Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 23:37:09 -0600
Reply-To: TOURBUS-Request@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Sender: The Internet TourBus - A virtual tour of cyberspace
Comments: Resent-From: crispen@netsquirrel.com
Comments: Originally-From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
From: crispen@NETSQUIRREL.COM
Subject: TOURBUS -- 18 FEBRUARY 1999 -- TOP SECRET RECIPES / MORE URBAN
LEGENDS
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TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
Top Secret Recipes / Some More Urban Legends
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/
http://www.CommandersPalace.com/recipes.htm
http://www.brennansneworleans.com/RECIPES.html
http://snopes.simplenet.com/spoons/faxlore/missngkd.htm
http://www.fcc.gov/mmb/enf/forms/rm-2493.html
http://www.cc.org/publications/ca/1196/hoax.html
http://snopes.simplenet.com/spoons/legends/fcc.htm
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/
Howdy, y'all, and greetings from beautiful Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home of
... well ... ME! :)
Before we start today's tour, I want to thank the folks "Woody's Office
Portal," "NCBuy," and our long-time friends at "Affordable
Computer Supply Marketplace" for bringing today's journey of our
little bus of Internet happiness to you. Please take a moment to
visit today's sponsors and thank them for keeping TOURBUS on the road!
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On with the show ...
------------------
Top Secret Recipes
------------------
You probably won't believe this, but your fearless bus driver actually
knows how to cook. For example, I am an expert at making microwave
popcorn. :P
Seriously, though, both of my parents worked, so I did all the cooking
for my family. And while I have a whole mess of cookbooks (35 at last
count), I still like to turn to the Web from time to time to find new
recipe sites. One of the coolest recipe sites I have found in a while
is "Top Secret Recipes" at
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/
The site shows you how to make kitchen clones of brand-name food from
restaurants like Boston Market, Starbucks, Hard Rock Cafe, and even
McDonalds (restaurants that can be found in almost ever major city in
the world). For example, if you like Tony Roma's baked potato soup or
Red Lobster's cheddar bay crab bake, this site is for you!
One new recipe is posted on the Top Secret Recipe site each week and
you can find an archive of the most recent recipes at
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/recipes.htm .
The recipes are located near the bottom of the page, beneath the Visa
ad. The Top Secret Recipe site also has yearly archives of recipes
dating back to 1996, and the links to those archives can also be found
beneath the Visa ad.
Of course, the recipes found at the Top Secret Recipe site probably
won't be served in fine restaurants -- I can't see the folks at New
Orleans' Commander's Palace serving "Screaming Yellow Zonkers."
However, if you are looking for some "higher class" recipes, check out
http://www.CommandersPalace.com/recipes.htm
and
http://www.brennansneworleans.com/RECIPES.html
If you know about cooking, you already know about both Commander's
Palace and Brennan's, two of the most famous restaurants in the world.
Bon apetit! :)
--------------------------------
Some More Urban Legend Squishing
--------------------------------
Today's urban legends are, on the surface, about as dull as a debate
in the House of Lords. However, the stories behind these two urban
legends are so out of the ordinary that I thought you would appreciate
hearing about them. :)
STORY #1: THE MISSING KID IN MINNE-SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-DA
-----------------------------------------------------
Our first story says that a toddler by name of Krystava Patients
Schmidt of Mounds View, Minnesota, is missing, and you should forward
a plea to help find her to everyone you know.
Well, as you might have guessed by now, the story is an urban legend.
I called the Mounds View police department on 17 February 1999, and
they informed me that Krystava was found in July of 1998, two days
after she disappeared. In other words, she is no longer missing.
Okay, I'll admit that so far the story is pretty dull (although the
thought of ANY child missing sends chills down my spine). To find out
"the rest of the story" (as Paul Harvey is fond of saying), you have
to read Barbara Mikkelson's wonderful "missing kid" article at
http://snopes.simplenet.com/spoons/faxlore/missngkd.htm
Who would have thought that *MINNESOTA* could be so salacious?
STORY #2: O'HAIR AND THE FCC TO BAN RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING
----------------------------------------------------------
Our second story is pretty long ...
Madalyn Murry O'Hair, an atheist, whose effort successfully
eliminated the use of the Bible Reading and Prayer from public
schools fifteen years ago has now been granted a Federal hearing
in Washington, D.C. on the same subject by the Federal
Communications Commission(FCC). Her petition, P.M. 2493, would
ultimately pave the way to stop the reading of the Gospel on the
air waves of America. She took her petition with 287,000
signatures to back her stand. If her attempt is successful, all
Sunday worship services being broadcast, either by radio, or
television will stop ...
Madalyn is also campaigning to REMOVE ALL CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS,
CHRISTMAS SONGS, AND CHRISTMAS CAROLS from public schools. You
can help this time! We need 1,000,000 (one million) signed
letters. This should defeat Ms. O'Hair and show that there are
many CHRISTIANS ALIVE AND WELL AND CONCERNED in our country.
Well, this one too is an urban legend. In fact, the Madalyn Murray
O'Hair/FCC rumor has been floating around for TWENTY FIVE YEARS!
That's right folks ... this one dates all the way back to the *START*
of the Gerald Ford administration. According to the FCC, the O'Hair
rumor simply "is not true. It also has been circulated repeatedly
that Ms. O'Hair was granted an FCC hearing to discuss that proposal.
This too is untrue."
You can read all of the FCC's comments on this hoax at
http://www.fcc.gov/mmb/enf/forms/rm-2493.html .
By the way, the Christian Coalition -- Pat Robertson's influential
organization of charismatic, evangelical, Protestant Christians --
also has a page debunking The Madalyn Murray O'Hair/FCC hoax, adding
that "such hoaxes erode the credibility of Christians in a day when
many legitimate threats to religious freedom exist." You can find the
Christian Coalition's comments on the O'Hair hoax at
http://www.cc.org/publications/ca/1196/hoax.html
Barbara Mikkelson also has a wonderful article on the O'Hair hoax at
http://snopes.simplenet.com/spoons/legends/fcc.htm .
Now for the bizarre part. While that little girl in Minnesota (the
one we talked about in our first urban legend) really isn't missing
after all, Madalyn Murray O'Hair is! No, really! She disappeared in
August of 1995. Time magazine wrote a story about her disappearance
in their 10 February 1997 edition, and that story can be found online
at
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970210/religion.wheres.html
.
Also reportedly missing are O'Hare's son, Jon, and US$629,500 of
American Atheists organization money. Coincidence? Probably. :)
Obviously, truth is indeed stranger than fiction ... or urban legends.
Special thanks goes to David Emery for helping me research the O'Hair
hoax. You can find David's Urban Legends page at
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/ .
David hasn't written about the O'Hair hoax yet, but my hope is that he
will soon. :)
TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S):
Top Secret Recipes / Some More Urban Legends
TODAY'S TOURBUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/
http://www.CommandersPalace.com/recipes.htm
http://www.brennansneworleans.com/RECIPES.html
http://snopes.simplenet.com/spoons/faxlore/missngkd.htm
http://www.fcc.gov/mmb/enf/forms/rm-2493.html
http://www.cc.org/publications/ca/1196/hoax.html
http://snopes.simplenet.com/spoons/legends/fcc.htm
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/
--------------------------------
TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE DAY
--------------------------------
CHAKE (Noun). A financial document.
Usage: "I left my money at home ... kin I write ya a chake instead?"
[Special thanks to Julia McNair for today's wurd]
You can find all of the old Southern Words of the day at
http://netsquirrel.com/crispen/word.html
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