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Category:
Europe

Eurovision 1971




Eurovision 2013 is now decided, so it's time for us to make fun of another past winner.

Just remember: the contest ain't over till the fat Severine sings.

Extra points for finding four clones of John Travolta, circa Saturday Night Fever, as her backup singers.

Irish Car:  The Shamrock

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Why there is no Irish car industry today. From Wikipedia.

Shortly after production began, however, design flaws became apparent. Although the car was big and heavy, it used a relatively small Austin A55 1.5 litre engine, which limited performance. The A55 also provided the transmission and suspension. Another problem was that the rear wheels were shrouded by body panels and a rear wheel could not be removed (for puncture repair for example) without dropping its axle..... Production of up to 10,000 cars a year was talked about but as few as ten complete cars were produced during the six months before production ceased. After the factory closed, the unused parts were dumped into the local lake, Lough Muckno.
Posted By: Paul | Date: Thu May 16, 2013 | Comments (5)
Category: Regionalism, Success & Failure, 1950's, 1960's, Europe, Cars

German Mousetrap Museum

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"This Museum was established in 1990 by the Heimatverein Neroth in the old School House to celebrate the mouse trap making cottage industry that had flourished in Neroth and nearby villages for over one hundred years."

Their German-language homepage.


And as a bonus, here is an incredible collection of mousetrap history books in PDF form.
Posted By: Paul | Date: Wed May 01, 2013 | Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Death, Museums, Technology, Rube Goldberg Devices, Europe

What a Life!



Always good to keep your sense of humor in hard economic times.
Posted By: Paul | Date: Sun Apr 07, 2013 | Comments (2)
Category: Money, 1940's, Europe

The Dopey Joes




More random "culture" from the inexplicable French.
Posted By: Paul | Date: Thu Apr 04, 2013 | Comments (3)
Category: Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Dance, Europe

Follies of the Madmen #203

Turkish Airlines - Wingo TVC - English from Robotika Films on Vimeo.



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I don't know... That bird reminds me of too many other incompetent fictional birds. Especially the klutzy Launchpad McQuack. I'm not feeling in good hands--or wings--here.

Posted By: Paul | Date: Mon Apr 01, 2013 | Comments (5)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Business, Advertising, Air Travel and Airlines, Europe

Fritz von Opel



Fritz von Opel was one of those early-20th-century rocket-besotted guys who pioneered this exotic means of propulsion. Just look at his rocket car go in the film clip above! (Narration in German, but not necessary to comprehension.)

But von Opel's innocent excitement had its darker side. I give you the 1929 newspaper article below. Specifically, the enlarged sentence.

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Posted By: Paul | Date: Fri Mar 29, 2013 | Comments (7)
Category: Inventions, War, Space Travel, 1920's, 1930's, 1940's, Europe, Cars

100 MPH Zip Line



Posted By: Paul | Date: Mon Mar 25, 2013 | Comments (4)
Category: Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Recreation, Technology, Europe

Charley Says



In this dangerous world, God help all kids who don't have a child-sized cat friend with feline Tourette's Syndrome.

So popular, they have been collected on DVD.



Not to be confused with this other "Charlie says!"


Posted By: Paul | Date: Wed Feb 27, 2013 | Comments (10)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Death, Disasters, PSA's, Advertising, Candy, Cats, Europe

Eurovision Winner:  1967

The annual Eurovision contest is chugging along, and we haven't made fun of a past winner in a while.

Here's the best Europe could offer in 1967, a year when everyone else was listening to revolutionary work by the Doors, the Stones, the Beatles, et al.

Sandie Shaw on Wikipedia.



Posted By: Paul | Date: Sun Feb 24, 2013 | Comments (9)
Category: Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Music, 1960's, Europe
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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.