HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Citecheck Hell)
Subject: Re: Sinking libraries
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 13:40:44 GMT

In article <BuHxuE.49D@rice.edu> swaim@owlnet.rice.edu (Michael Parks Swaim) writes:
>  Houston has this problem with water. They're switching to only using 
>resivoirs to prevent further "sink." One of our embedded cities (Belair) lost 
                                                                  ^^^^^^

Bellaire, the home of Bellaire High and the mighty Bellaire Cardinals.
Famous alumni include the Quaid brothers and the guy that plays Data on
the new Star Trek.

Anybody ever go to a high school with famous alumni, or know someone who did?

Ted "me, I graduated Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans" Frank

ObUL: Someone swore to me as true the story about a husband throwing
      a lit cigarette into the toilet, and having the commode explode.
      But the real catch was that when the ambulance came to get him,
      the stretcher attendants heard the story and started laughing so
      hard that they dropped the stretcher and broke the guy's leg!
      It must be true, it was in an Israeli newspaper.  Blame
      tb13@midway.uchicago.edu.
-- 
           .........................................................
          ted frank | thf2@midway.uchicago.edu | standard disclaimers
         the university of chicago law school, chicago, illinois 60637
         here i sit looking for a warming smile in a house of cold wit
From: shafer@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Stupid Cop Tricks & the Reagan Office Hours
Date: 12 Sep 92 18:44:09 GMT
Organization: NASA Dryden, Edwards, Cal.

There's an article in today's Los Angeles times about an LA County
parking control officer who ticketed a car parked illegally in
Willowbrook and overlooked the dead guy in the driver's seat.  The
driver had been shot in the head as much as 13 hours before the ticket
was written.

The officer reached in the partly open window and put the ticket on
the dashboard, according to the paramedics.

--
Mary Shafer  DoD #0362 KotFR NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA
shafer@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov                    Of course I don't speak for NASA
 "There's no kill like a guns kill." LCDR "Hoser" Satrapa, gunnery instructor
                       "A kill is a kill."  Anonymous
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.magic,rec.misc,alt.stagecraft,alt.tasteless
From: dw@unislc.uucp (Dan Wright)
Subject: Notorious Toothpaste Skit
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Organization: Unisys UNIX Salt Lake City
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 17:28:18 GMT

For four years I attended a private co-ed boarding high school named
Wasatch Academy.  During orientation at the beginning of each year,
students were separated into groups presided over by faculty advisors,
and each group was told to come up with and to practice a skit, which
they would have to perform that evening for the rest of the school.
Each year Mr. McGrew convinced his group of new students perform the
same notorious skit.  Even though I have seen that skit four times I'm
still not sure how he persuaded his students to do it.

On a small table are a glass of water, a toothbrush, and a tube of
toothpaste.  The first performer comes on, squeezes some toothpaste onto
the brush, and proceeds to brush his teeth.  He then rinses with the
water, spitting it back into the cup.  The next performer comes on,
squeezes more toothpaste onto the brush, brushes his teeth thoroughly,
then uses the dirty water to rinse, again spitting it back into the cup.
The audience gets more grossed out and groans more loudly as two other
performers come on and further dirty the water in their turn.  The cup
is looking positively sickening when the last performer comes on.  For
this role Mr. McGrew would chose the prettiest, most dainty girl he
could find.  After brushing her teeth, this girl does the unthinkable:
she raises the filthy cup to her lips and drinks it all down, swallowing
several times, till every last drop is gone.

I can only imagine that McGrew has each of the students brush their
teeth five times immediately before performing the skit.  I have also
wondered whether the "toothpaste" was something more inert like
cornstarch-paste.  Lastly I'll bet McGrew pays the girl who swallows
something like 50 bucks (joke away with that line you clowns).

Have any of you seen a similar trick?  Do any of you know of some other
device or explanation for this skit?

  -- Dan Wright
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jmethot@vicorp.com (John Methot)
Subject: Re: Evita's body
Organization: V. I. Corporation, Northampton, Massachusetts
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 15:14:35 GMT

In article <laqh5aINN4dd@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM> geoffm@purplehaze.Corp.Sun.COM (Geoff Miller) writes:
>
>In article <1992Sep8.211737.23119@colorado.edu> fielden@spot.Colorado.EDU 
>(j.a. fielden) writes:
>
>> I remember reading somewhere that Peron was very fixated about Eva.
>>Something to the effect that her embalmed body would be at the dinner 
>>table with him and his second wife. Any truth to this?
>
>No.  Peron died before Eva.

