Weekend Link Dump

This week's Link Dump is sponsored by the Association of Feline Ballroom Dancers.

What the hell are these Alaskan petroglyphs?

What the hell are "Time slips?"

What the hell is the true story of the "Ellen Austin?"

Watch out for those cursed lakes!

Watch out for those Komodo Dragons!

Watch out for those fleas!

Watch out for those parachuting animals!

Watch out for those Blizzard Apparitions!

Watch out for those Bad Bambinos!

Watch out for the Black Nun of Threadneedle Street!

Punishing children who were horse thieves.

Calico Sarah, the thief they couldn't kill.

A spectral train in Wales.

A Georgian "celebrity chef."

Dueling wizards!

A Fear Census.

The perceived advantages of being a Victorian prison baby.

Uh, this "local legend" emerged years after Poe's death.  It was inspired by his "Annabel Lee," not the other way around.

Feminism, 18th century style.

An in-depth analysis of the "Fieschi letter" and the mysterious fate of Edward II.

Georgian treatments for VD.

A mother/son execution.

The latest photos of Pluto.

The cat who had tenure at Oxford.

A burglary at the East India House.

A haunted New York theater.

The life of a powerful Indian chief.

The colorful criminal career of Eleanor Connor.

The afterlife of an Egyptian mummy.

That time New York's Roosevelt Street boasted a manatee.

That time Dublin banned facial hair.

The weird side of being a twin.

Stonehenge may have a Welsh pedigree.

Some recently-discovered color photos of WWI and the Russian Revolution.

Is this the world's largest sunken treasure?

Why Deadman's Island thoroughly earned its name.

Why you wouldn't want to have a beer with Anna Marie Hahn.

The first detectives.

The discovery of an intact Etruscan tomb.

Are humans really star struck?

Blog post title of the week.  Click link at your own risk.

A Brooklyn poltergeist case.

Moral:  Be very careful where you put your pens.

Sarah Lloyd, done in "by the allurements of vice."

An ugly divorce, 10th century style.

Georgians had such interesting entertainments.

19th century cats had such interesting entertainments.

The somewhat unusual burial of Daniel Day.

This week in Russian Weird:  the dead are getting wifi.

And, finally, a lovely aerial tour of Scotland:




In other news this week, I was greatly surprised to hear that Trevor Denman has retired after 33 [!] years as the race caller at Santa Anita.   I take it he'll be retreating more-or-less permanently to his farm in Minnesota.  Besides his great talent, he's a very interesting man: a quiet, extremely nice fellow who is also genuinely intellectual, even mystic.  (Just ask him about the Cathars.)  Santa Anita has been a shadow of its old self for some years now, and I feel this is one of the final nails in the coffin for the place.

In Santa Anita's press release about his retirement, Trevor quoted "one of my heroes," Epicurus: "Man should avoid the fevered competition of the city. Only with leisure can life flow in a single gentle stream. He should seek the calm of the countryside to find his deepest happiness and tranquility of body and mind. There he will find the greatest of all goods, which is peace."

It's always been my great dream in life to someday have the financial wherewithal to follow that advice.

That's all for this week. See you on Monday, when we'll be looking at a truly incredible financial swindle. In the meantime, may we all eventually find "the greatest of all goods." Here's some Beethoven.