The Sudden Curve

Today ... is

Get your own Brevity: 2009 Day-to-Day Calendar

The Colossus of New York

This movie scared the bejeebers out of me as a five-year-old. It had such an effect on me I saw him standing in my doorway at night.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who is still creeped out by this movie.

Clash of the Titans

Posted by Bob Wallace, who sez, looks like a good one!

Running Bear Loved Little White Dove....

Posted by Bob Wallace, who sez, this is what Love Potion Number 9 leads to.

Lol Pugs

Posted by Bob Wallace, who only likes pugs and believes all chihuahuas should be terminated with extreme prejudice.

Music Video Babe - Jackie DeShannon

Many choices were available for clips, she had quite a few hits, but I liked this one.

Happy Birthday, Jackie DeShannon

Posted by Tom Ender, who also believes the best way to change the world is to start with the part of it most under your control: yourself.

Ghost Busters Circa '54

posted by Tom Novak who thinks the Ghost Busters/Breakers movies are a lot more believable than those silly tv Ghost Hunters.

Music Video Babe - Christine McVie

Happy Birthday Christine

Posted by Tom Ender, who likes most everything Fleetwood Mac recorded after Buckingham and Nicks joined up. I haven't heard much of the earlier stuff, though in general I like bluesy rock.

Cherry Bombs and M-80s

Cherry Bombs (also known as Globe Salutes) are approximately spherical shaped exploding fireworks, ranging in size from three-quarters-inch to one-and-one-half-inch (1.9 cm to 3.8 cm) in diameter.

An array of some of the most common Cherry Bombs and Globe Salutes commercially available in the US. Picture Scale: the blue lines in the background are ½-inch apart. The salutes in the top row from left to right are: Kent Cherry Flash Salute, circa 1958; Havre de Grace Cherry Bomb (aka Arrow Brand), circa 1946; Peacock Standard Globe Cracker Bomb (India Export), circa 1995; United Cherry Salute, c1964; Row two from left: J.L. Morse Globe Salute, c1932; Po Sing Phantom Bomb, c1977; National Globe Salute, c1937; New Jersey Fireworks Cherry Bomb Salute, c1962; Row three: Miller Cherry Bomb, c1958; United Globe Salute, c1934; Victory Globe Salute, c1931; Triumph Colored Marble Flash Salute, c1938; Bottom row: United Cherry Salute, c1950; Victory Globe Flash Salute, c1937; Rozzi Cherry Salute (very faded), c1951; Unexcelled Cherry Salute, circa 1934.

Contents

Composition

A typical cherry bomb contained a core of explosive composition (i.e., flash powder or, less commonly, black powder) which was generally encapsulated inside a paper cup, which was in turn most commonly surrounded by a layer (approx. one-quarter inch thick) of sawdust infused with a mild adhesive (usually sodium silicate). An ignition fuse (aka "wick") was inserted into a hole drilled into the hardened sawdust sphere, all the way down to reach the explosive composition. The fuse extended outside the sphere approximately one to one and a half inchs. Once the fuse was ignited, it took about three to four and a half seconds to reach the explosive composition and initiate detonation (i.e., explosion) of the firework.

The color of the salute's exterior varied, depending on the manufacturer and the time period during which the salute was produced. Early on, in the late-1920s and 1930s, Globe Salutes had fuses which were tan, red or striped and multi-colored, and their body color varied, ranging from brown and tan to silver and red, and some were even decorated with multi-colored confetti. However, by the 1940s the most common color of the spherical salutes being marketed was a deep pink to red, with a green fuse, which is when the name Cherry Salute and Cherry Bomb entered popular use.

Legal status

These original spherical salutes were powerful enough to cause very serious injury and even death. Many hundreds of eyes and fingers were lost annually to these exploding toys of yesteryear, until they were totally banned in the USA in 1966, by the federal Child Protection Laws ("CPLs"). Historically, these Globe Salutes and Cherry Bombs were originally charged with 5 to 10 times the amount of explosive composition a standard inch-and-a-half paper firecracker had. But, after the enactment of the CPLs, all commercially produced spherical salutes, as well as all other powerful and deadly^[ exploding fireworks, such as silver tube salutes and M-80, could not contain more than a certain government specified quantity of explosive composition, which typically amounted to less than 5% of their original amounts.

Original potency Cherry Bombs are now considered illegal explosive devices in the United States, Possession, manufacture, or sale of cherry bombs in the USA is illegal.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who makes do with Black Cat firecrackers and bottle rockets.

 

A Kerfluffle with a Stupid

I have a seven-year-old one-eyed rescue pug I've had for four months. I shave him weekly to keep him cool, keep a gallon of fresh water in my van (which has ice-cold AC) and park in the shade and leave the windows down if I have to leave him in the van -- which is always just for five minutes.

