News of the Weird
oracknows | January 7, 2007You be the judge.
I find it odd, though, that the name of the bride and groom are not mentioned in the story.
oracknows | January 4, 2007You know, like the namesake of my nom de blog, I'm not immune to a little vanity. Indeed, I daresay that no human is. What differs among humans are two things: the level of vanity and what we're vain about. Given that I don't have all that much in the looks department going on, it's fortunate that I'm probably not as vain as my blog namesake. Even so, I like to think that I'm pretty intelligent and that possess close to the proper level of skepticism, being neither so credulous that I'm easily fooled nor so skeptical that it devolves into cynicism. Consequently, when someone apparently thinks…
oracknows | December 21, 2006Sure, I know The Jesus Lizard is a band, but scientists have now found a lizard worthy of the name.
Well, not exactly. Perhaps this particular lizard would be better considered the Mary Lizard.
oracknows | December 14, 2006Too bad I can't make it back to Detroit this weekend. In fact, it's worse than that; I'm on call. Why? Because Saturday is Santarchy night. Basically a bunch of people dress up like Santa and go barhopping. Much drinking and debauchery ensue. If you happen to live in the Detroit area, here's a little test to see if you're "Santa enough" to participate. Sadly for me, maybe it's a good thing that I won't be there:
You have scored a 100.
While not completely lame, you do make for a weak Santa. And while some might think that should exclude you from participating in Santarchy, it's just possible…
oracknows | December 10, 2006Strangely enough, even though I lived in Cleveland for eight years and my wife lived there for eleven years before we left in 1996, I don't recall ever hearing about this. I wonder if it's a new thing that somehow the New York Times just happened to notice today:
CLEVELAND, Dec. 9 -- They surf in Cleveland because they must. They surf with two-inch icicles clinging to their wet suits, through stinging hail and overpowering wind. They work nights to spend their winter days scouting surf. They are watermen on an inland sea.
Given its industrial past, Cleveland largely turns its back to Lake…
oracknows | December 7, 2006As much as I detest Holocaust denial, neo-Nazis, and all they stand for, I can still understand why there is a certain sensitivity to emblems of Nazi-ism in Germany and Austria, although I have pointed out that sometimes Germans and Austrians go a bit too far, all too often stomping on free speech in the process, in their efforts to prevent the resurgence of Nazi-ism.
However, even 61 years later, there may be a reason these governments act the way they do. There is still a large contingent of people in Germany who see Nazi symbolism where none is there or intended:
BERLIN (Reuters) - A…
oracknows | November 14, 2006I always thought that David Copperfield was a bit cheesy. Heck, I still do. But this incident gives me a bit of respect for him:
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- One of three teenagers charged with attempting to rob illusionist David Copperfield as he left a performance has pleaded guilty.
Terrance Riley, 17, was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for three counts of robbery with a weapon and one count of attempted robbery. He will be housed with other inmates under the age of 21.
Circuit Judge Edward Garrison also ordered Riley to testify against his two co-defendants, his brother…
oracknows | November 10, 2006As a native Detroiter, I couldn't help but find this little story amusing (sorry, it's just the adolescent in me):
Hooters of America Inc. is moving ahead full throttle with a campaign to pressure the Troy City Council into granting a liquor license transfer for the chain's new Troy location on Rochester Road near Big Beaver.
Officials with the company made the announcement at that location this afternoon, as Hooters girls -- dressed in orange jumpsuits and orange scarfs -- picketed outside, carrying signs with messages, such as "Don't Endanger The Owl" and "City Council Buy U A Beer?"
The…
oracknows | November 9, 2006Just what a high school needs to warm up the crowd at a football game, a little speech by Joseph Goebbels:
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina: Part of a speech by World War II Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was played over the public address system before a high school soccer game, prompting an apology by the home team's principal.
Forestview High School principal Robert Carpenter said neither he nor his team's coach knew about the speech before the 90-second excerpt was played during pre-game training Saturday, according to a letter he sent Monday to visiting Charlotte Catholic High School…
oracknows | November 9, 2006Here's a real example of religious insanity:
LONDON, Kentucky (AP) - A woman died after being bitten by a snake during a serpent-handling service at church, police said.
