Some random humor to end the week.
Monthly Archives: May 2014
1835: Mackintosh’s Aerial Ship “Drawn by Eagles”
1835: Mackintosh’s Aerial Ship “Drawn by Eagles”
Amanda
August 25, 2013
1800-1899, Transport
Source: The Internet Archive
Filed under Humor and Observations
“World’s Biggest Dinosaur” Discovered
“World’s Biggest Dinosaur” Discovered
May 17, 2014 | by Lisa Winter
Photo credit: José María Farfaglia, via MEF
A farmer in Chubut, Argentina made an incredible dinosaur discovery about three years ago. While working out in his fields, he stumbled across some fossilized dinosaur remains. Paleontologists from the nearby Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio excavated the area and found about 150 incredibly well-preserved bones from seven individuals of a species that is likely the largest to ever walk the Earth.
The remains come from a newly-described species of titanosaur, which are large herbivorous sauropods. It lived in the late Mesozoic about 95 million years ago. This behemoth will not have a name until the findings are published in a scientific journal, but the researchers have claimed they will choose a title that pays tribute to the region, the farmer, and the dinosaur’s incredible size.
It is estimated to be an astonishing 40 meters (130 feet) long from head to tail and 20 meters (65 feet) tall. A creature this large would have likely weighed in at a hefty 77 tonnes (85 short tons), which is over eleven times more than Tyrannosaurs rex.
Researchers are currently comparing this species to Argentinosaurus, which is currently regarded as the largest dinosaur ever. However, Argentinosaurus is believed to weigh about 7 tonnes (7.7 tons) less than this new species, and has likely been officially dethroned as the largest terrestrial animal ever.
Understanding the true size of the dinosaurs is always open for some debate when there isn’t a complete skeleton. Assumptions must be made about the size and shape of missing bones, based on what they know about related species. However, there may be many more clues that have not yet been surfaced at the dig site.
José Luis Carballido, who is leading the dig has said in a press release on the museum’s website that the team is “[s]till working on this extraordinary site. We estimate that one fifth of the excavation process is completed, so there is still much work to do and probably much to discover.”
The researchers also found more than 60 teeth belonging to carnivorous species, who likely scavenged on the dead titanosaurs. Carballido claims that this opportunity came at a price, as the giant herbivores likely had incredibly thick skin that would have broken the carnivores’ teeth, though the teeth would have grown back.
Other fossils from the site indicate that when this giant dinosaur lived, the local landscape was quite green and lush with flowers and trees. The titanosaurs likely gathered near a source of water, and may have died after getting caught in mud.
The researchers note that the farmer’s family has been very accommodating during the excavation process as many pieces of large digging equipment have been brought in onto the land.
[All images credited to: Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio]
Filed under Animals, Humor and Observations
More Cool Cars Found…
Incredible car collection uncovered after 61 years
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1929 Ford Model A Wrecker VanDerBrink Auctions
A collection of more than 200 historic cars hidden from public view for 61 years will be crossing the auction block in Oklahoma next month.
The cars belonged to Oliver Jordan, who ran a salvage business in the city of Enid from 1945 to 1953, when he locked it up during a zoning dispute that lasted for years.
Jordan never relented, and the cars have sat idle since then, most of them left outside to rot. The majority are from the 1930s, and ’40s, but the oldest is a rare 1917 Maxwell.
Among the more notable finds are an aluminum-bodied 1937 seven-passenger Lincoln limo by Willoughby, believed to be one of five remaining of the 60 that were produced, and a 1937 Cord Model 812 Supercharged Beverly sedan.
Two 1942 “blackout specials” – a Ford and a Chevy – built during World War II, when the government put restrictions on the use of ornamental shiny metal parts, are fitting of the cache’s low profile.
A 1937 TerraPlane Super Six may sound like a flying car, but was from a short-lived brand produced by Hudson. It doesn’t come with a hood, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find an inch of it that’s not corroded.
The same can be said about pretty much all of the other vehicles.
Nevertheless, VanDerBrink Auctions is billing the event as a customizer’s dream, as many of the parts from the once-common cars are becoming rarer by the day.
Jordan sold a few of them himself over the years, but not many. According to auctioneer Yvette VanDerBrink, if he invited you inside to see his secret stash, and you were interested in one of the cars, he’d make you a take-it-or-leave-it offer on the spot. No haggling or second chances allowed.
Jordan died in 2003, and his widow died seven months ago. His grandson, who helped consolidate the cars from four different yards in recent years, is overseeing the sale of the estate, including the 1929 Ford Model A wrecker that was Jordan’s first tow truck.
The auction is scheduled to take place on June 7, both on site and online.
All sales are final, of course. Jordan wouldn’t want it any other way.
Filed under Humor and Observations
Field of thousands of classic car dreams for sale
Are you in the market for a hard-to-find, vintage car?
Try an online auction site.
Well, then L&L Classic Auto may have a deal for you.
