Angry Christians

I wanted to talk a minute about mean and angry Christians.  I would never say that all or most Christians are mean.  Christian principles are a blueprint for kindness, which is why it blows my mind when I see things like this.

This signs recently showed up in Clyde, NC and ruffled some feathers.  What is puzzling that this sign acts like it is ridiculous that someone would possibly suggest that the God would be for tolerance or coexisting.  I'm pretty sure Jesus talked quite a bit about loving your neighbor and all that jazz.

Where does all this anger and bile come from?   Its one thing having beliefs, but how could anyone that subscribes to Christian beliefs think this is the right thing to do.

Check out this rolling angermobile....

That little line about Mohammed is ridiculously antagonistic......Yikes.........

Of course what discussion on angry Christians would be complete without a mention of our local Rev. Grizzard, who make national headlines by BURNING BIBLES.

Then of course we have the patron saint of mean angry Christians:  Fred Phelps.

Not my photo

Possibly one of the meanest men to ever call themselves a Christian, Fred Phelps was the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church which made themselves famous by picketing the funerals of dead homosexuals with charming signs that said "God Hates Fags".  Not content being hated only half the population of the Country Fred and his followers started picketing the funerals of dead soldiers with signs that said "Thank God for Dead Soldiers".  Fred's level of offensiveness was so brazen that some felt that he was simply trying to get attention.  On one occasion the local KKK actually held a counter protest to stop Phelps from picketing a dead soldiers funeral.  This would be the one and only time in history that the KKK would be considered the lesser of two evils.  Fred Phelps recently passed away.  Personally I was shocked that someone this mean was capable of death.

Now, I certainly don't want to go on any long winded rant here, but please.......if there are any angry Christians out there, please don't be a Fred Phelps.   Just relax.  Jesus was a cool guy, with some great ideas.  He was all for treating people with respect regardless of who they were.   Just think about that next time you want to make a billboard telling gay people to kiss your ass.

To cleanse our pallet, I wanted to end with a list of Christians who are/were neither angry or mean......

Robin Roberts.........

Jimmy Carter.....

Martin Luther King......

Pope Francis......

Okay, that's actually a different pope, but close enough

Jesus H. Christ.....

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
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Mold-A-Rama

I am a sucker for cheap tacky souvenirs.  You are talking to the person who accidentally spent 70 dollars on South of the Border Crap.

Seriously, I still can't figure out where my 70 dollars went.

 Since, I travel a lot and always travel on a budget, I aim for cheaper souvenirs.  I always try to pick up a few postcards where ever I stopped, but you would be surprised how many places don't have postcards.  I also have a profound love for cheap plastic snow globes like this beauty.

Oh course, one of the souvenirs that always get me excited are the classic mold-a-rama machines.  These are not as prevalent as they once where, but it is always an event to beable to track one (or a dozen down).

For the uninitiated Mold-A-Ramas are machines that make wax figures for use as souvenirs.  For only 2 dollars (current going rate), you can watch the souvenir being made before your eyes.  A metal for closes and is injected with hot liquid wax, which is then cooled using the metal mold.  The mold then opens up and a metal claw dumps the figure into a whole where impatient children receive 3rd degree burns by eagerly grabbing at their new toy.  No kidding, these things are incredibly hot when they first come out.

Here is a machine in action.



I had quite a collection as a child, but suddenly they have all been crushed, as over the years the wax becomes dry and brittle.  Recently, however I have been trying to rebuilt my collection.

My new collection started at Gatorland in Florida, where my love for Mold-A-Rama was rekindled.

I was overjoyed when I found TWO unique Mold-A-Rama machines.  The first being a White Alligator.

The reason they are not Green is because Gatorland has a collection of White Gators, like this one, known as Feros Zombi.

The other, which is still probably my personal favorite is there mold of an Alligator Wrestler.

Inspired of course by Gatorland's legendary wrestling shows.

Knoxville, TN has a collection of Mold-A-Rama machines as well.  Unfourtanetly, these machines are places outside and have fallen into disrepair.  When we visited last year, only about half of the machines still worked.  What was interesting, was that the machines did not have the traditional Mold-A-Rama design and logo, but instead each machine had a unique look to it.

The Elephant machine has painting by an elephant on it.....

Here is a Mold-A-Rama gorilla going horribly wrong.....

Despite the run down state of most of the machines, I was able to add a few Molds to my collection.

On my recent trip to the midwest I was very fortunate in finding a large number of Mold-A-Rama machines.  While they are pretty rare in the South, it seems that there is a large concentration in the midwest.  (Florida also seems to have a large amount.)

First stop was the Field Museum in Chicago, IL

They have a collection of Mold-A-Rama dinosaurs in their basement.

Including an homage to The Field Museum's famous T-Rex "Sue"....

And the ever popular Brontosaurus and allegedly non-existant, (I refuse to call it an Apatosaurus) (BTW, I'd like to point out that spell check suggested that I spell Apatosaurus "Brontosaurus".)

So I upped my collection by four Dinosaurs......

Then we headed to the Milwaukee County Zoo which has a MASSIVE amount of Mold-A-Rama.  A collector could go broke here trying to collect them all.

And so my collection is massively inflated......

My favorites are the classic waving Gorilla.....

 

 And the "See No Evil" monkeys......

 

So, here is my modest collection.

I do have some other machines in my sight............I just found out that Weeki Wachee now has a Mold-A-Rama.........

And the weird micro-car museum in Athens, GA actually had a Mold-A-Rama with Disney Characters.   Damn me, for skipping it....

The Henry Ford Museum in Detroit actually has a Weinermobile mold, and the Zoos in Chicago have seasonal Molds for Halloween and Christmas.

