Category: True Stories

Armistice Day / Veterans Day / Remembrance Day


“One of the guns of Battery D, 105th Field Artillery, showing American flag which was hoisted after the last shot had been fired when the armistice took effect. Etraye, France., 11/11/1918”.
Sergeant First Class Morris Fineberg, Photographer.

My grand-uncle was stationed in France in the U.S. Signal Corps in WWI, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew some of the men in the photo above. On 10 November 1918, he sent this letter home:

“Mom and Dad. Well, nothing much new, only today we got the news of the peace plenipotentiaries arriving for a conference with General Foch. It sounds good to me. There is something here now that I would like to tell you but can’t, so when I return you mustn’t forget to ask me about the civilian refugees in the church. It will be some story. Not much excitement lately. We had our balloon burned by a boche plane with American insignia on it.”

Then on 14 November, this:

Dear Mom and Dad:

Well, of all the wonderful things that could ever happen. The war is “won”. As the French say, “Fini la Guerre.” Every Frenchman we meet hollers, “Fini la Guere, Merci! Beaucoup.” It means – The war is over, thank you many times. We are sure some glad bunch. I sure will have a lot of stuff to tell you when I return. And that won’t be long. We are now away from the front for the first time. I just got rid of a bunch of cooties yesterday. I hope that they will be the last, too. They are sure the cause of one hell of a feeling.

Well, this is all for the present. So long and hoping to see you soon.

Soldier Bill

May God Bless All Veterans, both past and present.

[Image from here. Related posts here and here.]

A ±90 Foot Drop – Full Version

“Waves are not measured in feet and inches, they are measured in increments of fear.” Buzzy Trent

Surfing is nothing but controlled falling in moving water, but this is a jaw dropper. Garrett McNamara is a professional big wave surfer who travels a world wide circuit, and on this particular outing off the shores of Portugal, he caught a rogue wave, estimated to be 90 feet tall at the crest. Here’s another take:

Garrett McNamara caught a monstrous wave Tuesday off Nazaré in Portugal, but did the wave face measure anywhere close to 90 feet, as a witness in the surfer’s group implied and as news reports suggested? Is it the largest wave ever ridden, as stated in the headline of a news release issued after the epic tow-surfing session?

Both points are debatable based on footage provided by McNamara to GrindTv.com, for its Tuesday afternoon post on the surfer’s incredible ride.

It was, without doubt, an amazing performance by the big-wave surfing icon from Hawaii. The wave face, however, does not appear to measure 90 feet. It’s worth noting, though, that footage captured from up high or far away, as was mostly the case here (there is some helmet-cam footage), can be misleading.

According to the folks who were there:

McNamara, a big-wave surfing icon from Hawaii, was riding large waves with Andrew Cotton and Al Mennie when three gigantic waves appeared on the outside. Cotton used a personal watercraft to tow McNamara onto the massive shoulder of one of those rogue waves. Mennie was siting in the channel on another vessel, acting as lifeguard, and described the event: “Everything seemed to be perfect, the weather, the waves. Both Cotty and I rode two big ones in the 60-foot-plus range and then when Garrett got on the rope a wave, maybe 30 feet bigger, came out of the canyon.

A fifteen-foot tall wall of water intimidates many surfers, but the guys who get the most credit are those running the towing operation on huge offshore breaks. They time the swells, estimate the breaks, and after dropping their cargo of brass balls off of a multi-story tower of water, manage to escape with their lives.

Fortunately, most of us don’t deal with that kind of awe-inspiring death-defying thrill-seeking bravado because we can be internet dare-devils instead.

[Crossposted here.]

El Día de los Muertos

Show some respect.

[Found here.]

All Hallow’s Eve Grumpkins – A Retrospective


Our Grumpkins were known to make dogs bark and little kids cry. A red Sharpie marker, a serrated boning knife and Tom Waits’ “Bone Machine” / Mickey Hart’s “Planet Drum” blasting through the neighborhood made it all worthwhile.

The neighborhood kids are all grown up now…

1,000,000 Views!


After several years of farting around and posting inanities on a daily basis, we are proud to announce 1,000,000 views as of a few hours ago. Although most of our traffic is from the U.S, the U.K. and Australia, we’ve been honored with visitors from 170 countries, including some that I’ve never heard of. From Revolver Maps, we get this nice list:

Afghanistan, Aland Islands, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote D’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Fijii, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Islamic Republic of, Iraq, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakstan, Kenya, Korea, Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Republic of, MongoliaAsia/Pacific Region, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territory, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion Island, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Tanzania, United Republic of, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, Yemen, and Zambia.

Pure awesomeness, and it made my day. Thanks to all.

The Extraction of the Stone of Madness

A detail from “The Extraction of the Stone of Madness“, a painting by Hieronymus Bosch depicting trepanation (c.1488-1516)

[Found here.]

Leviathan

An installation art work entitled “Leviathanation” by Huang Yongping features a giant fish head made from fiberglass, stuffed animals and a train is displayed at a gallery in Beijing, China.

[Found in here.]

Rubber Drywall Screw

No, that’s not a rubber drywall screw. You won’t believe what it really is.

[Found here.]

LOL City, Drudge

Cropped, but otherwise unadulterated screencap of today’s Drudge Report made me smile.

Triple Shot of My Baby’s Love

A revolver made in Spain probably as a single piece because none of my friends and I remember ever seeing one, nor did I find something in the literature. To adapt the 6.35 pistol cartridge the cylinder has two connected rings in which one can insert the cartridges and closing the second ring, the cartridges are safely stored – similar today’s speed-loader. On the back of the strap is a switch, center position will hit the inner circle, left position six hits skipping one in the outer circle and after pushing to the right the firing pin will hit the remaining six cartridges. Under the switch is additional a safety blocking the hammer. It is a tip-down or break-open system similar the Smith & Wesson models. The 3″ barrel has a fixed front sight.

Eighteen 6.35mm cartridges, 3 synchronized firing pins, 3 barrels, 6 x 3 shots. I think that’ll do. [Found here. More accurate story here.]