Note that two pricey photos were taken simultaneously, suggesting promotional photos. Original source unknown because we were too lazy to hunt for it, but we’ll link with credit if you find it.
[Received via email. Tip ‘o the Tarboosh to A.U.]
Category: History
The Wreck of the Aircraft Carrier USS Macon
The USS Macon was an aircraft carrier that sank stern-down off the coast of Point Sur California during a violent storm in 1935. There were surprisingly few casualties, and those she sustained were due to human error. One jumped to his death, another returned to the sinking wreck to retrieve his personal belongings. All other crew members survived.
The Macon was not an attack vessel. Its purpose was to provide long-range surveillance of the Pre-WWII Japanese navy, and it sunk because this aircraft carrier was not designed to float on water. Some of her aircraft had no landing gear either, because the ship had no landing deck.
TRUE.
Puzzle this one out for yourselves before you click.
[Explanation, images and source links below the break.]
Continue reading “The Wreck of the Aircraft Carrier USS Macon”
Saturday Matinee – (Hg(SCN)2) Decomposition, The Electric Prunes, The Count Five & The Seeds
Mercury(II) thiocyanate decomposition is kinda cool, but some of the U Toobage comments amused me more (posted verbatim):
This was filmed in a North Korean secret science lab where they are trying to build their next president.
How cool would it be to pretend to be a wizard in the medieval ages, just go into a kings throne room and threaten them by summoning satans dick tentacles, pop this experiment down, and as everyone is screaming, command the dick tentacles to stop, and then they all be like. Oh you so great wizard telling satans dick tentacles to stop, and then you would be like muahahah – ill stop, and yes, there is something wrong with me.
Why is he using a little tiny golf club to put down the powder?
Why did watching this bring Hillary to mind ?
and that’s how they grow kale! now you know
i’d smoke that
poke it with a stick…
BTW, the word is spelled “Weirdest.” I before E except after W…
Okay. Enough of that, so let’s go eclectic. How ’bout some 1966 retro?
Here’s The Electric Prunes on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, circa 1966, lip-synching “I Had Too Much To Dream.”
“Psychotic Reaction” by The Count Five, circa 1966.
The Seeds‘ “Pushin’ Too Hard” circa 1966.
For me, 1966 was a great year because I got a small transistor radio for my birthday. It ate up my allowance money in batteries because I’d fall asleep listening to WSAI into the wee hours on school nights. It was also the year Dad ordered a complete set of the World Book Encyclopedia. That was the edition that had frog dissections and human anatomy on overlapping clear celluloid layers. Very cool.
Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for stuff.
Amasunzu (circa 1923)
It’s like a giant brain-sucking leech. I want one.
Oh wait…
[Image, caption, and more about the hairstyle here.]
The Saturday Matinee – To All The U.S. Cubano Families Who Just Got Chumped
Yep. The American Flag now flies over the U.S. Embassy in a country dedicated to the abolishment of the one form of government that is guaranteed to bring its denizens out of poverty, i.e., capitalism.
I pity those who think that capitalism is a bad thing, for they’ve been deceived and lied to, and the people who suffered under Castro’s brutal and oppressive regime are unable to speak.
Except for a very few, and I’ve met some of them. They’re not happy about this at all because they remember what happened to themselves and their families when the communists took over.
So where do we go from here?
¡MUSICA CUBANO!
The Cuban sound is a mixture of Spanish, African and European styles, an eclectic mix that blends well. Meanwhile, here’s another great Cuban:
Steven Stills & Manassas. Stills wanted to become one of The Monkees prior to his days with CSN&Y, but he was rejected for contract conflicts. It probably had something to do with being a Cuban, like this orchestra:
In case you didn’t click the link last time around, that’s Prague’s Talichova Komorní Filharmonie in 2012 performing a classic song by the late Cuban composer Frank Zappa.
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow.
Stairway To Aleppo
[UPDATE: Some images and commentary have been deleted. They were posted long before I realized the true horror of the atrocities in Syria.]
Residents try to find their belongings among the rubble left of their homes after what activists said was an air attack from forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad in Bab Neirab, Aleppo, on July 27, 2013.
[Caption and image from The Atlantic.]
Saturday Matinee – Rock Rock Rock, Rockabilly & R.L. Burnside
“Rock Rock Rock” was the first video tape I ever purchased. Got it for $9.99 in a sale bin, then I saved up for a VCR player so that I could watch it. Classic performances by classic rockers wrapped around an unbelievably crappy story. It’s 90 minutes of fast-fowarding awesome (but I suggest you follow the plot at least once).
Rockabilly LA. Considering that Los Angeles had just about nothing to do with the advent of Rockabilly except to lure the hayseeds into fraudulent recording contracts, we’ll post it anyway.
So where do we go from here? How ’bout some vintage country ‘lectra blues?
That’s R.L. Burnside from 1978. Let’s go one more. This one’s from 1998.
That should hold y’all for a while. Have a great weekend, folks.
Winged Monkey Large Wings Sid Dawson
[Wizard of Oz 1939. Found here.]
Deep Sea Diving Hugs – Roberto Galeazzi’s Contribution To The World
The Rebel Flag
Tacky Raccoons 