Weird Worm http://www.weirdworm.com Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:34:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Copyright © Weird Worm, 2009-2010 http://www.weirdworm.com/?feed=podcast office@weirdworm.com (Weird Worm) office@weirdworm.com (Weird Worm) posts 1440 weird, bizarre, science, comedy, humor, funny, nature, people, stories, odd, strange Weird Worm Podcast Listen to weirdest and most bizarre stories from the world. Your favorite stories are now available in this podcast! Weird Worm Weird Worm office@weirdworm.com No no http://www.weirdworm.com/img/podcast144.jpg Weird Worm http://www.weirdworm.com 144 144 Sneaking Into Hashima, Japan’s “Battleship Island” Ghost Town http://www.weirdworm.com/sneaking-into-hashima-japans-battleship-island-ghost-town/ http://www.weirdworm.com/sneaking-into-hashima-japans-battleship-island-ghost-town/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:29:38 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2647 In 2009, a friend and I were living in Japan. That year, we learned that it was possible to get to Hashima, commonly called “Battleship Island”, albeit highly illegal.

We did it anyways.

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/sneaking-into-hashima-japans-battleship-island-ghost-town/feed/ 0 8:35 In 2009, a friend and I were living in Japan. That year, we learned that it was possible to get to Hashima, commonly called ldquo;Battleship ... In 2009, a friend and I were living in Japan. That year, we learned that it was possible to get to Hashima, commonly called ldquo;Battleship Islandrdquo;, albeit highly illegal. We did it anyways. Podcast Sponsor: Get a FREE audiobook and 14-day trial today by signing up at www.audiblepodcast.com/weirdworm We had heard of Battleship Island (in Japanese, Gunkanjima) before ever coming to Nagasaki, but had never considered sneaking onto the ghost island. It had been closed since the 1970rsquo;s, and now sat off the coast of Nagasaki City, quiet and haunting. Going there is supposedly punishable by a one month stay in a Japanese prison as well as deportation. We have never considered the possibility, though there was something romantic and adventurous about the notion. This changed one week, when in a conversation with others in the area we learned that some people had gone and gotten away with it. It wasnrsquo;t even difficult, they told us. Suddenly, the forbidden fruit of the Ghost Island seemed just within grasp, and we knew we wanted to try. The easiest way to sneak into Hashima, we were told, is to go to the closest neighboring island, Takashima. From Takashima, you pay someone with a boat to ferry you over and look the other way. We decided to go for it. We left from Nagasaki City early in the morning on a ferry bound for Takashima, and sipped coffees leisurely during the hour-long boat ride. Takashima itself is largely unremarkable (especially in comparison to its neighbor), but its story in many ways mirrors that of Hashima: Like Hashima, Takashimarsquo;s history is defined by coal mining. For centuries, Takashimarsquo;s inhabitants were said to have gathered coal from exposed rock beds along the shore, and in the eighteenth century began exporting it. Over time, Takashimarsquo;s mining system became an enormous success, and the island settlement grew. At the height of its production, the islandrsquo;s inhabitants numbered around 20,000. The population of Takashima has now dropped to about 600, the majority of whom live in one large apartment complex on the center of the island. A scattered constellation of old houses surrounds it, and beyond that are the vestigial remains of what was once a vibrant community ndash; a tennis court with no nets, the pavement cracked and stained, a basketball goal bent by wind and time, decaying picnic tables. There are overgrown forested areas as well, home to indigenous wild hemp, we learned from a sign near the port. We were greeted by a particularly suspicious police officer as soon as we stepped off the boat. He asked to see our Foreigner Registration Cards, and then took down our information. When he asked why wersquo;d come to the island, we told him we were interested in taking pictures. He told us it took approximately an hour to walk around the island, and that hersquo;d wait for us at the docks. He clearly didnrsquo;t believe wersquo;d traveled so far out of the way just to kill an afternoon looking at an island not very different from any of the others in Nagasaki. His suspicions were not unreasonable. After all, Takashima is extremely close to Hashima, and it is also an abundant source of naturally growing marijuana. There isnrsquo;t much reason to visit Takashima if yoursquo;re not interested in either of things, both of which are illegal. Still, we were undeterred, and after some pleasantries made our way to the far side of the island to seek out a fisherman to bribe. We soon found a boat owner who would take us to Hashima in exchange for a little cash and a cooler of cheap beer. We happily accepted the deal, and after a brief run to the islandrsquo;s only convenience store, a six-pack in tow, we ran back to the pier. The water was calm and blue, and surrounding Battleship Island were several fishing boats. Occasionally, flying fish broke the surface of the water, gliding along the waves. Hashima is surrounded by a large concrete sea wall to prote... Highlights,,Stories Weird Worm no No Weekly Weird News 03-12-2010 http://www.weirdworm.com/weekly-weird-news-03-12-2010/ http://www.weirdworm.com/weekly-weird-news-03-12-2010/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:22:14 +0000 euphoria http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2676 Welcome to the newest installment of Weekly Weird News! This week we have angry sex nurses, Monopoly drug busts and church pornography! It’s a debauchery triple threat!

1.
Man Pays for Drugs with Monopoly Money

A Kansas man attempted to purchase drugs with Monopoly money. Drug dealers, however, generally have no sense of humor and the man was beaten for his little joke. At the very least, this guy proved once and for all that everyone hates Monopoly.

man pays for drugs with monopoly money

from UPI.com

2.
Chili Finger Lady Banned from Wendy’s

Anna Ayala, the woman who tried to scam the Wendy’s restaurant chain by putting a severed finger in her chili, has been released from prison and was promptly banned from eating at Wendy’s. She seems kind of sad about it, but then again if she didn’t want to be banned then she probably shouldn’t have put a severed finger in her damn chili.

chili finger lady banned from wendys

from MercuryNew.com

3.
Sushi Chef Serves Whale, Gets Arrested

California sushi chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto was arrested after a sting operation uncovered he was serving endangered whale. Protip for would be sushi chefs and criminals alike: if you’re doing something you know to be illegal and someone asks you to do it for them after assuring you they aren’t FBI agents, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to wake up the next morning in a federal prison.

rare white whale

from Reuters

4.
Dutch Nurses: “Sex Isn’t Part of the Job”

A union for nurses in Amsterdam would like you to know that sex isn’t part of basic health care. This implies two things: people tend to hurt themselves while they’re stoned, and that the adult film industry has a very poor grasp of what a nurse’s job entails.

dutch nurses

from MSNBC.com

5.
Internet Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

The Internet has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Yeah, I know, part of me died, too.

internet nominated for nobel peace prize

from AOL News

6.
Man Marries Pillow

A Korean man has taken the plunge by marrying his pillow. But don’t worry, it’s not creepy. You see, the pillow has a picture of an anime girl on it, so in all actuality he’s really vowing to spend the rest of his life with a cartoon image printed on the pillow. I’m glad I could clear that up for you.

man marries pillow

from Metro.co.uk

7.
Purple Snow Hits Southern Russia

Purple snow strikes southern Russia. It’s sort of like a Jimi Hendrix song if his music was a terrifying reality and he wasn’t a corpse.

purple snow

from rt.com

8.
Man Breaks into Church to Watch Porn

An Iowa man breaks into a church so he can use its equipment to watch porn. I hope it gave him the best orgasm of his life because it I’m pretty sure masturbating in church is one of the things God still smites people for.

man breaks into church to watch porn

from CBS News

WI
List of Weekly Weird Image Galleries

Written by Ben Dennison – Copyrighted © www.weirdworm.com

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/weekly-weird-news-03-12-2010/feed/ 0 The 10 Most Obscure Comics Characters to Ever Get a Bust http://www.weirdworm.com/the-10-most-obscure-comics-characters-to-ever-get-a-bust/ http://www.weirdworm.com/the-10-most-obscure-comics-characters-to-ever-get-a-bust/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:28:21 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2641 Comics nerds love two things; complaining about comics, and buying useless c*@p. And since comics don’t really make money any more, they’re kind of stuck selling comics nerds the useless cr@p. And boy, do they ever! Here are ten obscure characters, somehow immortalized in resin.

1.
Beta Ray Bill

Beta Ray Bill is basically what happens when you give the horse alien that wasn’t stalking Power Pack Thor’s hammer. The idea was, hey, let’s create this alien more bad-a$# than the Mighty Thor, give him a knock-off Mjolnir, and have him running around in Thor’s book! That’ll be awesome.

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/the-10-most-obscure-comics-characters-to-ever-get-a-bust/feed/ 0 6 Weird Sitcoms http://www.weirdworm.com/6-weird-sitcoms/ http://www.weirdworm.com/6-weird-sitcoms/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:44:15 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2659 Coming up with a successful television program is hard work, and you’d be amazed what concepts some networks will try in an effort to find a winner. In between hordes of generic sitcoms about mismatched families and wacky roommates there are some shows so bafflingly strange that we have to wonder how they were dreamed up.

