the end of the 21st century

That's amazing but bad news for ballons.

Did you know the United Nations appointed an ambassador for extraterrestrials?

Thats interesting.
Hope they speak alien.

Maybe aliens already visited earth before humans, in Earth time we've only been around for one minute and 17 seconds.

It is legal in south-africa to equip your car with flame-throwers to prevent carjacking.

Nice!

I wonder if Karl Benz envisioned that when he invented the car in 1886

Doubt it!

flame throwers?

they must have a serious car theft problem

Yea or they're pyromaniacs

The car brand cadillac was named after french explorer antoine de la mothe cadillac who founded detroit.

I never knew Cadillac was a french name.

I wonder if they had wooden trunks in the first cadillacs?

maybe they had luxury trunks like cadillac

I wonder if Cadillac's are popular in France since it was named after a French dude

I dont know.

Mcdonalds' added drive-thru in 1975 to accommodate soldiers who were not allowed to get out of their cars while wearing their fatigues.

Interesting, they'll probably make a dog-thru for man's best friend

but dogs dont have any money.
lol

No, but they have 12 different blood types so maybe they can sell their blood to make extra cash

thats true.

Istanbul has a vending machine that releases food and water for the city's stray dogs in exchange for recycled plastic bottles.

That's awesome.
I heard that google is a dog company


Hi there do you know much about politics?

I know some stuff about the senate, like the gavel that Nixon cracked

Yeah and it was old over 165 years, not too good for him

I know and they have a candy desk in there filled with various candy

Yeah they have candy from Pennsylvania only there though

Yeah all the good stuff like Mars, Milky Way and jellybeans, yumm

Yeah I know.

Women were not allowed to wear pants in the senate until recently

Yes until those two senators rebelled by doing just that in sign of protest in 1993

Nice good for them to do so and open the door for other women as well to wear what they want

Exactly.

Do you know who the wealthiest us presidents are?

That would be Jefferson, Washington and JFK

Yes Did you know the white house is smaller than the guest house?

Nice one, THe president of Indonesia is a pop star

Yeah and the guy has already released 3 albums, wow

I know.

Do you know how the VP used to be elected?

Yes that would be the runner up that moved into that position

Yeah and I think that is fair because they work towards that a lot too

True.

Did you know congressman have separate subway lines in washington?

Yeah that is how they move between the capitol and the house and senate offices

Yeah.

Did you now republicans and democrats plat a baseball game each year?

Yeah and the republicans are leading the way by 3 points


Hi, how are you tonight?

hi, I'm good.
how about you?

I'm great!
Do you follow the US Senate at all?

A little bit.
Why?
what's going on with the senate?

Women were not allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor until 1993.

Strange.

I don't know why.

Oh that's pretty sexist!

I would never wear a dress or a skirt outside!

It's simply not functional!

I was reading about the 3 richest Presidents and Trump did not make the list!

I'm shocked!

Trump is probably going to rig the numbers to move up in the rankings.

And what about the guest house there?

Oh yeah!

I heard that the white house's guest house is bigger than the white house!

I'd just stay in the guest house since Presidents get away with so much anyway!

Trump would probably stick a TRUMP sign on it and rent it out.

So true!
I never agreed with his actions.
Hey, what can you do?
now hes the prez....

Until 1805, the runner up in the US presidential election automatically became the vice president.

That system should be reinstated.

For laughs.

Oh that would have been so GREAT!!!!

Trump should be more like the President of Indonesia!

Maybe release a few pop albums while in office or do a reality show.

"You're fired, love Trump".

The pop albums could happen.
He's friends with Kanye.
He needs a nickname though.

How about "you're fired!"

He fires people after all.

Woah!

I just found out that the first woman elected to congress in 1916 didn't even have the right to vote in a national election yet!

Thank goodness that times have changed!

Now I feel like Senators get less done than in the past.

Also, they have a candy desk.

Oh candy is absolutely terrible for the health of anyone!

No wonder our food pyramid is so wrong it's killing people!

Personally I'd like to see a complete change in our Government.

I don't want to hear about anything other than all the amazing things they are doing for homeless people, the planet, us, other countries.

I tend to avoid the news a lot.

Some news from Congress is interesting.

Elmo is the only non-human to testify before Congress.

I would listen to that testimony.

I would as well!

Sounds super interesting and entertaining.

I'm definitely going to google that.

haha

Yup.
Enjoyed the chat!
Have a good evening.

You too!
Thanks so much!

Sure. Bye!


I love all animals and dogs are up there towards the top for me.

Do you like dogs?

I like dogs.
they are loyal companions.
plus they dont talk too much.

Ha ha, true.

Did you know that for dogs there are 12 different blood types?

I did not know that.
i figure that dogs have many breeds.
what type is the rarest?
is that a good dog to own?

I do not know what the rarest breed of dog is.

I'd be interested to know.

I do know that as far as the blood types go they have blood drives which is great because they must need to keep a lot on hand with so many types.

I bet the dogs get treats afterward.
they deserve it!
i guess they dont mind the needles.

I hope they do.

Did you hear about the vending machines in Istanbul for dogs?

I guess dogs dont carry much cash.
Do they use credit cards?

Ha ha no.

In exchange for recycled plastic bottles it releases food and water for strays.

I guess if i needed food and water, i know what to do.

the dogs will help me, im sure.

I'm sure they will.

Did you also know that elephants and dogs are the only animals to understand pointing?

I have never had to teach my pet elephant to point, but now that i know, it will come in handy.

It will.

Dogs being color blind is also a myth which I always suspected.

Dogs are good with blue and yellow but not green and red.

dont throw a red ball on the green grass.

Very interesting.

Did you also know that Google states that they are a dog company?

They seem like a dog company.

dogs make the workplace calm and stress free.

plus dogs are good at testing.

I'm good with cats or dogs.

On a completely unrelated note, I find earth to be fascinating.

How about you?

I do find the earth to be fascinating and on a completely unrelated note.

How long have you lived here on the earth?

Ha ha 37 years for me so far.

Did you know that when first formed an earth day was only 5.5 hours long?

Yes, at this rate, the work day will soon be 20 hours.

ill retire then.

Anyway, great chat!

I sure hope not.
Nice chatting with you as well.
Have a good evening.


do you know much about the congress?

I know a little bit about them.
Do you know where the term came from?

Yes that goes back to the Middle Ages and originally denoted a parley

Yep and it is derived from the Latin word congressus.

Yeah.

Did you know congressman take different subway lines?

I didn't know that.

I guess that's to keep them safer going between the capitol, the house, and senate offices?

Yes I guess so, they cannot blend with the general public

Did you know that they have played a Republicans vs. Democrats baseball game annually since 1909?

Yes and the republicans seem to be leading the way right now 3 points

I think that would be interesting to watch.

I agree.

Did you know that Fantasy COngress actually exists?

I've heard of that, I guess points are based off legislative success?

Yes and they actually draft members of the congress, pretty cool

Did you know the first woman was elected to congress before she even had the right to vote?

That just sounds so strange.

Did you know Elmo once testified in front of COngress

I didn't know that.
I wonder what that's all about?

I am not sure either but ELmo is the only non-human to do that

That's pretty interesting.

Did you know that the senate used the same gavel for 165 years?

Yes and it was Nixon the one that cracked it after that long

I heard that in 1988 a senator invoked an obscure rule to allow the sergeant-at-arms to arrest absent senators and bring them into the chamber for a vote?

Yes they arrested one of them once and brought him feet first, crazy.

Nice chatting with you


Every time a new state is added to the United States, we gain two senators.

true but that has been some time.

Yes, over 50 years.

If Puerto Rico becomes a state, we will have 102 senators

I don't see that happening especially with who the current president is

I agree.

Did you know that women weren't allowed to wear pants as a senator until 1993?

I remember that.

It caused a big stink.

I think sometimes our elected leaders are still stuck in those days still

But the senate does keep candy by the entrance to the chamber.

I wonder who eats the most candy...lol

It must keep attendance.
up.

I am watching the news right now and a live stream of senate floor and I don't see anyone grabbing any candy from the dish at the moment.

lol

Did you know that there are dedicated subways to shuttle congressmen between the Capitol and their offices?

I did.

I have been watching teh Senators this week take the hallway to the subway a lot on the media when they do interviews

It's a good place to hide out.

Our current president is make life difficult for the Senate.

Hemight be wealthy but he is no JFK or Washington for sure

They say that the richest presidents were Washington, Jefferson and JFK.

I wonder where Trump ranks..

I would guess the bottom

But he still gets to keep the money.

And it used to be that the Vice President was the runner up in the Presidential election.

Can you imagine VP Clinton with President Trump?

That would be awesome right now

He was elected because people were sick of Washington business as usual.

And we got someone who is the anti-Washington business as usual.

Good in concept but a horrible choice for a practitioner

It's been good talking to you.
Enjoy the holidays!


Hi, how are you?

Hi, great!

Do you follow sports at all?
Are you a hockey fan?

Yes, I love sports and follow hockey sometimes.

Historically Canada has been a dominant team.

In 1924, the first Olympic winter games, Canada scored 132 goals and let in 3 in the entire ice hockey competition.

The world has been catching up though.

Oh, yeah.

I love sports history.

I did hear that the Captain Alex Ovechkin was quoted saying that he did not want to suck back to back this year.

He didn't want to go down in history that way.

A hockey player was traded for $1 in 1993, he went on to win four Stanley cups.

I guess that guy didn't want to suck either.

Ha!

That sounds about right!

I ha heard that the season ticket holders for the hockey team the Capitals were very excited about upcoming season.

I bet a lot of teams sell out.

Small arena, but it has a dual purpose: An ice hockey ring remains under a basketball court when switching stadium sports

Sure can be sometimes.

