Weirdness
pharyngula | December 16, 2008Man, it's getting to the point where a fellow can't even build a death ray or an island fortress shaped like a skull without someone getting pissy about it. Take this account, for instance, of a few people just playing around with skeletons and lab coats:
A group of students had their 'Mad Scientist' party brought to an abrupt end when police mistook them for terrorists.
The private party, held in Hackney, north London, was organised by a group of friends dressed in white laboratory coats and wigs, who put on a display of theatrical 'experiments' to entertain guests.
But when police…
pharyngula | December 14, 2008John Holbo is determined — nay, obsessesed — to add a new holiday to the pantheon of midwinter festivals: it's Haeckelmas. I can actually understand this, since the artwork Ernst Haeckel masterminded is worthy of obsession, a beautiful celebration of life in a Victorian vein.
If you're tired of the traditional Currier & Ives, Holbo has put together a whole collection of Haeckeliana with a holiday theme.
pharyngula | December 10, 2008
Pareidolia is putting the Virgin Mary in all sorts of strange places. The latest: in the MRI of a woman's brain. She's trying to sell it off on eBay, of course.
It's a silly illusion, but as I looked at it, I had an epiphany. It's a body part. There's a little nubbin for a head beneath a hood, with fleshy veils representing Mary's robes below that.
You know, there's another anatomical region on women that looks like that…
So, when is someone going to start selling gynecological photos on eBay? Can we defend explicit porn as religious iconography?
By the way, there is a poll associated with…
pharyngula | December 10, 2008Whenever I see a magazine with Chinese calligraphy on the cover, which I cannot read at all, I have to wonder if it means something strange, like
"My nipples explode with delight". The journal of the Max Planck Research Institute was hit by this little problem: they used some lovely Chinese calligraphy on their cover without looking up the meaning.
Translation:
With high salaries, we have cordially invited for an extended series of matinées
KK and Jiamei as directors, who will personally lead jade-like girls in the spring of youth,
Beauties from the north who have a distinguished air of…
pharyngula | December 10, 2008
Oh, boy — get out the model airplane glue and little bottles of paint: you can build a model of Noah's Ark! And it's only $74! (The price of plastic models has sure gone up since I used to buy them with my lawn mowing money).
This injection molded plastic model kit measures over 18 1/2" long and includes 3 separate interior decks with embossed wood texture and many details including ramps and animal cages and corrals. The kit offers several building options. Modelers may display the Ark in cross section to reveal the internal decks or in the full-hull version. Additional building options…
pharyngula | December 6, 2008People are responding to my request to avoid stealing or damaging nativity scenes with the suggestion that adding to a nativity scene ought to be ok. Maybe so; note this fine Catalonian tradition and examples of reverent statuary that belong in your local religious display.
pharyngula | December 6, 2008If you really want to know where the war on Christmas is being waged, he needs to look at the manufacturers of Kitschmas gifts. Ewww, ick.
Although…should I get my wife the "Men on a Mission" calendar?
pharyngula | December 4, 2008Some men's magazine was planning a cheesy promotion: they were going to include inflatable breasts with an issue. Sad news, though: the crate has been lost at sea.
There is some speculation that pirates are responsible. Very lonely, tasteless pirates.
pharyngula | December 3, 2008It's a very happy song.
See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die
The resolution is a little too pat, though. One thing we've learned from the last 20 years is that people will gladly vote against their economic well-being to support bizarre social values.
pharyngula | December 3, 2008I've always wondered where this strange meme of one-eyed cephalopods came from — here's a poster from the heyday of B movies that suggests it has been around for at least 50 years.
That's from a site with a collection of old movie posters, that brings up old memories. I used to pedal my bike over by the old Vale movie theater in Kent right after school to browse the coming attractions. Most were pretty forgettable, but when it was always exciting to discover one of these cheesy posters (and the cheesier the better) heralding a monster movie for the Saturday matinee. A lot of these look very…
pharyngula | December 1, 2008How else could a naked clergyman get a potato in there?
Just a suggestion: if he'd been wearing two wetsuits while hanging his curtains, it would never have happened.
pharyngula | November 29, 2008And that means you're going to have to get your holiday greeting cards mailed off soon, if you want them to arrive before the Reason for the Season…Isaac Newton's birthday. Now I don't want to hear anyone waging war on the true meaning of the holiday in the comments, either, unless it's to point out that it is also Squidmas.
pharyngula | November 28, 2008So…is "bidet-face" a common Romanian insult? Quick! Someone alert Nisbet!