That story was an awful one. I heard the victim and the shooter knew each other, but I can't say any personal dispute would justify the shooting.


Oh so that was the story behind it. That is odd. I guess the police must of killed the gunman while he ran if they didn't figure out a motive.


They have detectives looking into the motive, so they'll probably find out something from friends or family. What a sad thing to be questioned about.


Yeah, its crazy here in the states. Shootings seem to be every where. Even concerts.


It's not just shootings, though. There are other problems like hit-and-runs. A 21 year old recently died in one of those.


Yeah, hit and runs freak me out. You could be having car trouble and be hit by someone just not paying attention. One guy hit a parked car on the side of the road and kept going, but he was caught later.


I'm glad they caught him. People like that who don't take responsibility and leave others to die for something they did are dangerous.


Yeah, they shouldn't allow him to drive after that either. I think he was driving a Nissan pathfinder.


I wonder if that was how they were able to identify and catch him. Cars are frequently notable in cases like that. The Amber Alert case we talked about before noted a white Infiniti was one of their leads.


More than likely. I'm sure most cars have something in it or on it to identify it from similar models. I mean if they have little arrows next to your fuel symbol to tell you where yours gas cap is then anything is possible.


Including mounting flame-throwers on your car, if you're in South Africa.


That is crazy! I'd be afraid the car would blow up or set everything on fire. That makes me wonder what Google's self driving car's "aggressive mode" does.


Hopefully nothing with flamethrowers! I imagine it makes the car more willing to change lanes and go around other cars to get to a destination faster, rather than just taking the safest route and staying behind slower drivers.


That actually makes sense. I don't think hey should call it aggressive mode however.


I agree. It puts me in mind of a road-raging AI car. Or maybe an angry, evil Transformer!


I sure do, my favorite store is Amazon, and you?


me too. Do you shop their AmazonBasics line?


I agree.Did you know Jeff built a clock on a mountain?


Yeah and I guess it is supposed to run for 10 000 years. wow


Yeah. Did you know they deliver on Sundays as well now?


Yeah all thanks to that contract they signed with USPS


Yeah so convenient. Their workers seem to walk lots, up to 15 miles a day


Yeah it explains why they are one of the top companies now, lots of work there


Yeah they seem to have expanded to include lots of stuff nowadays


I sued to, they made a bad decision not buying Facebook for just $75 million


Exactly. Do you know the like button is illegal in parts of Germany?


I wonder why though. DO you know why it is blue?


Yes because Mark is colorblind but can see blue


Yeah. Did you hear Iceland is using Facebook to rewrite the constitution?


Wow I wonder how that is working for them, seems too transparent


Yeah I know. Did you hear about that Burger KIng promotion of unfriending people on Facebook?


hey there, do you every do any shopping on amazon?


Hello, I use Amazon all the time. Its a lot cheaper to shop on there. That is if you dont mind waiting a few days for your item.


That is true. But if it need be they will deliver on sundays as well.


Yeah thats helpful. I do most of my Christmas shopping on Amazon. Everything is so much cheaper. I got my kids these 7 foot bean bags with memory foam in them for less than 200 bucks. Great deal.


Oh yeah. Its funny how they started out as an online book store and became the worlds largest internet retailer, based on revenue and market capitalization.


Yeah and they are so busy now all the time that their warehouse workers walk 7 to 15 km a day


Thats not really surprising, I worked at a car parts factory delivering parts to the line and I pulled pallets at least 15 miles every day. I heard that Amazons first customer only spent around 30 bucks and they named a building after him. That would be cool.


yeah not too bad. the ceo of amazon built a clock in a mountain that runs for 10000 years.


Yeah that would be a facebook post if I ever saw one. Lol. Talk about making money. Facebook is right up there with Amazon in that regard.


I had one in the early days, can hardly even remember it though, to be honest. did hear that Myspace could have bought facebook in the early days for 75 million dollars and turned it down. Bad business decision.


That is indeed bad business. Others like iceland are using facebook to reach to people to rewrite the constitution


I think thats just crazy. I mean its a good idea but it may be giving one company too much power of persuasion over people. I know they are making the posts, but you cant tell me if facebook wanted to they couldnt put the right ads in there to persuade people the way they want them to go with it. Not that Facebook would do something like that. Just a thought.


that is true, not sure how they are going about it. do you like to read?


I dont have anything against reading. I just dont read much. Unless you count bedtime for my son. I try to read a book with him every night before bed.


that is really nice. there is a woman who holds the record for speed reading.


Thats cool. I think her record is like 4700 words per minute. I wonder how they test it to be sure she actually read all she said she did for the record.


Maybe they ask her after, what she has read? Nonetheless that is really fast.


I would say she takes a comprehension test on what she read to make sure she read that much. Yeah that is fast though.


For sure. It was nice chatting with you.


Hi, do you have a means of transportation like a car?


I am more of an SUV type myself.  Though they say part of the definition of a car is one that can sit 1 to 8 people. So that seems like it can hold enough for me to have a car.


Yes, that sounds right. Isn't it interesting that Mcdonalds added the drive thru because soldiers were not allowed to get out of their cars while wearing fatigues.


I didn't know that!  Another fun little fact is it is actually legal in South-Africa to have a flame thrower right on their car to prevent carjacking.  That's pretty scary.


Yes that is pretty scary!  On a lighter note though, birds are also known as Aves.  Never heard of that term though.


No, I haven't either. I love to watch birds! There so colorful and make different sounds. I like the humming birds, how smart are  to use spiderwebs to repair their nests.


That makes me feel better about spiderwebs than!  Hummingbirds are one of the smallest ones out there!  The bee hummingbird is only 2 inches long!


I know, they are so cute with their fast fluttering wings. I didn't realize birds bones are so hollow that they weigh less than the feathers. But it makes sense.


That must help them to fly even easier!  I thought I noticed a hummingbird while I was driving to a concert this past weekend.


Aww,, really. We have a feeder, interesting to watch! Its a long trip for birds to fly from Alaska to northern Mexico without sleep when migrating!


I can't imagine not getting any sleep.  I wouldn't be able to do that without a nap at least.


Its just so far for a bird. Nature is a wonder! Like the extinct dodo bird. Now when I think of it, I can see the why its a sub-family of the pigeon.


I can see that resemblance also.  When I got to outdoor concerts, which can be like an amphitheater, you can see plenty of birds.


The outside ones, if you buy popcorn they will try and get it.  I love to go to outdoor concerts. Some of the ones I have been to have fireworks also. Lots of fun!!


Yes they are fun!  In Croatia, they still use an ancient roman amphitheater for concert venues!


That would be impressive to go to. I would love that! Some of the performers have to play a lot of gigs each year, it can be non-stop for them.


Yes that has to be fun, but tiring!  The Ramones played 2,263 concerts non stop for over 20 years!


Tha's is a lot. Some performers have toured for over 30 years and still doing it. Recording in the roman amphitheater in Pompeii would be interesting! Good chat!!


Smartphones and teens, this sure is a problem.


It is a problem, but I'd have to argue, not only restricted to problems for teens, adults as well! However, I think social media usage is a problem


I  agree, did you know that 89% of a group of teens surveyed sayd they were online constantly, I think social media really plays a trick on us.


The results are even more interesting when you dive deeper into the survey results, because social media usage has relatively no positive or negative effect on someone.


I dont know about that, a teen said that people are killing each other because of social media and the attention, I must say I agree.


Wow, killing, that is pretty extreme! I can see how social media usage can have a negative impact on people. People might be jealous of the curated postings and trigger people to become vicious or envious.


Or just looking for the attention like the school shooters, well at least thats my opinion, and it looks like girls are connected more than guys.


What do you mean by "girls are connected more than guys?"


ok so in a 2014-2015 survey, about 50% of girls said they were online constantly while a 39% of the boys were online constantly as well


oh I see. thanks for clarifying. This constant online usage really affects people's perception of "fitting in" and loneliness I think. However, in another light, teens used these platforms to communicate with another during the Parkland shootings


I get that, I think that it can help teens feel less lonely, and gives them a way to express their opinions as well.


Yes, but I think it also makes teens feel more lonely when they see events from peers of hanging out at certain places or doing certain things. It's amazing to see the large decline in social media platform usage, from Facebook dominance to Instagram now


Its amazing how the internet has evolved, that is for sure, there is a 3g service on top of Mt Everest.


Wow! I wonder if cellphones can even operate normally in those climates, whether there'll be battery issues.


I think my ears would freeze before I could have a conversation up there. Did you know there is a copy of the internet stored?


Haha, thats true! Oh really? I did not know that, do you know whether the copy has ever been needed for whatever reason? Or the purpose of why it is being stored as a copy?


I think it hasnt, its there as a safety meassure, can you imagine the caos if the internet went down?


That would be very problematic! I'm surprised that there are 7% of people who read the full terms and conditions when presented with signing up for service, I thought it'd be less than that.


I didnt read mine lol, contracts tend to be too long and then we get screwed by that fine print.


I'm guilty of the same thing. I think that was the case for the Facebook data scandal last year.


I didnt gear about that scandal, I did know there is town in Germany were the like button is illegal


Hello there, I do, I use it quite a bit.  How about you?


i love amazon!  Use their shopping site all the time and most of their other services as well.


Did you know that they have a contract with the USPS to deliver on Sundays?


I guess they also hold a patent on 1-click buying, thats interesting.


Thats interesting you can patent that,  I need a button to patent lol


Yeah right lol, did you know that Best Buy and Target both price match Amazon?


Thats smart on their part.  I still order from amazon though,  going shopping nowadays is a hassle.


Yeah it is nice to be able to sit in your home and compare prices and get the products in no more than two days for most things.


I know right!  And find exactly what you are looking for!  No need to ask about aisles and locations.


No hassle, on a different subject do you use Facebook?


Yeah I do, it is very useful for running my soccer teams, posting game times, scores, etc.


Nice.  its way more than it started out to be,  it used to be so college kids can communicate with each other,  now it is so much more.


Yeah I started mine back in college when it first came out and its so much bigger now.


