Weird Universe Blog — January 24, 2025
Drop Kick Me Jesus
A 1976 Grammy nominee for best country song.Phil Dirxc, a columnist for The San Luis Obispo Tribune, argued that it would be more accurate if the song were titled "Place kick me Jesus" since drop kicks are rarely used in American football.
More info: Stereo Stories
Goleta Sun - Sep 9, 1976
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 24, 2025 -
Comments (2)
Category: Music | Religion | Sports | 1970s
Concealed Shoes
Hiding a shoe in a building brings mystical results? I think I'm going to try this!From the much more expansive Wikipedia entry on the subject.
Concealed shoes hidden in the fabric of a building have been discovered in many European countries, as well as in other parts of the world, since at least the early modern period. Independent researcher Brian Hoggard has observed that the locations in which these shoes are typically found – in chimneys, under floors, above ceilings, around doors and windows, in the roof – suggest that some may have been concealed as magical charms to protect the occupants of the building against evil influences such as demons, ghosts and witches. Others may have been intended to bestow fertility on a female member of the household, or been an offering to a household deity.
Full article for screenshot below found here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 24, 2025 -
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Category: Buildings and Other Structures | Rituals and Superstitions | Shoes
January 23, 2025
Curtricia Miles, escape artist
Curtricia Miles was convicted of killing a massage parlor employee during a robbery in 1974. The next year she escaped from her jail cell by tunneling out using a knife, fork, and spoon. (I don't think she had to tunnel far. Sounds like the building was on a raised foundation, so she only had to get through the floor.)A month later she was arrested in Las Vegas on a marijuana charge, but she told the police her name was "Caroline Bendy" and they released her without bond.
She didn't stay free for long. The police found her a week later in a downtown casino. This final time she didn't manage to get away.
Toronto Star - July 16, 1975
Sacramento Bee - Aug 8, 1975
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 23, 2025 -
Comments (3)
Category: Crime | Prisons | 1970s
Railroad Worker Sign Language
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 23, 2025 -
Comments (1)
Category: Languages | Trains and Other Vehicles on Rails | 1930s
January 22, 2025
How to choose a pot
There's an ancient Hindu ceremony called Kumbh Vivah in which a woman will marry a pot. Details from vice.com:I'm pretty sure that Farberware didn't have this in mind when they made the ad below.
Boston Sunday Globe - Oct 31, 1971
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 22, 2025 -
Comments (2)
Category: Husbands | Marriage | 1970s
Nut Rocker
Wikipedia page of the artists.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 22, 2025 -
Comments (2)
Category: Music | Homages, Pastiches, Tributes and Borrowings | 1960s
January 21, 2025
The phone company wants installers like Alana MacFarlane
In the early 1970s, AT&T was faced with bad publicity. During congressional hearings, it had been revealed that although the phone company was the largest employer of women in the country, almost all of those women were employed as low-paid telephone operators. There were almost no women in higher paying jobs, such as in repair or installation. AT&T responded to the criticism with the two ads below.
Ms magazine - July 1972
Sports Illustrated - June 12, 1972
Was Alana MacFarlane a real person? Absolutely. Even before the magazine ads appeared, AT&T had been making sure to let the media know that it had hired a female installer. The media responded with nudge-nudge wink-wink headlines:
Long Beach Independent - Dec 16, 1971
Torrance Daily Breeze - Apr 7, 1972
But the national spotlight AT&T had placed on MacFarlane proved uncomfortable for her. Within six months she had requested to be transferred to a desk job, ending her brief career as an installer.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - Sep 14, 1972
A one-page blogspot blog, "Alana Macfarlane's story," created in 2010, gives some info about what subsequently became of her. She left AT&T, joined the Air Force for a while, and eventually became an engineer. It reveals that she was paid all of one dollar by AT&T for the ad she featured in.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 21, 2025 -
Comments (3)
Category: Advertising | Gender | Women | Telephones | 1970s
View Suspended II
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 21, 2025 -
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Category: Art | Anatomy, Dissection, Interior Structures | Cars
January 20, 2025
Haggis Wildlife Foundation
An organization "committed to documenting and preserving Scotland's elusive wild haggis animal." More info: Haggis Wildlife Foundation
Once widespread across the Scottish landscape, the haggis has retreated into these secluded sanctuaries, finding refuge among storm-beaten coastlines and mystical stone circles that dot the rugged terrain.
Wild haggis are most frequent during the liminal hours of dawn and dusk.
These times, known as the thresholds between day and night, are when the veil between the natural world and the mystical realms grows perceptibly thinner.
It is during these quiet hours that the haggis ventures out, drawn by the dim light and the cover of lingering shadows.
Traditional lore advises seekers to explore areas where moonlight meets mountain shadow—a poetic way of guiding haggis enthusiasts to the slopes and valleys that catch the earliest and last light of the sun. These areas often provide the perfect combination of visibility and concealment, crucial for observing the haggis without startling it.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 20, 2025 -
Comments (6)
Category: Animals | Cryptozoology
Miss Giftware of 1952
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 20, 2025 -
Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests | Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues | Gifts, Presents, Tributes, and Other Honoraria | 1950s
