Deadly Japanese plane crash, pathology / autopsy site

Today's Depressurized Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Japan Airlines flight 123, a Boeing 747-SR46, crashed into the ridge of Mount Takamagahara, near Mount Osutaka, Japan on Monday, August 12, 1985. It remains the worst single-aircraft disaster in history, and the second-worst aviation accident of all time, second only to the Tenerife disaster. All 15 crew members and 505 out of 509 passengers died (including the famous singer Kyu Sakamoto) resulting in a total of 520 deaths. There were four female survivors who were seated together in the center of row 56: Yumi Ochiai, an off-duty JAL flight attendant, age 25, who was jammed between a number of seats; Hiroko Yoshizaki, a 34-year-old woman and her 8-year-old daughter Mikiko, who were trapped in an intact section of the fuselage; and a 12-year-old girl, Keiko Kawakami, who was found sitting on a branch up in a tree. The accident occurred when the plane's rear pressure bulkhead buckled, shedding 15 feet of leading edge and the vertical stabilizer into the sea, depressurizing the cabin, and severing all four of the aircraft's hydraulic lines, rendering the aircraft uncontrollable.

Culled from: Wikipedia
Generously suggested by: deb

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Deb had some additional information to share about this crash: "The plane crashed into the side of a mountain in August, so people were dressed for summer. Since help couldn't arrive until 12-18 hours later, many people died from exposure overnight. One of the survivors, who was a flight attendant hitching a ride, said she could hear screams and cries all through the night. There is a coffee table book of photos taken while the rescue was going on, which is AMAZING!!! I believe it's only available in Japan, and it's called simply 520:524. If you ever have the opportunity, check it out. It's definitely worth it for folks like us."

Oh, I want that book, but I can't seem to track it down anywhere. If any of you manage to locate it, please let me know!

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Morbid Merchandise!!

As promised, I have FINALLY created some t-shirts, with the help of Jen at Juror2.Net. There are more designs on the way, but for now, there are two designs for offer:

Morbid Fact Du Jour 10-Year Anniversary Shirt
Designed to commemorate 10 years of ghastliness, this shirt has the Morbid Fact Du Jour skull and crossbones design on the front left pocket position and the old Aghast! exploding head design on the back. It's available in short and long-sleeve versions.

Team Satan Shirt
I got tired of all those obnoxious "Team Aniston / Team Jolie / Team Jessica / Team Nick" type shirts that are all the rage in L.A. so I thought I'd make a shirt to declare my own personal alliance in the grand battle between good and evil. Also available in short and long-sleeve versions, with some lovely devils gracing the long-sleeves.

Shipping is free and there is still time to order them for the holidays! Please take a look and let me know your thoughts. Also, if you have any requests, don't hesitate to send them in. I'm hoping to have a nice selection of fun-filled morbid wear in the future. Be sure to check out Jen's curiously gruesome stick figure shirts. Thanks!

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Morbid Link Du Jour!

Veronica sends a link:

"As a frequent consumer of the morbid, I often find little gems like PathGuy. "The creation of a pathologist / hobbyist computer programmer, it's an informative page giving a brief overview of the autopsy process, complete with cartoon illustrations. There are also links to a 'time of death determiner,' lecture notes, and a page listing organ weights. I submit this find in the hopes that 'pathguy.com' will be as interesting a read for you as it was for myself."


Note from Leslie: If any of you are concerned that MY personal alliance is Satan, that is NOT the case. I do NOT write the Morbid Fact du Jour newsletter.

Salad and pasta sauce / cheap is good sometimes / Henry / Awana

Note: What I'll get for LJ Christmas, from Quiz Galaxy.


Right now, I'm eating salad with pasta sauce just to see what it's like. Later on, I plan to have some meatloaf with the rest of Jeremy's red cabbage. Maybe I should just have noodles with the red cabbage instead. Yes, I like weird food combinations sometimes! I was just checking my money situation, and I have more money now than I thought I would with the hard drive purchase earlier! Perhaps the cheap stuff at the store helped more than I imagined since I still have a lot of it, as well as the non-purchase of microwaveable meals / the potluck leftovers! (and people giving me things / paying for them!) Hmm... something to think about, anyhow!

Henry and I actually talked on the car ride over to Awana at church, which was pretty cool. Seems he's going to Winter Conference in Calgary this year, and not too many other people are going from our church... it's gonna be COLD! He's going to some place called Wingnuts on Main and 33rd with a few of his buddies (Ben, Danny, Chris, and others) so they can have 200 spicy wings for $89! That's cheap when you have a few people along... apparently, they make you sign a consent form before you eat those, heh. They're just going to see how spicy the wings really are, although there are other flavors... sounds like something Jon or guys in general would do! His sister bought winter tires and it hasn't really snowed since the last time! Doesn't really snow at all around here, really... but you do expect to use something when you invest $1000 in it!

The kids did Christmas crafts today, and I helped a little. Hannah thought my Santa hat was funny, while Tamara just thought it looked like Santa and I needed the whole suit! Haha, maybe some other year... Mike did some stars out of popsicle sticks without any glue, since all that was needed was a little bending. That was pretty cool, too. I learned that little Clara's mom (Flora) gave birth recently: how cool, although she'll have two kids whose birthdays are close together as Clara's is January 2.

Now, Corey thinks I should just open the computer case myself since it could be the motherboard or video card slowly melting the computer to exploding point. :P Well, I would if I could... believe me! I finished all of Nathan's Pot of Gold chocolate truffles already, too... aiya. o_O

Missed calls, checking old email for dessert night, blogging, stupid trolls, Christmas quizzes

Hmm. I have one missed call from Shannon. That number's gonna get deleted RIGHT NOW! We aren't friends anymore, and I don't know if she gets it even though she SHOULD. *goes into washroom to wash up* Ack, now I have ANOTHER missed call, this time from Henry. Let's see what he wants... ah yes, he's being thoughtful and wonders whether I still need a ride today. Yes, I do... thanks for asking! He's not in Richmond right now, but he'll call when he gets here since he'll be a little late. No problemo!

As I told Jeremy I'd do last night, I checked my old email address just in case I was invited to Vivian's dessert night on Sunday. We were talking about doublebooking ourselves during the holidays (Christon and Jon have both done so at least once!), and about Nathan's video game night that happens to be at the same time as the dessert night. Eric told Jon that he wasn't invited so he couldn't help him there, and I remarked that I didn't think I was invited either. But as Jeremy reminded me, you never know since some people don't update their address books right away: even if HE got the email and did that, it doesn't mean everyone else did, haha. As I thought, I wasn't invited. But it's fine, haha... maybe I'll ask her about it tomorrow and invite myself, like Eric was joking HE'd do! Then again, I don't know if Vivian HAS my email address, but she should. Whatever... it's not as if I bake like Randal does or anything!

Speaking of checking things, I also checked blogs. Steph's had to go out and buy a new laptop, since her last one (a Toshiba) crashed at church while she was attempting to do Powerpoint. At least this new one (a Lenovo) isn't as heavy and is lighter than the old one. She wanted to get another Toshiba that was 0.3 pounds lighter, but it was also $700 (plus tax) more expensive! Yikes. At least she's got things sorted out there, and apparently also was a bad girl at her office party. Oh my! I can only imagine...

Spoz has another weekender rant which he describes as face-melting carnage. Interesting, but I dunno. Vivian and Dawn have both filled out that "survey of two" which Steph did last week. Viv also dressed up her stuffed pig Hammie with a bow and candy cane: very cute! She's also done some holiday baking, and braved the malls to go Christmas shopping for her immediate family. It's an insane world out there, and you gotta be brave! :P

The NEXT time Eric asks me if I got up to anything interesting in the past week, I should tell him that I've done figurative battle with a number of Internet trolls and people who want to make my electronic life miserable! I've got someone telling me that my "violent" reaction to someone with icons of gay pRon actually indicates that I have an immense desire for such stuff to happen to me. Uh, I don't THINK so! Then I have someone else telling me that breastfeeding icons are more offensive than those icons... what the heck ever! All I said was that the dude was driving me insane with his offensive sex icons! Argh.... while I don't think gay porn is useful, that opinion doesn't mean what they think it does!

You Should Spend the Holidays In

Mexico - where Christmas Day is celebrated by breaking a pinata

What Country Should You Spend the Holidays In?

You Don't Drink Too Much

Looks like you're a social drinker, at worst! Keep partying, but as always, know when you've hit your limit.

Do You Drink Too Much?

HA. Take THAT, Richmond Crew! :P

(which reminds me, a certain person now knows that I tend to get hyper at family dinners with alcohol... or at least, I know that she knows that!)

Dream: Cute cigarette filters, twins born underwater, and sending people to their deaths

Yes! Semagic now autosaves even when I exit out of the program, thanks to Jamie's helpful tips! You rock! :D (I've also discovered a font setting, which helps when I want to enlarge / change the font so I can actually see what I'm typing better... yay!)

When I finally did get to sleep, my subconscious plunged me into weirdness yet again. I dreamed that I was waiting for people inside a light brown room of a house. Alan, Liz, Jon, and his friend Matt finally got there and we went driving around in a car: Jon decided to clear a gap in the road by jumping off a ramp onto the other side. We eventually arrived at a crowded building, where we all went our separate ways. Guided by others chattering in the hallways, I went to another room where a woman had given birth to twins underwater with the whales. Rock 101 was covering it, and there were lots of reporters and various microphones along with all the other interested folk. One of the twins looked normal (but appeared three years old?!), but the other one was having problems. Jon found me there, and wondered if I were affiliated with Rock 101. Haha, of course not!

