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dark champions from each of the 50 states


bubba smith

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Re: dark champions from each of the 50 states

 

Something that might be worked in as additional background info on the Pennsylvania Dark Champion from Centralia (warning, long, taken from my LJ):

 

Just read a book that covers Pennsylvania ghost towns, and it was an entertaining piece of work.

 

For me, the best entry was about the infamous town of Centralia and its seemingly never-ending mine fire that's been raging for almost half a century by now.

 

I always wondered how the fire started -- according to the author it was back in May 17, 1962 when the town leaders decided to burn the landfill of garbage on the edge of town. The local fire department was on hand to make sure that things didn't get out of hand. After the trash was all burned, they doused the ashes, and everyone left.

 

Unfortunately, the fire wasn't completely out. It burned deeper and deeper, until it hit an exposed vein of anthracite coal. On May 19, the fire became visible from a nearby cemetery. The firemen tried to put it out, but gave up after several days when it became obvious that a trench ran from the fire directly to the old anthracite mine. The firefighting was then paused to open things up to the bid process. By the time they realized that allowing an out of control fire to touch off a whole mine full of coal was a bad idea, it was too late.

 

Deadly gases began rising into local homes. The US Dept. of Mines put down vents to safely let the gas escape -- which allowed oxygen to continue to reach the fire. Even the town mayor was overcome in his home by noxious fumes. Residents were given alarms to warn them of toxic gas, but there weren't enough. So those in the low-hazard areas gave their alarms to folks in the high danger areas and then prayed that they wouldn't get a nasty surprise.

 

The fire soon hit a temp of 1000 degrees, and the few remaining miners fled the shaft for their lives. The main shafts were closed and sealed, but like so many of the big coal mines in PA, the Centralia mine had air shafts all over the place, some of them in very out of the way places, that fed oxygen to the fire. Add in any crossovers to other mines, possible caves that lead to the surface, etc., and it should be no wonder that the fire has raged as long as it has.

 

Nevertheless, even with the rising temperatures, the danger of poisonous gas, the occasional house collapse as its foundations were destroyed, most Centralians still stubbornly stayed in their town. The state government also ignored their problems. The final wake-up call came in 1981 when a young boy almost fell to his death when a section of street caved in under him, nearly hurling him into the fire. The state argued that it would cost almost $700 million to douse the fire, so they instead put up a $50 million buyout for the town.

 

Many locals still refused to leave, even when ordered to do so. Those who did take the money and decide to leave were often cast out of their families, cursed by their more stubborn neighbors, and sometimes physically attacked. There have even been murders over the 'traitors' -- one case in the 90's involved a man telling his wife that they were leaving Centralia. She refused, and the ensuing argument became so heated that he killed her. Horrified when he came back to his senses, the man left a note confessing to the crime, drove up into the mountains surrounding the town, doused himself in gasoline, and lit a match.

 

Governor Casey in the 90's declared that the buyout was mandatory. Some people still stayed. The state has yet to forcibly remove these people. There is also fear that the expanding mine fire will start endangering other nearby towns like Ashland.

 

You can visit Centralia if you like. It looks like a ghost town, with many houses collapsed or torn down and other shuttered tightly. Pipes sticking up out of the ground continually vent steam and smoke from below, and the state has ceased all services to the town, including mowing, repair work, and postal service. (So much for "Not rain nor hail nor dead of night shall stay me from my rounds", eh?) In several spots, smoke rises from the cracked earth, indicating the new direction of the fire.

 

A few people, between 10 and 20, still live in Centralia. They are legally squatters, as the state now owns their homes and land, and they dread the day when they just know that Pennsylvania invades to drive them away from their homes. They argue that since Centralia is sitting above one of the largest anthracite coal deposits in the state, that PA wants to chase them away so it can 'steal' the coal. The state denies this (and truthfully, how would they even get the coal?).

 

The book concludes by saying that you can visit Centralia if you're willing to dodge roadblocks and detour signs, and that whatever happens to you is entirely on your own head.