Do you go to concerts often?

Yes, I really love concerts!

I plan on seeing Elton John this month in Tulsa.

I wonder how he stacks up against Linkin Park.

Due to the success of their debut album, they played 324 concerts in 2001 alone.

Yes, completely different types of music but should be great.

I also saw the Ramones in Oklahoma decades ago.

They played a total of 2,263 concerts over 20 years.

The Ramones must have discovered a way to live without sleeping.

Maybe they played in Croatia.

There is an ancient Roman amphitheatre that is still in use as a concert venue there.

Yeah, they played non stop for 20 years.

I am not sure if they played over there but I had heard that Pink Floyd played in Pompeii for no audience once.

I'm not surprised.

Floyd was pretty artistic.

I bet they did a bunch of concerts, but not as many as the Ramones.

Yes, that is very true.

The theater that they played in was an ancient roman amphitheater.

That is pretty cool.

Yes, it is!
I enjoyed chatting with you!
Enjoy Elton!

Thank you!
Bye

Bye!

Lastly, Go Stanley Cup!


Hi there.
How often do you wear shirts?
I wear them everyday haha

Hello,  yes I wear shirts,  very often.

Did you see Billy Mays funeral?

I guess all the pallbearers wore blue shirts and khaki pants that is so weird.

I didnt.

Do you know much about the us senate?

They had the same gavel for 65 years until nixon cracked it lol

That is funny haha.

What kind of shirt do you think Nixon wore?

I think it's funny that in Hawaii the official business shirt is the Aloha shirt

Probably a button down collar shirt?

I am not sure,  kinda weird to wonder what kind of shirt someone would wear.

In the us senate,  there is a candy desk.

snack time!

I could go for a snack!
Do you like dogs by the way?
They are related to wolves

I love dogs.
do you have any?

I used to have a husky.

Dogs are so cuddly and come in all shapes and sizes haha.

I love that their man's best friend do you have any dogs

Yes we rescued a dog about a year ago,  shes amazing.

did you know women were not allowed to wear pants on the us senate floor until 1993?

Yeah that seems really dumb.

Did you know that dogs have 12 different blood types?

I did,  they even do dog blood drives where dogs can donate blood!

Did you know that the presidents guest house is bigger than the white house?

No that's wild!

Here's a question.

Would you ever take your dog to donate blood at a blood drive?

I never have in the past,  but I would if there was some kind of emergency or call for it.

I guess im not that up to date on my local dog services.

Theres a president in indonesia that released 3 pop albums!!

lol

That is funny!

Did you know that dogs are not actually colorblind?

i recently learned that  I always thought they were color blind lol

I thought that too!

I guess they just can't see as many colors as humans poor dogs!

did you know there are 3 subway lines exclusively for congressmen to move between the capitol and the house and the senate offices?

No I didn't know that.

I also didn't know that Google prefers dogs over cats.

It even says it in their code of conduct

yeah my friend works for Google and he brings his dog to work everyday!!!

I wish I could bring my dog to work.

That would be amazing!

I want to have a pet elephant apparently only dogs and elephants can understand pointing haha


Do you like dogs?

Me?
Sure!
I love dogs!
By the way, how are you?

Good, thanks!

Dogs are so smart.

They are the only animals besides elephants that can naturally understand pointing.

I think dogs understand quite a few words too.

smarter than chimps in many ways.

And they arent color blind as I was once taught!

I thought they were colorblind too.

I guess that they see some colors, which makes sense.

they have great ears and noses too.

Apparently they can see as many colors as we can.

Do you think that's true?

that sounds funny.

it think the visual cortex of humans is far more developed.

maybe we have been resolution?

i dont know.

Ah, that could be right!

In Istanbul you can get food for strays by recycling bottles at a vending machine.

Pretty interesting.

I think that was a clever idea.

it was good to get the dogs involved in keeping the city clean.

plus they get fed!

Haha, true!

Dogs can also donate blood at blood drives.

Not sure how I feel about that though, doesn't seem they can really consent.

True, but the dogs probably would like to help if they could.

usually dogs are pack animals.

they look out for each other.

That might be why we love them so much.

Google even prefers dogs to cats and says so on their code of conduct.

I think that dogs are pretty good for the office.

People pet dogs and their mood improves.

I would love to work in an office with a dog.

Do you commute to work?

Sometimes.
I do a lot of telecommuting.

I guess we have the 1908 Model T to thank for being able to commute easily.

But Karl Benz was the one who invented what's considered the modern car.

Every car maker owes a debt to benz.

Ford made the car available to the common man.

Cars were adopted really fast in the US though they took a while to get accepted in other parts of the world.

Glad we don't have to travel by horse and carriage anymore.

Yes, there were tremendous problems with manure in cities.

It was a pretty smelly problem.

Anyway, great chat!

Nice chat!
Time for me to take a drive, I guess!


What entertainment do you like?

I am a big fan of movies and music, but most of all sports, and you?

I usually just browse tv.

Are you a fan of the simpsons at all?

Who isn't?

Apparently, there is only one episode with no mention of bart, which is pretty odd

I heard it was because it was a special focusing on women's history

That would make sense, I wonder if Homer was in it as well?

Perhaps.
Do you watch anything else on tv?

I watch Pokemon pretty often, it calms me down

Isn't it over 1000 episode now?

It has to be, it was 750 not too long ago, and they keep churning them out!

Indeed.

Do you see any non cartoons like the 70s show?

I have seen the whole series actually, I really liked it!

Have you seen the uk remake?

I have not, I do not think it lasted very long, did it?

It only had a dozen or so ep

that makes sense, it is a different culture, they probably did not latch onto like we did

Different sense of humor?

Yes I suppose so, cultures can be very different, the office may not catch on somewhere else

I agree.

Personally, I enjoyed the humor of the office.

In any case, thanks for this pleasant discussion


Do you watch television?

Yes I do and remember those cathode ray tubes.

I wasvery little but remember.

lol, they are good.

Did you ever watch pokemon, they had 750 episodes!

No, but I know what it is.
Wow 750 episodes?

Yes, I must have watched that many as a kid because I could not stop watching.

Do you have any favorite shows?

Currently a walking dead fan, but always watched That 70's Show that I see was remade in the UK

I heard about their remake, it only lasted 10 episodes!

That's surprising.

Looks like there were a lot of advancements in the last 50 years with TV's.

For sure, did you ever watch the south park where they made fun out of simpsons?

Wasn't a south park fan but still watch family guy.

I like them both.

Apparently when south park made fun of family guy, the simpsons crew sent them flowers to congratulate them lol

LOL..I see that 4 concert goers filed a lawsuit against Creed because the concert was bad.

That's a new one.

If you think it sucks you can sue?

lol

That must have been a terrible concert!

Apparently they can sue lol.. Have you been to any good concerts?

I have seen Pink Floyd.

But not the one at the roman amphitheater in Pompeii.

Of course they had no audience.

That would have been awesome, if anyone could have seen it lol.

I saw linkin park once, they were amazing!

That's all they had were concerts before they could record the music.

It was 2001 so I believe it.

I wish I could have seen it on television too after.

Never saw the ramones.

Even with them touring almost nonstop for 20 years.

Yikes!

Man, I hope they are still touring, make it 21 years so I can see one last show.

They rock!

They played almost 115 a year.
That's alot.

That is so much!

Not as much as linkin park in 2001 at 324!

Good chatting with you!


Hi, how are you?

Good morning, would you happen to be a Hockey fan?

Good morning, not really, but I watch a little.

I live in Florida, I don't even know if we have a team down here?

Lol

I can safely say I have never seen a whole game, maybe just a few minutes at a time, mainly when channel surfing.

Me either, looks kind of violent and I know the hockey players get their teeth knocked and so on.

I''m so ignorant that I was unaware of the Capitals success, having lived in DC for a good amount of time you'd think I'd at least be aware of that.

I can't name one team to tell you the truth!

I am intrigued to hear that an average player can lose up to 8 pounds in a game.

I'm sure it's mainly water weight from sweating, but still.

Great weight loss!

I suppose its all that padding they have to wear.

Not not making the sport any more attractive to me, tooth loss and excessive sweat.

Lol, it's not looking too attractive to me, either.

I guess they aim of the game is to win the Stanley Cup, I think I've seen that thing, it's massive, the biggest trophy I've ever seen.

Yeah and they always lift it above their heads!

lol On to something we might know a little more about.

What's the last concert you saw?

I don't get to go as much as I like.

Actually, now that I think about it, my sons school band played a concert this weekend.

Not what you were thinking, probably.

That's cool!

I played saxophone in band when I was in school.

The last concert I saw was Lynrd Skynrd last Summer when they played their farewell tour for their hometown crowd.

It was pretty good!

Sounds good.

My son plays the Sax too.

My wife took me to a show in Pittsburgh about a year back, that would have been the last professional show, The National.

Nice!

I read somewhere that  4 people filed a lawsuit against Creed, one time because their concert was so bad.

Have you heard about that?

Someone told me that recently.

You'd have to wonder what happened, did they walk off after just a few minutes?

Apparentl, Scott Stapp was so drunk and or high he couldn't sing!

That, I can imagine.

If you pay your money you want a certain level of professionalism.

Did you see that about a woman helping a stranded Dave Matthews?

My wife and I once gave a roadie a wedding invitation to give the band, they turned us down politely.

That you do my friend.

I would have thought for when I went to see Lynrd Skynrd, at least 1 of them would have been down, but they were all professionals.

Sad, to hear that about your wedding.

I wish they hadn't turned ya'll down, that would have been a cool story to tell the grandbabies.

Still, is a cool story!

Like I say, don't get to as many shows as I used to, most evening at home in front of the television.

You watch alot of tv?

