The Sudden Curve

How to Fight a Bear

Posted by Bob Wallace, who is still cringing.

Funniest KO Ever

I watch a fair amount of boxing and saw this fight a few years ago. It has become famous as "the Zab Judah Chicken Dance."

Posted by Bob Wallace, who laughs everytime I see it.

"Wait Until He Rides by...

...then we'll get him!"

Khalk'ru!!!

Posted by Bob Wallace, who sez, Khalk'ru was a Kraken who wanted beautiful young virgins sacrificed to him, which I can understand, because I've sacrificed a couple of virgins myself, if you know what I mean, heh heh.

"Mess with Me and I'll Kick Your Butt"

Posted by Bob Wallaee, who wonders what happened in the next shot.

One-Third Child at Heart

Being one-third child at heart, I still put plastic monster models together. I bought this one back in about '96, if I remember correctly.

Who can't love a praying mantis rampaging through a city? What are you, some kind of square? Come on, get with the program! This stuff is like, way-cool!

Posted by Bob Wallace, who even has an Oddjob model, hat and all.

Those Wonderful Aurora Models

I've lost track of how many Aurora models I had as a kid. They're all gone now, too bad. I could sell them on eBay. Although I wouldn't.

About ten years ago I put together a model of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I was really proud of myself. I painted him and everything.

Then, within a year, he disappeared. I think I know what happened -- one of my nephew's friends stole him. Kids!! Bah! Little thieving bastids.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who is going to start putting them together again.

Oh! Oh! My burning feet of fire!

Algernon Blackwood

Algernon Henry Blackwood, (March 14, 1869 – December 10, 1951) was an English writer of tales of the supernatural.

Life and work

Although Blackwood wrote a number of horror stories, his most typical work seeks less to frighten than to induce a sense of awe. Good examples are the novels The Centaur, which climaxes with a traveller's sight of a herd of the mythical creatures; and Julius LeVallon and its sequel The Bright Messenger, which deal with reincarnation and the possibility of a new, mystical evolution in human consciousness. His best stories, such as those collected in the book Incredible Adventures (Lovecraft's Library), are masterpieces of atmosphere, construction and suggestion.

Born in Shooter's Hill (today part of south-east London, but then part of north-west Kent) and educated at Wellington College, Algernon Blackwood had a varied career, farming in Canada, operating a hotel, and working as a newspaper reporter in New York City. In his late thirties, Blackwood moved back to England and started to write horror stories. He was very successful, writing 10 books of short stories and appearing on both radio and television to tell them. He also wrote fourteen novels and a number of plays, most of which were produced but not published. He was an avid lover of nature, and many of his stories reflect this.

Blackwood wrote an autobiography of his early years, Episodes Before Thirty (1923). There is an extensive critical analysis of Blackwood's work in Jack Sullivan's book Elegant Nightmares: The English Ghost Story From Le Fanu to Blackwood (1978). There is a biography by Mike Ashley (ISBN 0-7867-0928-6) and a critical essay on Blackwood's work in S. T. Joshi's The Weird Tale (1990). The plot of Caitlin R. Kiernan's novel Threshold (2001) draws upon Blackwood's "The Willows", which is quoted several times in the book. Kiernan has cited Blackwood as an important influence on her writing.

The Willows - Perhaps his most celebrated story, was influenced heavily by Blackwood's own trips down the Danube River. It tells the story of two campers who pick the wrong place to sleep for the night, a place where another dimension impinges on our own. H.P. Lovecraft considered this the finest supernatural tale in English literature.

The Wendigo - Another camper tale, this time set in the Canadian wilderness. A hunting party separates to track moose, and one member is abducted by the Wendigo of legend.

A Descent into Egypt - A long, carefully constructed story in which a man's soul is gradually subsumed into eternity.

The Regeneration of Lord Ernie - A listless young aristocrat is transformed into a firebrand through witnessing a mystical ceremony.

The Damned - A highly original haunted house tale in which the haunting results from the intolerant religious beliefs of a series of previous residents.

Ancient Sorceries - A tourist returning from a trip becomes too enchanted with a strange French town and its people to leave. He is slowly drawn more and more into their realm of secrets and talk of ancient memories.

The Insanity of Jones - A reincarnation story based around the correcting of past wrongs by revenge.

The Man Who Found Out - A researcher goes on an expedition to find "The Tablets of the Gods" which have plagued his dreams since his boyhood. He finds them, and the horrible truth of humanity's true purpose in the universe.

Smith: An Episode in a Lodging House - A man and his strange neighbor's paths meet more often than he would like in this story of a man delving into secrets he should not know.

The Glamour of the Snow - A traveller meets a strange woman late one night at a ski resort and spends the rest of his vacation searching for her, so that they can have one last moment together. He almost gets his wish...

The Man Whom the Trees Loved - A wife is powerless to save her husband from the nature he loves and its ever growing influence on his life.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who forgot to mention, "Oh, oh, my burning feet of fire!" is what the poor victim said when The Wendigo was dragging him along the treetops

The Ma Deuce

The M2 Machine Gun, or Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. It was nicknamed Ma Deuce by US troops or simply called "fifty-cal" in reference to its caliber. The design has had many specific designations; the official designation for the infantry type is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible.

