The Menagerie

Tiassa

Tiassa

Let us not launch the boat ...
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Menagerie


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​
me·nag·er·ie
n.

1. a. A collection of live wild animals on exhibition.
1. b. An enclosure in which wild animals are kept.

2. A diverse or miscellaneous group.

Source: Dictionary.com
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It would take longer than anyone around here ever cares to read to explain the sinister literary notions of the menagerie, so I'll leave it at that.

Every once in a while a "scientific" miracle occurs that isn't real; now and then humanity approaches its own reflection and fails to recognize its own face in the water. It seems reasonable to wonder if perhaps, instead of bringing you individual topics for these odd stories, I ought not just open a Menagerie, a Sciforums zoo of those oddities worth a chuckle but no great or serious consideration.

So drop on by, spin a yarn. It's a great place to post a link and ask if anyone's heard about this or that which leaves you laughing and nobody else around you seems to get it. Or perhaps ... well ... see the next post. It is, in fact, the downright oddity of the story which moves me to raise from the electrons this City of the Strange, intended as a Temple of the Familiar.

(Where's Jack Palance when you need him?)
 
The Frog Prince?

Article Source: BBC News
Article Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3844441.stm
Article Title: "Iranian woman 'gives birth to frog'"
Article Date: June 27, 2004

BBC Monitoring reports that the Iranian daily Etemaad has covered the story of an Iranian woman who claims to have given birth to a frog. While no explanation for exactly how such a thing could happen has been offered, early speculation suggests that the woman unknowingly acquired the larva while swimming in a dirty pool, and the creature then grew to its adult form inside her body.

However, no odd story is left without its gaspingly bemusing twist. As the BBC puts it:

. . . [The] paper carries quotes from medical experts who say there are human characteristics to the animal . . . .

. . . . The "so-called frog", as the newspaper puts it, has yet to undergo precise genetic and anatomic tests.

But it quotes clinical biology expert Dr Aminifard as saying: "The similarities are in appearance, the shape of the fingers and the size and shape of the tongue."

Source: BBC News
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I'm tempted to ask if anyone has inquired with the French embassy, but I haven't been paying attention whether or not we have any French nationals around Sciforums who might take umbrage at such a slur. Nonetheless, that bit of gutter humor is reflective of the simple fact that I have no idea how to make anything more than a Free Thoughts topic out of this.

Maybe I could invent a conspiracy theory?

Nonetheless, if it's something so absurdly human that you must share, but don't feel the need to make a topic out of it ... bring it on in here. What? It's Free Thoughts. Nobody says you have to offer an opinion or anything substantial. Look at how many words I'm wasting at the end of this post .....
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• BBC News. "Iranian Woman 'gives birth to frog'." June 27, 2004. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3844441.stm
 
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lol that's a good article.

Okay, here goes, following the format you've set out.

Article Source: ABC News
Article Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200406/s1140162.htm
Article Title: "Puppy prevents Canadian killing spree"
Article Date: Friday, June 25, 2004

Who would have thought a cute little doggie would stop a mass slaughter?

A Canadian man, driving a car packed with weapons and ammunition, was intent on killing as many people as possible in a Toronto neighbourhood but gave up the plan at the last minute when he encountered a friendly dog, police say.
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Awww how sweet.

Police say the encounter melted the man's heart, and he then went in search of police to give himself up.
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He apparently wanted to kill people to have himself imprisoned for the rest of his life but this lil critter made him change his mind.
 
Now that's a dog.

(And I'm not sure format is really important. I play with various methods of informal citation mostly for a change of scenery. My penchant for "headline" posts in these sorts of topics might be encouraging other, perhaps more abusive use of enlarged text. But I like this one specifically because it's bulky and deliberate. Silly, eh?)
 
Format is everything, standardises it all. And there's nowt wrong with grabbing someones attention ;)
 
I have to ask..
Have you boys been shopping at the same store?

