Weird Universe Archive

March 2017

March 24, 2017

The Vidifont Titling Device

How did TV put a caption on the screen in the Sixties?

Graphics, including all title graphics (i.e. "President Lyndon B. Johnson” or "Walter Cronkite”) were set in type or drawn by graphic artists. The graphic was photographed using 35-mm film, the film developed, and a 35-mm slide generated. The time to generate a slide exceeded one hour. The slide, when used, was placed in a special projector, scanned by a television camera, and keyed into the studio video feed. This method was known as ‘Superimposition’. Since the news department had to be prepared to identify any speaker who might appear before the cameras during the convention, Bass was faced with creating in excess of 4000 slides in advance for each convention. If an individual who was not a delegate or an alternate was called upon to give a seconding speech or to participate in an interview, a title slide probably would not be available. Bass was seeking an instantaneous, graphics-quality titling capability solution to the problem. The goal was to produce graphics that could be transparently mixed with artwork created using traditional methods.


Imagine then the delight when the Vidifont device was invented.



Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 24, 2017 - Comments (0)
Category: Technology, Television, 1960s, 1970s

March 23, 2017

Star Wars Celica GT

Back in 1977, as a stunt to help promote the opening of Star Wars, Toyota created a custom Star Wars Celica GT. Then they raffled off the car. Somebody won it, but nobody knows who. The fate of this car has become something of an obsession among fans of the movie. Was it destroyed? Is it still sitting in a garage somewhere? The mystery endures...

More info: SpeedHero, jalopnik





Santa Ana Register - Oct 8, 1977

Posted By: Alex - Thu Mar 23, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Cars, Movies, 1970s

Follies of the Madmen #308



Yes, I want my product associated with the destruction of property and possible loss of life. That's a glamorous ambiance!

Original ad here.


Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 23, 2017 - Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, 1960s, Cars

March 22, 2017

Reverse Tolerance

I had never heard of "reverse tolerance" before, but apparently it's a real thing. It describes a condition in which some habitual users of a drug will, over time, require less of the drug (instead of more) to achieve the same effect. It's most often discussed with reference to marijuana, but sometimes alcohol also.

One theory is that marijuana accumulates in the body for a long time and that's what produces the effect -- i.e. you think you may be having just a little, but you've already got a lot in you. Another theory is that it's just a psychological illusion. As users become more familiar with how to smoke it, they do so more efficiently and learn to identify the effects earlier. Therefore, they think they need less to achieve the same effect.

When people develop a reverse tolerance to alchol, it's usually because of liver damage. They lose the ability to break down alcohol, so a little bit produces a big effect.

Minneapolis Star Tribune - Dec 18, 1970



St. Cloud Times - Feb 17, 1973

Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 22, 2017 - Comments (0)
Category: Drugs

The Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish



Lately I have been listening to a lot of Martin Denny, the inventor of exotica music. I think he certainly qualifies as weird. As do Exotik-A-GoGo, modern interpreters of his work.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 22, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Space-age Bachelor Pad & Exotic, 1950s

March 21, 2017

Makes bomb threat from jail

October 1971: While being booked on charges of malicious mischief at Los Angeles police headquarters, Frank Elby Taylor asked to exercise his right to make a phone call. He was allowed to do this, so he called the airport and made a bomb threat. The call was quickly traced back to the police station. The police got Elby out of his cell and booked him again on felony charges.

Reno Gazette-Journal - Oct 30, 1971

Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 21, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Crime, 1970s, Pranks

Mystery Gadget 45



Why is this man inside a steel cylinder?

The answer is here.

And after the jump.



More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 21, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Technology, 1900s

March 20, 2017

7 Clicks (March 20, 2017)

7 Clicks
A Weird Universe News Service
March 20, 2017

Proportion (I): Bald, repeat sex fiend who murdered a child demands toupee in prison because: humiliation [BBC News]

News You Can Use: Having your [well, a mouse's--but anyway] whole body vibrated = "exercise" (A journal article! Endocrinology!) [Science Daily]

The U.S. House protecting rights of mentally ill veterans--to own a gun (and despite vets' suicide rates) [Huffington Post]

Proportion (II): He (Brazilian) killed her, fed her body to his dogs, served 7 yrs, released, now signs 2-yr pro soccer contract. [The Guardian]

Not Even Trying Any More: Sub teacher at Brookland-Cayce High in South Carolina showed up smashed, then kept drinking from her box of wine in class. [WIS-TV]

"The Friday bingo mindset seems to infect people who behave rationally all other days of the week"--director of the Holyoke, Mass., Council on Aging, following some "incidents" [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Your Call to Jury Duty: David Banfield, 63, Marathon, Fla.--entitled to the presumption of innocence? [Miami Herald]

Thanks to Peter Smagorinsky, Joe Littrell, and Chuck Hamilton.

