PBS this week (particularly tuesday, truth is stranger than fiction)
Rusty
calls from every nut job, ends up telling a listener to drive off a cliff.
http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/2009-11-17/
Well today there is an article where the movie 2012 is causing quite a stir
and NASA is taking calls from people who think the world will end in 2012,
and if they should commit suicide and take family with them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/science/17essay.html
>>>>
Dr. Morrison said he had been getting about 20 letters and e-mail messages a
day from people as far away as India scared out of their wits. In an e-mail
message, he enclosed a sample that included one from a woman wondering if
she should kill herself, her daughter and her unborn baby. Another came from
a person pondering whether to put her dog to sleep to avoid suffering in
2012.
<<<<
Jim Strain
And some people still can't accept that all those people *really*
believed the Orson Wells radio broadcast of War of the Worlds was
reporting a true event.
. . . jim strain in san diego.
aemeijers
A cynic might say the world would be better off if the clueless ones
like that did do away with themselves. But a hopeful person like me
would think that, nah, one of the kids they propose taking with them
might turn out to be worth something, so we sort of have to stop them.
--
aem sends...
Sherwood Harrington
Yeah, but that shouldn't keep us from offering to buy their stuff at
really, really cheap prices.
--
Sherwood Harrington
Boulder Creek, California
George W Harris
That's really not a fair comparison. The Welles
broadcast (at least at the beginning) was formatted as an
evening of music programming being interrupted by news
bulletins, and Mercury Theatre was aired without
commercial breaks. Given that at the time the possibilty
of life on Mars was far from discounted, and the
atmosphere was tense due to the impending war in
Europe, that some people were frightened is perfectly
understandable. Also, the extent of the reaction was
much less than initially reported in the press.
>. . . jim strain in san diego.
--
Doesn't the fact that there are *exactly* 50 states seem a little suspicious?
George W. Harris For actual email address, replace each 'u' with an 'i'
Invid Fan
Harris <gha...@mundsprung.com> wrote:
I think there is a comparison, as a) there are a ton of books out
saying the world WILL end in 2012, and b) the first ads for the movie
were stealth ads sending people to a web site where you'd enter your
name to be picked to be on one of the ships. Only if you dug deep or
knew about the movie would you think it wasn't real (either a real scam
to get peoples money or a real ship ^_^)
--
Chris Mack *quote under construction*
'Invid Fan'
cryptoguy
> On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:40:19 -0800 (PST), Jim Strain
>
> >On Nov 17, 9:27 pm, "Rusty" <russjunkm...@netscape.net> wrote:
>
> >> Dr. Morrison said he had been getting about 20 letters and e-mail messages a
> >> day from people as far away as India scared out of their wits. In an e-mail
> >> message, he enclosed a sample that included one from a woman wondering if
> >> she should kill herself, her daughter and her unborn baby. Another came from
> >> a person pondering whether to put her dog to sleep to avoid suffering in
> >> 2012.
> >> <<<<
>
> >And some people still can't accept that all those people *really*
> >believed the Orson Wells radio broadcast of War of the Worlds was
> >reporting a true event.
>
> That's really not a fair comparison. The Welles
> broadcast (at least at the beginning) was formatted as an
> evening of music programming being interrupted by news
> bulletins, and Mercury Theatre was aired without
> commercial breaks. Given that at the time the possibilty
> of life on Mars was far from discounted, and the
> atmosphere was tense due to the impending war in
> Europe, that some people were frightened is perfectly
> understandable. Also, the extent of the reaction was
> much less than initially reported in the press.
I have an LP of the broadcast. It starts out without any funny
business: 'Orson Wells and the Mercury Theatre of the Air present HG
Wells' "The War of the Worlds". Only after that does it go into
fakeout mode.
My understanding is that on another station, a very popular program
ran slightly past the start of 'War'. People switching stations at the
end of that missed the intro, and did not realize that it was
fictional.
Back in the early 80s, there was a similar kerfuffle over a TV show
that presented a nuclear terrorist bombing (?) drama as a news
broadcast.
pt
pt
Joseph Nebus
>On Nov 18, 10:12=A0pm, George W Harris <ghar...@mundsprung.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:40:19 -0800 (PST), Jim Strain
>>
>> <jaspstr...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> >And some people still can't accept that all those people *really*
>> >believed the Orson Wells radio broadcast of War of the Worlds was
>> >reporting a true event.
>>
>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 That's really not a fair comparison. =A0The Welles
>> broadcast (at least at the beginning) was formatted as an
>> evening of music programming being interrupted by news
>> bulletins, and Mercury Theatre was aired without
>> commercial breaks. =A0Given that at the time the possibilty
>> of life on Mars was far from discounted, and the
>> atmosphere was tense due to the impending war in
>> Europe, that some people were frightened is perfectly
>> understandable. =A0Also, the extent of the reaction was
>> much less than initially reported in the press.
>I have an LP of the broadcast. It starts out without any funny
>business: 'Orson Wells and the Mercury Theatre of the Air present HG
>Wells' "The War of the Worlds". Only after that does it go into
>fakeout mode.
Mind, even without the disclaimer at the start of the show and
its repetitions the show's internal chronology makes it clear that the
invasion can't be the real thing. The interludes of 'music programming'
last for far under a minute between breaking 'news' items such as
something being spotted landing at Grovers Mill and the reporters getting
on scene and the National Guard setting up camp around it and officials
making declarations and so on. For a story, this is an utterly routine
compression of time. In reality, there's barely the time for a reporter
to get out of his office, never mind getting from New York City or
Philadelphia to a town just outside Trenton, between reports. (I'll
grant most of the listening audience had, and would still have, no idea
where Grovers Mill is in relation to CBS network stations, but they must
have an idea how close you have to be to something to get there in under
two minutes.)
>My understanding is that on another station, a very popular program
>ran slightly past the start of 'War'. People switching stations at the
>end of that missed the intro, and did not realize that it was
>fictional.
_The Chase and Sanborn Hour_, starring Don Ameche, with Edgar
Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
>Back in the early 80s, there was a similar kerfuffle over a TV show
>that presented a nuclear terrorist bombing (?) drama as a news
>broadcast.
_Special Bulletin_, terrorists with an atom bomb. In 1994
_Without Warning_ did a 'non-fact' broadcast of meteor strikes. But
nobody watched them, so they're harmless.
--
Joseph Nebus
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Len-L
<sherw...@SPAMrahul.net> opined:
>aemeijers <aeme...@att.net> wrote:
>> A cynic might say the world would be better off if the clueless ones
>> like that did do away with themselves. But a hopeful person like me
>> would think that, nah, one of the kids they propose taking with them
>> might turn out to be worth something, so we sort of have to stop them.
>
>Yeah, but that shouldn't keep us from offering to buy their stuff at
>really, really cheap prices.
My favorite bumper sticker:
"In case of rapture, can I have your car?"
Len-L
------
"You say tomato, I say blood red seed fruit, sent directly
from the plasticine village of fertile flavors and utopian
joy!" -- Toby, Robot Satan
Beefies
> _Without Warning_ did a 'non-fact' broadcast of meteor strikes. But
> nobody watched them, so they're harmless.
I remember that when "Special Bulletin" was broadcast, the network went to
great lengths both before and during to remind viewers that it wasn't real,
precisely to avoid a "War of the Worlds" situation. There was no kerfuffle,
but I'd say there was a small kerfuffle about trying to *prevent* a
kerfuffle. I thought the program was well done.
Don't remember, and have never heard of, "Without Warning." So it couldn't
have raised too big a fuss.
I've seen the story of the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" broadcast go
through cycles of debunking and rebunking, from "everyone panicked" to "no
one panicked" to "maybe some people panicked." I think it was a more
innocent time, when audiences weren't nearly as saavy to media manipulation
as they are today. There was probably a non-trivial proportion of folks who
believed that if you heard something with your own ears it was true. And as
George pointed out, it came at a time when the best science of the day still
allowed for the possibility of intelligent life on Mars. I'll also bet that
a showman like Welles did everything he could to promote and inflate the
story over the years.
Brian F.
brianfies.blogspot.com
Carl Fink
> My understanding is that on another station, a very popular program
> ran slightly past the start of 'War'. People switching stations at the
> end of that missed the intro, and did not realize that it was
> fictional.
Not quite. Everyone liked the Charlie McCarthy/Edgar Bergen bits of the
Chase and Sanborn hour, but not so much the music. A lot of people listened
to the comedy opening, then tuned over to the Welles show ... after the
opening and in the middle of fake newscasts.
--
Carl Fink nitpi...@nitpicking.com
Read my blog at blog.nitpicking.com. Reviews! Observations!
