Follies of the Mad Men #77

How do you advertise the death car that made Ralph Nader's reputation? Here's how!

Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 04, 2009 - Comments (7)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Death, 1960s, Cars

An Apple a Day…

A 68-year-old Swedish man, Ingemar Westlund, was cleared of murder charges when elk hair and saliva were found on his wife's clothing. It all happened back in September of 2008, when his wife took their dog for a walk in the woods and never returned. When she didn't come back, Mr. Westlund went looking for her and found her body next to a lake near Loftahammer. Even though elk normally steer clear of humans, apparently "the animals can become aggressive after eating fermented fallen apples in gardens." BBC

Posted By: mdb777 - Sun Nov 29, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Death, Wives

Lions And Tigers And Bears, Oh My!

A couple visiting a safari park in Johannesburg, South Africa got a bit closer to nature than they expected after one of the Lions, a juvenile male, calmly got hold of the rear door handle in his teeth and pulled it open. After a shocked moment, the driver gunned the engine and the vehicle took off with the lion in hot pursuit. It was finally driven off by wardens at the exit gates (Daily Mail).

Meanwhile Mr Zhu, a 61 year-old retired teacher from China’s Jiangxi province, let his curiosity get the better of him during a vistit to the circus in Nankang, and put his hand though the bars of a tiger’s cage to feel its fur. The tiger promptly bit off four of his fingers. Zhu collapsed on the spot with shock, but survived to receive 3500 yuan (about $500) in compensation. The tiger was unharmed by the incident, but felt hungry again 15 minutes later (Times of India).

Less aggressive, but equally troubling, is the giant bear that has made its home near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, described by one resident as “super smart”. The residents of Incline Village are enduring almost nightly visits from a 700 lb black bear that has already caused $70000 of damage this year. The bear has evaded the traps set for it and the patrols looking for it, and has even survived a couple of rounds from a .44 magnum, one of which reportedly bounced off its skull (Las Vegas Sun).

In other (not actually) bear news, Australian marsupial pinup the Koala is looking at a bleak future according to recent reports. The loss of eucalyptus trees through deforestation, dog attacks and car accidents are stressing the animals to such an extent that they are succumbing to usually harmless viral infections. Frank Carrick of Queensland University’s Koala Study Program said the koalas were in “diabolical trouble” and that their numbers were “declining alarmingly”. (Washington Post). The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are fewer than 100000 koalas left in the wild, maybe as few as 43000, and the mainland population could go extinct in as little as 30 years (New Scientist).

Finally, a crocodile bit of more than it could chew this week when it strayed too close to a bloat of hippopotami and their young, who promptly formed a threatening defensive ring. Startled, the crocodile attempted to escape over the backs of the angry hippos, a fatal mistake. The croc’s scaly hide was no defence against the 3000-4000 lbs of bite pressure of an adult hippo, and it was soon crushed to death in their jaws (Telegraph).

It's a far cry from the cretaceous period where, according to new fossil finds, crocodiles were the extraordinarily successful inhabitants of a swampy region that was to become the Sahara Desert. Given nicknames like "boarcroc" and "ratcroc", the fossils show a plethora of different crocodile species living alongside each other, with each adapted to different ways of life. Some, like "dogcroc" and "duckcroc" have oddly shaped braincases that suggest they may have been considerably more intelligent than their modern descendants (Times).

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Thu Nov 19, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Death, Stupidity

Black Sheep

In line with the WU theme of "dangerous domestic animals...."

Anyone actually seen this?

Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 25, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Death, Movies, Parody, South Pacific

Wheelie Bin Stickers

I'm very confused. A dead baby is found in a recycling center. That's happened before. But then the authorities issue "wheelie bin stickers" as a response. Did they look like this?

Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 21, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: Death, Babies and Toddlers, Foreign Customs, Europe

Deceased Gentleman Mistaken for Halloween Decor

Here's a case of tragic timing that has been making the news rounds

It's actually a bit of sad situation. Neighbors thought the body was a decoration for Halloween, and it sat on the balcony for several days.

You can read about it from AOL News, LA Times and a few other sources. LA Times piece has a photo of the building.

Posted By: dherlich - Sat Oct 17, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Death, Injuries, Halloween

Tennessee Vultures

Okay, I'm used to pigeons and crows scavenging in Providence. But giant carrion birds outside my front door, eating smooshed squirrels--!?! I'm sorry, this is why cities were invented.

Any WU readers have such birds as their immediate neighbors?

Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 04, 2009 - Comments (10)
Category: Animals, Death, Regionalism, North America

French-film-inspired Terrorism?

Given that Najibullah Zazi seems to have been planning terrorist assaults on the NYC subway system, is it possible he got his inspiration from a surname-related French New Wave film Zazie dans le métro?

I entirely blame avant-garde author of the original novel, Raymond Queneau.

You can never trust these artsy types!

UPDATE: this clip from the film looks awfully suspicious to me!

Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 23, 2009 - Comments (1)
Category: Death, Destruction, Disasters, Movies, Terrorism and Terrorists, 1960s, Europe

Want to Live Forever?

Well, you can't, but your DNA can for the small one time fee of $399. Under a mountain in a nuclear proof shelter in Switzerland is where it would be stored. Not only do they store your DNA, but also your memories. Once you get your DNA kit and send it back you can upload images, video, audio and documents to the SwissDNABank for them to store forever. I guess if human cloning ever becomes legal you could always come back.

Posted By: mdb777 - Sat Sep 12, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Death, Technology

Vintage Canadian Anti-tobacco Ad

One of the more creative anti-smoking ads....

Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 06, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Addictions, Death, Tobacco and Smoking, Advertising, Fantasy, 1970s, North America