I think I have read about that, so funny a government would do that.  Did you hear about the BK promotion?


Yeah I probably would, theres a few I don't talk to anyways lol.


Same here lol.  Its been good chatting, gotta run.


I use Amazon all of the time. It's hard to believe that it started off as an online book company at this point.


I know they have really grown a lot. the first customer even got a building named after him


That person is lucky. Did you know that as of 2005 they have surpassed Wal-Mart as the most valuable retailer?


I am not surprised. their workers walk 7 to 15 miles a day thats is how busy they are


That's very busy. I wish they would pay them accordingly. Jeff Besos is so rich that he built a clock into a mountain that should run for 10,000 years.


I winder why he did that though. He is also cousing with a very famous country singer.


No idea. I did not know that. Who is that?


I cannot remember the name but he is very famous.did you know amazon also owns IMDB?


I was just made aware of that recently. I use IMDB constantly and didn't know. It's not reflected on the website anywhere.


yeah apparently they have owned it since 1998


Wow! I would never have guessed that. Do you happen to have a Facebook account?


I do but I ma on less and less because it has become so toxic. They had 2.2 billion users as of January 2018!


yeah, what a loss for myspace too though. they passed the opportunity to buy it for very cheap back in the day


Yes I heard that could have bought it for &75 million in 2005. That was a terrible business decision.


very much so since myspace has really sunk now and facebook is makingbillions


Agreed. Do you know why the color scheme of Facebook is primarily blue?


That is correct. I do like the color scheme. Had you heard that Iceland took public suggestions on Facebook when rewriting their constitution? That seems like a bad idea.


I do not know maybe that is th ebest way for the people to gt in touch with them? not sure


I'm sure but I tend not to trust the opinions of a lot of people on Facebook.


Do you think weather forecast are usually accurate? because if you do, the DC area is in need of umbrellas.


Yes it is more and more accurate. In my opinion. Indeed, it looks like it will rain for the next days in Washington.


It looks like it theres a lot of clouds and then the forecast says theres going to be a lot of rain on Sunday, will just have to wait and see if its accurate.


It seems that you can have the weather on an Alexa device, did you ever tried it ?


I have, I actually have a Fire Tablet and Alexa is an upstanding gal, she delivers and is usually correct


I was asking more about how it was easy to use an Alexa device to get the weather, I don't think your tablet has enough computing power to do a weather prediction.


Oh I see,well maybe it got the forecasts from other sources, Amazon sure is a big company now a days, what are your thoughts on Jeff Bezos?


I think he deserve the success that Amazon has. For a big company it still has a relatively good reputation.


I agree, I think he is really smart the company has grown a lot and in a great part its because of him, it started as a bookstore but now it will sell just about anything


Yeah, I don't think I will ever use all Amazon's services even IMDB belongs to amazon.


I see, I didnt know IMDB also belonged to Amazon, the first costumer on Amazon spent $27  and got a building named after him, what a bargain!


It must have been a book. At that time, books were expensive. What kind of things do you buy form Amazon ?


I buy groceries, tech stuff, I dont really like buying clothes there but I buy a lot of things in Amazon, it has great prices and a wide selection of brands


I don't buy groceries, Amazon has not implemented this service where I live, nor the Sunday delivery of packages.


I see, well what do you buy in Amazon? you do use the service right?


Mainly to buy things like tools for the maintenance of my bike, board games and books (and e-books). Do you read books ?


I do like reading, do you have any recommendations?


I read classics since they are often free in e-book forms. David Copperfield is a great classic that has influenced a lot of authors. And you,what do you read ?


I just read Starship Troopers is an old book but I thought it was interesting, I like to read science fiction books.


Did you read Ender's Game ? It seems in the same vein as Starship Troopers.


I havent, but now that I finished with Starship Troopers I might watch it, I thought the movie was alright hopefully the book is better.


Science-fiction books are also popular in the military, Starship troopers and Ender's Game are on the suggested list of the marines.


Yeah I heard they were on the list of recommendations, CS Lewis is also one of my favorite authors.


I did not read Alice in Wonderland , is it still good. Lewis and Tolkien met often, it is strange to think that that knew each other.


Yeah they actually had competitions on who would read laugh first reading terrible poems.


Did you know MySpace turned down an offer to buy Facebook for $75M? Bet they regret that one.


No doubt since Facebook was valued at $104 billion in Feb. 2012.


THat's so crazy to imagine. So much money. Zuckerburg used blue as the main color on the site because he suffers from colorblindness.


I never knew that!  I can't believe it's been around 15 years already since he founded the company in 2004.


Wow. I still remember opening my account. Seems like yesterday. Iceland is rewriting their constitution through Facebook so the public can make changes and suggestions.


That's pretty neat.  Facebook's "like" button is illegal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.  I wonder why?


Hmmmm, no idea. That seems really weird. Burger King once had a promotion where you could get a free Whopper by unfriending 10 people.


Nice.  I would have racked up quite a few free whoppers.  ...with cheese please!  lol


Haha. So do you like Whoppers more than Big Macs? McDonalds added the drive thru in 1975 to accommodate soldiers who were not allowed to get out of their cars while wearing fatigues.


I do like whoppers better.  lol  I had no idea it was that late.  I'm surprised I don't remember them not having them.  The trunk of  cars became to be known that because in the old days people used to carry wooden trunks on the back of their cars.


Interesting. In South Africa you can equip your car with a flamethrower to prevent carjackers. Wonder if oil slicks are ok?


LOL  Did you hear how Jann Mardenborough became a pro race car driver?


They beat 90,000 people in the Gran Turismo video game!


That's awesome. I've always thought video games could get me somewhere! Did you know Cadillacs are names after the French explorer who founded Detroit? Pretty cool.


I didn't know that.  How cool!  Do you play monopoly?


I was just playing with my daughter last week. I heard Nick Cage convinced Johnny Depp to pursue acting while playing Monopoly.


Nice!  The longest game of monopoly lasted 70 days!  Whoa!


I think I've played a few games that were close to that. Haha.


lol  Me too!  Every sweepstakes must legally have a free method of entry and that's why you can get free McDonalds monopoly pieces by mail!


Monopoly is actually outlawed in North Korea and Cuba for being so clearly capitalist.


I can believe it. It's been fun chatting with you!


hey theer did you ever play the game monopoly?


Yes, I love that game though it'll take a long time before anyone ever becomes bankrupt. Do you?


ya I played it as a kid, don't think we were ever able to finish a game though, you?


Yeah, it takes too long, the longest game of monopoly lasted 70 days! Did those people not have other commitments or they were trying to break a world record or something?


lol thats way too much time, I liked playing the mcdonalds monopoly too did you?


I don't think I've every played that probably because it seemed impossible to win anything to me, did you ever win anything as a result?


I think I got free fries one time lol, apparently you can get free pieces by mail though


Oh wow, do you know when the next McDonald's monopoly offer is? I'd give it a try. Do you agree that the game Monopoly can be used as a teaching tool about the injustices of capitalism?


I guess it could be, it's funny that it was banned in russia, china and north korea because of capitalism lol


Yeah, how are kids going to learn! Speaking of China, Facebook is banned there and in another region, the "like" button is actually illegal


well that is silly, I think that is in the german state schleswig-holstein right?


Yeah, I have no idea how to pronounce that. What do you think they use in place of that "like" button or any theories why it's illegal, it seems to promote positivity though


no I have no idea, I do know why facebook is blue though


I think it was because Mark Zuckerburg is color blind?


yup exactly, did you do the facebook burger king thing back in the day?


No, I did not know about it back then and probably wouldn't have participated, it seems a bit harsh, did you?


haha I would hav edone it with people I don't like on fb lol, id get that free whopper


Haha, I love whoppers and if it's free, I especially love! McDonald's was the one to start the drive-thru trend because they wanted to accommodate soldiers who weren't allowed to get out of their cars while wearing their uniforms. I use it a lot to this day! Great invention!


haha yes I want to use it right now! weird it was invented in 1975 you'd think itd have happened earlier


I'm not sure but imagine if they patented it or trademarked it, that would be a great income!


yes! Speaking of which I'm goign to go to a drive through now, see ya :)


I do, I love listening to the radio, what about you?


I personally find the technology behind radios to allow for the transference of sound to be intriguing. However, I myself have never really used the radio


You have never used a radio? how can that be!! and it is intriguing I wonder who discovered those waves and decided to use them.


I am interested in the uses of radios in both history and in space as soldier made radios with just a razorblade and pencil. However, I found no need to use the radio since I had computers and phones


Yeah  I guess radios are becoming obsolete, there was a ventriloquist show on the radio back in 1930, sounds kind of silly to me though


Well I don't completely think radios are obsolete. There is even a free website to listen to thousands of classic radio drama. With the surge in audiobook and listening to literary works, maybe previous radio dramas may surge as well


There is a radio station that picks up solar activity I wonder what station is that, it would be cool but eventually become boring.


I think it would be as boring as a Finnish radio broadcasting entirely in classical latin


Yeah I wouldnt understand a word of it, you know that the sun is so massive it makes up 99% of the mass of our entire solar system


Then I wonder how much mass the biggest star discovered in our galaxy would be. After all it is 1 billion times bigger than our sun


Wow, that big! it must cover a big percentage as well, I would love to see the sunset on Mars though


Does Mars have an atmosphere? Without one, the sunset should look white


The sunset is supposed to be blue, it must be a really nice landscape to watch.


Wow! A blue sunset? It seems beautiful just imagining it.


It does seem beautiful, you know the equator actually rotates at a faster rate than the poles, I thought it was the other way around.


is it because of the centripetal force, the distance for rotation at the poles is less than at the equator, leading to a faster rotation rate at the equator?


Wow that sure is an interesting explanation thanks, our sun sure is interesting.


I agree and what makes it even more important is how it alone basically supports life with a nearly infinite amount of energy


I think about the perfection of the sun, its almost a perfect sphere that provides us with the energy every living things needs to survive


I couldn't agree more. In any case, thank you for this enjoyable chat about the sun.


how's it going? Do you watch much tv, it's fascinating how they are able to transmit moving images


Hi! It is fascinating but I dont think people pay much attention as to how it works. Do you like sitcoms?