Then he said that I had to go back with him after a while because Ivan, Karen Choo, Vivian and Karen were going to be with us for a meal. I went with him and Matt to the car again (Alan and Liz had gone somewhere else), and I found their cigarette filters pretty cute. Apparently, the smoke went through tubes connected to special foam backing and went right out the other end. They had the windows open to allow the smoke to escape, and I recall thinking that Grace (Jon's girlfriend in the dream who didn't appear) had better not know about this because kissing a smoker wasn't the greatest thing in the world. :P

The multi-floor parking garage was laid out like a waterslide, so we twisted and turned until we reached our destination at the bottom. We were able to look through the windows and see a LOT of people lined up in the night around the orca statues and Canucks jerseys. They were waiting to get inside a music building (it had guitars and such on the sides!) Jon threw his cigarette out the window, and then some East Indian guy threw his own half-smoked cigarette to Jon. I had to say "EWWWW!" at that, of course! After meeting up with the people and having a meal, the people in the restaurant were taken over / herded into a large room on a ship where we were told by some important dude that our tale was now an allegory for giving up various things to make ourselves better. When people asked what he meant, we were told that we'd find out later.

After some time, all the servers in white jackets and the ones in green jackets were told to get off our ship and fend for themselves. This was the allegory for people giving up tea, we were told. Later, all the people who didn't have select last names were told to go into a room where they'd learn their final destinations. We knew that meant they'd die, especially if they were being sent to the desert. Margaret K. wanted to know where Auntie Ruby was because she gave the best advice on snacks for the journey. People surnamed Lee were the first to go, because their last name spelled backward meant EEL. (this somehow made sense when it was explained to us that they were vile serpents) There were various old ladies from church who didn't understand what was going on, so we tried to explain. My parents and I were among the lucky ones, as were my friends from earlier, though we all got separated. As the three of us climbed into a white porcelain lifeboat (which kinda looked like a baby toilet used for toilet training), my mom was crying because she knew she'd never see her friends or these people ever again. My dad put an arm around her and comforted her as best he could. The dream ended when we were all drifting off towards our good promised land... quite weird.

No, I am not on crack. I have NO idea why I had this dream. :P We briefly mentioned Phil's girlfriend Grace last night, as well as tobacco being bad for you... but those shouldn't translate into this! Neither should seeing Alan and Liz for a few minutes last night, or seeing the orca statues near Dragon Ball... I have an odd brain, and Eric thinks I went really nutso during his first year of university at U.Vic when he wasn't around. (we've known each other a LONG time, for sure!)

Hurricane Durian's name IS funny... Jeremy's proven it!

Note to self: Semagic does NOT autosave your entry, so you're really inconvenienced when your computer stalls / crashes. Now I have to retype the whole beginning paragraphs out again! Not cool, especially since I should be in bed by now!

I was properly attired in my Santa hat when Eric pulled in a couple minutes after I left my apartment. He'd have been there sooner from his workplace, but there was a lot of traffic volume for some reason. When we passed Burkeville by the airport on the way into Vancouver, they had no power... and still had none when we went by it on the way back from Nathan's past 1 in the morning! I asked Eric if he had any cash, since he was asking me to feed him with steak. He had 75 cents, which is not enough for Pho! I told him that I'd buy him a grilled pork thing and he could pay me back later. Of course, I was random with certain things... and he was lucky since I'd put on Purell before leaving home!

At Pho, I saw Karen Choo and Jen, who invited me to sit with them. We were talking about what Jen wants to do now she's finished her transitions course (writing for non-profits) and Karen's wanting to get published in VOGUE even though it's glamorous. Jon, Alan, and Liz came in... I said hi to them, and Karen wondered to me whether Liz was Jon's girlfriend. I think Alan would have something to say about that! Liz told me that she was still wearing multiple layers of clothing: I guess she's still cold despite having had some time to get used to these temperatures versus those in Malaysia! Karen insisted on paying for my meal, which I accepted while being Chinese about it. For some reason, she thought it was sweet what I was doing for Eric: "I never get to see this side of you! That's SO SWEET!" Jen took a more chill approach, saying that she could see Eric saying "Feed me!" to him. The dude needed to eat, too!

Went to the basement and gave Eric his food while talking to Jeremy and others about his office being without power: only the server room had some, heh. Not good if everyone works with computers! He saw flying dumpsters as a result of the windstorm at 3:30 AM... oh my! Bible Study was interesting: we spent some time talking about our Bible Study outing on the 29th (which Jon later told Harmony that she was welcome to) and about the ESC Christmas dinner next week. (note to self: BUY $5 DINNER TICKET TOMORROW / SUNDAY!) There was some good discussion, but we haven't picked a dinner place yet... plenty of time for that, though! We discovered that Dylan didn't know about Harmony OR about Eric's special diet.. HUH?! ("... yeah, we all have relationship pasts... what?! Jon has one in the present, and that's why Jen's staring at him?! Dude, I have to talk to you about it later! ... what do you mean, you have to have dinner where Eric can eat the food?! He's eating white rice now since he has no choice and the stuff that comes with it is the stuff he CAN eat on the Pho menu?! WHAT?!") Later, he and Jon were having a discussion about her at Dragon Ball, so I suspect that he's in the loop now.

Dylan said that Pastor Edward wanted us out at 10 because we really get in the janitors' way on Friday nights. He tried hard to lobby for us, but no go. Someone brought up Dragon Ball, so we all agreed on that. I asked Randal whether he was going, which he was: he then asked if I had a ride there, because he could drive me if I didn't. Of course I had a ride there: Eric! After Randal left, I told Eric about this (we'd discussed what I should do to him on the way over :P), and he jokingly denied that he was my ride to bubble tea. Uh, yeah... I don't THINK so! We talked about tomorrow's prayer meeting / Floodlight practice / Floodlight songs before going to Dragon Ball. While there, we looked through magazines and talked about Google Video documentaries on Powerpoint and other things / turkey / Christmas dinner / meeting people ("some other white guy!" haha), and general Christmas plans. At least Jeremy can spend almost four days with his family, and not have to worry about working 13 hours on Boxing Day this year! Then we talked about Netspeak, "pwned," "lol," and leet speak for a while... it seems that nobody would tell Vivian what leet speak was for a LONG time! I should send 'em all Spoz's rant about it, haha. Dylan wondered where all the cards were, but we were having good conversations... no need to play cards and talk about the game! Jon noticed that Dragon Ball had brought the little stools back: YAY!

After I'd received my second free bubble tea (Jeremy had to use Eric's stamp card) of the month, Karen told us that Adela's mom makes yams with marshmallows. Interesting combo... then Jeremy told Karen how to make claypot chicken, and how salty chicken worked. Just marinate it in salt?! Oh my! I told Jeremy and Jon about HURRICANE DURIAN... Jeremy reacted how I'd expected him to, with immense laughter. Jon had heard about it from Dad, Eric thought I meant Hurricane DORIAN since they name them after people, and Jeremy laughed a LOT since he hadn't heard about it. Then they laughed at what a real durian hurricane would entail: "Ow! I just got hit by spiky fruit! Ew! It stinks!" See?! I told you it would be funny! :D (not that we're laughing about the possible DEAD / MISSING people in the hurricane... it's just the name! :P )

Harmony called Jon in the middle of all this, so Jon tried to hold a conversation with her while still being engaged with us in some way. I asked Eric why on earth I carried my bag in when I should have just left it in the car, so he tried to tell me that I was a fool. At least he watched my bag for me, and carried it on the way out. Jon said that they used starfruit syrup instead of the real thing tonight: Dylan, Jen, and I tried his starfruit-strawberry bubble tea (I had pudding-honeydew) and found it kinda sour. Randal was too put off to try it, heh. Vivian asked me whether I remembered our Sunday School Christmas brunches of long ago, since her sister Karen and Vania didn't. I definitely remembered, and tested her theory of "they're too young to remember" by asking Jon who was still discussing Harmony with Dylan. He didn't either, but responded "Uh.. sure?" to my reminder attempts. Jen was amused, since that seemed like he'd agree to whatever I said, haha. We got into a discussion of gas prices and the 39.9¢ gas war of years ago... the Shell was selling it for 107.3, and the Esso right across the street was selling it for 102.3! Jeremy joked that the Shell had filled their quota and had better brand-name recognition anyhow.

After some time, our car went to Nathan's. Jon let us in, and we were saying hi to Isabel (and marveling over how clean her room looked / laughing at the sign on the door telling people to STOP!) when Nathan came downstairs: "Hi, kids!" Jon tried to contextualize his jokes with us for Harmony ("kick him in the nards! ... you don't want to know!"), and I'm not sure how well that worked! Jeremy told people that nobody at Dragon Ball really asked whether he and Jon were sure that they wanted to try some weird flavor anymore! (it's passed on to me since I don't get asked that question!) They DID get a lot of weird looks and questions in the beginning of this COMBO kick, but not anymore! (Jon had durian-coffee bubble tea in Toronto once... ewww!) Eric found a weird Japanese PS2 game called OKAMI, and tried playing it. The intro was EXTREMELY LONG and featured very weird sound effects, repeated in-game whenever the characters talked. It was distracting Jon from his phone call, haha.

Jeremy went upstairs to use the washroom (we didn't want to use Isabel's) and came downstairs practically in hysterics. The NATIONAL POST newspaper was on the counter, and he read one headline promoting CHARLOTTE'S WEB the movie. ("Don't forget to bring your Kleenex!") He warned us that we might not find it as funny as he did, but the first thing he thought of was "Quick! I gotta kill a spider with a Kleenex since I found one here!" even if it meant that it was probably a sad movie. It was amusing me and Eric enough, though! At about 12:35, I told Jon that he may as well let Harmony sleep since it was 3:35 AM for her. Nathan chose that moment to listen in and thought it was 3:35 AM here ("where did the three hours go?!"), so we had to explain that we meant Toronto Eastern Standard Time, not Pacific Standard Time! Harmony now knows (among other things) that Nathan's inhibitions are lessened in the morning, and that Mom gets drunk on three sips of beer. Of course Jon isn't going to joke about certain things in front of her parents when he does meet them, heh. That would be BAD, haha. Apparently, Mom wants to have a family day with her on the 23rd, and wondered if she wanted any other people along: who knows, so we'll see. Dallas will be gone by then: his seeming "prim and proper" attitude is why my parents like him... Steph and I like him too, but not necessarily because of that.

