AH Anything You Ever Wanted to Know Thread (Information)

[BlackShanglan]

There's a public radio station that runs a neat little show - an open mike call-in that allows viewers to ask any question whatsoever and receive information from other callers who might have the answer. It started as a quickly thought-up solution to a guest not arriving for a planned show, but it proved so popular that it became a program in its own right. Many and varied are the topics, and it's really quite interesting and informative to listen to. It's a fun way to mobilize the immense pool of knowledge that the listeners posess.

I thought it would be handy to do the same thing in the AH. We're a very diverse and quite well informed bunch, so far as I have seen, and there are some fascinating specilizations of knowledge amongst us as well. Let's take advantage of it!

(Please do save this thread for questions and answers that involve actual information, as opposed to the "How can people believe something so idiotic as X?" variety of rhetorical question.)

Kicking it off, I've got a few questions of my own. Given the nature of the questions, I wish to point out that the first two are related to a murder mystery I'm working on.

- How quickly after death would a body exhibit a change in blood flow from a wound? Do wounds bleed substantially less the moment the heart stops beating and circulation shuts down, or would there still be a fair bit of bleeding while the body remains warm and pliable?

- Are there any known serial killers whose motivation was neither sexual nor financial?

- Has anyone got experience trimming a pomegranate into a tree shape? I have a two-trunked tree at the moment, but the top is very high compared to the width of the trunks, so that it is thin and whippy and the top branches droop far down. Is there a proper way to get things balanced out?

 

[buxxxom]

Hmmm. Good questions. As for the bloody wound, I would think that it would bleed substantially less as cardiac function slows, but depending on the location of the wound, may leak blood continually until the body is completely empty.

A disturbing vision of hogs hanging after slaughter at my grandfathers farm just popped into my head.

 

[Dar~]

Dang, I hoped this would be a tell all tale (hee hee) of the horsey.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Hmmm. Good questions. As for the bloody wound, I would think that it would bleed substantially less as cardiac function slows, but depending on the location of the wound, may leak blood continually until the body is completely empty.

A disturbing vision of hogs hanging after slaughter at my grandfathers farm just popped into my head.

Oh, good point on the position of the body. It's laying down on the ground, and the wounds are inflicted to the top surface of the chest and abdomen.

Shanglan

(And Dar, sorry to disappoint. )

 

[TxRad]

The where of the wounds and whether they cut veins or arteries has a lot to do with the speed of bleeding. There's only about five pints of blood if memory serves but even a half pint looks like a lot.

On the pomegranate tree, Prune the whippy limbs back until they are stiff will help it bush up and can be used for shaping. Thinning the center between the two trunks and the top for thicker (stiffer) limbs will make it more tree like. They are a bush btw more than a tree.

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

- Are there any known serial killers whose motivation was neither sexual nor financial?

Charles Manson
Nurses who murder patients due to Munchausen by Proxy syndrome, like Beverley Allitt

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I probbaly won't ever get a definitive answer (because I doubt anyone has taken a true concencus of the matter), but...

- I wonder how many women (percentage) have been double penetrated by other people (hand held toys not included, though strapons are).

 

[BlackShanglan]

Charles Manson
Nurses who murder patients due to Munchausen by Proxy syndrome, like Beverley Allitt

Doh! Thank you for the reminder on Manson. It's always the most obvious thing that I manage to overlook. And the nurses, yes! That's actually a big help to me because I think it supports the mental process I'm trying to establish for my villain. Cheers!

TXRad, thank you very much for the advice on the pomegranate. It's bearing fruit from the top branches at the moment, but once we head toward the winter I will prune back the top firmly. I knew intellectually that they normally grew in a more bushy shape, but I hadn't realized what the practical ramifications of that would be. *laugh*

Shanglan

 

[CharleyH]

There's a public radio station that runs a neat little show - an open mike call-in that allows viewers to ask any question whatsoever and receive information from other callers who might have the answer. It started as a quickly thought-up solution to a guest not arriving for a planned show, but it proved so popular that it became a program in its own right. Many and varied are the topics, and it's really quite interesting and informative to listen to. It's a fun way to mobilize the immense pool of knowledge that the listeners posess.

I thought it would be handy to do the same thing in the AH. We're a very diverse and quite well informed bunch, so far as I have seen, and there are some fascinating specilizations of knowledge amongst us as well. Let's take advantage of it!

(Please do save this thread for questions and answers that involve actual information, as opposed to the "How can people believe something so idiotic as X?" variety of rhetorical question.)

Kicking it off, I've got a few questions of my own. Given the nature of the questions, I wish to point out that the first two are related to a murder mystery I'm working on.

- How quickly after death would a body exhibit a change in blood flow from a wound? Do wounds bleed substantially less the moment the heart stops beating and circulation shuts down, or would there still be a fair bit of bleeding while the body remains warm and pliable?

- Are there any known serial killers whose motivation was neither sexual nor financial?

- Has anyone got experience trimming a pomegranate into a tree shape? I have a two-trunked tree at the moment, but the top is very high compared to the width of the trunks, so that it is thin and whippy and the top branches droop far down. Is there a proper way to get things balanced out?

I wanted to ask you about setting on my Author Series: It's a small world after all thread ... I believe you do it well, and many would benefit from your expertise.

As for your questions?

1) There is a handbook that tells you all of this down to the ... how one dies depending on weapons. I will try to get a hold of an old (lost touch with) friend to find out the name of it. It's apparently brilliant for murder/mystery writers.

