Odds 'n Ends
The legendary 50,000 watt Chicago blowtorch!
Photos
Giant painted fiberglass corn forms!
The mansion of Judge David Davis is in Bloomington IL. He was behind Abraham Lincoln's rise to national power.
Frederick MD Community Bridge Mural
These photos were taken at the "Community Bridge" mural in downtown Frederick, MD (which was founded in 1743!)
"The Queen City of the Cornbelt"
as declared in the old Fairbury Blade newspaper.
Replacing a 200,000 gallon fire prevention system reservoir.
Nature center on the Vermilion River near Pontiac, Illinois
Located along the Illinois River between Ottawa and Utica.
More Stuff
Homeshield History
If you are or were an employee of Homeshield, aka Nichols-Homeshield, aka American Screen Company, in Chatsworth, IL, or a current or former resident of Chatsworth, you will enjoy browsing through these old Homeshield newsletters from the early '60s.
WLS Radio 890 History!
If you live in or are from the Midwest, try some radio nostalgia! This link is a history of WLS, with lots of content. You can also get CD's of Vol. 1 - 4 of Animal Stories, (with Uncle Larr and Little Tommy), here! Some of the funniest stuff ever heard on radio!
Are you a non-profit organization or small business in need of a Web site or a re-design? I can help.
Buttered Cats
(From the Usenet Oracle. Now called The Internet Oracle)
The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply.
Your question was:
If you drop a buttered piece of
bread, it will fall on the floor butter-side down. If a cat is dropped
from a window or other high and towering place, it will land on its
feet. But what if you attach a buttered piece of bread, butter-side
up, to a cat's back and toss them both out the window? Will the cat
land on its feet? Or will the butter splat on the ground?
And in response, thus spake the Oracle:
Even if you are too lazy to do the experiment yourself you should be
able to deduce the obvious result.
The laws of butterology demand that
the butter must hit the ground, and the equally strict laws of feline
aerodynamics demand that the cat cannot smash its furry back. If the
combined construction were to land, nature would have no way to resolve
this paradox. Therefore it simply does not fall.That's right, you clever mortal (well, as clever as a mortal can get),
you have discovered the secret of antigravity! A buttered cat will,
when released, quickly move to a height where the forces of cat-twisting
and butter repulsion are in equilibrium. This equilibrium point can
be modified by scraping off some of the butter, providing lift, or removing
some of the cat's limbs, allowing descent.Most of the civilized species of the Universe already use this principle
to drive their ships while in a planetary system. The loud humming heard
by most sighters of UFO's is, in fact, the purring of several hundred
tabbies.The one obvious danger is, of course, if the cats manage to eat the
bread off their backs they will instantly plummet. Of course the cats
will land on their feet, but this usually doesn't do them much good,
since right after they make their graceful landing several tons of red-hot
starship and ticked-off aliens crash on top of them.