The Weird Universe explores a human and natural cosmos that is not only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine. The usual suspects are Paul Di Filippo; Alex Boese, curator of the Museum of Hoaxes; and Chuck Shepherd, purveyor of News of the Weird.

Recent posts:

• The Herriges Horror
  The more things change, the more they stay the same. Human nature, good or evil, is invariant. Read the whole story here, in a small book from 1870.
• Gustav Fassauer-Ferron
  Although he was hardly as famous as Stradivarius, Gustav Fassauer-Ferron created some violins that still have their fans today. As one site says, "Pupil of Oswald Schaller of Frankfort (Germany), with whom he underwent a thorough training, proof of which is found in his work. Well made instruments after the Guarneri I. H. S. model, adorned with an orange oil varnish. His violins are esteemed by both artists and amateurs." You can hear one of his instruments in the video. But when he wasn't busy making full-size ones, he turned out the occasional miniature. Don't you wish you had this for those times when you wanted to mock someone's self-indulgent hard-luck story? Here is an image of the creator with his miniatures. Copyright prevents reproduction here. Source of story.
• Miss Typical
  I guess it's some kind of achievement to be judged the most entirely average, but still, I don't think "Miss Typical" pageants are often held nowadays. They seem to belong to an age when conformity was thought to be more of a virtue. Rachel Reber here won "Miss Typical Freshman Coed" title back in 1941.
• Johnson Smith Catalog Item #29
  [From the 1950 catalog. Click to enlarge.] Did showing a woman your "Kiss me again I'm still conscious" ring really help you score, even in 1950?
• Some women are more alive than others
  1975 ad for Hanes pantyhose. Is the corollary of this that some women are more dead than others? Also, is Sandy Duncan about to play the piano with her crotch? (via arts-stew)
• News of the Weird 2.0 (June 17, 2013)

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