HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Subject: Re: Fruitcake
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1992 05:11:51 GMT

In article <BzuKxJ.C9z@polaris.async.vt.edu> jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu (J. Furr) writes:
>
>Joel "I'm a graduate student.  I'll do anything for food" Furr

It is not universally accepted that fruitcake is a food.  However, all agree
that it is a common construction material.

Perhaps fruitcake is used to damp out oscillations in tall buildings, 
especially flan factories.

Have any buildings cracked because they forgot to take into account the
weight of the fruitcakes in the buildings?

cj "does fruitcake taste like chicken?" l
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: alh@einoed.in-berlin.de (Adrian Le Hanne)
Subject: Re: Amusing street names
Organization: Einoed Unix & Netzwerke, Berlin (FRG)
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 18:13:12 GMT

pt@geovision.gvc.com (Paul Tomblin) writes:

>I noticed some weird street signs last summer when I was in Berlin.  
>It was odd, but about one out of every three streets seemed to be
>named "Einbahnstrasse."  I have no idea how Berliners find their
>way around.  Even stranger, the same thing was true in Naples
>(eibanstrasse meaning one-way street)

'Einbahnstrasse' is an additional sign. The name of the street itself is
at the top of the sign post (in east Berlin, the sign is often mounted to
some house on the corner, like in austria). 'Einbahnstrasse' is printed
white on blue, whereas the street name is printed black on white. 

Not very interesting, isn't it? (I understand that i have to left out
a smiley in this newsgroup).

Adrian
-- 
Adrian S. Le Hanne        Einoed Unix & Netzwerke, Koepenicker Str.154, D-1000
alh@einoed.in-berlin.de   Berlin 36. Tel.: 030/611 31 26,  Fax.: 030/611 32 86
  "On a day such as this you should insist on more than the truth" -Pere Ubu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Subject: CD Legends
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1992 12:22:32 GMT

I bought a couple of CD's the other day, and noticed some strange things
about them.

One, Nirvana's "Nevermind," has about ten minutes of silence on track 12
in between two songs -- the second song comes as a bit of a surprise if
one has left the CD player running.

The other, the new Nine Inch Nails album, has just six tracks listed on
the cover, but continues to play through empty tracks 7 through 97 before
finishing with an additional two songs on tracks 98 and 99.

This led me to thinking about other strange CD occurences.

A few bands, most notably They Might Be Giants, have had CDs with multiple
tracks of sound bites, meant to be played on CD-players with a randomize
option.

A limited release of the Tribe's first CD, Abort, has the CD end in the
middle of the song very abruptly.

I saw a post on one of the newsgroups about a band whose last CD track
was lyrics, played at 2400 baud ASCII and transcribable somehow.

Anyone have any interesting CD stories not involving green markers, or
know someone who does?

Ted "fifty-two consecutive three-sided-record-free posts" Frank
-- 
ted frank                     | thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu 
standard disclaimers          | void where prohibited
the university of chicago law school, chicago, illinois 60637
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: dwight@devnet.la.locus.com (Dwight Tovey)
Subject: Ann Landers and the 5 sexes
Reply-To: dwight@locus.com
Organization: Locus Computing Corporation
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 14:59:29 GMT

Saw this one in Ann Landers yesterday.  Some woman wrote in to Ann complaining
about one of her son's teachers.  Seems this teacher was teaching the kids that
there are actually 5 sexes in the world: male, female, homosexual, bisexual, and
asexual.  (She wanted to know if she should go in and complain to the school.  Ann
said she should get with other parents and file a group complaint.)
Don't they require teachers have a basic understanding of biology anymore?

	/dwight
-- 
  Dwight Tovey                          | I didn't claw my way to the top of
  Locus Computing Corp.	                | the food chain to eat vegetables.
  (310)337-5978	                        |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Internet:     dwight@locus.com        | The views I express are entirely my
  UUCP:         ...!uunet!lcc!dwight    | own and do not in any way represent
  MIL/BITNET:   dwight%lcc@UUNET.UU.NET	| those of Locus Computing. 
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: paul@NeoSoft.com (Paul Hutmacher)
Subject: Re: Ethnicity & Soc.Secur.No.
Organization: Greater Montrose UFO Appreciation Society & Data Haven
Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1992 15:45:11 GMT

In article <92360.195253MIWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET> <MIWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET> writes:
>     * EVERY even-numbered peson was either, Black, Hispanic, Jewish, Asian,
>       Roman Catholic, Greek, or other Eastern European.

