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Lost & Found

Missing Mix-Tape Found In Art Exhibition:

A music fan has been reunited with a cassette tape she lost while on holiday 25 years ago after it washed up on a beach hundreds of miles away.

Stella Wedell was 12 when she took the tape on a Spanish holiday to listen to songs by the likes of Pet Shop Boys, Shaggy and Bob Marley on her Walkman.

Wedell, from Berlin, lost the tape either on the Costa Brava or in Mallorca and was astounded when she spotted it a quarter of a century later in an exhibition by the British artist and photographer Mandy Barker, who specialises in creating pieces out of plastic marine debris.

FULL STORY:
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ars-after-losing-it-art-plastic-marine-debris
 
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Girl loses cassette mix tape (remember them?!) on holiday in Spain 25 years ago – and came across it when she saw it an art exhibition in an exhibit made of plastic rubbish. An example of plastic's durability is that the tape, after some technical work, was still playable. For some reason I love stories like this.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ars-after-losing-it-art-plastic-marine-debris

Just now mix tapes were being discussed on Desert Island Discs. Zoe Ball and her then boyfriend sent one to each other. She later realised that she'd sent a DJ a mix tape, which seemed a small faux pas.

This connection was also mentioned on t'BBC R4 news as I was driving home earlier. It's an endless recursive spiral.
 
I treasure each and every mix that's been given to me :itslove:

Apart from the one from the man who was on the same excavation as me but on a different area. Don't think we spoke directly apart from general "morning!" and "pass the pepper please" level.

some months later he turns up at University with flowers and wine, apparently under the impression that "we" were a thing and that I'd be delighted to see him. Had him escorted away by campus security.

A couple of days after that I got a call from the Reading Uni medical service. The doctor thought it might help his patient if I was willing to engage with why we broke up. Gave the doctor an earful about accepting one version of things. Heard no more.

Decades later, I got an FB contact from him reminiscing about "our wonderful summer together" and saying he forgave me and understood. Reported it and blocked him (which makes me vanish from FB as far as that login of him is concerned.

Maybe 5 years after that I got a contact from someone who claimed that this chap had died from kidney cancer (which seemed to check out as far as I could) and that he'd left instructions that I should be notified and that all of his most personal possessions were left to me. I blocked without responding.

Urgh :( I'm sorry I remembered that. But /in general/ mix tapes were well good! :D
 
Maybe 5 years after that I got a contact from someone who claimed that this chap had died from kidney cancer (which seemed to check out as far as I could) and that he'd left instructions that I should be notified and that all of his most personal possessions were left to me. I blocked without responding.

:wtf:
I'd be wondering exactly what those most personal possessions were. My guess would be a pile of scrapbooks full of pictures of you, annotated with times/dates and certain suggestions.
 
:wtf:
I'd be wondering exactly what those most personal possessions were. My guess would be a pile of scrapbooks full of pictures of you, annotated with times/dates and certain suggestions.

Well quite! :eek:

If it had been a traceable business that contacted me about it I'd have given it a whirl. Via PO box or something lololol.

But strange unidentifiable correspondent on the net? I don't think so!
 
Well quite! :eek:

If it had been a traceable business that contacted me about it I'd have given it a whirl. Via PO box or something lololol.

But strange unidentifiable correspondent on the net? I don't think so!

Yup, it was WELL dodgy, that.
Those scrapbooks, they'd still be sticky...
 
I've lost my avatar and just have this pink square now. Guess I must have accidentally knocked something when I was typing a reply to something but can't seem to cut and paste anything to replace it.
Wish my mind worked in a more technical manner.
 
I've lost my avatar and just have this pink square now. Guess I must have accidentally knocked something when I was typing a reply to something but can't seem to cut and paste anything to replace it.
Wish my mind worked in a more technical manner.
Hi iris, maybe I'm not the best person to help you as I'm new at this sort of thing but try clicking on your name on the blue band at the top of page, click profiles, click on your avatar, click browse and you might have a choice from your computer, worked for me.
 
I've lost my avatar and just have this pink square now. Guess I must have accidentally knocked something when I was typing a reply to something but can't seem to cut and paste anything to replace it.
Wish my mind worked in a more technical manner.

Iris:

Off hand, I don't recall what your avatar was.

As a temporary measure I've installed a pic of an iris (as in "eye").

I can't tell what it was you did that voided or deleted your prior avatar, but you did it circa 10:43 pm Friday evening (your time).

You can upload your old avatar again if you have a copy on your computer.

Otherwise, if you can post an image you'd like to use (e.g., here, as an attachment to a post) I can resize it if necessary and install it.
 
A high school class ring lost in Maine in 1973 turned up in Finland recently.
Class ring lost in Maine turns up nearly 50 years later in Finland

A Maine woman who lost her then-boyfriend's class ring in 1973 was reunited with the precious item after it was found buried in a park in Finland.

