Title: News of the Weird World
Description: Ongoing topic
Description: Ongoing topic
Prisma Nova - May 4, 2006 05:01 PM (GMT)
Hungary workers get shock at bottom of rum barrel
Thu May 04, 08:49 AM EST
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel, a police magazine website reported.
According to online magazine www.zsaru.hu, workers in Szeged in the south of Hungary tried to move the barrel after they had drained it, only to find it was surprisingly heavy and were shocked when the body of a naked man fell out.
The website said that the body of the man had been shipped back from Jamaica 20 years ago by his wife in the barrel of rum in order to avoid the cost and paperwork of an official return.
According to the website, workers said the rum in the 300-liter barrel had a "special taste" so they even decanted a few bottles of the liquor to take home.
The wife has since died and the man was buried in a proper grave.
This is one of the reasons I don't even drink alcohol.
Thu May 04, 08:49 AM EST
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel, a police magazine website reported.
According to online magazine www.zsaru.hu, workers in Szeged in the south of Hungary tried to move the barrel after they had drained it, only to find it was surprisingly heavy and were shocked when the body of a naked man fell out.
The website said that the body of the man had been shipped back from Jamaica 20 years ago by his wife in the barrel of rum in order to avoid the cost and paperwork of an official return.
According to the website, workers said the rum in the 300-liter barrel had a "special taste" so they even decanted a few bottles of the liquor to take home.
The wife has since died and the man was buried in a proper grave.
This is one of the reasons I don't even drink alcohol.
Roadbuster - May 4, 2006 05:19 PM (GMT)
Dude... the guy in Mos Eisley Cantina did the same thing... of course that was Sci-fi and stuff....
That's just bizarre.
That's just bizarre.
Icefang - May 4, 2006 10:44 PM (GMT)
Nah, the bartender took Greedo out back and pickled him intentionally to produce a very rare liquer. That's what he gets for shooting first....
LUUUUUUCCCCAAAAAASS!!
LUUUUUUCCCCAAAAAASS!!
Roadbuster - May 4, 2006 10:52 PM (GMT)
Dr Archeville - May 9, 2006 05:05 PM (GMT)
Seems Pris's story happened ten years ago.
Prisma Nova - May 9, 2006 05:12 PM (GMT)
Good catch, Doc. :D
Most of the weird stuff are sometimes in the "urban legend" category. I just like to read them, very entertaining.
If any of you have a "nice" story, like the one I posted, feel free to post it yourself.
Most of the weird stuff are sometimes in the "urban legend" category. I just like to read them, very entertaining.
If any of you have a "nice" story, like the one I posted, feel free to post it yourself.
Roadbuster - May 9, 2006 06:13 PM (GMT)
corpses in barrels = nice
Prisma Nova - May 9, 2006 09:13 PM (GMT)
In a "News of the Weird World", yeah. If this was a printed issue, it would sell. B)
Come on people, were is your funny sense of morbid?
Come on people, were is your funny sense of morbid?
O.Supreme - May 9, 2006 10:12 PM (GMT)
Again this is a fictional movie referrence, but in "The Mask Of Zorro", a similiar event happened when the Confederate Captain took Joaquin's Head (Zorro's Brother) and placed in a HUGE glass bowl and made some sort of drink out of it. If there is any truth to the pickeling of Human Remains to make some sort of alcohol, I'm glad I'm not the drinking type either.
Cyberpumpkin - May 10, 2006 09:58 AM (GMT)
There was some officer in the Civil War who got his leg shot off. He sent it home in a barrel of some alcoholic spirits or other.
Imagine his wife's delight.
Imagine his wife's delight.
Roadbuster - May 10, 2006 04:05 PM (GMT)
y'know... I'm all about posting more weird stories... but there just hasn't been anything good in the past few days.