Nope.  My middle two numbers are 06 and I'm of European descent.


>     * EVERY odd-numbered person I found was white. A few were half Jewish
>       or half Roman Catholic.

Wrong again.  My wife's middle two numbers are 57 and she's delightfully
Chinese.

-- 
Paul Hutmacher     | "These things happen.  One day you run everything
paul@NeoSoft.Com   |  and the next day you run like a dog." -- HST
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.urban:31811 rec.arts.startrek.misc:12951 talk.bizarre:42699
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,rec.arts.startrek.misc,talk.bizarre
Subject: Re: Walking Between Rain Drops !!!!
From: <MIWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Date: Monday, 21 Dec 1992 22:25:13 EST
Organization: City University of New York/ University Computer Center

     Since I do not nor have ever gone to MIT (although I did get toasted
in with some MIT hoty once,) I can't state who did the study or when, but
I am sure an MIT person can. The study is that someone with a shitload of
time to waste used a very involved mathematical model based on differentials
and statistics of various rain-storms around the U.S. to discover that you
will most often stay dryest in rain not by walking or running, but by
walking quickly. I'm sure the guy who did the study probably never got laid
and assumed that people who stay 15% dryer would actually notice the
difference.

                              --- Rick Yukon, the Trailblazer.
From: linden@positive.Eng.Sun.COM (Peter van der Linden)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Judge Learned Hand
Date: 22 Dec 1992 22:58:27 GMT
Organization: The Pinkerton Foundation
NNTP-Posting-Host: positive
Keywords: teach a man to fish and he will take the day off.

The last time Judge Learned Hand came up, I went to the library
looked him up, and subsequently wrote this mini-bio.  Here it is again.
(and astonishingly, almost 2.5 years since the topic last arose!)
---------
From linden Mon Jul  9 11:15:45 PDT 1990

As has already been pointed out, he *was* a real person,  despite
that  most remarkable name and title.  Born in January 1872, Hand
was given his mother's maiden name "Learned" as his first name --
a not uncommon practice in those days.  He showed an early affin-
ity for law, and after taking two degrees from Harvard was admit-
ted to the New York bar in 1897.

For the next fifty years Hand had an illustrious career as a jur-
ist  and  legal scholar.  The highest official judicial rank that
he attained was only a seat on the court of appeal  for  the  2nd
judicial  circuit  (New  England).  But Hand issued so many judg-
ments influencing the Supreme Court (no other lower  court  judge
was so frequently cited by name in SC opinions) that he was given
the soubriquet "10th Justice of the Supreme Court" by the Press.

During the 1930's Judge Learned Hand was granted honorary degrees
by  Yale, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, Amherst, Dartmouth and Prince-
ton.  He was known as a strong supporter of free speech, and dur-
ing  World War 1 prevented the U.S. government from supressing an
anti-war newspaper.  However above this  doctrine,  Learned  Hand
held  more  sacred the principle that the judiciary was an impar-
tial interpreter or observer between the people and  the  govern-
ment.

This view (that superior  court  judges  should  be  neutral  ob-
servers, rather than active in extending the scope of laws by ap-
plying justice) made Hand unpopular with some contemporaries, and
has  led modern scholars to question whether Hand really deserved
the accolades that were accorded him.  For example,  Hand's  most
famous  case  was  the Denis case of 1951, in which he upheld the
rights of the State against Communist revolutionaries.   He was a
passionate,  though sadly not outspoken, opponent of McCarthyism.
Hand doesn't seem to have left any witty aphorisms as  a  legacy,
although  one  can  take  solace  in his habit of terrorizing any
lawyer whom he found pompous.

-----------
Stay tuned for news on whether Margaret Thatcher caused the Falklands
war by ordering the Belgrano to be sunk as it returned to port...
-----------


--
They bang on tar-tooflers, and strum on stroo-stronkers.
From: ilaine@panix.com (Liz Stokes)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Amusing street names
Date: 30 Dec 92 18:40:07 GMT
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix & Internet, NYC


	Somewhere near Randolph, NJ...
			       __	
			 _____|__|_____
			| 	       |
			| MEMORY LANE  |
			|______________|
			      |  |		
			    __|__|__
			   |        |
			   |  DEAD  |
 			   |  END   |
			   |________|
-- 
Liz Stokes         | 	Ilaine's E-Z Garb Workshop
Ilaine de Cameron  | 	We're going to try an experiment now. Instead of using
                   | 	a loom, we're going to wind all the yarn into balls
ilaine@panix.com   |    and adopt an infinite number of kittens...
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: rhadden@isdres.er.usgs.gov
Subject: RE: Ethnicity & Soc.Secur.No.
Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 18:48:27 GMT

