Culture – Creepy Death Whistles
When odd, skull-shaped grave items were found by archaeologists decades ago at an Aztec temple in Mexico, they thought they were mere ornaments. However, years later, experts discovered they were creepy ‘death whistles’ that made piercing noises resembling human screams.
All is well and good. They’re collectible, aren’t they? The question in my mind is who’d make them in the first place. You have to admit that the Aztec’s view of culture was somewhat prescient of the culture that the world’s elite would like to establish (nothing is ever lost in history).
If the whistles were worn around the necks of Aztec warriors and then used to shock their enemies at the beginning of battles, the psychological effect on an enemy of a hundred death whistles screaming in unison might have been great, unhinging and undermining their resolve. Nobody really knows why they were made or how they were used – but they’re clearly collectible.
This came over the transom from a former co-worker
Said co-worker was a friend of Jerry Quarry. I met Jerry many years ago briefly at a wedding when he had been billed as “the great white hope”.
JERRY AND MIKE QUARRY……FROM BOXER’S HEAVEN. Hi, I am Jerry Quarry. Remember me? I hope you do. I was voted the most popular boxer in the world from 1968 to 1971. Now I live at Shafter Memorial Cemetery, a pretty place filled with lots of big trees about 20 miles northwest of Bakersfield. And It just got better here Saturday when they brought the ashes of my kid brother Mike, who had been the top-rated light heavyweight contender in the world. We’re together again and will be forever here by the railroad tracks.
I was bright, good-looking, and had my whole future ahead of me. I turned pro in 1965 after blasting out every National Amateur Title in the USA. I even knocked everybody out I faced in the National Golden Glove tournament in 1965. A record that still holds to this day. Within a short time after I turned pro I was being called “The Bellflower Bomber.” I was being chased by Hollywood, T.V. producers, Boxing Promoters, and women. Everybody kept telling me how good-looking I was and being “Irish” I had the hope of a Nation behind me, I could not fail! That I had to win it all for “THEM” and how I was a “cinch” to become the next Heavyweight Champion of the World…They told me I’d have tons of money, fame, and everything I’d ever wanted… that they’d be there with me every step of the way… I became the World’s Number One Rated Contender for years and one of the most feared heavyweights in the world. I took on anybody and everybody, feared no one in nor outta the ring! I took on Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier twice a piece! And was even begging George Foreman for a title shot in 74′, who later admitted not wanting anything to do with me in a boxing ring! I whipped Former Champion Floyd Patterson, undefeated Mac Foster, Buster Mathis, the terror from Denver Ron Lyle, and Thad Spencer and blasted out Knockout King Earnie Shavers to pieces in a matter of two minutes of the first round..but within a short time after my boxing career ended, I couldn’t remember how to spell my name nor tie my shoes.
At the end of my life my oldest brother Jimmy, who had been the only one to kick my ass when I was a kid, was now helping me walk to the bathroom, helping me to eat, shave and explain to people who I was because I had no memory. Before I died I was asked to give an interview regarding my career but I didn’t because I couldn’t remember it. They kept telling me to quit boxing because my brain was melting quicker than sugar in a water bottle but I thought I was invincible and that they were full of shit. I believed this couldn’t ever happen to me…Those same people that cheered me on now treated me like I was a circus freak show and looked away from my direction when I was in sight…There is no quit in a Quarry but I wished I hadn’t ever boxed, nor had my brother as I believe we’d both be still alive and well today.
I wish Muhammad Ali hadn’t boxed for so long. He wouldn’t have gotten Pugilistic Parkinson’s and lost his ability to speak so early in life. I had to watch my former opponent and old buddy Floyd Patterson die of Alzheimer’s disease. The same went for Jimmy Ellis. It was also too late for paralyzed Greg Page, a once large and fast heavyweight champion who was critically injured at the age of 41 while fighting in a dump that lacked proper medical equipment, and died a few years later. I pray it’s not too late for my youngest brother Bobby, who didn’t fight nearly as long as the guys above but still have suffered nerve damage in his brain. That’s probably why he was in prison when he was given a special one-day pass to come to visit Mike’s memorial service.
