Firefighters were battling a 30 hectare brush fire in Kew, near Port Macquarie, Australia on Tuesday. A Rural Fire Service helicopter sucked up water from a pond, flew over the fire, and dumped the water on the blaze. But the pond, at a wastewater treatment plant, was the wrong one to draw water from - it was full of "secondary treatment" water, also known as sewage.
An RFS spokeswoman said 12 firefighters had been directly exposed to the "secondary treatment" water, while a further seven were in the general area.
"All 29 firefighters on the fireground and their equipment were immediately withdrawn and decontaminated by Fire and Rescue NSW," the spokeswoman said. "As a precaution, each firefighter has since been provided with further medical follow-up. At this time, no firefighters have complained of any ill-effects. They will continue to be monitored by the Rural Fire Service."
The fire was fully under control by Thursday. Link -via Arbroath
A tender moment between two prairie dogs is caught on video. Is one of them going off to work? Is it the end of a date? Will he call her tomorrow? -via the Presurfer
Bev Brown runs the Ashburton Wildlife Shelter in Victoria, Australia, home to endangered grey-headed flying foxes. In this gallery, you'll see a 12-week-old bat named Camilla enjoy Bev's special fruit smoothies she makes as a treat for the animals on hot days. Who knew you could drink a smoothie while hanging upside-down? Link -via Metafilter
How does the 007 of film stack up against the original Ian Fleming books? Author Allen Bara contrasts the Bond of the novels with the cinematic Bond so many more people are familiar with. The agent that Ian Fleming created was not physically imposing, his tastes in food and drink were almost plebeian, he wasn't as lucky with ladies, and he didn't have an arsenal of expensive high-tech gadget at his disposal, like the movie Bond. His enemies were simpler, too: the movies made them out to be comic-book type super villains, when the books dealt with threats closer to home.
This is because they are Communists. The grim visage of Cold War is never far from Bond’s mind in any of the early books. Casino Royale’s le Chiffre, Auric Goldfinger, the hideous and asexual Rosa Kleb in From Russia With Love, Mr. Big, the fierce African-American crime boss in Live and Let Die, were all Communist agents—vermin eating at the vitals of the free world.
A thaw came in 1962 when the film script for From Russia With Love was revised to turn the villains into agents of SPECTRE—an anagram for Special Executive for Counter Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion—a supercriminal organization that Bond needed hugely expensive gimmicks and gadgets to combat. In the books Bond’s constant lament is that other secret services have bigger budgets than Her Majesty’s. In From Russia With Love, he laments, while comparing his armory to the Russians, “If only his service went in for these explosive toys.” In Dr. No (1957), he envies the excellence of the CIA’s equipment and has no qualms about borrowing from us. In Live and Let Die (1954) the CIA makes him a gift of a couple thousands dollars in cash upon his arrival in New York. He thanks his allies and tells them, “I’m glad to have some working capital.”
However, amid all this simplicity, the literary Bond still managed to get himself into and out of situations that kept us on the edge of our seats -and kept us turning pages. Read more about him at The Daily Beast. Link
Almost every culture has a go-to group that become the butt of jokes: a rival country, an ethnic group, or a subculture such as "rednecks." In Russia, they tell jokes at the expense of the Chukchis, who live in remote northeast. The jokes aren't all that special; you've probably heard the same ones told about other groups. But how did they become the subject of such jokes? Chukchis are aboriginal people of the frigid northeast corner of Russia, who survive by herding reindeer and harvesting seafood in the harsh climate the Soviets reserved for punishment. And the jokes may have been born from the Soviets' failure to turn the Chukchis into modern Communists. For example, why should they take orders from Moscow about when to hunt animals, when they've been doing it just fine for generations?
...the Bolsheviks completely disregarded the obvious fact that the Chukchis have been what Spencer Wells calls “wonders of adaptation”: over thousands of years they have “developed a lifestyle that allows them to exist in an environment of unimaginable harshness”, a landscape of “an other-worldly tundra, covered in snow and frost from September to June” (Spencer Wells, The Journey of Man, p. 134). Being heavily dependent on the few animal species that survive in such an environment – reindeer, seals, dogs, polar bears, and fish – the Chukchis developed a keen understanding of these animals and their lifecycles. What could the Russians, coming from an entirely different ecosystem, possibly tell them that the Chukchis did not already know? Attempts at collectivizing the Chukchis and imposing a more centralized system on them during the 1930s proved extremely unsuccessful.
Cultural misunderstanding gives plenty of opportunities for jokes, but like other such groups, there is the occasional payback.
