weirdest news stories of year 2007 - legend of chupacabra

CUERO, Texas, the United States of America, in July; Phylis Canion & some of her neighbors discovered the bodies of three strange animals outside her ranch 80 miles (128 kilometers) southeast of San Antonio. Canion believes they may have discovered the mythical, blood sucker chupacabra.

The animals weigh about 40-pound (18-kilogram) each, they are mammals having big ears, large fanged teeth and grayish-blue, mostly hairless skin. Canion suspects, as have many rural denizens over the years, that some of these "chupacabras" may have killed 26 of her chickens during the past couple of years.

Canion has been a hunter all her life, & lived four years in Africa, but she says these creatures are incomparable to anything she saw before: “I’ve seen a lot of nasty stuff. I’ve never seen anything like this;” although they look like ugly hairless coyotes, Canion believed they could be vampire like beasts as the chickens she lost weren't eaten or carried away but got all their blood drained from them. To clear this matter, the woman couldn't find better ways then to take some photos & put the head of one of the animals in her freezer for later dna tests.

what's initially a chupacabra?

the word chupacabra is composed of two spanish words, "chupar", meaning "to suck" & "cabra" which means "goat", the whole means "goat sucker" in English; it is supposed to be a creature leaving in some parts of the Americas. sightings of the creature are reported especially among Latin American communities, it's said that it attacks livestock, especially goats & drink their blood. Physical descriptions vary, it would be as big as a small bear & have a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of its tail. most experts agree that the creature is an urban legend, however it's not excluded it was originated from real events deformed later or wrongly interpreted.

so, what found canion?

DNA tests at the Texas State University-San Marcos were performed in November leaded to the result that the saved head had merely a coyote as owner.

similarly, in 2004, DNA tests on what was given the name the "Elmendorf Beast", determined it was also a coyote, the animal was a hairless dog-like creature killed by a rancher near San Antonio, USA, after attacking his livestock. Biologits said it was suffering from very severe cases of mange so were two other animals found dead few months later.

Sources: MSNBC, Wikipedia.

weirdest news stories of year 2007 - a tree & 17 kids

started with the duct tape bandit & the lawn chair pilot, let's continue with the 11 weirdest stories from 2007 & see numbers 3 & 4

the tree robber!

James Coldwell, 49, used duct tape (yes again duct tape if you read the first part!) to attach tree branches onto his clothing and head as a form of camouflage. He then walked into the Citizens Bank at 1550 Elm Street in Manchester, New Hampshire, usa, decided to rob it. The "tree robber" was able to realize his plan and to escape with an undisclosed amount of cash.

the robbery happened on Saturday, july 8th in the morning. No one was hurt in the robbery and no weapons were used, according to police. The bank was closed and police cruisers blocked off the entrances to the bank as officials investigated the incident.

later at night Police nabbed Coldwell after surveillance video that played on TV news led to several anonymous tips of his identity. This is according to the police captain Dick Tracy. From the New Hampshire Union Leader:

"Coldwell was charged with one count of robbery after answering questions at the police station, Capt." Dick Tracy said... "I think he was hoping the disguise would camouflage him enough that no one would recognize who he was."

Aside from sporting tree branches, the suspect was also wearing a bluish-colored T-shirt, blue jeans and had thick glasses.

prefer news on TV? below is a short tv report from the WMUR New Hampshire's Channel 9

one more "j"! now they are seventeen ...

thursday, august 4th in the morning was born jennifer to the duggers family of Tontitown, Arkansas, usa. she's jim bob & michelle duggar's 7th daughter & 17th child.

jennifer joins her other siblings: Joshua, 19; the twins John David & Janna, 17; Jill, 16; Jessa, 14; Jinger, 13; Joseph, 12; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 9; twins Jedidiah & Jeremiah, 8; Jason, 7; James, 6; Justin, 4; Jackson, 3 and Johannah, 2.

Michelle, the mother (41 years old) has been pregnant for ten and half years of her life now, and she says she still wants more kids, "J" named of course! below is a graph made end of 2005, representing & simplifying the duggars births:

the Duggars, from an article that appeared Monday, December 19 2005 on the dallas morning news

As a couple, the Duggars' approach to family planning is simple: They are born-again Christians who view the Bible as their life's manual – and the Bible describes children as a blessing from God. They will cheerfully accept as many blessings as God ordains.

in their big house built about two years ago, The girls in the duggars family do most of the cooking, though they've been taught to change a tire and check the oil. The boys are trained to fix the cars and make home repairs, though they cook occasionally – mostly on the grill.

having so many children is totally in the opposite of the trend in America, The U.S. Census Bureau's figures, for 2002, reveal that 0.3 percent of women ages 15 to 44 have given birth to seven or more children. Moreover, the number of U.S. women birthing seven or more children has declined steadily since the government began tracking the demographic in 1976.

finally, if you want a closer look to the happy family, nothing better than to visit their official site duggarfamily.com.

end of the second part.

