Built by Bohland & Fuchs in 1912, the sub bass uber tuba was nicknamed “Big Carl” and was housed at the offices of Carl Fischer, Inc., New York, NY.
[Top photo from 2014 found here via here; bottom photo and history here.]
UPDATE: Video h/t Corrine L.
Considered the oldest complete seventy-eight card tarot deck in existence, the Sola Busca — named for the family of Milanese nobles who owned it for some five generations — was the first to be produced using copperplate engraving. It is also the earliest known tarot deck that illustrates the Major and Minor Trumps in the way that has become the standard, with characters and objects depicting allegorical scenes. In the Renaissance era this would have been revolutionary, while, today, some of these cards may seem familiar.
[Full size images and the history of the deck found here.]
“In traditional African medicine, a form of cupping therapy was practiced long before modern glass or silicone cups were introduced. Instead of using cups, healers used hollowed-out buffalo horns. These horns were heated and then placed on the skin to create suction, drawing out what was believed to be toxins or bad energy from the body. This method not only reflects the deep medicinal knowledge of ancient African cultures but also highlights how natural materials were skillfully adapted for healing purposes.”
[Uncolorized image with story found here.]
Very little can be found about Anita the Elephant Girl on the internet.
A defunct website may have had a biography of sorts but I couldn’t find an archive of the article: “Anita The Elephant-Faced Girl: Embracing Uniqueness and Overcoming Challenges.”
Mir Diamond Mine, Mirny, Yakutia, Russia.
At 3,900 feet in diameter and 1,722 feet deep , it’s one of the largest excavated holes in the world. It reportedly has its own weather system vortex due to temperature variations, and aircraft are forbidden to fly over it.
In the midst of the Siberian wilderness, there is a town known as Mirny, the only sign of humanity in a heavily forested landscape for miles around. Only a few full-time residents call the town home, all of whom live in a small community built on stilts to prevent the melted permafrost from flooding their homes in the spring.
Truthfully, the town of Mirny would be entirely unremarkable, save for one thing. There’s a giant hole in the middle of the town over 1,000 feet deep and over half a mile wide that churns out an unnatural and mysterious amount of diamonds. Oh, and it also sucks in anything that flies overhead.
The Follyphone appeared on stage in London during the fall of 1912 during orchestral concerts conducted by H.G. Pelissier. And all of the newspaper accounts from the time make it sound like an interesting prop to deliver a message about anticipation, elaborate planning, and ultimately disappointment.
[Image and more about the Follyphone found here.]
On 5 February 2020 I was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. I made the mistake of looking up survival rates on the internet. Scared the crap out of me.
The following month I had surgery, but they couldn’t get at a couple of malignant lymph nodes, and on 16 March I began chemotherapy infusions every two weeks. My oncologist said that something would happen by my third year of treatment, but he didn’t know what.
In 2023 I passed the three year mark. Nothing happened in my fourth year either, and the onkydoc said I was an unusual case, an outlier within the top fifth percentile of patients. He reduced my chemo dosage for a second time in October 2024.
I still get to visit the pretty nurses in the clinic every three months for a blood draw and Signatera test, and have a CT scan every four.
I’ve been fortunate that my side effects have been tolerable. The most bothersome was chemobrain – the mental fog that never quite dissipates. I’m hoping that as the toxins flush out things will improve, but then I won’t have chemo to blame for when I get a case of the stoopidz.
Tacky Raccoons 