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Benjamin Franklin invented a musical instrument in 1761 based on the same principle as wine glasses played with a wet finger. Listen to French artist Thomas Bloch demonstrating a glass harmonica, or armonica, at the Paris Music Museum.
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The Hand, Digits of Death. The hand with a mind of its own is the theme of many a horror film. Isn’t that handy?
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Volcanoes Wiped Out All Forests 250 Million Years Ago. That time, it took them four million years to recover.
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Famous Dogs Adopted From Shelters or The Streets. See, the pup you rescue during Adopt A Shelter Dog Month may turn out to be a star!
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How the stars of Top Gear came to be chased out of town by American rednecks. They won’t be going back to Alabama anytime soon.
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The Coolest Guy in the World. He’s “kinda just great at everything” except making those around him feel adequate.
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Putting Humpty to Shame: How to Have a Great Fall (and Survive). Still, you don’t want to try this at home.
Comments (19)
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“Benjamin Franklin invented a musical instrument in 1961…” Hum, I wanna meet his zombie
posted by Jem on 10-7-2009 at 4:25 am
Jem, that’s about par for me -my typing that is. Thanks! I’ll get it corrected.
posted by Miss Cellania on 10-7-2009 at 6:27 am
There is no way on earth that Top Gear story is true. Sounds like the typical crud television shows of a certain caliber trot out so the folks back home can feel smugly superior.
posted by Zach on 10-7-2009 at 7:52 am
Did the Top Gear guys ever stop to think that just maybe what was “offensive” was the fact that they had a huge camera crew. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame, even “rednecks.”
reCaptcha: sheriff don’s … I bet he wants his 15 minutes too.
posted by Katherine on 10-7-2009 at 8:25 am
Zach and Katherine are obviously not well acquainted with the south. Having grown up not far from the TN/AL boarder, I whole heartedly believe that it’s not only possible but probable that the story and experiences are true. I know we would all like to think America is as great as we like to yell, but there’s a good cross-section of the population that is bat-shit crazy and ignorant beyond belief to boot.
posted by Thad on 10-7-2009 at 9:21 am
I’ve watched Top Gear a few times, and its mildly entertaining. However, since they painted the vehicles up specifically to be offensive, then its difficult for me to have any sympathy for them. I live in Alabama, but I dont imagine they would have had any friendlier of a welcome anywhere in the southeast. I dont condone, agree with, or approve of the behavior of the locals, but going into an unfamiliar place and taunting both the people and beliefs of that area just doesn’t sound very bright to me.
posted by Jennings on 10-7-2009 at 9:42 am
I am a regular Top Gear viewer and was definitely upset when they chose to base all of their opinions of the US on their drive through the deep south. I was ashamed of us as a country when they were attacked and disturbed that there are people out there who think it’s okay to physically assault someone because they’ve expressed their opposing opinions (no matter how big they’ve written them on the side of their car). Disgusting.
posted by Cathy D on 10-7-2009 at 10:06 am
Fifth Gear was 100 times better than Top Gear. Top Gear is about the hosts, Fifth Gear was about the vehicles.
posted by airy on 10-7-2009 at 10:08 am
Top Gear should only be fair and go up north somewhere, writing “Yankees suck” and “New York is full of tossers” and see what reactions they get.
And I too, live near the AL/TN border and believe it or not, they’re not all overall-wearing ignorant rednecks. Egads!
posted by Tracie on 10-7-2009 at 10:13 am
Never heard of Top Gear. Sounds like yet another ridiculous premise for a “reality” show. And while you’re out there being REAL, be sure to create and incite as much drama, hate, and discontent as possible. Reality ain’t real. Not in TV-land anyway.
posted by Hyacinth on 10-7-2009 at 10:20 am
@Tracie and others, I agree. Also, they wouldn’t want us going to Cornwall and creating hate and discontent. Of course, they are getting what they want… media play.
posted by Hyacinth on 10-7-2009 at 10:22 am
Top Gear has, by now, come back to the us for another road trip, this one one from San Francisco to Utah. In that one, the US comes across far better. In the deep south episode, I find it plausible both that locals reacted in that way and that Brits simply wouldn’t realize how inflammatory they were being in the local vernacular. They were trying to be “offensive,” yes, but only mildly so, ala their “NASCAR sucks” paint job. As much as the BBC plans, sometimes things don’t work quite as they expect they will.
posted by Jo on 10-7-2009 at 10:28 am
I love Top Gear, it’s one of my favorite shows, but even I have to admit that was a stupid idea. When you understand the humor of the county and culture you grew up in it’s easier to get away with things like that. But going into unfamiliar territory and “hoping” people would find it funny is asking for trouble.
posted by LO on 10-7-2009 at 11:09 am
I remember watching the ‘Beast with Five Fingers’ movie when I was little-bitty, home alone late in the evening before my mom got home from work. I was so scared! I pulled my feet up on the sofa, lest that creepy hand come crawling out from under the furniture – and from that point on, for a very long time, I was checking under the furniture and in the closets before locking myself in if I was home alone! To this day, if there is a scary movie on tv, I cannot keep my feet on the floor.
posted by Mama9cats on 10-7-2009 at 11:39 am
I have no illusions about the south. What I cannot believe is that some random town in Alabama was able to organize a systematic genocide of an English camera crew off the fly. The way the article made it sound, I half expected jiggling white orbs to bounce across a field to capture them. What I can believe is that a few drunk teenagers started throwing rocks at them and waving hunting rifles around to scare them.
posted by Zach on 10-7-2009 at 12:37 pm
Zach, if you haven’t seen the episode perhaps you should seek it out on the internet somewhere and watch it before you comment about what you think happened or didn’t happen. I’ve seen the episode several times, and while I find it very funny (from an entertainment point of view), I would also say that they got what they deserved, considering what they set out to do.
posted by crocostimpy on 10-7-2009 at 1:35 pm
So many of you need to:
1) Become more familiar with Top Gear’s MO, and
2) Actually watch the episode that is being discussed.
It was definitely NOT a group of wayward teenagers that is attacking them. It was a bunch of full fledged adults who quizzically had nothing to do mid-day on in the middle of the week. They arrived in a moment’s notice when the middle-aged woman spoken about said that she was going to call the “Boys”. They showed up armed and obviously meant harm.
Those rocks that were being thrown were not pebbles; they were golf and baseball sized. The fear of hosts and crew was not faked – they ran for their lives.
Upon watching, I thought that there would be some arrests made. The perps faces are plainly visible, but apparently there was no legal action taken. Not only that, the State Department suspended Top Gear’s filming permit in the US. They mention it on a later show filmed on the West coast. (Although the official reason given had to do with roadkill – you have to watch to understand)
Also, this was only a small part of that one hour show. The article mentions nothing of how genuinely touched they are when they arrive in post-Katrina New Orleans or the fact that they did what they could to help a local charity.
posted by n2y2 on 10-7-2009 at 1:37 pm
that armonica is ri-donk-ulous.
reCaptcha=special deftness
I thought it was fitting.
posted by BDWG on 10-7-2009 at 3:18 pm
Hyacinth, Top Gear isn’t a “reality show”. It’s a car show hosted by three British men who like to make people laugh. I know nothing about cars and absolutely hate nearly all reality shows (with the exception of Project Runway) and love Top Gear.
On another note, that guy isn’t great at everything, mostly just at jumping. He probably isn’t to hot when it comes to quantum physics. Of course, neither am I, and in my dreams I rarely do particle physics but regularly run around jumping off of things. Usually only when chased, though. And I usually get caught.
posted by Jordan on 10-7-2009 at 4:34 pm