Posted by on Apr 15, 2009 in
Forteana Oh dear, could this be the reason the Mayan calendar ends in the year 2012?
Incoming Asteroid Under Close Watch
Irene Klotz | Discovery News | April 13, 2009
Exactly 20 years from today, an asteroid about the size of a 25-story building will come closer to Earth than the networks of communications satellites orbiting the planet.
The chance of an impact are extremely remote — only about 1 in 45,000 — but the asteroid, named Apophis, will be back. Analysis of the asteroid’s orbit show it will return to Earth seven years later.
Astronomers don’t yet know if Apophis’ second visit will be a rendezvous or a collision, as its orbit will be bent by Earth’s gravity during the 2029 flyby.
“It can’t even be said for certain what side of the sun (the asteroid) will be on in,” said Jon Giorgini, a senior analyst with the Solar System Dynamics group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Most of the rocks whizzing around Earth are too small to do damage even if they were on collision paths.
“Things much below 30 meters in size don’t pose much of a threat at all since the atmosphere protects us,” said Nick Kaiser, lead scientist of a new University of Hawaii asteroid-hunting project known as the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System, or Pan-STARRS.
Tags: end of world
Posted by on Apr 14, 2009 in
Farewell 
Harry the K the voice of the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies died in the announcer’s booth yesterday. Had he lived, today he and the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies would have meet with, and swapped autographs with President Obama at the White House. (The meet and greet has been rescheduled.)
According to all reports Harry was a “heck of a guy” kind, humble and immensely gracious. Condolences to the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies, all their fans, and the Kalas family. .
Bill Conlin: Remembering Kalas, a heavenly voice
By Bill Conlin | Philadelphia Daily News | Tue, Apr. 14, 2009
CLEARWATER, Fla. – On black-armband days like this, you think dark thoughts of loss, the sudden taking of comrades with whom you shared days, weeks, months, years, decades and generations, traveling with a ballclub as many intertwined lives were weathered like driftwood on a tropical beach that suddenly became storm-tossed and gray.
Read more…
Posted by on Apr 13, 2009 in
Farewell The Delfonics were one of the best of the Philadelphia Sound acts of the early 1970s. I am glad to hear of the many fences that had been mended in Mr. Cain’s life before his passing. Thanks for all the great songs Randy.
Randy Cain performs with The Delfonics at the Rhythm & Blues Foundation's 14th annual Pioneer Awards in Philadelphia on Thursday, June 29, 2006, where they received an award. (AP Photo/George Widman)
Randy Cain, member of the Delfonics, dies at 63
By Dan Gross | Philadelphia Daily News | Sat, Apr. 11, 2009
RANDY CAIN, who was a founding member of Philly soul band the Delfonics and who sang on such hits as “La La Means I Love You,” and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” died Thursday. He was 63.
No cause of death was yet known for Cain, who formed the Delfonics with brothers William and Wilbert Hart while attending Overbrook High in the 1960s.
Cain left the group in 1971 and was replaced by Major Harris.
Read more…
Posted by on Apr 12, 2009 in
Foolery Click any image to view it large and proud. Compiled from a number of uncredited sources. I didn’t make any of these, merely found them.
Tags: festivities
Posted by admin on Apr 11, 2009 in
Forteana As some reader’s know, many Christian holidays have older roots. Here’s some interesting info about that movable spring holiday Easter.
At www.religioustolerance.org I found the following info on the etymology of the word Easter.
The name “Easter” originated with the names of an ancient Goddess and God. The Venerable Bede, (672-735 CE.) a Christian scholar, first asserted in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similarly, the “Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos.” Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: “eastre.”
Other sources say Eostre was the olde word for the month of April (as her main festival was held then.)
From UK’s The Mirror I found the following sorta wacky Easter traditions. So when you’re microwaving your peeps and gorging on ham (so no one confuses your family dinner with a Seder) be happy none of the women in your house is getting doused with water and publicly whipped.
Weird Easter traditions from around the world
By Alison Battisby | Mirror.co.uk | 9/04/2009
It’s Easter weekend and Britain is stocking up on chocolate eggs and hot cross buns, but elsewhere in the world there are some extremely wacky traditions going on…
1. Surely the strangest Easter custom takes places in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, where there is a tradition of spanking or whipping women on Easter Monday. Males throw water at females and spank them with handmade whips made of willow and decorated with ribbons at the end. The spanking is supposed to be symbolic and according to legend, females should be spanked in order to keep their health and beauty during the next year. It doesn’t sound too fun for the women!
