PYF unnerving article or story: Why is everything always so fucking weird - The Something Awful Forums

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The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > PYF unnerving article or story: Why is everything always so fucking weird

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

The Winchesters' baby died of marasmus? Wikipedia says:

quote:

Marasmus is caused by a severe deficiency of nearly all nutrients, especially protein, carbohydrates, and lipids.

That's not actually disease, it's just starvation. I wonder if it was caused in this case by some other disease not recognized at the time, or if it was as simple as untreated failure to thrive. Either way, depressing.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2015 19:29

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# ¿ Apr 16, 2024 06:22

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

lenoon posted:

I've had guinea worms! It's incredibly exceptionally painful but once they're out its very quickly not much of a problem. not so bad! Drawing them out is horrible though, a saucer of beer, some ether and a needle... wouldn't go through that again if i had the choice.

Is the ether for the worms or for yourself?

# ¿ Apr 26, 2015 01:17

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

KozmoNaut posted:

That is just the worst. You survive a massive multi-story building collapse, only to drown in the water sprayed on the rubble by the fire department.

I was thinking, surviving trapped in the wreckage of a multi-story building collapse, listening to other people dying around you, for 17 days, has got to be pretty loving bad. How did she even survive that long?

# ¿ Apr 29, 2015 13:54

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

New Leaf posted:

That was my first thought. Being in the right area might get you access to a busted vending machine or something, but unless someone was feeding her fresh water, I doubt she really only had a few scratches when it was all said and done.

Looking into it only made me more puzzled.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/428266/SURVIVOR-IS-MOST-STARTLED-OF-ALL.html?pg=all

quote:

Park was weak but stable Saturday after being pulled from a tiny pocket in the jumble of concrete slabs, a scratch on the leg her only visible injury.

"She said that she was thirsty, and she asked what today's date was," said Lee Yoo-mee, the nurse who initially treated Park. "When I told her the date, she replied that too many days had passed."

Park was the third survivor to be pulled this week from the remains of the five-story building, which collapsed June 29.

"I thought I would be lucky to have her remains returned to me. But what I have here is a miracle," said her father, tears running down his wrinkled face.

Doctors have said that with enough water, those who escape initial injury could live up to 20 days. But Park told doctors she had nothing to drink.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2015 14:06

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Holy poo poo.

quote:

Approximately 60% of the entire San Diego Fire Department was ultimately dispatched to the scene, and first responders said nothing resembling an airplane was anywhere to be seen, since the impact, explosion, and fires had completely destroyed the 727 with no sizable components remaining except the engines, empennage, and landing gear.

# ¿ May 5, 2015 04:19

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Thanks to this thread, I spent last night reading about some of the biggest and most horrible plane crashes:

Tenerife Airport Disaster

quote:

The fog was so thick that neither aircraft could see the other, and the controller in the tower could not see the runway or the two 747s on it. As the airport did not have ground radar, the controller could find where each airplane was only by voice reports over the radio. As a result of several misunderstandings, the KLM flight tried to take off while the Pan Am flight was still on the runway. The resulting collision destroyed both aircraft, killing all 248 aboard the KLM flight and 335 of 396 aboard the Pan Am flight. Sixty-one people aboard the Pan Am flight, including the pilots and flight engineer, survived the disaster.

quote:

The KLM plane remained briefly airborne following the collision, but the impact with the Pan Am had sheared off the outer left engine, caused significant amounts of shredded materials to be ingested by the inner left engine, and damaged the wings. The KLM immediately went into a stall, rolled sharply, and hit the ground at a point approximately 150 m (500 ft) past the collision, sliding a further 300 m (1,000 ft) down the runway. The full load of fuel, which had caused the earlier delay, ignited immediately in a large fireball.

A survivor of the Pan Am flight, John Coombs of Haleiwa, Hawaii, said that sitting in the nose of the plane probably saved his life: "We all settled back, and the next thing an explosion took place and the whole port side, left side of the plane, was just torn wide open."

