Sponsor

2011/06/27

Neatorama

Neatorama

The Legend of Gorgeous George

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 05:09 AM PDT

The following is an article from the book Uncle John’s Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader. For the beginning of the history of professional wrestling, see the previous post, The Man in the Mask.

If you like professional wrestling you’ve probably heard of The Rock, The Iron Sheik, and Hulk Hogan. But have you heard of Gorgeous George? He was TV’s first big wrestling villain. TV made him a star, and in many ways, he made television. Here’s his story.

IN THIS RING, I THEE WED

In 1939, a 24-year-old professional wrestler named George Wagner fell in love with a movie theater cashier named Betty Hanson and married her in a wrestling ring in Eugene, Oregon. The wedding was so popular with wrestling fans that George and Betty reenacted it in similar venues all over the country.

With the sole exception of the wedding stunt, Wagner’s wrestling career didn’t seen to be going anywhere. After ten years in the ring, he was still an unknown, and that was a big problem: Nobodies had a hard time getting booked for fights.

THE ROBE OF A LIFETIME

Wagner might well have had to find something else to do for a living had his wife not happened to make him a robe to wear from the locker room to the ring before a fight, just like a prizefighter. Wagner was proud of the robe, and that night when he took it off at the start of his fight, he took such care to fold it properly that the audience booed him for taking so long. That made Betty mad, so she jumped into the crowd and slapped one of the hecklers in the face. That made George mad, so he jumped out of the ring and hit the guy himself. Then the whole place went nuts.

“The booing was tremendous,” wrestling promoter Don Owen remembered.

And the next week there was a real big crowd and everyone booed George. So he just took more time to fold his robe. He did everything to antagonize the fans. And from that point he became the best drawing card we ever had. In wrestling they either come to like you or hate you. And they hated George.


PRETTY BOY

Out of this hatred, George discovered the shtick he was looking for -and over the next several years gradually changed his look. Where other wrestling villains had always been dirty and ugly, “Gorgeous George,” as he began to call himself, set out to become the prettiest, daintiest pro wrestler the sport had ever seen. He grew his hair long, curled it, and bleached it platinum blond. And before each fight, he secured it in place with golden bobby pins and a golden hair net. He amassed a collection of more than 100 frilly, purple robes, made of satin and silk and trimmed with sequins, lace, and fur. He made sure to wear one to every match, and before he would enter the ring, he insisted that his tuxedoed “valet” be allowed to spray the mat, the referee, and his opponent with perfume.

Then, as the lights were dimmed and “Pomp and Circumstance” played over the loudspeaker, George would enter he hall under a spotlight and slowly traipse his way to the ring. He made such a show of climbing into the ring and removing (with the assistance of his valet) his robe, his hair net, and his golden bobby pins, that his entrance sometimes took longer than his fights, giving wrestling’s blue-collar fans one more reason to hate him.

FIGHTING DIRTY

Appearances aside, Gorgeous George was no sissy -not out of the ring and certainly not in it. He fought hard and he always cheated -gouging eyes, biting ears, butting heads, punching kidneys, kicking crotches, and pulling every other dirty stunt he could think of. He gloated when he was winning, squealed and begged for mercy when he was losing, and bawled like a baby when his opponents mussed his hair, which they did every fight. All of this was fake, of course, but the crowds either didn’t know it or didn’t care. They ate it up, fight after fight.

Gorgeous George’s antics may not sound like much compared to the wrestling of today, but at the time, they were mind-boggling. He became famous in the late 1940s, not long after the end of World War II. Many wrestling fans were veterans, and the boys who landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day or battled their way across the Pacific, and raised the flag at Iwo Jima had some pretty rigid ideas about what it meant to be a man. And bobby pins, frilly bathrobes, and platinum blond hair were definitely not considered manly. Gorgeous George broke all the rules, and these guys hated him for it. People got in their cars and drove for hours to see him fight, just so they could hate him in person. Gorgeous George made 32 appearances at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium in 1949; he sold out 27 times.

A BOOB FOR THE BOOB TUBE

But what was most remarkable about Gorgeous George was the impact he had on TV sales. In Los Angeles, wrestling matches -mainly featuring Gorgeous George- were broadcast on TV as early as 1945, and they proved so popular that by the late 1940s, many TV stations around the country were broadcasting live pro wrestling every night of the week. It was the perfect sport for television -the ring was small and easy to film and the action was larger than life, so viewers had no problem following the fights at home on their tiny black-and-white screens. Baseball and football players looked like ants in comparison.