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1.
Harry and the Hendersons

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/6-weird-sitcoms/feed/ 1 7:59 Coming up with a successful television program is hard work, and yoursquo;d be amazed what concepts some networks will try in an effort to find ... Coming up with a successful television program is hard work, and yoursquo;d be amazed what concepts some networks will try in an effort to find a winner. In between hordes of generic sitcoms about mismatched families and wacky roommates there are some shows so bafflingly strange that we have to wonder how they were dreamed up. Podcast Sponsor: Get a FREE audiobook and 14-day trial today by signing up at www.audiblepodcast.com/weirdworm 1. Harry and the Hendersons Do you remember the 1987 comedy film Harry and the Hendersons? Of course you donrsquo;t, it was awful and most people have naturally forgotten it. It was about a family discovering Bigfoot while on a camping trip, and the wacky adventures he has when they bring the giant abomination of nature home. And by ldquo;wackyrdquo; we mean ldquo;retarded and not funny.rdquo; Unfortunately, before the world came to its senses and moved on from this concept, somebody thought it would be a good idea to adapt the movie into a sitcom. So from 1991 to 1993 no fewer than 72 episodes were aired. You may wonder how they managed to stretch such a gimmicky premise out for that long, and the answer is that every episode was exactly the same. A problem comes up, Harry the Bigfoot accidentally makes it worse, one of the Hendersons fixes it and then everyone learns to appreciate nature or some shit like that. Why the Hendersons didnrsquo;t just go to some news network and say, ldquo;We have proof Bigfoot exists, give us fame and fortunerdquo; was never really addressed. 2. Cavemen Harry and the Hendersons was dumb, but making a sitcom based on a film isnrsquo;t unheard of, nor is it an inherently bad concept. And hey, if you can turn films into sitcoms, why not turn a series of kitschy commercials into one? If you immediately managed to think of several reasons why thatrsquo;s a terrible idea then yoursquo;re too smart to work at ABC. Cavemen was a 2007 series based off of a GEICO ad campaign starring, you guessed it, cavemen. But in the modern day! What a twist! Yoursquo;re probably familiar with the ads, as they started in 2004 and continue to run to this day, with no fewer than 22 of them being mercilessly forced onto us. Again, trying to turn such a silly premise into a television series proved to be an incredible mistake. Three hip cavemen lived together, they made the same tired sitcom jokes but with more puns related to Cro-Magnon and so forth, and, well, that was about it. It bombed in the ratings, was critically savaged, and there were even accusations of racism regarding the pilot episode. Thankfully, only six episodes were aired before it got the axe. 3. Baby Bob If anyone is thinking of defending Cavemen by saying something like ldquo;Well, at least they tried something newrdquo;, then we have unfortunate news for you. It wasnrsquo;t the first sitcom to be based off of a commercial, because Baby Bob set a terrible, terrible precedent back in 2002. A talking baby had been used to advertise an Internet service provider back in 2000, so why not give him his own show on CBS? Well, besides the incredibly obvious fact that talking babies get very old very fast, there was little else compelling about the concept. The dad wanted to keep things a secret, but the mom wanted to show off her precocious child. Ooh, tension! Yeah, it wasnrsquo;t very interesting. It was mostly just a cheap attempt to recycle ancient sitcom jokes by putting them in the awkwardly edited mouth of an infant. Critics were unimpressed, ratings plummeted, and only eleven episodes made it to air. Sadly, talking babies are still used to advertise various products, but thanks to Baby Bobrsquo;s incredible failure you can rest easy knowing that nobody will try to make a strange sitcom out of them. Highlights,,Misc,,Podcast Weird Worm no No 5 People Who Actually Predicted the Future http://www.weirdworm.com/5-people-who-actually-predicted-the-future/ http://www.weirdworm.com/5-people-who-actually-predicted-the-future/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:23:00 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2622 Lately, with the Mayan 2012 Apocalypse scheduled to rip humanity a new asshole in less than 3 years now, the idea of clairvoyance has been hotter than 2 Tabasco-smothered lesbians making out on the surface of the Sun. Is it at all possible to foresee the future? It would seem that… yes, it is. Throughout history there have been at least five people who’ve successfully predicted some of the most important events of the 20th century. They are:

5.
William Gibson

Predicted: The Internet, in 1984

The notion of a bunch of telecommunication outposts connected in one worldwide web was hardly Gibson’s idea and has in fact existed for decades in various shapes and sizes, from the telegram cables right till the early ARPANET. Still, those networks were basically only good for sending out one-sided communications and emoticon penises. Similar, but not really THE internet.

However, in Gibson’s 1984 novel “Neuromancer”, the author first presented his vision of an entire global computing network which operated like an actual cyber world. It was supposed to be a whole separate universe with constantly updated content, a virtual marketplace of ideas where people from every corner of the globe could connect in a meaningful way, but which was mainly used to feed the darkest and most twisted vices of humanity. You know, just like the internet of today.

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/5-people-who-actually-predicted-the-future/feed/ 2 10 Weird Product Placement http://www.weirdworm.com/10-weird-product-placement/ http://www.weirdworm.com/10-weird-product-placement/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:05:03 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2609 Product placement, sometimes called “embedded marketing”, is a form of advertising where an ad is placed somewhere that is usually devoid of ads, often subtly and without the viewer fully noticing it. In some cases, product placement is not strictly a matter of business. Including familiar brands and products in the world characters inhabit can make that world seem more realistic. For instance, most movies feature cars – not every movie in history has gotten money from car companies, though. Still, some instances of product placement are so obvious, so transparent as to be strange and jarring.

1.
Superman II

Marlboro paid the producers of Superman II $25,000 dollars for a Marlboro truck to be smack dab in the center of the final epic fight of the movie. At one point, the near-invincible Man of Steel is thrown right through the logo, and then climbs back out. Of course, the moral implications of putting a children’s superhero in a cigarette truck have not escaped people, and many parents objected to the imagery.

superman ii(...)
Read the rest of 10 Weird Product Placement (1,432 words)

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/10-weird-product-placement/feed/ 0 9:25 Product placement, sometimes called ldquo;embedded marketingrdquo;, is a form of advertising where an ad is placed somewhere that is usually devoid of ads, often subtly ... Product placement, sometimes called ldquo;embedded marketingrdquo;, is a form of advertising where an ad is placed somewhere that is usually devoid of ads, often subtly and without the viewer fully noticing it. In some cases, product placement is not strictly a matter of business. Including familiar brands and products in the world characters inhabit can make that world seem more realistic. For instance, most movies feature cars ndash; not every movie in history has gotten money from car companies, though. Still, some instances of product placement are so obvious, so transparent as to be strange and jarring. 1. Superman II Marlboro paid the producers of Superman II $25,000 dollars for a Marlboro truck to be smack dab in the center of the final epic fight of the movie. At one point, the near-invincible Man of Steel is thrown right through the logo, and then climbs back out. Of course, the moral implications of putting a childrenrsquo;s superhero in a cigarette truck have not escaped people, and many parents objected to the imagery. 2. Sideways In some instances, forms of product placement are not even intended, and compensation may not be received at all. In Sideways, Paul Giamattirsquo;s character is lovably snobby in regards to wine, and disparages Merlot throughout the film while praising Pinot Noir as the superior variety. Following the filmrsquo;s critical acclaim, an indisputable impact on the wine industry was made ndash; Pinot Noir sales jumped 16% in the Western United States, while Merlot sales dropped 2%. 3. Code Geass Code Geass is a Japanese animated television show that has also enjoyed a translated run in the United States on the popular Adult Swim block. The show was sponsored in Japan by Pizza Hut, and despite the fact that it takes place in an alternate reality, Pizza Hut pizza is prominently featured throughout the series. One character in particular, C.C., frequently orders Pizza Hut pizza. She also carries a stuffed toy of Pizza Hutrsquo;s mascot at the time, Cheese-kun. A variety of videos have since sprung up on YouTube with montages of C.C. enjoying Pizza Hut, often backed by music. Apparently, even if yoursquo;re in the future, and in space, Pizza Hut will still deliver to your starship. 4. Fight club Fight Club is about fighting The Man. It is scathing in its treatment of corporations, brutal in its anti-establishment cynicism. And yet, several companies backed David Fincherrsquo;s film in exchange for a little product placement. Supposedly Fincher had no choice in the matter, and the studio pressured him into featuring products from the filmrsquo;s backers. So, he did, but not in the way they imagined: he destroyed them. Edward Nortonrsquo;s home is filled with IKEA products, which is blown to pieces (the scene that shows his apartment is even rendered exactly like an IKEA catalog). A Starbucks is wrecked. Characters break into an Apple store, and Brad Pitt and Edward Norton smash a Volkswagen. If yoursquo;re going to slam multinational corporations, why not let them pay for it, too? 5. Jerry Maguire Jerry Maguire, like Fight Clubcedil; also bit the hand that fed it. Cameron Crowersquo;s famous story of a sports agent finding himself features a breakthrough performance from Cuba Gooding Jr., who plays a rising football star. Throughout the film, he is courting an endorsement deal with Reebok that just wonrsquo;t come. The Reebok executives apparently were under the impression that the film would end in a happy resolution in which a Reebok ad says: ldquo;Rod Tidwell. We ignored him for years. We were wrong. Wersquo;re sorry.rdquo; However, this never made it into the movie, and instead Reebok ends the film portrayed as the cold conglomerate that never recognizes the heartfelt talent of Gooding Jr.rsquo;s character for what it is. The misunderstanding resulted in a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Tristar Pictures. Reebok claimed they were promised that the... Highlights,,Misc,,Podcast Weird Worm no No Five Terrifying Superheroes of the Golden Age http://www.weirdworm.com/five-terrifying-superheroes-of-the-golden-age/ http://www.weirdworm.com/five-terrifying-superheroes-of-the-golden-age/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:34:13 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2602 The Golden Age of Comics took place during the thirties and forties. During this period, comics saw their first major boom, and the popularity of superheroes led to the creation of many modern mainstays now considered iconic to the medium. The Golden Age also gave us some of the most bizarre and terrifying characters to ever see ink.

1.
Daredevil

Taking the unique Bruce Wayne approach to super heroism, Bart Hill witnesses his parents murder, rendering him mute. Not satisfied with both crippling and orphaning a child, the criminal in question goes the extra mile by branding him, leaving a boomerang shaped mark on his chest. Naturally, Hill honors the memory of his parents by obsessing over boomerangs and eventually becoming the first (only?) master boomerang marksman.

daredevil01

With his new and seemingly impractical power, Hill becomes a the costumed hero Daredevil, bringing criminals to justice by throwing curved sticks and praying they come back. Daredevil ran for sixty-nine issues, remaining popular inpart due to the book’s gritty story telling. The character also set a precedent for characters named Daredevil being unable to properly dress themselves.

daredevil02

Seriously, the other Daredevil can see you. Turn it down a bit.

(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/five-terrifying-superheroes-of-the-golden-age/feed/ 0 5 Mythical Creatures That Could Exist http://www.weirdworm.com/5-mythical-creatures-that-could-exist/ http://www.weirdworm.com/5-mythical-creatures-that-could-exist/#comments Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:04:19 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2590 Sometimes the world seems like a pretty dull place. While science has given us a greater understanding of the world we live in, sometimes it seems like it has sucked all the magic and wonder out of it too. Wouldn’t it be great if there really were monsters lurking in the woods outside your house? Well, perhaps there once was. Although most of the things that scared you as a child, those things that go bump in the night, were actually just creaking attic beams and groaning attic pipes, perhaps the children of previous generations really did have something to be afraid of. After all, don’t most legends have a basis in fact?

Here are five mythical creatures that could exist, or rather that could have existed long ago.

1.
The Sasquatch

Everybody knows the story. Everybody’s seen the video of a man in a gorilla costume taking a leisurely stroll through the woods. But is there any truth behind the tales of this big-footed missing link?

Well, the most famous film recording of Mr Bigfoot, shot in 1967 by Roger Patterson, is widely believed to be a fake for obvious reasons. However scientists have been unable to provide any evidence to either prove or disprove its authenticity. Instead, scientists and sceptics have focused on the sheer impossibility of Bigfoot’s existence. Most ecologists agree that the climate of North West America is simply unable to support a species of great ape such as this, and certainly not in the numbers required to maintain a breeding population. For that matter, any population large enough to ensure the continuation of the species would be pretty hard to hide, making Bigfoot sightings much more common than they actually are.

sasquatch

The slim possibility does remain that the Bigfoot species is in decline and near extinction. But if this were so, such a rapid population decline since the arrival of European settlers would have seen the species become completely extinct long ago.

Of course there are tales of hairy woodsmen predating the widespread colonization of North America. Native American folklore is crammed with references to Bigfoot, although the descriptions they give of the creature’s appearance, behaviour and temperament vary wildly. Most depict Bigfoot as a kind of bogeyman who feeds off of the flesh of naughty children. Of course, when Bigfoot is viewed in this context it could be said that there are Bigfoot stories in the folklore of every culture the world over.