My middle number is -90-, and I am a died in the wool WASP- White, Anglo Saxon
Protestant male.
        There goes your theory, unless the number givers in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1951 were color blind, which I truely doubt.
        BTW, has it ever occured to you how many thousands of people would
have to be in on this plot? Not only would every town that registered births
or local office that gave out numbers have to be in on it, but all the
employers would have to be in on it too. If you think all these people can
keep a secret of how they were wasting their time at government expense, then
you really don't need to worry about conspiracy theories- you need a life!
From: Brian.Milner@brunel.ac.uk (Brian D Milner)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Groaning Cupboard Tale (*Origin*)
Date: 21 Dec 92 14:55:09 GMT
Organization: Brunel University, West London, UK


I don't know if this qualifies as true urban folklore, but an amusing
incident that occurred *while I myself was present* follows ...

I was finishing my sandwiches at my desk one lunchtime at the Thorn EMI
factory in Feltham, West London, UK. The girl from the cash office rushed
past me sobbing hysterically about groaning coming from the *locked* 
cupboard behind where she sat.

I ignored her because A) I didn't believe her, B) I couldn't really 
understand what was going on, and C) she rushed on past at a fair speed.
This is a shame because I missed out on some exitement.

When the cupboard was opened, they found an electrician crumpled in a heap
on the floor. He'd been working in an *unlocked* cupboard on the floor
above, and the floor had given way beneath him (it wasn't really meant to
take any weight.)

The poor guy was taken off in a stretcher, and I'm sure he survived to 
tell the tale.

Ho, hum ...

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
|Brian Milner, The Computer Centre, Brunel University , West London, UK  |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
|brian.milner@brunel.ac.uk | Failed films #27 -  The Sound of Mucus      |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: jrs@netcom.com (John Switzer)
Subject: USENET now an urban legend?
Summary: Short article on USENET from the Economist
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Fri, 1 Jan 1993 05:23:17 GMT

Hey! Usenet and the Internet made it into the Economist's "The Good
Network Guide," a list of secret and semi-secret "networks" or groups
which include the Trilateral Commission and the Order of the
Illuminati. I guess this means that USENET will soon be considered
an urban legend in its own right. 

Usenet doesn't rate very highly, though. On a scale of 1 to 5, it rates:

2 for power
0 for secrecy
1 for organization
2 for strength of beliefs
1 for exclusivity

Not very good, but we do get a 5 on "Peculiarity of Rituals." The
complete text of the Economist blurb follows (reprinted without
permission, but I know they won't mind).

"The amount of travel trilateralists have to do underlines a problem
with networking in the modern world. In future the best networks may
be electronic, not personal, and their models will be USENET and
Internet.

"These really are networks, and even have wires. They link millions
of computers around the world, and provide a global platform for
everything from top-flight academic research to the distribution of
salacious computer graphics. Internet grew out of a networking
project started in the late 1960s by the Pentagon, to help its
researchers share results. In the 1970s, having an electronic mailbox
on the Internet was the mark of the true computer cognoscenti, the
USDD-certified nerd. Today, however, Internet has become increasingly
commercial. Various companies offer access to anyone with a computer,
a modem, and a few dollars a month for subscriptions.

"USENET, by contrast, was always populist. It began in the 1970sas a
grass-roots effort to share information about the UNIX operating
system - then , as now, the favourite of academics and serious
wire-heads. It has grown by a simple rule: anybody who knows anybody
on USENET can ask to be connected so long as he agrees to pay the
price of his own telephone calls.

"Internet's speciality is sharing software and computer services,
which enables researchers to work closely with colleagues across the
world. USENET specialises in argument. In addition to electronic
mail, its principal offering is a few hundred "news groups," which
serve as an electronic forum for the discussion of everything from
the philosophy of artificial intelligence ("Is semiotics an informal
logic?") to sex ("Shall I touch you where?"). In the high-tech world,
if you're not on the net, you're not in the know."

