HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: geoffm@purplehaze.Corp.Sun.COM (Geoff Miller)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Why crescent moons? (was Re: You are humble and loveable. CHOMP!)
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Date: 26 Aug 1992 21:09:23 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Menlo Park, Ca.
NNTP-Posting-Host: purplehaze.corp.sun.com



In article <1992Aug26.194759.216@sei.cmu.edu> dbidwa@sei.cmu.edu 
(Daniel Bidwa) writes:

>Okay, why *do* outhouses have crescent moons cut into the doors?


Well, what other shape is evocative of nature while (a) looking reasonably
decorative, (b) not creating too large a hole, and (c) being easy to cut?

TruFaxDept.:  An astronomy instructor of mine mentioned that the crescent 
moons shown on outhouse doors in the comic strip Lil' Abner were always 
backwards.  Such depictions, in any context, came to be known in astro-
nomical circles as "Dogpatch moons."



Geoff


-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Geoff Miller                    + + + + + + + +        Sun Microsystems
geoffm@purplehaze.Corp.Sun.COM  + + + + + + + +     Menlo Park, California
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: msb@sq.sq.com (Mark Brader)
Subject: Smallest denominations of paper money (was: Counterfeiting)
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 06:36:01 GMT

> > > > ObUL: The $1 bill is the smallest denomination of paper money in
> > > >       the developed countries.
> > > Is the U.S. a developed country?  1863-5 US 50 cent and 25 cent paper 
> > > money exists  ...
> > This summer I briefly had in my possession a
> > 20-escudo bill ... worth about 15 cents.
> Which country is the escudo used for currency?  Some may argue that it's
> not a "developed" country, so my example is perhaps more robust. ...

I think the Portuguese would generally consider their country as "developed".
If denominations no longer issued but still accepted are allowed, then the
Canadian $1 bill is another counterexample; it was worth about 85 cents US
the last time I looked.  I got one in change a couple of weeks ago.  There
were 25-cent bills in Canada too, long ago, but I don't know if they're
still legal tender.

I think the question is better restricted to denominations still being
issued.  I'm trying to remember what the smallest bill in common use was
during my visit to Portugal this past spring; I rather think it was 500
escudos.  They certainly have coins as large as 200 escudos.  So if my
memory is right, Portugal doesn't qualify under this definition.  And,
in fact, I can't think of a bill under $1 US that's still in common use
in any country I've been to.

Hmmm... anyone know about Austria?

I suspect that this is going to hinge on the definition of "developed",
though.
-- 
Mark Brader		"Actually, $150, to an educational institution,
Toronto			 turns out to be about the same as a lower amount."
utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com				-- Mark Horton

This article is in the public domain.
From: bls@sector7g.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Scearce)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Of Butterflys and Hurricanes
Date: 27 Aug 92 17:24:36 GMT
Reply-To: bls@sector7g.Eng.Sun.COM
Organization: Sun Microsystems
NNTP-Posting-Host: sector7g

In article 14068@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu, vkochend@nyx.cs.du.edu (vance kochenderfer) writes:
> There is an interesting short story by Ray Bradbury in which a big game
> hunter goes back in time to hunt a dinosaur [...]

_A Sound of Thunder_, for those of you who are going to search for it.

Brian "That's ((big game) hunter), not (big (game hunter))" Scearce

---
Brian Scearce                               bls@sector7g.eng.sun.com
        The above does not necessarily represent Sun policy.
          It's easier to get forgiveness than permission.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Subject: Arguing with Statistics
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 01:14:38 GMT

In article <13080056@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> mort@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Jeff Mortensen) writes:
>> [what are the odds of synchronous posting?]
>> Ed "you can't argue with statistics" Bogart
>> 
>	Sorry Ed, but you can argue statistics.  There are several books
>	out which explain coincidence and how it does not always follow
>	any statistics that might be figured.  
>[far out coincidence involving rare biplane breaking down next to a
  farmhouse with same model of rare biplane -- the odds of which were
  probably more likely than Jeff realizes]

Uh, sorry, a far-out coincidence doesn't mean that the statistics are
wrong.  Look up the law of large numbers some time.

>	The book said that there was no way of figuring the odds, or stats for
>	this kind of occurance.  Yet if you where to look at your own life I 
>	bet things like this happen all the time.  

Exactly: billions of events happen every day, and there is bound to
be the occasional one in fifty million chance occurring.