The Wendell, Idaho, salvage yard is selling its stock of thousands of cars, as its 79-year-old owner considers finally retiring after over a half-century in the business.
And he’s throwing in the 80 acres of land they’re sitting on for free.
Or, maybe it’s the other way around.
“I will miss this place, but I won’t miss the stress of running it,” Larry Harms tells FoxNews.com.
Harms’ daily driver is a chunky, cerise 1937 Ford Coupe with thick whitewall tires, but he keeps a small collection of domestic gems for himself.
L&L, owned and operated by Harms and a staff fiercely loyal to vintage cars, began life as a body shop in a much smaller location close to town.
As the accumulated assortment of classic metal began to grow, the outfit moved to a more accommodating location that is large enough today to strike an impressive pose on Google Earth’s satellite view.
The land is populated with vehicles of all sizes and shapes, from derelict, parts-car specials to classics in running condition, some nearly a century old.
Conservative estimates put the total number between 8,000 and 10,000 vehicles, but the shop’s staff admits that it has been unable to catalog all of them.
Nevertheless, it maintains a thorough running tally of available parts for sale on its website.
As much as Harms is looking intently toward retirement, he’s not in a hurry to unload his trove.
Instead, he is firmly determined to find a buyer who is interested in preserving L&L’s cadre of historic vehicles, rather than someone who would prefer to destroy the cars and keep the land.
“I won’t [piecemeal] sell it,” Harms said. “I don’t want it crushed. I could do that myself.”
That’s right, unless you are planning to take – and take care of – the whole kit and caboodle, you’d better sit this one out.
The sum for the whole lot, including the land and the myriad cars scattered upon it, is listed at $3 million.
That’s anywhere between $300 and $375 per car, if you ever get around to counting them one by one.
“Is [that] a fair price? No, it’s low,” says one L&L employee. “It’s a great deal.”
L&L currently lists prices for some of the cars individually, including a gobsmacking 1974 AMC Matador “Oleg Cassini Edition” at $8,500, and what appears to be a pristine 1961 Pontiac Bonneville two-door for $29,000.
Most others are well picked-over and clearly past their prime.
Harms’ staff says it has already had several serious inquiries into the property, in addition to frequent calls from interested parties from as far away as South America, England, Norway, Australia and New Zealand.
Despite the apparent demand, Harms remains adamant that the cars end up in the hands of a serious buyer who understands their mettle.
“This is stuff you can’t get new,” he said. “Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Filed under Humor and Observations
Merriam-Webster adds 150 new words
Merriam-Webster adds 150 new words
May 19th 2014 10:40AM
Merriam-Webster Dictionary Adds 150 New Words
The latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary has one region celebrating.
For more than a decade, a prosecutor in Michigan has been fighting to add the word “Yooper” to the dictionary.
It refers to a native or longtime resident of the Lake Superior region and people there say it’s becoming more recognizable outside their area. Plus it’s quote, “… just a really colorful word.”
Now “Yooper” and 149 other words and phrases have made it into the 11th version of the dictionary. A few more that fall under the category of “colorful” are:
“Turducken” — a boneless chicken stuffed into a boneless duck stuffed into a boneless turkey.
And then there’s “freegan” — someone who scavenges for free food in trash bins as a way to reduce consumption of resources.
The Associated Press explains Merriam-Webster uses a network of observers who track word usage in everything from newspapers to soup can labels but three or four senior editors make the final cut.
Other words stem from social media and digital life.
Here are the top 15 from AP:
Auto-Tune or auto-tune vt (verb transitive) (2003): a proprietary signal processor, to adjust or alter (a recording of a voice) with Auto-Tune software or other audio-editing software, especially to correct sung notes that are out of tune
cap-and-trade adj (1995): relating to or being a system that caps the amount of carbon emissions a given company may produce but allows it to buy rights to produce additional emissions from a company that does not use the equivalent amount of its own allowance
catfish n (1612): (second definition) a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes
crowdfunding n (2006): the practice of soliciting financial contributions from a large number of people, especially from the online community
dubstep n (2002): a type of electronic dance music having prominent bass lines and syncopated drum patterns
fangirl n (1934): a girl or woman who is an extremely or overly enthusiastic fan of someone or something
freegan n (2006): an activist who scavenges for free food (as in waste receptacles at stores and restaurants) as a means of reducing consumption of resources
gamification n (2010): the process of adding games or gameline elements to something (as a task) so as to encourage participation
hashtag n (2008): a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text, such as a tweet
selfie n (2002): an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera, especially for posting on social networks
social networking n (1998): the creation and maintenance of personal and business relationships, especially online
steampunk n (1987) science fiction dealing with 19th-century societies dominated by historical or imagined steam-powered technology
turducken n (1982): a boneless chicken stuffed into a boneless duck stuffed into a boneless turkey
tweep n (2008): a person who uses the Twitter online message service to send and receive tweets
Yooper n (1977): a native or resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan – used as a nickname
Filed under Humor and Observations, Writing
Cute Dog Pics for Your Monday Blues
More cute dog pictures to start off your week happy.