I think Eva died before Peron (she died in the fifties).

Peron died before Isabel.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: nasadk@aix.rpi.edu (Kristopher Martin Nasadowski)
Subject: Re: Bridges
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 03:33:28 GMT

[story on Golden Gate Bridge and "Yoopers" deleted]

If I recall correctly, (heh,heh) there is a book called
"They Said It couldn't be Done" It detailed the building of
the Brooklyn Bridge, The Golden Gate Bridge, The Hoover Dam, The 
Holland Tunnel, The Gateway Arch, The Empire State Building, and
the Apollo Moon Landing among other things..

On the part of the Golden Gate Bridge, it said the bridge was
designed with a maximum side deflection of 21 feet, or a total
side to side deflection of 42 feet. It als stated how much up and
down deflection the bridge has. I think at maximum, the bridge
would defelct downwards about 16 feet if the center span were
loaded, and deflect UP 16 feet if the spans from the anchorages to 
the towers were loaded.

ObArchitectureUL#1 : If the two bases for the Gateway Arch were misaligned
                     byas much as 1/64 of an inch, the two halves would 
                     miss completely at the top.
ObArchitectureUL#2 : All of the calculations were done by hand, before the
                     use of computers (sorry 'bout the wording)
ObNationalParkUL : The correct name of the Gateway Arch is "The Jefferson
                   National Expansion Memorial" And it is illegal to fly
                   a plane thru the arch. Federal Law!

Nazman
<nasadk@rpi.edu>
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:23382 rec.arts.tv:17697
From: wb8foz@skybridge.SCL.CWRU.Edu (David Lesher)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.tv
Subject: Re: Chef Boy-Ar-Dee commercial
Date: 12 Sep 1992 22:22:13 GMT
Organization: NRK Clinic for habitual NetNews abusers - Beltway Annex
Reply-To: wb8foz@skybridge.scl.cwru.edu (David Lesher)
NNTP-Posting-Host: skybridge.scl.cwru.edu

# The part about recalling the copies with this ad sounds like urban legend
# to me. 

On the other hand, nobody seems to challenging the {fact,story}
that ATT had employees steal all the copies they could find of
the {in}famous Ramparts Black Box article.

Didn't get mine, though.....

--
A host is a host from coast to coast..wb8foz@skybridge.scl.cwru.edu
& no one will talk to a host that's close..........................
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: arielle@NeoSoft.com (Stephanie da Silva)
Subject: Re: Kidnapping at Disneyland
Organization: /etc/organization
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 05:36:38 GMT

In article <21982@optima.cs.arizona.edu> gln@cs.arizona.edu (Gary L. Newell) writes:
> In article <1992Sep12.051417.22361@PA.dec.com>, snopes%club33@stlth.enet.dec.com (snopes) writes:
> > In article <1768@shaman.wv.tek.com>, 
> > > [Good version of child kidnapped at amusement park/shopping mall/
> > > department store/whatever UL] deleted
> > 
> > [snopes comes to the rescue and debunks said UL, tho the version I always
> >  heard was it was a blonde girl and they not only cut her hair off to
> >  disguise her as a boy but also dyed it black] deleted
> 
>  [flamegnashrantgnarlraveraveflame] deleted 

Oh, how nice.  It kind of renews my faith in the net to see a myth basher
so thoroughly flamed by the unbelieving.

But wait, I forgot.  This is September.  Does it still count?
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: fredrikm@eik.ii.uib.no (Fredrik Manne)
Subject: Re: North Pole (was: The Flat Earth Society???)
Organization: Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, Norway
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 08:34:55 GMT

In article <BtzIGy.Lv2@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG>, phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) writes:
|> Much as I hate to followup to my own postings, I just remembered 
|> another point: U. S. submarines have for many years been reinforced
|> to allow them to bash upwards through ice.  My reference is not at
|> hand, but a few years after the Nautilus sailed under the Pole, the 
|> USS Skipjack bashed through, and the sailors had leave to wander about
|> on the ice.
|> 
|> So we have:
|> 
|>   First to fly over the Pole.
|>   First to dive under the Pole.
|>   First to walk on the Pole.
|>   First to perambulate to the Pole. 
|> 
|> 

Let me add 
   
    First to swim at the pole
    First to play a soccer game on the pole

Last autum a friend of mine was on a Swedish icebreaker which made
its way to the pole. Since they had free water (behind the ship)
some people went swimming (no wet suit). They also played a soccer game with
Sweden against (The world - sweden). If I remember correctly 
Sweden lost. So we can add: 

    First to loose a game of soccer on the pole.


