Monday!
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
We have split up the publishing duties, but we welcome everyone in IAN to do daily diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
Ok, we have a current diary schedule. If you would like to fill in, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMom a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FSNMom is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
If you'd like to be part of the Itzl Alert Network, please leave a comment asking to join, or send us a message asking to join. We'd love to have you. The bigger our network, the less likely someone will be stranded all alone.
The 13 Crystal Skulls, non-authentic.
The myth, or legend, of the Crystal Skulls has floated around for many years. Supposedly, there were 13 of them, imbued with magical power/ancient spells/a strange and mysterious vibe. And if they were ever gathered together in one room...something magical/mystical/awesome/earth-shattering was supposed to happen.
Right?
Well....here's a short video trailer from the Smithsonian: Legend of the Crystal Skulls
Here's a tidbit from a different website:
Elements of the 13 crystal skulls legend
The basic elements of the 13 crystal skulls legend is that at a pivotal time in humanity's history, the 13 crystal skulls will be reunited to awaken a new era - transforming from an old paradigm into a new world.
Sadly, when I read to the end of
this page, I discovered that, after all their mysterious hints of prophesy, etc, what they were actually doing is selling sets of crystal skulls for $299. I had to laugh =)
But the "Skull of Doom," also known as the Mitchell-Hedges skull, is really quite fascinating.
The Skull of Doom
Mitchell-Hedges and Anna, however, have themselves made claims for its supposed powers and helped create its previous mystique as a "Skull of Doom." Others have helped them.
A March 1962 Fate article by John Sinclair (entitled "Crystal Skull of Doom") detailed some anecdotes about the malign things that supposedly happen to people who make fun of the skull. One concerned a Zulu witch doctor who, in 1949 (at the request of the skeptical tribal chief), reportedly spat at the thing, performed a mockery dance at it, and was subsequently killed in a hut (along with a wife of the tribe's chief) by a lightning flash out of the single cloud in a formerly cloudless sky. Another such tale was about a news photographer who, not long after the death of the witch doctor, belittled the skull as he photographed it, yelling, "Will me to death! Rot!" Upon leaving Mitchell-Hedges' abode, he drove straight into a truck, killing himself. (A variation on this story, reported elsewhere, recounted that his darkroom supposedly blew up and killed him as he was developing the pictures of the skull.)
In addition, the Sinclair article recounted the deaths of a woman reporter who had belittled the skull (and perished by a mysterious infection leading to heart failure), a New Zealand girl who had challenged it (another heart failure), and even mildly hinted that the heart-attack death of Mitchell-Hedges himself may have been due to the curse of the skull. ("But what induced it no doctor could say.") Other sources have given cerebral embolism as the cause of Mitchell-Hedges' death.
Quoted in the same article, Mitchell-Hedges himself is supposed to have begged Anna to bury the crystal skull with him: "Priceless as this treasure may be, it is a thing of evil and must die with me." If this is accurate, Anna did not respect her foster father's wishes.
Read more here
This is the skull upon which the Indiana Jones movie, "Legend of the Crystal Skulls," was based.
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Monday! Today, Sunday, I am going to a Pat Benatar concert =)