Why is this? Well we humans seem to have a need to fantasise about big hairy monsters, perhaps because we once lived alongside them. It’s possible that aural tradition has preserved, if somewhat distorted, the story of how we once shared our earth with a real-life missing link – the Neanderthal – around thirty thousand years ago.(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/5-mythical-creatures-that-could-exist/feed/ 1 13:28 Sometimes the world seems like a pretty dull place. While science has given us a greater understanding of the world we live in, sometimes it ... Sometimes the world seems like a pretty dull place. While science has given us a greater understanding of the world we live in, sometimes it seems like it has sucked all the magic and wonder out of it too. Wouldnrsquo;t it be great if there really were monsters lurking in the woods outside your house? Well, perhaps there once was. Although most of the things that scared you as a child, those things that go bump in the night, were actually just creaking attic beams and groaning attic pipes, perhaps the children of previous generations really did have something to be afraid of. After all, donrsquo;t most legends have a basis in fact? Here are five mythical creatures that could exist, or rather that could have existed long ago. 1. The Sasquatch Everybody knows the story. Everybodyrsquo;s seen the video of a man in a gorilla costume taking a leisurely stroll through the woods. But is there any truth behind the tales of this big-footed missing link? Well, the most famous film recording of Mr Bigfoot, shot in 1967 by Roger Patterson, is widely believed to be a fake for obvious reasons. However scientists have been unable to provide any evidence to either prove or disprove its authenticity. Instead, scientists and sceptics have focused on the sheer impossibility of Bigfootrsquo;s existence. Most ecologists agree that the climate of North West America is simply unable to support a species of great ape such as this, and certainly not in the numbers required to maintain a breeding population. For that matter, any population large enough to ensure the continuation of the species would be pretty hard to hide, making Bigfoot sightings much more common than they actually are. The slim possibility does remain that the Bigfoot species is in decline and near extinction. But if this were so, such a rapid population decline since the arrival of European settlers would have seen the species become completely extinct long ago. Of course there are tales of hairy woodsmen predating the widespread colonization of North America. Native American folklore is crammed with references to Bigfoot, although the descriptions they give of the creaturersquo;s appearance, behaviour and temperament vary wildly. Most depict Bigfoot as a kind of bogeyman who feeds off of the flesh of naughty children. Of course, when Bigfoot is viewed in this context it could be said that there are Bigfoot stories in the folklore of every culture the world over. Why is this? Well we humans seem to have a need to fantasise about big hairy monsters, perhaps because we once lived alongside them. Itrsquo;s possible that aural tradition has preserved, if somewhat distorted, the story of how we once shared our earth with a real-life missing link ndash; the Neanderthal ndash; around thirty thousand years ago. 2. The Vampire Another myth that would seem to be as old as time itself is that of the vampire. The vampire is one of the most enduring legends of all time and, like the big bad bogeyman, there would seem to be a version of this myth in almost every culture on the face of the planet. Of course the descriptions of these blood sucking creatures varies wildly from country to country. In South East Asia, for example, there are seemingly endless variations on the same theme. Here, vampires usually take the form of a beautiful young woman. Some can detach their head or torso so as to fly about the night sky. Some have no fangs but drain the blood from their victims using their hair. Others use an elongated tongue to lap the blood, or even to suck foetuses from the wombs of sleeping women. Even Bigfoot is said to be a bloodsucker in at least one Native American version of the myth. Even our own vampire folklore cannot be taken at face value. The modern vampire has evolved from an impressive variety of European vampire myths. For example, the association with bats was the invention of Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. Before the nineteenth century vampires more comm... Highlights,,Podcast,,Stories Weird Worm no No 6 Weird Artists http://www.weirdworm.com/6-weird-artists/ http://www.weirdworm.com/6-weird-artists/#comments Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:27:46 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2573 Artists have a reputation for being weird. Maybe it’s the price they pay for being so incredibly talented, although that doesn’t explain all those art students who sneeze on a canvas and call it their masterpiece because they don’t actually know how to paint. Either way, it takes a lot for an artist to stand out as weird in a profession that’s already viewed as offbeat. When an artist accomplishes that, it’s no coincidence; they have to be a very, very strange person. Here are six that accomplished that dubious feat.

1.
H. R. Giger

WebSite: H. R. Giger

Giger is a Swiss surrealist artist, primarily a painter but also a sculptor and designer. He’s most famous for his work on the film Alien, where he scared the hell out of an entire generation with a creepy, iconic and incredibly phallic monster that ran around a spaceship killing people with strong sexual overtones. But Giger has done so much more than create an alien that looks like a dick: he’s used dongs in paintings, sculptures, guitars and furniture. He even designed a pair of Swiss bars, in case you’ve ever wanted to go drinking in a cold, steel, hyper-sexualised nightmare.

giger01(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/6-weird-artists/feed/ 1 Weekly Weird News 03-05-2010 http://www.weirdworm.com/weekly-weird-news-03-05-2010/ http://www.weirdworm.com/weekly-weird-news-03-05-2010/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:04:12 +0000 euphoria http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2543 Welcome to a brand new feature here at Weird Worm! In an effort to keep you entertained and up-to-date on everything absurd, we are now bringing you a weekly collection of odd news stories from around the world. This week we run the gauntlet with an addict chimp, naked snow boobs and pretty women hurting skateboarders. Enjoy!

1.
Vancouver Sex Workers Had ‘An Amazing Two Weeks’

With the end of the Winter Olympics the city of Vancouver made a startling revelation: people still like to have sex despite the presence of bobsleds. Said World to Vancouver, “Duh.”

susan

from AOL News

2.
Nude Snow Sculpture Causes Ruckus and Erections

A New Jersey family is asked to cover up their snow Venus de Milo. You know how you can tell when a culture is sexually stifled? When someone is offended by snow boobs. Seriously, if you don’t like them then wait three days and they’ll look like something else entirely.

nude snow woman sculpture rahway naked

from NJ.com

3.
Cleveland Cavaliers Give Away Lots Of Snuggies

The Cleveland Cavaliers attempt to make a new world record by giving away over 20,000 Snuggies to fans. This presents two grim facts about reality: an entire basketball team somehow got bored with being overpaid athletes and the folks at Guinness World Records are finally willing to admit that they just don’t give a damn about anything these days.

cleveland give away lots of snuggies

from popcrunch.com

4.
Chimp Sent to Rehab

The Russian chimp Zhora has been sent to rehab by zookeepers to help him kick his smoking and drinking habits. If anything they should have gotten him a counselor. If a monkey, nature’s Adam Sandler, picks up two deadly vices at once, it’s a clear indicator that he has a deep-rooted psychological issue.

chimp sent to rehab

from Yahoo News

5.
Attractive Women Cause Injuries

An Australian study shows that skateboarders are willing to take higher risks in the presence of beautiful women. This is usually the sort of thing that deserves a snarky response but when you really stop to think about it, this is pretty awesome. At long last, we can finally ice those teenagers at the skate park.

woman cause injuries

from Asylum.com

6.
Man Has Sex, Crashes Car

Man believes he has the coordination to drink, drive and wang-chung all at once. Man is wrong, as the the gaping hole he left in the wall of a stranger’s home would indicate.

man has sex crashes car

from Azcentral.com

7.
Underpants Bandit Jailed

A man who smuggled millions in his underwear over the course of three years was apprehended this week. It’s always good news when a criminal is captured, but does anyone really want that money back after it’s been so dangerously close to his testicles?

underpants bandit jailed

from the Independent

8.
Man to Sail in Giant Pumpkin

A Welsh man is growing a 1,600 pound pumpkin to use as a sailing vessel. He hopes to reach the Isle of Man to raise money for charity, which is pretty ironic when you consider a man trying to grow a seaworthy gourd can only end in tragedy.

man to sail in giant pumpkin

from the Metro

WI
List of Weekly Weird Image Galleries

Written by Ben Dennison – Copyrighted © www.weirdworm.com

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/weekly-weird-news-03-05-2010/feed/ 0 Stupidest role-playing Games http://www.weirdworm.com/stupidest-role-playing-games/ http://www.weirdworm.com/stupidest-role-playing-games/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:12:23 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2545 Ever since Gary Gygax realized that pretending to be a wizard stabbing a troll was a lot more socially acceptable than playing wargames where you pretend to be the Axis power, role-playing has been a thriving and vital subculture of weirdos, nerds, and lonely people. But some of those are decidedly more lonely than others, as these games show us.

1.
F.A.T.A.L.

“It is the goal of Fatal Games to astound and thrill those who seek a role-playing game based on historical and mythological accuracy, realism, and detail.” – F.A.T.A.L.

What that means is…rape, rape, rape, violence, and rape with a side of sexual assault. When replying to the review of this game raking them over the coals, the creator responded to accusations of date rape in the game asking where the reviewers saw anything in the game about dating (REVIEW). But that, dear readers, is only the tip of this iceberg of psychological terror.

F.A.T.A.L. is the RPG for nerds that nerds beat up, the kind of guy who really DOES weigh three hundred pounds, wear nothing but sweatpants, and has a thick, bushy-yet-scraggly neckbeard. Other nerds look at guys like that, shudder, and think “At least I moved out of Mom’s”. So while those nerds are playing D&D, these guys? They’re playing F.A.T.A.L.

F.A.T.A.L. gets right to it when you’re rolling up your character. We could bore you by telling you that the game is ridiculously detailed with the stats, but we’ll kill two birds with one stone and list off a stat that really get the point across. You’re going to roll up, among other things, your anal circumference, depth, and just how much your a*$ can stretch. Why? Because there’s probably going to be a five-foot penis up in there, and they want you to figure out exactly how much damage you’re getting from a bunch of orcs pulling a train on you.

fatal

Boy, you got a purdy little mouth.

