History lived within that World War II-era bomber

Props spin on the "Nine-O-Nine," a World War II-era bomber operated by the Collings Foundation, during a stopover at the Crestview, Florida airport. Image by Del Stone Jr.

12 O’Clock High: There she sat, the “Nine-O-Nine,” perched on the apron at the Crestview Airport, looking like a thousand B-17 Flying Fortresses I’d seen in a thousand movies about Eighth Air Force raids into Hitler’s Germany. Except this was… READ MORE

In the “olden” days, commercials were catchy

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Kroelleboelle.

We were talking about memorable commercials when I began quoting all the jingles I could remember. Problem was, they were all from the ’60s and ’70s. In 1965, for instance, when the Ford Mustang first appeared, there was a radio… READ MORE

On junk phone calls and the ‘homosexual lifestyle’

Image courtesy of ph by way of a Creative Commons license.

Odds and ends from here and there: Universal Bingo is sponsoring S.O.C.K.S. (Save Our Cats and Kittens), a no-kill kitty shelter, on Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. Universal is next to Kinfolks on Racetrack Road. Get this: It’s 8 o’clock… READ MORE

I have never understood why people kill for God

Image courtesy of the Look and Learn History Picture Archive by way of a Creative Commons search.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Thousands of Muslims ransacked churches, banks, shops and cars Thursday after a Chinese Christian trader reportedly insulted Islam by complaining about loud evening prayers, police and witnesses said. I have never understood why people kill for… READ MORE

Could God create a computer he couldn’t figure out?

This is the author's first computer, an IBM PS-1, along with an Okidata dot-matrix printer and, inexplicably, a Caffeine-Free Diet Coke. Image courtesy of Del Stone Jr.

Lately I have been shopping for a new computer, which is like saying, “Lately I have been trying to answer the question: If God is omnipotent, could he create a rock he couldn’t lift?” All computer questions are paradoxes. Paradox!… READ MORE

This is why people and cats bond

Recently I wrote about cats and received this letter from my friends Scott and Ann of Pensacola, who said: “Everybody has a cat story, so here’s ours. “Our cat is a master thief!” A partial list of what their cat… READ MORE

Holy penguins, Batman! The Aquarium of the Americas is pretty cool!

Aquarium of the Americas visitors stand eye-to-eye with species of fish that inhabit the Atlantic Ocean. The aquarium is a favored tourist attraction of New Orelans. Image by Del Stone Jr.

I was editing Staff Writer Pam Golden’s account of her trip to the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans when I was stung by the idea of getting in the face of a jellyfish. Let’s do it, I told… READ MORE