Filed under Animals
Rare deep sea fish washes ashore on North Carolina coast
A Lancetfish was found in Nags Head on a beach in North Carolina. Leif Rasmussen
A rarely seen deep sea fish washed up on the beaches of North Carolina on Monday, MyFox8.com reported.
A Lancetfish, which is known for its large mouths and sharp teeth, was found on Nags Head Beach. The report said these fish can grow to 6 feet 6 inches in length, but little is known about their biology.
WISTV.com reported that the photographer had to release the fish twice, because it washed up to shore again, leading the observers to assume the fish is ill.
Filed under Animals, Humor and Observations
Burst water pipe reveals century-old Crusader murals in Jerusalem
By Stephanie Pappas
Published May 15, 2014
Rediscovered late-1800s paintings in a storeroom in Saint-Louis Hospice, a Jerusalem hospital built by a prominant Christian.Israel Antiquities Authority
Wall murals portraying Crusader knights and symbols of medieval military orders have been rediscovered in a Jerusalem hospital thanks to a burst water pipe and a storeroom reorganization.
These paintings were the works of a French count, Comte Marie Paul Amde de Piellat, who believed himself to be a descendant of Crusaders. The count was a frequent visitor to Jerusalem and had the Saint-Louis Hospice built between 1879 and 1896, naming it after St. Louis IX, a king of France and leader of the Seventh Crusade between A.D. 1248 and 1254.
A beautiful discovery
More recently, the nuns who run the hospital found some of the forgotten wall paintings while reorganizing storerooms in the building, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). A burst water pipe also stripped away modern paint and plaster, revealing more sections of the paintings.
IAA conservators are now working to clean and stabilize the paintings, and are looking for funds to continue the preservation work. There are no plans to turn the paintings into a tourist attraction, however, as the hospital is still in use for chronic and terminally ill patients. Sisters of the order of St. Joseph of the Apparition run the facility.
De Piellat was a devout Christian who wanted to boost the Catholic presence in Jerusalem at a time when multiple religious factions vied for influence in the city. His two-story hospital replaced a smaller medical facility in the city’s Christian Quarter. For Saint-Louis, de Piellat chose a location where the Norman king Tancred and his forces camped before storming Jerusalem in A.D. 1099, during the First Crusade. Today, the hospital is next to the Jerusalem municipal building and IDF square, which is on the dividing line between Israeli-dominated West Jerusalem and heavily Palestinian East Jerusalem.
Artistic history
The murals themselves are enormous paintings of Crusader knights dressed in full battle gear. The count also painted the names and genealogy of the families of French Crusaders, including their heraldry symbols. The murals are further decorated with symbols of military and monastic orders and cities conquered in the Crusades.
At the time de Piellat was working, the city was under the control of the Ottoman Turks. During the upheaval of World War I, the Turks took control of the building, according to the IAA, and painted over the Christian murals. The British captured Jerusalem from the Turks in 1917, at the end of the war.
De Piellat returned to his beloved hospital after the war and worked to restore his murals. After his death in 1925, however, no one took up his fallen paintbrush, and the unrestored murals were mostly forgot
Filed under Humor and Observations
Cosplay Pictures for Your Saturday
Cosplay pictures to enjoy. For those of you new to the blog site, cosplay stands for “costume play.” People dress up as superheroes, pop culture figures, TV, movie, steampunk, or other characters. Like Halloween, but for the fun of it. The point is to have fun, and many people spend a lot of time getting their outfits together and getting photographers to help out.
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- Vamptress LeeAnna Vamp
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- Avatar
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- Black Cat
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- Dino Rider
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- Cara Nicole as Little Red Riding Hood being devoured by the Big Bad Wolf
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- Steampunk Wonder Woman and Mad Moxie
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- Margie Vizcarra Cox, left
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- Sweet Angel Cosplay – Facebook page at – https://www.facebook.com/SweetAngelCosplay Please go like her page!
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- Gotham Villains – Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and the Joker
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- Darksider
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- Jessica Nigri and Monika Lee derping
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- Awesome wings
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- Cyclops and Cara Nicole as Powergirl
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- Catwoman
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- Spiderman
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- San Romero Zombie Killing Cheerleader
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- Toni Darling
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- Ironman
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- Scarlet Witch
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- The Joker
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- Mandalorian
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- Catwoman
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- Rogue
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- Samurai Mandalorian and friend
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- Illeana Vega and Khurt Khave Steampunking it up
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- Full Metal Alchemist
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- Nightcrawler
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- Avengers
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- Cable and X-Men Deadpool?
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- The Addams Family, Christine Johnson
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- Christine Johnson as Batgirl with Batman
Filed under Humor and Observations
Michael Bradley - Time Traveler 
