Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 21, 2018 -
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Category: Sexuality, Cartoons, 1970s, Africa, Europe
A misshapen calf, born in Freiberg, Saxony, on 8 December 1522, quickly became important in the German Reformation. It was born with oddly shaped legs (its hind legs straight as a human's) and with a fold of skin over its head shaped like a cowl—hence its comparison to a monk. An illustration made its way to a Prague astrologer, who "discovered that the monster did indeed signify something terrible, indeed the most awful thing possible--Martin Luther."[10] Luther himself responded quickly with a pamphlet containing a mock exegesis of the creature, Monk Calf, in which the "Monk Calf" stands, in all its monstrosity, for the Catholic church.[12] Luther's anti-papist pamphlet appeared together with a tract by Philipp Melanchthon[13] which discussed a fictional monster, the Pope-Ass, a hybrid between a man and a donkey supposedly found near Rome after the 1496 flood.[14] Circulated in 1523, Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon's pamphlet was titled The Meaning of Two Horrific Figures, the Papal Ass at Rome and the Monk Calf Found at Freyberg in Meissen.[15] Luca Cranach the Elder and his workshop provided the illustrations of the Papal Ass and the Monk Calf for the pamphlet. Variations of Luther and Melanchthon’s pamphlet eventually were circulated, including one that depicted the Papal Ass and the Monk Calf in “an encounter between the two creatures. This opening page adds a new phrase to the title of the book: ‘with signs of the Day of Judgement.'"[16]
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 31, 2018 -
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Category: Anniversary, Religion, Europe, Sixteenth Century, Fictional Monsters
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 02, 2018 -
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Category: Anthropomorphism, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Surrealism, Foreign Customs, Cartoons, Europe, Twenty-first Century, Fictional Monsters
Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 10, 2018 -
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Category: Architecture, Real Estate, Europe
Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 26, 2018 -
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Category: Crime, Money, 1960s, Europe
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 15, 2018 -
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Category: Anthropomorphism, War, Cartoons, Europe, Twentieth Century
Vander invented a constructed language, Kobaïan, in which most lyrics are sung. In a 1977 interview with Vander and long-time Magma vocalist Klaus Blasquiz, Blasquiz said that Kobaïan is a "phonetic language made by elements of the Slavonic and Germanic languages to be able to express some things musically. The language has of course a content, but not word by word."[1] Vander himself has said that, "When I wrote, the sounds [of Kobaïan] came naturally with it—I didn’t intellectualise the process by saying 'Ok, now I’m going to write some words in a particular language', it was really sounds that were coming at the same time as the music."[2] Later albums tell different stories set in more ancient times; however, the Kobaïan language remains an integral part of the music.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 27, 2018 -
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Category: Languages, Music, 1970s, Europe, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 06, 2018 -
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Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, 1960s, Europe
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 21, 2018 -
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Category: Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, Europe, Cars
Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 03, 2017 -
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Category: Fads, 1960s, Europe
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, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. 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. Contact Us |