The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) | Dir. Tobe Hooper
Brunhilda of Austrasia
Brunhilda of Austrasia (c. 543-613) was a Visigothic princess who married into the Merovingian dynasty of the Franks, becoming the queen consort of the eastern kingdom of Austrasia. Following the brutal death of her sister due to a plot by Queen Fredegund in Neustria, Brunhilda used her position to scheme and accumulate power to outmaneuver her rival. The feud would expand into proxy wars across the Frankish realm.
Steel armatures that were the “skeleton” for the King Kong models in the original 1933 film.
The last surviving original armature is owned by actor, prop archivist, and fan supreme Bob Burns (that’s the armature, and Burns’ elbow, in the top photo).
Burns once told the story of how he and his wife were invited to New Zealand by director Peter Jackson. Jackson at the time was filming his version of King Kong. Burns brought along the Kong armature to show Jackson. Unfortunately, TSA agents at the airport, upon scanning Burns’ luggage, thought he had a baby skeleton. They took Burns to an empty room where he quickly explained what the armature was. The TSA agents immediately turned into geekish fanboys, and were delighted when Burns removed the armature and demonstrated how it worked.
The rest of the trip was, thankfully, uneventful.
Burns and his wife have a brief, “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it,” cameo in Jackson’s film ,outside the theatre where King Kong is being exhibited.
Tornado Alley’s Shift Eastward
AccuWeather’s assessment of the change in tornado activity between 1950-1984 and 1985-2019
AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok attributed tornadoes becoming more frequent to the east of Tornado Alley due to the lack of moisture in the original Tornado Alley, which can be traced back to the 20-year mega-drought gripping much of the Southwest.
When are they gonna stop calling this shit a “drought” and start calling it what it is: irreversible desertification?
if desertificiation in the saraha can be reversed, i think it can be reversed in the great plains, which famously already went thru the dust bowl, which we know also wasn’t permanent. put an end to expansive and resource intensive monocultures and cattle grazing and desertification could probably not only stop, but recede. if the land was back it probably wouldn’t have even started.
