Darren McGavin Dead At 83

Darren McGavin - A Christmas StoryNot only did I miss the death of Don Knotts last week, but I also overlooked that of actor Darren McGavin, who died last week at the age of 83 of natural causes. McGavin was perhaps best known as a TV actor, starring in the series Mike Hammer and Kolchak, among others. His film credits included memorable roles in films like The Natural and A Christmas Story, as seen to the right.

It’s sad to see two actors representing some of my fondest childhood memories pass on like this. Here’s hoping that bad news doesn’t come in threes… πŸ™

Don Knotts Dead At 81

Don Knotts - Mr. FurleyBeloved TV and movie actor Don Knotts died last Friday at the age of 81. Don Knotts was perhaps best known as the bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, but I like to remember him as the bumbling landlord Mr. Furley on Three’s Company, as seen to the right. His extensive movie and TV career began in the ‘50s and was cut short only recently due to illness. He will definitely be missed… πŸ™

Update: YouTube has the entire episode of Three’s Company where Mr. Furley debuted available for viewing/download. I’m not surprised the episode got removed; here is a short video tribute to Mr. Furley by TVLand…

Bill O’Reilly Is A Hypocrite

Finding something to criticize Bill O’Reilly about is like shooting fish in a barrel, but I’m going to do it anyway. O’Reilly recently once again showed what a hypocrite he is in stating that the U.S. should leave Iraq “as fast as humanly possible” because “there are so many nuts in the country.” For those of you keeping score, that’s just a bit of a departure from a previous statement in which he “called those advocating immediate withdrawal from Iraq ‘pinheads’ and compared them to Hitler appeasers.” What an asshole…

They Haven’t Got Mail

I’ll start with an obvious statement: e-mail has become a vital communications medium in all facets of society. So it came as a surprise to me when Newsweek reported that during the course of congressional investigations into government responses to Hurricane Katrina, it was revealed that: Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security Donald Rumsfeld and Michael Chertoff “do not use e-mail.” Granted, they have aides and staff to manage and filter e-mail traffic, but to be totally divorced from such an essential means of communication, and, more importantly, documentation of events and correspondences is unconscionable. Unbelievable…

What’s Up?

What’s Up? bills itself as “an indispensable tool for the global newsjunkie,” and I think that’s pretty close to the mark. A global map continually refreshes with “hot spots” of news that you can click on for more information. Pretty neat concept…

Last Tomcat Recovery From Combat Mission

F-14 Tomcat
A couple of weeks ago there was another sad milestone in the history of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat:

A chapter in naval aviation history drew to a close Feb. 8 aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) with the last recovery of an F-14 Tomcat from a combat mission.

Piloted by Capt. William G. Sizemore II, commander, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, Fighter Squadron (VF) 213’s aircraft 204 was trapped at 12:35 a.m. and marked one of the final stages of the Navy’s transition from the F-14 to F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet.

As I’ve mentioned before, the Tomcat is my favorite military aircraft, so seeing it go through its “sundown” phase has been a bit sad…

1,300 Cereal Boxes Coverpop

Jim Baumgardner has created another cool “coverpop,” a random collection of like objects that you can mouse over to zoom in on and see more details. This time he has created a coverpop of 1,300 Cereal Boxes, which he points out is “The equivalent fiber of one box of Colon Blow” (embedded QuickTime video of the Saturday Night Live commercial). Very neat; definitely check out the other coverpops on his page (some of which I may have linked to before)…