From: William Brooks
*** The Farside Comes To Life In Oregon

  I am absolutely not making this incident up; in fact I have
  it all on videotape.  The tape is from a local TV news show
  in Oregon, which sent a reporter out to cover the removal of
  a 45-foot, eight-ton dead whale that washed up on the beach.
  The responsibility for getting rid of the carcass was placed
  on the Oregon State Highway Division, apparently on the
  theory that highways and whales are very similar in the
  sense of being large objects.

  So anyway, the highway engineers hit upon the
  plan--remember, I am not making this up--of blowing up the
  whale with dynamite.  The thinking is that the whale would
  be blown into small pieces, which would be eaten by
  seagulls, and that would be that.  A textbook whale removal.

  So they moved the spectators back up the beach, put a
  half-ton of dynamite next to the whale and set it off.  I am
  probably not guilty of understatement when I say that what
  follows, on the videotape, is the most wonderful event in
  the history of the universe.  First you see the whale
  carcass disappear in a huge blast of smoke and flame.  Then
  you hear the happy spectators shouting "Yayy!" and "Whee!"
  Then, suddenly, the crowd's tone changes.  You hear a new
  sound like "splud."  You hear a woman's voice shouting "Here
  come pieces of ...MY GOD!" Something smears the camera lens.

  Later, the reporter explains:  "The humor of the entire
  situation suddenly gave way to a run for survival as huge
  chunks of whale blubber fell everywhere."  One piece caved
  in the roof of a car parked more than a quarter of a mile
  away. Remaining on the beach were several rotting whale
  sectors the size of condominium units.  There was no sign of
  the seagulls who had no doubt permanently relocated to
  Brazil.  This is a very sobering videotape.  Here at the
  institute, we watch it often, especially at parties.


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