Turkish Airlines Flight 981

quote:

The crash was caused when an improperly secured cargo door at the rear of the plane broke off, causing an explosive decompression which severed cables necessary to control the aircraft. Because of a known design flaw left uncorrected before and after the production of DC-10s, the cargo hatches did not latch reliably, and manual procedures were relied upon to ensure they were locked correctly. Problems with the hatches had occurred previously, most notably in an identical incident that happened on American Airlines Flight 96 in 1972. Investigation showed that the handles on the hatches could be improperly forced shut without the latching pins locking in place.

quote:

The aircraft left Orly at 12:32 pm, bound for Heathrow. It took off in an easterly direction, then turned to the north to avoid flying directly over Paris. Shortly after the take off, Flight 981 was cleared to FL230, and started turning to the west, towards London. Shortly after 12:40 pm, just after Flight 981 passed over the town of Meaux, the rear left cargo door blew off. The sudden difference between the air pressure in the cargo area and the pressurised passenger cabin above it, which amounted to 2 pounds per square inch or 14 kilopascals, caused a section of the cabin floor above the open hatch to fail and blow out through the hatch, along with six occupied passenger seats attached to the floor section. The fully intact bodies of the six passengers who were ejected from the aircraft were found along with the plane's rear hatch, all having landed in a turnip field near Saint-Pathus, approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) south of where the remainder of the plane would crash. An air traffic controller noted that as the flight was cleared to FL230, he had briefly seen a second echo on his radar, remaining stationary behind the aircraft, likely the remains of the rear cargo door.

When the door blew off, the primary as well as both sets of backup control cables that ran beneath the section of floor that was sucked out were completely severed. This resulted in the pilots losing the ability to control the plane's elevators, rudder, and Number 2 and 3 engines. The flight data recorder showed that the throttle for Engine 2 snapped shut when the door failed. The loss of control of these key components meant that the pilots lost control of the aircraft entirely.

The aircraft almost immediately attained a 20-degree, nose-down attitude, and started picking up speed, while Captain Berk�z and First Officer Ulusman struggled to regain control. At some point, one of the crew pressed his microphone button, broadcasting the pandemonium in the cockpit on the departure frequency. Controllers also picked up a distorted transmission from the plane; the aircraft's pressurisation and overspeed warnings were heard over the pilots' words in Turkish, including the co-pilot saying "the fuselage has burst!" As the plane's speed increased, the additional lift started to raise the nose again. Berk�z called "Speed!" and once more started to push the throttles forward, to level off. It was too late, however, and 72 seconds after the initial door hatch gave way, the plane slammed into the trees of Ermenonville Forest, a state-owned forest at Bosque de Dammartin, in the commune of Fontaine-Chaalis, Oise.

At the point of impact, the aircraft was travelling at a speed of approximately 430 knots (490 mph; 800 km/h) in a slight left turn, fast enough that the plane disintegrated into millions of pieces instantly. The wreckage was so fragmented that it was difficult to tell whether any parts of the aircraft were missing. The post-crash fires were small, as there were few large pieces of the aircraft left intact to burn. Of the 346 passengers and crew on board, only 40 bodies were visually identifiable with rescue teams recovering some 20,000 body fragments in all. Nine passengers were never identified.

Saudia Flight 163

quote:

Flight 163 took off at 18:08 GMT to complete its final leg to Jeddah. Almost seven minutes into the flight, the crew received warnings of smoke in the plane's aft cargo compartment, C3. The next four minutes were spent by the crew trying to confirm the warnings, and by the flight engineer going back into the cabin to confirm the presence of smoke in the cabin. The captain decided to return to the airport. The thrust lever for the number 2 engine (center engine) later became stuck as the fire burned through the operating cable, and the engine was shut down on final approach.

The captain declared an emergency and returned to Riyadh International Airport and landed safely. After touchdown, contrary to the captain's declaration of an emergency landing, the airplane continued to a taxiway at the end of the runway and exited the runway, stopping on the taxiway 2 minutes 40 seconds after touchdown. The airport fire rescue equipment were stationed at the landing section of the runway expecting an emergency stop and evacuation. Why the captain did not immediately order an emergency evacuation of the aircraft is unknown. Because the fire rescue equipment was farther down the runway it took extra time to arrive at the aircraft, which had used the entire length of a 4,000-metre (13,000 ft) runway to slow and exit onto a taxiway.

