Collector Finds What Is Believed To Be The Earliest Country Music Recording Ever Made

Now this is cool. Country music has a rich history dating back to the early 1900s. The first country recordings were generally considered to be made by Eck Robertson back in 1922 when he recorded four fiddle songs including "Turkey In The Straw" and "Arkansaw Traveler" for the Victor Talking Machine Company. In the 1920s, artists like Uncle Dave Macon and Vernon Dalhart traveled to New York City to record what was then known as "hillbilly music." But country music changed for good in 1927 when producer Ralph Peer stopped in Bristol, Tennessee to record artists like Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. The "Bristol Sessions," as they came to be known, are generally regarded as the most influential in country music history and earned Bristol the nickname of the "Birthplace of Country Music." But as it turns out, there are actually country recordings that are more than 30 years older than the Bristol Sessions. A collector named John Levin purchased a box of wax cylinders at an auction in Pennsylvania. And when he put them on his player, he found that they contain what may be the first country recording ever made. The song is "Thompson’s Old Gray Mule," which was later recorded by Uncle Dave Macon. But the recording, which dates back to 1891, was made by a black New Orleans singer named Louis Vasnier. According to the Washington Post, Vasnier began singing publicly in the 1880s, and in the 1890s began recording parody sermons for the Louisiana Phonograph Company. It's not clear where the cylinder containing this recording came from, but it's probably safe to say that at one point it was played on a jukebox somewhere in the New Orleans area. And late last month, the recording became available for the first time. Released by Archeophone, a small record label dedicated to discovering and releasing long-lost recordings, the 45-rpm record contains not only Vasnier's recording of "Thompson's Old Gray Mule" but the B-side contains one of his parody sermons called "Adam and Eve and de Winter Apple." Obviously the sound quality isn't the best, but considering the original recording is 133 years old, it's amazing that it survived at all. And unfortunately, Archeophone wasn't able to find a photo of Vasnier to use for the record cover, instead ch According to Levin, the wax cylinders are extremely fragile and have to be handled with extreme care: “I treat these things, they’re like polar bears or the California condor. If they’re not brought in from the wild, they’re basically getting destroyed. Every 10 or 20 years, they go from one private collector to another and they’re soft wax. You drop them from one half inch on a table and they shatter.” It's pretty cool to get a look into the early days of country music - recordings that pre-date what we had originally thought were the first country music records by nearly three decades. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUgfhU8Tt0s

Massive Burmese Python Spotted In Mouth Of Alligator, Possibly The Longest Ever Found In Everglades National Park

Typical Florida activity. I think we need to rethink the nickname of "Sunshine State." The fact that Florida gets a lot of sunshine is just as obvious as the fact that the state is overrun by pythons, or even worse: Disney adults. Calling Florida by a nickname that's Vitamin-D positive seems to be giving it too much credit... at least in my mind. What should it be nicknamed? I think the "Burmese Python State" has a nice ring to it. Maybe even the "Mickey Mouse" or the "We Have Harry Potter World" state. There are plenty of other, more specific options to choose from. Much like the deceased python in the video below, I'm just floating ideas out there. I'll get off my Florida soapbox to start talking about this wild video out of southern state, which shows a smaller alligator parading around a massive, dead-as-a-doorknob Burmese python. The large snakes are basically the definition of invasive species. Ever since they were accidentally introduced to Florida in the 1970s and 1980s, they've been a huge thorn in the side of the state's natural ecosystem. That's why the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hosts a Florida Python Challenge every year. Since the large reptiles pose a threat to the native wildlife of the state, the FWC encourages residents to go into the Everglades and kill as many as they can (such a Florida thing to do). Whoever kills the most has historically been awarded a grand prize of $10,000. As crazy as that whole thing sounds, it's necessary to keep the ever-and-rapidly-expanding Burmese python population as low as possible. Female pythons can lay around 50 to 100 eggs at one time, so more and more of the invasive species are almost always being born into an ecosystem in which they don't belong. That's why since the year 2000, it's estimated that more than 13,000 Burmese pythons have been removed from the Everglades. And you can move that number up to at least 13,001 thanks to this alligator doing its part. There's a scenario where this smaller gator and the larger python had a battle for the ages. We've seen examples of it on video before. When an alligator and a python face off, there's no holds barred, and there's no rules in the fight for survival. However, since the python looks pretty bloated, the more likely scenario in this particular situation is that this gator discovered this python after it had already died. The video was filmed in Florida's Everglades National Park by tour guide Kelly Alvarez from the Shark Valley Observation Tower, and it may be one of the biggest they've ever seen: "The record for longest python found in the Florida Everglades is 19 feet. Given that this alligator is minimum 10 feet, though I estimate him to be more around 12 feet, this python being twice his size is now quite possibly the longest Burmese python ever found in Everglades National Park." But not before it could drag the corpse of the python around the Florida Everglades, just to let everyone know who was boss: https://twitter.com/ScMesab/status/1863684849782981097 Good for that alligator for acting tough and dragging that thing around - even if it wasn't the one responsible for the Burmese python's demise.

