Charles Louis Richter
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richterscale.bsky.social
Charles Louis Richter
@richterscale.bsky.social
12K followers 1.1K following 15K posts
Historian: of American religion/irreligion by training; of science & conspiracy by trade

dumb jokes about smart things and smart jokes about dumb things

Podcast research/factcheck: SNAFU with Ed Helms; The Reason We're All Still Here; My Fugitive, more
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richterscale.bsky.social
happy thirteenth anniversary to my favorite photo i ever took of knute
A young black cat peeks out from behind an old wooden desk. Only the top of his head down to his nose is visible. He also has one paw gently placed on the top of the desk.
February 12, 2026 at 8:35 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
...and the Gizzard Wizard
detail of original quoted image, just the word "Basilosaurus" in italic type
February 12, 2026 at 7:25 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
me starting to evolve toward whalehood: Haha fuck yeah!!! Yes!!
closeup of the face and front torso of a ravening beast, its jaws wide open and full of teeth, one clowed paw reaching forward.
February 12, 2026 at 7:20 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
tfw you're trapped in a sunken cost fallacy
Closeup detail of quoted image. The face of one of the later stages on the evolutionary path to whale good. It looks sheepish and a little regretful, as much as a long, pointy, lizard-shaped face can look.
February 12, 2026 at 7:14 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
The Balto. Wash. Bnnr.
photo of a stained and outdated street sign posted on an overhead light pole. it reads "Balto. Wash. Pkwy" black text on white, in a font no longer used for street signage
February 12, 2026 at 6:33 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
"which floor?"

"dead kennedys, thanks"
buttons in an elevator. the bottom one is the close-door button, two triangles pointing toward the center from right and left, with a vertical line between them. but the vertical side of the right hand triangle is rubbed off, making the symbol look like a stylized DK
February 12, 2026 at 6:15 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
bad photocopy of an old typewritten letter to RFK Senior, as Attorney General. it reads: Dear Mr. Kennedy: Who do you turn to when your 'teen age daughter buys and brings home pornographic or obscene materials being sold along with objects directed at the 'teen age market in every City, Village and Record Shop in this Nation? My daughter brought home a record of "LOUIE LOUIE" and I, after reading that the record had been banned from being played on he air because it was obscene, proceeded to try to decipher the jumble of words. The lyrics are so filthy that I can-not enclose them in this letter."
February 10, 2026 at 5:54 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
imagine living on this street if you had a lisp
Street sign for Athol Ave
February 10, 2026 at 3:30 AM
richterscale.bsky.social
[daft punk voice]
Part of a brown paper bag from FedEx reading: Print it. Pack it. Ship it. Get it.
February 8, 2026 at 6:40 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
wow, Rolling stone covered The Rebel Alliance just like in my thread here:

