Mr. Dovestone For Freaky Friday...!

Here is another strange case of a mysterious person being found dead, with no one knowing his identity.

His cause of death was known, but the why and wherefore remain unknown to date. Strange how these things can turn up, don't you think?

Neil Dovestone

Photo credit: Documenting Reality

On December 11, 2015, an elderly man walked into the Clarence Pub in Greenfield, England. He asked for the quickest route to walk to the “top of the mountain” even though he wasn’t dressed for such a trip. The following day, his body was found at the top of nearby Saddleworth Moor. He had died from taking strychnine.

The man had £130 and some train tickets in his pockets, which showed that he had traveled 320 kilometers (200 mi) from London. However, he had no identification. Since he was last seen near the Dovestone Reservoir, he was named “Neil Dovestone.”

The biggest clue in his possession was an empty bottle of thyroxine sodium, a specific batch which is only manufactured and distributed in Pakistan. Yet this lead has not helped investigators uncover the identity of Neil Dovestone.

So what do you think is the old man's story? Was he maybe just despondent? Maybe lonely or feeling forgotten? Guess we will ever know what the whole story isa.

Coffee out on the patio this morning. It's nice and cool out today.

The Lucky Horseshoe...!

The horseshoe has been around for a long time, and so has the belief that it brings good luck.

The origins of lucky charms has long been a traditional part of folk lore the world over, some we can trace and others we cannot.

Horseshoes

Photo credit: Man vyi

The first horseshoes ever found are from the Etruscans in 400 BC. When the superstition was first introduced in northern Europe, most likely by wandering Celtic tribes, horseshoes were hung from above the doorway in an effort to ward off evil fairy folk who wandered the forests. They were also made of iron, which was considered lucky as well. (The fairy folk were also said to be afraid of the weapons of their enemies, which just happened to be made of iron.)

The shoes were said to resemble the Celtic moon god’s crescent symbol. Depending on the source, horseshoes hung with the two ends pointed up collect the luck like a bowl, while horseshoes hung with the two ends pointed down spill out their luck on those who walk underneath it. Another traditional aspect said to provide luck was that they were usually held up by seven iron nails—which, as we’ll see later on, is often seen as an important number.

With my luck, if I hung one over my door, it would fall on my head!

Coffee out on the patio this morning!

Gene Autry For Western Wednesday...!

If there was ever a man that was an example of a western star, Gene was the guy.

Besides making over a 100 movies, every time you hear songs like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolf the Red-nosed reindeer Mr Autry has to come to mind. Here is a short version of his history.

The great singing cowboy, Gene Autry, is born in Texas

Gene Autry, perhaps the greatest singing cowboy of all time, is born on this day in 1907, in Tioga, Texas.

While still a boy, Autry moved with his family to a ranch in Oklahoma where he learned to play the guitar and sing. The young Autry was quickly attracted to a new style of music that was becoming popular at the time, which combined the traditional cowboy music popular in Texas and Oklahoma and the folk songs, ballads, and hymns of southern-style country music. Known as country-western, the new sound was popularized by musicians from the East Coast and the South who had never been near a horse and couldn’t tell a stirrup from a lariat. Donning cowboy hats and boots and affecting what they thought were western drawls, hundreds of these newly minted “cowboys” were soon crooning popular western ballads like “Tumbling Tumble Weeds” all around the nation.

While Autry was also no cowboy, he was, at least, a genuine westerner who had lived on a ranch. After a chance encounter with cowboy-humorist Will Rogers, who encouraged his dream of singing professionally, Autry made his first recording in 1929, and for several years performed as “Oklahoma’s Yodeling Cowboy” on a Tulsa radio program. Following a stint as the star of the Chicago-based National Barn Dance radio show, he signed a recording contract with the Sears label, which also marketed a Gene Autry guitar through its famous catalog.

Autry’s lasting fame, though, came from his career as the film industry’s favorite singing cowboy. His first movie, In Old Santa Fe, was eventually followed by nearly 100 other films that made him one of the most popular stars in America and vastly expanded the audience for country-western music around the world.

