Love After Death

“Love conquers all. Let us too surrender to love.” ~ Virgil

I was going to be writing to you today about a rather unusual and phenomenal love story about a man who proposed to his dream girl by very unusual means, but I found this other story in the midst of my research to be better reaching and a lot more compelling. We will return to Rubix Cube Boy at a later date.

This is the brief and heart wrenching love story about Chadil Deffy and Ann Kamsook. A young couple in love from Thailand.

The couple had been together for ten years and from time to time had discussed the topic of marriage, but boyfriend Chadil Deffy denied any idea of the wedding as he had explained that he was focused on his career and had no time for marriage. 

Well, sadly girlfriend Ann Kamsook died in an auto accident. Chadil Deffy was left full of grief and pain.

So in a desperate way to atone for his misgivings and mistake not to marry his love earlier, he did something so unusual that at the time in 2012, it became an international story gone viral.

On the day of Ann’s funeral, Chadil married Ann. 

Chadil stated that because of their busy schedules and his studies, that they had postponed their intention of marriage, but had not set a wedding date.

Ann would die on the third of January.

His decision to do so was met by his grief stricken regret for not marrying her while she was alive. He hoped that by marrying her on the day of her funeral, that all would be forgiven by her.

What do you think about this story?

 

 

 

 

Murder From Down Under: Crocodile Edition

“Once people come to Australia, they join the team.”~ Tony Abbott

Once in a while you come across something so crazy, so bizarre, that you just cannot help yourself but to look into the situation further on your own.

So it is with the murders of Australian hookers, Phuangsri Kroksamrang, 58, and Somjai Insamnan, 27 in or near the town of Darwin in the Northern Territory.

What makes the murders of these two women so unique was the fact that they were found in crocodile infested waters. More specifically, near a tourist place for people in public to observe the crocodiles.

They were bound by their hands and feet and tethered to car batteries and thrown into the river.

It took authorities a long time to come up with those who were guilty of the crime as many theories has been explored. Including a theory that the prostitutes had been murdered by members of the motorcycle gang, the Hell’s Angels.

The gang took a lot of heat from the authorities until the truth came up.

But soon the mystery would be solved.

These two women were murdered callously in order to satisfy a debt.

It is believed by Australian authorities that these women were kept captive for at least 18 to 30 hours before they were eventually killed.

Senseless and tragic.

The murderers were hopeful and anticipating that the crocodiles in the water would consume their bodies and leave little to no evidence of the crime of murder. But the creatures barely touched the corpses, and several hours after they were dumped, they were found floating in the river near a high tourist traffic area of the banks of the river on the 1st of March 2004. 

Ben William McLean and Phu Ngoc Trinh,  both 18 years of age at the time were eventually arrested.

Both initially pled not guilty in court.

After deliberation, the two were found guilty of the murders, and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 25 years. It is scary to think that they’ve already served nearly half of that before even thinking about being considered for parole.

Justice Mildred, who tried the case, stated that there was no evidence that the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang had any involvement, and noted that both suspects had changed their stories many times during the case’s progress, hence their statements could not be deemed to be reliable. So basically stupid actions got them caught. They were so confident that they had gotten away with murder.

I only wished that I could have found more information on this case. If you have any thing more you feel you can add, do not hesitate to contact me.

This subject matter came up during one of the most unusual of ways, during a live chat with Australian YouTuber, “SpookyAstronauts.”Content on that channel deals with horror films and horror related stories. Plain and simple. She does a wonderful job and keeps everyone up to date and informed on what is going on in the horror film genre. If that is your kind of thing, then I suggest subscribing to her channel and following her on social media.

https://www.youtube.com/user/spookyastronauts

Max Headroom Pirating Incident

“Two things scare me. The first is getting hurt. But that’s not nearly as scary as the second, which is losing.”~ Lance Armstrong

I honestly had never heard of this incident until just a few days ago. I have no recollection of it happening when it did happen either.

For those of you who do not know the infamous character in the image, it is a British fictional AI who was introduced to the public in 1984 named Max Headroom.

Max Headroom was portrayed by actor Matt Frewer and became the world’s first computer-generated TV hosts. Known for its quick wit, stuttering, and computer-distorted voice.

Max Headroom even was a spokesperson for New Coke when their “Catch the Wave!” campaign was released.