The aircraft stopped on the taxiway facing the opposite direction from landing. On arrival at the aircraft the rescue personnel did not immediately attempt to open any of the aircraft doors as the engines on the wings were still running. These two engines were shut down three minutes and 15 seconds after the aircraft came to a stop. There was no external fire visible at this time, but flames were observed through the windows at the rear of the aircraft. 23 minutes after engine shut down, the R2 door (second door on the right side) was opened by ground personnel. Three minutes later, the aircraft burst into flames, and was consumed by fire. Autopsies were conducted on some of the non-Saudi nationals including the American flight engineer. All perished from smoke inhalation and not burns, which indicated that they had died long before the R2 door was opened.

# ¿ May 5, 2015 17:18

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

I read this on the Wikipedia entry on Darger:

quote:

In 1968, Darger became interested in tracing some of his frustrations back to his childhood and began writing The History of My Life. Spanning eight volumes, the book only spends 206 pages detailing Darger's early life before veering off into 4,672 pages of fiction about a huge twister called "Sweetie Pie", probably based on memories of a tornado he had witnessed in 1908.

... and thought "autism!"* before reading, two sentences later:

quote:

MacGregor, in the appendix to his book on Darger, speculates that the most fitting diagnosis is autism, of an Asperger syndrome type.

* I'm not just stereotyping, I have an autistic kid and this inexplicable, verbose obsession with random topics is quite familiar to me.

# ¿ May 6, 2015 01:59

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Moey posted:

These sick Ukraine bastards?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnepropetrovsk_maniacs

What I love about Wikipedia is the assurance that if I click on a link like this, I will get a reasonably accurate and graphic description of the events, but NOT be subjected to horrifying photos, autoplay audio or video, or generally anything that's likely to traumatize me or get me fired.

# ¿ May 6, 2015 15:50

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

I love listening to old-time recordings, where they seem to have an accent (but really it's just language changing over time).

# ¿ May 6, 2015 18:45

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Jack Gladney posted:

Synchro-vox and Clutch Cargo get a pass from me because the guy who invented it was trying to make a cartoon that his deaf kid could watch. The kid could read lips and was sad that cartoons didn't have legible mouth movements.

That's lovely. :3:

:3:

# ¿ May 7, 2015 15:33

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

NLJP posted:

I mean, that'd be sort of awesome in a horrible way but did you read that link? It's actually Saddam's own blood. Still gross but not supervillain insane. If it was even actually his, or any, blood in the first place.

Did you misread the original post like I initially did, and think "the president" referred to Bush? Saddam was a "president" too.

# ¿ May 8, 2015 15:57

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

I wonder if anyone's ever written a Bible in blood. Seems like something some medieval mystic might have done.

# ¿ May 8, 2015 16:37

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Dr. Benway posted:

While not written in blood. I've always found the legend of the Codex Gigas pretty interesting.

Well, that led me to a very creepy Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immurement :nms:

:nms:

Disturbing pic on this page.

quote:

Immurement (from Latin im- "in" and mūrus "wall"; literally "walling in") is a form of imprisonment, usually for life, in which a person is, for example, locked within an enclosed space and all possible exits turned into impassable walls.[1] This includes instances where people have been enclosed in extremely tight confinement, such as within a coffin. When used as a means of execution, the prisoner is simply left to die from starvation or dehydration. This is distinct from being buried alive, in which the victim typically dies of asphyxiation.

In Persia, c. 1900:

quote:

Another sad sight to be seen in the desert sometimes, are brick pillars in which some unfortunate victim is walled up alive...The victim is put into the pillar, which is half built up in readiness; then if the executioner is merciful he will cement quickly up to the face, and death comes speedily. But sometimes a small amount of air is allowed to permeate through the bricks, and in this case the torture is cruel and the agony prolonged. Men bricked up in this way have been heard groaning and calling for water at the end of three days

pookel has a new favorite as of 23:24 on May 8, 2015

# ¿ May 8, 2015 17:29

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

I keep wondering about something that seems crass to ask, re: anchorites and the like.