Nathan shared some chocolate with us, and asked if anyone wanted a box of frozen cream puffs: I took him up on that offer when we were getting ready to leave, heh. He has too much stuff, so why not help him out? On the way home, Alan called Jon to say that nobody was answering Steph's phone, and they didn't want to wake Mom and Dad up to let them in since it was past 1 AM. Jon had no idea what he and Liz could do to chill, but advised them to just stay there since we were dropping Jeremy off. We noticed people sleeping in store doorways, planned stuff for Floodlight (Powerpoint backgrounds are COOL AS HECK!), and wondered where the snow was. It came after we'd dropped Jeremy off, and started sticking when we were in Richmond. Man, it snowed fast! Now, I'm going to bed since I've been up for FAR longer than I thought I'd be! (stupid computer... *grumble*)


International House of Pancakes Pumpkin Pancakes

During the holiday season, this particular pancake flavor sells like... well, you know. It's one of 16 varieties of pancakes served at this national casual diner chain. You can make your own version of these delicious flapjacks with a little canned pumpkin, some spices and traditional buttermilk pancake ingredients. Get out the mixer, fire up the stove, track down the syrup.

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons canned pumpkin
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1. Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with oil cooking spray.
2. Combine eggs, buttermilk, butter, pumpkin, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to blend ingredients.
3. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and blend with mixer until smooth.
4. Pour the batter in 1/4 cup portions into the hot pan. Should form 5-inch circles.
4. When the batter stops bubbling and edges begin to harden, flip the pancakes. They should be dark brown. This will take 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Flip the pancakes and cook the other side for the same amount of time, until dark brown. Serves 3 to 4.

Eating filthy things as proof of dementia, Albert Fish film, pet zombies

That new LJ update page is not so good, so I've decided to upgrade my Semagic client. I won't have to use it for GJ, unless they also do something to screw up their update page. Also, thank goodness that the Morbid Facts got delivered to my inbox hours earlier than last week! Otherwise, you'd be seeing another meme in this space. ;) (yay for the post field not being one thin line across like it was the last time I downloaded this program!)

Note to self: Do tags in the GJ update field, since the Semagic tags field seems to have a lot more room.

Eric just called to say he'd be here shortly. He has to do guitar, which is why he's picking me up early: Pho dinner for me, even if he does think I'm in bed / don't have enough time to go to the washroom. He deserves randomosity just for that alone, I tell you! :P (no shower time for me, sadly!)


Today's Choice Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Excerpt from the Report of the Board of Trustees of the Northern Michigan Asylum at Traverse City, September 30, 1886, which detailed inmate deaths since the opening of the asylum in 1885:

Male, age 27, single, native of Ireland
Occupation: laborer

"[He] was, when admitted, much demented, and in delicate physical health. His death was due to acute peritonitis, caused undoubtedly by his degraded habit of eating irritating and indigestible articles. Broom straws, the nap from the blankets, articles from the spittoons, and other filthy and disgusting material were to him choice morsels."

Died: April 11, 1886
Cause of Death: acute peritonitis

Culled from: Angels in the Architecture

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The Comtesse Reviews...
Angels in the Architecture by Heidi Johnson

Angels in the Architecture is a fascinating study of the abandoned Traverse City State Hospital (formerly known as the Northern Michigan Asylum) in Traverse City, Michigan. The book contains many interesting snippets from asylum record books (such as the one above) as well as fascinating recollections from former patients and nurses. But the real reason to purchase this book is to see Heidi Johnson's mesmerizing black and white and infrared photography. She has a gift for making the mundane look profound and she brings the sadness, loneliness, and poignancy of these old buildings to brilliant life. I was able to find a gallery of her photographs online so that you can see the grandeur of her imagery.

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Morbid Press Release Du Jour!

I just received the following press release regarding the upcoming Albert Fish film by the creator of the great H. H. Holmes documentary:

Elderly Serial Killer to be Released in 2007

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – December 13, 2006 (Waterfront Productions) – With nicknames such as Brooklyn Vampire and Werewolf of Wisteria, it is not surprising that true crime fans have long awaited the release of Albert Fish – on film, that is. Elderly cannibal Albert Fish will be immortalized on celluloid, as Facets Video schedules the DVD release of John Borowski's ALBERT FISH for March 27, 2007. Fish, whom some consider as one of the most outrageously depraved and twisted criminal psychopaths of the twentieth century, prowled the streets across America during the early 1900s.

Albert Fish is the first docudrama to definitively recount the life and times of the elderly cannibal, sadomasochist, and serial killer, who is most infamously known for the abduction, savage murder and cannibalization of a young girl from New York City. Distorting biblical tales, Fish believes literally the stories of pain, torture, atonement and suffering as he preys on victims to torture and sacrifice. Adding insight to the account are interviews with New York artist and Odditorium owner Joe Coleman and renowned true-crime author Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D.

Fish is filmmaker John Borowski's follow up to his 2004 award-winning documentary, H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer. As with Holmes, North American distributor Facets Video has secured Borowski's Fish for national theatrical and home video distribution.

For true crime fans, Borowski's film production company, Waterfront Productions, offers autographed and numbered X-Ray reproductions of Albert Fish's abdomen, illustrating the needles that Fish inserted into himself. Select retail stores are expected to carry the DVD in March of 2007. Information and collector's edition DVDs are at the film's official website.

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Morbid Trinket Du Jour!

Admit it - you've always wanted your own pet zombie. And now's your chance!

Thanks to Joe for the link.

Motherboards / A Card / Hurricane DURIAN?! HAHAHAHA! / History and Christmas

Corey and I talked about computer stuff last night. It was interesting to see pictures of motherboards, and learn about thermal paste. Only a little bit is needed, so I should remember that. I got a Christmas card today from Samara (mystic_notions), which was good! Somebody knocked on my door at 10:15 AM... hello? Some people might not be up yet or in a fit state to answer the door! Man, this is when I want to change my address in certain places and have my friends in houses take care of possible packages for me!

Someone thought that my comment over the hilarity of a hurricane name wasn't appropriate. C'mon... it's HURRICANE DURIAN! How could it not be funny, at least for a little while? Maybe it's only because I know Jon and Jeremy would be laughing over the name too, but it's not my fault that the name's SO FUNNY! I stand by my comment, because really. Who cares, it's HURRICANE DURIAN! :D :D :D If I were laughing over the fact that people are lost in this Philippines hurricane, then I could see her point... but I'm not and wouldn't do that in any case, so there! :P (I'm still grinning as I type... gotta love the comedy, even if some people take it the wrong way!)

	Leslie learned how to make people explode using only the mind.
	... afterward, Leslie woke up beside a horse.
	'How will you be remembered in history books?' at QuizGalaxy.com

You're a Total Grinch

Ouch! You make the Grinch seem like Santa Claus. Holidays definitely aren't your thing. Just relax, and create your own tradition. Even if it's drinking spiked hot chocolate and heckling carolers.

Are You a Grinch?

Your Holiday Personality is Social

For you, the holidays are all about spending time with people you love - and even those you kind of like. Host your own party - maybe even a few. Get people together for baking cookies, watching movies, and playing holiday charades.

How Should You Spend the Holidays?

For the twelve days of Christmas, your true love will send you:

Twelve street musicians drumming Eleven carolers a-caroling Ten gymnasts a-leaping Nine ladies waltzing Eight llamas a-milking Seven eggnogs a-intoxicating Six puppies a-barking Five Golden Girls Four calling prank callers Three French burlesque dancers Two bottles of whiskey And a monkey in a cherry tree

What Will You Get for the 12 Days of Christmas?

Eric, Alan, Liz, Harmony / In-N-Out Double-Double

Eric told me that he has to pick me up early again tomorrow. Fine by me, since that gives me more time to do Bible Study. I have been procrastinating on it tonight by reading various posts that complain about the new LJ update page, which is not good. At least I know what to do for it, since I told my brother what to do a few hours ago! He says Alan and Liz are coming tomorrow, and staying till Monday. His girlfriend comes at 11 PM on Tuesday, so I guess the earliest I'll meet her will be Wednesday, although I'm betting the weekend will be more likely. Gotta have SLB or SOMETHING, haha!


In-N-Out Double-Double

This is a recipe for making what I believe is the best hamburger in the world. The secret to duplicating this and other fast-food burgers is getting the beef patties really thin... about 1/4 inch-thick. If you like, you can press the beef thin onto wax paper and freeze the patties ahead of time. This makes them easier to work with on the hot pan.

1 plain hamburger bun
1/3 pound ground beef
Dash salt
1 tablespoon Kraft Thousand Island dressing
1 large tomato slice (or 2 small slices)
1 large lettuce leaf
4 slices American cheese (Singles) or-2 slices real American cheese
1 whole onion slice (sliced thin)

1. Preheat a frying pan over medium heat.
2. Lightly toast the both halves of the hamburger bun, face down in the pan. Set aside.
3. Separate the beef into two even portions, and form each half into a thin patty slightly larger than the bun.
4. Lightly salt each patty and cook for 2-3 minutes on the first side.
5. Flip the patties over and immediately place two slices of cheese on each one. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
6. Assemble the burger in the following stacking order from the bottom up:
bottom bun
dressing
tomato
lettuce
beef patty with cheese
onion slice
beef patty with cheese
top bun.
Makes one hamburger.

12 Days of Interests Christmas / Killing your husband with a sherry enema, cleaning up after death

Okay, now I don't have to scroll everywhere to post something... and the font is actually READABLE now! That's GOOD. But why is the autosave at the bottom below the post now? I'd like it at the top since I'm used to seeing it there. Oh well.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, LESLIE sent to me...

