Category Archives: Bizarre

Best site of the day

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*yawn*

Hey, friends. I overslept today, till 8:15 a.m., and I feel like total garbage for it. Icky. I got up and immediately had a Klondike Bar (an Ohio delicacy). I know not why.

Ok…this morning’s research led me to a great site. Don’t ask me how I get to these places; I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I’m sure many of you can relate: you start on a single page, notice some sidebar links, click on one or two, then you’re following a strange map. One road leads to another, and then you’re like, “How’d I end up here?” Awesome.

But, I digress. Back to the best site of the day. It’s Roadside America – the self-described “online guide to offbeat tourist attractions.” And they ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie, folks. This stuff makes getting in the car worth it. Except…

I have a secret fear of the Muffler Men.

It must be something about their slightly sociopathic gaze or the fact that you can’t really tell if they’re smiling or not. Maybe it’s that most of them aren’t holding anything in their hands anymore, due to vandalism or the passage of time. Regardless, they trip my creepy meter.

Aside from that, Roadside America features some addictive reading. Too much, probably, for busy people like us. The commentary is smart-aleck, funny and embarrassingly true, and highlights places that are right close to home, such as the bizarre Living Bible Museum in Mansfield.

Also check out this wackjob from Hartsgrove. Only in Ohio…

So where are you going this weekend? How about a nice one-day road trip to Holmes County to see an enormous mural of the History of Cheesemaking? I know, I’m a daredevil excitement junkie. So sue me.

Fink out.

Bored webmasters

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Yes, my friends. It’s Weird Wednesday. It seems there are lots of folks on the web who have entirely too much free time (or, like Yours Truly, they have no life).

On some of these, I wasn’t sure whether to declare them noteworthy because of the bizarro factor, or on account of just plain horrible web design. Check it:

There. That oughta keep you busy for awhile.

Fink out.

Trompe l’oeil, oh boy

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I don’t know how I happen on some of the weird sites that end up on my screen, and eventually as the subjects of my blog posts. But as you know, research is my hobby. Sister got no life.

On today’s menu is the artistic painting style called trompe l’oeil (pronounced “tromp loy”), which began in the 16th century, and in 2008 would be described as 3-D painting. Trompe l’oeil simply means “to fool the eye.” And although some of these paintings were done long before the advent of photography, it’s hard to believe they aren’t actually photographs. Have a looksee:

trompe_hoogstrtnlg.jpg harnett_full.jpg

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This is actually a painting:

kaye.jpg

spacer.jpgAnd imagine, before the days of television or cinema, going to the art gallery and seeing this:

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spacer.jpgCreepy.

Kind of reminds me of this:

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*shudder*

Talk about fooling the eye…did anyone see this coming while watching the film for the first time?

And there you are. Trompe l’oeil.

Bon jour, mes amis.

The lie that ate Manhattan

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jones1.jpgSo, say you write a book – your autobiography, detailing your triumph over gang membership, physical abuse, drugs, and basically a future with no hope. Then the book hits the New York Times Bestseller List. Your literary agent secures a national tour. Sales go through the roof. You’re on your way to achieving what many people (including Yours Truly) only dream about: being viewed as a truly fine writer.

Then the wheels fall off when your sister tells your publisher that your entire story was a hoax. Made up. Fabricated. You were not a half-Native American, half-Caucasian waif, unmercifully abused and forced to sell drugs at 10 years old. Rather, you were an upper-middle-class princess, raised by her parents in Sherman Oaks.

Then there’s James Frey, whose A Million Little Pieces, an autobiographical tale of escaping a vicious world of crime and drugs, became so popular that Oprah Winfrey recommended it to all her viewers – only to find out later that, yep, you guessed it: it was all a big fat lie.

What causes people to do this? I mean…do they not think for a minute that folks might check their stories? Do they think they won’t be found out when they include their mugshot photos in the book, complete with police department booking numbers?

That’s what Frey did – and some cop saw it. And checked. Then the house of cards came tumbling down.

misha1.jpgAnd worst – WORST – of all: There’s a 71-year-old lady in Massachusetts named Misha who told a huge lie about living with wolves as a 5-year-old Holocaust survivor on the run. And what did she do when Jane Daniel, her publisher, got suspicious and tried to back out after the book went to press and sold a million copies?

The old gal sued Daniel for $23 million……and won.

And the drama ain’t over yet. Daniel is now challenging the court’s ruling, claiming that the lawsuit was bogus because everything the publishing company did was predicated on Misha’s story being true.

So, what’s the lesson in this? I have to quote my mother here. “If you always tell the truth, you’ll never have to keep track of what you say, and you’ll never have to apologize for lying.”

Yeah – especially to the national media.

Do NOT go here…

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…unless you want to be late for work or school, or kept from what you’re supposed to be doing for the next 3 hours.

I’m not kidding. You’ll read and read and read until you’ve lost track of time as you know it.

Ok…but don’t say I didn’t warn you.*jeni.jpg

Did you know Richard Jeni was dead?? Coulda knocked me over with a feather. Remember him, from The Mask with Jim Carrey? As the story goes, one minute he’s talking with his wife about breakfast, the next….dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Wow.

And hey, fellow ’70s TV hounds…

duel.jpgRemember the western series Alias Smith and Jones? Which one – Smith or Jones – did you love more? (Hands down Smith for me.) And remember Pete Duel, the guy who played Joshua Smith? Did you know he committed suicide too? I knew he died years ago, but never knew it was with a .38 caliber…

*I hereby disclaim the strong language found in articles on findadeath.com‘s site, and state forthwith that the opinions expressed therein are not necessarily those of Yours Truly. (Gimme a break – my students read this blog, ok?)