March 2017
March 11, 2017
Berry Pink, the Marble King
Weird name, unusual hobby.
Original article here.
Home page of current company founded by Berry Pink.
Samples of their marbles, and more history.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 11, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Games, Children, 1920s, 1930s
March 10, 2017
7 Clicks (March 10, 2017)
7 ClicksMarch 10, 2017
Gubment + Appeals Court: Can gov't "protect" endangered "dusky gopher frogs" just because they used to live at X place, and may come back to X place, but haven't been around X place "for decades"? [Daily Caller]
Can you think of a worse idea than building one of those mall toddler playgrounds, for inside a regular theater, during the movies? [Entertainment Weekly]
Facebook Trolls BBC: B finds child porn on F; F says no way, show us; B sends 100 images from F; F immediately rats out B for transmitting child porn [Gizmodo]
Allen Cochran, on trial, feeling doom, walked out before the "theft" verdict; but jury said not gulty; so, no harm, no foul? Wrong! [Virginian-Pilot]
Rule: If you're traffic-stopped still wearing work name tag ("Keyonna Waters"), even Barney Fife will notice if you tell him you're someone besides "Keyonna Waters" [WMDT-TV]
Your tap water pink/purple? Gov't: "No problem, safe to drink, OK? We good?" [Scripps Media]
Weird Japan: "flower" arrangements . . using raw meat ("tuna sashimi roses," sliced "beef flowers") [Metro News]
Thanks to Paul Music and Kevin Corwin,
Posted By: Chuck - Fri Mar 10, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category:
Risque Produce Labels
There's a collector's market for old produce labels that decorated fruit and vegetable crates, because back in the day these labels were often quite artistic. Some of the labels were also slightly risque, because sex can sell anything, even apples and veggies.Once cardboard boxes were introduced, these kinds of labels fell out of use.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 10, 2017 -
Comments (5)
Category: Art, Advertising
Armed and Clumsy: The Ancestors: 1
How far back do the roots of Chuck's "Armed and Clumsy" category extend? The Wikipedia entry on handguns says: "The first handheld firearms that might better be called "pistols" were made as early as the 15th century..." Could we find a report of some soldier of the era accidentally wounding himself? It's a challenge!In any case, here is an incident from 1949.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 10, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Accidents, Guns, 1940s
March 9, 2017
How I Stole Elections
Marlin Hawkins served as an elected official in Conway County, Arkansas for 38 years — for most of that time as sheriff. He built up a legendary political machine, being able not only to win reelection for himself (19 times) but also to deliver votes for other candidates. He often boasted that he could accurately predict the outcome of every election in the county.
It was long suspected that he was rigging the elections, especially since absentee voters would always vote for him by a wide margin, but no one could ever prove anything.
After he retired in 1978, Hawkins eventually wrote his autobiography, which he brazenly titled How I Stole Elections (available on Amazon). He joked that he "stole" them by "treating my neighbors right."
But no, he stole them by ballot fraud.
His book came out in 1991. The year after, some people who were remodeling their house discovered a whole stash of marked ballots from a 1968 election hidden in their attic. The house had previously been owned by one of Hawkins' deputies.
Hawkins got away with it because the statute of limitations had expired in 1974. He died in 1995.
More info about him at the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Palm Beach Post - Jan 9, 1992
Posted By: Alex - Thu Mar 09, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Government, Politics, Books, 1990s
Timothy Leary: While Birds Sing
Album info and track listing.
Let me know when you bail!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 09, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Drugs, Psychedelic, Music, Surrealism, 1960s, 1970s, 1990s
March 8, 2017
The Monopoly Killer
July 1991: While preparing to play a game of Monopoly, Marc Cienkowski and Michael Klucznik got into a fight over who would use the car playing piece. Cienkowski insisted that since they were at his house, he got to be the car -- and not the hat or thimble. But Klucznik insisted that he was going to be the car, and continued to insist this even after Cienkowski hit him in the face. So Cienkowski fetched his bow and arrow and shot Klucznik through the heart. Cienkowski later pleaded guilty to criminal homicide.
Philadelphia Daily News - Feb 7, 1992
Click to enlarge
Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 08, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Crime, Games, 1990s
Follies of the Madmen #306
Tiny, tiny Cigarette Elf delivers tobacco goodness!
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 08, 2017 -
Comments (5)
Category: Business, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Products, Tobacco and Smoking, 1940s
March 7, 2017
Reciprocal Biomimicry Initiative
The latest from artist Jonathon Keats. He calls it the Reciprocal Biomimicry Initiative. The idea is to use human technologies to give a helping hand to various organisms stressed by environmental change, as a thank you for all the good ideas engineers have borrowed from the natural world over the years.The exhibit is on display at Bucknell University's Samek Art Museum from March 7 to June 4.
More info: Samek Art Museum
Sex Toys for Flowers: Micro-vibrators provide titillation for flowers that have to be artificially pollinated as honeybee populations are decimated.
Urban Camouflage for Reptiles: Camouflage designed by the military for urban combat allows reptiles to elude detection in cities as urbanization overtakes their natural habitats.
Aqua Lungs for Sea Snails: A life support system allows sea snails to migrate to land when ocean acidification imperils their shells... This conceptual model shows the valves used to maintain the required microenvironment inside the snail’s shell.
Previous WU posts about Keats:
• The Universal Colorblindness Test
• Marriage via quantum entanglement
• Business School for Bacteria
• Century Camera
• Time Management
• The Art of Jonathon Keats
Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 07, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Art
Fred and Barney Meet the Thing
A mashup no one ever asked for.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 07, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Television, Comics, Cartoons, 1970s
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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 |
