Weird Universe Archive
May 2009
May 13, 2009
Mystery Object #4
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Posted By: Paul - Wed May 13, 2009 -
Comments (3)
Category: Tools
Cartoon Campaign Ad
Has there ever been another cartoon campaign ad in the past several elections? How could this great idea go unused?!? SpongeBob SquarePants for Obama! Pinky and the Brain for Bush and Cheney! Just imagine the possibilities!
Posted By: Paul - Wed May 13, 2009 -
Comments (4)
Category: Politics, Cartoons, 1950s
Weird Cars: Steam Powered Cars
At the beginning of the 20th Century, gasoline was difficult to store safely and therefore was considered a bad choice for a motor vehicle fuel. Steam engines were a highly refined technology and widely understood by the public. Steam powered cars ran on kerosene, which does not explode when burned. The one drawback was that you had to let your car build up a head of steam for up to half an hour before you could drive it. The car pictured below is a Stanley Steamer. Stanley made cars from 1896 to 1924.
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Posted By: fyshstyxx - Wed May 13, 2009 -
Comments (2)
Category: Technology, Cars
Keep It or Toss It?
Posted By: Nethie - Wed May 13, 2009 -
Comments (4)
Category: Food, Science
Your Daily Loser & Jury Duty for May 13th
Your Daily Loser - A Palm Beach, Florida, woman says she deliberately rammed her boyfriend's truck with her own car to prevent him from driving while drunk. Even better, she had her two children in the car with her when she did it. She's been charged with aggravated battery and two counts of child abuse. The Story.Jury Duty - A big name for a big boy. Mr. Franklin Santiagomontenegro was arrested for contributing to the deliquency of a minor and selling/using cocaine. The Story. I feel sorry for the arresting officer: "Sir, I need you to spell your name." "S A N..." twenty minutes later "...G R O"
Posted By: Nethie - Wed May 13, 2009 -
Comments (2)
Category: Crime, Drugs, Your Daily Jury Duty, Your Daily Loser, Goofs and Screw-ups
May 12, 2009
Driving Drunk in Norway is Costly
The Norwegian courts base criminal fines on the amount of money the offender has. Recently a 49 year old gentleman from Kristiansand, Norway, was fined $109,000.00 for driving under the influence. The Story. Can you imagine trying to adjust such a system to be used in the US? I think it's a great idea but I'm afraid that our most frequent offenders are flat broke to start with.
Posted By: Nethie - Tue May 12, 2009 -
Comments (2)
Category: Crime, Your Daily Loser, Alcohol, Goofs and Screw-ups
Banned 7-Up Ad has great ending
Quality issues but well worth the ending!! Enjoy!!
Posted By: gdanea - Tue May 12, 2009 -
Comments (5)
Category:
They Had That Back Then? #2
Today's lesson: Musical Ring Tones.
(from the May 1956 issue of Popular Science)
Posted By: Salamander Sam - Tue May 12, 2009 -
Comments (4)
Category: Inventions, Music, Technology, 1950s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows
Your Daily Jury Duty: Midwest Division; May 12th 2009
Joliet, IllDennis Lee Garthus, or “Pantielover” as he is known by his screen name, has been arrested on child pornography charges. Garthus is registered sex offender in Illinois for previous crimes of child pornography and criminal sexual assault. Investigators found over 2000 illegal pornographic images on his computer. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Photo from the Illinois Sex Offender Registry
Chicago Breaking News
Illinois Sex Offender Registry
Posted By: chris_cantwell - Tue May 12, 2009 -
Comments (4)
Category:
A Little Light Weirdness
First up is a story I have been trying to track down for over a week. Chichester Town Council in the UK were unable to remove a garbage bin that had been illegally dumped in a four-inch deep stream, because they did not have anyone qualified to use wellington boots (Chichester Observer).The three man crew of a specially eco-refitted yacht, had to be rescued from hurricane force gales on the outward leg of a voyage billed as the "Carbon Neutral Expedition" and designed to raise awareness of green issues. Their rescuer? An oil-tanker delivering 680,000 barrels of crude (The Guardian).
The CEO of the company that supplies and installs most of the speed cameras for the UK Highways Agency has been banned from driving for six months after he was caught speeding at over 100 mph (The Times).
Sikhs serving in the UK police force are looking to develop a bulletproof turban so that they can meet the requirement to wear protective headgear of the force's armed response units without having to break their religious prohibition not to remove them (The Telegraph).
Finally, plans for a Berlin Monument of National Unity, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, had to be scrapped after the spoilsport jury rejected all the entries as too weird. Not one of the 538 submissions from members of the public, which included a 30 meter high gilded banana, a German version of the Statue of Liberty holding a Rubik's cube, a group of Smurfs dancing on a recreation of a section of the wall, and a giant statue of a man pushing a shopping trolley, was accepted. The jury has now invited contributions from selected professional artists (The National).
Posted By: Dumbfounded - Tue May 12, 2009 -
Comments (3)
Category: Art, Government, Regulations, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, Religion
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction books such as Elephants on Acid. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Chuck Shepherd Chuck is the purveyor of News of the Weird, the syndicated column which for decades has set the gold-standard for reporting on oddities and the bizarre. Our banner was drawn by the legendary underground cartoonist Rick Altergott. Contact Us |