Posted By: Chuck - Mon Mar 20, 2017 - Comments (5)
Category:

How many ways are children annoying?

Back in 1931, Dr. Mandel Sherman, director of the Child Research Centre, wanted to find out the exact number of ways in which children annoy their parents. He came up with the oddly specific number of 2,124 different ways.

He arrived at this number by having a group of parents carry notebooks around with them for a week and record each time their child annoyed them.

Some of the ways in which the children annoyed: being disobedient, being too slow or too quick, not being neat, primping, etc.

Personally, I think he seriously lowballed that number.

We've encountered the work of Dr. Sherman before. Back in 2009, I posted about his advice that instead of training kids to be successful in life, we should train them to accept the inevitability of failure. That way, they'll be much happier when they actually do end up as mediocre flops.

The New York Times - Jan 30, 1931

Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 20, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Psychology, Children, Parents, 1930s

Ex-millionaire Lives With Pigs




Original story here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 20, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Eccentrics, Money, 1960s

Page 3 of 8 pages  < 1 2 3 4 5 >  Last ›




Get WU Posts by Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


weird universe thumbnail
Who We Are
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
Monthly Archives
March 2024 •  February 2024 •  January 2024

December 2023 •  November 2023 •  October 2023 •  September 2023 •  August 2023 •  July 2023 •  June 2023 •  May 2023 •  April 2023 •  March 2023 •  February 2023 •  January 2023

December 2022 •  November 2022 •  October 2022 •  September 2022 •  August 2022 •  July 2022 •  June 2022 •  May 2022 •  April 2022 •  March 2022 •  February 2022 •  January 2022

December 2021 •  November 2021 •  October 2021 •  September 2021 •  August 2021 •  July 2021 •  June 2021 •  May 2021 •  April 2021 •  March 2021 •  February 2021 •  January 2021

December 2020 •  November 2020 •  October 2020 •  September 2020 •  August 2020 •  July 2020 •  June 2020 •  May 2020 •  April 2020 •  March 2020 •  February 2020 •  January 2020

December 2019 •  November 2019 •  October 2019 •  September 2019 •  August 2019 •  July 2019 •  June 2019 •  May 2019 •  April 2019 •  March 2019 •  February 2019 •  January 2019

December 2018 •  November 2018 •  October 2018 •  September 2018 •  August 2018 •  July 2018 •  June 2018 •  May 2018 •  April 2018 •  March 2018 •  February 2018 •  January 2018

December 2017 •  November 2017 •  October 2017 •  September 2017 •  August 2017 •  July 2017 •  June 2017 •  May 2017 •  April 2017 •  March 2017 •  February 2017 •  January 2017

December 2016 •  November 2016 •  October 2016 •  September 2016 •  August 2016 •  July 2016 •  June 2016 •  May 2016 •  April 2016 •  March 2016 •  February 2016 •  January 2016

December 2015 •  November 2015 •  October 2015 •  September 2015 •  August 2015 •  July 2015 •  June 2015 •  May 2015 •  April 2015 •  March 2015 •  February 2015 •  January 2015

December 2014 •  November 2014 •  October 2014 •  September 2014 •  August 2014 •  July 2014 •  June 2014 •  May 2014 •  April 2014 •  March 2014 •  February 2014 •  January 2014

December 2013 •  November 2013 •  October 2013 •  September 2013 •  August 2013 •  July 2013 •  June 2013 •  May 2013 •  April 2013 •  March 2013 •  February 2013 •  January 2013

December 2012 •  November 2012 •  October 2012 •  September 2012 •  August 2012 •  July 2012 •  June 2012 •  May 2012 •  April 2012 •  March 2012 •  February 2012 •  January 2012

December 2011 •  November 2011 •  October 2011 •  September 2011 •  August 2011 •  July 2011 •  June 2011 •  May 2011 •  April 2011 •  March 2011 •  February 2011 •  January 2011

December 2010 •  November 2010 •  October 2010 •  September 2010 •  August 2010 •  July 2010 •  June 2010 •  May 2010 •  April 2010 •  March 2010 •  February 2010 •  January 2010

December 2009 •  November 2009 •  October 2009 •  September 2009 •  August 2009 •  July 2009 •  June 2009 •  May 2009 •  April 2009 •  March 2009 •  February 2009 •  January 2009

December 2008 •  November 2008 •  October 2008 •  September 2008 •  August 2008 •  July 2008 •