Twelve oddities reading

Eleven photos writing

Ten books a-laughing

Nine bands commenting

Eight twins a-playing

Seven biographies a-talking

Six memories a-learning

Five aski-i-i-ing questions

Four serial killers

Three message boards

Two outlander series

... and a language in a crime library.

Get your own Twelve Days:

Today's Detrimental Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A woman has been indicted on negligent homicide charges for allegedly giving her husband a sherry enema that killed him. Michael Warner, 58, died in May 2004 after the enema caused his blood-alcohol level to rise to .47 percent. "That's extremely high," Detective Lt. Robert Turner said. "You're either going to be in the hospital or the funeral home with that much alcohol." Tammy Warner, 42, was indicted last week. Turner said Michael Warner was an alcoholic who could not swallow liquor because of ulcers and heartburn. "He was told that he could not drink alcohol or he would die, according to the people that we interviewed," Turner said. "We are going to prove that she gave him the sherry, and that she knew that he wasn't supposed to have any, and that it could be detrimental to his health, and that she gave it to him anyway."

Culled from: AP
Generously submitted by: Raven Bathory

**********************************************************************

Now, here's a guy who lived (and died) by Charles Bukowski's immortal words, "Anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth."

*******

The Comtesse Reviews...
New York Noir: Crime Photos from the Daily News Archive

This is an interesting collection of crime scene photographs from the coffers of the Daily News. The most famous photo is the image of Ruth Snyder on the electric chair, which is reproduced in its full version here, which I had never seen before. There are a number of ghastly images, but the most powerful ones are the stark "noirish" shots of detectives and prisoners on their way to the courthouse, or at the scene of the crime in the process of being arrested. A fascinating collection. 4/5 skulls.

*******

Morbid Link Du Jour!

Holly offers the following link:

"Bio Cleaning Services of America is a service that cleans up the mess left after 'Homicides, Suicides, Accidental, and Unattended Death.' It's a thing that most people don't like to think about but they have to do -- when someone gets splattered all over a room, they're the ones who go in and scrub them off the walls.

"The articles page is particularly interesting; the article 'An Anatomy of a Bio Clean' describes in detail how the company cleans up the mess left after a person died and wasn't found for two weeks - which is when the person downstairs noticed a greasy brown substance dripping through the ceiling."

"I know the .doc format is a little annoying, but it's virus-free and very worth reading. Give it a look."

*******

"My Brush With Morbidity" by FederalPrisonCop

ANOTHER one of my (many) brushes with morbidity:

In 1993, I went to the doctor because of severe stomach pains, and occasional shortness of breath. An X-ray showed that I had a Morganni's hernia, which is when your diaphragm ruptures, your guts seep into your thoracic (heart / lung) cavity, and interfere with their function. As I left the doctor's office, and walked to the admissions area of the hospital (which was across the street), I suddenly collapsed in pain in the middle of the crosswalk, and had a VERY hard time breathing.

Nurses from both the emergency room and the doctor's office ran into the street to care for me, and they called for an ambulance while they attempted to open my airway, take my blood pressure, etc. The ambulance arrived within a minute, and my doctor came out to treat me as I was put into the ambulance. Once in the back of the ambulance, my doctor told me matter-of-factly, "You have a collapsed lung. I need to give you a chest tube, and it is going to hurt like hell."

I was then strapped to the stretcher, and my right hand was tied to the rail next to my left armpit. I then felt something freezing cold on my right side, and I was told, "Here it comes!" As soon as he said that, he jabbed a scalpel into me WITHOUT ANESTHETIC, and kept moving it back-and-forth, so he could get through the muscle between my ribs. As I lay there screaming to myself, but not making a sound (no air!), he then stuck a finger - then forceps - into me. As he spread my ribs with the forceps, and cut into my thoracic cavity, he said, "Cough!"

I was gasping by this time, but I did my best to "cough" for him. Suddenly, I felt another jab into my side, and then what felt like cold water was being poured into me, while hot water was being spilled onto my side / back. As soon as I felt this cold / hot sensation, my once-silent screams of pain were given massive volume (air!). Although I was throbbing with pain from my right side, the joyous sensation of finally being able to breathe again was somewhat overwhelming it.

My doctor then - FINALLY - put some Lidocaine into my side, and stitched the chest tube to my skin, to keep it from being pulled out during my move from the ambulance to the surgery center. Ironically, the pain didn't do it, but, the sight of him sewing the tube to me made me suddenly get hot all over and pass out.

I awoke the next day in recovery, and I had yet ANOTHER brush with morbidity:

I heard a woman standing next to my bed, and she was saying to my mom, "He had to have his right lung removed, but it only bought him a few months, because the cancer has entered the other lung." I started screaming that they had taken my lung, and that I was dying, but - as I was being sedated - the lady reassured me that it was the man in the bed NEXT to me that was dying... and, it was HIS wife who was telling this to my mom.

By the way... did I mention the morphine-induced hallucinations about being "on a ledge," and "about to fall," because my room was at the end of a long hallway, and my bed was situated where I could look down the hallway? I broke the footboard of the bed, and had to be 5-pointed, because they would not get me "off the ledge."

Dream: Buses going over the South Arm fields and delivering newspapers

For some reason, I dreamed that I was back living at Rosehill Drive near South Arm. The #403 bus was delivering community newspapers in a huge sack that the bus driver had to take out and lug up / down driveways. I got on the bus to see where it would take me. Thought it was cool that it simply traversed the South Arm Park fields, and I was the last one off at night besides these two teenage blonde girls. I went home to find my mom and grandma ready to serve lunch, and picked up the Richmond News to read. There was an article about a big-breasted woman named Danielle who was getting married to a man named Wayne. Wayne used to be my mom's lover, and there was some stuff in there about their relationship and how my brother and sister were at a "biological-father school." It even included a picture of a holiday card he'd sent my siblings, who had decided to write on it: "TRASH BIN! LOVE, JON AND RAE" (for some reason, my sister's name was Rae in the dream...) All this was alongside an article on a missing kid who played soccer in grass.

After eating, I knew that I had to take over newspaper delivery duties on Ryan Rd. / Rosebrook Rd. So I went outside to find Julie S. wanting to have lunch, but she wanted to make sure her sister was around. I helped her find Elaine, then noticed my brother in his grey zippered jacket being the absolute last to cross the South Arm field for school since he was reading while walking! I thought of not delivering some papers, and tried to figure where a good "dump location" would be. Of course, I wanted to deliver to the Mitchells with their six kids, among others. The dream ended as I was delivering to a green-and-white house. Odd. o_O

Icons / Spinning Illusion / 2006 Survey / Noonday sun? / I.H.O.P. Country Griddle Cakes

Note: LJ Movie blogquiz, by forgetthename.


I'm not the type to take holiday blogging breaks, so don't expect that from me! :P

I like the changes Photobucket has made, but I'm still confused about why LJ had to make the change to the beloved Update Page. Just read a few pages' worth of complaining about it... I was the first one on that post to say anything! :D (at least LJ fixed the problem with the tags field being seemingly infinite!) Yes, I am OCDL... but you knew that already!

Went on a bit of an icon hunt tonight since I noticed that my Photobucket icons album had an odd number of icons in it. I could swear it was even the last time I uploaded stuff there, but maybe not. Since I have to have an even number of icons in my slots and in the photo album (and also because I am very... selective / picky)., that took two hours. I'm not interested in fandom icons or celebrity icons like most people in icon communities seem to be. At least I got some that appeal to me!



From Corey: Which way is this girl spinning? Supposedly, it spins BOTH ways at the same time, and it's possible to make it spin either direction just by looking at it.

Here's a 2006 survey from Jenn:

In 2006, I have...

[X] broken a promise
[] made a new best friend
[] fallen in love
[] fallen out of love
[] been in over 2 relationships
[X] lied
[X] gone behind my parents' back
[X] cried over a broken heart
[X] disappointed someone close
[X] pretended to be happy
[] kissed in the rain
[] kissed on a first date
[] slept under the stars
[] kept your New Year's resolution
[] forgot your New Year's resolution
[X] met someone who changed your life
[] met one of your idols
[X] changed your outlook on life
[X] sat home all day doing nothing
[X] pretended to be sick
[] left the country
[] almost died
[X] given up something important to you
[] lost something expensive
[X] learned something new about yourself
[X] tried something you normally wouldn't try, and liked it
[X] made a change in your life
[X] found out who your true friends were
[X] met great people
[X] stayed up till sunrise
[X] pigged out over the summer
[X] met someone from Live Journal in person (that was a good meeting!)
[X] cried over the silliest thing
[X] partied more than 5 times
[X] was never home on weekends
[] gotten into a car accident
[X] found a person I never thought I'd become really good friends with
[X] had friends who were drifting away from me
[] had someone close to me die
[] had a high cell phone bill
[] wasted most of my money on food
[] had a fist fight
[X] gone to the beach
[] seen a celebrity
[X] gotten sick
[] liked more than 5 people at the same time (... thank goodness, no!)
[X] had a wasted night
[X] became closer to a lot of people

There's another Fellowship email in my inbox, but I don't feel like snarking at it right now... the best / worst part was "Your fabulousness shines forth as noonday sun." Uh, sure... at least my name wasn't in the list since I don't feel like being insane in that way. Pictures available here.


I.H.O.P. Country Griddle Cakes

This nationwide chain, which is known for its big bargain breakfasts, serves an impressive number of non-breakfast items as well. In 1997, I.H.O.P. dished out over 6 million pounds of French fries and over half a million gallons of soft drinks. But it's the Country Griddle Cakes on the breakfast menu that inspired this Top Secret Recipe. The unique flavor and texture of this clone comes from the Cream of Wheat in the batter. Now you can have your pancakes, and eat your cereal too.

nonstick spray
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup instant Cream of Wheat (dry)
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Apply nonstick spray.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl with a mixer set on high speed. Mix until smooth.
3. Pour the batter by 1/3-cup portions into the hot pan and cook pancakes for 1-2 minutes per side or until brown. Repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8-10 pancakes.

