January, 2007
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January 1, 2007 Today's Punchy Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Hospital officials in Romania are investigating the case of a doctor who was punched by a "corpse" in the morgue. The doctor had to be treated for shock after being punched by teenager Bogdan Georgescu. The incident took place after the doctor thought he saw Georgescu move, and bent over to investigate. The youngster, 16, was taken to the morgue at Brasov County Hospital in Brasov after collapsing and showing no signs of life. He was declared dead on arrival and his body was moved to the morgue. The teenager said: "I woke up and had no idea where I was, I looked to the left and to the right and saw dead women on either side of me, and then I saw this man coming towards me in a white coat. I just panicked. I thought he was going to kill me." The youngster, from Fagaras, is now being treated in the neurological ward to find out the cause of his collapse. He said: "The last thing I remember is drinking coffee with my brother, and then I woke up in the morgue." The doctor was allowed to take time off work after being treated for shock. Culled
from: iOl ********************************************************************** If I woke up in that situation, I'd be punching the guy too! But of course, that's because I watch too many movies like Hostel. With
the end of 2006, we also mark the end of the infamous despair@shocking.com
e-mail address. It has been a heart-wrenching decision, but I have decided
that I cannot justify the extra expense to retain the old e-mail address,
so from now on, please send your missives to comtessedespair@gmail.com.
Now, let us all bow our heads while TAPS is played... ******* At the request of an Asylum Inmate, I have created my own version of the "Friends Help Friends Move / Real Friends Help Friends Move Bodies" t-shirt. It is available in a short or long-sleeved version from the Juror2.Net Ebay shop. Please take a look and let me know your thoughts. Suggestions for improvements or ideas for future merchandise is always welcome! ******* "My Brush With Morbidity" by Erro "I work as an embalming apprentice in a very high volume funeral home, so I see things everyday that would probably qualify for tons of Brushes With Morbidity. Though they'd be more like Bludgeons With Morbidity, considering our case load! "I could talk about the 22 year old girl who OD'd on heroin and left a very pretty corpse. Or the equally young and pretty girl who fell and hit her head, and died from an allergic reaction to something the ER gave her to control brain swelling... "Or last week, when I picked up a body at the morgue of a large hospital, I looked to my right while inside the cooler. There was a rack loaded with plastic bins. I noticed small white bags in the bins. Based on their labels, there were about 20 babies in that cooler. Knowing that and seeing it are two different things, though. Small white bags just don't have that much impact unless you see what's in them. "Today (1/1/2006) kind of topped those. "This afternoon I picked up a two year old boy from the M.E.'s office. It was my first child case. "His DC (death certificate) listed cause of death as 'blunt force trauma' and the 'Homicide' box was xx'ed out. Quarter sized bruises covered his entire body and it appeared that either his collar bone or neck had been fractured. He had an apple sized fresh bruise on the right crux of his neck/shoulder area. "It was hard to ignore the sight of the huge gaping Y-incision that dominated his entire torso. When you looked at his little face, you were distracted by the incision along the back and sides of his head where his calvarium was cut away in a wedge during the cranial autopsey. You could see inside his skull, past the freshly barbered hair, rudely sliced skin, inner musclelayer, and then his brain. Usually the brain is included in the chest contents bag, but I guess he was so small (about 20 lbs) that there wasn't room for extra. "There was ink on his fingers and soles of his feet where he had his prints taken. There was blood clotted at the back of his head, where it leaked out of his barely attached calvarium and scalp flap. We will take care of this later, when we embalm him. He will be lovingly washed and cleaned up. We will also sew up all the incisions in his body and cover his bruises with makeup. By tomorrow he will look peaceful, like he is only sleeping. "I had wrapped the body bag in a sheet when I loaded him into a van. When I took him out of the van I didn't get a cot for him. I carried him into the prep room in my arms. I laid him on a dressing table and proceded to check him in to the system so we could take care of him. "He was two years and one month old. "He had a birthday last month. "He had Christmas last week. "And then on New Year's Eve, someone beat him to death. "Happy New Year." Very well-written, erro... packs a whallop! ******* Morbid Link Du Jour! Robert sends a very interesting link: "Texas Execution Information Center is a very well-researched site that simply presents the facts of the cases -- and of the executions. The author remains studiously neutral on the subject, almost to a fault. I think you'll enjoy the site." ******* Morbid Caption Contest! Here's the concept: Send me your funniest headline for this story: An elderly Romanian man mistook his penis for a chicken's neck, cut it off and his dog rushed up and ate it. It said 67 year-old Constantin Mocanu, from a village near the southeastern town of Galati, rushed out into his yard in his underwear to kill a noisy chicken keeping him awake at night. "I confused it with the chicken's neck," Mocanu, who was admitted to the emergency hospital in Galati, was quoted as saying. "I cut it ... and the dog rushed and ate it." Doctors said the man, who was brought in by an ambulance bleeding heavily, was now out of danger. The winner receives a highly fashionable Morbid Fact Du Jour 10-year-anniversary t-shirt. Send your entries to captions@asylumeclectica.com. Contest closes Wednesday, January 3rd, Twenty-Oh-Seven.
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January 2, 2007 Today's Rotten Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Three Thai men died while unloading rotting fish from a boat in Hutan Melintang near Teluk Intan. Another Thai man was almost overcome by fumes but managed to crawl out of the boat's hold in time. The dead men were identified as Anaing, 24, Achin, 28, and Kajem Prasit, 27. Yong Thai, 31, managed to escape. The bodies of the dead men have been sent to the Teluk Intan Hospital. The incident happened at 11am when the four men were unloading fish from a fishing boat at the fish landing jetty there. One of them was then instructed to unload fish from the boat's hold where there was also fish that was stale and rotting as they had been kept there for about 10 days. "Upon entering the hold, he must have breathed fumes," Hilir Perak Deputy OCPD Supt Zainuddin said. When the three others heard their friend collapse in the boat's hold, they rushed down after him to help. One by one, they too collapsed. Fortunately, Yong Thai managed to crawl out and save himself. Investigations found that there were about 100 bags of rotting fish in the boat's hold and that the air-conditioning system was not working. "Samples of their lung tissue have been sent to the Ipoh Chemistry Department for tests," he said. Yong Thai, when approached, said everything happened so fast that there was little time to do anything. Culled
from: The Star ********************************************************************** Really,
you'd think they'd be immune to the fumes of rotten fish, considering
the rather aromatic state of the Asian markets I've walked through.