The Internet Is Obsessed With CHUNKY Bear Ready For Hibernation

Well fed. Hibernation season is here. All over the nation, bears are preparing to hibernate during the winter as food becomes scarce. Hibernation has always been one of those things in nature that fascinates me. It's amazing to learn how bears of all kinds have adapted to their climate and evolved so that when food supplies are limited, they can survive without food. Of course, this requires some planning on their end to eat a little more beforehand so they do not starve over their hibernation period. While it's often thought that bears sleep throughout their entire hibernation, that is, in fact, not the case. The Alaska Department of Fishing and Game cleared up that rumor when publishing an article detailing the specifics of what hibernation looks like for a bear. "Bears have developed unique adaptive strategies in order to survive for so long without food and water. They lower their body temperature by 8-12 degrees and break down fat stores for energy. Some protein is used as well, but bears largely conserve their muscle mass and thus do not become appreciably weaker during hibernation. Bears do wake up, however, and move around inside the den. It’s kind of like your dog sleeping. Bears will go through a lot of posture changes where they wake periodically to shift around. It is thought this helps prevent pressure sores from developing." During hibernation is also when female bears give birth to their cubs. The mother wakes up to give birth, and then goes back into hibernation. The cubs stay in hibernation with their moms after entering the world, and after they nurse, they too, enter a state of hibernation. Cubs won't eat solid food for the first time until they are close to six months old. Because of this, momma bears need to pack on a few extra pounds before hibernating to make sure that their cubs are born at a healthy weight. A family visiting Idaho's Yellowstone Bear World captured a chunky bear walking across the park's path. The hefty bear is what most think is a mom-to-be. She looks large with a full belly of food and kiddos. The viral video is sparking the attention of social media users stunned by the bear's size. Frankly, it also surprised me; the bear's belly practically dragged the ground as it lazily made its way across the road. https://www.instagram.com/p/DDAXbLXJEmh/ While this bear is prepared for a good long winter's nap, the internet is having a heyday in the comments section, noting just how massive this bear is. I honestly can't blame the bear; if I were about to be fasting for months on end, I'd probably look like this, too. With the video going viral around Thanksgiving, the comments were GOLD. Check out a few of our favorites: "Bearabeetus." "When the honey truck crashes into the Salmon delivery truck." "Thick-cut bearcon." "Me on the way to the fridge to get the last scoop of ice cream from the gallon tub that I had convinced myself was going to last the month." "Definitely not cocaine bear." "Holy wow that fella is enormous! He is well prepared for the winter." "Mama done dipped her paw in the honey pot a few too many times." "Really should get permission from me before you post me walking..." "Smokey had a damn good Thanksgiving." "How I felt being 8 months pregnant on Thanksgiving." "That big fella looks like he might be a candidate for blood pressure meds." And on the next episode of 'My 600-pound life...'"