TV turned Gorgeous George in to a national star, even for people who didn’t watch wrestling. And in the process, he helped make television the centerpiece of the American living room. Appliance dealers put TVs in their store windows and pasted pictures of Gorgeous George onto their screens. People who’d never owned a TV before came in and bought TVs …just so they could watch Gorgeous George. As Steve Slagle write in The Ring Chronicle,

In a very real sense, Gorgeous George single-handedly established the unproven new technology of television as a viable entertainment medium that could reach literally millions of homes all across the country. Pro wrestling was TVs first real “hit” …and Gorgeous George was directly responsible for all of the commotion. He was probably responsible for selling more television sets in the early days of TV than any other factor.

YOU’RE MY INSPIRATION

As we told you in Uncle John’s Legendary Lost Bathroom Reader, a young pro boxer named Cassius Clay, soon to change his name to Muhammad Ali, reinvented his public persona after he happened to meet Gorgeous George on a radio show in Las Vegas in 1961. “That’s when I decided I’d never been shy about talking, but if I talked even more, there was no telling how much people would pay to see me,” Ali remembered. That’s when he started calling himself “The Greatest” …just like Gorgeous George.

Muhammad Ali wasn’t the only one -Gorgeous George is credited for inspiring Little Richard …and even Liberace. “He’s imitating me,” George groused to a reporter in 1955.

THE FINAL BELL

There was, however, a limit to how long American TV viewers could stand to watch live pro wrestling every single night of the week, and by the mid-1950s, the craze had died down. George continued to wrestle until 1962, when a liver ailment -brought on by heavy drinking- forced him into retirement. Nearly broke from two expensive divorces, George had a heart attack on Christmas Eve 1963 and died two days later. He was 48.

Ironically, the fame that made Gorgeous George a national celebrity may have also contributed to his death. Believe it or not, he was a reticent person, and for years he had used alcohol to stiffen his spine and give him the courage to be Gorgeous George.

“He really didn’t have the nerve to do all those things,” his second wife, Cherie, remembered. “That’s why he drank. When he was sober, he was shy.”

_________________________

This article is reprinted with permission from Uncle John’s Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader.

Where else but in a Bathroom Reader could you learn how the banana peel changed history, how to predict the future by rolling the dice, how the Jivaro tribes shrunk heads, and the science behind love at first sight? Get ready to be thoroughly entertained while occupied on the throne. Uncle John rules the world of information and humor. It’s simply Ahh-Inspiring!

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts.

If you like Neatorama, you’ll love the Bathroom Reader Institute’s books – go ahead and check ‘em out!

Mellow Brick Road

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 04:23 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

Music from the film The Wizard of Oz remixed by Pogo with charming silhouette animation by Reed Gauthier, who won a competition to illustrate this song. At the YouTube page, you’ll find links to the winners and other competitors. -via Buzzfeed

Lord of The Rings/Star Wars Cross Over

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:33 PM PDT

DeviantArt user Ferret42’s Speedking of Angmar is a seamless blend of two of the greatest movie epics to ever grace the silver screen. Fantasy and sci-fi have never gone so well together.

Link

Maru's Newst Box Adventure

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:28 PM PDT

Will he fit? Of course he will. He’s Maru isn’t he?

Video link

Circuit Board Paintings

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:21 PM PDT

Artist Joe Dragt’s medium of choice is the humble outdated circuit board. It’s a great way to reinject value into something that otherwise may have been thrown away. The paintings work surprisingly well as a backdrop for the organic subjects he uses.

Link Via Geekosystem

Reversed Pictures of Parents With Their Kids

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:08 PM PDT

What happens when you switch a parent and a child’s head in a photograph? Pure creepiness and delightful family photos that won’t soon be forgotten, that’s what. Paul Ripke’s Kindsköpfe ("Grown Ups") series is certainly worth taking a long look at.

Link Via Laughing Squid

How to Catch a Boat Full of Fish

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:04 PM PDT


(YouTube link)

Step 1: Get in a boat somewhere near Spoon River.

Step 2: Wait.

Step 3: FREAK. OUT.

