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Monday, January 18, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The Creature of Powell Lake
Tony reminded me of this story. You can't find it in the regular archives anymore so I thought I'd put it up here.
Local: Monster or myth?
Monday, October 31, 2005
2005
Monster or myth?
Tales of ‘Creature of Powell Lake’ persist
Animal some say was otter or blacktip shark remains a mystery
By S. Brady Calhoun
News Herald Writer 747-5075 / bcalhoun@pcnh.com
he thing that tried to attack Eric Padgett nearly a half-century ago still pops up from time to time. While the corpse of the 40-pound “sea creature” was found a few months after it stalked Padgett, the story has never died. Padgett, 58, chuckled recently when asked if he ever had been written about in The News Herald. “That old sea monster out there,” he said. As Halloween neared last week and monsters of all shapes and sizes prepared to poke out of the darkness, Padgett agreed to talk about the “Creature of Powell Lake” one more time. “I can remember it as plain as day,” Padgett said. “Just like yesterday.” He was 11 when the encounter happened. It was August 1958, and Padgett was learning how to slalom ski in the water near Camp Helen State Park. Back then, Camp Helen was a recreational area for employees of the Avondale Textile Mills of Sylacauga, Ala. Padgett’s father, Howard, worked at the mill and was driving the boat on Lake Powell that day. “He saw a head pop up in back of me,” Padgett said. The monster appeared to be chasing him. Padgett said his father whirled the boat around to get between Padgett and the creature and snatched the boy out of the water with one hand. Although the creature had not hurt anyone, Padgett said his father felt sure Padgett was in danger. “He said the head popped up, opened its mouth and was coming towards me,” Padgett said. “It could swim fairly fast.” Padgett did not get a glimpse of the sea creature until he was back in the boat.
“He was kind of a greasy black,” Padgett recalled.
His father and other boaters chased the creature around Lake Powell that day but could not catch it, Padgett said.
Then in February 1959, the carcass of a 4-foot long, 40-pound monster was discovered in “three feet of brackish water in Lattimer’s Bayou near Phillip’s inlet,” The News Herald reported. Writer David Chandler described the critter this way: It “had nostrils, ribs, and lungs, rounded flippers, a dorsal fin and an oversize jaw with three rows of teeth comparable in size and structure to a shark’s.”
No one could identify the strange creature, so the head was removed and sent to The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Contacted this month, an official with the Smithsonian said it would be nearly impossible to find out what happened to the specimen without knowing who had received the head almost 50 years ago. The official also giggled — frequently.
Luckily, The News Herald reported the Smithsonian’s findings more than once. Scientists said it was a blacktip shark, common to the area because the Gulf of Mexico flowed into Lake Powell at that time. But Padgett maintains that finding is as murky as a Florida pond.
“It had lungs. It was a mammal.” Padgett said. “It looked exactly like the picture.”
The picture to which he referred is a sketch of a Loch Ness Monster-esque critter printed with the original newspaper story on the discovery of the creature’s remains. Some believe that News Herald cartoonist Wally Reichert stressed visual energy over geographic or biological accuracy.
Mike Brim, St. Andrew Bay Environmental Study Team executive director, shook his head as he looked at the sketch recently.
“It’s got a very nice dorsal fin of a shark, the head of a brontosaurus, the front fins of a manatee and the tail of an alligator,” Brim said.
Padgett believes the beast that went after him was an otter. Otters used to come to Camp Helen and bark at picnickers, he said.
“I think it was one of those otters that got hit by a boat and that kind of deformed the back end of it,” Padgett said.
Padgett never saw the carcass, but he always has believed that the thing that washed ashore that day was the same creature that chased him.
Brim has faith in the Smithsonian.
“I have great confidence in the ability of the Smithsonian to tell a blacktip shark when they’re given one,” he said.
However, Brim did say the eyewitness accounts disagree with the findings.
“If Padgett said that the thing popped its head out of the water, that’s consistent with river otter,” Brim said. “A blacktip shark wouldn’t pop out of the water.”Brim suggested that since Padgett never saw the carcass of the creature, it is possible that there were two distinct animals at play in Lake Powell that year.
Brim discounted the possibility that the creature was an entirely new species. Earth’s oceans still hold some secrets but only in the few leagues where man has not ventured, he said.
