Southwest Airlines' Grounds Some of its Fleet of 737s After Hole in Fuselage

Image from Flight Global

When I was dating The Other Half, he'd often try to get me to play "guess that plane." He'd point to the sky and ask me the maker, model and airline of a plane in the sky. Unbeknownst to him, pointing at anything, and asking me to identify it (or even see it) is a Herculean task (just ask my mom). To me, most planes look like amorpheous blobs--silhouettes at best--even if I happen to have my glasses on. But the one I was good at was Southwest Airlines. Though there may be exceptions, nearly all of their planes are Boeing 737s! And they have a distinctive paint job. It was always the one I could get right.

The ubiquity of the 737 in Southwest's fleet is turning out to be a problem, now that a mysterious hole opened up in the roof of one, mid-flight. Fortunately, everyone is okay (though I'll bet there were a lot of emergency changes of pants afterward), and the incident is now less mysterious. But it's causing havoc in airline schedules for the short term.

[Excerpt]

Investigators Find Extensive Cracking on Troubled Southwest Jetliner

Southwest Airlines mechanics were working Sunday to cut out a section of ruptured fuselage from a Boeing 737-300 that was forced to make an emergency landing at a southwestern Arizona military base. . .

Read more (with video) at: AOL News

Leslie Nielsen Has a Fantastic Sendoff

A funeral? What is it? It's a gathering of mourners, but that's not importan right now. But for Leslie Nielsen, it was a cocktail party.

Now that's the way to do it. And apparently the way he wanted it. Sign me up for one of the same. Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.

[Excerpt]

Leslie Nielsen’s life celebrated at open-casket cocktail party



As the jazzy soundtrack of The Naked Gun blared on the speakers and Canadian mounties saluted, actor Leslie Nielsen’s coffin (above) was carried into Fort Lauderdale’s Lago Mar Resort Monday afternoon for a memorial billed as “Cocktails With Leslie and Barbaree. . .”
 
Read more at: Page2Live
 
And because it never gets old. . .  

Shirley, you can't be serious... Leslie Nielsen, 1926-2010

In honor of one of the greats ...

Although, this monkey will be quoting Frank Drebin & Dr. Rumack until the day I die...
For now, I am at a loss for words... Shirley, I am... RIP.



"I'm afraid if I don't keep moving, they're going to catch me ... I am 81 years old and I want to see what's around the corner, and I don't see any reason in the world not to keep working. But I am starting to value my down time a great deal because I am realizing there might be other things to do that I am overlooking."
~ Leslie Nielsen, 1926-2010

Learn more about Leslie Nielsen here.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I was all set to do a Leslie Nielsen tribute, and my pal Stupid Monkey Planet beat me to it! And a good job he did, basically posting exactly what I would have. The only thing else I'd add is that while I loved Nielsen's work in Airplane! and The Naked Gun series, I think the latter-day makers of parody movies seemed to think if they plugged Nielsen into their movie, it would automatically be funny. He was of course, but not so much the movies. I'm glad the ZAZ team tapped into the comedy that Nielsen could provide though, and am very sad at his passing. Thanks for doing the leg work for me, Monkey!

Barbara Billingsley Dies at 94

RIP, Mrs. Cleaver.  But I'll always remember you as the lady in Airplane! who said, "Oh, stewardess? I speak jive."

Airplane Turns 30!

Egad, I'm old. How can one of my favorite movies, one of the funniest movies of all time, be thirty years old? It just can't be. Surely you can't be serious ("I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.")   But have you seen Julie Haggarty or Robert Hayes lately? They've held up pretty well, but are clearly evidence of the passage of time. Leslie Nielsen is eighty-four! 

But Airplane! remains a high-water mark for comedy, and acts as a litmus test for other people's appreciation of humor. If they love the movie, they "get it." If they say, "this is stupid," they quite simply have an under-developed sense of humor.  I may watch it again tomorrow.