So then on the 22nd of November 1987 in Chicago, Illinois… everything was calm and peaceful. WGN-TV was broadcasting their 9:00 PM  primetime news program to their viewers.

Suddenly the signal was cut off. A couple of seconds later, there was an image of an unknown and unidentified person in a Max Headroom mask bobbing their head back and forth. There was no clear audio other than an annoying loud buzzing sound. If there was anything that was being said, it was never heard. And almost thirty seconds later it was gone and WGN-TV had returned to broadcasting. The signal intrusion had ended.

WGN-TV engineers changed their frequency of their link to the transmitter and cut off the pirated broadcast.

The entire incident left sports journalist Dan Roan searching for an explanation. And still confused, he said “Well, if you are wondering what’s happened. So am I.”

Later on the same evening, sometime after 11:00 PM,  Chicago’s PBS television station WTTW-TV was broadcasting the Dr. Who episode “Horror of Fang Rock” when the hijacker struck again.

Around 11:15 PM the signal faded to black and the person dressed as Max Headroom was back. But this time, audio was available even though it was manipulated. Most of the things that were said were inaudible. The rest of it was senseless ramblings and profanity (in 1987’s FCC standards) and singing. 

This hijacking lasted longer than the WGN intrusion.

One of the statements made was an incorrect “product placement” of Pepsi-Cola, rather than Coca-Cola in which Max Headroom was the spokesperson, the man in the mask blurted out the slogan and laughed like a maniac before turning his verbal intentions to moaning and psychotic screaming.

Several other props were broadcast including one glove and a sex toy before things turned even stranger and darker during the hijacked broadcast.

The picture cut to a shot of a man’s torso and exposed buttocks. The Max Headroom mask was apparently removed and shown in front of the camera and the howling and screaming continued with “They’re coming to get me!”

Another accomplice was in view standing behind the exposed buttocks wearing a French maid uniform. Its reported that second person said “Bend over, bitch” and a spanking session began that was carried out by a simple household flyswatter and the occasional other hand on to that person’s backside. The screaming continued.

Then suddenly the transmission went black. And then the episode of Dr. Who returned to viewers in progress.

The entire broadcast lasted much longer. Close to a minute and a half in length.

WTTW Technicians attempted in vain to do something about the transmission, but were unable to stop it as WGN-TV was able to just a couple hours earlier. The Max Headroom figure never appeared again.

And the most interesting point of this story: Those responsible were never caught. To this day, the pirating case remains unsolved.

It was not the first time that a television station had been hijacked and it would not be the last. 

In April 1986, HBO was hacked in by someone calling themselves Captain Midnight. But Captain Midnight was caught and brought to trial. He plead guilty as he feared a lengthy jail sentence and was given probation and a fine. Captain Midnight would be identified as John R. MacDougall, a Florida business owner and electrical engineer.

Twenty months before the Max Headroom Piracy Incident, was Captain Midnight. He was unable to be stopped and his intrusion lasted for several minutes before he just simply ended the transmission and returned HBO to his programming.

For those of you wondering, $12.95 a month in 1985 US money would equal almost $30 a month in 2013.

But the Captain Midnight HBO hijacking was almost two full years before the absolutely creepy Max Headroom piracy.

The fact that it remains unsolved is somewhat of a fascination. And a creepy one at that as many still are trying to decipher the audio to make sure we all know what the person was rambling about because none of the statements that were audible make sense from one to the other. Throwing a Pepsi-Cola can, using a sex toy on their finger, and singing a 1950’s cartoon theme song is just irrational behavior and makes no sense.

It could be that the person or persons responsible were either on drugs or drunk when they interrupted with their broadcast.  And even though it lasted a creepy minute and a half, it is almost as if they knew to cut off the transmission to avoid being detected by the very same satellite that the illegally took over.

So who are they? Where are they?

I would hate to be the bearer of negativity but it is a theory that I have that since this intrusion happened so long ago that the person or persons responsible may no longer be living. It is just one theory. Another theory is that the person or persons responsible got the hell out of Dodge to avoid capture and arrest and have been living unnoticed in society and they have never attempted the same action again.

Yet I wonder if any good fan-fiction writing has evolved because of this??

Other signal intrusions include 1977 in England with a direct and clear message. Otherwise known as The Vrillion Intrusion. Someone overran the signal to a UHF television station.