And, as a vegetarian, Asian markets are not my favorite places to visit. ******* Wretched Recommendations! Elsbeth has a film recommendation: The
Madness of Henry VIII (2006) "Among other morbid but interesting facts were the open ulcerated sores on Henry's leg that oozed puss and just would Not be healed. I think, because of the leg, his activity levels were severely curtailed. This caused him to gain so much weight that he eventually weighed in at 350 pounds, and hat a 57 inch waist line. When he died, he weighed so much that he cracked the boards of his coffin. His blood dripped out and was licked up by the dogs. One of the wierder aspects of this, is that this was predicted sometime before Henry's death. I think by a disgruntled bishop, but don't hold me to that one." Sounds fascinating! ******* "My Brush With Morbidity" by Lorri "I had my scalp 'degloved' in a car accident. The driver was drunk and going way too fast around a curve. I wasn't awake while I flew out the back window of the Camaro but I did wake up upon landing 100 feet down a mountainside to find myself covered in blood unable to move. It was 5:45am but it was a full moon that night. I held my hand up in front of my face and it was bloodsoaked. I had blood, leaves, and dirt in my mouth. Apparently when I went out the window (from the front seat) my scalp caught the glass and framework of the back window and tore from front to back. I know this because after being discharged from the hospital I demanded my family take me to see the car. (it broke in half, the hood came off and a door landed at the bottom of the mountain) My hair was still on the framework. I ended up with 40 staples and countless stitches underneath them. (also fractured my neck) Needless to say I have a pretty little scar that goes diagonally from the corner of my right eyebrow to the back of my left ear. I cut muscle and nerve and have a small dent in my forehead near my hairline. I should probably be dead but I'm still here suffering away with the rest of the world. LOL" ******* Morbid Caption Contest! Here's the concept: Send me your funniest headline for this story: An elderly Romanian man mistook his penis for a chicken's neck, cut it off and his dog rushed up and ate it. It said 67 year-old Constantin Mocanu, from a village near the southeastern town of Galati, rushed out into his yard in his underwear to kill a noisy chicken keeping him awake at night. "I confused it with the chicken's neck," Mocanu, who was admitted to the emergency hospital in Galati, was quoted as saying. "I cut it ... and the dog rushed and ate it." Doctors said the man, who was brought in by an ambulance bleeding heavily, was now out of danger. The winner receives a highly fashionable Morbid Fact Du Jour 10-year-anniversary t-shirt. Send your entries to captions@asylumeclectica.com. Contest closes Wednesday, January 3rd, Twenty-Oh-Seven.
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January 3, 2007 Today's Badly Burned Yet Truly Morbid Fact! An earthquake leveled the city of Calabria, Italy and more than 180 towns in the area around it on February 4, 1783. Huge fissures opened up in the earth, some of them 225 feet deep and 150 feet wide. Many people and livestock were swallowed up by these great chasms, from which powerful geysers of boiling water soon began spewing. Incredibly, the water lifted out some of those trapped in the fissures, a few of them still alive. Though badly burned, some of these lucky souls actually survived the quake. Elsewhere, rivers and streams dammed up by debris created a wave of mud seventy yards wide and fifteen feet deep that flooded the town of Scilla. Fires broke out in the ruined cities and towns, and aftershocks plagued the area. The earthquake killed some 30,000 outright, while 20,000 to 30,000 others died as a result of the aftershocks and the famine that followed. Culled
from: The
Pessimist's Guide To History ********************************************************************** It's a Plethora Of Viscera!!! At
the request of Magnoire on the MFDJ Discussion Group, I have added the
"Real Friends Help Friends Move Bodies" shirt that I introduced
a couple of days ago onto additional merchandise, including mugs, magnets,
stickers, and more: "A Cambodian woman who murdered her husband by axing him repeatedly in the groin before running off with her son-in-law has been sentenced to 15 years in jail. But 35-year-old Chhoeun Sovann, from Kompong Thom province 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Phnom Penh, is not yet behind bars. Six years after the murder, prosecutors say they cannot find her. The verdict was handed down in absentia. In a case shocking even by Cambodian standards, Chhoeun Sovann set about battering her husband to death with the blunt end of an axe, the blows falling mainly on his groin. "She fell in love with her son-in-law, which was against her husband's wishes. Finally, she had to kill her husband so she could escape with her lover," female presiding judge Sim Samoeu told Reuters. "It is totally unacceptable in Cambodia that a wife should kill her husband by smashing his genitals," the judge said. "After hours of deliberation, I decided to punish her with 15 years in jail." She also awarded the victim's family compensation of two million riels ($500) -- nearly double the average Cambodian annual wage. Under Cambodia's notoriously erratic and ineffective judicial system, trials in absentia are relatively common as are cases of convicted criminals enjoying their freedom for years after receiving hefty jail sentences." Here's
my silly version of the "Smashing Genitals" quote: And
if you forget the URL's to any of the stores, you can find them on the
Plethora Of Viscera page at The Asylum Eclectica: Proceeds from the sale of any items from either the Cafe Press store or the Juror2.Net Ebay Store (http://stores.ebay.com/Official-Juror2-net-T-shirt-Store) go towards running the Asylum Eclectica website and the Morbid Fact Du Jour newsletter. As always, if you have suggestions for improvements or changes, please send them my way. Thank you! ******* "My Brush With Morbidity" by Joseph "The date is October 23, 1983. I was stationed onboard the USS IWO JIMA, it was early. About 6:30 word is passed to prepared to receive incoming wounded. During the prior months we started receiving almost daily announcements to prepare to receive incoming wounded, with one or two wounded Marines coming aboard. This day was different. "At a few minutes before 7:00 I was called to the bridge and asked to direct the Navy contingent on a rescue effort, and to get 50 volunteers. I was then told that the Marine Barracks had been bombed. By 7:30 my volunteers and I were leaving the ship. The hangar bay was already filling up with wounded. My understanding is that later that morning the entire hangar bay was filled. "We arrived at the Beirut airport and immediately went to the barracks site, which was a converted office building. I believe it was about 6 stories, with an atrium in the center. Its interior was adorned with Marble. The building was at one time by the Lebanese equivalent of the FAA. "In the basement was a galley, where the morning crew was preparing breakfast. For the most part officers were located on the first floor, and enlisted on the upper floors. The Marine Medical Staff was on the first floor. "We arrived to find the building collapsed on itself. I rounded up all the Navy personnel and assigned them sectors. Marines were already on the building pulling out survivors, as were local civilians. We established a triage area for the wounded, and a morgue site for the bodies. "There were constant orders for silence so people could listen for noise from the rubble. There was occasion when we were order to halt work because of sniper fire, although I do not remember hearing any fire. After pulling out as many survivors as possible, we moved in heavy equipment to lift falling debris. I will not describe the bodies as