Condemn Sunday Picnics

Life in 1898.




Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 08, 2018 - Comments (3)
Category: Antisocial Activites, Authorities and Experts, Culture and Civilization, Food, Nature, Religion, Nineteenth Century

Church of the holy lawn

In 1994, Jeff Goldstein, who described himself as a “semi-active pagan-Jewish minister,” got into trouble with the city of Madison, Wisconsin because he refused to mow his lawn. He claimed that to do so would violate his religious beliefs since he worshipped plants. He said he actually prayed to his lawn, and that to mow it would be a “holocaust against the green creatures.”

Goldstein explained that he had formed his beliefs after reading The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tomkins and Christopher Bird. I’ve read that book. If you like strange science, it’s a good read, full of plant-science weirdness. Though I didn't come away from it believing plants are sacred.

The court didn't buy Goldstein's argument, but I don't know if he ever ended up mowing the lawn.

Seems that Jeff died recently, in 2015. You can read his online obituary here.

Appleton Post-Crescent - Mar 13, 1994

Louisville Courier-Journal - Aug 30, 1994

Jeff Goldstein

Available from Amazon

Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 23, 2018 - Comments (7)
Category: Nature, Religion, 1990s

A Rose and a Baby Ruth

Apology on the cheap.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 30, 2017 - Comments (0)
Category: Music, Nature, Teenagers, Candy, 1950s, Love & Romance

The Atmos Clock

If only you had invested in an Atmos Clock in 1982, the date of the B&W ad, you could have saved a bundle!

Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 08, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Nature, Technology, 1980s

Oyster Flatulence

I didn't even realize that oysters produced flatulence, but I guess this is now something new to worry about.



More info: euractiv.com
Original study: nature.com

Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 18, 2017 - Comments (6)
Category: Nature, Natural Resources

The Fish

An early forerunner of "Rock Lobster."

Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 18, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Music, Nature, 1950s

A Kookie Little Paradise

Since when did Tarzan inhabit the jungles of the Caribbean?

Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 21, 2017 - Comments (0)
Category: Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Music, Nature, 1960s

Tales of Justine:  “Albert, A Pet Sunflower”

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 16, 2017 - Comments (0)
Category: Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Nature, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Psychedelic, 1960s

The Beachcombers

The longest-running English-language show on Canadian TV looks just awful. How could it be otherwise, with this premise, as detailed in their Wikipedia entry.

The Beachcombers followed the life of Nick Adonidas (Bruno Gerussi), a Greek-Canadian log salvager in British Columbia who earned a living travelling the coastline northwest of Vancouver with his partner Jesse Jim (Pat John) aboard their logging tug Persephone tracking down logs that had broken away from barges and logging booms. Their chief business competitor is Relic (Robert Clothier) (whose actual name is Stafford T. Phillips), a somewhat unsavoury person who will occasionally go to great lengths to steal business (and logs) away from Nick. The series also focused on a supporting cast of characters in Nick's hometown of Gibsons, often centering on a café, Molly's Reach, run by Molly (Rae Brown), a mother figure to virtually all the characters in the series (including Relic). Molly had two grandchildren living with her, Hughie (Bob Park) and his younger sister Margaret played by Nancy Chapple in the first season then by Juliet Randall from the second season onward.

There are some full episodes on YouTube if anyone is brave enough to watch. Maybe a Canadian WU-vie will fill us in!

Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 06, 2017 - Comments (5)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Nature, Natural Resources, 1970s