WTF Illustrated
I haven’t done this for a while:
Undecided?
And the prize for the biggest penis sign goes to (drum roll) Julia Lynn for State Senator. She wins by a skin an inch small margin.
If I had a religion I would be switching it right now. You probably can’t read this sign photographed at a local Backyard Burgers restaurant but it says:”FREE 1/3 BYB (backyard burger) with church bulletin”. Last time I went to a synagogue I didn’t even get a free bagel. For those keeping a score: Jesus – 1, other deities – 0.
Continue reading →Roadtripper’s Guide to the Southeastern Kansas
For the first 22 years of my life I didn’t care about directions. Someone gave me a compass once but I never figured out how to use it. And why would I need to? All my travelling was done with someone else driving, piloting or engineering (or however you refer to driving a train). Now, when I have my own steering wheel to turn, the directions are important and indispensable. If you can find South on the map you can visit the Southeastern part of Kansas – an oasis of greatness bordering by the depressed and hostile Southwestern Missouri and Northeastern Oklahoma.
Just take Hwy 7 towards historic Paola, KS and Osawatomie, KS – home-base of John Brown, famous abolitionist and the leader of the Pottawatomie Massacre (it’s hard to refer to the killing of five people as a “massacre”, but everything has to be over-dramatized in the American history so just roll with it). These two towns are fine destinations on their own, but if you keep moving south you will find no less interesting sightseeing in the Linn County and beyond.
Continue reading →
For example, Linn County courthouse in Mound City.Old Photos: Kansas Republicans
Hit it!
These are some of the Kansas delegates to the Republican National Convention in 1948.I found the Platform pretty interesting in terms of which party could claim the same items today:
- Reduction of the public debt
- Federal aid to states for slum clearance and low-cost housing
- Extension of Social Security benefits
- A federal anti-lynching law
- Federal civil rights legislation
- Abolition of the poll tax
- A crackdown on domestic Communism
- Recognition of the state of Israel
- International arms control “on basis of reliable disciplines against bad faith”.
Mayor Cleaver?
Continue reading →This Post Will Save Your Life
I know it’s been a few years since the last post, but the rusty Fallout Shelter sign on my building prompted another trip to the library like in the olden days when I kept this blog up. Apparently the entire 7-county Kansas City Area Community Shelter Plan was published as an insert in Kansas City Star on May 17, 1970. The whole fallout preparedness thing was going on since the early 60’s when President Kennedy told the nation to get ready, but it never left people’s minds since the end of the World War II. However, in the 1983 movie The Day After you don’t see too many people using the extensive shelter network mapped out in the pages below. Maybe because people eating dehydrated food in the shelters are not good for a dramatic plot. Or maybe because none of them saved this plan like it begged them to do.
Each image should be linked to a pdf file I scanned from the microfilm; you should be able to zoom in and read the maps and locations. I tried to make the best scans, but if you don’t like the quality, you are welcome to visit the library on your own; Johnson County Library has microfilm and Kansas City Library may have the original.
Continue reading →
Reliefs On The City Hall In Kansas City
If you’ve ever squinted trying to see the reliefs on the City Hall building in Kansas City,MO you are not alone. So I thought I’d present to you some close-ups of all four sides of the building, brought to you by my lunch walks and short attention span. Some scenes I could interpret, probably incorrectly, other ones seemed more mysterious. If you know what they mean, fell free to comment.
*it was sunny, I had to make photos a little darker to make detail more visible.
Continue reading →