I knew many of the men of died, but it was heartbreaking to lift a slab of concrete, to find the remains of good men flattened until the weight of the building. With each slab removed, we found more of out friends killed. "The men in the basement were all killed, with the brunt of the debris having crushed them. Some men on the first floor were never found, having been literally blown apart. I have personally never known so many people killed at one time, and I hope never to have to see it again. I can only image the horrors of Sept. 11." ******* Morbid Link Du Jour! The Trauma Imagebank is a collection of fascinating trauma images - some gory, all interesting. Well worth a browse! http://www.trauma.org/imagebank/imagebank.html Link submitted by Borborygmy ******* Morbid Caption Contest! Here's the concept: Send me your funniest headline for this story: An elderly Romanian man mistook his penis for a chicken's neck, cut it off and his dog rushed up and ate it. It said 67 year-old Constantin Mocanu, from a village near the southeastern town of Galati, rushed out into his yard in his underwear to kill a noisy chicken keeping him awake at night. "I confused it with the chicken's neck," Mocanu, who was admitted to the emergency hospital in Galati, was quoted as saying. "I cut it ... and the dog rushed and ate it." Doctors said the man, who was brought in by an ambulance bleeding heavily, was now out of danger. The winner receives a highly fashionable Morbid Fact Du Jour 10-year-anniversary t-shirt. Send your entries to captions@asylumeclectica.com. Contest closes Wednesday, January 3rd, Twenty-Oh-Seven.
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January 4, 2007 Today's Ripped Yet Truly Morbid Fact! The body of an apparent stowaway was ripped in half during flight Tuesday and his leg crashed into a suburban neighborhood, where a homeowner found the severed limb in the middle of her lawn, authorities said. Pam Hearne heard "a loud crash" and later was stunned to see a foot clad in an Adidas sneaker and a sock in her yard, said Officer Thomas Blanchard. The leg, with hip and spine attached, dented the shingled roof of her garage before bouncing into the lawn. Police suspect the remains are from a stowaway who may have been crushed as the South African Airways jet lowered its landing gear on its approach to Kennedy Airport. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said the pilot of flight 203 would have probably started lowering the plane's landing gear in the sky over the home in Floral Park, about 5 miles from the airport. Peters said a Customs agent that met the flight at the airport found another leg hanging from the wheel well. The airline said in a statement that the flight landed with "no impact" on the passengers and crew and it was working closely with authorities to investigate how someone may have stowed away. The flight originated in Johannesburg, and made one stop in Senegal. Authorities had not identified the remains, which were hauled away from Hearne's yard in a plastic bag. Hearne, a special education teacher, said that when she first saw the leg in the grass, "it didn't look real." "But I am very glad that I live where I do," she said, "so I don't have to run for my life like this man probably was doing." Culled
from: USATODAY.Com ********************************************************************** No, but you do have to run for your life to avoid falling legs!! Thanks to everyone who sent in entries for the Morbid Caption Contest. The response was better than I'd dreamed: Over 100 entries! I'm going through them and will share the results in a few days. Good luck! ******* Morbid Lyrics Du Jour! Marco submits the following for morbid consideration: "There's an old happy/funny/sarcastic folksong about the sinking of the Titanic. Here are the words, though the way it's sung is what makes it funny. It's all lilting and sprightly, especially the part about husbands and wives and little children. And everyone in the audience wails and laughs, 'SO SAD!' and 'TOO BAD!' And it requires banjos and kazoos." The Titanic Oh
they built the ship Titanic to sail the ocean blue Chorus: Now
they sailed away from England, and were almost to the shore Chorus They
lowered a few life boats on a glassy eerie sea Chorus Kaplunk,
it sunk. What a brilliant piece of junk.
******* Morbid Link Du Jour! Shauna
sends a link: http://www.messybeast.com/freak-face.htm
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January 5, 2007 Today's Self-Pleasuring Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Like many Christian conservatives before and since, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (of Kellogg's Corn Flakes fame) believed that masturbation, and in fact all sexual excess, was sinful -- "sexual excess" here defined as "sex for anything beyond reproduction". In Plain Facts for Old and Young, he advised that the first line of defense was keeping children busy and constantly under surveillance -- that is, working them daily to the point of exhaustion. The vigilant parent must especially be aware of a child's goings on in the bathtub, on the toilet, or in bed, for solitude was a temptation to vice. Furthermore, all parents were urged to watch for such tell-tale "symptoms" of masturbation as bad posture (slumped shoulders), a fear of the opposite sex, and hanging out in groups with other children of the same gender. Stiffness in the hips in boys or a wiggly walk in girls were also clues. Also a child who suddenly became more bold -- or worse, more timid -- was surely a masturbator as well. To stop these hideous acts of depravity, Kellogg strongly advocated circumcision of young boys (note that, up until this era, most non-Jewish American boys were not circumcised), stating that the operation should be done without anesthesia because the remembered pain (and the soreness which followed for several weeks) would serve as a lasting reminder deterring the child from rummaging. Another deterrent recommended by Kellogg was to wire a boy’s foreskin together at the tip such that any mere erection would become very painful. The wire was of course to be attached by piercing the foreskin with a needle, with the wire following along in place of thread. For the multitude of American males who do not (thanks to Kellogg and his ilk) have a foreskin, it may be worth mentioning that the foreskin is considered to be much more sensitive to pain and pleasure than the bald penis you may currently own. But Kellogg did not single out only boys for torment -- perish the thought! Girls too must be prevented from self-pleasuring, at all costs. For girls Kellogg recommended that application of carbolic acid directly to the clitoris was: "an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement, and preventing the recurrence of the practice in those whose will-power has become so weakened that the patient is unable to exercise entire self-control." Of course, now medical doctors know that carbolic acid is extremely poisonous. When applied to the tissues, and when applied directly to muscle or nerve, it causes instant paralysis. Nonetheless, if carbolic acid did not do the trick, Kellogg reasoned it was necessary to surgically remove the clitoris. He cites one such surgery, he performed at the request of the girl's father. Sure that his 10 year old would go to hell for her sinful indulgence, the father had resolved he would rather take her out in the wilderness and leave her to die rather than have her infect the minds of her siblings with her evil ways. Kellogg and cliterodectomy were her only hope for continued life and salvation. The good doctor happily obliged. Culled
from: Rotten.Com ********************************************************************** Of
course I had to run out and purchase Plain Facts for Old and Young immediately
- and it is, as they say in the midwest, a HOOT! Who would have guessed
that simple old Corn Flakes sprang from the mind of someone so deranged?
