Was touring Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory on Charlie’s bucket list?
Why is it that eggs are listed in the Big 8 food allergens, but chickens are not?
While rereading Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, this random thought popped into my head:
Given the US Navy’s aircraft designation system in place prior to 1962, it’s fortunate that the Navy didn’t procure a plane that combined the functions of a Scout aircraft and a Torpedo bomber from the Douglas Aircraft Company.
Consider two of the iconic rock groups of the 1960s “British Invasion“: The Beatles and The Who. For the purposes of this thought experiment, let it be stipulated that all members of both groups contributed vocals, to some extent, to their respective groups.
Both bands had four members during that era. Each band has had two of its foundational members die in the intervening years: The Beatles have lost John Lennon (guitar) and George Harrison (guitar), while The Who lost Keith Moon (drums) and John Entwistle (bass).
Meanwhile, each band has two surviving core members: The Beatles’ surviving core members are Ringo Starr (drums) and Paul McCartney (bass), while The Who’s surviving core members are Pete Townshend (guitar) and Roger Daltrey (primarily vocals, though he’s also a guitarist). Frankly, with a guitarist like Pete Townshend, do you really need a second guitarist, other than for specific songs? Besides, when bands tour these days, they often have musicians besides the core group. Let Roger sing; if a song needs extra guitarists, they’ll be on hand, never fear.
Finally, Pete Townshend was the primary songwriter for The Who. Meanwhile, Paul McCartney, though his songwriting with The Beatles was generally in collaboration with John Lennon, has had quite a successful solo career as a songwriter.
Ladies and gentlemen (and those who identify with The Athlete Formerly Known as Bruce Jenner), I suggest that a new band be formed, at least for one tour together: The Whotles!
Just once, in a movie or TV show about a dark vigilante hero, I’d like to hear the following bit of dialogue:
Villain: “Who are you?”
DVH (cheerfully): “I’m your bestest nightmare ever!”
For the record, I’m going to try to add at least one new post daily, even if it’s just random silliness like this.
Progressives: Our ideas are so compelling, we’ll use the coercive power of the state to compel you to live under them!
For those of us who have spent time in or around the military, there’s a common joke.
The only difference between a fairy tale, a sea story and a war story is how they begin:
A fairy tale begins with “Once upon a time…”
A sea story begins with “Now, this is no lie…”
A war story begins with “No $#!+, there I was…”
It turns out that they all end the same way:
“I’m Brian Williams, NBC News.”
I have no reason to expect this tentative epitaph to be needed any time soon. However, having thought of it, I thought it wise to record it before it escaped me:
“What does not kill me, makes me stronger.” – F. Nietzsche
“I finally suffered a catastrophic failure to strengthen.” – J. Groth
If I come up with a better epitaph, I’ll post it in comments on this post.
As I reflect upon the 13th anniversary of the first major attack on CONUS soil by a foreign entity since the War of 1812 (I don’t include Japanese fire balloons during World War II as “major”), I affirm that the three words that formed my first thought upon learning that the World Trade Center was actually attacked still frame my idea of what should shape the American Republic’s policy toward both those who would directly attack our Republic and those who would finance or support attacks upon our Republic:
Understanding the efficacy of this principle was one of the sanest thoughts of the often-reviled Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (a.k.a. “Caligula”).
22 February 1984 was the last morning I ever woke up as a civilian. By the end of that day, I was legally a US Army Soldier, albeit one entirely lacking in the training required to refine my civilian ore into Soldier metal. I still take pride in the fact that, since I entered service at the lofty pay grade of E2 (due to college credits), I was appointed by the St. Louis MEPS cadre to be in charge of my fellow recruits as we rode a bus from the St. Louis MEPS to Fort Leonard Wood.
 | AuricTech on My Tentative Epitaph |
| AuricTech on “Folk Marxism” and… |
 | Mark on On the Subject of PajamaB… |
 | Jarhead Survivor on A Quote for Today |
| Mark on Color Me Unsurprised |
AuricTech Thoughts 