                                              _______
Fredrik Manne           phn: +47 5 544163   `/_/_|_\_\ `  The Rain In Spain
Dep. of Informatics     fax: +47 5 544199  `     |  oo  `  Falls Mainly In
University of Bergen    room: 4144          `    |  <  `       Bergen.
N-5020 Bergen, Norway   fredrikm@ii.uib.no `  `  J  --  `
From: bobk@ESD.3Com.COM (Bob Konigsberg)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Fuel misers
Date: 8 Sep 92 15:47:18 GMT
Distribution: alt

baudais@bnr.ca (Michael Baudais) writes:
>Someone somewhere has invented a new engine/car/carbeurator/
>fuel-injector that will allow cars to achieve 100 to 200 miles per
>gallon.  The only reason we aren't driving these things is that the
>Big Bad Oil Companies (BBOCs) have bought out the inventors to
>preserve their markets.

I've heard the same story several times.  However, back in college days,
one of my professors worked out some equations (wish I still had my
notes), that showed that an internal combustion engine could only
get about 15% efficiency at best (the subject was thermodynamics).  What
this translates to in MPG wasn't made clear, but it was obvious that
the 100 MPG stuff was not physically possible in any "average" car.

BobK

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: warren@nysernet.org (Warren Burstein)
Subject: Re: What makes an urban legend work?
Reply-To: warren@nysernet.org
Organization: Mail to News Gateway at Wang Labs
Date: 6 Sep 92 00:50:40 GMT

In <t02pbrc8@csv.warwick.ac.uk> csuah@warwick.ac.uk (~WISP at CU~) writes:

>"all pirates like Jews." Now *that* makes you wonder...

It's because we eat locks.
-- 
/|/-\/-\       In real life, the Vice President chastises Murphey Brown
 |__/__/_/     for her morals.  Bill Clinton plays the sax on "Arsenio
 |warren@      Hall."  Though "Batman Returns" is fiction, it's not too
/ nysernet.org much stranger than truth - Caryn James, The New York Times
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: pjswan@engin.umich.edu (Peter Swanson)
Subject: Re: Bridges
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 92 20:58:52 EDT
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor
Keywords: INNUMERACY ALERT!

In article <BuEB3F.40x@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) writes:
>In article <60q--MC@engin.umich.edu> pjswan@engin.umich.edu (Peter Swanson) writes:
>>
>>was bouncing 2 cm at 120 Hz.  We were worried the ramp might collapse,
                       ^^^^^^!!!
>>
>
>Did you march that fast, or did you have a really loud tuba section?

Yow! Number numbness caused by imminent quals.  Of course, this should
be 120 beats/min (2 Hz).

peter "brainfried" swanson

-- 
| Peter J. Swanson           |  pjswan@caen.engin.umich.edu                  |
| Graduate Student           |  controls specialist                          |
| Electrical Engineering     |                                               |
| University of Michigan     |  Look! We have guests!                        |
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: pratta@rpi.edu (Anthony Edward Prattico)
Subject: Re: Third to be bombed...
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 00:33:28 GMT


I heard a few years ago that the New York Finger Lakes region was high on
the list, though I can't remember where, because of the Seneca Army Depot
where nuclear warheads were rumored to be stored. (Anybody remember all of
the articles about the protesters stopping trains entering the depot?)
Anyway, with the depot scheduled to close I guess the area drops in 
importance.

-Anthony
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: bakc@giraffe.ru.ac.za (MR KR COMAN)
Subject: Re: Smallest denominations of paper money (was: Counterfeiting)
Organization: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 06:18:46 GMT

>Subject: Re: Smallest denominations of paper money (was: Counterfeiting)

I was in Italy back in 1977 and got a 50 lira note amongst some change -- 
was worth bugger-all then......and today???
From: kelley@vet.vet.purdue.edu (Stephen Kelley)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Marching Band ULs needed
Date: 11 Sep 92 16:32:06 GMT
Organization: Carps Underground, Cookies of Doom Division

- In article <1992Sep9.005631.9338@bsu-ucs.uucp> 00mlschmalz@bsu-ucs.uucp writes:
- >
-   The Rice marching band has been banned from the Astrodome since the early
- '70's for a halftime show that upset the owners.