The book is available to read online from the University of Virginia
Library: And
you can also download it for free as an e-book from the Gutenberg Project: It's well-worth a read! ******* Ghastly! Steve O' forwards the following: "Three Pedestrians Hit by Car "The scene was all caught on tape. In video from the Fiesta Latina Market you can see the 30 year-old woman and her two children, ages four and 12, as they were struck by the car while they crossed the street. The driver of the vehicle was identified as Guadalupe Lopez, 79. Investigators said she and her 39-year-old daughter were pulling into the market when she lost control of the car Tuesday morning. "Lopez left the scene of the accident, but turned herself in to authorities a short time later. Sgt. Joe McDonald of the Kern County Sheriff's Department says, "At this time the investigation has revealed that Guadalupe is unlicensed and why she was driving, we haven't determined that yet." "The mother and her children survived. They were taken by ambulance to area hospitals with fractures and non-life threatening injuries. "Lopez is under investigation for leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a license." Looking at the footage, it's amazing the mother and the children survived! http://www.asylumeclectica.com/asylum/morbid/archives/pedhit.wmv ******* Wretched Recommendations! Jenn has a film recommendation: "I've got a movie I'd like to recommend for those of us sick enough to stomach it. It's called, 'I'll Bury You Tomorrow,' and although it's B-List and full of unattractive and unknown actors/actresses, it's perfect if you're a twisted mind such as myself. Murder, mayhem, blood, guts and a little necrophilia all make this movie-go-round. Check it out :D" I'll
Bury You Tomorrow (2002)
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January 6, 2007 Today's Dangling Yet Truly Morbid Fact! A 15-year-old girl found the body of her 12-year-old brother dangling from his bunk bed after he apparently tried to play a prank on his relatives by pretending to hang himself. Patrick Sanders' body was discovered on June 15, 2005 hanging from a dog leash attached to the bed. Sheriff's deputies and rescue workers were unable to revive him. The boy, who lived in Bloomingdale, about 20 miles northwest of Kalamazoo, was pronounced dead at South Haven Community Hospital. Culled
from: Associated Press ********************************************************************** Okay, what I want to know is - why do they think it was a prank? Smacks of denial to me! ******* Urban Exploration Link Du Jour! Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Cherynobyl is a book by Mary Mycio, who documented the "zone of alienation" around Chernobyl (lucky!!!!). Although I haven't purchased the book (yet), this website has an excellent gallery. Some of the shots - such as the "Elephant's Foot" of burned graphite that was left after the fire - are positively creepy! http://chernobyl.in.ua/en/home Thanks to Sandy for the link. ******* Ghastly! Skat sends a link to a ghastly collection of Iraqi war clips: "I received this from a friend who's serving in Iraq. This is a link to the gallery page, where there are several video clips, including executions. I know this is just the list to send this to, but I still have to warn about the graphic nature of the clips. They're disturbing, to say the least..." Indeed, those of a sensitive nature should definitely avoid the execution footage! |
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January 7, 2007 Today's Flesh-Eating Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Two KwaZulu-Natal girls have been left traumatised after witnessing their father eat the flesh off their dead mother's face. Police spokesperson Captain Tienkie van Vuuren said police were called to Thembalethu Village near Mkuze in the Tugela Ferry area at 3am on Friday, June 17, 2005 after a 13-year-old girl ran to her neighbours for help. She said when they arrived at the scene they had to force their way inside the house to rescue the other girl (7) who had also been stabbed on the head by the father. "Inside, police found the naked Jabulani Siphethu sitting on top of his common-law wife's body eating the flesh from her face," said Van Vuuren. "Only the forehead was still intact. The bone was visible where the rest of the face use to be". Siphethu was very aggressive during the arrest and threatened police with the knife he was holding. He was eventually apprehended and taken outside. "There, he suddenly choked and became unconscious and died. The seven-year-old girl was removed from the scene by ambulance together with her older sister who escaped unharmed," said Van Vuuren. She said a case of murder and inquest has been opened. Culled
from: Mail
& Guardian Online ********************************************************************** I can't say I blame the girl: nobody likes to see their parents suck face! <groan> ******* Wretched Recommendations! Dana has a film recommendation for us: "I literally just got back from seeing The Prestige. Aside from making me want to kill the projectionist for screwing up his cues, it was an excellent film. It manages to be period in a subtle and believable way, bolstered by the great acting. It's dark overall, but it's the last five minutes that are really morbid. I'm hoping the DVD comes out soon, I'd love to hear the director's thoughts on this one." http://theprestige.movies.go.com/ ******* Morbid Trinket Du Jour! For those of you who still haven't purchased a new calendar this year, here's an excellent choice! The