2. In Finland, children dress up and go begging in the streets with sooty faces, carrying broomsticks. Sounds a bit like Halloween? In some parts of Western Finland they even burn bonfires on Easter Sunday. But there is no sign of Guy Fawkes. This tradition takes place to ward off witches flying around between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
3. On Maundy Thursday in Verges, in Spain, a traditional “death dance” is performed which involves a parade down the streets of the medieval town. Everyone involved is dressed in costumes and the procession ends with frightening skeletons carrying boxes of ashes. The scary dance begins at midnight and continues for three hours into the early morning.
Read more…
Tags: festivities
Posted by on Apr 10, 2009 in
Foolery,
Found photos This was sent to me as an email by a dear, old friend and my favorite Mary Kay Rep Jina Camille. Who can ever be sure that things on the internet are REALLY real but it’s really funny and perfect for a Friday.
First-a story about Horses.
Second-a drawing about Mommy’s job
When asked to draw a picture of what they wanted to be when they grew up, second-grader “Sarah” turned in the lovely drawing shown below. Needless to say, the teacher was a bit surprised — Mrs. Smith had always seemed like such a conservative woman. So she sent a note home to the girl’s mother asking for clarification as to the picture’s meaning. (read Mom’s reply below the picture)
Dear Mrs. Jones,
I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer.
I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn’t show me dancing around a pole. It’s supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.
From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Smith
Vince Shlomi is best known for his ShamWow infomercials. Recently while in Miami he had an unfortunate encounter with a sex worker that resulted in both parties being bloodied, battered and arrested. Apologies dear reader for these graphic bloody photos. Alas, I can’t do anything about the fact that the ShamWow guy is a celebrity.
ShamWow pitchman Vince Shlomi arrested for punching prostitute
March 28, 2009 | www.suntimes.com | BY KEVIN ALLEN kjallen@suntimes.com
Images from TheSmokingGun.com.
He’s known for hawking a super-absorbent towels on in commercials, but this pitch man found himself in hot water — without the aid of a ShamWow — last month.
ShamWow pitchman Vince Shlomi was arrested Feb. 7 on felony battery charges for allegedly punching a stripper, according to the Web site TheSmokingGun.com.
Police reports obtained by the site claim that Shlomi met 26-year-old prostitute Lenea Harris at a Miami nightclub, and subsequently brought her back to his room at Setai Hotel. Shlomi allegedly paid Harris $1,000 for “straight sex.”
That’s went things took a turn.
Shlomi told police “that he kissed [Harris] when all of a sudden [Harris] bit his tongue and would not let go,” according to the report.
Shlomi then punched Harris several times until she released his tongue, and then ran to the lobby to call police. Harris suffered several cuts and fractures to her face. Pictures obtained by the celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com show what appears to be Harris battered and bruised following the incident.
Posted by on Apr 8, 2009 in
Foolery,
Forteana I wonder what the streets were named that they finally resorted to AAAA road?
AAAA rating for silly street names in Howard Springs, Darwin
By Alyssa Betts | Northern Territory News | February 10, 2009 12:01am
A NORTHERN TERRITORY council appears to have run out of steam when cooking up road names.
Keep a keen eye out and drivers might spot the AAAA Rd out in Howard Springs.
And then there’s the IIII Rd and the EEEE Rd in Berry Springs while Road namers in Humpty Doo christened one track No Name Rd.
AAAA Rd is sometimes also known as Chicken Lane, and No Name Rd is occasionally swapped for Wafflers’ Way.
Litchfield Shire president Mary Walshe said while the names might seem unusual, there were no plans to whip up anything even more outlandish.
She said it was best not to make street names too interesting because people stole the signs.
“People start pinching too many of them if you start getting inventive,” she said.
The roads are ungazetted, and are unofficial identifiers the council and locals started using when Litchfield was still a wild and woolly place.
“It was well before development and subdivisions – this is going back to the early ’70s – and people used tracks along railway easements or power easements because there wasn’t any other access to their land,” Ms Walshe said.
She said the names were given to these tracks so that they were distinguishable on administration maps and so ambulances on emergency call outs knew where to go.
The Litchfield Shire Council spends about $10,000 a year on replacing stolen street signs.
“Instead of nicking them, (it’d be better) if people just took photos,” Ms Walshe said.
Tags: Oz
Posted by on Apr 7, 2009 in
Foolery,
Forteana In tough economic times, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Bald Tattoo Artist to Sell Head Space
dw-world.de | 18.03.2009
A German tattoo artist who offered his bald head as advertising space thought he’d found the perfect way to raise some cash. But even he’s had to admit he was suffering from delusions of grandeur.
