The Daily Dose/March 9, 2026
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
UP, UP, AND AWAY: An item in Sunday’s popular On This Date feature talked about the anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. It disappeared less than three hours into its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. No one knows why. Some wreckage later washed up on India and other Indian Ocean islands, but no one knows why it disappeared.
Cue Dramatic Music: It remains one of aviation’s most perplexing mysteries, right up there with the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. As usual, there are a variety of theories, including a murder/suicide by the pilot whose marriage was breaking up and who, hilariously, had a personal and professional calendar that was blank after March 8. Hijacking and terrorist theories are out there, too, though there do not appear to be too many that concern mechanical failure or fire.
Flight Log: The flight took off at 12:42 am on March 8, and the last voice transmission was received 38 minutes later. The last radar contact, well off its intended route, was at 2:22 am, though satellite data shows the aircraft operational as late as 8:18 am. All 239 people on board died. Recovery efforts are still ongoing, with an American company looking, though they do not receive their $80 million fee unless they deliver the aircraft.
Dry, Technical Matter: Amelia Earhart was an American pilot who disappeared trying to become the first woman to circumnavigate the planet, along with Fred Noonan. The leading theory is they ran out of fuel in the south Pacific, but neither their plane nor their bodies were ever found.
The Bottom Line: Life’s funny. You play by the rules and try to build a good life for yourself, and then BOOM, some pilot gets their shorts in a knot (this is our favorite theory), and the next thing anyone knows, you’re going down with him. Ms. Earhart and Mr. Noonan were different: they were explorers, and explorers have been dying since someone first wondered what was over those mountains. Both, however, are examples of how the world is built: while most of us die in old age, not everyone does, and good luck picking out those who will. Enjoy today, and we hope you’re here to read tomorrow’s column
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow sees a lot of pretty girls in bathing suits. Today’s Diary.
…and we are such professionals we didn’t leave the indoor pool until they had all safely evacuated the indoor pool area.
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
Editor’s Note: due to time constraints, today’s items have run before.
In 1842 – Six years before the California Gold Rush, gold is discovered in California, by Francisco Lopez, at Ranch San Francisco, a bit north of Los Angeles. The discovery – the first documented in California – produced a relatively minor gold rush, with an estimated 2,000 people converging on the area, and word of the discovery does not appear to have left Mexican territory.
In 1985 – Fat Lever of the Denver Nuggets establishes a new NBA record for most steals in a quarter in a 126-116 win over the Indiana Pacers. Lever had eight steals in the third quarter, breaking the record of seven established by Quinn Buckner of the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov 27, 1976, and Lever’s record still stands.
In 1959- Frankie Avalon is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of five consecutive weeks with Venus. The song also went to #1 in Belgium, peaked at #16 in Great Britain, at #10 on Billboard’s soul chart, and was Billboard’s fourth biggest song of the year. It was the fourth of 13 Top 40 hits for Avalon, his third of seven Top 10 hits, and his first of two #1s (Why, one week, 1959). Avalon’s given name was Francis Thomas Avallone.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
There are not many things finer in our murderous species than this noble curiosity, this restless and reckless passion to understand.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol I: Our Oriental Heritage
Answer To The Last Trivia Questions
Knowledge is power.
The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Baltimore Bullets in the 1971 NBA Finals, four games to none.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What was Billboard’s #1 song of 1959? – Answer next time!