Cutting off penis, TITANIC, ghost stories, H.P. Lovecraft game

Today's Bloody Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Police in Alaska say a woman upset about an impending breakup with her boyfriend cut off his penis and flushed it down a toilet. Utility workers recovered the severed body part, and surgeons reattached it. The woman is charged with first-degree assault, domestic violence and tampering with evidence. Police in Anchorage say the couple argued Saturday night. But at some point, they decided to have sex and the man agreed to have his arms tied above their bed. After the attack, police say the woman untied the man and drove him to the hospital. Officers arriving later at the couple's home found the woman cleaning up the bloody scene.

Culled from: Associated Press
Generously submitted by: Katchaya

**********************************************************************

She drove him to the hospital??? Talk about a wishy-washy broad. No wonder he broke up with her!! ;)

By the way, this reminds me of a scene from the fabulous bloodfest I Spit On Your Grave which I finally saw a couple of months ago. I heartily recommend it. It's about a woman who is brutally gang-raped and gets her just revenge on all her rapists. In other words: It's a feel-good movie. As with most low-budget films, the acting isn't the best, but her methods of revenge are just so well-executed that you can forgive it. And they now have it on Netflix too!

*******

The Comtesse Reviews...
Titanic by Leo Marriott

Although I picked this up in the bargain book aisle at Barnes & Noble, this is an excellent, well-documented overview of the construction and all-too-brief life of the Titanic. The historic photographs are very interesting and I enjoyed studying the original blueprints of the ship... but then again, my girlfriend thinks I find "the most boring things interesting." Some people... Anyway, if you want a good overview of the Titanic's history, this is an excellent choice.

*******

Morbid Link Du Jour!

Here's a nice website that features "ghost stories and strange folktales of the American South, told by the region's most celebrated storytellers." This one has a twist in that you can either read the stories, or listen to them.

Thanks to Jeri for the link.

*******

Morbid Mirth Du Jour!

Here's a game that is based on H.P. Lovecraft's stories. I completely suck at it, but hopefully you'll have better luck than me!

De-Animator

Thanks to Desmodus for the link.

Dream: Coffee-flavored steak, showering in a communal village / Desserts and ornaments

... what the HECK have they done to the LJ update page?! I liked it better the old way. Now the userpic thing is up top instead of at the bottom, and it just looks all different and such! At least the autosave feature works even when the page is all stretched out on my monitor! (monitor size may be why my brother was able to notice the "disgusting" ads on that poop site, and I wasn't...)

Well, I did go back to bed and actually managed to sleep at around 8. I can blame the lack of sleep on my mom's mentioning her plans for this afternoon, since I get excited over going out sometimes. :P This is seriously screwing up my sleep schedule. Ugh. Then I had a couple of interesting dreams. One featured these two guys picking up these two girls that looked like Phoebe from FRIENDS for a very specific purpose. They went to a restaurant and ordered various interesting things. I was with them for some reason, and hesitated at ordering a coffee-flavored steak from the menu since it cost $11 or so, and I didn't have that kind of money on me. Sad. o_O

Then I dreamed that a bunch of my friends and I were living together in a communal village type of thing. My brother was talking to Nathan about stuff, and I was around for the conversation. I don't remember what it was about, but I do remember being rather enthralled by the discussion which eventually lasted a few days. Then I realized that I needed to shower since I hadn't for a few days. So then I grabbed a towel and some other things from the washroom, but realized there was a sign up that announced that others would be using it for some time. At a loss for what to do, I wandered over to another building, where Chung Yan's parents were playing cards with Randal, who was on a cell phone. I laughed at the 2-against-1 dynamic, and explained my predicament with some embarrassment. They let me use the shower, for which I was most grateful. On the way there, I ran into Jackie... we talked for a while, then I decided to look into a meeting room. My mom was leading a meeting, and Jeremy was there, with a Mohawk haircut. Interesting stuff... the dream ended when I was in the shower. o_O

Now I'm off to do MAJOR work on my list entries!

You Are Smores

Unusual and unconventional, you make your strange ways work for you. You've got personality - no one's denying that!

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

You Are an Angel

A truly giving soul, you understand the spirit of Christmas.

What Christmas Ornament Are You?

Unable to sleep / I've seen 39 Disney films

This is ridiculous! I went to bed at 1:30, and I *still* can't sleep! I know it takes me some time to fall asleep, but come on. Stupid body.... *grumble* I ate a bit of turkey / ham / stuffing (mmm, pork...) at 5, thinking that might be the problem, but apparently it wasn't. So I drank some water, but THAT wasn't the problem either! Then I did some things which I won't discuss here, but that was not the underlying cause. Definitely not good. ARGH. Time to go back to bed after I bring you a Disney movie meme.


Disney Movie Meme, from Candy via Myspace bulletin.

[] High School Musical
[] Holes
[] Lizzie McGuire Movie
[] Cheetah Girls
[] Halloween Town
[] Halloween Town High
[] Cadet Kelly

total so far: 0

[] Get a Clue
[] Motocrossed
[x] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
[x] Pocahontas
[] Pocahontas 2
[x] Lady and the Tramp

total so far: 3

[] Lady and the Tramp 2
[x] Cinderella
[] The Parent Trap
[x] The Little Mermaid
[] The Little Mermaid 2

total so far: 5

[x] Mary Poppins
[] The Fox and the Hound
[x] Dumbo
[x] Pinocchio
[x] Bambi

total so far: 9

[x] Basil: The Great Mouse Detective
[] The Rescuers Down Under
[x] Toy Story
[] Toy Story 2
[x] Lion King
[x] Lion King 2

total so far: 13

[x] Peter Pan
[] Peter Pan 2
[x] Fantasia
[] The Three Caballeros
[x] Alice in Wonderland
[x] Sleeping Beauty

total so far: 17

[x] 101 Dalmatians
[x] 102 Dalmatians
[x] The Sword in the Stone
[x] The Jungle Book
[x] The Aristocats

total so far: 22

[x] Robin Hood
[] Oliver and Company
[x] Beauty and the Beast
[] Beauty and the Beast 2
[x] Aladdin
[] Aladdin: Return of Jafar
[] Aladdin: The King of Thieves

total so far: 25

[] Finding Nemo
[] Monsters, Inc.
[x] Hercules
[x] Mulan
[] Mulan 2
[x] Tarzan

total so far: 28

[x] Lilo & Stitch
[x] The Hunchback of Notre Dame
[x] The Emperor's New Groove
[x] The Nightmare Before Christmas
[] Bed Knobs and Broomsticks
[] Pete's Dragon

total so far: 32

[] Remember the Titans
[] Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
[] James and the Giant Peach
[] Mighty Ducks
[] A Bug's Life
[] The Incredibles

total so far: 32

[] A Goofy Movie
[] An Extremely Goofy Movie
[] Atlantis
[x] The Chronicles of Narnia
[] Around the World in 80 Days
[] Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

total so far: 33

[x] A Cinderella Story
[x] Pirates of the Caribbean
[x] Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
[] National Treasure
[] Princess Diaries
[] Princess Diaries 2

total so far: 36

[x] Freaky Friday
[x] Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
[x] A Muppet Christmas Carol
[] Ice Princess

total: 39

Repost this as: "I've seen __ Disney films." (39)

Need Interesting People / Howard Johnson's Boston Brown Bread

I'd take a shower, but it's kinda late and I'm not talking to anybody right now. I think I need more interesting people to talk to on IM. Even real-life people would be cool, but I almost never talk to them on MSN... go figure! Maybe I need to break out of this comfort zone and meet new people. *sigh*

I probably need to go to bed, though... maybe I'll make a post tomorrow somewhere saying how I need more people to talk to over the Internet, haha. No, I'm not going to call people at this hour. Yet one name keeps popping in my mind... DAMN YOU, subconscious! :P (or maybe it's the power of suggestion [NOT goodbye! :P] from what Eric said on Friday... either way, I don't like it!)


Howard Johnson's Boston Brown Bread

Categories: Meats, Cake Mix

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

1 cup Unsifted whole wheat flour
1 cup Unsifted rye flour
1 cup Yellow corn meal
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup Molasses
2 cups Buttermilk

Grease and flour a 2 quart mold. Combine flours, corn meal, baking soda, and salt. Stir in molasses and buttermilk. Turn into mold, and cover tightly. Place on trivet in deep kettle. Add enough boiling water to kettle to come half way up sides of mold; cover. Steam 3 1/2 hours, or until done. Remove from mold to cake rack. Serve hot with baked beans. Makes 1 loaf.

Cremation in Greece, German poems, gallery of electric chairs used in executions

Today's Far-Flung Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

In ancient Greece, cremation replaced burial as early as 1000 B.C. Reduction to ashes greatly eased the logistical problems of transporting back to Greece soldiers who had died on far-flung battlefields. To the Greeks, fire symbolized purification and the release of the spirit from the confines of the body. Cremation was denied to suicides and those infants who had died before cutting their first set of teeth. Intriguingly, victims of lightning were always buried - perhaps the Greeks assumed that it was pointless for humans to cremate after the gods had incinerated.

Culled from: Death: A History Of Man's Obsessions And Fears

**********************************************************************

The Comtesse Reviews...
1886 Professional Criminals of America by Thomas Byrnes

This sounded like an interesting book, but I found it to be a terrible bore. It's a compendium of professional criminals written in 1886 by New York City police inspector Thomas Byrnes in order to assist other police departments. Although there is some amusement to be found in the archaic terminology used by Inspector Byrnes in his description of the crimes, the biographies of the criminals just aren't very interesting. The problem (in my morbid mind, anyway) is that these are thieves / pickpockets / forgers / con artists, not murderers, so there aren't any good morbid tidbits to hold my interest. I expected there to be more stories involving murderers, but I don't know why I thought that. I should have realized that murderers wouldn't be "Professional Criminals"; after all, they would have been executed and could not have repeated their crimes. So instead, we get the boring old lowlife losers. Although Byrnes does summarize a few interesting murder cases at the back of the book, it's not enough to salvage this dull work. Definitely of historical value, but not entertaining in the least.

