Foreign Customs
Strange Snacks
You will certainly have fun browsing at the Taquitos snack site and reading their blunt appraisals. For instance, on the item pictured above.
Taste: Weird chemical taste. Crunchy and thick, but rather nasty.
Aroma: They smell like rancid oil.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 13, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Foreign Customs, Junk Food
Blood is Money
Man, those are some weird-ass non-Western horror/fantasy tropes from Nollywood.
Caution: lots of fake gore and quick glimpse of the butts of naked corpses.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 20, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Horror, Scary Criminals, Surrealism, Foreign Customs, Fantasy, Africa
Wood Apple Marriage in Nepal
This page semi-coherently explains: "...a ceremony in the Newar community in Nepal in which pre-adolescent girls are 'married' to the bel fruit (wood apple), which is a symbol of the god Vishnu, ensuring that the girl becomes and remains fertile. It is believed that if the girl's husband dies later in her life, she is not considered a widow because she is married to Vishnu, and so already has a husband that is believed to be still alive."
Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 20, 2014 -
Comments (2)
Category: Food, Children, Foreign Customs, Asia, Weddings
How To Improve Immigrants’ English
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 20, 2014 -
Comments (5)
Category: Languages, Foreign Customs, 1940s, Asia, Europe
Passion of Spies
At the new nadir of USA-Russia relations, let us recall when things were even worse--and funnier!
I love the look and style of the artwork here.
The creator.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 01, 2014 -
Comments (3)
Category: Spies and Secret Agents, Surrealism, Foreign Customs, Cartoons, 1960s, Russia
The Aswang
Learn about the Filipino vampire known as the "aswang" here and here, then watch the documentary above.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 30, 2014 -
Comments (3)
Category: Cryptozoology, Superstition, Foreign Customs, South Pacific
New Use for Baboon Urine
According to NehandaRadio.com, baboon urine is "selling like hot cakes" in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The place to go to get it is the Bulawayo City Council run toilets at Egodini commuter omnibus terminus.The source of its appeal is the belief that "a baboon by its nature urinates only on one spot. Even if it travels from Matopo to Bulawayo, when it gets pressed, it will travel all the way to Matopo before it relieves itself."
Therefore, by extension (and because the ancient medical 'principle of similitude' dictates this must be so), if the stuff is applied to a man it will "start regulating his bedding tendencies." That is, it will make him faithful to one woman.
The article goes into details about how this is done. However, one husband found his wife's vial of baboon urine, got mad, and domestic violence ensued.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 28, 2014 -
Comments (8)
Category: Medicine, Foreign Customs
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
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Some particularly weird J-pop from "the David Lynch" of that medium.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 19, 2014 -
Comments (8)
Category: Aliens, Body Modifications, Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Music, Pop Art, Surrealism, Foreign Customs, Asia
Rat Burning Festival
Nowadays we have the Burning Man festival. But back in the 19th century, they had the Burning Rat festival.
Is this custom still kept up at Rome? If so, on what day in the year?
From: Notes and Queries. Nov 28, 1857.
Unfortunately, I don't believe that the correspondent ever received a reply to his question.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 05, 2014 -
Comments (9)
Category: Animals, Customs, Foreign Customs
RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK
More info here.
And on the co-feature.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 22, 2014 -
Comments (5)
Category: Celebrities, Eccentrics, Movies, Superstition, Foreign Customs, 1960s, Russia, Facial Hair
| Who We Are |
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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, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. 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. Contact Us |