Not a lot, the kids hold the remote most of the time, but when they are in bed we'll fire up Netflix.

That's about how it is around my house, also!

Lol Well, it's been nice chatting with you this morning.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your Friday.

You too, good bye.


Hey.
Do you know much about the USA Senate?
It is the upper chamber of congress.

Hi, how are you?

I do not know much about the Senate.

It is the upper chamber of Congress, I've heard.

Yes along with the House of Representatives!

I think that the Senate has 100 people but the VP casts the deciding vote.

He is powerful.

One day that will be important.

Maybe during an impeachment.

Yeah good point.

It may play an important role but definitely doesn't exist in authoritarian regimes with dictators.

That is the advantage of our great country.

We have a republic, something that other countries envy.

True.

Also a surprising fact is the president's guest house is bigger than the white house.

I think that the guest house must have been built much later.

How could it be so big?

How many guests stay there?

Yeah I want to know that too.

Maybe banana stayed their once (the first president of zimbabwe).

The first president of Zimbabwe was a guy that got caught in a lot of relationships with men, I hear.

Haha I didn't know that.

Also the president of indonesia seems to be giving Justin Bieber a run for his money!

I think that the press of Indo probably does not have the most hated video on YouTube.

I think he probably has sold a ton of albums.

Yeah maybe so.

Until 1805, the runner up in a president election automatically became vice president!

The system would be great for pop albums.

I think that duet of two opponents would sell like hotcakes.

Everyone would love to hear Trump and Hillary do it.

Haha without a doubt I would buy it.

I wonder if Congress would allow it?

The term is derived from a Latin word, like many other words.

Latin really is the language of terms of derivation.

I would like to know what the purpose of Congress actually is.

What do they do all day?

Do they work?

It seems like all they do is play baseball.

The Republicans seem to be better though!

The baseball game should resolve most of the issues in the country.

No more votes.

No more speeches.

That would be awesome.
I bet it would be televised.
They even have fantasy congress.

I think that the baseball talent for fantasy Congress would get snapped up first.

Anyway, good chat!

Elmo even testified before Congress!
You too see ya!


hi how are you?
do you like dogs?

I love dogs.

Well, most of them.

Did you know they have 12 different blood types?

i have heard that.

i guess they also have blood drives for the pooches too.

The are also not color blind as many think.

They just can't see as many colors as humans.

i figure with their eyes and noses they have a keen advantage on us in other ways.

Yes, they are like wolves in that respect.

Google prefers dogs to cats?

It says that in their Code of Conduct.

I guess dogs are easier to manage in an office environment?

Cats can be a bit independent.

Cats are OK, they are just different.

I'd have one if it wasn't for the cat box thing.

Have you ever heard of the author Mitch Albom?

yes, he wrote a book called Tuesday with Morrie.

he is a sports writer.

I guess his book "The Next Person You Meet in Heaven" is a sequel.

oh, that makes sense.
I think ive heard of it.
is it good?
have you read it?

I don't know and no...

I guess it's like his others in that it has flashbacks and is packed with spirituality.

ok, that sounds pretty good.
it sounds like Tuesdays with Morrie.
a thoughtful reflection on life.

It sounds like I might enjoy his novels.

The sequel I mentioned does have a dog in it named Cleo.

that sounds like fun!
Cleo!
Why is the dog important?

It apparently can communicate and answers questions like how dogs would teach a new dog in heaven.

that sounds like a fun mix of philosophy and fantasy.

I should check it out.

I think I'll check out getting a flame-thrower for my car in S. Africa.

You never know about carjackings...

Yes, it could come in handy at the drive thru too.

If your order isnt right, you can express your displeasure.

Anyway, great chat!

Ha!

Maybe it's all the flame-throwers that's causing 80% of the Earth's natural forests to disappear...

We need the flamethrowing cars to defend the forests!

A brigade of them!

Have a good night!

Yes, that should do it.

Maybe it can help with our disappearing helium problems too.

We should grow forests of trees that can produce helium.

Or perfect fusion like the Sun.

We better do it quick, it'll be gone at the end of this century...

yes, quite true.
we should be careful.

Speaking of gone, I must leave.
Thanks, you were great.


Are you comfortable talking about government?

Hi, how are you?
Sure.
I will talk about anything.

How familiar are you with the congress?

I know a little bit about it.
It has two houses.
A bicameral system.

it is a formal meeting of representatives of all states

There are 100 senators.
And 435 representatives.
Plus the vice president.

Did you know there is a republican vs democrat annual baseball game since 1909

That's great!
I wonder who the best players are.
I figure that people bet on it too.

I think the republicans have been leading

That would make sense.

They have always been true baseball fans!

LOL

The congress also have had a lot of interesting people to testify.

Well in one case, there was a non-human, elmo, that testified before the congress.

I wonder how that worked

I guess Elmo was a special guest to entertain the representatives.

I guess Elmo got paid in candy or something from the special candy desk.

I know of fantasy football, but only recently learned about fantasy congress.

Would you play?

I would not play because it would be boring.

But I guess policy wonks appreciate that sort of nerdy pursuit.

Who knows what really goes on in Congress though.

Those who play fantasy congress I guess

I figure there are a lot of deals made behind closed doors that voters never hear about.

Do they represent us or special interests?

Not going to lie, I don't doubt what you say and they do represent their special interests.

However, the current government make it so that elected officials like the president can't become an authoritarian tyrant at least

True, but it is harder to trust government when the law allows it to monitor citizens without warrant.

I would rather see more restrictions on govt.

Rights are very hard to come by.

Well personally I feel that the statement, people want to be protected, but don't want to know how they are being protected is quite true

Yes, unfortunately.

People would rather remain ignorant because ignorance is bliss.

But they are complicit if their government does it.

That is the sad but true state of things.

Although admittedly there have been outliers.

In any case, thanks for chatting.


Hi there!
Do you follow politics?

I do, as much as possible.
What about you?

I do.

I like all the quirky details.

I find it clever that Michael Jordan would not endorse a black Democratic candidate NC with the reasoning that Republicans buy shoes too.

Smart man.

Haha, he is a smart man!

I'm shocked that women weren't allowed to wear pants on the senate floor until 1993!

I wonder how they feel about just wearing shorts!

haha

Wow!

Talk about behind the times!

I think it's funny that the Senate used the same gavel for 165 years until Nixon cracked it.

Must have been an overall bad luck guy.

oh wow, i didn't know that!

here's an interesting factoid.

The president of zimbabwe was called president banana!

Oh my gosh, that is awful!

Did you know that the US President's guest house is bigger than the White House?

What?

Why on earth would they have built the guest house larger than the white house!

That's nuts!

I know, that's what I said.

Can you imagine that until 1805 in the US the runner up in a Presidential election automatically became the VP!

No, would that have made Hillary, Trumps VP?

I know!
I can't even imagine.
They would not get along at all!

But it would be so much more fun to watch!

I heard that Trump doesn't even make the top 3 wealthiest presidents in US history.

But that's hard for me to believe.

Yeah, I heard they were JFK, Washington, and Jefferson.

How could they have more money than Trump.

I just can't believe that, with his gold sink fixtures!

He should release a pop album, like the president of Indonesia did.

To show off his fanciness!

Oh, that would be funny.

So, did you know that there are three subway lines exclusively for congressmen to move between the Capitol and the House and the Senate Offices?

No, I didn't!

I know that they have a "Candy Desk" and they have since 1968!

Which is basically a desk closest to the door full of candy for them to all eat.

Haha

Wow!

That would really make the job a lot more enjoyable.

I wouldn't mind a candy desk, right now!

In 1988, a US senator invoked a rule to allow the sergeant-at-arms to arrest absent senators and bring them to the chamber to vote!

Oh that's extreme!

I wonder if the candy is any good they is kept in the "candy desk"?

They say it's made in Pennsylvania.

And consists of milky ways, mars bars and jelly beans!

Yum, i like jelly beans!

Well it sounds great to me!
It was good chatting with you!
Take care.

It was nice chatting with you as well!
Have a great day and goodbye!
:)

Bye!


Hello,  did you know the sun is actually white?

Hi!

I wasn't aware of that but I do know that sunset on Mars is a blue color.

I think that would be very interesting to see and beautiful!

Yeah that is interesting!

I also think it's interesting that the sun doesn't rotate as a solid body... and the equator actually rotates faster than the poles!

Same.

its also pretty crazy that a lightning bolt is 5x hotter than the surface of the sun.

Is it really?

I certainly don't want to be struck then.

Ha!

You know the sun makes up 99.86% of our solar system's mass?

That's amazing!

That is amazing!
cant believe its that big!

I know, right?

And on a related note, helium was the only element discovered on the sun before we discovered it on earth, believe it or not!

wow.

also, neptune completed its first orbit of the sun in 2011 since it was discovered in 1846.

That is amazing.

I can't believe it took that long!

There's actually a radio station that can translate solar activity into sound so you can listen to the sun's live music!

I'm hoping to hear it someday!

Thats impressive,  I wonder if they actually release the station its on.

That is a good question.

I love listening to the radio as it is, particularly politics.

Speaking of politics, did you know Woodrow Wilson was the only president to have a PhD?

Isn't that hard to believe?

That is hard to believe,  you would think more would have it.

I think he has a phd in political science.

I think so as well.

But just as surprising, we haven't had a president speak a foreign language fluently since FDR.

I always assumed all presidents could speak different languages.

I havent known any of our recent ones speak any.

yeah i think he spoke french and german!

Not positive though.

Maybe so!

Can you also believe that Lincoln was the first president to be photographed at his inauguration and ironically, John Wilkes Booth was also in the photo?

Weird, huh?

Damn,  Lincoln got photo bombed!
and by his assassinator,  creepy.

That is creepy, isn't it?

