For starters, Batman and Robin wrestling in the shower.
First panel: Swisshh. “Dick?”
Second panel: Robin grabs wet, naked Batman. “Hold still, Bruce. I promise this won’t take more than a few seconds.”
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A Belgian Malinois in a canine tactical assault suit. Photo from Nosey Parker.
Thrilling story in this week’s New Yorker about the US Navy SEALs who conducted the raid on Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan hideout. Only one member of the super-secret commando unit could be identified by name: Cairo, a Belgian Malinois. SEAL dogs are trained parachutists who can jump solo or in tandem with their handlers.
Generally we avoid stories about war dogs because they end in heartbreak: the dog is abandoned as military surplus, or separated from the handler because of some rule, or gets injured or dies, or refuses to leave his dead comrade. We won’t even watch a movie if we know something bad happens to the dog. This story ends well, though.
Where’s the cat in this operation? Obviously, piloting the drone with the video feed.
During the next four minutes, the interior of the Black Hawks rustled alive with the metallic cough of rounds being chambered. Mark, a master chief petty officer and the ranking noncommissioned officer on the operation, crouched on one knee beside the open door of the lead helicopter. He and the eleven other SEALs on “helo one,” who were wearing gloves and had on night-vision goggles, were preparing to fast-rope into bin Laden’s yard. They waited for the crew chief to give the signal to throw the rope. But, as the pilot passed over the compound, pulled into a high hover, and began lowering the aircraft, he felt the Black Hawk getting away from him. He sensed that they were going to crash.
Getting Bin Laden (What happened that night in Abbottabad) by Nicholas Schmidle.
Whenever we’re bored, stressed, or in need of amusement we shop for school supplies. It’s our nerd version of retail therapy: a notebook, a good sign pen, a well-designed binder is usually enough to cheer us up and give us a sense of purpose. Yesterday we were ogling school supplies at National Bookstore when we saw something even more cheering:
P.G. Wodehouse! Our favorite comic writer! We know we’re not the only P.G. Wodehouse fans in this city because his books vanish quickly from bookstore shelves. These Arrow editions of the Jeeves books are available at National for Php315; we feel like an idiot for shelling out 22.95 Singapore dollars for these same editions on a recent trip.
The giant spectacles are from the Halloween costumes section—these go for Php45.
We always look forward to the limited edition Moleskine journals—the Lego with the brick on the cover and the Star Wars with the original movie poster enclosed are our favorites. The latest collaboration is with Shanghai Tang, and it has, um, well, the brand’s logo. And endpapers. No surprise bookmark or notebook case in the pocket. Retail price: Php2020. Not an automatic Buy! but if you’re into Moleskines…
Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany and their son Stellan at the US Open
So Andy Murray defeats Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller to end Britain’s 76-year slam drought. Well done. We always thought Murray’s best chance would be at Melbourne or Flushing Meadows, and he finally locked it up. Now the British can stop going on about lost glory, the end of the empire, etc.
Interesting that Sir Sean Connery turned up at Murray’s press conference last week. Connery is the most high-profile supporter of Scottish independence. Murray of course is Scottish. So if Britain is broken up (though current polls say most Scots are opposed to independence), will Britain still have a grand slam?
With his US Open victory, Murray becomes the favorite at the Australian Open (also played on hardcourt). Ayyyy don’t buy the favorite label Andy! Then there will be talk of a calendar slam…don’t listen!
Interesting: The four slams in 2012 were won by the top 4. The first was won by Djokovic, who was then ranked number 1 in the world; the second by Nadal, then ranked number 2; the third by Federer, then number 3; the fourth by Murray, number 4. And they all won on their favorite surfaces, in the places where they (the first 3) bagged their first majors. Symmetry.
Meanwhile: Ampunin si Ampon! The Case for a Filipino Legend in the Tennis Hall of Fame.
This is what we get when we brush the cats’ fur every week: furballs. Mat is white, Koosi is ginger. Even the fur Mat sheds is shiny because he spends a lot of time grooming himself. Koosi, on the other hand, is very lazy and expects her human to do the work.
We should save the fur to make a cat sweater.
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