HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Another University Exam One
Date: 15 Dec 92 14:16:33 GMT
Organization: Oxford University VAX 6620

In article <1992Dec11.223206.4189@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com>, billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:
> : Sitting in my exam today the professor beat to death that we should read
> : the entire exam first. This sparked a memory of a grade six science teacher
> : that told us naive eleven year olds to always remember to read the entire
> : exam because when he was in university they once had this really long 
> : exam that went on for over ten pages. And when he turned over to seventh
> : question on page six it started by saying "IGNORE ALL QUESTIONS BEFORE
> : THIS ONE"
> Yep - many times. I wonder if anyone has ever turned up an actual exam
> that had this "feature"?

I was given one like this as a spoof test when I was at school. It was only
a page or so long, but it was otherwise just as the poster says: the rubrick 
said to read the whole paper through before attempting any questions: the final
question said to ignore every question except the last.
-- 

Stephen Wilcox             |   For Sale: Posts in British Government. Suit
wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk    |   outgoing American. Highest bids accepted.
From: dam@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (David Morning)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: ring-pulls/ cats-eyes/ zips/ etc...
Date: 14 Dec 92 10:59:31 GMT
Organization: Glasgow University Computing Science Dept.

philo@orion.IntelliCorp.COM (Philip R. Obermarck) writes:

>v462etnn@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (David L Anderson) writes:
>|> 
>|> Well, according to a documentary I saw on some quasi-educational
>|> channel, the flute playin/singin guy from Jethro Tull (Ian???)
>|> owns a salmon company.  So, you too can get Jethro Tull salmon.

>Yes, its true. Ian Anderson owns and runs (when he's not touring) a
>salmon farm called Straithard(sp?) Salmon, up in Scotland.  

...which has been the subject of much public disquiet due to the levels
of pollution it's introduced into the sea-loch.

Dave
-- 
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31411 alt.drugs:19868
From: phil@rahul.net (Phil Gustafson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.drugs
Subject: Re: The grass is greener
Date: 16 Dec 92 23:14:30 GMT
Organization: Famed Parquet Floor

In article <liv82pINN7e2@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> linden@positive.Eng.Sun.COM (Peter van der Linden) writes:
>To the guy who is still insisting that death from overeating was
>"due to" marijuana: what's your [or the Commission's] basis for claiming 
>that the marijuana use "caused" the over-eating which caused the death?
>It seems to me that any individual who could literally eat so much
>that he died, would have a number of mental and physical problems
>any of which could have caused this suicidal behavior.   To pick on
>the marijuana use is nothing more than unfounded speculation,
>unless you produce some evidence providing a connection.

According to my memories from way back when, marijuana both stimulates
the appetite and makes more foodstuffs tolerable to the taste.  If some-
one who is not usually gluttonous smokes some dope and eats a whole leg of
mutton, it's reasonable to blame the dope for both the increased appetite
and the lanolin tolerance.

But we're dealing with two kinds of toxicity here:

1.  A large dose of a substance causes death, through some chemical mechanism
    of its own.

2.  A large dose of a substance causes stupidity, which leads to death from
    another cause.

It seems most unlikely that any credible dose of marijuana qualifies under
(1.).  Is (2.) a marijuana death or a stupidity death?  I lean towards the
latter interpretation.  Your mileage may vary.

Phil "Much better now" Gustafson
-- 
|play: phil@rahul.net
|work: (Under Construction)              | Phil Gustafson 408-286-1749      |
From: doctor@k9.UUCP (Paul Broe)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Fruitcake
Date: 19 Dec 92 05:52:25 GMT
Organization: Mostly Harmless...
X-NewsSoftware: GRn 1.16g (10.17.92) by Mike Schwartz & Michael B. Smith

In article <BzG7zM.D97@polaris.async.vt.edu> jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu (Joel K. Furr) writes:

[Stuff deleted. Chomp!]
> >
> >I've decided to post this right away, just in case what it really is,
> >is a secret fruitcake society.  If I should suddenly dissappear
> >without a trace...  well, you on AFU know what to do:
> >    Immediately post to alt.conspiracy!!!!!
> >
> 
> 
> I eat them.
> 
> Send your fruitcakes to:
> 
> Joel Furr
> P.O. Box 601
> Christiansburg, VA 24073

I can see it now: Man gets in Guinness book of records for most fruitcakes
received from around the world. He might become to fruitcakes what Craig
Shergold is to get well/business cards.