*******

Morbid Mirth Du Jour!

gsteinma sends a link to "some wonderful little old German poems (translated) about what happens to bad boys and girls, especially thumb-suckers and those who play with matches." Of course, this could only be Heinrich Hoffman's 1845 masterpiece Der Struwwelpeter! Enjoy!

*******

Morbid Link Du Jour!

Now, here's a nifty site! A gallery of electric chairs used in executions throughout the country! Fun, fun, fun!

Thanks to Daniel for the link.

Quartering phone books, Corey's gripbar, quizzes

Alessandra (dru_it) received my Christmas card yesterday, and commented to my thanks telling me so. I like that. :D

Last night, Corey emailed me some pictures of him tearing apart phone books: this one was 856 pages, plus covers. His Indonesian doctor friend Gercelina (Gercie for short) didn't believe that one of his favorite grip things was doing that, so he had to show her even though he was worn out from doing gripbar stuff earlier. (not BOMB stuff!) His isn't all welded together and painted, though. He just bought a pipe and screwed a round flange on the end to hold the weight on. So his only cost a few bucks! He halved AND quartered this one, when he's never fully quartered one before... that requires busting through the binding when you rip that half, which is kinda hard... he got it this time, for the first time. Tearing phone books requires a different type of grip muscles than the Vbar stuff does... Vbar is mainly crushing grip, like grippers. Phone books are more of a pinch grip thing, so he was definitely worn out after doing that!

These pictures would be even more evidence for Eric H.'s assertion that he is a strongman, haha. (where IS he these days, anyhow?) The marker he used for that has one of those angled tip dealies: it's thick one direction, then you go a different way and it's all thin. It's actually a semi-expensive art pen in the older style, but he's been using it to label CDs these days. He has at least a few other black ones, which are pretty cool. They have alcohol-based ink... you can actually blend them with other colors. They're also not all streaky, and it fills in areas pretty solidly.








Here's one quiz from Mandy (a_phoenixdragon) and one from Quiz Universe. Enjoy! Heh.


Take The Which Fallen Angel Would You Be Quiz
Brought to you by Angel August's Abode

	In 2007, you will...
	Have sex in public
'What is your sexual New Year's prediction?' at QuizUniverse.com

I hardly think so!

Doodie (poop site), Rachel, Lyndsey's stickers, weird dream of break-ins and babies

Doodie.com is a poop site... HOW AWESOME! Found that through RQ, haha. I forwarded that to my family and Rachel when Steph emailed us about some dinner that she and Rachel would like to make for our two families on or around New Year's. Rachel IS relocating to Fort McMurray (Alberta) pretty soon afterwards... good thing Dave Patterson's going to drive her there, then fly back! As long as her parents can act civilized around each other (and they seemed to be at the Keg when celebrating Auntie Esther's birthday), then why not?

I also got a Christmas card today from Lyndsey (fenellaevangela) with stickers featuring rainbows and unicorns: those will be great for little Sean! Apparently, she had a very hard time finding them, and went all over town to find a store that had ONE pack left! Very much appreciated, to be sure. Thank goodness she DID get my card / Vancouver postcard, since hers was the one I thought was missing around here last week or so! I just hope I wrote something in it besides a greeting before mailing it off...


I had a weird dream in which Helen and I were hanging out with her baby Nicholas. We went inside some GIANT French Quarter warehouse store, and Helen went off to find clothing and some gifts for me and her family. I was left with the baby, so held his hand and walked him over to the clothing aisles where I tried to interest him in the bin of Santa hats. He didn't really like that, so I went over to the food aisles. Helen met us there and asked if I liked Japanese crackers and shaped gingerbread cookies: those were fine by me, so she bought 50 of those before we left.

I put those things away at home, and then slept for a while. (yes, dreaming about sleeping again! :P) Then I heard my sister's voice coming from INSIDE my place, saying that the next time I'd see her was on her laptop. I didn't want to get up to investigate it, and thought: "This is MY PRIVATE PLACE! What are other people doing here?!" Finally, I got up to see what was going on. My sister was using my bathroom, so I asked her how the hell she got inside. She told me that she opened the sliding door from outside, even though I'd left it locked. I was highly annoyed and let her know this. When she went out, I saw my mom looking cheerful and waving at me through the window: I slammed the sliding door on her and put a curtain up to block her view.

After that, I thought I'd go back to bed, but didn't. So I went to the computer to check my messages. Four people had left me messages on MSN: Lauren tried to send me a text message via MSN and called me Ryan (her baby's name in the dream) while telling me that I shouldn't leave her any anonymous comments / posts on her message board from now on. Jon asked what my MSN name of "intern = zero" meant, Eric M. left me some pictures of angry animals, and Justin C. simply wanted to let me know about his grades. "G -56 is good!"


What a weird dream. Maybe I was thinking too much about how I should have introduced Jon to Rosenda and baby Ian on Sunday night, but I don't know about the rest of it! Although I really should reply to Lauren's email about baby Brandon and such at some point, too... thank goodness that my mom hasn't barged in here lately! Phew!

Yawns of power? / Houlihan's Houli Fruit Fizz

I'm yawning now... I think I may fall asleep at the computer if I'm not careful, heh. Then again, I probably need to catch up on sleep from the weekend.. staying up till 3:30 or 4 AM on long days is not so great, and I can't really handle it much anymore. But watch: I'll be doing it again sometime in the near future, I'm sure. o_O


Houlihan's Houli Fruit Fizz

Restaurateurs Joseph Gilbert and John Robinson needed a name for the new restaurant they planned to open in the Country Club Plaza of Kansas City, Missouri. To make the job easy, they kept the name of the location's previous tenant -- a clothing store called Houlihan's Men's Wear -- and opened Houlihan's Old Place in 1972. This was at the time when T.G.I. Friday's was popularizing casual dining, so the concept was an instant hit. That early success led to more Houlihan's opening in other states, and another multi-million dollar chain was born. The Houli Fruit Fizz is a simple blend of fruit juices and Sprite that can be served with a meal or enjoyed on its own. This drink is one of Houlihan's own classic, signature recipes.

1 12-ounce can cold Sprite
1/2 cup cold pineapple juice
1/4 cup cold orange juice
1 cup cold cranberry juice

Combine all of the ingredients in a pitcher and pour into two glasses over ice. Be sure all of the ingredients are cold when combined.

VIRGO - The Virgin

Sexy descriptions of zodiac signs, from Sarah G. (Tonks) via Myspace bulletin:

Once you have opened this bulletin, there's no turning back. Below are true descriptions of zodiac signs, with traits from a book written 35 years ago by an astrologist predictionist. Read your sign, then repost this in a new bulletin with your zodiac sign and label, or you'll get bad luck for the number of years stated in your sign description. This is real stuff. Try ignoring it, and the first thing you'll notice is having a horrible day starting tomorrow morning - and it only gets worse from there.

.:VIRGO:. The Virgin

Dominant in relationships. Sexy. Someone loves them right now. Freak in bed. Always wants the last word. Caring. Smart. Intellectual. Attractive. Loud. Loyal. Easy to talk to. Hard to forget. Love at first sight. Everything you ever wanted. Easy to please. The one and only. Ultimate sexiness. 7 years of BAD luck if you do not repost.


.:SCORPIO:. The sex addict

Can be mean. EXTREMELY sexy. Intelligent. Energetic. Predict future. Most erotic. (Freak in bed. (GREAT kisser.) Always get what they want. Sexy. Attractive. Easygoing. Loves being in long relationships. Talkative. The sexiest ever.... Romantic. Caring. 4 years of bad luck if you do not repost.


.:LIBRA:. The lame lover

Very pretty. Very romantic. Nice to everyone they meet. Their love is one of a kind. Silly, fun, and sweet. Have own unique sexiness. Most caring person you will ever meet! Amazing in bed!!! Did I say amazing in bed? Not the kind of person you wanna #### with... you might end up crying... the most irresistible. 9 years of bad luck if you do not repost.


.:ARIES:. The Liar

Outgoing. Lovable. Spontaneous. Not one to #### with. Erotic. Funny. Take you on trips to the moon in bed. Excellent kisser. EXTREMELY sexy. Loves being in long relationships. =) Addictive. Loud. Best in bed. 16 years of bad luck if you do not repost.


.:AQUARIUS:. Does it in the water

Trustworthy. Sexy. Great kisser. One of a kind. Loves being in long-term relationships. Extremely energetic. Unpredictable. Will exceed your expectations. Not a fighter, but will knock your lights out. Amazing in bed, and THE BEST LOVERS! BETTER THAN EVERYONE! 2 years of bad luck if you do not repost.


.:GEMINI:. Does Twosomes

Nice. Love is one of a kind. Great listeners. Very good in bed. Lover not a fighter, but will still knock you the #### out. Trustworthy. Always happy. Loud. Talkative. Outgoing. VERY FORGIVING. Loves to make out. Has a beautiful smile. Generous. Strong. ULTRA SEXY. THE MOST IRRESISTIBLE. 9 years of bad luck if you do not repost.


.:LEO:. The Lion in bed

Great talker. Sexy and passionate. Laid back. Knows how to have fun. Is really good at ###f. Great kisser. Unpredictable. Outgoing. Down to earth. Addictive. Attractive. Loud. Loves being in long relationships. Talkative. Not one to mess with. Rare to find. Good when found. 7 years of bad luck if you do not repost.