Yea, I'm a huge south park fan. When they did the family guy episode the simpsons sent the creators flowers


How funny! I like watching old reruns of Seinfeld. Apparently Julie Louis Dreyfus won the Mark Twain Prize for Humor.


Yea I love Seinfeld and she is very funny and well deserving of the Mark Twain Prize


I didnt realize she was 57 years old. Do you like Mark Twain?


Not familiar with much of his work besides what is common knowledge


Most people know him as a writer but he did a lot of stuff. He was one of the first people to patent suspenders.


I didn't know that, he must of made a lot of money from that. I did know he invented the word gullible


I didn't! I suppose we needed a word for it though lol! He was a cat lover as well.


Well we can thank him for the word "swag", or curse him


LMAO! He made that word up too? I had no idea! Apparently he once said that the cherimoya was the most delicious fruit known to man. I have never heard of it but maybe he made up that word too!


I'm interested in trying some cherimoya now, hope it isn't too expensive


I wonder what it tasted like. Have you ever watched the show Shark Tank?


Yes I've seen a few episodes and some clips online


Apparently most of the deals they make are never even enacted. Seems like a waste to me.


Did you know that the only Shakespeare play not made into a tv movie is the two noble kinsmen? I never even heard of it!


No I had no idea. Do you know there are over 750 episodes of pokemon


They average 50 episodes a year for 16 years straight, I didn't even know it has been on that long


It makes a lot of sense that Julia Louis-Dreyfus would win the Mark Twain award, don't you think?


Yeah, I really loved her on Seinfeld, but I actually haven't got into Veep.


I didn't see her often on SNL, but I could see her being pretty great on there as well.


Her role as Elaine will forever be remembered by TV fans everywhere.


I was surprised that she had so many Emmy awards actually, and six of them for Veep alone.


Yeah I believe it is a few more than she got on Seinfeld.


The others on the show, except I guess Seinfeld himself, didn't do a lot of big stuff afterwards.


Even more proof that Julia deserved the award for her continued work in comedy.


Makes me wonder how she kept that drive going for so long.


I think maybe her continued success and the demand for her as a likeable character


I guess seeing how much people love you through these awards helps.


I believe Julia has more awards than any female comedian in history.


Would be interesting to see how she compares to comedians in general. I imagine she's up there towards the top.


She is tops in my book, I absolutely love her.


I don't think I've seen her do stand-up comedy before, do you know if she does?


No I have not, only watched her on Seinfeld.


Yeah, same here. I'll have to look into her a bit more, maybe watch Veep too.


I don't watch awards shows for the most part, so I missed it.


I love the radio! What do you like to listen to on it? I used to listen to country, then rock, but now I like most all types.


i used to listen to the radio a lot. now i dont. i use the internet. i like rock and pop mostly.


I like to watch music videos, too. As a kid I was fascinated with ballroom dancing on TV. Do you like Dancing with the Stars?


dont really like to dance. dont really understand it. DWTS looks interesting but i dont understand it.


I heard DWTS is having a country singer, a comedian, and a blind skiier named Danelle Umstead. That is something I don't understand!


i bet the screening is pretty careful. i dont know how well a blind person can dance but its probably pretty good


A blind person dancing? Perhaps.  A blind person skiiing? How? lol Did you hear some of the comedy roasts about DWTS show? Someone called the host Dustin Offman instead of Hoffman. I also don't get that joke. Do you?


because he is off the beat a lot? i dunno. didnt see him dance. i guess that dustin is not a great dancer?


OK that makes sense then! lol Off beat! Well, the person that's the host is named Tom Bergeron. I think they're both short white guys is how they got grouped together. Nikki Glaser is who said it. I've never seen her comedy before.


ok, i dont know those people. comedy is often difficult to follow without knowing the whole story.


Yes, you're right. My Grandma loves DWTS. I think she likes country radio more, though. From 8 to 8 she's got it on at all times.


at that age, you gotta do the things you love. i dont listen to country but i can see the appeal. friendly warm music. positive stuff.


She grew up on a farm, so I can see it! I heard Mary Lou Retton is also going to be on DWTS. Do you remember her? Famous gymnast and first woman athlete on a box of cereal. I think she's also done comedy skits in SNL.


she was a great gymnast. yes, she would be a good person for that show. im surprised that the fender stratocaster was intended for country music. its used in rock. the telecaster is used in country.


Speaking of country music, did you know that singer George Strait and Jeff Bezos of Amazon are cousins? That family is so rich!!!


i am surprised by the connection. i didnt know that Henry ford helped  the popularization of country music


That's a cool fact! On DWTS do they only have classic and pop music? I wonder if the country singers that go on the show ever dance to their own songs or even the country genre?


true. i guess DWTS has its own kind of music for ball room stuff. maybe CDWTS then? country dancing? line dancing? a different show maybe. anyway, great chat!


I was about to say I wish they had dancing with the horses, but I guess equestrian sports are close! I did see dancing with dogs on a talent show. I go honor my Granny and listen to a country song now for old times sake!


Thanks, you too! After that I'll have to change the mood with a comedy show, though!


I do! I used to love watching 3rd Rock from the Sun. I couldn't believe it won a Golden Globe in 1997 and beat Frasier, Seinfeld, AND Friends.


Cool. I found out recently that the origins of the term comedy has its roots in Ancient Greece. In the Athenian democracy the public opinion of voters was influenced by the political satire that was performed by the comic poets at the theaters.


Sounds like the original Saturday Night Live! It's a fun way to talk about current events and be able to critique ideas without condemning them.


Exactly. Back in Greek comedy they used a dramatic performance that pits two groups against each other in an amusing conflict. That describes most SNL skits to a T.


Yeah, especially when they would use satire to portray people or institutions as absurd or corrupt. Something we can still relate with!


Absolutely. Also, most of those opposing sides were the "Society of Youth" verses the "Society of the Old". That characterizes the comedy struggle between powerless young people against social conventions we now call "The Man".


Totally. I like that you can still listen to comedy on the radio.


I agree. Also, comedy is even incorporated in our technology. The creator of the python programming langue named partly named it to honor the British comedy group "Monty Python".


I do like Monty Python, but not as much as Bill Murray loved his Kung Fu Hustle.


Yeah, I heard that Bill Murray thought that it was the supreme achievement of modern comedy. We still use political satire to portray certain candidates don't we?


Yeah, Saturday Night Live is a good example or The Onion.


It's fun to critique parody's without necessarily condemning those involved. On a side note, are you a Country Music fan?


Not really, but I love guitars. Did you know the Fender Stratocaster was meant to play country music?


Wow, yes imagine that, all of those rock guitar legends out their playing with their Stratocasters would probably disagree but yes, I've head that too. Here's a fun fact, did you know that U2 one of the biggest rock bands ever played country music and were introduced at the Dalton Brothers from Galveston, Texas.  That must have been a hoot to see them disguised in wigs and costumes.


How funny! Aren't they Irish? Or was it Scottish? Can you believe there are only two African American people in the country music hall of fame?


Yes, I believe that. Not many African American people like country music.  Another strange fact I found out is that country music legend George Strait is a cousin to the wealthiest man in world, Jeff Bezos!


I mean, I think that's quite a generalization to say not many African American people like country music. There are a lot of African Americans in the south, and there are a lot of types of country music. Country gets its roots from folk and the blues, after all...


Yes, I apologize for that whopping generalization. You're right, there are many kinds of country music like ballads, folk music, cowboy songs, as well as fiddle tunes.


Yeah, it's simply the folk music of working class Americans.


Yes, I agree. Have a good one, it's been nice chatting with you.


Do you know much about world presidents?


Hi, just a little! For example i have learned about a president that is musician


Yes that is the president of Indonesia right?


Yes he has released 3 albums while in office,  think I am going to do a search for his music


Yeah. Do you know how the VP used to be elected before 1805?


I think It was very different from today, tell me about it!!


Yes it was different, the VP was actually the runner up


I wonder how that worked!! Do you know who have been the wealthiest presidents?


Yes that was JFK, Washington and Jefferson so far


Yes,.. talking about famous people, do you know who Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is?


Yes that is Lady Gaga but that is her full name. Do you know how she got Lady Gaga?


I think is so funny!! those annoying predictive text glitches gave her that name!!


Yeah. Did you hear of that time she worked with the LAPD to keep the community informed?


that was a smart idea because she could tweet her 11.4 million followers!


Yeah that was smart indeed. Do you know which is her favorite band?


She loves Iron Maden!! Nice I really like her song bad romance, what about you?


Yes most of her songs are awesome. She is also the godmother to Elton John's son


And she was on an MTV show called boiling points before she was famous!


Yeah. She did study art though  but dropped out to pursue music


I think is interesting she became really famous after releasing the album : The Fame !!


Haha kind of ironic but it worked for her. It was nice chatting with you


Hey there do you drive a car by the way? Do you know the history of them also?


I do drive quite a bit but I'm a little fuzzy on the history of them. Do you know any cool facts?


I do! Apparently was created by Karl Benz, it was done back in 1886, that is a long time before the Model T that was created by Henry Ford was made, which was back in 1908


Oh wow that is pretty neat. I wonder if Karl Benz was part of the family that started mercedes benz


I think he was. I forget the other person, but I know their last name was Mercedes, and they joined together to make Mercedes-Benz. Do you know why the trunk of the car is called the trunk?


Did the old time cars have a wooden trunk strapped to the back of them or something like that?


Guess you're right! Very smart! I was also shocked that the drive-thru was only created in 1975, it was done by McDonald's, that is such a weird thing you'd think it would have been created earlier than that, it seems so obvious


I think back then it was more of a focus on if you went out to eat you were going as a family and you weren't in such a rush. It was more about the experience than just getting some food.


Yeah that makes sense. I do like the reasoning for McDonald's creating the drive-thru though. It was because soldiers couldn't leave their car in uniform, so they created the drive-through so that they could still eat


Oh wow that is really neat! That is showing respect to those in the armed forces.