The Soviet Army test fire an SS-20 missile and lose track of it as it goes into the vast northern tundra. They drive a jeep up there to try to find it. “Hello”, they call out to a passing Chukchi. “Did you happen to see a big, flaming stick cross the sky?”
“No”, replies the Chukchi. “I saw some birds, a plane, a helicopter, and an SS-20 missile… but no big flaming stick.”
Read about the Chukchis and the history of their relations with the rest of Russia at GeoCurrents. Link -via Metafilter
Bourbon goes with sweet, savory, hot, and cold foods, and it can really dress up a holiday recipe to make it something special. This list has links to recipes for pies, cakes, cookies, candy, and beverages. One even includes bacon! Shown here is Sweet Potato Pecan Pie with Bourbon, topped with maple pecan ice cream. Yum! Link
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
Sometimes in the history of great films, a great film is not initially appreciated as such. As examples, we have The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, and It's a Wonderful Life, three of the most beloved American movies of all time, all of which laid a gigantic egg at the box office upon their initial release. And it was with perhaps the greatest of all the wonderful films left to us by that wonderful comedy team known as the Marx Brothers.
Duck Soup was the boys' fifth film, coming in the wake of four straight box office smashes by the team. Their previous film Horsefeathers was Paramount Studios' biggest hit of the year. According to most sources, Duck Soup was such a failure at the box office it almost bankrupted Paramount. In fact, after Duck Soup's failure, the Marx Brothers were released by Paramount Studios and were looking for work for several months. At least two other sources dispute the "massive flop" story and while admitting that Duck Soup wasn't as big a hit as their other films, claim it still did alright at the box office. According to one source, it was actually the sixth highest-grossing film of 1933. Whatever.
The film, upon release, received very mixed reviews and, whatever its actual success monetarily, was considered a failure and a disappointment by many, to the extant that many actually believed the Marx's movie career was over after its initial run.
Duck Soup underwent several rewrites before shooting and had several different planned titles, including Ooh La-La, Cracked Ice, Grasshoppers, and Firecrackers before Duck Soup was finally settled upon.
Harpo recalled the filming of Duck Soup to be the most depressing job he ever experienced. Someone kept bringing a radio to the set and everyone would listen to the speeches of Adolf Hitler, the new Fuhrer of Germany, during the shoot, bringing everyone down. This type of atmosphere would hardly seem conducive to such a hilarious and brilliant comedy. Go figure.
Duck Soup contains many classic Marx brothers moments, although it is a rare Marx Brothers movie with no piano interlude by Chico and no harp solo by Harpo. But Margaret Dumont, the greatest straight woman in comedy history, was back to take the constant barrage of insults from Groucho. The fourth Marx Brother, the always-questionable Zeppo, makes his last thankless appearance in Duck Soup. Zeppo was to become a Hollywood agent after Duck Soup, finally refusing to face the great indignity of being regarded as the "unfunny one" of the team. Oddly, Duck Soup is actually Zeppo's smallest role of his five Marx Brothers films. By this time, I guess poor Zeppo had been almost completely reduced to being an afterthought.
Rock and opera weren't supposed to mix. But in the late 1960s, the Who's Pete Townshend dared to fuse the styles. The unlikely offspring was a deaf, dumb, and blind kid named Tommy, who changed the musical landscape forever.
Every once in a while, music takes a giant leap forward, generating a whole new species of sound. One of those rare occasions occurred in 1969, when guitarist Pete Townshend, the mastermind behind The Who, created a concept album unlike anything written before. The world's first rock opera, Tommy proved that pop songs could tell stories as complex, profound, and heart wrenching as any classical form. It became a hit album, but that was only the beginning. Townshend's masterpiece went on to become a movie, a ballet, and a Tony Award-winning musical that inspired countless Broadway shows.
TALKIN' 'BOUT MY GENERATION
When the band formed in 1964, The Who were the kings of London's Mod scene- a subculture devoted to drugs, fashion, motorbikes, and pop music. Teenagers gulped down amphetamines and danced to The Who's revved-up, R&B inspired hits, like "Substitute" and "My Generation." The band's early shows were notorious for their anarchic spirit. Sets often ended with drummer Keith Moon kicking over his kit, lead singer Roger Daltrey swinging his microphone high in the air, and Townshend smashing his guitar.
The destruction made for good entertainment, but it was an expensive habit the band couldn't afford. Finances weren't the only thing The Who had trouble keeping up with. In the mid-1960s, music was changing fast, and the group found itself outpaced. In 1966, The Beach Boys released its avant-garde album Pet Sounds. The following year, The Beatles put out the equally groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. By 1968, The Who's music already sounded dated.