Paul 'But will we send them COD?' Broe

-- 
----
Paul Broe
Internet: broe@plains.nodak.edu
UUCP: uunet!plains!prototype!k9!doctor (My Amiga 2500/20)    AmigaUUCP 1.16D
BIX: pbroe Compu$erve: too expensive.                        AmigaOS 2.05
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:30912 rec.arts.startrek.misc:12538
From: bdsm@poincare.WPI.EDU (Billy Don McConnell)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.startrek.misc
Subject: Re: Mnemonics
Date: 12 Dec 1992 06:39:25 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: poincare.wpi.edu
Keywords: KIBO = Knowledge In Bozosity Out
Originator: bdsm@poincare.WPI.EDU


In article <1992Dec12.052658.394@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au>, 
quetzal@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au (Quetzal) writes:

|> OK.  New mnemonic question.  Who has mnemonics for the sharps and flats
|> in key signatures in music?  For instance, the flats, as told by my
|> grandfather:
|> 
|> Ben's Eagle Ate Dad's Grey Cat Friday.
|> 
|> (ie B flat is the first, then E flat comes next and so on.)
|> 
|> Tim Pickett

Sharps...

  Four Cars Go Down Avenue 'E' Backwards


And have we covered the 5 lines and 4 spaces on the staff?  These depend on 
Clef of course...

BASS CLEF:      Lines...                          Spaces...
                     Good Boys Do Fine Always           All Cows Eat Grass

TREBLE CLEF:    Lines...                          Spaces...
                     Every Good Boy Does Fine           F A C E (face!)

TENOR(?) CLEF:  Lines...                          Spaces...
                *Could make some up I suppose, but that's not the point,huh?*


Don McConnell
From: csa09@seq1.keele.ac.uk (Paul Singleton)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Conductivity of water
Date: 16 Dec 92 18:12:26 GMT
Organization: Keele University, England

From article <13589@optilink.COM>, by manley@optilink.COM (Terry Manley):
...
> Now why not run the third rail at lower voltages?  ...........

In the south of England, the suburban main line railway services use an
electifried third rail carrying 600 V (I'm fairly sure) of DC (I'm not so
sure) and the trains use regenerative braking (convert their kinetic
energy into electrical energy which they feed back into the rail) (or at
least they used to) (this kinda supports the DC idea, since generating
AC of the correct frequency and phase sounds liek too much trouble).

I went to a wine-tasting evening class once, and foolishly characterised
the smell (no, we don't say "bouquet") of one specimen as "InterCity
brakes" (a distinctive and not especially pleasant smell familiar to
anyone who uses the InterCity rail service: it gets drawn into the air
conditioning after non-trivial braking).  The wine expert in charge said
this was an interesting comment: did I refer to the brakes on the Eastern
Line, where they were experimenting with a new shoe composition, or on
the Manchester service?  Touche' - it seems the guy was a rail buff as well
as being a most personable and entertaining wine expert (or a good bluffer).
----
  __   __    Paul Singleton (Mr)           JANET: paul@uk.ac.keele.cs
 |__) (__    Computer Science Dept.        other: paul@cs.keele.ac.uk
 |  .  __).  Keele University, Newcastle,    tel: +44 (0)782 621111 x7355
             Staffs ST5 5BG, ENGLAND         fax: +44 (0)782 713082
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai)
Subject: Re: 'Springfield' is NOT a city in all states!
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 05:44:44 GMT

moroney@world.std.com (Michael Moroney) writes:

>"Town" is a legal definition in most states, the states are divided into
>counties, and the counties are divided into towns, cities, villages,
>townships and/or boroughs, depending on what they're called in a particular
>state.  Some rural counties are not fully subdivided, being largely
>unincorporated areas.  There are also "place names" with no legal
>definition (other than being the 'official' name of that crossroads) such
>as what "Shelmadine Springs" probably is, "Grooms Corners" as the name of a
>crossroads, etc.

	However, in Ohio, 'town' has no official meaning.
Counties are divided into townships.  Incorporated places of less
than 5,000 people are villages.  If larger, they can choose to
become cities.  Cities enjoy some degree more self rule as
compared to villages.  Townships include all non-city areas,
including villages.

conjecture mode on:
	I think the concept of counties being divided into towns
is an eastern phenomena.  I guess most areas in the old Northwest
territories and points west use a system similar to Ohio, with
townships instead of towns.

