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Original poster

Things that are utterly bloody fascinating

770 replies

ElizabethBest · 06/03/2023 14:24

Let's hear it please - I love a good wikipedia rabbit hole. I'll start - 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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
15
Ineke · 08/03/2023 23:20

The story of Vivian Maier. The film ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ is fascinating, and her life and talent for photography remarkable. All found because a job lot of a suitcase was bought with contents unseen at an auction. The person who bought it found her life works in reels upon reels of film. A real social history.

pitterypattery00 · 08/03/2023 23:29

ArseMenagerie · 06/03/2023 18:39

There’s a fantastic geography game that I love where you get dropped on the earth in google earth and have to guess where you are from the landscape/ buildings.
its called Geoguessr

Love this, thanks!

MaidOfSteel · 09/03/2023 00:07

awaynboilyurheid · 07/03/2023 08:21

The life of David Livingstone and his wife, is the most fantastic story, it would make a fantastic film.
He was born in a wee town in Scotland not from a wealthy family, yet was driven to go to Africa ( to spread Christianity) but really he preferred exploring, and used this as a pretext of funding his trips.
He tried again and again to find the source of the river Nile, was attacked by a tiger but his tweed jacket( unbelievable in the African climate) saved him as it’s teeth caught on it, although his arm was damaged.
His wife following on, giving birth to many children at the same time! This woman alone deserves a film.
When he died the African men who explored huge areas of Africa with, carried him hundreds of miles, risking their own lives as carrying dead bodies through villages was not allowed and punishable by death. They returned his body to a ship bound for Britain as a tribute to him allow him to be buried at home. They must have thought highly of him to attempt this feat,
No fancy equipment, no malaria tablets, no comforts of any kind in blistering heat covering hundreds and hundreds of miles on foot! This is a fascinating story as I’ve zero idea how anyone could do all this.

I pass a house that Livingstone lived in every time I go to Sainsbury's in Hamilton. Every time, I'm awestruck thst such a great explorer lived there!

SlightlyJaded · 09/03/2023 00:27

Child Prodigies - especially the bonkers clever ones who seem to be tapping into some part of their brain that the rest of us can't access. But also the way that their lives so often turn out to be a bit tragic and disappointing.

I would love someone to remind me of the name of this person. It was a girl - possibly Victorian Era who was hailed as a prodigy for writing a book (or books?) - I think on nature maybe? For a few years she was the best thing ever and then discredited for reasons I can't remember. Then at some point, she was sent to an asylum where she lived out her whole life. I have been trying to remember her name for ages.

Human Faces. The fact that there are billions of people and only a few components to our faces and yet no two are the same. There was a website (that I also now can't find) where you could submit a picture of your face and you might find your doppelganger (and that was fascinating) but even though some of the likeness was incredible, it wasn't identical. HOW can we all have different faces? Blows my mind.

sashh · 09/03/2023 04:37

lieselotte · 08/03/2023 21:52

And the Great Vowel Shift, a change in the way that we pronounce words. Nobody is quite sure why it happened, but it’s why a lot of English words appear to have obscure spellings

Yes this fascinates me too. Pity we don't have recordings from back then :)

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

SqueakyDinosaur · 09/03/2023 07:20

Here you can listen to the radio from all over the world, by spinning a globe: radio.garden/visit/jacksonville-fl/uv7VqrAV

PomPomChatton · 09/03/2023 07:24

Verv · 07/03/2023 13:38

I am an Urbexer, or at least was for a long time before work/life took over and I don't get time anymore.
Here's some of my shots - www.flickr.com/photos/120082695@N07/

The Willard suitcases are fascinating, you see a lot of discarded belongings in asylums.
OP (and others) might enjoy Ward 81 by Mary Ellen Mark who documented some female psych inmates. Her photos are wonderful.

Some of my favoured wormholes -

Kensington Avenue, Philadelphia - Its regularly documented by this guy and I find it horrific and fascinating in equal measure -

kensingtonblues.com

Chernobyl and Pripyat

Pennhurst Asylum (as was not as its current "haunted attraction" bollocks which I find disrespectful in the extreme)

Anything paranormal (love the mumsnet threads on the topic) and Im from Enfield so the poltergeist was always of interest.

Wow! You are very talented. I hope one day you can get back to it.

PomPomChatton · 09/03/2023 07:28

I am still only part-way through the weird ways to die but...

I love a story that has a religious element like how people get drawn into cults, or kidnappings from fundamental Christians or something. Writing that down makes me sound weird, I realise.

I am also fascinated by people who are not in contact with the rest of the world, like tribes in the Amazon. I wonder if they are more content with life.

Trixiefirecracker · 09/03/2023 07:47

Just read about the lead mask case of Brazil. Very odd story. Two men found dead in waterproof jackets wearing lead masks and with wet towels nearby plus a cryptic note in Portuguese.

Ceryneianhind · 09/03/2023 07:57

Whatineed · 06/03/2023 18:35

The story of the song "My Sharona" by The Knack. Total ick factor that the singer as a grown man was lusting after a 17 year old girl. That Sharona is still around today and never got a penny, and how much the remaining songwriter makes a year from that song....

pca.st/episode/975a6d5d-fc99-48af-a5bc-dae074792400

Fair enough on the ick (big style), but why should she get any money from the song? She didn't write or perform it? She apparently is on the cover, did she get paid for that?

