Page 9 | Things that are utterly bloody fascinating

ElizabethBest · 2023-03-06T14:24:28+00:00

Let's hear it please - I love a good wikipedia rabbit hole. I'll start - [[https://www.willardsuitcases.com/ The Willard Suitcases]]. Over 400 suitcases of possessions were found in an attic at the Willard Insane Asylum belong to patients who had died whilst inpatients so never left. The New York State Museum started a project to document the cases and their contents, and you can learn all about it and see the cases on their website.

IJustHadToLookHavingReadTheBook · 10/03/2023 00:26

TallulahBetty · 07/03/2023 09:57

Tube maps fascinate me. London, New York, Liverpool any underground railway system. Can't even explain why.

The start of the AIDS epidemic, in particular 'patient zero' and the theories of how it passed from ape to man. Harrowing, but fascinating.

Agree re the AIDS epidemic. Fascinating scientifically and socially. I read The River by Edward Hooper after watching 'Its a Sin' in 2021 and it just about blew my mind. The stuff about how it probably made it to Europe and then America via good old colonialism and the fall of the Belgian Congo is genuinely fascinating. And even just the HIV/AIDS Wikipedia page will send you down a thousand rabbit holes. Terrifying disease, but what's more amazing than it is the fact that modern science has all-but cured it (as long as you get it in a place where you can get and afford the drugs, of course).

Effiebreast · 09/03/2023 23:35

This was a previous thread about rabbit holes if anyone is interested !
www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4592597-ive-made-a-listinternet-rabbit-holes

lifeturnsonadime · 09/03/2023 23:16

sashh · 09/03/2023 04:37

I already mentioned David Crystal, he did some work with his son to produce Shakespeare in the original pronunciation

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this is absolutely fascinating.

Thanks for sharing.

lifeturnsonadime · 09/03/2023 23:01

OldFan · 08/03/2023 22:24

The castrati! What they sounded like or might've sounded like en masse. I saw a programme where they tried to recreate what they would've sounded like in a cathedral using some technology.

I think there are just a couple of recordings left, of this bloke

Supposedly this guy naturally never had his voice break so he's the same, with a choirboy's voice but a bloke's lungs/chest to back it up.

But imagine the life of a castrato, or the parents choosing it for their child. Wow.

Supposedly, as they didn't have functioning bits they put a lot of effort into pleasing a woman (if she liked that kind of thing.)

Agree that this is fascinating.

Rabbit hole I'm about to go down.

The 2 recordings are entirely different. The sound and tone are different. To think the price attached to castrating a male to produce the recording in the first clip.

Ineke · 09/03/2023 22:58

Someone should compile a collection of these utterlies and publish…
Makes some fascinating reading.

Tabitha1960 · 09/03/2023 22:53

airey · 08/03/2023 18:53

I’d love to watch that!!!

would anyone else want to contribute to crowdfund it? Show of hands please?

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JKR?

KrasiTime · 09/03/2023 22:50

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 20:01

kateandme · Today 17:48

Do you like to read. Have you heard of the author Victoria hislop,?

I don't think I've heard of her, but it sounds interesting. I love historical novels.

I’ve read all her books. The detail is superb imo. The Island is probably my favourite. I find The Sunrise upsetting due to family history but it was good for me to read.

FlyingCapybara40 · 09/03/2023 22:19

It's threads like this that make Mumsnet worthwhile!

for me, I find paternoster lifts fascinating but at same time they give me the creeps! 😨

I find fascinating:

Abandoned buildings or amusement parks

numbers stations

anything linked to the cold war era

anything linked to period from 1950s to 1980s

I also love the Georgian and Recency periods historically

nilsoften · 09/03/2023 22:13

Bbq1 · 08/03/2023 22:18

Brilliant threat, Op

dayswithaY · 09/03/2023 22:10

I’m fascinated by John and Jane Does. Some of their stories are incredible and it blows my mind that no one recognises these unidentified people who are found murdered with no way of knowing who they are.

There is a charity called The Doe Network in the US that uses their DNA to trace relatives.

Some of the most memorable Does are the Christmas Tree Lady, Lady of the Dunes - both recently identified, and David Glenn Lewis.

Forensic sculpture is amazing too. They examine the skull of the missing person and create a clay head with their features, hoping someone recognises them and they get their name back.

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 20:01

kateandme · Today 17:48

Do you like to read. Have you heard of the author Victoria hislop,?

I don't think I've heard of her, but it sounds interesting. I love historical novels.

DailyMaui · 09/03/2023 19:56

Verv · 09/03/2023 14:51

It was an abandoned farm in Scotland. Empty bottles of Gaviscon everywhere so I nicknamed it as I never used "real" place names.
From what I could work out it belonged to a couple and he was a cattle farmer, lots of auction receipts and notebooks. I think his wife died and then he lived there, in disarray, until he passed as well. It was a really sad place. Demolished now I believe.

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your pictures are stunning - so evocative.

