The Reluctant Famulus # 92 March/April 2013 Thomas D
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TTThTT hhheeee RRReReeelllluuuuccccttttaaaannnntttt FFFaFaaammmmuuuulllluuuussss 999222 Alien of the Year Friznik 24C4NO1 The Reluctant Famulus # 92 March/April 2013 Thomas D. Sadler, Editor/Publisher, etc. 305 Gill Branch Road, Owenton, KY 40359 Phone: 502-484-3766 E-mail: [email protected] Contents Introduction, Editor 1 Rat Stew, Gene Stewart 6 A Mystery 1 9 A Tribute, David Rowe 10 Bluegrass Beginnings, Al Byrd 12 Hawaiian Novel, Matt Howard 18 The Crotchety Critic, Michaele Jordan 24 Don't You Rock Me, Eric Barraclough 26 Letters 29 Mystery 2 45 Conclusion, Editor 46 Artwork Spore/Totoe Hodges & TDS Front cover, Al Byrd 12, 13, 17 Brad Foster 11, 31, 35, 39 Alexis Gilliland 9, 29, 33, 37, 41 Internet 1-4, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20-23, 25, 50 A. B. Kynock Back cover Gene Stewart 43 Periophone 28, left column Radio Times 28 (upper) Rose, Morris Co. Ltd. 28 (bottom) Unknown 26 (lower), 27 (both) Womans Magazine 26 (upper) The Reluctant Famulus is a product of Strange Dwarf Publications. Many of the comments expressed herein are solely those of the Editor/Publisher and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts of any sane, rational persons who know what they are doing and have carefully thought out beforehand what they wanted to say. Material not written or produced by the Editor/Publisher is printed by permission of the various writers and artists and is copyright by them and remains their sole property. Permission is granted to any persons who wish to reprint material presented herein, provided proper and due credit is given both to the author/artist who produced the material and to the origi- nal publication in which it appeared. TRF maybe obtained for The Usual but especially in return for written materi- al and artwork, postage costs, The Meaning of Life, , and Editorial Whim. TTTTThhhhheeeee RRRRReeeeellllluuuuuccccctttttaaaaannnnnttttt FFFFFaaaaammmmmuuuuullllluuuuusssss Introduction: Strange and Curious First off, I just discovered (shows how image was taken by the left Navigation cam- careful—not!—I am.) that I forgot to re- era (Navcam). To me it’s an unusual shape or check the contents page and so neglected to a brick and it’s apparently the only one; there remove Sheryl’s name from the articles are no others in the vicinity. One brick, out in list—as I’m certain you sharp-eyed readers the open, all by itself? noticed. Sorry about that. It’s obvious now that no matter how careful I think I’ve been I’m forever doomed not to produce issues with no mistakes at all. I’m sure this issue, too, will have something I failed to catch and correct. And so it goes. Sigh. Onward to the rest of the Introduction. NASA’s Mars rover, Curiosity, seems to be a very busy little explorer, turning up much information about the red planet. In doing so, Mars is becoming an even more interesting and unusual planet as the rover Curiosity continues in its exploration. That is, if the following photos of unexpected dis- coveries can be believed. The photos (presumably) are real and taken by the rover. Whether or not they are accurately interpret- ed is another matter. I’ll let you readers judge for yourselves. Real or, perhaps, Photo- shopped? On January 30, 2013 Curiosity encoun- tered what appears to be exposed metal on Mars. Which is amazing because the planet is covered in rust. Any long-exposed metal should be rusted. But it could actually be a piece of a meteorite. Meteorites composed of iron ore are fairly common. An iron mete- orite on Mars wouldn’t be too much of a sur- prise, although one without rust would be . Or the metal (if that’s what it is) might have been shed from the Curiosity’s landing A brick on Mars. Could it have been part system and embedded itself in the ground, of an ancient alien building? Curiosity (Sept. but there seems to be no evidence of a recent 19, 2012) came upon a rock about 8 feet. The disturbance. rock is about 10 and 16 inches wide. The NASA scientists have also hypothesized 1 that it could be a chunk of exposed iron ore, which might or might not be what the caption native to the planet. But why is it the only says. And if it isn’t, what is it? piece of exposed metal NASA has observed in the better part of a decade of roving the sur- face of Mars? An expert studied the image and conjectures the chunk could possibly be up to a foot long underneath the surface. And then there is the photo of a skull on Mars. Or so it has been claimed. To