Anti-Plumber’s-Butt Shirts

The Duluth Trading Company specializes in unique "longtail" shirts that help alleviate the problem and social ill of "Plumber's Crack." They've obviously invested much thought in the matter, as you can see from this schematic of the problem. But useful and practical as such shirts may be, there's simply no excuse for Plumber's Butt Playing Cards.

More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 05, 2008 - Comments (7)
Category: Business, Products, Fashion, Games, Tradesmen, Manual Laborers, and Skilled Workers, Public Indecency

Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!

We here at Weird Universe were excited to learn that we were mentioned today on NPR's WAIT WAIT DON'T TELL ME. We figure this makes us celebrities (in our own minds). [Thanks to Scott Edelman for letting us know about our radio fame!]

The mention occurred during a segment in which they were quizzing TV psychologist Dr. Phil about fringe political candidates. Before the quiz, they noted that the info came from WU. You can listen to the broadcast here.

So welcome to any NPR listeners who first heard of us today. We're glad to have you with us.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 05, 2008 - Comments (2)
Category: Weird Universe

Shamans in Peru

Time to look at some curanderos. The best part comes after the three-minute mark.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 04, 2008 - Comments (1)
Category: Medicine, Paranormal, Religion, Foreign Customs, South America

Follies of the Mad Men #33

I insist on having my next new car delivered by magical flaming meteor!

Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 04, 2008 - Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, Fashion, Music, 1960s, Cars

Chuck’s Hand-Picked Overnight Weird News

which normally appears Monday through Saturday, is taking the day off today.I'll be back Monday (unless the recession causes my bosses at Weird Universe to have to lay me off).

Posted By: Chuck - Sat Oct 04, 2008 - Comments (0)
Category:

Moral decline of the West

Archbishop Peter Akinola thinks the moral fiber of Britain is going to the dogs... or the sheep, as it were. He cited a recent case of a 27-year-old London man arrested for having sex with a sheep as evidence of the country's moral decline, saying "As a church we cannot but continue to decry the disturbing level of moral decadence and spiritual degradation eating deep into the soul of western societies." (link: telegraph.co.uk)

Actually Akinola might want to brush up on his history, because the sex-with-animals thing isn't a new phenomenon in Britain. For instance, in 1642 Thomas Granger was tried in Puritan New England for the crime of having sex with animals (including a turkey). Granger admitted he did it, but argued that sex with animals was a custom "long used in old England." The Puritans didn't buy this and executed him. But Granger's case (and defense) indicates that the moral decline of the West has been going on for quite some time. (Thanks, Sandy!)

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 03, 2008 - Comments (3)
Category:

Color It Clean

So long as we've started a toilet thread, let's all watch "Color It Clean," so that we appreciate the men and women who maintain our public lavatories.



This film reminds me of Barney Gumble's autobiographical entry in the Springfield Film Festival. I could find the clip only in Italian, but that adds a certain frisson to the viewing experience, I think.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 03, 2008 - Comments (3)
Category: Bathrooms, Buildings and Other Structures, Bums, Hobos, Tramps, Beggars, Panhandlers and Other Streetpeople, Hygiene, Body Fluids, Excrement, Inebriation and Intoxicants, Television, Documentaries, 1960s

$500 Toilet Seat

Goodness! I thought $500 toilet seats were only available to the Armed Forces! But you can have one too, if you visit this site.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 03, 2008 - Comments (12)
Category: Business, Products, Hygiene, Body Fluids, Excrement, Inventions, Foreign Customs

Chuck’s Hand-Picked Overnight Weird News for Friday

"Get me Spielberg! Now!"
Moshe Tsitsaushivili, 41, a career jewel thief awaiting trial in Westchester County, N.Y. (one of five states in which he's wanted), got more crushing news this week: Police in Australia are pretty sure he's the guy who also stole big-time while he lived there. "My life is over, man . . finished . . done." His Plan A was to have moved to New York to win back his ex-wife. (Her response: Get lost.) On to Plan B. "Contact Steven Spielberg," he told a reporter. "He would be my ticket out of here, so I can pay all these people back." Moshe wants to take a meeting so he can pitch his interesting life story, or maybe that diamond-theft movie project he heard about, with Madonna. Journal News (White Plains)
Comments 'get_spielberg'