2007 Serial Killer Calendar Thanks to Nina for the suggestion.
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January 8, 2007 Today's Life-Sized Yet Truly Morbid Fact! While there are many CPR dummies or mannequins on the market, the face of the one most widely used was modeled on that of an anonymous young woman whose body was fished from the Seine around the turn of the 20th century. It was believed she had taken her own life, but since she was never identified, no details of her life were known and the events leading to her demise remain a mystery. The unknown girl was entered in the books at the Paris morgue as "ecadavre feminin inconnu" (unknown female cadaver) before her remains were disposed of in an unmarked pauper's grave. A death mask was made of her features, but it is unclear if this was done in furtherance of attempts to establish her identity or because an unnamed morgue attendant was so taken by her visage that he took it upon himself to craft a memento of her beauty. (It is not true that death masks were routinely made of all decedents who graced the Paris morgue with their presence. Instead, beginning in 1881, the bodies of up to fourteen unknown persons would be laid out in a chilled room fronted by a plate glass window before which an endless train of the curious would pass, in hopes that some of the passersby would recognize some of the morgue's unidentified guests. Unknown Paris, a volume of engravings from 1893 about the city's less savory landmarks, said of it: "There is not a single window in Paris that attracts more onlookers than this.") The death mask of the girl who came to be known as "L'Inconnue de la Seine" made it out of the morgue by unknown means and into the souvenir shops. Its serene beauty, displaying a calm repose the real girl had perhaps not known in life, spoke to people. The mask took on a life of its own, becoming a "must have" objet d'art, and several factories were engaged at once to produce it in vast numbers. In the mid-1950s, Dr. Peter Safar, a pioneer in emergency medicine, developed a method of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation combined with chest compression; in 1958 he presented a paper on this technique in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Safar believed his methods could be employed by those outside the medical field to save lives, provided these laypeople were given adequate training in his techniques. To more effectively teach this procedure to them, he envisioned having a life-sized doll that novices to cardiopulmonary resuscitation could practice on, and so he approached toymaker Asmund Laerdal with the idea of developing a realistic mannequin for CPR training. Laerdal took up the challenge. The face Laerdal used for his training dummy was that of "L'Inconnue de la Seine," the by-then well-traveled death mask of an unknown Parisian girl. The modern CPR dummy was built in 1960 and sold under the name "Resusci Anne." In North America she has been christened "CPR Annie." Many a student of basic CPR has been taught to check if a patient is unconscious by gently shaking the doll and calling, "Annie, Annie, are you OK?" Culled
from: Snopes.Com ********************************************************************** And
here's an image of CPR Annie herself:
******* Ghastly! In case you haven't heard, someone has leaked more footage of Saddam Hussein - this time it's post-execution footage from the morgue. You can see that the hanging ripped open his throat pretty badly and broke his neck. He was lucky - no lengthy suffering in death, like what sometimes happens with botched hangings. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c5daa5b733 ******* Urban Exploration Link Du Jour! Mustard Gas Party is a collection of some of the most beautiful urban exploration photographs I've ever seen. Absolutely breathtaking! Thanks to cricket for the link.
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January 9, 2007 Today's Torturous Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Here's another particularly nasty variation on water torture employed by the Dutch in the 17th century, as described by writer Ernestus Eremundus Frisius: "There is a bench, which they call the wooden horse, made hollow like a trough, so as to contain a man lying on his back at full length, about the middle of which there is a round bar laid across, upon which the back of the person is placed, so that he lies upon the bar instead of being let down into the bottom of the trough, with his feet much higher than his head. "As he is lying in this posture, his arms, thighs, and shins are tied round with small cords or strings which, being drawn with screws at proper distances from each other, cut into his very bones, so as to be no longer discerned. Besides this, the torturer throws over his mouth and nostril a thin cloth, so that he is scarcely able to breathe thro' them, and in the mean while a small stream of water like a thread, not drop by drop, falls from on high, upon the mouth of the person lying in this miserable condition, and so easily sinks down the thin cloth to the bottom of his throat, so that there is no possibility of breathing, his mouth being stopped with water and his nostrils with the cloth, so that the poor wretch is in the same agony as persons ready to die, and breathing out their last. "When this cloth is drawn out of his throat, as it often is, so that he may answer to the questions, it is all wet with water and blood, and like pulling his bowels through his mouth." Culled
from: The
History Of Torture ********************************************************************** I think I'm going to adopt that last part as a new expression: "Watch the presidential press conference? Why, I'd rather have my bowels pulled out through my mouth!" ******* Urban Exploration Link Du Jour! Opacity is a collection of mesmerizingly beautiful urban exploration photographs. A must-browse! http://www.opacity.us/locations/ Thanks to Paul for the link. ******* Morbid Sightseeing! Zubrovka sends a photo-essay of the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. Looks like a very nice place to visit! http://homepage.mac.com/studio_zubrovka/PhotoAlbum10.html Here's the official site for the cemetery for those who might like to visit:
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January 10, 2007 Today's Flammable Yet Truly Morbid Fact! A Catholic Elementary School in Cologne, Germany Thursday, June 11, 1964 Walter Seifert's wife died in childbirth a few years ago and because he had tuberculosis, he had been out of work for years. Walter wrote several letters about his unfair treatment by medical officers to the head of the health department, the director of the upper city and the head of the provincial government trying in vain to make a war pension valid. All of these failed. Several medical officers certified Walter with schizophrenia symptoms, but they did not think he was violent. Today, just after 9 a.m., he proved them wrong. Walter converted a garden sprayer into a flamethrower and filled it with an easily inflammable mixture that could deliver a six-meter flame. He took his new flamethrower, a lance that was 1.5 meters long and a homemade iron centrifuge to the Catholic elementary school at Cologne Volkhoven. The school consisted of three wood pavilions, containing six classrooms, near the main administration building. He entered the school yard and blocked a small school gate with a wooden wedge. In the schoolyard, teacher Anna Langohr was teaching a group of girls about sports. Walter went to the first pavilion, which held four classrooms, threw some disks in with the centrifuge, put the flamethrower into an opened window and pulled the trigger. The wooden classrooms and the clothes of the children immediately caught on fire and panic ensued. Gertrud Bollenrath, a teacher, began to smoother the flames from the children's clothes before going out into the yard and putting herself in harm's way. Walter stabbed her with the lance. By now, the student's were running all over the schoolyard and Walter let loose another deadly flame. Anna, 67, tried to stay between the students and Walter, but the flames over took her and she collapsed to the ground. Walter then began to approach another wooden pavilion. The teachers inside, Mrs. Ursula Kouhr and a teacher identified only as Kunz, saw him coming and tried to shut the wing doors, but Walter tore one of them off it's hinges. Ursula, 24, lost her balance and fell down. Walter stabbed the fallen teacher several times while she was on the floor, killing her. By now, the neighbors were responding to the fire and commotion in the school yard so Walter fled the scene into a field. He didn't get to far as the police apprehended him in the field. He didn't get much further than that either as, during the chase, he swallowed a cap of plant poison E605. By the time the sunset on this horrific day, Walter had died in Lindenburg. Meanwhile, men who drove the garbage trucks were able to break down the gate Walter had wedged closed and extinguished the fire with blankets and clothes. They stopped cars in the street and had them transport the wounded students to area hospitals. The students had burns over 90% of their bodies. Eight students died from their injuries. Gertrud, 62, died just after 1:00 at Holy Spirit Hospital. Anna was in critical status for week and wasn't until October that she was able to leave the hospital . The 28 students who were wounded underwent months of long and painful treatment, which could not heal the scars completely, both physical and psychological. Culled from: Columbine-Angels.ComGenerously submitted by: Kathleen ********************************************************************** Now, that's what I call a true terror-art-ist! Who would think to attack a school with a flamethrower? Definitely scores points for originality. ******* Morbid Link Du Jour! Here's an excellent website that discusses the early gravestone image styles in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, along with photographic illustrations. http://www.capecodgravestones.com/styles.html Thanks to Jessica for the link. ******* Wretched Recommendations! Em has a book recommendation for us: Mutants:
On Genetic Variety and the Human Body "I highly recommend Armand Leroi's book Mutants. It manages to be inexplicably upbeat while, at the same time, horribly depressing, a neat trick to be sure. Anyway, it's a beautifully written and thoroughly engrossing book, complete with a few choice anatomical illustrations and photos. It isn't just a cheap freak show in book form, but instead presents a meticulously researched picture of genetic mutation and its study, one that does not sensationalize its examples. Leroi depicts his subject clearly and unflinchingly. It's morbid fun, but the kind where you learn something and no one gets arrested for necrophilia. The quote on the back cover reads "Who are the mutants? We are all mutants." If that doesn't scream Comtesse-worthy morbidity, I don't know what does." Indeed!! This is the second recommendation I've had for this one, so it definitely sounds like a winner.
