Dispatches: Old West & Beyond 07.08.25
____________________________
“Carry out random acts of kindness with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” —Princess Diana
____________________________
MY TWO CENTS WORTH
When I was a kid, I used to play around with puppets. Simple, uncomplicated fun. A good way to test the limits of creativity.
But then in the mid-Fifities, Jim Henson and the Muppets came along. A real puppeteer with a genius mind. Henson was more than a puppeteer. He was a brilliant innovator, visionary, and illusionist who made us believe in the impossible--Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, and others, including…wait for it . . . Rizzo the Rat. Henson, sadly, died unexpectedly in May 1990. He was only 53.
I always marveled at the way the Muppets could ride bicycles, play drums, and relax on park benches. YouTuber Alex Boucher takes us behind the scenes in his video, How Muppets Break Free from their Puppeteers.
============================================================
FROM THE OLD WEST
(1) On July 13, 1882, officials hanged Thomas Egan for killing his wife. In fact, they hanged him three times before getting it right. In the end, Lady Justice was blind—but not in a good way. “A Twisted Tragedy.”
========================================================
(2) One of the first visits I ever made to a mining town was Deadwood, South Dakota. I’ve also visited Tombstone and the ghost town of Goldfield, near Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. The lure of finding silver and gold was the catalyst for the development of numerous Old West communities across the frontier.
========================================================
FROM HERE & THERE
(3) Imagine you’re a kid in 1947, sitting at the kitchen table, shoveling scoops of Kix Cereal in your mouth. On the back of the cereal box is an offer for an honest-to-goodness Kix Atomic Bomb Ring. All it takes is 15 cents and the box top from Kix. What a deal. Many parents succumbed to their kids’ pressure and decided to accept the deal from General Mills. Now, we discover that the ring those children wore was radioactive.
========================================================
(4) Several US cities are banning left-hand turns at intersections. Research indicates that left-hand turns are dangerous, unpredictable, and inefficient.
========================================================
(5) While some drivers have to deal with left-hand turns, others are searching for a parking spot they can squeeze into. The answer: a modified 1993 Fiat Panda, the world’s narrowest car.
========================================================
(6) If you need a quick way to recharge and refocus during the day, try a power nap. Researchers say power naps offer several health benefits that can improve your quality of life.
========================================================
(7) Like most bikers, I get a bit nervous in traffic. But a research team at the University of Washington developed a small handlebar sensor that fits onto the handlebars. The inexpensive device goes a long way toward improving bike safety.
========================================================
(8) Check out these oil painting portraits of 43 US presidents holding a ham. Each of the portraits includes information about the personalities of the respective chief executives. After reading the introduction, click on the presidential seal in the upper left to access all the profiles.
____________________________
“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” —Robert Louis Stevenson
____________________________