May 2007 in Lincroft, New Jersey a Comcast feed of “Handy Manny” was interrupted by hard-core pornography. An investigation took place but authorities never released their findings.

February 2009, Comcast’s NBC affliate of KVOA’s broadcast of Superbowl XLIII between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers was interrupted during the fourth quarter and a ten second transmission of the hard-core pornography film called “Wild Cherries 5” took its place. But the piracy was only seen in certain portions of Arizona.

April 2012, three minutes of gay hard-core pornography was broadcast during a morning news program on CHCH-TV in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The footage was spliced into the feed of CHCH-TV.

Damn!!

Then on the 11th of February 2013, the EAS (Emergency Alert System) Great Falls, Montana CBS affiliate KRTV-TV  been hacked with an audible message warning viewers that “dead bodies are rising from their graves”.

Later the same night in Marquette, Michigan, the same type of hijacking and reference to a “zombie invasion” was made over the EAS systems of ABC affiliate WBUP-TV and PBS member station WNMU-TV during primetime programming. Shortly afterwards, PBS affiliate KENW-TV of Portales, New Mexico was struck with a similar hacking incident, repeating similar information regarding zombies; however, this led to the arrest of the hacker of the four television stations.

And most disturbing of all:

September 18, 2012, the Disney Channel once again was interrupted on the Dish Network, replacing 6 minutes of “Lilo & Stitch” with a portion of a hardcore pornographic movie. The incident was reported.

There are other incidents of hijacking throughout history that have happened in random cities across the United States of America.

So not only was analog television hacked as it was in the 1980’s, but even satellite and cable television also has been pirated. Some have been found and prosecuted while others remain a totally dark and strange mystery.

I would love to see the person or persons responsible for the 1987 Max Headroom Piracy Intrusion come public and yes even morbidly, I would love to see them take a bow and talk about their experience.

Sadly because of the fear of arrest and imprisonment and fines, I don’t think that its going to happen.

Clips of some of the intrusions listed above, including Max Headroom can be found by searching on YouTube.

Weird News Of The Month

“The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck.”~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is interesting.

I received an e-mail not that long ago from a group of strangers who apparently live in northern California/southern Oregon state region. Together they have a band.

But I’ve been secretly and yet cordially invited to join their band.

I’m told that they’ve seen video of me singing and think that I have it as a baritone voice. Which is what they are looking for.

I thought that this might have been a band in Houston, if so…  I was going to totally flip out!

But it is not.

The other thing about it is that they’ve “seen video of me singing?” WHAT?!?!?!????

I’ve not done public karaoke in a long time. I can’t think of anything that I may have done publicly where I may have been recorded and not have known it. 

They said that they would put together about $1,000 for me to get there if I wanted to join. That money would be mine to use to get there. Personally though, I don’t think its enough.

Not to live in that part of the country at least.

I don’t know anything about the band who contacted me. It is a red flag to me that they said to keep things secret. And I’ve never been to that part of the country, so I don’t know anything about what’s there for me.

The red flag made me think whether or not this was a joke or at the very least, not real.

I’ve not found anything on YouTube about this band. Nor any website or webpage.

Its disheartening. Especially to receive such an offer. 

But I’m baffled because — what in the world are they talking about that they had seen me sing that I was using my baritone register???

To my knowledge, no video of me singing or performing exists on the Internet.

I don’t know whether to reply or not. I do not know if there would be an answer back. It’s just a little freaky.

Could this be real or could it all be bullshit??

Moving On Thanksgiving

“All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”~ Havelock Ellis

As many millions of people in the United States are doing their last minute preparations for Thanksgiving Day, I noted the actual date in which this holiday has fallen this year. The actual numbered day of the month of November.

In 2012, Thanksgiving Day in the United States will be the 22nd of November.

This day is a bit more significant for me and my family other than just it being Thanksgiving Day.

All the way back in 1984, Thanksgiving Day also landed on the 22nd of November. So then why is it so significant?

That was the exact date that year when my family had moved from Sherwood, Arkansas to Winfield, Kansas. My family had been packing for what seemed like forever and I as a child still had to attend school until the Thanksgiving break.

From the time that I had made the announcement in my class that my family was in fact going to move, until the very last day of school being in session before the holiday break, I was treated much like a crowned prince. Extra special favors came from the teacher and from the school itself.

