In-the-WeirdIn-the-WeirdDiversionary Distractions and Profound Mutterings. A collection of artists, djs, writers, and all around strange people sharing their creations, reviews on books, movies , music and more, as well as odd findings from around the world. Articles
Kilgore Trout Is Dead
2007-04-13 00:33:00 We here in the Phreakhaus--central headquarters for In the Weird--are in mourning for the great Kurt Vonnegut, who died at the age of eighty-four, following a fall-related head injury. A true American writer in the spirit of Mark Twain, Vonnegut wrote stories that made you laugh through the tears. He painted warts-and-all pictures of humanity, so that we had to snicker in spite of ourselves, in spite of the fact that we were the butt of his jokes, because they were true, and because the human condition is so very funny. Vonnegut recognized the potential of being human, and the potential of humans for having a lot of fun, or, conversely, causing a lot of misery.I never met Vonnegut myself, but I suppose I could be considered a student of his, in the same sense that I am a student of BKS Iyengar, since I did study with Stu Dybek, who studied with Vonnegut in the sixties. Or perhaps study is too strong a word. Once, I asked Dybek if Vonnegut had taught him great things. Dybek laughed. ... More About: Gore , Dead
Hanttula.com
2007-04-12 22:00:00 Features a Circus of Disemboweled Plush Toys as one of their many exhibits. Witness the tragedy if you dare.Poor Slicey McLamb is one of the features in this graphic exhibit of glorified plushie violence. Other exhibits of note on the site:Bunnyocalypse: a documentation of the ongoing marshmallow bunny apocolypse. Episode 19 (the final 2006 episode): Bunny Beachhouse Conflagration.and MOFA: the museum of food oddities. Check out the Dwarf Siamese Albino Cryogenically-preserved Twin Gummy Bears More About: Tula
Peter Callesen - Master of Papercraft Art
2007-04-11 21:08:00 Peter Call esen's work is extremely impressive. He has taken the art of papercraft to an entirely new level, from small single page cut outs to large scale gallery installations, to using papercraft methods to create a giant floating castle! Please click thru and explore his gallery, it is well worth it, and his brillance is in the details of his work. More About: Craft , Paper , Master , Calle
Fiji Mermaid Plush and other fabu finds on Custom Toy Lab.
2007-04-10 18:21:00 Custom Toy Lab provides an interesting outlet for modified vinyl toys, strange handmade plushes and just generally odd toys. Lots of Munny and Dunny mods. Many of these mods/creations/mutilations are adorably twisted, some are just disturbingly twisted. Enjoy. More About: Other , Find , Lush , Fiji
Cryptozoological Photography
2007-04-09 10:05:00 I picked the funniest photo for our page, but this collection of animal mashups is really well done... and perhaps a harbinger of genetic manipulations by mad scientists of the future? More About: Photo , Photography , Crypto , Logic , Graph
The Ultimate Rejection Letter
2007-04-08 04:54:00 Having enjoyed Dragon's response to a rejection letter last month, I felt I had to share this hilarious anti-rejection letter when upon it I did wander. More About: Letter , Mate , Ultimate , The U , Rejection
The Evolution of Clutch - Electric Worry
2007-04-06 02:36:00 Those that know me well understand my near perverse love of the band Clutch . I will make no attempt to deny it, for they continuously rock my freakin world. Their last album, "Robot Hive/Exodus" has literally been stuck in my truck's cd player for over 9 months... there is nothing wrong with the eject button. The album is just that fucking good. Each of their last 4 albums has shown a dramatic evolution of style, while always retaining the wry wit of their lyrics, rumbling drums and base, and deep bluesy rawness. Every album has seemed better then the last, which is in no way to demean those that came before, but rather to reiterate how consistently amazing the music that comes from this band is. After hearing only this one song so far, and seeing they have now added a harmonica palyer on top of the keyboardist they introduced in the last album, I am not expecting to be let down at all by their newest release "From Beale Street to Oblivion". With Clutch going strong, Rock is... More About: Evolution , Worry , Electric
The Onion Takes on The Daily Show
2007-04-06 01:20:00 In The Know: Our Troops In IraqImmigration: The Human Cost More About: Daily , Show , Take , Daily Show , The Onion
Max Eternity and Bauhaus Evolution
2007-04-05 20:14:00 I was recently contacted by an artist named Max Eternity who complimented me on my glassware and paintings, and I was quite intrigued by his paintings as well, though I must admit that I like the work from his General Collections more than his "Man of Mystery" series... but I think that is a aesthetic judgement call on my part. I just tend to like works with a less representational quality, too me those provide much more mystery to the viewer. The works from his General Collection - Portfolio 1 & Portfolio 2 remind me of some of my earlier paintings and digital explorations as well as the works of my father (some of which I will be putting online very soon for your enjoyment). Max has also taken the now unusual step of trying to start his own Art movement called Bauhaus Evolution , as an offshoot of the Bauhaus and Abstract movements of the early 1900's. I have not decided wether I will join up yet (because of my overt hermit like tendencies), but I give him props for the effort... More About: Haus
Happy 13th Birthday!...