BlackZarak - May 10, 2006 07:05 PM (GMT)
Here ya go:
| QUOTE |
Shellie White, 30, was apprehended in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., in March, two years after she fled Arizona with her two children in a custody dispute with her ex-husband. For most of the two years, she has been living as a man (with a female partner), having convinced the kids, now aged 6 and 8, that she is actually their father. [Tampa Tribune-AP, 3-28-06] |
| QUOTE |
Dolphins create their own names Scientists find evidence for bottlenose equivalents of ‘John’ and ‘Mary’ By Bjorn Carey A high-pitched "wee-o-wee-o-wee-o-wee" whistle might not sound like much to you, but it's exactly how a dolphin might introduce itself. Because sight is limited in the ocean, dolphins create individual "name" calls to communicate their whereabouts to friends and families. But it's not as simple as just recognizing a voice, as with most animals. A new study reveals that the calls contain frequency changes that dolphins recognize. Humans are one of the few species that use sound modulation instead of simple voice differences to identify individuals. For example, a person can recognize the name "John" whether it's being said by Gilbert Gottfried or James Earl Jones. Scientists have long known that dolphins identify themselves with names, but the belief was that, like some monkeys, the animal's voice was the key ingredient of the call. A team of researchers led by Vincent Janik of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland temporarily captured seven male and seven female bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay in Florida. Janik and his crew recorded the name calls of each dolphin, and digitally removed the voice features of each call. They then played the computerized calls and digital versions of other random calls through underwater speakers where the dolphins were held. In nine of 14 cases, the dolphin would turn more often toward the speaker — an established technique for gauging a dolphin's interest — if it heard a whistle resembling the name of a close relative. "Every dolphin has its own voice," Janik told LiveScience. "But we removed those features and showed that the animals are actually paying attention to the modulation and not the voice." Naming game A dolphin chooses its own name as an infant and uses it throughout its life. "It seems like the animals hear what's around them, and then they make up their own whistle," Janik said. "They either develop something original ... or they base it on parts of the whistles around them." Regardless of the method, the young dolphins want to make their call stand apart from the calls of their closest relatives. Communicating by sight is difficult underwater, so dolphins use these calls to let other dolphins know they're nearby. A dolphin will also call out its name if it's lost and distressed, hoping relatives will come to its aid. Dolphins are some of the most talkative animals around, even though we don't know what they're saying. "Their repertoire of calls probably numbers in the hundreds," Janik said. "Some of them are food calls, but for most of them we have no ideas what they're for." The study is detailed this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. © 2006 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved. |
| QUOTE |
Mind Control by Parasites By Bill Christensen posted: 10 February 2006 06:41 am ET Half of the world's human population is infected with Toxoplasma, parasites in the body—and the brain. Remember that. Toxoplasma gondii is a common parasite found in the guts of cats; it sheds eggs that are picked up by rats and other animals that are eaten by cats. Toxoplasma forms cysts in the bodies of the intermediate rat hosts, including in the brain. Since cats don't want to eat dead, decaying prey, Toxoplasma takes the evolutionarily sound course of being a "good" parasite, leaving the rats perfectly healthy. Or are they? Oxford scientists discovered that the minds of the infected rats have been subtly altered. In a series of experiments, they demonstrated that healthy rats will prudently avoid areas that have been doused with cat urine. In fact, when scientists test anti-anxiety drugs on rats, they use a whiff of cat urine to induce neurochemical panic. However, it turns out that Toxoplasma-ridden rats show no such reaction. In fact, some of the infected rats actually seek out the cat urine-marked areas again and again. The parasite alters the mind (and thus the behavior) of the rat for its own benefit. If the parasite can alter rat behavior, does it have any effect on humans? Dr. E. Fuller Torrey (Associate Director for Laboratory Research at the Stanley Medical Research Institute) noticed links between Toxoplasma and schizophrenia in human beings, approximately three billion of whom are infected with T. gondii: Toxoplasma infection is associated with damage to astrocytes, glial cells which surround and support neurons. Schizophrenia is also associated with damage to astrocytes. Pregnant women with high levels of antibodies to Toxoplasma are more likely to give birth to children who will develop schizophrenia. Human cells raised in petri dishes, and infected with Toxoplasma, will respond to drugs like haloperidol; the growth of the parasite stops. Haloperidol is an antipsychotic, used to treat schizophrenia. Dr. Torrey got together with the Oxford scientists, to see if anything could be done about those parasite-controlled rats that were driven to hang around cat urine-soaked corners (waiting for cats). According to a recent press release, haloperidol restores the rat's healthy fear of cat urine. In fact, antipsychotic drugs were as effective as pyrimethamine, a drug that specifically eliminates Toxoplasma. Are parasites like Toxoplasma subtly altering human behavior? As it turns out, science fiction writers have been thinking about whether or not parasites could alter a human being's behavior, or even take control of a person. In his 1951 novel The Puppet Masters, Robert Heinlein wrote about alien parasites the size of dinner plates that took control of the minds of their hosts, flooding their brains with neurochemicals. In this excerpt, a volunteer strapped to a chair allows a parasite to be introduced; the parasite rides him, taking over his mind. Under these