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Re: dark champions from each of the 50 states

 

Pronghorn, of Wyoming

 

he never wanted to be a superhero:

he's a mutant, with the acute senses, high speed,

climbing agility, and musk of a powerful Pronghorn buck.

he's got a peculiar leaping kick that can stave in

the side of an 18-wheeler.

 

he never wanted to be a vegetarian, either.

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Re: dark champions from each of the 50 states

 

Pronghorn' date=' [i']of Wyoming[/i]

 

he never wanted to be a superhero:

he's a mutant, with the acute senses, high speed,

climbing agility, and musk of a powerful Pronghorn buck.

he's got a peculiar leaping kick that can stave in

the side of an 18-wheeler.

 

he never wanted to be a vegetarian, either.

:thumbup:,but man what an ugly mug on this guy

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Re: dark champions from each of the 50 states

 

Pronghorn' date=' [i']of Wyoming

 

[/i]he never wanted to be a superhero:

he's a mutant, with the acute senses, high speed,

climbing agility, and musk of a powerful Pronghorn buck.

he's got a peculiar leaping kick that can stave in

the side of an 18-wheeler.

 

he never wanted to be a vegetarian, either.

 

Okay, he has the musk of a pronghorn buck. Now just what does that mean? Is he irresistible to women?

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Re: dark champions from each of the 50 states

 

Some decades ago, the millionaire Howard Hughes produced an infamous movie about Ghenghis Khan. It had John Wayne in the title role, and a red-headed Irishwoman as a Chinese princess. And it was filmed just downwind of the nuclear test sites.

 

Hughes even trucked the dirt back to California to film, in studio.

 

Tragically, dozens of the cast and crew died of cancer as a result.

 

One man did try to warn them of the danger in advance, and was murdered by persons unknown for his troubles. Then his body was dumped in a stretch of desert so heavily contaminated that radiation poisoning would have killed him, even if 'lead poisoning' hadn't.

 

In the end, neither death was permanent, and the now-amnesiac, now-undead, do-gooder was back as Half-life, his decaying remains lethally radioactive, and his mind clouded by unpredictable fits of rage, grief, and revenge.

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Re: dark champions from each of the 50 states

 

compare the Illinois entries for 50-Heroes and Dark-5O.

 

one looks clean cut, by the book, and the

other does what it takes to get the job done.

 

just imagine the arguments over uh, policy

that The Untouchable and Chicago Chief have.

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Re: dark champions from each of the 50 states

 

Some decades ago, the millionaire Howard Hughes produced an infamous movie about Ghenghis Khan. It had John Wayne in the title role, and a red-headed Irishwoman as a Chinese princess. And it was filmed just downwind of the nuclear test sites.

 

Hughes even trucked the dirt back to California to film, in studio.

 

Tragically, dozens of the cast and crew died of cancer as a result.

 

One man did try to warn them of the danger in advance, and was murdered by persons unknown for his troubles. Then his body was dumped in a stretch of desert so heavily contaminated that radiation poisoning would have killed him, even if 'lead poisoning' hadn't.

 

In the end, neither death was permanent, and the now-amnesiac, now-undead, do-gooder was back as Half-life, his decaying remains lethally radioactive, and his mind clouded by unpredictable fits of rage, grief, and revenge.

 

Cool :) Much better than what I imagine a Casino themed Nevadan would have been. As a Nevada resident, I'm happy to see someone come up with something non-casino. :thumbup:

 

Must spread rep around blah blah blah

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Re: dark champions from each of the 50 states

 

Cool :) Much better than what I imagine a Casino themed Nevadan would have been. As a Nevada resident, I'm happy to see someone come up with something non-casino. :thumbup:

 

Must spread rep around blah blah blah

 

thankyou - the movie was The Conqueror, 1956, RKO - over ninety of the 220 cast and crew contracted cancer, and most of them died from it, included all the main cast.

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Re: dark champions from each of the 50 states

 

From Florida, god's waiting room, land of the unsolved murder, and occasional hurricane.

 

Anole - freelance assassin and vigilante. Ashamed of her non-human features, despite the usefulness of the claws, and the like, for sneaking up walls and into a target's home.

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