by Grania
Good morning! I’m fending off the damp cold of Cork by sipping on Spanish Hot Chocolate (indistinguishable from any other kind of hot chocolate in my opinion).
Today is the anniversary of the “Miracle on the Hudson” when Captain Chesley Sullenberger landed Flight 1549 in the Hudson River after colliding with birds after take-off. It was less of a miracle for birds as they ended up being culled by the thousands in an effort to prevent such an accident from happening again.
Today is also the 16th birthday of Wikipedia which first went online on this day in 2001. Although it is not without its problems, it still remains a valuable starting point for researching anything quickly online.
Today is also the birthday of Finnish composer Osmo Tapio Räihälä and American singer Lisa Lisa.
Over in Poland, the four-footed cousins are once again engaged in serious discussions of serious subjects. I’m not sure why the subject of entropy is bothering Cyrus today. Could it be the cold winter?
Cyrus: We should talk it over thoroughly.
Hili: But what exactly?
Cyrus: Well, maybe the second law of thermodynamics?
In Polish
Cyrus: Powinniśmy to wszystko przedyskutować.
Hili: A co dokładniej?
Cyrus: No chociażby to drugie prawo termodynamiki.
And out in Wlockawek, Leon has had a fright:
Leon: What’s that? Strangers are attacking!
17 Comments
Who knows [I didn’t] what the 3rd law of thermodynamics is without looking it up? 🙂
The Law that seems to be in play here is one of all cats. Hili is sleeping in the middle of Cyrus’s bed and he has to squash up at one end without the room to spread out. 🙂
The Hudson Landing, for my limited knowledge of flying, was an example of a well experienced, well trained pilot doing everything right based on that experience and training. It is said that flying for the airlines is a job of constant boredom, interrupted by moments of shear panic. Knowing what to do when that moment occurs is the different between a good pilot and a dead pilot.
“example of a well experienced, well trained pilot”
Which is why the term “miracle” is an abuse.
Give credit to the pilot’s training – something that can encourage future success through more of the same.
Yes, miracles only apply to the religious back in coach looking for a change of underwear.
😎
There are Bold Pilots, and there are Old Pilots, there are no Old,Bold, Pilots.
Louis CK makes that point in a pretty funny bit: https://youtu.be/7ezouMwT__U?t=4m
God didn’t land the plane, the pilot did. God threw the birds into the engines. That’s what he did.
😎
Well, yes.
If I have it right Sullenberger didn’t give any thanks to god for help landing the plane and saving the passengers, in fact I recall he said something like “I’ve been training for this all my life.”
Leon doesn’t look frightened. He looks like he’s sizing up a meal.
Clint Eastwood’s movie of the Hudson miracle falsely portrays the Feds as being quite antagonistic towards the pilot and trying to do a snow-job in convicting him.
This didn’t happen, and some think Eastwood’s libertarian bias is showing here.
I’m off to a Wikipedia anniversary party.
The series ‘Mayday’ (also known by other names) did an episode on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SL1A2d2e7M
There are some remarkable shots of the plane surrounded by ferries.
cr
I hadn’t heard of Räihälä before – according to Wikipedia, in 2004 he wrote an orchestral tribute to the Islay single malt whisky Ardbeg. That’s a man who knows his muse!
How about some Mexican hot chocolate? Here’s a recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/mexican-hot-chocolate-recipe.html. The secret ingredients are cinnamon a dash of cayenne. I love it. But of course, this is culinary cultural appropriation, so if one isn’t of Mexican descent, one must feel guilty while sipping it.
‘Miracle of the Hudson’? Slaughter of 70,000 birds –
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-york-birds-killed-70000-planes-flight-path-hudson-miracle-sully-sullenberger-landing-a7528076.html
There is a fact, Pope Pio X telling to the vaticans garden worker:
-beauty gardens…
-We worked a lot to put it so.
-With the help of GOD!!
-Your santity must see how those gardens were on ONLY god took care of them…
Yes, the miracle of tecnics, study, practice and efort.
Spanis chocolate is thick thanks to corn or weat in around 10%. Even tradicional expresion reflect this:
“accounts clear and the chocolate thick”.
Is it so the american chocolate?