RIP Leslie Nielsen — You Will Be Missed!
It’s always hard to see legends fall.
The other day the world learned of the passing of Leslie Nielsen, one of Hollywood’s greatest, most serious comedic actors.
Oh sure, Leslie Nielsen began his acting career in serious roles, but he’s been known far and wide as being a comedian and using seriousness to amplify the humor. His performances in “Airplane!” as well as “The Naked Gun” movies were legendary.
A tribute to “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun.”
Nielsen’s performance in “Wrongfully Accused” wasn’t bad, but “Spy Hard” was a different story. I must say that his comeback roles in “Scary Movie 3” and “Scary Movie 4” were quite entertaining despite the actual movies sliding downhill.
But none of those will top his role of Lieutenant Frank Drebin of Police Squad!
Good times. Good laughs.
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Pittsburgh – Detroit Thanksgiving Trip
These past two weeks I had an incredible journey visiting the cities of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Detroit, Michigan.
The Pittsburgh part was to help prepare an apartment for a friend, while the Detroit part was to visit with relatives during Thanksgiving. One of the coolest parts was flying on a regional turboprop airliner between the cities. That’s just my aviation dork side showing there 🙂
The story with the Pittsburgh trip is that my friend’s sister has cystic fibrosis, and recently she was approved for a double lung transplant at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Once you’re approved for the transplant, you’re placed on the waiting list and basically wait until the organ is ready. This also means that you need to live within an hour or two of the hospital conducting the operation.
For my friend Susanne, that means packing up and temporarily moving to the great city of Pittsburgh. My friend Jimmy drove the rental truck while I followed behind in the vehicle that would remain up there. For 500 of the 680 miles, I stayed in very close pursuit of the truck and drafted as much as possible, increasing the vehicle’s fuel economy tremendously. Apart from minor wear and tear (not much on the highways), it was cheaper for me to draft behind the truck than it was to rent a vehicle hauler and pull it behind the rental truck.
Every little bit helps. Read more…
Categories: travel Tags: Detroit
How Well Do You Remember Events?
Today I had another opportunity to attend a home football game for Georgia Tech.
I’m not a Tech alumni, nor am I a huge fan of the school. I do like them significantly more than that other popular college in the state of Georgia. My alma mater, however, is with a different university a couple of states away. Today’s gameday experience was provided by my late brother’s seasons tickets.
The game against Miami went pretty much as I expected. Tech’s passing game was non-existent, and despite having a greater time of possession and the same if not more rushing yards, the scoreboard called the game a blowout. The game was pretty much over since the first quarter when Miami was up by 14 points. If Tech has to play catch up with its triple-option offense, well, good luck. There’s a good reason why you no longer see that style of offense in Division 1 football.
C-17 Globemaster III
One of the more exciting parts of the game (aside from the 1990 Georgia Tech National Championship football team being honored at halftime) was the military fly-by at the end of the national anthem. Making an approach from the north and staying about a thousand feet above ground level was a C-17 Globemaster III. The massive transport made a low pass over Bobby Dodd Stadium and managed to get what Tech fans were sober enough to get to the stadium in time excited for today’s game.
The second half of the game was a bore as Miami pulled ahead and sealed the game. As I was watching the Tech fans leave the stadium at the start of the fourth quarter, I couldn’t help but overhear conversations about the fly-by from last year’s Wake Forest game. This was the infamous “too low” fly-by performed by a pair of F/A-18 Hornet pilots from the VFA-136 “Knighthawks” strike fighter squadron. Those two pilots (both were GA Tech alumni) were permanently relieved of pilot duty after that stunt. Read more…
Categories: aviation, sports, Uncategorized Tags: aviation, football, society
Book Review – Michael Crichton’s “Pirate Latitudes”
Avast, ye landlubbers!
If any of ye be seeking adventure, treachery, damsels in distress, treasure, and bloody vengeance, then Michael Crichton‘s Pirate Latitudes may be just for you.
This short but highly entertaining story has just what you would expect for today’s view of Caribbean pirates from the 1660’s. It features a cunning pirate hero, a treasure ship packed with riches, the tropical setting of Caribbean islands, ship-to-ship combat, a hurricane, and even a sea monster. Name your favorite piece of pirate folklore and you’ll probably find it in this novel. Read more…
Categories: book reviews Tags: book review, Michael Crichton