Harvey Bernard Milk, Politician and Gay Activist




"The research for "Milk" was an unusually productive example of how archives and scholarship can influence Hollywood and popular culture, participants said."

EVERYONE knows I’m a Lost fan.  And Lost wouldn’t be lost if it weren’t for aviation.  Why, one of the main characters, who has been rescued from the island that was his home for several months, spends his weekends flying in hopes of repeating the crash that made him “lost” in the first place!

But Lost isn’t the only movie or show that features aviation that’s been a hit with me. How about the original Tarzan The Ape Man?  The plane crashing in the jungle…with an infant onboard, raised by apes.  He grows up to fall in love with the beautiful Jane.  Not trying to make “apes” the feature, but you can’t forget that King Kong, while on top of the Empire State building was attacked by a plane.

And then there’s Top Gun, with Tom Cruise, or Cliff Hanger with Sylvester Stallone.  Or Apocalypse Now with Marlon Brando, Memphis Belle or A Bridge Too Far.

Can’t forget Airplane!,    Planes, Trains and Automobiles, or Home Alone. 

I know, some of these movies have aviation touching them only for a short period of time, while others have them as the main focus.  But it was important just the same.  The movie wouldn’t have gotten where it was supposed to be without aviation.  Just like we wouldn’t be where we are today without it. 

Just think where we have come and how quickly since 1903 when the Wright Bros. had their first success.

Aviation.com recognizes that and has put together what they believe are the Great Innovations In Aviation....

Take a look…what do you think?  

"Despite having hundreds of sonar contacts over the years, the trail has since gone cold and Rines believes that Nessie may be dead, a victim of global warming."

What's that?

Why, we're talking about the Loch Ness Monster, of course!

After 37 years of searching for "Nessie," 85-year-old American, Robert Rines is calling it a day.

It seems he is finally getting too old to continue his search for the Loch Ness Monster.

"World War II veteran Robert has devoted almost half his life to scouring Loch Ness."

"He started in 1971. The following year, he watched a 25ft-long hump with the texture of elephant skin gliding through the water."

"His original trip was to help another monster hunter with sonar equipment and quickly identified large moving targets."

"He was smitten and returned the next year, which is when, he says: "I had the misfortune of seeing one of these things with my own eyes."

Read the entire article from the Daily Record


Veteran Loch Ness Monster Hunter Gives Up   í  here

It would be a real shame if global warming is what finally did Nessie in.

Wouldn't you think some other critters in the pond would have had the same fate?

Maybe something would have washed up on shore somewhere?

I guess everything just sunk.

Yep.

Pity.

The 2008 Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, in China, is home to the largest snow sculpture ever created.


The sculpture is called Romantic Feelings and is is 115 ft high and 656 ft long.


2008 Harbin Ice and Snow festival, China  “Romantic Feelings”         

                            

Many of the sculptures are melting rapidly in the midday sun and emergency repairs have already been carried out to stop them collapsing completely.

Read the article from The Daily Mail

The Ice Maiden: China unveils largest snow sculpture ever created    ä here



Snow sculpture of Napoleon


Snow sculpture of the "Thinker"

 

Ice sculpture of the Tiananmen gate

Robin Williams In Kuwait doing a comedy routine when he experienced a military tradition.


 

Terry Teachout originally sent up cautionary flags regarding the New York Philharmonic's possible trip to North Korea in his October Wall Street Journal column "Serenading a Tyrant." Teachout wondered:

What would you have thought if Franklin Roosevelt had encouraged the Philharmonic to accept an official invitation to play in Berlin in the spring of 1939? Do you think such a concert would have softened the hearts of the N-a-z-i-s, any more than Jesse Owens' victories in the 1936 Olympics changed their minds about racial equality? Or inspired the German people to rise up and revolt against Adolf Hilter? Or saved a single Jewish life?

Teachout counseled that the Philharmonic and the Bush administration "would do well to ponder these questions before consenting to put America's oldest orchestra at the service of the man who turned off all the lights in North Korea." Teachout to the contrary notwithstanding, the Philharmonic announced that it will play in North Korea in February. 

Teachout attended the Philharmonic's official press conference on the trip. He reports on the press conference here at
About Last Night  ◄   and has cross-posted his report here at The Horizon. ◄

It looks like in setting forth the plans of orchestra president Zarin Mehta,
the Philharmonic is going to create some joy...for Kim Jong-Il.

I am so "Unglued" about this . . . no, more than that ....

Why send "our" prestigious orchestra to North Korea for the pleasure of this "monster?"

Kim Jong II is a villain. 

He is a glutton  who flaunts it while his people starve. 

He plays with toys while his own people, including children,
are in a concentration camp for political crimes.

He is a PIG....
and we should not be providing him with entertainment! 

 

"My nominee for 2007 Person of the Year is a woman--a woman with a history of abuse, a woman who has never run for elective office, someone we all know, someone who makes her presence known on a daily basis in all our lives and, for my money, is better than any male alternative. That woman is Mother Earth. I think the environment is the compelling issue of our time." 

Brian Williams Veteran journalist who became anchor of NBC Nightly News in 2004, replacing Tom Brokaw

Read the article here:  ►      Time Person of The Year


Mother Earth, nominee for 2007 Person of the Year???? 

And I was hoping Williams would nominate Father Time . . . . 

This award, which "used" to be "Man of the Year," and has morphed into "Person" and "Persons" and now fictional characters, is a BIG JOKE. 

What next? 

The possibilities are endless!

Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade 2006

Sitting in front of the television watching the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Day Parade is a tradition that goes back as far as I can remember.  Or at least having it on in the background occupying the younger kids while mom and dad are busy preparing the holiday feast.

In the 1920s many of Macy's department store employees were first-generation immigrants who were proud of their new American heritage.  They wanted to celebrate the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving with the type of festival their parents had loved in Europe.

There was a department store in 1924 in New Jersey, Bamberger's who decided to transfer its annual Thanksgiving parade to Macy's.  There the employees dressed in costumes, made floats, had bands, and live animals from Central Park Zoo.  They marched to the Macy's on 34th Street where St. Nick was heralded in front of a quarter million people.  This became an annual event.

 In 1927, huge animal-like balloons replaced the live animals, and Felix the Cat was the first balloon to make a debut.  The next year the balloons were filled with helium.  Mickey Mouse made his debut in 1934 and millions of parade watchers were lining the streets in New York.

Because of the shortage of rubber and helium during World War II, among other reasons, the parade was suspended during 1942-1944, but resumed in 1945.  The deflated balloons were donated to the war effort and turned into 650 lbs. of scrap rubber.  A ceremony for the donation was held during which NYC Mayor La Guardia plunged a knife into the Happy Dragon balloon.

At the conclusion of some of the very early Macy's parades, five of the balloons would be released with return addresses on them.  They would deflate slowly so they would take a week to 10 days to come down.  $100 Macy's gift certificates would be offered to those returning the balloons.  In following years, ten balloons were released and the gift certificate was reduced to $50.  In the 30's people were trying to catch the balloons in mid-air, by small plane, which soon made the practice of releasing the balloons cease, in the interest of public safety.

     Felix the Cat 

  Dachshund

 Uncle Sam WWII

In 1956, winds gusting up 45 mph blew through the parade route, deflating all of the balloons except for Mighty Mouse.  In 1958 there was a helium shortage and air-filled balloons were carried on cranes.