Summum

Most Supreme Court cases are as dry as a particle-board sandwich. But not the one you can read about here. That's because this case involves a genuine wackjob cult named Summum, which believes, amongst other things, in sacred mummification of pets.

A visit to their site will be time well spent.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 13, 2008 - Comments (9)
Category: Animals, Business, Products, Death, Eccentrics, Frauds, Cons and Scams, New Age, Pets, Religion, Lawsuits, Myths and Fairytales

Shannon Ethridge

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 11, 2008 - Comments (11)
Category: Death, Religion, Sexuality, Video

Wrong-way Trucks

I have no idea where this scene was filmed, nor what it means.

But it is certainly weird.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 03, 2008 - Comments (4)
Category: Death, Destruction, Foreign Customs, Cars

Don Dixon’s “Praying Mantis”

Talk of bugs that eat their mates automatically reminded me of Don Dixon's one hit, the great "Praying Mantis." If you click here, you should be able to hear the song for free. Warning for those at work or in a quiet zone of some sort: it will start playing automatically.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 23, 2008 - Comments (3)
Category: Death, Insects and Spiders, Music, Sexuality

Live and Let Live

Continuing our series of weird auto-safety films, we now examine one told completely through the medium of toys. This looks like it was a lot of fun for the creators to make.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 23, 2008 - Comments (2)
Category: Death, Education, Toys, Documentaries, 1940s, Cars

Follies of the Mad Men #39

[From Life magazine for April 23 1971.]

The other day, watching that commercial of Lucky Strike cigarettes square-dancing, I speculated on how one could distinguish female from male cigarettes. Twenty years after that commercial, Madison Avenue had the answer! Female cigarettes are "pretty" and have decorative floral emblems on the filters!

Wasn't it wonderful that "women's lib" allowed tobacco companies to sell more cigarettes to a previously under-served population?

Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 19, 2008 - Comments (3)
Category: Addictions, Business, Advertising, Death, Fads, Gender, Women, 1970s

Blasting Cap Danger!

This is a little slow to get going, and we are denied seeing the children blown to smithereens. But it's pretty entertaining nonetheless. I thought the kids did some good acting. What about you?

Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 17, 2008 - Comments (4)
Category: Death, Explosives, Documentaries, 1950s

The Chance to Lose

Every safe-driving video would be improved by the addition of a giant Chuck-a-luck cage such as we find here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 16, 2008 - Comments (3)
Category: Death, Games, Documentaries, Cars

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