Radish Animals

A new book going on sale soon in Japan teaches the art of making "radish animals." All you need is a pile of grated daikon radish. Then mold it into the shape of whatever animal strikes your fancy. And delight and amuse your guests. [via RocketNews24]

Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 19, 2014 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Art, Food

Hasbro’s Mr. Carrot Head

Is it just me, or was there more creativity in the old days, when you could use "any fruit or vegetable" with Mr. Potato Head, and arrange the features anyplace on the head, instead of in the pre-drilled slots?

I was also curious if "play doctor" sets were still made, and they certainly are, as you can see in the link below. Thank goodness children are still abetted in their, ahem, innocent early vocational explorations!

Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 19, 2014 - Comments (5)
Category: Medicine, Toys, 1950s

Frog Protection

It is always embarrassing when a credit card is declined, but one would imagine even more so when you are the leader of the free world. Good thing Michelle had his back. I guess he ordered the frog legs.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 18, 2014 - Comments (7)
Category: Retailing, Couples, Goofs and Screw-ups

The Mark Of The Beast

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NewDealDesign, a design house out of San Francisco, is behind an idea for implanted tattoos that carry information about the wearer that could be exchanged by touch. The Bible has long been quoted about the mark of the beast and the Anti Christ being from the Middle East, guess where the CEO of the company is from, just sayin'.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 18, 2014 - Comments (15)
Category: Armageddon and Apocalypses, Evil, Gods, Religion, Rituals and Superstitions

Cat takes center stage

November 12, 1951: As British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden was delivering an address at a meeting of the General Assembly of the U.N. in Paris, urging calm in Europe, a black cat suddenly got up on the stage and strolled across it, without a care in the world. This prompted discussion in the media as to whether the cat was a sign of good or bad luck. It was finally agreed to be a sign of good luck since a black cat in France is apparently a good omen (which I didn't know).

I think most political speeches would be greatly improved if cats randomly wandered across the stage during them.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 18, 2014 - Comments (9)
Category: Politics, Cats, 1950s

Your Life Work:  The Librarian

"Are books your friends?"

I don't believe the information sciences are much like this anymore.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 18, 2014 - Comments (5)
Category: Education, Books, 1940s

Norris Kellam, the Human Cork

Norris Kellam's great talent in life was floating. For which he earned the name "The Human Cork." In May 1933 he attempted to break the world record for staying afloat by floating in a saltwater pool in Norfolk, Virginia for over 86 hours. Unfortunately he didn't make it. After 71 hours and 19 minutes he was overcome by sharp cramps and sunburn and had to climb out of the pool.

There's more about Kellam at hamptonroads.com. The images are from the Norfolk Public Library.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 17, 2014 - Comments (7)
Category: Human Marvels, Sports, World Records, 1930s

Mystery Illustration 2

What is this jolly beatnik advertising?

1) Slot cars
2) Saturday morning cartoon shows
3) Vinyl records
4) Decals
5) Frederick's of Hollywood

Find the answer here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 17, 2014 - Comments (8)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Facial Hair

WU Comments

Fellow WU-vies--thanks to the alertness of several readers, we have been notified of a problem with posting comments. The captcha feature is glitched, working inconsistently. Our Master Hacker Alex (I think he learned all he knows from 1983's WarGames) is working on a fix now.

Thanks for your patience. Without your comments, the blog would be only half what it is.

Update from Alex: I "fixed" the problem by disabling the captcha system. Which may leave us wide open to spammers. We'll see how it goes for a few days.

Update 2: Wow! Allowing comment posting without captchas was like opening wide the floodgates of spam. So that experiment lasted only about 10 minutes. For now I've changed the admin settings so that only logged-in members can post comments. And in the meantime, I'll search for an alternative captcha system that is compatible with our very old blogging software.

Update 3: I found and installed an alternative captcha system. Let's see if it works! The neat thing is that most people won't see a captcha at all. It only shows if it thinks you might be a spammer, and it then asks you to solve a simple math problem.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 16, 2014 - Comments (10)
Category: Weird Universe, Alex, Reader Recommendation, Computers

Pink Underwear

Andrew Walls underwent a colonoscopy at the Delaware Surgery Center on Oct 12, 2012. For this procedure he was placed under anesthesia. And when he woke, he was wearing pink women's underwear. According to a lawsuit he's just filed, he insists that when he "presented for his colonoscopy he had not been wearing pink women's underwear and at no time did [he] voluntarily, knowingly or intentionally place the pink women's underwear upon himself."

He's claiming the pink underwear caused him "severe emotional stress" as well as mental anguish, lost wages, and loss of earning capacity. [Delaware Online]

Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 16, 2014 - Comments (8)
Category: