The Miscellaneous Files

Bigfoot (America), Yeti (Himalayan) or Almasty (Russian) - take your pick of tall, totally hairy, bipedal, mysterious creatures, but the lure is real. I have been fascinated for quite some time with the culture of Bigfoot, known also as Sasquatch  - from Halkomelem (Salishan), a native language of the Pacific Northwest, sæsq'ec. Because of the lack of evidence like a body, hair (for dna testing) or undeniable video proof - scientists will deny Bigfoot's existence and attribute a sighting to folklore, misidentification or a ruse. There have been many documentaries, reality programs and books produced that present the real possibility of Bigfoot's existence but end either on the negative or unclear side of the mystery. Are we dealing with a Mass Psychological Manipulation? Some people have taken advantage of the Bigfoot Lore and developed footprints and even suits to persuade the population. But what if we have both a real entity and hoaxers manipulating the people. T

In sports, in particular, football and basketball, two versions of timeouts need to be eliminated: TV timeouts and "Icing" timeouts. For a long time now I have been of the opinion that "Icing" a free throw player from the foul line in basketball or a field goal kicker in football by calling a timeout from the sideline should be deemed an  Unsportsmanlike Foul . True, coaches call-in plays to have their own players do what they want on the field, but to have their influence on the other team via a technical aspect instead of a strategic aspect is just uncalled for in my book. The other timeout elimination involves TV Timeouts. Listen, players start with little league basketball, football and other sports and go through High School and some College without any TV coverage, therefore no TV Timeouts. So, why not do away with those timeouts all together and do what I have seen NASCAR and Formula 1 racing do - they provide a split screen with the live action runnin

In my humble opinion, the Presidential election does not have anybody worth voting for. I don't even think the phrase - The lesser of two evils - applies here because they both are so terrible. It is a matter of picking your brand of deception and corruption. On the one hand there is Trump with no morals and his inexperience in dealing with government related programs. His mode of operation is to buy his way everywhere he goes and say the first thing on the tip of his tongue, which is dangerous and stupid, a bad combination. Then there is H.Clinton. This woman has been exposed to governmental programs and people, but every time I see her or hear about her she is trying to put out a fire personally or nationally. Exposure does not always equal experience. To me it boils down to how you handle an exposed issue while exposed yourself and she strikes out every time. She and her family have a history of lying. Not a good trait to have going into a Presidential Election. So, tak

I believe a number of us basketball fans could have earned a few thousand dollars and maybe landed a contract on the Warrior's bench by coaching better than Kerr did last night for the final game.  When it has come down to Game 7 out of 7, the game is tight (one point lead or so) - you don't keep allowing a dry-shooting-well like Harrison Barnes (bless his heart) to keep shooting! Say, "Barnes, sorry, but unless you have a clear layup - don't shoot!" Just too inconsistent. Where in the world was Curry? His head was not in the game from go! Bad decisions with passes. Air-balls. Bricks. Careless ball-handling which led to turnovers. No defense, especially on the winning shot. Things you don't normally hear associated with an MVP. Green was the only player really keeping them in the game, especially in the first half. Why do teams walk away from things that are working or that have worked in the past? Green was awesome from three-point land in the first

Is there a price for peace? I guess for those who sell your kind of peace, the answer is yes. Otherwise, the price for peace are the hardships we travail. Hopefully, many of us have a peaceful remedy to our bumpy life sometimes. How you deal with the pressures of life says a lot about you, your up-bringing, and how well you cope with certain issues. In recalling Jordan Spieth's golf game come absolutely "unglued" at The Masters, the ideas of Pressures, Price and Peace came to mind. How he dealt with the issue when it was occurring and then the aftermath was respectable. Jordan's golf tragedy reminded me of what some people's days might look like. Swing after swing, stroke after stroke Jordan could not have anything go right. Some people have days like that - one might "wake-up on the wrong side of the bed", have a vocal disagreement with the boss, miss an appointment, wife will be home late, one of the kids was in a car accident, dinner has t

I have seen a few movies as of late - The Martian, Hateful Eight and The Revenant. If you care to read further, the following are my reviews. I like to scale moves on a 1-10 weight system with 10 being that you would go out and buy the movies to watch over and over, not just to collect dust. The Martian was a mix of Apollo 13 and Cast Away to me (also two excellent films to own). It had technical ingredients (Apollo 13) and survivor ingredients (Cast Away) paired nicely with science and math leading the way. It did not hurt that with these normally dry subjects, science and math, came humor that Matt Damon delivered right on time. Although I do not own it at this writing - I give it a 10! The Hateful Eight was a good story-line (you can hear the but coming can't you?), BUT, the movie was too long and like the Director's previous movies contained the "N" word I do not care for - among other foul language. Really the movie could have been sliced in half ti

Hackers, why do people have to be that way? Their answer is "because we can". That is not good enough for me. I have the ability to pull a pistol out and shoot you in the head, but that does not mean I should - just because I can. People like this are "short-cutters" in life. Any way possible they are looking for not only the path of least resistance, but also a way to cheat the system for max benefit. One of the things that bothers me is the idea that these hackers are receiving goodies that us "normal Joes" work hard for. Case-in-point is the hacking of video games. Even though players have different styles of play, like slow-and-methodical or rush-through or somewhere in-between, there are those who are going to by-pass the regular way of doing things. Whether this by-passing makes them feel special, elite or invincible - not everyone is privy to this mindset and skill-set.  There are many that have a mindset or skill-set that hold an advantage

Many ice-breakers have the question of - What are some of your interests? - included in the mix to get things started. I have many interests. Some are hobbies, which I consider interests that I come back to from time-to-time. Then there is the Healthy Hobby. The Healthy Hobby to me is the more serious interest one may have in his/her life. It is something that we do a whole lot more regularly than the standard hobby and it stands out because it is good for you. For example, you might walk or run on a regular basis, but if you had a particularly rough day at work, you might take that regular run/walk and spice it up and do it in a State Park or somewhere special or with someone special. Cooking and singing are other examples of Healthy Hobbies that help keep life going in a positive direction and aide in relieving stress. So, if you haven't already, I encourage you to find a Healthy Hobby and enjoy it to the fullest. What? Mine? Well, thank you for asking...mine is singing.

To me one of the most addictive games I have owned, The Division is a love/hate relationship. In my experience with the game, I have lost track of how many times the servers have booted me from the game and sometimes all the way back to my Playstation screen (with the option to report the issue). I see Delta , Mike and other named errors in my sleep because they have been so frequent. Why does Ubisoft make such glitchy games? Why can they not get their product right or closer to right the first time? I understand with games there are going to be some patches, no matter who the developer is. However as many issues as this game displayed, it leads me to believe that there was a "rush job" on the front end. Ubisoft is in danger with me and I would venture to guess, sarcastically, a few more - of potentially losing some followers if they don't get their act straight. Highly acclaimed AC Unity and now highly praised Division are strike one and strike two in my book again