Yes I agree. Do you know the history of the founding of Detroit by the way? I live in Michigan so it was interesting for me to learn


Not really. Was there a specific person that founded it or more of an exploring team?


I'm not sure, I think it was probably a team, but the person that was given credit for it, his name was Antoine de la mothe Cadillac. And they got his name and used it for the car brand Cadillac, that is pretty interesting I think


I love cadillacs. We had a cadillac convertible when I was a kid. They were a custom made car. I think they only made about 1500 of them.


Oh wow that's cool. I know that my friend has one and he really likes it. Have you ever played the game Gran Turismo by the way? It's a racing game


I've seen other people play it but never myself. I'm not the best with video games. I'm not coordinated enough not to run into a bunch of walls. Do you play?


I used to play a lot of video games. I don't play Too Many anymore. I did play Gran Turismo back in the day though, apparently there was a guy who beat like 90,000 people at it and then became a professional race car driver LOL that sounds cool


So his only training was the video game!? That doesn't sound like it would be enough no matter how many times you played it. I wonder if he was any good as a racer though or if he crashed a lot.


I agree with you. I don't know how he got that good, especially because Gran Turismo uses a controller and it does not use a steering wheel, have you ever been to South Africa before by the way?


No but from what I hear it is quite the scary place to go if you leave the touristy spots. Sounds like a wild west sort of country.


Yep I think so. I've only heard bad things about it. Apparently you can put a flamethrower on your car LOL? That seems so dangerous, I just don't know why that would be necessary to stop carjacking


Yea, I like Benz, I never knew that Karl Benz patented the car all the way back in 1886


Whoa.  I didn't know they were created that early.  I know Ford made the Model T in 1908, which was the first car available to the masses.


Yea, it's crazy that it took a while for other parts of the world to switch over from animal-drawn carriages


Speaking of the old days of cars...do you know how we came to call the back of a car a trunk?


Because the old cars used to carry wooden trunks on the back of them!


That's crazy, did you know in Ohio it's illegal to warm up your car?


It is? lol I was originally from there.  Never knew that law!


Lol, well now you do. Did you know that audi have to create a new horn the withstand heavy use for their cars sold in India?


I didn't know that.  I wonder why?  Do you know who the car brand Cadillac was named after?


Yes...the French explorer Antoine De La Mothe Cadillace, who was also the founder of Detroit.  You win a high five!  lol


Nice. Speaking of Cadillac, there was a New York man who found a barn full of classic cars on his property


Yea, I'd love to find just one regular car, let alone a barn full of classic cars. I wonder who was the original owner


I don't know. I'm going to have to look that story up.  How about cars equipped with flame throwers?  They are legal in South Africa to prevent carjackings.


I wonder if Google self-driving cars employ flamethrowers when they go into aggressive mode


Hahahah That's funny!  How about Jann Mardenborough.  They became a professional race car driver by beating 90,000 people in Gran Turismo!


That's pretty crazy, not as crazy as an elementary school replacing their desks with reading bicycles


What a great idea to stay in shape!  I have to get running.  It was nice chatting with you!


70% of Nevada is a lot of land. The federal government should either transfer that land back to Indigenous nations or charge market rates to extractive industry and use the revenue to pay everyone a Citizen's Dividend.


Hey I think that is a great idea, I would totally support that.


Cool! What do you think of Congress trying to protect war criminals from the Geneva Convention?


I think its very interesting, I wonder if other governments around the world would do the same.


I'm sure some have -- but I assume it's governments that commit the worst war crimes that exempt their people from accountability.


That is most likely true as well.  Did you know about the Norwegian government donating a billion to help save amazon rainforest?


That's excellent! Reforestation is really important. I recently read that rewilding the world's previously forested areas could suck a decade or more worth of CO2 out of the atmosphere.


Yeah it sure is, wow that is crazy.  I think that is one of the most important issues we face as a planet.


Same. I'm really optimistic at the progress we'll be able to make once we reach the tipping point, but fearful we won't reach that point quickly enough. Really cool about encoding a horse .gif in a DNA molecule. Nanotech is amazing.


That is amazing! I am hoping all of those advancements in technology can help save our planet in general.


Me too. The cost of solar energy seems to be going through something like Moore's Law, so hopefully when most of the current coal generating infrastructure is ready to retire there'll be a big tipping point to solar in a short time.


Yeah I think they are getting so small and more powerful that they are building roads with them.


Printable solar panels are also cool. I think the main bottleneck is storage tech now, so hopefully they'll find ways to make batteries a lot cheaper.


Yeah good call, the battery technology is really what needs to advance, and and easier system for disposing of them.


Those lithium batteries for cars seem to be a big improvement.  Hopefully the US economy will be less dependent on cars though.


Yeah I agree, I hope we can get away from cars or at least gas powered cars.


And get back to the kind of community layouts before the Model T, when they started designing towns around the car.


The history of the car is very interesting, I think most people think that Ford invented the auto.


He did make them really cheaper -- I think the biggest innovation he made was introducing tools that could cut hardened steel instead of hardening it after it was cut and warping it, so the parts were really interchangeable and didn't have to be hammered into place.


Good call, I would have to agree with you on that, you sure know your stuff.


Hello,  did you know the norweigian government donated money to save the amazon?


Yes! I just happened to read up on it recently. It is interesting the choices various governments make regarding the environment.


I also read recently that nevada is mostly owned by the government.


I wonder what the government plans to do with so much land in Nevada. Since it is mostly barren, I'm curious if they use it for bases and weapons testing.


Speaking of the military, how comfortable would you be with the fact that the US passed legislation to protect government employees from being prosecuted under the geneva convention?


I am not sure,  what do you think of it?


Well, I am honestly conflicted. On one side, it is good to know the government is backing its employees and people regardless of how grey their actions. On the other, there is a reason the geneva conventions were created and passing legislation means we have potentially violated it.


I see,  I don't think I know much about politics or this topic.  That is interesting though.


I concur. Btw, since we are on the topic of government and to get off this grave topic, have you heard that a conman managed to impersonate a government employee and see the eiffel tower?


He simply used his skills, confidence, and charisma to make it appear as if he truly was a government employee finding an alternative to scrapping the eiffel tower due to the high maintenance costs.


Yeah,  maybe he took acting classes or he is knowledgeable in that area.


I wonder what he would say are his key advice when pulling a successful con.


Have you ever seen that movie Focus?  That was very enlightening inside view on a con artist's life.


I never have, but it sounds intriguing. Could you elaborate?


The movie goes more into misdirection when doing a fast con and how they practice.  In a long con,  they do mind tricks and make the person think its a great idea,  they do so much research and planning its amazing.


Wow that is fascinating. I guess these skills would make conmen masters at social skills, appearance, and research.


While I must admit I don't have much familiarity, I do admit I like cars.


the drive through was invented in 1975!  its been good chatting!


Wow no I didn't know, because the sun always appear to be yellow.


Did you know about three quarter of the sun mass consist of hydrogen, the rest is helium?


I can believe that. Also a lightening bolt is hotter than the surface of the sun.


That seem hard to believe, but again, when thinking about it, a lightning bolt is truly fire.


Yeah, that is pretty cool, huh? Ever read the terms of service off the internet?


Yes I read it before, but all the Internet services i had, say one thing and after having it for a while it seem to lose speed.


Yeah. Man they are boring to read, aren't they!


Yes you are right, I never truly read the entire thing. would you believe I was raised in the country and have seen lightening set trees and fields on fire.


I am a fan of facebook, but I have never  post on facebook or sign in, because I don't trust facebook anymore.


I don't post either. But I have an account.


Did you know that myspace turned down offer to buy facebook for $75 million dollars in 2005?


I can believe it. They probably would have run it into the ground anyways. LOL


Yes you are right, did you know Burger King for every 10 people unfriend on facebook get a free whopper?


Yeah, I did. How much does a whopper cost? $1.25?


I think so, well that's kind of low for going through those  changes.


Yeah, I think so too. For a whopper? LOL. Hilarious.


Did you know the sun is only 1 billionth size of the biggest star in the galaxy?


No, I didn't know that. But I hear it is pretty small in the context of things. Well, nice chatting with you.


Yes you are right, It was nice chatting with you also.


no unfortunately, but I am very interested. I like a lot Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council


He was referring to Kavanaugh who himself has no business being an umpire or a judge


yes exactly, I mostly admire in umpires that they have always been considered authority figures, like judges. Both are subject to a lot of scrutiny, and we do what we think is right by rule and tradition.


The strike zone as they say can vary from one umpire to the next just like a judge's decision on a case


yes exactly. Judges and analysts who describe an umpire's job in those terms are oversimplifying, do you agree?


I don't think Kavanaugh is fit to be an umpire let alone a judge.


Kavanaugh is one of the bests for me, he is very straightforward.


Hopefully the other justices on the court will help him learn to contain his temperament


maybe lol Have you heard that the rule book states that a runner must avoid a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball?


Yes, it is a basic rule of base running that umpires must watch out for


And you know I also learned that Unlike a judge, an umpire can't deliberate over days or weeks, reading briefs over and over, debating with law clerks or fellow judges. I just don't know why


Umpires have milliseconds to make a judgement on whether or not a pitch is a ball or a strike


it is so interesting... did you know that When baseball was invented in the mid-19th century, it was a bit more like our adversarial court system. There were three umpires: One was hired by the home team and one by the visiting team, and a neutral third party was there to step in if the advocates couldn't agree?


Throughout history, judges and umpires alike have been seen as neutral and objective and trusted with making tough calls


yes they were. and plus As with judging, the tough calls are hardly ever obvious.


No matter how a judge (or umpire) calls it, there will always be someone on the other side to question the call


That is for sure, I totally agree with you. Do you like baseball?


I do but enjoy the work of the Supreme Court more and can't stand the fact Kavanaugh was confirmed to the highest court of the land


I like him to be honest, he is one of the best for me. Did you know that Baseball managers wear uniforms because they are technically able to play for their teams if the need arises?


Actually I'm not a big fan.  I do understand it, though, unlike football!


