January 27, 2000

YOU ARE GETTING SLEEPY, AND YOU THINK YOU'RE A PIG

Hitting the Queen Elizabeth Theatre tonight through Sunday are the P.T. Barnum-esque antics of hypnotist Peter Reveen (wasn't he "The Magnificent Reveen" in the 70s? I wonder what happened.) This is billed as the "funniest and most amazing" power-of-suggestion show you will see. I haven't had the pleasure(?) of checking him out, but if the TV commercials are any indication, it should be a surreal evening. My only advice is to heed Ben Kenobi's warning: "The power of the Force has a strong influence over the weak-minded." Try not to get sucked into going on-stage and end up humping someone's leg while barking like a dog.

THINK YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING? YOU'RE PROBABLY INCOMPETENT

A study carried out by Cornell University psychology professor David Dunning concluded that incompetent people do not know that they are incompetent, and actually are more confident that they know what they are doing than competent people. The researchers said that the reason incompetent people do not recognize their own incompetence is because the cognitive skills required to be competent are the same required to recognize competence. Are you following this? If you think you are it could be because you're too incompetent to realize that you don't understand what you just read. (New York Times)

JAPANESE BEETLEMANIA

Animal conservationists in Japan are trying to stop a wildly popular new trend in Japan: buying a pair of three-inch horned beetles (kabutomushi) from sidewalk vending machines. Aki Shiotsubo of the Citizen's Group to Preserve Nature and Protect Animals says "treating living creatures in the same way as soft drinks and cigarettes sets a terrible example for children...beetles are not tamagotchi." This latest technological innovation is just the latest twist in a long love affair the Japanese have with the insect. Collectors have been known to pay as much as $13,000 for a pair of rare ikuwagata stag beetles, with the record set last August as a company president paid $26,000 for a giant "Black Diamond" stag beetle. (The Guardian)

HO-HUM, ANOTHER TWO-HEADED SNAKE

Tom Raspoptsis of Redford, Michigan is trying to fetch $30,000 for a 30-inch albino rat snake with two heads. Unfortunately, according to Theresa Moran of the Michigan Society of Herpetologists (reptile lovers), "two-headed snakes are not terribly unusual...I personally have seen two or three." Who'd have thunk it? Raspoptsis says the only trouble the snake causes is that he has to feed both heads equally to avoid health problems for the snake, but when he feeds them, he has to keep the heads apart or one head may try to swallow the other. He has set his sights on finding a collector in Japan, where he says, "they like something very exotic." If only he had a two-headed beetle. (Detroit Free Press)

I'LL BE BACK

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has had a tough time removing crocodiles from golf courses in that state. It seems that crocodiles have a homing instinct that scientists cannot explain. Recently, an eight-foot female crocodile set a record by swimming 140 miles from the state park it was relocated to, back to the Miami golf course that was built on its home. (Reuters)

AND EVEN MORE CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

During an episode of The Jerry Springer Show, a man identified only as "Mark" proudly claimed that he was so in love with his horse Pixel, that he married her, and has consummated the marriage. Uggh.

REEFER MADNESS

The latest development in the so-called "War on Drugs" has Florida drug czar Jim McDonough proposing the testing of a marijuana-killing fungus on plantations in his state. The biotech firm Ag/Bio Con has created the fungus which, it claims, will kill only marijuana plants. Sure it will. (Sightings)

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Copyright 2000 by Andreas Ohrt (604) 803-7485
Email:aohrt@hotmail.com
Website:www.curioustimes.com