>
>I have read somewhere that "Springfield" is the most common name of a
>city/town (NOT counting crossroads etc., but a real town with a physical
>extent) there being a city/town named Springfield in about 33 states.
>
>ObUL: In Maine some towns have no names, just numbers.
>
>-Mike

I think some Maine _townships_ have numbers.

ObUL: The most common US street name is 3rd.

Jon "Papai is a place name only in Hawaii." Papai
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: fehr@ms.uky.edu (Jeff Davis)
Subject: Re: Guess what's not in this dictionary?
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 19:52:52 GMT
Organization: Austerlitz, Gershovitz, and Carmichael

J*** O********* writes:
>
>Sure enough, the word "gullible" was not defined in the dictionary.
>
Officer...you are an officer? Yes, well, have you a horse? No? Then
borrow mine. Take this man out and horse whip him. Then report
back to me for further instructions. And no back chat. We haven't got
all day. This sand, will it never end.....
-- 
Jeff Davis <davis@keats.ca.uky.edu> Don't be a stranger.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,ba.politics,ca.politics,talk.politics.misc
From: rhadden@isdres.er.usgs.gov
Subject: RE: They used to think...
Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 15:04:05 GMT

Mary Renault used this legend as a sub-theme in her book _The King Must
Die_ about the legend of Theseus. He was caught in a matriarical society
on his way to Athens to confront his father, and the women were held in
high esteem because they could have children and men could not, and thus
men were considered "expendable."
        A good section if you like literature about classic myths and tales.
lee hadden
From: csa09@seq1.keele.ac.uk (Paul Singleton)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Making Urban Legends - Carjacking
Date: 14 Dec 92 15:53:59 GMT
Organization: Keele University, England

In article <Bz3z8o.Kny.1@cs.cmu.edu> rhuss+@EDRC.CMU.EDU (Robert Huss) writes:
>....
>       Has anyone else heard of hoaxes of this kind?  People copying
> urban legends?  Do you think it is an attempt to stir up racial tension,
> or simply an unoriginal alibi to commiting crimes of their own.
 
Lead item on TV news here a few months ago was a case of male-on-male rape,
after the victim was taken at knifepoint from an underground railway  
carriage by a small gang.  There has been some public concern here about
the safety of the "Underground" (we had Guardian Angels a few years ago). 
The victim later admitted to inventing the bit about being taken from a 
train.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,ba.general
From: obrien@netcom.com (Robert O'Brien)
Subject: Re: Fruitcake
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Summary: Evidence for the voracity of the legend of the Fruitcake!
Keywords: hungry preservatives brick prehistoric recycling karma
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 21:38:26 GMT

In the regional newsgroup ba.general, 

banshee@cats.ucsc.edu (Wailer at the Gates of Dawn) writes:
>
>	I love fruitcake.
>
>	If you receive a fruitcake this christmas and do not want it,
>	please send me mail.  I will take it from you.
>
>-- 
 
 ***   AHA!   ***
 
for years, I've suspected that there were only so many fruitcakes to go
around, and that they only have to fire up the fruitcake factory if
somebody decides to actually _eat_ one of the things.  I've always
figured there was some way that they were recycled, picking them up
from those who receive them, and sending them somewhere to be redressed
and/or repackaged as needed for the next fruitcake-giving season.


I've *finally* found evidence!!   and net.evidence at that!!
 
 
I've decided to post this right away, just in case what it really is,
is a secret fruitcake society.  If I should suddenly dissappear
without a trace...  well, you on AFU know what to do:  
	Immediately post to alt.conspiracy!!!!!

 
please note crosspost and followup-to setting...
************************************************************
*    note for the satire-impaired:                         *
*     the person who posted the article I am quoting       *
*     did so on a group local to the SF Bay Area           *
*     if you are geographically eleswhere, they            *
*     may (or may NOT) want *your* fruitcake extras.       *
*    Besides, there should be a                            *
*    "Regional Fruitcake Recovery Center" in your area!    *
************************************************************


	Bob "what? me, Fruitcake?" O'Brien
--
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: maynard@leah.msc.cornell.edu (Maynard J. Handley)
Subject: Re: Making Urban Legends - Carjacking
Organization: Cornell-Materials-Science-Center
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 06:12:09 GMT

In article <1992Dec12.213829.11578@orlith.bates.edu>,
cdantoni@abacus.bates.edu (Chuck D'Antonio) writes:
>twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan) writes:
>
>>I suppose the Charles Stuart case in Boston comes to mind.  Off hand,
>>I recall the following details.  Son of wealthy furrier family was
>>supposedly returning home from Lamaze class with his pregnant wife.
>>Police get a call from him on his cellular phone.  They were lost
>>in a "bad" part of town.  A black man accosted them, shot and killed
>>her and shot him in the stomach.  BPD get a description and arrest
>>someone who fits the "description."

