Weird Universe Archive
December 2012
December 7, 2012
Prince Ranjit, King of Curry
Even in this current age of celebrity chefs, no one has thought to impersonate a foreign Rajah in order to attract publicity for his restaurant, like "Prince Ranjit" did a century ago.
Full story here.
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 07, 2012 -
Comments (3)
Category: Eccentrics, Food, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Restaurants, 1900s, India
Lunar Fashion
Back in 1968, the artist Gianangelli unveiled these metal bathing suits that he described as the "lunar fashion from the year 2000." In hindsight, his belief that we'd still be going to the moon in the year 2000 was more wrong than his fashion prediction. [Calgary Herald]
Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 07, 2012 -
Comments (9)
Category: Fashion, Space Travel, 1960s
December 6, 2012
Documenta
I'm sorry I learned about the Documenta Art Festival only just now. The thirteenth one occured this past September, and there won't be another for five more years.We'll have to content ourselves with these videos till then.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 06, 2012 -
Comments (3)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, Performance Art, Bombast, Bloviation and Pretentiousness, 1950s, Europe, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
Historic Explosions in Cauliflower
By artist Brock Davis who, based on his other projects, likes to play with his food.
Space Shuttle Challenger
Nagasaki
Hindenburg
Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 06, 2012 -
Comments (2)
Category: Art, Food, Vegetables
December 5, 2012
Liar! Liar! Hair on Fire!!
A Dominican talk show host lit an American magician's hair on fire -- and we have it on tape!!Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Here's a link:
http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2012/12/03/15648481-tv-host-lights-magicians-head-on-fire?lite
Wayne Houchin is recovering, but is calling the attack criminal.
What do you think -- on purpose? Or just another Santeria purification ritual?
Posted By: gdanea - Wed Dec 05, 2012 -
Comments (6)
Category: Accidents
Chinese House in the Middle of a Road
Homeowner Luo Baogen, who lives in Wenling, China, refused to sell his house to allow the government to build a road through where it stood, so the government built the road anyway, leaving the house circled by tarmac. [atlantic.com]
But recently Luo Baogen finally agreed to sell, so the house is now being torn down.
This definitely isn't the first time standoffs between homeowners and governments have resulted in houses stranded in the middle of roads. Here on WU, we previously reported about a Japanese example of the phenomenon from 1964. But it seems to me this happens more often in Asia than anywhere else. I have no idea why.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 05, 2012 -
Comments (5)
Category: Buildings and Other Structures
Magus Maximus
Magus Maximus from Emanuel Strixner on Vimeo.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 05, 2012 -
Comments (1)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Performance Art, Cartoons
December 4, 2012
The Lobster Violin
This lobster-claw violin, created by John Dadmun back in 1903, will have to be included in the first performance of the Weird Universe orchestra, whenever that might be. Links: noaa.gov, Strand.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 04, 2012 -
Comments (5)
Category: Music
Queen Elizabeth, Teenybopper
[Original article here.]
Courier Mail Wednesday 19 September 1956
The Queen sees Rock 'n' roll Film
London. September 18. (AAP)- Queen Elizabeth has asked to see the film “Rock Around the Clock” which has led to rock 'n' roll disturbances in several British towns.
A copy of the film was sent from London yesterday to Balmoral, where the Queen is on holiday, the Daily Mirror said today.
The Daily Express reported that showings of “Rock Around the Clock” has been banned by country councils in Stockport, Cheshire, and Gloucestershire yesterday.
But at Burt St. Edmunds in Suffolk, no objections were raised by members of a watch committee after a private showing of the film.
Sir Malcolm Sargeant, conductor of the BBC symphony orchestra, said to day that rock 'n' roll music was “nothing more than an exhibition of primitive tom tom thumping, and was ‘centuries old’. It was not ‘new and wonderful’ as many young people thought. It had been played in the jungles for centuries.”
At age 86, Queen Elizabeth reminds no one of a rocker--although she does hand out a lot of knighthoods to musicians. But in 1956, at age 30, she could really groove.
She was obviously remembering those days in 1979, when she and Bill Haley reconnected for the first time in nearly 25 years.
[Original text here.]
Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 04, 2012 -
Comments (3)
Category: Music, Royalty, 1950s, Europe
News of the Weird (12-4-2012)
News of the WeirdSan Diego: La Jolla Cove is apparently a majestic, quaint oceanside cliffside vista-community--but . . . spoiler alert! Seagulls have discovered it, and California’s showcase environmental regs make it super-complicated to keep the cove clean (since it’s caked in very unpleasant seagull DNA). New York Times
Zurich: The whorehouse of the future is a bunch of car-park cubicles, opening next August, to keep hookers off the streets and the streets moral. Huffington Post
In the Middle East: Plastic surgeons claim sales are up for implants--moustache implants (an equivalent-$7k procedure where follicles are transplanted for increased bushiness). (In olden times, they say, a man of honor swore “on my moustache,” and vanquished fighters had theirs shaved off as marks of disgrace.) CNN
London: Former undercover cop Mark Kennedy sued the department for the equivalent-$160k for making him go too deep undercover and even “allowing” him to fall in love with one target, which caused post-traumatic stress and divorce. (But wait! There’s more! Ten woman are also suing the department for being thus tricked into having sex with undercovers, including 3 of Mark’s bang-ees.) The Guardian
Brentwood, England: In response to a freedom-of-information demand for documents on a government construction contract, the Brentwood Council submitted 425 pages, each one completely blacked-out (“privacy,” “trade secrets,” y’know). Daily Telegraph
Detroit: Caleb Sosa, 19, is about to collect $1.1m from the city (Ha! As if!) in a civil-rights lawsuit--by default, which means: Sosa’s lawyers served papers to Detroit, several times, but Detroit’s lawyers said, “La-la-laaa, We can’t hear you, La-la-laaa.” AP via American Bar Ass’n Journal
China: Liu Xianping, 72, has quite a gig. His granddaughter is a women’s clothing designer, and he’s her top fashion model. Actually, it works. New York Daily News
The F State: Unclear on the Concept are those anti-Obama Floridians, who signed an agrammatical secession-from-the-U.S. petition. Other states have also submitted them, but who really believes the rest of America views Flori-duh as a national treasure? Florida Today via WTSP-TV
Like Chocolate?: This might cure that. Gizmodo.com
Subtle Rant #1
When Crowdsourcing Gets Full of Itself: Associated Press editors are in trouble with the politically-correct because their stylebook prefers the phrase “anti-gay” instead of calling it “homophobia.” Gay activists: It’s ”homophobia.” Everybody who hates us must be mentally ill. AP Editors: We can’t use that word; we’re not doctors. [ed. Reporters rarely get real science right. Don’t let them start making up science.] AtlanticWire
Posted By: Chuck - Tue Dec 04, 2012 -
Comments (3)
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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 |
