~Herman MelvilleSaunter down Water Street near that movie set-like section underneath the Brooklyn Bridge and keep thine eyes peeled for a squat brick building that the postmen call #273. That is where the 'lore of a local man named Kit Burns took on its infamy.
Burns ran a well-kept tavern, buzzing with all manner of waterfront types of late 19th century New York. The bar men made good business but the real attraction was the fighting pits that earned the "Sportsman's Hall" its far-reaching reputation. Rats are plentiful along the East River so ol' Burns-ey had no difficulty procuring droves of the wily beasts while his dogs, terriers and ferret chasers, furnished their particular brand of entertainment.A burlap sack of rats (10-stone) is emptied into the pit which is set up like an amphitheatre of sorts with vile men crowded in on the rough-hewn benches. The dog then goes to town making bloody work of as many rats as he can in the given "time," which is set by the screaming, stomping, blasphemously elated men who gamble upon this venture. Burns' dogs are the gladiators of the night and highly-regarded and even smothered with heroic affections in victory.One eye witness recalls that some men would, "catch up the dog in their arms, and press it to their bosom in a frenzy of joy, or kiss it as if it were a human being, unmindful or careless of the fact that all this while the animal is smeared with the blood of its victims. The scene is disgusting beyond description."
Rat pits were actually a common attraction in old New York, a miniaturized gladiator affair with all the pomp and primal affections of the ancient Colosseum but none have gained such infamy as Kit Burns' Sporting Hall. We all would do well to remember the crass, ungodly beginnings of a town as tony and cosmopolitan as our modern day New York, Mulberry Bend is here to help.Sorry for the absences friends, MB will be back up and running now so be sure to come back for more lurid tales...
MB
September 2, 2010
RAT PITS OF NEW YORK - THE MULBERRY BEND
BROOKLYN'S PASSAGE OF ACHERON via THE MULBERRY BEND
BROOKLYN'S PASSAGE OF ACHERON
There is a secret tunnel they say, the tomb of a dead railroad car flipped over on its side like an iron whale and buried beneath Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue since 1861. Since then it has been the source of a flurry of folklore stories, hauntings, legends, and lurid secrets.
Some say Civil War spies buried the mysteriously missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary down there in a brass box. Others claim the tunnel holds weaponry from the notorious Smoky Hollow gang, bootlegging treasures, clues of 19th century espionage, and plenty more.
In 1861, Walt Whitman wrote a column in the Brooklyn Standard where he describes "the old tunnel, that used to lie there underground, a passage of Acheron like solemnity and darkness, now all closed up and filled up, and soon to be utterly forgotten, with all its reminiscences..."
The tunnel was rediscovered in 1981 by engineering student-turned-Brooklyn's own Indiana Jones, Bob Diamond. Diamond spent years in search of the tunnel and its supposed secrets. After scouring ancient engineering documents, obtaining city permissions, and crawling on his belly through 100ft of Brooklyn soot he was finally rewarded when he was poked through a hastily constructed brick and cobble wall and felt a blast of cold air rushing out from the 120 year old cave. Currently there is a documentary is in the works exploring his great find and this amazing story. This trailer is pretty good insight to the story...
The tunnel was originally commissioned by Cornelius Vanderbilt's LIRR in 1844 when the nuisance of train-related pedestrian bloodshed was gumming up his all important train schedules. A small army of Irish workers did the digging, known later as sandhogs, using the cut and cover method and in truth, it became New York's very first subway.
By the 1850's the tunnels usefulness was waning so a contractor named Electus Lichtfield was hired to fill in the tunnel once and for all, but these being the glory days of New York construction corruption, graft and all around corner-cutting, Lichtfield does not such thing. Instead, in the interest of making a grand ole' profit, he walls in the tunnel on both ends, covers up the other entrances with cartloads of brick and dirt, and get some his "friends" at City Hall to confirm that the tunnel was gone forever...
Bob Diamond's incredible story of rediscovering the tunnel eventually uncovers Lichtfield's scam but his great con turned out to leave something of a legacy for New Yorkers in search of a little intrigue. Still, there are two areas of the tunnel that have not been opened up and Bob Diamond believes that Booth's diary and other lurid artifacts may still be entombed there. Diamond is now the official curator of this great piece of NYC archeology and occasionally runs tours of the defunct tunnel that Whitman called "dark as the grave, cold, damp, and silent."
There is a great collection of in-depth tunnel-related articles here: http://www.brooklynrail.net/proj_aatunnel.html
You can also read the story at Curious Expeditions: http://curiousexpeditions.org/?cat=35
~MB
September 1, 2010
Vintage Groupies wives, girlfriends, groupies
15 April 2010 @ 04:33 pm
2 Todd girlfriends: Bebe Buell and Karen Darvin (who had a relationship with Bruce Springsteen)Bebe Buell explains on her book "Rebel Heart" (p. 163):
My last two months of pregnancy [May and June 1977] were the toughest [...] While I was seeing Steven, Todd was in Texas with the new woman in his life, Bruce springsteen`s ex-girlfriend a tall, slender red-head named Karen Darvin.
When Todd played Texas, Karen was in Dallas mending her broken heart with her parents. However, she not only felt up to seeing Todd`s Utopia show; she mustered enough energy to go backstage and put the wounded-bird touch on Todd. Something clicked beteen them. I later discovered that after Dallas, their torrid affair played in several other Texas cities. Naturally, I suspected nothing, since Todd was covering his tracks with dutiful calls and flights home for a few days here and there. [...] Todd and I were not together that much during the last months of my pregnancy because he had already met the woman with whom he would end up having two sons. I thinbk he had fallen genuinely in love with Karen [...]"