I walk out to my van Friday from being in the store for five minutes, and I see there is a 40ish woman with wraparound sunglasses and a cellphone in her hand standing near my van. I also notice the door to my van is ajar.

I start to get in my van, and she asks me, "Is this your van?"

No, of course not, I'm getting into a stranger's van. I just happen to have the key. She tells me she has called the police because I left my dog in the car.

I realize I'm dealing with a loon. The police aren't going to do anything, and in fact get calls like this all the time.

So I check her out -- the bitter, hostile look, the lack of a ring on her finger, and I decide this is a woman who has gone through a bad divorce, probably seeing a therapist, and is taking her problems out on me. So I decide to turn it around on her.

"Look lady," I tell her, "I suggest you take care of your own problems first, like getting that bitter, hostile look off of your face because you went through a bad divorce."

Her mouth drops open and she takes a step back. Then she yells at me, "You just wait until the police get here!"

I tell her the police aren't going to do anything to me, and besides, I have other things to do that wait for them to show up and tell her she's a moron.

As I'm driving away she screams at me, "You're no gentleman." To which I respond, "That is the ONLY thing you've gotten right about this."

Posted by Bob Wallace, who realized a long time ago that stupid cannot be fixed.

Gudbye t'Jane

Posted by Bob Wallace, who sez, not goodbye to you, goodbye to Jane!

"Because the Night" -- Patti Smith

Posted by Bob Wallace, who sez, this is the first, real Patti Smith,

POWPOWPOWPOWPOW

I live in Missouri, where all fireworks are legal. There are even stores, open all year around, which sell nothing but fireworks.

Right before the Fourth of July, tents are put up near the borders, so people from other states are buy stuff. In Illinois, for example, only sparklers are legal,  so people come across the Mississippi River bridges and buy fireworks to their heart's content.

I recently bought some bottle rockets and Black Cat firecrackers.

When I was a kid in Illinois, the older boys would buy fireworks in Missour, mark the price up, and sell them to us 10-year-olds.

Ten years old and buying illegal fireworks from 17-year-old smugglers. There's humor in that somewhere.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who should have gotten some M-80s, too.

Music Video Babe - Patty Smyth

Happy Birthday Patty

Posted by Tom Ender, who also offers this perhaps more familiar but non-embeddable version of the music video

Music Video Babe - Cyndi Lauper

Happy Birthday Cyndi

Posted by Tom Ender, who only puts up video clips that allow embedding.

Curly Kills the Clam

Posted by Bob Wallace, who is just a Stooge at heart.

The Prisoner !!! Streaming from AMC

Posted by Tom Novak - who loves this ....

Aooohhhh.....Howler of the Ozarks

The Ozark Howler, also known as the Ozark Black Howler, is a legendary creature that is purported to live in remote areas in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The Ozark Howler is typically described as being bear sized, with thick body, stocky legs, black shaggy hair, and as having prominent horns. Its cry is often described as being a combination of a wolf's howl and an elk's bugle.

Cryptozoologists have speculated that the creature might be a misidentified or unrecognized big cat. Anthropologists have speculated that the creature might be a branching off of the dark dogs of death found in British folklore.

Chad Arment asserts in his book Cryptozoology that the Ozark Howler myth is a hoax. According to Arment, he and many other cryptozoologists received email messages that made wild claims about Ozark Howler evidence. These messages were tracked down to a university student who had made a bet that he could fool the cryptozoological research community. ^[1] However, stories of the Ozark Howler are said to predate this.

The Ozark Howler may also be a sub-species of panther said to exist in the American Deep South. There are unconfirmed sightings throughout the Southern states, however, most state governments reject the claim that such an animal exists.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who sez aoooohhh it's not real aooohhh I've ever heard one aooohhhh

Music Video Babe - Ellen Foley

Not long ago I posted a Music Video Babe entry for Karla DeVito featuring her performance with Meatloaf on Paradise by the Dashboard Light. Those who saw that posting might recall I mentioned she did a lip-synch to the original singer's voice from the album recording. Ellen Foley was that original singer. However, since she wasn't in that video (or any others from Bat Out Of Hell), this entry won't feature more of those videos.

Ellen Foley has had both a solo singing career and contributed to efforts with others since singing on Bat Out Of Hell. She has also had an active stage presence on Broadway, in film and on TV. I like the sample below of her singing.

Happy Birthday, Ellen Foley !!!

Posted by Tom Ender, who also often belongs to the night.

