Extremely Trivial Police Reports is a fairly new blog by an emergency medical worker who combs public information records for trivial but amusing reports. There's also the occasional photograph of recovered stolen goods of dubious value. Submissions are welcome! Link -via Metafilter
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This rundown of science fiction vehicles is highly subjective, as the title starts with "My Favorite," but there are some interesting entries. Of course, you'd expect the Delorean from Back to the Future, but I'd forgotten all about Ark II. And what is this thing? It's the Big Bus, from the 1976 disaster-movie spoof The Big Bus. Read about eight such vehicles at Unreality. If your favorite isn't listed, tell us about it! Link
This dog fetched himself a big stick, and decided he'd just keep it. But he doesn't quite understand the physics of getting it through a gate. Poor doggie! -via Daily of the Day
Some people literally stand head and shoulders above the crowed. You'd only have to be a bit over eight feet tall to be one of the tallest people ever, but such stature comes at great cost. First, you suffer from the underlying condition that causes such growth. Then, being bigger than normal itself causes physical problems, such as stress on the joints, backbone, and heart. However, there's one story in this list in which modern medicine succeeded in stopping a giant's growth. That wasn't true for Bernard Coyne, pictured here, who died in his early twenties. Coyne only ranked number seven on the list. Link -via the Presurfer
Flooding on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, over the weekend left a thick layer of sea foam behind. How thick? Beware of what looks like a "wave" in the foam! Luckily, it appears no one was hurt in this particular incident. -via Daily Picks and Flicks
You probably recognize Banksy's art anytime you see a picture of it. But did you know that he used to go by the name Robin Banx? Did you know he has his own company to authenticate his works and protect his identity? Or that he got the idea to use stencils while hiding from the police? An article in the February issue of Smithsonian magazine brings you up to date on what is known about Banksy, including the multiple benefits he finds in remaining anonymous.
By 1999, he was headed to London. He was also beginning to retreat into anonymity. Evading the authorities was one explanation—Banksy “has issues with the cops.” But he also discovered that anonymity created its own invaluable buzz. As his street art appeared in cities across Britain, comparisons to Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring began circulating.
Banksy’s first London exhibition, so to speak, took place in Rivington Street in 2001, when he and fellow street artists convened in a tunnel near a pub. “We hung up some decorators’ signs nicked off a building site,” he later wrote, “and painted the walls white wearing overalls. We got the artwork up in 25 minutes and held an opening party later that week with beers and some hip-hop pumping out of the back of a Transit van. About 500 people turned up to an opening which had cost almost nothing to set up.”
Why does Hollywood continue to spend millions of dollars to produce films full of suspense and special effects to lead you to a horrific payoff when videographer Ignoramusky can do all that in 45 seconds with a cat and and some music mixing software? The payoff will leave you laughing instead of crawling under the bed in this one. -via Buzzfeed
The following article is from the book Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Tunes Into TV.
The landmark sitcom Happy Days (1974-84) was more than just a show about a clean-cut teenager and his cool biker pal- it bridged the gap between early TV sitcoms like Father Knows Best and edgy modern comedies like The Simpsons. Here's the story of Happy Days.
THE ALL-AMERICAN SITCOM
Tuesday night at 8PM. For nearly a decade, that time slot was owned by Happy Days. Debuting as a midseason replacement in January 1974 (in place of a hospital sitcom called Temperatures Rising), Happy Days ran for 255 episodes before signing off in 1984.
Millions tuned in each week to watch the Cunninghams, a 1950s family living in Milwaukee: naive teenager Richie (Ron Howard), his wise father Howard (Tom Bosley), doting mother Marion (Marion Ross), and precocious little sister Joanie (Erin Moran). Richie's friends were aspiring singer Potsie Weber (Anson Williams), cheesie jokester Ralph Malph (Donnie Most), and the epitome of cool- Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler).
Although Happy Days changed quite a bit over its 10-year run, its rating were strong for most of that time. The nostalgia and innocence of the half-hour morality tale became a refuge for some Americans during a turbulent decade, even if it took viewers (and network executives) a while to realize that.
NEW FAMILY IN TOWN
The birth of Happy Days can be traced back to a conversation on a winter night in 1971. Two young TV executives, Michael Eisner (ABC) and Tom Miller (Paramount), were snowbound at Newark City Airport in New Jersey and began chatting. The duo lamented that there were no longer any family-oriented sitcoms like Father Knows Best. So they decided to create one.
An Inuit fisherman and his family in northern Greenland are well aware of how the Arctic ice is changing, and that their way of life is changing because of it. Glen Milner's short film Return of the Sun has been nominated for several film festival awards. To really enjoy the beautiful photography, you should see this in full-screen mode. -via the Presurfer
New York City's nightlife was hopping even during Prohibition. The clubs of the '20s and '30s ranged from glamorous to seedy to dangerous. The most famous had stories to tell, of celebrities, mobsters, and murder.