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January 11, 2007 Today's Cremated Yet Truly Morbid Fact! To the ancient Romans, especially the rich upper classes, cremation was a common mode of disposal of the dead from pre-Christian times and into the second century AD. The explanation for the decline of cremation during the second century is largely unexplained, though some believe that inhumation became the preferred method of disposal because it was regarded as 'gentler' and more respectful. Certainly as early as AD 31 the Empress Poppaea, kicked to death whilst pregnant by her husband Nero, was inhumed and not cremated. A hybrid of burial and cremation, os resectum, continued to be practised, whereby the finger of the dead person was cut off and buried while the rest of the body was burned. The ashes were then preserved in cinerary urns and placed in the niches of columbariums. Culled from: Death: A History Of Man's Obsessions and Fears********************************************************************** How marvelous to be able to give someone the finger after you're dead! Okay, I haven't forgotten about the Morbid Caption Contest - I just haven't had time to finish my selections (yeah, I know, a likely story...) But soon, though - very soon! ******* Urban Exploration! The Unquiet Tomb is an excellent collection of urban exploration photography. Highly recommended! Thanks to Joe for the link. ******* Ghastly! One-Eyed Billy is a baby goat born with cyclopia. What a weird kid! http://www.cybergoat.com/cyclopia/cyclopia.htm Thanks to Jamie the Side Show Freak for the link.
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January 12, 2007 Today's Diurnal Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Monitors are robust, diurnal lizards with long, non-autotomous tails and elongate necks. They are found in Africa, central and southern mainland Asia and Malaysian and Indonesian islands, Papua New Guinea, and Australia (where about half the species are found). The feeding biology of monitors is also diverse, ranging from Gray's monitor, which forages and eats mollusks and fruit, to the Komodo dragon, which is a sit-and-wait predator of large mammals such as deer and buffalo. Large monitors may also eat carrion, and both the Komodo dragon and the water monitor are rumored to be adept at finding, exhuming, and eating human corpses. Culled
from: Animal
Diversity Web ********************************************************************** Monitors: The Ed Geins of the reptile world! ******* "My Brush With Morbidity" by Cynthia "Going to an autopsy was one of my top '25 things to do in life before I die'. Several years into police work, I was to escort a recently deceased female to the state morgue for the medical examiner to determine if she died by domestic assault or not. As luck would have it, there were eight bodies to be autopsied that day (July 4th) and since we were last to arrive, I got to see the first seven also. Six of the eight were thought to be alcohol and/or drug related. One of the recently deceased was the state comptroller, who had been found naked and thought to be on viagra. Autopsy number three was a middle aged man who may have expired due to alcohol poisoning. When the medical examiner had the body rolled over on its side to look at the underside, a fart escaped the bloated body and filled the room with the most noxious odor. I mean, the insides of dead people is bad enough that the whole ride home I had my head out of the window to clear my nasal passages. But the dead mans fart was awful in that it combined the smell of a fart and the rotting insides of the dead. Watching the assistants saw open skulls using no facial masks and getting splattered with tissue was pretty gross. Seeing the bodies autopsied all the same way each time was anticlimactic and put me off wanting to be a forensic pathologist or medical examiner any more than I wanted to be a taxidermist or work in a slaughterhouse." What a pity that you had a bad experience. But didn't Oscar Wilde say that when the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers? ******* Morbid Art Du Jour! Jessica Joslin creates incredibly strange and compelling artwork made from animal bones, antique hardware, glass eyes, and a variety of other materials. Positively creepy! http://www.jessicajoslin.com/jessica/index.html Thanks to Joe for the link.
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January 13, 2007 Today's Vibrating Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Funeral directors in Ireland report that more and more families are throwing a mobile phone into the coffin with the deceased. They're more than just mementos, too. "There is a fear that some people have that they will be buried alive," says Dublin mortician Peter Flanagan. "They have contact with the outside world if they have a mobile phone with them." But, he says, he suggests to families they either turn the phone off, or at least turn it to vibrate. "Obviously," he says, "you don't want a phone ringing inside a coffin during a funeral." Culled
from: This Is True ********************************************************************** That's
just plain silly! If you can't get reception inside a subway, what makes
people think they'll get reception inside a coffin? ******* Morbid Trinket Du Jour! Here's the perfect site for those of you who wanted to be a doctor but didn't get the grades to make it to med school... or, conversely, those of you who wish to emulate the surgical skills of Jack The Ripper. GoLimbs.Com sells medical simulation models that you can use to practice removing tumors, inserting catheters and airtubes, taking blood samples, and other lovely procedures. Playing doctor has never been so realistic! (Or expensive, sadly...) Thanks to Steve for the link. ******* Morbid Art Du Jour! Joseph Seigenthaler's artwork is the perfect antidote to those who believe that the human body is beautiful. Blech!!!!! http://www.joeseigenthaler.com/ Thanks to Moni for the link.
