Weird Universe Archive
June 2012
June 19, 2012
Are you eccentric?
The wikipedia page on eccentricity includes a test, of a kind, to help you determine if you're eccentric. I wonder how many WUvies would qualify as such?According to studies, there are eighteen distinctive characteristics that differentiate a healthy eccentric person from a regular person or someone who has a mental illness (although some may not always apply). The first five are in most people regarded as eccentric:
• Nonconforming attitude
• Idealistic
• Intense curiosity
• Happy obsession with a hobby or hobbies
• Knew very early in his or her childhood they were different from others
• Highly intelligent
• Opinionated and outspoken
• Unusual living or eating habits
• Not interested in the opinions or company of others
• Mischievous sense of humor
• Nonconforming attitude
• Idealistic
• Intense curiosity
• Happy obsession with a hobby or hobbies
• Knew very early in his or her childhood they were different from others
• Highly intelligent
• Opinionated and outspoken
• Unusual living or eating habits
• Not interested in the opinions or company of others
• Mischievous sense of humor
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 19, 2012 -
Comments (14)
Category: Eccentrics
Bang! Bang! You’re Dead!
Tony Randall = James Bond? Not in my book!
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 19, 2012 -
Comments (6)
Category: Movies, Spies and Secret Agents, 1960s, Parody
June 18, 2012
Duck, Duck, DUCK!
Never saw a herd of ducks before!
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 18, 2012 -
Comments (10)
Category:
Grazing Management Basics
More boring than "Wooden Bridge Inspection"? You be the judge!
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 18, 2012 -
Comments (3)
Category: Agriculture, Boredom, PSA’s, Regionalism
Workers’ Hands
From "The Worker's Hand" by George Rosen, M.D. in Ciba Symposia (July 1942).As someone who's spent too much time at a keyboard during my life, resulting in bad carpal tunnel syndrome, I can definitely empathize with these hands abused and deformed by work.
A tanner. Creases deeply stained.
Walnut sheller. Stained fingers.
Wood carver. Oval callouses in the center of the palm.
Jeweler. Dislocated distal phalanx of the thumb.
Glass polisher. Shortened, brittle nails.
Metal worker. Penetration of metal particles into the skin.
Worker in a glass factory. Callosities produced by mechanical work.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 18, 2012 -
Comments (14)
Category: Jobs and Occupations, Skin and Skin Conditions
June 17, 2012
News of the Weird 2.0 (June 17, 2012)
News of the Weird 2.0(Almost) Daily, Since May 21, 2012
Underreported News, Hand-Picked and Lightly Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
June 17, 2012
(datelines from June 7 or later) (links correct as of June 17)
★ ★ ★ ★!
Father's Day Special: Here [Weird Universe, 5-22-2012, 6-4-2012], and in next week's News of the Weird, Yr Editor dutifully reported on the flowered fatherhood of Desmond Hatchett (24 kids, by 11 different women, in the corrected total reported by the Knoxville News-Sentinel). Turns out he's only neck-and-neck with fellow Tennesseeans Terry Turnage (23 with 17) and Richard Colbert (25 with 18). Turnage's rare child-support checks are for amounts like $6 and $9. One of Turnage's baby-mamas said her "knees buckled" in court when she was told that Turnage had not the four more kids he had told her about, but 20 more. What's wrong with these
Links
Lansing, Mich.: "[What Rep. Lisa Brown said] was so offensive, I don't even want to say it in front of women," said a male state legislator supporting the newly-passed lockdown on Brown's floor-debating rights. Brown's transgressive word: "vagina." NPR
Dos de Mayo, Brazil: Four times a year, Adriana Villareal moves into her late husband's tomb for a few days, makes herself at home, cooks her meals, surfs the Web, etc. Agence France-Presse via Yahoo News
Cincinnati, Ohio: Charles Marshall, 28, was busted for the fourth time for having relations with a teddy bear in public. The Smoking Gun
More in extended >>
Posted By: Chuck - Sun Jun 17, 2012 -
Comments (8)
Category:
Mystery Gadget 10
What purpose will this rolling device achieve?
Find the answer here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jun 17, 2012 -
Comments (5)
Category: Technology, 1920s
The World’s Oldest Traveling Salesman
James Fenlon of Des Moines, Iowa started working as a traveling salesman at the age of 17. Seventy-two years later, age 89, he was still working as a "traveler," earning him the title of World's Oldest Traveling Salesman. His specialty was selling windmills to farmers. He sold over 57,000 of them.Toward the end of his life, his boss tried to get him to take it easy, telling him he could stay on the payroll as long as he lived, even if he never knocked on another door. But Fenlon insisted on continuing to work. He died on Aug 7, 1916. The cause was said to be a combination of hot weather and age. There's a brief bio of him here.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 17, 2012 -
Comments (5)
Category: Jobs and Occupations
June 16, 2012
Rvevenge Of The Boiled Squid
In some oriental countries squid is served par-boiled. In other words it is still alive when you begin to eat it. No doubt unhappy about being dipped in boiling water and chewed it sometimes responds violently by injecting its sperm bag into the dinner's mouth. This insemination requires medical intervention to remove the wiggly sqiud sperm from the mouth. It is my sincere recommendation refrain from eating things that are still alive.
Back by popular demand!
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 16, 2012 -
Comments (7)
Category:
Happy To See Food
These people sure are happy at the sight of food. Or are they happy because of the amazingly low prices? 49 cents for a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper! That's less than a nickel per can. (These are 1950's prices.)
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 16, 2012 -
Comments (6)
Category: Food, Advertising
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| Who We Are |
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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 |