conditions, it is possible to interview the parasite; however, it refuses to answer until zapped with a cattle prod. He reached past my shoulders with a rod. I felt a shocking, unbearable pain. The room blacked out as if a switch had been thrown.. I was split apart by it; for the moment I was masterless. The pain left, leaving only its searing memory behind. Before I could speak, or even think coherently for myself, the splitting away had ended and I was again safe in the arms of my master... The panic that possessed me washed away; I was again filled with an unworried sense of well being... "What are you?" "We are the people... We have studied you and we know your ways... We come," I went on, "to bring you peace.. and contentment-and the joy of-of surrender." I hesitated again; "surrender" was not the right word. I struggled with it the way one struggles with a poorly grasped foreign language. "The joy," I repeated, "-the joy of . . .nirvana." That was it; the word fitted. I felt like a dog being patted for fetching a stick; I wriggled with pleasure. Still not sure that parasites can manipulate the behavior of host organisms? Consider these other cases: The lancet fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticum forces its ant host to attach to the tips of grass blades, the easier to be eaten. The fluke needs to get into the gut of a grazing animal to complete its life cycle. The fluke Euhaplorchis californiensis causes fish to shimmy and jump so wading birds will grab them and eat them, for the same reason. Hairworms, which live inside grasshoppers, sabotage the grasshopper's central nervous system, forcing them to jump into pools of water, drowning themselves. Hairworms then swim away from their hapless hosts to continue their life cycle. |
BlackZarak - May 10, 2006 07:10 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Adult education teacher Robert Colla was hospitalized in Ventura, Calif., with severe burns and shrapnel wounds, and lost part of his right hand, when he tried to smash a bug with the paperweight on his desk. The "paperweight," which Colla had found years ago, was a 40mm artillery shell, which, unknown to Colla, was still live. [Lodi News- Sentinel, 3-15-06] [CNN-AP, 4-4-06] |
Roadbuster - May 11, 2006 02:31 PM (GMT)
Bah.. old ones. I was looking for new ones. (though I think the dolphin bit was new, but I just considered that cool... not expressly weird.)
Roadbuster - May 11, 2006 02:37 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Video game "booth babes" forced to cover up By Daisuke Wakabayashi 50 minutes ago LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Missing: scantily-clad females hawking the latest in electronic toys for the boys. The video game industry's annual trade show in Los Angeles opened its doors to its exhibitors on Wednesday with organizers ordering women staffing the booths to cover up or face a $5,000 fine. Banned are nudity, partial nudity, bikini bottoms or any sexually explicit or provocative conduct, according to the handbook from The Entertainment Software Association, or ESA, which owns and operates the E3 Expo. Pauline K, who declined to give her last name, wore a white shredded tank top with an exposed midriff, short mini skirt and knee-high leggings as she handed out fliers for a company that makes custom face plates for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 game machine. She said another of the models received a warning from show organizers for showing too much skin. "Apparently her cleavage was a little too distracting," she said. In January, the ESA outlined tough new penalties to enforce decency rules. Exhibitors get a verbal warning for a first violation and a second violation carries a $5,000 fine. "Last year there were a lot of complaints about how the models were beyond, in many cases, what was decent," said ESA President Douglas Lowenstein on Monday. Despite the new rules, there was no shortage of exposed skin, patent leather and knee-high boots. Many exhibitors dressed women like video game heroines and there was a group of women wearing sexy nurses' outfits. "They're wearing slightly more clothes this year," said Gail Salamanica, an exhibitor at the show, "But not much." |
Roadbuster - May 11, 2006 02:40 PM (GMT)
it seems to be a weird day...
| QUOTE |
Shanghai Preparing for 'Human Zoo' Thu May 11, 7:13 AM ET SHANGHAI, China - Shanghai is getting set to open a "human zoo." Four Australian men will live in a glass box on a downtown mall for two weeks in June, with the public able to watch them sleeping, eating and bathing, a news report said Thursday. The group, known as the Urban Dream Capsule, has drawn crowds with similar displays in London, Montreal, Hong Kong and other cities. "They won't turn off the lights or pull down the curtains. They show their whole life, from getting up to going to bed," Karen Chang, the event's organizer, told the Shanghai Daily newspaper. "People like to watch them taking a shower, so they have to shower at least two times a day," Chang said. "Of course, one can't see the key parts, because there is nontransparent glass in the bathroom." The 650-square-foot glass capsule is to be decorated in a Shanghainese theme. Members of the group have been taking Chinese lessons so that they can communicate with spectators, the report said. The public can send e-mail or faxes to them, or put messages on the glass. "Interaction is a key element of the performance," Chang said. |
Roadbuster - May 12, 2006 04:49 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Cheesemakers create "Stilton" perfume LONDON (Reuters) - Some say Britain's pungent blue-veined Stilton cheese smells of old socks. But its fans have turned the rare odor into a perfume. The Stilton Cheese Makers Association commissioned an aromatics firm to create Eau de Stilton, described on the association's Web site as featuring a "symphony of natural base notes including Yarrow, Angelica seed, Clary Sage and Valerian." "Blue Stilton cheese has a very distinctive mellow aroma and our perfumier was able to capture the key essence of that scent and recreate it in an unusual but highly wearable perfume," said an association spokesman. The perfume will be available from www.stiltoncheese.com. |
Prisma Nova - May 12, 2006 05:28 PM (GMT)
Damn Roady, you got it first!