the mystery of greenberry hill & sir edmond berry's murder

sir edmond berry godfrey was an english magistrate in the 17th century; In 1678 he became involved in a clash between catholics and anglicans caused by the claims of two corrupt english clergymen named titus oates and israel tonge.

the pair announced that they had uncovered a "popish plot" to murder king charles II of england and replace him with james, his roman catholic brother. in fact the "plot" was a part of a conspiracy to discredit catholics in england.

oates and tonge appeared before godfrey and asked him to take their oath that the papers they presented as evidence were based on truth. godfrey demanded first to know the contents of the papers and then took their depositions on september 28th after receiving a copy. he probably warned one of his catholic acquaintances, edward coleman, of the content of the accusations.

oates's accusations became shortly known and the public concerned. godfrey has been supposed that he might be one of the victims of the scare. he disappeared on october the 12th 1678 and then was found dead on 17 october in a ditch on primrose hill, he was lying face down impaled with his own sword.

investigations didn't arrive to satisfying conclusions, statements about godfrey's whereabouts before the murder where contradictory; there was no evidence of struggle and godfrey still had his money and rings. the body was covered with bruises and a circular mark around godfrey's neck revealed that he had been strangled; and since the sword wound had not bled, it had been concluded that godfrey was already dead when he was impaled, probably for four or five days.

later captain william bedloe (a "reformed" catholic plotter as he named himself), related a few contradictory stories, in some of them he claimed that he had been taken on the night of 14 october to a house in which he saw the body of godfrey & that he saw two men, including samuel atkins who managed to prove that he had been on a yacht at greenwich at that time. bedloe claimed that catholic plotters had killed godfrey in order to steal his papers about the depositions (what would be pointless since the witnesses whose words had been recorded were still alive).

the second man bedloe claimed he had recognized was miles prance, catholic servant-in-ordinary, on 21 december, this last was arrested and imprisoned. his lodger (who was in debt to him), john wren, testified that he had been away for the four nights before godfrey's body was discovered.

prance announced that he had had a part in the murder but that the main instigators were some catholic priests. three of them would have witnessed the murder in the courtyard of the house where godfrey had been lured. godfrey would have been strangled and body taken to hampstead. prance named: robert green, henry berry and lawrence hill. coincidentally, the place in which godfrey was murdered was known at the time as "greenberry hill"!

prance later recanted his confession but as he was thrown back to prison he recanted his recantation causing the death of the three men who were hanged (ironic again) at greenberry hill.

it became manifest later that green, berry & hill were executed on false evidence and prance pleaded guilty to perjury & the case remains officially unsolved. there have been many theories: godfrey might either have been murdered by catholics, afraid that he knew some of their real secrets; by the anti-catholics because of his contacts to catholics and / or because he knew oates was lying and / or because his death could easily and usefully be blamed on the catholics; some even claimed suicide either because godfrey was in a quandary between catholics and anglicans or just because of his melancholy nature; l'estrange (1687) claimed that his brothers would have concealed the evidence of his suicide lest his estate had been forfeit.

modern analysts john dickson carr (1936) and hugh ross williamson (1955) analyzed the mentioned theories and their weak points and deduced that godfrey was murdered by philip herbert, 7th earl of pembroke who took his revenge for having been prosecuted for murder some time earlier by godfrey. the earl had been found guilty but a pardon from the house of lords prevented him from an execution.

electromagnetic wormholes could allow invisibility

I always thought the things and creatures made invisible in the fictions on tv & cinema, weren't ready to be invisible in real, because invisibility involves three dimensions, a viewer can be anywhere around the object that should be hidden, & instead of this object, he should view the scenery behind it, this part of the scenery, when the object is visible, is hidden by it, & should be emulated by the layer that covers the object in order to hide it; as the scenery behind the object is different according to where the viewer is, the image reflected by that layer should be unique for each viewer & credible of course.

that's what in my eyes makes invisibility - artificial invisibility - too complicated.

never mind if you didn't get some of or all what I was trying to explain .. to enter the topic, it seems that a group of mathematicians, of the university of rochester, recently thought up a way to build a device called "electromagnetic wormhole" that could make objects traveling through it invisible.

according to the same scientists, the electromagnetic wormhole is not what's commonly known as a "wormhole" - a feature of spacetime that is essentially a 'shortcut' through space and time that could serve for traveling over vast distances - instead, the theorized wormtunel is supposed to make an object inside it electromagnetically invisible to outside observation.

one of the scientists allan greenleaf says:

It would create a complete a disconnection between the outside world and stuff inside the cloaking region, it's good for hiding things.

the stealthiness of the electromagnetic wormhole is originated from a coating of "metamaterials", artificial substances distinguished from other composite materials for having unusual properties such as the ability to bend light in novel ways ... if for instance light is bend from some surface, this one will become invisible.

previously, in october 2006, researchers from duke university led by david r. smith, had demonstrated that a shield of metamaterials about 5 inches (13 centimeters) wide could become invisible (more about that here), however, it was not a true invisibility cloak since it only worked in two dimensions and only at microwave frequencies while humans and other animals see light at much higher frequencies.