Where did they poop???

# ¿ May 9, 2015 01:18

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Aesop Poprock posted:

Like everyone else at the time I'm going to guess "in a pan that they threw out the window"

But .... they didn't have windows? I wonder if they really were handing out pans through the food slot. The other option I can think of is that the room would include some sort of hole-in-the-floor pit toilet.

I especially wonder this when they talk about people walled up with only a "tiny" slot for food.

# ¿ May 9, 2015 02:13

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

I looked up the Station fire and was surprised to learn it was only the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. Here are the first three:

Cocoanut Grove Fire

quote:

The Cocoanut Grove was Boston's premier nightclub during the post-Prohibition 1930s and 1940s. On November 28, 1942, this club was the scene of the deadliest nightclub fire in history, killing 492 people (which was 32 more than the building's authorized capacity) and injuring hundreds more. The enormity of the tragedy shocked the nation and briefly replaced the events of World War II in newspaper headlines. It led to a reform of safety standards and codes across the country, and major changes in the treatment and rehabilitation of burn victims.
...
The then current owner, Barnet "Barney" Welansky, boasted of his ties to the Mafia and to Boston Mayor Maurice J. Tobin. He was known to be a tough boss who ran a tight ship: hiring teenagers to work as busboys for low wages, and street thugs who doubled as waiters and bouncers. He locked exits, concealed others with draperies, and even bricked up one emergency exit to prevent customers from leaving without paying. Coincidentally, on the night of the fire he was still recovering from a heart attack in a private room at Massachusetts General Hospital, where some of the victims would be sent.
...
Official reports state that the fire started at about 10:15 p.m. in the dark, intimate Melody Lounge downstairs. A young pianist and singer, Goody Goodelle, was performing on a revolving stage, surrounded by artificial palm trees. It was believed that a young man, possibly a soldier, had removed a light bulb in order to give himself privacy while kissing his date. Stanley Tomaszewski�a 16-year-old busboy�was instructed to put the light back on by retightening the bulb. As he attempted to tighten the light bulb in its socket, the bulb fell from his hand. In the dimly-lit lounge, Tomaszewski, unable to see the socket, lit a match to illuminate the area, found the socket, extinguished the match, and replaced the bulb. Almost immediately, patrons saw something ignite in the canopy of artificial palm fronds draped above the tables (although the official report doubts the connection between the match and the subsequent fire).

Despite waiters' efforts to douse the fire with water, it quickly spread along the fronds of the palm tree, igniting decorations on the walls and ceiling. Flames raced up the stairway to the main level, burning the hair of patrons stumbling up the stairs. A fireball burst across the central dance floor as the orchestra was beginning its evening show. Flames raced through the adjacent Caricature Bar, then down a corridor to the Broadway Lounge. Within five minutes, flames had spread to the main clubroom and the entire nightclub was ablaze.

Rhythm Club fire

quote:

The Rhythm Club fire (or The Natchez Dance Hall Holocaust) was a fire in Natchez, Mississippi, United States on the night of April 23, 1940 that killed 209 people and severely injured many others. Hundreds of people became trapped inside the one-story steel-clad wooden building. The victims were mostly African Americans.
...
The 11:30 p.m. inferno began as members of the local Moneywasters Social Club were enjoying the song "Clarinet Lullaby", performed by Walter Barnes and His Royal Creolians orchestra from Chicago. Starting near the main entrance door, the fire quickly engulfed the structure due to Spanish moss that had been draped over interior's rafters as a decoration. In order to ensure there were no bugs in the decorative moss, it had been sprayed with petroleum-based Flit insecticide. Due to the dry conditions, flammable methane gas was generated from the moss and resulted in the destruction of the building within an hour.

As windows had been boarded up to prevent outsiders from viewing or listening to the music, the crowd was trapped. More than 300 people struggled to get out after the blaze began. A handful of people were able to get out the front door or through the ticket booth, while the remainder tried to press their way to the back door which was padlocked and boarded shut.