Growing up, I had a teacher who played pro-baseball in Japan; did you know is just a polular there as here?


Yes, they love it.  I used to know someone who also played in Japan.  The closest I ever came to being a fan was when I collected baseball cards with my brothers as a kid.  Did you know a gentleman found 3 million dollars worth of baseball cards in his grandfather's attic???? I wish I could be so lucky!!!!!


I remember that.  Apparently he had like 15 Homer Wagner cards.  As to not depress the market value, he auctioned them off one at a time over several years.


What I found out recently was that baseball managers wear uniforms so they can play if required.  That seems unique to baseball.


You must be a baseball fan!!! LOL That is quite unique.  I attended a baseball game in Seattle once.  I have to admit it was really fun!  I have other interests, though, one of them being travel.  Have you ever gone to a foreign country?


I have done work in England (North Sea Oil), Middle East, Russia, and Australia, all oilfield related.  I have travelled to Japan and New Zealand for Vacation.  And, France for an ancestery tour.


WOW!!!!  That's quite a bit of travel!  Did you find that in Japan all of the highways are tolls? Quite expensive, as it costs more than three hundred dollars from one end to the other!!!!!


Yes, but I am a fan of toll roads.  I like that the users bear the cost of keeping the roads up.  It seems fairer than a sales some other tax unrelated to roads.  What do you think?


Very good point!  However, I wouldn't want to have to pay that much.  Here, at least we have a choice.  Toll or not.


What are your thoughts on alternative transporation.  The dutch are designing a  commuter bus that  supposedly travel 160 MPH.  That is either a very short commute time or a very long commute distance.


I like the idea.  When I was in Europe I used the trains and such.  It is relatively convenient and not too expensive.  The US should have something like that.  That bus is a little scary though.  A bus at 160 MPH would be horrible in an accident!!!!!


I liked the trains in Europe as well.  Personally, even though I have a truck, I cycle as much as possible.  Its 10 miles one way to work so it is a good way  to exercise.  Is it considered safe to cycle on roads in your area?


Yes, it's considered safe.  It's the drivers who are crazy!  They go way too fast around here!  Speaking of speed........do you read very fast?  I saw that there is a world record for speed reading.  This woman had a speed of 4,700 words per minute!!!!  Can you believe that????


I was not aware of that.  I am a reader, not fast but thorough.  I have reading more since the advent of ebooks.


I think reading is "a lost art" sort of.  I read a lot, but our youth don't seem to be that interested.


I fear the younger generation are more visual stimulated than intellectually curious.  Did you know that the novel "Starship Troopers" is considered essential reading by our military?


I wonder why.  I have never read it, and it doesn't sound interesting to me. Reading is a great escape, though, and allows one to produce their own "visions" in their heads.  I hope the military doesn't need THAT!!!! LOL


I agree, I would have never thought that to be required reading for soldiers.  I guess I need too add it to my reading list to find out why.  Good chatting with you.


I sure do. Did you know Ramones toured for 20 years?


Yeah and played a total of 2263 concerts in that time


Yes , and Linkin Park also played lots of concerts in a single year


Yeah 324 of them in 2001, that is insane


I know right? That was all because their album was too successful


Yeah. There is an ancient theater in Croatia where concerts can be held


Yeah same as in Pompeii, where pink floyd once held a concert


eah but without any audience. King of strange


Yeah I know. A Creed concert was once so bad that people sued them.


I love cars.Do you know how the drive thru was invented?


Yeah it was all because soldiers were not allowed to leave their cars in their fatigues


Yeah McDOnald's had a great idea about that in '75


Yeah for sure. Do you know how Cadillac got its name?


Yes that was after the founder of Detroit, de la Mothe Cadillac


I like some of it actually. Goeorge Strait is a cousin of Jeff Bezos


Nice, small world. There are only 2 african-americans in the hall of fame for country music!


Yeah that is strange. Henry Ford paid money to make sure jazz does not take over country music


That is strange, each genre has its place


Hey, what do you think about this: A man in France impersonated a government employee and sold the Eifel Tower...twice!


Wow that's impressive haha! Also impressive that the Chinese governmnt censored the word for censorship!


That's wild!  No more fake news...let's ban it all?  There are governments doing some good: The Norwegian gov donated $1 billion to save the Amazon jungle.  Is that like buying Florida swamp land?


Haha that's a great question. I have no idea that's definitely a lot of money. One place I want to go is Monaco though. They eliminated the income tax back in 1869. I guess they make enough money through just their Casino stuff


Nice, Must be like Nevada. The federal goverment already owns 86% of the land there, so they gotta make their money off of gambling...


That must be it haha. I heard that one of the original Facebook investors renounced his US citizenship. Apparently the US government publishes everyone who does that, so his name is definitely on that list


I bet they pay less taxes now... Do they publish that list on Wikileaks? You know, Wikileaks published the Goverment's plan to destroy Wikileaks? Knowing how the Government works, because of this leak it may be the first time the government knows what it is doing...


Yeah that's actually pretty scary. Did you hear about that on the radio? I personally don't really listen to the radio that much, I mostly listen to YouTube, what about you?


I try to catch the latest, cutting edge news and information broadcast from that Finnish radio staion that broadcasts in classical Latin... Bad news just seems more palatable that way!


Haha good point. Do you like Hanson by the way? Apparently was the most requested track on an alt-rock radio station.


I guess their only other choice was to tune into those electromagnetic storms from Jupiter that can be heard on AM radio


Haha yeah I would have to test that out. Do you like Bill Murray? He used to do radio voices. One of them was the Fantastic Four, and you would do the Human Torch back in the 70s


Two of my favorites: the Fantastic FOur and Bill Murray!  They don't make them like that anymore!  I like to listen to old radio drams, and there is a website where you can listen to thousands of hours of old broadcasts for free!


Nope they sure don't make it like that anymore you're right haha. Did you ever listen to Bing Crosby? I guess back in the forties he would take up literally half of all radio time because he was so popular


Nice! Is he Canadian? In Canada the radio stations are required to play at least 40% of their music from Canadian origin. Between that and Bing Crosby, that doesn't leave much air time!


No it wouldn't haha. Although I can't say how good Canadian radio would be because I can't think of any good Canadian artists haha. Did you hear back in the thirties one of the most popular acts on the radio as a ventriloquist, that is definitely baffling haha


There is something magical about not seeing the ventriloquist's lips moving!  You ever hear of Foxhole radios?


I have heard of those. How are they made again? I know that they were used in World War II


Soldiers would MacGyver a radio out of razor blades and pencils!  What some people would do just to listen to Bing Crosby!


Haha I bet they would. One radio station I wouldn't listen to is one that converts solar activity into a sound that you can listen to. That sounds really boring. I'd probably rather listen to Canadian radio haha


Hi, can you imagine the US not charging income tax like Monaco!


no that's crazy! Did you know 86% of Nevada is owned by the government, crazy!


I think it's a power trip, not sure! You know the government does what it wants lol


I would agree with you! Do you think the US is a strict as China? They censor the word "censorship".


Oh wow, I do not think the US is as strict as China


My brother was in China teaching English and even the internet is locked down there. I kinda this its odd that we publish peoples name who renounce their citizenship.


I agree! China is very strict from everything I have read. Was your brother happy in China? I think the government goes too far most of the time in some countries.


He enjoyed China! He missed a lot of the thing back here in the US though. Are you a Hanson fan?


I bet he missed a lot! I am not sure are you talking about Hanson the singers? I hear them on the radio once in awhile.


Yes, exactly! They are actually from a town near where i lived in Oklahoma. Can you believe that they had a song that was the most requested on a Alt/Rock station?


Wow, I was not aware of that. They were pretty popular for awhile! Did you know in Canada all radios must play 40% canadian music??? Wow.


Haha, i didnt know that. Come to think of it i dont really even know that many Canadian bands.


I don't either! lol, some of the Governments want to rule everything i think. There was a man who acted as a government official and sold the eiffel tower! 2 times!


Maybe the government isn't doing to well if they've had to be bailed out by JP Morgan.


Right?? Our world is so mixed up, hopefully one day our Government and politicians will make sense for a change.


Are you affected by the government shut-down? I cant believe they've shut down 17 times.


I am not thankfully! But I know many who are and I think the Government needs to be the ones to not get paid until they sort everything out!


I did hear that many are still collecting salaries while not working. Thats not good.


They are? I think I heard that but it will be delayed in getting paid. Only the people actually working should still be paid as usual it's not right how the system works.


I am well. I am learning about animals and how many there are on our planet. Do you know how many?


There are over 7 million animal species on our planet, insects contribute 1 million to that number


Wow. That's a lot. I thought there would be a lot less than that. Is there anything else you were surprised to read about in the article?


The amount of living animals on the planet currently is 20 quintillion! How fascinating!


You're right, that is fascinating. I just found out that Jupiter has radio storms so strong that they can be picked up and heard by an am radio.


Wow! I am curious to try that and to see if it works. Do you know of any other fun facts about Jupiter?


Yes, according to canadian law, all radios are required to have at least 40% of the music played be canadian.


Interesting. I would not think that there was even that much music to play. Do you know of any Canadian musicians?


Yes, Nickleback and Avril Lavigne... And sorry, that was not about Jupiter...


It was about radios though which is very interesting. Did you know that soldiers in world war II made radios from razorblades and pencils?


I did not. I thought it would have been more sophisticated than that. There is a website where you can listen to thousands of episodes of classic radio dramas for free


Wow. I hope no one hiccups on the radio. Do you know why we hiccup?


It is from our evolution when land animals had both gills and lungs


Wow, I had no clue. Do you know anything else about the human body that may be of note?


Humans lost their body hair 240,000 years ago. I would have thought sooner than that


I have seen some men that that has not really applied to... I operate pools and have seen some hair!


Haha how funny. Well those humans would be happy to know that they can regrow a rib.


HA. They may need more evolution than that...


Hello! I have watched most of the movies and loved the toys as a kid!


Awesome!  I can't believe it's been 12 years since the first one came out in 2007.  Time is flying by.


