Search results

With mention of the Quintinshill rail crash: there was published a few years ago, a book titled The Quintinshill Conspiracy. On initially becoming aware of the book's existence, I wondered whether its theme would be that, in actuality, "it was the Germans what done it": a thing assiduously...

Have just discovered this thread -- latching on to it not overly late after the preceding post, I hope. Re arachnophobia matters: I have a fairly mild case -- don't mind spiders at all if they're little, but am less-than-keen on big ones. It annoys me -- can "see with my head" that they're...

Am prompted here, to tell of a remarkably similar happening (though in this case, happily occasioning minimal death / injury) some 9 / 10 months later: at the other end of England from Soham, and -- presumably because of the far less human damage done -- much less well-known. I, aged 70 and a...

I first heard of the candiru and its alleged disquieting habit, in reading aged twelve or so, Exploration Fawcett -- the edited journals and memoirs of Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, telling of much intrepid exploration carried out by him in wildest and darkest South America, between circa...

Have lately read the prominent alternative-history author Harry Turtledove's A Different Flesh (been on my "to read" list for years, but only recently bestirred myself to obtain a copy). Seven short stories, in chronological order from 1610 to 1988, set in an alternative time-line in which the...

I read Robinson's Antarctica (IMO good, attention-engaging) and his Escape from Kathmandu novellas (relatively light, frothy stuff) -- then tried Red Mars, which I found stupefyingly dull; didn't get far into it. Have not touched anything by him since -- should perhaps try for greater patience...

There was a thread on "Cryptozoology: General" a few years ago, titled "Monsters We Missed" (first post 10 / 6 / 2010) -- I'd do a link to it, but my computer skills don't stretch that far ! It included discussion about the creature referred to above, "Elasmotherium". Over and above the...

(Post just discovered) -- a matter of interest .. thanks. The linked-to item is of some length: have as yet only skimmed it, though I'll go back and read it in detail. Your post has filled in a bit of an informational blank for me. Long ago, I read several novels by Leon Uris -- though this...

That's more like it ! I get the impression that the chap would have liked to be (a) radge; but hadn't a clue about how to actually perform that feat.

Not to disparage for one moment, Mr. Wodehouse's brilliance with words; but, Mungoman -- the word "radge" being new to me, I resorted to the Online Dictionary: gives it as "wild, crazy, violent" [Scottish, informal]. I see the old slang term "perisher" as denoting someone annoying / uncouth /...

Likely, as "political" as Wodehouse ever got. His mostly inhabiting the benignly bonkers world of his fiction -- having very little to do with the turmoils and horrors of the earlier twentieth century -- was well known. His being a naive innocent re such, played into his World War II...

Have only just noticed this post. As a child and young person many decades ago, I was a "Just William" devotee: recall reading the "nasties" tale back then, obviously in an edition from before it was "pulled". Re-reading it as linked above, caused a few rather uncomfortable moments; but I...

Followed. no doubt, by Pasta Puttanesca as the main course...

The above, bolded by me, is discussed in post #19 of this thread. This matter, as referred to there, seems rather beset by confusion and cross-purposes: uncertainty whether a land, or water, creature is involved.

The human tendency to be so weird in this particular way about things sexual -- in a variety of different cultures worldwide -- causes me sometimes to feel a little surprised that over the centuries, people have managed to reproduce at all; let alone achieving planetary overpopulation.

A -- very -- small-time red-squirrel-related item, re something recently witnessed: am just back from a week in north-west England, not primarily natural-history-focused. Various parts visited, travel having been by car. This mode of getting around is not, on the whole, very conducive to seeing...

I like Ogden Nash's words on the subject: "Who wants my jellyfish? I'm not sellyfish !"

Thanks for the link. I'd been aware of this thread a while back -- contributed to it in fact -- but had forgotten about it. I seem to forget a lot of stuff these days: intimations of looming senile decay, I fear...

Have seen more than one "angle" on lutefisk -- think I have yet to hear from anyone who actually likes the stuff. "Horror" material about it, I believe because of its being soaked in a lye = caustic soda solution -- such horrors seemingly especially from the USA: I gather that Minnesota, with...

In view of Ms. Tsukimi's project as told of here -- what likelihood I wonder, of success in Japan: for translations of Barbara Euphan Todd's Worzel Gummidge childrens' books? (popular in the pre- and post-WW2 eras, about a tribe of -- intermittently -- living-and-talking scarecrows, and their...

The picture one generally gets, is that surstromming (can't do fancy foreign accents on letters these days) is utterly vile unless you're Swedish -- and quite often, even if you are. Jamie Oliver reckons it delicious -- but he's weird in assorted ways... I too wouldn't mind trying it, just in...

That link indeed leads to material about Swedish fermented herring -- nothing at all marsupial-related ! Am kicking myself for non-on-the-ball-ness -- cryptozoology has been mentally on back burner with me lately: I'd totally forgotten about the "Queensland marsupial tiger-cat". Brought back...

" 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways', declares the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8)

Those Jews -- they're great for jokes. A Jewish thing, I gather -- "we make jokes about ourselves in plenty -- if we don't do it first, the Gentiles will."

Am rather at a loose end: "non-report" here, about a fascinating but non-cryptozoological book in my possession. "Pre-1936" seems the most appropriate thread; although this post first prompted by Mungoman's telling in the "Post-1936 Sightings" thread, of the struggle of Queensland's Kalkadoon...

Without wanting to come across as condescending: I like this whole aspect of the Jewish faith -- in part because of its entertainment-value for those outside said faith (also, one suspects, to quite some extent for those within it). I recall a comment on another board, from a non-Jewish atheist...