you can read more on national geographic site from which I got the information.

the aye-aye - devilish looking animal

the aye-aye (daubentonia madagascariensis) is a lemur native to madagascar, it's the world's largest nocturnal primate, and mainly lives in forest canopies. it weighs about 2.5 kilograms. the adult aye-aye has black or dark brown fur covered by white guard hairs at the neck. the tail is bushy and shaped like that of a squirrel.

the animal has rodent-like teeth & long, thin middle fingers to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker. it's got a unique method of finding food: it taps on trees to find grubs, chew a hole into wood and get grubs out of that hole with its elongated and bony middle fingers.

the aye-aye's face is also rodent-like, the shape of a raccoon's, and houses bright, beady, luminous eyes. its incisors are very large, and grow continuously throughout its lifespan. these features contrast its monkey-like body, and are the likely cause of why scientists originally deemed it to be a rodent.

the aye-aye's hands are arguably its most unique feature. much like other primates, it possesses opposable thumbs, but like fingers they are long and thin, and appear to be in a curved position somewhat similar to that of a fairy-tale witch when the muscles are relaxed. the middle finger can be up to three times longer than the others.

daubentonia (the aye-aye) belongs to the the daubentoniidae family and chiromyiformes infra-order is the only genus under them; a second species: daubentonia robusta in the genus was exterminated over the last few centuries & the remaining aye-aye is unfortunately, currently an endangered species as well.

kintana, a four days old aye-aye, revealed by bristol zoo gardens in the uk after becoming only the second to be born and reared in captivity. from the bbc's day in pictures.

the original meaning of the name aye-aye has been lost, as the originating language is extinct. the word "aye aye" might simply signify a cry of alarm to alert others to the presence of this animal, which many malagasy consider an ill omen. in fact if the aye-aye is an endangered species, it's not only because its habitat being destroyed, but also due to native superstition.

besides being a general nuisance in villages, ancient malagasy legend said that the aye-aye was a symbol of death. in a few areas only, it is viewed as a good omen.

researchers in madagascar report remarkable fearlessness in the aye-aye; some individuals have been reported strolling nonchalantly in village streets or even walking right up to naturalists in the rain-forest and sniffing their shoes. therefore, it is no wonder that displaced animals often raid coconut plantations or steal food in villages. it is not unlike the american raccoon in this regard.

an adult aye-aye in captivity (click to enlarge)

however, beyond this, the aye-aye is often viewed as a harbinger of evil and killed on sight. others believe that should one point its long middle finger at you, you were condemned to death. some say the appearance of an aye-aye in a village predicts the death of a villager, and the only way to prevent this is to kill the animal. the sakalava people go so far as to claim aye-ayes sneak into houses through the thatched roofs and murder the sleeping occupants by using their middle finger to puncture the victim's aorta!

aye-aye killings increase every year as its forest habitats are destroyed and it is forced to raid plantations and villages. because of the superstition surrounding it, this often ends in death. even if the same superstition can prevent people from hunting the aye-aye for food.

below is a video of little kitana shortly after its birth, looks cute I have to admit in spite of its strangeness.

you're american if look at a world map and see this:

I posted previously the world map as it's supposed to be seen by americans, you could see in it how south america is defined as coffee land, north africa as ... "sand" & india as curry land!

I recently found out two other maps representing how americans look at the world, I wonder if they're actually made by some americans, maybe some kids, who knows? or some republican texans? anything can happen, I guess I humbly proved that from the few contributions I made on this blog.

well, enough boring words, place to the two pictures, in fact they are not as detailed & funny as the first one (in my opinion at least), but there are some new good points in each of them, enjoy!

click on images to enlarge

the first map can be seen here: the world map according to america

now lightning knocking down trees?

a second great article from the genius little kid jeremy lavine, he's still talking about dangerous natural phenomenons, after el niño, this time he analyzes lightning!

if you read his essay on el niño, you certainly remember how much he cares about dying people & burnt trees, almost the same with this second article, except trees are not "burnt down" but "knocked down" ...

below are the textual then graphic versions of the hilarious article, I didn't highlighted trees passages this time, but others I found interesting, have a good laugh!

Lightning!!!

What is lightning? Where does it come from? What does it mean? Does it have a meaning? Where does it come from? What is it made of? Is it made of light? Some might say it was made of light.Others contend that lightning is made of fire. that killed people and knocked down trees. Before Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Frankling was a founding father. He fatherly founded that lightning is made of electricity. Electricity in the sky.

But what of the Greek myths, of the Greek god Zeus and of the popular image of Zeus - a Greek God - throwing down lightning bolts to kill people and knock down trees. Where did he find the time?

And what of lightning being made of fire? In this workaday world in the era of founding father Benjamin Franklin we have nor patience for such concerns. These are for the third world and schizophrenics.

