Category Archives: Because I Can

To Quote Penn Jillette

“Channeling is just bad ventriloquism. You use another voice, but people can see your lips moving.”

RIP Gilligan

Bob Denver

Robert Osbourne “Bob” Denver (January 9, 1935 – September 2, 2005) was an American comedic actor known for his roles as Gilligan on the television series Gilligan’s Island and the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 TV series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Rumor had it that later in life he hated “Gilligan”, the character, and being called “Gilligan.”  After all the great memories I have of the show, the laughter, I’d like to think that he wouldn’t mind me calling him “Gilligan” one more time…

Wikipedia Link

RIP J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE (3 January 1892 – 2 September 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

Nerdspawn

Nerdspawn

To Quote Oscar Levant

I once said cynically of a politician, ‘He’ll doublecross that bridge when he comes to it.’

George Carlin on Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans

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.

You Sank My Battleship!

You Sank My Battleship!

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.

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

75 Bands

75 Band Names are hidden in this picture… see if you can find them all:

75 Bands

Click the thumbnail to see it bigger, MUCH bigger!

Pirates

Pirates

RIP Elvis!

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935–August 16, 1977)


Wikipedia Link

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”.

RIP Merv Griffin

 
Merv Griffin

The 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

Quoth the Server

Quoth the Server (404)

Gov. Rick Perry’s comments on the last shuttle flight

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, probably a Republican presidential candidate soon, noted the shuttle’s demise will cost Houston’s manned space flight headquarters alone some 4,000 jobs “forcing NASA away from its original purpose of space exploration and ignoring its groundbreaking past and enormous future potential.”

In his strongly-worded Thursday message, Perry added:

Forty-two years ago yesterday, America captured the world’s imagination by putting a man on the moon, highlighting an era of excellence in space exploration.

Unfortunately, with the final landing of the Shuttle Atlantis and no indication of plans for future missions, this administration has set a significantly different milestone by shutting down our nation’s legacy of leadership in human spaceflight and exploration, leaving American astronauts with no alternative but to hitchhike into space.

Atlantis’ final landing, as seen from space

Atlantis landing as seen from the ISS(Click for larger image)

We’ve all seen five-million-pound U.S. space shuttles launch, 135 times to be exact.

We’ve all seen them land back on Earth in Florida or California, 133 times to be exact.

But not until the very last space shuttle flight did we ever get to see what the giant craft’s return to the atmosphere looks like — from space.

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Mission Complete: Atlantis lands, closing out an end of an era

Atlantis Returns

Atlantis returned to Earth this morning, marking the end of NASA’s 135th and final shuttle voyage, and closing the era of re-usable space vehicles.