He died in October 1998 at the age of 91.

There are so many more aspects of Gene's life that we haven't begun to talk about,so it would be a good study to get one of the many books about his life. He was a good business man as well as a great entertainer.

Coffee out on the cooler patio this morning!

The Invading Bats...!

Sometimes the influx of animals seems like an invasion during a war. It can be like one, for sure!

Almost seems like some animal invasions are biblical in scope. Take this next one for expample.

Batemans Bay

New South Wales, Australia

Photo credit: Justin Welbergen

In May 2016, the town of Batemans Bay in New South Wales was invaded by 100,000 massive bats that covered nearly every tree and surface in the area. Residents were left prisoners in their own homes because opening doors or windows would cause bats to come flying in.

The culprits were grey-headed flying foxes. They are listed as a vulnerable species, so authorities couldn’t kill them. Soon, different groups bickered about what to do. Authorities wanted to use smoke or noise to try to get the bats to leave while animal rights groups said that the townspeople needed to be patient and wait out the epidemic.

Eventually, the town received $2.5 million to help fund efforts to stop the bats. But as of June 2016, the town remains under siege.

Now I don't know about you, but to me this sounds like the script for a very bad horror movie. Thank goodness something like this hasn't happened in our town...yet!

Coffee out on the patio this morning. I have to go to the V.A., so help yourself, OK?

Spider Tale For Monday Mystery...

Some of the most fascinating creatures in Mother Nature's collection is the spider. Many questions abound when we really study them.

No matter how much we learn about these critters, there always seem to be more questions left unanswered. Here is a good example of what I'm talking about.

Bizarre Web Formations In The Amazon

Photo credit: BT.com

In 2013, Troy Alexander discovered several mysterious webs in the Tambopata Research Center in Peru. Each web had a small sphere in the center surrounded by a circular fence. He asked several experts what the formations were, but they didn’t know.

Determined to unravel the mystery, he went back to Peru a few months later. His determination eventually paid off when he discovered that the sphere inside the fence was an egg sac containing a spiderling.

However, scientists still do not know what species creates the bizarre webs. Nor have they discovered the specific purpose of the fence. They have two hypotheses, though. One is that the fence acts as some kind of defense, protecting the egg sacs from ants. The other is that it captures termites, which the spiderlings can feast on once they hatch.

Can you imagine having a paying job that consist of searching out spiders and their webs? Scary way to earn a living if you ask me.

Coffee out on the patio if the rain will hold off long enough.

Cartoons For A Wet Sunday...!

And one more...!



OK...enough for today. Ya'll stay dry now, ya hear?

Coffee in the kitchen this morning!

A Nice Saturday Mystery...!

As much as we think we know about our country, there are some mysteries that still pop up about our lineage.

Here is a bit of information about such group of people and the mystery surrounding their origins.

Ramapough Mountain People

Photo credit: Credit Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

30 miles outside New York City, in New Jersey’s Appalachians, exists a mysterious population known as the Ramapough Mountain People. Some describe them as inbred gypsies. Others insist they are albinos sired by a circus sideshow performer. As late as 2015, people still claimed the “Jackson Whites” were an inbred lot of renegade Indians, escaped slaves, Hessian mercenaries, and West Indian prostitutes. The reality is they are the Ramapough Lenape Indians.

Many Ramapough Lenape share surnames like De Groot, De Freiss, Van der Donk, and Mann. Composed of Afro-Dutch runaway slaves and the Lenape Indians, some took their names of their masters. Others adopted the names of prominent New Yorkers to hide their ancestry. They face discrimination from all sides because they do not meet Native American stereotypes. In 1993, Donald Trump claimed “they don’t look like Indians to me.” The Ramapough Lenape even had trouble being accepted by other natives.

I have to agree with the fact that they, as a people, don't look the same as other Native Americans. You do have to wonder just what their complete ancestry is. Another of Mother Natures musteries, I reckon.