Townshend had a plan, though. He believed rock albums could do more than provide lively dancehall music; he believed they could take listeners on a spiritual journey. All he needed was the right canvas. Like many artists of the era, Townshend studied meditation and eastern philosophy -specifically the teachings of Meher Baba, an Indian mystic who'd taken a 40-year vow of silence to better hear the word of God. The guru's ideas about heightened awareness through sensory deprivation intrigued Townshend, and he was especially interested in the concept of experiencing songs through vibrations and physically feeling the music.
From these seeds, Townshend cultivated the narrative for his new album. The story begins when a father returns home from the war. He catches his wife with another man and murders him, and the couple's young son witnesses the act. The boy is so traumatized that he can no longer see, speak, or hear. Incapable of communicating with those around him, he finds solace in the vibrations of music.
Once Townshend had the story, he wrestled with what to name the boy. Ultimately, he settled on Tommy, a nickname for a British soldier during WWI. After a fight, battlefields could be littered with Tommys, shell-shocked and devoid of their senses. Townshend also liked that at the center of the word was the mystical syllable "om."
Goyahkla was an everyday Apache tribesman until the day he returned from a trading expedition in 1858 and found that Mexican soldiers had killed his mother, wife, and three children -as well as all the other women and children in his tribe. That's when he became Geronimo, the fearsome warrior who vowed to kill as many white men as he could. In 1886, outmanned and pursued mercilessly, Geronimo surrendered to the U.S. Army. It was a negotiated surrender in which he was told he would be held for two years. From that day until he died in 1909, Geronimo was in federal custody. That didn't mean he spent the rest of his life in prison, though -he was exhibited at the World's Fair and worked for a Wild West show, but was always under Army supervision. But all Geronimo wanted to do was go home to Arizona.
In March 1905, Geronimo was invited to President Theodore Roosevelt’s inaugural parade; he and five real Indian chiefs, who wore full headgear and painted faces, rode horses down Pennsylvania Avenue. The intent, one newspaper stated, was to show Americans “that they have buried the hatchet forever.”
After the parade, Geronimo met with Roosevelt in what the New York Tribune reported was a “pathetic appeal” to allow him to return to Arizona. “Take the ropes from our hands,” Geronimo begged, with tears “running down his bullet-scarred cheeks.” Through an interpreter, Roosevelt told Geronimo that the Indian had a “bad heart.” “You killed many of my people; you burned villages…and were not good Indians.” The president would have to wait a while “and see how you and your people act” on their reservation.
Read the entire story of Geronimo's punishment at Past Imperfect. Link
Mary Krupa is a freshman at Penn State who loves animals. She's made friends with the squirrels on campus. And what's more, she's even convinced the little critters to model the hats she makes for them!
Anyway, as soon as Mary showed up it was like bringing some Mike’s Hard Lemonade to a high school party. She was cool. as. shit. Apparently those little squirrlies recognized Mary and knew she was carrying some peanuts with her. She was, of course, but what she also had in that lavender backpack of hers was a tupperware FULL OF SQUIRREL HATS.
I was under the impression that there was only a birthday hat, but as you can see, Mary has quite the collection. Today, we were trying to put the straw hat on Sneezy, because that’s just the kind of betchy squirrel she is.
Did they succeed? You betcha! See photographic evidence at Onward State. Link -via Breakfast Links
PS: Sneezy models more hats on her Facebook page. Link
Kermit and Marbles went to the doggie dentist. As they both had a tooth extraction or two, they were anesthetized. They aren't quite out of the fog yet as this video was taken. -via Arbroath
The Maned Wolf is a dog, but not a wolf. YouTube member EndangeredWolf explained more about its classification:
They are a member of the dog (Canid) family as are wolves. But they are not in the same genus as wolves (Canis). They are the sole remaining remnants of the prehistoric carnivore from South America whose scientific name is Chrysocyon brachyurus and are the only species in their genus. They are omnivores whereas wolves are carnivores. They are solitary animals and wolves are very social. They 'roar-bark' rather than howling. The list goes on, but they are unique and amazing.
Read more about the Maned Wolf and other wild canids at The Endangered Wolf Center. Link
The new John Lewis ad illustrates what some will go through to show their love. If you can put the fact that it's a department store advertisement out of your mind for a minute, it's a nice story. The song is "The Power of Love" sung by Gabrielle Aplin. -via Daily PIcks and Flicks
Wanna go to a useless website? How about dozens of them? Just click "please" at the linked index and you'll see a really useless website. There are plenty that might come up, from flash animations that entertain for about ten second like RGB or interactives like Cat Bounce or old favorites like Koalas to the Max. Be prepared to keep clicking for new surprises! One thing all these websites have in common -they're all useless. Link -via I Am Bored
