JustMeMike’s New Also on Video

Let’s flashback for a moment to the 1971 Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry. Eastwood as the eponymous ‘Dirty Harry’ Callahan has the drop on a wounded bank robber. Harry loves his weapon — the Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum — nearly as much as he loves using it.

Well, Harry taunts and tempts the criminal to think about gambling with his life by trying to escape:

“…I know what you’re thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?”

When Harry Callahan said it, we cheered from the safety of our movie theater seats, or more recently we were thrilled as we watched the video in the safety of our own living rooms or dens. But what if a woman, holding a handgun, and pointing the business end of it at you, made a similar statement. I don’t want to be in that position, do you?

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Since water constitutes about 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and is essential to all known forms of life, it is a safe bet to assume that if you are reading this you have access to water on a daily basis and you likely live near a body of water. Given that many of you live near a coast, it is no surprise for me to tell you that man has had and likely will always have a fascination about what lies on the opposite shore.

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The recent tragic news from Mumbai, formerly Bombay,  regarding the terrorists attacks, has again turned my thoughts toward the world’s largest democracy. Apropos of Bombay, long ago, Rudyard Kipling, the British writer, who was born in Bombay wrote:

Mother of Cities to me,
For I was born in her gate,
Between the palms and the sea,
Where the world-end steamers wait.

So Bombay was not only Kipling’s birthplace, but was also the port of entry for most of the Europeans who emigrated to India in the times when one traveled to India by ship. Bombay Gate, likely where those steamers  Kipling refers to made port, is just steps from the stately and regal Taj Mahal Hotel which was a target of those recent attacks. Read more »