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Wanna read the latest
from Clever Magazine? |
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The Virtual Postcard continues... |
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...but this time we're taking a detour. The phantom found some old postcards that feature dangerous situations that make perfect additions to this issue (spring, 04). But first, let's start with the postcard that also appears as our cover. This card is titled "Cheetahs with a kill," and was sent from Ethiopia. The writer mailed it to workmates back home. He writes: "Dear Group: a local committee meeting! Look familiar? I miss you all and hope you have done nothing to screw up during my absence." (Hmm, sounds like it might have been from the boss. In that case, it's hard to determine where the danger lies and it gives new meaning to the term "eaten alive".) |
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Here's an old (circa 1940s) Curt Teich linen postcard of a brown bear cub. There's no message but we all know that these cute little cubs grow up to be big bad bears. As a little kid, I was truly afraid of bears. Once when I was on a camping trip with my family, I ran into one. I was scared witless but for some reason the bear was even more frightened than me. My magic power, I guess. |
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| Here's a mountain lion and her kitten. We all love kittens, but this one won't be quite so cute when fully grown. According to this postcard, mountain lions (aka cougars) can weigh up to 175 pounds. They roam the hillsides and Sierra mountains of California, along with the brown bears. Nowadays they can occasionally be found closer to home. Be sure to read the book review of David Baron's The Beast in the Garden for some interesting information on these protected and dangerous animals. | ||
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Here's an Everglades alligator. Looks like he's smiling for the camera. I've heard they don't have much of a sense of humor though, so it's probably really a frown. Here's what our friend David Baron has to say about Florida alligators: "...hunted toward extinction in the 1960s, then protected by the Endangered Species Act -- (alligators) have become so abundant that if each consumed just sixteen humans, the reptiles would thoroughly depopulate the Sunshine State." (Tee-hee!) ( Beast, p. 10) |
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| There's nothing actually dangerous about a lion statue, except symbolically, but we're adding this postcard because it was sent to us by Clever Reader, Timmie Akerson, from somewhere in the Crimea. It features a nifty Ukrainian stamp on the back too. Thanks, Timmie! | ||
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And finally, here's an old comic postcard titled "A hunting we will go." I guess we could also call it a deer's day dream. According to Baron, the number of hunters in the US is declining, but it's probably not because they are being picked off by deer. We'll be back on our U.S. tour with the next issue. Stay tuned. |
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