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. It's raining out on the patio.

The Twins For Freaky Friday...!.

This is one of those strange mysteries that may never be explained. Whole lot of unanswered questions still linger.

The Twins

Photo credit: The Press Democrat

In a suburban neighborhood of Chattanooga, Tennessee, there was a well-kept house occupied by two elderly men. Neighbors hadn’t seen the identical twin brothers for some time, although the lawn was well maintained and the mail never piled up. Family members had last attempted to check on them a few years earlier but had been unable to gain entry. The pair normally kept to themselves.

When police finally forced their way in to do a welfare check at the insistence of neighborhood residents, they were met with an eerie sight: the skeletal remains of the two brothers, side by side in their respective easy chairs. They had apparently died as they had lived—in isolation.

And so they remained silently sharing each other’s company for over three years until they were discovered. No signs of foul play were found, which does nothing to make this story any less creepy.

Doesn't sound as though anyone was too concerned about the twins, otherwise they would have tried harder to access the house. My question is who did the yard, bought the groceries, paid the bills...that sort of thing.

Coffee out on the patio again.

This Fish Has Some Mean Teeth...!

One thing about fishing on the coast is that you will nearly always catch something!

However, sometimes you may not want to look too closely at the mouths of your catch. It may just shock ya! Take this bad boy, for instance.

A Fish With Scary Human-like Teeth

You would wish this fish is not for real. But it is! This is a sheepshead fish and yes it does have real human like teeth. It is edible, but we plan to stay far away from this one! Leaving besides the trauma of seeing this in action in real life, there are many good reasons for the species to develop such a dentition.

The diet of the sheepshead fish includes a variety of vertebrates, invertebrates and some plant material, making it an omnivorous. Including both incisors and molars, this is basically the precursor of our very own teeth design. Sooner or later, this fish will need to pay a visit to the dentist.

With so many teeth, it is impossible to go away for too long without one or multiple problems. We hope Hollywood will never make a horror movie based on this fish as that would scare the life out of us.

I don't know about you, but I'm not sticking my hand or fingers in that critter's mouth. Know what I mean?

Coffee out on the patio this morning again.

Chief Joseph For Western Wednesday !

We forget just how influential some Native Americans were in the peace processes of the time. This is one way that Chief Joseph shined the most.

1904

The great Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph dies in Washington

On this day in 1904, the remarkable Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph dies on the Colville reservation in northern Washington at the age of 64. The whites had described him as superhuman, a military genius, an Indian Napoleon. But in truth, the Nez Perce Chief Him-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt (“Thunder Rolling Down from the Mountains”) was more of a diplomat than a warrior.

Chief Joseph-as non-Indians knew him-had been elected chief of the Wallowa band of Nez Perce Indians when he was only 31. For six difficult years the young leader struggled peacefully against the whites who coveted the Wallowa’s fertile land in northeastern Oregon. In 1877, General Howard of the U.S. Army warned that if the Wallowa and other bands of the Nez Perce did not abandon their land and move to the Lapwai Reservation within 30 days, his troops would attack. While some of the other Nez Perce chiefs argued they should resist, Chief Joseph convinced them to comply with the order rather than face war, and he led his people on a perilous voyage across the flood-filled Snake and Salmon River canyons to a campsite near the Lapwai Reservation. But acting without Chief Joseph’s knowledge, a band of 20 young hotheaded braves decided to take revenge on some of the more offensive white settlers in the region, sparking the Nez Perce War of 1877.

Chief Joseph was no warrior, and he opposed many of the subsequent actions of the Nez Perce war councils. Joseph’s younger brother, Olikut, was far more active in leading the Nez Perce into battle, and Olikut helped them successfully outsmart the U.S. Army on several occasions as the war ranged over more than 1,600 miles of Washington, Idaho, and Montana territory. Nonetheless, military leaders and American newspapers persisted in believing that since Chief Joseph was the most prominent Nez Perce spokesman and diplomat, he must also be their principal military leader.