Geez! I can imagine the movie did take along time to put together considering how fast the CGI goes


Yes!  in the 2007 film did you know there are an average of 1.53 explosions per minute? lol


WOW! Thats alot lol. When I first saw, it was borderline dizzying speed


Yes!  Did you know the director Michael Bay was the human flicked away by Megatron in the first movie?


LOL  Did you happen to see Bumblebee that came out in Dec. of 2018?  I haven't seen that one yet but have a soft spot for Bumblebee.


No.  I haven't seen it.  I was going to ask you what you thought of it.


It'll probably be different fro teh rest. optimus price has died more than 25 times in the comics lol


I saw that!  That is a crazy amount.  Are you a fan of car history?


I am! I actually work in the car industry. I see that Cadillac was named after a french explorer.


Yes!  Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac who was also the founder of Detroit!


Hah its legal to have a flame thrower on your vehicle in South Africa


I wouldn't want to be around those!  That would be scary if they fell into the wrong hands.


LOL  I didn't know McDonalds didn't have drive thrus until 1975.  I thought they came out earlier than that.


I would have thought so to, they had to appela to the military.


Yes.  I agree.  Before I get going, did you hear how Jann Mardenborough became a professional race car driver?


I wish I could play a video game and do that!


I think it is fascinating that President Obama could still be President even if he was born in Kenya like Trump used to claim.


I do as well. I find it interesting how candidates change their attitudes and even accents when speaking in different states.


Absolutely like Hillary Clinton and her southern drawl while in the south.  I wonder if people find it appealing or demeaning when they hear it?


I find t demeaning personally. She obviously has the ability to speak very well considering she won a grammy for best spoken word album


Exactly!  The President of Indonesia should have received a grammy for his 3 pop albums while in office.  I still can't believe they stripped the trees of coconuts when President Obama visited.  He should make a pop song about the missing nuts!


I agree! its amazing how much the secret services protect the presidents. Obama's code name for them were renegade.


I suppose Renegade is better than being called President Banana like they do in Zimbabwe.  Can you imagine answering to President Banana?


No I could not! At least the policies have changed since 1805 and the runner up in a presidential election is not automatically made the vice president.


Come on that would have been fascinating to watch Hillary Clinton be President Obama's Vice President.  Maybe if she served as VP she would not have bungled the Russian "reset" button with an "overload" button.  Freudian slip I am sure.


hard to believe that she was president of the young republicans in college.


She definitely was a politician from the start.  Not loyal to party or accent.  Whatever people think of her she did  serve our country from 1993-2016.  That is quite a long time.


yes, its hard to believe that she has sewrved as the First Lady, a Senator, Secretary of State as well as a Presidential nominee.


Maybe she lost because she served for too long.  People knew too much about her.  President Obama only served for 3 years as a Senator before he won the Presidency.


True. Its hard to believe that Franklin Roosevelt vetoed 635 bills and Obama only 2.


Sometimes I have to zoom into the white house on google maps to catch a glimpse of better times when Presidents compromised instead of vetoing everything.  I wonder if wealth plays a part?


The top three wealthiest presidents in american history were JFK, Washington, and Jefferson.


I didn't realize that!  Do you think they were offended when they discovered the guest house is larger than the white house?  It is probably the first time they received the smaller living quarters.


I know its hard to imagine as huge as the white house that the guest house is larger. Its amazing to look at all the guest that have visited the white house one of them being Steven Hawking.


Absolutely!  I wish I witnessed the Stephen Hawing lecture hosted by President Bill and Hillary Clinton.  I bet it was fascinating.


I'm sure Hillary was very involved giving her experience as a public speaker, a lawyer, and a writer.


I enjoy talking about Presidents, but I have to run.  Thank you!


Do you ever look up places on Google Maps only to zoom to see what they look like up close? Apparently if you do that to the White House, you'll see Obama


Wow that's funny! I should certainly try that some time. I wonder if it's in India, I know he visited there and it was a big deal.


I'm not sure, but I know India removed all the coconuts in the area surrounding one of his destinations. Just in case


I wonder why that is! Obama is an interesting and secretive person at times. His secret service code name is renegade for some reason.


That's a legit code name! It might be so the coconuts don't accidentally fall on his head.


Ahh that's a good point, I wonder if it's as tropical in Kenya. Which on another note, if he had been born there he could have still been president.


I wonder why that is. Is Kenya secretly owned by the US, or did I not pay enough attention in history class?


Ahah I guess it's just a misconception. Did you have any strong opinions on Obama? I thought it was interesting he only vetoed 2 bills throughout his presidency.


Compared to FDR's 635 bills, that's nothing at all, but it might also depend on which party had majority in Congress at those times


Yeah that's a good point. Are you interested in individual presidents at all?


Not really, but I do like random facts, like how the first President of Zimbabwe had the last name Banana


Wow I bet it was hard to take him seriously. Then again I'd imagine if you were the president of Indonesia, who released 3 pop albums while in office, it would be hard to be taken seriously also


Unless it's good music. It might help when running for re-election. Maybe the people in that country are a big fans of pop


Yeah true, maybe Trump should consider doing something like that to boost his revenue. After all, he somehow isn't one of the three wealthiest presidents in U.S. history.


JFK is the most recent of the top 3, but I guess it shouldn't be surprising that a Kennedy would be that wealthy


Oh yeah, but I'm sure they measure for inflation. Otherwise I'm sure Trump would hate it. Although I bet not as much as he hates the U.S. guest house being larger than the White House.


He has so many other buildings, that he probably doesn't mind. He would hate it more if Hillary Clinton became President


Oh definitely, although I think they both can be considered as having been false at times. I don't think this is a huge deal, but she adopts a southern drawl when campaigning in the South.


I don't know if I'm impressed or appalled at that one. Back in her college days, she was a Republican


And more than that, she was actually the president of the Young Republicans at her school. I wonder how her political views shifted since then.


Maybe marrying Bill changed everything for her


Great.  Are you a fan of the NBA?  There's a battle going on about who will get Rookie of the Year, Ben Simmons or Donovan Mitchell.


Sorta kinda... Looking at the records, I think Simmons has a slight edge.


I think he did win it. But it was his second year. He was injured his first year so it didn't count.


OK. Did you know that Allen Iverson has a lifetime endorsement for Reebok for $800K a year?


Wow. Aren't both of those pretty washed up?


Yeah, not many people will remember Iverson in a few years. It's kind of cool that Tim Duncan stayed in school before going into the NBA.


He is a different cat. He liked school and what it brought.


Rarely see that... Did you know that in 39 of 50 states, the highest paid state employee is a college basketball or football coach?


Wow. I had no clue. Jordans were banned and nike paid the fines for jordan.


He wore them anyway huh?
 Funny, the New Zealand basketball team is call "Tall Backs".  I'm not sure what that means.


It means racism... Just kidding. I think it is their national name. Their rugby team is black 7s.


Far from the Utah Jazz, Jazz, the type of music, originated in New Orleans.


Certain types. I like more of the traditional jazz.  I didn't know goatees were a jazz thing for jazz trumpeters.


Yes.  Did you know Pakistan has a jazz orchestra that is topping the charts.  I wouldn't have guessed that.


Me neither and I try and stay on top of that stuff.


It's funny that physicists proved that shooting FTs granny style is actually better.


How are you? Do you watch the NBA, there are 30 teams in the league currently


Hi, ugh more basketball questions. All but 1 are in the US


This surprised me: Dizzy gillespie ran in the 1964 presidential race with a cabinet made up of all the biggest names in jazz. My parents knew him but I never heard this.


That's interesting, I hear Clint Eastwood is a huge jazz enthusiast


He is. He made that movie years ago about Charlie Parker called Bird.


That's cool. Did you know Pakistan has a jazz orchestra?


No, but good musicians are everywhere. And people can like unexpected things like Tupac studying ballet, acting, poetry, and jazz.


Yea. I never knew Jazz trumpeters grew goatees because it provided comfort


I can see that, the instrument would be painful constantly against the skin


Yea it's smart to grow one if you're playing all the time


Yea, I read in the 1940 Jazz became more difficult to perform so that couldn't of helped


You're talking about Bebop. It was more challenging to play, energetic and long, technical pieces.


I guess so. Coo jazz sounds like my type


Cool jazz is more like Spiro Gira or really mainstream cool jazz like Kenny G. I didn't know it went back to the 1940s.


It's funny how there is a programming language in which programs are written inn musical composition


I suppose so, I've never thought about music in that way


I don't think most people do, unless they are composers.


Maybe it would be easier to learn math by thinking of it as jazz-like harmonies


Hello there, do you follow basketball much?


I do, I love it. I know the NBA is made up of 30 teams, which includes one in Canada.


Yeah same here, and my favorite team is doing really well so far this season so I'm pumped.  I think there will be at least 3 teams from Canada by 2030.


That would be interesting! SAs much as they make it's hard to believe that five years after retirement 60% of players are broke.


That is really hard to believe. They should be teaching the rookies that come into the league how to invest properly.


Yes, I agree they should. Did you know they fired coach Stan Van Gundy for saying NBA shouldn't be playing on Christmas day.


Yeah I think I read about that back when he said it, I can respect his view.


I can too! Back to the finances on NBA players, about 30 years ago legend Spencer Haywood chose $100,000 upfront instead of a 10% stake in Nike.


Holy cow!  Just think of what that stake would be worth today!


Today it would be worth a whopping $8.62 billion if you can believe it.


Oh man, wonder what old Spencer is up to these days with all that $100,000?


Probably long gone sadly. NBA player Tim Duncan of the Spurs actually sacrificed money and stayed in college for four years instead of going directly into the NBA.


Yeah I heard about that years back when he chose to, I think it was a good move, he still had one hell of a career.


I agree. Nothing wrong with an education. I did not know that the NBA was one of four major professional sports leagues in the US and Canada. Somehow I thought there were more.


Yep one of the four major, and unlike everywhere else in the world, soccer is not one of them.


Now that is a surprise. I know NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player


Yeah they sure make a ton of money, but their careers are usually pretty short.


I am not really sure how long their careers last, are you?


