Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day 2010/Ronald Reagan in 1942's Desperate Journey

Who'da thunk that our beloved, late president, Ronald Reagan, could have beaten Chevy Chase to the comedic punch by some forty years? (cf. - Chase's turn as a bumbling, buck-toothed airplane mechanic in his 1985 comedy Fletch.)
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/3b7bfc0da3/fletch-mechanic-from-fletchfan

Get a load of the hilarious stream of gobbledygook Reagan feeds his Nazi interrogator, from the 1942 film Desperate Journey, when asked about the high-altitude characteristics of his aircraft's engines.

Enjoy.



Coincidentally, this is exactly the kind of misdirection - albeit, without the comedic flare - that The Flying Curmudgeon was taught to employ if ever in a Prisoner-of-War situation, when he went through SERE School (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) at Warner Springs, CA, back in March of '86.

On this Memorial Day, God bless all the brave Americans throughout our history who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live in Freedom.

TFC

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Did You Hear the One About the Prophet Muhammad...?

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/what-did-you-say-about-muhammad/2/Returning from Munich in September 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain waved a piece of paper over his head and declared it was "...peace for our time." Within the month the German army was rolling into the Sudetenland. Less than a year later, Hitler would unleash Blitzkrieg on Poland, plunging Europe into the nightmare of World War II.

After the British Parliament gave its seal of approval to Chamberlain's Munich Agreement - effectively ceding Chechoslovakia to Hitler - soon-to-be Prime Minister Winston Churchill observed, "England has been offered a choice between war and shame. She has chosen shame and will get war."

If history has shown us anything, it's that appeasing tyranny only leads to more tyranny. The opposite is also true. The more tyranny is opposed, the less prevalent it becomes. Just like in the schoolyard, the quickest way to get the playground bully to leave you alone is by punching him in the nose.

Shame on Comedy Central/the creators of South Park, and all who would attempt to appease radical Islam, as well as those who would forcefully impose their ideology on freedom loving people everywhere.

With that in mind, and in the spirit of opposing tyranny in all of its forms: Did you hear the one about the Prophet Muhammad and the two, traveling Jewish salesmen?

It's the Seventh Century and the two merchants are in Mecca on business. Standing in a local bazaar, the two men are surprised when the Prophet Muhammad himself comes riding along on the back of a rather well-endowed dromedary.

The first merchant turns to the other and says, "Oy! Get a load of the schmuck on THAT camel!"

TFC

Monday, May 3, 2010

"Like Sands Through the Hourglass..."

"...What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." - James 4:14

When The Flying Curmudgeon was a child, his father was in the Navy and spent a lot of time away at sea. For a long time, he hardly ever saw his father.

The Flying Curmudgeon always swore that if he ever had a family, he would be home more than his father was. Unfortunately, in his job as an airline pilot, TFC often finds that he is a guest in his own house.

Last year, when his oldest son graduated from high school, this was his class song. Watching him march off with this classmates in his cap and gown, holding onto his diploma, the sound of John Ondrasik's piano and lilting falsetto played in the background. It tore The Flying Curmudgeon up then, and it still tears him up now, whenever he hears it.

"All right, Mr. The Flying Curmudgeon," the loyal reader is no doubt asking. "Just where, exactly, are you going with this post?"

The answer is simple, yet profound: Life is short, too short to spend precious time on unimportant things.

And the time we have with our children and our families is priceless.

In the spirit of this post, as another graduation season is upon us, with the generosity and gracious assistance of Five for Fighting's YouTube channel, The Flying Curmudgeon presents: 100 Years