HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: vpaf5@jane.uh.edu (Kal)
Subject: Alligator cows
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: University of Houston
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 13:57:00 GMT

I think my newsreader just ate my first attempt at posting this so I'll post
again. I couldn't get to my computer fast enough after I heard this story
on a news show on the radio (an AM news station, btw) this morning.

THE ELUSIVE SEWER COW FINALLY CAUGHT IN AMARILLO, the news proclaimed.

The reporter went on to say that the elusive cow that has been inhabiting
the sewer system in Amarillo, Texas for at least the past few months has
finally been caught and removed. The cow was discovered when a passer-by 
saw it stick its head out of a sewer drain and moo at him. The kind soul
fed the cow some hay and the cow departed back into the sewers. Authorities
(which authorities, he didn't say) had failed to catch the cow each time
a sighting occured. But today, finally, the cow was caught and removed from
the sewers and is resting comfortably at the animal shelter.
The reporter did not elaborate on how this rescue was accomplished. They
must have had to tip the cow to get it out. The report ended with a snide
remark about the "sour sewer cow".
This was a real news item on a real news show on the leading AM news station
in Houston. They even had a little soundbite interview with the man who fed
the cow the hay (who completely failed to explain why he had hay on his 
person near a sewer drain in the city). I'm pretty sure this whole thing's for
real.

Just thought y'all might wanna know.

Kal vpaf5@jane.uh.edu                  My opinions are almost, but not quite,
                                       entirely unlike those of my employer.

Boy. Talk about marinated steak.


Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: dw@unislc.uucp (Dan Wright)
Subject: Re: Canadian pennies
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Organization: Salt Lake City, Utah
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 19:54:06 GMT

bill nelson wrote:
: (Phil Kernick) writes:
: : Australia.  Recently the government stopped issuing 1c and 2c pieces because
: : it was costing them more to produce them than their face value.
: : Now our minimum unit of portable currency is 5c (by this I mean that you can
: : still write a cheque for $10.01 but you cannot give someone $10.01 in cash).
: : Legislation has been passed requiring vendors to round final prices to the
: : nearest 5c multiple.
: 
: Why don't people just start cutting the coins into wedges, like they used to
: do with coins here?  Cut the coin into fifths and you have "bits" worth a
: penny each.  

Can you imagine the U.S. government passing legislation requiring retailers
to round prices to the nearest 5 cents?  It seems like an impractical way
to handle the situation.  This Austrialian phenomenon is really surprising,
and qualifies as "news of the weird".  The government here would begin
minting pennies out of less expensive stuff (steel, even wood?)  or, as
bill nelson pointed out, might issue 5 cent pieces designed to be cut into
fifths; having channels or perforations.

  -- Dan Wright
From: rocher@husc8.harvard.edu (Jean-Marc Rocher)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Eskimo words for 'snow'
Date: 11 Oct 92 01:18:19 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Science Center

>> In article <Bv5Hv4.Dp8@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG>, phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) writes:
>> "Cwm" is a wee mountain just outside the town of Rhyl in northern Wales, UK.
>> Don't know what the word means though.
>> 

	According to Cecil Adams (printed in his first book, The Straight Dope)
'cwm' is Welsh for hill, and is pronounced 'coom'

		Jean-Marc "cwm-bye-ya" Rocher
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.music.beatles
From: sasbmt@jjoyce.unx.sas.com (Bruce Tindall)
Subject: Re: Collected Musical Factoids
Originator: sasbmt@jjoyce.unx.sas.com
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 22:38:02 GMT
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.


In article <1992Oct9.201400.6174@math.ucla.edu>, dmac@julia.math.ucla.edu (saki) writes:
>Check Mark Lewisohn's "The Beatles Complete Recording Sessions" (1988)
>and "The Complete Beatles Chronicle (1992) for further information.

The Beatles aren't the only musicians who've attracted this kind of
weirdly obsessive chronicling behavior.  Another is Lily Langtree,
the 19th century singer.  (You know, the one Judge Roy Bean fell in
love with from afar, etc. etc.)

The Guenoc winery in California is headquartered at Lily's old house,
and her picture is on every bottle.  The owner says he has 
commissioned a graduate student to find out where Lily was and what
she was doing every single day of her adult life.  

He also has some unusual wine-growing methods.  He's got sensors
stuck in the ground all through his vineyards.  They are hooked up
to a computer attached to telephone lines.  Wherever he is in the
world, he says he can phone his computer and find out (via a voice
synthesizer) what the soil temperature, moisture, etc., are at any 
particular sensor.

