Sunday smörgåsbord

Archaeologists are recovering old bottles from a shipwreck off the coast of Sri Lanka. They were manufactured in 1840 and contain carbonated drinks - apparently much in demand (and rationally so) during cholera epidemics.

A farmer has received a color television for winning the Bangladesh rat-killing competition, bringing in over 39,000 carcasses, which he killed in one year (at a rate of one every 13 minutes) using poison, traps, and flooding. On the other hand, he is a farmer. I wonder what he raises on his farm...

A "man with nine lives" has "survived two car crashes, run himself over, cut a live electric cable and been pulled from water twice." Last week a slate crashed through his car roof. He told the BBC he can't believe his luck will end, or he would never leave the house. Apparently he's on his 8th life right now...

There is a medical basis for "crocodile tears," in which profuse tearing occurs from nonemotional stimuli. A woman in Kent developed Guillain-Barre syndrome with facial paralysis, after which she would tear uncontrollably at every meal, ruining her life in terms of going out to dinner or to tea parties. She has now been cured by Botox injections.

Jetstar airlines told a 350-pound woman that because of her body bulk she had to purchase two airline tickets. She did so. They then assigned her two seats separated by the aisle.

Last week's smörgåsbord used as a title image a frame from Taxidermia. I've subsequently found a trailer for the movie, but I won't embed it because, as Uncle K commented last week, it is so totally bizarre. You can watch the trailer at this link.

The Shirley Jackson Awards are presented for "outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic." Funds for the awards are raised through a lottery! Those of you familiar with her signature work will understand why.

Eight squad cars, machine guns, and rifles were scrambled to the scene when, in an effort to make a child smile, a man pointed a toy ray gun at the child and said "Pow, Pow!" It lit up and made a buzzing sound. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm in a public place.

After Obama was elected I saw comments to the effect "You can't say there's racism in America any more." Bulltwaddle. Go to this link at the Right Perspective and read the comments.

Last week I blogged about the scales of butterfly wings being natural solar collectors, and the technology being adapted for human use. Since the vision of moths has been adapted (through evolution) to be suited for nighttime, the nanostructure on the surface of moth eyes is a natural light collector. This is also being adapted for solar cell technology. (via)

A woman in an intensive care unit in Bolivia was injected with urine by a friend of hers, as a form of "health therapy." She died.

Sectarian strife continues to smolder in the Middle East, but seems to be taking on new means of expression. Haaretz, the oldest daily paper in Israel, is reporting that Christians in Jerusalem want Jews to stop spitting on them.

Adequate sleep is necessary in order to form memories. Your mother knew this instinctively when you were a student, but you didn't believe her. She was right.

I don't like to use the word "a**h*le" in a family blog, but if I did, it would apply to "self-help guru Todd Connor" who, in this video is giving some type of motivational talk on the "power of trust." [Update: Oops. Looks like I fell for a viral marketing video by comedian Dan Sachoff. Snopes thread here. Sachoff site here. Thanks, and a tip of the hat to Lesliesokolow for pointing this out in the comments section.]

A man on probation with a court-imposed curfew was fitted with a tracking device on his ankle. The person who installed it placed it on the ankle of his artificial (detachable) leg.

A college student in Michigan is accusing the school of discrimination based on sexual orientation. She alleges she was harassed and treated badly because she is not a lesbian.

Remember the bird who used bread as bait to catch fish? Well, in Hangzhou there are black swans that feed goldfish. No, I don't have an explanation. Or an idea.

FOX news. A compilation of front page graphics. If nothing else, it does suggest a certain fondness for bold fonts.

Rush Limbaugh asserts that "you can't search a pdf file." This is a conspiracy by Democrats who don't want the public to know what's in legislation. You can't search it. Except - of course - that you can.

France set up a mechanism for couples to arrange "civil unions." This was done to accommodate gay couples and bypass the "marriage" debate. Now, of the couples entering into these agreements, 92% are heterosexuals.

A 41-year-old woman "exercised her husband to death." He was in the pool and she prevented him from leaving it - 43 times. This was all captured on a surveillance video. No, you can't watch the video!

The oarfish may be one basis for legends of sea serpents. Impressive video here.

photo credit here.