When Doug Fieger was 25 years old, he met 17-year-old Sharona Alperin, who inspired a two-month-long run of songwriting, as well as eventually becoming his girlfriend for the next four years.

Ceryneianhind · 09/03/2023 07:58

Ceryneianhind · 09/03/2023 07:57

Fair enough on the ick (big style), but why should she get any money from the song? She didn't write or perform it? She apparently is on the cover, did she get paid for that?

When Doug Fieger was 25 years old, he met 17-year-old Sharona Alperin, who inspired a two-month-long run of songwriting, as well as eventually becoming his girlfriend for the next four years.

Show quote history

Should Adele have paid her ex?

Adele has revealed that her ex-boyfriend chased her for royalties after she first enjoyed success with debut album '19'. The 'Someone Like You' star said that her former lover - who she has refused to name - repeatedly called her claiming she owed him money for the songs she wrote about their failed romance.

Kucinghitam · 09/03/2023 08:09

I'm always awestruck by the sheer size of the solar system and of space. If you have a long time, try scrolling on this webpage (If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel):

joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html

Whatineed · 09/03/2023 08:22

Ceryneianhind · 09/03/2023 07:57

Fair enough on the ick (big style), but why should she get any money from the song? She didn't write or perform it? She apparently is on the cover, did she get paid for that?

When Doug Fieger was 25 years old, he met 17-year-old Sharona Alperin, who inspired a two-month-long run of songwriting, as well as eventually becoming his girlfriend for the next four years.

Show quote history

I'm giving a brief overview of the contents of the podcast. Not a personal opinion.

Halsall · 09/03/2023 08:41

@SlightlyJaded - are you thinking about Opal Whiteley?

Original poster
ElizabethBest · 09/03/2023 09:13

@OldFan have you seen the film "Farinelli"?

OP posts:
Timingiseverythingcoll · 09/03/2023 09:15

@Verv Your photos are very good. What on earth is Gaviscon farm?!?! You have a great set of unusual images. What’s the story behind those particular abandoned homes? There is no evidence anyone packed anything up at all…

The ‘Rose’ picture thing- I remember seeing oldies hanging these odd wall picture/ornaments in their homes in the 80s.

I liked the abandoned train. The ring box … just left there like that?? I’d love to know who these people were!

in case anyone else wants to look: the link again.
www.flickr.com/photos/120082695@N07/

Original poster
ElizabethBest · 09/03/2023 09:17

@SlightlyJaded It's not Barbara Follett is it? I always thought her life was so sad. She wasn't committed to an asylum though, she went missing, so it might not be her?

OP posts:
SlightlyJaded · 09/03/2023 09:43

Halsall · 09/03/2023 08:41

@SlightlyJaded - are you thinking about Opal Whiteley?

Yes! That's her. She could categorise reams of information - especially relating to nature - and her childhood diary was published and serialised. She was hailed as a child prodigy and enjoyed a sort of celebrity status (as much as you could in the early 1900s). This was all backed up by teachers and adults that knew her (although she was estranged from her family eventually due to physical abuse).

However at some point, someone decided that the diaries were too sophisticated to be the work of a child and claimed she must have been 'at least 20' when she wrote them - even though that was clearly impossible due to dates - and she fell from grace. She entered an asylum in 1948 and spent the rest of her days there, pretty much forgotten.

gardenbeachsand · 09/03/2023 09:46

Everything is so interesting.

I worry about the future with everything so easy to find on the internet and see, will it be to easy to find out about things that the interest is gone?

Is the film WALL-E the future.

Or will it make it easy for people to find out and generate interest.

I like to think that in the future the internet will be used as a huge reference about the worlds history.

Alien lifeforms taping into any wifi before they visit haha!

Tiddlywinkly · 09/03/2023 10:02

@Ineke yes!! Vivian Maier's story is so interesting and could so easily have never been discovered. I'd love to buy some of her prints, but I can't find any. I also love the story of Lee Miller (model, war photographer and cook) and Charlotte Salomon (painted in hiding during WW2).

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

Kucinghitam · 09/03/2023 10:16

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

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 09/03/2023 10:17

Misunderestimated · 08/03/2023 21:36

My friend lived in a grand Victorian street full of large houses. Back in the 1970's an elderly lady knocked on the front door, explained that she had been the maid there decades earlier and asked if she could see her old room, one last time.
She came in, did the tour, explained the bell system in the scullery, had a cup of tea and was never seen again.
I wonder if she was having to move out of the area, move into a care home or was passing and fancied tea and cake. My friend's mum has dementia and lives in a care home herself now, but can still remember 'the visit'.

Show quote history

In 1954 my grandfather bought an Edwardian semi in S London. It was still lit by gas and DM said that when they stripped layers and layers of wallpaper off to decorate it reeked of the gas that had soaked in. The room at the top of the house had been the maid's and at the end of the hall was a step down to the kitchen and scullery that was her domain - there was still a door there to stop the noise and smell from the kitchen penetrating to the rest of the house. All the rooms - even the maids - had lovely cast iron tiled fireplaces.

YaWeeSkitter · 09/03/2023 10:21

@Needmorelego .
Across time and death by Jenny Cockell

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 10:22

MrsDanversGlidesAgain

Our last house had several layers of wallpaper and on the plaster, graffiti from the 50s. Quite rude graffiti!

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