As for Ed's case, the odds are probably well under one in a million --
the New York Times and other papers ran several stories similar to 
organ-napping within the last month, so, in a newsgroup with hundreds,
if not thousands of readers, somebody's bound to bring it up, just as
myself and two or three other people brought up the BBC report that
"snuff films" were confiscated in a videotape copying ring (turned out to be
copies of "Faces of Death").

Ted "what are the odds that eight separate people will note that Monty
     Python is the only ones ever to make a three-sided record?" Frank
-- 
             ......................................................
             ted frank | thf2@midway.uchicago.edu | std disclaimers
             the university of chicago law skool, chicago, illinois
             it's log!  log!  log!  it's big, it's heavy, it's wood
From: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us (S. Mudgett aka little gator)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Just One Calorie...?
Date: 28 Aug 92 13:48:40 GMT
	<1992Aug23.060334.24647@u.washington.edu>
	<1992Aug26.160453.22813@news.cs.brandeis.edu>
	<1992Aug27.140836.13166@bnlux1.bnl.gov>
Reply-To: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
Organization: gators 'r us
X-Software: HERMES GUS 1.03 Rev. Apr 14 1992

In <1992Aug27.140836.13166@bnlux1.bnl.gov>, gary l. schroeder writes:

>I'm just waiting for the day when the FDA will announce that NutraSweet
>causes cancer in laboratory rats as well as edema, halitosis, epilation,
>and intestinitis.

it causes headaches in me.  please forget the aspartame, my lard is sugaree.

little"not tonight dear i just ate nutrasweet" gator
-- 
-- little gator aka s. mudgett     email: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
-- friend of a gator is a friend of mine
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,aus.general
From: damian@cs.monash.edu.au (Damian Conway)
Subject: Shergold outbreak in Melbourne Australia
Summary: Need FAQ urgently to combat outbreak of Shergold fever
Organization: Computer Science, Monash University, Australia
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 12:11:17 GMT

Yes, friends, our local technical college just received the news - it seems that
a poor child in the UK is dying of cancer and needs millions of business cards 
to get into the Guiness Book of Records. (Sigh)

Could some kind soul please send me a copy of the relevant bit of the 
alt.folklore.urban FAQ (or point me at an archive site - news.answers doesn't
list one) so I can publish the facts in the local newsletter and save everyone a
lot of wasted effort.

damian

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  who: Damian Conway                 email: damian@bruce.cs.monash.edu.au
where: Dept. Computer Science        phone: +61-3-565-5184
       Monash University               fax: +61-3-565-5146
       Clayton 3168                  quote: "A pessimist is never disappointed."
       AUSTRALIA
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: The Posh WC
From: rmk@rmkhome.UUCP (Rick Kelly)
Organization: The Man With Ten Cats
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 04:30:06 GMT
Reply-To: rmk@rmkhome.UUCP (Rick Kelly)

In article <l9nm0jINNcsd@male.EBay.Sun.COM> jimj@cleanplate.EBay.Sun.COM (James D. Jones) writes:
>In article <Aug.26.13.55.01.1992.1156@math.rutgers.edu> cromar@math.rutgers.edu (Scott Cromar) writes:
> 
>>The recent spate of bathroom stories reminded me of a classic.  I
>>assume it's been collected in one of the usual sources, though I don't
>>recall seeing it.
>
>(stuff deleted)
>
>>The landlord, not being familiar with what a "WC" was, assumed that it
>>stood for "Westminster Chapel."  He then wrote back a lengthy letter
>>describing the WC's historic importance, and a recent renovation in
>>which the seats were reupholstered in velvet.
>
>I couldn't tell you where that one came from, but it's at least 10-15 years
>old -- I know, because that's when I saw a (many-times-photocopied) copy.  
>Someone passed it to me on the job (software company).

The WC story goes back to the days when Jack Paar ruled the night.  As I
remember, there was some trouble between him and the network censors when
he tried to tell this story on the air.  

