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george68 · Jun 3, 2004, 10:11 PM

Not online (that I know of) but in case anybody wants to see something seriously seriously disturbing, rent the VHS "History of Coney Island" by PBS. Part of the America's history series or something. Anyway, they used to have all these elephants on coney island. Some asshole though it'd be agood idea to feed this old girl elephant a lit cigarette. The elephant smushed him (and rightly so). Anyway, they were going to hang the elephant, but that was too cruel, so instead they electrocuted it with a ton of power. Video of it steaming and everything. It just stood there...... no sound out of it at all.

Pretty sad/disgusting.

- Rob

ryju · Jun 3, 2004, 10:14 PM

For some odd reason that sig took awhile to load.

ghost_flash · Jun 3, 2004, 10:15 PM

Originally posted by george68:
Not online (that I know of) but in case anybody wants to see something seriously seriously disturbing, rent the VHS "History of Coney Island" by PBS. Part of the America's history series or something. Anyway, they used to have all these elephants on coney island. Some asshole though it'd be agood idea to feed this old girl elephant a lit cigarette. The elephant smushed him (and rightly so). Anyway, they were going to hang the elephant, but that was too cruel, so instead they electrocuted it with a ton of power. Video of it steaming and everything. It just stood there...... no sound out of it at all.

Pretty sad/disgusting.

- Rob

Running out to the video store to grab that sucker now! Gosh thanks!

No. What is really sad is you posting about it. The should have just shot it with an elephant gun. Morons. I wonder what elephants taste like?

Americans. Pah-tewy! Bastages. That's like cruelty to elephants that smash people.
The nerve.

talisker · Jun 3, 2004, 10:17 PM

What's really sad is that you just sat there and watched the video without going to help the elephant. You could have built a time machine and gone back to fight off the elephant killers, but you just sat there doing nothing.

Dex13 · Jun 3, 2004, 10:20 PM

Originally posted by talisker:
What's really sad is that you just sat there and watched the video without going to help the elephant. You could have built a time machine and gone back to fight off the elephant killers, but you just sat there doing nothing.

But then I wouldn't really trust Cash/Rob w/ a time machine �

ghost_flash · Jun 3, 2004, 10:28 PM

Originally posted by Dex13:
But then I wouldn't really trust Cash/Rob w/ a time machine �

What could he do? .... as I just typed that I mentally slapped myself in the forehead.

george68 · Jun 3, 2004, 10:35 PM

Originally posted by ghost_flash:
What could he do? .... as I just typed that I mentally slapped myself in the forehead.

Good question. I suppose if I had a time machine, I'd go into the future and take pictures of nintendo's 'going out of business' webpage, then bring it back to the present to post to all the gamecube fans.

Seriously though....eh... I think I'd go back to the late 70s early 80s and buy a 1970 Cuda convertable, 68 Charger, and a few other choice cars and store them in a barn that nobody could find or get to, so I could drive them today.

- Ca$h

PS: Oh yeah, also would have prevented Sept 11th somehow.

demograph68 · Apr 5, 2005, 02:32 AM

http://rottenwomb.spymac.net/topsy.mov

PB2K · Apr 5, 2005, 05:43 AM

That Edison movie was made for scientific reasons. To show the dangers of some sort of electricity. By electrocuting an elephant he proved that one of the two types of current was dangerous. The other one is has become popular for domestic use since then.

analogika · Apr 5, 2005, 05:52 AM

Originally posted by PB2K:
That Edison movie was made for scientific reasons. To show the dangers of some sort of electricity. By electrocuting an elephant he proved that one of the two types of current was dangerous. The other one is has become popular for domestic use since then.

Wrong on both accounts:

Topsy the Elephant was a Coney Island attraction who was increasingly abused by trainers (lit cigarettes thrown into her mouth etc.) and went berserk, killing three people in three months.

They were thinking about how to execute her, and Edison seized the propaganda opportunity for a demonstration of just how dangerous Tesla's alternating current was (Edison was a huge proponent of DC), so he filmed the electrocution.

AC has since become the worldwide power supply standard, despite Edison's efforts to vilify it.

-s*

- - e r i k - - · Apr 5, 2005, 06:24 AM

Originally posted by analogika:
Wrong on both accounts:

Topsy the Elephant was a Coney Island attraction who was increasingly abused by trainers (lit cigarettes thrown into her mouth etc.) and went berserk, killing three people in three months.

They were thinking about how to execute her, and Edison seized the propaganda opportunity for a demonstration of just how dangerous Tesla's alternating current was (Edison was a huge proponent of DC), so he filmed the electrocution.

AC has since become the worldwide power supply standard, despite Edison's efforts to vilify it.

Correct. He was however not wrong on both accounts. He is basically saying the same as you with fewer details.

analogika · Apr 5, 2005, 06:30 AM

Originally posted by - - e r i k - -:
Correct. He was however not wrong on both accounts. He is basically saying the same as you with fewer details.

