The man who originally created the Addams family would have been 100 years old today, if he hadn't died in 1988. Charles Addams was a cartoonist at The New Yorker and began drawing the ghoulish yet humorous characters in 1938. Those characters eventually took on the author's name and were made into a TV sitcom, an animated series, two feature films, and a Broadway musical. The characters as they appeared in Addams' comic panels are today's Google Doodle. Link -via Fark
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The man who originally created the Addams family would have been 100 years old today, if he hadn't died in 1988. Charles Addams was a cartoonist at The New Yorker and began drawing the ghoulish yet humorous characters in 1938. Those characters eventually took on the author's name and were made into a TV sitcom, an animated series, two feature films, and a Broadway musical. The characters as they appeared in Addams' comic panels are today's Google Doodle. Link -via Fark
Shakespearan Love Mug | $10.95
“Doubt that the stars are fire,
doubt that the sun doth move,
doubt truth to be a liar,
but never doubt I love.”
Link
Congratulations to Randall Munroe on the 1000th comic published at xkcd! Only 24 to go, and he'll have a big, round number to brag about. Link
You laughed at the correction we posted yesterday, but now we have the full story. The author of the New York Times article, Amy Harmon, explained how it all came about.
She tells how the error came to the newspaper's attention, how important it turned out to be in the context of the article, and her explanation for it. Link -via Metafilter
The Times’ rule is, we correct anything that is wrong, no matter how small or seemingly silly. And I don’t know any of my colleagues who would want to do differently. I hate to get any detail wrong, and when I do, I often have a moment of fantasizing about just letting it slip. But as I sat there that morning, kicking myself for a relatively small mistake that marred a story I had poured my heart into, it seemed so much worse to let it stand. Not correcting it would have undermined the credibility of the other 5,011 words of the story – at least for “My Little Pony” fans. And I think we have seen now that they are not an obsessive subculture to be taken lightly.
Another part of the Times’ corrections policy, which arose after the awfulness of Jayson Blair, is that each correction is entered in a tracking system that includes who was responsible, and an explanation of how the error came to be.
She tells how the error came to the newspaper's attention, how important it turned out to be in the context of the article, and her explanation for it. Link -via Metafilter
An investigation of the dozens of arson fires in Los Angeles last weekend led to the arrest of 24-year-old German national Harry Burkhart. The case inspired Meghan Holohan to look up famous arson cases and the men who set those fires. Take the case of John “Pillow Pyro” Orr, who set around 2,000 fires that killed four people.
A book Orr had written earlier about a fireman who was an arsonist did not help his defense. Read the story of Orr and five other arsonists at mental_floss. Link
(Image credit: Reuters/Gene Blevins/Lando)
During an arson investigators conference in Bakersfield, Calif., in January 1987, several suspicious fires broke out. At one of the fires, investigators found a single fingerprint on a piece of notebook paper. Two years later, during another fire investigators conference in Pacific Grove, an outbreak of small fires occurred. Bakersfield’s arson investigator compared the participants at both conferences and found 10 people attended both. By 1991, the investigators formed the Pillow Pyro task force and published a profile, noting the suspect was most likely an arson investigator from the greater Los Angeles area. The fingerprint found at the first conference was compared to those of the 10 attendees of both conferences; it matched Orr’s fingerprint. When he was arrested in November 1991, police found cigarettes, rubber bands, and binoculars.
A book Orr had written earlier about a fireman who was an arsonist did not help his defense. Read the story of Orr and five other arsonists at mental_floss. Link
(Image credit: Reuters/Gene Blevins/Lando)
I'm not going to explain this one, because the denouement is more fun than seeing it coming. Don't adjust your sound -there isn't any. -via reddit
Something weird is in the air at Foxoak St, Cradley Heath, West Midlands B64, United Kingdom. Check it out on Google Street View, but only look up if you are brave enough! Link -via Dangerous Minds
If you followed the mission of Apollo 13 in 1970 or saw the 1995 movie Apollo 13, you may have noticed that NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz (portrayed by Ed Harris in the movie) always wore a vest while working. The story behind the vest and what it signified can be found at Vintage Space.
But that's only the beginning. Mrs. Kranz made many vests, in different colors, patterns, and fabrics, each for a different mission occasion. Link -via a comment at Metafilter
Kranz was slightly anxious about his team — not that their youth or inexperience would be a detriment, but that they might feel inadequate. Just because they had been selected last didn’t mean they were the leftovers. To boost morale, Kranz as their leader wanted some insignia for his team to rally around. His wife, Marta, suggested a vest: Kranz loved the three-piece suits that were in style at the time, and she loved to sew. In 1962, she suggested she make him a white vest to wear at his console...
Kranz wore his first white vest on Gemini 4, and it was an immediate hit with his team. He also became lead flight controller during that mission. During the first shift, Kraft turned to Kranz, said “you’re in charge,” and walked out.