According to YouTuber boodhaman:

My brother, nephews and a friend go “fishing” down a small drainage ditch in the flooded Spoon River.
They counted 70+ 5-10lb. Asian Carp once they stopped the boat. The funniest part, is that Matthew, my youngest nephew, is curled up in the fetal position in the front of the boat the entire time, and you never see him! Also it is absolutely infinitely more hilarious when viewed in slow motion.

Asian Flying Carp are an invasive species that is currently wreaking havoc on Midwestern waterways. And as you can see, they’re aggressive.

via Laughing Squid via ViralViralVideos

Life-Sized Piglet Made out of Pork

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 07:19 PM PDT

Sophie H. Powell and Bonnie Moriarty made this life-sized piglet out of bacon and sausage in order to:

[...] illustrate how pigs are born into this world entirely to be eaten. Even when free range they are trapped by their original purpose.

Link -via @itscolossal

An Unexplained Roman Dodecahedron

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 07:00 PM PDT

This should be “What Is It? Game 184″ – but we don’t have an answer.  Nobody does.

It's dated from somewhere around the second and third century AD, and has been popping up everywhere in Europe. Archeologists have found the majority of them in France, Switzerland and parts of Germany where the Romans once ruled. But its use remains a mystery, mostly because the Romans who usually kept meticulous accounts make no mention of it in records. And with sizes varying from 4 to 11 cm, and some bearing decorative knobs, it only gets harder to pinpoint a function.

About a hundred of these have been found. Suggested uses include a gambling or game die, a candleholder, a staff decoration, a survey instrument, a toy, a calibration device, or a religious object.

Your guess is as good as theirs.

Link and followup link.  Photo: Portable Antiquities Scheme, British Museum.  Additional photos at Wikipedia.

Roman Ships Could Transport Live Fish

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 06:40 PM PDT

In order to keep their catch alive (and fresh) until they return to shore, fishermen have traditionally used “stringers” to suspend the catch over the side of the boat.  What was thought to be a more modern invention was the “livewell,” a container on board supplied with circulating water.  Now archaeologists have discovered evidence that livewell technology was used by the Romans in the second century.

Consisting of a pumping system designed to suck the sea water into a fish tank, the apparatus has been reconstructed by a team of Italian researchers who analyzed a unique feature of the wreck: a lead pipe inserted in the hull near the keel… Indeed, a number of historical accounts have suggested that the Romans might have transported live fish by sea. For example, the scientist and historian Pliny the Elder (23 – 79 A.D.), wrote that live parrotfish were shipped from the Black Sea to the Neapolitan coast in order to introduce the species into the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Measuring 51 inches in length and featuring a diameter of at least 2.7 inches, the unique lead pipe was located in a sort of “small bilge-well” and would have been connected to a hand operated piston pump (which had not been found within the wreck).

Additional details are at Discovery News.  Schematic diagram by Simone  Parizzi.

John Cusack in the Rain

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 06:35 PM PDT

Apparently John Cusack is drawn to movies where the script calls for him to be stuck in the rain. Actually, can you think of any movies he’s in where he’s not getting poured on at some point?

Link

Coming to a Theater Near You - the D-Box

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 06:22 PM PDT

In his blog at the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert pans a new technology for movie theaters:

“Move over 3-D, here comes D-Box!” says the article by Dan Craft. “Instead of delivering movie thrills straight between the eyes, D-Box lifts and separates, so to speak — detaching the moviegoer from his or her seat via three levels of pitching, rolling and heaving.  “Moreover, the moviegoer also has control over the intensity of that action, via a control knob that can reduce the movement, or, if it all becomes too much, shut it off.”

The D-Box seats also (surprise!) involve a higher charge of about $8 to the moviegoer.  Further details at the link, where there is also a video history of “Smellovision.”

Link.

“Ich Bin ein Berliner”

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 05:45 PM PDT


(YouTube link)

Forty-eight years ago today, JFK gave one of the most moving speeches in international relations on record. Unfortunately, most people remember this as the “I am a jelly donut” speech due to an unfortunate misconception over the article ein, or the equivalent to a in English. It was the gaffe heard ’round the world, or so most think.

The term "ein Berliner" — when used as a noun — refers to a a jelly-filled, doughnut-like pastry Germans call "ein Pfannkuchen Berliner" or "ein Berliner" for short.

