HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: rmk@rmkhome.UUCP (Rick Kelly)
Organization: The Man With Ten Cats
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 20:04:33 GMT
Reply-To: rmk@rmkhome.UUCP (Rick Kelly)

In article <H.mpTprgDOQSs@harvee.billerica.ma.us> scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us writes:
>
>
>>>My (ex) wife and two of her friends say they heard that if a dog bit 
>>>someone and was believed to be rabid that its head (the dog's for the
>>>parsing impaired) had to be cut off and sent to a lab for testing. They recall
>>>this from their childhood and all grew up in different places so they are
>>>sure it was true. I'm not buying it. This wasn't on the FAQ list either.
>once upon a time, there was a rabies-suspect cat at an animal hospital i 
>worked at.  one of the vet techs was assigned the job of cutting its head
>off with a hacksaw(the cat was already dead) so its head could be sent to
>a lab for testing.  the entire staff, except for the designated beheader,
>fled till she was done.  people who work in vet medicine don't gross out
>easily, but we were all grossed out by that one.

Now that the rabid racoons have migrated from Connecticut in Massachusetts,
we'll probably start seeing a rise in the number of suspected rabid cat
cases.

Personally, I keep my cats inside all the time.

The other side of this story was brought up in a letter to the editor of
a Conn newspaper.  If cats are banned from roaming, the mouse population
will increase and the tick population will increase.  And the result will
be an increase in Lyme disease. (bubonic plague scenario)

-- 

Rick Kelly	rmk@rmkhome.UUCP	unixland!rmkhome!rmk	rmk@frog.UUCP
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: "Lost In Space" was better
From: derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Derek Tearne)
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 00:09:48 GMT
Organization: Fujitsu New Zealand

In article <13682@pogo.wv.tek.com> kevind@pogo.wv.tek.com (Kevin Draz) writes:
>>  What I'd like to know is why the artificial gravity never gives out.  The
>>engines fail, the life support fails, but the gravity never fails.
>
>What I'd *really* like to know is how the phasers work.  Sometimes a
>red-shirt shoots someone, and they just freeze and then fall down dead.

Yes, I have also wondered about the phasers.

    "It's life Jim, but not as we know it"
    "Set your Phasers on stun"

How can they possibly know?  A completely new life form unrelated to anything
they have ever come across before, yet they know how to _stun_ the thing.

In some episodes they have fired at things and failed to kill them (reasonable)
But stun never fails - or at least never kills accidentally.

Derek "Set your Phasers on maim horribly" Tearne


-- 
Derek Tearne. -- derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz --  Fujitsu/ICL New Zealand -- 
Some of the more aware dinosaurs were worried about the environmental
consequences of an accident with the new Iridium enriched fusion reactor.  
"If it goes off only the cockroaches and mammals will survive..." they said.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: tel@adimail.uucp (Terry Monks)
Subject: Re: 7-Up
Organization: Automata Design, Inc.
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 13:20:40 GMT

Rich Brown -- Neither (rbrown@ncsa.uiuc.edu) wrote:
: In article <1992Oct14.121008.18303@echo.philips.nl> dolf@echo.philips.nl (Dolf Grunbauer) writes:
: >I heard that the name of "7-Up" is 7-Up due to the fact that it
: >was the 7th attempt to get this product on the market.
: >
: >Is this true or an Urban Legend ?
: >If true, what were the reasons of the 6 failures ?
: >
: 
: Whatever FOAF told you this, it's possible that the F saw the episode of
: _The_Flintstones_ where Fred tries to market the products "1-up", "2-up", and
: so on.  He quits after making "6-up", saying it was a loony idea all along.

I believe that Victor Borge's album "Comedy in Music" is much older than
the Flintstones, and this joke is on that one.

Terry "Or was it Disraeli Gears?" Monks
-- 
Terry Monks        Automata Design Inc    (703) 742-9400
From: slb3y@cc.usu.edu (Punk Rocketeer)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Hollywood Misspellings
Date: 9 Oct 92 08:58:10 MDT
Organization: Omega:  The Final Solution

In another article with a lot of useless Hollywood-type information,
lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) asks:
> On another subject: why are some movies cropped so poorly that you can see
> the boom mikes at the top of the screen, even on the TV version which is
> cropped for aspect ration purposes (unless letter-boxed or anti-CinemaScope
> distorted).