[Excerpt]

'Airplane!' 30th Anniversary: Pick Your Favorite Quote!

It's the 30th anniversary of the comedy classic "Airplane!". So why not spend the holiday weekend celebrating the quotable lines that influenced generations of comedies and filmmakers. We admit it -- there are plenty of great lines that didn't make the cut. But the overabundance of amazing lines actually overloaded my brain and knocked me out. Hell, when I came to, I thought I was Ethel Merman. . .

Source: Huffington Post

Airplane of the Future: Standing Room Only!

Image from source, MailOnline

Looks like the seating on a "stand-up" roller coaster, doesn't it?  When you hit turbulence, do you raise your hands and go, "wheeeeee!"  Doesn't look like as much fun. Better be a hell of a first drop. . .

[Excerpt]

Ryanair to sell standing room only tickets for £4... funded by charging passengers to use the toilet

Air passengers might soon be able to fly from just £4, with ample leg room to boot.



There’s just one small catch, it seems – they’ll have to stand.


Instead of being allocated a seat, Ryanair travellers would perch on a narrow shelf and lean against a flat padded backboard. . .

Read more at: DailyMail

Found at: Joe.My.God.

Peter Graves Dead at 84

Image from source, Huffington Post

Boo. I've liked Peter Graves since I was old enough to understand Mission: Impossible. I especially enjoyed him in the Airplane! movies, and was really irked when they turned Graves' Jim Phelps character into a secret bad guy in the Tom Cruise movie (and if I spoiled that for you, consider that I felt spoiled when I watched it.). So, this is sad news. Living to 84 is a good long life, but I'm sure the closer to 84 I get, the less I'll consider that to be consolation. RIP, Peter!

[Excerpt]

Peter Graves DEAD: Actor Found In Pacific Palisades Home

Peter Graves, the tall, stalwart actor likely best known for his portrayal of Jim Phelps, leader of a gang of special agents who battled evil conspirators in the long-running television series "Mission: Impossible," died Sunday.

Graves died of an apparent heart attack outside his Los Angeles home, publicist Sandy Brokaw said. He would have been 84 this week. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Sarah Palin's Book Bus Tour. . .With Wings!

What the hey, I haven't picked on Sarah Palin in a little while. As radio host Jon Elliott says, you can't leave her alone. She's like a chew toy to a dog! Anyhow, it would seem that Palin's camera-ready arrivals at her many book signings across this great country of ours in her fancy-schmancy Sarah bus are a bit artificial. Her bus is little more than a very big taxi from her plane. Her $4,000-per-hour plane. Am I picking nits here? Maybe, but one of the main things her rabid fans like to say about her is how real, how truthful, how genuine she is. Moose crap. Also.

Airplane! Cast Reunites!

Airplane! is one of the funniest movies of all time, and is still funny 28 years after it was made. Yesterday, part of the cast reunited on The Today Show, and remenisced about the film. I'd post more, but I think I've covered this ground somewhere before. . .



Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet once again for a great link.

An American Carol: What Happened to David Zucker?

Photo from source, ACE Showbiz

I'm a huge fan of David Zucker, and ZAZ, the trio of producers/directors/writers he used to be a part of. Airplane!, The Naked Gun, Hot Shots!, Top Secret! and Ruthless People are among my all-time favorites. The ZAZ-style of movie making was what I would call either "smartly stupid" or "stupidly smart."

They are part of my litmus test for a person's sense of humor. If a person says, "I don't like Airplane! It isn't funny," it usually means the person isn't funny.