As I recall, it was just after the New Orleans Superdome was completed.  
The Rice announcer during the show pointedly referred to the 
Astrodome as 'the smallest indoor football stadium in the world'.

Steve
From: twcaps@tennyson.lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: IS TOLEDO GOING TO THE DOGS?
Date: 6 Sep 1992 21:08:39 GMT
Organization: Department of Redundancy Department
Reply-To: TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan)
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.12.117


  lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson) writes:
  +
  +>I heard that Walt Disney is frozen.

warren@nysernet.org writes:

  +Guess we'll need a larger cannon.

Disney already has one.  That's how they test out their new rides.


Terry "And it works best frozen" Chan
--
Internet:  TWChan@lbl.gov                  This is illegal, but I know jujitsu
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory                         so I don't care.
Berkeley, California  USA  94720                      
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: dtasman@dante.nmsu.edu (Dan Tasman)
Subject: Re: Highest Channel
Organization: New Mexico State University
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 19:54:27 GMT

rph@sq.sq.com (Pontus Hedman (VE3RPH)) writes:
: (I said)
:When I went on a ride to Toronto, all the rooftop antennas were pointed toward
:Buffalo, which gave me some sort of indication about what Canadians thought of
:CBC and CTV.
: 
:Did you happen to notice a certain structure called "the CN tower" when you
:were here? You don't *need* a rooftop antenna to receive CBC and CTV

NO!  Is that what that big ponty tall thing with the donut near the top of it  
was that dominated the Toronto Skyline?  Well, I'll be ... I thought that was  
just the Tim Horton Memorial ...
 
: Pointing the rooftop beam south nets you all the US stuff as well
: as the local stuff. That's why they all point that way.

Does that apply in Hamilton, Burlington, Stony Creek ... points quite distant  
from the CN Tower, with most of the antennas aimed directly toward the Southern  
Hills of Buffalo ... I know if you're 30 miles (50 KM) from a TV transmitter,  
now matter how tall it may be, you still have to aim your receiving antenna  
toward the transmitting source.

: Incidentally, I've always just used rabbit ears, which should give you some
: sort of indication about what I think of US TV.

ObUL ... WKBW's (Channel 7) 6:00 newscast has the highest ratings of any  
newscast in Toronto, even though it's from Buffalo.

ObUL ... The Buffalo suburb of North Tonawanda is continually ablaze.

--
   Dan Tasman                                       dtasman@dante.nmsu.edu
                                                     molson@rever.nmsu.edu
   -----------------------------------------------------------------------
   "I think that I shall never see a billboard lovely as a tree
    Indeed, unless the billboards fall, I'll never see a tree at all."
                                                                Ogden Nash
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: bmb1021@ultb.isc.rit.edu (B.M. Buck )
Subject: Re: Just One Calorie...?
Originator: bmb1021@ultb
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 02:56:29 GMT

In article <17179@ulysses.att.com> smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin) writes:
>In article <1992Sep2.143933.20274@cco.caltech.edu>, ansok@cco.caltech.edu (Gary Ansok) writes:
>Showing marketing wisdom that apparently vanished from Coke in recent
>years, they chose not to dilute their primary trademark with a bad
>imitation.  Instead, they deliberately tinkered with the Coke formula to
>make Tab, giving it a brand identity of its own.  When aspartame became
>available, though, they couldn't just use it in Tab -- the saccharin
>taste was too prominent a part of its identity.  So they created Diet
>Coke as a taste-alike low-calorie drink, while retaining Tab for that
>market segment that actually liked the stuff (shudder).  Not that that's
>an unfavorable outcome for the Coca Cola company -- brand proliferation
>is a major way to get more shelf space in supermarkets, and that's the
>real battle.

