Some Memes You May Enjoy

Many a truth is said in jest.

- Hitler in the bunker on Biden's debate performance.

- Heh Heh

- JAWS told in Lego

- Analysis true!

JAWS

The iconic movie JAWS was released 49-years ago. It was one of the first movies I saw in a theater (I was a young kid and it wasn't on its first run) and have seen it a number of times over the years plus some documentaries on how it was made. I fully expect it to be re-released next summer for a special 50th anniversary event.

I've read a number of Peter Benchley noels over the years but never JAWS, Think it was a conscious omission. Perhaps next year I'll rectify that.

JAWS in 60 Seconds

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"We eternally inhabit order, surrounded by chaos." - Jordan Peterson

 "How can you make a revolution without firing squads?" - Lenin

"I'll find him for three but I'll catch him, and kill him for ten." - Captain Quint

"Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties." - John Milton

OK - This Made Me Laugh

Via

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

What CNN really needs now - ratings wise is for another jetliner to go missing so they can return to their journalistic roots... Six Beers and a Gummie would be a good name for a band or an update on the Irish 7-course meal joke (old joke was a six-pack and a potato)...  Business idea: a line of condoms called "Sanitized (for your protection)"... Mathematical Abstractions would also be a good name for a band... Who knew? The last battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Palmito Ranch, was a Confederate victory... One of my favorite pieces of trivia - the JAWS character Captain Quint's last name means "fifth" in Latin. In the move he's the fifth person killed by the shark...  

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Looking back at JAWS perhaps the most unbelievable thing in the movie today would be the opening - people drinking and having a good time at the beach while having a bonfire. I mean that clearly requires an immediate suspension of disbelief in today's America... Cool "Impostor Syndrome" anecdote from Neil Gaiman... Prediction - would not be surprised if Mitt Romney is asked to host SNL prior to the November elections just to take some gratuitous shots at President Trump... "Eloquence is logic on fire." - Lyman Beecher... Heh Heh - a little mask humor... "We've noticed you're using an ad blocker" - translation: the script we run in the background has been identified and foiled. Can you please turn your ad blocker off because we promise we are up to mostly good. Trust us!... The FCC formally names Huawei as a national security risk yet Twitter allows them to promote themselves as someone "You might like" - WTF Twitter? What happened did the Taliban's check not clear?... "I, and I alone, am responsible for everything I think and feel." - Naval Ravikant. A very powerful quote to ponder. Literally could be life-changing...

Robert Shaw Describes a Donald Trump Press Conference

"Donald Trump comes cruising in. The reporters form themselves into tight groups. You know it's kind of like ol' squares in a battle or like being roped together at a Hillary press conference. And the idea is if the Donald goes after one reporter and then that reporter would start hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the Donald would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes the Donald, he looks right into you. Right into the reporter's eyes. You know the thing about the Donald, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be a real politician. Until he bites into ya with those scathing remarks and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch complaining and the airways and Internet explode despite all the pounding and hollerin' that the Donald isn't a serious candidate. And that's when the Donald comes in and rips ya to pieces. I'll never go into a press pool again."

From a couple years ago but still like the idea.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Whenever you're thinking you are too old for a new endevour  remember that famed scuba-diver Jacques Cousteau didn't learn to swim until he was 40-years old... This was one impressive throw!... "I got some new underwear today. Well new to me." - Emo Phillips... This is another example of why Marcus Smart is among the most popular Celtics players. How can you not like Marcus Smart?... A blonde is a blonde, A redhead is a redhead and a brunette is a brunette. But what do you call a woman with black hair? You don't call her a "black head" and you certainly don't call her a "black"... Heh heh - drunk female fruit fly sluts... The JAWS character Captain Quint's name means "fifth" in Latin. In the movie he was the fifth person killed by the shark...

Robert Shaw Describes President Trump

Robert Shaw describes Donald Trump at a press conference:

Donald Trump comes cruising in. The reporters form themselves into tight groups. You know it's kind of like ol' squares in a battle or like being roped together at a Hillary press conference. And the idea is if the Donald goes after one reporter and then that reporter would start hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the Donald would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes the Donald, he looks right into you. Right into the reporter's eyes. You know the thing about the Donald, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be a real politician. Until he bites into ya with those scathing remarks and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch complaining and the airways and Internet explode despite all the pounding and hollerin' that the Donald isn't a serious President. And that's when the Donald comes in and rips ya to pieces. I'll never go into a press pool again.

Robert Shaw Describes Donald Trump

Robert Shaw describes Donald Trump at a press conference:

Donald Trump comes cruising in. The reporters form themselves into tight groups. You know it's kind of like ol' squares in a battle or like being roped together at a Hillary press conference. And the idea is if the Donald goes after one reporter and then that reporter would start hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the Donald would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes the Donald, he looks right into you. Right into the reporter's eyes. You know the thing about the Donald, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be a real politician. Until he bites into ya with those scathing remarks and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch complaining and the airways and Internet explode despite all the pounding and hollerin' that the Donald isn't a serious candidate. And that's when the Donald comes in and rips ya to pieces. I'll never go into a press pool again.

Robert Shaw Describes Donald Trump

Robert Shaw describes Donald Trump at a press conference:

Donald Trump comes cruising in. The reporters form themselves into tight groups. You know it's kind of like ol' squares in a battle or like being roped together at a Hillary press conference. And the idea is if the Donald goes after one reporter and then that reporter would start hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the Donald would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes the Donald, he looks right into you. Right into the reporter's eyes. You know the thing about the Donald, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be a real politician. Until he bites into ya with those scathing remarks and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch complaining and the airways and Internet explode despite all the pounding and hollerin' that the Donald isn't a serious candidate. And that's when the Donald comes in and rips ya to pieces. I'll never go into a press pool again.