--- From the December 26th-January 8th issue of the Economist.
-- 
John Switzer               | "What we have here is a failure to 
                           | masticate."
Compuserve: 74076,1250     | -- MST3K's Dr. Clayton "Firebrand" Forrester, 
Internet: jrs@netcom.com   | after TV's Frank is unable to eat his 13th turkey.
From: styri@balder.nta.no (YuNoHoo)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Dynamite Dogs
Summary: Bow-wow-bang
Date: 29 Dec 92 00:24:53 GMT
Organization: Norwegian Telecom Research
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3

Found this cute little story in the papers today...

LIMA (NTB-AFP)	Dec. 28, 1992
Some 20 dogs was blown to pieces Saturday because the guerrilla
organization Shining Path made them running bombs by attaching
dynamite to the poor animals. The dogs were led into the working
class district of the Peru capital. [...]

------
Ok, nothing about these dogs hiding under the terrorists cars or
running back to the camps. But, this really did happen - according
to the papers...

---
YuNoHoo  "I'd like 5 puppies and some firecrackers, please"
From: JTCHEW@lbl.gov (Ad absurdum per aspera)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Chimpanzee genes are comin' to town
Followup-To: alt.folklore.urban
Date: 22 Dec 1992 15:57:28 GMT
Organization: Honest Ernie's Used Ions
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.252.152

Here in a review of Jared Diamond's new book, _The Third
Chimpanzee:  The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal_,
we have:  "Chimpanzees and humans share about 98 percent of
the same genes.  Diamond, a physiologist and frequent writer on
things scientific, addresses the other 2 percent."  (Some of my 
relatives have opinions on this issue vis-a-vis some of my other
relatives, but I digress...)  If you're dying to learn more about this
Occasionally Asked Question, Science News Book Service has it.

For your further holiday reading pleasure, the journal Nature
has taken up that burning question, "Why doesn't the stomach
digest itself?" -- perfect to have on hand in case January 2 finds
you serving as the Designated Hangover Sufferer. 

Joe "The Mr. Appliance of Science" Chew
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
From: msvg2539@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Mark V.)
Subject: Re: Federal Reserve Numbers (was: I Live to FAQ!)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 02:57:15 GMT

lawson@acuson.com (Drew Lawson) writes:

>In article <1992Dec22.194453.27356@cbnewsd.cb.att.com> barth@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (barth.richards) writes:
>>
>>established.  An incomplete list of the banks (going by what I presently
>>have in my wallet) follows:

UPDATE:

          Boston, MA             1     A
          New York, NY           2     B
          Philadelphia, PA       3     C
          Cleveland, OH          4     D
          Richmond, VA           5     E
          Atlanta, GA            6     F
          Chicago, IL            7     G
                                 8     H
                                 9     I
                                10     J
          Dallas, TX            11     K
          San Francisco, CA     12     L

Mark "Can't sleep until I know the HIJ cities" Veatch
mark@lassi.ece.uiuc.edu
From: Terry.Smith@f870.n800.z3.fidonet.org (Terry Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Thawing food in cold water
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 03:00:48

  Re: Defrosting.

 ch> Seriously, hot water would be my
 ch> method o' choice, unless there's some reason why you don't want the

         Where do we send the flowers? :-*

    ObUl: Salmonella is merely an exuse used when the kitchen hand spills
the epsom salts.

   The quickest way, if the food is sealed, is to place it in a pot with
cold water slowly trickling around it. Just put the pot under the cold tap.
  The rate of transfer is quicker from water than from air.
Terry Minimus

 * Origin: Elizabeth Park BBS (3:800/870.0)
From: jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu (Joel K. Furr)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Fruitcake
Date: 22 Dec 92 19:42:01 GMT
Organization: Virginia Center for Lemur Fandom (subscribe to alt.fan.lemurs TODAY)

In article <Bzn7IK.L6B@chinet.chi.il.us> dhartung@chinet.chi.il.us (Dan Hartung) writes:
>jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu (Joel K. Furr) writes:
>>
>>I eat them.
>>
>>Send your fruitcakes to:
>>
>>Joel Furr
>>P.O. Box 601
>>Christiansburg, VA 24073
>
>Yes, but do you really want Rush Limbaugh for Christmas?
>
>-- 
>The Presidential Towers complex here   | Dan Hartung               |  Ask me
>in Chicago is bounded by four streets: | dhartung@chinet.chi.il.us |  about
>Jefferson, Adams, Monroe  .....        | Birch Grove Software      | Rotaract!
>        and Clinton!
From: magnus@thep.lu.se (Magnus Olsson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: African-American-top
Date: 2 Jan 93 13:07:01 GMT
Organization: Theoretical Physics, Lund University, Sweden

