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FSogol
FSogol's Journal
FSogol's Journal
October 31, 2017
Rest of the 1979 Washington Post Story at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/05/12/the-mount-vernon-monster/e50bffea-9cbf-4414-b9a4-f9d89b80c73f/?utm_term=.8c668a092c98
The Mount Vernon Monster
It screamed again in Mount Vernon early yesterday morning. Ralph Stickman, the Fairfax County game warden who had been waiting for it in the woods, had just given up and started for his car when he heard that eerie, muted wail-like someone being strangled in the shower.
For the last nine months, nocturnal screaming has come from a patch of woods about one mile from the historic home of George Washington. In freezing rain, driving snow and on hazy summer nights, it has echoed through a neighborhood of $150,000 houses. Children have been frightened. Dogs have barked.
This week the Fairfax County police had had enough. They brought out a Park Police helicopter with searchlights to hover above 100 acres of woods. Six policemen equipped with portable radios were told to stand in the woods and signal to the chopper if they found the screamer. They found nothing.
"I suspect it frustrates the police because they have not been able to catch it," said Dr. William Hark, a physician who specializes in aerospace medicine and lives near the howling in the woods.
For the last nine months, nocturnal screaming has come from a patch of woods about one mile from the historic home of George Washington. In freezing rain, driving snow and on hazy summer nights, it has echoed through a neighborhood of $150,000 houses. Children have been frightened. Dogs have barked.
This week the Fairfax County police had had enough. They brought out a Park Police helicopter with searchlights to hover above 100 acres of woods. Six policemen equipped with portable radios were told to stand in the woods and signal to the chopper if they found the screamer. They found nothing.
"I suspect it frustrates the police because they have not been able to catch it," said Dr. William Hark, a physician who specializes in aerospace medicine and lives near the howling in the woods.
Rest of the 1979 Washington Post Story at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/05/12/the-mount-vernon-monster/e50bffea-9cbf-4414-b9a4-f9d89b80c73f/?utm_term=.8c668a092c98
October 31, 2017
Rest of the story by Matt Blitz at:
https://www.washingtonian.com/2015/10/23/the-scary-weird-somewhat-true-story-of-the-fairfax-bunny-man/
The Scary, Weird, Somewhat True Story of the Fairfax "Bunny Man"
Often with urban legends, theres the story and theres the truth. Thats what makes the tale of Fairfax Countys Bunny Man so eerie, so bizarre and so downright creepy. While there are several variations of the urban legend splashed across the furthest reaches of the Internet, the true story of the Bunny Man may actually be even weirder. A creepy guy, on Halloween, dressed oddly, throwing hatchets at people
its just too bizarre to possibly be true, says Fairfax County Archivist Brian Conley, But it is.
For four decades, the legend of the Bunny Man has captivated Northern Virginia fear-seekers. Conley first heard the tale when he was an area youngster in the 1970s. It showed up in a 1973 University of Maryland undergrads class paper. It has been told and retold by local teens for years. While the legend has evolved and changed through the years, it follows these lines: In the early 20th century, deep in the woods that divided the town of Clifton from Fairfax Station, there was an asylum for the insane. At some point, the asylum closed and the residents were piled into a bus bound for Lorton Prison. On the way there, the bus swerved and crashed. Many of the convicts escaped, but were caughtsave one, Douglas Grifon. While searching for him, authorities found a trail of half-eaten, gutted bunnies with many hanging from what was then-called Fairfax Station Bridge. For months, the police searched for Grifon, but he was never found. Then, on Halloween night, several teens were hanging out under the bridge. At the stroke of midnight, they were attacked. The next morning, they were found hanging from the bridge, gutted like bunnies. To this day, its said that if you are at Bunny Man Bridge at midnight on Halloween night, you too will meet the fate of those teens and rabbits.
It is a helluva good piece of creative writing, Conley says about what he thinks is the most widely known version of the storyan account that follows this narrative from Timothy Forbes on castleofspirits.com. He specifically cites historical inaccuracies for why the account is falselike that Lorton Prison wasnt open until 1916, theres no Fairfax court record of Douglas Grifon and the old Clifton Library (where the articles author tells skeptics evidence exists) never even existed.