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/stupidest-role-playing-games/feed/ 0 5:46 Ever since Gary Gygax realized that pretending to be a wizard stabbing a troll was a lot more socially acceptable than playing wargames where you ... Ever since Gary Gygax realized that pretending to be a wizard stabbing a troll was a lot more socially acceptable than playing wargames where you pretend to be the Axis power, role-playing has been a thriving and vital subculture of weirdos, nerds, and lonely people. But some of those are decidedly more lonely than others, as these games show us. 1. F.A.T.A.L. ldquo;It is the goal of Fatal Games to astound and thrill those who seek a role-playing game based on historical and mythological accuracy, realism, and detail." - F.A.T.A.L. What that means is...rape, rape, rape, violence, and rape with a side of sexual assault. When replying to the review of this game raking them over the coals, the creator responded to accusations of date rape in the game asking where the reviewers saw anything in the game about dating (REVIEW). But that, dear readers, is only the tip of this iceberg of psychological terror. F.A.T.A.L. is the RPG for nerds that nerds beat up, the kind of guy who really DOES weigh three hundred pounds, wear nothing but sweatpants, and has a thick, bushy-yet-scraggly neckbeard. Other nerds look at guys like that, shudder, and think ldquo;At least I moved out of Momrsquo;srdquo;. So while those nerds are playing D#38;D, these guys? Theyrsquo;re playing F.A.T.A.L. F.A.T.A.L. gets right to it when yoursquo;re rolling up your character. We could bore you by telling you that the game is ridiculously detailed with the stats, but wersquo;ll kill two birds with one stone and list off a stat that really get the point across. Yoursquo;re going to roll up, among other things, your anal circumference, depth, and just how much your a*$ can stretch. Why? Because therersquo;s probably going to be a five-foot penis up in there, and they want you to figure out exactly how much damage yoursquo;re getting from a bunch of orcs pulling a train on you. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="590" caption="Boy, you got a purdy little mouth."][/caption] Yep, rape isnrsquo;t just the reason this game exists: itrsquo;s a combat mechanic! You can even summon gay ogres to rape your opponents, which would have vastly improved Final Fantasy. And did we mention there are complicated equations for all of this, with tables yoursquo;ll have to consult? To have sex in this game, yoursquo;d better have high school algebra fresh in your memory: it involves quadratic equations. There is, believe it or not, 900 pages of this, which reads more like an algebra textbook and the most terrifying fan fiction you can find than a role-playing game. Needless to say, being a bunch of basement-dwelling losers, the writers of this game also salt in plenty of racism and other idiocy. For example, therersquo;s the Armor of Jewy Jewness (yes, seriously), which increases your nose size and reduces your penis size. Classy! Unfortunately for F.A.T.A.L.rsquo;s authors, nothing on the Internet goes away: you can find the full 900-page game plus their hilarious attempts to sell it as something other than a desperate nerdrsquo;s bleat for revenge on the Wayback Machine 2. deadEarth deadEarth was an attempt to simulate what it would actually be like to survive a nuclear apocalypse and gain superpowers. Of course, these superpowers tended to be of the ridiculous variety. Like, say, it burns when you pee, dying when you come into contact with water, or not knowing what sharp things are. Beyond that and some production problems, it was actually a fairly decent RPG. But we wonder what the hell they were thinking with those superpowers. Did somebody lose a bet? Were these rules imported from a game where you played a crack squad of Down's syndrome sufferers? What was the deal? 3. Wraeththu Let's say you want to make an RPG based on a popular series of novels. That's a good marketing plan. But do you pick a series of novels carefully, or do you throw a dart and wind up with the one about hermaphroditic aliens that evolved... Highlights,,Misc,,Podcast Weird Worm no No Awful People Who Got What Was Coming to Them http://www.weirdworm.com/awful-people-who-got-what-was-coming-to-them/ http://www.weirdworm.com/awful-people-who-got-what-was-coming-to-them/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:13:47 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2518 History has a long list of jerks that did things to people, seemingly for the pleasure of it. Many times, these people are in a position of power that allows them to be cruel jack asses until they die of old age, however in these cases, the people of the world weren’t happy to sit back and let old age get their revenge for them.

1.
Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer

Yes, that would be Alfalfa from the Little Rascals. Turns out, off-key singing and bad hair were not his only crimes against humanity.

As a kid, he was little bastard, pulling pranks on other little rascals cast members; He once put fishing hooks in Spanky’s pants, resulting in cuts so bad that poor Spanky needed stitches. He convinced Darla to put her hand in his pocket, telling her he had a ring in it for her. Take a guess as to what it was.

Did you think “his penis”? I did too. Nope, Alfalfa wasn’t a pervert, he was a sick asshole. It was switchblade, and Darla nearly lost a finger because of it. When The Little Rascals series was sold to MGM, he got even worse. During a filming break, he pissed on the set’s lights. When they turned them back on, the smell made by super heated urine was so intense they had to stop filming for the day.

carl alfalfa switzer(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/awful-people-who-got-what-was-coming-to-them/feed/ 0 6 Celebrity Albums that Never Should Have Happened http://www.weirdworm.com/6-celebrity-albums-that-never-should-have-happened/ http://www.weirdworm.com/6-celebrity-albums-that-never-should-have-happened/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:57:05 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2498 Careers in music are kind of like DUI charges: every celebrity needs at least one. So get ready for ‘6 Celebrity Albums that Never Should Have Happened’!

6.
Hulk Hogan: Hulk Rules

Backed by his then wife Linda, former manager and megaphone enthusiast Jimmy “The Mouth of the South” Hart and a gathering of musicians too good for dive bars but not good enough of Sy-Fy movie soundtracks, Hulk Hogan and the Wrestling Boot Band follow in the footsteps of Srgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by recording a riveting concept album. The concept, of course, is the life of Hulk Hogan, which consists of little outside of wrestling, being orange, challenging ted Turner to an arm wrestling match, hanging out on beaches and owning a Harley. Feel free to fact check that.

hulk rules(...)
Read the rest of 6 Celebrity Albums that Never Should Have Happened (1,294 words)

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/6-celebrity-albums-that-never-should-have-happened/feed/ 0 7:32 Careers in music are kind of like DUI charges: every celebrity needs at least one. So get ready for '6 Celebrity Albums that Never Should ... Careers in music are kind of like DUI charges: every celebrity needs at least one. So get ready for '6 Celebrity Albums that Never Should Have Happened'! 6. Hulk Hogan: Hulk Rules Backed by his then wife Linda, former manager and megaphone enthusiast Jimmy "The Mouth of the South" Hart and a gathering of musicians too good for dive bars but not good enough of Sy-Fy movie soundtracks, Hulk Hogan and the Wrestling Boot Band follow in the footsteps of Srgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by recording a riveting concept album. The concept, of course, is the life of Hulk Hogan, which consists of little outside of wrestling, being orange, challenging ted Turner to an arm wrestling match, hanging out on beaches and owning a Harley. Feel free to fact check that. Why would anyone ever want to buy a Hulk Hogan album? To hear Hogan sing. Well there you go. Reaching the number five spot on the Billboard charts in Hell, ldquo;I Wanna Be A Hulkamaniacrdquo; manages to hijack the commercial airliner of entertainment and crash it into the mountain range of egomania. Hulkster takes everything he's been telling kids since his career started, chews it up and attempts to spit it out as deadly rap bullets. I'm not going to say this is the worst thing to ever happen to music, but I will say this song traveled back in time and forced Jimi Hendrix to choke to death on his own terror vomit. Feel free to fact check that. 5. ldquo;Macho Manrdquo; Randy Savage ndash; Be A Man Snappin' in at number five, Randy Savage raps. This is a problem because rapping requires a basic proficiency in a few fields. Specifically, you need to be able to speak in a way so that doesn't sound like broken glass feels, and you need to be able to express ideas in a coherent manner. You don't need much evidence to accept that this isn't one of his stronger suits. Still, here's more evidence of this fact for your amusement: So, when Savage reinvented himself as a rapper of sorts for 2002's Be A Man, you probably can't imagine how terrible it was without some sort of reference. Well internet, here you go: During the title track, Savage Hogan out on every misdeed he's ever committed. The two have had a real-life feud since the dawn of time and Savage hoped to spark a clash of the elderly titans between the two with his mad rhymes. Sadly, Savage blows it by tuning his language down from ldquo;crazy guyrdquo; to ldquo;talking to children,rdquo; coining such lyrics as ldquo;Macho's gonna kick your butt that's the slogan,rdquo; and ldquo;Gonna kick your butt and wash your mouth out with soap.rdquo; Just say it, Randy: ass. 4. Joe Pesci ndash; Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You There's a reason why everyone loves Joe Pesci (warning: not at all safe for work or babies). Also, he's a good actor, or something. Before becoming a professional actor and freelance cussbag, Pesci was a lounge singer. This explains why he chose to turn back to the path of the musician when her retired from acting, but it certainly doesn't justify Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You. For the album, Pesci assumes the role of Vinny of ldquo;My Cousin Vinnyrdquo; fame, and if you remember that movie, I deeply apologize. Sadly, I'm about to reopen some terrible wounds. Please forgive me. If you actually enjoy that, chances are you've survived something much worse, like an embassy bombing or the Vietnam War. Singing an album's worth of songs in a silly voice is rarely a good idea, but doing so as a character who's intentionally grating is a sign that you've got enough money to stop caring about how the public perceives you and you're not afraid to try their patience. Highlights,,Music,,Podcast Weird Worm no No 7 Strange Funeral Customs http://www.weirdworm.com/7-strange-funeral-customs/ http://www.weirdworm.com/7-strange-funeral-customs/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:07:55 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2483 Because of books and Hollywood we all know about ship burials and dramatic cremations. For years pop culture’s idea of a crazy funeral was that of a Viking war lord off to Valhalla in a hail of flaming arrows. But thanks to the internet and all the information we can get our fingertips, we can now find out more about less known funeral customs that would make even the most grizzled Norse funeral director scratch his head.

1.
Hanging Coffins of Bo

hanging coffins of bo

It sounds other-worldly, right? “The hanging coffins“- like a macabre chandelier on a moon of Saturn. But go no further than Southwest China where a few hundred ancient coffins dangle precariously on the side of a cliff. The coffins were placed there by the Bo people- an extinct ethnicity of China who apparently preferred their dead as auspiciously displayed as possible. Not content to simply place their deceased in the ground like sane people, the Bo hammered wooden stakes onto the sides of mountains and lowered the single-piece coffins down on ropes. No one’s sure why on Earth anyone would want to visit mom from a thousand feet below, but our guess is that the Bo had a running pool as to who’s father-in-law got to first smash onto a rock floor at 60 miles per hour.

(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/7-strange-funeral-customs/feed/ 0 6 Bizarre Criminal Sentences http://www.weirdworm.com/6-bizarre-criminal-sentences/ http://www.weirdworm.com/6-bizarre-criminal-sentences/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:06:08 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2474 If you’re a person reading comedy on the internet, then odds are at some point in your life, you’ve watched Seinfeld. And if you’re at all familiar with the show, there’s a pretty good chance you remember the episode in which Jerry and George decide that the plot of their pilot for NBC should revolve around a guy being sentenced to become Jerry’s butler. Even by Seinfeld standards, it was a little preposterous, but that was the point. It could never happen in real life, and that’s what made it funny. I mean, it couldn’t actually happen in real life, could it? Well, that depends on who you get as a judge, if these cases are any indication.

1.
The Poor Kid Who Just Wanted a Little Porn

Back in 2004, a kid named Jeremy Sherwood was into the same things as most other teenagers. You know, having a good time, looking at porn, and petty larceny. One day the three converged, and young Jeremy was caught red handed. No word on whether his hands were red from all that masturbating to his stolen porn.

little kid xxx dvd

Wait…so these really DO still exist?