Great Art: Hopi Indians are hung, and Kate Moss's crotch in gold should be worth $20m (but beyond that, I don't know much about art)
At the Edge of the Cedars State Park in southern Utah, one of the classic Hopi Indian sculptures out front (visible from the road) has been moved to the back because, unlike similar ones, this male was "anatomically correct," which is scary, because the damn thing's hanging almost to his ankles. And British sculptor Marc Quinn has made a lifesize statue of model Kate Moss, entirely in 18k gold, that he figures will fetch the equivalent of $20 million after its January museum run. London's Daily Telegraph is respectful, photographing it from the side, but the pose is actually of Moss, seated, holding her legs behind her head, and from the front, well . . .. Associated Press via Yahoo /// Daily Telegraph (London) /// Australian Associated Press via The West Australian (front view)
Comments 'hopi_katemoss'

2008 IgNobels
Ten science research prizes were awarded last night: biology (fleas on dogs jump further than fleas on cats), nutrition (modifying the sound of potato-chip crunching to make the eater think they're fresher than they are), physics (all string will eventually tangle itself up), chemistry (competing findings that Coca-Cola is/isn't an effective spermicide), archaeology, medicine, cognitive science, economics, literature, and peace (Swiss scientists declaring that plants have dignity). Agence France-Presse via Yahoo /// Annals of Improbable Research [site very busy this morning]
Comments 'ignobel_prizes'

Update: Jonathon Sharkey (political candidate, Presidential threatener, well-known vampire)
He's a minor legend in Minnesota, wanted by the law there (threatening Bush) and in Indiana (threatening a judge), and he showed up in rural Tennessee this summer, according to neighbors, to check out land to set up a commune for vampires. Police confiscated two rifles and a wooden stake (Seriously). WTVF-TV (Nashville)
Comments 'jonathon_sharkey'

News That Sounds Like a Joke
(1) In Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, a guy beat a DUI rap by proving that he was swilling only fermented horse milk. (2) A county health and safety officer in England recommended toning down police awards for bravery, which refer to acting "with no thought to his or her safety" (which just encourages unsafe behavior!). (3) The District of Calamity Superior Court opened a mental-health clinic right there in the courthouse [Ed.: Oh, wait, that's not a joke; I used to practice criminal defense law there, and about half the people in the building (including the lawyers) need a clinic like that far more than a courtroom.] Associated Press via Yahoo /// Daily Mail /// Washington Post
Comments 'sounds_likejoke'

Your Daily Loser
Two brothers in Boston got into a fight when one's dog ate the other's watermelon, and one of the brothers (I'm guessing the now-melonless guy) was hospitalized after repeatedly stabbing himself with a knife, for the sole purpose of showing the other guy that pain is his friend. Mission accomplished. United Press International
Comments 'boston_brothers'

People Whose Sex Lives Are Worse Than Yours
Jonathon Guabello's reaction to not gettin' any from his girlfriend after an evening of drinking? Shoot himself in the arm, then stagger into the kitchen, fall, hit his head on the oven, knock himself out. Fort Myers News-Press
Comments 'jonathon_guabello'

Your Daily Jury Duty
[no fair examining the evidence; verdict must be based on mugshot only]
Mary Lu Frankovic, 56, hasn't even been arrested, but we still need to determine whether she's guilty. Police in Ross, Pa., said they'd probably charge her with multiple animal-abuse and housing code violations. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Comments 'marylu_frankovic'

More Things to Worry About on Friday
A female cop-turned-arsonist in Saukville, Wis., announced she's getting married next week, to, er, one of the firemen who put out the one she started . . . . . A candidate for governor of Bangkok, facing tough questioning on TV, hauled off and smacked the interviewer . . . . . Nobody really likes mackerel, so why does an import company sell so much of it? (Answer: Ready-to-eat pouches of it have replaced cigarettes as the coin of the realm in federal penitentiaries, and they're stockpiled but rarely eaten). Today's Newsrangers: Carolyn Pachuilo, Perry Levin, Karl Olson, Mark Neunder, Steve Miller
Comments 'worry_081003'

Posted By: Chuck - Fri Oct 03, 2008 - Comments (0)
Category:

Placenta Facials

CNN reports on some alternative beauty treatments including:

A human placenta facial treatment. The beautician who specializes in these notes that people don't get them "because it's hip" but rather because they're concerned about their skin. It certainly isn't hip. It's placenta.

Dehydrated nightingale poop facials. Aesthetician Lula Pacheco reports that at first people are hesitant about the bird poop, but "when it's done they just love how their skin feels and looks."

Other treatments include a "Fanny Facial," a breast message, and an aura lift.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 03, 2008 - Comments (6)
Category: Hygiene, Medicine