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RE: [at-l] Re: ATML LNT - ****

The dead whale never dies! The whale in question died on the Oregon coast 
a number of years ago. After unsuccessfully disposing of the carcus with other
more conventional means, dynamite was suggested. Thoes in charge, never having 
blown up a whale before, had no idea of how much dynamite to use or 
how to place the charges.  

Beliving in the old saying "the too much was always better than too little". A whole
was dug under the whale and a half ton of explosives were carefully packed into place.
One of the other little details these brilliant planners forgot, was to calculate the expected 
spread of the debrie. Instead of directing the explosion to launch the dead whale out to
see from whence it came, it was directed up. 

Since the whale had been dead a few days before liftoff, there was sufficent time for it
to be come a local media event. In anticipation, people lined the dunes waiting for the 
blessed event. It was quite a site to see a couple tons of rotting whale flesh rise 
gloriously in the air. Kind of like that emotional feeling we get watching a nuclear 
explosion. That feeling vanished in about three seconds when the crowds 
collectively realized that what goes up must come down. And they were ground 
zero of the fall out. 

I've seen lots of stuff falling from the sky (including ash from Mt. St. Helens, and 
tree tops in wind storms), but that's one storm I'm glad to have missed. (And people 
complain how bad we smell after a couple weeks on the trail.) On large chunk of 
rotting whale meat sailed a couple hundered feet before coming to rest on the roof of 
someones new car. I have to admit it did a find job of pancaking that roof.  I understand
that the car was repaired and is still in service. 

Well if you ever come across a beached whale on the AT don't hesitate to call.

Ron



-----Original Message-----
From:	Amy Friends [SMTP:coelura@hotmail.com]
Sent:	Tuesday, March 03, 1998 11:20 AM
To:	charliethorpe@worldnet.att.net; atml@trailplace.com; mayer@wrc.xerox.com
Cc:	at-l@saffron.hack.net
Subject:	Re: [at-l] Re: ATML LNT - ****

>One of the funniest radio shows I ever heard was an episode of "What do 
you
>know?" where they were reading real life memos.  In this show, they 
read a
>forest service memo/manual on how to dispose of large mammals using, 
you
>guessed it, dynamite.  The memo talked about how much explosive to use, 
how
>the charges need to be placed for different effects, etc.  They
>distinguished between "dispersal" and "disintegration".... 
disintegration
>requires a larger charge, but allows the area to be used again more 
quickly.

I saw something once on TV about blowing up a beached (dead) whale... 
there were some amateurs videotaping it, I think, and it was pretty 
disgusting.


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