I've been reading the latest NewsWeek and the final page has an article by
George Will where he goes on about various cases where he thinks the courts
are giving low-life scum rights they don't deserve. Now my experience has
been
1) that while George is not quite as bad as Rush Limbaugh, he can get
hysterical about things and tend to leave out important facts
2) pretty much every trial I can think of where I know the facts had the
folklore version of the trial make out that the judge and jury were letting
ridiculous things happen, while always leaving out crucial details that
justified the verdict.

I was wondering if there exists any book (or even review article) on this
subject---the sorta paranoia people have about the legal system and how it
benefits everyone but them that they will believe and pass on the most
ludicrous stories of trials without ever a moment to look into how silly
what they're saying is.

Any suggestions gratefully received,
Thanks, Maynard Handley
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: bobv@spike.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Bob von Buelow)
Subject: Re: ring-pulls/ cats-eyes
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 15:30:38 GMT

I said:
>PS   I'm embarrassed to admit how long it took me to realize what the blue
>reflective bumps/markers in the middle of streets, seemingly randomly
>spaced,  were for.

To answer some email requests:  they are adjacent to fire hydrants so that
emergency equipment can quickly locate same from a distance.


--
Bob von Buelow             Mars Observer Planning and Sequencing Element
bobv@spike.jpl.nasa.gov          - standard disclaimers apply -
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: mhr@hpuerca.atl.hp.com (Mike Reaser)
Subject: Re: Amusing signs
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 20:58:45 GMT
Organization: a stone mountain of Kudzu

In 1968 my family lived in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC.
One day we were driving around I-495, and my mother just completely
freaked out.  She pulled up behind a van with the following hand-painted
sign on its back door:

    BLIND DRIVER -- PASS WITH CAUTION

She was about ready to pull off and call the police when she realized
that the driver could not have been sightless but instead could not
see behind himself...

--
=======================================================================
 Mike Reaser, Hewlett-Packard N. Amer. Response Center - Atlanta
 Internet:  mhr@hpuerca.atl.hp.com
 NBCS: B4 f w g+ k s-               I barely speak for myself, so
 #include <standard.disclaimer>       don't make me speak for HP
=======================================================================
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31615 ba.politics:7811 ca.politics:10437 talk.politics.misc:64856
From: kmac@cisco.com (Karl MacRae)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,ba.politics,ca.politics,talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: They used to think...
Date: 18 Dec 1992 23:30:05 GMT
Organization: cisco Systems, Menlo Park, California, USA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: regal.cisco.com

In article <8709.21373@stratus.SWDC.Stratus.COM> jane@soave.swdc.stratus.com (Jane Beckman) writes:
>>  +That's why there was a mother goddess, but no father goddess.
>>
>>Perhaps I don't know enough to understand this (a good possibility)
>>but isn't a "father goddess" an oxymoron? Does this mean that 
>>there weren't "male" gods so to speak early on?
>
>I know, I looked at this after I had written it, and said
>"Say, what?"  But I kept thinking back, and kept thinking that
>I swear she said "father goddess," and decided to leave it in
>and see if anyone caught it.  ;-)


	I dunno, *I* kind of *like* the term 'father goddess'. I 
	dunno quite what it would mean, but it contains just enough
	genderfuck to make it interesting!



