The early Thanksgiving Day parades often had a circus orientation, and hence the animal elements. Actual lions, tigers, and bears were trucked down city streets, traumatizing them and causing the elicitation of roars and growls that frightened observing children. Wisely, the use of living animals was abandoned after a few years, with animal balloons and floats substituted, together with some great vintage cartoonish stuff that was rather surreal.
[Image and text found here; previous Thanksgiving posts here.]
Wooden waterwheel in front of Huanglong Cave (Yellow Dragon Cave) is a karst cave located near the Wulingyuan District of Zhangjiajie City, Hunan, China.
“Turns out the area that these wheels were traditionally in was flooded as part of the 3 gorges dam, so this is a reconstruction for people to see what they would have looked like.” -comment on Reddit
Everything ancient in China is almost always a reproduction, including this. It’s an elaborate kinetic sculpture – the water mill doesn’t appear to mill anything. China lets you look around the cave a bit on Google Maps street view: 29°22’1.62″N 110°36’47.79″E
[Video found here; a longer version without music here.]
The Niva button factory in Patisia, Greece, opened in the 1940s and remained in operation for decades before being abandoned.
“The photo was available on various international websites. Most of them state that it is an abandoned button factory in China. […] With a little searching and a lot of luck, we found where the ghost factory really is! It is not in the Chinese city of Longhua Shenzhen, as mentioned in most posts, nor are we talking about a set photo. The abandoned button factory is located in Patisia!”
[Top image found in here, other images and story here via here.]
Dance of the Rona, Shardcore (2020) from The Sounds of Covid-19“NIH released the DNA sequence of Covid-19, so I decided to convert it into musical notes and hear what it sounds like.”
The excerpt is from the .midi file download, speed x2, and chopped down to six minutes. I like the uncut electromix version better.
Nestlé Australia decided its “Red Skins” candy might offend some people so they renamed it “Red Ripper,” the nickname of serial killer Andrei Chikatilo.
“In a small town in the old west, a lone and weary gunfighter enters a saloon.”The Gunfighter is a classic short by Eric Kissack (narrated by Nick Offerman). NSFK content, language.
[h/t Andy D.]
The Bus Boys had a great retro sound and were featured on SNL and in the 1982 movie 48 Hours.
New Orleans’ famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band was founded by Pennsylvanian Allan Jaffe in the early 1960s as a dixieland revival group, and that song wasn’t at all what I expected.
Have a great weekend, folks. Be home by 9:59pm so the ‘rona don’t gitcha, or stay out to 10:01pm and you’ll earn some serious ‘vid-kickin’ braggin’ rights.
Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Teresa Conde, from San Diego, sculpts a Halloween cake aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) on Oct. 26, 2020. US Navy Photo.
USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group are currently stationed in the Central Persian Gulf.
[Image and caption found here. I posted this because it’s still not Thanksgiving yet.]
UPDATE: Also on the Nimitz – A Veteran’s Day Cake
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Sarah Freitas, left, and Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Erica Rodriguez cut a Veterans Day cake on the aft mess deck of the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) on Nov. 11, 2020. US Navy Photo
Such loop-like plasmoids are typically formed as a spinning planet flings bits of its atmosphere to space. “Centrifugal forces take over, and the plasmoid pinches off.”
Filipino Box Spring Hog, Tom Waits (1999) Album: Mule VariationsIf you don’t know who Tom Waits is, I truly feel sorry for you. Redeem yourself by clicking on this.
From the Dept. of Rare Honesty:
I received a letter from USAA this week.
“Attached is a check for $53.12. This amount represents a refund for all finance charges and fees that should have been reimbursed, as well as interest of $50.22.”
Apparently, the amount “disputed” was $2.90. Assuming 7.5% compounded interest, it dates to 1980. No idea what I “disputed.”
NASA scientists are studying planet magnetic fields and revisited raw data collected by Voyager 2 over three decades ago. They found that