But that's only the beginning. Mrs. Kranz made many vests, in different colors, patterns, and fabrics, each for a different mission occasion. Link -via a comment at Metafilter
You have to get very close to the eyes of reptile to see how beautiful they really are. What, you don't want to do that? Then you can see them the easy way, in a series of close-up photographs at Environmental Graffiti. The eye shown here belongs to a chameleon. Link
(Image credit: Flickr user Umberto Salvagnin)
What's more awesome than move special effects? The real thing! This footage of Earthrise over the moon was taken from the Apollo X mission in 1969. All it needed was the proper soundtrack. -via Boing Boing
Star Trek Tin Tote | $14.95
If you always wanted a Star Trek lunch box, but never got one because your parents made you eat cafeteria food, your chance is here! Get your Star Trek Tin Tote from the NeatoShop! There are Star Trek graphics on both sides, plus more on the ends. Check it out, as well as the large selection of other neat Star Trek items, in the NeatoShop.Link
The Welcome Home Blog posts videos of military personnel coming home after a deployment. You are welcome to browse or even submit yours! This video is called Soldiers Surprising Their Loved Ones: PART ONE, a compilation of returning service members surprising their parents, spouses, children, siblings, or pets. There are several compilations listed under "best of" at the blog. The Welcome Home Blog is not limited to surprise videos, but that's what most of them are. Link -via Breakfast Links
The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in the Philippines was built decades ago, but was never put into use. The facility's maintenance is quite an expense, but its owner, the National Power Corporation, has turned the site into a tourist attraction! You can take a tour of the nuclear reactor (something you certainly cannot do in the U.S.) and stay in a cabana on the beautiful beach nearby, which also serves as a turtle sanctuary. Relax, there is no uranium here! But if you can't just pick up and go to Bataan, take a tour with a gallery of photographs and information from National Geographic News. Link -Thanks, Marilyn!
(Image credit: Jay Directo, AFP/Getty Images)
Following the 1980s Film Alphabet, artist Stephen Wildish has created a new alphabet poster for the movies of the 1960s. I've only studied this a few minutes, so there are a couple I haven't deciphered yet. It's not that I don't recall the movies, it's more that I just can't remember the titles. Link -via Laughing Squid
Black Bart Boles
Guns? Check. Masks? Check. Poetry book? If you're going to rob a stagecoach, here's how to do it with flair.
If You're A Poet, Show It
Even if you're a no-good, law-flouting bandit, it pays to mind your manners -and your meter. In California, between 1875 and 1883, Charles E. "Black Bart" Boles held up more than two dozen Wells Fargo stagecoaches. Even though he seemed to have an intense private grudge against the bank, he was always polite to its employees, asking stage drivers to "please" throw down the money. Stranger still, Boles often left poetry at his crime scenes. This poem was his most well-known:
I've labored long
and hard for bread,
For honor and for riches,
But on my corns
too long you've tread,
You fine-haired sons of bitches.
In 1883, Boles was wounded during a holdup and accidentally left a handkerchief at the crime scene. When Wells Fargo detectives traced it back to him, he was arrested and imprisoned, and although Boles' career as a robber was over, his literary influence was just beginning. During his imprisonment, several copycat stagecoach robbers left truly dreadful bits of poetry at the scenes of their crimes.
Spin the Media
Jesse James and his One-armed Mother
Jesse James spent as much time honing his public image as he did robbing people. In fact, James frequently wrote letters to newspapers, stressing that his gang never attacked innocent farmers, only corrupt banks and railroad companies. He also claimed lawmen hounded James and his brothers because they had been Confederate soldiers, which won the gang sympathy in the South. His letters were widely reprinted, even in The New York Times, helping turn the Missouri bandits into national legends.
One night in 1875, Pinkerton detectives threw a flare into the James family home. The agents were trying to light up the dark house so they could shoot at the outlaws, but the flare exploded in the fireplace, killing Jesse's young half-brother and maiming his mother, who lost her right forearm. James made the incident seem even worse than it was in his letters to the press, falsely claiming the detectives had tossed a 32-pound military shell into his mother's home. The public was horrified, and after the explosion, Pinkerton agents received little help from Jesse's neighbors, who were often happy to provide the James gang with food, information, and hiding places.
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Guns? Check. Masks? Check. Poetry book? If you're going to rob a stagecoach, here's how to do it with flair.
If You're A Poet, Show It
Even if you're a no-good, law-flouting bandit, it pays to mind your manners -and your meter. In California, between 1875 and 1883, Charles E. "Black Bart" Boles held up more than two dozen Wells Fargo stagecoaches. Even though he seemed to have an intense private grudge against the bank, he was always polite to its employees, asking stage drivers to "please" throw down the money. Stranger still, Boles often left poetry at his crime scenes. This poem was his most well-known:
I've labored long
and hard for bread,
For honor and for riches,
But on my corns
too long you've tread,
You fine-haired sons of bitches.
In 1883, Boles was wounded during a holdup and accidentally left a handkerchief at the crime scene. When Wells Fargo detectives traced it back to him, he was arrested and imprisoned, and although Boles' career as a robber was over, his literary influence was just beginning. During his imprisonment, several copycat stagecoach robbers left truly dreadful bits of poetry at the scenes of their crimes.
Spin the Media
Jesse James and his One-armed Mother
Jesse James spent as much time honing his public image as he did robbing people. In fact, James frequently wrote letters to newspapers, stressing that his gang never attacked innocent farmers, only corrupt banks and railroad companies. He also claimed lawmen hounded James and his brothers because they had been Confederate soldiers, which won the gang sympathy in the South. His letters were widely reprinted, even in The New York Times, helping turn the Missouri bandits into national legends.
One night in 1875, Pinkerton detectives threw a flare into the James family home. The agents were trying to light up the dark house so they could shoot at the outlaws, but the flare exploded in the fireplace, killing Jesse's young half-brother and maiming his mother, who lost her right forearm. James made the incident seem even worse than it was in his letters to the press, falsely claiming the detectives had tossed a 32-pound military shell into his mother's home. The public was horrified, and after the explosion, Pinkerton agents received little help from Jesse's neighbors, who were often happy to provide the James gang with food, information, and hiding places.
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