Weird Universe Archive

November 2020

November 30, 2020

Comforting Hand Pillow

Madeline Robertson was recently granted a patent for a pillow with a foam hand sewn onto it. She explains that the hand (or 'tactile object,' as she refers to it) "provides tactile sensory feedback to the user designed to comfort the user."

It reminds me of that robotic hand for people who have no one to hold their hand on walks we recently posted about.

Patent No. 10806281: Substrate having a therapeutic tactile object attached

Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 30, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Sleep and Dreams

Space Race

This is what the passengers would see on a 1990s amusement park ride dubbed "Space Race." It's intriguing to compare state-of-the-art then to now.




Contemporary article on the ride here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 30, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Special Effects, 1990s

November 29, 2020

Dyr bul shchyl

The Russian artist Alexei Kruchenykh invented the Zaum language in 1913. He described it as "a language which does not have any definite meaning." From what I can gather, it was gibberish sounds strung together.

Dyr bul shchyl, also written by Kruchenykh, was the first (but not last) poem written in Zaum.

Dyr bul shchyl
ubeshshchur
skum
vy so bu
r l ez

You can hear Kruchenykh reading the poem aloud in the first clip. There's a more modern interpretation of it below.





Knowing Russian, or any other language, won't help you understand the poem. But according to Russian language expert Lucas Stratton, "critics have interpreted Dyr bul shchyl as an arrangement of sounds associated with a coming storm."

Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 29, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Languages, Poetry, 1910s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults

The Language of Deseret

I was unaware that Brigham Young created a new alphabet for his followers. "However, the alphabet failed to gain wide acceptance and was not actively promoted after 1869."

Here is a page at the official Mormon site that tells of it.



Here is an encyclopedia entry with the full alphabet.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 29, 2020 - Comments (5)
Category: Eccentrics, Inventions, Languages, Religion, Nineteenth Century

November 28, 2020

Church challenge

1941: Patrick Gunn, 46, left a note in the church collection plate challenging the priest, Monsignor Edmund J. Reilly, to a fight in the street.

I found a photo of the Monsignor. He doesn't look like the fighting type.

Wilmington News Journal - Mar 24, 1941



Monsignor Edmund J. Reilly
source: FindAGrave.com

Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 28, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Religion, Violence, 1940s

November 27, 2020

Farrah’s Glamour Center

Part of the 'Farrah mania' of the late '70s.

In 2011, it became part of the Smithsonian's popular culture history collection.



Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 27, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Celebrities, Toys, 1970s

John Cage’s “Inlets”



I can almost smell the burning pine cones!

Full explanation and history here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 27, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Music, Avant Garde, 1970s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults

November 26, 2020

How to make a turkey ornament out of used pantyhose

The Great Pantyhose Crafts Book (1982) explains how to make all kinds of things out of used pantyhose. For the Thanksgiving table, it offers instructions for a pantyhose turkey ornament.

I imagine a pantyhose turkey would add a touch of class to any Thanksgiving gathering.

You can read the entire book for free via archive.org.





More in extended >>

Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 26, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Crafts, Underwear, Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving 2020!

Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 26, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Food, History, Holidays, Myths and Fairytales

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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.

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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.

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