As bad as it is maybe we are the lucky ones. Lots of guys soon died after being carried from the ring. Luther McCarty, Sam Baroudi, Jimmy Doyle, Duk-Koo Kim, Johnny Owens, Frankie Campbell, Ernie Schaaf, Benny “Kid” Paret, and Willie Classen are the more publicized having fought top contenders for the championship. We don’t hear from the pugs that get killed in filthy halls in front of howling intoxicated punks who don’t even have the guts to remotely get into a boxing ring. The intelligent ones will state there are many deaths in Auto Racing and Football. I don’t know much about that but I do know that in boxing the objective is to destroy the other person’s brain. So don’t shovel any crap to explain how boxing is strictly a sport. Nobody comes to watch two people fight defensively…
I like the way my brother Jimmy explained it years later… You know Jimmy, the oldest brother that kicked my ass when I was a kid and then later in life became my caregiver. He summed up boxing, he said “We won’t let dogs fight, we won’t let chickens fight, because we care about the animals. But we’ll let two men get in the ring and beat each others’ brains out.” –Jerry Quarry and Michael Quarry.
*
Identify the Aircraft
Bullet Points:
** (h/t Claudio) A small space technology company, Rhea Space Activity, says that it has a plan to resurrect the Spitzer Space Observatory. Last week the firm said it won a $250,000 grant from the US Space Force to continue studying a robotic rescue mission for the spacecraft, which is now about two astronomical units—or twice the distance of Earth from the Sun—away.
The plan is rather audacious, but it has some serious backers, including the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Blue Sun Enterprises, and Lockheed Martin.
“When it comes to robotic space servicing, this would be the most ambitious thing ever done,” said Shawn Usman, an astrophysicist who is the founder and chief executive of Rhea Space Activity, in an interview with Ars. “I mean, it is literally sending a satellite to the other side of the Sun to resurrect the last Great Observatory. So I think it would be pretty ambitious, but it’d be really great if we could pull it off.”
** MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas — Texas National Guardsmen and Department of Public Safety troopers set up barbed wire along the northern bank of the Rio Grande creating a barrier to physically keep migrants from climbing out of the Rio Grande. Governor Greg Abbott deployed the Texas Border Force earlier this week to help stop or deter migrant crossings as part of Operation Lone Star.
** Don’t ask me for my pronouns, ask me for a blood test that shows DNA. That’s all you need to know.
City By The Bay
“Office values in San Francisco have plunged 75% on a per-square-foot basis compared to sales from just before the pandemic, the Hoover Institution said.
The Hoover report was authored by Lee Ohanian a senior fellow at the institution.
The report’s finding noted the former Union Bank building, located in the center of the San Francisco financial district, was auctioned off last week for $65 million — 75% less on a per-square-foot basis than comparable building sales just prior to the pandemic.
Ohanian called it “devastating news” for the city since the auction price provides a new market-rate benchmark for setting the price for other downtown commercial buildings.
The report noted San Francisco’s downtown vacancy rate has jumped from about 4% in 2019 to almost 30% now, as companies abandon the city for friendly taxe locales.
“The continuing losses of San Francisco’s economic base are a symptom of a city that has become politically dysfunctional and is perceived by people and businesses to be dangerous and unworkable,” the report said.
“And these losses will continue until those who govern San Francisco make different choices regarding the related issues of drug abuse, homelessness, and crime.””
IDA: Payen PA-22
Identify the Aircraft:
French Payen PA-22 in German markings.
IDA: PA 22 V5 is what the Germans redesignated it as. First of its kind Ram jet engine.
HogsbreathSS & Surly, you’re all over this. I thought that it might be a challenge for you guys…I guess not. Nailed it.
For a second there I thought “La noche boca arriba” mural was a CNBC post of what the libs want to do to to U.S. and the house GOP budget ;-) My aunt has a replica of that painting in her den. Plus I heard its a great place to go to listen to piano if one should find themselves in Spain.???
I never understood boxing. Dunno if it has anything to do with being a girl but its intrinsic value eludes me.
Too many rules?
