2nd .gif: It happened 16 September 2016 on the Protoporos IV ferry at the pier in the port of Crimea, when an impatient driver got into his Lada Priora and stomped the gas according to local Russian reports. The driver survived. [source]
Category: True Stories
John L. Burns
“On the afternoon of July 1, 1863, as the tide of gray soldiers pushed forward towards town, a 69 year old defender confidently strode towards the expanding struggle. A veteran of the War of 1812, John Burns could not simply stand idly by as his home became a hotly contested battle ground. Moving in with the somewhat incredulous men of the Iron Brigade, the near 70 year old Burns fought along side men 50 years his junior. With them he would remain until wounded. Although the Southerners would capture the ground of the McPherson farm that he helped to defend, with assistance from his Union Army comrades, Burns found his way home where he recovered from several wounds received that day. A few months later, John Burns would have the honor of meeting and walking with President Abraham Lincoln when, in November of that year, Lincoln offered his few appropriate remarks to the dedication of the soldiers national cemetery.
Union Lieutenant Frank Haskell, also present for the battle, wrote of his brief contact with Burns. “I saw “John Burns,” the only citizen of Gettysburg who fought in the battle, and I asked him what troops he fought with. He said: “O, I pitched in with them Wisconsin fellers.” I asked what sort of men they were, and he answered: “They fit terribly. The Rebs couldn’t make anything of them fellers.”
And so the brave compliment the brave. This man was touched by three bullets from the enemy, but not seriously wounded.”
According to Burns’s biography in Appleton’s Cyclopedia, during the last two years of his life his mind failed, and his friends were unable to prevent his wandering about the country. He was found in New York City on a cold winter’s night in December 1871, in a state of destitution, and was cared for and sent home, but died of pneumonia in 1872.
[More about John L. Burns here. Colorized image found here, story here. Not sure why the farmhouse photo is distorted.]
Legible Graffiti
Mathieu Tremblin lives and works in Rennes and Arles, France, finds graffiti and enhances them for legibility (and sometimes the taggers return).
“As if tagging the city was about freedom, and drawing decorative letters about control, I wanted to find a project to turn “ugly tags” into something “beautiful”, but preserve the subversive part of language distortion.”
I find it interesting that the vandalism in France is indistinguishable from that in the US, and I wonder why.
[More images here. Poorly translated background story here.]
Really?
I received 10 unordered face masks from the Association of the United States Navy (AUSN) today. They’re promotional, and include a request for donations.
Made in China.
FASHION MASK
Executive Standard FZ/IT 73049-2014
Safety Class B ( it’s can contact with skin directly)
Fashion dust protection, sun protection thermal mask (not medical mask)
Attention This product can be used with multiple times, washable;
No protection against toxic gases
Effect: please use with caution for skin allergy
Typos are as they appear on the package.
Should I burn them?
Update: Here’s the response from AUSN:
Sir,I apologize for the packaging. In response to our COVID-19 survey which showed that the majority of our members were in need of PPE gear. We had hired a veteran owned company in Illinois to do the production and distribution of the masks. It was not until we received the tracking numbers once they were mailed to our membership that we realized they were not coming from the USA. They do in fact have the ability to insert a N95 filter which would increase the level of protection if desired further protection against the virus.Thank for your understanding.
Jen, Jen, Jen…
[All are my own except for the 2nd. The quote in blue is verbatim from a recent press conference.]
Christ Being Led to the Praetorium
“Christ Being Led to the Praetorium,” from “The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry,” Folio 143, back; between 1412 and 1416, by the Limbourg brothers. Tempera on vellum. Condé Museum, France.
[Found here.]
1988 vs. 2021
[Images from a FB post.]
Die Schnabelperchten
12 drummers drumming won’t stop them.
With a gentle “Ga Ga Ga”, they make their way from house to house, checking that homes have had the appropriate upkeep, whether the floor has been properly swept and every corner has been dusted. Heaven forbid you don’t clean your house correctly – the ancient version of the legend says that, if that’s the case, the Schnabelperchten will slice open your stomach with a long pair of shears and empty all of the rubbish inside!
Let it be said, however, that the Schnabelperchten are generally welcome guests – especially since they bring happiness and blessings for the coming year.
Schnabelperchten (more than one beaked Perchta) roam around the Alpine region of Austria in midwinter, appearing on or before the eve of the Twelfth Night, the last of the “Twelve Days” of Christmas, the “Haunted Season.”
[h/t Mme. Jujujive. Top image and caption found here. More Perchta lore here and here.]
Update: Just spotted this, and I wasn’t even looking for it.
The Fuzzy Wonder Goat… & More!
The DeMoulin Bros. Co. supplied hazing equipment for fraternal organization initiations in the early 1900s. Some of the gaffes were truly bizarre.
Apparently the company is out of the fraternity prank business and has moved onto other products: scary marching band uniforms.
[Top image from here; tiled images from .pdf found here; more info here.]
Bonus: Here’s a restored “Fuzzy Wonder” (and a “Spanker”).
USS IOWA BB-61
“It usually took us (Electricians Mates with assistance from the ICmen, Gunners Mates, Bos’n Mates, Quartermasters) three days to rig & test this light display… 10,856 light bulbs total.
This is the award winning display that won us the “Best Large Surface Combatant” award for four out of our six year commissioning during the eighties. (MED Cruise in 87, lost to USS America in 84)
I served aboard from Dec.1983 to June 1989, was involved with each and every one of those displays.”
Martin A. (Marty) Palmiere EMC(SW) USN(ret.)
USS Iowa BB-61 ’83-’89
[Image and comment found here.]
Tacky Raccoons 