Stupid mistakes you can correct!
nickelshrink
There's also this group :
> http://eternal-earthbound-pets.com/Home_Page.html
--
pax,
ruth
Save trees AND money! Buy used books!
http://stores.ebay.com/Noir-and-More-Books-and-Trains
Blinky the Wonder Wombat
> Len-L wrote:
> > On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:39:08 +0000 (UTC), Sherwood Harrington
>
> >> aemeijers <aemeij...@att.net> wrote:
> >>> A cynic might say the world would be better off if the clueless ones
> >>> like that did do away with themselves. But a hopeful person like me
> >>> would think that, nah, one of the kids they propose taking with them
> >>> might turn out to be worth something, so we sort of have to stop them.
> >> Yeah, but that shouldn't keep us from offering to buy their stuff at
> >> really, really cheap prices.
>
> > My favorite bumper sticker:
>
> > "In case of rapture, can I have your car?"
> > Len-L
> > ------
> > "You say tomato, I say blood red seed fruit, sent directly
> > from the plasticine village of fertile flavors and utopian
> > joy!" -- Toby, Robot Satan
>
> There's also this group :
>
> >http://eternal-earthbound-pets.com/Home_Page.html
>
Nice racket they have going there- if there is no rapture within ten
years, the subscribers don't get a refund; if there is a rapture,
there is no recourse for the subscribers if they don't fulfill their
obligations. Since they won't reveal who their agents are, I doubt the
sincere intent of this website.
Nevertheless, I admire their gumption.
nickelshrink
It works as either an ideal legit business, *or* as an ideal scam.
Non-believers won't expect to actually employ their services and
could support them because they think it's funny, or because they
think the money will go to some worthy cause -- and a "portion"
(only of their ad revenue) really does go to food banks. And
Believers in the literal rapture have obvious motivation to see to
the care of their beloved animals.
What's especially funny is that if one believes that Rapture is real
but that animals have no souls and can't be saved ... and if one loves
one's animals dearly and worries for their post-rapture welfare ...
...one has an inner conflict between wanting to convert people to
help them avoid damnation ... but wanting the enlisted caregivers
to stay Unsaved in order to feed the dog.
And it wouldn't surprise me if the people who started this venture
greatly enjoy creating that conflict, but that doesn't mean they aren't
true animal lovers who would say, "By Jove, i thought it was bull but
it was real! Well, let's save the animals."
For the time being, the issue of whether they mean it will remain,
of course, up in the air.
I have not, however, contributed.
Peter B. Steiger
> For the time being, the issue of whether they mean it will remain, of
> course, up in the air.
rapture... up in the air. Har! You funny lady.
--
Peter B. Steiger
Cheyenne, WY
If you must reply by email, you can reach me by placing zeroes
where you see stars: wypbs.**1 at gmail.com.
Leo Breebaart
> >Back in the early 80s, there was a similar kerfuffle over a TV
> >show that presented a nuclear terrorist bombing (?) drama as a
> >news broadcast.
>
> _Special Bulletin_, terrorists with an atom bomb.
Many years ago, I turned on the television one evening and
actually landed in the middle of a showing of what I later
learned was _Special Bulletin_.
Coming upon it like that without warning or prior knowledge I'll
admit that for a brief minute I was seriously considering the
possibility that it was real -- it really was very realistically
done. Then, of course, reality reasserted itself, but yeah, for a
second there, I felt distinctly uncomfortable...
--
Leo Breebaart <l...@lspace.org>
Blinky the Wonder Wombat
wrote:
> On Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:14:33 -0500, nickelshrink sez:
>
> > For the time being, the issue of whether they mean it will remain, of
> > course, up in the air.
>
> rapture... up in the air. Har! You funny lady.
>
What if the Rapture has already occurred and it was actually Blondie
singing about a man from Mars eating cars?
Cryptoengineer
I thought it had been established that it occured in 1995, but the
only people lifted were a family of 6 living in a log cabin off the
grid in norther Idaho.
pt
Jym Dyer
>> *really* believed the Orson Wells radio broadcast of War of
>> the Worlds was reporting a true event.
> as an evening of music programming being interrupted by news
> bulletins, and Mercury Theatre was aired without commercial
> breaks.
=v= It can be pulled off even without high-quality production
values. Recall how hate radio in the previous decades spread
anti-government tales of jackbooted thugs in black helicopters,
and people actually believed it. Some of them even went and
bombed a Federal building.
=v= These days the same kind of programming promotes the idea
that a centrist liberal is an IslamofascistKenyansocialist,
and again there are people who not only actually believe such
nonsense, but think that it can be addressed by waggling their
teabags at the media.
=v= Of course, this time around the nonsense is being helped
along by a television network that's pretending to be the
news media (using more sophisticated window dressing than
Welles ever did), and a political party desperate to the
point of treason:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/20/missouri-gop-billboard/
<_Jym_>