Blinding smoke made movement difficult. Many people died from smoke inhalation or by being crushed by the crowd trying to escape. Bandleader Barnes and nine members of his band were among the victims. One of the group's two survivors, drummer Walter Brown, vowed never to play again; the other survivor was bassist Arthur Edward.

Beverly Hills Supper Club fire

quote:

The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, Kentucky, is the third deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. It occurred on the night of May 28, 1977, during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. A total of 165 people died and over 200 were injured as a result of the blaze.
...
On May 28, 1977, the Beverly Hills Supper Club was operating beyond capacity, largely due to the popularity of that evening's Cabaret Room show, featuring popular Hollywood singer and actor John Davidson. Based on its number of exits, the Cabaret Room could safely accommodate around 600 people, according to the calculations of the Fire Marshal; on this night it was packed well beyond that capacity, with people seated on ramps and in aisles. According to later estimates based on seating charts and memories of those present, the number of people in the Cabaret Room at 9:00 p.m. on May 28 was somewhere between approximately 900 and approximately 1,300. No matter the exact number each gives, sources agree that the room was well beyond its safe holding capacity.

Elsewhere in the club, patrons were enjoying their meals and drinks in the other restaurants, bars, and private party rooms. In the Empire Room, the other stage room, an awards banquet for 425 people was going on. Upstairs, functions were taking place in the six Crystal Rooms. Later estimates place the total number of people in the Beverly Hills Supper club on May 28, 1977 at somewhere around 3,000, substantially more than the 1,500 people fire code allowed at the time for a building with the number of exits the club had.
...
Around 9:10 p.m., power failed in the building, taking the lights with it. Panic ensued, and even those who had been calmly moving toward exits in the Cabaret Room began to push and shove. The situation was made worse by the fact that of the three exits in the room, two were quickly blocked off by the fire, leaving the crowd to funnel through a single exit. Employees outside the exits attempted to pull guests to safety, but the crush of bodies as those behind pushed upon those in front became so solid that no amount of strength could free most of them. Many of those who escaped the crush blocking the northeast fire exit became lost trying to find other exits. Twists and turns in building design which led to a set of doors opening into a bar area funneled some into a dead end.

Firefighters, alerted that the majority of the building's occupants were in the Cabaret Room, focused their efforts there, but even the combined efforts of every fire department in the county could make little headway against the flames. Temperatures in the Cabaret Room soared into the thousands of degrees and even firefighters were soon unable to safely attempt any further rescues.

When I got to the inside doors, which is about 30 feet inside the building, I saw these big double doors, and people were stacked like cordwood. They were clear up to the top. They just kept diving out on each other trying to get out. I looked back over the pile of � it wasn't dead people, there were dead and alive in that pile � and I went in and I just started to grab them two at a time and pull them off the stack, and drag them out...

�Bruce Rath, Fort Thomas Volunteer Fire Department

At 11:30 p.m. fire command, suspecting that the building's roof would not hold much longer, ordered all firefighters out of the building. At approximately midnight, the roof gave way and collapsed onto what was left of the building.The magnitude of the blaze was so large that firefighters did not have the flames under control until around 2 o'clock that morning; parts of the building continued to burn until May 30, two days after the fire began.

# ¿ May 11, 2015 17:40

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Wedemeyer posted:

Yeah thre's always someone who wants a quick easy buck in making internet lists. Or for e-cred, like that guy in yospos who reposts other people's cats to reddit for karma.

I briefly misread this as "reports other people's cats" and thought, drat, that's some fascist poo poo going on over at Reddit.

# ¿ May 12, 2015 21:58

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Kanine posted:

The recent events surrounding the guy from 19 kids and counting is pretty scary and unnerving.

And utterly unsurprising.

# ¿ May 23, 2015 22:26

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Kurtofan posted:

See also: the death fart circus.

Please elaborate.

