karl_jones

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• Commented on Johnny Rex's super-8 movies from Minneapolis' skid row circa 1960
  The skid rows of the sixties were populated more often than not by men whom the wars had ruined, and who had found that alcohol abuse eased their pain. (#8) Too true. The Veterans Affairs website states: "About one-third of...
• Commented on Johnny Rex's super-8 movies from Minneapolis' skid row circa 1960
  I'm too young (48) to remember skid row proper. But my memories of Block E are many and vivid. Block E was very skid-row-like, lots of bars ("Moby Dick's -- a Whale of a Drink!"), porn theaters, strip joints, art...
• Commented on Terrifying, Gory Workplace Safety PSA Horror-Video
  I was shocked by this public service announcement — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noFCekWiUGE It's a thirty second plea for workplace safety, culminating in the narrator’s horrific workplace accident. I don’t even work in a kitchen, but this PSA makes me want to be...
• Commented on Video of shell-less egg one of my chickens laid
  I did something like this as a science project back in my youth. Immerse an egg in vinegar. Wait a few days. The vinegar will eat away the shell, leaving a flexible membrane....
• Commented on The Diggers
  Whenever we dig a tunnel, we want other shrews to appreciate it. Reminds me of something Jared Diamond writes about in Guns, Germs, and Steel. In the wilds of New Guinea, when two strangers meet, the first thing they do...
• Commented on Our Food is Full of Crap. Also, Rodent Hair, Mildew, and Bugs.
  Years ago, I worked on the night shift cleanup crew at a certain bakery (long since defunct) in Minneapolis. The bakery lost a major client -- a big name department store (also since defunct, at least at that location) --...
• Commented on Emoticon from 1862?
  It's not an emoticon; only a very silly person would suggest otherwise. It is clearly a parenthetical comment, with a semicolon to indicate a pause in the clause....
• Commented on WWII rationing ephemera
  Nixon and OPA "As a young man during World War II, prior to joining the navy, Nixon had worked as a junior attorney in the tire-rationing division of the Office of Price Administration, an experience that left him with a...
• Commented on An Audio Tour of the Mole-Men Tunnels -- er, the Storm Drains in Las Vegas
  Anyone interested in the dark underbelly of Las Vegas must -- must! -- read: The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America It's not just the city of hidden homelessness. There's also the...
• Commented on Squid beaks and materials science
  I'm reminded of Teflon cookware. Teflon is non-stick, so ... how does it stick to the pan? My layman's understanding is that Teflon works like this: * Start with a bare metal pan. * Spray on a coating of 1%...
• Commented on Torture school subjects children to lethal punishments
  I'm reminded of Anti-Trauma, Inc. from John Brunner's The Shockwave Rider: "... I work for Anti-Trauma, Inc, you see. Very sensibly, the moment Gail's parents detected signs of deviant behavior in her, they signed her pu for a full course...