-- 

Rick Kelly	rmk@rmkhome.UUCP	unixland!rmkhome!rmk	rmk@frog.UUCP
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Infertility!
From: f67700241@violet.ccit.arizona.edu (Greg Franklin)
Date: 29 Aug 92 04:33:09 MST
Distribution: world,local
Organization: University of Arizona
Nntp-Posting-User: f67700241

In article <dbppbpjt@csv.warwick.ac.uk>, csuah@warwick.ac.uk (~WISP at CU~) writes:
> In article <1992Aug27.134550.426@ecc.tased.edu.au> ecc_jim@ecc.tased.edu.au writes:
>>Heard this from my teacher many years ago:
>>
>>A couple were infertile for many years. Doctors couldn't find a reason and just
>>put it down to bad luck.
>>
>>The couple decide to see a different doctor, and while he is examining her he
>>notices some dried semen in her belly button.
> 
>Never heard of that particular variant, but I have attended a similar case
>where the recipient orifice was the woman's urethra, rather than vagina...

The author of the classic book "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About
Sex But Were Afraid to Ask", apparently a licensed sexologist, recounted a
case history just like what the Wisp heard.  The author discreetly named the
couple something like "John and Wendy," and had Wendy saying some incredibly
ignorant thing like "I had no idea, I thought it was supposed to hurt...."

It *could've* been propaganda or a made-up story illustrating the low state
of sexual education in America and how books like his were meant to combat
it....  BTW, the book dates from the late 1960s, I think.
-- 
Greg "Mockingbird" Franklin      Interviewer: "Sir, how do you spell relief?"
f67700241@ccit.arizona.edu               Dan: "R-O-L-A-I-D-S-E."
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: csuah@warwick.ac.uk (~WISP at CU~)
Subject: Re: Russian dog-mines in WWII
Organization: Computing Services, Warwick University, UK
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 12:15:46 GMT

In article <1992Aug27.221759.15533@rchland.ibm.com> jdahl@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Jared Dahl) writes:
>In article <Btnnyy.5tJ@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, tjz20735@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Tom Zych) writes:
>|> mort@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Jeff Mortensen) writes:
>|>
>|> >In alt.folklore.urban, thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank) writes:
>|>
>|> >>
>|> >> Sounds suspiciously like the bat-explosives the United States tried
>|> >> during World War II.
>|> >
>|> >	the base.  If the atomic bomb had not worked, this plan would
>|> >	have been used, and Japan most probably would have been burned
>|> >	to the ground.  A different ending, but the result would have
>|> >	been the same.
>                 ^^^^
>I don't think that firebombing produces radiation burns and genetic
>defects.  Not that firebombing is a particularly pleasant thing...
>
>
>|>
>|> >Morty
>|> >
>|>
>|> I think that the B29 incendiary raids did a pretty good job of burning large
>|> parts of Japan to the ground, without flying mammilian help.  BTW, Dave Barry
>|> wrote a column about the bats once, don't remember exactly when...
>|>
>|> Tom Zych   tjz20735@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
>|>
>
>I seem to remember the US doing the same thing to Dresden, Germany
>also.  More people were killed in Dresden and Tokyo than Nagasaki
>and Hiroshima.

Absolutely. Of course, it was 'Bomber' Harris who ordered the operation,
and over 1,000 RAF bombers went by night, about 300 US B17s (mainly) by
day. Credit where credit's due.   :-(  After all, you Yanks get the blame for
everything else...


The Wisp.
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Chris Williams <csuah@uk.ac.warwick.csv> aka <csuah@csv.warwick.ac.uk>
"Tony Greig in the slips, legs apart, waiting for a tickle"
                                      Brian Johnson (thanks to A. Simha 8^>)
From: cromar@math.rutgers.edu (Scott Cromar)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: The Flat Earth Society???
Date: 25 Aug 92 16:43:07 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

I have a friend who claims to have taught a girl from Colorado who was
a member of a religious sect that taught that the world was flat.
They based their belief on the bit in the scriptures about the "four
corners of the earth."  Other than the bit about the flat earth, he
said that their doctrines seemed to mirror those of most
fundamentalist Protestants.

--Scott "the Earth IS flat--that's why all the NASA pictures are
two-dimensional" Cromar
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson)
Subject: Re: Mnemonics
Organization: Famed Parquet Floor
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 00:45:13 GMT

In article <25736@dog.ee.lbl.gov> TWChan@lbl.gov (Terry Chan) writes:
>
>Terry "How about 'posh'?" Chan

It was a contemptuous term used by the staffs of British ocean liners to
refer to First Class, where the passengers were rude and the tips scanty.

It stood for "Portly Old Sod's Heaven".

Like snafu, this has spurious transliterations as well.