El Fey owner Larry Fay’s other venture, the Casa Blanca Club, was a haven for gangsters that started to lose popularity in 1931. On New Year’s Day in 1932, Fay announced to his staff that they’d be getting a 30% pay cut. The doorman wasn’t too pleased, and came at Fay that night with a gun, shooting him dead and putting a permanent end to Fay’s bootlegging and racketeering career.
Some of those nightclubs are still open today. Read about ten of them at Flavorwire. Link
Police in Wichita, Kansas, held a press conference to release a photo of the suspect in a case of evidence tampering at their property and evidence department building. They have determine that mice chewed into packages of marijuana. Lt. Doug Nolte said police followed protocol and photographed, weighed, and resealed the evidence. Exterminators have been called in to assist police in the case.
"We do have a sketch artist that came and did a rendering of who we believe is responsible for the marijuana heist, and so, we are currently looking for something that resembles a mouse like this," said Nolte.
Have you ever been to an animal shelter? Come take a tour! Mind you, the Wake County SCPA in Raleigh, North Carolina looks to be the Cadillac of animal shelters, and your local shelter probably won't greet you with a song, but you still may find a new companion to fall in love with. -via Daily Picks and Flicks
Soul Pancake has a video series featuring the delightful character Kid President. He has a pep talk to encourage you to become less boring and more awesome ("You're gooder than that."). Robert Frost may have taken the road less traveled, but this kid will take the one that leads to awesome! -via Viral Viral Videos
Badass nuns who rode into battle, fought the Klan, and kissed Elvis? These aren't the ladies from Sunday School.
BATTLE HYMN OF THE WARRIOR NUN: Ani Pachen (1933-2002)
At the age of 17, Pachen Dolma learned that her father planned to marry her off. The only child of Tibetan chieftain, Pachen had no intention of letting her family control her fate, so she fled to a monastery. When her father called off the marriage, she agreed to return home, but with a new identity.
Now known as Ani Pachen, or "Nun Big Courage," Pachen balanced her tribal duties with her religious vows. In 1958, when her father died unexpectedly, the young nun was thrust into his leadership role. She was just 25. Even more difficult: The role came as China was moving to subjugate Tibet.
As China's massive army rolled through the land, ravaging monasteries and torturing objectors, Pachen lived up to her moniker. Leading 600 tribesmen on horseback, this courageous nun marshaled the local resistance and used guerrilla tactics to fend off tanks. She stayed off the Chinese forces for nearly a year.
Admirers call Pachen the Tibetan Joan of Arc, another warrior whose winning streak did not end in obvious victory. Pachen was captured in 1959 and sent to prison for 21 brutal years. "When they arrested me, they bound my hands and feet and hung me upside down," she said. "They beat me continuously …they shackled me for a year. They put me in a hole in the ground and forced me to live in my own feces."
But they couldn't break her spirit. After Pachen's release from the Lhasa prison in 1981, she picked up where she left off, staying in the Tibetan capital to protest the Chinese occupation. Then, in 1989, she was tipped off that military forces planned to arrest her again. For the second time in her life, Pachen chose to run. The 56-year-old fled on foot over snow-covered Mount Kailash. Battling fatigue and cold, she bypassed military checkpoints under the cover of night and spent nearly a month trudging across the steep passes toward Nepal.
Pachen lived out the rest of her years in Dharamsala, India, where the Tibetan government resides in exile. Though she devoted herself to a quiet nun's life, her story remains a source of inspiration. As the Dalai Lama wrote in the forward of Pachen's book, Sorrow Mountain: "It is the kind of strength and resilience she embodies that gives me grounds for optimism that ultimately the truth and justice of our cause will triumph."
THE CRUSADING HEIRESS: Katharine Drexel (1858-1955)
As a young woman, Philadelphia banking heiress Katharine Drexel flirted with the idea of entering a convent, but her high station in life prevented it. Drexel was a typical socialite of her time -she had a coming-out ball and toured Europe- but her stepmother and family helped keep her grounded. The Drexels were extremely devout, which inspired them to spend a good deal of time and money on charitable causes. During her travels, Drexel witnessed the grievous conditions of African-American communities in the South and the horrors of life on Indian reservations.
Drawn to these causes, she wanted to become more involved. But it took two profound events to push her from sympathy to action. When Drexel's stepmother passed in 1883 and her father in 1885, the losses left her shaken. Then during an audience with Pope Leo XIII, the twentysomething was surprised to hear the pontiff make a suggestion: He proposed that she take a vow of poverty and become a missionary.
Moved by the thought, Drexel began religious studies in 1889 at a convent in Pittsburgh. Two years later she founded her own order called the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. Over the next few decades, Drexel used resources from her family's fortune to found over 60 schools, predominantly in the American South and West.
Unfortunately, the segregated South didn't take kindly to white Northerners educating and offering spiritual guidance to ethnic minorities. In Virginia, one of Drexel's school buildings was burned to the ground. In Beaumont, Texas, the Ku Klux Klan threatened her nuns with "flogging and tar and feathers." (A higher power may have intervened; In a Klan meeting soon after, the town's most prominent member was killed by lightning.)
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