In 1928, the Ohio-born inventor
Robert Condit wanted to make a pioneering flight like Charles Lindberg the year before. But instead of traveling around a portion of the earth, he wanted to leave it entirely. Destination: Venus. Condit had built a rocket of sorts, and
planned to launch from Florida in March, but postponed due to imperfect atmospheric conditions. Between then and August, he made his way to Baltmore, where he worked with the brothers Sterling and Harry B. Uhler to make or modify his space craft.
Harry remembered their efforts well, recounting the events leading up to an actual attempt to launch the craft (
PDF with photos), made of varnished sailcloth, wrapped around a structure of angle iron ribs, bolted into shape.
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posted by filthy light thief
on May 3, 2013 -
26 comments
About 2 miles into the park... things start to get strange. A forbidding padlocked wrought-iron gate, surrounded by a low lying stone wall sits nestled on the edge of the trail.... Strange rusted debris starts to appear on the side of the paths. What looks like an old water filtration system, broken pieces of farm equipment, half buried sinks, strange concrete slabs with graffiti . A lovely little steam appears and makes delightful background noises, lizards and birds scatter about your feet. And then you see it. A burned-out overgrown concrete building completely covered with graffiti. Cartoon of Hitler? Check. Declaration of undying teenage love? Check.... The bunker of the building is exposed and filled with trash; a metal cage sits menacingly in the corner, and outside a series of stone steps wind up to what seems to have once been a sustenance garden. The steps then continue all the way to the top of the canyon (3,000 steps in all) and ghosts of America Nazis patrolling the wilds fill your head. Baby, we aren't at the Grove anymore... We are at the Los Angeles Nazi Compound! Well, it's actually
the ruins of a small community built by Nazi sympathizers, in
the hills outside of greater Los Angeles.
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posted by filthy light thief
on Mar 19, 2012 -
50 comments
Koko, the Western Lowland Gorilla who is able to understand more than 1,000 signs based on American Sign Language and 2,000 words of spoken English, has met some celebrities over the years.
In 1988, William Shatner had a memorable visit with Koko, as
seen in part in this edited clip, and
re-told on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in 2009.
Mister Rogers visited in 1998 (
YouTube clip), as part of series of shows addressing children's fears of meeting someone new or unusual. In 2004,
Koko met Betty White and
Robin Williams. (
Koko and other non-human primates using and learning sign language previously)
posted by filthy light thief
on Nov 11, 2011 -
12 comments
A little old, but chock full of enough wackadoodle quotes to be your morning cup of head-go-boom-iness.
FOX News on Mr. Rogers and his effect on "the narcissistic society he gave birth to": "
This evil, evil man has now ruined a generation of kids." "Do you think that Mr. Rogers [...] ruined a crop of our newest, youngest generation?" "Instead of telling them 'you're special, you're great', why didn't he say, 'there's a lot of room for improvement, keep working on yourself'?"
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posted by WCityMike
on Apr 6, 2009 -
191 comments
This evening, I entertained myself with these clips from YouTube and Google Video.
Come inside if you like Bette Davis, Charles Laughton, Kubrick, Frankenstein, Shakespeare, and company...
posted by grumblebee
on May 21, 2006 -
46 comments
Mr. Rogers Dead. Fred Rogers of "Mister Roger's Neighborhood" died of stomach cancer at age 74. To be honest, his was never my personal favorite PBS kid's show growing up (I preferred off-brand shows like "Zoom" and "3-2-1 Contact"). But my appreciation for him when I was an adult was pretty high. Anyway, it's a sad day in the neighborhood.
posted by jscalzi
on Feb 27, 2003 -
130 comments
