Eliza Turner

Cemeteries are interesting places; I love to explore them whenever possible and see what turns up. One day during one such walk in the Woodlawn Cemetery of Santa Monica, California one lone tomb stood out among the headstones and caught my attention. So, naturally, I took a closer look and found much more than just an old tomb. The exterior was painted and maintained but when I peered through the rusted gate it quickly become apparent that the inside of the tomb was in a bad state of neglect. The padlock was rusted and a faint cobweb linked it to the gate; it was obvious no one entered the tomb in many decades. The plaque identified the inhabitants as Markus D. Feather (12/18/1837-10/30/1910) and his wife, Susan J. Johnson (11/29/1854-5/26/1904). The masonic symbol indicated that Markus was a freemason and the star meant that Susan was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star (a co-ed masonic organization for Master Masons and their close female family members.) The ceme...

The photo in question. Original photographer unknown . A strange photo making its rounds about the internet shows a battleship protruding from the stony face of a cliff, flag raised and usually with the cryptic caption "Murmansk, Russia." It looks photoshopped, and many of the more critical views likely have chalked it up to such. I became intrigued by it and decided to do some research. The marking on the bow indicate it was a Soviet ship, and the flag is definitely red but too pixelated to see clearly. Logically, there is no way this ship could have crashed through a solid rock without suffering severe damage. There had to be more to the story… It turns out that this is not a real ship’s bow sticking out of the rock face, but rather a memorial. It commemorates a World War II battle known as the Liinakhamari Landing, and is dedicated to the Soviet sailors that lost their lives during the siege. The memorial was opened on the 30th anniversary of the battle, on Octobe...