−−·/−−−/−−−/−··//−−/−−−/·−·/−·/··/−·/−−·//···/··/·−·/·−·−·−//·−−/····/·/−·//−·−−/−−−/··−//−−/·/−·/−/··/−−−/−·/·/−··//·−··−·/−−−/···−/·/·−·//−/····/·//−/·−·/·−/−·/···/−−−/−−//··/−//−−/·−/−··/·//−−/·//−/····/··/−·/−·−//−−−/··−·//···/−−−/−−/·/−/····/··/−·/−−·//··//·−−/·−/−·/−/·/−··//−/−−−//·−/···/−·−//−·−−/−−−/··−//··/··−·//−·−−/−−−/··−//····/·−/···−/·//−/··/−−/·/··−−··//··/−/·−−−−·/···//··/−·//·−·/·/−−·/·−/·−·/−··/···//−/−−−//−−·/·/−/−/··/−·/−−·//···/−−−/−−/·/−/····/··/−·/−−·//·−−·/··−/−···/·−··/··/···/····/·/−··//·−/−·/−··//··/··−·//−·−−/−−−/··−//····/·−/−··//·−//·−−·/−−−/··/−·/−//·−−·/·/·−·/···/−−−/−·//−−−/··−·//−·−·/−−−/−·/−/·−/−·−·/−//·−/−//·−−−−·/···/−/·/·−·/−−−/·−−·/··/···//−·−·/−−−/−·/···/··−/·−··/−/·−/−·/−·−·/−·−−/·−·−·−/·−··−·//···/·/−·/−··//·−//−·−·/−−−/−−/−−//···/····/−−−/−//−/−−−//−−/−·−−//·/−−/·−/··/·−··//·−··/··/···/−/·/−··//··/−·//−·−−/−−−/··−/·−·//−···/·−··/−−−/−−·/·−·−·−////··/··−·//−·−−/−−−/··−//−/·−/−·−/·//−/····/··/···//·−−·/−−−/···/−/··/−·/−−·//−−−/··−·/··−·//·−−/··/−/····/··/−·//−/····/·//−·/·/−··−/−//····/·−/·−··/··−·//····/−−−/··−/·−·//··/·−−−−·/·−··/·−··//·−··/·/−//−·−−/−−−/··−//·−·/·/·−/−··//··/−//−/····/·−/−·/−·−//−·−−/−−−/··−//··−·/−−−/·−·//−·−−/−−−/··−/·−·//−/··/−−/·/·−·−·−
···/−··−·/··−·
The next level of security would be writing in cursive :)
𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓕𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓴 . 😉
…and stick shift transmissions.
It’s a way to keep your car from being stolen these days.
I “speak” Morse code at decent speeds, but only when I hear it. When I see a message like this, I have to whistle it or turn it into sound. I stopped after “good morning sir.”
Anyone trying to learn Morse code should do their best to not memorize it as dots and dashes on paper. It’s extra steps to go through when you’re trying to go from sounds to notes or things to remember a few minutes. Learn it by sound.
By sound, hearing didah means I write “a”. By dots and dashes, hearing didah means first I turn it into dot dash and then turn that into I write “a”. I don’t think you’ll ever get over 10 words per minute that way.
I was told by W2JL (may he rest in peace) in 1951 that Morse was an aural language spoken only by hand.
Kiss 2 Run-Down Ladies
The dots and dashes is not too much of a challenge but it is tedious work. If you wanted to throw a curveball send out the message in Baudot code.
I learned Morse code in Boy Scouts. All of the adult leaders taught at the Army Signal School at Ft Gordon. We were taught basic electronics and radio operator procedures as well. I had forgotten most of the Morse code by the time I started college.
My first CW rig was Morse Code only on transmit (Is transmit now racist?), as others, I learned it in Scouts (the real one not today’s ‘whatevertheheckitisanymore’) Sound is the only way I can decipher the message (and another cup of coffee)…so serious hat-tip for lining that out visually.
Read elsewhere: a gal was receiving treatment for some condition, said treatment included large(for a gal) doses of testosterone. She came away with a new understanding and respect for her husband’s staying true to his wedding vows. That old saying about walking a mile in someone’s shoes…
God had his reasons for making us the way he did, but some tortured souls will work really hard to twist His prescription on its head.
We are not much superior to the Aztecs when it comes to human sacrifice.
Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen said that having an abortion is good for the economy.
Despite her “benign grandmotherly” countenance, Marble Mouth is a cretin who follows Satan…every time she speaks my skin crawls.
Satanic mothers become Satanic grandmas. Of course, maybe Yellen killed her offspring so it would be Satanic women stay Satanic?
From Jack Campbell’s novel “The Lost Stars: Imperfect Sword”:
“Kommodor,” the communications specialist announced, “we have just received a transmission from the Syndicate flotilla. It is addressed to the commander of our force.” “Bounce it to me,” Marphissa said. The window that appeared before her showed a woman whose wide mouth and cheekbones appeared to be set in a perpetual state of kind merriment. She would have seemed the personification of a warm, happy grandmother except for the jarring juxtaposition of the finely tailored Syndicate CEO suit that she was wearing.
“Happy Hua,” Kapitan Diaz murmured, horrified. “That’s really her, isn’t it?”
“Speaking of false appearances,” Marphissa said. “Even though I’ve heard of her, I still have trouble believing someone who looks like that is the most ruthless bitch in the Internal Security Service.”
Selling fetal body parts must be an even bigger business than project Veritas told us it was. No wonder they shut him down.