I think about 8-10 years would be considered a good career.


Wow. It's not a long time, but it is when you consider all the activity!  Well, the NBA is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world.


It is, and it is becoming more of an international players league, my team has the best in the league and he's from Greece!  Nice talking to you, hope you have a good day.


Hi do you like to watch basketball? I watch the NBA from time to time. I love that it is the premier basketball league in the world.


I watch on occasion.   Mostly during tournament times


Nice yea the playoffs are fun. The league was founded way back in 1946. Been around for a long time now.


It was invented at the YMCA along with Volleyball.


Interesting yeah it is a bit similar to volleyball. Currently there are 29 NBA teams in the USA and one in Canada which I think is lucky for Canada.


Definitely.  Id like to see it expand more into Canada.


Yeah that would be interesting. I think it would help increase its popularity. Right now it is based out of New York.


I didnt know that.  I guess it is somehting I never thought of.  Vasectomy rates increase during march because of the NCAA tournament.  Men want to stay home and watch it.  LOL


haha wow that is funny. The inventor of basketball was coincidentally the most losing coach in Kansas history!


I know!  How can you be bad at the game you literally made up.


Haha my question exactly. Well sports are huge in this country no doubt. 39 out of the top 50 paid employees in the states are either a college football or basketball coach!


Looks like it is time for a career change for me...  I could use that pay for sure.  Did you know Shaq only made 1 3 pointer in his entire career?


Haha I believe it. I would also believe he only made one free throw. He should have switched to granny style to increase his chances.


For real, no matter how it looks, it is the most effective. Id do it, and work to make it popular.


That would be funny. But no one would laugh after you make 100% of your shots! Its cool how basketball is global though. New Zealand calls their team the tall blacks.


Did they give themselves the name, Id be interested in the history of that one.


Yeah I'm not sure. They call their rugby team the all blacks so it might just be their theme color.


True.  Are you excited for the Space Jam sequel?


So excited just hope it is well done. It would be cool to see Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in it. Once his dunk got banned from college hoops!


I know, I couldnt imagine basketball without it.


Me as well. Although a basketball hoop if 10 ft tall, some of the players make it look so short.


They really do, it is so hard for me to even touch the net.  Guess I ll have to work on jumping.  Its been nice chatting!


How many zeros are in quintillion? Because I hear that there are about 20 quintillion animals on Earth.


I am pretty sure there are 15 zeros in a quintillion, that's a lot of zeros.


I am guessing that humans are way more than animals.


Yes, can you imagine a 40,000 years old painting. I wonder how man came to those many years?


How about 20,000 years ago? Remember cavemen were the first humans? Creating art in the caves was one of their many skills.


Yes, can you just imagine thinking about the oldest known human craft, a 40,000 year old lion's head.


Are we talking about an actual lion's head, framed on the wall?


This was an actual lion's head made from Ivory which was found in Germany.


Wow. I wonder who was the lucky and brave warrior to desperately slash a lion.


That's something to think about, I don't know maybe back then hunters were braver than they are now. I'm pretty sure food was harder to come about, maybe I am wrong, but that's just my opinion.


Interesting. Well, that was the prehistoric times.


Yes, so true. If you haven't been, would you like to visit one of those caves if you get the opportunity?


To be honest. I do not think I have the courage to go by myself.


Hahaha, you are so right, it does sound a little scary, but also Interesting. Imagine the value of a lion head Ivory.


Would you go in a cave like that? Still, I would start crying and screaming, even though the lion is dead.


I think I would, but only if I am touring with a large group of people, because who knows what may  be in that cave thousands of years. I wouldn't go by myself.


Exactly! There should be a tour that would cost about $5 to $10 to walk in.


That's true, now we know that there were the human beings back in those days and this will provided us with their behaviors.


It is insane to view our perspectives to survival of the fittest was different from back then.


Did you know that in 2002 germany was the first country to give animals legal rights?


There are human rights, and then there are animal rights. I guess it's fair.


Yes, In germany drivers have to stop and let animals cross the road or where ever they maybe crossing. I am proud of their law due to animals can't talk or have human knowledge.


Interesting. Isn't that the same thing with the USA?


Sad but true. The US getting stricter on their rules when it comes to animals. can you Imaging animals having a lungs and gills.


Well, all animals have lungs and fishes have gills.


I heard back in the days certain fish had both, which they could live on land for a while and water, this maybe a myth, I am not sure.


Interesting. Well, it was nice to chat with you.


Yes, I do. I like Jazz a lot, there's all kinds of Jazz styles that I like such as hard-swinging jazz, bluesy, improvisational, gypsy and Bebop.


There are a wide variety of styles, I always liked the swing.


Me, too. I also like Cool Jazz because of its calmer, smoother sounds.


Clint Eastwood is a huge fan of Jazz. and even plays the piano.


Yes, Clint scored several films too including Million Dollar Baby.


Yes, him and lots of others.  Did you ever hear that jazz trumpeters grew goatees because it provided comfort when playing.


I have heard that, but as a musician myself, I dont know if I believe that.


Ok, what about that there's a programming language in which the programs are written in musical compostiton?


I havent used/worked with that before, but I think it is really neat


Yes, and the functional program has jazz-like harmonies.


I'm not sure. It could be although I know C# and I never heard of that.


I just thought it was one of few programming language names I know and it shares its name with a musical pitch.


I'm not sure.  But I do know that Pakistan has a jazz orchestra that is currently topping the charts.


That is really neat!  I love how Jazz has also become world wide.


Even a Harlem woman has held free jazz concerts at her apartment every Sunday for the last 20 years.


That is some dedication.  I am glad people like her are dedicated to the advancement of the art and giving people and outlet.


Yes, top performers occasionally stop by her apartment. I wonder who comes over?


Maybe Wynton Marsailis!  Its been great chatting!


Are you interested in politics? I definitely am.


I am!  I love learning new facts about the presidents, etc.


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


I know it had something to do with a fruit.


He was called president banana. What a funny name for a president.


lol That's it!  The top 3 presidents in the American history were JFK, Washington, and Jefferson.  I believe Trump is now in that list.


Hahha...yes....my fingers were going faster than my mind! lol


Ha ha. No problem. Did you know that the guest house is larger than the white house? I wonder why.


I didn't know that.  Up until 1805 the runner up in the US presidential race automatically became the vice president.


Can you imagine that now? We are so partisan. Would it be a complete disaster or would it force us to work together more and not vilify each other as much?


I thought the same thing myself.  I'm wondering if it would work better and force them to stop fighting among both parties.  Although it could have the reverse effect too and cause chaos. lol


Very true. I would be very curious about that. Did you also know that the president of Indonesia put out 3 pop albums while he was in office?


Now that sounds funny.  I wonder how the country was doing while he was recording those.  lol  Did you know that Hillary Clinton won a grammy for best spoken work album?


I did not. Do you know what spoken work it was for?


Yes.  It was for the audio recording of her book "It takes a Village".


I don't remember that book but I will have to look into it. Did you also know that if you zoom into the white house on Google maps you can see Barack Obama?!


I didn't know that.  I'm going to have to try it!  I like President Obamas secret service codename - Renegade.  (Cue the Styx song....lol).


Ha ha, I did not know that. I guess if you're picking one you might as well pick a cool one. Did you know that he only vetoed 2 bills while in office?


I didn't know that.  I see Franklin Roosevelt was the opposite of Obama and vetoed 635 bills.


That is an insane amount of bills. That actually might be a bit of overreach. It was very nice chatting with you. Have a good day.


The NBA is my favorite professional sports league. I am a fan of the New York Knicks & grew up idolizing Allen Iverson.


He did well for himself. He signed a contract with Reebok that would pay him $800,000 per year until age 55 and then a lump sum of $32,000,000.


Incredible. What he did for Reebok as a brand will surely not be in vain. I loved his Reebok commercial featuring the rap artist Jadakiss.


I don't remember that commercial. Did you know that Air Jordan's were banned in the NBA when they were released?


Its unbelievable, but Jordan still wore them anyway as Nike was willing to pay the fines for each game.


That makes it easy. Are you familiar with Tim Duncan?


Yes, arguably the greatest power forward of all time & greatest San Antonio Spurs player of all time.


That's him. He stayed in college for four years and sacrificed money instead of going directly into the NBA.


Yes, Tim has always stuck to his morals and core values. Even to this day after he retired from the NBA.


Glad to hear that. Did you know that Reggie Miller's sister overshadowed him in high school? She broke 8 national basketball records.


Yeah Cheryl was an outstanding high school & collegiate player. The story goes that Reggie scored 40 points in a game & was bragging about it on the way home only to learn that Cheryl scored 105 points.


Hopefully it kept him humble. Were you aware that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got the dunk shot banned for over a decade in college because he was so successful at it?


Yeah, that is almost as shocking as learning that the inventor of basketball James Naismith is the only losing coach in the history of the University of Kansas.


That's unfortunate and not what you would expect. It kind of disgusts me that in 39 out of 50 states the highest paid government employees are college football or basketball coaches.


Absolutely, especially since college athletes don't receive a dime & are unable to hold a job.


I agree. It's ridiculous. We put too much emphasis on sports at that point. Did you know that the supreme court building has a basketball court?


Yes known as "the highest court in the land".


Ha ha. That's funny. Did you also know that there is a New Zealand basketball game?


Yes, basketball is a global sport & very popular, especially in Europe & China. Unfortunately New Zealand has a team name with racial undertones.


I heard it was called the Tall Blacks and was wondering where it came from and if it was racist.


I'm doing quite well, how about yourself?


I am well, thanks. I was surprised to hear there are 20 quintillinion animals on the planet.


Yeah I was quite surprised with that as well. Although I'm more curious to know why animals develop a white patch on their head when they become domesticated. Do you have any idea why that would be the case? My cat actually does have white patches on his face.


I have no idea but that would explain the white patch on my head after I got married...


hahaha See I would assume that is a result of stress. It would seem animals would lose color based on a stressful life if it coincides with how humans live. But aren't animals in a much more stress free life in a domesticated setting? I am really intrigued by this! I am starting to wonder if the list of facts are actually factual now that I think about it...