Donald Trump Has A Robot Dog Named Spot Protecting His Mar-A-Lago Home

That's a good boy...or girl...or robot. Security is no doubt tight around Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate these days. Not only was Trump recently re-elected President of the United States, but there have also been several attempts on his life already this year, including the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania over the summer and the arrest of a man on one of Trump's golf courses who was attempting to kill the former/future president. The Department of Justice also recently revealed that they had disrupted a plot from an Iranian official who had ordered agents in the United States to assassinate Trump before his inauguration next year. So at this point, the Secret Service - and Trump himself - can't be too careful when it comes to security for the future President. Ahead of the inauguration on January 20, Trump is of course spending a lot of time at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. And the club presents its own challenges for protecting the president - so it appears they've had to bring in some special resources. Since the election, a robot dog named Spot has been...well, spotted...patrolling the grounds at Mar-a-Lago, a bizarre sight as children can often be seen playing on the lawn beside it. https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1863679710208856510 The Secret Service confirmed that the dog is part of their measures to protect Trump at his home, revealing that Spot is equipped with special surveillance technology to help them out: "Safeguarding the President-elect is a top priority. The robotic dogs at Mar-a-Lago are Secret Service assets and while we cannot discuss the specific number or their capabilities, we can say the robotic dogs are equipped with surveillance technology, and an array of advanced sensors that support our protective operations." The dogs are made by a company called Boston Dynamics, and the Secret Service shared a video back in July detailing their use of the robot dogs to secure protected spaces: "The robot has a lot of uses. The robot right now is outfitted with a CBRN payload, which is chemical, biological, rad and nuke, where it can detect different threat agents and report back to a user that is operating it remotely." https://twitter.com/SecretService/status/1811858095766704250 And a Boston Dynamics spokesman told The Palm Beach Post that Spot is used for a "wide variety" of tasks. "For security reasons, we cannot comment on specific USSS applications. In general, Spot keeps people out of harm's way and is used in a wide variety of public safety tasks." So what are we talking about here. Is Spot going to start shooting if somebody gets too close? Can he bite like a real dog? Does he have a cannon or rocket launcher? I'm real curious about this dog now. If you're looking for a robot dog to protect your own home, it looks like they were going for around $75,000 when they became available back in 2020, though there's no doubt the Secret Service version isn't exactly the off-the-shelf product. Who knows what that thing's equipped with and how much it ultimately cost. It sounds like the dogs can be outfitted for a variety of different situations and needs, so it's hard to tell exactly what Spot (the dog protecting Mar-a-Lago) is capable of. But it's safe to say that's one dog you're not going to want to pet.

8-Year-Old Cancer Survivor Was Allegedly Pushed Down Stadium Stairs By Drunk Buffalo Bills Fan At Her First NFL Game

Buffalo Bills fans are generally known to be equally rowdy and passionate, but this story out of upstate New York isn't a good look for the fan base. You've probably heard about the "Bills Mafia" plenty. There's not another fanbase in all of sports that loves their team more than Bills fans. They adore the Bills so much that they'll make the hard trek to Highmark Stadium to help shovel and clear snow just so the Buffalo team can still play their scheduled NFL game with fans in the stands. Bills Mafia actually had to take a break from jumping through tables to help clear out the snow for last night's Sunday Night Football game between the Bills and the visiting San Francisco 49ers. The game - at least visually - was a joy to watch. There's nothing like watching a football game played in the snow, and it came down at a steady pace as the night went on in Buffalo. As far as the score of the game went, the Bills handled the San Francisco 49ers easily 35 to 10. The snow, and the injury to star running back Christian McCaffrey, was too much to overcome for the west coast team. And while all of that action was happening out on the field, something very unfortunate allegedly unfolded in the stands. As the story goes, a pediatric cancer survivor by the name of Mia DeCamilla was in the stands there in Buffalo to root on her favorite team - the San Francisco 49ers. From what has been revealed online, it was the little girl's first ever NFL game. As Mia's mother explained on Facebook, the cancer survivor likely won't look back on the experience fondly because a drunk Buffalo Bills fan ruined the game for her: How awful is that? That's one of those stories that you hope isn't true. But based on all of the reporting on social media, it appears that a drunk fan did push the little girl down the stairs - though we can't confirm if it was intentional or unintentional. Hundreds of people have poured in to share and support Mia DeCamilla and her family. The incident has even gotten the attention of former NFL player Antonio Brown, who recently shared a verified GoFundMe that's linked directly to the DeCamilla family. https://twitter.com/AB84/status/1863640367054139896 The Buffalo Bills fanbase has a rich history of donating large sums of money to foundations and charities, so I've got a feeling that they will make up for one fan's shortcoming through generous giving. When Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb suffered a gruesome leg injury in 2o23, Bills fans stepped up and flooded Chubb’s foundation with donations. In 2017, when Andy Dalton and the Bengals won a regular season game that ended up allowing for the Bills to squeak into the playoffs, Bills Mafia donated over $400,000 to Dalton’s foundation. Back in 2022, when Tua Tagovailoa suffered his second concussion of that season, the Bills fanbase stepped up and made large donations. And in 2023, when Tua yet again went down with a head injury, the Bills Mafia rallied together and donated over $16,000 to the Tua Tagovailoa foundation. They might be table-breakers up there in Buffalo, but they also aren’t afraid to break open their wallets to give to others - especially when they feel the need to make things right with a young cancer survivor.