Archery Tag: The Game Most People Have Never Heard of

While archery tag might sound like a deadly sport invented in the Middle Ages, it’s actually closer to a modern cross between paintball and archery. This fast-paced, family-friendly game is all about teamwork, aim, speed, and good old-fashioned fun. Think of archery tag as dodgeball, but with bows and arrows. Now before you go thinking it’s dangerous, the arrows are tipped with giant foam marshmallow-like cushions. Each team has a 5-spot target with foam inserts that can be knocked out with arrows. Each team also has large, inflatable bunkers on opposite sides of the field behind which they can hide as they aim at their opponents’ targets. Players who get hit by an arrow are immediately out. The game is over when one of three things happens: (1) all the players on one team have been tagged out, (2) all the centers have been knocked out of one team’s target, or (3) a time limit has lapsed. In the last case, the win is determined by the relative number of centers knocked out of the 5-spot. The game is great for ages 7 and up, and there are plenty of companies that provide archery tag rentals. They’re great for birthdays, bachelor parties, team building, and any special event with an eye toward engaging everyone. 

 

 

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Mississippi’s Phantom Barber

In the early days of World War II, warship construction helped the tiny fishing town of Pascagoula, Mississippi, grow from a population of 5,000 to nearly 15,000, seemingly overnight. Although a larger population meant an economic boost for local businesses, it also meant the police force was struggling to keep the larger population in line. Aside from the expected uptick in drunken brawls and burglaries, there was one menace wandering the streets that kept people awake at night: The Phantom Barber of Pascagoula. His reign of terror began on Friday, June 5, 1942, when young Mary Evelyn Briggs and Edna Marie Hydel at the Our Lady of Victories convent were shocked to find a man climbing out of their bedroom window. The two girls were unharmed, although each of them was missing a lock of hair. Briggs later described the man as “sort of short, sort of fat, and he was wearing a white sweatshirt.” The Barber struck again on Monday at the Peattie home, where he cut a slit in the window screen and crawled inside to snip the hair of little 6-year old Carol Peattie as she lay sleeping next to her twin brother. This time the Phantom Barber accidentally left a clue — a sandy footprint near the window. The next incident occurred the following Friday night, when the home of Mr. and Mrs. Terrell Heidelberg was invaded. Like before, the window screen was cut and the invader came inside. However, instead of taking his typical trophy tuft, he used a heavy iron bar to attack the couple, taking out some of Mrs. Heidelberg’s front teeth and knocking her husband unconscious. Unfortunately, it all happened so quickly that neither could describe their attacker. For two more months, residents lived in fear, though no additional attacks occurred. Then, suddenly, police announced they had caught the Phantom Barber — William Dolan, a 57-year old chemist. Despite his insistence of innocence, Dolan was quickly found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Six years later, Mississippi Governor Fielding Wright reviewed the case and asked that Dolan take a lie-detector test. Upon passing, Dolan was given a limited suspended sentence and then eventually set free in 1951. In hindsight, some modern historians wonder if Dolan was guilty of any crime at all. Was Dolan the Phantom Barber of Pascagoula, or a patsy who took the fall to quell the anxieties of a small town? We may never know for sure.

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Roman Bigfoot? UK Archaeologists Investigate Unusually Large Shoes

Archaeologists excavating at Magna, a Roman fort near Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, England, have uncovered an amazing treasure trove of ancient leather shoes, many of them unusually large. Of the 32 shoes unearthed in the northern defensive ditches of Magna, 25% are more 11.8 inches long, including a record-breaking 12.8-inch sole (the U.S. equivalent of a size 15 shoe) — the biggest yet recorded in the Vindolanda Trust’s vast collection of Roman shoes. The boots were recovered from oxygen-poor, waterlogged conditions at the base of Magna’s deep “ankle-breaker” trenches — defense ditches designed to trip and injure enemies. "You need specific soil conditions with very low oxygen for organic objects made of things like wood, leather, textiles, stuff like that, to survive for this length of time,” said Rachel Frame, a senior archeologist on the project. She noted that the team is probing the history of the Roman Empire for answers, stressing that people of different cultures and backgrounds would likely have been meeting at the site.

 

 

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A Classical Drive: Road Rumble Strips Play Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

The humble rumble strip, used around the world to alert drifting drivers to potential hazards or lane departures, has been transformed into a classical music fest on a mountain highway in the far reaches of the United Arab Emirates. For nearly a half mile along the E84 highway, motorists in the right-hand lane coming into the city of Fujairah can play Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony where the rubber meets the road. The “Street of Music” is an art project that exists in some countries, and Ali Obaid Al Hefaiti, Director of Fujairah Fine Arts Academy, wanted the project in his country as well. The rumble strip initially looks like a larger, rectangular version of the lines that separate the three-lane highway…….until you hit the first block. Then, the grooves of the road combine with the speed of the vehicle to make music. Driving over each block sounds out the best-known parts of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, commonly known as “Ode to Joy.” It’s recommended the motorists hit the blocks at around 60mph to get the tune just right. Drivers have been spotted slowing down to experience the musical road as they come into the city. Passersby can get the same effect from standing on the side of the road. While the road has become a social media sensation, it’s also raising awareness about the importance of music in culture.

 

 

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