Hey guys, nice job, this is going to be a great thread.
Hey guys, nice job, this is going to be a great thread.
| QUOTE |
| Dead Jockey Rides to Victory (May 8, 1936) Ralph Neves' life was cut tragically short at Bay Meadows Racecourse, near San Francisco, California. The 19-year-old jockey was coming into the final stretch of the third race of the day when his horse, Fannikins, tripped. She and her rider crashed through the wooden fence. Fannikins was unharmed, but Neves, who had not only broken his own mount's fall, but had also been trampled by four other horses, was dead. The track physician, assisted by two doctors who had come down from the stands when they saw Neves fall, loaded the body into an ambulance, and the race announcer called for a moment of silence. But the shocked, grieving spectators had underestimated Neves. Doctors at the hospital did everything they could think of to revive Neves, but to no avail. By the time his friend Dr. Horace Stevens arrived, he had already been toe-tagged and sent to the morgue. Stevens, though, was not quite ready to give up. He administered a shot of adrenaline directly into Neves' heart. It had no effect. Sadly, he replaced the white sheet that covered his friend's lifeless body, and left him there. Had he waited just a few more minutes, he would have witnessed a miracle. The dead jockey arose from the chilly slab, shirtless, bloodied, shrouded in the morgue sheet and wearing a single boot. He staggered out of the hospital and hailed a cab to take him back to the racetrack. Pandemonium broke out as Neves sprinted past the grandstand at Bay Meadows, half-dressed and still trailing his toe tag. "At one point," he said later, "I think everyone on the damn track was chasing me." He fought his way through the crowd and burst into the jockeys' room, where his colleagues were conducting a collection for his widow. She fainted at the sight of her newly resurrected husband, standing in the doorway demanding to be allowed to ride. He insisted that he didn't feel dead, but the stewards still refused to let him compete again that day. The following day, though, he rode five winners and claimed the meet's top prize--a $500 watch donated by Bing Crosby. Neves' dramatic recovery was typical of Neves at Santa Anita "The Portuguese Pepperpot," a man whom fellow jockey Charlie Whittington once described as "wilder than a peach orchard boar." Neves rode for 28 more years, racking up nearly 4,000 wins on more than 25,000 horses. In 1960, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. He died in his sleep in 1995, at the age of 79. He did not rise again. |
Ah, this was a wonderful story, the kind I wish my parents read me at bedtime.
Dr Archeville - May 12, 2006 07:07 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| TOKYO (Hollywood Reporter) - Japanese police are trying to identify cremated human remains that were mailed to the headquarters of a TV station by a viewer who was incensed at missing a cartoon. A plastic bag containing ashes and shards of bone was delivered to TV Tokyo along with a note protesting TV Tokyo's decision to extend live coverage of the world table-tennis championships. The viewer wrote that he had set his video to record the popular "Inu Kami" cartoon. "Many of the people who watch our animated programs are very enthusiastic about them and we did receive a number of letters and e-mails complaining about our decision to continue the table-tennis coverage," said Tom Oki, a spokesman for the channel. "This one seems to have been a big fan of the show." Police were called as soon as the bag was opened, Oki said, and the remains are being tested for DNA. He added that the police do not appear to be very optimistic that they will be able to identify the remains as the pieces of bone are quite small. "We sometimes receive threatening letters and every once in a while a knife in the post, but I've never heard of human ashes being sent before," Oki said. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter |
JW% - May 12, 2006 10:34 PM (GMT)
Hey, wonder what would happen if Cartoon Network were to suddenly stop playing cartoons and broadcasting table tennis matches...
...probably wouldn't get that kind of fan mail.
...probably wouldn't get that kind of fan mail.