For this reason, Kennedy's line "Ich bin ein Berliner" has been the source of much amusement and debate over the years.

However, my friend [who was in attendance for the speech] noted that, much more importantly, the people of West Berlin knew what Kennedy actually meant. They found his words "Ich bin ein Berliner" inspiring, not laughable.

You can see why by listening to or reading Kennedy's entire speech.

It's one of the most famous speeches in history. And, the crowd of more than 120,000 West Germans who were there on June 26, 1963 were cheering loudly, not laughing.

If you’d like to read more about the story or see a transcript of Kennedy’s speech, check out This Day in Quotes. Link

1,000 New Species Discovered in New Guinea

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 04:35 PM PDT

Damselfish, Chrysiptera cymatilis

It’s always sort of fascinating to me when researchers travel somewhere and “discover” hundreds of new plants and fish–haven’t people in those areas always known about them? I don’t think it counts as discovery so much as an awareness on the part of documented science, but I guess there’s not much distinction between the two on paper. That electric-blue damselfish up there is just one of the hundreds of new fish discovered in the last decade or so. And so pretty!

A new type of tree kangaroo, a 2.5-metre-long river shark, a frog with vampire-like fangs and a turquoise lizard are among hundreds of new creatures found and being documented in a report by conservationists working in the Pacific island of New Guinea.

Some 1,060 previously unknown species of mammals, fish and birds have been spotted in the volcanic island over a 10-year period.

The Final Frontier report, which was put together by WWF as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, marks a brief respite from the escalating rate of animal and plant extinctions which is taking its toll across the planet and has left a quarter of all known mammals on the endangered list.

The species have all been discovered, at a rate of two each week, in the period from 1998 to 2008 by the various teams and researchers who have visited the region and its extensive forests, waters and wetlands.

One team discovered a new bird, the wattled smoky honeyeater, within seconds of leaving their expedition helicopter.

Check out the pics and some stories about the more interesting finds on the Guardian. Link | Slideshow

Paper Pickup Nifty Note

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 01:58 PM PDT



Paper Pickup Nifty Note – $3.95

Is your shyness preventing you from getting dates?  You need the Paper Pickup Nifty Note from the NeatoShop.  Now you can pickup people without every having to say a word.  It is so much easier to be confident when you don’t  have to look someone in the eye.

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Stationary.

Link

What an Unbelievable Deal!

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 01:57 PM PDT

If you don’t gobble this deal fast, you’re a birdbrain! Found at Criggo, where you can find lots more newspaper gems.

Grease's "Summer Lovin'" in Stop-Action Lego Form

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 01:36 PM PDT

Video Link

This was YouTube user demondoggz‘ dissertation on stop-motion animation several years ago. Mashable has assembled a You Tube list of the best summer songs ever, but this was my favorite by far.

Link via Mashable

Dead Bees Used in Ads

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 12:44 PM PDT

Video link

Sounds gross, I know, but it’s actually a pretty interesting concept. To try to call attention to the bee plight in London, Capital Bee, a campaign that promotes community beekeeping, has created a series of ads featuring dead bees. The bees encounter a number of city calamities, from getting squished on the Tube to the window washing mishap above.

Link via AdFreak

The 20 Most Amazing Treehouses in the World

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 12:33 PM PDT


This Lantern House designed by Roderick Romero of Santa Monica is just one of the unbelievable treehouses in this collection. It’s made of 99 percent salvaged goods, including a stained glass window Romero saved from an old movie set. You’ll also find a treehouse that exists in the middle of New York City, a “Spirit Sphere” and one created by the daughter of the former president of Vietnam.

Link via Prudent Baby

Creative Bar Codes

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 11:16 AM PDT

Graphic link

Bar codes don’t have to be boring blocks of black and white. There are several companies out there that design artistic yet fully-functional codes to spice up the back of a package. Check out some of the exceptionally clever ones over at Mashable.

Link

Kanagawa Kinetic Coffee Table

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:48 AM PDT

(YouTube link)

When is a table not a table? When it’s a Strandbeest-inspired kinetic sculpture, of course. This table designed by William “Alex” Mecker is part clean-line modern and part Theo Jansen contraption. I like it.