A constant trickle of Bunny Man questions re-engaged Conleys interest in the story. I got tired of saying I dont know, he explains. It took nearly a decade of research, but in 2002, he published what has to be considered the foremost paper on the subject. What he discovered is that the real story is even more bizarre than the legend.
For four decades, the legend of the Bunny Man has captivated Northern Virginia fear-seekers. Conley first heard the tale when he was an area youngster in the 1970s. It showed up in a 1973 University of Maryland undergrads class paper. It has been told and retold by local teens for years. While the legend has evolved and changed through the years, it follows these lines: In the early 20th century, deep in the woods that divided the town of Clifton from Fairfax Station, there was an asylum for the insane. At some point, the asylum closed and the residents were piled into a bus bound for Lorton Prison. On the way there, the bus swerved and crashed. Many of the convicts escaped, but were caughtsave one, Douglas Grifon. While searching for him, authorities found a trail of half-eaten, gutted bunnies with many hanging from what was then-called Fairfax Station Bridge. For months, the police searched for Grifon, but he was never found. Then, on Halloween night, several teens were hanging out under the bridge. At the stroke of midnight, they were attacked. The next morning, they were found hanging from the bridge, gutted like bunnies. To this day, its said that if you are at Bunny Man Bridge at midnight on Halloween night, you too will meet the fate of those teens and rabbits.
It is a helluva good piece of creative writing, Conley says about what he thinks is the most widely known version of the storyan account that follows this narrative from Timothy Forbes on castleofspirits.com. He specifically cites historical inaccuracies for why the account is falselike that Lorton Prison wasnt open until 1916, theres no Fairfax court record of Douglas Grifon and the old Clifton Library (where the articles author tells skeptics evidence exists) never even existed.
A constant trickle of Bunny Man questions re-engaged Conleys interest in the story. I got tired of saying I dont know, he explains. It took nearly a decade of research, but in 2002, he published what has to be considered the foremost paper on the subject. What he discovered is that the real story is even more bizarre than the legend.
Rest of the story by Matt Blitz at:
https://www.washingtonian.com/2015/10/23/the-scary-weird-somewhat-true-story-of-the-fairfax-bunny-man/
October 31, 2017
Apologies if I posted this before, but is my favorite version of this story. Enjoy
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by cartoonist Kris Straub
Apologies if I posted this before, but is my favorite version of this story. Enjoy
October 30, 2017
Starved in metropolis, Hooked on necropolis, Addict of metropolis, Do the worm on the accropolis,
Slamdance the cosmopolis
Enlighten the populace
Plead guilty Papadopolous!
Apologies to The Clash and William S. Burroughs
October 30, 2017
Hey DU legal scholars: What's the difference between "conspiracy against the US" and "treason"
Enquiring minds want to know!
October 27, 2017
#2 (heh!) and the rest are at:
http://www.neatorama.com/2017/10/23/Pot-ergeists-5-Famous-Haunted-Toilets
Pot-ergeists: 5 Famous Haunted Toilets
From Miss Cellania of Neatorama
1. Haunted Bathroom: A first-floor restroom in the Galvez, a century-old historic beachfront hotel on Galveston Island in Texas.
Haunted By: A ghost wearing heavy boots.
Boo! The many ghosts that are said to haunt the Galvez are one of the hotels selling points. Guests book rooms in the hopes of seeing the Ghost Bride who hanged herself in one of the turrets on the roof; the little girl bouncing a ball in the lobby; and Sister Katherine, a nun who is said to have drowned in the 1900 hurricane and who may have been buried on the land where the hotel was later built. The ghost that haunts the restroom on the first floor near the music hall is one of the hotels creepier spirits, and he apparently likes to have the bathroom to himself. Once, when a guest popped into the restroom late at night after using the hot tubs, the lights suddenly went out and the woman could hear boot steps approaching her. Then the sound of loud breathing, and a mans voice that ordered, Get out!
Haunted By: A ghost wearing heavy boots.
