Just a little scare, folks. Nothing to get all excited about. I was actually off-line, out in the real world when the Capitol Hill evacuation went down. A couple of pilots found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Fighter planes shot some “warning flares” at them, and the pilots were jacked up and taken into custody. After they landed, of course. That’ll ruin your whole day.
Looking at that fighter jet took me way back in time. Around nineteen hundred and eighty-six, I believe it was, I saw a fantastically exciting movie that I eventually watched over and over again. A brash young actor, a little too cocky for my taste, became a big star pretending to fly jets for the Navy. “Top Gun” is one of the best movies of all time, and that distinction has nothing to do with the acting or those corny “love” songs. The fighter jets were the stars.
Tom Cruise’s character, Everyman Pete Maverick, earned the respect of his superiors and peers, and got the top prize and the girl. Just the thought of him flying one of those big million dollar machines made Cruise instantly more attractive. And taller. And appealing to men, too. I heard that applications to the U.S. Naval Academy shot up.
I was a mere freshmen in college when I first saw the movie. Every other man paled in comparison to Maverick, which was quite a sight to see since I attended a black college. 
I fantasized that I was a female fighter pilot, and — don’t laugh — my plane was the “Truebird.” My call sign was something feminine, but I can’t remember it now. [Update: I think Truebird was my call sign. What was the name of my jet? More importantly, why am I thinking about this?] My “baby” brother, always the comedian, used to say my call sign was “Fishhead.” Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle.
Yes, “Top Gun” is a movie that stays with you a long, long time, one of the defining moments in cinema and, if I may be so bold, our lives. Thank you for listening.
This is an “un-serious” post. Carry on.
Update II: Former federal prosecutor John Loftus: “There should have been a shoot-to-kill order immediately…”
Loftus is a regular guest on the John Batchelor Show. If you don’t listen to this show, you should give it a try. It’s not bad.
