Weird Universe Archive

June 2022

June 30, 2022

Unintended consequence of hymn singing

Weird Fact: hymn singing can cause mink to kill and eat their young.

Vancouver Sun - Dec 8, 1959

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 30, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Religion, 1950s

Dispatcher:  The Board Game

Just as exciting as it sounds!

More info here.



Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 30, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Boredom, Games, Trains and Other Vehicles on Rails, 1950s

June 29, 2022

Love lost due to “middle-age” skin

What foolishness to grow older!

1938 - NY Times. Via Duke University



Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 29, 2022 - Comments (1)
Category: Advertising, 1930s, Skin and Skin Conditions

Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

Here is a shot of the ancient fortress city of Sigiriya, followed by pictures of parts of the staircase you must ascend to visit the place. Please let us know if you would be eager and happy to make this climb, or prefer to remain down below.

Videos follow the still shots.




















Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 29, 2022 - Comments (1)
Category: Statues, Monuments and Memorials, Travel, Danger, Risk, and Peril, Asia

June 28, 2022

Living Greenery Jeans

Part of the Spring 2023 Menswear collection for Loewe.

Details in Vogue.com, with reporting by "Sarah Mower."

Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 28, 2022 - Comments (3)
Category: Fashion, Denim

“Why’d It Have To Be Snakes?”



Source: The Pomona Daily Review (Pomona, California) 10 Jul 1913, Thu Page 4


Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 28, 2022 - Comments (1)
Category: Death, Reptiles, Snakes, Worms and Other Slithery Things, 1910s, Middle East

June 27, 2022

Sugar sweetens dispositions

Betty is cranky. Give her some sugar "and watch her bounce back—fast."

That is, until the sugar high wears off and the crankiness returns worse than ever.

Ladies Home Journal - Jan 1966

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 27, 2022 - Comments (5)
Category: Drugs, Advertising, 1960s

June 26, 2022

Visions Fill The Eyes Of A Defeated Basketball Team In The Shower Room

We've posted about American composer Harry Partch twice before — once about the odd musical instruments he built, and another time about his unorthodox sources of inspiration (hitchhiker graffiti).

This post is about his weirdo song titles, particularly this one: "Visions Fill The Eyes Of A Defeated Basketball Team In The Shower Room." The song is below. I'm not sure how the song relates to the title.



Other titles from the same album (The Bewitched) include:

  • Three Undergrads Become Transfigured in a Hong Kong Music Hall
  • Euphoria Descends a Sausalito Stairway
  • A Lost Political Soul Finds Himself Among the Voteless Women of Paradise
  • The Cognoscenti Are Plunged Into a Demonic Descent While at Cocktails

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 26, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Music

Sgt. Reckless

With thanks to reader Sherry Mowbray.



The Wikipedia page.

Staff Sergeant Reckless (c. 1948 – May 13, 1968), a decorated war horse who held official rank in the United States military,[2] was a mare of Mongolian horse breeding. Out of a race horse dam, she was purchased in October 1952 for $250 from a Korean stableboy at the Seoul racetrack who needed money to buy an artificial leg for his sister.[3] Reckless was bought by members of the United States Marine Corps and trained to be a pack horse for the Recoilless Rifle Platoon, Anti-Tank Company, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.[2] She quickly became part of the unit and was allowed to roam freely through camp, entering the Marines' tents, where she would sleep on cold nights, and was known for her willingness to eat nearly anything, including scrambled eggs, beer, Coca-Cola and, once, about $30 worth of poker chips.

She served in numerous combat actions during the Korean War, carrying supplies and ammunition, and was also used to evacuate wounded. Learning each supply route after only a couple of trips, she often traveled to deliver supplies to the troops on her own, without benefit of a handler. The highlight of her nine-month military career came in late March 1953 during the Battle for Outpost Vegas when, in a single day, she made 51 solo trips to resupply multiple front line units. She was wounded in combat twice and was given the battlefield rank of corporal in 1953 and then a battlefield promotion to sergeant in 1954, several months after the war ended. She also became the first horse in the Marine Corps known to have participated in an amphibious landing, and following the war was awarded two Purple Hearts, a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, inclusion in her unit's Presidential Unit Citations from two countries, and other military honors.


The home page.



Posted By: Paul - Sun Jun 26, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, War, Reader Recommendation, Twentieth Century, Courage, Bravery, Heroism and Valor

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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.

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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.

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