Boo! The many ghosts that are said to haunt the Galvez are one of the hotels selling points. Guests book rooms in the hopes of seeing the Ghost Bride who hanged herself in one of the turrets on the roof; the little girl bouncing a ball in the lobby; and Sister Katherine, a nun who is said to have drowned in the 1900 hurricane and who may have been buried on the land where the hotel was later built. The ghost that haunts the restroom on the first floor near the music hall is one of the hotels creepier spirits, and he apparently likes to have the bathroom to himself. Once, when a guest popped into the restroom late at night after using the hot tubs, the lights suddenly went out and the woman could hear boot steps approaching her. Then the sound of loud breathing, and a mans voice that ordered, Get out!
#2 (heh!) and the rest are at:
http://www.neatorama.com/2017/10/23/Pot-ergeists-5-Famous-Haunted-Toilets
October 24, 2017
Rest of the Tim Carman Washington Post article at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2017/10/24/this-robot-restaurant-was-supposed-to-be-the-future-of-dining-until-humanity-struck-back/?utm_term=.fd6340753a4b&wpisrc=nl_buzz&wpmm=1
Sorry Millennials, you'll still have to talk to people in restaurants
This automated restaurant was supposed to be the future of dining. Until humanity struck back.
Eatsa has pulled the plug on five of its automated cafes, including two in Washington, and perhaps all the artificial intelligence alarmists can breathe easier: People may have reduced their interpersonal communication to texts and emails, but theyre clearly not ready to sacrifice all human engagement in something as intimate as a restaurant. At least not quite yet.
Launched two years ago in tech-savvy San Francisco, where software engineers can read complex code but cant always read the body language of a bored date, Eatsa is basically designed to take the human element out of the restaurant experience. The founders, including former Google exec David Friedberg, have dragged the old coin-operated Horn & Hardart Automats into the 21st century, with an emphasis on technology and vegetarian fare. Maybe they were hoping Emma Stone might reprise the Doris Day scene in That Touch of Mink to give their concept a touch of immortality?
Each Eatsa location runs lean and mean: It has no waitstaff, cashiers or busers. The cooks are concealed behind a sleek, high-tech facade, as faceless as the coders who created the software necessary for the operation. The only flesh-and-blood people are the unfortunate folks hired to roam the floor, asking customers if they need assistance.
Eatsa has pulled the plug on five of its automated cafes, including two in Washington, and perhaps all the artificial intelligence alarmists can breathe easier: People may have reduced their interpersonal communication to texts and emails, but theyre clearly not ready to sacrifice all human engagement in something as intimate as a restaurant. At least not quite yet.
Launched two years ago in tech-savvy San Francisco, where software engineers can read complex code but cant always read the body language of a bored date, Eatsa is basically designed to take the human element out of the restaurant experience. The founders, including former Google exec David Friedberg, have dragged the old coin-operated Horn & Hardart Automats into the 21st century, with an emphasis on technology and vegetarian fare. Maybe they were hoping Emma Stone might reprise the Doris Day scene in That Touch of Mink to give their concept a touch of immortality?
Each Eatsa location runs lean and mean: It has no waitstaff, cashiers or busers. The cooks are concealed behind a sleek, high-tech facade, as faceless as the coders who created the software necessary for the operation. The only flesh-and-blood people are the unfortunate folks hired to roam the floor, asking customers if they need assistance.
Rest of the Tim Carman Washington Post article at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2017/10/24/this-robot-restaurant-was-supposed-to-be-the-future-of-dining-until-humanity-struck-back/?utm_term=.fd6340753a4b&wpisrc=nl_buzz&wpmm=1
October 24, 2017
Anyone remember this show, voiced by Jason Alexander? Duckman's rant sure seems appropriate these days.
Is it really any wonder that I seem DERANGED???!!
Anyone remember this show, voiced by Jason Alexander? Duckman's rant sure seems appropriate these days.
October 20, 2017
The most cynical thing in the world is that spell check wants to change "xxxooo" to
"Exxon."
October 12, 2017
An elementary-age kid just asked, "What do Donald Trump and a pumpkin have in common?"
A: They are both orange, hollow inside, and should be thrown out in November.
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