Here in the UK we refer to this sort of wierdness as "Forteana" after the 19th century master of strangeness Charles Fort
I'll be suprised if you've never heard of him. He's an American creation.

"there are more things of heaven and earth Horatio" ect ect
Dee Cee
 
Not all of it will necessarily be fortean, though. It's just that I don't see the need personally to litter the place up with a new topic every time I come across oddities. This is also the place where I'm sure we'll have a few electoral jokes about Dicks vs. Cox or Harry vs. Koontz. I mean, I can't imagine wasting a topic in Politics, for instance, if I come across a bumper sticker that says something like, "Pointing the Way with Cox."

Like this next one, for instance ... (actually, I decided that a woman attacking Chuck E. Cheese wasn't quite as thematic as I had intended, so at this point there is no next story.)
 
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Article Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Article Link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/180579_nerds.html
Article Title: "Yesterday's nerds have become today's players"
Article Date: July 6, 2004

The state of nerd-dom has never been more fluid. It used to be so simple -- you were either a mouth-breathing, glasses-taping, pocket-protector-wearing, comic-book-collecting, nasal-chortling, socially maladroit misfit, or you were someone who made fun of them . . . .

. . . . You've got nerd hunks, like Tobey Maguire, aka Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, who combines insecure stammering with washboard abs and adorableness -- and who's dominating the box office.

You've got nerd babes like Fey or Morgan Webb, host of a TechTV cable show on computer gaming whom Playboy has been trying to recruit to pose (unsuccessfully so far).

One of the hottest hip-hop acts right now is N.E.R.D., a side project of super-producers the Neptunes. "We weren't the coolest people in school," says Pharrell Williams, who named the act N.E.R.D. to "change the connotations" of the word. (It also stands for the more spiritually themed No One Ever Really Dies.) "Now when kids say 'nerd,' they might think about us," he says.

Source: Cox News Service/Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Comment:

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is this is what happens when you leave the news to Cox. But that's as dumb a joke as this article.

A note to internationals - Yes, our newspapers get filled with this kind of crap.
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• Kloer, Phil. "Yesterday's nerds have become today's players." Cox News Service, July 6, 2004. See http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/180579_nerds.html
 
Source: IOL
Link: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=29&art_id=qw1090324261509B235&set_id=1
Title: "Teen gets sloshed on porta-loo soap"
Date: July 20, 2004

This story just made the American cable news outlets today. So we're a couple of days late. But still, that title says it all.

Teenagers at a music festival in southern Sweden were so eager to get drunk they downed containers of an alcohol-based liquid soap from the toilets, leaving one girl in hospital, a local paper reported on Tuesday.

Youths attending the Oestersjoe festival in Karlshamn mixed cocktails of energy drink Red Bull and soap containing 62 percent alcohol from the portable toilets, Blekinge Laens Tidning reported.

Source: IOL
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Apparently the cocktail is a hit. An alleged month's supply of soap disappeared in an evening.

I will borrow for my commentary from Robin Williams:

• What do you know? Darwin was wrong.
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• IOL (Sapa/AFP). "Teen gets sloshed on porta-loo soap." July 20, 2004. See http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=29&art_id=qw1090324261509B235&set_id=1
 
Source: Reuters
Link: http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=5846470
Title: "Drug Sniffer Dog Dies of Overdose"
Date: August 2, 2004

The international war against illegal drugs has taken a casualty this week when Todd, a 7 year-old Springer spaniel working in Preston died of a drug overdose.

Police Constable Roger Moore, the dog's handler, is said to be devastated by the loss. Sergeant Peter Creston told the Daily Mirror, "[Todd] lived with them . . . he was their dog. He's going to be very difficult to replace, but police work is dangerous and unfortunately Todd has become a casualty."

While postmortem test results have not been completed, Todd arrived at Liverpool University displaying symptoms of methamphetamine ingestion.

Comment:

You know, it's funny when it's on The Simpsons, or Family Guy. But I'm not laughing this time.