“I’m sure there are (new) species in the abysmal depths of the ocean,” Brim said. But “only probably in the deepest parts of the ocean.”
Padgett was famous at school after the incident, but fame was fleeting, he said.
“When school started, one of the kids came up to me and wanted my autograph. That was the only time anyone has ever wanted my autograph,” Padgett said. “Except my wife to sign checks.”
After the initial brush with fame, Padgett’s life went back to normal. He joined the U.S. Air Force, then worked for the Panama City Beach Police Department until, finally, taking a job at Camp Helen State Park as assistant manager. The park maintains a small exhibit dedicated to the creature.
Padgett is now retired for health reasons.
Even after a monster from the deep tried to attack him, Padgett said he continued to play in the water. He eventually learned how to slalom and still returns to the lake when he is able.
“I go fishing out there sometimes,” he said.
Local: Monster or myth?
Monday, October 31, 2005
2005
Monster or myth?
Tales of ‘Creature of Powell Lake’ persist
Animal some say was otter or blacktip shark remains a mystery
By S. Brady Calhoun
News Herald Writer 747-5075 / bcalhoun@pcnh.com
he thing that tried to attack Eric Padgett nearly a half-century ago still pops up from time to time. While the corpse of the 40-pound “sea creature” was found a few months after it stalked Padgett, the story has never died. Padgett, 58, chuckled recently when asked if he ever had been written about in The News Herald. “That old sea monster out there,” he said. As Halloween neared last week and monsters of all shapes and sizes prepared to poke out of the darkness, Padgett agreed to talk about the “Creature of Powell Lake” one more time. “I can remember it as plain as day,” Padgett said. “Just like yesterday.” He was 11 when the encounter happened. It was August 1958, and Padgett was learning how to slalom ski in the water near Camp Helen State Park. Back then, Camp Helen was a recreational area for employees of the Avondale Textile Mills of Sylacauga, Ala. Padgett’s father, Howard, worked at the mill and was driving the boat on Lake Powell that day. “He saw a head pop up in back of me,” Padgett said. The monster appeared to be chasing him. Padgett said his father whirled the boat around to get between Padgett and the creature and snatched the boy out of the water with one hand. Although the creature had not hurt anyone, Padgett said his father felt sure Padgett was in danger. “He said the head popped up, opened its mouth and was coming towards me,” Padgett said. “It could swim fairly fast.” Padgett did not get a glimpse of the sea creature until he was back in the boat.
“He was kind of a greasy black,” Padgett recalled.
His father and other boaters chased the creature around Lake Powell that day but could not catch it, Padgett said.
Then in February 1959, the carcass of a 4-foot long, 40-pound monster was discovered in “three feet of brackish water in Lattimer’s Bayou near Phillip’s inlet,” The News Herald reported. Writer David Chandler described the critter this way: It “had nostrils, ribs, and lungs, rounded flippers, a dorsal fin and an oversize jaw with three rows of teeth comparable in size and structure to a shark’s.”
No one could identify the strange creature, so the head was removed and sent to The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Contacted this month, an official with the Smithsonian said it would be nearly impossible to find out what happened to the specimen without knowing who had received the head almost 50 years ago. The official also giggled — frequently.
Luckily, The News Herald reported the Smithsonian’s findings more than once. Scientists said it was a blacktip shark, common to the area because the Gulf of Mexico flowed into Lake Powell at that time. But Padgett maintains that finding is as murky as a Florida pond.
“It had lungs. It was a mammal.” Padgett said. “It looked exactly like the picture.”
The picture to which he referred is a sketch of a Loch Ness Monster-esque critter printed with the original newspaper story on the discovery of the creature’s remains. Some believe that News Herald cartoonist Wally Reichert stressed visual energy over geographic or biological accuracy.
Mike Brim, St. Andrew Bay Environmental Study Team executive director, shook his head as he looked at the sketch recently.
“It’s got a very nice dorsal fin of a shark, the head of a brontosaurus, the front fins of a manatee and the tail of an alligator,” Brim said.
Padgett believes the beast that went after him was an otter. Otters used to come to Camp Helen and bark at picnickers, he said.
“I think it was one of those otters that got hit by a boat and that kind of deformed the back end of it,” Padgett said.
Padgett never saw the carcass, but he always has believed that the thing that washed ashore that day was the same creature that chased him.
Brim has faith in the Smithsonian.