     Because some movies are shot with TV in mind.  Some movie
makers actually think about video/pay cable/broadcast exposure, and
shoot in 4:3 aspect ratio, then crop the top and bottom for cinematic
16:9 aspect.  But they still think things like, "The mike won't show
when we crop it for theatrical release."  Source:  Robb Russon, who
taught my broadcast media class.  He used to work in the industry,
which experience presumably qualifies him to teach.

Patrick "but they don't ask me to teach Accounts Payable" Clark
-- 
Patrick S. Clark | When the world's in trouble I am not slow.
Email is life!   | So it's hip-hip-hip and away I go!
Usual Disclaimer | (You should know this one.)
From: rrd@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ray Depew)
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 16:23:01 GMT
Subject: Re: Kirk VS Picard (was "Lost In Space" was better)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban

> >Ted "Was James T. Kirk's middle name 'Terry'?" Frank
> 
> no, Tiberius.  Also Shatner has been in the Outer Limits, Twilight Zone,
> and a few others.  Did you really like Stewart in Dune?  (I preferred Sting.)
> 
> cjl

Nonononononononono.  It was the most common of all middle names:  "The."

As in "Smokey The Bear," "Eric The Red," "Alexander The Great,"  "William
The Conqueror," "John The Baptist,"  etc.

His last name was supposed to be "Jerk," but the network censors made them
change it to "Kirk."

At least, that's what Disraeli told me...


Regards
R. Ray Depew
Integrated Circuits Business Division
Hewlett Packard Co, Fort Collins, Colorado
rrd@hpfiqa.fc.hp.com
(my middle name is not "The")
From: alan@essex.ac.uk [Alan M Stanier]
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Is the electric chair an Edison publicity stunt?
Date: 9 Oct 92 08:51:41 GMT
Reply-To: alan@essex.ac.uk
Organization: University of Essex Computing Service, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK

Also sprach hal@HQ.Ileaf.COM (Hal Wadleigh)
}A guillotine is NOT as humane as you might think.  The brain stays alive until
}it dies of oxygen deprivation, which can be as long as several minutes.  There
}is consciousness in the severed head for anywhere from 30 seconds until 2
}minutes.  The French custom of picking up the severed aristocrat's head and
}waving it in front of the crowd got great cheers at least partly because the
}first few seconds of the procedure showed the people in front eyes that cast
}around the crowd in focus and a twisted mouth that couldn't manage a scream
}because it was no longer connected to lungs.
}
}If that one doesn't give you the willies, you probably thing Steven King
}writes comidies.

I doubt I would find any method of execution humane, were it being applied to
me. But if I HAD to be executed, I think that would be a most interesting way
to go. I hope I'd have the presence of mind to wink at the prettiest girl in
the front row.


--
   Alan M Stanier   |   alan@essex.ac.uk   |   +44 206 872153
Favourite Error Message: no administrator found for LEVEL-SEVEN
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: dw@unislc.uucp (Dan Wright)
Subject: Re: Garbled anecdotes (was: late talkers)
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Organization: State of Deseret
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 21:13:42 GMT

Ted Frank wrote:

: >Excuse me. Can someone tell me what's going on here ?
: 
: This is my nomination for the new a.f.u. motto.
: 

I second the motion, with a grin and a chuckle!

  -- Dan Wright
From: kevinq@Ingres.COM (Kevin Quinn)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Famous Alumni (was "Lost In Space" was CLEARLY better)
Date: 9 Oct 92 01:17:50 GMT
Reply-To: kevinq@Ingres.COM (Kevin Quinn)
Organization: Ask Computer Systems Inc., Ingres Division, Alameda CA 94501

In article <1992Oct2.231805.20617@netcom.com> sheaffer@netcom.com (Robert Sheaffer) writes:
>I went to elementary school with a girl named Susan Anton; this was in
>Norridge, Illinois, just outside Chicago. She moved away somewhere when
>we were in 6th grade, which must have been 1961 or 62. 
>
>Does anyone know for sure if this is, or is not, the "famous" Susan Anton?
>  
>        Robert Sheaffer - Scepticus Maximus - sheaffer@netcom.com
>  
> Past Chairman, The Bay Area Skeptics - for whom I speak only when authorized!

