Weird Universe Archive
June 2011
June 25, 2011
Follies of the Mad Men #146
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jun 25, 2011 -
Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Magazines, Racism, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1960s, Skin and Skin Conditions
June 24, 2011
Thingmaker
I had this toy as a kid. Great fun. The plastic always looked edible and it was hard to resist chewing on the bugs.
What are the chances you could sell such a molten-plastic, electric-powered, producer-of-things-dangerous-to-swallow toy today?
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 24, 2011 -
Comments (6)
Category: Insects and Spiders, Toys, 1960s
June 23, 2011
Violet Healing Rays
Original ad here. (Scroll down a bit.)
Read the history here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 23, 2011 -
Comments (4)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, Health, Technology, Appliances, 1910s
June 22, 2011
Penguins and Unicorns, Together At Last!
Never stop believing.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 22, 2011 -
Comments (4)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Outsider Art, Fictional Monsters
June 21, 2011
Follies of the Mad Men #145
The twentieth-century's maddest genius touts chocolate and antacid.
Thanks to the sharp eyes of Warren Ellis.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 21, 2011 -
Comments (3)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, Performance Art, Surrealism, Body, Business, Advertising, Products, Food, 1960s
June 20, 2011
Clutch Cargo and Syncro Vox
This technique will never not be weird.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 20, 2011 -
Comments (5)
Category: Cartoons, 1960s
News of the Weird / Pro Edition (June 20, 2011)
News of the Weird/Pro EditionYou're Still Not Cynical Enough
Prime Cuts of Underreported News from Last Week, Hand-Picked and Lightly Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
June 20, 2011
(datelines June 11-June 18) (links correct as of June 20)
The Ultimate Recyclable, Plus DIY Wart Removal and the Saliva Collector
From Yr Editor
. . . presenting the third of four consecutive weeks of downsized work (and, believe me, a lot more weird stuff happened last week, but what can I do, since I'm just
★ ★ ★ ★!
Cliche Come to Life: Well, of course, sooner or later, some Japanese researcher somewhere (turned out to be Mitsuyuki Ikeda) will figure out how to make decent-quality "beef" out of human doo-doo. That's what Japanese scientists are for. Digital Trends via Yahoo News
Why, Again?: Granted, it's one of the biggest deposits of solid granite ever mobilized, and geologists inspecting it at a quarry in Riverside, Calif., were thrilled. However, we all know that the fiscal rules have changed for government-funded institutions, especially in California, so the fact that the Los Angeles County Art Museum is spending $1.5 million to move the 340-ton rock to L.A. needs some heavy-duty re-explaining. KABC-TV (Los Angeles)
Two Scenes from a Civilization in Decline: (1) A Florida woman named Casey Anthony is on trial for murdering her toddler. This should be of concern to Anthony's family and friends and to prosecutors sworn to bring suspected murderers to justice, but it seems to send millions more into a frenzy. Question: When will we see the first homicide among spectators--the mindless masses who line up each morning for a courtroom seat and get overexcited that someone might be butting in line? (2) The "latest" female bodily woe, according to this report, is "cankles"--insufficient shapeliness in the area where the calf is supposed to taper into the ankle. It says here that Helen Mirren is the poster lady [in the same sense that Zoe Saldana is for the condition I just made up, breribs]. Associated Press via Washington Post /// Daily Mail (London)
Absurdities
What's Wrong with These People? This goth lady thought it would be cool to ornamentally pierce cats' ears (until the Pennsylvania Supreme Court told her no). New York Times
A rabbinical court in Jerusalem decided that the "large dog" roaming the Mea Shearim neighborhood was obviously the reincarnation of a certain secular lawyer who had disrespected the court 20 years ago and that, as such, the dog should be stoned to death. (Bonus: The dog escaped.) Agence France-Presse via Google News
[UPDATE: The Israeli newspaper Maariv has now walked back the story a bit, but I don't read Hebrew so I don't know exactly how much. One prominent U.S. commentator (and, disclosure, friend of Israel) wrote that it's a full walkback. I still don't know. As reported in the above AFP link, an Israeli daily supposedly got confirmation of the "sentence" (if not the whole backstory) from a "court manager," thus bypassing this Maariv thingie. If I had known about Maariv walkback, I would not have used the story . . but that does not mean that the gist of the story isn't true.]
[UP-UPDATE: Here's a better rundown, from the Christian Science Monitor. Even CSM ignores what now appears to be the key fact: that Agence France-Presse misreported its verification of the story. AFP wrote that it had indeed "confirmed" the original, loosely-sourced story, from "a court manager." Either AFP did not do so, or over-credentialed the "court manager." That doesn't automatically earn AFP a spot on Yr Editor's Watch List, but it also doesn't dampen my joyful enthusiasm that Ultra Orthodox rabbis are capable of anything!]
More in extended >>
Posted By: Chuck - Mon Jun 20, 2011 -
Comments (9)
Category:
June 19, 2011
David McCallum, Composer
Was it a wise thing, that McCallum stuck to acting, not music? You decide!
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jun 19, 2011 -
Comments (3)
Category: Music, 1960s, Actors
June 18, 2011
Wild Man Fischer, RIP
Obituary here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jun 18, 2011 -
Comments (4)
Category: Music, Outsider Art, 1960s, Brain Damage
June 17, 2011
Monogram Garbage Truck
Did any kid ever really fantasize about how cool it would be to drive a garbage truck, even with surfboards attached?
Here's one for sale right now! (More vivid picture.)
Original ad here. (Scroll down.)
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 17, 2011 -
Comments (5)
Category: Hobbies and DIY, Motor Vehicles, Trucks, Children, Teenagers, 1960s
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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 |