.:CANCER:. The Cutie

MOST AMAZING KISSER. Very high ### appeal. Great in bed!!! Love is one of a kind. Very romantic. Most caring person you will ever meet! Entirely creative. Extremely random and proud of it. Freak in bed. Spontaneous. Great telling stories. Not a fighter, but will knock your lights out if it comes down to it. Someone you should hold on to. 12 years of bad luck if you do not repost.


.:PISCES:. The Piece of ass

Caring and kind. Smart. Center of attention. Too sexy, DAMN IT. Very high ### appeal. Has the last word. The best to find, hardest to keep. Fun to be around. Freak in the sheets. Extremely weird, but in a good way. Super good in bed. Good sense of humor!!! Thoughtful. A partner for life. Always gets what he or she wants. Loves to joke. Very popular. Silly, fun and sweet. 5 years of bad luck if you do not repost.


.:CAPRICORN:. The passionate Lover

Love to bust. Nice. Sassy. Intelligent. Sexy. Predict future. Irresistible, awesome kisser. Loves being in long relationships. Great talker. Always gets what he or she wants. BY FAR the BEST in BED. Very sexy. Coolest. Loves to own Geminis in sports.
Extremely fun. Loves to joke. Loves to be your first. So you'll never forget. Smart. 24 years of bad luck if you do not repost.


.:TAURUS:. All Of The Above

Aggressive. Freak in bed. Rare to find! Loves being in long relationships. =] Likes to give a good fight for what they want. Extremely outgoing. Sexy as ........ Loves to help people in times of need. Outstanding kisser. Very funny. Awesome personality. Stubborn. Sexual as ......... Most caring person you will ever meet! One of a kind. Not one to #### with. They are the most sexiest people on earth! 15 years of bad luck if you do not repost.


.:SAGITTARIUS:. The Sexy one

Spontaneous. Horny. Freak in bed. High appeal. Rare to find. Great when found. Loves being in long relationships. The one. So much love to give. Not one to mess with. Very pretty. Very romantic. Nice to everyone they meet. Their love is one of a kind. Silly, fun, and sweet. Have own unique sexiness. Most caring person you will ever meet! Amazing in bed!!! Did I say amazing in bed? Not the kind of person you wanna #### with... you might end up crying. 4 years of bad luck if you do not repost.

Throwing your mother to pit bulls, mummified fingers in a jar

Today's Blood-Soaked Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A Brazilian man arguing with his 88-year-old mother threw her into a neighbor's yard, where two pit bulls mauled her to death. Painter Luiz Polidoro, 48, picked up his mother Maria and pitched her over the yard wall during an argument on Thursday afternoon at her house. Two pit bulls tied up in the neighboring yard then savaged her, and she died later in hospital. "He is an alcoholic. He was robbing his mother's pension money so he could drink," the dogs' owner, Helder Bento Rodrigues, told O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper. Polidoro told police his mother had jumped over the wall on her own. The newspaper said he had tried to rescue her. When police arrived, he was cradling the blood-soaked woman. Polidoro has been jailed in Sao Paulo and charged with murder.

Culled from: Reuters
Generously submitted by: Nepetine

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I like how the dogs' owner tries to deflect the attention off the dogs and onto the rotten thieving alcoholic son!

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Tidings Of Discomfort and Gloom!

It's crunch time for Xmess presents, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite online shops for those of you still searching for the perfect gift. These sites have helped me out many times in the past!

Gorey Details
Dark Candles
Gravestone Artwear
Madame Talbot's Victorian Lowbrow
Satan's Sideshow
Design Toscano
Pyramid Collection

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Morbid Mirth Du Jour!

Would you like to know how you're going to die? Just ask the Death Psychic! Turns out that I'll die while having fun with fireworks, when an M-80 blows up in my hand and I die from massive blood loss. Considering I wince when I have to strike a match, I somehow doubt it...

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"My Brush With Morbidity" by Rebecca

"I grew up in an isolated farmhouse in northern New York, 15 minutes drive from town, which at least four months out of the year was more like 30 minutes to town, with snow covering the roads and windchill warnings each month in winter. The house had been built in the mid-1800's, and had been owned most recently by four generations of a family [I'll call them Smith]. When my father bought it, the house was what a realtor would describe as a "fixer-upper," in that it was mildewy on the inside, had water damage on the ceilings and cluster flies everywhere they could think to fit.

"My parents had been adamant about making a place their own, and coupled with the limited funds of a young family, they chose the farmhouse, whose barn had burned down to its stone foundation which we played among as kids.

"The house, and the 60 acres it held, were sold to my father by an elderly woman who had been living alone for quite some time, which would account for the disrepair of the place. My father began to gut the interior of the home, starting with the carpets, days after she was moved into a nursing home by her son.

"The recarpeting, resurfacing, repainting, and all other things that are redone when one undertakes the gutting of a house were accomplished room-by-room, which is why my father had to fix the plumbing. The bathrooms were the last on the list to be restored for use before our family moved in fully, so my father set to work on the plumbing, some of which was located in the cellar.

"The cellar, or basement, was very cold and damp, and not unlike other New England cellars. The Smith family hadn't fully removed all of the sundries located in the basement, and so there were the remnants of four generations of mason jars and pickle jars and fruit preserves and tennis rackets and all other things in the basement.

"My father, having navigated this debris to locate the pipes, was clattering away with his wrench when he heard a clinking sound coming from some jars along the floor. Feeling bored, he started dumping out old coffee cans full of nails and glass jars with rusty bolts and things, but was quite shocked to discover that one of the glass jars held four mummified human fingers.

"He called Mrs. Smith, who said "Oh! There they are!" and proceeded to explain that her uncle (this must have been around 1890) had gone out one night on a horse-drawn sleigh and had forgotten gloves, so his fingers had gotten frostbite. These fingers, then, had to be amputated, and apparently, he was so attached to them that he put them in a jar in the basement for safekeeping. He then died of unrelated causes, and without telling anyone where the fingers were hidden, and so was buried without them.

"The son of the Smith family came to pick up the grisly souvenir, which my father had respectfully left in its original jar, and as far as I know, the fingers were buried alongside the uncle, roughly 85 years after his death."

Awww, why on earth would they bury those fingers? What a great family heirloom!!

Bottled water is NOT made of glass! / Matt, Sheryll, Jamie, Denise, Alessandra, Kelli

I had a few weird dreams last night. In one of them, I was showing my siblings what programs were on my computer. My dad happened to drop in and saw the "RQ VERSION 4" executable file in my program list. Then he decided to lecture me about various negative comments I'd made to / about Aaron Adams (declared_insane), saying that I had two days to apologize to him or else I'd be kicked out. My sibs tried to defend me by saying that he'd started it first, AND it was only on the Internet... no go. We quickly went elsewhere with friends after THAT!

In another dream, I remember having to go to a convenience store that had certain sections walled off with green ticker tape. The bottled water was made with ice, which I misread as "glass." There were lots of cigarettes and comic books on sale, and I eventually ended up buying a lot of those!


It's really windy and rainy out: definitely cause for a warning! Yesterday, Eric found it necessary to tell me that it was windy when we got to church for the potluck: uh, I KNEW THAT ALREADY! Someone also brought up free-range / organic children: the latter would be very difficult because you'd need to have organic parents in order to have truly organic children. Jeremy remarked to me that the babies and little girl were doing a good job of bringing their parents out: indeed, especially if they got little stuffed dolls for it! (Hannah liked to chew on / drop hers, heh)

I got a LOT of stuff in the mail today, including the Internet bill which I'll pay after Christmas! Matt (jarethshair) sent a cool-looking Christmas card, plus a postcard of the University of Oxford. Alessandra (dru_it) sent a Christmas card with the cutest drawings of little kids! Jamie (corporatebeach) sent a Christmas card which featured a white kitten with Christmas tree-shaped sunglasses: so cool, haha. ("Not a creature was stirring, coz I ate the mouse!" SO funny to my twisted sense of humor!) She also included a picture of her and her husband (I think) in Santa hats with a decorated Christmas tree in the background) Denise (rostand) and Kelli (neonrose5) also sent Christmas cards, while Sheryll (sheryll) included two Harry Potter long stickers with HER Christmas card. I'm guessing the Forbidden Forest is somewhere that Harry and his pals aren't allowed to go, heh. Thanks so much, guys!

GAH. The Christmas stocking meme has reminded me to check Myspace. I can just imagine a flood of bulletins since I haven't checked them since maybe Thursday or Friday... eep! That's all I do on there now, though new friends would be nice. Blogging on there gives me way too many errors to cope with, yet I persisted for a couple of months! OKCupid doesn't give me errors when I blog there, but it doesn't archive the posts for you... bad idea when you blog as much as I do! Yes, I have a blogging addiction. :P

I've done that Christmas stocking meme on LJ and GJ, but know better than to do it here. I HAVE NO READERS! *crickets* (but then, I'm not surprised!)

Audiograbber, Morbid Facts, Hot Dog on a Stick Muscle Beach Lemonade

Some people think that nobody likes me.
I think these people take themselves a little TOO seriously.

UGH! Why the hell does the drama follow me MONTHS later?! All I do is correct people in a good way!


