Category: True Stories

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.]

The water can’t hear you, so why complain?

[via email – h/t 1389AD]

Give Us A Sign

Protesters pray on a disused billboard during a demonstration to demand the resignation of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Sept. 30, 2011.

Can you spot the apostates? [Found here.]

On Dervishes & Magic


[via]
I’ve got a friend who grew up in Pakistan. Decades ago I asked him about the Dervishes, and he was convinced that they were mystical. They could think chickens dead and make ants march in figure eights. He said he saw it with his own eyes.

Yep, there are ways to fool the eyes and the mind, all right. Squeeze enough ants to produce a liquid trail marker, they’ll march and write your name in cursive. Poison a chicken, yep, it’ll die. It’s called magic. The snake charmer knows that a cobra will follow your eyes. It’s a potentially deadly game, but the dervishes are in it for the money as tourist attractions, and they’re poor as dirt.

I don’t blame the dervishes a bit; they’re no different than palm readers or street magicians. If they entertain folks who are willing to toss some coin into the bucket, then they provide a service, in the entertainment business.

All it takes is knowledge and practice. I can beat you at Rock-Paper-Scissors. I can flip a quarter and make it turn up heads (or tails) every time, and I know how to make it land on the edge, too. I can get you to choose the wrong card in a 3-Card Monte game, and make you pick the Ace of Spades from a fresh deck you just opened and shuffled yourself.

And I love to bend spoons.

[crossposted here.]

“It’s Raining! Quick! Get Under Her HooHah!”

[Found here.]