By chance, Chief Joseph was the only major leader to survive the war, and it fell to him to surrender the surviving Nez Perce forces to Colonel Nelson A. Miles at the Bear Paw battlefield in northern Montana in October 1877. “From where the sun now stands,” he promised, “I will fight no more forever.” Chief Joseph lived out the rest of his life in peace, a popular romantic symbol of the noble “red men” who many Americans admired now that they no longer posed any real threat.

It's a shame that we could never learn from our mistaken idea that it was fair to take tribal land just because we could. Lucky for many settlers that cooler heads like Chief Joseph were around as long as they were.

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

Don't Try And Trick The Devil...!

All through history there are stories about folks making pacts with the Devil

Most all of them don't end well, especially when the deal maker tries to cheat.

Brigadier General Jonathan Moulton

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Jonathan Moulton, born in 1726, was a famed soldier of colonial America—serving in King George’s War as well as the French and Indian War. He became one of New England’s wealthiest men after his service, which gave way to rumors that the man was in cahoots with the Devil. Rumors swirled that General Moulton had struck a financial deal with Satan; in exchange for eternal devotion and retention of his soul, the Devil would visit Moulton’s home every month and fill his boot with gold. Despite such a handsome sum, General Moulton grew greedy; he cut a hole in the floor above his basement, over which he placed his boot with a freshly punched hole in the boot’s heel. Moulton may have thought himself quite clever—but one should never try to outfox the Devil. Upon realizing the scheme, the Devil burned down Moulton’s house, along with the gold coins.

I know most of us have heard the saying "Give the Devil his due", right? Maybe that's a good idea!

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

Another Ocean Mystery For Monday...!

This one is about a man that must have been about half crazy. At least that's my opinion!

The Ocean Wave

Photo credit: Miguel Leal

The story behind the Ocean Wave was supposed to be a warm one. Artist Bas Jan Ader set a three-part performance around the ship; first, he would be sent off by a student choir singing shanties to a piano. Then he’d sail from Cape Cod to Falmouth in England in a craft only 4 meters (12 ft) in length. When he would arrive 8–10 weeks later, he’d sing the ending to the song to finish the performance. The problem was, he never arrived in England.

His boat was found floating by itself, without a trace of Bas Jan Ader within. People speculated that a rogue wave took him, or that he became disorientated and fell in, or even that the whole performance piece was a mask for his own suicide. Either way, Bas Jan Ader was never found again.

So what do you think happened to him? Accident or self inflicted harm. Just a guessing game from all I've been able to find.

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

Sunday And 'Toons...!

I know I missed posting yesterday. Sorry about that, really I am! Just had one of those days, ya know?

However, I'm back today with the Sunday cartoons. Hope they make up for my missing Saturday's post.







And one more...



There ya go. Guess now we are back on schedule, right?

Coffee outside this morning!

Flesh Capsules For Freaky Friday

Just when you think you have seen or heard it all, a story like this pops up.

Someone could make a horror movie out of this report and folks would probably not believe it. Only trouble is...this is real life! Here is the story from the folks at Listverse!

Fetus Flesh Capsules

In 2012, South Korean officials seized thousands of pills containing the powdered flesh of fetuses. The pills were labeled as stamina boosters but intended to satisfy a demand for cannibalism. They were manufactured in China, and their grisly nature has ignited international tensions. The Chinese blamed the South Koreans. The South Koreans blamed the Chinese.

Aborted and stillborn children were harvested for the process. They were refrigerated before microwave drying. The corpses were then pulverized, mixed with herbs, and put into capsules. China has a tradition of eating aborted fetuses and placentas, which are considered part of the mother.

This unorthodox medicine is believed to increase sperm supply and blood flow. In 2007, the Hong Kong publication Next Magazine reported that fetuses were a trending health supplement in China. They noted that demand had outgrown supply and that buyers were getting their fix directly from hospitals.