Don't laugh, though.  He makes *very* good wine. 
-- 
Bruce Tindall, Core Testing Mgr., SAS Institute Inc., Cary, N.C. 27513
From: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us (S. Mudgett aka little gator)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: gators 'r us
Subject: Re: William Safire and the Bee Gees
	<1992Oct2.185923.24086@unislc.uucp> <BvIIIw.4F9@unx.sas.com>
	<91856@netnews.upenn.edu> <Bvtn63.2Lu@unx.sas.com>
Reply-To: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
X-Software: HERMES GUS 1.03 Rev. Apr 14 1992
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 12:11:26 -0500

In <Bvtn63.2Lu@unx.sas.com>, Bruce Tindall writes:

>
>Anybody know where he might have gotten this, or did he think it up
>out of his own head?  Anybody with any familiarity with the Bee Gees'
>music would know that the only drug they've ever experimented with is
>Saccharine.
besides, everybody knows it's short for "brothers gibbs", since their name
is gibbs and they're brothers.
-- 
-- little gator aka s. mudgett     email: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
-- friend of a gator is a friend of mine
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: geirj@hsr.no (Geir Johannessen)
Subject: Re: What's lutfisk? + new UL (was Re: Liz Claiborne/Oprah Winfrey UL)
Organization: Rogaland University Centre
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 16:40:28 GMT

In article <Bw2sy5.6xC@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, duffey@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (Thomas Duffey) writes:
> schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher) writes:
> 
> >Lutefisk is raw herring (or is it cod?) fillets soaked in lye
> >and served cold, often with lefse (a sort of undercooked tortilla
> >slathered in butter, also cold). A holiday treat among Scandinavians
> >and their descendants in Minnesota. Oh, sure, they complain about
> >having to eat it, but they do it anyway.
> 
> 	It's cod.  Italians call this disgusting dish "baccala."
> 
> Tom Duffey
> 

First of all, you are both wrong.

Lutefisk is not Scandinavian, it's Norwegian.
(Norway+Sweden=Scandinavia) The Swedes have nothing to do with it.

Baccalao and lutefisk is not the same. Baccalao is a dinner where
Lutefisk is one of several ingredients. Baccalao is mostly enjoyed
in Spain, Portugal and Latin-Amerika.

Even though I am Norwegian, I have never tasted neither Lutefisk
nor Baccalao. But I strongly suspect Baccalao to be VERY GOOD if
made in a proper manner.

Geir Johannessen
Norway
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:25348 soc.women:17564
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,soc.women
Subject: Women in groups
From: andrewb@nezsdc.icl.co.nz (Andrew Bevin)
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 00:39:31 GMT
Organization: Fujitsu New Zealand

I have heard that if woman live in group's that their menstrual cycles
start to sync with each other.

Anyone care to expand or refute this.

-- 
Andrew Bevin      			                     andrewb@icl.co.nz
SDC, Fujitsu New Zealand                      ## I do not speak for Fujitsu! ##
Auckland, New Zealand   
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: kevind@pogo.wv.tek.com (Kevin Draz)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: 666 Cable TV
Date: 8 Oct 92 08:52:15 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Wilsonville,  OR.

In article <1992Oct4.063724.1688@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com> billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:

[Stuff about detetecting the number of phones/cable boxes deleted]

>They used to be able to tell, when all the devices hooked to the phone
>were supplied by Ma Bell and had about the same ringer equivalent.
>Now, devices take varying amount of ring power - from negligible to
>about 1 RIN. There is no way the phone companies can tell how many
>devices are connected.

But it is *possible* to determine the number of cable splits/extension lines
on a system.  You send a HF "ping" signal into the line [from outside the
building, i.e. at the "pole"], and time & count the number of reflections
[electronic echoes] you get back.  A cable which has passive splitters
applied to it will result in multiple, distinct, echoes.

I have heard, a long time ago, during college discussions of a most
folklorish [is this a word?] nature, that this is the technique employed to
detect pirates.  I couldn't speak for the "varacity" [sic] of this
information, but is would certainly be technically feasible. 

KD

For the true gurus out there, yes, you *might*, with careful design, set up
a wiring system with carefully measured lengths, terminations, etc., and
mask this technique.  It would certainly be beyond most nontechnical
people's skills to do so, however.