Some people do not understand that lightning is destructive. They ignore the wisdom of their elders and of the founding father Benjamin Franklin. They think lightning is a lie perpetrated by people with a vested interest. At their own peril!!! Lightning kills people and knocks down trees!!! It a power of destruction exercised by the Greek god Zeus, the mightiest of Greek gods!! But they do it: they ignore such wisdom and taunt the powerful exercise of destruction and they worship their idle gods and stand near trees. At their own peril!! Lightning has the killing power to kill people and the destructive power to knock down trees! When you stand near trees, they will be knocked down by lightning and you will be killed by lightning! There is no escape. Lightning will knock down the tree and knock down your soul. Trees are tall.

Many things are tall. Many things attract lightning. But do the two correlate? A recent study says yes. It says that being tall and attracting lighting do correlate. That means that being tall corellates with being struck by lightning. You die when you are stuck by lightning, and your tree is knocked down.

Some people try to measure lightning, they take measurements of it. They use balloons and rockets and their imagination and determination and research money and they put it all in the mixing bowl and they mix storms - storms with lightning - and so they mix in the lightning and then they get the product if they're lucky of measurements about lightning from the storm? What kind of measurements? We may never know ...

as for el niño paper, jeremy got another unfair 10 out of 100 from his teacher, & a good remark on his "rambling" & "babbling", check it out in the graphic version below (click to enlarge).

jeremy lavine: genius essay on el niño

this is another manifestation of children genius, it's an assay written for school by a kid named jeremy lavine, other than his name and the masterpieces he made, nothing is known about this child, below are text & graphic versions of his paper on phenomenon el niño.

the passages I highlited are amusing, because the ideas in them are repeated several times, seems, for jeremy, they hold the most important messages of his article.

Coming in like El Niño

El Niño is spanish. It is the spanish word for child. Like all things spanish, it is dangerous. It kills people and burns down trees. This child is more than a child. It really isn't a child at all. It is a storm. A deadly storm that kills people and burns down trees.

Warm water usually builds up around australia to somewhre else, namely to other places. Where are these places? These are places that also have water, but water that is usually not as warm water El Niño moves to these said other places. These other places are to the east. Of the water.

In Peru, they have many names for many things. One of the things they have names for is for people who go fishing, go fishing to make a living. If we had a word for this kind of people that word would be "fisherman". But we don't. In Peru, they have different names for things than we do in America. They call that kind of people "pescadores". That's Spanish. That's what they speak in Peru. When El Niño comes, these "pescadores" can't catch any fish. El Niño is caused when the Peruvian gods get angry. They have been angry for millions of years and have made El Niño for millions of years. Many many moons ago, the Peruvians committed human sacrifice to satiate their gods and end the flood that was caused by El Niño. In today's modern dog-eat-dog work-a-day world of scientists, diplomats, McSalad Shakers, and George Bush Jr., we no longer have access to such solutions. We are too proud. We will not commit human sacrifices. We refuse to satiate the Peruvian gods. Thus, they remain angry and keep killing us and burning down our trees with El Niño.

Instead of satiating the gods, many of these "scientists" have tried to control El Niño with "science". They put up expensive fish-attracting-bueys that run on flashlight batteries. Imagine, fighting the power of the gods with flashlight batteries! Needless to say, this didn't work and everyone died.

the graphic version below contains the teacher's view, she (I don't know why I'm sure she's a woman) particularly liked the passage about "dangerous spanish things", the mark she gave jeremy was 10 out of 100, personally I don't agree with that, but geniuses are often misunderstood, you know ...

click to enlarge

talking about the genius of kids, here's another proof of it: give half a proverb to a child, watch the result ....

extremely strange animal: camel spider

incredible facts about a very weird animal that lives in the sahara, the camel spider, in fact it's not a real spider according to wikipedia, it belongs to the solifugae order while spiders belong to the order araneae.

well, before relating the unbelievable & extremely strange facts on camel spiders, and to have a more clear view on them, it's a good idea to watch this short video:

now the facts!

the term solifugae is derived from latin, and means "those that flee from the sun". in the day time camel spiders always try to hide from the sun, that's why they could run after your shadow; one of the first things people say is "they chase you OMG!". if you hear someone saying that just say: "yeah, it's because they're after a shady spot and your big dumb body probably produces a lot of shade.".

more weird and even more scary, camel spiders can grow over two feet in length. they have a potent venom that numbs your flesh and dissolves it.

they can also lay eggs under your skin which have a gestation period of three months before they burst and dig their way out.

after their pupal stage, they grow wings for a short period and fly around, looking for preys so they can grow bigger. adults can get up to three feet in length, and eat small domestic animals.

they often burrow under the sand in large groups, waiting in ambush, to attack animals as large as cows and horses (and camels) as a pack.

camel spiders, can climb walls and hang from ceilings, to drop on unsuspecting people (or animals).

they are highly intelligent and live in gregarious burrow societies. They can scream and have a highly developed language!

archeologists and biologists discovered odd geometric shapes in the desert, camel spiders build small structures out of sticks and sand!

more scary and worrisome, if you're not careful, they will steal your car, and take your kids and raise them in the wild and teach them to bite tourists!