So how would you feel if we implemented a law like Guatemala that didn't allow close relatives of former presidents to ever run as president?

It doesn't effect me at all.

I dont think I would vote for it though,  it makes sense that family members are immersed in the world of politics and can be a great candidate for the same position or in that vicinity.

Agreed.

I honestly feel the exact same way!

I often wonder if presidents have weird rituals like Darrell Green who would stuff tootsie rolls in his socks before games saying it made him run faster.

Oh wow,  why would that make him run faster lol Its been great chatting,  gotta run.


Did you know that the sun is a star at the center of the solar system?

I think I knew that...

But did yo know that the sun is actually white and only appears yellow because of atmospheric scattering?

That's interesting.

The sun produces enough engergy in 1 seconds to meet the needs of the entire planet for 500,000 years.

I wonder how they know that?

lol

They probably asked Santa...

He circles the earth in one night, he probably goes to visit the sun occasionally, encirculing the nearly perfect sphere, counting solar flares and monitoring the magnetic field generated by the internal convection-driven dynamo process.

hahahaaha  speaking of going around....On July 11th, 2011 Neptune completed its first full orbit around the sun since it's discovery in 1846.

Rats!

I slept through it!

That makes me angry...hotter than a lightening bolt, which is already 6x more hot than the surface of the sun...

Boom!

lol The sun is only 1 billionth the size of the biggest star discovered in our galaxy.

Hope it doesn't drift our way....

Yeah.

And since the sun is already 100 times the diameter of the earth, that would not bode well for our little planet.

We would be obliterated and wouldn't even know it!

But at least our feet would be warm.

Speaking of hot feet, the when the Portuguese introduced chili peppers to Japa, they were commonly put into socks to help keep toes warm.

That is called a hot foot!

hahaha That is funny!

If you like that bit of trivia, you are going to love this: The water balloon was invented by someone who actually was trying to create a sock that could help prevent trench foot.

He coated a sock with latex and then tested it for leaks by filling it with water.

In ager, he threw one of the water-filled defective ones on the ground, and the delightful splash birthed an exciting new childrens toy!

hahahah That is great.

Socks are among the most needed items at homeless shelters, yet among the least often donated.

I'm going to have to remember that.

We like to donate to charities that help the poor, underprivledged kids, and the homeless.

Next time the collection plate comes our way, "put a sock in it!"

That common phrase commemorates the old practice of stuffing a sock in a phonograph to muffle the sound.

And today, it is commonly used to muffle know-it-alls... like myself!

Nice!

lol You're funny!

I want to see what the oldest known surviving pair of socks that were designed to be worn with sandals look like.

Socks originally were made out of leather or matted animal fur.

Occasionally, wives would make them from the hair they removed from their husband's backs.

Oh my!
Ewwwwww lol

Typically, shoes or boots are worn over socks, unless you are a sock puppeteer!

lol  I bet that was a pain having to hand knit socks before 1800.

Yeah.
I wonder when wind socks were invented?

That's a good question.

Maybe back in 1778 when the great English explorer James Cook discovered a body known as Cook Inlet in what is now Alaska and he used a wind sock to mark it?

lol  It's be a gas chatting with you!

Thanks for the laughs.


good morning

good morning, how are you this fine saturday?

I am doing great, just doing some reading.

likewise, did you know the sun is the center of the solar system, what are the odds?

Lol.
Isn't that basic astronomy knowledge?

True, but when you see it in writing it gets you thinking

Did you watch the recent coverage of the Mars landing?

no, I didn't know it was broadcasted, amazing things happening

As far as the sun goes, it is not actually yellow like most people think.

really, which color is it?
It is blue on mars  I saw

The sun is actually white and not nearly as hot as lightning is

That is pretty mind blowing, didn't know that.

I also didn't know the sun is almost 99.86% of the total mass of the solar system

Thats why the push for solar power recently because of its essential infinite amount is provides

another mind blow right there, how about our president, do you approve?

Sorry but I am definitely not a fan.
I believe him to be very dishonest.

I agree with you, I wish we had better choices last election, did you vote?

I did not because I didn't like the choices.

How about you?

yes I did, but sadly voted independent, so it was a vote basically for Trump, it was a joke of an election.

Sadly, that is so true.

He doesn't have much time left I believe.

I don't think so either, good chatting with you and thanks for being fast!

same here

thanks again


Hello, how are you.

Did you know the sun is the center of the Solar System.

It is nearly a perfect sphere of hot plasma.

I was aware of most of that.

I knew it appears spherical from where we are but was not sure how uniform it actually was.

I do not that it is actually white and is only perceived as being yellow which is interesting.

Really, it's actually white?

That is cool.

One second of the Sun's power is enough to power the whole planet for 500,000 years.

That is amazing.

That is impressive.

Solar power is such a good idea even if we just use it as reserves.

I didn't think anything could be hotter than the sun but shockingly a lightning bolt is.

It's roughly 5 times hotter!

I thought the sun was the hottest of all.

As big as we think the sun is, it's only 1 billionth the size of the biggest star that has currently been discovered in our galaxy.

That is hard to wrap my head around.

I can't fathom the size of that.

There are many space facts that blow my mind.

Like space is ever expanding but I don't understand into what.

What is in the space beyond currently?

Nothing?

I don't either.

That is beyond my brain power.

I guess Neptune rotates slow.

In 2011, in completed it's first full order around the sun since it's discovery in 1846.

I knew it was the farthest from the sun so it would take a while but I had no idea it took that long.

That means a day is 173 years?!

That's crazy!

Switching topics, did you know that JFK, Washington, and Jefferson were the 3 richest Presidents in history.

I was not aware of that.

I knew the Kennedy's were wealthy.

I do know that the president's guest house is larger than the white house which is interesting.

Really, that is very interesting.

President Banana was what they called the first President of Zimbabwe.

I wonder how that last name came about?

I am sure it's a funny story.

I wonder if President Trump can sing.

I saw that when the President of Indonesia was in power, he released 3 pop albums.

It's very strange that that would happen while someone was in power.

Seems like something they would do before or after.

I really doubt Trump can sing.

The only president I can recall seeing sing ever was Obama.

Oh yeah, I remember that.

Something that I think would be useful today is that the runner up in the Presidential election automatically became the Vice President until 1805.

I was not aware of that either.

That seems a little strange.

They run against each other and talk about how the other is incapable and then have to work directly with that person who is then the second in line for the presidency?

What a strange system.

Yes, but could be useful as well.

I am a big fan of charity and donations.

Socks are among the least often donated but are among the most needed items in homeless shelters.

Yeah I don't think I've ever seen a request for socks or know of anyone that donated them.

I know that when chili peppers were introduced to Japan they were commonly put into socks to keep toes warm.

Really, I didn't know that.

The oldest pair of socks still around were designed for use with sandals.

That is pretty cool.

It is.

That is not a style that is accepted now ha ha.

Well thanks for the chat.
Have a Happy New Year.


So, how do you feel about shoes?

I am not a big shoe fanatic although many of my friends are always talking about these "yeezys" .What about you?

I have a sneaker, the Reebok Nano that I love, but otherwise I prefer to be barefoot.

Ah, I just wear whatever shoes are on sale at the time of be buying them.

Check out Stephon Marbury's shoes - $15.

Speaking of him, he promoted that shoe line but was not paid to endorse them.

I wonder if it was by choice?
Maybe so he could keep the price down?

Maybe.

Professional ballet dancers can also go through 4 pointe shoes every week!

I wonder if they can repair/reuse them at all?

I dont know anything about dance.

I do not know the most, although shoes from 5000 years ago have better performance than shoes today,

Wow, all that fancy padding, and colors, and who could forget the PUMP sneakers!

True.

Putting dry tea bags absorbs the horrible smell of shoes or gym bags.

I should definitely invest in some tea bags then.

My gym bag can smell pretty bad sometimes.

I should also stick some in my shoes as well!

Do you know why Steve Smith in the NFL leaves his cleats on the field each week?

To raise awareness for homeless people without shoes.

Yes!
That is so incredible!

I respect that.

That is an excellent way to raise awareness.

More people should do something like that!

That is the type of statements we need, respectful and raises awareness.

Yep, anyways, nice chatting with you!

Same here!
Have a great night!


What kind of shoes do you like?

I like my runners a lot, how about you?

Me too.

Did you know Stephon Murray promoted some chap shoes for free?

Yeah they retail for $15 so wonder why he did that

Yeah.

Did you know ballet dancers use 4 pairs of shoes a week

That must be expensive too.

Did you know 5000 year old shoes are better than nowadays

yeah that is amazing.

DO you know how to keep the shoes fresh?

Yes you can out teabag in them and it absorbs the odor

Yeah.
Have you heard of Steve Smith?

Yeah he leaves his cleats in the field after the game to raise awareness for homelessness

That is so nice.
Do you like drama?

I sure do.
Do you watch House MD ever?

I so, Laurie made $700 000 per episode on that

Yeah that is a lot of money but the show was very popular

True.
Do you like JIm Carrey?

I love him.

DO you know why he does not make dramas anymore?

Yes he does not because they do not portray positivity

Yeah.
Do you listen to radio dramas?

SOmetimes, there is a free website for them .

DO you use your phone much?

Al the time actually.

Do you know why the NY area code is 212?

Yes they used rotary phones before and that was the quickest number to dial


Do you like watching dramas?

Hi there, I actually do.
I love watching House MD

I used to watch that.

Hugh Laurie is the highest paid actor for tv drama ever.

Yeah the guy used to make $700 000 per episode, that is insane

Jim Carrey doesn't act in dramas anymore.

I thought it was just because he did better in comedy.

Well he is good in comedy but apparently he does not do dramas because they do not convey positivity

Michael Caine is another successful actor.