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January 14, 2007 Today's Horrendous Yet Truly Morbid Fact! The mother of a 7-year-old girl killed in a DWI crash recalled yesterday the unimaginable horror of sitting on the side of the road with her daughter's remains while rescuers cut the rest of her family free. "The only thing that was left of Kate was her head," said a surprisingly poised Jennifer Flynn about her adorable, apple-cheeked girl, who was killed when an allegedly drunken driver slammed into a limo loaded with six people returning from a Bayville wedding. "I took her, just that, and sat on the side of the Meadowbrook [Parkway] watching the horrendousness going on around me," Flynn said outside Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, L.I.. "I sat there for about an hour with her as they cut my entire family out of this crushed tin can," the devastated mother said about the limo, which was turned into twisted metal and shattered glass after the smashup in Freeport. Flynn was the only one able to get herself out of the limo. Also in the limo was little Katie's sister, Grace, 5, who is still under observation at Nassau University Hospital; the girls' father, Neil, 36, who is in critical but stable condition; Flynn's father, retired Nassau cop Chris Tangney, 58, and her mother, Denise, 55, an aspiring Long Beach city councilwoman Chris Tangney underwent his third surgery in just three days, this time to repair a fractured hip, while his wife is hooked up to a respirator. The 5-year-old girl is in good condition and should be released in the next few days, hospital officials said. The Long Beach family was on their way home from the jubilant wedding of Flynn's sister, Lisa — where Katie and Grace acted as flower girls — when they were rammed by alleged drunken driver Martin Heidgen, 24. "We were hit head-on by someone going 70 mph on the wrong side of the road," Flynn said. "It was like an explosion." The limousine's driver, Stanley Rabinowitz, 59, was also killed instantly. A photograph of the precious young girl smiling coyly for the camera as she played in the sand was snapped just hours before her tragic death. "Katie was stolen from us," the stoic mother said. "Her life was cut terribly short. "She only had beauty, and we are so grateful for that, but it was taken, and it was taken with drunk driving," she said. Heidgen, who was driving in the wrong direction, suffered a broken ankle and was arraigned at his bedside at Nassau University Hospital on Saturday. He faces two counts of manslaughter as well as drunken-driving charges. If convicted, he could spend more than 30 years behind bars. Heidgen's mother, Margot, said her son "feels horrible" about the accident. "It's terrible," she said. "This is a tragedy." Culled
from: NY Post ********************************************************************** Imagine driving by THAT sight!!
******* Ghastly! What's the only thing that is more frightening than a newborn baby? A STILLBORN baby! And what's more frightening than a stillborn baby? A GALLERY of stillborn babies!! http://www.missingangel.org/beautifulbabies.htm Thanks
to Willow for the link. ******* Morbid Mirth Du Jour! Oh, I'm so disappointed I didn't come up with this idea for a photo contest! Thanks to william13 for the link.
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January 15, 2007 Today's Restrained Yet Truly Morbid Fact! A Bengal tiger attacked and killed a teenage girl in August, 2005 at a southeast Kansas animal sanctuary. Haley Hilderbrand, 17, of Altamont, Kan., was posing with the tiger for her senior high school pictures at the Lost Creek Animal Sanctuary. A news release from the Labette County Sheriff's Office said the big cat was being restrained by its handler, but it attacked the teenager, anyway. The 7-year-old tiger was killed. Culled
from: ClickonDetroit.Com ********************************************************************** Poor tiger - he was just acting on the natural impulse to kill a teenager. I
will try and finalize the Morbid Caption Contest results either Tuesday
or Wednesday night, depending on whether my ailing immune system allows
it. Right now, sleep seems the only appropriate course of action...
but, then again, when doesn't it? ******* Wretched Recommendations! Mesbeth has a film suggestion for us: Plucked! A living-dead chicken struggling to survive among hungry humans discovers his own appetite for destruction in the offbeat fable Plucked! Plucked! is a unique comedic recipe, blending elements of horror, science fiction and puppetry in an outrageous spoof. Follow the adventures of Fred, a headless but sentient chicken - the extraordinary result of an experiment gone awry during the Great Fast-Food Chicken Wars. Along the way, you will meet a good guy, a bad guy, and a hooker. Plus, you will encounter hordes of killer chickens. Best (and cheesiest) of all, Fred and his fowl cohorts are meat puppets. That's right, chicken carcass marionettes! Nothing but the best of B-movie art for genre fans. http://www.customflix.com/206577 ******* Morbid Trinket Du Jour! Here's a fantastic Psycho shower scene doll set! Of course, in a perfect world a doll of Norman/Mother would be included... alas... http://www.shop.com/op/~Psycho_Madame_Alexander_Hollywood_Alfred_Hitchcock_40715-prod-14623265 Thanks to Magnoire for the link.
