I hate to link to Crimereads two days in a row, but this is another one of those articles I feel like I have to link. Especially since it lets me tick off multiple categories from my list:
“Fireworks at Graceland: How Elvis Spent His Last Christmas Before Boot Camp“.
I’m not going to add it to my wish list yet, but Christmas with Elvis (affiliate link) sounds like it could be a fun book.
At least, it seems that way according to the New York Post.
This bride went from blushing to barfing in a matter of seconds.
Wife Hollee Lynnea-Kolenda Darnell unintentionally put her groom’s “in sickness and in health” loyalty to the test when she passed out, puked and got pooped on during their wedding ceremony.
…
A woman who took a Delta flight recently wasn’t kitten around when she whipped out her breasts and started feeding her hairless cat.
The unidentified female flew from Syracuse, NY, to Atlanta, GA, where she was caught breastfeeding her feline on the plane. A flight attendant told her repeatedly to stop and put her cat back in its cage, however, the woman refused.
As a person with a strong cat allergy, hey, at least it was hairless. Also, what did she do wrong? Other than not obeying a flight attendant, but it isn’t clear to me what she was doing wrong. Delta policy allows cats on planes, and allows breastfeeding on planes…
The name of the bar is “Paddywagon Irish Pub”, which sounds like a fun place to go drinking on Thanksgiving night.
Not too long ago, I found a used DVD of “The Detective” at Half-Price Books.
“The Detective” is a movie I’m kind of interested in, and I only paid $5 for the DVD. It is based on a novel by Roderick Thorp, and stars Frank Sinatra as a NYPD detective named Joe Leland.
Most of what I’ve read about the movie says that it was well regarded: it was praised for being a more mature approach to movies about police work, as well as dealing with non-mainstream subjects. (And check out that supporting cast.)
I think I’m going to end up watching it by myself, as I suspect it will be a tough sell to the Saturday Night Movie Group. (We’ve already watched one Sinatra detective film, “Tony Rome”, which was…not great.)
What does this have to do with Christmas?
In 1979, 13 years later, Roderick Thorp published a sequel to The Detective called Nothing Lasts Forever, also featuring Joe Leland (affiliate links). By this time, Detective Leland has retired from the NYPD, and decides to go visit his daughter in Los Angeles for Christmas.
Yeah, you guessed it. As I understand it, there were initially discussions about having Frank Sinatra play Joe Leland again (he was 64 when the book came out) but he turned the role down, and they eventually wound up with Bruce Willis. Also, the book sounds like it is a lot darker, just based on the Wikipedia summary.
Two of Thorp’s other novels were adapted for film, but none of those is set in the Die Hard Cinematic Universe (DHCU). (“Rainbow Drive” sounds like it could be interesting, but it is hard to find.) Thorp died in 1999.
And now you know…the rest of the story.
Because it’s just not Christmas until we see Hans Gruber fall from the Nakatomi Tower.
…
Local authorities said it was not safe to travel, so 61 stranded pub-goers and employees hunkered down and spent the night, the paper said.
The conditions did not improve, so the shut-ins also slept in the pub on Saturday and were preparing to sleep over again on Sunday amid howling winds and swirling snow, according to the report.
Off-roaders and a mountain rescue group were able to transport several people out of the bar to attend to medical and family situations, but most patrons didn’t look back in anger and made the best of the situation with cold beer, a warm fire and plenty of “Wonderwall” singalongs, the article said.
KXAN has thoughtfully informed us that “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” will be airing tonight on CBS at 7 PM Central (8 PM Eastern).
That soft wet sound you heard is the sound of Gregg Easterbrook’s head exploding, as, once again, “Rudolph” airs before Thanksgiving.
In case you were wondering, “Frosty the Snowman” will be on Friday night at 7 Central (8 Eastern) immediately followed by “Frosty Returns”, also on CBS.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” will supposedly be on PBS Sunday, December 19th, at 6:30 Central (7:30 Eastern).
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (the real one) will be on NBC Friday night at 7 Central (8 Eastern).
“Annie Live!” will be on NBC Thursday, December 2nd, at 7 Central (8 Eastern). Unfortunately, I have other plans that evening that involve stabbing myself in the thigh repeatedly with a titanium spork.
And, finally, “It’s a Wonderful Life” will be on December 4th at 7 Central (8 Eastern) and will repeat Christmas Eve at 7 Central (8 Eastern).
Here’s what purports to be a complete list of holiday films on broadcast, streaming, and cable. No, don’t thank me: I run a full service blog here.
…how far did it go?
This is something I hadn’t really thought about until this Smithsonian article came across Hacker News: how far can you shoot an arrow? The current record is apparently 2,028 yards.
“The Quest to Shoot an Arrow Farther Than Anyone Has Before“.
Spotted at a grocery store in Tulsa:
“…the man who holds the complete works of Aristotle in one hand, and a delicious sandwich in the other”. Well, who doesn’t love a delicious sandwich? But I think the Swagger I’m familiar with is more likely to have a .38 Super in the other hand.
(Swagger explained, for those who are unfamiliar with the works of Stephen Hunter. Those people should fix that soon: I’m personally fond of Pale Horse Coming, for reasons.)
Also spotted: Old Spice Krakengard. Which actually makes sense to me: if I can get a body wash that protects me from kraken, I am there, man.
I did not give a flying flip at a rolling doughnut about the Olympics. As a matter of fact, I believe they should have been cancelled this year, they should remain cancelled for all time, and cities should use the money to provide free guitar picks for the poor.
So I missed this story last week, but you know it is the kind of thing I can’t pass up, and I don’t think it got a lot of attention.
The coach of the German modern pentathlon team was disqualified on Saturday.
As it happens, “modern pentathlon” is one of the few Olympic sports I care much about: how can you not like a combination of swimming, fencing, running, horses, and shooting? (Plus: Patton. Minus: they are apparently using laser guns these days, instead of real pistols.)
But that’s not why the story is interesting. She was disqualified because…
I believe we have video of the event.
Okay, I’m sorry, that was a cheap joke, but it never gets old. Here is the actual footage:
Bundestrainerin Kim Raisner: "Hau mal richtig drauf. Hau richtig drauf!" Dann schlägt sie selber noch mit der Faust zu (Sekunde 23).@DOSB Das muss Konsequenzen haben.#ARD #Fünfkampf pic.twitter.com/JIBpqEGR6M
— Max Möhrike Ⓥ (@der_veganer) August 6, 2021
The Drive has an article on that spectacular jumping car I posted the other day.
Their coverage adds quite a bit, including a diagram of what appears to have happened and a link to (low quality) security cam video from another angle.
And, yes, the comments are full of Dukes of Hazard references…
Quick throw away post of two videos by way of the NYPost.
1) I don’t think that is going to buff out…
2) I’m only posting this one so I can say, “Go forth and kill! Zardoz has spoken!”
For those of you in the UK.
The asking price is £1,100,000 (which works out to about $1.5 million). But: five beds, three bathrooms, 2,954 square feet, a “utility room” and a cellar (that’d be great for your wine collection), plus “reception room”, “garden room”, and “dining room”.
And you can’t put a money value on the prestige of being able to say, “Yes, I live in the old Alan Turing place.”