But animals do not know any different way of living so their stresses are only when they are being hunted.


I suppose that is true as well... Now I'm also curious if this applies only to animals with fur or if this would also apply to animals with more fleshy surfaces. Like if you were to domesticate a dolphin for instance, would it develop a white, shiny forehead?


I am not sure. What about lizards? Do you think they would? Would albinos make better pets?


haha are albino lizards more domesticated? Are they more content? We need answers! haha Insects are considered animals in this case. I wonder if they go through the same process. Speaking of insects I think it's insane that there are 1 million species of insects! That means there are only 500,000 non insect type animals. Creeps me out. Do you think they're mostly microscopic insects?


I know the Loch Ness monster is a protected species. Does that help? I wonder if it has a white patch...


haha hmmm I'm not sure about that. No one has really domesticated him just yet! Unless they're acting like having him as a tourist attraction is domesticating him. In other incredible facts I was surprised to learn that Jupiter's radio storms can be heard on AM radio! What do you think they sound like?


Like Kazoo from the flintstones... That's my best guess. What do you think?


hahaha yeah I think it would be really hard to decipher. I suppose if it is considered a storm it would sound kind of like inclement weather here on earth.


Astronomers use it as white noise to fall asleep to?


Well considering they're the ones who most likely discovered it I wouldn't be surprised if they listen to it regularly. Radio waves overall are quite interesting. I always wonder how many frequencies I can hear out of the possible ones there are which I am not really aware of how many. Do you happen to know?


I have no idea... Although I do know humans can regrow a rib.


Bodies being able to regenerate is really fascinating. I have a cut on my hand that is taking forever though! It seems crazy that a rib can grow in just a short 2-3 months, but a cut on my thumb is taking more than a week. I also find it fascinating that most other plants and animals can make their own vitamin c, but we can't.


It's what makes oranges so tasty! Mmmmmm vitamin C...


Since it's a defect in our genes I wonder what part of our evolution was the cause.


Domestication... Nice chatting with you!


Hello, I love animals. Helping the whales was a great decision made by those fishermen who helped whales out of a big tangle.


That fisherman is a role model, few would sacrifice their lifes to help an animal in pain, I  think its heroic.


I agree he is a hero and that most people would not do what he did. Very impressive. Wonderful that the fisherman did not get hurt.


It seemed like it was a real emergency as even an animal of that size can get hurt easily by netting and ropes, humpback whales can weight 40 tons!


That is certainly a very heavy animals. They can be 60 feet long too! That is pretty impressive. Hearing so much how whales have been and continue to be hunted this was a wonderful story about man helping.


It must have been really scary to do that, even for fisherman with more than 15 years of experience.


I would imagine so. What a wonderful man. Did you know that there are about 20 quintillion animals on earth?


I did no know that! what I did know is that as humans, they also have a dominant paw.


I did not know that either! So much to learn. Animals are smarter than some people give them credit for. Did you know that in 2002 Germany was the first country to give animals constitutionally guaranteed legal rights?


I did not know that! but I think its great after all many people treat animals poorly, its amazing how animals too speak different languages.


Yes, I agree with that. What I do not understand is that in Scotland the loch ness monster is a protected species.


Thats weird as its not officially a species or is it? well if someone found it, it makes sence for it to be protected from humans, imagine the mith becoming true.


I do not think it is. Now that would be quite interesting if myth became true! I read that humans can not synthesize their own vitamin c because the gene for that enzyme is defective, amazing things I do not know lol.


I know there are so many unknown things, like the fact that humans cant burp in zero gravity environments.


Interesting and that there is a sound frequency that causes fear in humans.


We sure are full of surprises, we are also the only mammals that cant breath and swallow at the same time.


Oh yes we certainly are full of surprises! They say humans may have only lost their hair as recently as 240,000 years ago!


I think I heard that one on the radioi the other day, do you like listening to the radio? Im amused by how the waves carry sound and then we can all listen.


Yes I am still amazed at how radios work although our technology has come much further. A finnish radio station broadcasts a program in classical latin! I would not understand that at all.


Me neither, its a lost language very few can understand, It would be interesting though.


Yes it would and I have wanted to learn latin but heard it was very hard to do so. It has been great conversing with you.


It is like Netherlands and the special bridges for animals, its been a pleasure bye.


Are you an NBA fan? I've heard the players can make more money through endorsements than playing.


I am a huge fan. WHo is your favorite player/team?


I like the Warriors. I am surprised that Tim Duncan stayed in college. He could have gotten money if he had started playing sooner!


Very true. I am surprised that there still is only one canadian team.


Toronto is a big city, but there are other cities like MOntreal and Vancouver that could support a team. I wonder why they don't have them.


I would have thought there would have been more expansion by now either in Canada or Mexico


The same thing should happen for NFL and MLB teams as well. The number of teams can expand without hurting the existing teams.


The NBA athletes are paid better than in the other sports


I know that NFL players can get fired easily. Not so with NBA players. I see that Iverson has an insane contract with Reebok. He gets a ton of cash at age 55. He's gotta stay alive, though!


I never really liked him as a player or Reggie Miller


Yes, he is one of them. I like Bird and Curry too


I'm surprised that Air Jordans were banned by the NBA. I wonder why.


They had not bee approved by the NBA before hand and the NBA hadn't gotten their piece of the profit


You're right! Money was the issue. The league got its cash through fines. I think it's funny that granny style shooting is the best way to shoot free throws. I know Rick Barry shot them underhanded.


Give it to Rick to be one of the NBA's most unique players


I wonder how he would fare in today's NBA with the three-pointers and such.


Possibly given the accuracy. Look at Curry for example, his accuracy keeps him on the court not as defense.


The game has changed since the 80s and 90s when it seemed to be about big men battling it out in the paint. Do you know that the rim is twice the size of the ball? Most people don't realize how big the rim is.


We need a few female players in the NBA, players like Cheryl Miller


How would fans react? I know that the NFL can allow women, but the NBA? There is already the WNBA.


I am such a big NBA fan. Do you like it?


I am! I don't follow it much but am a fan.....of the NBA


Nice. did you know Kareem abdul-jabbar's dominant use of the dunk got the shot banned from college basketball for over a decade.


Really! That's crazy! shooting "granny style" is the absolute best technique to consistently score points on the line, crazy!


I know, ask Rick Berry! In 39 out of 50 states, the highest paid state employee is either a college football or basketball coach.


Nice! NBA players are the world's best paid athletes I didn't know that!


Did you know The us supreme court building has a basketball court on the top floor known as "the highest court in the land"


I heard that haha! Tim duncan of the san antonio spurs sacrificed money and stayed in college for four years instead of going directly to the nba. That's nuts


The new zealand basketball team are nicknamed the "tall blacks"


That's funny lol....Do you ever listen to Jazz music?


I do love jazz... Did you know jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime.


That is interesting! Did you know Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms"......very cool!


There is a programming language in which the programs are written in musical composition, and functional programs have jazz-like harmonies.


That is pretty interesting! I heard jazz players grow goatee's because it is more comfortable while playing, too funny!


I didn't know that. Did you know Clint eastwood is a lifelong jazz enthusiast, pianist, and scored several films, including million dollar baby


I love him! That is cool though! There is so many types of jazz I didn't even know. Cool jazz, Bebop, New Orleans....crazy!


HAHAHAHAAA! that would be hilarious hahaaa!


I just found out that Air jordan's were banned upon introduction by the nba. however, jordan wore them anyways, as nike was willing to pay the fine each game.


That is crazy and I didn't know that! I wonder why....the inventor of basketball is the only coach who lost in the university of Kansas's history!


I only like basketball. Do you like any sports?


I like most sports from basketball to football


I don't have particular teams, but rather players. If I had to pick one I would say lakers.


Do you have a favorite player in the Lakers?


It is a shame that James Naismith who invented basketball is more well know for being the only losing coach in Kansas U's history rather than making what is arguable among the most popular sports


He should have thought of another career if this is stressing him out.


Well I think he is at least well paid. In most states, the best paid state employees are football or basketball coaches


Maybe, that is why he is still continuing his job as a losing coach. He should switch to football then.


Well the field of basketball is constantly changing. Kareem Jabbar's dunking was banned for over a decade, but now dunking is a art


Especially Steph Curry's dunks! On point!


I agree. In addition to the fame and skill, basketball players also rake in the money.


I mean they just earn a lot. Like Allen Iverson signed a contract with reebok, earning 800K a year until he is 55 and then receiving a lump sum of 32 million. Also rake in the money is kinda like using a rake to rake a bunch of leaves which are supposed to be cash


The last meaning is funny. That is what I thought of it.


In any case, I had fun chatting. I hope you did as well.


I find it fascinating but I don't really know that much about it. Are you a fan?


I watch it sometimes,  but I dont follow it.


I'm more a fan of the arts. I could listen to a good music album all day long.


do you like jazz?  did you know clint eastwood is a lifelong jazz enthusiast?


I do enjoy jazz. It is just so free flowing. You can't really fault him for being a fan although he is more of a jazz musician than a fan at this point.


I hear jazz trumpeters grow goatees because it is comfortable.


Huh that is interesting. I would have thought that the hair would interfere with the way that their lips connected with the instrument.


Did you know Pakistan has a jazz orchestra that is currently topping charts?


Oh wow I didn't know that. I wouldn't have expected Jazz out of Pakistan. Somehow that seems to loose  of a music structure to gain popularity in such a rigid country. It is super neat though!


I wonder if it still sounds the same lol might have to look that up on the youtube.


Might be worth it. I think Jazz has influence on a lot of popular music even if people don't realize it. There is structure in rock and regime even big brass that borrows from jazz.


A harlem woman has held free jazz concerts in her home every sunday for 20 years!


Imagine being at one of those concerts and one of the greats stops by. I think I would lose it right then and there.


I wouldnt even recognize them if I were there,  since I do not keep up with jazz at all lol


I would probably recognize the playing rather than the artist themselves unless someone like Clint Eastwood stopped by. Him or his son I would recognize.