In article <C07wIH.HHz@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> bjackson@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Ben Jackson) writes:
>In article <1993Jan1.003451.27818@samba.oit.unc.edu> Bruce.Tindall@launchpad.unc.edu (Bruce Tindall) writes:
>>Unfortunately for Time, the play's director may not have been being
>>PC, just literal.  The title of Brecht's play in the original is
>>"Der gute Mensch von Sezuan".  Now, boys and girls, get out your
>>German dictionaries and tell me what "Mensch" means....
>
>Ahh, but you should also notice 'Der gute Mensch', clearly masculine.

Sorry, but "der Mensch" means simply "the human" or "the person",
regardless of that person's sex. 

You may of course say that the German language is sexist, since it
assigns the masculine gender to _all_ human beings by default, as it
were. 

On the other hand, the Swedish word for 'human', 'M"anniska', always
takes the feminine pronoun.

              Magnus Olsson                | \e+      /_
    Department of Theoretical Physics      |  \  Z   / q
        University of Lund, Sweden         |   >----<           
 magnus@thep.lu.se, thepmo@seldc52.bitnet  |  /      \===== g
PGP key available via finger or on request | /e-      \q
From: popec@unkaphaed.gbdata.com (William C. Barwell)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Anyone here read the Fortean Times?
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 92 04:40:03 GMT
Distribution: add
Organization: Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, Houston, TX

jonathan@author.ecn.purdue.edu (Jonathan L Neuenschwander) writes:

> Brian.Milner@brunel.ac.uk (Brian D Milner) writes:
> 
> >        Have any of you guys seen the Fortean Times? It was started yonks 
> >ago by a Mr Forte (or some such.) It exists purely to report ULs. They make
> >no attempt to explain the causes - scientific vs spooky - they just report
> >wierd newspaper stories, strange occurrences, etc. The pictures and stories
> >are fabulous. Many of the (untrue) legends from the FAQ I have already
> >seen reported in this magazine. I'm just suprised it's not in the FAQ, 
> >itself.
> 
> I believe the Mr. Forte you refer to is Charles Forte, and the Fortean 
> Times undoubtedly is published by the society which bears his name.  They
> are into investigating unexplained phenomana of all types, though they seem
> fairly content to leave such things as ghosts and UFOs to others.
> 
> I first became acquainted with them a couple years back when I ran across a
> book in the Undergraduate Library here at Purdue called _Unexplained_Mysterie
> (I THINK that was the title, it's been awhile).  I've always been interested
> in such things, and I found the book to be fascinating reading.  It went from
> cryptozoology -- which I always thought was just dealing with things like 
> Bigfoot and the Yeti, but actually encompasses much more, to other stories th
> I'd never heard before.
> 
> Stories like a rash of attempted abductions of children several years ago by
> people in clown suits -- very similar clown suits, and the Mad Gasser of 
> Matoon (anyone heard this story?  Pretty bizarre).  
> 
> All this is from memory, and it's been awhile.  So if anyone's interested,
> I'll go look up the book in the library again.
> 
> Jonathan "Darn it, can't think of anything to put between my names"
> Neuenschwander
> 
> 
> ___ |Jonathan      |Internet:jonathan@mentor.cc.purdue.edu|Whom computers
> |__||Neuenschwander|NeXTmail:buzz@symphony.cc.purdue.edu  |would destroy, the
> |   |              |America Online:Buzz Lee               |must first drive m
>  
> --
> ___ |Jonathan      |Internet:jonathan@mentor.cc.purdue.edu|Whom computers
> |__||Neuenschwander|NeXTmail:buzz@symphony.cc.purdue.edu  |would destroy, the
> |   |              |America Online:Buzz Lee               |must first drive m
>  

For those not familiar with Charles Fort, he was writer who read a lot of 
newspapers and scanned a lot of scientific journals for odd happenings.
  Raining frogs and fish, odd disappearances of people and the like.
He wrot 4 books like this that are still in print and still entertaining 
reads.  They are often available as a set.  He is considered the father 
of the study of Anomalous Happenings.  Definitely check him out.

--
popec@unkaphaed.gbdata.com (William C. Barwell)
Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, Houston, TX, (713) 943-2728
After December 31, (713) 481-3763
1200/2400/9600/14400 v.32bis/v.42bis
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban