Category: True Stories

Undulatus Asperatus – Holy Crap Clouds

No new cloud type has been officially classified since 1951 but Gavin Pretor-Pinney who runs the Cloud Appreciation Society believes that there is a new cloud that deserves international recognition. He calls it asperatus, which means rough in Latin. [via]

Top:  Schiehallion, Scotland.
Middle:  Cedar Rapids, Iowa, US.
Bottom:  Hanmer Springs, South Island, New Zealand. [Previously posted here.]

Apparently the unusual cloud formation is benign, not related to precipitation, violent weather or mass extinctions.

Happy Father’s Day

After his wife died giving birth to their sixth child, Civil War vet Henry Jackson Smart was left to raise the litter all by himself. Imagine, if you will, what the average day was like for Henry: six kids of varying age screaming, kicking the crap out of each other, wetting the bed, refusing to eat their vegetables. It was hard on the single father until he found himself a worthy partner to alleviate the stresses of child-rearing: beer, and lots of it.

Fueled by the saintly patience only good ale can provide, Henry did such a good job with the kids that he inspired his daughter, Sonora Smart Dodd, to organize the first Father’s Day on June 19th, 1910. Fourteen years later, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day, and Nixon, established it as a permanent day of national observance in 1972.

[Image and story found here.]

Saturday Matinee – MMA Mismatch 1998, LogoRama, Brother Phelps, The Kentucky Headhunters & Roy Buchanan

600 lbs vs 169 lbs. in a match from 1998 – 431 lbs. was apparently the greatest weight differential in MMA history. Place your bets, then hit play. [h/t garycooper]

Great animation and concept, despite the not-so-subtle message. PG13 for language & violence. [h/t Internet Septic Tank Engineer]

UPDATE – Here’s the background from Wiki:

Logorama is a 16-minute French animated film written and directed by H5/ François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain, and produced by Autour de Minuit. The film depicts events in a stylized Los Angeles, and is told entirely through the use of more than 2,500 contemporary and historical logos and mascots.

Brother Phelps from 1995, with “Any Way The Wind Blows.” Naming the band after their Minister father, brothers Rickie Lee and Doug Phelps previously recorded with The Kentucky Headhunters.

“Honky Tonk Walkin’.” First I heard The Kentucky Headhunters was their electric version of Sons of the Pioneers‘ “Davey Crockett” and it cracked me up.

Bill Doggett‘s “Honky Tonk” was a classic instrumental hit in 1956 . Here’s the late Roy Buchanan‘s version.

Okay, that’s enough for today. Have a great weekend, be back here for more tomorrow.

Election Day In California

Sacramento has been out of control for years. Not too long ago, the State of California, were it a separate and independent country, would have ranked at No. 8 in prosperity world wide. Not so any more.

California is not completely lost… yet. Watch what happens in the regional and local elections. The results will tell you if California has a ghost of a chance of recovering from gross fiscal mismanagement and fascist socialism.

[Image found here.]

Hot Links From Around The Globe

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Great watercolor paintings of scenes from war-torn Afghanistan by British illustrator Matthew Cook. [Kudos to TR reader Nikolay Kotev for posting it.]

If you haven’t seen the vid posted here, it’s worth the 15 minutes. An OWS boy learns about collectivism from someone who lived in Soviet Russia… and he LISTENS.

Orlando Florida, home of Disney World, Epcot Center, and these pretty people.

Give your kids nightmares the easy way. Buy these. Sin duda todos estaremos de acuerdo en que el mejor sitio es delante de la taza del váter.

The latin name for it is Blobimus Maximus.

Any of you on Twitter? I am, but only for the purposes of collecting followers with the promise of tweeting absolutely no content. 20 or so get the joke. I haven’t “followed” anyone, yet I’ve been pre-blocked and reported as a spammer by some.
Think about that.

This a must read for everyone. We’re talking Freedom of Speech.
[Parental Advisory – disturbing content.]

Saturday Matinee – Doc Watson, Chet Atkins & Leo Kottke

Doc Watson, one of the most influential guitar pickers, passed away 29 May 2012. Blind before he reached the age of 1, he overcame his handicap with hard work and earned talent.  Here he is with Chet Atkins (d.2001) and a young Leo Kottke. I’m guessing the vid is from the late 70s.

[Personal gripe: Peeps who post these vids on the Utoobage should give some detail in the descriptions. Many do, but too many don’t.]

Here’s Chet Atkins, early 1960s, with “Black Mountain Rag.”

In 1982, Leo Kottke performed Tom T. Hall‘s “Pamela Brown” on a late night variety show.

Well I think three vids are enough for one post these days, so have a great weekend and we’ll see y’all pickin’ and flickin’ back here tomorrow.

Dirt Poor Pool

THIS is called dirt poor. All I know is that it’ s somewhere in Africa.

[Found here.]

Post 2K! WooHoo!

This is the 2,000th post on Tacky Raccoons.

Just think of all the time I could have been doing something more productive than shirking my responsibilites. On the other hand, this blog has given me much enjoyment over the years because every post was the result of a trek, an internet safari to look for and post oddities that amuse me, or at least hold my attention for more than a few seconds.

It has had it’s benefits. I’ve learned about image manipulation and editing, .gif animations, and that there are some sites out there that no one should visit. I’ve also “met” people from all over the world.

One thing that’s always puzzled me is what generates traffic. Sure, putting up a post titled “Lesbian Amputee Dwarf Porn” got a lot of hits  (it’s No. 15 on the list of most popular) but those who are really looking for it won’t find it here. With very few exceptions,  I’m still running on Anita Bath’s blogging Rule No. 1: Don’t post anything that will cause a Pastor to block the site from viewing by his 12 year-old daughter.

In case you’re curious, here are the Top Five posts that garnered the most attention since we started in 2007:

No. 1 – Another Great Christmas Gift Idea

No. 2 – LOL FERRET: Episode 1

No. 3 – Um, Nice Stained Glass?

No. 4 – Capybara Lapwarmer

No. 5 – Batmobile Babe Magnet

Are those the best posts of Tacky Raccoons? Not in my opinion, but who cares. I’m having fun, and I hope you are, too.

Queen of Soul

© Art Kane, 1967, Aretha Franklin, “Halos”, Esquire Magazine

Wanting to highlight her strong Gospel roots, Art Kane tried waving the camera in a circular motion to try to make halo shapes from the light in Aretha’s eyes. This photo is also a rare, Art Kane crop, as virtually all his images are composed in full frame.

[Found here.]

We’re SO Screwed.

You can find out how he got it (and what he did with it) at the Daily Mail, or at Archie McPhee’s Endless Geyser of Awesome.

Next thing you know they’re gonna be whittling lifesize human decoys. [Found here.]