Ben Wolff 15 September 1980--23 February 2015

I'd like to send out condolences to Mr. Wolff's friends, family and students today on what would have been his 35th birthday.  He died tragically earlier this year from a serious head injury following an accident.  We loved him as Meep the Geek in American Horror Story:  Freaks, who also died tragically in the show.  Additionally he played the genuinely scary Frankenstein-Like created monster/demon Infantata in earlier appearances on AHS. He also was in a number of other horror related titles.  His last appearance in a film will be released the 16th of October, this year:  Tales Of Halloween a horror themed anthology film.  RIP!

Beloved Meep

The Terrifying Infantata

More:

His Wikipedia Page

Embed Of Today's Halloween Music

This is the very first part of a horror film from 1911 that the band Tangerine Dream later composed a soundtrack for.  Strange Stuff!

The Faces Of Shirley Jackson's Classic Novel

And Finally (and it's about time!)

Pacific Typhoons

I come from Hurricane territory in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, and I've lived through some very scary storms, including a near miss with the powerful Gloria in 1985 and later the strongest storm to ever make landfall late in the season in November 1985:  Kate.  But, the South Pacific takes the cake when it comes to whipping up the strongest of the strong tropical cyclones or typhoons!!  The above image is an enhanced satellite photo of Haiyan, classified as a Super Typhoon and currently takes to prize for strongest storm on record to make landfall.  It hit the Philippines in early Nov. of last year with maximum sustained winds of 186 mph and frequent gusts to 195!

Weird Shark #10: Large Toothed Cookiecutter Shark

I've saved the best for last.  Although I written about these weird little dudes before, this is the first time that I am writing about them as part of the fish population in the Gulf Of Mexico.  The are a member of the order of dogfish sharks, but from their utterly other-worldly appearance, you''d never know it!  The are just plain strange and alien in just about every way.  I mean, never mind those teeth(!)...they are one of only a handful of sharks that emit Photophores on their bellies; they also possess extremely large forward facing eyes and it has recently been confirmed that they can see in binocular vision--perfect for extremely low light conditions, as it is thought that this fish migrates from between 200 ft. of water to depth more than 4 miles down.  Closer to the surface that have been known to bite other fish, marine mammals, even other sharks (see photo of from National Geographic below), and in one confirmed case, a human being.  Their bites are perfectly circular in nature.  This is one shark that has for the time being been labeled on Least Concern in conservation status.  See more at Wikipedia.

Great White with a Cookiecutter bite.

Weird Shark # 9: Sand Tigers AKA Ragged Tooth Sharks

As commonly referred to as a Ragged Tooth Shark as by it's proper name Sand Tiger, this shark is weird in part because of it's appearance.  My lord does it look menacing, and it is...to other sharks like dogfish, that is.  To humans, it's rarely a menace at all.  It is a slow moving creature, very docile and a favorite of large aquariums the world over, simply because it's easy on humans caring for them and other aquarium mates that it swims with on display.  It's appearance though, has made it a target of human fear, and they are often killed just for the sake of a misguided sense of safety.  This is a true tragedy, since these sharks have one of the lowest birth rates amongst all shallow water large fish out there.  Which brings me to why they are truly weird!  Female Sand Tigers have two uteruses--called twin unterine horns, so you would think there would be no birth problem, as most sharks who give birth to live pups (some still lay eggs) have the equivalent of a little of puppies or kittens.  Sand Tigers, on the other hand, always only have twins.  Why?  Because the dominate unborn shark of each uterus survives prenatal growing by consuming it's womb mates.  It's one of the world's strangest cases of cannibalism.  National Geographic photo below shows the teeth of two animals.

Weird Shark # 8: Bull Shark

These sharks look even more "normal" in shark terms, than do Nurse Sharks, but they can do one thing very well that most other sharks cannot:  they can survive (probably) indefinitely in freshwater.  This makes them the largest in terms of girth and teeth sharks that can do this.  Many very large Sawfish, some reaching 20 ft., can also do this, but they are rare and not nearly as deadly.  Glyphis, or so called River Sharks, live almost entirely in brackish and freshwater environments, and they are amongst the rarest wildlife on the planet and relatively small animals.  Bull sharks are, of course, found abundantly in salt water the world over; but this shark, the one that I really grew up with, is super abundant in Florida waters, and that includes it's river systems.  Additionally they have differential feeding habits--they are mostly loners, but can "school" and do.  Finally male bull sharks have the highest testosterone levels of any animal on the planet--so that's weird too.

