A Little Light Weirdness – 7

It’s an election year in the UK, and politicians there are suddenly more image conscious than ever. None more so than incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who - at his wife’s suggestion - has swapped his regular Kit-Kat munching habit for a diet of bananas in an effort to slim down a bit. While it’s nice to know that the British PM’s wife is perhaps a reader this blog, she’s obviously not a regular one, or she’d have known that portly politicos are more trusted. Now if only he’d show the common touch by going on a bacon binge (Orange News).

Mind you, Mr. Brown is not the only statesman trying to avert a bleak future this week, an unnamed Arab ambassador got the shock of his life when he finally lifted his new bride’s niqab, only to find she had cross-eyes and a beard. The groom immediately went to court to have the marriage annulled, claiming he had been tricked into the marriage and that the bride’s parents had used pictures of her attractive older sister to deceive him. The court found for the groom and dissolved the marriage, but turned down his demand for $150000 compensation (Daily Mail).

But perhaps he’s been a bit quick to judge by appearances. Two Chinese men certainly were when the found a hoard of 20 clay artefacts in an old tomb they discovered in a field near their home, only to later sell the whole lot to a collector for less than $2000. Unfortunately for the pair, theirs were rare finds from the Sui-Tang Dynasty, making the collection over 1000 years old. One item alone, a pottery figurine, recently reached $150,000 at auction (Daily Times).

More fortunate was Wendy Jones of Aberglasney in Wales, who took the old plate she’d had perched on her sideboard for years – except on those odd occasions it had fallen off it - to a TV antiques show, in a plastic carrier bag, only to be told it was part of a rare, Prussian royal service worth over £100000 (Telegraph).

More >>

Hayley McNeff

Das Kapital, the Musical

I've found a new musical to add to my ongoing list of strange musicals. It's Das Kapital, the Musical. It comes to us from China. Here's the plot, such as it is:


Sounds thrilling. Here's the rest of the list:

• Thalidomide, the Musical
• The Elements of Style (an opera based on the Strunk & White style guide)
• Fight Club, the Musical
• Men are from Mars, Woman are from Venus (the musical)
• An unconfirmed musical based on the Labour Party's 1997 election manifesto
• Menopause, the Musical
• The Diary of Anne Frank, the Musical
• Evil Dead, the Musical
• The Fly (an opera based on David Cronenberg's 1986 movie)
• Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical
• An Inconvenient Truth (an opera based on Al Gore's film and book)
• Jerry Springer: The Opera
• C U Next Tuesday: The Amy Fisher Story, A Karaoke Musical.
• Keating! (a musical theatre production which portrays the political career of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating)

The Talented Amy Gordon

On her resume, cabaret comedienne Amy Gordon lists her Special Skills as: Rollerskate dancing (disco, tap), Ukulele, Swing Dance, Tango, Stilts, Slackwire, Rolling Globe, Yoga, Prat/Stairfalls, Hat-tricks, Juggling (pass clubs, knives, fire), rubber face/body, dialects, Dutch/French languages, Pyrotechnic Shooter.

Her acts include doing a Flamenco dance on rollerskates, singing "Taint No Sin" accompanied in harmony by skulls she wears as a bra, as well as playing "America the Beautiful" in three part harmony on kazoos from three different orifices. The latter act you can see below.

The Tiger Lillies

Witness the weirdness that is the Tiger Lillies.

A Bicycle Built For Two

This is a classic (and quite famous) weird photo.

Charles Tripp, the "Armless Wonder," performed with Barnum's circus. He could do just about anything with his feet, including shaving and carving wood. Eli Bowen was known as the "Legless Acrobat." He also toured with the Barnum and Bailey Circus. It was when the two of them paired up together that they achieved the peak of their popularity. This photo apparently happened spontaneously. From thehumanmarvels.com:

The Matrix on Broadway

Keanu Reeves is slated to recreate his epic role as cyber-savior Neo in the all-dancing, all-singing Broadway production of The Matrix. Directed by Julie Taymor, choreography by Kristi Yamaguchi, music by Brian Eno.

Not buying that explanation for this photo? You skeptic! Well, in that case, find out who the sunglass-wearing, cassocked dancer is here.

Julian Eltinge

Every election year, politicians seek to invoke a mythical Golden Age, when life was simpler and more wholesome. Take the Edwardian Era in America, for instance, when the moral fiber of the country was still unpolluted--

--and when a drag queen like Julian Eltinge was a top attraction in high society and popular culture alike.

Face it: life was never any different.

All original content in posts is Copyright © 2008 by the author of the post, either Alex Boese ("Alex"), Paul Di Filippo ("Paul"), or Chuck Shepherd ("Chuck"). All rights reserved. The banner illustration at the top of this page is Copyright © 2008 by Rick Altergott.