I was living in Fort Worth during that time and the Lake Worth Monster was a Big Deal. Hordes of people went there hoping to catch a glimpse or a photo. It all died down pretty quickly though. I lived across town from Lake Worth and so we didn't go there but once and it was as crowded as Six Flags used to be.
Last I checked, the limit of the observable universe is about 54 billion light years. That's about 4.6E24 miles, an incomprehensible distance. Our own galaxy, by comparison, is "only" about 125,000 light-years in diameter, or about 1.5E14 miles. Sounds really big on its own, and, by our scale, it is, but in the whole of the universe, it is less than a fly-speck. Talk about feeling insignificant.
Many CEOs today are psychopaths. The great robber barons of the 19th century - the railroad owners, JP Morgan, etc. - all exhibited psychopathic traits. I know one man personally, who is definitely psychopathic and he has gone far in business. The tell is a complete lack of empathy and conscience.
What's old is new..... During filming of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in 1965, Eli Wallach, who played Tuco, drank what he thought was a soft drink from a soda pop bottle, but it turned out to be acid that some doofus had poured into it to store it. He had to go to hospital. The saga of these cans won't end well.
I was looking for that article of some years ago which identified the inspiration for that boulder scene, this being an issue of Disney's old Uncle Scrooge comics, which were childhood favorites of both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, but it cannot be found.
Pretty impressive, Miss C. I'm somewhat of a tornado fancier and I was not familiar with this one. It is hard to believe that an F-5 storm could occur in Germany, but evidently it did. But so far as it being "the most powerful recorded tornado in history" (as opposed to 'the most powerful tornado in recorded history') goes, I think that title belongs to the Tri-State Tornado of 1925, which had an effective wind velocity in excess of 350 mph, as well as a damage path 219 miles long. This tornado, as you may recall, is somewhere in here under the title 'The Forgotten Storm'.
From the Sherlock Holmes short story, The Five Orange Pips: “‘Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic but generally recognized shape—a sprig of oak-leaves in some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organization of the society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite of the efforts of the United States government and of the better classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.’
The article neglects to mention King Eglon of Moab in biblical times (see Judges 3:24, KJV), who was also assassinated while on the seat. This is one of two mentions of bowel movements to be found in the Bible. See also Deuteronomy 23: 12-13 (KJV).
I see an emerging market for such devices, sent by their owners to purchase goods embarrassing to some to be seen purchasing (you know the kind, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR8arJMOu7A). I would have to worry about carjacking, though.
During filming of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in 1965, Eli Wallach, who played Tuco, drank what he thought was a soft drink from a soda pop bottle, but it turned out to be acid that some doofus had poured into it to store it. He had to go to hospital. The saga of these cans won't end well.
Office gathering, Miss C? Was this you and the cats?
“‘Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic but generally recognized shape—a sprig of oak-leaves in some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organization of the society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite of the efforts of the United States government and of the better classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.’