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January 16, 2007 Today's Coasting Yet Truly Morbid Fact! A West Virginia mother was killed when she was run over by her own SUV, as she was trying to save her kids. She was trying to stop the SUV from rolling down a hill with two of her children inside. Officials said the 25-year-old woman had gotten out of the vehicle with one of her children while two others were inside. One of the children got behind the wheel and put the Dodge Durango in gear. It started coasting off a driveway and Andrea Johnson got behind it to try to stop it. Officials said the woman fell after about 75 feet, went under the vehicle and was dragged about 50 feet before ending up in a drainage ditch. She was pronounced dead at a hospital. The sport utility vehicle then crossed a road, went over an embankment and hit a tree. The children were not injured. Culled
from: ClickonDetroit.Com ********************************************************************** SUV's
= Death On Wheels! ******* Wretched Recommendations! Kimmie has a couple of vintage gaming recommendations for us: "There are two games that came out in the early to mid 90's. 7th Guest and it's sequel 11th Hour. As far as I know, they're PC only. They are puzzle games, and get harder as they go, but as you beat the puzzles, you get to more of the house you're in. I played 11th hour, and it was really creepy at times... from the murder in the kitchen, the blood covered switchblade in the bathroom, and the skeletal hand that guides you everywhere. Anyways, there's my recomendation for a creepy morbid game!" ******* Creepy Techno Video Du Jour! Em writes: "Daft Punk is an awesome band comprised of two French guys who dress up like robots. You may have heard this song of theirs on one of those iPod commercials. The real video however is far more fun." |
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January 17, 2007 Today's Freaky Yet Truly Morbid Fact! An inebriated Belgian woman died in a freak accident when she ended up beneath a heavy grave stone at a cemetery. The 33-year-old was on her way home from a bar in the Belgian town of Pulle in the early hours of Saturday, September 3, 2005 when she took a short cut through the cemetery. But she urgently needed to relieve herself and crouched down between two gravestones. As she lost her balance, she grabbed one of the stones which gave way and landed on top of her. The public prosecutor's office said she died of suffocation as she was unable to lift the heavy stone. Culled
from: Reuters ********************************************************************** See, here in Chicago, they lock up all the cemeteries after dark so this sort of accident can't happen. It's a pity really - it would be an excellent way to eliminate Cubs fans... ******* Morbid
Caption Contest Results! Okay, after some long hours of procrastination, it's time to announce the winner of the latest Morbid Caption Contest! To refresh your memory, here's the lovely morbid fact that it is based on: An elderly Romanian man mistook his penis for a chicken's neck, cut it off and his dog rushed up and ate it. It said 67 year-old Constantin Mocanu, from a village near the southeastern town of Galati, rushed out into his yard in his underwear to kill a noisy chicken keeping him awake at night. "I confused it with the chicken's neck," Mocanu, who was admitted to the emergency hospital in Galati, was quoted as saying. "I cut it ... and the dog rushed and ate it." Doctors said the man, who was brought in by an ambulance bleeding heavily, was now out of danger. First, let me say that I received over 100 entries, and over 30 of them contained some variation of "Choke the Chicken". Now, while I consider that to be very amusing and I am amazed and appalled that I did not think of that myself, because there were so many similar entries I decided to eliminate that theme from consideration for the top prize (although a couple well-constructed variations did make honorable mention). There were so many excellent entries that I agonized for hours - absolutely EXCRUCIATING PAIN - trying to decide which was the best of the grim bunch. In the end, I decided to pick the entries that made me laugh out loud for the top five - and it's obvious that I'm a sucker for a catchy rhyme! First of all, here's a list of Honorable Mention entries, which had originality, style, and excellent alliteration but did not quite make me guffaw: Mistaken
mutt munches Man's mangled meat And now for the top 5! (Drum roll........ CRASH!) 5)
Tipsy Gypsy Confuses Prick for Chick (Courtesy Thes-P-N) And the grand prize winner: 1)
Geezer Aims For Gizzard, But Hits His Trouser Lizard (Courtesy IHeNdRiXIsGodI) ******* Morbid Trinket Du Jour! Who among us can resist a Jesus Is A Zombie t-shirt? No, please don't answer that! http://www.jesusisazombie.com/ Thanks to Remo for the link. ******* Ghastly! The next time you're involved in a high speed chase, please take a moment to put your seatbelt on. After all, you wouldn't want to end up like Damien Harrington (R.I.P.), would you? http://asylumeclectica.com/asylum/morbid/archives/noseatbelt.wmv Thanks to Dave for the link.
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January 18, 2007 Today's Live Yet Truly Morbid Fact! Five workers at a Thailand factory were electrocuted when a live lead from a radio fell into a pickled mango storage tank. Workers were removing mangoes at the time. One was electrocuted instantly and the others died as they tried to help their colleagues. Culled
from: Strange
Deaths ********************************************************************** See, this is a good example of how important it is in life to have morbid obsessions. When I was a kid, one of my favorite books to look through was an old First Aid book. I was fascinated by the pictures, which depicted potential hazards that one might stumble across in life, and I was particularly entranced by the photos of what to do in case of an electrocution. They showed someone laying across a live wire, and someone else taking a wooden broom handle and using it to move the first person off the wire. Now I naturally carry a wooden broom handle wherever I go, just in case this situation should reveal itself. I also carry several long sleeved shirts tied together in case I need to rescue someone from an icy pond. Yes, I have learned my lessons well. ******* Morbid T-Shirt Shop Update The Morbid Fact Du Jour Ebay Shop will be closed for a week while Jen is out of town. You can still purchase shirts from the shop, but orders will not be finalized and shipping will not occur until Jen returns to the fold after 1/25. ******* Ghastly! Goreking.Com is a great forum on which to find the latest disturbing images. Squeamish need not apply! ******* Morbid Art Du Jour! Here's a great animation in which the artist draws a woman from the inside out. Wish I could draw like this... http://www.pelourinho.com/movies/c003702/ Thanks to Letitia for the link.
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January 19, 2007 Today's Ripping Yet Truly Morbid Fact! A 16-year-old farmworker died a horrible death after being "swallowed" by a baling machine six days after he had started at the farm. Another worker, who saw the machine ripping apart Ricardo Mowries, has been having trouble sleeping since the accident. Jerome Geduld of the De Liefde farm near Wolseley was driving the baling machine in which Mowries's clothes got entangled about 17:20 on Monday, October 17, 2005. Mowries was decapitated, his right arm was broken and his right leg ripped off. Geduld said: "Ricardo was feeding the chaff into the machine and his jacket got caught in the machinery. His body was ripped apart within half a minute. It happened so quickly. My body was in shock and I was disorientated. It didn't know where I was." Geduld descibed the teenager as a "good worker", saying young workers didn't normally work with such big machinery. Ricardo's mother, Ragel Mowries, said she was working in the vineyard when she and other workers heard a loud bang. "Two workers came running. I told the others: but there should be three of them. I walked up to them and asked what had happened. They told me my child had died. I wanted to go to him, but Jerome said he was too badly injured; I should stay away. I heard that his head was lying 12 metres from the machine. I keep seeing images of how he died." Mowries said her son had asked the manager for a job because she couldn't afford to keep him in school after Grade 7. "It was only his sixth day at work. I'm heartbroken, but I must accept it." Albertus Olivier, organiser of the Food and Allied Workers Union in the Witzenberg district, said: "It is against the labour laws to allow such a young child to do such hard work. Such a dangerous machine must be operated by an experienced person." Flip Viljoen, the farm manager, said through his lawyer, Nico le Roux, that the boy "knew exactly what he should do". " He was merely a helper and didn't operate the machine." Le Roux said the case was being investigated by the labour department and the police. "It was a sad accident and we are supporting his family." Culled
from: News
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