I was rather excited about the move, because I was about to be in a brand new place that I had never been before. The idea in my infant mind was thrilling. But the feeling was not shared by all of my siblings. So it was a mixed bag of emotions for the family.

Of course my short life up until that point was aware that the usual feast of turkey, dressing, and dessert was to be on that day. And I began to wonder if it was cancelled. At least for my family.

That very early morning the family would wake and then we all went out to eat for breakfast. Something that we didn’t do that often. Not breakfast. And then when we got back, it was time for my parents to pick up the last of our things and get into the family vehicle, and begin to drive several hundred miles to our new home.

I remember that a moving van had taken a majority of our things ahead of time, so there wasn’t really much to pack up that morning.

The neighbors came out to say their final farewells. Even the neighborhood kids that me and my younger brother had played with all of our lives were nervous, sad, and didn’t really know what to say other than good-bye. Apparently my family had made quite an impression on everyone.

And off we went. We all were unsure of what was to happen. The fact of my mother just being diagnosed with cancer less than a year before, it swiftly turned to this bright future of exploring new things to a nervous watch on my mother to see how she would handle the all day ride with her illness.

My father had said in the vehicle that we actually would have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with a family there in Kansas. And they were expecting us to arrive in the evening. But for those of you who have children know that their attention spans don’t grasp such things.

I recall stopping somewhere in the northeastern part of Oklahoma for lunch. And because it was Thanksgiving Day, NOTHING was open!!! No fast food, no diners, nothing. Just a few gas stations along the highway. But that was only if you were lucky. Convenience stores and gas stations were nothing back then like they are today.

Lunch however that day would be at a truck stop. But exactly where, I no longer remember. I do recall almost vividly a hand written sign inside of the truck stop that said “NO CHILDREN ALLOWED AT BAR” and that scared the crap out of me.

The truck stop had a buffet style restaurant inside and I was thinking that the “bar” in question was a food bar, but I was incorrect. There was actually a watering hole directly attached to the side of the restaurant.

There was also a sign that said “EAT ALL OF WHAT YOU TAKE, PLEASE” and to me, that meant even less. I recall that it would terrify my young mind shortly after when I had asked my parents if I could have more food and they both warned me strictly about eating everything and leaving nothing to waste. Well, that second plate of food did go to waste because I had become full. I was scared to death of what they were going to do to me for not eating anything. The fear inside of my childish mind consumed me to the point that once I had admitted that I was full, my eyes were full of tears until the point where we paid for our lunch and got back out on the highway.

Eventually, we arrived at our new location after dark. It was pretty late that I remember. So we had a traditional Thanksgiving feast and then when that was done, my entire family pretty much went to bed.

Once we walked into the house of our holiday host, I began to think about my best friend who lived across the street and how there would be no more neighborhood kickball matches in the street or in someone’s front or backyard.

I began to think of all the other boys in girls in my class that I had left. Particularly one that I thought was cute named Summer.

I began to think suddenly after that of all the girls that were in the neighborhood, city and other places that I was sweet on and would give hugs and kisses. Knowing that I would never do it again. And how I wanted to be able to hug and kiss them more and more.

Yes even then, girls were not an alien thought to my boyhood mind.

But our host family was kind and even though it was so late when we arrived, they had held off THEIR holiday meal until we had arrived.

All of this happening Thanksgiving Day of 1984. Soon for my family, we would remember the anniversary of that date for many years to come. Until we had moved again in 1989. Less than two full years after my mother had died. And less than a full year from when my father had re-married. Those months were like a blur because so much had happened so quickly.

But the move in 1989 did not occur on Thanksgiving Day. But rather we moved after the end of the school year in May. Memorial Day to be exact. I started to think that there was a pattern that if my family was ever to move from one location of the country to the next or even across the state that we would always do so on some holiday. That train of thought however disappeared once I started high school.

The whole purpose of Thanksgiving Day is not lost on me. I have plenty to give thanks for. Especially in the last decade and a half of my life. As an adult, I can appreciate a lot more things in life that I know I’ve been fortunate to experience. As a boy, I probably wouldn’t think the same.

The Thanksgiving holiday in the United States is always the fourth Thursday in November. But it does not always happen on the 22nd of the month. It did back in 1984 and it does in 2012.  So I made the connection this week when thinking about what I am actually thankful for this year.