Author Archives: James

Happy Birthday, Han Solo/Dr. Jones!

 Solo! Hay lapa no ya, Solo!

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford (July 13, 1942 – )

Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. His career has spanned six decades and includes roles in several Hollywood blockbusters, including Presumed Innocent, The Fugitive, Air Force One, and What Lies Beneath. At one point, four of the top six box-office hits of all time included one of his roles. Five of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry.

In 1997, Ford was ranked No. 1 in Empire‘s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list. As of July 2008, the United States domestic box office grosses of Ford’s films total over US$3.5 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $6 billion, making Ford the third highest grossing U.S. domestic box-office star. Ford is the husband of actress Calista Flockhart.

Black Hole

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Little Faith

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Sort itself out

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Beautiful Day

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RIP Ernest Borgnine

Ernest Borgnine

Ernest Borgnine (January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012)

Ernest Borgnine (born Ermes Effron Borgnino) was an American film and television actor whose career spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, winning an Oscar in 1955 for Marty. On television, he played Quinton McHale in the 1962–1966 series McHale’s Navy and co-starred in the mid-1980s action series Airwolf, in addition to a wide variety of other roles. Borgnine was also known for his role as Mermaid Man in the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER.

 

STS-135 launch

Space shuttle Atlantis launches for the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station in the final mission of the Space Shuttle Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff was at 11:29 a.m. (EDT) on July 8, 2011. Astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists, were on board.

STS-135 launch

 

Impossible

impossible

Just saying…

There have, to date, been no “amendments” to the Bible.  Interesting, no?

RUD

So, after one of the recent SpaceX rockets landed a little hard (one rocket contributed less than its potential), Elon Musk tweeted:

 “RUD=Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly :)”

Happy Birthday, Merv Griffin

Merv GriffinThe answer is Merv Griffin. The question could be just about anything.

Mervyn Edward “Merv” Griffin, Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American singer, talk-show host, composer, mogul, philanthropist and puzzle fan who created the long-running hit game shows of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.

Wikipedia Link

Each man gives a story…

Three men were standing in line to get into heaven one day. Apparently it had been a pretty busy day, though, so Peter had to tell the first one, “Heaven’s getting pretty close to full today, and I’ve been asked to admit only people who have had particularly horrible deaths. So what’s your story?” 

So the first man replies: “Well, for a while I’ve suspected my wife has been cheating on me, so today I came home early to try to catch her red-handed. As I came into my 25th floor apartment, I could tell something was wrong, but all my searching around didn’t reveal where this other guy could have been hiding. Finally, I went out to the balcony, and sure enough, there was this man hanging off the railing, 25 floors above ground! By now I was really mad, so I started beating on him and kicking him, but wouldn’t you know it, he wouldn’t fall off. So finally I went back into my apartment and got a hammer and starting hammering on his fingers. Of course, he couldn’t stand that for long, so he let go and fell — but even after 25 stories, he fell into the bushes, stunned but okay. I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I ran into the kitchen, grabbed the fridge and threw it over the edge where it landed on him, killing him instantly. But all the stress and anger got to me, and I had a heart attack and died there on the balcony.” 

“That sounds like a pretty bad day to me,” said Peter, and let the man in. 

The second man comes up and Peter explains to him about heaven being full, and again asks for his story. 

“It’s been a very strange day. You see, I live on the 26th floor of my apartment building, and every morning I do my exercises out on my balcony. Well, this morning I must have slipped or something, because I fell over the edge. But I got lucky, and caught the railing of the balcony on the floor below me. I knew I couldn’t hang on for very long, when suddenly this man burst out onto the balcony. I thought for sure I was saved, when he started beating on me and kicking me. I held on the best I could until he ran into the apartment and grabbed a hammer and started pounding on my hands. Finally I just let go, but again I got lucky and fell into the bushes below, stunned but all right. Just when I was thinking I was going to be okay, this refrigerator comes falling out of the sky and crushes me instantly, and now I’m here.” 

Once again, Peter had to concede that that sounded like a pretty horrible death. 

The third man came to the front of the line, and again Peter explained that heaven was full and asked for his story. 

“Picture this,” says the third man, “I’m hiding inside a refrigerator…” 

Happy 4th of July!

4th of July

RIP Andy Griffith

Andrew Samuel "Andy" Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012)

Andrew Samuel “Andy” Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012)

Andy Griffith was an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan’s epic film, A Face in the Crowd (1957) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead characters in the 1960–68 situation comedy, The Andy Griffith Show, and in the 1986–95 legal drama, Matlock. Griffith was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President George W. Bush on November 9, 2005. Griffith died on July 3, 2012 at the age of 86.

Wikipedia Link

Anniversary of the Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart (July 24, 1897 – 1937?)

Amelia Earhart SignatureAmelia Mary Earhart (July 24, 1897 – disappeared 1937) was a noted American aviation pioneer and author.Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross,awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.  Earhart joined the faculty of the Purdue University aviation department in 1935 as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers and help inspire others with her love for aviation. She was also a member of the National Woman’s Party, and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.

During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937 in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10 Electra, Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. Fascination with her life, career and disappearance continues to this day.

Wikipedia Link

Happy Birthday, Mr. “The King”

Richard Petty

Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937) is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. “The King”, as he is nicknamed, is most well-known for winning the NASCAR Championship seven times, winning a record 200 races during his career, winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times, and winning a record 27 races (ten of them consecutively) in the 1967 season alone. (A 1972 rule change eliminated races under 250 miles (400 km) in length, reducing the schedule to 30 (now 36) races.) Petty is widely considered one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time. He also collected a record number of poles (127) and over 700 top-ten finishes in his 1,185 starts, including 513 consecutive starts from 1971–1989.

Canada 150

canada_150

It’s called Canada 150 in reference to the upcoming 150th anniversary of the formation of the Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867. The breed is a gift from the Netherlands to celebrate the occasion. Like the Canadian flag, there are red and white fields. The splash of red in the middle resembles the maple leaf on that flag. CTV News Ottawa reports:

More than 200,000 of the Canada 150 tulips will bloom across the National Capital Region this spring. Next year 300,000 will be showcased in the NCC’s flower beds, with thousands more expected to be planted in community gardens across Canada.

Tulip admirers can purchase their own Canada 150 tulip at Home Hardware starting in September.

Anniversary of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

WillyWonkaMoviePoster

Original Movie Poster (June 30, 1971)

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a 1971 American musical fantasy film[4] directed by Mel Stuart, and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. It is an adaptation of the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl and tells the story of Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum, in his only film appearance) as he receives a Golden Ticket and visits Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory with four other children from around the world.

Filming took place in Munich in 1970, and the film was released by Paramount Pictures on June 30, 1971. With a budget of just $3 million, the film received positive reviews and performed well in 1971, earning about $4 million at the end of its original run. It then made an additional $21 million during its 1996 re-release.

The film has since developed a cult following especially due to its repeated television airings and home entertainment sales. In 1972, the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, and Wilder was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but lost both to Fiddler on the Roof. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

Wikipedia Link

No Kids

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Tour de Pizza

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