Dunno, Robert.  I'm skeptical...


kbq
--
Kevin Quinn                         | kevinq@ingres.com
                                    | {mtzinu,pacbell,ll-winken,sun}!ingres.com
My opinions are my own.  Should you think otherwise, think again.
From: wisp@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Wisp)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Oct. 28: The Rapture (pamphlet found in Chicago)
Date: 13 Oct 92 09:48:44 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, Warwick University, England

In article <1992Oct13.011753.22412@midway.uchicago.edu> djb6@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>A pamphlet found on the Midway Plaisance (a street near the U. of Chicago),
>having been thrown out the window of a van painted with Scriptural slogans:
>
>RAPTURE- OCTOBER 28, 1992
>WHAT TO DO IN CASE YOU MISS THE RAPTURE
>
>Soon after the Antichrist becomes _the_leader_of_the_European_Community_
>[my emphasis] (the revived Roman Empire), Bibles will be confiscated and
>owning a Bible will be tantamount to treason.  The Bible, however, will be
>your most valuable possession during the Tribulation.
>

He's already there...  (Jaques Delors, for the currently unaware).
>...
>
>After the Antichrist becomes the leader of the European Community, he will
>institute a world economic system, designed so that you cannot buy, sell,
>or eat unelss [sic] you take the mark or the number of his name.  Money will
>be useless [Quote from Revelation 13:16-18 follows]
>...

Already is in the UK (so maybe they're talking about Herr Schlessinger)...

>P{opular during the first three and a half years of the Tribulation,
>[the Antichrist] will be physically appealing, highly intelligent, with
>Christ-like charisma and personality.
>

Ah! That lets out Delors, then. Maybe Michael Heseltine, or Lord Owen?

>The Antichrist will have a companion, the False Prohphet [sic], who

John Major, or Helmut Kohl, or Francois Mitterand, perhaps...

>
>No indication of who published this paper, nor is there any address to
>send money to.  I couldn't resist turning this thing over to the net...
>
>

What a wonderful pamphlet! This sort of thing happened the last time a
millenium came to an end, of course, but it's a shame to see that modern
commercialism has affected even the most wacked-out Fundies. I mean,
calling the millenium in 1992 is like selling Xmas cards in October (saw my
first ones yesterday :-(   )...

The Wisp. [no bloody forests left in Britain, anyway...]
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: torsten@cwis.unomaha.edu (Torsten Wesley Adair)
Subject: Re: Disco "Snuff" Recording?
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 20:42:17 GMT

	The Starlost was created by Cordwainer (sp?) Bird, which is a pen name
Harlan Ellison uses when he doesn't wish to be associated with a production.
The two hour (?) pilot was novelized by him and Edward Bryant (?) and titled
Phoenix Without Ashes.  Ellison wrote an essay about his problems with the 
executive producers.  Ellison is the only person besides Gene Roddenberry who
has won a Hugo award for Star Trek:TOS.  "The Guardian of Forever" introduced
one of the great Star Trek gimmicks, as well as a character actress named Joan
Collins, who is related to Jackie Collins, the Trash Novel Queen.

	Torsten at Omaha	It's not who you know, but who knows you.
From: kh@sei.cmu.edu (Kurt Haverstock)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Q: Eating live monkey brains
Date: 16 Oct 92 19:29:17 GMT
Organization: Software Engineering Institute

In article Re: Q: Eating live monkey brains of 16 Oct 92 18:03:14 GMT de@moscom.com (David Esan) writes:


>I have heard two first hand reports from people who serve in SouthEast Asia
>in the late 1960's.  They both told the same story:  
>
>A live monkey is placed in a vise-like contraption in the center of the table.
>The vise holds the head in place.  The top of the head is removed, and the
>diner then ate from the living brain with chopsticks.
>
>I have not seen it.  I have not seen documentation on it.  I believe these
>people saw it.  They served all over SE Asia, and spent time in the backwoods
>of VietNam and Thailand.  As Jack Palance used to say: Believe it or not.


Lessee...a *live* monkey is forced to part company with the upper half
of his skull and remains alive while restaraunt patrons pick at his brain
with blunt instruments? Assuming the monkey isn't gagged or something,
it would seem a less than pleasant atmosphere, y'know?

What if eight or so people order monkey all at the same time?
Eight monkeys screaming simultaneously while the tops of their heads are being
removed wouldn't make for a very relaxing meal!



Kurt
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher)
Subject: Re: 666 and all that
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 17:47:03 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

Be sure to let us know if these people are identified.
I'd like to pick up some property near Chicago for
cheap.
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:25514 soc.women:17624
From: catstyle@deja-vu.aiss.uiuc.edu (Jason R. Heimbaugh)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,soc.women
Subject: Re: Women in groups
Date: 13 Oct 92 00:35:24 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Bw1Az1.LGC
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

In article <1992Oct11.005059.6801@ulysses.att.com> smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) writes:
>of a study where men who wore masks smeared with vaginal secretions

While we're on the subject of "vaginal secretions" is there an "official"
medical term for them?