Does a heavy cruiser count as a boat, or did the press miss that one? Those cruise missiles lost, means they weren’t launched to begin with?
Maybe in means someone didn’t look behind the sofa?
On the other hand, there was that interesting delivery to a Florida(??) shopping mall a while back.
Border – saw on one site a picture showing illegals climbing over a wall section and the genius claiming it shows how worthless the wall building was. Walls were never meant to be stand-alone security. Closest thing to that would be automated gun towers that shoot everything within the kill zone. Doubt the genius would be in favor of that.
Death whistles – I think I still prefer bagpipes.
Never ends…
https://cleverjourneys.com/2023/05/21/hostage-at-mexico-border-beaten-for-extortion-of-victims-texas-family/
-Sta Lethal
Landmines.
Yup. Wonder what other tricks the ccp agent’s are teaching them before they cross the border ?
Cinderella Man.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXR029NXKkM
Beat Max Baer and lived to tell the tale. Later served in WWII. Hand-to-hand combat instructor.
Oops. Did not intend this as a reply. Any who….
Crowe was terrific in the role.
Yep. We already know how to make a secure border.
Nobody (essentially) tries to defect from Cuba into Guantanamo Bay, but plenty try to make it across 90 miles of water on a pool float…
-Kle.
…and arrive refreshed, well fed, in clean clothes, and a Biden Tote bag in hand with many goodies inside.
Maybe they should try playing a continual loop of Aztec Death Whistles at the southern border. Dunno about others, but pipes (especially Uilleann) would be an attractant and not repellent, at least when it comes to me.
Hmmm. I remember hearing a piper playing most evocatively in Harvard Square at 2AM (nothing good happens after midnight 😀) oh, prolly 30 years ago now. Went over to chat and it turned out the player was a roustabout who worked on rigs down in Louisiana. He was up the the Northeast visiting family for a few weeks. Also under strange and unexpected musical experiences, some of the best jazz saxophone I’ve heard was played by this Dutch kid who looked maybe 12, early one Sunday morning in downtown Eindhoven. Wow. Haven’t thought about those in years.
Great idea…Aztec Death Whistle App.
In the clearing stands a boxer indeed.
…And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down…
None of them should have remained.
City By The Bay. Ah, memories.
I still have the replica 1875 Remington revolver in 44-40 that I bought at the San Francisco Gun Exchange in 1978.
My dad was born and grew up in the Oakland hills, and so knew his way around the Bay Area and much of the history. For a time, he and his second wife had office space in downtown S.F. He sold life insurance and she was an estate attorney. I forget the circumstance now, but likely through one of her clients, sometime in the late 70’s they had access to the J. Harold Dollar building. I remember my dad and I walked there one day from their office so he could show me some history. We took the elevator up to the empty floors that had been the headquarters for the Dollar Steamship Company.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dollar
I have no interest in going there today, but there was a time when The City was cool.
Death Whistles – Aztec Beanie-Babies. Weird, but – as Ed_B suggests – what happens when Satan is allowed to run amok and people embrace/foster base human nature.
Boxing- A sport from a bygone era of blue-collar scrappers. My dad enjoyed watching boxing, it was his era. But as the letter shows, every one of his favorites did not end well after leaving the ring. You becomes a commodity for money making by promoters and networks. Football is already there as the players get larger and more aggressive with new and improved training techniques. Even Junior High coaches and players look like mini-pro’s when compared to 1970’s teams. I quit baseball in High School once the league and coaches took the fun out of it, winning became the the only goal as money and alumni benefactors got involved, especially in College sports programs, exploiting star players to expand “the program”.
San Fran- The Beautiful City by the Bay. Not anymore at the hands of the Moronic Reprobate Class. Let them have the dystopian mess they have wrought.
Now onto my Property Valuation Protest in an attempt to combat the takings thieves in local government who believe a 40% increase over last 18 month period is their right…while the housing market is tanking. Jack it up then leave it there as values drop like a rock. People will get taxed out of their homes. Sucks to be us…according to them.
I boxed – local amateur – when I was a boy. Big heavy gloves were like punching with pillows, but it was for a score, and not injury.
I grew up wrestling in JR and SR High School and local community college when I was pursuing my nursing degree. I had an impressive wrestling career with numerous local and state titles. Being Irish, I too was a scrapper. Some boxing promotors were at a few matches and saw boxing potential in me. They tried recruiting me to boxing and I refused, even back then I knew that boxing was not healthy for long living, or living well.