-- 
----
kevind@pogo.wv.tek.com  | For most software publishers, quality is job 1.01.
Tektronix Color Printers|                            -- MacWeek Magazine
From: pashley@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Montykins)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Male Pregnancies
Date: 12 Oct 92 06:26:26 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <1992Oct12.015811.27682@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>, peterm@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Peter Mardahl) writes:
>
>The story goes that some guy thought it would be neat to bear
>a child.  Some <unknown> hospital obligingly surgically implanted
>a fertilized egg somewhere in his abdomen, and later delivered
>the fetus by "Caesarian". 
>

Oh, just for laughs, I'll give this one a try. No womb. No umbilical
cord. No way to get nourishment to the child. No place for the li'l
tyke to _be_. Just gonna sit there blocking off the small intestine?

It takes a little bit more than just a fertilized egg to form a
baby. Think "Biology".

 -Paul "Monty" Ashley

obMontyPython: "Where's the fetus gonna gestate? You gonna keep it
in a box?"
-- 
"Am I a drunken loon? Whoo! Whoo!"        | pashley@sdcc13.ucsd.edu
     -- David Letterman                   |  [Not a UCSD employee]
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jlysagh@hubcap.clemson.edu (james joseph lysaght)
Subject: Re: 666 Cable TV
Organization: Clemson University
Distribution: alt
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 15:09:59 GMT

kevind@pogo.wv.tek.com (Kevin Draz) writes:

>In article <1992Oct4.063724.1688@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com> billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes:

>[Stuff about detetecting the number of phones/cable boxes deleted]

>But it is *possible* to determine the number of cable splits/extension lines
>on a system.  You send a HF "ping" signal into the line [from outside the
>building, i.e. at the "pole"], and time & count the number of reflections
>[electronic echoes] you get back.  A cable which has passive splitters
>applied to it will result in multiple, distinct, echoes.

>I have heard, a long time ago, during college discussions of a most
>folklorish [is this a word?] nature, that this is the technique employed to
>detect pirates.  I couldn't speak for the "varacity" [sic] of this
>information, but is would certainly be technically feasible. 

YES!  This is right on the nose.  I studied this in one of my design
courses in college.  You hit exactly and that IS how the cable companies
detect pirates.  They send a HF ping down the line and count the number
of refelctions and the size of them and they can not only tell that
there is a pirate but can pinpoint the location where it cuts into there
service line within a matter of inches.  

>For the true gurus out there, yes, you *might*, with careful design, set up
>a wiring system with carefully measured lengths, terminations, etc., and
>mask this technique.  It would certainly be beyond most nontechnical
>people's skills to do so, however.


It would also require costly terminators and such.

Jim
From: tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com (Terry Carroll)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Post the FAQ (was Dead pet UL?)
Date: 12 Oct 92 22:29:48 GMT
Reply-To: tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com (Terry Carroll)
Organization: Amdahl Corporation

In article <1992Oct10.185600.28436@midway.uchicago.edu>, 
pynq@quads.uchicago.edu (George Jetson) writes:
> So, here's the thing.  If you want discipline, do what they do in, e.g.,
> comp.lang.c.  Whenever you post anything that is even remotely related
> to anything that's in the FAQ, what you get is about 2 weeks of abusive
> email, none of which insults you personally - that would be too
> obvious, and would lead to the problem described above.  Rather, the
> treatment, which is basically handed out by an enforcement squad
> (I assume they must hold weekly strategy sessions), is designed to
> subtlely make you feel like an 18yr old who just got off the bus.
> Nothing ever shows up in the newgroup.  Its kind of like being shunned;
> it is as if your posting never existed.
> 
> It's very effective.  We should implement it here.

Last week, I posted a question in comp.fonts asking for some sources, because 
I was planning to write an article on copyright for fonts.

I received a letter saying, read the FAQ; Copyright of fonts is covered there!

I reponded politely that I was aware of that; I wrote that part of the FAQ.

Heh, heh... Nice to see the technique backfire.

Terry Carroll - tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com - 408/992-2152
The opinions presented above are not necessarily those of a sound mind.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Subject: Re: nail in Coca-Cola
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 23:07:11 GMT

In article <1992Oct9.190238.15234@cs.unca.edu> streeter@cs.unca.edu (Tom Streeter) writes:

>>Sounds more like Koromex.
>>
>>cj "Which spermicidal jelly tastes like chicken?" l
>
>With a name like Koromex, it has to be good.
>		       --Disraeli (maybe Gladstone)
>
>Tom "it's a spermicide, rust remover, *and* a desert topping" Streeter

You mean we fired Koromex over Iraq too?  I guess that means it's
four! four! four products in one:

Spermicide, rust remover, desert topping, and a dessert topping, although
some might equate #4 with #1.

cj "But does it taste like chicken with sand on it?" l

obSNLreference: to take Chevy Chase's version one step further:

With a name like {something you can't mention on usenet} it has to be good.