# ¿ May 28, 2015 15:54

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Some interesting material here, some creepy, some funny: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_deaths

quote:

258 AD: The deacon Saint Lawrence was roasted alive on a giant grill during the persecution of Valerian. Prudentius tells that he joked with his tormentors, "Turn me over�I'm done on this side". He is now the patron saint of cooks and firefighters.

quote:

1567: Hans Steininger, the burgomaster of Braunau (then Bavaria, now Austria), died when he broke his neck by tripping over his own beard. The beard, which was 4.5 feet (1.4 m) long at the time, was usually kept rolled up in a leather pouch.

quote:

1978: Kurt G�del, the Austrian/American logician and mathematician, died of starvation when his wife was hospitalized. G�del suffered from extreme paranoia and refused to eat food prepared by anyone else.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2015 15:02

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Are horseshoes a thing you can put on and take off easily? I thought they were semi-permanent.

Better idea: sedate the drat horse.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2015 19:06

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

monster on a stick posted:

Always always always tell someone where you are going, when you expect to be back, and let them know once you are back.

This applies to first dates, too, especially if you are female.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2015 20:45

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Walton Simons posted:

I still don't think I get the idea of these military bases in the desert where nobody is there. I get that they're protected by their remoteness but they're certainly not impossible to get there if you're determined and prepared. So what's there, what are they for and why even bother marking them on a map if they're not worth guarding?

China Lake:

quote:

NAWS China Lake provides and maintains land, facilities and other assets that support the Navy�s research, development, acquisition, testing and evaluation (RDAT&E) of cutting-edge weapons systems for the warfighter.

So, missile research? Yeah, you'd want a lot of land.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2015 14:21

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

I'm wondering now, is it an American thing to think of military bases as places to house lots of troops while they train and equipment gets tested? It never really occurred to me to think of them as primarily strategic installations that you put near places that need to be defended. But then, we usually fight wars far from home - there's not much need to set up bases for local defense.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2015 15:29

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Back on topic: I was poking around this historical photos site that was posted above (but now I've forgotten what for) and found this bit of history both heartbreaking and creepy. Note: charred, unrecognizable human remains in a photo at the top. Lots of graphic historical photos in side links. Possibly :nws:

:nws:

or

:nms:

if you are sensitive to photos of death and violence.

http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/remains-astronaut-vladimir-komarov-man-fell-space-1967/

quote:

(Vladimir) Komarov was selected to command the Soyuz 1, in 1967, with Yuri Gagarin as his backup cosmonaut. Both knew the space capsule was not safe to fly, but everyone in space program was terrified of Brezhnev�s reaction to the mission being delayed or scrubbed. Komarov told friends he knew he would probably die. But he wouldn�t back out because he didn�t want Gagarin to die. Vladimir Komarov was among Gagarin�s best friends.

quote:

As the launch date drew near, everyone was more and more pessimistic. There were serious problems that would make this machine dangerous to navigate in space. The pre-tests flights had been disconcerting, the technicians who had inspected the Soyuz 1 had found 203 structural problems. An atmosphere of foreboding prevailed at the cosmodrome. As Vladimir Komarov climbed into the transfer van to take dhe Ride Down to the pad, he had an air of fatalistic resignation about him. His fellow cosmonauts joshed him, trying to cheer him and get a smile. They started singing, encouraging him to join in. By the time they reached the pad some minutes later, he was singing with them too and the mood of pessimism had lifted somewhat. Gagarin showed up to the launch in full gear and tried to convince the crew to let him pilot the craft instead, but the crew (including Komarov) refused to let him, and Komarov flew the ship, almost certainly knowing that he was likely to die. Eight minutes later Vladimir Komarov was in orbit operating one of the most sophisticated spacecraft ever launched.

quote:

As Komarov was headed to his doom, US listening posts in Turkey heard him crying in rage, �cursing the people who had put him inside a botched spaceship�. He told ground control officials he knew he was about to die. The Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin called on a video phone to tell him he was a hero. Komarov�s wife was also on the call to talk about what to say to their children. Kosygin was crying. When the capsule began its fatal descent the American intelligence �picked up [Komarov�s] cries of rage as he plunged to his death�. Some translators heard him say, �Heat is rising in the capsule�. He also used the word �killed� � presumably to describe what the engineers had done to him.