me it looks more like an odd-shaped rock and not all that much like a skull of any kind. Then there’s something called Mars snake (or, to me, the ghost of a snake--if snakes have ghosts. And a photo of something nicknamed a Martian flower (probably just a mineral A photo, allegedly taken perhaps a centu- deposit). ry ago, location unknown. Real? Or faked? [ What can I say about the picture above? It is strange, and unexplained. Looking at the bike, and the coloring of the picture, it might have been taken sometime in the early 20th century. But what is that being riding the And a photo of a bizarre something bike?. A lost ET? 2 Throughout the day a number of separate Here is photo of what looks like an astro- encounters were reported in the Brazilian naut on a pillar of Salamanca Cathedral press, currently 100-200 eyewitnesses are Church, which was started in the 1600’s and still living in Varginha. Most of the reports finished in the 1800’s. It does look like an claimed sightings of an alien with a large astronaut. But if it isn’t an image of an astro- head and very thin body, with V-shaped feet, naut, what could it be actually be carved into brown skin, and large red eyes. this pillar? Or is it another of those doctored images, a hoax? The case could have been called urban legend, if it weren’t for the following evi- dence. NORAD warning of a UFO going down Around midnight between January 19-20 NORAD (North American Air Defense Com- mand) contacted their Brazilian counterpart, CINDACTA (I Centro INtegrado de Defesa Aerea e Controle de Trafego Aereo or Inter- grated Center on Air Defense and Air Traffic As if that weren’t enough, here’s another Control ) and warned them of a UFO coming account which sounds too good to be true . down over southern parts of Minas Gerais State. This was witnessed and leaked by both Varginha, Brazil a Brazilian Air Force man and an employee at the radar facility at Air Force Base VI Back in 1996 in a Varginha it was report- Comar, who recived the information, all this ed that a number of living space aliens were according to John Carpenter and Ricardo captured after a UFO crash. The local resi- Varela Correa. On January 20, after mid- dents claimed the aliens were roaming the ninght, at approximately 1:30 AM the farm- streets of the town in the early hours of Jan- workers, Augusta and Eurico Rodrigues were uary 20. A number of the aliens were round- wakened by the sounds of the cows and ed up and escorted away swiftly by the sheep. When they looked out the window to armed forces, aided by local firemen. Rumors see what was going on they saw the animals suggest not all the aliens were captured and running from one side to the other. When some escaped to the nearby jungle. they looked up at the sky the saw a silent Reports suggest there was a total of 8 UFO without lights. aliens: 1 dead, 2 injured (1 of the injured lat- John Carpenter gives us an image of the er died); 5 unhurt and living, not captured. UFO: It was a submarine-shaped “mini-bus” 3 that was trembling like a curtain and emitting As TV newscasters like to say, “This just in.” smoke or fog as it descended to at least 5 or “Late Breaking news.” meters above the ground. A military witness “NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has photo- now admits that it crashed and he was part of graphed a shiny, metallic-looking object that bears the debris retrieval. Material was twisted and a passing resemblance to a door handle or a hood lightweight. (source: AJ Gevaerd video)” ornament. The Rodrigues couple’s farm is in a cof- The Curiosity rover has not stumbled onto evi- fee district located 10 kilometers (6 miles) dence of an ancient civilization that took the family northwest from the town of Varginha, mid- van to Olympus Mons for vacation, however. The way between Varginha and Tres Coracoes. object is simply a rock that the wind has sculpted The house sits at the edge of the road. The into an interesting shape, scientists said. UFO is believed to have crashed between ”The shiny surface suggests that this rock has 1:30 AM and 5:00 AM that night. An Ameri- a fine grain and is relatively hard,“ Curiosity scien- can civilian was present when the cigar- tists wrote Monday (Feb. 11) in an explainer blurb shaped UFO was loaded aboard a flatbed accompanying the image, which was taken on Jan. 30. ”Hard, fine-grained rocks can be polished by truck in the early morning of January 20, a the wind to form very smooth surfaces.“ Saturday, according to Brazil’s UFO Maga- Similar ”ventifacted“ (wind-eroded) rocks can zine.