Weird Universe Archive
May 2013
May 8, 2013
Waterskiing Baby
Yesterday I posted about a baby who could walk when he was only 5 days old. But could he waterski? This 7-month-old baby can! [via wetpaint.com]
Posted By: Alex - Wed May 08, 2013 -
Comments (4)
Category: Babies, Sports, Video
Herman Slater and the Warlock Shop/Magickal Childe
Starting in 1973, Herman Slater (died 1992) became a mainstay of the New York Wiccan scene.
Here he is explaining his religion. Three more parts of the documentary available on YouTube.
Posted By: Paul - Wed May 08, 2013 -
Comments (9)
Category: Eccentrics, Regionalism, Religion, Rituals and Superstitions, 1970s
May 7, 2013
Di Filippo Books in E-formats
Just had to smile a little at my backlist coming into ebook form for the first time.
Here's the link.
Thanks for your attention.
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 07, 2013 -
Comments (9)
Category:
Alexandre Lane & the Cyr Wheel
His Facebook page.
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 07, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Performance Art, Natural Wonders
The Amazing Walking Baby
Back in 1948, Norman Robert Kolreg of Lewiston, Maine, became famous when he was able to walk upright (with some help from his mother) at the tender age of 5 days. Soon Mrs. Kolreg began exhibiting him to any curiosity seeker who showed up at her door. She even took out an ad in the paper, listing his scheduled performances. She didn't charge an admission fee, but she did accept donations. Which led to criminal charges being brought against her, alleging that being exhibited was injurious to the child's "life, limb and health." The charges were dropped, but only after she agreed to stop making him perform. [The Day - Apr 2, 1948]Reportedly, little Norman kept on walking — soon without any help from Mom. I have no idea what become of him later in life.
Posted By: Alex - Tue May 07, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Babies, 1940s
Backstage (May 7, 2013)
Backstage(in the Weird News Community)
[Chuck Talks Shop]
May 7, 2013
The Classic Middle Name: No, "Dwayne" doesn’t count, and manslaughter doesn’t count, nor attempted murder, and it doesn’t even count when your own daddy (Russell Staley, talking about his son Daniel W. Staley) tells police, “Danny is going to kill someone. It’s just a matter of time.” WFAA-TV (Dallas-Fort Worth)
Baghdad's "Bomb Detectors": NOTW made a big deal back in 2009 (.M137) that a British scam artist had convinced Iraqi military officials to buy 1,600 each of what were basically dowsing rods that detected bombs moving through Baghdad and that despite repeated U.S. warnings, the lead Iraqi general would not give it up, spending $100 million of our money on them, even though when they inevitably failed to reveal bombs entering neighborhood checkpoints, Iraqis got blown up. The Brit, James McCormick, was finally convicted last week, but The Guardian rounded up some scientists who explained that the Iraqi general was only human, that the “ideomotor effect” is kinda hard to resist if the scene is set right. Whether it's dead spirits moving the table at a seance or a wand moving over potential bombs, a bystander-victim's experience can be wholly involuntary. The Guardian
One Weird News Evergreen Goes Full-Circle: A long line of entry-level news editors has been newly fascinated upon learning that an Indonesian company once thought to run coffee beans through a digestive tract, wash them off, and sell them upscale as an exquisite-tasting gourmet java treat (Kopi Luwak). And not just any digestive tract. It must be the digestive tract of the Asian Palm civet (cat). Yr Editor came a little late to the game, in 1993, but has mostly resisted the fresh-faced editors who seemed to discover it at least once a year and splash it all over the Internet. Originally, farmers would scour the forests checking piles of civet caca. Now, Kopi Luwak is so lucrative that several civet species are threatened by farmers’ caging and feeding them to assure that no bowel movement is ever beanless. Wikipedia /// Mongabay.com (San Francisco)
Errorors: In News of the Weird .M316 (4-28-2013), Yr Editor described a British flapjack as a “pancake,” but it’s more a sorta-biscuit shaped thingy. I’m told that you get the wrong impression of the story if you imagine “pancake.” (At the link, scroll way down to see the original.)
Posted By: Chuck - Tue May 07, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category:
May 6, 2013
Batman Reads NOTW!
From this issue.
Posted By: Paul - Mon May 06, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Crime, Weird Universe, Chuck, Comics
Song Poems
The full story is here. But, in short: amateur lyrics put to music for money by studio musician hacks.
Posted By: Paul - Mon May 06, 2013 -
Comments (10)
Category: Business, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Twentieth Century
News of the Weird 2.0 (May 6, 2013)
News of the Weird 2.0Angst, Confusion, Cynicism, Ridicule
Prime Cuts of Underreported News from Last Week, Hand-Picked and Lightly Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
May 6, 2013
(datelines April 27-May 4) (links correct as of May 5)
© 2013 by Chuck Shepherd. All rights reserved.
[Editor's Note: If you read this post only via the FeedBurner e-mail sign-up box on our home page, you will not receive the continuation page of this post (or of any of our other posts). There's some good stuff on the continuation page!]
★ ★ ★ ★!
Y'all already know this, but I'm not sure it has sunk in to America yet, so let me go over it once more. Last Monday, the New York Times reported (since wholly verified) that while Uncle Sam’s left hand (Pentagon) was sending U.S. freedom fighters to risk their lives for Afghanis, its right hand (the CIA) was empowering President Karzai with at least $36 million in greenbacks so he could keep allied troops from winning by paying off his warlords to stay corrupt--so corrupt that Gen. Petraeus had already famously labeled them as tied with the Taliban for being our biggest roadblocks to victory. Translation: We ask troops to die at the same time we stack the deck against them. Worse: Nobody seems much to care. Slate.com
No wonder the insufferable Tsarnaevs hated America: According to the Boston Herald, the family members (Dad, Mom, the bros) received only about $100k in welfare benefits from this wretched country since 2002. Boston Herald
Face It--The Terrorists Have Won: Kiera Wilmot, 16, has been expelled from school and indicted on felony terrorism charges in Bartow, Fla. In a fit of curiosity for a science fair project, she by herself mixed toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil in a plastic jug, and the resulting explosion and smoke was declared by her principal to be a "bomb," which students are allowed to set off only under supervision of a teacher. The principal said he’s sympathetic, knows exactly what's going on here, that she's a good kid, totally honest, moved by scientific inquiry, etc., but that his hands are tied. WTSP-TV (St. Petersburg)
Can’t Possibly Be True: In 4 of the country’s largest cities (NYC, Miami, LA, Denver), almost 1 home out of 100 keeps pet chickens. They make messes, especially when brought inside to cuddle. Consequently, the Entrepreneurial Spirit yields MyPetChicken.com and competitors, who sell little-bitty diapers and little-bitty saddles (for roosters) (because roosters apparently like rough sex, leaving hens featherless when cocks ride bareback). NPR
More in extended >>
Posted By: Chuck - Mon May 06, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category:
May 5, 2013
The Six Brown Brothers
Blackface, clownsuits and saxophones: a winning combo in any era!
Learn the whole story here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun May 05, 2013 -
Comments (0)
Category: Clowns, Music, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s
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| Who We Are |
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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 |