Debra McKenna, 63, said her then-boyfriend, Shawn, gave her the Morse High School ring before he headed to college in 1973 and she accidentally left it in a bathroom at the Porteous, Mitchell & Braun Co. department store in Portland only a few months later.

McKenna and Shawn married in 1977 and remained together until he died in 2017 after a long fight with cancer.

The woman said the ring was long forgotten when the Morse High School Alumni Association received a message from Marko Saarinen, who explained he had found the ring buried under 8 inches of dirt while he was using his metal detector in a forested park in Kaarina, Finland.

The ring bore the name of the school and the initials "S.M.," which the alumni association determined could only have been Shawn McKenna. ...

Saarinen put the ring in the mail and McKenna received it this week.

McKenna said she does not know how the ring ended up in Finland. She said her husband spent some time in the country, but it was 20 years after the ring was lost.

"Shawn used to say there's no such thing as coincidences," McKenna said.
SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...50-years-later-in-Finland/7441581706167/?sl=6
 
Thankyou tuco and EnolaGaia. I had looked at the top and browsed but could only find photos which are not suitable.
I rang my daughter and she said I need to put a picture there so that I can browse it or wait till she comes next.
This happened after the power went out after a really loud thunderclap and I was trying to
put all the clocks back to normal, having messed up the oven time with set cooking time.
Thankyou Enola, I will leave the picture for the moment as it's better than the pink square until I can find a nice one of the flower.
 
Iris:

I couldn't remember if your prior avatar featured an iris (flower).

I've installed an iris (flower) avatar to serve as a placeholder.
 
Thanks EnolaGaia I quite like this one so will leave it on as I don't think I will ever find the original.
Thankyou very much for taking the time to do this for me.
 
I once gave my wife a mix tape when we were seeing each other but not engaged or married. She thought that the songs were a romantic subtle message until she got to the last song. "Waving My Dick In The Wind" by Ween. Thankfully she burst out laughing on the bus.
 
Here's the heart-warmer / tear-jerker story of the day ...

But seriously ... This may be a record length of time for a lost and re-discovered dog (14 years). I don't recall any other lost dog stories spanning more than a decade.

I wonder if the original owner will try to contact the other 2 owners who'd had microchips implanted in Remington during his long odyssey ...
Texas family reunited with lost dog 14 years later

A Texas family whose dog disappeared during an outside bathroom break 14 years ago were reunited with the now elderly canine thanks to a rescue group.

Aaron Webster said the Yorkshire terrier, Remington, disappeared from the fenced-in yard at his parents' house in 2006.

"We know he was stolen. Maybe a hawk grabbed him, and he got away. We'll never know," Webster told KTRK-TV.

Webster and his wife put up posters and searched for the dog for weeks, but they had no leads.

The family heard nothing about Remington until Feb. 1, 2020, when Webster received a call from Saving Hope, an animal rescue group in Fort Worth.

The rescue told Webster an elderly Yorkshire terrier had been found with a microchip bearing his contact information.

"This seems impossible," Webster told the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Webster and one of his sons visited Saving Hope and it became clear that the animal was Remington. The dog was now blind in both eyes, was missing teeth, had matted fur and was underweight, but it was the long-lost pet.

Saving Hope said Remington was found on the street by a Fort Worth Animal Control officer. The dog had three microchips, indicating he had been living with other owners at various times, but the rescue decided to contact Webster because his information was on the first microchip implanted.

"If I could ask for anything, it would be to have 24 hours to talk to Remington about what happened in all that time. What happened when he disappeared? Who did he live with? I know he didn't spend 14 years on the street," Webster said. "But at the end, it wasn't good. He was abused, and he's skittish. He's starting to come around."

Webster said veterinarians said Remington is still healthy enough to have a decent quality of life, so his family has decided to welcome him back into their home.

"This dog has been through hell," Webster said. "But we felt like if we could bring him into our home and give him a peaceful existence for however much longer he has, he deserves that."
SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...h-lost-dog-14-years-later/6611581958629/?sl=2
 
A sophisticated Soviet spy radio set in pristine condition - not the sort of thing one expects to dig up at the site of a Roman villa ...
Sophisticated Soviet spy radio discovered buried in former forest in Germany

Archaeologists digging for the remains of a Roman villa near the German city of Cologne have found a sophisticated Soviet spy radio that was buried there shortly before the fall of the Iron Curtain.

The spy radio was buried inside a large metal box that was hermetically sealed with a rubber ring and metal screws. Although the radio's batteries had run down after almost 30 years in the ground, the box hissed with inrushing air when it was opened.

"Everything in the box was carefully encased in wrapping paper — it is a factory-fresh radio," said archaeologist Erich Classen from the Rhineland Regional Association (LVR). ...

The buried box and the hidden radio were found in August 2019 by a team of archaeologists digging near what was once a path through the Hambach Forest, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) west of Cologne, in an area earmarked for an open-cast lignite mine and now cleared of trees.

They expected to find fragments from a Roman-age settlement thought to have been built in the area, and so they were surprised when they instead unearthed a pit and the metal box.

"We think the radio will work if a new battery is available, but we didn't try," Classen said. "Restoration work was not necessary." ...

The radio has been identified as a model R-394KM transmitter and receiver — code-named "Strizh," meaning "Swift" — that was manufactured in the Soviet Union in 1987. ...

The scientists suspect agents would have used the spy radio to send secret reports back to the Soviet Union about observation of the Jülich Nuclear Research Centre, about 6 miles (10 km) west of where it was found; or of the military air base at Nörvenich, about the same distance to the southeast, where U.S. Pershing nuclear missiles were based until 1995. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/soviet-spy-radio-discovered-germany.html
 
Curious... a ring lost in Maine in 1973 turns up recently... in a forest in Finland:
News story

No explanation as to how it crossed the Atlantic (or the North Pole, maybe). The lady who lost the ring is delighted, so it's a story with a happy ending, at least.
 
The Guardian announcing the rediscovery of Ken Russell's "lost" television-film about Richard Strauss.

The expiry of copyright in the composer's work means that the banned work can be shown legally in public this year. Unmentioned is the fact that it has been freely available on Youtube for ten years in segments and for eight years as a single file. Alas, in the fifty years since its single tv showing, the surviving copy has faded to magenta.

Horrible magenta visions of Nazi Hell.

Assuming the source of the Keswick showing will be the same print, I think the audience will be underwhelmed, without even the thrill of seeing something previously hidden away. The following year, Russell unleashed The Devils, the full restoration of which is now feasible but embargoed by Warner Brothers. No sign of movement there. The Strauss film is a rather silly, bad-taste romp, essentially a sort of ballet. It's always quite hard to imagine Ken as a dancer but it is how he started out! :oops:

Edit: The Keswick programme will also include Ken's short, A Kitten for Hitler, which was conceived as a deliberate attempt to offend.

Again, no trip to Keswick is necessary! :oops:
 
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At an SF convention back in the 80s, I watched a film (a Dennis Wheatley dramatisation) that had also faded to magenta like that. It was weird.
 
I recently lost my bank card. Ransacked my house, car, every coat and bag I own to no avail. Eventually admitted defeat and had to order a new one.

However, I found it this morning down the side of the sofa when looking for something else, along with a lottery ticket from a few weeks ago.

So if you don't hear from me I'm out on my new yacht.
 
I recently lost my bank card. Ransacked my house, car, every coat and bag I own to no avail. Eventually admitted defeat and had to order a new one.

However, I found it this morning down the side of the sofa when looking for something else, along with a lottery ticket from a few weeks ago.

So if you don't hear from me I'm out on my new yacht.

I'm sure I've mentioned this before - MrsCarlos lost her bank card on a night out once, we had panicky drunken phone calls to the bank to cancel it and get a new one ordered etc.

It was in her bra.
 
Secret Passageway In Palace Of Westminster Reveals 169 Year Old Graffiti

There was a hidden room behind.

The route into Westminster Hall was built especially for the procession to the coronation banquet of Charles II in the 17th century and was used afterwards to access parliament by political luminaries such as the first prime minister of Great Britain, Robert Walpole, and William Pitt the younger.

It was bricked up and the entrance was later hidden and forgotten about, and sometime after the second world war covered by wooden panelling.
During the ongoing restoration work of the Houses of Parliament the passage was rediscovered, as was a memento left by one of the men who helped block it with bricks.

In pencil, he had written: “This room was enclosed by Tom Porter who was very fond of Ould Ale.”

Mark Collins, Parliament’s estates historian, said he and his colleagues had been on a high ever since the discovery.

“To say we were surprised is an understatement – we really thought it had been walled-up forever after the war,” he said.

“We would love to hear from any descendants of Tom Porter or his colleagues and invite them to see where their relatives once worked.”

There was another surprise for the team when they entered the passageway – they were able to light the room. A switch, probably installed in the 1950s following restoration work after the second world war, not only worked but illuminated a large Osram manufactured bulb marked “HM Government Property”.

The room.

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It seems that hard hats travel farther faster than most messages in bottles ...
Hard hat dropped into Mississippi River found 5 years later in Ireland

A hard hat that fell into the Mississippi River in 2015 is being mailed back to its owner after being found 4,300 miles away on a beach in Ireland.

Liam McNamara, a member of the Burren Shores Beachcombing & More Facebook group, said he found the hat on a beach in Fanore, County Clare, and sought help from social media in tracking down the original owner of the head wear.

The hat's custom paint job, in the purple and gold colors of Louisiana State University, and an intact sticker bearing the name of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 25, helped McNamara get into contact with Matthew Bonnette.

Bonnette said he had been working in 2015 in Belle Chasee, La., near New Orleans, when his hat fell into the Mississippi River.

McNamara said he is mailing the hat back to Bonnette in Louisiana.
SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...found-5-years-later-in-Ireland/2811584373149/
 
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