Lucifer in Chatanooga

More proof that Chatanooga is a happening place.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 21, 2008 - Comments (3)
Category: Regionalism, Religion, Video

Face Statue

If you're looking for an unusual gift for someone this Christmas, consider getting a FaceStatue.

Upload two mugshot photos of the face (yours or someone else's) to thatsmyface.com, and they'll use the photos to create a 3D plastic-composite face statue. Prices start at only $49 for a 1/8 size facemask, and go all the way up to $1999 for a lifesize head.

The interesting twist: you can choose to have your FaceStatue look older or younger than you actually are. Plus, you can get an African, Indian, Asian or Caucasian model of yourself.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 21, 2008 - Comments (16)
Category: Body, Statues, Monuments and Memorials

Brain Critters, Brain Locks, Brain-Dead

and the Morning Edition of Chuck's News of the Weird Daily for Friday

Oh, great, now neurosurgeons have to be entomologists
Dr. Peter Nakaji told KSAZ-TV in Phoenix that his patient's MRI looked clean at first, but she still had the unexplained blurred vision and numbness, so he looked more closely at the Image, then decided to open her up. In the deepest part of the brain was a worm. Hey, stuff happens. Maybe undercooked pork, maybe stray fecality. (Bonus: On the video of the surgery, Dr. Nakaji, upon encountering the worm, is heard to chuckle.) KSAZ-TV
Comments 'brain_worm'

Least Competent Police: Hey, why don't we raise money by auctioning off some evidence?
Denver police mistakenly send to auction a car that's still crucial in a murder case . . with bloody items still in the car . . and somehow didn't see their mistake even though the car has bullet holes in it. (Bonus: The auction winner outbid the actual guy who got shot in the car and who later offered the auction winner his key to the car for $40.) (Relax. The police got it back, although that "chain of custody" thing is sorta shot.) Denver Post
Comments 'auctioning_evidence'

To be a mayor in Oregon . . .
In Sodaville (40 miles from Portland), they somehow elected as mayor a man whose rap sheet shows convictions for possession of meth, assault, attempting to elude police, felon in possession of firearm, DUI, reckless endangerment, and robbery. And furthermore, regarding Mayor Stu Rasmussen of Silverton, whom we told you about two weeks ago as being the first open transsexual mayor in America, here he is in living color and finer detail, in the Los Angeles Times. Now recall, everyone in town knows him as Stu and refers to him as a man, even though he always dresses as a woman and even flaunts his surgery-provided [CORRECTION: hormone-provided, of course] cleavage. Democrat-Herald (Albany, Ore.) /// Los Angeles Times
Comments 'oregon_mayors'

People Whose Sex Lives Are Worse Than Yours
Police in Jackson, Wyo., said Brandon Raz, 38, admitted that he was the one who had the urge, twice, to ejaculate into the water bottle of a female co-worker, though we're still awaiting details on his thought process here. TheSmokingGun.com [with mugshot]
Comments 'brandon_raz'

Your Daily Jury Duty
[no fair examining the evidence; verdict must be based on mugshot only]
They say that Thomas Meehan, 18, is the one who has a thing for setting fires in restrooms and portajohns, but of course he is innocent until such time as his mugshot might prove him guilty. Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Ill.)
Comments 'thomas_meehan'

More Things to Worry About on Friday

The Japanese pension agency has screwed people about as well as America's subprime mortgage market has, but here's the difference: A serial killer is loose in Japan, exactly revenge against the mismanagers. Washington Post

Another instance of "first, he actually thought of it" and then "he actually carried it out": A Belgian artist tattoos pigs, puts them on display, and sells the hide after they're slaughtered. Reuters

Fine Points of the Law: He was a convicted felon in possession of a gun, but the prosecutor couldn't prove the date of manufacture of the gun, which makes it a non-gun under federal law, but the guy's still going away because he was in felony possession of bullets. KETV (Omaha)

Another dog driving: In Port Jefferson, N.Y., a boxer/Shar-Pei mix drove into a coffee shop. (Bonus: About a mile off the coast of North Carolina, anglers picked up a Labrador retriever. Sound familiar? [News of the Weird Daily, 11-7-2008].) Newsday /// News and Observer (Raleigh)

Buried Lede: In a story about increasing theft of virtual goods in online games (Second Life, et al), it was revealed that, in a real world of 6.7 billion total people, there are more than 1 billion accounts for playing online games. The Guardian

Comments on More Things to Worry About on Friday?
Comments 'worry_081121'

Posted By: Chuck - Fri Nov 21, 2008 - Comments (0)
Category:

Follies of the Mad Men #46

[From Life magazine for March 5 1956.]