FG-217_2.jpg

Brian: A dog with a problem, but at least he made it through.​
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• Reuters. "Drug Sniffer Dog Dies of Overdose." August 2, 2004. See http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=5846470

See Also -

• SNPP. "The Simpson's Episode Guide #5F18 - Natural Born Kissers." See http://www.snpp.com/episodes/5F18
• Family Guy Files. "Episodes - Season 3." See http://www.familyguyfiles.com/episodes/episodes.php?season=3
 
Don't always believe what you read for the media embelishes everything and really stretchs the truth in many stories they print or talk about. :mad:
 
A part is missing in the storie about the swedes. Its not easy to get beer or stronger drinks in Sweden, which explains why they are so creative.
 
Wascally Wabbit!

Source: Reuters
Link: http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=5976366
Title: "Blazing Bunny Spreads Fire at Cricket Club"
Date: August 13, 2004.

A toolshed at the Devizes cricket club in Wiltshire went up in flames to the tune of US$110,000 after a rabbit accidentally trapped in a bonfire broke free and bolted. The blazing rabbit ran into the hut where its skeletal remains were discovered after the fire was extinguished. According to cricket club chairman John Bedbrook, "The firemen were certainly concerned about the rabbit. They felt sorry for it."

Comment:

One copy of the wire story going around asserts, "Animal gets some measure of revenge before perishing." Let's hope the news of this incident doesn't strike a chord with various animals who might turn to suicide-burning as a protest against human encroachment.
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• Reuters. "Blazing Bunny Spreads Fire at Cricket Club." August 14, 2004. See http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=5976366

See Also -

• http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5693657/
 
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Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/187346_busbaby21.html
Title: "Near miss for toddler who gives parents the slip"
Date: August 21, 2004

Cruising southbound on Aurora Avenue North late Wednesday night, Metro bus driver Peter Sang saw a small object moving in the roadway.

At first he thought it was an animal, perhaps a small dog. But, as he slammed on the brakes, he asked himself, "Does a small animal walk upright?"

He quickly realized it was a toddler in front of his 30,000-pound bus.

Sang managed to bring his bus to a halt about 5 yards before hitting the 2 1/2-year-old boy, who was toddling in his yellow body suit and diaper across Aurora near North 149th Street.

"Oh my God, that was a baby," said Sang yesterday, recalling the 10:40 p.m. incident. "I was so scared. The baby was the last thing you think you would see on Aurora."

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Only on Aurora .... Admittedly, you'd think "hooker" before you thought "toddler" on Aurora, but I say, "Only on Aurora."
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• Hadley, Jane. "Near miss for toddler who gives parents the slip." August 21, 2004. See http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/187346_busbaby21.html
 
By god if this bear hasn't earned a place in the menagerie then I don't know who has :D

Bear gets drunk

black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday.
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Honestly some animals just can't hold thier liquor. This is in your neck of the woods too Tiassa. How long before the beer manufacturer works an advertising angle on this one? :D
 
The brand was Rainier, a tremendously awful brew on par with Black Label, Hamm's, Busch, &c. What's strange is that we have a local affinity up here; Rainier used to have the best commercials on television, and there's a couple of guys around here with an archive of the things, and I'd swear I saw them hosting a show in which they were showing old commercials.

There's a horrible website (bad Flash), Remember Rainier, which even has a note about the bear, but ....

Rainier is essentially a dead brew; I don't know where it's being made these days. (Oregon?) The classic brewery was bought out several years ago and became a headquarters, I believe, for Tully's coffee.



Top: The classic Rainier "R"
Bottom: Replaced by Tully's "T"​

Brand promotions based on the bear will most likely remain a cultish affair. This is a region terrorized by Artesians (Olympia Beer), wild Rainiers, and running, six foot clams (Ivar's Fish & Chips). Getting an endorsement from the real wildlife department (as opposed to the bureaucratic one) will only increase Rainier's legend, but won't do anything to save either the beer quality itself or its flagging sales.
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Image Credits: Thanks to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal for the images.
 
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