(Previous incarnations were:

Death Camp

Dog Vomit

10,000 Nuns and Orphans eaten by Rats

{A name you can't say on television}
)

ObSNLref#2: Chevy Chase was involved in both routines: the Shimmer is a
floor wax, no it's a dessert topping routine, and also the Smucker's takeoff.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: wvhorn@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (William VanHorne)
Subject: Re: End of Millenium Hysteria (was Re: Oct. 28: The Rapture)
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 17:35:04 GMT

>In <1992Oct13.204230.11241@rchland.ibm.com> jdahl@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Jared Dahl) writes:

>    Didn't this exact same thing happen 1000 years ago?
>

Yes.  Many people thought that the world would end in 1000 A.D.  When
it didn't they went on with the more important things, like invading 
England.

>    I remember reading historical accounts of upheaval
>that occurred at the end of the 1st millenium.  

???
Like what?

>I have
>even heard opinions that the Mayan civilization collapsed
>out of similar anxiety.  

Well, not quite.  The Mayans believed in cyclical time.  In other words,
they believed historical events would recur.  This made it easy for an 
upstart city-state to grab power if they timed it right! 

OBTW, the Mayan civilization didn't ever really "collapse", though many
city-states rose and fell in influence and power.  The Mayans fought
the Spanish for over 50 years before they were finally conquered.

---Bill VanHorne

--------------------------------------------------
Please try to use the word paradigm in every post.
Thank you.
--------------------------------------------------
From: rperkins@astro.as.arizona.edu (Rachel J. Perkins)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: who has heard the exloding cactus stor
Date: 14 Oct 92 17:21:12 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

In article <1992Oct14.160918.14483@organpipe.uug.arizona.edu> foltz@as.arizona.edu writes:

[story about idiot shooting at cactii with 12 gauge and dying deleted]
>
>We all cheered.  We love saguaros.  They're our state tree...

a slight correction...the palo verde is the arizona state tree. 
the cactus wren is, however the arizona state bird. and i wonder why
i have no memory left for things like eddington approximations.
ok, so i had to take arizona history in high school. another fun
one (yeah) is that the arizona state neckwear is the bola tie. 

bah.




--
		-just give me what for,
	rachel perkins =  rperkins@astro.as.arizona.edu
      "Chastity..the most unnatural of all the sexual perversions...."
					-Aldous Huxley
From: dgil@pa.reuter.COM (Dave Gillett)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Women in groups
Date: 15 Oct 92 00:14:43 GMT
Organization: Reuter:file Inc  (A Reuter Company) Palo Alto, CA

In <92848@netnews.upenn.edu> crawford@ben.dev.upenn.edu (Lauren L. Crawford) writes:

>What I've heard is this:  when women first start living (or working
>closely) together, they tend to synchronize their periods.  But after a
>relatively short while, they no longer do.

     I've heard anecdotes about the synchronization from several different
sources, but this is the first reference to de-synchronization I've run
across.

     My wife's observation was that women she was in groups with tended to
synchronize on the schedule of the woman in the group with the poorest
hygeine(sp?), presumably because she was secreting the most hormones (etc.)
into the shared atmosphere.  It's conceivable that such synchronization could
be lost -- or never form -- if all of the women bathed frequently.

                                                 Dave Gillett
                                       (not, personally, an expert)
From: rrd@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Ray Depew)
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 16:04:20 GMT
Subject: Re: Re: Oranjelo and the severed dogs head
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban

> Oh, are we going to do stupid pet names now?  

My kids named our dalmatian, LazerJet To Pee.  Registered with the AKC.


Regards
Ray Depew
Hewlett Packard Co.
(yes, that's right)
Fort Collins, Colorado
rrd@hpfiqa.fc.hp.com
From: joslin_paul@ae.ge.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Mixed up translations
Date: 7 Oct 92 18:16:08 GMT
Reply-To: joslin_paul@ae.ge.com
Distribution: na
Organization: GE Aircraft Engines
Originator: joslin@c0223.ae.ge.com

hal@HQ.Ileaf.COM (Hal Wadleigh) writes:

>Let's nor forget the classic Chevy Nova (I have one for sale, BTW) which did
>not get a warm reception in Spanish-speaking countries.

