Weird Universe Archive
May 2021
May 31, 2021
The Invisible statues of Salvatore Garau
The Italian artist Salvatore Garau has been creating "invisible statues". The 'statues' are simply squares drawn on the ground with white ribbon.He just sold one of them for 15,000 euros. Garau says that even though you may not see the statue, it exists. "It is made of air and spirit".
Would this fit into Paul's category of artwork that Khrushchev probably wouldn't like?
More info: Garau's instagram page, courier
Posted By: Alex - Mon May 31, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Art, Statues and Monuments
King Dinosaur
The Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Mon May 31, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Creatures, Science Fiction, Space Travel, 1950s
May 30, 2021
Urine-Collecting Shoe
Problem: you're out in public and really need to go to the bathroom, but there are no toilets around.Solution: the urine-collecting shoe, patented by Ran Rahimzada in 2008.
As described in his patent:
An embarrassing situation may arise, when people sometimes need to urinate and there may not be toilets readily available, for example when a person is driving a car on a highway, while touring a city with not public toilets readily accessible, while traveling in a bus, etc...
According to the present invention, a new shoe includes a container to store a person's urine. The person may use a standard catheter, which is connected to the container in the shoe.
This is an unobtrusive device, there is no bag attached to one's foot, etc. The device may be used discreetly, without attracting undue attention.
According to the present invention, a new shoe includes a container to store a person's urine. The person may use a standard catheter, which is connected to the container in the shoe.
This is an unobtrusive device, there is no bag attached to one's foot, etc. The device may be used discreetly, without attracting undue attention.
Posted By: Alex - Sun May 30, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Body Fluids, Shoes
World’s Largest Hand-dug Well
Actually not the largest, as the Wikipedia page admits.
Posted By: Paul - Sun May 30, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Architecture, Regionalism, Technology, World Records
May 29, 2021
International Society for the Abolition of Data-Processing Machines
The International Society for the Abolition of Data-Processing Machines (or ISADAPROM) was founded by Harvey Matusow in the late 1960s. Its aim was "to conduct guerrilla warfare against the computer by such means as sending a penny too much or too little when paying a utility bill."
San Francisco Examiner - Oct 27, 1968
Matusow also authored The Beast of Business, which was supposed to serve as a manual for the guerrilla warfare against the computer. I wonder if any of the techniques he detailed would still work today?
However, Matusow is best known for giving evidence in court against individuals during the McCarthy era. Later he claimed that the FBI had paid him to give false testimony, and he detailed these allegations in his book False Witness.
He seems to have had a rather eccentric life and career. Some other highlights of it, from the University of Sussex's page about him:
- Founded a band called the Harvey Matusow’s Jew’s Harp Band
- Married approximately twelve times
- Is possibly part of the reason The Beatles broke up – he held the party where John Lennon met Yoko Ono
- Worked as a children’s TV clown called Cockyboo in Tucson, Arizona
- Converted to Mormonism and spent his last years known as Job Matusow
Posted By: Alex - Sat May 29, 2021 -
Comments (7)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Technology, Computers, 1960s
Miss Hot Dog 1960
Source: The Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia) 06 Jul 1960, Wed Page 16
Posted By: Paul - Sat May 29, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Food, Sexuality, Public Indecency
May 28, 2021
Learn To Ski
Released in 1960, this record promised to teach you how to ski in the comfort of your home.In this handy little record, the authors have distilled exceptional knowledge of the sport of skiing into simple yet straight forward detailed instructions. With step-by-step illustrations they have presented the art of learning "How to Ski" in an orderly progression of simple measures...
In this record Réal Charette has presumed that the student, whether teenager or adult, has never skied before. He has taken the ski techniques one at a time—kick turn, straight running, snow plow, stem christie, Walden and explained each in turn. He starts with the proper selection of equipment, explained basic and advanced ski techniques and ends with safety hints of value to every skier.
In this record Réal Charette has presumed that the student, whether teenager or adult, has never skied before. He has taken the ski techniques one at a time—kick turn, straight running, snow plow, stem christie, Walden and explained each in turn. He starts with the proper selection of equipment, explained basic and advanced ski techniques and ends with safety hints of value to every skier.
image source: discogs.com
I couldn't find any clips from the record online, but I did find a video from 1953 featuring Réal Charette.
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 28, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Sports, 1960s
Rusty Warren, RIP
Obituary here.Wikipedia page here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 28, 2021 -
Comments (4)
Category: Humor, Sexuality, Twentieth Century
May 27, 2021
Ice Pick Lobotomies
An ice pick lobotomy involves inserting an ice pick above the eyeball and hammering it into the brain to destroy the frontal lobes. In 1977, the CIA admitted that it had considered doing this to enemy agents as a way to erase their memory following interrogation. This secret program was code-named "Project Artichoke".However, the agency insisted that by 1972 it had abandoned the idea as too barbaric, and too likely to "invite horrible reprisals".
Some other interrogation techniques that the agency had considered, but rejected, included:
—Placing subjects in a quaking rubber room to produce overanxiety and emotional instability. The CIA review says "for our purposes a quaking room is too much of a torture chamber; however, if some third-degree approach is contemplated at a permanent installation, this one is interesting."
—Shining flickering lights at a prisoner. "The analyst ... mentioned watching a restaurant fan which was too slow, but nevertheless spoiled his appetite."
—Injecting forms of cocaine into a suspect's brain through holes in the skull. "Too surgical for our use."
—Odors were also considered. The documents said that terror has been produced by exposing a subject to a harmless odor, such as geranium, simulating the smell of a lethal gas.
—Shining flickering lights at a prisoner. "The analyst ... mentioned watching a restaurant fan which was too slow, but nevertheless spoiled his appetite."
—Injecting forms of cocaine into a suspect's brain through holes in the skull. "Too surgical for our use."
—Odors were also considered. The documents said that terror has been produced by exposing a subject to a harmless odor, such as geranium, simulating the smell of a lethal gas.
More info: cia.gov
Sacramento Bee - Oct 30, 1977
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 27, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Spies and Intelligence Services, 1970s, Brain Damage
Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 35
The artist's Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Thu May 27, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, 1920s, Russia
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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 |
