Matthew McSweeney's Blog

  What I learned from watching the movie Airplane! on DVD: Audio Commentary Long Haul Version The hijack scene was cut because it wasn't funny which was why everything got deleted. There's nothing on the cutting room floor that's funny. In the hijack scene, a married couple sees a man getting taken away by security guards. Back in the 1970s, there was an enormous religious movement who by the Hardy Krishnas who all wore these Saffron robes and they all had their head shaved except for a little ponytail on the back which they called "top nock". They were always at the grocery stores or at the corner of Westwood Blvd or at a lot at the airport where they always picking up whatever it was for a donation where all the money went to police or a church and it always something "would you like to pick up a flower and some propaganda?". It got to be bothersome thing in the whole world. Every time you went to airport, you got hit with these religious fanatics. In...

Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice  - Maureen McCormick's autobiography When Maureen was born on August 5, 1956, her parents' second choice for a name was Christine. Later on, she'd later initially name her daughter that when she gave birth to her on May 19, 1989 before she and her husband decided on Natalie.   Inside the Baseball Hall of Fame Ron Necciai struck out 27 batters in a Class D Appalachian League game on the night of May 13, 1952 in nine innings. Rick Wise hit two home runs and had three RBIs in his no-hitter on June 23, 1971. Tony Cloninger used a Denis Menke model bat when he hit two grand slams in one game on July 3, 1966 while driving in nine runs. He was the first MLB pitcher to accomplish both. Frank McCormick used the same first baseman mitt to play all 155 MLB regular season games while winning the MVP award for the Cincinnati Reds in 1940, a year where they won the World Series. In the late 1800s, the baseball gloves ...

On lap 62 of the 1999 Visionaire 500K IRL race at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC on May 1, 1999 at 8:50 pm, Stan Wattles suffered a suspension failure which caused him to crash into the wall. John Paul Jr. made contact with the debris, causing Wattles’ right rear wheel and tire assembly to sail into the grandstands, killing three spectators   in the extra sections of seating which were opened to accommodate the overflow crowd, while an additional eight people, two of who were children suffered non-fatal injuries. Scott Harrington also spun in the incident but made no contact with the other two cars and was not involved in the crash. The deaths were   Dexter Barry Mobley, 41, of Statesville (July 11, 1957 - May 1, 1999) Jeffrey Patton, 32, of Hickory (December 9, 1966 - May 1, 1999)  Randy Pyatte, 21 of Connelly Springs   (October 1, 1977 - May 1, 1999) About the spectators Randy Pyatte, a 21-year-old from  Connelly Springs, North Carolina , was at t...