The whole thing is almost too ghastly to even think about. I had no idea this sort of thing actually took place.

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

Honesty...!

Here is a little something that Baby Sis sent to me. I thought you might enjoy it.

My Favorite Animal

Our teacher asked what my favorite animal was, and I said, "Fried chicken."
She said I wasn't funny; but she couldn't have been right, because everyone else laughed.

My parents told me to always tell the truth. I did. Fried chicken is my favorite animal.

I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA. He said they love animals very much. I do, too. Especially chicken, pork and beef.

Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal's office.
I told him what happened, and he laughed, too.. Then he told me not to do it again. 

The next day in class my teacher asked me what live animal was my favorite. I told her it was chicken. She asked me why; so I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.

 She sent me back to the principal's office. 

 He laughed and told me not to do it again.

 I don't understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn't like it when I am.

 Today, my teacher asked me to tell her what famous military person I admired most. I told her, "Colonel Sanders."

 Guess where I am now...

Seems to me the poor boy was having one of those days, ya know?

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

Teddy Becomes President...!

Despite some rough spots in his life, Teddy did more than just a little in the move to conserve the western wilderness.

1901

An adoptive westerner becomes president of the United States

On this day in 1901, the 42-year-old Theodore Roosevelt is suddenly elevated to the White House when President McKinley dies from an assassin’s bullet. But while McKinley’s untimely death brought Roosevelt the presidency, 17 years earlier two other deaths had sent the young Roosevelt fleeing to the far West where his political ambitions were almost forgotten.

In February 1884, Roosevelt’s young wife died after giving birth to their daughter; a mere 12 hours later his much-beloved mother also died. Devastated by this cruel double blow, Roosevelt sought solace in the wide open spaces of the West, establishing himself on two ranches in the Badlands of Dakota Territory and writing to friends that he had given up politics and planned to make ranching “my regular business.” Despite this, three years later he returned to New York City and resumed the political career that would eventually take him to the White House. Even after he had returned to the civilized East, Roosevelt always credited his western interlude with restoring his mental and physical vitality.

From an early age, Roosevelt had been convinced of the benefits of living the “strenuous life,” arguing that too many American males had succumbed to the ease and safety of modern industrialized society and become soft and effeminate. Roosevelt thought more men should follow his example and embrace the hard, virile, pioneer life of the West, a place where “the qualities of hardihood, self-reliance, and resolution” were essential for survival. Roosevelt’s own western experience was hardly as harsh and challenging as he liked to claim, yet the eastern tenderfoot did adapt quickly to the rougher ways of ranch life. He earned the respect of Dakotans by tracking down a gang of bandits who had stolen a riverboat and once knocked out a barroom bully who had taunted him. Though he spent the vast majority of his life in the East, Roosevelt thereafter always thought of himself as a westerner at heart, and he did more than any president before him to conserve the wild western lands he loved.

We owe a lot to the man that adopted the west as his heartfelt home and did a great deal towards making the West what it is today.

Coffee out on the patio this morning.

Scotty Was A War Hero...!

Sometimes we accidentally find out a little known secret about people we thought we knew.

For anyone that ever watched the old series "Star Trek", Scotty was one of the many colorful characters. Turns out that he was even more colorful in real life than in the television series.

Star Trek’s ‘Scotty’ Survived Being Shot Six Times

Photo credit: Creative Crosswalk

Before he was “Scotty,” James Doohan was a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Army. Trained as a pilot, Doohan had a reputation as the “craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Forces” because he did things like slam a plane between two telegraph poles just to prove it could be done.

When D-day came, he was put on the ground and joined the raid on Juno Beach. Doohan personally shot two enemy snipers and led his troops through a field of antitank mines—only to be taken out by his own army.

While Doohan was moving between two command posts, a nervous Canadian soldier opened fire on Doohan, shooting him six times. One of the bullets hit him in the chest. Luckily, Doohan’s life was saved by a cigarette case in his breast pocket.

Once again it seems as though the old adage that "truth is stranger than fiction" applies, wouldn't you agree?

Coffee out on the patio one more time.

Another Sea Tale For Monday Mystery...!.

The sea has given out more than a fair share of mysteries. Here is another one from Listverse.

The High Aim 6

The High Aim 6 was a Chinese ship that left the port of Taiwan back in October 2002. It was located in January 2003 near Australia, without any of its crew onboard. For a while, the mystery was why it was abandoned in the first place; it was stocked with food, was in good condition, and wasn’t smuggling immigrants.

The High Aim 6 made news again when a single remaining crew member was located. It was only then that it got some sort of story: The rest of the crew had murdered the ship’s captain and engineer then left to go back to their homeland. The reasons behind the murders or the locations of the criminals are both unknown.

Seems to be a lot of unanswered questions surrounding this ship. I'd kinda want to know what actually took place, ya know?

Coffee out on the patio again this morning!

Remembering...!

Even though it's Sunday, there won't be any cartoons. Instead, a small tribute to the memories from 9-11.



Coffee out on the patio on this unforgettable Sunday.

Sailing Yacht Mystery For Saturday...!

Nothing starts the weekend off like a good old fashioned mystery, right?

Sea bound mysteries are always a good place to look, as there are so many secrets associated with the sea. Here is just one of them from the folks over at Listverse.

Manfred Fritz Bajorat

A battered yacht found by local Filipino fisherman had nobody piloting it—but its single crew wasn’t missing. In fact, the body of the German sailor Manfred Fritz Bajorat was found within, slumped on his desk reaching for the radio, after a heart attack took his life. Even stranger, his entire body had appeared to be mummified.

He went missing from 2009 to 2016, so people believed he had been dead for several years, which would easily explain why he went missing. The actual mummification was predicted to be due to the dry salty air and would have taken a few weeks to start.

Then the autopsy came in with some shocking news: Manfred had died from his heart attack just a week previously. The reasons Manfred went dark for so long, and how his body mummified so quickly, is unknown.

Seems to me there are more mysteries here than just the one. Way too many strange questions seem to linger, ya know?

Coffee out on the patio this morning!

Boiling River For Freaky Friday...!

Here is another freaky place from Mother nature that seems to be a bit of a mystery.

Shanay-Timpishka

The Boiling River

Deep in the amazon lies a river four miles long and unlike any other on earth. The Shanay-Timpishka is so hot that any animal that steps into it gets boiled alive. When a hapless creature wanders in, the eyes cook first, melting in its skull. Soon the animal is in too much pain to keep swimming to safety. Water fills its mouth and lungs, and it is cooked from the inside out.

The river gets as hot as 91C (196F)—and scientists aren’t completely sure why. Normally, water that gets this hot is fed by a volcano, but this one is 700km removed from the nearest one.

There is a theory, though. Scientists believe that boiling hot water from under the earth cracks through fault lines and heats up the river, making the water a geothermal system unlike any other on the earth.

Mother Nature can come up with some beautiful wonders, can't She?

Coffee out on the patio today!

Quicklime As A Navel Weapon...!

Waging war against our enemies has been the cause of many new ideas in weaponry over the years.

Take, for instance, the use of quicklime as a navel weapon. Developed by a Captain who thought quicklime, in the right circumstance, could be successfully used in battle. Turns out his thoughts were correct.

Battle Of Sandwich

1217

Photo credit: James Grant

To repel an invading French fleet, the English navy under the command of Baron William D’Albiney used quicklime (calcium oxide), which he stocked aboard his vessels. He purposefully moved his ships upwind of the French and then let loose with the noxious compound into the wind so that the French were almost immediately blinded by the large cloud encompassing their ships.

Unable to defend themselves, they became an easy target for the English navy. The English sailors quickly stormed the French ships and slaughtered all but the knights due to the ransom they could receive. D’Albiney had long maintained a stock of calcium oxide on his vessels for just such an attack, but the Battle of Sandwich may have been the first time he was able to deploy it

I hate to say it, but the use of quicklime was a brilliant idea, and seemed to accomplish the wanted results. Man can be very creative in ways of war.

Coffee out on the patio this morning!

Ghost Dance On Western Wednesday...!

One of the ceremonial dances feared most by the white settlers was the ghost dance.

The dance was a little like a curse being acted out in the form of a dance, and was considered to be very spiritual to the Native Americans.

The Ghost Dance

Photo credit: Legends Of America

In 1870, the Ghost Dance, a Native American religious movement, was believed to restore tribal life. Supposedly, the buffalo would return to the Plains, the dead would rise, and all white men would vanish from the land. The movement was enthusiastically received by Native Americans, specifically the Lakota, and spread to California and Oregon over the years.

As word of the ritual reached neighboring white communities, officials felt threatened by the ceremonies, believing that the Lakota intended to start a war. The US government dispatched the army to stop the dancing and apprehend key leaders such as Sitting Bull and Big Foot.

Sitting Bull was killed as police attempted to arrest him. Two weeks later, members of the 7th Cavalry killed Big Foot and 145 of his followers in the Wounded Knee Massacre. The Ghost Dance died out among the Lakota, and historians believe that this atrocity signified the beginning of the end in the West’s Indian Wars.

The advance of white settlers into the lands of the West marked the ending of many Native American religious ceremonies, sad to say.

Coffee out on the patio this morning...

The Lethal Mooning...!

Just about as far back as we can go, men have found some rather nasty ways to insult one another.

The first recorded act of Mooning took place back in the Roman times and was the cause for some serious fighting and rioting.

First Mooning

Photo credit: William Whiston

Though mooning (the act of baring one’s buttocks) did not become common until the Middle Ages, the earliest recorded case dates from Roman times. According to the Roman historian Josephus, a Roman soldier mooned a passing group of Jews who were celebrating Passover. It was not so much the mooning itself but the act that accompanied it that caused offense. As Josephus delicately puts it: “One of the soldiers, lifting up the back of his garments . . . With his bottom to them crouched in a shameless way and released at them a foul-smelling sound.”

The result was a riot that caused the deaths of more than 30,000 people—so besides being the earliest, this was perhaps the most lethal mooning in history.

Guess they took the mooning as a serious insult back then. It was pretty rude!

Coffee out on the patio again!

Monday Mystery From Mother Nature...!

We all know that nature can be pretty impressive when it comes to showing off Her skills, but She can impress us with a good mystery from time to time as well!

The Double Tree of Casorzo

In the countryside of Piemonte, Italy, there is an unusual sight. There is a cherry tree there that looks, in most respects, just like any other healthy cherry tree—except that it happens to growing directly on top of a mulberry tree.

This isn’t completely unprecedented. Parasitic trees have grown out of others before, but normally they are small, stunted things that live short lives before falling off. The Double Tree of Casorzo, though, consists of two fully-formed, healthy trees, each spreading its branches five meters across.

Nobody quite knows how it happened. The locals believe that a bird may have dropped a cherry seed on top of the mulberry tree. The seed grew roots that pushed through the mulberry tree’s hollow trunk and reach all the way to the soil below—letting it survive and grow into a full, healthy tree.

Nature must really enjoy a good joke on all of us. Just when we think we have something figured out, She throws another monkey wrench into the mix. You go Ma Nature!

Coffee outside once again!

Straight to the 'toons for Sunday...







And one more...



Enough of this crazy stuff! Ley's go to the kitchen and get some coffee!

The First Soda Straw...!

So often we take thinks for granted just because we consider them to be so common.

Take the simple straw for instance. Been around a long time, right? Turns out that it's been around a lot longer than you might believe!

First Drinking Straw Was Made Of Gold

Photo credit: Sumerian Shakespeare

Drinking straws aren’t one of those things you imagine coming hand in hand with the dawn of civilization. But the cheap plastic bending tubes you use to keep your clumsy kid from spilling have been around since the world’s first empire—although back then, they were a lot fancier.

