Happy St. Pat’s Day!

My mother’s maiden name was Callahan, so I’m fully half-Irish. She said we were Protestant and shouldn’t wear green (she wore orange) and shouldn’t even celebrate St. Pat’s Day. Sorry Mom.

Erin go braless! We used to think that was really funny.

Ten things you didn’t know about Chaz Lambo and the New York Four.

1. The band used to be called “Giant Field Rat.” That’s why the logo has a rat with a thought bubble.

2. Three members are girls with names that end in “i.” Brandi, Randi, and Candi.

3. “Chaz Lambo” is a stage name for “Chuck Lombardo.”

4. “Chuck Lombardo” is not his real name either.

5. Before Chaz got famous, the band was called “New York Four.”

6. The band only has four members, even though the name implies it has five. This is like “The Four Seasons” after one of them became famous and then that band was called “Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.”

7. “New York Four” is reference to the last episode of Seinfeld.

8. Brandi has a rat tattoo.

9. The letters in the logo used to say “GFR” for “Giant Field Rat.”

10. “Chaz Lambo and the New York Four” is my first Rock Band band.

This is my helmet.

There are many like it, but this one is MINE. My helmet is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My helmet without me is useless. Without my helmet, I am useless.

This is the new helmet for British pilots of the F-35 “joint strike fighter” (some kind of war on drugs thing, I imagine). The F-35 looks a heck of a lot like an F-22.

Supposedly there is no heads-up display, as all info is projected inside the helmet somehow or other. A very practical British fellow had this to add:

“It cannot be stressed how important this sort of evaluation is to the Joint Strike Fighter Programme. The helmet is a critical piece of equipment and simply has to work.”

Makes a damned fine Halloween costume, I’d say. Pretty scary stuff.