After he was caught stealing some porn from an adult video store, Sherwood was given a choice: 30 days in jail, or wear a blindfold in front of the store from which he stole while holding a sign reading “See No Evil.” Naturally, Jeremy went with door number two and endured what was probably a lonely afternoon of people thinking he was a bible nut making a statement. Of course I’m just left to wonder: what the hell is an American teenager stealing porn from a store when there’s so much readily available on the internet?

(...)
Read the rest of 6 Bizarre Criminal Sentences (1,189 words)

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/6-bizarre-criminal-sentences/feed/ 0 6:57 If yoursquo;re a person reading comedy on the internet, then odds are at some point in your life, yoursquo;ve watched Seinfeld. And if yoursquo;re ... If yoursquo;re a person reading comedy on the internet, then odds are at some point in your life, yoursquo;ve watched Seinfeld. And if yoursquo;re at all familiar with the show, therersquo;s a pretty good chance you remember the episode in which Jerry and George decide that the plot of their pilot for NBC should revolve around a guy being sentenced to become Jerryrsquo;s butler. Even by Seinfeld standards, it was a little preposterous, but that was the point. It could never happen in real life, and thatrsquo;s what made it funny. I mean, it couldnrsquo;t actually happen in real life, could it? Well, that depends on who you get as a judge, if these cases are any indication. 1. The Poor Kid Who Just Wanted a Little Porn Back in 2004, a kid named Jeremy Sherwood was into the same things as most other teenagers. You know, having a good time, looking at porn, and petty larceny. One day the three converged, and young Jeremy was caught red handed. No word on whether his hands were red from all that masturbating to his stolen porn. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="384" caption="Waithellip;so these really DO still exist?"][/caption] After he was caught stealing some porn from an adult video store, Sherwood was given a choice: 30 days in jail, or wear a blindfold in front of the store from which he stole while holding a sign reading ldquo;See No Evil.rdquo; Naturally, Jeremy went with door number two and endured what was probably a lonely afternoon of people thinking he was a bible nut making a statement. Of course Irsquo;m just left to wonder: what the hell is an American teenager stealing porn from a store when therersquo;s so much readily available on the internet? 2. The Tire Slashing, Sweater Knitting Granny Old people can get a little crazy. Itrsquo;s not really news to say that, since wersquo;ve all had grandparents or at least been leered at awkwardly by some crazy old man named Pete. For the record, no, you donrsquo;t want his special candy. Anyway, an 89-year-old German woman named Heidi Kohl went a little nuts one night and decided to slash the tires of cars parked up and down her street. Apparently, she had gotten fed up with the sheer audacity of the people in her neighborhood, who for some reason believed that since they lived on the street, they should be able to park there. Not on Heidirsquo;s watch, you nervy assholes. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="And they inadvertently punished the victims at the same time"][/caption] In an attempt to out-crazy olrsquo; Heidi, the judge decided that the best recourse would be sentencing her tohellip;no, not prison timehellip;not a fine either. Nope, she was ordered by the court to knit sweaters for each of her victims. Which we think was a little bit of an easy sentence, because we all know that next to being crazy, the thing old people like best is going hog wild with a needle and some thread. 3. ldquo;I Now Pronounce You Abuser and Victimrdquo; You know, maybe itrsquo;s just me, but if yoursquo;re a man or a woman in an abusive relationship, probably the last thing you should do is stay with that abusive significant other. I mean for Godrsquo;s sake, look at all of those Lifetime movies dealing with this very issue! And if you canrsquo;t trust a Lifetime movie thatrsquo;s telling you that staying in an abusive relationship is bad news, then who or what can you trust? Nothing, thatrsquo;s who or what. Or maybe itrsquo;s a little bit of both. Either way, itrsquo;s a bad idea. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="No, this should be what a marriage looks like"][/caption] But that didnrsquo;t stop a judge in Ohio back in 1995 from ordering a man suspected of domestic violence to settle down with his girlfriend in the apparent belief that married men do not beat their wives. According to the judge, the idea that there are actual ldquo;marital bondsrdquo; might make the ... Highlights,,Life,,Podcast Weird Worm no No 8 Strange Things That Fell From the Sky http://www.weirdworm.com/8-strange-things-that-fell-from-the-sky/ http://www.weirdworm.com/8-strange-things-that-fell-from-the-sky/#comments Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:21:53 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2465 There were about 600 reports of strange things falling from the sky during the last century and many of them remain unexplained. We have focused on a few of the more recent episodes to bring you as much evidence as possible and let you ponder the theories. Now, be warned, some of the theories seem even more impossible then the event itself.

1.
Honduran Festival of the Rain of Fishes

Of all the odd things that fall from the sky, fish are the most common. There have been countless fish rains for centuries, In fact, since 1998, in Yoro, Honduras they have held a festival to celebrate the annual fish rains called, appropriately, The Festival of the Rain of Fishes. The local TV station says it has been occurring twice a year lately. A National Geographic investigation determined that the fish are a blind, cave-dwelling fresh water species and their origins are a mystery. Witnesses say the fish rain is preceded by dark clouds, a thunderstorm and heavy rain. When the rain ends, there are thousands of 6- to 8-inch fish flopping around on the ground and the locals pick them up and cook them. During the rainy-fish season the locals set up frying stations and pass out fresh cooked fish as part of the celebration. Some attribute the event to a Catholic missionary, Father Jose Manuel Subirani and they call it a miracle. Apparently, he visited the town in 1854 and finding little food, prayed to God for sustenance for the people. It is said the first fish rain occurred immediately after and continues every year around the same time.

honduran rain fish(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/8-strange-things-that-fell-from-the-sky/feed/ 0 5 Reasons Why Aliens WOULD Only Land in the US http://www.weirdworm.com/5-reasons-why-aliens-would-only-land-in-the-us/ http://www.weirdworm.com/5-reasons-why-aliens-would-only-land-in-the-us/#comments Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:17:22 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2456 Every god damn science-fiction movie it’s the same thing, with aliens coming to Earth and always landing in America. What’s so great about America? There are thousands of other countries on the planet, so why is the US of A the typical destination for interstellar travelers? Well OK, the last time the aliens ventured beyond American borders like in “District 9” they got locked up in slums and concentration camps, but besides that, there are actually 5 very good reasons why aliens would bother to trek through the cosmos and eventually land in our backyard.

5.
The People

If they are the good kind of aliens: they would immediately notice our cultural obsession with the cosmos and little green men, which would make these space visitors feel safe in landing right here. Our culture is very friendly to the alien kind. Right now all across the country there are people openly believing in aliens and even willing to accept them as their new Gods.

Plus, the aliens would probably want to set a few things straight with those people who are claiming they were abducted and molested by extraterrestrial perverts. No one wants to be remembered as a cosmic rapist, so that’s just one more reasons for the aliens to land in America.

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/5-reasons-why-aliens-would-only-land-in-the-us/feed/ 1 6 Amazing Facts About Breasts http://www.weirdworm.com/6-amazing-facts-about-breasts/ http://www.weirdworm.com/6-amazing-facts-about-breasts/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:07:21 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2445 We men really do love breasts: we talk about them, brag about touching them and apparently now write extensive comedy articles about them for the internet. Many women might think it’s juvenile on our part to obsess so much over nothing more than a pair of meat sacks filled with fat, but there are many stories out there which support our collective theory that breasts are just plain awesome.

So sit back and relax, here are the 6 weirdest facts and tales about breasts.

6.
Small Knockers

Almost Got Vietnamese Bikers Banned From the Roads

In 2008 the Vietnamese government was seriously considering banning all females whose chests measured less than 28 inches from riding their motorbikes on public roads. Allegedly this was a bid from the Ministry of Health aimed at making sure that the people behind the handlebars remain healthy, but it’s quite obvious that they were just trying to pressure the women into getting boob jobs.

vietnam roads01(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/6-amazing-facts-about-breasts/feed/ 3 7:04 We men really do love breasts: we talk about them, brag about touching them and apparently now write extensive comedy articles about them for the ... We men really do love breasts: we talk about them, brag about touching them and apparently now write extensive comedy articles about them for the internet. Many women might think itrsquo;s juvenile on our part to obsess so much over nothing more than a pair of meat sacks filled with fat, but there are many stories out there which support our collective theory that breasts are just plain awesome. So sit back and relax, here are the 6 weirdest facts and tales about breasts. 6. Small Knockers Almost Got Vietnamese Bikers Banned From the Roads In 2008 the Vietnamese government was seriously considering banning all females whose chests measured less than 28 inches from riding their motorbikes on public roads. Allegedly this was a bid from the Ministry of Health aimed at making sure that the people behind the handlebars remain healthy, but itrsquo;s quite obvious that they were just trying to pressure the women into getting boob jobs. If you have ever interacted with a Vietnamese person or saw one of those oriental X-rated movies on the adult You Tubes that everybodyrsquo;s talking about, then you know that eastern Asian females donrsquo;t really carry around a pair of huge portable airbags on their chests. In that region small breasts are not the sign of sickness, they are the sign of (a little bit depressing and flat) normality, and it almost cost thousands of ladies the use of their Vespas. In 2009 however, the proponents of this bill finally got smacked over the head by their wives and the idea died out. 5. Breasts Can Become Bigger Via a Cellphone Ringtone Speaking of smaller breasts from East Asia, it somehow seems appropriate that the inventor of the first noninvasive breast augmentation procedure that probably works, hails from Japan. For a number of years now Dr. Hideto Tomabechi has been preoccupied with 2 things: sounds and breasts, and in 2008 he combined his 2 passions into the ldquo;Rock Melonrdquo; ndash; a ringtone which supposedly causes titties to gain in size if you just listen to it. Dr. Tomabechi has designed the ldquo;Rock Melonrdquo; sound to carry with it a subliminal cry of an infant child, which allegedly works on a womanrsquo;s brain causing it to instinctively switch to motherhood mode, making her chest jugs fill with milk. After listening to the tone 20 times a day for a couple of days, one of the good doctorrsquo;s test subjects reported her breasts grew in size by almost an entire inch! The only question that remains is: why arenrsquo;t we feeding this sound through every loudspeaker in the country? 4. Sufficiently Big Melons Can Keep You Out of Prison You would think that the only way breasts could keep anyone from doing jail-time is if that person went back to the judgersquo;s chambers and let him touch them for a couple of minutes. But luckily there are less sad examples of the twins providing legal representation in court, as was the case with Serena Kozakura. In 2007 Serena Kozakura, 38, was convicted of property destruction after she allegedly kicked in the wooden doors to an unnamed manrsquo;s apartment and trashed it to hell. However, during a reenactment of the crime, Kozakura proved that the hole someone made in the door was way too small for her and her impressive 44-inch chest to crawl through. Based on just that, the woman was acquitted. Itrsquo;s probably safe to say she will never curse her massive knockers ever again after it turned out they are her own personal pair of top notch defense lawyers. Oh breasts, is there anything you cannot do? Highlights,,Life,,Podcast Weird Worm no No 7 Coolest Animal Cross-breeds http://www.weirdworm.com/7-coolest-animal-cross-breeds/ http://www.weirdworm.com/7-coolest-animal-cross-breeds/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:51:38 +0000 euphoria http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2413 Some things simply work better combined. For example, peanut butter and chocolate are awesome on their own, but combine the two and you get the confectionary equivalent of an orgasm. The very same principle applies to the animal kingdom, where cross-breeding has resulted in some of the most awesome animals on the planet.