  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  Karl Elvis MacRae	Software Release Support	Cisco Systems
  kmac@cisco.com -or- batman@cisco.com     415-688-8231   DoD# 1999  FJ1200
  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
   "You can't upset us! We're the MTV generation;
				 	We feel neither highs, nor lows."
			-Lisa Simpson
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Mnemonics & Now - Burning Mines
From: system@codewks.nacjack.gen.nz (Wayne McDougall)
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 22:22:13 NZST
Organization: The Code Works Limited, PO Box 10 155, Auckland, New Zealand

system@codewks.nacjack.gen.nz (Wayne McDougall) writes:

> bwilson@austin.ibm.com (Brad Wilson) writes:
> 
> > Now, I have a question about burning mines - I have heard a story about
> > a coal mine that caught fire, and they couldn't put it out so it was sealed
> > off, but still is burning (this has been years now) and it will continue
> > to burn for a few more years.  They say in winter snow will not stay on
> > the ground over the mine, because of the heat, and so you can find it in
> > the winter quite easily.
> > 
> > Now I know this doesn't fit the UL style - it didn't happen to anyone in
> > particular (although there might have been people trapped inside who had to
> > be sealed in as well, I don't really recall) but my question is - has anyon
> > else heard this sort of story, and could it really happen?  I know mines ca
> > burn, but can they continue to burn for years after being sealed off?
> 
> That doesn't seem likely, since coal mines are usually sealed [rather than
> flooded these days, as flooding causes too much damage) to deprive the fire
> of oxygen.
> 
> Is your story at all related to what I heard [I think it was in Europe - 
> Finland?] where same hunters lit a fire [in 1956?] on peat-lands, which is
> still burning. It largely burns underground so there's no way to put it out.

Aha, I have the reference. "On the island of Novaya Sibir, in Siberia, there
is a fire that was started in 1951 by a careless hunter. The fire is still
burning, fed by coal close to the earth's surface." 

That was in 1976. Don't have a more up-to-date reference.

-- 
  Wayne McDougall, BCNU
  This .sig unintentionally left blank.

Hello! I'm a .SIG Virus. Copy me and spread the fun.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.shenanigans
From: bigstar@hardy.u.washington.edu (Ed Meese)
Subject: Re: How I Beat Drug Testing...aka "Send Two Dollars to this Address"
Organization: University of Washington
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 20:00:03 GMT

mjenkins@alfred.carleton.ca (Michael Jenkinson) writes:

>From the Spy Dec/Jan classifieds:

>          "HOW I BEAT DRUG TESTING 3 TIMES IN 3 WEEKS! True Story.
>          Send $2 and SASE to..."

>Now why do I get the feeling you'll get a card saying:

>          "By not taking any drugs."

This may not be the proper place for this discussion, but I have often
wondered if Drug tests themselves don't belong in the category of urban
folklore....True, they exist, however I have personally taken 8 - 10
different tests for a variety of different jobs and never had a test come
back positive. I find this quite surprising since on almost every occasion
I had at minimum smoked pot within 1 week..in some cases, I had even
ingested varying amounts of speed, valium, lsd, and mushrooms within the
week.  While I don't doubt that the technology exists to test for drugs in
an accurate manner, I wonder how many agencies and companies really go to
the expense and trouble to implement it correctly ?  I'm sure the Feds
do...but I wonder about others... 


I'm beginning to wonder if some companies just make you pee in a cup and
then just discard it...thus giving the illusion that they test. This would
fit Foucault's vision of the Pan-Opticion...That is,just making people
think they are being monitored is often cheaper and more effective than
actually monitoring them. 

-- 
"Life is that which dies when you stomp on it." - Mark Tilden, BEAM Robotics

                 --=={{ bigstar@u.washington.edu }}==--
From: twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: I Live to FAQ!
Date: 13 Dec 1992 09:06:06 GMT
Organization: Department of Redundancy Department
Reply-To: TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.12.117

jkshapir@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Kivi Shapiro) wrote:
  +> 
  +>>True!  My girlfriend has _seen_ people doing this.  Sources don't come
  +>                                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  +>>more reliable.
  +>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Then, Kivi is jolted by joltes@husc10.harvard.edu (Richard Joltes) writes:
  +>
  +>Nominated for AFU motto of the decade!!!
  

Whereupon he then responds:

  +Wow!  But I still prefer "sheesh."

Hmm...maybe it's time for a vote...
  
  +And what does "furrfu" mean?  Nobody's told me yet.

You're so close, that something is rotting.
 
  +ObUL:  Um...if you accidently swallow a seed, it can get lodged in your
  +digestive tract (throat, say), and GROW!

Throat?  Sheesh!  At least make it little more, like, say, your stomach.


Terry "A watermelon in my throat....hmmmmm...." Chan
--
Energy and Environment Division   | Internet:  TWChan@lbl.gov
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory      | 
Berkeley, California  USA  94720  | Carpe Per Diem
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.computers,alt.config,news.groups