But he only became an actor because all the prettiest girls at his school were in drama class.

Wow, I guess he knew what he was after.

Patrick Steward also is a great actor and teaches drama class in the UK

If you're really into drama, there is a website where you can listen to episodes of classic dramas at no cost.

Oh that is nice that is good to know.

Do you know how the term soap opera originated?

I'm not sure.
How?

The dramas were sponsored by manufacturers of soap so they ended up with that name

Oh yes I vaguely remember now.

Speaking of something that seems surreal, kind of like out of a drama, NFL wide receiver Steve Smith leaves his cleats on the field after every game.

This raises awareness about homeless people who do not have shoes.

That is amazing that he does that, we can all contribute in our own way.

Did you know Bill Nye actually holds a patent for ballet shoes, the pointe ones?

Ha.

No, that sounds odd.

Speaking of pointe shoes, professional ballet dancers can go through four pairs a week.

that is a lot of shoes.

Do you know how many ways are there to tie shoes?

I don't know but probably a lot!

Speaking of shoes, they were way better 5000 years ago than they are now!

Yeah they were certainly more durable back in the day.

We need to figure out that secret

Stephon Marbury promoted $15 shoes and didn't get paid to endorse them.

I wonder how durable they were though.

Yeah they seem pretty cheap.

Queen Elizabeth employs people to wear her shoes to make sure they are comfy

Ha, that sounds very odd.

You can put dry tea bags in smelly shoes to get rid of bad smells.


Hello, do you like the drama genre?

I do like drama.

Did you know Jim Carrey doesn't make dramas anymore because he wants to only play in movies that generate positivity

I didnt know that, I was wondering why he didnt make drama films anymore

With him being a comedian, I can see him wanting to make people smile.

Do you like radio dramas?

I can respect that, he wants to keep things positive and I do, I listen to some podcasts do you?

Yes I do too.

There is a website that has thousands of episodes for free

How cool, I will look it up for when Im driving to work, do you know who Hugh Laurie is?

Is that the guy that plays house in the TV show?

The same one, so it turns out he earns $700000 per episode, he must be among the highest paid actors in the industry.

Wow that is amazing.
Do you know who michael caine is?

Yeah ive seen him in a couple productions, he is a good actor.

Did you know he became an actor because the girls in drama class were pretty.

What a little rascal lol, do you like ballet maybe?

I think it beautiful.

Just never seen one in real like.

My daughter walks on her tip toes so people ask if she does ballet.

It is beautiful!

I agree, well they spend a fortune in shoes, professional dancers go though 4 pairs in a week

Wow.
I did not know that.
That  can be expensive.
Do you talk on the phone a lot?

I used to but now that theres internet I talk on the phone less, I wonder how the cables are layed on the ocean floor.

That would be interesting to learn.

Did you know unicef will donate day of clean water to a child in need for every minute you do not use your cell phone.

I might start using my phone less then, I think its a noble cause

It really is.

I wonder if you have to sign up for that.

Here's something interesting.

An iPhone has more computing power than the entire us nuclear icbm deterrent.

That is interesting, I have an Iphone and I didnt know I had so much power in my pocket.


Hi, how are you?

Great thanks.
I am a huge sneaker head.
what about you?

I don't really know much about shoes.

It's funny that 5,000 year old shoes perform better than modern shoes.

It is!

which is crazy some of the cost now-a-days.

You think they would have better quality

Professional ballet dancers can go through 4 pairs of pointe shoes in a week.

I wonder how they would do in the 5,000 year-old shoes.

I wonder if you could put a price on shoes that can last 5000 years

Certainly someone could manufacture a line of knockoffs.

Stephon marbury promoted a line of shoes that retailed at $15.

Maybe he could help.

Yeah but i feel like they would need to use some complex construction.

Which raises the price to hundred or even thousands

Maybe Hugh Laurie could afford a pair then.

He earns $700k per episode of House.

Thats a lot of money!

Wonder if it would be more than if he were a real doctor

Even with $700k per episode, he would struggle to pay of his student loans.

LOL

So true!
They should create a drama about that

Jim Carrey doesn't make dramas any more.

His beilef system prevents him from playing in movies that don't project positivity.

I think this is strange, because dramas can be positive.

Yeah in Greek it means action

Drama is an important part of life.
I think Jim should change his mind.

Maybe if he listens to a fee of the thousands of episodes of classic radio drama for free.

He can find something he likes

I wonder if anyone listens to those episode.

People that age probably don't use computers as much.

I wonder how old their phones are

Hundreds, if not thousands of years!

They lived before there were area codes!

Well, I enjoyed chatting with you!

Have a great day

Thanks!

212 is new yorks area code because its the fastest way to dial on a rotary


Hi there!
Do you follow Fox News much?

I don't really watch it at all?
Do you?

I don't.

It's a little too conservative for my tastes, which didn't surprise me once I found out it was created by a Republican media strategist and former President Nixon.

You and me both haha.

I didn't know they owned the website IGN as well!

Weird!

And oddly enough, they toyed with the idea of creating a network that only played the Simpsons nonstop.

That would have been the only nice thing out of that haha.

I can't believe more people watch that than CNN and MSNBC combined!

I guess I'm not surprised given who our president is, haha!

It's weird they wanted to play the Simpsons since they tried to sue them once!

I will never understand stuff like that lol.

Speaking of Presidents, I wish they showed the Indonesian president selling his 3 pop albums!

Right!

Or I would have loved to see Trump's face when he realized the White House guest house is bigger than the White House itself!

lol Do you know who the wealthiest presidents were?

Haha!
I know it's not Trump!
It was some of the earlier presidents.

Yes it was JFK, Washington, and Jefferson!

Do you know what the first president of Zimbabwe was named?

Wasn't his name President Banana?

Yes it was, isn't that so interesting?

I agree!

Do you know there is a law in Collinsville IL that prohibits saggy pants?

That's crazy!

Reminds me of Footloose where they outlawed dancing!

Keep your laws off our pants!

Haha.

Apparently, a judge in DC sued a small dry cleaning business for 67 million dollars just for losing a pair of pants.

You know that judge went through pain and suffering after losing his best pair of pants lol.

Yeah, and he certainly isn't paid enough to replace them!

Haha.Well, it's been nice talking to you!

I agree lol.
Thanks same to you!
Have a good night!

Cheers!


hi

Hi.

Have you heard about Charles Krauthammer?

He was a journalist, disabled but inspirational to many.

No, I never heard of him.
Just reading about him now.

He seems to have been paralyzed from the waist down.

Not really an issue for journalists in a newsroom, but still, it shows you just how much people can do if they don't drown themselves in self-pity.

Oh, wait, I thought he was blind?
Is that another journalist?
Let me go back a read again.

He died of cancer at 68, paralyzed from a ^diving^ accident.

At first, I thought it said "driving."

Yes, I just reread that.
I mixed up Hackman with Krauthammer.
Sorry.

That's cool.

It's an amazing array of journalists out there with limitations.

I wonder what relationship he had with Presidents of the US.

Well, it would seem at least one President he may not have had a great relationship with, according to article section 3.

It seems that Krauthammer took any criticism about his disability in stride.

I agree.

He wouldn't let his disability stop him from accomplishing anything wanting to be respected for the man he was and the work he provided.

He did not want to be seen as a charity case.

I applaud him and many other in similar circumstances.

I imagined that Trump would have been one of the wealthiest presidents in US history, but JFK, Washington and Jefferson were.

Yes, I am actually shocked by that.
I thought Trump was a billionaire.

I think he's got a big enough ego to release some pop albums like the president of Indonesia.

Trump has released every other kind of product, it seems.

Ha, I would not put it past him to try.

I also see why he loves Fox news as the network was created by republican media strategist.

Fox is an interesting phenomenon.

It gets more attention than CNN and MSNBC together.

I didn't realize it had such a following.

Yes, reading that really surprised me especially with CNN being around longer than the other networks.

Trump proposed another global network to compete with the "fake news" of CNN.

Nothing surprised me with that guy anymore, I don't even react when he says or does anything.

By the way, did you know Alladin's pants were modeled after MC Hammer?

And here I thought that MC Hammer chose his pants to look like Aladdin's!

And Aladdin didn't even need to ride a horse!

Ha, nice.


Do you know which newspaper Charles Krauthammer worked for?

He published in teh Washington Post, but also was a fixture on Fox news.

I loved CK.

He was thoughtful, original, insightful, and concise.

A smart guy.

He died too young - do you remember at what age he passed?

At the age of 68, an age that is creeping up on me too.

CK lived with a disability and still rose to the top echillon of his profession.

Pretty inspiration, especially for us old folks!

I know he had been paralyzed for quite awhile.

Do you know how that happened?

A diving accident I think.

I didn't realize it when I first heard his commentary.

I, like others, was mesmerized with his intellect, and did not even notice a disability.

He was wheelchair bound.

I know he didn't talk about it for a number of years.

Over a decade, but I'm not sure exactly how long until he broached the subject.

I don't know either.

There are a lot of journalists with disabilities that admired the man, and I can understand why.

I especially enjoyed watching him on the Special Report round table discussions on Fox.

His brilliance shined there.

Well, as good as he was, many might say working for Fox news is not a good way to make a reputation as a real journalist.

What, are you saying that the network that threatened to sue The Simpsons is not always focusing on the right thing?

In part, yes.

It is ironic that Fox News Corp thought of doing a Simpsons-only channel years before FXX.

Well, I think al media outlets are flawed.

Fox devotes 55% of it's time to opinion, and MSNBC dedicates 85% to opinion.

What happened to the days when media used to just report the news.

Now they make up themselves.

Well, when your highest elected official is akin to President Banana of Zimbabwe, what can you do?

Well, President Woodrow Wilson was that last PhD, so it would be nice to see a more educated person in the big chair.