I was winning in gym class wrestling ( later realize it was a recruiting ground for team sports), coach wanted me on the team. Mom nixed it, said I could get hurt. I guess outfield in baseball was less dangerous because she supported that (yup, always in the stands at the games’, along with dad, my at home coach). Watched a bully pick on a kid in JH, turns out he was a boxer. The bully was done inside of three seconds.
Jesse Stone asked by a young gal: “Do you box?”…”No, I fight.”…”What’s the difference.” “Rules.”
I don’t believe any “information” coming out of Ukraine, especially from any western source.
I notice that the puppet running the place is spending more time anywhere else but home. I wonder how long until his patrons off him.
It seems to me that Russa is doing just fine. Even if they don’t take another inch and just sit tight while the west bleeds itself to death. It seems that the east still studies war while the west concerns itself with pronouns and equity.
“Never interrupt an enemy while he is making a mistake.” – N. Bonaparte
I’m also beginning to disbelieve any information coming out of D.C. and NYC (UN); the “health” institutes have become conspicuously egregious in this respect
I worked with a local prize fighter. He was a testament to his bouts: cauliflower ears, a flattened nose, large wrists, very strong, and his mind was a wandering river of clarity accented by delusion. It was his extra spending money, and the long time between bouts was announcing his future. I never really had much time to talk to him, nor to learn his history, but his modifying a Chevy Vega with an engine that required removal to change spark plugs told more than anything else.
I don’t know what happened to him, but if he’s still alive, I doubt he’s able to do much but sit in a wheelchair and stare at the horizon.
My bet is that those numbers are absolutely BS especially if you want to consider the source.
SFO is committing suicide slowly. The building sale is just the first of a long string of losses.
75% loss is pretty staggering, though.
@Paul_M: CW rig? never knew you were a Ham!
Was…long time ago, but it never leaves you. My first rig at age 10…if I recall correctly, was a Ten Tec Power Mite and a decent key (rare now, gave it away). A lot has changed since the 70’s but as the world gets squirrellier the new rigs are smaller and online testing gets you back in the radio shack. My brother is really into it.
Very familiar with the Ten-Tec line of gear. The key was probably a J-38. They made zillions of them, and you could buy them surplus for 50 cents!
Got my Novice in the Summer of 1963, and my General about six months later, still in 8th grade.
I was a paperboy, had just enough to buy the set, with power supply, basic but was great listening to the world. Shack was my walk in closet, big map on the wall. It was Heaven on Earth for me. Plus I got to stay up late. The gear they have now, amazing. Ham is still better than an iPhone.
Okay, boxing. Back in the day, before it became all about the knockout, boxing was safe. That old 1890’s stance with the head leaned backwards? That’s how you avoid traumatic brain injuries, as the body and arms are in the target zone and not the head. The newer leaning head forward stance makes the head the primary target. Just watch some old boxing videos vs anything post WWII.
Boxing went from point-scoring and gentlemanly to a bunch of thugs killing each other.
Difference between John Sullivan and Mike Tyson.
Doesn’t mean that old-school boxers didn’t know how to beat the crap out of people, or didn’t know how to target the opponent’s head for a quick win, but there were rules, man, rules.
Stop all this by making the boxers wear good head gear, especially with modern reactive materials. And do counted blows. Maybe 5 headshots is a win or something.
What? This won’t work? Pshaw… The SCA has had rules on required armor and no-hit-zones and the fight ‘officials’ can stop a fight if needed. Though the participants actually pledge to follow rules of conduct which include ‘not being a dick’ (Rule #6 of The Rules of the List.) And if one does be a dick, the other fighters have a rather percussive way to enforce the rules.
Prize boxing is about the spectacle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xeCBPRmF4Y
As a young man my father-in-law managed what was euphemistically know as a pool hall in St Johns, AZ.
He loved to box and kept a couple of pairs of gloves handy for impromptu boxing matches.
He was good enough that he won most matches.
Most of the clientele were Hispanics and their ancestors had lived in the area before a town existed.
One day a local came in and introduced my father-in-law to his cousin.
The cousin was dressed like a field hand in bib overalls and wearing rubber irrigation boots.
The local said his cousin would like to try his hand at boxing with the gringo as he had heard he was a good boxer.
My father-in-law said he never laid a hand on the “cousin”, but got hit multiple times from five of the seven directions.
It turned out that the “cousin” was a pro from Mexico City visiting family in town.
It was considered a good joke by all, because the pro tempered his punches and intended no harm.
As an old man my father-in-law watched boxing on TV whenever it was on.
We were watching a match one day when his daughter, who is nurse, came in and voiced her disapproval of this barbaric display. She sat for awhile and watched. She became quiet and very shortly began cheering on “her” fighter…women.