At my best friend's bachelor party I asked his brother who was a doctor,
but he didn't know.  He gave us a word for the rest of the weekend though,
"smooey".

ObULFromSaidDoctor:  He knows the doctor who gave Sylvester Stallone a penile
implant since Stallone was impotent from doing too much steroids.

CatStyle
jrh@uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai)
Subject: Re: Eskimo words for 'snow'
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 21:07:47 GMT

torsten@cwis.unomaha.edu (Torsten Wesley Adair)

>	In one of the puzzle columns in Science(insert year here), there was a
>contest to create a sentence that used every letter of the alphabet.  I believe
>that someone succeeded in writing a twenty-six letter sentence, and that "Cwm"
>was used in a few of them.
>
>	Torsten at Omaha

	"The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog."  (33 letters)

	I believe Churchill said that.
From: rxh6@po.CWRU.Edu (Randall Holt)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Women in groups
Date: 13 Oct 1992 01:54:45 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu


 
In prev. art. PCT601%SIRIUS.UKC.AC.UK@ib.rl.ac.uk (Robryche) says,
>From: johnston@fys.ruu.nl (Helen Johnston)
>References: <1992Oct9.003931.6772@nezsdc.icl.co.nz> <Bvz6ED.FwG@world.std.com>
>>Being one of three sisters, I can also vouch personally for the effect.
>>When you have four women in the house menstruating at once, you
>>certainly go through sanitary napkins in a REAL hurry! And last time
>>this subject came up on the net, someone posted that her very irregular
>>cycle was stabilised by her roommate being on the Pill, which is VERY
>>interesting, considering that the Pill prevents ovulation and
>>(presumably) alters the pheromone cycle substantially.
>>
>>--
>
>But the pill doesnt prevent menstruation, (oh that it did). It does however
>make it lighter and less painful. And since it goes for 21 days on the pill and
>seven days off, it is obviously going to be more regular. Presuming the same
>smell or pheremones or whatever are being sent out, this person had no choice
>but to become more regular in step with the person taking the pill.
 
Hmm. An' I thought that it was because if one 'em got bitchy, then everybody
else naturally wanted to join in.
 
-- 
Randall W. Holt - rxh6@cwru.po.edu     |   
Dept. Radiology MetroHealth Hosp.      | 	- Bibo ergo sum
Dept. Biomedical Engineering, CWRU     |    	
(216) 778-8296                         |	
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:25597 sci.math:13123
From: schultz@unixg.ubc.ca (Stewart Schultz)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,sci.math
Subject: Re: Monty Hall, Marilyn Vos Savant UL ??
Date: 13 Oct 1992 20:25:25 GMT
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
NNTP-Posting-Host: unixg.ubc.ca

In article <1992Oct13.192551.3026@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
pwhitman@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Philip N Whitman) writes:
>
>If I recall, this paradox was discussed extensively here last year.
>I saw some of the replies to Marilyn's column (not her original answer,
>though), and even worked out the problem myself, having just taken a
>probability class at the time.  She was right, but I'm not going to
>bother rehashing the proof out here.  Email me if you're interested.

Yep, she's right, and as far as I can tell the whole story
is entirely true.  The crux is that your probability is still
1/3 even after he opens the second door (because he did so
intentionally).  This means that switching gives you a 2/3
probability of getting the prize.

>He verfied what Marilyn said, but added that on an
>actual game show, the complicating factor is not the probability calc-
>ulations, but the MC's psychological games.  Whether you make the right
>or wrong choice, Monty's offering you more and more money to change your
>mind totally changes the equation.  

Yep.  BTW, you can find the solution in the rec.puzzles FAQ,
which points out the following reference (which I haven't seen):

    Leonard Gillman
    "The Car the Goats"
    The American Mathematical Monthly, 99:1 (Jan 1992), pp. 3-7.

-S. Schultz
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:25342 alt.folklore.science:3708
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science
Subject: Re: "Normal" body temperature
From: derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Derek Tearne)
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 00:44:05 GMT
Organization: Fujitsu New Zealand

In article <28621@nntp_server.ems.cdc.com> mstemper@ems.cdc.com writes:
>In article <BZS.92Oct4022156@ussr.std.com>, bzs@ussr.std.com (Barry Shein) writes:
>|> At any rate, if any of these legends are true it does show the
>|> inherent superiority of Fahrenheit over Celsius for common use since
>
>Nonsense. Fahrenheit seems more intuitive because:
>  a. You've used it all your life

   I have never used fahrenheit at any point in my life.