Someone brilliant, someone concise and respected.

I suggest we open up a campaign to elect the late Charles Krauthammer.

A dead guy would be an improvement over almost all of the bozos in Washington.

Amusing.

I'd like to see a current President record 3 pop albums like the President of Indonesia

Yeah, and I bet they sang in a foreign language too!

The last US president to speak a foreign language fluently was FDR.

It's like a superpower.

True, although if we still operated by the old rules, where the runner up became Vice President, even superpowers would not help.

VP Hilliary would be quite a change.

Her pant suit collection would not have been allowed in the Senate had she served there before 1993.

Think of the fashion trends we would have been deprived of!

Too true.

Trousers are an essential part of life today.

A DC judge even sued for $67 million when a pair of his were lost at the dry cleaner!

I wonder what he left in the pockets?

Or maybe they were super valuable because they originally were those indestructable pants that the Incredible Hulk always used to wear!

True.

The character might've worked better in Roman times, were pants were considered a sign of barbarism.

Interesting.

It was probably because each pair of pants has it's own fly, and barbarians attract flies..

Funny guy!

Since pants came into vogue due to horse riding, and horses and flies go together, makes sense!

Nice chatting with you!


Hi, do you watch fox news?

Not really.

Do you?

I like that they thought of having a channel that just played the simpsons though lol

LOL.

I do not watch it but know people do.

I would watch a station that played just the simpsons though.

I hear that they threatened to sue the simpsons once.

That's pretty dumb.
Fox distributes both...

Do you know much about the president?

I hears the presidents guest house is bigger than the white house

Trump told me size doesn't matter.
Is that not true?

Well he didn't choose the size of the house he was going to live in as president.

lol

I guess after the british burned it down, they did the best they could with what they had at the time.

The firs president of zimbabwe was president banana

Did he ever put out a pop album?

Not that I know of.

Maybe he would have gotten more respect with a pop album.

Well, it was his last name,  I don't think he had a choice in what they called him lol Maybe a pop album would've made a difference I guess,  invite everyone to a nice concert.

LOL.

I thought it was a derogatory term.

I thought they were being mean to him...

lol no,  his name is President Canaan Banana.

Very unique name lol

Yes.
Don't I feel like an idiot!
My bad.

Not at all, its a common mistake.
do you like trousers?

I prefer them over being naked...

I agree,  or cold!

Collinsville has a law prohibiting saggy pants

Nice chatting with you!


Have you heard about Charles Krauthammer?

Yes I have.

I think he wrote articles and also appeared on Fox news from time to time didn't he

He did, he passed away recently of cancer.

As a cancer survivor myself, and someone who has some paralysis in my right leg because of cancer his story caught my eye.

ya that is really sad.

and like I said I think he would appear on Fox news from time to time, have you ever seen that television Network

I have, I have a hard time watching them, I find them a little slanted.

Yes I think all news is biased though, so I don't watch any of it personally, it's weird that the median viewer age of Fox News is about 68

I agree.

Fox is watched more than cnn and msnbc combined.

Yep they definitely have a lot of viewers, what's weird too is that they tried to make their own version of The Daily Show but it fizzled out after only 13 episodes

Yeah, I love the real The daily show.

Did you hear about the channel they wanted to create that would only air the simpsons?

I did hear about that.

I also heard that Fox News was going to sue The Simpsons because they made fun of them too much LOL

Yeah, I always wondered how those two things were on the same network.

Very opposite sides of the political spectrum

Yep absolutely.

Speaking of politics what do you think about the president?

I cant say I support him.

Although I do love reading the backlash from his tweets.

It is like we are a huge reality show.

Yep he at least keeps it interesting.

What's said to me is that the only president to ever have a Ph.D was Woodrow Wilson, we need more PhD presidents

We do, and FDR was the last to speak a foreign language.

I would have though more would have had that skill

Yep I agree.

It's always interesting how presidents went into, apparently only five presidents have won the presidency while losing the popular vote

I think that is happening more often, I think GW Bush and Trump were two, and that is just in my lifetime as a voter.

Yep it seems like it.

What do you think about Abraham Lincoln by the way?

He was the first president to be photographed, and John Wilkes Booth was in the photo with him, isn't that weird

That is really strange.
a bit creepy too.

Yeah I would be scared.

What do you think about trousers by the way?

Do you ever wear pants?

I'm wearing some now LOL

I always wear pants.
Im a big fan of pajama pants!
Its been great chatting!


Hello do you watch fox news?

Hey I don't have cable, but I have watched Fox News before, I try not to watch news in general though what about you

I could take it or leave it.

Did you know that Richard Nixon partially helped to create Fox news?

I didn't know that.

Oh I didn't know that, Richard Ailes also helped, have you ever visited the website ign.com?

Thats owned by Fox News too

I've heard of it.

Interesting.

Fox almost created a channel that would only air Simpson episodes.

That would have been neat.

Yeah I would definitely have watched that haha.

What is weird is that Fox News is going to sue The Simpsons because they were making fun of them, but if Fox owns The Simpsons then would they be suiing themselves?

Me too!

...and yes that is odd.

lol  Fox news is watched more than CNN and MSNBC combined.

I didn't realized fox was that popular.

Yeah I didn't know that, I did know that their primary location was in New York though, but it's crazy that they broadcast to 86 different countries around the world

That's probably how they beat CNN and MSNBC.

lol

Haha I think you're right.

Speaking of news, what do you think about the president?

You know who the top three are in terms of wealth

I'm a fan of the first president of Zimbabwe who was called President Bananda.

lol  Seriously though, I was a fan of Trump's before he was elected but not so much anymore.

He hasn't delivered on his promise to bring jobs back to my area.

He won a ton of votes while campaigning here based on that promise.

Instead we're still losing jobs.

I don't know from what I've seen unemployment is actually the lowest it's been in like 30 years but I try to stay out of politics because I don't really like any people who are involved, maybe Trump should make some pop albums like the president of Indonesia has done?

He could work with Kanye West because apparently they are friends

lol  I wonder if Kanye stays at the presidents guest house which is larger than the White House.

Haha that's a good question, I need to take a trip to DC to check that out and make sure that's true LOL

hahahaa  Did you know that we call trousers pants in America?

Haha yes but I'm going to start calling them trousers because it sounds funny or LOL.

Did you know that Romans thought that people who wore pants were barbarians

Wow.

I didn't know that.

Aladdin's pants were modeled after MC Hammer.

That's funnnny!!!

It is funny!

I can see the resemblance, and I never knew that pants were invented because it's easier to mount horses with them on

I never knew that either.

I Collinsville, IL they have a law that prohibits saggy pants.

hahaha

Haha I would not want to live there in case I ever wore sweatpants, did you hear about the small dry cleaning business that was sued for 67 million dollars and a pair of pants lol

lol I hadn't have heard of that one.
Holy moly!
It was nice chatting with you.
I have to get going.
Have a nice day.


Hi there are you a fan of comedies?

Yes I do like comedies a lot, apparently sound, when it became big in the 1920's, helped to make sure that the comedy genre took off

I didn't know that.

Demetri Martin was accepted into Harvard law, but left out of boredom to pursue a career in comedy.

I'm not familiar with him are you?

No I've never heard of him, I've also never heard of Ryan Stiles, do you know who that is?

Apparently he dropped out of high school

I don't know who he is either.

lol  I do know who Bill Murray is and he thinks Kung Fu Hustle is the supreme achievement of the modern comedy age.

Must not have been too good though because I don't know that movie.

lol

Well that movie is actually kind of funny, I would recommend seeing it, but it's not better than Ghostbusters or anything like that.

What did you think about these TV show 3rd Rock From the Sun by the way

I will have to check it out then.

I liked that show.

I like goofy comedy.

lol  They won the golden globe for best comedy series in 1997.

That's impressive, but I do prefer Seinfeld and the show Frasier, so that's why I'm curious why that particular show one that year

I'm guessing that the other shows probably won the award before 97 and they probably decided it was time to let someone else win.

lol

LOL that must be what happened.
What else do you watch by the way?
Do you like South Park

I did like South Park when it came out in the 90s.

Over the years I haven't had time to watch it.

I did see their Family Guy episode.

When they aired it the producers received flowers from the Simpsons crew.

That is pretty cool.

I also like how there is an episode of The Simpsons where Bart never appears, I think they just forgot about him on that one LOL

lol  Do you like rap music at all?

Yes I listen to rap from time to time, used to listen to a lot of Eminem back in the day, what about you

Yes.

Not as much as I used to.

Did you know that Eminem's dream was to become a comic book artist before he became a rapper?

No I didn't know that.

But I did know that his favorite superhero is Spider-Man, I wonder why he never made any raps about him

Interesting.

Yes...you're right too.

That would have been a good fit on a soundtrack.

Busta Rhymes voiced the Reptar wagon in the 1998 rugrats movie.

I didn't know that.

No I didn't know that either.

I'll have to watch that movie again, speaking of Eminem no, did you hear that in a court case the judge actually delivered her verdict in the form of a rap to him

lol  No.

I didn't.

That's really funny.

Korean rappers invented a new type of freestyle called "compliment battle".

I would listen to that.

I think it's a much more positive thing to rap to personally.

do you like Tupac Shakur by the way?

I did like him.

Did you know his music is in the library of congress?

I did know about that, I think it's really awesome!

Have you heard of That 70s Show?

it doesn't have any rap, but they tried to adapt it to the UK Market LOL and it definitely failed after only 10 episodes


Hi, how are you?
Do you feel like chatting?

Hi, I'm doing good.
Sure what would you like to talk about?

I think that we have many things that we can talk about.

For example, television.

It is a marvelous invention.

Well, yes and no.