RIP, Vladimir Komarov. :ussr:

:ussr:

# ¿ Jun 12, 2015 16:23

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Centripetal Horse posted:

Also, this could easily be cross-posted into the "badass" thread:

Sorry to derail, but where is this badass thread? Search is failing me because, well, search. (I agree, Komarov kicks rear end and it's tragic that he almost managed to save himself from a nearly impossible situation.)

# ¿ Jun 13, 2015 04:42

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Is the Rotten Library image-free? This sounds interesting, but I'm terrified to click the link at work. Or anywhere.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2015 15:31

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Tibor posted:

Not people in the UK.

I might be wrong, but I don't think Springfield, Missouri is in the UK.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2015 00:24

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Terrible Opinions posted:

In the US the Roma more or less completely integrated and racism against them seems like a weird foreigner thing as a result.

This, and I was also under the impression that "Gyspy" was an outdated, not-preferred term without actually being a slur. Like saying Oriental for an Asian person, or Indian for Native Americans, but not like saying "n*gger".

# ¿ Jun 19, 2015 00:48

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

This one is my favorite:

All the buildings in that last image look to me like an architect got really high and started designing buildings out of frosting and candy.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2015 15:07

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

stickyfngrdboy posted:

In Britain gypsy is more accepted than elsewhere. We even have 'big fat gypsy wedding' reality shows.

Here, 'Pikey' is the main derogatory term for travellers.

Irish Travellers and the Roma are two completely separate ethnic groups, aren't they?

Also:

quote:

I'm sure some or most of you have seen it already but it's about a lady who chose to go inside the bad parts of the dark web. Some of the quoted forum posts are beyond belief.

I once ran across a forum for "pedophiles against child abuse." These were men who were sexually attracted to children but committed not to acting on it. It was both sad and creepy - on the one hand, some of them were struggling pretty hard to do the right thing in the face of a terrible obsession. On the other, some of them reeeeally liked sharing (innocent) pics of kids and talking about how "hot" they were.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2015 19:23

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

kanonvandekempen posted:

As a continental European, I can confirm that racism in Europe is alive and kicking, mostly because people don't seem to be aware of it. My stereotypical view of racism in America is a white person hating black people and being proud of it. In Europe people will almost never think of themselves as a racist, while at the same time agreeing that gypsies are basically garbage in human form.

Americans are hyperaware of it to the point that, IMO, a lot of American racism comes from a backlash against being told not to be a racist. To this kind of person, who thinks American liberals are ridiculously hypersensitive about race, Europeans represent "more liberal than America" in general, so they assume that Europeans must be even more sensitive. Meanwhile, reasonably non-racist Americans tend to have rose-tinted glasses about Europe and the way in which it is better/more liberal than we are. So a whole lot of us assume that Europe is some kind of post-racial utopia.

I dated a German for a while, and had to school him that it was NOT OK to say the N-word when speaking English, even if those rappers do it on MTV. *facepalm* That and other things that came out of his mouth did a lot to convince me that Europe isn't all that great on race, either.

ETA: Apparently some things are still normal in Britain that sound jaw-droppingly racist to my American ears. In particular, "Red Indian" to distinguish Native Americans from people from India. I read that in a recently published history book!

pookel has a new favorite as of 20:58 on Jun 19, 2015

# ¿ Jun 19, 2015 20:55

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Wyntyr, your storytelling is amazing, but one small nitpick - widowers are dudes, widows are ladies.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2015 14:23

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Mak0rz posted:

They were pretty unintelligible and it was difficult to get straight answers out of them. Overall they were really weird people. They were all wearing necklaces with irregular white pendants on them, so the interviewer asked about it. They were shards of a former member's skull. After he blew his brains out the other members took pieces of his brain case as mementos.

Pretty sure that's the same dude and same suicide as above, Per "Dead" Ohlin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_%22Dead%22_Ohlin

Wikipedia posted:

During one tour with Mayhem, he found a dead crow and kept it in a plastic bag. He often carried it about with him and would smell the bird before going onstage, to sing "with the stench of death in his nostrils". He also kept dead birds under his bed.