>  b. When given a Celsius temperature, you have converted it to
>     Fahrenheit rather than adding it to your Celsius experiences

When given a Fahrenheit temperature I usually reply 

"What's that in real money"

>If you want to get comfortable with Celsius, just use the following
>non-numeric conversions:
>
>   degrees C      Meaning
>    -40           -40 Fahrenheit
>    -30           Your car won't start
>    -20           Very cold
>    -10           Cold
>      0           Freezing
>     10           Cool
>     20           Room temperature
>     30           Hot
>     40           Very hot

Good list - Could someone put the Fahrenheit on the right for fully 
metricated.

Derek "How long is a rod, perch or chain" Tearne


-- 
Derek Tearne. -- derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz --  Fujitsu/ICL New Zealand -- 
Some of the more aware dinosaurs were worried about the environmental
consequences of an accident with the new Iridium enriched fusion reactor.  
"If it goes off only the cockroaches and mammals will survive..." they said.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: dbushong@wang.com (Dave Bushong)
Subject: Re: nail in Coca-Cola
Organization: Wang Labs, Lowell MA, USA
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 08 Oct 92 15:09:58 GMT

medic@hardy.u.washington.edu (Travis Lauricella) writes:

>rchao@well.sf.ca.us (Robert Chao) writes:


>>I have heard a UL in several places that someone left a nail in some
>>Coke overnight and it disintegrated, since the Coke is so acidic (or
>>whatever). Does anyone know the source of this UL? (Unless, of course,
>>it's true.)
>>-- 
>>Robert Chao
>>Oakland, California

>In first grade, when Mr. Pelander was teaching us about the importance of
>brushing one's teeth on a daily basis, he opened a bottle of Coke, tied a
>string from one nail to another, and suspended the nail in the Coke (using
>the other nail as a cross-piece to keep the nail suspended.

>           [--------  <-- nail on top of bottle
>             | ! |
>            /  !  \ 
>            \~~~~~/   <-- Coke level
>             > + <     /                                \  
>            /  |  \   <-- nail suspended in Coke
>            \__|__/    \

>Result, after one week: A heavily disolved nail.  Still intact, but not in
>the best of shape.  Big chunks had been corroded out of the sides, leaving
>"cavities."

In third grade, Mrs. Kim did a similar experiment, but used a tooth
that one of the kids rescued from the tooth fairy.  Granted, this was
the "classic" Coke, in 1963, but the tooth was reduced in size by
about 50% after a week _au jus_

Dave
-- 
Dave Bushong, Wang Laboratories, Inc.
Project Leader, OCR products
Internet: dbushong@wang.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Terry Hoax. What is it?
From: derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Derek Tearne)
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 04:20:30 GMT
Organization: Fujitsu New Zealand

In article <6892@kielouta.fi> psraah@uta.fi (Rami Ahonen) writes:
>I need info on a band or singer called Terry Hoax.
>(Well, to be honest with you it's my brother who needs this info.)
>
>All I know about them is that they play a heavyish (haven't heard it
>myself, so maybe even this might be wrong) version of Depeche Mode's
>"Policy of Truth"

Sounds like some guys from A.F.U to me...

I always thought this Terry stuff was a hoax.  Aren't they all one guy 
anyway?

Derek "I didn't know all of them Terries were singers and stuff" Tearne



-- 
Derek Tearne. -- derek@nezsdc.icl.co.nz --  Fujitsu/ICL New Zealand -- 
Some of the more aware dinosaurs were worried about the environmental
consequences of an accident with the new Iridium enriched fusion reactor.  
"If it goes off only the cockroaches and mammals will survive..." they said.
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:25498 alt.religion.kibology:4174
From: mattb@ctron.com (Matt Brown)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.religion.kibology
Subject: Re: Feets too big
Date: 12 Oct 92 20:35:24 GMT
Reply-To: mattb@olympus.ctron.com (Matt Brown)
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: Cabletron Systems INc.

>(Sarah Skovronsky) writes:
>
>The way I heard it, if you wear shoes that are too big for you, your feet
>will *grow and spread to fill your shoes,* thus increasing your shoe size
>*permanently* to the over-large size you were so carelessly wearing. 

A similar theory recently expounded explains the renewed popularity of
boxer shorts.

Matt
"Braindead individuals are incapable of accessing USENET." - Bruce Bufalino
                                                             psu.edu, naturally