Category: True Stories

Eighteen years ago tonight was my scariest Halloween ever, handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, and timing contractions at the same time. Really.

Rory 18 warning

Happy Birthday Bunkessa!

Love, Poppa, Momma and Bunkarina (who’s gonna pound your butt next time you get into her stuff again).

Norton

Emperor Joshua A. Norton I b

Joshua Abraham Norton (c. 1819– January 8, 1880), the self-proclaimed His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, was a celebrated citizen of San Francisco, California, who in 1859 proclaimed himself “Emperor of these United States” and subsequently “Protector of Mexico.”

Born in London, Norton spent most of his early life in South Africa. He emigrated to San Francisco in 1849 after receiving a bequest of $40,000 from his father’s estate. Norton initially made a living as a businessman, but he lost his fortune investing in Peruvian rice.

After losing a lawsuit in which he tried to void his rice contract, Norton left San Francisco. He returned a few years later, apparently mentally unbalanced, claiming to be the emperor of the United States. Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, he was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented.

Though he was considered insane, or at least highly eccentric, the citizens of San Francisco celebrated his regal presence and his proclamations, most famously, his “order” that the United States Congress be dissolved by force (which Congress and the U.S. Army ignored) and his numerous decrees calling for a bridge and a tunnel to be built across San Francisco Bay.

[via, found by way of here. Cross-posted here.]

Michelle O. Action (Go) Figure

Michelle Obama_AFP-Getty ImagesMichelle Obama Toy_Mail Online 091013Michell Obama Lego

The latest gimmick to hit the market just in time for Halloween: The First Lady Action Figure. It is being heralded as the first toy in the likeness of Michelle Obama.  WRONG.

I like to boil things down to their essence, and the toy on the right gets my vote for Toy of the Year, especially with the photoshopoopage of the photo on the left. Those proportions just aren’t right, even for Barbie.

In context, the toy on the right is immediately recobanizeable as The First Lady in all her glory, just as Aretha Franklin and Barbara and George Bush were similarly memoribalised below:

Lego Aretha Franklin

Here at TR, our crack team of webminers previously posted Lego’s Contribution for the adulation of the devout:  a full landscape model of THE INAUGURATION.   It’s awesome.

But Michelle’s action figure is still not as awesome as this one.

In His Own Words

Folks,

We don’t intend to turn this blog into a political forum, but occasionally we feel the need to speak up about government insanity.

Forget the inane Nobel Peace Prize business.  That “prize” was reduced in value to the contents of a full spittoon when the creator of modern terrorism, Yassir Arafat, was awarded it in 1994.

Meanwhile, there is the invented crisis of global warming/climate change, and more recently the supposed crisis of health care reform.

The former has everything to do with confiscatory taxes based upon the absurd irrational premise that natural fluctuations in the average temperature of the earth are caused by humanity. We can discuss that hot/cold topic another time.

The latter has nothing to do with health care, and everything to do with government control of the health care insurance industry. Lookee here:

President Obama admits to the inefficiency of  existing taxpayer-funded government-run healthcare programs: “Medicare and Medical are about to go into the red in a few years.”

Continue reading “In His Own Words”

An Expensive Ignosecond

Ignosecond Tree_Demonicious

[Found here. Sequential images after the break.]

[Update:  Two commenters below pointed out that this may have been intentional, and not an Ignosecond. If anyone can find the original source for the story, leave a comment and we’ll post the linky. The link originally posted is dead.]

Continue reading “An Expensive Ignosecond”

Just Doing Her Job

RAMCO1_OCR 090922

RAMCO2_OCR 090922

She works for RAMCO. Get it?

“Orange County firefighters responded to a call of an elderly woman driving a Mercury Grand Marquis backing into one garage and then driving into another garage across the driveway …  in San Juan Capistrano Monday morning. No injuries were reported but one of the structures sustained heavy damage.”

I’m not sure what RAMCO manufactures, but if they make garage doors, this would make sense, drumming up business in a slow economy.

[Story and images from here.]

09/09/09 09:09:09 Pacific Standard Time

9999-999

Down to the tenth of a second is close enough for me.

TV Time

Tacky TV

Train to Utoob City, now boarding on Platform Click.

See for yourself why every year more people buy RCA Victor than any other TV.

Remember this, in B&W television, as in color, the symbols of leadership and dependablility are the names RCA and RCA Victor.

Mark 8 – 8 years home proved performance. The Fraser $495 optional with dealer. Manufacturer’s nationally advertised price. Slightly higher some areas west, south.

What’s My Line?

That’s My Color.

The most Trusted Name in Television.

THIS is what Television was invented for.

[Image created via effmypic.com.]

Amazing Helicopter Photos from Afghanistan

Helicopter in Afghanistan2_Michel Yon 090817

The photos in Michael Yon’s blog are amazing, as are his stories posted from Afghanistan.   I cropped the image above only for more detail in this post.

[Found link here.]

Job Security

Job Security_Hypnogoria 090804

[Found here.]