Good morning.
Whitewater has a sunny day with a high temperature of thirty-one to which to look forward. In Denver, it will be a mostly cloudy day with a high of thirty-seven.
Whitewater’s Tech Park Board meets today at 8 AM.
On this day in 1858, another great moment in legislative history:
1858 – Wisconsin Congressman Starts Fight in Legislature
Just before the Civil War, the issue of slavery tore apart the U.S. Congress. On February 8, 1858, Wisconsin Rep. John Potter (considered a backwoods hooligan by Southern aristocrats) leaped into a fight on the House floor. When Potter embarrassed a pro-slavery brawler by pulling off his wig, the gallery shouted that he’d taken a Southern scalp. Potter emerged from the melee covered in blood and marked by slave owners as an enemy.
Two years later, on April 5, 1860, he accused Virginia Rep. Roger Pryor of falsifying the Congressional record. Pryor, feeling his character impugned, challenged Potter to a duel. According to Southern custom, a person challenged had the right to choose weapons. Potter replied that he would only fight with “Bowie knives in a closed room,” and his Southern challenger beat a hasty retreat. Republican supporters around the nation sent Potter Bowie knives as a tribute, including this six-foot-long one. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Holmes]
Via Wisconsin Historical Society
I came across a post entitled, ‘The Secret Of Magic Island’: The Mysterious ‘Holy Grail’ For Movie Nerds (VIDEO), and the title easily hooked me.
Magic Island (the title in English) is a French film that features animals doing all sorts of things, like using the phone, playing an organ, etc.
The post where I learned of it asks, “Two questions surfaced in the office: how did the filmmakers get the animals to do this? And also, what in the hell is this?” Those are the relevant questions.
Here’s a trailer for the film, and a clip from it. The trailer’s narration is hopelessly corny, but watch it again with the sound off, and you’ll find yourself wondering about how the film was made, and how much patience it must have demanded. The post to which I’ve linked above, where I first learned of the film, has answers about its history.
Enjoy and be intrigued.
Clip —
Trailer —