2007-04-05 16:46:00 To you, teenage zombie Kurt Cobain! More About: Happy , Birthday , Birth
If this is true...
2007-04-05 03:03:00 Flaming Lips' Album "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" To Be Made Into Broadway MusicalI might have a heart-attack of happiness!Yip! Yip! Yip! Bliss! More About: This , True
Frank Herbert's Dune in Arabic
2007-04-04 23:16:00 I just discovered Bidoun magazine. The latest issue contains an interesting though brief rumination on the lack of sci-fi in the Arab world, what a hearty injection of speculative fiction might do there, and mainly on Dune's easy "allegorical reading as both jihadist wish fulfillment and critique of neocon hubris". Go read it. Dune's central importance at our current historical juncture is twofold. First, it postulates, however implicitly, that in the distant future the only remnants of twentieth-century human life will be Arab in origin: a desert planet, an invaluable natural resource, veiled and fanatical nomads, a prophet known as the Mahdi, an intergalactic jihad. Each object of significance in the Dune universe has its obvious parallel in the Arab Word: spice is oil; the nomads, Bedouins; the intergalactic jihad, jihad. Even the language spoken by the Be-douins of Dune is derived from Arabic . The sand-worms have no immediate analogue in either Arab or Islamic history; they... More About: Rank , Fran , Frank , Frank Herbert
Buy a fake dead fairy?
2007-04-03 18:44:00 On Ebay! The best place in the world to buy and sell dead (fake) fairies. This fabulous April Fool's hoax (found at http://www.lebanoncircle.co.uk/Dead Fair y. htm) is the brainchild of crazy brit, Dan Baines. He is now selling the "outed" fairy on ebay to help pay for bandwidth. Brilliant! And reminds me of Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Books. More About: Fake
Breaking Science News!
2007-03-30 04:54:00 Eat A Lot of Beef? It May Affect Your Son's Sperm Count!!!! "In sons of 'high beef consumers' (more than seven beef meals a week), sperm concentration was 24.3 percent lower," the researchers wrote in their report, published in the journal Human Reproduction..." Hats off to the researchers who put forth the effort to draw the link between these two completely random things. I'm certain its very important to the survival of humankind as we know it.Should we build an argument for or against vegetarianism based on this? More About: Science , News , Science News , Break , King
Your life in words (potentially)
2007-03-29 20:54:00 Artist and researcher Nadine Jarvis's site www.nadinejarvis.com is dedicated to: "An ongoing research project looking to challenge our archaic post mortem traditions and to offer proposals for alternate treatment for our deceased."My favorite of her proposals (and a potential favorite for any writer/artist/doodler): "Pencils made from the carbon of human cremains. 240 pencils can be made from an average body of ash - a lifetime supply of pencils for those left behind." This is so beautiful I don't know where to begin. More About: Life , Word , Words , Your , Ally
Animusic - Resonant Chamber
2007-03-29 09:35:00 I just saw this link on Fark and had to archive it here as well. This is quite a beautifully strange cgi musical automaton, and well worth your viewing and listening time. It also goes along rather nicely with the robotesque theme we seem to be developing around here... More About: Music , Imus , Amber , Sona , Cham
Oh, A Triumphant Return...