Cyberpumpkin - May 13, 2006 06:51 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Wal-Mart worker finds man glued to toilet THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SALISBURY, Md. -- A 20-year-old was found by a Wal-Mart employee in the bathroom Sunday night after he sat down and was glued to the toilet seat. The man, whose name was not released by police, was taken to the hospital late Sunday night, said Lt. Cheryl Rantz of the Salisbury Police Department. "The man had gone into the bathroom and sat down," she said. "He was banging on the wall when the employee came in." Rantz said the man was treated and released. |
Tarantulas - May 14, 2006 07:53 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Bikini protester charms Chavez A bikini-clad beauty queen protesting plans for a pulp mill in Uruguay pushed into a photo shoot of European and Latin American leaders at a summit on Friday and Venezuela's president said he blew her a kiss. Evangelina Carrozo, Greenpeace activist and carnival queen from the Argentine town of Gualeguaychu, evaded security as she stripped to a tasselled bikini and thigh-high leather boots carrying a sign protesting plans for the pulp mill. "She was very pretty and I blew her a kiss," said Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who spoke to reporters in Vienna after security ejected Carrozo from the room where the joint summit photo was taken. "It was one of the best things that have happened at this summit," said Chavez, a left-winger who has become an icon of the anti-globalisation movement but has been criticised by other Latin American leaders in Vienna for his confrontational style. Argentina has called for Uruguay to drop plans for the $1.7 billion pulp project along the Uruguay river that borders both countries, saying it will cause pollution. The mills are being built by Finland's Metsa-Botnia and Spain's Ence. Chavez said: "I didn't see anything about pulp, I was just looking at her." |
Starshooter - May 16, 2006 01:40 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Bears killed and ate a monkey in a Dutch zoo in front of horrified visitors, witnesses and the zoo said Monday. In the incident Sunday at the Beekse Bergen Safari Park, several Sloth bears chased the Barbary macaque into an electric fence, where it was stunned. It recovered and fled onto a wooden structure, where one bear pursued and mauled it to death. The park confirmed the killing in a statement, saying: "In an area where Sloth bears, great apes and Barbary macaques have coexisted peacefully for a long time, the harmony was temporarily disturbed during opening hours on Sunday." "Of course the habitats here in the safari park are arranged in such a way that one animal almost never kills another, but they are and remain wild animals," it said. Witness Marco Berelds posted a detailed report on the incident, including photos, on a Dutch Web site. He said one Sloth bear tried unsuccessfully to shake the monkey loose after it took refuge on the structure, built of crossing horizontal and vertical poles. Ignoring attempts by keepers to distract it, the bear climbed onto a horizontal pole, and, standing stretched on two legs, "used its sharp canines to pull the macaque, which was shrieking and resisting, from its perch." The bear then brought the animal to a concrete den, where three bears ate it. The zoo said it "usually wasn't possible" for keepers to intervene when an animal killed another. The park plans now to move the Barbary macaques - which are large monkeys but often inaccurately called "Barbary Apes" - to another part of the park, it said. |
Prisma Nova - May 16, 2006 01:55 PM (GMT)
It's like "Mutual of Omaha Wild Wilderness". I can understand that they put the animals in their "natural" habitat, but still... we, the common people, would KNOW that this sort of thing would happen.
Well, at least the bears got fresh meat.
Is it me, or this reminds me in a way like "Beast Wars", sans weapons, and just in beast mode?
Well, at least the bears got fresh meat.
Is it me, or this reminds me in a way like "Beast Wars", sans weapons, and just in beast mode?
Dr Archeville - May 16, 2006 02:02 PM (GMT)
Mmm... monkeys... *drools*
Roadbuster - May 18, 2006 06:37 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Ark. Mayor Accused in Sex-For-Water Case Wed May 17, 9:02 PM ET WALDRON, Ark. - Waldron's mayor was released on a signature bond Wednesday after being accused of soliciting two women for sex after they fell behind on their water bills. Troy Anderson, 72, is accused of abusing the public trust and patronizing a prostitute. After hearing complaints about delinquent water bills, Anderson solicited sex from the women, authorities said. In January, a woman who said she had refused Anderson's requests went to the mayor for help in getting her granddaughter out of state Department of Health and Human Services custody. The mayor told the woman he might be able to help, and that she should meet him at an apartment, the affidavit said. The woman wore a recording device when she met Anderson at the apartment, and Anderson offered her $100 for sex, the affidavit said. She said the mayor grabbed her and exposed