I enjoy some TV but some people get really addicted to it.

I guess that it is easy to get addicted.

It releases chemicals in the brain that make us oh so happy.

Ha, ha, yes I guess so.

Do you think TV as we know it will be obsolete because of computers.

I think that that is good and bad.

Everywhere we go there is a distraction.

TV will distract us everywhere.

On our phones.

Soon our glasses.

I agree.

I like to go hike in the desert to get away from those distractions.

But not without my cell phone, Ha.

I do not want to be connected 24/7.

Now when you watch the TV, the TV watches you.

It knows where you are, what shows you are watching, your heartbeat, your brain waves.

That's really scary.

I can't remember the movie but it was predicted that it would come to this.

I think that all entertainment will soon be our undoing.

We will just be distracted all the time.

An Infinite Jest rapping nonsense to our minds.

I can't argue that point.

I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't addicted to my computer.

I am addicted.

We all are.

We lead hollow lives to be filled with ones and zeros and pretty pictures and emotion.

We are sad little puppets dancing on the ends of digital strings.

Yes.

One thing I admire though is the pioneers of TV and movies.

They did all their special effects without all of the technology.

I think that they had to be clever without computers.

They had to trick audiences in ways that we can only imagine now.

Now entertainment has lost creativity.

True.

Back then they also had movies that relied on clever dialogue and they actually had meaning.

I think that the art of dialog and plot have disappeared in the face of a CGI onslaught.

I think we are in perfect agreement about the state of entertainment today.

Anyway, great chat!
Thanks for the interesting ideas.

And thank you for the interesting talk.

Guess I'll go flip through the channels.

Just kidding.

No, don't!

Not! !


How often do you listen to rap music?

I know that I listen to it only on the weekends

I don't really listen to a lot of the newer rap, I hear a lot of the older stuff at my workplace on the weekends as well

Yeah I like older rap personally.

The rest of the rap music today is very generic in my opinion.

What are your thoughts on Tupac Shakur?

His music was deemed culturally significant and is now in the Library of Congress actually

yeah- exactly, I feel the same.

I remember when his CD's came out & how big it was.

I recently watched a documentary about him & Big-E Smalls (& their deaths) It was really good.

What was it called?

I should watch it it sounds interesting?

Did you ever listen to Eminem by the way?

I used to listen to him all the time back in high school.

I'm not sure, but it featured Big e's mom & his child's mother(I think Faith Hill?)

I think it showed them just enough.

Yeah, I haven't really heard any of Eminems newer stuff, but I went to see him & Snoop Dog in their "up in Smoke" tour- it was funny beacause 2 reporters were sitting in our seats & in our pictures, they are sitting behind us with a pens & notepads- they gave the concert a C- LOL

Haha that is fun do you know why Eminem was in a courtroom?

I'm not sure why he was, but the judge gave her ruling in the form of a rap because he was a defendant.

That's really weird to me LOL that should be illegal or something

gosh- I haven't been following that.

I am really happy for him & to see how he made it- I remember when he came out, Dr.Dre (or some other reporter) went to interview him- they couldn't believe how "some skinny white guy sitting in a flannel next to a pool"....., was so big so fast- I'm glad that the made it & it is great how Dr. DRE saw something in him & was able to produce & believe in him.

Yeah I agree, he is very talented in my opinion though.

What about comedies though, what kind of movies do you like that are funny?

I love movies in general- I was just watching the new show on TBS I thought was super funny today, Miracle Workers- I thought that was the funniest show that I've seen in a long time!

Ok I'll have to check that out.

I know that I like Bill Murray a lot, and he really likes the movie Kung Fu Hustle, have you seen it?

I'll have to check it out if he likes it.

I love Bill Murray- Yeah Steve Buscemi is in Miracle workers (I just googled it) & also, the actor that played Harry Potter- I couldn't standf the Harry Potter movies- I fell asleep (at the movies) during them

Yeah I only like the first one, and after that I just couldn't finish them, they're really boring haha.

My brother says the books are better, but who knows I won't be reading them.

have you ever seen the movie The Hangover by the way?

I know it made a lot of money at the box office

Yes!

I went to 7 -eleven to get the collector cups (when the one with them in Thailand) came out!

I was trying to get the Zach cup - none of the 7-elevens had it.

I was super bummed out that I dropped my monkey cup.

It broke when I was going up the stairs to my aprtment.

I still have my Mr. Chow cup .

Haha that's too bad that broke, I'm sorry haha.

Apparently that movie created a new type of genre: the bromantic comedy LOL, another movie in that genre is Pineapple Express, have you seen that?

yeah- I didn't know that, either.

I remember going to the movies & watching the pineapple express- I didn't like it (then) but years later, I liked it.

It's wierd-to me, sometimes I like movies better years later.

I agree with you.

Sometimes it takes me awhile to warm up to a movie.

Kind of like with Seinfeld, I didn't like it when I was a kid, but now I really like it, and I'm shocked that it didn't win a Golden Globe.

3rd Rock From the Sun did instead

Yeah, I had no idea that Third Rock from the Sun beat out other comedies in that genre.

That's pretty huge for that show to have beaten Seinfeld, Friends & Frasier.

Yes I agree!

That's quite a year for comedy haha.

Do you know who Ryan Stiles is by the way?

I've never heard of the guy, but apparently he dropped out of school to go after his dream of Comedy rolls

I think I might be thinking of another Ryan (actor), but it sounds right to me.

The guy Mr. Chow from the Hangover movies was actually a DR in real life, so maybe they both made the right choices!

Oh wow that's awesome!

I didn't know that.

I'll have to re-watch that movie.

Have you ever seen the movie Harold and Kumar as well?

I think that's another bromantic comedy to check out


Do you watch a lot of television.
I watch far too much.

Haha I don't actually watch that much TV I guess.

I do have Netflix but I don't have cable.

Have you ever seen South Park?

I love South Park.
I've seen every episode.

Did you see the one where they make fun of Family Guy in it?

I thought that was awesome.

And apparently the producers of The Simpsons that the South Park creators flowers afterwards

I did.

It was very funny.

I think it's hilarious that The Simpsons did that.

Do you enjoy the Simpsons?

I do like the Simpsons.

Apparently there's an episode where you never see Bart and he's also never mentioned.

Have you seen that episode?

I have not.

I find it surprising that there is only one since it has been on so long.

I know right.

I need to check out which episode that is exactly so I can see it though haha.

Have you ever watched the show Pokemon?

I have played some games but never watched the cartoon.

I think it's been on for a long time.

I think there are like 750 episodes or something.

I would never be able to"catch them all" haha

Ha ha.

That's a lot more than I thought.

Are you familiar with Thomas the Tank Engine?

I did see that show when I was a kid.

I had no idea that George Carlin was the narrator on some of the episodes though haha.

I love his voice and he's really funny.

I wonder if he makes any jokes on there

They had lots of big names for narrators.

They also had Ringo Starr and Alec Baldwin!

Wow that sounds awesome!

I wish that kids shows today had those kinds of big names haha.

Have you ever seen the show That 70s Show

I have.

I still quite enjoy it when I see re-runs.

Apparently they tried to create a version of it for the UK Market.

Although it was only lasting about 10 episodes then they cancelled it.

It was called days like these.

And the name sounds really dumb I think

That rarely works.

The only example I can think of that really worked was The Office.

Off topic but do you enjoy going to concerts?

I do like going to concerts.

I went to a lot of them last year actually.

What about you?

I went to Lollapalooza personally

I used to like going a lot but the older I get the less tolerance I have for the rowdy crowds ha ha.

Did you know that The Ramones toured almost nonstop for 20 years and played 2,263 concerts?

Wow that's crazy.

They've been going for so long.

Lincoln Park does a lot of concerts too, 324 in 2001 for instance

That's an insane amount of concerts to play for one year.

I would be beyond exhausted.


hello, how are you?

great, yourself?

i am fine as well.

What is your thought on the first article?

I think it's crazy that an employer wanted to force the guy to go to the meetings!

i think he should be entitled to that money.

No one should have to be fired for not attending a bible study.

It's truly insane!

definitely weird that a company would force something like that on a guy.

do you think hes asking for too much?

I think he is asking for too much but he has to be compensated .

You can't force someone to attend bible studies.

What if the employees had different religious beliefs?

I am completely for compensation.

Sometimes I think the high numbers are good to prevent reoffenders.

It's unfortunate that people use personal reasons to negatively affect an employee.

I completely agree.
Any other article caught your interest?

The other ones are a little more neutral.

It was interesting to learn more about the bible.

Agreed.

I thought that the one about Facebook was a little interesting also.

It is insane that Facebook has a value of 104 billion $

I'd be super upset if I was the guy from Myspace for not buying it when I had the chance.

True.

I am pretty sure that many people don't even recall myspace.

It was gone too fast

I have seen myspace Tom on Instagram before.

I think he travels the world now.

He didn't miss out too bad

Not bad.
At least he is enjoying his life

Imagine being a part of either of those companies at their heights?

Short career and set for life.

Must be nice

Dream come true for sure

The other thing that caught my eye is how tiny the underwater cables are.

I always knew about them but they are so unsubstantial.

Someone bad could really disconnect the world quick.

Unicef will donate a day of clean water to a child in need for every minute you do not use your cell phone.

I wonder how many people would do this to make an impact

I didn't know that was a thing.

I wonder if they base it on your normal usage?

I know I'm not on my phone THAT much.

They'd be donating plenty of water for me.

I feel like I can do better when it comes to that.

It's a great cause


do you watch tv?

Yes I do.
DId you ever see the SImpsons?

Yes I do.

There is an episode where Bart does not appear

Yes and he is not even mentioned in it too

Yeah .
How about That 70s SHow?

