He couldn't sing, dance, or tell jokes, but he was television's greatest impresario. He was a stone-faced puritan -- America's arbiter of status quo -- but had a sly sense of humor , and in the segregation-tainted 1950's, welcomed blacks to his stage, and in the 1960's showcased rock n' roll's most anti-establishment acts. His show, the longest-running variety show in history, ran from 1948 to 1971. [more inside]
posted by terranova on Feb 7, 2009 - 46 comments

Turtles, monks, money, and magic "Secretary of State for the Ministry of Cults and Religions, Chhorn Iem, said he had lost count of the number of fraudulent monks and gods that came to his ministry's attention....Police said the turtle was confiscated from the elderly woman, whom they did not name, and taken into protective custody....The monk was released with a caution" - A monk and an old woman tussle over a magic turtle.
posted by troutfishing on May 5, 2005 - 10 comments

Two-headed turtle found in Florida
Probably not all that interesting as a single link, but it turns out there are many animals out there with 2 heads. There's a Two-headed moose fetus, The Full Range of animals with 2 heads, Two Headed Snakes, and here's A Nice Bibliography on the double head topic.
As for the turtle, they let it go, "We didn't want it to become a freak in a freak show," they said.
posted by Blake on Sep 12, 2002 - 17 comments

And you thought the middle east was bad... Here in our own country theres three relatively unknown warring factions using incest, group sex, mutilation and serial killings as guerilla tactics. When will Washington step in and draw the line? When will the madness stop?
posted by atom128 on May 7, 2002 - 11 comments

Who knew the founder of Lycos had a personal website? It reminds me of the homepages of yesteryear. Among his activities, he helps turtles, likes to fly, and has another company that does bizarre avatar bots.
posted by mathowie on Apr 19, 2000 - 0 comments