himself. Another woman told investigators that she'd been having sex with Anderson for money for the past eight to 10 years. She said Anderson paid her $25 per encounter and that he allowed her to change the name on her overdue water bill, which kept her water turned on, the affidavit said. The mayor also gave the woman $60 to pay a late water deposit in exchange for sex, the affidavit said. The woman's bill was $617 overdue, the affidavit said. In February, the second woman wore a recording device when Anderson picked her up for a sexual encounter that netted her $20, authorities said. Anderson did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday and Wednesday. The mayor was charged with two counts of abuse of public trust — a felony — and four counts of patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor. Judge Donald Goodner on Wednesday said Anderson was not a flight risk and released him on signature bond, according to the Scott County Circuit Clerk's Office. Goodner set an arraignment for July 6. |
Icefang - May 18, 2006 10:35 PM (GMT)
Bizarre Holidays in May
May is . . . . Better Sleep Month, National Good Car Care Month, National Photo Month, National Salad Month, National Egg Month, National Barbecue Month, Revise Your Work Schedule Month, Date Your Mate Month, National Hamburger Month, and Fungal Infection Awareness Month
May 1 is . . . . . Mother Goose Day and Save The Rhino Day
May 2 is . . . . . Fire Day
May 3 is . . . . . Lumpy Rug Day
May 4 is . . . . . National Candied Orange Peel Day
May 5 is . . . . . National Hoagie Day
May 6 is . . . . . Beverage Day
May 7 is . . . . . International Tuba Day, Paste Up Day, and National Roast Leg of Lamb Day
May 8 is . . . . . No Socks Day and Have A Coke Day
May 9 is . . . . . Lost Sock Memorial Day
May 10 is . . . . Clean Up Your Room Day
May 11 is . . . . Eat What You Want Day and Twilight Zone Day
May 12 is . . . . Limerick Day
May 13 is . . . . Leprechaun Day
May 14 is . . . . National Dance Like A Chicken Day
May 15 is . . . . National Chocolate Chip Day
May 16 is . . . . Wear Purple For Peace Day
May 17 is . . . . Pack Rat Day
May 18 is . . . . International Museum Day and Visit Your Relatives Day
May 19 is . . . . Frog Jumping Jubilee Day
May 20 is . . . . Eliza Doolittle Day
May 21 is . . . . National Memo Day and National Waitresses/Waiters Day
May 22 is . . . . Buy-A-Musical-Instrument Day
May 23 is . . . . Penny Day
May 24 is . . . . National Escargot Day
May 25 is . . . . National Tap Dance Day
May 26 is . . . . Grey Day
May 27 is . . . . Body Painting Arts Festival
May 28 is . . . . National Hamburger Day
May 29 is . . . . End Of The Middle Ages Day
May 30 is . . . . My Bucket's Got A Hole In It Day
May 31 is . . . . National Macaroon Day
May is . . . . Better Sleep Month, National Good Car Care Month, National Photo Month, National Salad Month, National Egg Month, National Barbecue Month, Revise Your Work Schedule Month, Date Your Mate Month, National Hamburger Month, and Fungal Infection Awareness Month
May 1 is . . . . . Mother Goose Day and Save The Rhino Day
May 2 is . . . . . Fire Day
May 3 is . . . . . Lumpy Rug Day
May 4 is . . . . . National Candied Orange Peel Day
May 5 is . . . . . National Hoagie Day
May 6 is . . . . . Beverage Day
May 7 is . . . . . International Tuba Day, Paste Up Day, and National Roast Leg of Lamb Day
May 8 is . . . . . No Socks Day and Have A Coke Day
May 9 is . . . . . Lost Sock Memorial Day
May 10 is . . . . Clean Up Your Room Day
May 11 is . . . . Eat What You Want Day and Twilight Zone Day
May 12 is . . . . Limerick Day
May 13 is . . . . Leprechaun Day
May 14 is . . . . National Dance Like A Chicken Day
May 15 is . . . . National Chocolate Chip Day
May 16 is . . . . Wear Purple For Peace Day
May 17 is . . . . Pack Rat Day
May 18 is . . . . International Museum Day and Visit Your Relatives Day
May 19 is . . . . Frog Jumping Jubilee Day
May 20 is . . . . Eliza Doolittle Day
May 21 is . . . . National Memo Day and National Waitresses/Waiters Day
May 22 is . . . . Buy-A-Musical-Instrument Day
May 23 is . . . . Penny Day
May 24 is . . . . National Escargot Day
May 25 is . . . . National Tap Dance Day
May 26 is . . . . Grey Day
May 27 is . . . . Body Painting Arts Festival
May 28 is . . . . National Hamburger Day
May 29 is . . . . End Of The Middle Ages Day
May 30 is . . . . My Bucket's Got A Hole In It Day
May 31 is . . . . National Macaroon Day
Icefang - May 18, 2006 10:37 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| LONDON - A heiress who was married to her husband for 17 years has discovered after all this time that her man is actually a woman. Her transsexual spouse, referred to in court as Mr. J, concealed his true gender from her for 17 years, using a home-made part of the anatomy for sex. The marriage was nullified when the wife, Mrs. C, found out his true identity, and the Court of Appeal ruled that Mr. J is not legally a parent of her 14-year-old daughter born from donor sperm. At a hearing in 1996, Lord Justice Ward thought many people would find it surprising that in 17 years of marriage Mrs. C did not realize she was living with a woman. |
Icefang - May 18, 2006 10:38 PM (GMT)
Damn utilities....