Ah, yes, the institution of the "Shabbes goy" (Sabbath Gentile). As mentioned, Jews revel in disputing and discussing and generally minutely taking things apart: I gather that some Orthodox in good standing, hold that it's ethically wrong to employ a Gentile to do Sabbath stuff which a Jew may...

Though I'm not Jewish; I feel inclined to make some defence of such practices as eruvim -- even super-elaborate examples such as this one taking up a large chunk of Manhattan -- because as I understand things, the matter of the letter, versus the spirit, of the law: is a Christian concept, and...

Probably going to ramble and topic-drift a bit here: but, a relative of mine has a great interest in ships and the sea -- especially sailing craft -- and has an impressive book collection on the subject, focusing particularly on the end of the sailing-ship era; which material I have on visits...

Looking at the post alone, I envisaged live wasps being involved; and decided that I definitely did not want to go on to the link. Mentioned the thing to my brother -- a more venturesome type than me, he checked out the link: and lo and behold, it's just ground-up wasp-nest materials; quite...

Suggestion for a good read, which I wouldn't have expected to make, follows. There seems to me to have been, especially in the recent metaphorical-couple of decades, a surfeit of historical fiction centring on William Shakespeare, and frequently taking maximum advantage of the historically...

I believe I've heard before, about this memo. An actual US embassy in Kathmandu was first opened in 1959; previously, diplomatic dealings USA / Nepal had been via US representatives in India. I recall it being suggested that the staff of the new embassy on Nepalese soil, were treading...

Getting rather whimsical, perhaps, vis-a-vis serious cryptozoology; but -- the putatively-surviving giant sloth of Patagonia gets a "bit part" in the couple of novels by Patrick O' Brian (most renowned for his "Aubrey and Maturin" Napoleonic naval series) about the 1740 - 44 circumnavigation of...

Timble2 -- thanks. I'm male -- never before encountered the term "fox" for sexually attractive person, in any context other than lady attractive to gentlemen ! Your summary in the above post, encourages me to look at these novels: feel that I could find them agreeable reading...

Re my immediately-before post -- the Slow Horses books are by (have just looked up) a chap called Mick Herron.

New to me: sounds intriguing and worth following up. (Re Mr. May: is he human; and your description, of the figure-of-speech kind -- or -- this "specialist unit" being on the Fortean scene -- is he an actual specimen of the melanistic form of the red fox [Vulpes vulpes], magically gifted with...

I'm next-door to tone-deaf, and devoid of any sense of rhythm -- while I don't outright loathe music, I think I would be without regret, and perfectly content, if it were to be abolished from the world and never heard again. This is bound up for me, to some extent, with personal history: I...

I have read (wouldn't necessarily vouch for the truth of this) that in some circles: with the numerals which we use being often called "Arabic" numerals (got by us -- as mentioned above -- from the Arabs) -- as opposed to Roman ones; the numerals as used in the Arab world (different in detail...

Been away since early-ish Feb. -- only lately back, and seen these references. I tried the first in the "Gormenghast" series a couple of times, and found it, "right off the bat", unreadable -- was unable to get more than a couple of dozen pages in. I'm hard to please, fiction-wise: there are a...

Re the above, and MrRING's mention of S.P. Somtow: "Rome enduring to the present day and spreading worldwide" would appear to be a premise which attracts quite a number of speculative-fiction authors. I would add a bit of a plug for Phillip Mann's A Land Fit For Heroes series of four novels. In...

maximus otter -- thanks -- gorgeous picture. Red squirrels are just so very sweet... I've been mightily tickled by an anecdote on a thread on another part of this board, telling of a little lad from a poor area of Glasgow, on a camping trip run by his school or "whoever", to the Highlands...

It's been a year since last time; so I feel that I can get away with boring loggers-on again, about my experiences with the Isle of Wight's prime red-squirrel site: the nature reserve near Sandown, where these usually shy creatures are habituated by the staff; and frequently show up, relatively...

I recall Richard (Watership Down) Adams, in his autobiography, telling of his time in just-pre-independence India, in the latter stages of his service in World War II. His Army unit were told by their, Indian, liaison chap with the locals -- in matter-of-fact, but not approving, terms -- of this...

I've never read Guy Mannering -- this rather inspires me to do so. I find that old Sir Walter is often a good deal more fun than one expects him to be...

This thread brings to mind a passage which I'm fond of, from E. Nesbit's Five Children and It. The child protagonists get into a mess as a result of dealings with their friend the Psammead, an ancient and irascible supernatural being who is able magically to grant them wishes -- which usually...

Interesting earlier thread on "Manbeasts & Mystery Apes", on the Bhutan / Yeti theme: "Yetis / Migoi Park" -- first post July 2005, most recent Nov. 2015. Mentions Bhutan's having set up an official nature refuge dedicated to preserving the habitat of the Yeti (its Bhutanese name, the Migoi).

I seem to recall that in JRRT's reminiscence, he mentioned that when that sentence came into his mind "out of nowhere", he had no idea what it was about, or what a hobbit was -- his creating his "little people", was a later development therefrom. At all events: I reckon him to have been a good...

(Reproduced long list snipped) "Coming in late" here (having just logged onto "Earth Mysteries" for the first time in many months): memory has been called up, of an exchange a few years ago on a Harry Potter fans' message board (J.K. Rowling makes use of, and fits various paranormal beings to...

Personally, I don't find this with Turtledove -- in nearly all cases, when I've considered offerings of his, on first reading, "excellent", or "meh", or "poor-to-dire"; I've continued to hold the opinion which I held at the outset. One thing: I've come round to refusing to read anything more by...