camel spiders beg for coins on street corners; they can play the violin and they write calligraphies with weed stalks and compose classical music when they aren't busy devouring things.

based on true comments from a youtuber

attention dogs guardians, attention dogs!

no really! why should signs address only to humans?! why not to animals too?! signs makers just need to use the right language understood by cats, dogs or whatever, et voilà!

click to enlarge

of course only animals that can read can follow instructions, but it's the same for humans so ...

monology: studying human stupidity

all started with something I read claiming the study of stupidity was named "monology", so I started looking for any information on the word "monology". I have to admit I didn't find a lot, & I realized that monology is not the study of stupidity, its meaning according to thefreedictionary.com is

n.1. The habit of soliloquizing, or of monopolizing conversation.
It was not by an insolent usurpation that Coleridge persisted in monology through his whole life.
- De Quincey.

nothing to do with studies or stupidity; some also call the study of stupidity "stupidology", this word is even harder to find in any dictionary than the word "monology". in fact there's no official term for "the study of stupidity", it's simply called ... "the study of stupidity".

giancarlo livraghi, fascinated with stupidity (his own then humans') made a lot of research in the domain of stupidity, & in his article the power of stupidity, says he was surprised by the little amount of study dedicated to the topic:

There are University departments for the mathematical complexities in the movements of Amazonian ants, or the medieval history of Perim island; but I have never heard of any Foundation or Board of Trustees supporting any studies of Stupidology.

there are few works though covering the subject decently ...

one of the oldest was from walter b. pitkin (1878 - 1953), a book published in 1934, called "a short introduction to the history of human stupidity" (*); "short introduction", because pitkin knew there was a lot to do to cover human stupidity, & that he wasn't able to accomplish that task in the 300 pages of the book, so in the end of the book he added:

Epilogue: now we are ready to start studying the History of Stupidity.

pitkin claims 4/5 people are stupid. (quite stupid allegation in livraghi's opinion) he observes that in spite of the difficulty to give a definition to stupidity (for instance, geniuses are often considered stupid by a stupid majority), stupidity definitely runs the world (which is proven by the way the world is run) :

Stupidity can easily be proved the supreme Social Evil. Three factors combine to establish it as such. First and foremost, the number of stupid people is legion. Secondly, most of the power in business, finance, diplomacy and politics is in the hands of more or less stupid individuals. Finally, high abilities are often linked with serious stupidity, and in such a manner that the abilities shine before all the world while the stupid trait lurks in deep shadow and is discerned only by intimates or by prying newspaper reporters.

later on, from 1988, carlo maria cipolla (1922-2000) decided to explore the subject & elaborated his "stupidity theory". in his italian written book "allegro ma non troppo" ("happy but not by too much"), he describes stupid people as a group, more powerful by far than major organizations such as the mafia, which without regulations, leaders or manifesto nonetheless manages to operate to great effect and with incredible coordination.

he observes that the number of stupid people is broadly underestimated. that is something we notice every day. aware as we may be of the power of stupidity, we are often surprised by it where we least expect it. we often underestimate the awful effects of stupidity and, because it is so unpredictable, stupid behavior is more dangerous than intentional mischief; this could be summarized using "hanlon’s razor": «never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.» or simpler by robert heinlein's statement: «never underestimate the power of human stupidity.» (see children version of this last one in: give half a proverb to a child, watch the result ...).

concretely, cipolla's theory of stupidity is composed of five fundamental laws:

1. always and inevitably each of us underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
2. the probability that a given person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic possessed by that person.
3. a person is stupid if they cause damage to another person or group of people without experiencing personal gain, or even worse causing damage to themselves in the process.
4. non-stupid people always underestimate the harmful potential of stupid people; they constantly forget that at any time anywhere, and in any circumstance, dealing with or associating themselves with stupid individuals invariably constitutes a costly error.
5. a stupid person is the most dangerous type of person there is.

here are some quotes of other works & thoughts on the topic:

". . . on any matter not self-evident there are ninety-nine persons totally incapable of judging of it for one who is capable; and the capacity of the hundredth person is only comparative . . ." John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859; rpt. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974), p. 79.

". . . independent thought, to a good many men, is quite impossible, and to the overwhelming majority of men, extremely painful." H. L. Mencken, "The Genealogy of Etiquette," Smart Set 47, No. 1 (September 1915): 309.

". . . nine-tenths of the beliefs of nine-tenths of mankind are totally irrational." Bertrand Russell, "Is There a God?" (1952), in The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, ed. John G. Slater and Peter Köllner (London: Routledge, 1997), Vol. 11, p. 548.

"People are not intelligent. It is very unreasonable to expect them to be so, and that is a fate my philosophy reconciled me to long ago. How else could I have lived for forty years in America?" George Santayana, letter to Bertrand Russell (c. December 1917), The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell (Boston: Little, Brown, 1968), Vol. 1, p. 57.

you may also want to take a look at james welles's "understanding stupidity".