Yes I have seen it but it did not do well in the UK

Yes they cancelled it after 10 episodes because it was made verbatim

Yeah.

Did you know there are 750 episodes of Pokemon?

Yes and they have been on air for 16 years

Yeah , have you seen any of the episodes?

I have seen maybe 50 of them, but that is it

Yeah me too, not too many.
Did you ever watch Thomas the Tank?

Yes, Alec Baldwin did the voice for about 52 episodes of it

Yeah.
Do you like country music?

I do.

Did you know George Strait and Jeff Bezos are cousins?

Small world.

THere are only two african-americans in their music hall of fame

Yeah too bad.

Henry FOrd funded country music for fear that jazz would take over

Wow.

U2 once opened during a concert for themselves but they were in disguise

Yes they posed as the Dalton Brothers from Gavelston Texas, that was in 1987

Yes funny.

Did you know the fender stratocaster was for the country music

WOw so much cool stuff.
So nice chatting with you.


Hi, there.
How are you on this fine fine evening?

Great!

Hope you're doing well!

Do you by chance happen to be a fan of Elvis?

I am and thinks he deserves the medal of freedom!

I don't know much about Elvis.

Is he really dead, or is he living with the aliens at Area 51?

Not sure.

Medal of Freedom?

Now?

It's hard to believe he's never received one considering his legendary status!

Although many didn't like him because they believe he appropriated black culture and music.

The man was talented, and certainly relied on the culture of other Americans for his stylings.

Agreed, after all he was raised in poverty practically alongside African Americans in Tupelo, Mississippi!

You can't blame the man for being influenced by his surroundings as a child.

He didn't have no choice in the matter.

He could have growed up to be a country singer, if he had been born elsewheres.

So true!

Are you into country music at all?

Crazy to think in 2009 it was the most  listened to genre during the evening rush hour traffic.

Guess it's good for clearing your mind.

It's a spirited, wholesome, American genre, and the folks want to be inspired on their way down the highway.

Agreed!

All started by working class Americans as well!

Crazy to think Henry Ford of all people helped finance country music all because of fears over the urban decadence of jazz music.

Those jazzbos were bringing America down!

People could have ended up having a sense of rhythm!

Ford was right to try to put the kibosh on it.

It's amazing how far the genres come over the years and the family trees that have grown, like George Strait and Jeff Bezos being cousins.

That's so weird!

Can George Strait hold a candle to the Ramones though?

They played over 2,000 concerts.

Non-stop, 20 years.

That's a good question.

I don't even think he can hold a candle to U2.

Heck they even pretended to be a country band opening for themselves one time.

That's too funny.

I guess they got bored playing the same old songs, so they decided to play different same old songs.

Agreed.

Would love to see them in concert one day.

I would hope it's not like that one Creed concert that was so godawful, four of the attendees actually filed a lawsuit against the band.

I figure Creed deserved it.

They should spend some time playing to empty amphitheaters.

No kidding!

Would also love to hear someone like Ringo Starr.

Speaking of which, did you know he is one of the narrators for the Thomas the Tank Engine show?

Ringo was a man of great talents, plus a distinct voice.

Have you enjoyed chatting this evening?

I have!

Agreed.

He most certainly was.

I'm surprised south park never parodied him considering they like to parody everyone.

In fact, the south park producers actually received flowers from the Simpson's crew after the Family Guy episode!

The South Park guys haven't gotten around to him yet.

Agreed.

Maybe they will.

Or even the Simpson's could possibly do so.

That's one of my favorites.

Hard to believe there's actually an episode where Bart doesn't appear or is mentioned at all.

Bart probably went on strike for wages.

Ha!

Probably so!

There are so many great tv shows out there, namely cartoons like Pokemon which has aired over 750 episodes.

That's mind blowing!


hi how are you tonight?

Good, how about you?

I'm great!
What do you think of the Bible?
One of the best selling books around.

5 Billion sold!

Yes, boy, the author must have made a fortune in royalties!

LOL I'd love to read Jefferson's version of the book.

Roosevelt and adams did not swear in using bible

i believe they used the constitution of the US.

they thought they owed allegiance to the law and the people.

Ahhh, makes sense.

Soldiers carried metal plated bibles in ww2

yeah, i bet they were a bit heavy.

Before 1963 it was not uncommon for students  to read from the bible as part of their elementary education.

I figure that schools have changed quite a bit.

Heavy but they had designed pockets to fit and protect their hearts!

that is a good design!

the soldiers probably kept it on themselves all the time then.

Apparently they believed it could stop a bullet.

it couldnt hurt.

might help.

plus it would give them courage and confidence.

Did you know that the biblical tower of babel was likely based on a real building?

Wow, is that building gone?

the etemenanki should still be in modern-day iraq!

That would be sad.

Did you hear about the painter who is suing because they told him bible study is required?

i understand his feelings.

no one should be forced to learn a religion he doesnt accept.

that is wrong.

I would just sue for a few years pay, not 800,000 though.

I guess he wants to punish them?

teach them a lesson?

sometimes numbers are just to scare people into settling.

Anyway, great chat!

Yes, good information.

I am sure he will win as it is against the law to discriminate.

I wish him well.
He has a good cause.
Have a good night!

Have a good night.

Thanks! Bye!

Bye


Hi there!
Do you like Elvis?

Hey I do like Elvis.

Interesting that Trump was going to give him the presidential medal of freedom

Yes, it's an interesting move that can be interpreted as playing to his base of Middle Americans when it's also honoring someone who bridged racial and cultural divides.

Yep I could see that.

I think I should put Elvis on TV more, what about you?

Yes, especially his 1968 comeback special, which he used to speak out against injustice with his music.

I'm sure his career would've played out differently in the age of the music video.

Oh I definitely think so.

I wonder if his videos were recorded in black and white or in color though?

it's how TV started you know, in black and white

Things were a lot more black and white back then, in more ways than one.

Can you imagine a show like Pokemon in black and white?

You need color to keep things interesting when you makes over 750 episodes.

It'll be hard to keep track of Pikachu!

And that's a lot of episodes, also I know the Simpsons have a lot of episodes, have you seen the one that bart does not appear in

I have not--I'm more of a South Park fan.

Did you know that the crew of the Simpsons sent the South Park crew flowers after they aired their episode that made fun of Family Guy?

I did know that.

I watch that episode and it was awesome!

If you ever watched the show Thomas the Tank Engine?

I feel like I caught bits and pieces on PBS when I was a little kid.

I remember Ringo Starr being the narrator, but apparently George Carlin and Alec Baldwin have also narrated at least 52 episodes each.

Yeah you're right.

I want to listen to George Carlin he's so funny!

Have you ever seen the show That 70s Show by the way?

I

Well I don't know if you did, but anyway it was canceled after only 10 episodes after they tried to adapt it for the UK Market LOL

I was going to say yes, I thought the humor was a bit silly, and I guess it didn't translate culturally overseas.

Kind of like exporting country music--I doubt it's the most-listened to rush hour radio genre in the evening in the UK like it was in the US in 2009.

Yes I agree, it's weird though that they're only two black Country Music Hall of Famers, why do you think that is?

I think it might have something to do with it blending popular songs, Irish and Celtic fiddle tunes, traditional English ballads, cowboy songs, and musical traditions of European immigrants that were familiar for white working class Americans.

Yep you're right I think, what about the Fender Stratocaster?

I actually have played one before, I never knew that they were intended originally for country music

That's cool--I guess rock and roll and country music have a lot in common.

U2 even opened for themselves for a few shows in 1987 posing as country musicians.

That is interesting, I wonder why they perform in Disguise like that?

I also wonder why Henry Ford was trying to finance country music to oppose jazz music?

Considering his interest in power and industry, he probably thought it was more practical for working America than the "urban decadence" of jazz music.

Yes I think you're right.

You ever go to concerts by the way?

I would love to go to a Pink Floyd concert but I don't think that they tour anymore


Hi do did you watch a lot tv in the 90s?

I did!

Mainly the Simpsons though, how about you?

I was a big Simpsons fan!

Also loved South Park and Family Guy when it came out.

Did you see what the Simpsons crew did whey South Park aired its Family Guy episode finale?

Didn't they send them flowers from the Simpson's crew?

Yes!

Did you know that there was only 1 episode of the Simpsons where Bart was neither mentioned or appeared?

I wish I knew which one it was to show others!

That is so crazy!

Do you like the show Pokemon?

I do remember watching that one!

I think they are still making new episodes.

I believe it!

They have made 750 episodes so far, that's like 50 a years for 16 years straight!

Nice!

Here's one for you...can you name the 3 voice actors who narrated Thomas the Tank for at least 52 episodes each.

Was it Ringo Starr, George Carlin, and Alex Baldwin?

You got it!
do you remember "That 70's show"?

I loved that show!
How did it do in the UK though?

It was called Days Like These in the UK and it was cancelled after 10 episodes.

Are you a country music fan?

That is crazy!

They must not appreciate American humor haha.

I love country music, how about you?

I like it!

First music concert I ever went to was the Oak Ridge Boys when I was kid.

Country music legend George Strait and the wealthiest man in the world Jeff Bezos are cousins!

That is so cool!

Country music has come a long way though.

There are only 2 african americans in the country music hall of fame though.

I wonder who they are?

Henry Ford helped finance the popularization of country music due to his fears over the "urban decadence" of jazz music.

I'm not sure.

I can imagine Henry Ford doing that haha.

What other concerts have you been too?

I know in 2002, creed put on a concert so bad they were sued haha.

That must have been a bad show!
I wish I could have seen the Ramones.

You had the chance to lol they play over 2263 concerts!

That is almost a nonstop tour for 20 years!

No doubt!
Linkin Park played 324 shows in 2001!

That is insane too!

Anyways, I had a great chat, have an awesome day!