“I have great confidence in the ability of the Smithsonian to tell a blacktip shark when they’re given one,” he said.
However, Brim did say the eyewitness accounts disagree with the findings.
“If Padgett said that the thing popped its head out of the water, that’s consistent with river otter,” Brim said. “A blacktip shark wouldn’t pop out of the water.”Brim suggested that since Padgett never saw the carcass of the creature, it is possible that there were two distinct animals at play in Lake Powell that year.
Brim discounted the possibility that the creature was an entirely new species. Earth’s oceans still hold some secrets but only in the few leagues where man has not ventured, he said.
“I’m sure there are (new) species in the abysmal depths of the ocean,” Brim said. But “only probably in the deepest parts of the ocean.”
Padgett was famous at school after the incident, but fame was fleeting, he said.
“When school started, one of the kids came up to me and wanted my autograph. That was the only time anyone has ever wanted my autograph,” Padgett said. “Except my wife to sign checks.”
After the initial brush with fame, Padgett’s life went back to normal. He joined the U.S. Air Force, then worked for the Panama City Beach Police Department until, finally, taking a job at Camp Helen State Park as assistant manager. The park maintains a small exhibit dedicated to the creature.
Padgett is now retired for health reasons.
Even after a monster from the deep tried to attack him, Padgett said he continued to play in the water. He eventually learned how to slalom and still returns to the lake when he is able.
“I go fishing out there sometimes,” he said.
Friday, January 8, 2010
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Friday, August 14, 2009
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Thursday, June 4, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Journalism and Star Trek
This post over at CJR is pretty funny.
Yesterday’s rave review of the new Star Trek film referred to the “hateful Klingon Nero” (Take it to the bridge, page 9, Film & Music). Numerous readers got in touch to say how very wrong this was.
Read it here.
Yesterday’s rave review of the new Star Trek film referred to the “hateful Klingon Nero” (Take it to the bridge, page 9, Film & Music). Numerous readers got in touch to say how very wrong this was.
Read it here.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Letters from Spock
The new Star Trek as you know by now gives us two Spocks. Old Spock who has lived out his life but traveled back in time to when young Spock is just beginning his career in Star Fleet. Now, it's true that the universe is altered pretty dramatically but aren't there some things will happen the exact same way to young Spock that they happened to Old Spock.
Yeah, I just got a nosebleed thinking about it. Still, if it were you wouldn't you send an e-mail every once in a while to give your younger self a heads up about some dangers.
Lets take a peek.
Old Spock: Dear Spock, hope you are doing well. Today the crew of the Enterprise will revive Kahn. Instead of doing that you should blow him out of an airlock. Don't talk back, trust me, it's better for everyone this way. Kill him. No, no, seriously do not, under any circumstances exile him to Ceti Alpha V.
A week later
Old Spock: Don't eat that ham sandwich today.
Two weeks after that
Old Spock: Jim will kiss Uhura today so you might want to do something about that.
A Month after that
Old Spock: Seriously, have you killed Kahn yet? It's really, really important.
Yeah, I just got a nosebleed thinking about it. Still, if it were you wouldn't you send an e-mail every once in a while to give your younger self a heads up about some dangers.
Lets take a peek.
Old Spock: Dear Spock, hope you are doing well. Today the crew of the Enterprise will revive Kahn. Instead of doing that you should blow him out of an airlock. Don't talk back, trust me, it's better for everyone this way. Kill him. No, no, seriously do not, under any circumstances exile him to Ceti Alpha V.
A week later
Old Spock: Don't eat that ham sandwich today.
Two weeks after that
Old Spock: Jim will kiss Uhura today so you might want to do something about that.
A Month after that
Old Spock: Seriously, have you killed Kahn yet? It's really, really important.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Star Trek and Top Gun
Anybody remember Top Gun? I'm a fan of 80's Tom Cruise. He did several of the same movie over and over again. Kind of like John Wayne and Rio Bravo. The Duke liked the plot of that movie so much he remade it twice, Once as El Dorado and once as Rio Lobo.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Tom Cruise. By the way we will get to Star Trek eventually, because it is Star Trek week here on Buckshot. During the 80s Tom Cruise made, I don't know, a half dozen of the movies that Roger Ebert dubbed The Tom Cruise movie.
Essentially, Cruise is a hotshot young professional, pilot, NASCAR driver, pool hustler and bartender. Cruise is all raw talent and nerve, a mixture of arrogance and talent.