Actually, according to the book "The Real Coke: The Real Story", the
reason that Coca-Cola introduced Diet Coke was not to use Aspartame, but
rather to attract a different market share.  Tab was marketed at women,
since that was originally who was most interested in diet products.
Coke Execs decided to introduce a new diet product aimed at men, and
hence Diet Coke was born.  Tab remained, aimed at women, and at the
people who liked the weird taste of Tab.  I believe (although I could be
wrong), that Aspartame was approved for sodas after Diet Coke was
introduced.  I remember when Aspartame was introduced, and Tab switched
from one foul aftertaste, to a (IMHO) fouler aftertaste.  

The book above is actually very good, going into a lot of detail
surrounding why Coke changed it's formula, and the immediate aftermath
of the change.  The execs at Coke actaually carried around the
supportive letters (there were so few of them), as if to say "See,
SOMEONE LIKED IT!".  

  Later,
    BP (bmb1021@ultb.isc.rit.edu)
From: pynq@quads.uchicago.edu (George Jetson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Viruses: was(Re: aids started by cia?)
Date: 12 Sep 92 14:32:22 GMT
Reply-To: pynq@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: D. J. Dougherty & Associates

In article <Bu2qIA.H7I@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) writes:

>Massive vaccination programs in the 1950's and 1960's, largely run by the
>WHO, were so effective that nobody has to be vaccinated any more.  And
>nobody has to die of smallpox any more.   It's rare that our species handles
>a problem so well, and we shouldn't spare the kudos to the people who
>did it.

But they created the AIDS virus and "epidemic" in the process, so maybe
it is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.  What one hand gives, the
other takes away.

Or did they?

(Actually, by mentioning the AIDS conspiracy theory, we ought to be able
to get this thread back on track)

************************************************************************
A note to new readers:  the weasely :-) symbol is frowned upon in this
group.  Any questions, see Phil Gustafson who will gladly rearrange your
diodes for you.
			- From the AFU FAQ -

	- pynq@quads.uchicago.edu, who is still costing the net
	  hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, every time he posts -
************************************************************************
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: tel@adimail.uucp (Terry Monks)
Subject: Re: Annuit Coeptis
Organization: Automata Design, Inc.
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 15:49:23 GMT

Heath Ian Hunnicutt (heathh@cco.caltech.edu) wrote:

: 
: 	One of the Latin phrases means "from one, many."
: 
Not quite. Er, that would be "E pluribus unum," Bob.

Annuit Coeptis - one of my favourite two-words-in-Latin-can-
take-you-a-long-way phrases - "he hath favoured our undertaking,"
is one translation I have seen.

Novus ordo seclorum - 'to ( or from, or by) a new order of the
ages.' I think.

Terry 'haec et olim is my middle name' Monks 
-- 
Terry Monks        Automata Design Inc    (703) 742-9400

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: fielden@spot.Colorado.EDU (j.a. fielden)
Subject: Re: Briant Gumble and NBC
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 21:21:38 GMT

In article <phil.715918202@adam.adelaide.edu.au> phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au (Phil Kernick) writes:
>I heard a story that just smacks of being a UL, so I thought that I would
>throw it to the net for support or debunking!
>
>So the story goes...
>Briant Gumble was a janitor working at NBC, and at a time when it was
>politically expedient to have a negro working in front of the camera, was
>given the option of presenting the news.
>The rest is history...
>
>
>Any truth?
>
>Phil.
>
>
>P.S.  It was difficult to phrase the UL in a way that did not sound racist.
>
>
>-- 
>   _-_|\    Phil Kernick                        "Sleep all day,
>  /     \   University of Adelaide               Party all night,
>  \_.-*_/   E-Mail: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au    It's fun to be a
>       v    Phone:  +61 8 228 5914               Vampire!"

 Doubtful given that Gumbel has a degree in International Affairs or
Internation Relations (forget which) besides didn't he start out
doing sports? Or is that just his brother?

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: hal@HQ.Ileaf.COM (Hal Wadleigh)
Subject: Re: Business Reply Cards & Junk Mail...
Summary: Postage paid
Reply-To: hal@HQ.Ileaf.COM (Hal Wadleigh)
Organization: Interleaf, Inc.
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 15:38:04 GMT
Expires: 10/15/92

I once replied to a particularly offensive burial insurance "survey" by
writing "does not apply--I indend to donate my body to Alpo" on the form.
I then cut a piece of quarter-inch steel plate to fit in the envelope,
wrapped the form around it, and dropped it in the mailbox.  It made a very
satisfying CLUNK when it hit the bottom.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban