Van Morrison, (born August 31, 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It’s Too Late to Stop Now, are widely viewed as among the greatest ever made.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, On This Day
Diana, Princess of Wales (July 1, 1961 – August 31, 1997)
Posted in Because I Can, On This Day
I once said cynically of a politician, ‘He’ll doublecross that bridge when he comes to it.’
Posted in Because I Can
Been sitting here with my ass in a wad, wanting to speak out about the bullshit going on in New Orleans . For the people of New Orleans… first we would like to say, sorry for your loss. With that said, Let’s go through a few hurricane rules: (unlike an earthquake, we know it’s coming)
#1. A mandatory evacuation means just that… Get the hell out. Don’t blame the Government after they tell you to go. If they hadn’t said anything, I can see the argument. They said get out… if you didn’t, it’s your fault, not theirs. (We don’t want to hear it, even if you don’t have a car, you can get out.)
#2. If there is an emergency, stock up on water and non-perishables. If you didn’t do this, it’s not the Government’s fault you’re thirsty and starving.
#2a. If you run out of food and water, find a store that has some. (Remember, shoes, TV’s, DVD’s and CD’s are not edible. Leave them alone.)
#2b. If the local store has been looted of food or water, leave your neighbor’s TV and stereo alone. (See #2a) They worked hard to get their stuff. Just because they were smart enough to leave during a mandatory evacuation, doesn’t give you the right to take their stuff… it’s theirs, not yours.
#3. If someone comes in to help you, don’t shoot at them and then complain no one is helping you. I’m not getting shot to help save some dumbass who didn’t leave when told to do so.
#4. If you are in your house that is completely under water, your belongings are probably too far gone for anyone to want them. If someone does want them, let them have them and hopefully they’ll die in the filth. Just leave! (It’s New Orleans , find a voodoo warrior and put a curse on them.)
#5. My tax money should not pay to rebuild a 2 million dollar house, a sports stadium or a floating casino. Also, my tax money shouldn’t go to rebuild a city that is below sea level. You wouldn’t build your house on quicksand would you? You want to live below sea-level, do your country some good and join the Navy.
#6. Regardless of what the Poverty Pimps Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton want you to believe, The US Government didn’t create the Hurricane as a way to eradicate the black people of New Orleans; (Neither did Russia as a way to destroy America). The US Government didn’t cause global warming that caused the hurricane (We’ve been coming out of an ice age for over a million years).
#7. The government isn’t responsible for giving you anything. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave, but you gotta work for what you want. McDonalds and Wal-Mart are always hiring, get a damn job and stop spooning off the people who are actually working for a living. President Kennedy said it best…”Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
Thank you for allowing me to rant.
Posted in Because I Can, On This Day
Stephen (“Stevie”) Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990), born in Dallas, Texas, was an American blues guitarist, known as one of the most influential electric blues musicians in history. He is often referred to by his initials, SRV.
Accidental death
Vaughan’s comeback was cut short when, in the early morning of August 27, 1990, he died in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin. After a concert at the Alpine Valley Music Theater, where earlier in the evening he appeared with Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and his older brother Jimmie Vaughan, the musicians expected a long bus ride back to Chicago. Stevie was informed that three seats were open on one of the helicopters returning to Chicago with Clapton and his crew, enough for Stevie, Jimmie, and Jimmie’s wife Connie. It turned out there was only one seat left, which Stevie requested from his brother; Jimmie obliged. Taking off into deep fog, the helicopter crashed moments later into a ski slope on the side of a hill within the Alpine Valley Resort. Vaughan, the pilot, and members of Clapton’s crew (his agent, assistant tour manager, and a bodyguard) died on impact. No one realized that the crash had occurred until the helicopter failed to arrive in Chicago, and the wreckage was only found with the help of its locator beacon.
Stevie Ray Vaughan is interred in the Laurel Land Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, On This Day
Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born August 25, 1930) is an Oscar-winning Scottish film and stage actor who is best known as the original cinematic James Bond. His character’s catch phrase “Bond, James Bond” has become considerably famous.
Posted in Because I Can, On This Day, The Big Screen
A Russian spacecraft supplying six astronauts aboard the International Space Station failed to reach orbit on Wednesday and burned up in the atmosphere, its debris crashing in Siberia, Interfax news reported.
