November 2024
November 16, 2024
Three Ronald Legendres
When Ronald Legendre got married in 1995, his best man was also named Ronald Legendre, as was the judge who performed the service.None of this was exactly a coincidence. The best man and groom had met years before due to having the same last name (but they were genuinely best friends), and then they deliberately sought out the judge for the wedding.
Like Ronald Legendre, I have an uncommon last name. Thanks to Google, I know there are other Alex Boeses out there, but I've never met any of them. In fact, I've never met anyone (outside of family) who shares my last name. Though I recently discovered that there's a Boese Brothers Brewery in Albuquerque. I plan to check it out next time I'm in that neck of the woods.
Athol Daily News - Aug 14, 1995
Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 16, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Odd Names, 1990s, Weddings
The Calamities and Quarrels of Authors
Anyone who has ever romanticized the writing life should read this book. It's a kind of HOLLYWOOD BABYLON of its era. Disraeli pulls no punches, as seen in the excerpt below.Find it at the Internet Archive.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 16, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Literature, Nineteenth Century
November 15, 2024
Miss Credit Union
The earliest 'Miss Credit Union' contest I could find was in 1948. The latest was in 2011. Though I suspect some are still going on, but maybe not calling attention to themselves.
Ottawa Journal - Oct 22, 1957
Hartford Courant - Oct 26, 1960
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 15, 2024 -
Comments (5)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Money
Sound Patterns
Who was the market for this?
Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 15, 2024 -
Comments (3)
Category: Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings, 1950s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
November 14, 2024
Anchovy Paste Beer
Thanks, I'll pass.More info: instagram
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 14, 2024 -
Comments (3)
Category: Inebriation and Intoxicants, Fish
Follies of the Madmen #611
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 14, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Health, Advertising, Space Travel, Twentieth Century
November 13, 2024
Take Me, I’m Yours
In 1971 National Airlines launched its "Fly Me" advertising campaign (see previous post). It featured stewardesses identifying themselves by their first names and declaring "Fly Me." The New York Times notes that this campaign won it "enormous animosity from many feminist organizations."In 1976 National ended the "Fly Me" campaign and replaced it with the "Take me, I'm yours" campaign. From a feminist perspective, not a whole lot better.
The "Take me, I'm yours" campaign lasted only a year before National switched its tag line to "Watch Us Shine."
Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 13, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Advertising, Air Travel and Airlines, 1970s
Chicken Charlie
He can be seen starting about the 45-second mark in this short video.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 13, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, North America, Twentieth Century
November 12, 2024
Lunar Space Elevator
We've posted before about the space elevator concept — an elevator going from the surface of the Earth into orbit.It's not possible to build one with current technology. But what about a lunar space elevator? That's an elevator that would go from the surface of the moon into lunar orbit.
Spacecraft systems engineer Charles Radley argues that "A Lunar Space Elevator [LSE] can be built today from existing commercial polymers; manufactured, launched and deployed for less than $2B."
I'm guessing that dollar amount would need to be multiplied by about 100 to be closer to the actual amount.
More info: "The Lunar Space Elevator, a Near Term Means to Reduce Cost of Lunar Access"
source: wikipedia
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 12, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy
Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 59
Remember my rule for this series? The artwork in question had to be made during Khrushchev's lifetime. Well, I thought 1968 was too late. But no! Nikita lived till 1971.The artist's Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 12, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, Television, Self-referentiality, Circularity, and Endless Loops, 1960s, 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 |
