Weird Universe Blog — 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 -
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Category: Exercise and Fitness | Health | Stomach
Satan Never Sleeps
This is the prettiest melody ever devoted to Satan. Perhaps death metal groups could follow this tactic.The singer's Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 11, 2025 -
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Category: Music | Religion | 1960s
January 10, 2025
Dr. Garbee’s Wild Game Dinners
When Dr. Eugene Garbee became president of Upper Iowa College in 1952, he started a tradition of hosting an annual Wild Game Dinner. He had acquired a taste for wild game, and knowledge of how to cook it, growing up in the Missouri Ozarks. Some of the dishes that were served at his dinner:- Rattlesnake Paste on crackers
- Moose Nose Hash
- Roast Elephant Trunk
- Raccoon Sausage
- Fayette Sparrow Birds in Nest
- Rotisseried Volga River Beaver
- Minnesota Black Bear Roast
- Hasenpfeffer of Fayette Rabbit
- Walker's Ridge Squirrel Stewed in Onions
- Charbroiled Muskrat Saddles
- Roast Growler's Gulch Possum
Davenport Quad-City Times - Apr 16, 1967
He collected together his favorite recipes into a cookbook: For the Chow Hound With a Taste for Something Different... Dr. Garbee's Wild Game Dinners. You can probably find a used copy somewhere.
Some of his recipes:
Fayette Sparrow Birds in Nest
Take a raw potato, cut it in half, hollow out enough room for a cleaned sparrow, insert the bird, put the two halves back together again, tie the potato with string and wrap with foil and bake.
Take a raw potato, cut it in half, hollow out enough room for a cleaned sparrow, insert the bird, put the two halves back together again, tie the potato with string and wrap with foil and bake.
Mother's Squirrel and Dumplings
Mother's favorite recipe. She wanted the head left on. Mother always claimed the head — picking off the tender juicy muscles and finally breaking open the thin skull bones for the brains — was the most tasty bite of all, for her.
2 squirrels, with heads on.
¼-pound fatback (salt pork).
1½ cups of seasoned flour, half teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon of pepper.
½ cup of diced onions, or large onion slices.
1 large turnip or 1 or 2 large carrots, chopped.
Bouillon.
Dumplings.
Cut the squirrels into pieces, including the heads. Dredge in the seasoned flour in a paper bag. Fry out the fatback in an iron skillet or dutch oven. Brown the squirrel, add two cups of bouillon and cook for an hour or until tender. Then add vegetables and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Add more bouillon if needed. Use your own favorite dumpling recipe.
Mother's favorite recipe. She wanted the head left on. Mother always claimed the head — picking off the tender juicy muscles and finally breaking open the thin skull bones for the brains — was the most tasty bite of all, for her.
2 squirrels, with heads on.
¼-pound fatback (salt pork).
1½ cups of seasoned flour, half teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon of pepper.
½ cup of diced onions, or large onion slices.
1 large turnip or 1 or 2 large carrots, chopped.
Bouillon.
Dumplings.
Cut the squirrels into pieces, including the heads. Dredge in the seasoned flour in a paper bag. Fry out the fatback in an iron skillet or dutch oven. Brown the squirrel, add two cups of bouillon and cook for an hour or until tender. Then add vegetables and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Add more bouillon if needed. Use your own favorite dumpling recipe.
Rattlesnake Paste
Cut rattlesnake in chunks two or three inches long. Cook in a small pressure cooker until tender. Add a bay leaf. Cook 10 to 12 minutes. Grind two or three times.
To one cup of ground meat mix in the following: three tablespoons bacon grease, melted butter or oil to which has been added a pinch of marjoram, rosemary and savory, salt and pepper.
Heat for a minute or two before stirring in the meat to make a rather thick paste. More fat may be added if desired. Cook in a double boiler for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve on crackers or thin sliced rye bread.
Cut rattlesnake in chunks two or three inches long. Cook in a small pressure cooker until tender. Add a bay leaf. Cook 10 to 12 minutes. Grind two or three times.
To one cup of ground meat mix in the following: three tablespoons bacon grease, melted butter or oil to which has been added a pinch of marjoram, rosemary and savory, salt and pepper.
Heat for a minute or two before stirring in the meat to make a rather thick paste. More fat may be added if desired. Cook in a double boiler for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve on crackers or thin sliced rye bread.
