Ultra Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering, the partisan attempt to form congressional districts in favor of a particular party, was exercised in an interesting way in Colorado. After dividing the new districts to suit themselves politicians found they had made an embarrassing mistake. One Colorado district consists of just one couple. She's a democrat and he's a republican and their dog is an independent.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 07, 2012 - Comments (8)
Category:

Follies of the Mad Men #178

My questions:

1) Did girls and women acquire those same Charles Atlas muscleman biceps shown on the box, or just boys and men?

2) Do they eat Pep on the International Space Station today?

3) Does anyone today still say, "He's got pep!" or "I feel peppy!"...?

And if you haven't had enough cereal trivia, please allow me to highly commend this new book, which is a lot of fun. My review will appear soon at THE BARNES & NOBLE REVIEW.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 07, 2012 - Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Family, Food, Nutrition, Health, 1950s

Current Price Of Political Baseballs

I don't know exactly what this means, but it must mean something. According to the research I conducted on eBay, if you want to buy a baseball signed by a president, or wanna-be president, here's the cheapest you're going to pay for such a collectible:

Barack Obama Signed Baseball. Starting Bid: $400


Mitt Romney Signed Baseball. Buy it now: $159.99


Rick Santorum Signed Baseball. Current Bid: $27.01


Newt Gingrich Signed Baseball. Current Bid: $1.25

Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 07, 2012 - Comments (9)
Category: Politics, Sports

What’s Changed?

Anyone who can spot something different about the homepage today wins a one-year free subscription to Weird Universe!

But in all seriousness, it's been 3 or 4 years since the site design was refreshed, so we thought it was time to tweak things a little. Biggest change was to make the top banner smaller, so that everything could be moved up a bit. The left column for the blog posts has also been made wider. Bit of color has been added to the background, etc.

Hope the new look doesn't upset the regulars too much. I'll soon get around to applying the changes to the rest of the site (comment pages, etc.), unless there's a massive protest and everyone demands the old design come back.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 06, 2012 - Comments (17)
Category: Weird Universe

Chinese Jinks

Continuing our intermittent series of "yesteryear's racial stereotypes."

Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 06, 2012 - Comments (6)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Stereotypes and Cliches, Cartoons, 1930s, Asia

Chuck’s Weekly Cite-Seeing (March 5, 2012)

Chuck's Weekly Cite-Seeing Tour
The Crème de la Crème, Every Monday

Hand-Picked and Lightly Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
March 5, 2012
(datelines from February 24 or later) (links correct as of March 5)
© 2012 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.

Heber City, Utah: A tough-fact-check car crash killed one (Ms. Mula Er) and injured four (Ms. Me Htwe, Mr. Hsar Kpaw Doh, and two of unreported gender, W.T. Htoo and Tar Eh). Salt Lake Tribune

Baton Rouge, La.: In the alcohol-sophisticated Louisiana legislature, the debate was over whether drive-through daiquiri bars could sell go-cups with straw holes (to facilitate DUIs). WWL-TV (New Orleans)

Gainesville, Ga.: West High School and middle school were locked down. Reason: A cell phone's auto-correct had changed a text from "gunna be at west hall" to "gunman be at west hall." Gainesville Times

Seattle: (This--and not abortion counseling--is a reason to de-fund Planned Parenthood.) A PP group distributed 55,000 condoms with QR codes so users could scan in the locations in which they were having sex. New York Daily News

Shandong Province, China: Villagers who can't afford to heat their homes take huge condom-like inflatables to a natural gas substation every few days, fill them up, and take them home. ChinaSmack via Gizmodo

Hobe Sound, Fla.: Not sure about cause-and-effect here, but a highly intoxicated (0.409) Kevin Brann, 41, was arrested behind the wheel and with a butt plug in place. TCPalm.com (Stuart, Fla.)

Harare, Zimbabwe: The prostitutes are truly full-service. A woman was accidentally electrocuted while hanging a client's just-washed clothes out to dry as part of his all-nighter. Newsday (Harare)

Swindon, England: The borough council has discovered that the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act bars any action to stop badgers from burrowing into graves at the Radnor Street Cemetery. BBC News

Gastonia, N.C.: In a location usually reserved for cocaine or heroin, Asheton Biggerstaff, 24, apparently used his butt cheeks to smuggle in . . chewing tobacco. Gaston Gazette

Bradenton, Fla.: What can $15 buy you these days? For Adrian Baltierra, 51, one whiff of a street lady's intimate part (actually, an undercover cop's). The Smoking Gun

Miami, Fla.: Behold Braco! No matter what, people apparently need to find somebody to believe in, even if it's just a guy who stares at you for a few minutes and then walks away. (Certainly! DVDs and jewelry are available in the lobby!) Miami Herald

Lafayette, Ind.: White Castle is test-marketing sliders plus onion rings barbecue appetizers wine, with table service. Wall Street Journal

San Bernardino, Calif.: Someone ratted out smart-guy Stephen Hawking for visits to the Freedom Acres strip joint, where he allegedly enjoys private dancing and admiring the proton growth in various girls' body parts. World's Greatest Newspaper

Toronto: Would an infinite number of orangutans with an infinite number of iPads re-create all the great works of art? Better that they draw on an iPad (said a spokesman for Orangutan Outreach) because there's "no paint to eat." Toronto Star

Salisbury, N.C.: Hard times here. Who counterfeits $1 bills? Salisbury Post

Dublin, Ohio: Eliminating the middle man. County coroner crashes into pedestrian (but the victim will recover). Columbus Dispatch

Your Weekly Jury Duty [In America, you're presumed innocent . . until the mug shot is released]:

Matthew Miranda, 25, was charged with dine-and-dash in Milford, Conn. (Bonus: The diner actually thought this guy was a good risk to pay the check). /// Y'all be on the lookout for this guy in the police sketch, OK? Connecticut Post /// WTAE-TV (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Editor's Notes: The TLC channel is officially designated cable TV's most important service. Hoarders! My Strange Addiction! Toddlers and Tiaras! Now, debuting this coming Wednesday, My Crazy Obsession profiles the couple who estimates they've spent $1m on 5,000 Cabbage Patch kids and who ritually mingle with them. MSNBC /// TLC Channel

Unofficially: (1) world's ugliest animal (its face, anyway). /// 10 Chinese drinks you mustn't try. National Geographic /// Inventors Spot

Thanks to Matt Rushing, Dave Henshaw, Dave Scallon, and Elaine Weiss and the mighty NOTW Board of Editorial Advisors.

Posted By: Chuck - Mon Mar 05, 2012 - Comments (6)
Category:

Men Posing With A Chicken

Back in the Civil War era, going to a photographer's studio and getting your portrait taken wasn't cheap. People made sure they were dressed in their finest clothes and looked their best. So why did these men choose to pose with a chicken? It appears to be the same chicken in both shots. Was it a prize chicken? Or just a favorite pet? Unfortunately the backstory to these photos has been lost to time. (via Photo_History on Flickr)

Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 05, 2012 - Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Photography and Photographers

Subtle Body

"To the strains of Fila Brazilia's 'Subtle Body,' a video of consensual power exchange by an Icelandic rubber fetishist freely bound."

Warning: vinyl-swathed Icelandic butt is spanked.

My questions:

1) Did you folks spontaneously interrupt the meal seen upon the table, or is this punishment perhaps either an appetizer or dessert?

2) IN THE DINING ROOM?!? YOU'VE GOT YOUR S&M EQUIPMENT SET UP IN THE DINING ROOM!?!

Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 05, 2012 - Comments (6)
Category: Body, Performance Art, Europe

Essential Beatnik Pad

[Click text to enlarge for readability]

Or:

Original story here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 04, 2012 - Comments (5)
Category: Interior Decorating, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1950s

Whiskey for Health

Such was the medical wisdom of 1912.

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 03, 2012 - Comments (9)
Category: Health, Advertising, 1910s, Alcohol