But he's never the best that he can be because he needs an older guy to come along and guide him to his destiny and the love of a good woman.
The best of these is Days of Thunder, the NASCAR picture because it's got Robert Duval and Nicole Kidman in it. A close second is Top Gun. I know you know the plot already but in short Cruise is a rebel pilot who has daddy issues. He likes fast cars, fast planes and fast women. He's also the best damn pilot in the Navy.
There's a really iconic shot where Cruise rides his motorcycle next to the base and the F14s.
Cruise also has daddy issues because the Navy has always made it seem like his father, who was also a pilot, died an unheroic death.
That gets straightened out by Cruises' mentor in this exchange:
VIPER: Yeah, he did it right... Is that why you fly the way you do? Trying to prove something? Yeah your old man did it right. What I'm about to tell you is classified. It could end my career. We were in the worst dogfight I ever dreamed of. There were bogeys like fireflies all over the sky. His F-4 was hit, and he was wounded, but he could've made it back. He stayed in it, saved three planes before he bought it.
Maverick: How come I never heard that before?
Viper: Well that's not something the State Department tells dependents when the battle occurred over the wrong line on some map.
So in the new Star Trek movie (see I told you we'd get to Star Trek eventually) we're introduced to Jim T. Kirk a hotshot young genius who's a hotshot and the best there is at, well, everything, including bar fights and making out with green chicks.
There's an iconic scene where Kirk drives his motorcycle near the spaceships.
Kirk is also wounded by the heroic death of his father on the same day of birth.
That get's straightened out this way.
Christopher Pike: Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including yours. I dare you to do better. Enlist in Starfleet.
IMDB trivia has this to say
To prepare for his role as Captain James Kirk, Chris Pine watched classic episodes and read encyclopedias about the Star Trek universe. However, his research was rudimentary, as he wanted his performance to be original and not an imitation of William Shatner. He based his performance on Tom Cruise's Maverick and Harrison Ford's Han Solo and Indiana Jones, heroes who Pine felt possessed the archetypal hero qualities Kirk has (humour, arrogance, decisiveness).
Oh, and one more thing.
That Navy Ship that Maverick served on in Top Gun: It was the USS Enterprise.
Man, I need a life.
Tomorrow on Star Trek week, Old Spock's letters to Young Spock.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Tom Cruise. By the way we will get to Star Trek eventually, because it is Star Trek week here on Buckshot. During the 80s Tom Cruise made, I don't know, a half dozen of the movies that Roger Ebert dubbed The Tom Cruise movie.
Essentially, Cruise is a hotshot young professional, pilot, NASCAR driver, pool hustler and bartender. Cruise is all raw talent and nerve, a mixture of arrogance and talent.
But he's never the best that he can be because he needs an older guy to come along and guide him to his destiny and the love of a good woman.
The best of these is Days of Thunder, the NASCAR picture because it's got Robert Duval and Nicole Kidman in it. A close second is Top Gun. I know you know the plot already but in short Cruise is a rebel pilot who has daddy issues. He likes fast cars, fast planes and fast women. He's also the best damn pilot in the Navy.
There's a really iconic shot where Cruise rides his motorcycle next to the base and the F14s.
Cruise also has daddy issues because the Navy has always made it seem like his father, who was also a pilot, died an unheroic death.
That gets straightened out by Cruises' mentor in this exchange:
VIPER: Yeah, he did it right... Is that why you fly the way you do? Trying to prove something? Yeah your old man did it right. What I'm about to tell you is classified. It could end my career. We were in the worst dogfight I ever dreamed of. There were bogeys like fireflies all over the sky. His F-4 was hit, and he was wounded, but he could've made it back. He stayed in it, saved three planes before he bought it.
Maverick: How come I never heard that before?
Viper: Well that's not something the State Department tells dependents when the battle occurred over the wrong line on some map.
So in the new Star Trek movie (see I told you we'd get to Star Trek eventually) we're introduced to Jim T. Kirk a hotshot young genius who's a hotshot and the best there is at, well, everything, including bar fights and making out with green chicks.
There's an iconic scene where Kirk drives his motorcycle near the spaceships.
Kirk is also wounded by the heroic death of his father on the same day of birth.
That get's straightened out this way.
Christopher Pike: Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including yours. I dare you to do better. Enlist in Starfleet.
