Raining FROGS??

[Juliemg]

I just saw "Magnolia" and one of about 50 things that I did not understand was the part when it rains frogs. I know this is an event that occurred somewhere in the Bible (though I'm a little vague on that, too) but I feel like I read somewhere long ago that this is an actual phenomenon that happens once in a blue moon to a much lesser extent than in the movie. Does anyone know anything about this? If it is real, how and why in the world does it happen? And if it's strictly fictitious, what is its etymology? Any takers? Thanks!

[Jois]

I've seen this explained a couple of times in books and/or TV. The poor innocent frogs get picked up in a waterspout or tornado and then rain down as they are set free from the which ever weather event picked them up in the first place.

You might get the froggie rain without even knowing about the tornado event, they could be that far apart.

------------------
Oh, I'm gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.

[Ukulele Ike]

Happens all the damn time. Read your Fort.

------------------
Uke

[Juliemg]

Originally posted by Ukulele Ike:
Happens all the damn time. Read your Fort.

Forgive me for being a neophyte, but what is my "Fort"?

[tomndebb]

what is my "Fort"?

Charles Fort.

Author of Book of the Damned, written early in the 20th century, it is a collection of reported events that are/were dismissed by scientists as implausible or impossible and, hence, "damned" to be ignored by "serious" scientists. Fort juxtaposed the reported events collected from newspapers or newswire services against "scientific" retelling of the events. Often, the scientific version comes off as far less credible than the local explanation.

------------------
Tom~

[JillGat]

I coulda sworn Cecil wrote a column about this, but I can't find it in the archives.
Jill

[Ringo]

A link to the Charles Fort Institute.

There's also the Fortean Times.

[siva]

I heard it is a real phenomenom. Usually caused by cyclones or tornadoes

[Phouchg]

From the book of exodus:

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs.

Remember in the audience for the game show - people were holding up various signs - one of them said "Exodus 8:2". Also, I believe that phrase was on the movie theatre marquee in an earlier scene, plus the little boy who was rapping in the street alluded to this as well (I think).

Some people saw it as a rather bizarre, non-sequitur event, but I see it differently. In the bible, the rain of frogs is a curse, designed to have Pharoah let the Israelites out of bondage and able to begin their journey to freedom. Same as with the people in the Magnolia Universe...let go of the hate, the regret, the bottled-up fear, the emotion that is holding them captive. After the rain of frogs everybody was able to reconcile themselves and start working on their own journey to freedom.

Nobody asked, just my opinion.

Phouchg Hath Spoken
-------------------------
Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like a banana.

-Groucho Marx

[C K Dexter Haven]

Read the Bible a little further, Phouchg. The plague was NOT about frogs raining down from the sky. They came up out of the river banks, out of the mud, and they hopped their way into becoming a nuisance.

Having said that, your analogy that the Biblical plagues on Egypt are often used in later literature as a reference to divine intervention or to the quest for freedom.

[Edward J Cunningham]

I've got nothing to really add here--I'm just testing my new password to see if it worked.

Did it say anything in the Bible about a plague of hacker attacks?

[Zor]

Funny this should come up, I was just reading about eels dropping out of the sky at Scientific American . There's some other interesting stuff there worth a look too...