Actually, he claimed that

a) the movie was filmed for scientific reasons. Debateable, since the propaganda effort wasn't really "scientific", but mostly aimed at discrediting a competitor - Tesla. (Edison had a lot invested in DC technology. He was a businessman.)

b) He proved that one type of current - AC - was dangerous. Correct. However, the OTHER type of electricity (DC) has since become standard. This is incorrect.

Just a small correction.

-s*

- - e r i k - - · Apr 5, 2005, 06:35 AM

Originally posted by analogika:
Actually, he claimed that

a) the movie was filmed for scientific reasons. Debateable, since the propaganda effort wasn't really "scientific", but mostly aimed at discrediting a competitor - Tesla. (Edison had a lot invested in DC technology. He was a businessman.)

b) He proved that one type of current - AC - was dangerous. Correct. However, the OTHER type of electricity (DC) has since become standard. This is incorrect.

Just a small correction.

It was a small correction. But you made it sound like he was totally wrong. He was vague and slightly erronous, but he was on the right track for the majority of his post.

analogika · Apr 5, 2005, 07:26 AM

Originally posted by - - e r i k - -:
It was a small correction. But you made it sound like he was totally wrong. He was vague and slightly erronous, but he was on the right track for the majority of his post.

agreed, except that it made it seem like Edison was right, and that this was made to further science.

Edison was wrong, and it was made to further business - Edison's business.

demograph68 · Apr 5, 2005, 07:32 AM

Tesla was a nutcase.

http://www.davidszondy.com/future/tesla/tesla.htm

- - e r i k - - · Apr 5, 2005, 07:52 AM

Originally posted by demograph68:
Tesla was a nutcase.

http://www.davidszondy.com/future/tesla/tesla.htm

And so was the guy who designed that webpage...

ghporter · Apr 5, 2005, 08:26 AM

Electrocution was a serious scientific curiosity in the early 1900s. Edison was obviously very interested in it from a number of angles. There were movies made of electrocutions of a number of different animals, and a few convicts, that were used in various ways to interest people in electricity or scare them away from it. For its time, the Edison movie was scientifically valid. That was over 100 years ago. Now it's just morbid.

And Tesla was definitely a nut case. A brilliant nut case, but a nut case none the less. Kind of like Jerry Lewis; with a good director reining him in, Jerry was brilliant, but on his own, he was just over the top (and he'll admit that, too). Tesla didn't have anyone to ride herd on him, and it showed.

Cody Dawg · Apr 5, 2005, 09:08 AM

That is disgusting.

Why didn't PBS edit that out?

Well, maybe knowledge of it is a better thing so that it never happens again.

I read a book called When Elephants Weep which was very good.

Eriamjh · Apr 5, 2005, 12:33 PM

Originally posted by Cody Dawg:
That is disgusting.

Why didn't PBS edit that out?

Well, maybe knowledge of it is a better thing so that it never happens again.

You cannot deny things like this ever happened. The fact that we are offended by it today is a good sign we are improving.

RonnieoftheRose · 02:23 PM

Originally posted by analogika:
Wrong on both accounts:

Topsy the Elephant was a Coney Island attraction who was increasingly abused by trainers (lit cigarettes thrown into her mouth etc.) and went berserk, killing three people in three months.

They were thinking about how to execute her, and Edison seized the propaganda opportunity for a demonstration of just how dangerous Tesla's alternating current was (Edison was a huge proponent of DC), so he filmed the electrocution.

AC has since become the worldwide power supply standard, despite Edison's efforts to vilify it.

-s*

Why didn't Edison test his theory on the trainers as they were sleeping?

CharlesS · Apr 5, 2005, 01:21 PM

Originally posted by analogika:
b) He proved that one type of current - AC - was dangerous. Correct. However, the OTHER type of electricity (DC) has since become standard. This is incorrect.

However, if DC had become standard as Edison wanted, then maybe we wouldn't have to have so many devices with these huge DC adapters that cover both the outlet you're plugging them into and all the adjacent ones...

sideus · Apr 5, 2005, 01:38 PM

The ASPCA thought the electrocution was humane.

wdlove · Apr 5, 2005, 01:53 PM

It is very sad when an electrocution occurs to any animal. We have had two dogs electrocuted accidentally by live wires near a man hole cover. One died.

Goldfinger · Apr 5, 2005, 02:28 PM

Originally posted by Cody Dawg:
Why didn't PBS edit that out?

Cody Dawg · Apr 5, 2005, 02:30 PM

I mean, that's not something I really think children should watch, you know?

We have PBS on here where we live starting at 6 AM and there are frequently wildlife and animal shows on. I don't think a kid watching an elephant being electrocuted while eating corn flakes is a good thing.