IMDB trivia has this to say
To prepare for his role as Captain James Kirk, Chris Pine watched classic episodes and read encyclopedias about the Star Trek universe. However, his research was rudimentary, as he wanted his performance to be original and not an imitation of William Shatner. He based his performance on Tom Cruise's Maverick and Harrison Ford's Han Solo and Indiana Jones, heroes who Pine felt possessed the archetypal hero qualities Kirk has (humour, arrogance, decisiveness).
Oh, and one more thing.
That Navy Ship that Maverick served on in Top Gun: It was the USS Enterprise.
Man, I need a life.
Tomorrow on Star Trek week, Old Spock's letters to Young Spock.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
STAR TREK SPOILERS
Don't read this post if you haven't seen the new Star Trek.
OK
So, now my head is exploded. First of all, The new Star Trek movie exists in an alternate reality where time travel messed everything up. That means a couple of things.
First, the original series, the one with William Shatner in it still exists, all the movies still exists but they are in a completely separate universe. But, and this is a big but NOW, there is a completely different STAR TREK universe. In this new universe the phasers look more like guns, no one ever preaches to you about the meaning of the story or the lesson humanity needs to learn, SULU is an amazing swordsman and Chekov can't speak English.
Also, for some reason everybody needs sunglasses while on the bridge of the Enterprise because there are giant, bright lights everywhere.
The onion described it this way: Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film as 'Fun, Watchable.'
Yeah, that about covered it.
Rogers called it ULTIMATE STAR TREK and that is as good a designation as any.
I loved it but my eyes melted at one point thinking about time travel.
As I was watching the movie I kept waiting for the moment where everything would return to normal. Where the crew would somehow change time so that the universe went back to Shatner land.
And that moment never happened.
HOLY CRAP, JJ ABRAMS just killed Star Trek.
This is exactly what John Byrne did to Superman in the 80's when he recreated him. All of sudden Superman was depowered and the superpets never existed. The world needs Beppo, the Supermonkey guys. It's important.
But what happens to Picard now? Is Picard never born?? Can this at least mean that Tasha Yar is never born because she sucks.
And all of DS9, Voyager and Enterprise can disappear too. DS9 especially because it's a crummy rip off of Babylon 5.
OK, that's enough for now.
Final Analysis: Great Movie, go see it now. But later you'll be a little depressed that there wasn't a comment on the current state of humanity. Without that it's not Star Trek, It's Star Wars without the force.
Tomorrow: why the Star Trek movie must be the remnants of someone's screenplay for Top Gun 2.
OK
So, now my head is exploded. First of all, The new Star Trek movie exists in an alternate reality where time travel messed everything up. That means a couple of things.
First, the original series, the one with William Shatner in it still exists, all the movies still exists but they are in a completely separate universe. But, and this is a big but NOW, there is a completely different STAR TREK universe. In this new universe the phasers look more like guns, no one ever preaches to you about the meaning of the story or the lesson humanity needs to learn, SULU is an amazing swordsman and Chekov can't speak English.
Also, for some reason everybody needs sunglasses while on the bridge of the Enterprise because there are giant, bright lights everywhere.
The onion described it this way: Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film as 'Fun, Watchable.'
Yeah, that about covered it.
Rogers called it ULTIMATE STAR TREK and that is as good a designation as any.
I loved it but my eyes melted at one point thinking about time travel.
As I was watching the movie I kept waiting for the moment where everything would return to normal. Where the crew would somehow change time so that the universe went back to Shatner land.
And that moment never happened.
HOLY CRAP, JJ ABRAMS just killed Star Trek.
This is exactly what John Byrne did to Superman in the 80's when he recreated him. All of sudden Superman was depowered and the superpets never existed. The world needs Beppo, the Supermonkey guys. It's important.
But what happens to Picard now? Is Picard never born?? Can this at least mean that Tasha Yar is never born because she sucks.
And all of DS9, Voyager and Enterprise can disappear too. DS9 especially because it's a crummy rip off of Babylon 5.
OK, that's enough for now.
Final Analysis: Great Movie, go see it now. But later you'll be a little depressed that there wasn't a comment on the current state of humanity. Without that it's not Star Trek, It's Star Wars without the force.
Tomorrow: why the Star Trek movie must be the remnants of someone's screenplay for Top Gun 2.
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