| QUOTE |
| FLINT, Mich. - It may not seem like much, but one penny was enough for Consumers Energy to cut off power in a woman's home. Cash-strapped Jacqueline Williams was a cent short on paying her electric bill and was plunged into darkness until she showed up with a one-cent payment. Williams lives on Social Security and began letting her debt to Consumers Energy slip in November, the Flint Journal reported Tuesday. Last week, she received a warning that power to her home would soon be shut off, and she went to the state Department of Human Services, where she was told the agency would pay most of the bill. The Salvation Army also pledged $430.67 and Consumers Energy agreed to match $430.66 toward the bill. However, the total came to $1,662.07 -- one cent short of the total -- and her power was turned off that afternoon. |
Prisma Nova - May 29, 2006 06:46 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Lovesick swan falls in love with swan paddle boat Fri May 26, 02:16 PM EST BERLIN (Reuters) - A swan has fallen in love with a plastic swan-shaped paddle boat on a pond in the German town of Muenster and has spent the past three weeks flirting with the vessel five times its size, a sailing instructor said Friday. Peter Overschmidt, who operates a sailing school and rents the two-seat paddle boat on the Aasee pond, said the black swan with a bright red beak has not left the white swan boat's side since it flew in one day in early May. "It seems like he's fallen in love," said Overschmidt. "He protects it, sits next to it all the time and chases away any sail boats that get anywhere nearby. He thinks the boat is a strong and attractive swan." Overschmidt said the swan will figure it out sooner or later but hopes he won't be too heartbroken. "I'll wish him all the best and hope that he doesn't make the same mistake again," said Overschmidt." |
Dr Archeville - May 30, 2006 04:17 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Da Vinci Code’ steals from ‘Star Wars’ Upon seeing “The Da Vinci Code” this weekend, I can finally empathize with all the protesters I saw in front of the theater. My objection to the movie isn’t rooted in religious beliefs or even moral disagreements, but rather the disrespectful mockery of the world’s oldest and most famous story. “Star Wars” is both a literary and cinematic treasure, and Dan Brown’s recent atrocity is nothing more than blatant plagiarism of Lucas’ timeless creation. The likeness goes far past incidental similarities and can be more aptly described as a rip-off. For starters, look at the characters. “The Da Vinci Code” features a faceless antagonist referred to as “teacher,” much like the part of the emperor in “Star Wars.” This “teacher” controls the actions of the Bishop Aringarosa (Darth Vader) as well as Silas (Darth Maul); both of which are sith-like pawns in his ultimate plan to find the Holy Grail. The Knights Templar are unmistakably the knighted force of the Jedi, fighting alongside the Priory of Sion, or rebellion as the case may be. While the movie omitted the return of Sophie’s brother, the book features it as the two being raised separately after their parent’s death to ensure their safety. It’s almost too easy for me to draw this painfully obvious line from that to the Luke and Leia situation. Hanks’ character, Langdon, was only missing the Wookie Chewbacca by his side. I only wish the comparisons ended there, but they spread far past similar characters. The church’s order to terminate the Knights Templar is the emperor’s “order 66” for the clone armies to eliminate all Jedi. A few survived to protect, raise and teach the last scion, just as Obi-Won and Master Yoda did. Not to mention my favorite scene where Langdon rescues Sophie from the Death Star. Either way, I can hardly wait for the sequels. I’m sure “Da Vinci Strikes Back,” and “Return of the Code” are going to be huge hits. Any movie worth seeing must in some way take from “Star Wars,” and fiction is fiction no matter what the subject matter. May The Force be with you. |
Star Wars is "the world’s oldest and most famous story"?!
Prisma Nova - May 30, 2006 04:56 PM (GMT)
Doc, hon, haven't you paid attention when you watch "Star Wars"?
You know, the big letters that goes to infinity actually say:
"A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away…"
Seems to me that " a long time ago" is quite old. :lol:
And in some countries "Jedi" is considered a religion.
You know, the big letters that goes to infinity actually say:
"A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away…"
Seems to me that " a long time ago" is quite old. :lol:
And in some countries "Jedi" is considered a religion.
Roadbuster - May 30, 2006 04:58 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Star Wars is "the world’s oldest and most famous story"?! |
What... you want it to be something unheard of like Beowulf?? :lol:
O.Supreme - May 30, 2006 06:48 PM (GMT)
It makes sense actually. Both The Da Vinci Code & Star Wars are works of Fiction. It's just that Star Wars is actually enjoyable.
Roadbuster - May 30, 2006 07:32 PM (GMT)
:lol:
Roadbuster - May 30, 2006 07:40 PM (GMT)
jeezum...
