"Hoarders" of 1947

I'm not a huge fan of the cable TV series "Hoarders," about people who live in homes crammed to the ceiling with junk, trash, and 'collectibles.' To its credit, the show tries to get at the root of the problem, which is almost always psychological and typically based on trauma (frequently childhood trauma). For me, that makes the show tragic rather than whimsical.

Nevertheless, until now I've always assumed that 'hoarding' was a modern phenomenon, somehow a decadent manifestation of post-WWII consumer culture in America.

But THIS article in today's New York Daily News, about two brothers who lived for decades as notorious hermits in a Harlem brownstone before WWII amid the clutter of a lifetime, suggests the phenomenon of 'hoarding' is much older, and is perhaps psychological, not cultural, after all. 

Homer and Langley Collyer were found dead in their dilapidated home in 1947, after not having been seen in public for years.  This article has a 21 photo slideshow of what police found when they broke into the home, looking for the men.  There were 5 grand pianos buried under the piles of junk, as well as a stash of pornography and a skeleton.  The men's bodies were also found, after an extensive search.  One brother apparently died when he accidentally triggered one of their own booby traps.  The other, already an invalid reliant on his brother for care, died helpless and unattended soon thereafter.

Why Is Gvt. Encouraging Deer To Cross Road?

"Listeners of a North Dakota radio station got a good laugh when an incensed caller complained about the government putting up deer crossing signs in high-traffic areas. But the caller, only identified as Donna, didn’t seem to understand that such signs aren’t for deer to be told where they can cross — but rather for drivers..."

“'I’ve even seen [the signs] on the interstate,' Donna said on the Fargo-area radio station, Y94 Playhouse. 'Why are we encouraging deer to cross at the interstate?' But her questioning didn’t end there. 'It seems to me that it’s so irresponsible of us to allow these deer crossings to be in an area where these deer are so likely to be struck by oncoming traffic,' she said."

You can read the entire New York Daily News article (including a link to the audio) HERE.

Bigfoot Trashed My Winnebago

"Police responding to a call of broken windows on a motor home in Dauphin County said they were told that Bigfoot may be to blame... The person making the complaint told the trooper that taillights and windows on his 1973 Dodge Winnebago had been smashed... Police said the man told them that after he saw the Bigfoot, he turned on an outside light on his motor home and upon doing so, the Bigfoot began throwing rocks at the light to prevent discovery."

You can read the entire local news story HERE.

High-End Art Heist Reveals Facts About Art Crime

Seven masterpieces, including works by Picasso, Matisse, and Monet worth over $100 million collectively, were stolen earlier this week from a Dutch museum. Thieves broke into the Kunsthal in Rotterdam at 3 AM and made off with the paintings before anyone could stop them. The director of the Kunsthal, Emily Ansenk, described it as, "every museum director's worst nightmare," and then went on to characterize the museum's security as "state of the art." But according to THIS Associated Press story, the Kunsthal had no security guards on-site, despite the pricelessness of the works on display inside. If Ms. Ansenk considers that "state of the art" security, I'd be worried if I were the owner of the works (the Triton Foundation) that she characterized their insurance coverage as merely "adequate."

This 2 minute story about the heist from ABC World News noted a couple of interesting tangential facts.  Apparently less than 10% of stolen art is ever recovered.  And yet the paintings are almost valueless to the thieves because they are un-saleable. As is to be expected, no legitimate dealer, museum, or private collector would buy the works.  But surprisingly, 'experts' cited in this piece aver that there isn't really a worldwide black market for stolen high-end art either. That assertion shocks me.

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Angry Man Punches Darth Vader's Wife

What's in a name?  Well, if you legally change your name to "Darth Vader," as Mark Nokes did, you can expect to make news when anything in your life goes wrong.

According to THIS article in today's New York Daily News, one of "Darth Vader's" neighbors, 35 year old Ikbal Hare, suspected that "Darth Vader" had been sleeping with his wife.  Hare confronted "Vader," apparently, and in the ensuing scuffle Hare accidentally punched "Darth Vader's" wife when she attempted to intervene.  Hare ran home, got a knife, and then went back to "Darth Vader's" house, looking for him. "Vader" fled by crawling out a back window.

What Fidel Castro And Jimmy Hoffa Share

Speculation about 86 year old Fidel Castro's imminent death has once again reached a fever pitch in recent days. (HERE is a CNN article today.) Like reports that Jimmy Hoffa's body may finally have been found, news that Castro is on his deathbed seems to come up every few years now, very reliably, only for false hopes to be dashed predictably once more.

In related news, the recent speculation that an informer with mob ties had finally led the FBI to Jimmy Hoffa's body, buried under the driveway of Patricia Szpunar's home in suburban Detroit, proved groundless once again. Tests of soil samples taken there were revealed on October 2nd to be negative for decomposition. 

 The week before, on September 27, ABC News published THIS interview with a Jimmy Hoffa expert, who claimed also to have been contacted by this un-named mob informant months earlier.  This expert's extreme skepticism was validated a few days later when the soil tests came back negative. But he does reveal a lot of detail about the 'mystery' informant himself and also discusses how the authorities (and the Hoffa family) handle the endless stream of 'Hoffa tips.'

"Mad Libs" Creator Has Died

Do you remember "Mad Libs"?  If so, you may want to watch THIS 30 second clip from the NBC Nightly News last night.  It's a short obituary for their co-creator, who has just died.