Down on his luck and with debts piling up, a tattoo artist from the German town of Coesfeld, racked his brain for a creative money-making scheme. Unfortunately, Thomas Tanriverdi’s plan to sell ad space on his bald scalp went to his head.
Tanriverdi was hoping to rake in a whopping 50,000 euros ($65,700) from a bidder wanting to tattoo an ad on his pate — that would have been enough money to pay off all his debts in one fell swoop.
Read more…
Posted by on Apr 6, 2009 in
Foolery,
Forteana Grey squirrels are a terrible problem in the British Isles and are threatening the native squirrel population. Ms Nutt is one of many people plagued by these furry nutkins. Link to audio interview with Ms Nutt.
Woman called Nutt over-run by squirrels
A woman in Northern Ireland says her home has been over-run by grey squirrels.
BBC NEWS | 2009/03/25
Oonagh Nutt, from Moira in County Down, says the animals first came into her garden from an adjoining park six years ago, but in the last 18 months they got too close for comfort.
“I thought it was lovely, I called one of them Hazel but then the next thing they’d got into the house,” she said.
Mrs Nutt says the squirrels have caused serious damage: “They chewed their way through my roof in several places, they tunnel through the cavity walls, they live under the floor boards, they go to the toilet in the attic.
“Up close they are quite frightening – they look like puppy dogs with big hands, they growl and bark at you, they’re vicious things. They’ll go for you.
“I have a small child in the house and regularly at night the scratching and chewing and moving about will wake him up.”
Mrs Nutt says she’s spent thousands of pounds trying to tackle the problem.
“I’ve had pest control round putting poison down in the roof space and travel routes through the house. But then they died inside the cavity walls and the house is infested with flies. It’s a nightmare.
“We’ve had squirrel catchers, traps, lights, sonar. Everything but the kitchen sink.”
Mrs Nutt is unhappy with the attitude of her local council to the pest problem.
“I rang Lisburn City Council three times and have been told in short to go away. They say they’re not a pest so there’s nothing they can do.”
Ian Woods from Grey Squirrel Control says it’s an increasingly common story.
“Every year it’s becoming more and more of a problem around this time of year. People really don’t understand the damage they cause.”
Lisburn City Council said any resident who experiences a pest problem should contact its pest control unit on (028) 9250 9417.
Tags: Animal
Posted by on Apr 5, 2009 in
Forteana This is really sweet.
Thai ‘Spider-Man’ to the rescue
An unusual disguise has helped a Bangkok fireman rescue an eight-year-old boy who had climbed on to a third-floor window ledge, Thai police say.
BBC NEWS | 2009/03/24 13:05:14 GMT
The firefighter dressed up as the comic book superhero Spider-Man in order to coax the boy, who is autistic, from his dangerous perch.
Police said teachers had alerted the fire station after the boy began crying and climbed out of a classroom window.
It was reportedly his first day at the special needs school.
Efforts by the teachers to persuade the pupil to come back inside had failed.
But a remark by his mother about his passion for comic superheroes prompted fireman Somchai Yoosabai to rush back to the station, where he kept a Spider-Man costume in his locker.
The sight of Mr Somchai dressed as Spider-Man and holding a glass of juice for him, brought a big smile to the boy’s face, and he promptly threw himself into the arms of his “superhero”, police said.
Mr Somchai normally uses the costume to liven up fire drills in schools.
Posted by on Apr 4, 2009 in
Found photos 
The back is blank, but I can write up a story for you.
Jack and Dianne get married in a lavish ceremony with a chocolate fountain and move to the burbs, buy their dream house, an oversize McMansion that Dianne pleads for. Jack indulges her and borrows money from Uncle Nick to pay the down payment.
They work, they shop, they consume. They are good Americans. They have a kid and Dianne is more excited about it than Jack. Being a father makes Jack feel old. He’s not sure how he feels about Dianne being a mother and wearing Mom jeans. He hates his job and grows to resent the large house and the neighborhood of people who so effortlessly enjoy lawn mowing and suburban life. His lawn is patchy and yellowed no matter how much he spends on lawn services or chemicals.
It’s a cold day. The kid drags Jack outside to see her ride a bike. Jack reluctantly leaves the cocoon of his overstuffed leather comfy chair and wide screen hi def tv that he’s still paying for. He stands on the cement slab that serves as a front porch, but they never linger on this porch. He waves at the kid. She waves back. “Can you see me Daddy?”
“YES” She flings her arms wide in joy. Ta-Da!