2007-03-28 03:32:00 After a few weeks absence, I return, triumphantly of course, with a post about my two favorite topics: Michael Jackson and Robots. Actually, these aren't my two favorite topics. They are two of my favorite topics! "Michael Jackson is in discussions about creating a 50-foot robotic replica of himself to roam the Las Vegas desert, according to reports...If built, the metal monster would apparently be visible to aircraft as they come in to land in the casino capital." Man, I could only dream of having a 50-foot tall replicant-robot of myself. It would be even better if it was an 50-foot tall replicant/improvement of myself. I know a Sarahbot would definitely have dishwashing capabilities. Jacksonbot? I'm not so sure. More About: Return , Triumph , Turn
future Urban Legends
2007-03-27 04:31:00 item 4.Jenny Liebovitz was a showgirl in Las Vegas from 2031-2033. This story was told by a friend of hers who worked a poker table in the casino where Jenny performed. She heard it from a girl who worked in another casino across the street.Oh, so my friend’s friend, it was a Friday night and pretty crowded, she was running a big game, and the stakes were getting awful high, and this one fellow was winning. A strange guy, he was wearing a trench coat and gloves and some kind of big old scarf over his head and tinted glasses so, like, you couldn’t see his face or anything. This girl, running the table, she’s thinking all kinds of things in her head about this guy. Who is he? Does he have, like, leprosy, or something, is that why he’s covering his face? Or maybe it’s some kind of religious thing, or maybe a big woman who’s in drag to hide her identity for whatever reason. Who knows? A lot of crazy people come through the casinos in Vegas, so she’s only, like, a little cu... More About: Future , Urban , Urban Legends , Ends , Legend
Bizarre Fruit
2007-03-24 20:10:00 I tried a grapple the other day. It's a grape-flavored fuji apple. The smell reminds me of jolly rancher grape candy. So it's a fuji apple, same crisp crunch, same texture, but with grape-infused guts. Even the aftertaste reminds me of the not-quite-natural taste of a jolly rancher grape candy.Pick one up at your local grocery store! I got mine at the Safeway in Palo Alto, CA. More About: Fruit , Bizarre
Future Urban Legends
2007-03-18 06:31:00 item 3. Minos Popadopalous worked as a bouncer in several casinos in Monte Carlo over a five year period, from 2028-33. He claims that this story was well-known throughout the area, that many of his friends in the industry had told versions in which they themselves had encounters with the gambling robots.It happening a lot, this with the robots in the casinos. They coming in pretty late at night, when they masters go to sleep, maybe in the hotels, I don’t know. They coming into the casino, maybe with a little money, and only playing cards, not the slots, not the roulette wheel. And of course they not drinking. A lot of twenty-one, they playing, and poker, of course, and high stakes, yeah. And winning. All the time winning. Pretty good. But they not drinking, like I say, and not sleeping in the hotels neither, and all the time winning, so the management, they not liking it. Only humans allowed in the casinos, they decide. These robots, they too good, they counting cards, maybe they... More About: Future , Urban , Urban Legends , Ends , Legend
The Steampunk Art of Pierre Matter
2007-03-16 23:25:00 Wow does this stuff ever blow my mind! Thanks to boingboing for posting this link a couple days ago, and thus making me aware of a unique and truly incredible artist. For those of you that have not yet been exposed, this post is for you... enjoy! More About: Punk , Team , Matter , Matt , Pierre
Sleep-eating and other problems of perception
2007-03-16 22:38:00 Lately, the news has been full of scary stories about the unusual side effects of sleeping pills. It’s difficult to believe that people can drive cars or eat meals in their sleep, but I’ve seen it. A couple years ago, I studied abroad, sharing a small dorm room with a woman I knew from grad school. In addition to her daily SSRI, Stacey employed sleeping pills and tranquilizers, rendering her unaware of what went into her mouth.I would buy a jar of Nutella and a loaf of bread and eat one slice of bread with Nutella after class. The next day, I would find Stacey eating Nutella, from the jar, with a large spoon. The next day, the jar would be empty. I bought four jars in two weeks. Finally I told her to buy her own Nutella. She countered that she didn’t like Nutella. I asked why she had eaten four jars of it. She denied doing so. The kicker came one morning, around 4 a.m., when I was awakened by a loud “crunch-crunch-crunch” emanating two feet from my head. It took me a few m... More About: Other , Problems , Problem , Sleep , Eating
Future Urban Legends
2007-03-16 02:41:00 item 2This story was told in 2030 by Larissa K., a student at Berkeley. She heard it from her sister, who read about it in the San Francisco Underground Reader.This is a true story that has been hushed up—the Gates family didn’t want it get around, but it really happened, because my sister’s roommates’s cousin worked for Microsoft and she heard it there, too. You know Bobby Gates, one of the heirs, he’s a software developer, and he’d been working on this top-secret program, it was supposed to follow the market and pick stocks. You know, that’s something people have been trying to do forever, to find a fool-proof system to win on Wall Street. Well, Bobby Gates thought he’d finally got it, the program seemed to be picking winners. So, he fixed it up some more, gave it access to a real bank account, a small one, and told it just to play to market, to make money. Just to see how it worked.And it worked, too. His computer was consistently picking companies whose stocks we... More About: Future , Urban , Urban Legends , Ends , Legend
Blaqk Audio. Hear it. Love it!
