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Curious Times No. 220
November 27, 2003ONE MAGIC PILL TO SOLVE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS
Scientists studying skin cancer have accidently stumbled upon a synthetic hormone which seems to be able to help you lose weight, give you a nice tan, and, if you’re man, help with your erection. This magical hormone, called Melanotan II, was being tested for its ability to give a natural looking tan without any sunlight, but also ended up helping test subjects to lose weight and gain unexpected erections. Melanotan II has since been dubbed the "Barbie Drug," thanks to its unique abilities. "You could theoretically get tanned and have, certainly, a lot of erectile activity and you might actually start to lose weight," promised Dr. Robert Dorr, a researcher at the University of Arizona. (NBC)EATING POT IS USUALLY A LOT MORE FUN
Although I’m generally of the opinion that marijuana is a relatively harmless drug, there are, of course, exceptions to every rule. For one thing, you might not want to try to swallow a plastic bag full of pot when you spot a cop. Nickolas Sandoval, 24, found this out the hard way when he stopped on the side of a highway to fix a flat tire. A patrol car pulled up behind him and two officers were about to help him out. But instead of finding a man trying to fix a flat tire, they found a man choking to death. They rushed him to the hospital, where doctors dislodged Sandoval’s stash from his throat, but it was too late to save him, and he was declared dead of "asphyxiation due to aspiration of plastic bag." Bummer... (Associated Press)MY FIANCE IS SURPRISINGLY GOOD AT PHONE SEX
A man in Macedonia is trying to weasel his way out of a $15,000 phone bill after he spent about 135 hours on a sex phone line speaking with a woman who he thought would be his future wife. Kire Iliovski, 25, claims that he thought he was calling a marriage agency, and didn’t realize he was being charged by the minute until he received his phone bill. "I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the bill," he says, "I thought I was calling an agency for possible marriage connections, not a sex line." He has now filed an official complaint with Macedonian Telecommunications in order to challenge the charges. (Ananova)IF WE CAN’T HAVE WORLD PEACE, AT LEAST WE CAN HAVE CLEAN TOILETS
Singapore is gearing up for next year’s annual World Toilet Summit by gathering public feedback on how to create a happier world by having cleaner public toilets. Singapore’s World Toilet Organization celebrated World Toilet Day last Sunday with an informational campaign to educate the public on toilet etiquette, and also set up an email address - infotoilet.org.sg - where people could send their suggestions. The comments will then be tabled at next year’s World Toilet Summit in Beijing, China, a convention which I’m sure will be much more exciting than it sounds. "If everyone joins in, there (will be) better public toilets and happier people," claimed Jack Sim, president of the Restroom Association of Singapore. (Agence France-Presse)FOOD PORTIONS KEEP GETTING LARGER AND LARGER
I don’t really know enough about Latvians to be making fun of them, but after news like this I don’t think I need to know much more, after all. According to the Baltic News Service, Latvia is set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records after slapping together the world’s largest potato salad, a whopping feast of potatoes, cabbage, sausage, eggs, peas, cucumbers, sour cream and mayonnaise weighing in at an astronomical (and gastronomical) 3,277 kilos, (7,210 pounds). Most impressively, the giant potato salad was made entirely by hand, and then devoured in about 30 minutes by 4,500 hungry Latvians. (Yahoo News)I SAY EXORCISE HER
A Sarasota, Florida woman has been diagnosed with an extremely rare disorder called "Foreign Accent Syndrome" after she began speaking with a British accent after suffering a stroke four years ago. Judi Roberts, now 57, was initially unable to speak at all after her stroke, but after months of therapy she began speaking with a British accent. Her disorder was not diagnosed for several years, during which time the bizarre affliction caused Roberts to avoid social contact and develop increasingly severe agoraphobia. But earlier this year she finally found a doctor who understood her condition, and she has decided to write a book and help to bring awareness of the syndrome in order to help others who might be in her position. But it’s not too likely that she’ll find anyone to help. Her case is one of less than 20 cases of Foreign Accent Syndrome documented since 1919, when a Norwegian woman who was struck in the head with shrapnel during World War II began speaking with a German accent. (Science Daily)HIP-HOP YOUR SORRY ASS INTO A JAIL CELL
Yet another wannabe rapper has been found guilty for murder after rapping his own confession on a home-made music video. Dennis Greene, 31, of Kentucky, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after murdering his wife. The jury didn’t have much problem reaching the verdict after watching a video Greene made just hours after the murder. The video showed him smoking pot and bragging about how he told his boss he wasn’t going to come to work so that he could go home and fight with his wife. Then he broke out into his song, in which he rapped "I really don’t care about tomorrow. Hell, you try to dare me, the f’ing bitch made me mad...She kept at me so I had to take her f’ing life...I cut her mother f’ing neck with a sword...I ain’t going to jail and I told you I’m going to be on the run. I got my gun." (WLWT Louisville)THE OBLIGATORY WEEKLY DUBYA BASHING
If you’re like most people, you love a good laugh at George W. Bush’s expense. If so, check out the website ericblumrich.com/idiot.html for a great little punk rock video called "The Idiot Son of an Asshole."
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