| QUOTE |
Pedophiles to launch political party AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage. The Charity, Freedom and Diversity (NVD) party said on its Web site it would be officially registered Wednesday, proclaiming: "We are going to shake The Hague awake!" The party said it wanted to cut the legal age for sexual relations to 12 and eventually scrap the limit altogether. "A ban just makes children curious," Ad van den Berg, one of the party's founders, told the Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper. "We want to make pedophilia the subject of discussion," he said, adding the subject had been a taboo since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in neighboring Belgium. "We want to get into parliament so we have a voice. Other politicians only talk about us in a negative sense, as if we were criminals," Van den Berg told Reuters. The Netherlands, which already has liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution and gay marriage, was shocked by the plan. An opinion poll published Tuesday showed that 82 percent wanted the government to do something to stop the new party, while 67 percent said promoting pedophilia should be illegal. "They make out as if they want more rights for children. But their position that children should be allowed sexual contact from age 12 is of course just in their own interest," anti-pedophile campaigner Ireen van Engelen told the AD daily. Right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders said he had asked the government to investigate whether a party with such "sick ideas" could really be established, ANP news agency reported. Kees van deer Staaij, a member of the Christian SGP party, also demanded action: "Pedophilia and child pornography should be taboo in every constitutional state. Breaking that will just create more victims and more serious ones." The party wants private possession of child pornography to be allowed although it supports the ban on the trade of such materials. It also supports allowing pornography to be broadcast on daytime television, with only violent pornography limited to the late evening. Toddlers should be given sex education and youths aged 16 and up should be allowed to appear in pornographic films and prostitute themselves. Sex with animals should be allowed although abuse of animals should remain illegal, the NVD said. The party also said everybody should be allowed to go naked in public and promotes legalizing all soft and hard drugs and free train travel for all. |
Starshooter - May 30, 2006 08:12 PM (GMT)
*Is PROUD to be one of the unpopular minority who likes The DaVinci Code - both the book and the film. Why? Because I exercise my right to choose for myself and not be swayed by the media.*
OK, let's edit this some more. I had posted a big long rant against all the so-called "intellectuals" out there who are bashing this film/book. But I then realized the reason why all this DaVinci Code backlash pisses me off. I'm a Pagan. You all are Christians. Of course you are all pissed off, this story possibly undermines your dogma. Of course I liked it, this story reaffirms my belief that the divine feminine is just as important as the divine masculine. My personal beliefs were already close what this story was trying to say. Yours are not. Does that make either of us stupid? No, it shouldn't.
OK, let's edit this some more. I had posted a big long rant against all the so-called "intellectuals" out there who are bashing this film/book. But I then realized the reason why all this DaVinci Code backlash pisses me off. I'm a Pagan. You all are Christians. Of course you are all pissed off, this story possibly undermines your dogma. Of course I liked it, this story reaffirms my belief that the divine feminine is just as important as the divine masculine. My personal beliefs were already close what this story was trying to say. Yours are not. Does that make either of us stupid? No, it shouldn't.
Icefang - May 30, 2006 09:29 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| It makes sense actually. Both The Da Vinci Code & Star Wars are works of Fiction. It's just that Star Wars is actually enjoyable. |
Yes, The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction based off of many things that take place in our history that we cannot prove or disprove (unless you have blind faith in the King James bible, oy). Personally I loved the movie, never read the book. The most enjoyable and direct point that movie made to me was "Who cares what religion has told you, believe what you want to believe."
If you disliked the movie or are not open to other possibilities, then that's your preference. I actually went into the movie skeptical and not expecting it to be as good as it was. I sat there saying to myself, "Uh huh, uh huh...uh huh." Cause I knew that these things are possible. I'm not saying they did happen, but you can't definitely say they are fictitious.
The whole "It's ripped of Star Wars" is such crap honestly. If you want to say that then there a whole slew of movies that you can say have ripped of Star Wars first. Hell, Lucas didn't think up that story himself anyways. He blatantly (and he admits it) ripped off classic Japanese cinema. The whole conspiracy and shadow bad guys is an old and base premise for movies. Hell, I liked it when the Maltese Falcon did it. Hell, Casablanca pulled it off quite well.
Ripped off Star Wars? Get in line folks. This is just another blatant attempt by someone trying to piss and moan about the movie cause it goes against what they believe. Hell, I liked the way Kevin Smith put it when he had Chris Rock talk about Christianity taking a good idea and making it law. If you just live your life as a good person and are kind to others, shouldn't that really be enough?
Roadbuster - May 30, 2006 09:55 PM (GMT)
1. OFF TOPIC!!!!!!!
2. Er... I didn't get the feeling that he was pissed that it was anti-christianity at all... just that it was 'a rip off of star wars'
3. OFF TOPIC!!!!!
If you wanna debate DaVinci, start a new topic and do so... Personally, I won't do that via discussion boards because there will be too many blatant misunderstandings and feelings hurt, ala the way things are with such a small mentioning that didn't even bring up beliefs... (well, except jedi beliefs.)
2. Er... I didn't get the feeling that he was pissed that it was anti-christianity at all... just that it was 'a rip off of star wars'
3. OFF TOPIC!!!!!
If you wanna debate DaVinci, start a new topic and do so... Personally, I won't do that via discussion boards because there will be too many blatant misunderstandings and feelings hurt, ala the way things are with such a small mentioning that didn't even bring up beliefs... (well, except jedi beliefs.)
Jackass Maximus - May 30, 2006 10:37 PM (GMT)
Star Wars and DaVinci Code are both children's stories. Pure fluff. I found the conspiracy interesting, but Dan Brown and George Lucas both write like 13-year olds.