Category: True Stories

Opinionated Hot Links

Brazil 2016

Epic Cat is still epic.

84 year old shows his stuff at Muscle Beach.

Weaponized Victimhood: “This is not a grand battle against institutionalised injustice. This is an addiction to indignation.”

The MiniMoog made music history. Here are Parts 1 & 2 of an interesting (but flat) documentary.

Remember Walter Carlos? He flipped the switch years ago, and nobody cared. Why does anyone care about that Bruce guy?

The Ramones 31 December1977 London. Very cool, but they didn’t play Sheena.

Canadian cities in the 1950s in watercolor.

Cussing in the carnival photobooth.

Incarcerated for his opinions in the United States of America, Dinesh D’Souza has a new film out.

FWIW, The Blogmocracy had trouble migrating their blog. Their new address is http://www.blogmocracy.com so update your bookmarks.

[Top image from here, with the caption:
“Already struggling with an impeachment challenge, the worst recession in a century and the biggest corruption scandal in Brazil’s history, the Workers Party leader was given another reason to doubt she will complete her four-year term.”
Something sounds familiar.]

Bigass Ammonite Fossil is not a Bigass Ammonite Fossil

Ammonite

Yep, that looks like a bigass prehistoric ammonite fossil, and it’s not a snail fossil as the caption states.

Ammonites are perhaps the most widely known fossil, possessing the typically ribbed spiral-form shell as pictured above. These creatures lived in the seas between 240 – 65 million years ago, when they became extinct along with the dinosaurs. The name ‘ammonite’ (usually lower-case) originates from the Greek Ram-horned god called Ammon. Ammonites belong to a group of predators known as cephalopods, which includes their living relatives the octopus, squid, cuttlefish and nautilus [via].

I found the top image (with the erroneous caption) in here, and wondered about the story behind it. Since fossils are typically embedded in rock and I didn’t see any hole or excavation, something seemed off.

Ammonite Replica 2

Ammonite fossils are common, but are rarely larger than about 9 inches in diameter. Sure, some larger species have been found, but why wasn’t this one encased in plaster, crated up and shipped to an archeological museum? How could something so heavy and brittle stay in one piece while being tilted up? How could four guys lift it, let alone one?

A Tineye search brought me to the source –  a 2005 documentary filmed in Lyme Regis, England for the BBC series “Journey of Life.”

“This giant ammonite was actually a replica that we used to show how big ammonites could grow. Made of polystyrene it squeaked as we rolled it down the beach. The look of gob-smack on the faces of Jurassic Coast fossil collectors was priceless!”
Paul Williams, 3 September 2013.

This “fossil” was a prop, and it had a cameo role in Episode 1: Seas of Life.

[Full story with photos here.]

Perhaps you’re wondering why I suddenly found an interest in large fabricated ammonite fossils. It’s because I saw that top picture and wanted to do this with it:

Ammonite Beach Spin

Saturday Matinee – NASA 1961, Jason D. Williams, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, & The Yonder Mountain String Band

This magnificent feat was engineered with slide rules, and it amounted to blasting a giant bullet containing a human into the sky, then recovering both it and Alan Shepard intact [via]. Those early astronauts had big brass ones, and the creepy music made it even better. (John Glenn appears at 04:15.)

Speaking of Great Balls of Fire, here’s the next best thing to The Killer. Jason D. Williams pounds the ivories with Sticks McGhee‘s 1947 classic “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-dee-o-dee.”

Spodiodi was street slang for chipping in for a cheap bottle of fortified wine in a brown paper bag and sharing it with your buddies. Urban Dictionary says “Spodiodi” is a glass of wine spiked with bourbon. Nah.

BTW, Sticks McGhee was the brother of Brownie McGhee, who partnered with harmonica player Sonny Terry known for his harmonica whooping. “Key to the Highway” was covered by many, including what’s his name. That famous British guy. You know. That guy.

Here’s some Easy-On-The-Ear-Holes stuff from The Yonder Mountain String Band. They need some authentic whooping in my opinion. Maybe even some eefin.

Have a great weekend, folks, and be glad that you’re not in Turkey.

Hot Links Del Mar

Gastropod Eggs

Electric eel leaping out of a tank to shock a fake alligator head [via].

Woman from San Diego has been banned from visiting over 21% of America.

Riding the Strandbeest bike [via].

Link Wray.

Classic P.J. O’Rourke heresy. (Don’t get any ideas, kids.)

PNBHS Haka for Mr. Tamatea’s Funeral Service is still an excellent tribute.

“100 Years” is a movie scheduled for release in 2115. The idea is to purchase metal tickets and pass them on to your descendants.

“…We can be rich in cotton and mining metals, and silk worms, and we can make things, things cars, the machine can make it for us; and we can have the community, and city, in San Francisco; and we can make things and put them in the store. On the East Coast they have slaves and believe in slavery and made in China…” She has it all figured out.

JUST RELAX.

[Top image: Giant gastropod egg capsules of the species Adelomelon brasiliana washed up near Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires and were herded into concentric circles by locals. Found here.]

“The woemen are attired, and pownced.”

Roanoak Indians 1590

Roanoak Indians 1590 Quote

From A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia [Hariot, Thomas (1560-1621). Published in Frankfort Germany 1590.]

[Found here via here. Printed word image from here.  More about Dasamonquepeuc here.]

“It’s Art.” “It’s a pile of bricks.” “NO. IT’S ART.”

Art Installation Carl Andre

In 1976 London there was some tabloid excitement about the Tate Museum’s tax-payer funded purchase and display of Carl Andre’s Equivalent VIII-a group of 120 bricks arranged in a rectangle.
 
The piece was originally part of an installation in New York in 1966. When no one bought the work at the time, the artist returned the bricks to the supplier. He had to obtain new bricks for the Tate. It reportedly cost the tax payers about $12,000.00, the equivalent of about $50,000.00 today.

[Image and caption from here, and yes, it’s a true story.]

 

Positive Negative Hot Links

Kilroy as a parallel LC circuit or band-stop filter

Ultra-High Speed photography .gifs are ultra-slow to load, but they’re worth the wait.

Johnny Ramone’s tee shirt.

Interesting essay on the existence and non-existence of the FBI Files on cartoonist Walk Kelly. [Related post here.]

“Michael row de boat ashore, Hallelujah!” Earliest known published lyrics of that song date to 1867 and were written in dialect. It was sung by former slaves whose owners had abandoned St. Helena Island prior to the arrival of the Union navy. [Wiki]

Gullah is still spoken on St. Helena Island. It’s a creole language.

B̕͝ro̸̡ḱe̴͞n̢ ̶͟c̡u͢͞b̨e̵̸̢.

Squirrel painlessly removes girl’s tooth. TRUE.

The Queen’s Green Screen.

[Top image: A parallel LC circuit or band-stop filter. Image found here, via here.]

Miami Blows.

Miami 16 June 2016

“Dude. GTFO. That’s my spot.” Then it happened. The wind kicked up and Miami started raining furniture.

This is the incredible moment chairs and furniture where whipped into the air by ferociously high winds in Miami. Patio chairs and sun loungers can be seen flying through the sky as the fierce storm scoops them up and flings them from a high rise building in the Floridian city.

[Image & video via here.]

Any Questions?

Chuck Norris

[Found in here.]

Be Careful What You Wish For.

Hillary's Mother

The National Lampoon would have done it, but they’re not around anymore so someone had to.