October 2022
October 21, 2022
Asneezia
In a 1985 report published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. G.D. Shukla brought a new condition to the attention of the medical community — the inability to sneeze. He named this 'Asneezia'. The sufferers were 'Asneezics'. His original article is behind a paywall, but a summary from Brain/Mind Bulletin is below:
Brain/Mind Bulletin - July 1990
Later correspondents to the British Journal of Psychiatry were skeptical. One questioned whether Shukla's patients really suffered from this condition, or if they were simply delusional. Another proposed verifying the reality of Asneezia by exposing patients to "the most noxious inhalant allergen."
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 21, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Health, Psychology
The Great Virgil and Julie: The Spirit Cabinet
His magic encyclopedia entry here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 21, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Twentieth Century
October 20, 2022
Louis Duprey’s Trapdoor Theater Seats
One of the minor annoyances of going to a theater is having your view blocked if someone in front of you gets up from their seat. Or having to stand from your seat to let someone get by.Back in 1924, Louis Duprey patented a solution to this problem. He envisioned a theater in which guests would enter through a subchamber, get into their seats, and then be raised upwards by a hydraulic lift, through a trapdoor, into the theater itself. Anyone who wanted to leave early could simply lower themself back down, disturbing no one else.
It's an over-engineered solution to a minor problem, but I would happily pay extra, at least once, to experience a theater like this. Though I'd probably spend the entire time going up and down in my chair.
More info: Patent No. 1,517,774
Related Posts: Thomas Curtis Gray's horizontal theater, Theater in a Whale, Lloyd Brown's Globe Theater
via New Scientist
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 20, 2022 -
Comments (6)
Category: Architecture, Entertainment, Theater and Stage, Patents, 1920s
Follies of the Madmen #544
Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 20, 2022 -
Comments (4)
Category: Domestic, Family, Children, Advertising, 1960s, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical
October 19, 2022
Hi-Fi Addiction
Back in 1957, Dr. H. Angus Bowes argued that many Hi-Fi enthusiasts were, in fact, addicted to their music systems in an unhealthy way. I'm sure there are still people today who exhibit similar symptoms.One addict said he would not be satisfied until he could hear the drip of saliva from the French horns as they were emptied after a powerful brass passage, Dr. Bowes reported.
El Paso Herald-Post - Apr 15, 1957
Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 19, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Music, Psychology, 1950s
Champagne-Flavored Chewing Tobacco
Would this be popular today? I'm amazed they got the cooperation of the famous champagne maker.Source.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 19, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Smoking and Tobacco, 1910s, Alcohol
October 18, 2022
Does the stickshift scare your wife?
Not very subtle.
Newsweek - Apr 19, 1965
Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 18, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Advertising, 1960s
Haysi Fantayzee
Here's a live performance by a New Wave band that has arguably aged less well than many others, such as Blondie and The Cars. The rest of their 13-track playlist is here.Their Wikipedia page says:
Haysi Fantayzee was an avant-garde, new wave pop project emanating from the Blitz Kids street arts scene in London in the early 1980s. The group's music combined reggae, country and electro with political and sociological lyrics couched as nursery rhymes.[3]
Catapulted to stardom by their visual sensibilities, Haysi Fantayzee combined their extreme clothes sense – described[4] as combining white Rasta, tribal chieftain and Dickensian styles – with a quirky musical sound comparable to, but distinct from, other new wave musical pop acts of the era, such as Bow Wow Wow, Adam and the Ants and Bananarama
Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 18, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Music, 1980s
October 17, 2022
The Synthetic Party
Over in Denmark, an AI chatbot called Leader Lars is a candidate in the country's November general election. It's the representative of The Synthetic Party. Apparently this is the first time a form of artificial intelligence has run for political office. (It would be too easy to make a joke about whether any form of genuine intelligence has ever run for office, so I won't do it).You can chat with Leader Lars and ask it questions in English. However, it responds in Danish.
More info: vice.com
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 17, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Politics, Strange Candidates, AI, Robots and Other Automatons
The Hat Gun
Source.See also our recent LIPSTICK-, PURSE- AND SHOE-GUNS.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 17, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Headgear, 1910s, Weapons
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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 |
