Category: Weird Theory
A Little Light Weirdness – 8
More successful were the thieves that managed to steal several US landmarks, including the Palace of Fine Arts, USS Pampanito and Ghirardelli Square. Models of course, part of an exhibition of Mark and Jannet Benz’s Lego creations on display at the Palo Alto Museum of American Heritage, and worth several thousand dollars. A reward of $500 has been offered by the Benzes (SF Weekly).
But if Jan and Mark are thinking of upping their home security, they should perhaps avoid following the example of Alexander Skopintsew of Primorye in Russia, who decided to deter intruders by planting homemade landmines around his garden. He was inevitably found out when a trespasser was injured when setting off one of these devices, and charged with possession of illegal weapons, receiving a suspended sentence (ABC News).
Of course another alternative might be to have nothing worth stealing. Perhaps something similar occurred to retired lorry driver Ken Strickland, who amassed a collection of over 3000 watering cans, each meticulously documented. Sadly Mr. Strickland died last month aged 78, bequeathing the entire assortment to his niece, who is at a loss as to what to do with them and may in fact sell them on behalf of a charity. One watering can however will not be up for sale, it contains her uncle's ashes (Metro).
Meanwhile hundreds of other women up and down the UK might be feeling a little let down this Monday, after British department store Debenhams recorded a 76% surge in sales of their range of “anatomy boosting” underwear for men ahead of Valentine’s day. Turn around is fair play, I say (Reuters).
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Weird Theory: Belly Buttons as a Sign of Mating Health
According to Dr. Aki Sinkkonen belly buttons are a sign of mating potential in fertile women:"the symmetry, shape, and position of umbilicus can be used to estimate the reproductive potential of fertile females, including risks of certain genetically and maternally inherited fetal anomalies."
The theory seems to be that if you've got problems as a fetus, somehow they're reflected in the shape of the belly button. And such problems may mean you're a less desirable mate later on in life.
So what does this say about supermodel Karolina Kurkova who reportedly has no belly button.
Weird Theory: Palestinians are actually long-lost Jews
Palestinians and Jews may be bitter enemies, but according to Tsvi Misinai this shouldn't be the case because Palestianians are actually long-lost Jews. The Times summarizes the gist of the theory (which isn't original to Misinai):Palestinians with whom Israel is at war are, in fact, descendants of Jews who stayed on the land when the Roman legions sent most of their countrymen into exile 2,000 years ago... Gradually, these people lost their ethnic identities, converting first to Christianity under Byzantine rule and then to Islam, as power in the land changed hands and rulers sought to homogenise the population, either through force or the offer of social privilege and tax incentives.
Apparently there are closer genetic matches between Palestinian and Jewish communities than between Palestinians and surrounding Arab communities. So who knows, the guy may be right. But even if he is, it probably won't make any difference to the fighting over there.
Weird Theory: The Scottish Origin of Rap
The theory, argued by Prof. Ferenc Szasz of the University of New Mexico, is that modern rap music derives from the ancient Caledonian art of "flyting", in which rival poets hurled obscene rhyming insults at each other. From the Telegraph:Scottish slave owners took the tradition with them to the United States, where it was adopted and developed by slaves, emerging many years later as rap. Professor Szasz is convinced there is a clear link between this tradition for settling scores in Scotland and rap battles, which were famously portrayed in Eminem's 2002 movie 8 Mile.
The more conventional theory is that the roots of rap music trace back to ancient West African poets called "griots". From Wikipedia:
the griots of West Africa were delivering stories rhythmically, over drums and sparse instrumentation. Because of the time that has passed since the griots of old, the connections between rap and the African griots are widely established, but not clear-cut. However, such connections have been acknowledged by rappers, modern day "griots", spoken word artists, mainstream news sources, and academics.
Actually, given the big gap in time between these two possible origins and the emergence of rap in the 1970s, both theories sound a little iffy to me.
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Category: Buildings and Other Structures, Crime, Stupid Criminals, Eccentrics, Collectors, Explosives, Geeks, Nerds and Pointdexters, Government, Officials, Kitsch and Collectibles, Weird Theory, Goofs and Screw-ups