7.
Liger

Hybrid of: a male lion and a tigress

The Liger is currently the largest cat in the world, combining the wisdom and ferocious fighting abilities of Lion King’s Mufasa with the cunningness and suaveness of Jungle Book’s Shere Khan. This feline perfect storm of beauty and badassness has been the result of animal captivity because nature is cruel like that and normally doesn’t allow the two species to meet.

liger01(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/7-coolest-animal-cross-breeds/feed/ 0 Appetizing Atrocity: 5 Endangered Species Hunted for Food http://www.weirdworm.com/appetizing-atrocity-5-endangered-species-hunted-for-food/ http://www.weirdworm.com/appetizing-atrocity-5-endangered-species-hunted-for-food/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:37:59 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2403 There are animals in the world that are endangered for all kinds of reasons, usually loss of habitat, over-hunting, ridiculous accidents like oil-spills wiping out the last few. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there are several out there that have the misfortune of being considered delicious in someone’s eyes, and those someones have no issue cleaning them off the face of the planet.

1.
Sea Turtles

Is there any animal more loveable and innocuous than a sea turtle? They’re big, harmless, and talk like Spiccoli.

sea turtles01

Don't eat my kids, dude!

Eating sea turtles is right up there with clubbing baby seals as a pretty shitty thing to do. They are used for soup, among other things; in New Guinea, Leatherback Turtles are rendered for caulk for boats and oil, other species are used for everything from bags to jewelry in addition to their sweet, sweet meat being eaten. And what could be worse than eating nature’s giant hockey puck?

sea turtles02(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/appetizing-atrocity-5-endangered-species-hunted-for-food/feed/ 1 6:55 There are animals in the world that are endangered for all kinds of reasons, usually loss of habitat, over-hunting, ridiculous accidents like oil-spills wiping out ... There are animals in the world that are endangered for all kinds of reasons, usually loss of habitat, over-hunting, ridiculous accidents like oil-spills wiping out the last few. As if that wasnrsquo;t bad enough, there are several out there that have the misfortune of being considered delicious in someonersquo;s eyes, and those someones have no issue cleaning them off the face of the planet. 1. Sea Turtles Is there any animal more loveable and innocuous than a sea turtle? They're big, harmless, and talk like Spiccoli. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="550" caption="Don#39;t eat my kids, dude!"][/caption] Eating sea turtles is right up there with clubbing baby seals as a pretty shitty thing to do. They are used for soup, among other things; in New Guinea, Leatherback Turtles are rendered for caulk for boats and oil, other species are used for everything from bags to jewelry in addition to their sweet, sweet meat being eaten. And what could be worse than eating nature's giant hockey puck? Eating their babies. Nature has given the turtles a tool to combat egg predation; they lay a ton of them. A lot of baby turtles get eaten on the way to the great blue; we've all wept quietly to baby sea turtles getting eaten by seagulls on the way to the water on Animal Planet. But as mankind is wont to do, they have trumped nature once again by digging up the eggs and cooking the little bastards before they hatch. They do this all around the world in the tropical belt, where sea turtles swim and lay their eggs, making soup out of the adults, and the kids? They make them intohellip; well, soup. They arenrsquo;t very creative, but that doesnrsquo;t seem to matter to the turtles; they get eaten all the same. The worst part is that the turtle eaters could probably get away with eating some of the eggs without impacting the numbers of turtles born, but that would be almost acceptable. In most places they true happiness can only be achieved if they eat all of a mother turtlersquo;s eggs. I guess they donrsquo;t want to break up the siblingshellip; 2. Chinese Giant Salamander If looks determined who won the evolutionary contest, these things would have been wiped out somewhere around the time cute animals first emerged. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="A face only a mother could love. Or a Chinese person could eat."][/caption] Instead, they have managed to cling on for over 200 million years, which is very impressive. Unfortunately for them, they are in china where damn nearly every living thing is considered a delicacy and/or fit to be tortured, mutilated and killed for some sort of weird-ass medicine. I couldn't find any specific dishes or recipes for giant salamander, but being that they are part of traditional medicine as well, we can only imagine it is horrible and would give children nightmares. Even more than the salamander itself. Irsquo;m on the fence with this one as far as how I feel about them being wiped. On one hand, my weepy liberal side thinks that all species are sacred and blah blah blah. On the other hand, they look like a squishy water demon and really, 200 million years is a pretty good run. (Seriously though, stop eating them, China) 3. Ortolan Bunting In case you are unfamiliar with this animal, the Ortolan bunting is a tiny bird that lives in France that was once the gourmet McNugget of that country. Many French people were insane for these little guys. Now, if you thought the methods for making foie gras was cruel, that has nothing on what the poor Ortolan Bunting had to suffer through. They were force-fed grain, just like geese and ducks for foie gras, but then they were drowned in Armangac, stuffed with grain, roasted, and eaten whole. Imagine a cup of pudding flavored with brandy and filled with crunched up potato chips, and you get an idea of what eating one mustrsquo;ve been like. They were eaten whole, head first, after placing a napk... Highlights,,Nature,,Podcast Weird Worm no No The 7 Most Pointless Books by “Celebrities” http://www.weirdworm.com/the-7-most-pointless-books-by-celebrities/ http://www.weirdworm.com/the-7-most-pointless-books-by-celebrities/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:30:08 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2389 When it came to my attention that something called a “Snooki” was apparently writing a book after gaining fame on a horrifyingly popular show called Jersey Shore, I had a couple of initial reactions. The first was that I found it amazing that Snooki is apparently literate. The second? This might not even end up being the most pointless so-called book written by a “celebrity” that we’ve seen come along in recent years. And even more frightening is the fact that she might not be the least qualified celebrity author, either. Okay, that’s not true. She’s by far the least qualified person for anything, other than maybe midget mud wrestling. Anyway, here are some pretty pointless books written by some pretty pointless people…

1.
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt

Book: How to be Famous: Our Guide to Looking the Part, Playing the Press, and Becoming a Tabloid Fixture

Judging by their rise to fame, I’m thinking the chapter titles probably consist of stuff like Act Like an Ass on National TV, Have Rich Parents, and Become Addicted to Plastic Surgery. Because after all, these days it appears that any of those things will do the trick. They certainly have worked for Heidi and Spencer, two of the most detestable people to ever find their way into the American mainstream. Spencer alone is proof that all you need to gain fame is to be an entitled a***ole with no likable qualities whenever a television camera is nearby, while Heidi…

spencer pratt02

These guys, seriously???


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Read the rest of The 7 Most Pointless Books by “Celebrities” (969 words)

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/the-7-most-pointless-books-by-celebrities/feed/ 0 The Weird History of 6 Articles of Clothing http://www.weirdworm.com/the-weird-history-of-6-articles-of-clothing/ http://www.weirdworm.com/the-weird-history-of-6-articles-of-clothing/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:03:52 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2380 When do you think people wore the most outlandish fashions? The 1960s? 70s? 80s? Not even close. Throughout history people have been sacrificing their bodies at the altar of fashion and the results were not always pretty and never practical.

1.
Shoes

It seems like every decade there is a new crazy shoe style. However, out forbearers did crazy a lot better than we do. How else do you explain these incredibly popular shoe styles? The first ridiculous shoe fad started in the 1300s in Europe. Men and women started elongating the tips of their slippers to points. The points got longer and longer until the wearer was in danger of tripping over them. Instead of realizing they’d taken the fad too far, people started attaching the points to the knee with chain or rope. Some shoes points were stuffed with fabric and made into the shape of a man’s genitals. Of course the clergy was furious and tried to discourage people from wearing these shoes on religious grounds. They got no where.

shoes01(...)
Read the rest of The Weird History of 6 Articles of Clothing (1,358 words)

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/the-weird-history-of-6-articles-of-clothing/feed/ 0 8:47 When do you think people wore the most outlandish fashions? The 1960s? 70s? 80s? Not even close. Throughout history people have been sacrificing their bodies ... When do you think people wore the most outlandish fashions? The 1960s? 70s? 80s? Not even close. Throughout history people have been sacrificing their bodies at the altar of fashion and the results were not always pretty and never practical. 1. Shoes It seems like every decade there is a new crazy shoe style. However, out forbearers did crazy a lot better than we do. How else do you explain these incredibly popular shoe styles? The first ridiculous shoe fad started in the 1300s in Europe. Men and women started elongating the tips of their slippers to points. The points got longer and longer until the wearer was in danger of tripping over them. Instead of realizing theyrsquo;d taken the fad too far, people started attaching the points to the knee with chain or rope. Some shoes points were stuffed with fabric and made into the shape of a manrsquo;s genitals. Of course the clergy was furious and tried to discourage people from wearing these shoes on religious grounds. They got no where. In the 1500s shoes went the other direction, literally. Instead of length people cared about width. Once peoplersquo;s shoes were regularly 10 inches across at the toe and causing serious danger to everyone, Englandrsquo;s Bloody Mary passed a law that no shoe could be wider than a still absurd 6 inches. Today it seems that 6 inch high heels are the craziest we will go with womenrsquo;s shoes. In the 16th century many Italian women added 8 inch slabs of wood, called chopines, to the soles of their shoes. The logic was it would keep the hems of their dresses clean since the streets were filthy. One has to wonder just how repulsively filthy if they needed more than a foot of clearance. In other parts of Europe these chopines reached 2-3 feet. At that height you literally could not walk without help, in case you fell over. 2. Collars What we know as a collar today started out for both men and women as a large ruff around the neck. The logic was that this would protect the edges of your clothing from wear. It was more economical to replace a ruff than an entire dress or shirt. As with most popular fashion statements, people started competing with each other to have to most extreme version of the ruff. They eventually got so large that they could be up to a foot and a half across and seriously hindered the wearersrsquo; movement. As the ruff died out it was replaced by a high, stiff collar. Again, these collars got higher and stiffer over time. By the early 1800s they were actually a physical danger, as the edges could be so sharp they could cut menrsquo;s ears. Even as late as 1902 H.G. Wells complained that the starched fabric "made [the] neck quite sore and left a red mark under [the] ears." While these days someone with an upturned collar looks like an ass, polo shirts were actually designed to be worn that way. In 1929, Reneacute; Lacoste created the ldquo;tennis shirtrdquo; with an upturned collar to prevent sunburn. It was only as people started wearing polorsquo;s on a regular basis (and inside) that they started laying their collars flat. 3. Ties Ties, or the earliest thing resembling one, can be traced back to a group of Croatian mercenaries at the French court of Louis XIV. The soldiers all wore ties and started a fad. They were nothing more than brightly colored silk handkerchiefs tied around the neck, and served absolutely no purpose (just like ties today, come to think of it) but the style caught on at Versailles. And what people were wearing at Versailles was a big deal to the rest of Europe. Soon men were cutting off circulation to their heads with their own fancy scarves all over the continent. They were called Cravats, derived from the French word for Croatian. By the early 1800s, the same time men were injuring themselves with those high collars, they were also garroting themselves with increasingly complex cravats. While a few standard knots suffice for the modern tie wearer, back then crava... Highlights,,Podcast,,Stories Weird Worm no No The Ten Titles That Scared You As A Kid http://www.weirdworm.com/the-ten-titles-that-scared-you-as-a-kid/ http://www.weirdworm.com/the-ten-titles-that-scared-you-as-a-kid/#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:33:20 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2370 Books were those treats you could have before bedtime. They sat waiting for you quietly on the shelf and they might well have been the very things that taught your little brain to TRUST NO ONE. What were adults thinking putting some of these fictional gems into the hands of little kids? The same people who refused to let you stay up to see a monster flick gave you a book that has haunted your dreams for life. Do people forget what is actually in the pages of these books or is there some sick, perverse sadistic streak that causes humanity to keep handing down these horrors generation after generation?