The table is constructed of 298 pieces of laser cut Baltic Birch plywood, oak dowels, rubber "o" rings, and conduit that are set into an elegant & complex wave motion with a turn of the hand crank. The clear glass top makes for the perfect window to view the inner workings & measures at 50?x30?, offering plenty of usable space.

For more pics, check out Yanko Design. Link

via Laughing Squid

Cha Jong-Rye's Wooden Puzzle Landscapes

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:33 AM PDT

Sculptor Cha Jong-Rye carves every piece of her woodworked landscapes by hand, ensuring they fit together perfectly to create finished pieces that look like crumpled fabric, alien mountain ranges, or topographic swirls of tiny spheres. I don’t even know how to calculate how long one of these might take to produce. See lots more of Cha Jong-Rye’s sculptures on Flavorwire. Link

Let's Paint the Town Blue

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT

I can’t imagine living in a city where every paintable surface is the same color, even this lovely blue. But that’s how they roll in Chefchaoen, Morocco; the city’s buildings, walls, stairs, railings, flowerpots, doors–everything, all blue. Founded in 1471, the entire city was painted with tekhelel, a natural dye made of shellfish.

In the bible, Israelites are commanded to use this dye to color one of the threads of their prayer shawl.

Though tekhelel is no longer available and the city's population of Jews has diminished, the tradition has carried on through the centuries. Blue pigment is sold in pots and bags throughout the city, and residents faithfully refresh the paint on their homes, flower pots, balcony railings, doors and practically everywhere else in the community. Even the interiors of many of these buildings are painted blue.

The pigments may vary in color now, ranging from periwinkle to aqua, but the effect is no less spectacular, providing a monochromatic stage from which every other color dazzles, particularly the merchandise hung on walls outside of markets and shops.

It’s pretty and I understand the symbolism, but I think I’d go with a clean white wall inside–or anything but blue, actually.

via WebUrbanist

Kelly Lamb's Skull Chandelier

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 07:28 AM PDT

Artist/Designer Kelly Lamb’s hanging light fixture is creepily elegant. It appears to be made of tiny lightbulbs hung from the ceiling on filaments and arranged in the shape of a human skull although there are no details provided at the artist’s site. This skeletal lighting would fit well with a goth interior.

Link – Via Notcot

Dozer The Goldendoodle Joins Maryland Half Marathon

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 06:35 AM PDT

(YouTube Link)

Dozer the goldendoodle somehow escaped from his yard in Fulton, Maryland. What did he decide to do with his newfound freedom? He joined in the Maryland Half Marathon and ran approximately 7 miles of the race on his own. When he stopped for water at rest stations people assumed he was running with his owner. After crossing the finish line he made his own way home. He has since received a medal from race organizers and has his own runner’s page on the Maryland Half Marathon website where he has raised $14,000 for the UM Greenebaum Cancer Center. He also has a Facebook fan page with more than 1500 fans!

Link – Via Metafilter

Silent Hill Nurse Cake

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 06:19 AM PDT

Cakehead Loves was commissioned to provide a “disturbing edible experience” based on a scene from the Silent Hill video game for an Alice Cooper freak show audition. Among the gruesome treats to be offered at the event tomorrow is this Silent Hill Nurse Cake by Mamma Jamma Cakes. It was made from six stacked chocolate cake layers and is completely edible. See more pictures at Cakehead Loves Evil (NSFW text). Link

(Image credit: Mamma Jamma Cakes)
@

No comments:

Post a Comment

Keep a civil tongue.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Label Cloud

Technology (1464) News (793) Military (646) Microsoft (542) Business (487) Software (394) Developer (382) Music (360) Books (357) Audio (316) Government (308) Security (300) Love (262) Apple (242) Storage (236) Dungeons and Dragons (228) Funny (209) Google (194) Cooking (187) Yahoo (186) Mobile (179) Adobe (177) Wishlist (159) AMD (155) Education (151) Drugs (145) Astrology (139) Local (137) Art (134) Investing (127) Shopping (124) Hardware (120) Movies (119) Sports (109) Neatorama (94) Blogger (93) Christian (67) Mozilla (61) Dictionary (59) Science (59) Entertainment (50) Jewelry (50) Pharmacy (50) Weather (48) Video Games (44) Television (36) VoIP (25) meta (23) Holidays (14)

Popular Posts (Last 7 Days)