Dead posted:

"Before we began to play there was a crowd of about 300 in there, but in the second song 'Necro Lust' we began to throw around those pig heads. Only 50 were left, I liked that! [...] We wanna scare those [who] shouldn't be at our concerts and they will have to escape through the emergency exit with parts of their body missing, so we can have something to throw around. [...] If someone doesn't like blood and rotten flesh thrown in their face they can gently caress OFF, and that's exactly what they do."

Wikipedia posted:

Before calling the police, he allegedly went to a shop and bought a disposable camera with which he photographed the body, after re-arranging some items. In time, rumors spread that Euronymous had made a stew with bits of Dead's brain and had made necklaces with bits of his skull. The band later denied the former rumor, but confirmed that the latter was true.

Dead's suicide note posted:

Excuse the blood, but I have slit my wrists and neck. It was the intention that I would die in the woods so that it would take a few days before I was possibly found. I belong in the woods and have always done so. No one will understand the reason for this anyway. To give some semblance of an explanation I'm not a human, this is just a dream and soon I will awake. It was too cold and the blood was coagulating all the time, plus my new knife is too dull. If I don't succeed dying to the knife I will blow all the poo poo out of my skull. Yet I do not know. I left all my lyrics by "Let the good times roll"�plus the rest of the money. Whoever finds it gets the loving thing. As a last salutation may I present "Life Eternal". Do whatever you want with the loving thing. / Pelle.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2015 17:05

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

This is the best thing about Gaahl:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaahl

quote:

In July 2008, Gaahl revealed in an online interview that he was involved in the creation of Wynjo, an upcoming fashion collection for women, together with Norwegian modeling agent Dan De Vero and designer Sonja Wu.[10][11] At the same time, it was also revealed that he and De Vero had had a "close relationship" since 2006. It was stated that they were no longer a couple but remained good friends. In an interview for the November 2008 issue of Rock Hard, Gaahl confirmed his homosexuality.

From the Talk section:

quote:

A Norwegian article from NRK similarly presents Gaahl's homosexuality without actually using any specific terms such as gay or homosexual. The title in translation reads "Metal star Hails Open Gaahl" and quotes Dani Filth of Cradle Of Filth who says: "I mean, I don't give a drat whether he likes men. But this isn't just some man. It is a fashion designer, and they make summer dresses for women together. The world's most evil guy is designing summer apparel for models in Oslo. It doesn't get much more hilarious than that. Totally hysterical! I actually have great respect for this."

# ¿ Jun 24, 2015 17:55

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

AKA Pseudonym posted:

I'm guessing there's a pretty decent chance they made it up themselves to get out of a house they don't want anymore. That would be pretty creative though.

Alternate theory: the stalkers really want to buy the house and are trying to drive the price down by making people think it's haunted.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2015 14:39

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Rondette posted:

This was in the bathroom wall.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2015 16:23

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

QuoProQuid posted:

"Look inside the walls" ranks pretty high on my list of things never to do if ever caught in a horror movie. I would place it just above "let's split up" and below "let's investigate that weird noise in the middle of the night."

But #1 should be "have sex in the woods." If you have sex in the woods, you will die in the woods.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2015 04:21

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Zamboni_Rodeo posted:

This one upsets me too. It's another Baby Faith scenario.

That thread nearly kept me from registering. I looked again thinking maybe it wasn't as awful and cruel as I remembered, but nope, it sure was.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2015 05:38

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# ¿ Apr 16, 2024 06:22

pookel: Oct 27, 2011; Ultra Carp

Randalor posted:

Please, please, can we go back to the world of plane crashes and psycho murderers?

Speaking of, there's one I remember reading about years ago, where a Japanese woman was abducted, tortured and raped for over 40 days by four of her classmates and when she finally died, they disposed of her body in a cement barrel. The wiki page doesn't go into much detail though, I remember it used to go into what the coroner's report said they did to her in that time. It was hosed up what they did to her.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Junko_Furuta

After this I'd rather go back to anencephaly, thanks.

Note: she wasn't exactly a "woman" but rather a 17-year-old high school student.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2015 01:00

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