Weird Universe Blog — January 16, 2025

Orange-Pimiento Drink

Yum! I don't think that adulterating your OJ with mashed pimiento is too large a price to pay for shelf stability. It's a lot of work to keep taking your container of OJ in and out of the fridge every time you want a drink!

Original patent here.





Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 16, 2025 - Comments (1)
Category: Inventions | Patents | Crossovers and Mashups | Soda, Pop, Soft Drinks and other Non-Alcoholic Beverages | 1950s

January 15, 2025

How many green beans would you eat for $1.50

A question for the ages.

Detroit Free Press - May 2, 1971



This raises the question of how many green beans would someone eat just to claim the world record for eating them? According to the site MajorLeagueEating.com, Crazy Legs Conti holds the record for eating the most: 2.71 pounds of them in six minutes.

That doesn't seem like that much to me. And in the video below "tannermancan" eats 5.125 lbs of green beans in less than 5 minutes. He doesn't acknowledge setting a new record. But it seems to me like he must have.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 15, 2025 - Comments (0)
Category: World Records | Advertising | Vegetables | 1970s

January 14, 2025

Frigid Fluid Cosmetic Kit

Frigid Fluid is both the name of a company and of the product it primarily sells: embalming fluid.

The company also recently came out with a line of "Frigid Cosmetics" (makeup for dead people). Its full kit will set you back $785, but the company promises that the cosmetics are "designed to accentuate the natural features and accurate color hues, tones and complexions of decedents."

This makes me curious about how funeral-home cosmetics differ from regular cosmetics for the living. Do funeral-home cosmetics perhaps contain substances that would be banned in cosmetics for the living?



Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 14, 2025 - Comments (3)
Category: Cosmetics | Death

Automan

As Wikipedia tells us:

Automan is an American superhero television series produced by Glen A. Larson. It aired for 12 episodes (although 13 were made) on ABC between 1983 and 1984. It consciously emulates the visual stylistics of the Walt Disney Pictures live-action film Tron, in the context of a superhero TV series.




Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 14, 2025 - Comments (0)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art | Motor Vehicles | Police and Other Law Enforcement | Technology | Computers | Television | 1980s

January 13, 2025

Miss Uranium

During the 1950s and 1960s, a number of women were given the title of "Miss Uranium."

I don't think there was one organization awarding the title. Instead, I think various local entrepreneurs held separate 'Miss Uranium' pageants. Or they didn't even bother with a pageant and just declared a model to be 'Miss Uranium'.

Toronto Star - June 11, 1968



Cleveland Plain Dealer - Aug 26, 1951



Toronto Star - Nov 4, 1953

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 13, 2025 - Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests | Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters

Amazon Puppy Delivery

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 13, 2025 - Comments (1)
Category: War | Air Travel and Airlines | Dogs | 1930s

January 12, 2025

Lionel Toxic Waste Car

One of the stranger model train cars sold by Lionel is its "Toxic Waste Car," which it introduced in 1956 . From the product info:

Congratulations! Your Lionel railroad has won the government contract to safely remove toxic waste from your friendly local nuclear power plant for transport to remote dump sites located all across the continent. The simulated toxic waste load is held in two containers from which an ominously radiating light flashes on and off whenever the track is energized.



Over the years, Lionel has made various design changes and tweaks to the Toxic Waste Car. For instance, in 2007 it turned it into the "Area 51 Alien Radioactive Flatcar."



More info: tcatrains.org

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 12, 2025 - Comments (0)
Category: Toys | Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters | Trains and Other Vehicles on Rails

RIP Artist Pippa Garner

Her Wikipedia page.











Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 12, 2025 - Comments (3)
Category: Art | Humor | Parody | Products

January 11, 2025

Esophageal exercises to treat GERD

Several articles in medical journals have proposed the idea of using esophageal exercises to treat GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). But how exactly does one exercise the esophagus?

Here's one way, as described in the article "A Simple Exercise to Strengthen the Lower Esophageal Sphincter and Eliminate Gastroesophageal Reflux: An Autobiographical Case Report" by Eric Karrfalt:

Eventually, I devised the following regimen with the intent of providing the LES [lower esophageal sphincter] with some resistance training. The resistance was provided by positioning my head below my stomach in a kneeling posture. This required food being swallowed to be pushed up an incline. I began eating part of each breakfast (oatmeal) and sometimes lunch (a sandwich) in the exercise position. I would kneel on a platform (which happened to be 6 ½” high), take a normal mouthful, chew it as needed, and prepare to swallow. I would then lay my forearms and the backs of my hands on the floor, rest my head on my hands, and complete the swallowing process. With a little practice, I was soon able to initiate and complete the swallowing process with my head resting on my hands on the floor. I did not attempt to determine what the optimal height of the platform might be or if, indeed, any was necessary.

Similarly, the authors of "Bridge Swallowing Exercise for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Symptoms: A Pilot Study" report that "bridge swallowing" can improve GERD symptoms. They helpfully provide a picture of the bridge swallowing position.



I have no idea if these techniques would work. Thankfully I don't suffer from GERD so I can continue eating upright.

via hacker news

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 11, 2025 - Comments (0)
Category: Exercise and Fitness | Health | Stomach

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All original content in posts is Copyright © 2016 by the author of the post, which is usually either Alex Boese ("Alex"), Paul Di Filippo ("Paul"), or Chuck Shepherd ("Chuck"). All rights reserved. The banner illustration at the top of this page is Copyright © 2008 by Rick Altergott.

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