Weird Universe Archive
June 2016
June 30, 2016
You Know Who I Am
A case of mistaken identity?
The Daily Standard (Sikeston, Missouri) - Apr 7, 1952
Brief Encounter. In Cambridge, Mass., Theodore Murphy complained to police that a man he did not know appeared at his apartment door, punched him in the face twice, departed saying: "You know who I am."
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 30, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: 1950s
The Geography of Madness
The notion of Koro, or supernatural penis theft, is practically a NOTW trademark. I'm pretty sure I first learned about this delusion from Chuck about thirty years ago.Now we can learn even more, thanks to a new book which covers this exotic madness, plus many others.
From the publisher's site:
"The Geography of Madness is an investigation of 'culture-bound' syndromes, which are far stranger than they sound. Why is it, for example, that some men believe, against all reason, that vandals stole their penises, even though they’re in good physical shape? In The Geography of Madness, acclaimed magazine writer Frank Bures travels around the world to trace culture-bound syndromes to their sources–and in the process, tells a remarkable story about the strange things all of us believe."
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 30, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Regionalism, Books, Mental Health and Insanity
Slip Slidding Away 2: Slime Of The Snails
The insects appear to be rising up against us by sabotaging the roadways! First the mayflies here and now snails sliming the Autobahn. Drive carefully or you may get bugged too!
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 30, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Insects and Spiders, Transportation
June 29, 2016
Death by Dishwasher
This is disturbing, but also definitely weird. Of all the possible ways to off yourself, why choose a dishwasher? Evidently some psychiatric issues were involved.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - May 18, 1984
Woman Found Dead Inside Dishwasher
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A woman was found dead inside her dishwasher, and police say they believe that she committed suicide.
The body of Carolyn Matsumoto, 25, was found about 1 p.m. Wednesday by her mother, said police spokesman Michael Holland.
Holland said the dishwasher's interior trays had been neatly stacked along with some personal effects next to the machine. The top-loading machine was activated automatically when the door closed.
The Alameda County coroner's office was conducting an autopsy.
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A woman was found dead inside her dishwasher, and police say they believe that she committed suicide.
The body of Carolyn Matsumoto, 25, was found about 1 p.m. Wednesday by her mother, said police spokesman Michael Holland.
Holland said the dishwasher's interior trays had been neatly stacked along with some personal effects next to the machine. The top-loading machine was activated automatically when the door closed.
The Alameda County coroner's office was conducting an autopsy.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 29, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death, Suicide, 1980s
Williams-Dekker Piano-Teaching Computer
This oddball hybrid technology seems to have vanished from history, as I can learn little about its fate after its 1970 launch.
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 29, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Music, Technology, 1970s
June 28, 2016
Its The Real Thing
Some think of a pool full of Coca Cola and Mentos and say, "Why?" These guys said, "Why not!"
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 28, 2016 -
Comments (8)
Category: Drones, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Candy, Soda, Pop, Soft Drinks and other Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Nausea, Revulsion and Disgust
Slip Slidding Away
Havana, Illinois has a bug problem. Not bed bugs or cockroaches, mayflies. Their bridge is covered in them and by covered I mean up to six inches deep. The resulting bug goo all over the bridge has caused a number of accidents, cars and motorcycles. A certain kind of water bug grows wings and swarms as mayflies before laying eggs. I am thinking there will be far fewer of the water bugs this season because so many got squished on the bridge before laying eggs.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 28, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Highways, Roads, Streets and Traffic, Insects and Spiders
Eels smelling alcohol
Various sources report that the sense of smell of the eel is so acute, that if you were to pour a few drops of alcohol into the Great Lakes (or Lake Constance, according to who's telling the story), an eel would be able to smell it.From Consider the Eel, by Richard Schweid:
"You can take one liter of a certain type of alcohol, pour it into the Great Lakes, and an eel will smell it," said Uwe Kils, a 48-year-old German oceanographer at the Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences field station at Little Egg Harbor on the New Jersey coast. "The Great Lakes compose about 19 trillion liters, so you are talking about being able to smell something at one part per 19 trillion. That's a very acute sense of smell."
And from The Eel, by F.W. Tesch & R.J. White:
In painstaking conditioning experiments it was shown that the eel can perceive the scent of roses (β-phenylethyl alcohol) even when the latter is diluted by 1:2.857 X 1018. Such a degree of dilution corresponds to a solution of one ml of scent in a volume of water 58 times that of Lake Constance (Bodensee).
The original source from which this info seems to come is a 1957 article in a German scientific journal: Teichmann, Harald. (January 1957), Das Riechvermögen des Aales (Anguilla anguilla L.). Naturwissenschafter 44(7), 242.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 28, 2016 -
Comments (12)
Category: Animals
Bob “Bazooka” Burns
Full story here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 28, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Inventions, Outsider Art, 1940s, Comedians
June 27, 2016
Said no at altar
I guess that's why it's posed as a question. You don't have to say "I do."Anyway, if you're 16, the correct response to a marriage request is 'No.' Unfortunately, it seems that Lois did end up getting married a week later, despite her initial reluctance.
The Ottawa Journal - May 1, 1971
Girl Says 'No' At the Altar
SIBSON, England (UPI) —Radiant and demure in white lace, Lois Elliott walked down the aisle on her father's arm as the organ intoned "Here Comes the Bride."
"Wilt thou," said Rev. Frank Best, "take this man to be thy lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish 'til death do you part?"
Lois, 16, smiled at Mr. Best, at her father and at the groom. "No," she said quietly. Then she turned and walked out of St. Botolph's Church.
Lois offered no immediate explanation for her change of heart. But her father, Barry Elliott, said he thought a chance remark by one of the groom's relatives "may have upset her."
SIBSON, England (UPI) —Radiant and demure in white lace, Lois Elliott walked down the aisle on her father's arm as the organ intoned "Here Comes the Bride."
"Wilt thou," said Rev. Frank Best, "take this man to be thy lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish 'til death do you part?"
Lois, 16, smiled at Mr. Best, at her father and at the groom. "No," she said quietly. Then she turned and walked out of St. Botolph's Church.
Lois offered no immediate explanation for her change of heart. But her father, Barry Elliott, said he thought a chance remark by one of the groom's relatives "may have upset her."
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 27, 2016 -
Comments (3)
Category: 1970s, Weddings
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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 |