On July 1st 1977 baby Liv was born and Todd took care of her as if he was his father and moved with Bebe Buell again. However, when Bebe had her child "He left the delivery room and hoofed it over to a nearby hotel, where he had temporarily parked Karen for his convenience. The next day I called everyone I knew to help me locate him [...] Finally, he staggered into maternity ward at 7:00 P.M. on July 2nd".
Shortly after Liv was born, Bebe and Steven meet, and he asked her "So, Beeber, who`s the readhead with Todd?" I was stunned (tells Bebe in her memoirs book), WHat do you mean, `who`s the redhead?` What redhead?", "You know, the one who was hangin` on to him at the show we did in Ohio last week. Tall, skinny redhead. They were definitely together. I thought you should know." My heart sucked into my stomach.
"In the 1980s, Todd and Michelle had moved to a beautiful big house in Sausalito, just over the Golden Gate Bridge from san Francisco, in Martin County. He kept Karen, the mother of his sons Rex and Randy, in a house next door. He is the only man I`ve ever met who lives with more than one woman and makes it work."
( 
Are you a fan of Layla? Jennifer Juniper? Paula?Then you're welcome to visit the new community, 'The Boyds are Love'! Dedicated entirely to the Boyd family (the sisters in particular), their careers, their loves and their lives :3 So what are you waiting for? Click on the banner above to join :3(Hope this is allowed, if not, just delete it and ignore me |D)
Wishing Jane a very Happy Birthday Today!
There is here an excellent page with some groupies pics that Baron Wolman took for a Rolling stone article on the late 1960s: http://www.fotobaron.com/?section_id=87
There are pics of the GTOs, Karen Seltenrich, Miss Harlow, Catherine James...But also some other girls wich I didn't notice before:
Lacy
Jenny Dean
Sally Mann
and Trixie Merkin
Does anydody have more info on them? Who dated? Thanks!Remember to enlarge the pics and as well to check out the link, 'cause there are more pics.
And Happy Easter :)
From the 1970 film "Groupies"
Led Zep Groupie
( 
Here's a very cool nude pic of Miss Pam :) It's amazing how young she still looks!
Playlists and Archives for This Is The Modern World with Trouble
August 19, 2010: a la mer with arnaud fleurent-didier live | See the playlist | Listen: MP3 - 128K | Pop‑up player!
via wfmu.org
MICHAEL DOUGLAS CANCER SHOCKER - Celebrity News | Gossip - National Enquirer
MICHAEL DOUGLAS CANCER SHOCKER: IT'S STAGE 4
Photo by: Wales News Service / Splash News"It's a stage 4," MICHAEL DOUGLAS told DAVID LETTERMAN about his cancer on Tuesday night.
The Wall Street star opened up about his battle with thrat cancer on the Late Show with David Letterman admitting he smoked and drank and "this particular type of cancer is caused by alcohol and drinking."
As for his prognosis, the screen legend says, "The big thing you're always worried about is it spreading, so I am head and neck. I am above the neck, so nothing's gone down, and the expectations are good."
Now Michael's getting radiation and chemotherapy which he says is "gonna be an eight-week struggle.” He said his throat "hurts a lot. It comes in in waves... My heart goes out to all the families and all the supporters and now I understand it."
Published on: 09/01/2010
- JON + KATE = EXTORTION?
- BRANGIE BATTLE OVER SHILOH'S TOMBOY STYLE
- DR. OZ HEALTH SCARE
- MICHAEL DOUGLAS CANCER SHOCKER: IT'S STAGE 4
- TIGER MISTRESS RETURNS TO GROUND ZERO
- ATTENTION COUCH POTATOES! VOTE IN OUR FALL TV POLL
- JORAN'S PRISON ROMANCE
- BABY MAMA BRISTOL WANTS TO BUST A MOVE
- THE HOFF & OTHER 'DANCING' FOOLS ANNOUNCED
JIM CARREY DISTRAUGHT OVER JENNY'S NEW MAN - Celebrity News | Gossip - National Enquirer
JIM CARREY DISTRAUGHT OVER JENNY'S NEW MAN
Photo by: Sharky / Splash NewsJIM CARREY, long prone to bouts of depression, has come down with a major case of the blues after his ex-girlfriend JENNY MCCARTHY found love again and moved in with a super-buff former fitness model.
Now pals fear the funnyman’s downward spiral may prompt a return of the condition that once forced him into treatment for mental health problems.
“Jim isn’t himself these days – and he hasn’t been ever since he and Jenny split,” a close friend told The ENQUIRER.
“But finding out she has already moved in with a guy has just sent him reeling.”
In a painful split, Jim, 48, and Jenny, 37, broke up in April after nearly five years together.
The popular “Playboy” beauty recently revealed she’s fallen for 35-year-old Las Vegas hunk Jason Toohey.
A devastated Jim has been acting strangely, say sources — and he has posted weird messages on Twitter recently. Not long after splitting with Jenny, he Tweeted the word “boing” 40 times. Then he attacked Tiger Woods’ wife in another post, claiming she must have known about her husband’s affairs.
“That was the manic Jim acting out,” says the friend. “He isn’t happy.”
Pick up this week's ENQUIRER for the full story!
Published on: 08/31/2010
- JON + KATE = EXTORTION?
- BRANGIE BATTLE OVER SHILOH'S TOMBOY STYLE
- DR. OZ HEALTH SCARE
- MICHAEL DOUGLAS CANCER SHOCKER: IT'S STAGE 4
- TIGER MISTRESS RETURNS TO GROUND ZERO
- ATTENTION COUCH POTATOES! VOTE IN OUR FALL TV POLL
- JORAN'S PRISON ROMANCE
- BABY MAMA BRISTOL WANTS TO BUST A MOVE
- THE HOFF & OTHER 'DANCING' FOOLS ANNOUNCED
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