More Silly Shark Stuff

Weird Shark #7: The Nurse Shark

Nurse sharks aren't here because they look particularly funny looking, although they are kinda funny looking--they have very cat like eyes.  It's here primarily because is so dang smart.  While evidence is mounting that most sharks are a heck of a more brainy than they have ever been given credit for, Nurse Sharks demonstrate this in the wild.  A dives, especially those that involve feeding by divers, they've demonstrated an ability to think things through enough to gain advantages over other types of sharks being fed--usually Caribbean Reef Sharks.  In one documentary on the Discovery channel, this was shown to particularly true of a male nurse shark who had worked out how to break into the bait box, he was the only nurse shark on the scene and the divers running the dive knew him--and he was so damn sly about it!  Another interesting fact about them, is that they like the "lay around"--exploding the idea that all sharks must move forward or die (actually a lot of sharks lay about on ocean floors, even bury themselves for ambush).  Contrary to popular belief Nurse Sharks are not entirely harmless to humans--so have a care around them please!

Above video is a bit hard to see, but it's clear this shark is thinking things through, not merely rams the bait sack.  The below video was actually shot in Florida.

Weird Shark #6: The Bonnethead

One of the strangest looking fish in Florida water, it is also the smallest of the Hammerheads sharks.  So, we both the largest and smallest of the group and they equally fun to watch!  They are concentrated in the Florida coastal waters and often end up on the business end of surf and boat rod fishing lines.  They are also found in abundance down to the coasts of south America and on Pacific coasts up through California in abundance.

Shark Silliness With Bob The Shark

Weird Shark # 5: Blotched Catshark

Here because it was totally unknown until 1966, though it is concentrated in Floridian waters....and well, it has those eyes!!  A lot of catsharks look very eel like, but this one favors an angel shard, albeit it with head lights!  The fact that they were unknown until the 1960's (all species of catshark in Florida water were basically discovered in the 20th century), and that all species of catshark (rarely) caught in the waters they are so native to have been adolescents, leads the scientific community to surmise that as adults they live in very, very deep water.  The are opportunistic feeders, so have eyes, where you can see in the dark certainly helps!

More Shark Silliness: Sharks On A Plane

Weird Shark #4: Basking Shark

Basking sharks are rarely seen in Florida waters, but they are there in greater in greater numbers due to protection.  The above short film documents this, but to truly appreciate the shark, check out the video below shot of off the Celtic coast in England:  Cornwall.  As the photo from a Discovery Channel documentary shows, when these harmless sharks have their massive jaws shut, they just look like super goofy, big ass fish.  However, it's when they begin to feed, that their true "wierdness" begins to shine.  They are the largest member of the mackerel shark family, and one of only three filter feeding sharks known to exist (along with the Whale Shark--largest fish on the planet and the little understood Megamouth, only discovered in late 1976).  They can be found in all waters throughout the world, except fully tropical ones.  Due to their slow nature, they are another popular target for shark finning; and though they are truly pelagic (world wandering) sharks, populations in some parts of the world are becoming extinct.  See and read more at Wikipedia.

Weird Sharks #3: Saw Fish AKA Sawshark

This photo from Wikipedia clearly show the shark like body with large saw extending like a big nose....

One of the weirdest and most endangered sharks in Florida waters, they nonetheless have a pretty wide distribution throughout most of FLA's coast line.  They have mouth that is very similar to the Hammerhead's and tend to feed on crusteceans and such.  The large studded saw in actually referred to as a "rostrum" scientifically.  Not to be confused with the Bahamas Sawshark which lives in much deeper water and is sometimes found off the Atlantic or Gold Coast of Florida.  All of these species are critically endangered, and tagging efforts have begun over the last few years.  Unfortunately, some people who caught these strange creatures will sometime cut the saw off, luckily for the animals, they heal quickly, like all sharks, and can survive without the saw, but it cuts their diet in half and leaves them completely defenseless.  The same cannot be said of shark finning, when the animals, sans fins are thrown back into the ocean alive, to drown.  Here is a link to the general Sawfish page on Wikipedia.  Bottom two photos from elasmoworld.org

Tagging Sawfish (from Wikipedia)

Shark Silliness!

Now this is funny--just good fun with Rob Lowe!