2007-03-14 12:40:00 I'm listening to the new track, "Bitter for Sweet", right now. Again. And again and again. This is Jade Puget (synthesizer-electronical goodness) and Davey Havok (vocals) of AFI, and while I admit, I currently (and probably forever) have an unhealthy obsession for this little punk-goth-sorta-hardcore-dare-I-even-say- EMO band from the East Bay, even YOU will have to admit this new project is fucking amazing.So go. Listen. Fall in love like I have. And if you hate it, fine. I'll still be shaking my veritable money-maker and praying for some sort of club tour in the near future. More About: Audio , Love , Audi , Hear , Love it
What if the asteroid had missed?
2007-03-13 22:39:00 Here is a rather enjoyable little read discussing the possible continued evolution of the dinosaurs had they not been wiped out via big space rocks with attitude. I for one am glad that I was not required to learn Taradactylian back in highschool... More About: What , Hat , What If , Miss , Asteroid
I Want My ADHDTV
2007-03-13 01:39:00 FCC: All Programming To Be Broadcast In ADHDTV By 2007 More About: Want , Hdtv
What if Dubya ran Apple... Introducing the iRack
2007-03-11 19:19:00 Here is a funny bit of political satire for your Sunday morning. But fear not, for Dubya does not really run Apple ... he only runs our country instead. More About: What , Hat , What If , Rack
Future Urban Legends
2007-03-10 08:45:00 item 1.Daniel Griffin of Schaumberg, Illinois reported this story, told to him by a fellow electrician in UEW 778, in January of 2026.It happened to his son, who’s also an electrician. Seems like he got an urgent call one morning, folks had some bad wiring. Got the picture that it was a dangerous situation, but when he got to the place where the house should’ve been, it wasn’t there. Like, the address was 26, and there was a 24 and a 32, but no 26. So my friend’s son is wandering around, trying to find the house, when this service robot calls his name, says its owner gave the wrong address, and it’s gonna take this kid to the house. ‘Cept when he gets there, it’s no house. It’s just, like, a room in an abandoned building. Didn’t even have no electricity, lights running off battery-powered generators. What is there, right, is another service-bot running a dollar-ante poker game. And there’s five, six guys, you know, regular joes sitting around the table. I guess m... More About: Future , Urban , Urban Legends , Ends , Legend
Vegetarian Is the New Prius
2007-03-08 23:49:00 Your hybrid car probably makes you feel better, and it undeniably makes some difference, but the sad (and even more inconvenient) truth is that if you really want to take a personal step towards saving the earth and fighting global warming, you should probably go vegetarian. Here's a quote from the article linked above:Last month, the United Nations published a report on livestock and the environment with a stunning conclusion: "The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." It turns out that raising animals for food is a primary cause of land degradation, air pollution, water shortage, water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and not least of all, global warming.That's right, global warming. You've probably heard the story: Emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are changing our climate, and scientists warn of more extreme weather, coastal floodi... More About: Vegetarian , The N , Aria , Prius
Grad student outwits rodent
More articles from this author:2007-03-08 07:46:00 (I've been working on a big non-fiction story about rats, which is actually about the impermanent nature of relationships. But this bit is really just about rats.)One morning I awoke to find myself one rat short, and although I slithered all over the floor and reached into every crevice, he eluded me all day. Not until the second night did he pop his head out from behind the refrigerator. I drew him out with some peanuts and snatched him up, much to his chagrin. When I returned him to his tower, I didn’t lock the door.The next morning, he was AWOL again. I didn’t have to look too hard to find him; that gross, dusty space beneath the fridge was a perfect hiding spot. He knew I couldn’t easily get back there; he was digging in. Also, he’d grown wise to the peanut trap and refused to reach for any food, even that left in the middle of the floor overnight.He wasn’t hiding, not exactly, because every time I walked past his spot, I saw the little white head peeking out at me, a... More About: Twit , Student 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
 |
|
 |