The Browning .50 machine gun has been used extensively as a vehicle weapon and for aircraft armament by the United States from the 1920s to the present day. It was heavily used during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, as well as during operations in Iraq in the 1990s and 2000s. It is the primary heavy machine gun of NATO countries, and has been used by many other countries. It is still in use today. It was very similar in design to the smaller Browning Model 1919 machine gun .30-06 Springfield.

Combat usage

The M2 .50 Browning machine gun is used for various roles:

• A medium infantry support weapon
• When doubled it is used as an anti-aircraft gun in some ships, or on the ground. In these cases a pair of one left-handed and one right-handed feeds are used. In some cases four to six guns are mounted on the turret.
• Primary or secondary weapon on an armored fighting vehicle
• Primary or secondary weapon on a naval patrol boat
• Secondary weapon for anti-boat defense on naval destroyers, frigates and aircraft carriers
• Coaxial gun or independent mounting in some tanks
• A primary armament in WWII-era U.S. aircraft such as the P-51 Mustang, and the Korean-era U.S. F-86 Sabre.
• Defensive armament in WWII-era bombers like the B-17 Flying Fortress, and B-24 Liberators.
• A long range sniper rifle, when attached with a scope. One well-known expert was US Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock during the Vietnam War. The success of the M2 in this role led to the development of actual sniper rifles based on the same .50 caliber round.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who wants to mount a remote-controlled Ma Deuce on top of his car.

My kind of car

Posted by Bob Wallace, who especially likes smooshing bikes.

Now This is Diversity

Posted by Bob Wallace, who has several diverse firearms hisself.

Why Bull Terriers Are the Dumbest Dogs in the World and Pit Bull Owners are Even Dumber

Posted by Bob Wallace, who sez, read the retardos making comments here.

One of the most bizarre things I've ever seen

Posted by Bob Wallace, who is too stunned to bust a but laughing.

Green Plastic Army Men :: The Games

Well looky here, it's the twenty-first century version of Green Plastic Army Men that you can play on your computer.

You know, when I was a kid, we made green plastic multi-headed and limbed zombies by cutting up green plastic army men with razor blades and then remelting the parts together in unusual arrangements.  Then we had wars between them and the army men  and ... Hey, STOP LOOKING AT ME THAT WAY!!! This was just good clean imaginative adolescent behavior.  It's not like we were pulling wings off of flies or anything.

posted by Tom Novak, who's Green Army Men were equipped with lighter fluid flame-throwers and bottle-rocket launchers.

Beware

posted by Tom Novak, who says, "nice doggy, nice doggy, nice ... RUUUUNNN!!

It Wasn't Wile E. Coyote

I had a coyote run across the road in front of my car while driving through southern Illinois last week. I had no idea there were any coyotes in Illinois at all. When I looked on the internet, I found that they are the most common predator in that area. That was a surprise. What next -- cougars?

Posted by Bob Wallace, who sez, you wouldn't believe the amount of racoons in southern Illinois.

Learn Something New Every Day

At a park I've starting frequenting with my fierce dawg Norman the pug, I had been seeing these new but cute little beasties that were scurrying all over the park, running to holes in the ground, then sticking their heads out to look at people. I asked a woman what they were; she told me, "ground squirrels." I had never seen them before.

If you sat quietly, they would actually come close to you, looking for food, I suppose. They're a lot cuter than regular tree squrrels, which are buck-toothed monstrosities than I have no use for.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who wishes all animals were so cute.

A Giant House Spider Stole My Bike

When I was about eight-years-old my sister and I were babysat by some people who lived on a farm. You know -- shed in the back and all that.

One day, I went in back to get a bike to ride. Unfortunately, it was right near the corner of two buildings, and in that corner was the biggest spider web in the world.

Since I didn't see a spider, I carefully crept up on the bike, grabbed a handlebar...and made the mistake of looking at the part of the spiderweb nearest me.

In it was the biggest spider in the world, right before my eyes. It was at least a foot across, hairy and yellow. I let go of the bike and staggered back, then decided to leave things be.

Later, I found out what I had encountered was the Giant House Spider, which has a body almost an  inch across. It is yellow and hairy, though.

They're not dangerous, at least not in the sense of a Black Widow or a Brown Recluse. Still, at eight I thought I was dealing with something from space, or a horror movie.

As far as I'm concerned, the sonofabitch stole my bike.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who cannot stand any spider.

Ahh!!! Brown Recluse!! Kill!! Kill!!

  Being that I live in the Midwest the only spider I have to watch out for is the Brown Recluse. No Black Widders, fortunately.

It's fairly hard to get bitten by one, although the wound is pretty hideous. Just type "Brown Recluse" into Google Images and you'll see what I mean.

They're pretty hard to find, since they are well, reclusive. They don't build webs, they don't jump, and they aren't hairy. Mostly they just chomp on you.

They're also called the Fiddler Spider, because of the little fiddle on their back. It's so little, though, you really don't want to get that close.

I identify them because they have long skinny legs and that huge abdomen. Then I stomp them.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who wrestles in his dreams with "A Fighting Spider of Mars."

Argh! My eyes!!!

This 44-year-old North Carolina woman was charged with having a month-long affair with a 13-year-old boy.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who wonders, what the hell was wrong with that boy?!?!