"Dig this crazy mixed-up ice cream!" "Man, it's real cool!"

Yeah, because beatniks like Maynard G. Krebs eat a lot of ice cream!

Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 20, 2008 - Comments (12)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Fads, Food, Pop Culture, 1950s

The Golden Years

A look at the glory days of Homer Simpson's favorite sport. At least from the point-of-view of a certain manufacturer....

Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 20, 2008 - Comments (1)
Category: Sports, Documentaries, 1960s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows

Maggot Therapy, Six Pounds of Groin, an “Assistance Kangaroo”

and the Morning Edition of Chuck's News of the Weird Daily for Thursday [and, as is sometimes the case on Thursdays, I'm too slugged-out for the rest of the day to do an Afternoon Edition. Forgive me.]

Once in a while, there's a story that defies summarizing
Let me just drop in some key phrases, though: service-animal kangaroo, burned-out RV, frequent strokes (neurological strokes), pet 13-yr-old goat with useless front legs and needs a cart for mobility, Red Cross, motel allows goats but not kangaroos, Florida vacation. Ta-da-ta-daaaaahhhh! Tampa Tribune
Comments 'service_kangaroo'

And even rarer than that, sometimes there's a day with two stories that defy summarizing
Basically, a family of 12 living in a chock-full, weathered single-wide trailer needed it moved to some land they were buying, and hired Chris "Pancake" Meyers to haul it, but he had only hauled, y'know, boats and stuff before. OK, now to the key phrases: Burst tires, middle of U.S. highway 68, 9-hour traffic jam, Sheriff Dick Garrett (last campaign slogan: "More Dick in 2006"), tipped on its side, no permits, 35-year-old grandmother. Lexington Herald-Leader
Comments 'singlewide_trailer'

Your Daily Loser
Not Cut Out for This Line of Work: William Jarrett, 38, snatched a pregnant woman's gold chain in Hempstead Village, N.Y., and ran, but she chased after him . . and caught up to him, and he got busted. And then Jarrett's rap sheet shows 17 prior arrests, with 16 convictions, so here's a guy who not only can't outrun a pregnant woman, but he's the only New York street punk who doesn't know how to beat the court system. Newsday
Comments 'william_jarrett'

People Whose Sex Lives Are Worse Than Yours
Motorist Keith Weatherley, 46, Newcastle, Australia, was stopped by police near a beach because he was "doing something with his hands" that led them to think he was armed, but he peeled out at about, um, 15 mph until they caught up to him and realized he still had his schlong stuck in a 750ml pasta jar, diddling himself. (Bonus: Even as cops tried to pull him from the car, he kept doing his thing.) The Herald (Newcastle)
Comments 'keith_weatherley'

Your Daily Jury Duty
[no fair examining the evidence; verdict must be based on mugshot only]
From left to right, Mom, 18-yr-old daughter, Mom's friend (charged with shoplifting lots of underwear, and not the Victoria's Secret stuff—just ordinary underwear). WYFF-TV (Greenville, S.C.)
Comments 'underwear_thieves'

More Things to Worry About on Thursday

At what point does "misdiagnosis" (the hospital's characterization) become "malpractice" (the patient's characterization)? (Possible indicator: when pain, fever, and bleeding from the rectum is diagnosed as "reaction to a cold medicine" when it's really "Fournier's gangrene," resulting in the loss of 6 lbs. of groin meat). Seattle Post-Intelligencer

She could have asked the building manager to let her into her new condo when she forgot her key, but, being an experienced mountain climber, she tried it the hard way, from 15th floor balcony to her own 14th floor balcony, but condo balconies are apparently tougher than mountains. Times Colonist (Victoria, B.C.)