* more extracts from the book on deuceofclubs.com

the prophecy of the titanic sinking

the titanic sinking, is probably the most famous in history, that happened during her maiden voyage exactly the night of 14 to 15 april 1912 after a collision with an iceberg, around 1500 people perished. the mean reasons of the legend made around the tragic end of the titanic are that she was was the largest passenger steamship & the most luxurious in the world at that time, it was also considered a pinnacle of technological achievement & above all to be practically unsinkable thanks to her double-bottom hull & 16 watertight compartments.

the novel that predicted the incident!

in 1898 (14 years before the titanic sunk), american author morgan robertson published a short fictional novel named "futility", the novel featured a british ship named "titan" (the novel is also known as "the wreck of the titan").

the ship was the biggest ever made by men, unequaled regarding her luxury & technology, her nineteen water-tight compartments (16 in the titanic) allow her to keep floating even if nine of them were flooded, making her "practically unsinkable" & that's why she carried only 24 lifeboats able to carry 500 people (the titanic: 20 able to carry 1266) from the 2000 passengers on board (the titanic: 2435). the total passenger capacity of the titan was 3000 (3745 on the titanic).

the titan as the titanic sank in april after being pierced by an iceberg on her starboard side, as the titanic too, the disaster took place in the north atlantic ocean, a few hundreds miles off u.s. coast, the collision happened near midnight for the titan & exactly 11.40pm for the titanic!

those are the most striking similarities, talking about differences, there were some of course, the titan for example was on her third return trip from new york, while it was the maiden voyage to new york for the titanic. these differences though, are nothings if compared to the numerous incredibly uncanny & bizarre similitude between the fictitious & real incident.

read the novel futility on titanic-titanic.com

some other droll facts on the titanic

as a bonus, here are some interesting facts from miamisci.org

• A first-class ticket for a parlor suite on Titanic cost $4,350, which would be approximately $50,000 today.
• First-class passengers had the luxury of paying for their leisure while on board: a ticket to the swimming pool cost 25¢, while a ticket for the squash court (as well as
• the services of a professional player) cost 50¢.
• The forward part of the boat deck was promenade space for first-class passengers and the rear part for second-class passengers. People from these classes thus had the best chance of getting into a lifeboat simply because they could get to them quickly and easily.
• The Titanic had its own newspaper, the Atlantic Daily Bulletin, prepared aboard the ship. In addition to news articles and advertisements, it contained a daily menu, the latest stock prices, horse-racing results, and society gossip.
• A medical officer greeted the third-class passengers. He wanted to be sure that none of the immigrants had any health problems that would prevent them from entering the United States.
• There were only two bathtubs for the more than 700 third-class passengers aboard the ship.
• Sixty chefs and chefs’ assistants worked in the Titanic’s five kitchens. They ranged from soup cooks and roast cooks to pastry cooks and vegetable cooks. There was a kosher cook, too, to prepare the meals for the Jewish passengers.
• Dorothy Gibson, a 28-year-old silent screen actress, was the resident movie star for the Titanic. She would later star in Saved from the Titanic, a movie made one month after the disaster. Her costume was the dress she wore on the night of the sinking.
• Tennis player R. Norris Williams and his father, Charles D., felt it was too cold to remain out on deck as the ship went down, so they went into the gym to ride the exercise bikes.

raising vibes game: thinking positive

this is a game from optimistlab that consists of sharing 5 tips to "raise vibes" then to tag 5 bloggers & let them do the same, full rules here.

to be able to participate I needed someone to tag me, I asked misssy m from the misssy m misssives & she kindly accepted, in fact I heard of this game from a post of hers.

well, I really think I'm not the best placed guy to teach people how to be positive, because I my self I'm negative in my thinking; trying to improve though & maybe this post would first help me to think more positively, to change the world, one needs to start with one's self no? then if the five tips I hardly collected can help even a single person, that really would be the top!

ok, let's start, my 5 tips to fight negative thoughts, or let's say to fight bad moods, but you're warned! I'm pretty sure this is not what you're expecting!

1. take a shower! at once you'll feel better. as many things, taking a shower is a boring task to me, but once taken, I always feel fresh in my body but especially in my mind.

2. never say: "if X was done differently, Y would have been better", if it's to learn from your mistakes why not? but if it's just to blame your self or others, better to leave it; 1st no one knows what would have happened, & second no one could turn back to the past to change things, maybe the things that you think bad have saved you from worse life eventualities?

3. this one is a bit serious: if sometimes you look at people in better situations than you & feel underprivileged, try to look at people in worse situations too, there's a saying I know, it's something like: "seeing others worries, makes you forget yours", when I remember children in some parts of the world are dying for stupid reasons such as the lack of water, food or medicines or in wars, I feel idiot being depressed because of internet connection broken ...

4. think of this: we are all winners coz we won the first contest we entered ever & the most important ever, the contest of getting to life! how many spermatozoons were competing & ours got to the highly desired ovum? millions!! damn we're lucky!! (though, for those who are so depressed that they'd preferred they would never existed, this fact would mean the contrary ...).