There is a handy site that lists all the locations for operating Mold-A-Ramas.

The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
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Famous Possums Throughout History

As we previously established, The Possum is the Official Animal of the South.  I decided to take some time to celebrate  some of the famous Possums throughout history.  Sadly, there are not a lot of living breathing Possums that have achieved eternal fame.  For that reason I had to make the decision to include some fictional Possums on this list.  Please note, these are Possums that existed in works of Fiction, and not Possums I just made up to pad my list.

Awesome Possum

 Representing the genre of Video Games we have Awesome Possum, who starred in the Sega Genesis
game "Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt".  It is notable in being possibly the only Genesis game with the word "Butt" in the title.  In all honestly its essentially a cheap ripoff of the more famous Sonic the Hedgehog (Hedgehogs get all the love).   Also, he looks nothing like a Possum and appears to be some sort of skinny brown raccoon.  When I was in middle school I actually spent money on this game and beat it in one night.  The game was notable for Awesome's smart ass voice clips.  Also at the end of the game the joke is completed as he turns Dr. Machino around and literally kicks him the butt.

Pogo

Entering the world of Comic Books we have Pogo the Possum.  Pogo was the star of his own comic strip that for a staggering 60 years from 1913-1973.  Created by Walt Kelly, this Possum actually has his own museum inside the Okefenokee Swamp that the comic was set in.  I have to stop again and point out that he does not actually look like a Possum.  Have these people ever seen a Possum?  The tail looks right, but what is up with his head and nose.  He doesn't have the long nose and alligator jaw that makes real life possums so loveable.

 As far as I can tell, Pogo is the first instance of the Possum entering mainstream culture.

Heidi the Cross Eyed Possum

Despite the fact that Possums are the official animal of the Southern United States, this international famous Possum hailed from Germany.  Heidi was made famous by one very distinct feature:  her crossed eyes.

Not my photo

The German zoo that kept Heidi refused to to treat Heidi any different form the other animals and refused to capitalize on her internet fame.  It is a big mistake if you ask me.  Heidi t-shirts, cute little cross-eyes plushes, she was a license to print money.  Fortunately, the stogy German zoologists broke down and let her appear on the Jimmy Kimmel show where she was inexplicably asked to make Oscar predictions.  She only missed one prediction.  Sadly, Heidi died at the young age of 3 back in 2011.

Heidi's signature crossed eyes were caused by fatty deposits behind her eyeballs.  The stogy German zoologists stated that this was likely caused by Heidi having a poor diet in the wild.  Heidi must have been a particularly bad eater, coming from a species that's diet consists entirely of garbage.

Otey the Swamp Possum

Not my photo

 Last month the world was set on fire with the debut of Otey the Swamp Possum, who is the brand new mascot for the Little Rock, AK minor league baseball team, the Travelers.   Otey was inspired by the hordes of Possums that lived underneath the bleachers of the stadium, living on stadium garbage and lapping up spilled beer.  Not everyone loves Otey, however, as some feel that his "Hillbilly" look is stereotypical and bad for the image of Arkansas.  As one facebooker commented "A toothless Meth Head would be less offensive".

I must say, unlike Pogo and Awesome up there, Otey's creators definitely nailed the Possum look.

Opie the Drug Free Possum

Opie is another costumed mascot Possum.  His exact roll remains a mystery to me, as a google search reveals nothing, but a picture I myself posted on Flickr.

I encountered Opie at the famous annual New Year's Eve Possum drop that takes place in the Possum Capital of the World Brasstown, NC.

My full experience at the Possum Drop is chronicled in my earlier Possum post.  During the festivies Opie was trotted out on stage as the MC stated that children could have the pictures taken with Opie the Drug Free Possum.  I'm not sure where the "Drug Free" name comes in, although I admit no one wants there children to get their picture taken with Opie the Drug Addled Possum.

Opie's suit is not as slick as Otey's, but you have to admit it has an earthy charm to it.  He looks like he smells like a real Possum.

The San Diego Demonoid

Warning!  This one ain't for the faint of heart, turn back now if you have a week stomach.

Back in 2012 a 19 year old skate boarder was going for a walk along the beach in San Diego and stumbled across this.

Not my Photo

The monster was quickly and fantastically dubbed "The San Diego Demonoid".  The boy who found it along with amateur cryptozoologists believed this animal to be a relative of the legendary Chupacabra. 

However, much like every time a naked coyote or raccoon is found in Texas, the Chupacabra myth tends to not to live up to the hype.

As people begin to point of that as wicked and scary as the Demonoid looked, it was actually just a rotten Possum backing in the sun. Take a look at this Possum skull if you have any doubt.

This is very similar to the Montauk Monster, who turned out to be a raccoon.  The lesson to be take away here is that half rotten animals look really freaky.

And by the way, for all you Chupacabra fans out there, remember:  A chupacabra looks like this.

Not like this....

Not my photo

Mr. Protection and Mr. Reciprocity  

Finally, we finish with the two presidential Possums, owned by the 23rd president of the United States Benjamin Harrison.  No, he not the one that died in 30 days, that's his Grandfather William Henry Harrison.  Benjamin may not be the most well know of the presidents, but he was actually and extremely early proponent of civil rights.  He was also an animal lover and kept two Possums in the White, which actually traveled with him in train rides across the country.

Not my photo

I must say: Mr. Protection and Mr. Reciprocity!  Could there be two more awesome names for Possums?


The Carpetbagger

Please feel free to email me at jacobthecarpetbagger@gmail.com
And don't forget to check out my Flickr Photostream and my Youtube Page