[net.music] Spontaneous Combustion

pete@stc.UUCP (01/23/86)

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From the August 1853 preface to `Bleak House', written by Charles
Dickens:


        "The possibility of what is called Spontaneous Combustion
        has  been  denied  since  the death of Mr.  Krook; and my
        good friend MR.  LEWIS (quite mistaken, as he soon found,
        in  supposing  the  thing  to  have been abandoned by all
        authorities) published some ingenious letters  to  me  at
        the  time  when  that  event was chronicled, arguing that
        Spontaneous Combustion could not possibly be.  I have  no
        need  to  observe  that  I do not wilfully or negligently
        mislead  my  readers,  and  that  before  I  wrote   that
        description  I  took  pains  to  investigate the subject.
        There are about thirty cases on record, of which the most
        famous,  that of the Countess Cornelia de Bandi Cesenate,
        was  minutely  investigated  and  described  by  Giuseppe
        Bianchini,    a    prebendary    of   Verona,   otherwise
        distinguished in letters, who published an account of  it
        at  Verona,  in  1731, which he afterwards republished at
        Rome.  The appearances beyond all rational doubt observed
        in  that  case,  are  the  appearances  observed  in  Mr.
        Krook's case.  The next most famous instance happened  at
        Rhiems, six years earlier; and the historian in that case
        is LE CAT, one of the most renowned surgeons produced  by
        France.  The  subject  was  a  woman,  whose  husband was
        ignorantly convicted of  having  murdered  her;  but,  on
        solemn  appeal  to  a  higher  court,  he  was acquitted,
        because it was shown upon the evidence that she died  the
        death  to  which  this  name of Spontaneous Combustion is
        given.  I do not think  it  necessary  to  add  to  these
        notable   facts,   and  that  general  reference  to  the
        authorities which will be found at page  459*  (Macdonald
        Illustrated  Classics, 1955 - PWK), the recorded opinions
        and  experiences  of  distinguished  medical  professors,
        French,   English,  and  Scotch,  in  more  modern  days;
        contenting  myself  with  observing,  that  I  shall  not
        abandon   the   facts  until  there  shall  have  been  a
        considerable Spontaneous Combustion of the  testimony  on
        which human occurrences are usually received.

        * Another case, very  clearly  described  by  a  dentist,
        occurred at the town of Columbus, in the United States of
        America, quite recently.  The subject was a  German,  who
        kept a liquor-shop, and was an inveterate drunkard."
-- 
	Peter Kendell <pete@stc.UUCP>

	...!mcvax!ukc!stc!pete

	`When your achievements match your expectations,
	 it's time to move on.'

ccs025@ucdavis.UUCP (Johan) (01/25/86)

> >While doing Saturday Night Live, Eddie Murphy once caught fire while
> >doing a skit with W. F. Buckley.
> 
> The chemicals used to straighten and maintain Micheal Jackson's hair are
> probably flammable.  I don't know how it happened to Eddie Murphy.

  Actually, I heard that Eddie Murphy *is* Micheal Jackson in
disguise.  He is apparantly a paranoid hebophrenic and uses the
Eddie Murphy persona to release his exibitionist side.  It certainly
would make sense, seeing as he is so shy.  What I wonder is who
is given credit for the song "Party All the Time", surely
Michael wouldn't give Eddie credit and risk losing *another*
award!  Either way I can't explain why they are so combstible.
Although I did here that the person on the net who expressed
the "ALIEN" explanation has disapeared !!!!  Makes you wonder   
several things 1)Is Michael Eddie or is Eddie Michael,
2)What planet did these aliens come from, and most importantly--
    #3) Why is this in net.movies.....unless of course the
                                   aliens own MGM.....   
                      .   .
                        ^
                      -___-
-- 
                   Martin Van Ryswyk
	 {dual,lll-crg,ucbvax}!ucdavis!deneb!ccs025     

ccs020@ucdavis.UUCP (Kevin Chu) (01/27/86)

In article <895@dataioDataio.UUCP> bright@dataio.UUCP (Walter Bright writes:
>
> I understand that when Michael Jackson was filming the Pepsi commercial,
> he spontaneously combusted on the stage. I believe it was even captured
> on film.
> 
> While doing Saturday Night Live, Eddie Murphy once caught fire while
> doing a skit with W. F. Buckley.

Catching on fire and spontanous combustion are not the same thing.  The
Pepsi commercial had a lot of fireworks in it and some of them ignited the
'afro-sheen' in his hair.  I heard of anything ever happening to Eddie Murphy.
-- 
		Kevin Chu
[UUCP]		!{ucbvax,lll-crg}!ucdavis!vega!ccs020
[ARPA]		ucdavis!vega!ccs020@ucbvax.berkeley.edu

nunes@utai.UUCP (Joe Nunes) (01/28/86)

> In article <895@dataioDataio.UUCP> bright@dataio.UUCP (Walter Bright writes:
> >
> > I understand that when Michael Jackson was filming the Pepsi commercial,
> > he spontaneously combusted on the stage. I believe it was even captured
> > on film.
> > 
> > While doing Saturday Night Live, Eddie Murphy once caught fire while
> > doing a skit with W. F. Buckley.
> 
> Catching on fire and spontanous combustion are not the same thing.  The
> Pepsi commercial had a lot of fireworks in it and some of them ignited the
> 'afro-sheen' in his hair.  I heard of anything ever happening to Eddie Murphy.
> -- 
> 		Kevin Chu
> [UUCP]		!{ucbvax,lll-crg}!ucdavis!vega!ccs020
> [ARPA]		ucdavis!vega!ccs020@ucbvax.berkeley.edu

No, no, no. This is getting silly. Eddie Murphy did a skit on Saturday Night
Live in which he played a talk-show guest that had a theory that blacks
could spontaneously combust. He gave Michael Jackson and Richard Pryor as
examples. As the skit ended smoke started coming out his clothes.

davidl@teklds.UUCP (David Levine) (01/28/86)

>> >While doing Saturday Night Live, Eddie Murphy once caught fire while
>> >doing a skit with W. F. Buckley.
>> 
>> The chemicals used to straighten and maintain Micheal Jackson's hair are
>> probably flammable.  I don't know how it happened to Eddie Murphy.
>
>2)What planet did these aliens come from, and most importantly--
>    #3) Why is this in net.movies.....

The answer to these two questions is the same.

Michael Jackson and Eddie Murphy are both Black Lectroids from Planet 10, as 
seen in the film "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth 
Dimension".  Like the Invaders of old, captured Lectroids have a tendency to
self-immolate to prevent their disguises from being penetrated after death.
Apparently, the conditioning required to rid these talented aliens of their
Rastafarian accents left them suceptible to accidental combustion.

- David D. Levine, Blue Blaze Irregular (no kidding!)
                (...{decvax,ihnp4,hplabs}!tektronix!teklds!davidl) [UUCP]
                (davidl%teklds%tektronix@csnet-relay.arpa)         [ARPA]