Author Archives: James

Beethoven’s Ninth

Beethoven's Ninth

RIP J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973) is best known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He was a professor of Anglo-Saxon language at Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and of English language and literature, also at Oxford, from 1945 to 1959.

J.R.R. TolkienWikipedia Link

SR-71 ‘Blackbird’ Sets ‘Speed Over a Recognized Course’ record

SR-71

The SR-71 holds the “Speed Over a Recognized Course” record for flying from New York to London distance 3,508 miles (5,646 km), 1,435.587 miles per hour (2,310.353 km/h), and an elapsed time of 1 hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds, set on September 1, 1974 while flown by U.S. Air Force Pilot Maj. James V. Sullivan and Maj. Noel F. Widdifield, reconnaissance systems officer (RSO). This equates to an average velocity of about Mach 2.68, including deceleration for in-flight refueling. Peak speeds during this flight were probably closer to the declassified top speed of Mach 3.2+. For comparison, the best commercial Concorde flight time was 2 hours 52 minutes, and the Boeing 747 averages 6 hours 15 minutes.

Wikipedia Link

Happy Birthday, Van Morrison

Van Morrison

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.

Wikipedia Link

RIP Princess Diana

Princess Diana

Diana, Princess of Wales (July 1, 1961 – August 31, 1997)

Wikipedia Link

Two Links

 

Errrr, lynx…Two Lynx

Coyote

Coyote

Remember this car?

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Carbs

Carbs

RIP Stevie Ray Vaughan

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.

Bad Dog

Bad Dog

Happy Birthday, Mr. Bond

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.

Sean ConneryWikipedia Link

A Whim Away

A Whim Away

People power frees man trapped by Perth train

A man in Perth, Australia was boarding a train when he slipped and his leg became wedged between the train and the platform. He couldn’t get out on his own. Other passengers tried to lift him up, but he was stuck.

So a crowd gathered around the train. On a signal, they all pushed the train until it tilted enough to free the man. David Hynes, a spokesman for the public transportation agency, described the incident to ABC News:

“We alerted the driver, made sure the train didn’t move.

“Then our staff who were there at the time got the passengers, and there were lots of them, off the train, and organised them to sort of rock, tilt the train backwards away from the platform so they were able to get him out and rescue him.”

The rescued man escaped the incident without any serious injuries–thanks to his new friends. You can watch the dramatic rescue in the video embedded below.

 

Hitching a Ride

Hitching a Ride

I’m Batman!

Holy Crap!  I'm Batman!

Delicious

Delicious

The Night I Lost Control

The Night I Lost Control

Open Road

Open Road

Something Happened in the Kitchen

Something Happened in the Kitchen

Cat Logic

Cat Logic