More info: wikipedia, iagenweb.org
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 10, 2025 -
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Category: Food | Cookbooks
Kickapoo Joy Juice
Not often--or ever before or since--has a drink migrated from the funny pages to reality.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 10, 2025 -
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Category: Newspapers | Comics | Soda, Pop, Soft Drinks and other Non-Alcoholic Beverages | 1960s
January 9, 2025
Brenda Butler Bryant, serial litigator
The article pasted below, from 1994, describes Brenda Butler Bryant's "record-setting litigation." In one year alone she had filed over 700 lawsuits, accounting for 7 percent of the lawsuits filed in the federal courts. Finally a judge ordered her to stop, stating that her handwritten complaints were "frivolous" and "plainly products of a confused, disoriented and unsound mind."Did she stop? Apparently not. She was in Philadelphia then, but more recently she's been living in Georgia and as of last year was still filing complaints. From a Sep 2024 ruling by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg:
There are many reasons why Bryant's Complaints are frivolous. Central to the problems is that every Complaint fails to satisfy the most basic requirement of Rule 8 - to provide a short and plain statement of a claim...
She alleges no facts demonstrating how any named Defendant is liable for the harm she allegedly suffered. She has not identified any specific causes of action. Nor has Bryant supplied any facts that could plausibly support her alleged damages, which range from $1 million per day, to $1 billion, to $1 billion per day. Her pleadings also contain incomprehensible assertions, such as "$=Gift $=Winning no sign=free issuance."...
For example, in Case 1:24-cv-1032-SDG, Bryant names as Defendants the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Centers for Disease Control), Wil-Lie Cop-E-Land, and the thieves who stole her coat.
She alleges no facts demonstrating how any named Defendant is liable for the harm she allegedly suffered. She has not identified any specific causes of action. Nor has Bryant supplied any facts that could plausibly support her alleged damages, which range from $1 million per day, to $1 billion, to $1 billion per day. Her pleadings also contain incomprehensible assertions, such as "$=Gift $=Winning no sign=free issuance."...
For example, in Case 1:24-cv-1032-SDG, Bryant names as Defendants the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Centers for Disease Control), Wil-Lie Cop-E-Land, and the thieves who stole her coat.
The sheer length of time she's been doing this is kind of impressive.
Philadelphia Inquirer - Nov 16, 1994
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 09, 2025 -
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Category: Law | Lawsuits
Burglar Trap
If the intruder is considerate enough to step in exactly the right place, his or her foot will be ensnared.Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 09, 2025 -
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Category: Inventions | Patents | Stupid Criminals | 1920s
January 8, 2025
The Scott Meadows Doomsday Club
The first rule of the Scott Meadows Club was that you couldn't reveal the location of the Scott Meadows Club. (But it was up in Siskiyou County, Northern California. Somewhere near to Kangaroo Lake Campground.)The club opened in 1975, with membership costing $12,800 (around $75,000 in today's money), plus $300 annual dues.
The club had none of the amenities of a typical country club. Instead, it offered a place to retreat to in case of a national emergency such as nuclear war or economic collapse. Once all the members were secure inside the retreat, the road leading to it would be dynamited, preventing anyone else from getting in.
I'm not sure if the club still exists. But then, if it does they wouldn't want us to know.
Approximate location of the Scott Meadows Club
Sacramento Bee - May 14, 1975
click to enlarge
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 08, 2025 -
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Category: Armageddon and Apocalypses | Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations | 1970s
The Sea Serpent Polka
I accidentally discovered that Alex, at The Museum of Hoaxes, had already covered a topic I was interested in: The Gloucester Sea Serpent.But his very informative piece neglects one detail. The sighting also inspired a piece of music: "The Sea Serpent Polka."
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 08, 2025 -
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Category: Cryptozoology | Music | Nineteenth Century
January 7, 2025
Nintendo Cereal System
The "Nintendo Cereal System" breakfast cereal must be the only cereal that's ever been described as a 'system'. It debuted in 1988 but due to poor sales was available for less than a year.
Some info from saturdaymorningsforever.com:
in 1988 Ralston produced a fruity cereal for Mario and a berry cereal for Zelda. Mario’s cereal featured shapes representing Mario, Bowser, Super Mushrooms and the two common enemies Goombas and Koopa Troopas. Zelda’s cereal featured Link, health hearts, boomerangs, keys and shields.
But the most unique aspect of the cereals was that Ralston combined them both in a single box. Dubbed the Nintendo Cereal System after the NES console, each box contained the cereals in their own separate bag inside and a perforation along the top flap allowed you to pour out one at a time.
But the most unique aspect of the cereals was that Ralston combined them both in a single box. Dubbed the Nintendo Cereal System after the NES console, each box contained the cereals in their own separate bag inside and a perforation along the top flap allowed you to pour out one at a time.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 07, 2025 -
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Category: Cereal | 1980s | Videogames and Gamers
VD Is For Everybody PSA
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 07, 2025 -
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Category: PSA’s | Twentieth Century | Diseases | Sex