Phil "If you want to annoy someone, be Ted Frank" Gustafson
-- 
|play: phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG; {ames|pyramid|vsi1}!zorch!phil                |
|work: (Under Construction)              | Phil Gustafson                   |
|         "Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile."                     |
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.tv
From: edcrwfrd@unlv.edu (Edward Crawford)
Subject: Re: Kimberly Dunning, or "Whatcha talking about?"
Organization: UNLV
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 22:04:21 GMT

In article <1992Aug25.195848.12212@cci632.cci.com> adw@cci632.cci.com (Allen Williams (co-op)) writes:
>
> While at a party, cancled tv shows became a topic that was ernestly discussed.
>Someone made the claim that the actress who played "Kimberly" in "Diff'rent
>Strokes" was arrested for holding up a convenience store.
>
> What was this actresses name? What possesed her to hold up a convenience
>store? Was she on drugs, or simply out of work after her resuidals ran
>out? Was she convicted, and/or served time or was otherwised sentenced?
>What was the name of the convenience store - 7-11 ? How old is she? Did
>she have an accomplice or was this a solo effort?
>
I know this answer, but her name escapes me at the moment...
Although she did not rob a convenience store, rather a video store.

She does have a drug problem and in fact she has been arrested
(after the robbery) while she was in a hospital for stealing
medicine. She was convicted (plead guilty i believe) but she
didnt serve time i believe. The name of the video store
was lakes video (about 3 miles from my house) in las vegas, nv.
It was solo, in fact the clerk recognized her (regular customer)
and didnt believe her at first....

Hmm.. if you are intersted i can look this up in the newspaper
here and double check the info (for some reason an Al Philips
dry cleaning shop keeps popping in my mind)
From: csuah@warwick.ac.uk (~WISP at CU~)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Death by sneezing
Date: 25 Aug 92 18:40:57 GMT
Organization: Computing Services, Warwick University, UK

In article <1992Aug24.104848.425@ecc.tased.edu.au> ecc_jim@ecc.tased.edu.au writes:
>This was from my mother who is a nurse. Some people (women seem to be the main
>offenders) hold their sneezes back when they occur, that is they block the
>actual flow of air with their hands/mouth/throat.
>
>My mum told me of a women who did this with a quintuple-sneeze (five in a row)
>and died of a brain haemorrhage.
>
>Whenever someone holds back a sneeze near me, I tell them this story.
>
>Any thoughts?
>

Well, it's called the Valsalva manoeuvre, and is sometimes used to slow the
heart (in SVTs etc.). Basically what you do is to exhale forcefully against a
closed glottis, so no air comes out. The result is considerably raised
intra-thoracic pressure with diminished venous return and increased
arterial blood pressure, particularly in the head.

When you choke off a sneeze or cough, this is what you're doing, only in a
more violent and sudden fashion. If you've got a weak blood vessel or an
anerysm somewhere in your head, it's quite possible to have a brain
haemorrhage...

So, your mum's story is probably true.

Later,

The Wisp. [composting toilet of useless information...]
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Chris Williams <csuah@uk.ac.warwick.csv> aka <csuah@csv.warwick.ac.uk>
"Tony Greig in the slips, legs apart, waiting for a tickle"
                                      Brian Johnson (thanks to A. Simha 8^>)
From: dwb@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Dave Baines)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Sex on the Train
Date: 4 Sep 92 11:24:13 GMT
Reply-To: dwb@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Dave Baines)
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh

In article <1992Sep1.160246.8614@vax.oxford.ac.uk> banks@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:
>I've long since junked my old newspapers, but someone somewhere should
>still be able to dig out the relevant story.  The couple worked for the 

Well, in my newspapers to be recycled pile I found The Scotsman of Friday 7th
August 92 which contained the following report.

            Have-it-awayday couple puffed out after sex show.

