SkyPup

Fun Rome layover last month. The city was crazy, with an international rugby tournament going on, and on Saturday night the streets were packed with rugby players, coaches and fans. I was with my friend Mike, a former Navy F-18 pilot. Navy fighter guys are always trouble and as I was to find out, Mike was no exception. We were looking for a place to have a brew and came across a pub called Botticelli's. This place always evokes the Cantina scene in the first Star Wars movie, where Ob-Wan-Kenobi warns Luke Skywalker that the cantina is a "wretched hive of scum and villainy". Botticelli's is indeed awash in scum and villainy, often in the form of airline crews, sadly including me. The place was packed that night with the Scottish rugby contingent, wearing rugby jerseys and Scottish kilts. Mike was amused by the kilts and just had to make some loud remarks about the "cute little skirts..." Well this had International Incident written all over it and I braced myself to be on the wrong end of an ass-kicking. But the Scots had a terrific sense of humor and simply threw a few insults back at us, mostly involving our beloved President Obama. We spent the next hour with these guys, sharing beers and tall tales. They were a fantastic bunch, really funny and entertaining. About every ten minutes one of them would shove a beer at me and say "You look thirsty, mate. Drink up.....". Well if you insist. I consider myself fortunate to fly for a living and while the flying itself is enjoyable, encounters like this are what makes the job special. It was a great night and one I'll long remember.

Water landing expert Sullenberger and his sidekick Skiles get type-rated in the DC-7B. If you like old airplanes and big honkin' radial engines, take a look: http://marcbrecy.perso.neuf.fr/DC7.html

It's more than a tad wrong which is why I love it. Is that from the Producers?

Too funny! I'd like to see Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, and Goering doing a break dance routine.

That's impressive to get those pics without a telescope. Looks like a fun hobby.

The little guy has stolen my heart, though the wife maintains I have no heart. I want to keep him, but Mrs Pup is on the fence. She's the one who has to dog-sit when I'm on the road for 2 weeks of every month. I'm hoping he's a keeper.

Was there a Batmobile in there? I was looking at Marisha, the Host with the Most. That was actually pretty cool!

Hey guys, My wife is a volunteer for a local Springer Spaniel rescue organization and we occasionally get to foster care a dog or two. Duke just showed up last week. We're supposed to have him temporarily, but we're starting to get attached to the little guy. He's small for a Springer, about 35 pounds, has a great temperament and gets along well with our other two dogs. I don't really like the Duke name, thinking of jazzing it up to Duke Skywalker or something. I'll say one thing, going from two dogs to three is a huge increase in workload!

Another one for the record: http://www.snopes.com/risque/penile/scrotum.asp

http://www.snopes.com/crime/safety/biscuit.asp

Touching.

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http://www.cooleston...Trials---Funny/

No translation necessary: http://www.wimp.com/dadipad/

LIFE Magazine March 30th 1942 Photos by George Rodger taken in Burma of the "Flying Tigers" (AVG) http://cbi-theater-1.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-1/flyingtigers/flying_tigers.html

Cultural Learnings of Britain for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of USA Fellow mutts, The Strife and I just finished a week's stay in London. It was a blast. Did the usual tourist-y things: museums, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey. The double-decker buses were cool, but we especially liked the Tube, an easy way to get around. All great stuff. We love the pubs too, and had the traditional things...fish & chips, bangers & mash, steak & ale pie. And of course we did our best to sample as many local brews as possible. I don't think I gained more than about 10 pounds or so. I'll exercise extra hard next week. Right. Took a boat down the Thames for a visit to Greenwich. Had to claw our way through the Japanese tourists to stand on the prime meridian line. ("Excuse me while I jump the queue here, I'm a Dawg, you know"). On the final day, we saw the Cabinet War Rooms, the underground bunker from which Churchill and his staff directed the Battle of Britain. It's worth crossing the pond just to see that exhibit, truly impressive. And I couldn't resist buying a few souvenirs, including a Spitfire Pocket Manual, "approved by the Air Ministry". Not as cheesy as it sounds, some great information in there, with performance data, operating notes and some pilot logbook entries. A wonderful visit, we'll be back.

It was, but I'm much better behaved now. I'm almost house-trained.

Wanted to share this with my litter-mates....

http://pavel-kosenko.livejournal.com/303194.html?thread=22669914

PM'd you, Friar. Thanks for the offer.

As it happens, I'm on another London layover. I'll forego cricket and zebras, humped or otherwise. If you guys never hear from me again it's because I've been run down by a bus while looking the wrong way crossing the street. Cheers, mates.

Touche, Fruitbat. I've honestly never understood the appeal of baseball but it does give an excuse to go out and have expensive junk food, washed down with even more expensive beer. And when anything cheer-worthy happens (it does actually occur every hour or so), one can stand up to applaud while ordering another beer. We here in the colonies really know how to live it up!

Thanks Friar, but I must say I'm a bit disappointed! Now could someone explain the point of cricket? And why does it take so bloody freaking long?

London layover, came across this sign. I'm 60% sure it has no connotations of depravity and/or unnatural acts of any kind, but could someone please confirm this?

Fascinating pics, what a great find.