The man atop the truck is, of course, filming the scene… the famous chariot race in Ben Hur.
Not the one you may be thinking of, from 1959, with Charlton Heston, but the 1925 one, with Ramon Navarro.
The most expensive film of the silent era, it cost about 4 million dollars, which is close to 80 million today… and reportedly used 100 cameras to film the race from all angles.
To me, that camera truck looks way ahead of its time… another example of how quickly cars took over, not only the streets, but jobs like this.
Image search seems to think it’s real… I saw video of it moving, but it was on Reddit, where I’m not a member and couldn’t link to it.
It’s an alligator snapping turtle, and the image is part of the same collection with the brown recluse spider we saw the other day, called “Why would you touch that?”
Yes, her name was Annie Edson Taylor, and she had the barrel especially made to her exact specifications.
In the narrow bottom there was a heavy anvil, over 200 pounds, in an attempt to keep it upright… but it could have been very dangerous, if it did turn over. The rest of the barrel was stuffed with a mattress and pillows, and there was a leather strap to keep her from tumbling around inside.
She’d moved many times in her life… Most recently she’d run a charm school in Michigan, but it failed. She decided that she’d avoid the poorhouse and be rich and famous if she went over Niagara Falls.
She found a manager and some helpers to get her into the barrel and set it adrift towards the falls… some didn’t want to help because they thought she would die.
She did it on her 63rd birthday, but she advertised that she was 42.
She survived, and found a moment’s fame, but never the riches she sought. She was laughed at on a speaking tour because people thought she must be an imposter, since an old lady couldn’t be the “real” 42 year old Annie.
Her manager stole the barrel. She ended up selling postcards and booklets about herself next to a substitute barrel, near the falls, for years, till she died a pauper.
I might feel more sympathetic, but… Well .. that’s her cat in the picture. 2 or 3 days before her stunt, she decided to test the barrel by sending him over inside it… She told helpers if he lived, she would do it. He survived, with only a cut on his head, so she did it next.
About 10 or 12 years ago, suddenly bicycle rental and sharing services took off in China. A lot of companies jumped in, and soon there were far too many bikes for the number of people using the services.
Now there are huge piles of abandoned bicycles in or near many Chinese cities… this is one, in Xiamen, Fujian province, China, on December 13, 2017.
You can barely see a workman untangling a rope in the middle of the picture.
I suppose if they give away the bikes, there’ll be nobody wanting to rent the ones still in business… But it seems awfully sad.
Painted in 1917, by J.C. Leyendecker, one of the best and most famous illustrators of the early 20th century.
He painted many ads and magazine covers, especially Saturday Evening Post, invented the Arrow Shirt Man, along with the Chesterfield Man… and was an inspiration, some say mentor, to Norman Rockwell.
Weasels are wild predators and don’t usually get along with humans…. I thought he was going to turn out to be a ferret, but as far as I can tell, he’s not.
.
Blechh…
..
You don’t see anything, and close the door.
…
Yep, she’s still special.
Him too, I take it.
,
my money’s n the truck…
Yeah… those chariots are only four horsepower.
The man atop the truck is, of course, filming the scene… the famous chariot race in Ben Hur.
Not the one you may be thinking of, from 1959, with Charlton Heston, but the 1925 one, with Ramon Navarro.
The most expensive film of the silent era, it cost about 4 million dollars, which is close to 80 million today… and reportedly used 100 cameras to film the race from all angles.
To me, that camera truck looks way ahead of its time… another example of how quickly cars took over, not only the streets, but jobs like this.
I thought that they were travelling in the other direction?
,,
Supposedly a toy, but don’t let your finger get near its mouth, just in case!
Image search seems to think it’s real… I saw video of it moving, but it was on Reddit, where I’m not a member and couldn’t link to it.
It’s an alligator snapping turtle, and the image is part of the same collection with the brown recluse spider we saw the other day, called “Why would you touch that?”
Looks like a baby dinosaur.
Looks like something from a Godzilla movie.
,.
The First Lady to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
That’s quite a barrel I might add .
Yes, her name was Annie Edson Taylor, and she had the barrel especially made to her exact specifications.
In the narrow bottom there was a heavy anvil, over 200 pounds, in an attempt to keep it upright… but it could have been very dangerous, if it did turn over. The rest of the barrel was stuffed with a mattress and pillows, and there was a leather strap to keep her from tumbling around inside.
She’d moved many times in her life… Most recently she’d run a charm school in Michigan, but it failed. She decided that she’d avoid the poorhouse and be rich and famous if she went over Niagara Falls.
She found a manager and some helpers to get her into the barrel and set it adrift towards the falls… some didn’t want to help because they thought she would die.
She did it on her 63rd birthday, but she advertised that she was 42.
She survived, and found a moment’s fame, but never the riches she sought. She was laughed at on a speaking tour because people thought she must be an imposter, since an old lady couldn’t be the “real” 42 year old Annie.
Her manager stole the barrel. She ended up selling postcards and booklets about herself next to a substitute barrel, near the falls, for years, till she died a pauper.
I might feel more sympathetic, but… Well .. that’s her cat in the picture. 2 or 3 days before her stunt, she decided to test the barrel by sending him over inside it… She told helpers if he lived, she would do it. He survived, with only a cut on his head, so she did it next.
,..
About 10 or 12 years ago, suddenly bicycle rental and sharing services took off in China. A lot of companies jumped in, and soon there were far too many bikes for the number of people using the services.
Now there are huge piles of abandoned bicycles in or near many Chinese cities… this is one, in Xiamen, Fujian province, China, on December 13, 2017.
You can barely see a workman untangling a rope in the middle of the picture.
I suppose if they give away the bikes, there’ll be nobody wanting to rent the ones still in business… But it seems awfully sad.
,
Painted in 1917, by J.C. Leyendecker, one of the best and most famous illustrators of the early 20th century.
He painted many ads and magazine covers, especially Saturday Evening Post, invented the Arrow Shirt Man, along with the Chesterfield Man… and was an inspiration, some say mentor, to Norman Rockwell.
.
Church Key!
,,..
Just to get this picture was worth it.
He should have dabbed while up there though.
Now that’s gonna hurt!
,
If that was on purpose I would like to applaud the demo team for dropping it into a workable pile.
Sometimes the poor things just get tired of standing up there, day in and day out.
.
Now make it stretch out its arms and yawn. {^¿^}
,.
Was it worth it just to get a picture though ?
Maybe not the 2nd time.
,,,
Umm…okay…should I close my eyes first?
,..
“All I want is a room somewhere…”
I start singing that too.
,.
You’re sitting in my chair. You could at least share!
Weasels are wild predators and don’t usually get along with humans…. I thought he was going to turn out to be a ferret, but as far as I can tell, he’s not.
I wonder if he was a rescue baby.
I believe that it is a stoat.
Owls are the coolest birds.
Sounds like the owl pellet is stuck on its way out.
.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak.