The Forsaken Army—lost, rewritten, then found

Heinrich Gerlach's semi-autobiographical novel, The Forsaken Army, recounts events at the Battle of Stalingrad, which he participated in as an officer in the 14th Panzer Division. But what sets the novel apart as a literary curiosity is that Gerlach wrote much of it while under hypnosis.



The story goes that Gerlach wrote the book while he was being held prisoner by the Soviets after the battle. However, the Soviets then confiscated his manuscript.

Years later, after he had been freed and was back in Germany, Gerlach used hypnosis to reconstruct his lost manuscript. When it was published in 1957, it became a bestseller.

Life - Mar 7, 1960

In 2012, after Gerlach was dead, his original manuscript was found in Russian military archives. It was published a few years later as Breakout at Stalingrad (or, sometimes, Breakthrough at Stalingrad). So, if you want, you can read both versions.

Somewhat related, the Guardian has a list of 10 famous lost manuscripts.

More info: wikipedia; The Forsaken Army (archive.org link)

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 19, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Hypnotism, Mesmerism and Mind Control | War | Books

The Snowball Church

I scope out daily the list of deaths that Wikipedia curates, where I often see intriguing tidbits. Recently I came across a death notice for Apóstolo Rina (in Portuguese), and was intrigued to see that he was both the church founder and a surfer. ("Bola de Neve" translates to "Snow Ball," by the way, but I remain uncertain of its pertinence.)

Inquiring further, I learned from their entry on Portuguese Wikipedia:

Unlike most churches, it initially appealed to a young and informal audience. The church also seeks to maintain its image associated with extreme sports, such as surfing , skateboarding , running and cycling , and many of its temples have decorations based on these sports.... The first meetings took place in a surf shop and, with no pulpit or table available to support the Bible, the option was to use the surfboard , a trademark of the Bola de Neve Churches.

You can see their groovy surfboard altar in the video.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 19, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics | Religion | Sports | South America

Plastic Gravestones

Back in the 1980s, Edgar Dakin hoped to revolutionize the funeral industry by introducing cheap, plastic gravestones. Though he acknowledged that he was opposed by powerful interest groups:


I'm not familiar enough with the funeral industry to know if plastic gravestones are available today. Googling 'plastic gravestones' only brings up the kind that you put in your front yard for Halloween.

London Independent - Jan 9, 1988

Dakin was granted a patent (GB2210080) in 1989 by the British patent office for his plastic gravestone.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 18, 2024 - Comments (6)
Category: Death | Patents | 1980s

The Great Comic Switcheroo

Read about this excellent April Fool's Day prank at Wikipedia.

Here are some representative strips.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 18, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Newspapers | Identity Mistakes, Thefts and Mix-ups | Comics | 1990s

Green Thunderstorms

I can't say that I've ever seen a green thunderstorm (i.e. the sky appearing to turn green during a storm), but apparently a lot of people have. The phenomenon was the subject of a 1997 PhD dissertation written by Frank Gallagher at the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology. Gallagher wrote:


Gallagher concluded that green thunderstorms are real:


And why do thunderstorms sometimes turn green?


A famous example in art of a green sky during a severe weather event can be seen in John Steuart Curry's 1929 painting Tornado over Kansas.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 17, 2024 - Comments (3)
Category: Weather

Louise Lecavalier

The first video is about her, the other two illustrate her style. Are you down for an hour or so of this?

Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 17, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Spastic, Uncontrolled, Awkward and Herky-Jerky Movements | Avant Garde | Dance

Three Ronald Legendres

When Ronald Legendre got married in 1995, his best man was also named Ronald Legendre, as was the judge who performed the service.

None of this was exactly a coincidence. The best man and groom had met years before due to having the same last name (but they were genuinely best friends), and then they deliberately sought out the judge for the wedding.

Like Ronald Legendre, I have an uncommon last name. Thanks to Google, I know there are other Alex Boeses out there, but I've never met any of them. In fact, I've never met anyone (outside of family) who shares my last name. Though I recently discovered that there's a Boese Brothers Brewery in Albuquerque. I plan to check it out next time I'm in that neck of the woods.

Athol Daily News - Aug 14, 1995

Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 16, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Odd Names | 1990s | Weddings

The Calamities and Quarrels of Authors

Anyone who has ever romanticized the writing life should read this book. It's a kind of HOLLYWOOD BABYLON of its era. Disraeli pulls no punches, as seen in the excerpt below.

Find it at the Internet Archive.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 16, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Literature | Nineteenth Century

Miss Credit Union

The earliest 'Miss Credit Union' contest I could find was in 1948. The latest was in 2011. Though I suspect some are still going on, but maybe not calling attention to themselves.

Ottawa Journal - Oct 22, 1957

Hartford Courant - Oct 26, 1960

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 15, 2024 - Comments (5)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests | Money

Sound Patterns

Who was the market for this?

Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 15, 2024 - Comments (3)
Category: Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings | 1950s | Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults