Tiger Trouble

So far as I can tell, the tiger stalking Galveston is still on the loose. But the Galvestonians could have it much worse. Consider the plight of the citizens of the Sundarbans in India.

I first learned of the reign of man-eating tigers here ten years ago, watching this series of PBS's NATURE show. One episode revealed how the natives had to wear human face masks on the backs of their heads to avoid tigers pouncing on them and eating them. (It was not a totally successful tactic.) I believe this bit later showed up in the wonderful Calvin and Hobbes strip, with Calvin trying the same tactic to avoid Hobbes's attacks.




Well, the tigers of Sundarbans continue to feast on human flesh, as we learn in this new report. Read, and be happy no tigers roam your city's streets.

This photographer, who goes by the handle of Jimbojack, has some wonderful photos of the region for you to look at.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 21, 2008 - Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Death, Regionalism, Television, India

Life Imitates Cheesy Science Fiction Film

As we learn in this article from today's New York Times, conditions in hurricane-wracked Galveston, Texas, have begun to approach the scenario depicted in the latest remake of I AM LEGEND.

As crews hacked away at downed trees and replaced blown-out transformers and cut lines, state and local officials contended with a plethora of other problems, among them a tiger on the loose.

James D. Yarbrough, the Galveston County judge, said a pet tiger, well known to locals, had escaped during the storm and was wandering the ruins of houses on Bolivar Peninsula. “I understand he’s hungry, so we are staying away from him,” Mr. Yarbrough said.

You'll see Will Smith's similar encounter at approximately the one-minute mark in the trailer below.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 17, 2008 - Comments (13)
Category: Animals, Armageddon and Apocalypses, Death, Disasters, Guns, Movies, Nature, Pets, Dogs, Science Fiction, Actors

An Extraordinary Escape

Hmm. I vote it's fake. There are too many pixellated patches, suggesting someone has been erased.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Sep 17, 2008 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Video

Ruth Grace Moulon, RIP

Last week, we coincidentally featured Nancy Luce, the Chicken Lady. Today, we must sadly report the death of the Duck Girl.

Ruthie the Duck Girl was a New Orleans character famed for her pet ducks. You can read her history at the intriguing site known as ECCENTRIC NEW ORLEANS, and then read her LOS ANGELES TIMES obituary here.

A documentary was made about her, and shown on WYES TV, but I can't find any online video of it.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 16, 2008 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Celebrities, Death, Obituaries, Eccentrics, Pets, Regionalism

Swedish Bat Detectors

I'd call this weird in the sense of out-of-the-ordinary and interesting. I certainly wasn't aware that there were gadgets specifically for listening to bats. From the site:


And if you'd like some music to relax to, try The Inaudible World, a collection of bat sounds put together by Michel Barataud. I'm wondering if you need the bat detector to hear the "inaudible" CD.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Sep 12, 2008 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Technology

The Natural History of the Chicken

Reader Big Gary recommends this documentary as pretty bizarre. It's in six parts on YouTube, the first of which we present here:

Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 11, 2008 - Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Eccentrics, Movies, Documentaries, Pets, Surrealism, Reader Recommendation

The Mighty Powers of Hagfish Slime

My high-school pal Sherry Mowbray, who grew up to be a top-flight biologist, points me with glee to this video illustrating how powerful is the slime secreted by the awesome hagfish.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 10, 2008 - Comments (11)
Category: Animals, Science, Experiments, Body Fluids

Nancy Luce, Chicken Lady of Martha’s Vineyard

A few years ago, visiting the island of Martha's Vineyard off the Massachusetts coast, I learned of Nancy Luce (1814-1890). An eccentric loner artist who self-published her own poetry--mainly devoted to her beloved pet chickens--and buried the birds with fully engraved headstones, she is the subject of a biography still available on the island at various gift shops: Consider Poor I by Walter Magnes Teller. You can read what The New York Times had to say about the book here. You might even be so moved as to purchase a lovely woodcut print of Luce here.


Perhaps we should commemorate Luce with a sample of her poetry:

POOR LITTLE HEARTS
Poor little Ada Queetie has departed this life,
Never to be here no more,
No more to love, no more to speak,
No more to be my friend.
O how I long to see her with me alive and well,
Her heart and mine was united,
Love and feelings deeply rooted for each other,
She and I could never part,
I am left broken hearted....

Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 10, 2008 - Comments (10)
Category: Animals, Domestic, Eccentrics, Literature, Books, Writers, Regionalism, Nineteenth Century

Harvey Comics

I loved reading Harvey Comics as a kid, and into "adulthood." (They're not published anymore, alas.) Their universe was quintessentially wacked and weird. As famed comics scribe Grant Morrison has remarked in an interview, sometimes the willed naivete of Silver Age writers following the Comics Code produced much stranger stuff than any consciously avant-garde writer could.

Take the two page strip to the right for instance, from an old digest-reprint of some Casper stuff. To parse it is to risk madness.

Is Nightmare indeed a mare, ie, female? if not, and even if so, is that the gayest hairdo ever, on horse or human? Why does a forest gnome like to hang out with a ghost horse? Why is playing human cowboys popular among the gnomes? Likewise riding an airplane. And finally, how demented does a ghost horse have to be, to stick planks up its butt and into its chest, and then purr like a cat, all in an effort to emulate a mechanical device so as to placate a gnome?

How I miss Harvey Comics! Thank goodness Dark Horse is reprinting some.....

Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 09, 2008 - Comments (15)
Category: Animals, Art, Comics, Pop Art, Surrealism, Body Modifications, Drugs, Entertainment, Flight, Games, History, Inventions, Pets, Writers, Cartoons, Hair Styling

Bacon Beans

A week or so ago, Alex told us how to make our own Baconhenge. But perhaps that's not enough bacon for you. In that case, why not nosh on some Bacon Beans as a snack?

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 06, 2008 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Food