bsky.app/profile/rich...
an album cover for "The Empire Strikes Back" by "The Rebel Alliance" photo is a hazy pastel-toned photo of billy dee williams, mark hamill, carrie fisher, and harrison ford, looking like am 80s new wave band, all cuddling with oneanother in a goofy and fun way. the band's ame and album title are in very 80s neon colored font
February 5, 2026 at 6:10 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
tweet from neera tanden: the truth about the washington post: bezos made decisions to curry favor with trump that made a lot of washington post readers distrust the newspaper. it then lost a lot of subscriptions, which lost money. and now he's doing layoff. he should sell the paper to someone who will make better decisions and avoid layoffs. elliiott kalan's spider-man panel. spidey says "YOU HAVE $250 BILLION AND YOU’RE DESTROYING THE WASHINGTON POST? BUT YOU COULD SELL THE PAPER TO SOMEONE WHO WILL MAKE BETTER DECISIONSAND AVOID LAYOFFS!" and sauron the dinosaur man says "BUT I DON’T WANT TO SELL THE PAPER TO SOMEONE WHO WILL MAKE BETTER DECISIONS AND AVOID LAYOFFS.I WANT TO DESTROY THE WASHINGTON POST."
February 4, 2026 at 9:08 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
www.newgrounds.com/art/view/sab...
an illustration of a crow perched on a black coffee cup, holding a little tub of creamer labeled "cawfee" and pouring it into the mug
February 4, 2026 at 5:33 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
makesomethingawfuleveryday.tumblr.com/post/9658846...
cathy (the comic strip character) pleads through the window to heathcliff (the comic strip character, a cat): "Heathcliff, it's me—Cathy. I've come home. I'm so cold. Let me in-a-your-window."
February 4, 2026 at 1:26 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
this was in my wife's office when i visited her at work one time:
The cover of Vitalogy, a pamphlet from the Vitalogy Health Association, with a stocker asking for its prompt return when the reader is done with it. It is the source of Pearl Jam's Vitalogy album cover.
February 4, 2026 at 3:43 AM
richterscale.bsky.social
"The truth is, his bowels are not very tight, guys, and things got out of hand.”
Hal Holbrook as Deep Throat in All the President's men, smoking and spilling the beans in a parking garage.
February 1, 2026 at 9:56 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
there's a logical explanation for all of this:
five panels of a black and white comic written and drawn by jhonen vasquez. Panel 1: A man's face, in concentric circles, overcome by stress and despair. he says "I think she suspects something! Think of something before they notice the smell!!" Panel 2: In foreground, closeup of the edge of his face as he notices a couple at another table in the background. The man at the other table says "Jeeee-Heezuz! Martha! What the hell is that smell?" The woman at the table responds: "Somebody's baby needs a changin'." Panel 3: Extreme closeup of the first man's face as he leaps from the table saying "OH NOOO! QUICK!! NOW!!" His date is on the other saide of the table, confused. Panel 4: Overhead view of the restaurant, as he stands, horrified, next to his table, unsure of what to do. Other patrons point. Panel 5: Closeup, as he holds his head in his hands and screams "OH MY GAD!! SOMEBODY PUT SHIT IN MY PANTS!!!!!" In an inset panel, he runs out the exit, trailing shit as he goes." END.
February 1, 2026 at 9:16 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
singapore slings!
Two two pinkish drinks with green straws and fruit garnishes
February 1, 2026 at 5:15 AM
richterscale.bsky.social
look at this guy who thinks he's legolas
Looking down at my booted feet standing on top of the snow, not breaking through
January 31, 2026 at 10:09 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
i just want you all to see what the people who run the church across the street think is the best way to make a clear path through the snow

they started at the top of the steps three nights after the storm, and gave up after doing this much. it's still like this
the front of a large brick church, with a staircase of about a dozen steps spanning the front leading up to the doors. however, the stairs are nearly entirely covered in snow, except for a chunk in the middle. the cleared portion begins at the TOP of the stairs and goes down about nine steps before stopping a few steps short of the ALSO snow-covered sidewalk
January 31, 2026 at 6:28 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
this is what you see when you come out of the escalator at the smithsonian metro stop on the national mall
a path covered in a sheer sheet of packed ice and show on the national mall
January 29, 2026 at 4:18 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
suspect last seen wearing furs and traveling north
frankenstein's monster, waring piles of furs and rags, on the ice, gazing at a ship in the distance
January 28, 2026 at 10:02 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
the standing-in-the-corner shot from blair witch project, but now it's an HSI police agent with his back to the camera and facing an old fieldstone cellar wall, in grainy low pixel black and white
January 28, 2026 at 9:58 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
he'd get along with daniel
john malkovish with a short beard, brown sport coat over black v-next sweater, looking wistfully at something off camera in a desert landscape
January 28, 2026 at 8:43 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
spot the differences
josh hawley running away on jan 6 ilhan omar about to deck the dude who tried to spray her
January 28, 2026 at 5:47 PM
richterscale.bsky.social
"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is a creep... and creeps are bulletproof."

— P, in "P for Peachfuzz"
a man wearing a long sleeve black shirt and black pants, making a silly and threatening pose while wearing a large hairy werewolf mask
January 28, 2026 at 2:22 PM