5. listen to the song "don't worry, be happy" by bobby mcferrin, it's not my favorite & honestly rarely play it, but I seriously think it has something magic, let's finish with its lyrics:

Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy.
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy.
Don't worry, be happy now.

(Chorus)
Don't worry, be happy. Don't worry, be happy.
Don't worry, be happy. Don't worry, be happy.

Ain't got no place to lay your head
Somebody came and took your bed
Don't worry, be happy.
The landlord say your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy.

(Chorus)
(Look at me -- I'm happy. Don't worry, be happy.
Here I give you my phone number. When you worry, call me,
I make you happy. Don't worry, be happy.)

Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style
Ain't got no gal to make you smile
Don't worry, be happy.
'Cause when you worry your face will frown
And that will bring everybody down
Don't worry, be happy.

(Chorus)
(Don't worry, don't worry, don't do it.
Be happy. Put a smile on your face.
Don't bring everybody down.
Don't worry. It will soon pass, whatever it is.
Don't worry, be happy.
I'm not worried, I'm happy...)

digitaldreamdoor

now I need to tag 5 bloggers ... will start doing that within few hours ...

carrots & a missing ear, any common points?

this is a real story a friend of mine told me ... well he said it was real ...

it's a guy who wanted to get married, then he had to go to his future wife's father & ask officially for his agreement to the marriage, he chose his best friends to go with him, but one of them was a crazy man who never missed an occasion to make remarks & tease people, knowing this naughty habit in him, the fiance & his other friends make him promise never to open his mouth while they are visiting the girl's daddy.

that done, they finally went all 4 or 5, the daddy received them, installed them in a comfortable place, they had some coffee & started discussing various topics.

but, there was a problem with our crazy friend, although he was keeping silent as he promised, he couldn't concentrate on anything else but a detail concerning their host: the old man had an ear missing, he had only the hole from which he can hear, but no external ear, & our friend was looking at it attentively ... all time ...

all was going probably to end without any incident, if the host, seeing our friend silent while all others were having an exciting conversation, didn't start trying to make him participate, he started inquiring him about himself & what he was doing in life ...

our friend was silent for a reason, but his eagerness to speak was huuuuuge, & since he was chased to talk, he wasn't going to pronounce words to answer stupid questions, but to express what was going to cause him a heart attack, he said:

• sir, do you know carrots are good for sight?
• yes?
• then eat carrots, a lot of carrots, raw, cooked, boiled, fried ... just eat carrots & say "I didn't eat enough" ...
• yes, but why you're telling me this?!
• because you know, if you loose your sight, you won't be able to wear glasses!!

why you shouldn't reveal your secrets even to your great friend?

you may find safe revealing your secrets to your best friends, of course, you know them almost as you know yourself & are sure they'll never betray you, there are good chances they are as loyal as you think, but still it's a bad idea to reveal your secrets to them, guess why?

because your great friend has other great friends but you, & those have others, each of them rely blindly on their close friends ...

in the end your secret will be known only from great friends, hundreds of them, & that's before it looses the "secret status", at that point, it doesn't matter a person is a best friend or a worst enemy, he or she will know it anyways ...

give half a proverb to a child, watch the result ...

humanity made decades to come up with some wise sayings to be used as guides in the art of living, but sometimes, some little beings, with very limited knowledge & innocent look to the world, may disclose a version of reality that could surprise the most experienced of us, thanks to its simplicity & accuracy.

what did a first grade school teacher in virginia, was presenting each of the 6 years old children in her classroom the first half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. here are their answers:

1. as you shall make your bed so shall you ... mess it up.
2. better to be safe than ... punch a 5th grader.
   
3. don't change horses ... until they stop running.
   
4. strike while the ... bug is close.
5. it's always darkest before ... daylight saving time.
   it is always darkest before ... I open my eyes.
   
6. never underestimate the power of ... termites.
7. a rolling stone ... plays the guitar.
   
8. a bird in the hand is ... a real mess.
9. it is better to light one candle than to ... waste electricity.
   it is better to light one candle than to ... light an explosive.
10. you have nothing to fear but ... your principal.
    you have nothing to fear but ... homework.
11. if you can't stand the heat ... don't start the fireplace.
    if you can't stand the heat ... go swimming.
12. the squeaking wheel gets ... annoying.
13. to err is human ... to eat a muskrat is not.
14. I think, therefore I ... get a headache.
15. early to bed and early to rise ... is first in the bathroom.
16. a journey of a thousand miles begins with a ... blister.
17. there is nothing new under the ... bed.
18. the grass is always greener ... when you leave the sprinkler on.
    the grass is always greener ... when you put manure on it.
19. don't count your chickens ... it takes too long.
20. you can lead a horse to water but ... how?
21. don't bite the hand that ... looks dirty.
22. no news is ... impossible.
23. a miss is as good as a ... mr.
24. you can't teach an old dog new ... math.
25. if you lie down with dogs, you'll ... stink in the morning.
26. love all, trust ... me.
27. the pen is mightier than the ... pigs.
28. an idle mind is ... the best way to relax.
29. where there's smoke there's ... pollution.
30. happy is the bride who ... gets all the presents.
31. a penny saved is ... not much.
32. two's company, three's ... the musketeers.
33. don't put off till tomorrow what ... you put on to go to bed.
    never put off 'til tomorrow what you ... should have done yesterday.
    
34. laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and ... you have to blow your nose.
    laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and ... someone yells, "shut up!"
    
35. there are none so blind as ... stevie wonder.
36. children should be seen and not ... spanked or grounded.
37. if at first you don't succeed ... get new batteries.
38. you get out of something only what you ... see in the picture on the box.
39. when the blind lead the blind ... get out of the way.
40. better late than ... pregnant.
    

for those who don't know some of the proverbs, I mean the real 1st & 2nd parts of them, & are curious about them, here they are:

1. as you shall make your bed so shall you lie there.
   
2. better to be safe than sorry!
3. don't change horses in the middle of the stream.
4. strike while the irony is hot.
5. it's always darkest before the dawn.
6. never underestimate the power of a kind word or deed.
   never underestimate the power of a woman.
7. a rolling stone gathers no moss.
   
8. a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
   
9. it is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
   
10. you have nothing to fear but fear itself.
    
11. if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
    
12. the squeaking wheel gets the grease.
    
13. to err is human, to forgive, divine.
    
14. I think, therefore I am.
    
15. early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
    
16. a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
    
17. there is nothing new under the sun.
    
18. the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
    
19. don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
    
20. you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
21. don't bite the hand that feeds you.
22. no news is good news.
23. a miss is as good as a mile.
24. you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
25. if you lie down with dogs, you'll rise with fleas.
26. love all, trust few, do wrong to none. (shakespeare)
27. the pen is mightier than the sword.
28. an idle mind is the devil's workshop.
29. where there's smoke there's fire.
30. happy is the bride who the sun shines on.
31. a penny saved is a penny earned.
32. two's company, three's a crowd.
33. don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
34. laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.
35. there are none so blind as those who won't see.
36. children should be seen and not heard.
37. if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
38. you get out of something only what you put into it.
39. when the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch.
40. better late than never.

ps: unlike with the one-second taser burst story, this time I don't care if this story is real or just another urban legend, the most important is to have fun ;)

murphy's law applications on airports & planes

if you're wondering what's murphy's law and/or want to see some of its strange & funny designations, checkout this: some of murphy's law strange designations

today I'm going to list some of murphy's law effects when applied on planes & airports:

1. no flight goes in time, except flights for which you come late to the airport.
2. if you are late for a flight, the departure will certainly occur from the furthest gate from the registration.
3. if you are in advance for a flight, it will be delayed.
4. no flight takes off from gate number 1 in any airport of the world.
5. if you decided to work a bit during a flight, you will have to undergo turbulences as soon as your pencil touches your sheet of paper.
6. if your seat is in the middle row, it's easy to know who will be your neighbors: look over there, the two fattest persons seeking their places …
7. only the people having a place close to portholes have to rise to go to the toilet during the flight.
8. if there is a baby who cries during all the travel, it is always placed on the seat beside you.

the one-second taser burst ...

not mine but a hilarious story! this one is really not to be missed! I won't make any comment, just will let you have some good moment with it & highlight the passages that made me laugh most, place to it ...

Only A Guy Would Do This

Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 22nd anniversary and I was looking for a little something special for my wife, Toni. What I came across was a
100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse effect on the assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety... WAY TOO COOL!

Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two triple-A batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a metal surface at the same time; I'd get the blue arch of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. Awesome!!! (Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Toni what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave).

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two little triple-A batteries... Right?

There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) but thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and taser in the other. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries.

All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference, (pretty cute really and loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-A batteries) thinking to myself, "No possible waaay!"

What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best.....I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as if to say, "Don't do it Master." Reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny little ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad....I decided to give myself a one-second burst just for the heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and ... HOLY MOTHER ..WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION...@!@$$!%!@*!!!

I'm pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs. The cat was standing over me making meowing sounds I had never heard before, licking my face, undoubtedly thinking to herself, "Do it again, do it again!"

Note: If you ever feel compelled to "mug" yourself with a taser, one note of caution: there is no such thing as a one-second burst when you zap yourself. You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. A three-second burst would be considered conservative.

SON-OF-A-..... That hurt like h...l!!!

A minute or so later (I can't be sure, since time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. How did they up get there??? My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I'm still looking for my testicles? I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return.


edit:

want to know all about taserman story? read this post:
the fabulous destiny of the taserman story

exclusive: an original & very confusing illusion

I've been lately seeing many of those optical illusions in which you're 1st supposed to see something then a hidden thing appears suddenly to you, click here for an example

this one I found is different, just watch this video:

done? have you noticed the illusion? maybe you'll need to watch again ... anyways, the answer is hidden in one of these posts:

• some of murphy's law strange designations
• is death the worst?
• ever heard of diaper lovers?!!