All the eyes of the world are on Tulsa, Oklahoma this week. It seems that 50 years ago today, on June 15, 1957, the city fathers buried an entire car in a time capsule. It was a brand-new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere, and they constructed a special tomb for it to go into that could withstand a nuclear war. They lowered the car into its crypt by crane, vowing to unearth the car exactly 50 years later. Everyone was encouraged to guess what the population of Tulsa would be at that time, and whoever came closest would win the car. If they were still alive.

Well, after five decades of waiting, today was the big day. An excavator was called to the scene, dirt was moved, the tomb was unearthed, and after 50 years the lid was reopened. And what did they find? Well, the crypt may have been bombproof, but it wasn’t waterproof. Ooops!

The classic car was sitting in several inches of muddy water, and marks on the wall showed that at times it had been completely submerged. The car was wrapped in a protective covering that people are hoping has kept it safe, but no one’s quite sure what they’ll find when they unwrap it this evening. I’d say for sure they won’t see the pristine, showroom-quality automobile that they were hoping for. Updates, I’m sure will be at the official site, www.buriedcar.com

Also tonight the winner of the contest will be announced, and someone will get to take home this fabulous prize, such as it were.

A big hat tip to Charles Phoenix for this one, who made a road trip from Los Angeles to Tulsa to be there for the unveiling.

If you’ve been following Disneyland news at all, you’ll know that next week is when the Disneyland Submarines finally reopen, after being closed for nine years. The submarines were part of Disneyland’s first big expansion in 1959, and for nearly 40 years after that visitors boarded the 40-passenger steel tubes for a voyage into “liquid space”. Along the way you could find sunken treasure, mermaids, and the ruins of Atlantis, and survive encounters with an underwater volcano, giant squid, and a sea serpent. In 1998, after years of neglect, the subs were shut down as a cost-saving measure, and none of us ever thought we’d see them operate again.

But 1998 was a dark time for Disneyland, and things are definitely looking brighter these days. A few years ago it was decided to reopen the subs, and not just reopen them as they had always been. The whole ride was going to be completely reimagined as an underwater adventure with the characters from Finding Nemo. We’ve watched the construction eagerly for a couple of years now, and finally the time has come. And since new rides at Disneyland always go through a shakedown period of a couple of weeks before their official opening, where folks with the right connections can get an advance ride, there are already plenty of reviews and even video online of the new attraction.

So here are a bunch of links for you, all the interesting stuff I’ve found online about the subs.

The Window To The Magic podcast has both a complete audio and video ride-through of the attraction. Great stuff, the next best thing to being there.

Mice Age has an article about the history of the subs, and a review of the ride.

Mice Chat has a forum thread for reviews and pictures of the ride.

Yesterland has photos from the original 1959 construction.

On YouTube there is video of a 1998 ride-through on the old subs, in two parts: One and Two.

Also on YouTube, a 1959 promotional film for the subs.

Jim Hill has an article about how the subs were Walt’s response to Pacific Ocean Park.

The deforestation of our yard continued last weekend. Renting the tractor was one of the best things we could have done. In five days I did as much work with the Bobcat as we could have done in five months by hand. So it was hot, and it was dusty, but it’s really paid off. Just look at the before and after pictures below.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

I’m liking these results. Now, the hard part is still ahead of us. Now we have to fill in the blanks and put some greenery back in our yard. Which is where we’re probably going to stumble. Grass we want for sure, and probably some more trees and nice bushes. But what will our budget allow us to get? I’m betting on Astroturf. Stay tuned to find out.

Here are more photos from the weekend, and even more at Flickr.

Story here.