The closest David Zucker has gotten to that early greatness since his heyday, was Scary Movie 3. Inheriting the franchise from the Wayons Brothers, he made a sequel that was a dramatic improvement on the dreadful second installment. Scary Movie 3 was a hilarious spoof primarily of The Ring and Signs. It was boosted by its cast, but was funny throughout. It was only after seeing the extended DVD scenes that I realized the movie is sort of good by accident. It was drastically altered before it hit theaters. And it suffers from the delusion that many spoof filmmakers seem to suffer from: put Leslie Nielsen in your film, and it will be automatically hilarious.*

Now, it would seem, David Zucker is wearing his politics on his sleeve. He made a political commercial a couple of years ago--something about Madeline Allbright and basketball--and now has made a full-blown anti-liberal spoof film. And his big (pun intended) target is Michael Moore.
I like Michael Moore's movies. Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko were enjoyable movies despite their dire subjects. But the right assumes that Moore has far more power on the left than he does. Every couple of years he releases a new documentary, and that's sort of it. If he was on MSNBC with the frequency that Ann Coulter appears on FOX "News", I would understand their focus on him. But he isn't. So this seems like an odd target to me.

One thing is for sure. People can be funny whatever their politics. But when the comedy is coming from the political perspective, conservatives have a lousy track record. And from the preview clip below, I think the new movie, "An American Carol" will have a hard time selling tickets beyond the built-in FOX "News" audience.

[Excerpt]

Bill O'Reilly Serves Up More Hilarious Comedy From the Far Right




Fans of Bill O'Reilly were recently given good cause to stop throwing feces at the wall of their cages and enjoy a much-needed laugh: a preview of the new conservative comedy film, An American Carol. . .

Read more at: Comedy Central
And more at: ACE Showbiz

*EDITOR'S NOTE: I personally love Leslie Nielsen. He was terrific as Frank Drebin in Police Squad! and the Naked Gun movies, and of course as the Doctor in Airplane! He's been good in other films too. But check out his IMDB profile, and look at the list of other spoof films he's been in. You'll see what I mean.

My Favorite Movies: Comedy Edition #1

It's been a while since I posted one of these types of posts, and it's long overdue. Politics are important to me, but it can be dreadfully dry, and make me seem single-minded and screechy. So, here's something fun you can enjoy.

Some of my favorite movies are comedies. But in my opinion, they just don't make them like they used to. Whether they're straight-ahead comedy or spoofs, most of today's funny films don't seem to me like they'll hold up to the test of time. Spoofs in particular--while still full of funny moments--are so scatter shot these days. You have to go back to the days of Airplane! or early Mel Brooks to find some of the truly inspired comedy films. Here are some of my favorites.




#1 - Hot Shots! - By some of the makers of the original Airplane!, this parody of Top Gun never lets up, and is funny from beginning to end. Charlie Sheen really shines in this type of comedy, and Lloyd Bridges is inspired casting. This one must be watched repeatedly to catch all the gags.

#2 - All of Me - This is one of Steve Martin's best comedies, chock full of comedy gold, and quotable lines. Lily Tomlin was also at her peak. But check out how they made movie trailers in the early 80s. . . There is an art form that has only improved.

#3 - High Anxiety - Not one of Mel Brooks' most popular films, but one of my favorites. Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman. . .who could ask for more? In this extended clip, watch for the infamous obscene phone call bit at about 3:20.

#4 - Top Secret! - Another one from the makers of Airplane!, but surely one of their more obscure ones. Val Kilmer is dynamite in his first role, and the gags here are loopier than in the other spoof films. This film demands repeated viewings. Even the trailer for the film is funny.

Plane Enters Washington No Fly Zone

Photo from source, AFP

Here's the thing. We're asked to accept the chain of events that led up to 9/11. Planes were zooming around, on a trajectory for the Nation's Capital and New York City. And they were allowed to hit. No evacuations, no scrambling jets.

However implausible the 9/11 conspiracy theories may sound, the official version have holes you could. . .well, fly a plane through.

[Excerpt]

US Capitol evacuated, no threat: Homeland Security

The US Capitol building was partly evacuated Wednesday after a plane violated its airspace, but there was no imminent threat, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department said. . .

Read more at: AFP