Posted in News
75 Band Names are hidden in this picture… see if you can find them all:
Click the thumbnail to see it bigger, MUCH bigger!
Posted in Because I Can, Music
There was an Irishman, an Englishman and Claudia Schiffer sitting together in a carriage in a train going through Tasmania. Suddenly the train went through a tunnel and as it was an old style train there were no lights in the carriages and it went completely dark.
Then there was this kissing noise and the sound of a really loud slap. When the train came out of the tunnel, Claudia Schiffer and the Engishman were sitting as if nothing had happened and the Irishman had his hand against his face as if he had been slapped there.
The Irishman was thinking: “The English fella must have kissed Claudia Schiffer and she missed him and slapped me instead.”
Claudia Schiffer was thinking: “The Irish fella must have tried to kiss me and actually kissed the Englishman and got slapped for it.”
The Englishman was thinking: “This is great! The next time the train goes through a tunnel I’ll make another kissing noise and slap that Irish idiot again.”
Posted in Humor
On March 15, 2009, a small bat that was spotted blasting off with the space shuttle Sunday and clinging to the back side of Discovery’s external fuel tank apparently held on throughout the launch.
NASA hoped the bat would fly away before the spacecraft’s Sunday evening liftoff, but photos from the launch now show the bat holding on for dear life throughout the fiery ride.
“He did change the direction he was pointing from time to time throughout countdown but ultimately never flew away,” states a NASA memo obtained by SPACE.com. “Infrared imagery shows he was alive and not frozen like many would think … Liftoff imagery analysis confirmed that he held on until at least the vehicle cleared [the] tower before we lost sight of him.”
Officials at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., where Discovery launched from a seaside pad, said the bat’s outlook after launch appears grim.
“Based on images and video, a wildlife expert who provides support to the center said the small creature was a free tail bat that likely had a broken left wing and some problem with its right shoulder or wrist,” NASA officials said Tuesday. “The animal likely perished quickly during Discovery’s climb into orbit.”
Because the Kennedy Space Center is also home to Florida’s Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, NASA’s launch pads are equipped with several countermeasures, including warning sirens, to ward off birds and other wildlife. NASA also relies on radar to make sure large flocks of birds won’t be struck by the shuttle during liftoff.
But the bat on Discovery’s tank did not budge, even after engine ignition.
The bat was perched between one quarter and one third of the way up on the north side of the fuel tank, which is the side that faces away from the orbiter. NASA estimated the surface temperature of the tank at that location was between 58 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, even though the canister was filled with super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
In the hours before Discovery’s liftoff, NASA’s Final Inspection Team (called the “ICE team”) investigated whether the creature would pose a risk to the shuttle if its body impacted the orbiter’s sensitive heat shield tiling. Ultimately, NASA officials signed a waiver confirming that the bat was safe to fly with.
“The bat eventually became ‘Interim Problem Report 119V-0080’ after the ICE team finished their walkdown,” the memo said. “Systems Engineering and Integration performed a debris analysis on him and ultimately a Launch Commit Criteria waiver to ICE-01 was written to accept the stowaway.”
This isn’t the first time a bat has attempted to travel into space. Another bat was seen clinging to the side of the external tank attached to the shuttle Endeavour on its STS-72 flight in 1996. That one maybe have been a bit more cautious, though: It flew away to safety right before launch.
Coincidentally, an astronaut aboard that flight, Koichi Wakata of Japan, also flew on Discovery this week, making him the first spaceflyer to share two rides with bats. Discovery’s STS-119 mission is headed to the International Space Station to drop off the final segment of the lab’s backbone truss and set of solar array panels.
NASA officials said a bat also set down on the external tank for the shuttle Columbia during its STS-90 mission in 1998. That bat also flitted away to safety during liftoff, they added.
Posted in Critters
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935–August 16, 1977)
Elvis Aaron Presley, was an American singer, musician and actor. He is a cultural icon, often known as “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, or simply “The King”.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, On This Day, The Big Screen
Pink bug taken in lower corner of michigan – Amblycorypha
Lake Erie Metro Park, Monroe County, Michigan, USA
September 17, 2005
Size: 2.5 inches long
Posted in Critters
Wikipedia Link
Wikipedia Link
