The Hooverville Hexagon: Hometown Lore

 

You can feature your hometown stories, too: just email me at postteamhg-at-gmail-dot-com. (That's not clickable so the bots will stay away. Bots are like bedbugs. They're pesky, they've been around since Hector was a pup, and if you don't own a Greek centipede you have to get out the bug spray.)

 

Your Daily Warning That

Halloween Is Coming

by Superfrenchie

Even the houses are in costume. This one from Nancy could inspire a whole John Carpenter franchise.

 

 

Quote of the Day

from Twitter(/X, whatever)

Coffee and Contemplation just hits harder in the Tesla Cybercab.

Jeremy Judkins

This is followed by a 6-minute video of Jeremy, presumably, lounging barefoot in a cybercab with his coffee and mobile while the cab in question navigates flawlessly down the street. Good for it.

This video is retweeted by Appalachian historian Bob Hutton, who comments:

Considering those things' record with curbs, lightposts, and pedestrians, I'd avoid using phrases like "hits harder."

What signs of the coming robot takeover are visible in your neighbourhood?

 

Old City Wall, Wiener Neustadt

Hometown photo by Tavaron da Quirm,

Historical snark by Editor

Wiener Neustadt on the map:

The old city walls. English people: your ancestors (and probably mine) helped pay for this. Or Robin Hood did, or something. You see, Richard the Lionheart was something of a bully. After the siege of Acre in the Third Crusade, Richard pulled down the Duke of Austria's banner in some sort of precedence dispute. When Leopold went off in a huff, Richard thought he'd shown him.

Unfortunately, Richard elected to go home through Austria. He tried to be sneaky about it, but when he was discovered the Austrians threw him in jail and demanded a hefty ransom. John had to raise a special tax. A garbled version of these events has been dramatised (and sung about) by Disney, Mel Brooks, and even Kevin Costner, alas. My personal favourite is the old Richard Greene tv series, although the Scottish chicken in the Disney cartoon is…

Anyway. All that money really helped Austria's 12^th- century infrastructure project. Behold the Wiener Neustadt city walls, some of which are still standing in this modern age to remind us that being a smart-aleck can have far-reaching consequences.

Today's Moment of Seasonal Beauty

by Tavaron

Sunlight, turning leaves, ripe grapes: what could be better?

Nature Showcase

 

An African Albino Porcupine – two, actually.

 

Here are some African Cape Porcupine quills found by Willem, who lives in South Africa. Hometowns come in all shapes and sizes.

 

 cul8ter,

 Dmitri Gheorgheni, Editor