"In the beginning"

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

RETRACTION; Ooops Sorry.


I must thank the ever alert Miss Cellania for pointing out this error.
It's still a good tale though and worth a read.

Legend Origins:


Legends about spiders nesting in cactuses or yuccas imported
from
Central America surfaced in Scandinavia and Great Britain
in the early 1970s. In 1985 an outbreak of "Spider in the Yucca"
lore featured a plant supposedly bought from Marks & Spencer,
a leading British department store.

Though at times this story has slipped past the watchdogs of
the mainstream media and been reported as a news story,
it's never been true. There has never been a spider-spewing
exploding cactus, and there never will be. You see, the tale
is impossible.

According to Dr. Clifford S. Crawford, professor of biology at the
University of New Mexico, a tarantula might possibly lay eggs
or build webs on, but not in, a cactus. Curators at the
Desert
Museum
in Tucson, Arizona, point out that tarantulas live in
burrows in the ground, especially the female, which rarely
moves around on the surface. No tarantulas or spiders of any
type ever have been known to burrow into plants, says Rod
Crawford, curator of arachnids at the
Burke Museum. Even if a
small spider happened to climb into a hole in a cactus and lay
eggs there, he says, the plant wouldn't explode when the eggs
hatched.
Tarantulas take several years to reach full size.

For the benefit of any readers who may never have read the
disclaimer on this blog, please do so now!!


*disclaimer; The views expressed within this blog site are not necessarily
the views of the blog management." (nor are they necessarily, not the
views of the management of the blog.) Little or no effort has been made
to stay within the bounds of truth in the blog, as we subscribe fully to the
theory of; never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.


In answer to a query by one of my favourite readers I have
sourced some data on the subject for you Dave.

Sorry it's not as complete as we both may have liked, but at
least it's something.

A Brisbane model, Erin McNaught, who was named Australia's
Miss Universe two weeks ago may lose her crown after calls for
her to be stripped, (no pun intended) of her title because of a
topless photo shoot.

Furious officials claimed she was not fit to wear her crown after
racy pictures of her were published in a mens magazine.

The 24 year old, who is studying for a science degree, posed for
the photos before she was crowned this month.


All I can say about this horrific situation is;

Well Hoopty Doopty, ain't that pic just terrible,


What'll it do to our morals, we'll surely all rot in Hell




12 comments:

Raggedy said...

The spider thing skeered me so bad that I tossed out my entire cactus plant collection. I put them all in a big pile with petrol and set them all ablaze. Those spiders give me the creeps. After I read the story and looked at one of them I swear it moved.....!

Miss Cellania said...

In case you haven't noticed, there is rarely, if ever, anything true on my site.

Anonymous said...

ha ha raggedy's comment. Still never buying a cactus.

Merle said...

Hi Peter ~~ Well that's better. Story is untrue and no big spiders.
Thank goodness for that. Poor Raggedy getting rid of her collection.
Glad you liked the Why worry thing. Take care, Merle.

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Too bad about the spider story being a fake. It was emailed to me, and I just passed it on. I wasn't to know ... sorry !! It was a good story, anyway !!
Take care, Meow

HORIZON said...

Popped into your blog from Merle's site. Have had such a giggle with some of your posts- love your wit and sense of humour. It must run in the family.
Will have to visit again if you don't mind.
Bests

Jacqui said...

You might have warned me about the spider picture you posted, you know how paranoid I am about them. Glad to hear the story was a fake, not that I would have ever bought a cactus anyway, don't like them much either. I fell into one as a child, not a happy experience.

Jamie Dawn said...

Just keep any and all spiders away from ME! That's all I care about.

I remember when Vanessa Williams lost her Miss America crown due to nude photos. I think it really boosted her career.

JunieRose2005 said...

:)

well, it WAS a good story! And I believed it!!

...I'm with Jacqui-I don't care much for cactus plants anyway! I don't have a single one!

:) There is a plant called the Spider plant that's very attractive! :) the name alone would probably put Jacqui off tho!! :)

June

kenju said...

We had a similar situation here in NC a few years ago. Our newly crowned Miss NC was "outed" by her ex-boyfriend as having posed for topless photos for him. She claimed that she didn't pose for them, but that he took them on the sly. Whatever.....she was dethroned and has tried to sue several times.

Big Dave T said...

Thanks for the research, Peter! I knew you would come through. But you didn't have to put her name where you did. You mentioned her in the article afterall.

Anonymous said...

I knew the spider story wasn't true, but I agree it is a wonderful urban legend.

Now as to morals and boobs, well guess I'll join you in Hell. The world has so much more to worry about and my she is a beautiful woman.