Linda Long, 48, of London, Ky, died Sunday at University of Kentucky Medical Center, said Brad Mitchell, a detective with the Laurel County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday. Long died about four hours after the bite was reported, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Officials said Long attended East London Holiness Church. Neighbours of the church told the newspaper the church practices serpent handling.
Snake handling is based…
oracknows | October 22, 2006A "reality" television show is being developed in Israel that has to be about the biggest misnomer I've ever heard. You see, infamous fake "spoon bender" Uri Geller is doing a televisions show in which he seeks an "heir" to his psychic/telekinetic throne:
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - After four decades of bending spoons, halting clocks, reading minds, and penning metaphysical thrillers, Uri Geller is seeking a paranormal protege.
A reality television show being produced in Israel, where Geller grew up, will feature 10 contestants vying for the title of "heir" to the world-famous celebrity psychic.
"…
oracknows | October 11, 2006This would be hilarious if it weren't for what it says about critical thinking skills:
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German lawyer hopes to drum up more business by pursuing state compensation claims for people who believe they were abducted by aliens.
"There's quite obviously demand for legal advice here," Jens Lorek told Reuters by telephone on Thursday. "The trouble is, people are afraid of making fools of themselves in court."
Lorek, a lawyer based in the eastern city of Dresden who specializes in social and labor law, said he hoped to expand his client base by taking on the unusual work.
He has…
oracknows | September 24, 2006One of the things that I remember most about my A.P. English course in high school is the time that we all read Aristophane's Lysistrata. This play, as you may or may not remember, is a comedy taking place during the Peloponnesian War. The plot, boiled down to its essence, entails a plan by which the women of Athens, led by Lysistrata, join with the women of other warring states and decide that they will refuse to have sex with their men until the war is ended and peace agreed to, as summarized here:
The women of Athens, led by Lysistrata and supported by female delegates from the other…
oracknows | September 17, 2006Here's something that tells me, that should I ever visit Russia, I will need to be very, very careful crossing the street or going anywhere near traffic:
About 25 percent of Russians have had sex while driving, a poll released by KRC Research and Goodyear revealed. And this is just one of the things that make them the worst drivers in Europe.
According to the research, Russians do not use seatbelts, break speed-limits, drive through red lights, drive drunk and have sex while driving much more often than other Europeans do.
The odd thing is they don't think all this is bad.
According to the…
oracknows | June 14, 2006I've heard of physicians using themselves as guinea pigs for their own research before, but this is ridiculous.
Yesterday, my copy of General Surgery News arrived at my office. As I was whiffling through it to see if there were any articles worth reading, I came across a tale of a Japanese doctor who was truly dedicated to his research, so much so that that I had to hand it to him. Well, sort of.
Yes, on p. 22 of the June issue of General Surgery News (sadly, not yet online as of this writing, so you'll have to take my word for this--or check up on me in a couple of weeks when they'll…
oracknows | June 10, 2006I'm probably going to catch some crap for this one, but it's kind of amusing. So what the heck? From Australia:
Officials think the "Mandy" singer's music will keep teens from hanging out and revving their engines in parking lots.
Officials in Rockdale, Australia will pump the music of Barry Manilow through speakers in their town to keep hooligan kids from loitering and revving their car engines in neighborhood parking lots. They hope that the "daggy" (slang for unhip) music will send kids fleeing. "Based on reports...daggy music is one way to make the hoons leave an area because they can't…
oracknows | June 10, 2006I've probably never mentioned it before, buy I'm 1/4 Lithuanian. Here's something one of my cousins sent me to make me "proud" of that heritage:
VILNIUS, Lithuania - Lithuanian police were so astonished by a breath test that registered 18 times the legal alcohol limit, they thought their device must be broken. It wasn't.
Police said Tuesday 41-year-old Vidmantas Sungaila registered 7.27 grams per liter of alcohol in his blood repeatedly on different devices after he was pulled over Saturday for driving his truck down the center of a two-lane highway 60 miles from the capital, Vilnius.…