1.
The Brothers Grimm

Falling asleep for generations, being held captive by a wicked witch intent on eating you, are these stories really bed time fare? How about the villainous step-mother being forced to dance in red hot metal shoes, will that offer pleasant dreams? Perhaps it is our parent’s fault that we sit before our child’s bed holding these books and thinking “I don’t remember the wolf actually eating anyone”, because they probably did what you are about to. Smile and make something up on the spot to cover for this bloodthirsty tradition of mean spirited fiction.

the brothers grimm

Animal abuse, children labor law violations and Stepmother cruelty charges pending

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Read the rest of The Ten Titles That Scared You As A Kid (1,126 words)

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/the-ten-titles-that-scared-you-as-a-kid/feed/ 0 The 5 Craziest People On The Internet http://www.weirdworm.com/the-5-craziest-people-on-the-internet/ http://www.weirdworm.com/the-5-craziest-people-on-the-internet/#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:00:35 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2355 Most of the people who use the Internet fall somewhere between Charles Manson and Street-Corner-Hobo-With-Surprisingly-Strong-Religious-Convictions on the crazy spectrum. This is the likely reason that most people spend as little time wandering about the world wide web as possible: you check your emails, hit up CNN.com for your news, then check Weird Worm for your entertainment (or, for the cynics among you, Weird Worm for your news and CNN for your entertainment).

However, hidden deep among the vast sea of illegible YouTube comments and terrifying pretend-hacker groups is a subset of creatures whose worldviews are so mind-blowingly mind blowing that their very existence transcends common humor, heading straight for the realm of the surreal. These are their stories.

5.
David Icke


WEBSITE: http://www.davidicke.com/

david icke

Serious Business

Who is he? (...)
Read the rest of The 5 Craziest People On The Internet (1,945 words)

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/the-5-craziest-people-on-the-internet/feed/ 0 10:50 Most of the people who use the Internet fall somewhere between Charles Manson and Street-Corner-Hobo-With-Surprisingly-Strong-Religious-Convictions on the crazy spectrum. This is the likely reason that ... Most of the people who use the Internet fall somewhere between Charles Manson and Street-Corner-Hobo-With-Surprisingly-Strong-Religious-Convictions on the crazy spectrum. This is the likely reason that most people spend as little time wandering about the world wide web as possible: you check your emails, hit up CNN.com for your news, then check Weird Worm for your entertainment (or, for the cynics among you, Weird Worm for your news and CNN for your entertainment). However, hidden deep among the vast sea of illegible YouTube comments and terrifying pretend-hacker groups is a subset of creatures whose worldviews are so mind-blowingly mind blowing that their very existence transcends common humor, heading straight for the realm of the surreal. These are their stories. 5. David Icke WEBSITE: http://www.davidicke.com/ [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="394" caption="Serious Business"][/caption] Who is he? David Icke is already quite famous for being absolutely fucking bazonkers in real life. However, like all good marketers today, he understands the need to be a complete whackjob online as well. Alright, bring on the crazy. Many years ago, David Icke was a man like you or I: he had a good job as a sports reporter, a wife and family, and was active in both political and environmental issues. A case of bad arthritis stopped him from playing professional soccer, but didn't stop him from visiting a psychic healer named Betty Shine. After that, according to the legends, Icke became a little... unbalanced. Fast forward to the year 2001: Icke's fourth book, Children of the Matrix, comes out; weighing in at nearly 500 pages, it is a treatise on, as the author puts it, ldquo;How an Interdimensional Race has Controlled the World for Thousands of Years - and Still Doesrdquo;. It sounds like the premise of a kick-ass sci-fi movie. It's not, but rather an epic tome on the shape-shifting reptile people, and how they're pulling strings behind the scenes of the world, and have been since the rise of humanity. Once again, a sentence that sounds like the tagline on a Keanu Reeves flick, but, tragically, is not. He has published honest-to-amphibian tomes on the secret movements of this secret race and their insidious plans to unite the people of earth under a one-world government, which is apparently the worst number of governments to have. Among their numbers include all past and present world leaders and people of power, including George W. Bush, Rockefeller, the Queen of England, and (presumably) even your own mother. Final Thoughts on the Insanity: These days, Icke spends his time making obscene amounts of money lecturing, selling books, and updating his website with to-the-minute news on the movements and progress of the lizard folk and the multitude of conspiracies they put forth, so it's hard to believe that losing his mind was an overall loss. Rather than mock him, it might be better to study him, in order to learn his ways; clearly, he's doing something right. 4. Alix Henriol WEBSITE: http://www.alix-henriol.com/ [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="490" caption="This is her "][/caption] Who is she? Alix Henriol fully believes she is married to Sonic the Hedgehog. Yes, the video game character. No, that is not some kind of secret code. Alright, bring on the crazy. The indomitable Ms. Henriol came to the internet limelight a few years back regarding a certain web forum which she was responsible for bringing in to the world. While the site has since been shuffled around to prevent the gawkers and spammers from ruining the atmosphere, a few choice snippets remain in the form of an undercover study (SONIC). For those of you too lazy to read the scientific literature on the subject, here's the abstract: young woman in France falls head-over-heels in love with the few hundred pixels which make up the video game character Sonic the Hedgehog, all the while describing, as g... Highlights,,People,,Podcast Weird Worm no No 10 Crappy Cars http://www.weirdworm.com/10-crappy-cars/ http://www.weirdworm.com/10-crappy-cars/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:43:17 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2299 Man has been using cars for nearly two hundred years, and in that time, has created some of the sleekest, most beautiful mechanical creations in human history. The following cars are decidedly not those.

1.
The Trabant

No list of bad cars can be started without the Trabant. It might be the most beloved bad car of all time. It took ten years to make one, it was partially made out of cotton, and had a gas tank you had to take out, fill with gas AND two-stroke oil, and shake it to mix it up. It had a two-stroke engine that smoked like a tobacco convention. If you wanted one object to prove Communism wasn’t awesome, it was this one.

They’re still viewed affectionately as the junker everybody in East Germany and parts of the Eastern Bloc drove. Except you had them for years.

the trabant01

the trabant02(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/10-crappy-cars/feed/ 5 Weekly Links #14 http://www.weirdworm.com/weekly-links-14/ http://www.weirdworm.com/weekly-links-14/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:41:58 +0000 euphoria http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2294 wwwlinks(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/weekly-links-14/feed/ 0 10 Families Who Killed Together http://www.weirdworm.com/10-families-who-killed-together/ http://www.weirdworm.com/10-families-who-killed-together/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:04:56 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2283 The family that plays together stays together so what does that say about those folks who get a little rough? The mothers who arm their offspring, the brothers who take out their elders or those large extended families who make the neighbors very nervous are not the Norman Rockwell type, but they are in a weird way far more interesting.

1.
The Harpe Family: No Angels here

The new world held out hope to the cousins Micah and Wiley Harper, but only because the fledging country didn’t know them. After migrating with their families from Scotland as children the pair changed their names to John and William. Because of their constant habit of remaining together the pair was given the witty nicknames of Big Harpe (William) and Little Harpe (John). The Harpes not exactly men given to more empathic endeavors left home just out of their teens to become slavers or overseers in Virginia. The American Revolution presented them with better opportunities as Troy outlaws where they learned such useful skills as pillaging livestock, burning crops and raping young farm girls. There was a downside to their new lifestyle namely a country side from North Carolina to Kentucky, who knew them and wanted to see them both dangle at the end of twin ropes. The men took up with at least three women and produce many children who traveled with them.

This disagreeable family took up a farm in Beaver Creek late in the 1790’s, but apparently not in an effort to change their wild ways. In 1798 the other villages accused them of horse stealing a very serious offense during those times. The Harpe cousins managed to get away, and returned in the night to extract their revenge by killing a local who they might have blamed for ratting them out. The unfortunate victim was found in the river by his neighbors the next morning with his chest and belly slashed open and his body loaded down with rocks. This was the Harpes trademark murder signature. The Harpes continued to get away with their crimes perhaps because even the authorities were afraid of them. Eventually, though they began to be too blatant and reckless and a posse of angry neighbors brought the Harpes along with their three ‘wives’ into seek justice. It was not to be as the pair escaped and continued their ruthless ways. For the remainder of the war, the Harpes raped and killed with abandoned, but at last without the other Tory renegades to back them up they were eventually captured by another posse who didn’t bother to take them to court and wait for justice. This time the angry mob took the killer cousin’s heads.