Basically, Corey had no luck finding me a POP TATARI torrent, so we went the next best route:

[01:03:47] Flami: My dragon needs a name!: my bro wants his CD back, so what am I to do?
[01:07:32] Corey: so copy the CD if you already HAVE it :P
[01:08:08] Flami: how?
[01:23:20] Corey: you have Nero, right? it'll make you a copy :P
[01:23:31] Corey: the wizard crap will have a CD copying option somewhere
[01:23:36] Corey: pretty obviously, I think
[01:26:49] Flami: so I have to have a blank CD?
[01:29:30] Corey: well, yeah...
[01:29:56] Corey: or you could just get a program like Audiograbber, which will rip it to MP3, or .wav so you can burn a CD... or in the case of MP3, just play on your computer :P
[01:31:36] Corey: this one will even search FreeDB and do track numbers / song names on the files for you :P
[01:32:07] Corey: free program... I'd pick one of the ones that says "direct links"... the other two probably require extra clicking
[01:34:22] Flami: have you used it?
[01:36:25] Corey: that'd be why I know the features, and am sending you to it...
[01:37:20] Flami: I am just checking :P
[01:41:08] Flami: what the heck is a data track?
[01:41:41] Corey: is that the only thing it says?
[01:42:06] Corey: that means there are files on the CD, not music. if there's a data track AND other stuff... it has computer stuff you can look at along with the music
[01:44:38] Flami: no wonder, I had the DVD in
[01:45:15] Corey: having the CD in does help when you're getting the music off it, yeah :D
[01:45:47] Flami: I didn't know what I had in there!
[01:53:23] Flami: okay.. now what?
[01:53:35] Corey: grab!
[01:55:14] Flami: do I need to put the title / track names and such in myself first?
[01:56:15] Corey: no! :P I already told you that it did that for you
[01:56:28] Corey: click the freeDB penguin.. thing... I forget what it is
[01:58:41] Flami: YAY! IT MOVES! :D (I am easily amused :P)
[01:59:39] Flami: ... a 30-second track is more than 5 MB?! What?!
[02:01:09] Corey: someone didn't check the mp3 options
[02:01:17] Corey: .wav files are big... that's why God invented MP3s
[02:01:54] Corey: well, actually it was just some dude that invented MP3s, but he's probably worshipped as a god by some people
[02:02:00] Corey: he's A-OK in my book!
[02:06:09] Flami: I checked the little box, but the files are still kinda huge
[02:09:58] Corey: how huge is kinda huge?
[02:12:22] Flami: huge as in they haven't changed :P
[02:13:01] Corey: does it say they're .wav files or .mp3 files?
[02:14:50] Corey: if you're looking at the Audiograbber window, those are the sizes on the CD...
[02:17:09] Flami: it doesn't say what sort of files they are
[02:17:53] Corey: well then, you suck at computers
[02:18:28] Corey: you're probably looking at the Audiograbber window, which as I just said, is just the files on the CD.... you need to look at where you've saved them, if you've done the grab part yet
[02:21:05] Flami: thanks... now I did the grab thing.. and now it appears like I'm saving ridiculously huge music files on my computer somewhere..
[02:21:54] Corey: it'll tell you where it saves them if you look in the options.. I think it's just in the Audiograbber folder by default
[02:27:01] Flami: well, I can't look at the options right now coz it's busy grabbing the things
[02:27:44] Corey: well that window probably says where it's saving things too
[02:35:44] Flami well, it's done now... they all apparently copied OK to... somewhere?
[02:37:22] Flami: but there's still time remaining!
[02:37:29] Corey: AAAH!!!!
[02:37:35] Corey: this is all so intense!
[02:37:49] Flami: is that good or bad?
[02:39:51] Corey: just look in the settings for where it's set to save the files
[02:41:24] Flami: My dragon needs a name!: general? okay..
[02:41:48] Flami: it is in the Audiograbber folder..
[02:42:02] Flami: but it still says there's 14:46 remaining on the bottom... should I be worried?
[02:42:27] Corey: is it still doing stuff?
[02:42:34] Corey: the bottom of what?
[02:42:58] Corey: if you've got a file for each song....
[02:43:59] Flami: no, it's copied OKAY, apparently... the bottom of the Audiograbber window... and apparently I do..
[02:50:05] Corey: well, if the grabbing window thing went away, it's done
[02:53:01] Flami: okay..
[02:55:01] Flami: should I test 'em, or wait?
[02:55:10] Corey: it's done!
[02:55:18] Corey: the window that was doing stuff has come and gone :P
[02:55:25] Corey: just go click the files and listen to them
[02:57:26] Flami: dang, yet another file thing I should save to my documents folder in preparation for the day when I switch hard drives... or should all that stuff be in another folder entirely? (My Documents won't copy over to another drive, will it?)
[02:59:20] Corey: uh, of course it will. My Documents is just a link to a folder buried in C:\Documents and Settings somewhere
[02:59:36] Corey: it can be changed to something useful... mine is G:\stuff
[03:00:20] Corey: now I can save things to My Documents which stupid programs go to by default, but it's a directory I can actually get to manually without any hassle
[03:05:20] Flami: sweet
[03:07:23] Flami: .... you have SEVEN DRIVES on your computer?!
[03:11:46] Corey: I have A:, C:, D:, E:, F:, G:, H:, I:, J:, K:, and N: at the moment...
[03:11:53] Corey: on my desktop computer
[03:12:48] Corey: C, D, and G are hard drives... two hard drives, one of which is partitioned into two drives :P E and F are DVD drives... N: is a network drive mapped to my laptop's hard drive.. and the rest are virtual CD drives
[03:15:16] Corey: I have C, D, E, F, G, U and W on my laptop :P C is the hard drive, D is the DVD drive... E is a virtual drive... F is the D drive on my desktop, G is the G drive on my desktop, and I should probably get rid of U and W since they're my U and W drives from school, and I need to be AT school on their network to actually access them :P
[03:16:19] Flami: haha, okay... now I can conclude and go to bed... LONG DAY... church, lunch, potluck dinner... which I'll tell you about tomorrow?
[03:19:55] Flami: I looked at where I saved the files, and apparently I have one each of a .wav and MP3
[03:24:02] Flami: is that good?
[03:28:00] Corey: because you did it twice.... one with the MP3 option checked, and one without...
[03:28:01] Corey: you can get rid of the .wavs
[03:28:19] Corey: unless you want to make a normal audio CD out of it.. the .wavs are better for that
[03:28:41] Flami: I don't know what I want to do with 'em, so maybe I'll just keep them both for now...


Today's Unsuspecting Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

During the American Revolution (in 1778), some of the Tories -- American colonials who remained loyal to the British king -- joined forces with Indian tribes to raid frontier towns in New York and Pennsylvania. One of the most brutal raids took place on July 3 in the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. There, some 800 Tories and Indians massacred more than 200 unsuspecting Americans... a bloody act the Tories later blamed on the Indians.

Culled from: The Pessimist's Guide To History

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A Plethora Of Viscera!

The T-shirts I promised are still being worked on and will be available soon, but in the meantime, I created some merchandise at Café Press. (I won't create T-shirts there since they don't utilize the high-quality silkscreening process that I demand for my garments, but they are adequate for other items.) I have created some products with the Skull n' Crossbones MFDJ logo, and some mugs with my "Make Mine Strychnine!" motto. I'm hoping to begin making lots of fun-filled morbid merchandise in the future - this is just the beginning... and hopefully, you'll enjoy what I've done so far. Let me know your thoughts, and please feel free to send your requests for future items my way.

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The Comtesse Reviews...
Nekromantik (1987)

I just finished watching the German gorefest Nekromantik, and I think the words "gory mess" can serve to summarize it on two different levels. First of all, as expected, the gore factor in this movie is very high, and I was heard to say on a few occasions, "Oh, now, that's just sick" - and you know that takes some doing. There are also some scenes of despicable animal cruelty that I found abhorrent (yes, I close my eyes for violence against animals, but not people - make of that what you will). The film is also a mess as far as its storyline is concerned - meandering from reality to dream sequence, from boring moment to gory moment, without much of a point. I mean, it really takes some doing for a film about necrophilia to lose my interest, but this one did it. Stick with Nacho Cerda's Aftermath for a truly good slice of necrophilia.

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Morbid Mirth Du Jour!

A lady walks into a drug store and tells the pharmacist she needs some cyanide.

The pharmacist said, "Why in the world do you need cyanide?" The lady then explained she needed it to poison her husband.

The pharmacist's eyes got big and he said, "Lord have mercy, I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband! That's against the law! I'll lose my license, they'll throw both of us in jail, and all kinds of bad things will happen! Absolutely not, you can NOT have any cyanide!"

Then the lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the pharmacist's wife.

The pharmacist looked at the picture and replied, "Well now, you didn't tell me you had a prescription."

Thanks to Paradox for this one!

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Wretched Recommendations!

Stephen has a film recommendation for us:

"I found a Japanese-made "shock" movie at Walmart that I thought I'd NEVER see there: IZO. It is about a samurai who is too evil to enter Heaven, and too good to enter Hell, so he must walk the Earth for eternity. He eventually tires of this, and decides to kill enough people to get into Hell, and he kills so many (oh, the BLOOD!), that he finally gets his wish.

"For a mere $9.99, it's a good gore-fest, and even has a pretty good anti-establishment (kill all those in charge) plot to go with it, if you're into that."

And who isn't?

Izo (2004)


Hot Dog on a Stick Muscle Beach Lemonade

Entrepreneur Dave Barham opened the first Hot Dog on a Stick location in Santa Monica, California near famed Muscle Beach. That was in 1946, and today the chain has blossomed into a total of more than 100 outlets in shopping malls across America. You've probably seen the bright red, white, blue and yellow go-go outfits and those trippy fez-style bucket hats on the girls behind the counter. In giant clear plastic vats at the front of each store floats ice, fresh lemon rinds, and what is probably the world's most thirst-quenching substance -- Muscle Beach Lemonade. It's a simple concoction, really. Only three ingredients. And with this TSR formula, you'll have your own version of the lemonade in the comfort of your own home at a fraction of the price.

1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
7 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar

1. Combine the lemon juice with the water and sugar in a 2-quart pitcher. Stir or shake vigorously until all the sugar is dissolved.
2. Slice two of the remaining lemon rind halves into fourths for a total of eight pieces, then add the rinds to the pitcher. Add ice to the top of the pitcher and chill.
3. Serve the lemonade over ice in 12-ounce glass and add a lemon rind slice to each glass. Makes 2 quarts, or 8 servings.