Month: July 2006

 

Heh.

Heh heh.

BWAAAAAAHHAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAA!!

Obviously, I have little in common with Joao Silva. If it were me standing there, I would have knocked the cannon out of that guy’s grip and stomped on his head.

And counting.

On July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 blew apart in flight.

To observe the anniversary of the July 17, 1996, disaster, hundreds of family members will gather for a memorial Monday on Long Island at Smith Point County Park, the closest point on land to the crash site.

Back in 1996, I had just started to travel frequently for my company, and this tragedy sent a chill down my spine. Just a couple of days ago, I viewed an animation of what happened when the plane exploded (located three paragraphs down within the story on this page). Based on investigator findings, we now know exactly what the passengers experienced. It’s pretty awful.

Unfortunately, as CNN discovered, there are planes flying today with the same problems that led to the disaster of TWA 800, making it likely that more of these kind of disasters could happen in the future. The network will broadcast a special report focusing on the anniversary of the doomed flight.

There’s no end in sight.

Israeli missiles struck Beirut’s airport and killed 17 people in the south Sunday, including a family who had come from Canada to visit their home village — the first in what Israel warned would be a massive retaliation after a Hezbollah rocket barrage left eight dead in the Israeli city of Haifa.

The Haifa attack, a dramatic turning point in five days of violence, led Israel to accuse Syria and Iran of providing guerrillas with sophisticated weapons. Israeli officials said the missiles that hit Haifa were more advanced, with longer range and heavier warheads, than the hundreds of rockets that have rained on northern Israel.

The Jerusalem Post notes Hezbollah rockets have hit targets 45 kilometers southeast of Haifa, marking the longest distance into Israel to date.

Meanwhile, Michael Totten’s old neighborhood is under attack, and insults made by readers of his blog have forced him to revise his comment policy.

More: World War III?

Therefore, take a moment to watch a flying lawn mower.

            

How come I’m never this lucky?

A woman placed a 10-cent bet at a Michigan horse track and won $21,584, a track official says. The Michigan woman, whose name was not released, made the bet Friday at Sports Creek Raceway in Swartz Creek, about 55 miles northwest of Detroit.

She placed two 10-cent Superfecta bets on a race being simulcast from the Hollywood Park track in Inglewood, Calif. The Superfecta requires gamblers to pick the four top-finishing horses in correct order.

“One of them won,” Sports Creek general manager Chris Locking told The Detroit News. She returned to the track Monday to collect her winnings.

“Pretty good return for 10 cents, isn’t it?” Locking said.

Uh, yeah.

There’s really been no change in the middle east situation. Hezbollah has fired over 300 rockets at Israeli targets. Israel has destroyed the Hezbollah headquarters in south Beirut.

There’s no evidence to suggest the conflict will end soon.

Oscar winning comedian Red Buttons dies at 87.

The carrot-topped burlesque comedian who became a top star in early television and then won a 1957 Oscar with a surprising dramatic turn in “Sayonara,” died Thursday.

Buttons died of vascular disease at his home in the Century City area of Los Angeles, publicist Warren Cowan said. He had been ill for some time, and was with family members when he died, Cowan said.

Buttons’ Academy Award led to other films, both dramas and comedies. They included “Imitation General,” “The Big Circus,” “Hatari!” “The Longest Day,” “Up From the Beach,” “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Gable and Lombard” and “Pete’s Dragon.”

“He proved it was no accident by winning an Oscar that comedians can be in movies,” said fellow legendary comedian Jack Carter. “He was more than a comedian, he was a wise man.”

I remember Red most from “The Poseidon Adventure”. In fact, he kinda bugged me in that role. Actually, it was probably the over-acting of the entire cast that irked me, not just Red. I did find it a little unconvincing that he could keep his bow tie completely straight during the entire movie, given the situation.

Goodbye Red.