Travellers packing a hot and humid British Rail train turned a blind eye as a
couple on a works day-trip to Margate treated them to a full sex show, a court
heard yesterday.
   Their patience finally wore thin, however, when John Henderson, 29, and Zoe
D'Arcy, 19, rounded their rail romp off with a cigarrete....in a non-smoking
compartment.
   Nazir Afzal, prosecuting, said the couple's antics on a crowded evening
service to London's Victoria station left fellow travellers dumbfounded.
   He told Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court in London how the pair were
first spotted "apparently having oral sex" in a first class compartment.
   He said that Henderson and D'Arcy, workmates at the Sainsbury's warehouse
in Ealing, London, were seen by a woman as she boarded the train with her
children.
   "Miss D'Arcy was kneeling down, with her head between Mr Henderson's legs"
Mr Afzal said.
   When the couple noticed they were being watched they separated and Henderson
zipped his trousers up but the witness could not say for sure if they were
having oral sex.
   However a "full" sex show followed minutes later, after the couple moved to
a crowded second-class carriage with children present.
   Mr Afzal said "Miss D'Arcy go up, went to the toilet and came out carrying
her jeans and wearing only her knickers on the lower part of her body. She was
seen to sit on Mr Henderson's lap and they performed full sexual intercourse.
In due course, they finished and lit up a cigarrette each.
   Mr Afzal said that until that point nobody had complained. "It was only on
their action in lighting up the cigarrettes that the witnesses actually came
up to them and complained about their behaviour."
   Passengers found a guard who radioed for police to meet the couple at
Victoria.
   Henderson, of Pimlico, west London, and D'Arcy of Hanwell, admitted
committing an indecent act on 25 May. They also admitted lighting up a
cigarrette in a no-smoking carriage and were each find 50 pounds plus 25
pounds costs.
   Both apologised to the court for their behaviour. When asked if they had
been drinking, Henderson said "We did have a few drinks at Margate. A few of
us went out with a works party on a day trip."

The article is not attributed to anyone so I suppose it depends whether you
believe everything you read in the papers !

Dave
From: jimj@cleanplate.EBay.Sun.COM (James D. Jones)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Album Royalties for Lawsuit Settlment (Was: Tom Lehrer)
Date: 25 Aug 1992 20:02:26 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca.
NNTP-Posting-Host: cleanplate.ebay.sun.com

In article <BtHzI4.Cxw@lawday.DaytonOH.NCR.COM> jra@lawday.DaytonOH.NCR.COM (John Ackermann) writes:

>The part that may be a UL is that the case was finally settled by him
>agreeing to give her royalties from his next album.  So, he decided that
>he'd get even by not doing any more albums.  Never had any verification
>on this story, though...

I don't know about this UL vis-a-vis Tom Lehrer, but I've heard a similar
story concerning Marvin Gaye from record collectors.  It seems that 
Gaye and his wife had an extremely nasty divorce fight.  As part of her
settlement, she was to receive the royalties from his next album.

Gaye went into the studio and recorded an album of rambling and obscene
diatribes against his wife and everything else that pissed him off.  The album
was issued and, as Gaye intended, hardly earned a dime.  Case closed.

I haven't listened to to album, but I've been shown a copy of what was 
purported to be this album.  It's supposed to be a moderate collector's
item -- something you gotta have if you want the "complete" Marvin Gaye,
but hardly a joy to listen to.
From: wells@athena.cs.uga.edu (Scott Wells)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Red Cross (Was Re: Price gouging in Florida and Guam)
Date: 1 Sep 92 17:27:39 GMT
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens


In article <1992Sep1.161532.12348@cybernet.cse.fau.edu> michaelb@cse.fau.edu (Michael Rogero Brown) writes:

>And not to get off the subject, I believe the story of the Red Cross charging
>soldiers is true.  I meet someone who was there.
and
>of these people.  Instances of Red Cross denying aid or charging when groups
>like the Salvation Army was giving stuff away.  My mothers family was hit by
>a bad hurricane in the 20s.  My great-uncle, just a child back then, had only

While the Red Cross is, on the whole, a noble organization, it can
royally screw up. Anyone remember Therezenstadt (sp?), the "model"
concentration camp the Nazi set up in Czechoslovakia for Red Cross
inspection.

But I really don't want to talk about Nazis: I've got my own ancedote.
My father was shipped off to Viet Nam on 28 June 1969, leaving behind
my pregnant mother, due to deliver on 30 June. (Yes..It was me..but
mark your calenders for 2 July if you want to send me presents ;)) Dad
got a telegram from the RC telling him that "mother and child" were
well, without giving my sex or name. He kept the telegram and he's
still boiled over the RC because of it. Minor stupidity, I admit.

Still, I've heard rumors that the RC has sold blood to combat wounded.
That sounds like UL material, but I'd like to know if anyone has
conclusive information.

Scott Wells
(wells@athena.cs.uga.edu.)
Snappy .sig file in committee
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban