Bigfoot was spotted but not captured at a 4th of July celebration yesterday:
On Squaids and Squids
David Emery investigates urban legends, hoaxes, rumors, and all manner of codswallop for About.com. Hears a taste of this week’s fodder. For more, check out About.com Urban Legends:
Internet Prank Causes ‘SQUAIDS’ Panic in NJ Township
The Ocean County Health Department issued a press release yesterday responding to “numerous calls and emails” about an online report claiming that the squirrel population of Lacey Township, New Jersey is infected with a communicable disease called “SQUAIDS.” Read more…
Giant Squid Found in California?
Viral article claims a 160-foot-long giant squid was found washed up on a California beach and is believed to have originated from waters near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan. Read more…
Elf Advocates and Environmentalists Join Forces
From Ellie:
Iceland’s hidden elves delay road projects
by Jenna Gottlieb
World News NBCnews.com
December 22, 2013
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) “” In this land of fire and ice, where the fog-shrouded lava fields offer a spooky landscape in which anything might lurk, stories abound of the “hidden folk” “” thousands of elves, making their homes in Iceland”s wilderness.
So perhaps it was only a matter of time before 21st-century elves got political representation.
Elf advocates have joined forces with environmentalists to urge the Icelandic Road and Coastal Commission and local authorities to abandon a highway project building a direct route from to the tip of the Alftanes peninsula, where the president has a home, to the Reykjavik suburb of Gardabaer. They fear disturbing elf habitat and claim the area is particularly important because it contains an elf church.
Continue reading “Elf Advocates and Environmentalists Join Forces”
Roosevelt Riding a Moose: 1912 Political Fakery
From Joe K & Deborah T:
Myths debunked: Sadly, Theodore Roosevelt never rode a moose
by Heather Cole
blogs.law.harvard.edu
September 20, 2013
Many of Theodore Roosevelt”s adventures seem like something out of a tall tale: he survived an assassination attempt; nearly died while exploring the Amazonian jungle; and became the first president to drive a car and fly in a plane; among many others. Despite having been a larger-than-life figure, this is one thing that TR never did:
Read the full article by Heather Cole, Assistant Curator of Modern Books & Manuscripts and Curator of the Theodore Roosevelt Collection
Dracula’s Serbian Cousin
From Linda:
Vampire Threat Terrorizes Serbian Village
by Dragana Jovanovic, Belgrade
ABCnews.go.com
November 29, 2012
For the people in a tiny Serbian village there is nothing sexy or romantic about a vampire. In fact, they are terrified that one of the most feared vampires of the area has been roused back to life.
Rather than ‘Twilight’s’ Edward, the people of Zorazje fear that Sava Savanovic is lurking in their forested mountains of western Serbia.
They believe that he is on the move because the home he occupied for so long, a former water mill, recently collapsed. Savanovic is believed to be looking for a new home.
“People are very worried. Everybody knows the legend of this vampire and the thought that he is now homeless and looking for somewhere else and possibly other victims is terrifying people,” Miodrag Vujetic, local municipal assembly member, told ABC News. “We are all frightened.”
Vujetic said villagers “are all taking precautions by having holy crosses and icons placed above the entrance to the house, rubbing our hands with garlic, and having a hawthorn stake or thorn.”
“I understand that people who live elsewhere in Serbia are laughing at our fears, but here most people have no doubt that vampires exist,” he says. Continue reading “Dracula’s Serbian Cousin”