2) Look up Carla Homolka. Early 1990's, Port Dalhousie or St. Catharines, Ontario.

3) I WISH I HAD EXPERIENCE!

 

[BlackShanglan]

I wanted to ask you about setting on my Author Series: It's a small world after all thread ... I believe you do it well, and many would benefit from your expertise.

Charley, thanks for your responses, and you are very kind to my writing. I'll pop over to your thread and see what people have had to say. Ironically, I hadn't read it thus far because I wasn't really sure how I approach the issue myself. *laugh* I would absolutely love to have the title of that book you've mentioned. The murder is complicated, with three different events that damage the body; I need to make sure that I can accurately supply clues about the order in which they occurred.

Shanglan

 

[rgraham666]

- Are there any known serial killers whose motivation was neither sexual nor financial?

Here's another one. Joseph Paul Franklin

 

[Vermilion]

Why, when we are most tired, does it become nigh on impossible to attain sleep?

Seriously, I was dropping off on the sofa, but when I got ready for and into bed - nada.

x
V

 

[CharleyH]

Charley, thanks for your responses, and you are very kind to my writing. I'll pop over to your thread and see what people have had to say. Ironically, I hadn't read it thus far because I wasn't really sure how I approach the issue myself. *laugh* I would absolutely love to have the title of that book you've mentioned. The murder is complicated, with three different events that damage the body; I need to make sure that I can accurately supply clues about the order in which they occurred.

Shanglan

It was a few years ago and I know he got it off Amazon. Seriously. At the time, I looked at it (the book) and it was amazing ... I mean down to the detail of how when you get stabbed in a certain place ... how one dies. I wrote (hate to promo and it is not meant to be promo) my Raison D' Etre story based on how one might die in that particular circumstance I wrote of.

I saw him on facebook recently. I will ask. No promises, Shang - it's been a few years since he and I touched base. I will try to find out, though.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Rob, many thanks. That's a great link not only for him, but for the leads it's given me to other ideas about serial killers and the connections between their motivations and their actions. I'm trying to work out whether the actions I want from the killer are reasonably connected to the motivation I've constructed for him, and it's starting to all fall nicely into place. Cheers!

 

[BlackShanglan]

Why, when we are most tired, does it become nigh on impossible to attain sleep?

Seriously, I was dropping off on the sofa, but when I got ready for and into bed - nada.

x
V

A common piece of advice I've seen from sleep experts is to reserve the bedroom only for sleep. In fact, I've even seen some claim that if you lay down to sleep and can't drift off within a quarter of an hour, you should get up and go to another room until you're sleepy enough to try again. The theory is that you can teach yourself to associate the bedroom with things other than sleep, or even specifically to associate it with sleeplessness.

Or perhaps the walking about just got you moving and less sleepy?

 

[kendo1]

A quick threadjack. For most of my life people have remarked how similar in appearance I am to Manson.


As for sleep, reading a book is probably the best relaxing option.

 

[TheEarl]

A common piece of advice I've seen from sleep experts is to reserve the bedroom only for sleep. In fact, I've even seen some claim that if you lay down to sleep and can't drift off within a quarter of an hour, you should get up and go to another room until you're sleepy enough to try again. The theory is that you can teach yourself to associate the bedroom with things other than sleep, or even specifically to associate it with sleeplessness.

Or perhaps the walking about just got you moving and less sleepy?

Dammit, I knew the answer to that one and Shang beat me to it. Basically, you've associated the sofa with relaxing, in your head, so it's easy to fall asleep there. Your bedroom is another matter, cause it may be used for many diverse things and so your brain may have lost the connection between 'bed' and 'sleep'.

The Earl

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

Yes, i first heard that from a psychiatrist. (Don't ask. LOL) He said that you should never do anything on your bed, except sleep. He failed to mention sex.. not sure what that says about him..
Meanwhile, here I am on my bed with my laptop.. No wonder I haven't been able to sleep before 5 AM. Good thing that I'm a Realtor.. I never schedule AM appointments!

 

[rgraham666]

A common piece of advice I've seen from sleep experts is to reserve the bedroom only for sleep. In fact, I've even seen some claim that if you lay down to sleep and can't drift off within a quarter of an hour, you should get up and go to another room until you're sleepy enough to try again. The theory is that you can teach yourself to associate the bedroom with things other than sleep, or even specifically to associate it with sleeplessness.

Or perhaps the walking about just got you moving and less sleepy?

I'm kinda screwed then. My bedroom is for everything except cooking. Often eat meals there.

 

[TxRad]

I'm kinda screwed then. My bedroom is for everything except cooking. Often eat meals there.

Along the same lines, I live in motels far more than home....

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

I Have A Question...

If Pluto is no longer a planet, what is it then? Is it now considered an asteroid, or what?

 

[TheeGoatPig]

If Pluto is no longer a planet, what is it then? Is it now considered an asteroid, or what?

It was a Proto-Planet last time I heard (which is just ridiculous, it should still be a planet even though it is incredibly small).

 

[CharleyH]

I want to know what a hair fetish involves?

 

[gauchecritic]

I want to know what a hair fetish involves?

Off the top of my head (which isn't the point of the thread and only opinion) it's the antidote to paedophilia.

 

[Misty_Morning]

It was a Proto-Planet last time I heard (which is just ridiculous, it should still be a planet even though it is incredibly small).

Actually it is a dwarf planet as is Eris and Ceres.