Turtle -- the First Submarine

Turtle was the world's first submarine used in battle. It was invented in Connecticut in 1775 by American Patriot David Bushnell as a means of attaching explosive charges to ships in a harbor. Governor Trumbull recommended the inventor to George Washington and although the commander in chief had doubts he provided funds and support for developing and testing the machine. For many people this machine was the key to help defeat the British and win the war. The Turtle was its given name though most people think it is shaped like a walnut not a Turtle.

The submarine,designed as a naval weapon,was meant to drill into a ship's hull and plant a keg containing 130 pounds of gunpowder, which would be detonated by a time fuse. Much testing was done by the inventor's brother, Ezra Bushnell, in the waters of the Connecticut River.

Named for its shape, Turtle resembled a large clam as much as a turtle; it was about 8 feet long (according to original specs), 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, and about 3 feet (0.9 m) wide, consisting of two wooden shells covered with tar and reinforced with steel bands. It submerged by allowing water into a bilge tank at the bottom of the vessel and ascended by pushing water out through a hand pump, similarly to the use of spear sack tanks in modern submarines, and was propelled vertically and horizontally by hand-cranked propellers, the first recorded use of the screw propeller for ships. It also had two hundred pounds of lead which could be released in a moment to increase buoyancy. It was manned and operated by one person. It contained enough air for about thirty minutes and had a speed in calm water of about three miles per hour.

Six small pieces of thick glass in the top were the only source of natural light. After Bushnell pondered the problem of lighting the inside of the ship and after learning that using a candle would hasten the use of the limited oxygen supply of the air inside, he solicited the help of Benjamin Franklin who cleverly hit upon the idea of using bioluminescent foxfire to provide illumination for the compass and depth meter. The light given by the material was said to be sufficient at night, though likely dimmer than expected, because the ship was cooled by the surrounding sea water and the metabolic rate of poikilothermic, heterotrophic organisms is temperature-dependent.

On the night of September 7, 1776,  Turtle, under the guidance of army volunteer Sergeant Ezra Lee, attacked Admiral Howe's flagship HMS Eagle, which was moored off what is today called Governors Island, which is due south of Manhattan. A common misconception was that Lee failed because he could not manage to bore through the copper-sheeted hull. In practice, it has been shown that the thin copper would not have presented any problem to the drill. A more likely scenario is Lee's unfamiliarity with the vessel made him unable to keep the Turtle stable enough to work the drill against the Eagle's Hull. When he attempted another spot in the hull, he was unable to stay beneath the ship, and eventually abandoned the attempt. Governors Island is off the southern vertex of Manhattan, the place where the Hudson River and the East River merge. The currents at this point would be strong and complex. The Turtle would only be able to attack ships moored here during the short period of time when the incoming tide balanced the river currents. It is possible that during the attack the tide turned and Lee was unable to compensate. He released the keg of gunpowder when British soldiers or sailors in row boats tried to pursue him. The British, suspecting a trick, gave up the pursuit.

In 1777, Lee used floating mines in an attempt to destroy the British frigate HMS Cerberus, anchored in Niantic Bay. The explosion was said to have killed several sailors but did not do much major damage to the ship.

The submarine was sunk by the British as it sat on its tender vessel, in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Years later in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, Bushnell reported he had salvaged the Turtle but later destroyed it.

No British records of any attacks by the submarine or any reports of explosions on the night of the supposed attack on HMS Eagle exist (although records of the floating mines do). The only British records are of an intercepted letter of a supposed description of the boat which was not taken seriously.

The problems of achieving neutral buoyancy would have rendered the vertical propeller useless. The route the boat would have had to take to attack HMS Eagle was slightly across the tidal stream which would in all probability have resulted in Ezra Lee becoming exhausted.

In the face of these and other problems it has been suggested that the entire story was fabricated originally as disinformation and later a morale boosting propaganda, and that if Ezra Lee did carry out an attack it was in a covered rowing boat rather than the Turtle.

A replica is on display at the Royal navy submarine museum

In 1976, a recreation was designed by Joseph Leary and constructed by Fred Frese as a Bicentennial project. It was christened by Connecticut's governor, Ella Grasso, and later tested in the Connecticut River. It is owned by the Connecticut River Museum and is currently on loan to Old Saybrook High School in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, where students under the direction of Fred Frese are currently building a working recreation of that model.

On August 3, 2007 three men were stopped by police while piloting and escorting a replica of the Turtle within 200 feet of the Queen Mary 2 without authorization at New York City's Red Hook Brooklyn cruise ship terminal. The replica was created by New York artist Philip "Duke" Riley and two men from Rhode Island, one of whom claimed to be a descendant of David Bushnell. The coast guard issued a citation for having an unsafe vessel.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who sez, now this is history.