The oldest drinking straw was found in a 5,000-year-old tomb and was made out of gold encrusted with precious blue stones. The owner was so proud of his straw that he even put a seal in his tomb that showed him using it to drink out of a jar, lest anyone forget that he liked to sip drinks with his sippy straw.

There’s a reason. Sumerians used straws to drink beer, which was as thick as porridge in those days. That might sound disgusting, but Sumerians considered beer to be a gift from the gods. So using a gold straw was just giving beer the respect it deserved.
I told ya the straw had been around for a long time. Even I didn't know just how long it's been until I read this article from Listverse.

Coffee out on the patio today!

It's Better Late Than Never...!

Sometimes things just are really slow in making the twists and turns of the court system.

Often at some point during this perilous journey, the focus is lost and the original reason for the test in the courts is forgotten. However, this is one time that the courts came through with the only reasonable solution. Here, from the folks at Listverse, is that story!

A Canadian Town Lost A Hilarious Battle With Political Correctness

Photo via Canada Journal

Finally, a lighter story to end this mixed bag of a month. After a decades-long campaign, the Western Canadian town of Tisdale was forced to change its slogan. The politically incorrect slogan that got everybody’s knickers in a twist? “Tisdale. The Land of Rape and Honey.”

Tisdale is a major rapeseed producer. The “rape” in the slogan referred to this profitable local crop. Obviously, though, many visitors didn’t see it this way. Back in 2015, the town started a consultation to see if the name might be “insensitive.” By August 2016, they’d finally decided it wasn’t worth the hassle of keeping their non-PC slogan and updated it to “Opportunity Grows Here.”

This isn’t the only time that Canada has offended PC sensibilities. The village of Climax got in trouble for a sign at the town limits telling visitors to “Come Again!” Unlike Tisdale, though, Climax elected to keep its racy slogan.

I'm thinking that the folks that first put this slogan up were a bit short in the common sense department, ya know? Not much was used in the creation of this particular slogan, in my opinion!

Coffee out on the patio this morning!

One For The Policeman...!

Seems like everywhere you look today, cops are catching hell. However, not all of it is deserved.

Here is a case where the officer held his tongue and temper, and let nature take it's course in the courtroom.

A Policeman Wins One!

A motorcycle police officer stops a driver for shooting through a red light. The driver is a real jerk, steps out of his car and comes striding toward the officer, demanding to know why he is being harassed by the Gestapo !

So the officer calmly tells him of the red light violation. The motorist instantly goes on a tirade, questioning the officer's ancestry, sexual orientation, etc., in rather explicit offensive terms.

The tirade goes on and on without the officer saying anything.

When the officer finishes writing the ticket he puts an "AH" in the lower right corner of the narrative portion of the ticket. He then hands it to The 'violator' for his signature. The guy signs the ticket angrily, and when presented with his copy points to the "AH" and demands to know what it stands for.

The officer says, “That’s so when we go to court, I'll remember that you're an asshole !"

Two months later they're in court. The 'violator' has a bad driving record with a high number of points and is in danger of losing his license, so he hired a lawyer to represent him.

On the stand the officer testifies to seeing the man run through the red light.

Under cross examination the defense attorney asks;"Officer is this a reasonable facsimile of the ticket that you issued to my client ?"

Officer responds, “Yes, sir, that is the defendant's copy, his signature and mine, same number at the top."

Lawyer: "Officer, is there any particular marking or notation on this ticket you don't normally make ?"

"Yes, sir, in the lower right corner of the narrative there is an "AH," underlined."

"What does the "AH" stand for, officer ?"

"Aggressive and hostile, Sir."

"Aggressive and hostile ?"

"Yes, Sir.

"Officer, are you sure it doesn't stand for asshole ?"

"Well, sir, you know your client better than I do."

How often can one get an attorney to convict his own client ?

Thanks to Little Sis for sending this to me!

Coffee out on the patio this morning!