Weird Shark #2: Great Hammerheads

I'm trying to feature weird sharks in Floridian waters as much as I can today, because a few of them, like this truly strange and majestic creature, I've seen with my own Glassballs.  Even from a boat, these animals a breathtaking and awesome!  I feel privileged to have seen one on person, as these beautiful creatures, who've evolved in no small part to feed on distant cousins skates and rays, are endangered--they were much more common when I was kid, which is last time I've seen one in person in the wild.  The whole hammerhead family is a group that is favored by the vile "fishermen":  shark finners.  I am just glad the the US has instituted a nation wide ban of finning in US waters; this will give these animals a chance to recover.  I would hope and pray that other countries follow.  As of now it is illegal in EU waters, and Canadian waters (since 1994!); in the Pacific, we especially applaud Taiwan (formerly Formosa) for banning finning in their water outright and the tiny nation of Palau has outlawed all shark fishing outright (the first and only nation on the planet to do that that I no of). (And, yes, we have a silly legend on Florida about a Hammerhead that was dubbed "Old Hitler" back in the 1940's, some people silly enough to believe that the shark is still alive, will call any Hammerhead 17 feet or more "Old Hitler"--talk shark tales....).

This National Geographic photo, clearly shows the hammer and the mouth that easily looks similar to the mouth of their favorite prey:  stingrays.

Wierd Shark #1: Goblin Sharks

I am from Florida, by my own count, we have well over 50 types of sharks in our waters, and many are infamous (Tigers, Great Whites, Bulls, etc.); but up until recently, I had no idea I was getting in the water with these strange looking beasties!  Actually, no bather, surfers are even diver need worry--you need a deep water submersible to actually be anywhere near them in the water.  Most interaction that these creatures have with humans is when the poor things are hauled up on fishing boats by accident.  Such was the case recently in the FLA Keys, when one was hauled up on a shrimper.  Captain Carl Moore says he snapped some shots and put the thing back in the water.  They are weird though; a real living fossils with distendable jaws!  Just as an observational note on my part:  the sharks hauled up quite often off the coast of Japan, appear to have a much lighter skin pigment than those in US water, which appear darker and redder.  Their lengths are the same, though.  You can access the Wikipedia page for them here.

Here is the photo from Moore taken in the Florida Keys on the 19 of April this year

Talk about "Jaws"!

Some Holocaust Links

There are a lot people who want to define the word "holocaust" as strickly  referring to the systematic and evil extermination of 6 million European Jews.  Since the word derives from the Greek holókaustus, translating into English as "whole burnt"--i.e.:  completely burned or turned into ashes, and there is a separate word in Hebrew "Shoah"--catastrophe, to refer directly to the Jewish extermination, I am one of those people who feels it necessary to insist that "holocaust" refer to the entire number of people of all backgrounds that the Nazi's saw as inferior who were systematically murdered by these horrid eugenics crazed bastards.  Often people put the total number of dead at 10 million, but recent research to include homosexuals, the disabled and other people (some of whom were actual white Christian Germans) that the Nazis saw as not being fit to be part of the great Aryan thousand year reign, and thusly put in camps and dispatched in various ways (including gas) puts the total number of dead at a staggering 17 million souls.

It's often said, and I do believe it, that if we forget history we are doomed to repeat it.  On days like today, I think it's really important to face the ugliness of it all and do a little research--to remember.  The first place to start is obviously Wikipedia, which has numerous portholes to the various ethinicities of holocaust victims and to all manner of the whole horrid affair.

Here is a stark, but still chilling list of German interment camps, along with their various "functions," including extermination.  There is the important The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  This Google News Page has current stories of memorials planned in Europe and elsewhere.  Here is the statement made by President Obama.  Here  are some very basic facts of the Nazi atrocities.  And here is a more comprehensive list.  The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) has this page on Holocaust denial with extensive links.  Also from the USHMM here is the story of Roma extermination and another page Sinte and Roma holocaust  information from the University of South Florida.  Here is the Wikipedia page on the lack of reparations for the Roma by the German government in the aftermath of the war.

Finally some did survive.  Here is a list of sites with some of their stories:

From About.com

Holocaust Research Project

Holocaust Survivors (Not For Profit)

Roma Holocaust Survivors

Roma Article Today's BBC

Lastly the USHMM has an online registration form for holocaust survivors--any one who survived can be added regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, etc.