Top 5 - Movie Theme Music

Here are my choices for the best movie theme music of all-time.

1. The Godfather
2. The Exorcist
3. Patton
4. Jaws
5. (tie) The Last of the Mohicans (tie) Rocky

Honorable mention to The Sting.

Other movies have had some great songs but when you hear these instrumentals - your brain automatically thinks of the movie. 

Interesting to note that all of the movies except Last of the Mohicans (1992) were from the 1970's. Also all the songs except The Exorcist (Tubular Bells) and The Sting (The Entertainer) were original scores. Do movies these days need hit songs associated with them to help increase profits and marketability? An exception to this was the Harry Potter theme music (which has a good argument to be in the Top 5). Did the folks producing Harry Potter (knowing they already had a guaranteed jackpot) feel they needed music more to suit the movie and not to suit the suits (producers and marketing folk)?

Top 5 - Movies Based in Massachusetts

1. JAWS
2. Good Will Hunting
3. The Departed
4. The Thomas Crown Affair (w/ Steve McQueen)
5. The Verdict

Just missing the cut were The Paper Chase, The Boondock Saints, The Perfect Storm, The Brinks Job and The Last Hurrah. I gave no consideration whatsoever to Love Story. It will be interesting to see if Black Mass (the Whitey Bulger biopic) makes the list.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Modern Americans don't know the horror of either grisly ax murders or pay toilets. I'm not sure which was worse... Norm MacDonald's very sweet tribute to David Letterman... Not sure how I feel when some gives me a gift and says, "its a top shelf item" but then follows up with "at Family Dollar"... I agree 100%... The JAWS character Captain Quint's last name means "fifth" in Latin. In the movie he's the fifth person killed by the shark... This is just awful. I hope the people responsible spend the rest of their lives in jail... Is it me or throughout history have all ax murders been described as "grisly"? As if there might be some sort of "delightful" ax murder...

4th of July Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing about the 4th of July.

- Heh heh - Jaws was the original 4th of July summer blockbuster. If you're a fan of the movie this is great stuff.

- Stuff you might not know about the Declaration of Independence

- Speaking of the Declaration of Independence - when's the last time you actually read the document? Have you ever read the whole thing?

- EB White on the meaning of "Democracy"

- America Fuck Yeah!

- America Fuck Yeah II!

- America Fuck Yeah III!

- I have to admit that every time I see this painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence - I look for the black guy on the $2 bill

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Supposedly back in July of 2005 the Blue Jays turned down a Ryan Howard for Ted Lilly deal. It is interesting to ponder on how that deal could have changed the fortunes of both franchises. Oh I know that a MVP caliber player for a 2nd starter seems one-sided on the surface but Lilly could have been the extra ingredient in 2005 to get the Phillies into the playoffs in a weak year when the Astros won the NL and the White Sox won the World Series... Movie Trivia: Captain Quint's name means "fifth" in Latin. In the movie Jaws - he's the fifth person killed by the shark... PJ O'Rourke on Democrats... Presidential Trivia: Richard Nixon is the only sitting President to ever attend a running of the Kentucky Derby... I checked my American College Dictionary and "physicality" is not a word. I wish sports announcers would stop using it... A blonde is a blonde, a brunette is a brunette, a redhead is a redhead but what do you call woman with black hair? You don't call her a black head... If you are bitten by Abe Vigoda - do you become a zombie?... They call me Heat Miser, Whatever I touch - starts to melt in my clutch - I'm too much!...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Danny Ainge gets fined by the NBA for an unauthorized distraction. This makes me have to ask - are there authorized distractions? If so - what are they?... With all the focus on David Ortiz - the real problem the Red Sox have had (besides injuries to Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron) has been failure to get the job done in extra inning games. The Red Sox are just 1-5 in extra innings. If they reversed that then they'd be just 2 games behind Tampa Bay... PTI makes the JaMarcus Russell / Jim Plunkett comparison days after I did. Maybe they're reading this blog?.. The Mets are a surprising 11-5 at home. Who knew?... Dustin Pedroia leads the AL in sac flies with 4. Who knew?... Random trivia - In the movie Jaws - Captian Quint's name means "fifth" in Latin. In the movie he's the fifth person killed by the shark...

USS Indianapolis

On this day in 1945 a Japanese sub fired on and sank the USS Indianapolis. The sinking of the Indianapolis set up Captain Quint's mesmerizing soliloquy in the movie Jaws:

Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte... just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that when you're in the water, Chief? You tell by looking from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn't know, was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin', so we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know, it was kinda like old squares in the battle like you see in the calendar named "The Battle of Waterloo" and the idea was: shark comes to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark go away... but sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be living... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and they... rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand. I know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday morning, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boatswain's mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up, down in the water just like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon, the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us. He swung in low and he saw us... he was a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. Anyway, he saw us and he come in low and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and starts to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened... waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water; 316 men come out and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

I get chills just reading that. I can't imagine what the real survivors of the Indianapolis must have gone through.

A Comparison

Barack Obama tonight in an interview with Bill O'Reilly:

As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in the country. On Thursday, Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S. troops has benefited the Iraqi people.

“I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.”

This quote from Obama in which he basically refuses to admit he was wrong about the surge made me think of the movie Jaws.Remember when the shark first bites through the piano wire when Hooper thought it was some sort of game fish but then refused to admit it was a shark? Quint said, "Well it proves one thing, Mr. Hooper. It proves that you wealthy college boys don't have the education enough to admit when you're wrong."