Weird Universe Archive
May 2013
May 5, 2013
Revolver Camera
Paul once posted about a camera that looked like a gun. This does that one better. It's a camera AND a gun. Pull the trigger and it simultaneously takes a picture of and shoots a bullet at whomever you're aiming the gun at. It was created and used in the late 1930s in New York City. [via petapixel]
Posted By: Alex - Sun May 05, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Guns, Photography and Photographers, 1930s
News of the Weird (May 5, 2013)
[New on Sundays at Weird Universe--the weekly News of the Weird newspaper column, which is available elsewhere online, but this version has links enabled.]News of the Weird
Weirdnuz.M317, May 5, 2013
Copyright 2013 by Chuck Shepherd
Lead Story
* In March, twin sisters Louise and Martine Fokken, 70, announced their joint retirement after more than 50 years each on the job--as Amsterdam prostitutes. (In February, the minimum age for prostitutes in the Netherlands was raised to 21, but there is no maximum.) The twins estimated they had 355,000 client-visits between them, and Martine noted that she still has one devoted regular that she’ll have to disappoint. Louise, though, appeared happier to hang up her mattress for good, because of arthritis. The sisters complained about the legalization of brothels in 2000 (with east European women and pimps out-hustling the more genteel Dutch women) and ensuing taxation (which required the women to take on more clients). [Daily Telegraph (London), 3-14-2013]
Cultural Diversity
* “Traditional Taiwanese funerals [combine] somber mourning,” reported BBC News in February, “with louder, up-tempo entertainment to fire up grieving spirits.” They are tailor-made, in other words, for Ms. Liu Jun-Lin, 30, and her Filial Daughters Band with their acrobatic dance routines because Liu, herself, has the reputation as Taiwan’s most famous professional mourner. After the musical festivities, Liu dons a white robe and crawls on her hands and knees to the coffin, where she “performs her signature wail.” [BBC News, 2-25-2013]
* Norwegian Wood: A 12-hour TV miniseries shown this winter on Norway’s government channel NRK, “National Firewood Night,” was conceived as a full series, then cut to “only” 12 hours, eight of which focused entirely on a live fireplace. Nearly a million people tuned in to the series, and at one point 60 text messages came in complaining about whether the wood in the fireplace should have been placed with bark up or bark down. “[F]irewood,” said the show’s host, “is the foundation of our lives.” A New York Times dispatch noted that a best-selling book, “Solid Wood,” sold almost as many copies in Norway, proportional to the population, as a book’s selling 10 million copies in the U.S. [New York Times, 2-19-2013]
* Imagine the Person Who First Suggested This: The newest beauty-treatment rage in China, according to Chinese media quoted on the Inquisitr.com website in March, is the “fire facial,” in which alcohol and a “secret elixir” are daubed on the face and set ablaze for a few seconds, then extinguished. According to “ancient Chinese medicine,” this will burn off “dull” skin--and also alleviate the common cold and reduce obesity. [Inquisitr.com, 3-7-2013] [CBS News, 12-5-2007]
More in extended >>
Posted By: Chuck - Sun May 05, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category:
May 4, 2013
Electric Skateboards & Solowheel
Okay, so we don't have our Back to the Future hoverboards yet. But maybe we can settle for these.
Posted By: Paul - Sat May 04, 2013 -
Comments (4)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Technology
The Next Big Thing: 4K
4K television with 8.8 million pixels per frame is the newest high resolution advance. But before anyone runs out there to plunk down big $ for it think of this, the tech is there but the flesh is weak. We all can only see as well as our eyes can function, so is it worth all that money really. Just a thought.
Posted By: Alex - Sat May 04, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Technology
Nessie-sary Insurance
A Scottish cruise line felt the need to take out an unusual insurance policy. They are covered in the event that the Loch Ness Monster should damage one of their ships. That is sure to make their passengers feel so much more secure.
Posted By: Alex - Sat May 04, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Insurance
The Immortal Burger
Posted By: Alex - Sat May 04, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Food, Junk Food
May 3, 2013
Note from Chuck
Dear Weirdo,Don't be too surprised, but I'm rejoining Weird Universe on Sunday and will post Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays. On Sundays, it's the standard, weekly News of the Weird newspaper column now in its 26th year. That column is available elsewhere, but just for y'all WU-vies, the citations are link-enabled--exclusive! On Mondays, there'll be a fresh weekly News of the Weird 2.0 that resembles the old News of the Weird / Pro Edition. On Tuesdays, I'll post some news-hinged commentary called Backstage (in the Weird News Community). (If you have comments to direct to me about stuff, especially errors of fact I might have made, please direct them by e-mail to chuck at weird universe dot net or weirdnews at earthlink dot net, i.e., I may not get around regularly to the Comments pages.) Cheers.
Posted By: Chuck - Fri May 03, 2013 -
Comments (9)
Category:
Bread Bag Clip Wedding Dress
Stephanie Watson made her wedding dress by sewing 10,000 bread bag clips onto cotton fabric. It took her over ten years to collect that many clips. She calls the dress "Nadine." [via uncomsumption]
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 03, 2013 -
Comments (10)
Category: Fashion
(Queen of the) Amazons
Here's a twist. Usually, I present the trailer first, then the full film it represents. But I can't find the full film for Roger Corman's Amazons trailer (1986) above. And I can't find the trailer for the feature length Queen of the Amazons (1947) below. So you get the trailer for one, and then the full other feature. But they are both so bad, you probably wouldn't have noticed if I didn't mention it, despite a 40-year gap and one being in color and one in B&W!!
Enjoy both!
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 03, 2013 -
Comments (1)
Category: Movies, Fantasy, 1940s, 1980s, Women
May 2, 2013
Confidencias de un Senderista
Governments sometimes produce comic books for propaganda or educational purposes. "Confidencias de un Senderista" is an example of this genre. (According to Google Translate, that means "Confessions of a Hiker"). It was a 37-page comic book produced by the Peruvian government in 1989 and handed out in shantytowns around Lima in order to inform people about the violent tactics of the Shining Path. Reportedly the comic book met with "mixed reactions."If you read Spanish, you can check out the entire comic book over at scribd.com.
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 02, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Government, Comics, 1980s
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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 |
