Category: ultrarandom
Pleasure is bad for you
Catholics have more extreme sex lives because they’re taught that pleasure is bad for you. Who thinks it’s normal to kneel down to a naked man who’s nailed to a cross? It’s like a bad leather bar.
— John Waters
This, please.
Burberry Prorsum Translucent Rubber Jacket
The Horror
Teen Issues
The Great Molasses Flood of Boston
Since I talk about this disaster rather a lot, I suppose I ought to just record a few basic details so I can refer to them without exaggerating:
On January 15, 1919, a tank of molasses exploded in Boston’s North End. The explosion caused a huge shockwave that was sufficient to knock houses off their foundations. Shards of metal from the tank were found up to 200 ft. away. Right after the explosion this accident took a very strange turn.
The tank was filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses. When the tank exploded, the molasses formed a 25-30 ft. wave, that went through the streets of Boston at speeds of around 35 mph. People caught in the wave were either smashed against large objects, or they drowned in the molasses. This strange accident caused 21 deaths and 150 injuries. Rumor has it that, on a hot day in the North End, the air still smells sweet.
[Via Pavan Mickey. More info here or here.]
In the Paleolithic days before widespread internet use, this was just a crazy story we once heard about when I lived in Boston, but no one could say for sure if it was an urban legend or not. I’m pretty sure it was Dave who finally cracked the case, coming across a news story about it while gathering clippings at his awful PR job. I love the internet for making it easy to find things like this now.
Multimedia punctuation
Here’s an incredible assortment of animated GIFs that may come in handy in many instances of online communication, such as it is. You may wish to refer to the full explanations at Jezebel.
Look, it’s snowing allergies!
Random wonderful things
I’ve been bedridden for days, so my already active trawling of the web has really gone off the charts. Here are a few gems that I feel compelled to share:
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The “I Can Read Movies” Series: these imaginary paperback novelizations of hit movies are so beautiful and mid-century perfect they bring a tear to my eye.
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Comics Grammar & Tradition: I moan about some of the typographic conventions in comics, but I can at least acknowledge that many of them are at least reliable conventions. Here’s a good guide to what they are.
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Paul’s Boutique, remastered: The Beastie Boys finally re-release one of my all-time favorite records, one that completely blew me away from the first instant I heard it. The accompanying site is Flash-heavy, but filled with good stuff, including a free commentary track of the B-Boys telling stories about the tracks as the entire record plays.
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Chip Steele, R.I.P.: Chip Steele has been a bit of legend to me for a long-time, ever since my pal Dave went sky-diving with him. If you’re going to jump from a plane, you want a man named Chip Steele strapped to your back! Unfortunately, Steele had a fatal mid-air heart attack while giving a lesson to a young Army private, soon after uttering these now-immortal words: “Welcome to my world.” Pvt. Pharr then landed himself safely, but was unable to revive Steele. If I have ever heard a good premise for a bro-mantic action movie, this is it.
The Middle of Nowhere
As long as I’m fantasizing about secret lairs, I guess I should also consider a remote island. While there’s certainly something about the aptly named Inaccessible Island that appeals to the comic-book fan in me, I’m more tempted to keep it in the family (my mom’s side, at least) and seize Gough Island for my sinister retreat.
But which part of the island would make the best spot for my lair? Quest Bay? Hag’s Tooth? Cave Cove? Perhaps even something around Snug Harbor, just for old time’s sake? So many possibilities!