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Read the rest of 10 Families Who Killed Together (1,651 words)

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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/10-families-who-killed-together/feed/ 0 10:58 The family that plays together stays together so what does that say about those folks who get a little rough? The mothers who arm ... The family that plays together stays together so what does that say about those folks who get a little rough? The mothers who arm their offspring, the brothers who take out their elders or those large extended families who make the neighbors very nervous are not the Norman Rockwell type, but they are in a weird way far more interesting. 1. The Harpe Family: No Angels here The new world held out hope to the cousins Micah and Wiley Harper, but only because the fledging country didnrsquo;t know them. After migrating with their families from Scotland as children the pair changed their names to John and William. Because of their constant habit of remaining together the pair was given the witty nicknames of Big Harpe (William) and Little Harpe (John). The Harpes not exactly men given to more empathic endeavors left home just out of their teens to become slavers or overseers in Virginia. The American Revolution presented them with better opportunities as Troy outlaws where they learned such useful skills as pillaging livestock, burning crops and raping young farm girls. There was a downside to their new lifestyle namely a country side from North Carolina to Kentucky, who knew them and wanted to see them both dangle at the end of twin ropes. The men took up with at least three women and produce many children who traveled with them. This disagreeable family took up a farm in Beaver Creek late in the 1790rsquo;s, but apparently not in an effort to change their wild ways. In 1798 the other villages accused them of horse stealing a very serious offense during those times. The Harpe cousins managed to get away, and returned in the night to extract their revenge by killing a local who they might have blamed for ratting them out. The unfortunate victim was found in the river by his neighbors the next morning with his chest and belly slashed open and his body loaded down with rocks. This was the Harpes trademark murder signature. The Harpes continued to get away with their crimes perhaps because even the authorities were afraid of them. Eventually, though they began to be too blatant and reckless and a posse of angry neighbors brought the Harpes along with their three lsquo;wivesrsquo; into seek justice. It was not to be as the pair escaped and continued their ruthless ways. For the remainder of the war, the Harpes raped and killed with abandoned, but at last without the other Tory renegades to back them up they were eventually captured by another posse who didnrsquo;t bother to take them to court and wait for justice. This time the angry mob took the killer cousin's heads. 2. Never invite them to dinner The Borgia reign of terror started long before the Harpes, but their brand of murder was at least quieter and a tad more lsquo;civilizedrsquo;. This familyrsquo;s trademark was poison and manipulation while the motive was always the same---power. The Borgiarsquo;s lived the Machiavellian life style of political scheming and sexual maneuvering as they rose in power through the Renaissance Papacy. Father Rodrigo, who later became Pope Alexander VI, his sons Cesare, Giovanni, and Gioffree were ruthless, but it is Lucrezia Borgia, who is the most famous name among them. No one could touch any of the family during their lifetimes even though it was widely rumored that Lucrezia wore a hollow ring in which she kept poison to dispatch those who stood in her familyrsquo;s way. 3. Hangrsquo;em high and keep it in the family Not everyone who kills breaks the law. Some end lives in a manner in accordance with the laws of the land and act in the protection of the greater safety of the many. In other words they execute the bad guys. It isnrsquo;t a fun people friendly type of career ending the life of another human being no matter how good your motives so itrsquo;s strange that some fathers would pass this occupation down to their sons, but the Pierrepoints did just that. British executioner Henry Pierrep... Highlights,,Podcast,,Stories Weird Worm no No Weirdest Game Shows http://www.weirdworm.com/weirdest-game-shows/ http://www.weirdworm.com/weirdest-game-shows/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:46:20 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2266 When it comes to game shows no one does it quite like the Japanese. After all it is hard to imagine that such a small country has so many people willing to subject themselves to the kind of torture you only see on Japanese tv. For that reason just about every show on this list is either a Japanese game show or an American version of a Japanese game show. This is also a reminder that these may not be the worst of all the game shows you might encounter but they are definitely not something most people would want to do .

1.
Silent Library

This is a popular game show that has recently been brought to MTV. In this show contestants sit inside what appears to be a library and choose cards at random. Whoever gets the X must perform the challenge. These range from eating something disgusting, being beaten, being bitten by an old man without his dentures to things you can’t even imagine. The point? All contestants (even the one being abused) must remain quiet in order to earn money for that round. At the end the contestants split all the money that has been won.

silent library(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/weirdest-game-shows/feed/ 1 10 Facts About Capital Punishment And Murder http://www.weirdworm.com/10-facts-about-capital-punishment-murder/ http://www.weirdworm.com/10-facts-about-capital-punishment-murder/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:02:43 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2246 The death penalty is the most severe punishment in the world. It is a controversial issue with a long and bloody history. More than 60% of the worldwide population lives in countries where executions take place. The four most populated countries in the world are the People’s Republic of China, India, the United States and Indonesia. All of these areas enforce the death penalty and are unlikely to abolish it any time soon. Here is a list of some interesting facts about capital punishment and murder.

1.
The Maximum Prison Sentence in Nepal is 20 Years

Many countries in the world do not enforce the law of life imprisonment. In Nepal the maximum sentence that can be given to a criminal is 20 years. In Norway it is 21 years imprisonment and the maximum sentence is 25 years in Portugal, Macau, and Ecuador. Many nations in South America have abolished life imprisonment laws. The United States is the only country that has minors under the age of 18 serving life sentences. As of 2009, Human Rights Watch has calculated that there are 2,574 youth offenders serving life without parole in the U.S.

Life imprisonment laws bring to mind two of the most deadly serial killers in world history, Columbian born maniacs Pedro López and Luis Garavito. Pedro López is a Colombian-born confessed serial killer, accused of raping and killing more than 300 girls across South America. López became known as the “Monster of the Andes” in 1980 when he led police to the graves of 53 of his victims. They were all girls between nine and twelve-years-old. In 1983 he was found guilty of murdering 110 young girls in Ecuador and confessed to a further 240 murders in neighboring Peru and Colombia. The maximum prison sentence available in Equador was 25 years. According to the BBC, López was arrested in 1980 and freed by the government of Ecuador at the end of 1998. He was then deported to Colombia. In an interview from his prison cell, López described himself as “the man of the century.” He is said to have been released on a $50 bail for good behavior. Various reports have indicated that Colombian authorities released an advisory for his re-arrest over a fresh murder in 2002. Nobody knows where Pedro López is today.

Luis Garavito (“The Beast”) is a Colombian rapist and serial killer. In 1999, he admitted to the murder and rape of 140 young boys. While in prison, Garavito drew maps of his mass burial sites. His murder count is thought to exceed 300 people. Luis Garavito has often been described as the world’s most deadly serial killer. Once captured, Garavito was subject to the maximum penalty available in Colombia, which was 30 years. However, as he confessed to the crimes and helped authorities locate bodies, Colombian law allowed him to apply for special benefits, including a reduction of his sentence to 22 years. As one would expect, criticism over Garavito’s sentence garnered notoriety in the media. A judicial review of his case found that Garavito’s sentence could potentially be extended and his release delayed. He will have to answer for unconfessed crimes, as they were not covered by his previous judicial process.

the maximum prison(...)
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]]> http://www.weirdworm.com/10-facts-about-capital-punishment-murder/feed/ 0 16:20 The death penalty is the most severe punishment in the world. It is a controversial issue with a long and bloody history. More ... The death penalty is the most severe punishment in the world. It is a controversial issue with a long and bloody history. More than 60% of the worldwide population lives in countries where executions take place. The four most populated countries in the world are the People's Republic of China, India, the United States and Indonesia. All of these areas enforce the death penalty and are unlikely to abolish it any time soon. Here is a list of some interesting facts about capital punishment and murder. 1. The Maximum Prison Sentence in Nepal is 20 Years Many countries in the world do not enforce the law of life imprisonment. In Nepal the maximum sentence that can be given to a criminal is 20 years. In Norway it is 21 years imprisonment and the maximum sentence is 25 years in Portugal, Macau, and Ecuador. Many nations in South America have abolished life imprisonment laws. The United States is the only country that has minors under the age of 18 serving life sentences. As of 2009, Human Rights Watch has calculated that there are 2,574 youth offenders serving life without parole in the U.S. Life imprisonment laws bring to mind two of the most deadly serial killers in world history, Columbian born maniacs Pedro Loacute;pez and Luis Garavito. Pedro Loacute;pez is a Colombian-born confessed serial killer, accused of raping and killing more than 300 girls across South America. Loacute;pez became known as the "Monster of the Andes" in 1980 when he led police to the graves of 53 of his victims. They were all girls between nine and twelve-years-old. In 1983 he was found guilty of murdering 110 young girls in Ecuador and confessed to a further 240 murders in neighboring Peru and Colombia. The maximum prison sentence available in Equador was 25 years. According to the BBC, Loacute;pez was arrested in 1980 and freed by the government of Ecuador at the end of 1998. He was then deported to Colombia. In an interview from his prison cell, Loacute;pez described himself as ldquo;the man of the century.rdquo; He is said to have been released on a $50 bail for good behavior. Various reports have indicated that Colombian authorities released an advisory for his re-arrest over a fresh murder in 2002. Nobody knows where Pedro Loacute;pez is today. Luis Garavito (ldquo;The Beastrdquo;) is a Colombian rapist and serial killer. In 1999, he admitted to the murder and rape of 140 young boys. While in prison, Garavito drew maps of his mass burial sites. His murder count is thought to exceed 300 people. Luis Garavito has often been described as the world's most deadly serial killer. Once captured, Garavito was subject to the maximum penalty available in Colombia, which was 30 years. However, as he confessed to the crimes and helped authorities locate bodies, Colombian law allowed him to apply for special benefits, including a reduction of his sentence to 22 years. As one would expect, criticism over Garavito's sentence garnered notoriety in the media. A judicial review of his case found that Garavito's sentence could potentially be extended and his release delayed. He will have to answer for unconfessed crimes, as they were not covered by his previous judicial process. 2. Crime and Homicide Rates Crime and homicide rates have been a long-standing concern in the United States. In 1916, 198 murders were identified in Chicago. In that same year, London recorded 45 homicides with three times the population. Since 1964, the U.S. crime rate has increased by as much as 350%, although it has been steadily dropping since 1993. Many hypotheses have been recorded as to why the crime rate peaked in 1993. Many identify the fact that the U.S. government introduced the Three Strikes Law in 1993. This law states that if you are convicted of three separate felony crimes you will be sentenced to life in prison. Others have attempted to find a correlation between the introduction of abortion and violent crime rates. The ... Highlights,,Podcast,,Stories Weird Worm no No How to Sell the Eiffel Tower (Twice) http://www.weirdworm.com/how-to-sell-the-eiffel-tower-twice/ http://www.weirdworm.com/how-to-sell-the-eiffel-tower-twice/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:25:53 +0000 rale http://www.weirdworm.com/?p=2224 Wouldn’t it be great if you could pick any building in the world and sell it with out having to own it?

Well, that’s what Victor Lustig did in 1925. He sold the Eiffel tower, not just once, but twice within two months!!!

To understand how he did that, we have to know a bit about Victor Lustig.

eiffel tower01

Victor discovered his talents to charm and persuade while still a young man. He spoke multiple languages and people liked him. Pretty soon he could talk his way into almost anything. He started with small scams for pocket change and quickly developed a taste for it. He sharpened his skills to the point where he evolved into a smooth talking, confidence man. In order associate himself with wealthy people, he began frequenting the same places as they did. One of which was on the ocean liners between Europe and America. Onboard, he would pose as a free spending, wealthy businessman. He would quickly make friends among the passengers and seek out the wealthiest and most vulnerable to his scams. When his new friends felt comfortable with him and the talk turned to money, he would grudgingly reveal the secret of his wealth, his “money box”. The money box was a skilfully crafted mahogany box with brass dials and internal rollers which he claimed could duplicate hundred dollar bills. He demonstrated by inserting a real bill along with a paper blank into slots at one end of the box and then, after a six hour “chemical reaction” time, he would pull two real bills out of the other end.

eiffel tower02

Victor Lustig's Money Box

(...)
Read the rest of How to Sell the Eiffel Tower (Twice) (1,063 words)

(...)
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