Obi Wan's Ghost · Apr 5, 2005, 02:41 PM

Why does all that smoke come out of his feet? In the Star Wars universe smoke comes out of the spine.

brapper · Apr 5, 2005, 02:45 PM

I won't lie, I'm pretty upset about that movie.

Kilbey · Apr 5, 2005, 04:15 PM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
However, if DC had become standard as Edison wanted, then maybe we wouldn't have to have so many devices with these huge DC adapters that cover both the outlet you're plugging them into and all the adjacent ones...

I've been hit with DC and with AC enough times to know that I don't want to be hit by DC ever again. AC tingles... DC HURTS. For a long time.

CD Hanks · Apr 5, 2005, 04:22 PM

Originally posted by Cody Dawg:
I mean, that's not something I really think children should watch, you know?

We have PBS on here where we live starting at 6 AM and there are frequently wildlife and animal shows on. I don't think a kid watching an elephant being electrocuted while eating corn flakes is a good thing.

I think you missed the point. Unless the local program director is psychotic, I really doubt they'll air stock footage from the turn of the century that includes an elephant falling over in a cloud of smoke.

analogika · Apr 5, 2005, 06:03 PM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
However, if DC had become standard as Edison wanted, then maybe we wouldn't have to have so many devices with these huge DC adapters that cover both the outlet you're plugging them into and all the adjacent ones...

The entire worldwide power grid is based completely on Tesla's technology. The generator was HIS design.

If DC had become standard, we'd all have to live within about a mile of a power plant to have electricity.

And I'm sure some evil human would have come up with a design equally retarded to those horrible wall-warts.

-s*

FulcrumPilot · Apr 5, 2005, 06:12 PM

I wouldn't have done that. I would have considered lobotomy of its brain instead. An elephant alive is worth more then when it is dead.

http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/lobotomy.html

Number Two · 06:20 PM

An "elephant being electrocuted while eating corn flakes"???? er...

Oh wait. I see now..

ghporter · Apr 5, 2005, 06:19 PM

Originally posted by analogika:
The entire worldwide power grid is based completely on Tesla's technology. The generator was HIS design.

If DC had become standard, we'd all have to live within about a mile of a power plant to have electricity.

And I'm sure some evil human would have come up with a design equally retarded to those horrible wall-warts.

-s*

There are problems with DC that AC overcomes, primarily the fact that with DC you experience significant loss through copper distribution lines because of resistence. With AC, you can run the power through a transformer to raise the voltage and lower the current, minimizing the resistive loss. At the customer end, you run it through another transformer to lower the voltage and raise the resulting current capability. Those barrel things on power poles are transformers, and the big green boxes in your neighbor's yards contain transformers, too.

With AC you distribute power and then customize the voltage to the consumer's needs-in the U.S. and Canada that's about 110-120VAC at 60Hz, with residential service usually providing about 100Amperes. You simply CANNOT do that with DC.

SimpleLife · Apr 5, 2005, 06:57 PM

Extraordinary what human beings can do out of curiosity...

CD Hanks · Apr 5, 2005, 06:57 PM

Originally posted by SimpleLife:
Extraordinary what human beings can do out of curiosity...

Now there's a loaded comment.

analogika · Apr 5, 2005, 07:02 PM

Originally posted by CD Hanks:
Now there's a loaded comment.

Try giving it a twysting motion.

SimpleLife · Apr 5, 2005, 07:19 PM

Originally posted by CD Hanks:
Now there's a loaded comment.

whaddaya mean?

CD Hanks · Apr 5, 2005, 07:26 PM

Originally posted by SimpleLife:
whaddaya mean?

From that, either a) most will overlook it or b) it'll a lot of bad posts.

SimpleLife · 07:39 PM

Originally posted by CD Hanks:
From that, either a) most will overlook it or b) it'll a lot of bad posts.

Are you making a request from me to make a stronger statement?

OK.

Human curiosity is quite something. Children, at the earliest years, will grab anything and inadvertantly destroy whatever they touch. Of course, then, they do not understand. But they do acquire knowledge.

Adults do something similar, but until they can really get a grasp of something, they need experience, and the best experience comes from first-hand situations. Later on, they can share these experiences, either verbally, litterally or with our modern technologies, through video recording.

And curiosity wins all the time.

We could all have imagined what an elephant being electrocuted looks like, but never pefectly, and so, most of us will need that first hand experience, or whatever that is close to it.

So we all looked, or almost. How different are we from the people who did electrocuted that elephant? I guess we are only a few steps away...

grayware · Apr 6, 2005, 02:59 PM

Years and years ago when I was a teenager, I came home from school to unfortunately come across cruelty being subjected to a pig, on PBS no less. Some @ssholes were holding down this poor animal while another fnckhead was using a torch to burn the pig alive. They literally pulled this thick crust off it's side and I recall them pouring some viscous black liquid in the poor animal's mouth as it suffered. I really doubt the pig had any pain-killing administered in that liquid. Sick, sick bastards. May they suffer in hell for all eternity.