Was one of those buildings the old Spitalfields Fruit & Wool Exchange?

Britinme · 09/03/2023 19:14

Me too!

Emotionalsupportviper · 09/03/2023 19:13

Kucinghitam · 09/03/2023 10:16

That was an amazing scroll! I felt weirdly claustrophobic and anxious as I went deeper...

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So did I!

When the window of the challenger submarime cracked I thought I was going to the sick - I felt really frightened.

Emotionalsupportviper · 09/03/2023 19:12

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 10:08

Kucinghitam · Today 08:09

I'm always awestruck by the sheer size of the solar system and of space.

We had one bookmarked, showing the relative sizes of asteroids, moons, planets & stars etc, but OH seems to have deleted it; I hope our daughter doesn't twig on...

But this one is still bookmarked:

neal.fun/deep-sea/?fbclid=IwAR2J_fvXkbW3X8kaghZQIMtv4u1DcEturzidEec01K79kTHU7YFFkDD_5U0

That was breathtaking . . .

Emotionalsupportviper · 09/03/2023 18:49

Embelline · 09/03/2023 14:31

I have to say, I think this is the best thread I’ve ever come across on mumsnet! So thank you OP.

i agree @mumsnettowers this should be in classics!

I agree!

so much to look into, to read and to learn about - I've taken more book titles, podcast details, holiday ideas etc than ever before.

Its wonderful.

Thank you so much for the inspiration @ElizabethBest - it's brilliant!

kateandme · 09/03/2023 18:00

SlightlyJaded · 09/03/2023 17:52

She has also written a book set in Famagusta -'The Sunrise'. Famagusta is the Ghost Town in Cyprus that was left frozen in time when Turkey invaded and the Cypriot people fled. I have been there and it's extraordinary. Car showrooms with immaculate (dust covered) cars from the 70s. Houses with the tables laid. And huge highrise hotels all along the coast just empty....

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Oh wow great thankyou

SlightlyJaded · 09/03/2023 17:52

kateandme · 09/03/2023 17:48

Do you like to read.
Have you heard of the author Victoria hislop,?

Victoria Hislop's book “The Island” is an atmospheric and moving novel based on a true story from Spinalonga.

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She has also written a book set in Famagusta -'The Sunrise'. Famagusta is the Ghost Town in Cyprus that was left frozen in time when Turkey invaded and the Cypriot people fled. I have been there and it's extraordinary. Car showrooms with immaculate (dust covered) cars from the 70s. Houses with the tables laid. And huge highrise hotels all along the coast just empty....

kateandme · 09/03/2023 17:48

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 17:02

samsswampy · Today 16:55

we went to Knossos and Spinalonga when DCs were younger but would like to go back now they are older and would be more interested also not so distracted

I'd like to go again, not least because when we went, my wife refused to get up and leave early, (2 hour drive) insisted on having a 90 minute lunch before going in and then wouldn't have our daughter at all during the visit, as it was her dream place to see.

It was my idea to go and a dream destination for me, too!

Do you like to read.
Have you heard of the author Victoria hislop,?

Victoria Hislop's book “The Island” is an atmospheric and moving novel based on a true story from Spinalonga.

kateandme · 09/03/2023 17:41

Embelline · 09/03/2023 13:02

I think it’s been mentioned but I’m fascinated by Everest and specifically the bodies that are there - how they are left, how much it costs to retrieve them, how they’re preserved in the ice. It’s so haunting.

Longshot but did you ever watch Made in Chelsea and know of spencer Matthews?his brother was youngest brit to climb it.
But 3 hours later he disappeared forever.
They got a message years later from someone believing they came across his body.
He has just released and made a documentary on going to get him!
Out this week if your interested

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 17:02

samsswampy · Today 16:55

we went to Knossos and Spinalonga when DCs were younger but would like to go back now they are older and would be more interested also not so distracted

I'd like to go again, not least because when we went, my wife refused to get up and leave early, (2 hour drive) insisted on having a 90 minute lunch before going in and then wouldn't have our daughter at all during the visit, as it was her dream place to see.

It was my idea to go and a dream destination for me, too!

BittenontheBum · 09/03/2023 16:57

Another vote for classics please @mumsnettowers 🙏

samsswampy · 09/03/2023 16:55

@SinnerBoy we went to Knossos and Spinalonga when DCs were younger but would like to go back now they are older and would be more interested also not so distracted

dephlogisticated · 09/03/2023 15:55

Halfeatentoast · 06/03/2023 17:37

The English language and how it changes over time. There's a guy on YouTube called Simon Roper who discusses these things and I find it fascinating. My favourite is when the same thing is read out but changed to fit different eras or places in the UK.

I'm a Simon Roper fan too, isn't he awesome, such a fascinating subject and he's just so likeable!

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 15:38

lieselotte · Today 14:57

I also came across a course for Sorb which is spoken in Eastern areas of Germany. You can learn anything on the internet!

And - get this! - some of it's even true!