In Juneau, Alaska, a convicted sex offender tried to flee in a getaway kayak. Anchorage Daily News

The American Medical Ass'n last week did something-or-other that improved the chances that insurance companies and Medicare would pay for wound-cleaning by maggots, which secrete enzymes that dissolve dead tissue. LiveScience via Yahoo

In an ordinary ol' husband-and-wife DUI case in Reading, Pa., we learn that there's a 26-yr-old woman whose name is Lucy Two-Two. Reading Eagle

Today's Newsrangers: Bob Pert, Justin Warner, Michael Colpitts, Scott Huber, Marty Greb, Pete Randall, Michael Ravnitzky, Debbie Henselin, Perry Levin, Gil Nelson
Comments on More Things to Worry About on Thursday?
Comments 'worry_081120'

Posted By: Chuck - Thu Nov 20, 2008 - Comments (0)
Category:

Brain Worms

Brain worms can be contracted by eating undercooked pork, as well as by coming into contact with someone who has worm eggs in their body and who hasn't washed their hands.

But the good news about brain worms is that they're generally less dangerous than having a brain tumor. Which is why a Phoenix-area woman was relieved when her brain tumor turned out to be a brain worm. The reason I'm posting this on Weird Universe: because Fox 10 Chattanooga has a video of the worm being removed (still alive) from her brain.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 20, 2008 - Comments (2)
Category: Health, Disease, Medicine

Jumping on Eggs

The unique Mr. Tony McCabe is a man who claims he can jump on hen's eggs and human noses without breaking them.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 20, 2008 - Comments (5)
Category: Human Marvels, Video, Eggs

A Body in Peanut Butter, Cheerleaders in Silk

and the Afternoon Edition of Chuck's News of the Weird Daily for Wednesday

Tammy Lewis, 36, pleaded no-contest in Wisconsin to helping her messiah, Alan Bushey, 58, keep drawing a dead woman's Social Security checks. Lewis helped set the body up on a toilet because Bushey insisted God would revive her. (Bonus: The prosecutor said, of the plea deal: "There is a volume of information on the case, a lot of which I cannot divulge to the public." Damn!) Associated Press via ABC News

New York police said William Walsh, who has been charged with killing his wife, slathered her body with peanut butter and dumped it, to goad wild carnivores into disposing of it, but, well, police just found a dead body covered with peanut butter. New York Post

Six people were rescued from a middle-of-the-night fire in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but the man who kicked in the doors to get to people out said he wasn't the real hero, that the real hero was the woman who first noticed the fire when she got up to do what she always has to do in the middle of the night. ("I'm not the hero," he said. "She's the hero. She had to pee.") The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)

Indicted in Ohio on felony cocaine-possession: Mr. Dalcapone Alpaccino Morris. TheSmokingGun.com

There'll be American-style cheerleaders, for the first time ever at a cricket match, next Wednesday in Cuttack, India, though they'll wear saris and silks. Daily Telegraph (London)

Professor Music's Weird Link o' the Day
Just a reminder to catch up to the Modern Drunkard magazine, which made News of the Weird in 2005:
Editor Frank Kelly Rich’s bimonthly tribute to overdrinking--the magazine Modern Drunkard--is a 50,000-circulation glossy “about drinking and only about drinking, and not just drinking, but heavy drinking,” he told the Los Angeles Times in January. “The most accomplished people,” Rich said, “have been drinkers,” and he implied that all that Middle East turmoil would be eased if people just drank more. Calling serious drinkers an “oppressed minority,” Rich said he himself has about eight drinks a day, sometimes up to 30 (when he frequently blacks out). Said Rich’s wife, of her husband’s career, “When you find your calling, you have to go with it.”* Well, there's plenty to do on the online version of the magazine. ModernDrunkardmagazine.com

Today's Newsrangers: Zan Hecht, Stephen Taylor, Candy Clouston
Comments on the Afternoon Edition of Chuck's News of the Weird Daily for Wednesday?
Comments 'cycle_081119'

Posted By: Chuck - Wed Nov 19, 2008 - Comments (0)
Category:

Men’s Premium Brassiere

What I find odd is that the men in the ad don't seem to need a brassiere. So are these being marketed to cross-dressers? But wouldn't cross-dressers want genuine female clothing? (via Gizmodo)

In case you want to buy one, they're available from Wish Room.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 19, 2008 - Comments (12)
Category: Fashion, Gender