>No Va = Won't Go


Thank you.  Do you know any amusing Churchill stories?

Paul "or was it Disraeli? Oops, I owe Ted royalties now!" Joslin

-- 
     Paul R. Joslin     | A federal government big enough to give you
joslin@c0223.ae.ge.com  | everything you want is a federal government big
   +1 513 583 3537      | enough to take everything you have.  
                        |		 Gerald R. Ford
From: twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: The End Of The World  (Celebrate at AFU West-Terry 10/28)
Date: 15 Oct 1992 05:08:51 GMT
Organization: Department of Redundancy Department
Distribution: alt
Reply-To: TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.12.117

ipgrier@compass.uwaterloo.ca (Iain P. Grier) writes:

  +>It appears that Baptists and some other miscellaneous religion 
  +>(United Church?) believe that the end of the world is supposed to
  +>happen on October 28th, 1992.
  +
  +>Is the apocalypse story an UL or is the story that it's a Baptist
  +>story an UL?

mcirvin@husc8.harvard.edu (Mcirvin) writes:
  +
  +Probably the latter.  The major information I've seen about the
  +Oct. 28 Rapture comes from the Mission for the Coming Days, an
  +outfit that seems to have connections to someone in Korea
  +(I don't know whether the Moonies are involved or not).  If there's
  +any Baptist support it's probably from some tiny splinter group;
  +the Baptists are a large and fragmented denomination.

This is true.  As someone else (Rachel Perkins?  I forget) noted,
the Baptists range from your relatively normal American Baptists
to liberal Southern Baptists, and Jerry Falwell types.  The extreme
conservative wing of Southern Baptists virtually blend in with
Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and other Fundies.  You get the folks
with the Hal Lindseys and other miscellaneous fruitcakes who figured
the anti-christ was Kissinger then Sadat.  The beast [tm] would
emerge when Greece was admitted to the EEC, etc., etc.

As I recall in the early 1970s, the Southern Baptists and certain
other fundamentalist groups were heavy on brainwashing, er, witnessing
in Asia, esp. Korea and China.  Boy, did we see some ultra-conservative
folks coming out of there.

Perhaps a better term for those guys is Babtists (thanks Joe Bob).

BTW, AFU WEST-TERRY is scheduled for October 28, not the 21st as
I mistakenly posted last time.  Thanks to Phil for rubbing my face
in it again.


Terry "What a coincidence" Chan


--
Energy and Environment Division   | Internet:  TWChan@lbl.gov
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory      | 
Berkeley, California  USA  94720  | Carpe Per Diem
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:25700 alt.tasteless:11264
From: rperkins@astro.as.arizona.edu (Rachel J. Perkins)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.tasteless
Subject: Re: The End Of The World
Keywords: baptist, apocalypse
Date: 14 Oct 92 20:26:26 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

In article <Bw4M2z.Hun@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> ipgrier@compass.uwaterloo.ca (Iain P. Grier) writes:
>Okay, I got this one off of alt.tasteless two months ago.  No, I
>don't have a copy of the article.  
>
>It appears that Baptists and some other miscellaneous religion 
>(United Church?) believe that the end of the world is supposed to
>happen on October 28th, 1992.
>
>Is the apocalypse story an UL or is the story that it's a Baptist
>story an UL?
>
>It looks like we have less than 2 weeks to debunk this thing...
>
>I also heard that only the good Baptists/misc. will be allowed to
>ascend into Heaven on this day, and all the pagans will remain on
>Earth until the actual destruction of the world in the year 1999 or
>something.  I guess that over the next 8 years we'll all be able
>to fuck like bunnies or whatever sinful activity gives you a rise,
>since we're going to Hell anyways.

ok, ok. first of all, it's pretty silly to clump all baptists together. 
there's independent fundy baptists, southern baptists, and many another
flavor. my mother is one. and if the world were ending, she'd be calling
me constantly about my spiritual health (or lack thereof). also, most
baptists take the bible fairly literally, and in revelation it states that
"no man shall know the day and hour" of the impending demise of the world,
so on and so forth. 

ghod, i hate posting about religion.

bah.

rachel "i hear it's customary to put something in quotes here" perkins

--
		-just give me what for,
	rachel perkins =  rperkins@astro.as.arizona.edu
      "Chastity..the most unnatural of all the sexual perversions...."
					-Aldous Huxley
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban