Sidd Finch
Type: April Fool’s Day Hoax.
Summary: Sports Illustrated claimed that the new pitcher for the New York Mets could pitch a baseball at 168 mph.
Sidd Finch is listed at #2 in the Museum’s list of the Top 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes of All Time.
Sidd Finch In its April 1985 edition, Sports Illustrated published an article by George Plimpton that described an incredible rookie baseball player who was training at the Mets camp in St. Petersburg, Florida. The player was named Sidd Finch (Sidd being short for Siddhartha, the Indian mystic in Hermann Hesse’s book of the same name). He could reportedly pitch a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. The fastest previous recorded speed for a pitch was 103 mph.
Finch had never played baseball before. He had been raised in an English orphanage before he was adopted by the archaeologist Francis Whyte-Finch who was later killed in an airplane crash in the Dhaulaglri mountain region of Nepal. Finch briefly attended Harvard before he headed to Tibet where he learned the teachings of the “great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa” and mastered “siddhi, namely the yogic mastery of mind-body.” Through his Tibetan mind-body mastery, Finch had “learned the art of the pitch.”
Finch showed up at the Mets camp in Florida, and so impressed their manager that he was invited to attend training camp. When pitching he looked, in the words of the catcher, “like a pretzel gone loony.” Finch frequently wore a hiking boot on his right foot while pitching, his other foot being bare. His speed and power were so great that the catcher would only hear a small sound, “a little pft, pft-boom,” before the ball would land in his glove, knocking him two or three feet back. One of the players declared that it was not “humanly possible” to hit Finch’s pitches.
Unfortunately for the Mets, Finch had not yet decided whether to commit himself to a career as a baseball player, or to pursue a career as a French Horn player. He told the Mets management that he would let them know his decision on April 1.
Response
Sports Illustrated received almost 2000 letters in response to the article, and it became one of their most famous stories ever. On April 8 they declared that Finch had held a press conference in which he said that he had lost the accuracy needed to throw his fastball and would therefore not be pursuing a career with the Mets. On April 15 they admitted that the story was a hoax.
George Plimpton actually left an obscure hint that the story was a hoax within the article itself (the non-obscure hint being that the story was absurd). The sub-heading of the article read: “He’s a pitcher, part yogi and part recluse. Impressively liberated from our opulent life-style, Sidd’s deciding about yoga —and his future in baseball.” The first letter of each of these words, taken together, spells “H-a-p-p-y A-p-r-i-l F-o-o-l-s D-a-y.”
In an odd follow-up, a baseball team in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, after reading the Sports Illustrated article, tried to invite Finch to its annual banquet. They received a reply that read, “The challenge is reaching the Eightfold Path of right belief or the ninth inning with the proper relief. May you have peace of mind.” They announced that they interpreted the reply to mean that Finch would be attending their banquet. It is not known whether Finch did attend.
Showing posts with label Weird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weird. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time
The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
Date: April 1, 1957
On April 1, 1957 the British news show Panorama broadcast a three-minute segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed both to an unusually mild winter and to the "virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil." The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show's highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched video footage of a Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets. The segment concluded with the assurance that, "For those who love this dish, there's nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti."
The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest hoax generated an enormous response. Hundreds of people phoned the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this query the BBC diplomatically replied, "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
To this day the Panorama broadcast remains one of the most famous and popular April Fool's Day hoaxes of all time. It is also believed to be the first time the medium of television was used to stage an April Fool's Day hoax.
Charles de Jaeger
Harvesting the spaghetti The person who came up with the idea of the spaghetti harvest hoax was Panorama cameraman Charles de Jaeger.
De Jaeger was born in Vienna in 1911. He worked in Austria as a freelance photographer before moving to Britain during the 1930s where he worked for the film unit of General Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces. He joined the BBC in 1943.
De Jaeger had a reputation for being a practical joker. Early in his career at the BBC he was sent to the Vatican to interview the Pope. However, scheduling the interview proved difficult. Finally, he was told by a priest that "His Holiness will see you on Tuesday afternoon." De Jaeger replied, "Yes, but is he a man of his word?"
Another time de Jaeger had to buy some dungarees to protect his clothes during an assignment. He requested compensation from the BBC but was denied. The administration told him that he should have worn old clothes. A month later de Jaeger submitted an expense report in which he included £6, spent on "entertaining press officer, Mr Dungarees." De Jaeger noted, "They paid without a murmur."
The idea for the spaghetti harvest hoax grew out of a remark one of his Viennese school teachers often teasingly said to his class: "Boys, you're so stupid, you'd believe me if I told you that spaghetti grows on trees." As an adult, it occurred to de Jaeger that it would be funny to turn this remark into a visual joke for April Fool's Day. He became quite obsessed with the idea, trying a number of times to sell the idea to different bosses. But it was only in 1957 while he was working for Panorama that he found some willing accomplices.
Panorama
Richard Dimbleby During the 1950s, only two channels were available to British viewers -- the BBC and ITV. Panorama was the BBC's flagship news program, boasting a viewership of ten million. It aired every Monday night at 8 pm, easily beating out Wagon Train, the show ITV ran against it.
Since 1955 Panorama had been anchored by Richard Dimbleby, whose authoritative, commanding presence had made him one of the most revered public figures in Britain. If Dimbleby said it, people trusted that it was true. As one of his colleagues at Panorama put it, "He had enough gravitas to float an aircraft carrier." Which is one of the reasons why the spaghetti harvest hoax fooled so many viewers. His participation lent the hoax an air of unimpeachable authority.
In 1957 April 1st fell on a Monday. De Jaeger realized this presented Panorama with a rare opportunity to include an April Fool's Day segment in its broadcast. He shared his idea with one of his colleagues, the writer David Wheeler. Wheeler loved it. So the two of them pitched the concept to Michael Peacock, Panorama's editor.
One of the selling points de Jaeger stressed was that it would be relatively cheap to produce the segment. De Jaeger was going to be on assignment in Switzerland anyway, so could combine the costs with the other project. (De Jaeger was often sent on foreign assignments because he was fluent in English, Italian, French, and German.)
Peacock was intrigued, and he decided to okay the plan. He granted them a budget of £100.
On Location
De Jaeger headed to Switzerland in March and, accompanied by a representative from the Swiss Tourist Office, scouted out a location. The weather proved problematic. It was misty and cold, and most of the trees were not in blossom. But eventually they found the perfect setting -- a hotel in Castiglione on the shore of Lake Lugano surrounded by evergreen Laurel trees.
De Jaeger obtained twenty pounds of uncooked homemade spaghetti, and began hanging it from branches to create spaghetti trees. But soon he encountered a problem. The spaghetti quickly dried out and wouldn't hang from the branches.
He tried to solve the problem by cooking the spaghetti and then hanging it, but once cooked the spaghetti became slippery and slid off the branches onto the ground. The tourist rep hit on the solution -- placing the uncooked spaghetti between damp cloths to keep it moist until it was ready to use.
With this problem solved, de Jaeger hired some local girls to hang the spaghetti in the trees. He had them wear their national costume, and then he filmed them as they climbed ladders carrying wicker baskets which they filled full of spaghetti, and then laid it out to dry in the sun.
After he had all the shots he needed of the spaghetti harvest, he prepared a spaghetti feast for his actors, which he filmed also.
The footage was rushed back to London where it was edited into a three-minute segment. Music was added to the background to provide the appropriate atmosphere. The selections chosen were "A Neapolitan Love Song" by Walter Stott and "Spring in Ravenna" by Hans May. Wheeler wrote the text that was read by Dimbleby.
The Broadcast
Michael Peacock had kept his decision to include an April Fool's Day joke in the Panorama broadcast a closely guarded secret, fearing his superiors would veto the decision. He only told his boss, Leonard Miall, at the last minute. Almost no one else at the BBC knew about it. The segment was not mentioned at all in the pre-transmission publicity handouts.
The line-up for that day's show included a long segment about Archbishop Makarios, leader of the Greek Cypriots, and a clip of the Duke of Edinburgh attending the premiere of the war film The Yangtse Incident.
The second-to-last segment was about a wine-tasting contest, and then it came time for the spaghetti harvest.
Dimbleby, sitting on the set of Panorama, looked into the camera and without a trace of a smile said: "And now from wine to food. We end Panorama tonight with a special report from the Swiss Alps."
The screen cut away to the prepared footage. When it was all over, Dimbleby reappeared and said, "Now we say goodnight, on this first day of April." He emphasized the final phrase.
Text of the spaghetti harvest hoax
What follows is the complete text, written by David Wheeler and narrated by Richard Dimbleby, that Panorama viewers heard. The original clip of the spaghetti harvest hoax can be viewed on the BBC's website.
It is not only in Britain that spring, this year, has taken everyone by surprise. Here in the Ticino, on the borders of Switzerland and Italy, the slopes overlooking Lake Lugano have already burst into flower at least a fortnight earlier than usual.
But what, you may ask, has the early and welcome arrival of bees and blossom to do with food? Well, it is simply that the past winter, one of the mildest in living memory, has had its effect in other ways as well. Most important of all, it's resulted in an exceptionally heavy spaghetti crop.
The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer. There is always the chance of a late frost which, while not entirely ruining the crop, generally impairs the flavour and makes it difficult for him to obtain top prices in world markets. But now these dangers are over and the spaghetti harvest goes forward.
Spaghetti cultivation here in Switzerland is not, of course, carried out on anything like the tremendous scale of the Italian industry. Many of you, I am sure, will have seen pictures of the vast spaghetti plantations in the Po valley. For the Swiss, however, it tends to be more of a family affair.
Another reason why this may be a bumper year lies in the virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil, the tiny creature whose depradations have caused much concern in the past.
After picking, the spaghetti is laid out to dry in the warm Alpine air. Many people are very puzzled by the fact that spaghetti is produced in such uniform lengths. This is the result of many years of patient endeavour by plant breeders who suceeded in producing the perfect spaghetti.
Now the harvest is marked by a traditional meal. Toasts to the new crop are drunk in these boccalinos, then the waiters enter bearing the ceremonial dish. This is, of course, spaghetti -- picked early in the day, dried in the sun, and so brought fresh from garden to table at the very peak of condition. For those who love this dish, there is nothing like real home-grown spaghetti.
Reaction
Soon after the broadcast ended, the BBC began to receive hundreds of calls from viewers. Leonard Miall walked over to the BBC's telephone exchange to witness what was going on. He later wrote:
the calls came in incessantly. Some were from viewers who had enjoyed the joke - including one from Bristol who complained that spaghetti didn't grow vertically, it grew horizontally. But mainly the calls were requests for the BBC to settle family arguments: the husband knew it must be true that spaghetti grew on a bush because Richard Dimbleby had said so and the wife knew it was made with flour and water, but neither could convince the other.
Before transmissions ceased that evening, the BBC broadcast a statement in which it informed viewers of the hoax:
The BBC has received a mixed reaction to a spoof documentary broadcast this evening about spaghetti crops in Switzerland. The hoax Panorama programme, narrated by distinguished broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, featured a family from Ticino in Switzerland carrying out their annual spaghetti harvest. It showed women carefully plucking strands of spaghetti from a tree and laying them in the sun to dry. But some viewers failed to see the funny side of the broadcast and criticised the BBC for airing the item on what is supposed to be a serious factual programme. Others, however, were so intrigued they wanted to find out where they could purchase their very own spaghetti bush.
Spaghetti is not a widely-eaten food in the UK and is considered by many as an exotic delicacy. Mr Dimbleby explained how each year the end of March is a very anxious time for Spaghetti harvesters all over Europe as severe frost can impair the flavour of the spaghetti. He also explained how each strand of spaghetti always grows to the same length thanks to years of hard work by generations of growers. This is believed to be one of the first times the medium of television has been used to stage an April Fools Day hoax.
Despite this confession, calls continued to come in. The BBC operators eventually came up with a standard reply to those seeking information on how to grow their own spaghetti tree: "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
Part of the reason for the puzzlement was that spaghetti was not a widely eaten food in Britain during the 1950s. Although its popularity had been increasing since World War II, many still considered it to be an exotic, foreign dish. Its origin was evidently a real mystery to some.
Among those fooled were Sir Ian Jacob, the director-general of the BBC. A note had been sent to him, informing him in advance about the broadcast, but he had not received it. Therefore, when he saw the broadcast, he did not know what to expect.
The next day Jacob cornered Miall in the hallway of the BBC and said, "When I saw that item, I said to my wife, 'I don't think spaghetti grows on trees,' so we looked it up in Encyclopedia Britannica. Do you know, Miall, Encyclopedia Britannica doesn't even mention spaghetti."
In the days that followed, there was a scattering of criticism. A few complained that the BBC had taken liberties with the trust of their audience. The headline of the Daily Telegraph the next day read, "BBC fools about with spaghetti." Others noted that the BBC had violated one of the rules of April Fool's Day -- that no jokes are supposed to be carried out later than noon. But overall, the response was very favorable.
Jacob himself, despite having been taken in by the hoax, became a big fan of it. He sent de Jaeger a congratulatory note: "The spaghetti harvest was a splendid idea, beautifully shot and organised. This item has caused a great deal of delight one way and another. Thank you very much indeed."
Tributes
The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest hoax found a large appreciative audience in America when it was aired by Jack Paar during the 1960s. Later Johnny Carson also aired it. Reportedly, "A week or so later, he had to respond to irate letters of people who took it seriously and thought he was making fun of the simple farmers. I remember him holding up a box of spaghetti and reading off the list of ingredients to prove that spaghetti is made, not born." (See comments.)
Panorama never attempted another April Fool's Day spoof, despite numerous calls for a sequel. However, the hoax did inspire a number of similar stunts in its honor. For instance:
Australian Spaghetti Crop
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reportedly perpetrated a similar hoax, involving the claim that the Australian spaghetti crop in the "spaghetti-growing heartland" had been devestated by the "spaghetti worm," a creature that ate unripe spaghetti from the inside. The report included footage of distraught spaghetti farmers lamenting that they were facing financial ruin. An appeal was made to the public for donations, and next week thousands of people went to post offices and banks to donate money to the spaghetti farmers. (Citation is needed)
Dimbleby Pickle Farm
On April 1, 1970 NBC reportedly paid tribute to the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest by broadcasting a segment about a farm where pickles grew on trees. One of the only descriptions of this segment is found in The Pleasures of Deception by Norman Moss:
On April 1st, 1970, on the National Broadcasting Company's Huntley-Brinkley programme, John Chancellor did an item on that year's pickle crop, with film of a dill pickle tree. He said he was reporting from the Dimbleby Pickle Farm.
However, the NBC archives has been unable to locate any footage of such a segment.
Nobody Grows Spaghetti Like...
It is rumored that an American pasta company created an ad during the 1970s or 80s that alluded to the spaghetti harvest hoax. The tag line was, "Nobody grows spaghetti like San Giorgio!" Or maybe it was "like Barilla."
Date: April 1, 1957
On April 1, 1957 the British news show Panorama broadcast a three-minute segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed both to an unusually mild winter and to the "virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil." The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show's highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched video footage of a Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets. The segment concluded with the assurance that, "For those who love this dish, there's nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti."
The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest hoax generated an enormous response. Hundreds of people phoned the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this query the BBC diplomatically replied, "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
To this day the Panorama broadcast remains one of the most famous and popular April Fool's Day hoaxes of all time. It is also believed to be the first time the medium of television was used to stage an April Fool's Day hoax.
Charles de Jaeger
Harvesting the spaghetti The person who came up with the idea of the spaghetti harvest hoax was Panorama cameraman Charles de Jaeger.
De Jaeger was born in Vienna in 1911. He worked in Austria as a freelance photographer before moving to Britain during the 1930s where he worked for the film unit of General Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces. He joined the BBC in 1943.
De Jaeger had a reputation for being a practical joker. Early in his career at the BBC he was sent to the Vatican to interview the Pope. However, scheduling the interview proved difficult. Finally, he was told by a priest that "His Holiness will see you on Tuesday afternoon." De Jaeger replied, "Yes, but is he a man of his word?"
Another time de Jaeger had to buy some dungarees to protect his clothes during an assignment. He requested compensation from the BBC but was denied. The administration told him that he should have worn old clothes. A month later de Jaeger submitted an expense report in which he included £6, spent on "entertaining press officer, Mr Dungarees." De Jaeger noted, "They paid without a murmur."
The idea for the spaghetti harvest hoax grew out of a remark one of his Viennese school teachers often teasingly said to his class: "Boys, you're so stupid, you'd believe me if I told you that spaghetti grows on trees." As an adult, it occurred to de Jaeger that it would be funny to turn this remark into a visual joke for April Fool's Day. He became quite obsessed with the idea, trying a number of times to sell the idea to different bosses. But it was only in 1957 while he was working for Panorama that he found some willing accomplices.
Panorama
Richard Dimbleby During the 1950s, only two channels were available to British viewers -- the BBC and ITV. Panorama was the BBC's flagship news program, boasting a viewership of ten million. It aired every Monday night at 8 pm, easily beating out Wagon Train, the show ITV ran against it.
Since 1955 Panorama had been anchored by Richard Dimbleby, whose authoritative, commanding presence had made him one of the most revered public figures in Britain. If Dimbleby said it, people trusted that it was true. As one of his colleagues at Panorama put it, "He had enough gravitas to float an aircraft carrier." Which is one of the reasons why the spaghetti harvest hoax fooled so many viewers. His participation lent the hoax an air of unimpeachable authority.
In 1957 April 1st fell on a Monday. De Jaeger realized this presented Panorama with a rare opportunity to include an April Fool's Day segment in its broadcast. He shared his idea with one of his colleagues, the writer David Wheeler. Wheeler loved it. So the two of them pitched the concept to Michael Peacock, Panorama's editor.
One of the selling points de Jaeger stressed was that it would be relatively cheap to produce the segment. De Jaeger was going to be on assignment in Switzerland anyway, so could combine the costs with the other project. (De Jaeger was often sent on foreign assignments because he was fluent in English, Italian, French, and German.)
Peacock was intrigued, and he decided to okay the plan. He granted them a budget of £100.
On Location
De Jaeger headed to Switzerland in March and, accompanied by a representative from the Swiss Tourist Office, scouted out a location. The weather proved problematic. It was misty and cold, and most of the trees were not in blossom. But eventually they found the perfect setting -- a hotel in Castiglione on the shore of Lake Lugano surrounded by evergreen Laurel trees.
De Jaeger obtained twenty pounds of uncooked homemade spaghetti, and began hanging it from branches to create spaghetti trees. But soon he encountered a problem. The spaghetti quickly dried out and wouldn't hang from the branches.
He tried to solve the problem by cooking the spaghetti and then hanging it, but once cooked the spaghetti became slippery and slid off the branches onto the ground. The tourist rep hit on the solution -- placing the uncooked spaghetti between damp cloths to keep it moist until it was ready to use.
With this problem solved, de Jaeger hired some local girls to hang the spaghetti in the trees. He had them wear their national costume, and then he filmed them as they climbed ladders carrying wicker baskets which they filled full of spaghetti, and then laid it out to dry in the sun.
After he had all the shots he needed of the spaghetti harvest, he prepared a spaghetti feast for his actors, which he filmed also.
The footage was rushed back to London where it was edited into a three-minute segment. Music was added to the background to provide the appropriate atmosphere. The selections chosen were "A Neapolitan Love Song" by Walter Stott and "Spring in Ravenna" by Hans May. Wheeler wrote the text that was read by Dimbleby.
The Broadcast
Michael Peacock had kept his decision to include an April Fool's Day joke in the Panorama broadcast a closely guarded secret, fearing his superiors would veto the decision. He only told his boss, Leonard Miall, at the last minute. Almost no one else at the BBC knew about it. The segment was not mentioned at all in the pre-transmission publicity handouts.
The line-up for that day's show included a long segment about Archbishop Makarios, leader of the Greek Cypriots, and a clip of the Duke of Edinburgh attending the premiere of the war film The Yangtse Incident.
The second-to-last segment was about a wine-tasting contest, and then it came time for the spaghetti harvest.
Dimbleby, sitting on the set of Panorama, looked into the camera and without a trace of a smile said: "And now from wine to food. We end Panorama tonight with a special report from the Swiss Alps."
The screen cut away to the prepared footage. When it was all over, Dimbleby reappeared and said, "Now we say goodnight, on this first day of April." He emphasized the final phrase.
Text of the spaghetti harvest hoax
What follows is the complete text, written by David Wheeler and narrated by Richard Dimbleby, that Panorama viewers heard. The original clip of the spaghetti harvest hoax can be viewed on the BBC's website.
It is not only in Britain that spring, this year, has taken everyone by surprise. Here in the Ticino, on the borders of Switzerland and Italy, the slopes overlooking Lake Lugano have already burst into flower at least a fortnight earlier than usual.
But what, you may ask, has the early and welcome arrival of bees and blossom to do with food? Well, it is simply that the past winter, one of the mildest in living memory, has had its effect in other ways as well. Most important of all, it's resulted in an exceptionally heavy spaghetti crop.
The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer. There is always the chance of a late frost which, while not entirely ruining the crop, generally impairs the flavour and makes it difficult for him to obtain top prices in world markets. But now these dangers are over and the spaghetti harvest goes forward.
Spaghetti cultivation here in Switzerland is not, of course, carried out on anything like the tremendous scale of the Italian industry. Many of you, I am sure, will have seen pictures of the vast spaghetti plantations in the Po valley. For the Swiss, however, it tends to be more of a family affair.
Another reason why this may be a bumper year lies in the virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil, the tiny creature whose depradations have caused much concern in the past.
After picking, the spaghetti is laid out to dry in the warm Alpine air. Many people are very puzzled by the fact that spaghetti is produced in such uniform lengths. This is the result of many years of patient endeavour by plant breeders who suceeded in producing the perfect spaghetti.
Now the harvest is marked by a traditional meal. Toasts to the new crop are drunk in these boccalinos, then the waiters enter bearing the ceremonial dish. This is, of course, spaghetti -- picked early in the day, dried in the sun, and so brought fresh from garden to table at the very peak of condition. For those who love this dish, there is nothing like real home-grown spaghetti.
Reaction
Soon after the broadcast ended, the BBC began to receive hundreds of calls from viewers. Leonard Miall walked over to the BBC's telephone exchange to witness what was going on. He later wrote:
the calls came in incessantly. Some were from viewers who had enjoyed the joke - including one from Bristol who complained that spaghetti didn't grow vertically, it grew horizontally. But mainly the calls were requests for the BBC to settle family arguments: the husband knew it must be true that spaghetti grew on a bush because Richard Dimbleby had said so and the wife knew it was made with flour and water, but neither could convince the other.
Before transmissions ceased that evening, the BBC broadcast a statement in which it informed viewers of the hoax:
The BBC has received a mixed reaction to a spoof documentary broadcast this evening about spaghetti crops in Switzerland. The hoax Panorama programme, narrated by distinguished broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, featured a family from Ticino in Switzerland carrying out their annual spaghetti harvest. It showed women carefully plucking strands of spaghetti from a tree and laying them in the sun to dry. But some viewers failed to see the funny side of the broadcast and criticised the BBC for airing the item on what is supposed to be a serious factual programme. Others, however, were so intrigued they wanted to find out where they could purchase their very own spaghetti bush.
Spaghetti is not a widely-eaten food in the UK and is considered by many as an exotic delicacy. Mr Dimbleby explained how each year the end of March is a very anxious time for Spaghetti harvesters all over Europe as severe frost can impair the flavour of the spaghetti. He also explained how each strand of spaghetti always grows to the same length thanks to years of hard work by generations of growers. This is believed to be one of the first times the medium of television has been used to stage an April Fools Day hoax.
Despite this confession, calls continued to come in. The BBC operators eventually came up with a standard reply to those seeking information on how to grow their own spaghetti tree: "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
Part of the reason for the puzzlement was that spaghetti was not a widely eaten food in Britain during the 1950s. Although its popularity had been increasing since World War II, many still considered it to be an exotic, foreign dish. Its origin was evidently a real mystery to some.
Among those fooled were Sir Ian Jacob, the director-general of the BBC. A note had been sent to him, informing him in advance about the broadcast, but he had not received it. Therefore, when he saw the broadcast, he did not know what to expect.
The next day Jacob cornered Miall in the hallway of the BBC and said, "When I saw that item, I said to my wife, 'I don't think spaghetti grows on trees,' so we looked it up in Encyclopedia Britannica. Do you know, Miall, Encyclopedia Britannica doesn't even mention spaghetti."
In the days that followed, there was a scattering of criticism. A few complained that the BBC had taken liberties with the trust of their audience. The headline of the Daily Telegraph the next day read, "BBC fools about with spaghetti." Others noted that the BBC had violated one of the rules of April Fool's Day -- that no jokes are supposed to be carried out later than noon. But overall, the response was very favorable.
Jacob himself, despite having been taken in by the hoax, became a big fan of it. He sent de Jaeger a congratulatory note: "The spaghetti harvest was a splendid idea, beautifully shot and organised. This item has caused a great deal of delight one way and another. Thank you very much indeed."
Tributes
The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest hoax found a large appreciative audience in America when it was aired by Jack Paar during the 1960s. Later Johnny Carson also aired it. Reportedly, "A week or so later, he had to respond to irate letters of people who took it seriously and thought he was making fun of the simple farmers. I remember him holding up a box of spaghetti and reading off the list of ingredients to prove that spaghetti is made, not born." (See comments.)
Panorama never attempted another April Fool's Day spoof, despite numerous calls for a sequel. However, the hoax did inspire a number of similar stunts in its honor. For instance:
Australian Spaghetti Crop
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reportedly perpetrated a similar hoax, involving the claim that the Australian spaghetti crop in the "spaghetti-growing heartland" had been devestated by the "spaghetti worm," a creature that ate unripe spaghetti from the inside. The report included footage of distraught spaghetti farmers lamenting that they were facing financial ruin. An appeal was made to the public for donations, and next week thousands of people went to post offices and banks to donate money to the spaghetti farmers. (Citation is needed)
Dimbleby Pickle Farm
On April 1, 1970 NBC reportedly paid tribute to the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest by broadcasting a segment about a farm where pickles grew on trees. One of the only descriptions of this segment is found in The Pleasures of Deception by Norman Moss:
On April 1st, 1970, on the National Broadcasting Company's Huntley-Brinkley programme, John Chancellor did an item on that year's pickle crop, with film of a dill pickle tree. He said he was reporting from the Dimbleby Pickle Farm.
However, the NBC archives has been unable to locate any footage of such a segment.
Nobody Grows Spaghetti Like...
It is rumored that an American pasta company created an ad during the 1970s or 80s that alluded to the spaghetti harvest hoax. The tag line was, "Nobody grows spaghetti like San Giorgio!" Or maybe it was "like Barilla."
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
10 Famous People Who Died While Performing
I think the deaths of performers are really tragic when they die performing. These performers lived their lives in the public gaze, but they died very publicly too.. Some of them died on stage and some while being filmed or on a film set, all of them died suddenly. Many of them will be sadly missed by their families, friends and fans.
Here is a list of 10 famous people who died doing what they loved best, performing.
Tommy Cooper
The British comedian died live on TV while performing at Her Majesties Theater in London in 1984.
Steve Irwin
The Australian naturalist was killed by a stingray while filming a documentary in 2006.
Sid James
The English comedian and actor collapsed on stage and died in 1976.
Roy Kinnear
The British comedian fell off a horse and died while filming in Spain in 1988.
Brandon Lee
The son of Bruce Lee was accidentally shot and died while filming The Crow in North Carolina in 1993.
William Ellsworth Robinson
Chung Ling Soo (Stage name) was an American magician who was shot on stage when a trick went wrong at the Wood Green Empire in London in 1918.
Vic Morrow
The American actor was filming “The Twilight Zone” The Movie in 1982 when he was decapitated by an out of control helicopter.
Tyrone Power
The American actor died while filming in Spain in 1958.
Karl Wallenda
The German tightrope walker fell to his death while walking a tightrope between two buildings in 1978.
Les Harvey
The rock singer was electrocuted on stage in Swansea, Wales in 1972.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
8 Cara Aneh Memperlakukan Orang Setelah Meninggal
1. Menikah
Kematian bukanlah penghalang kalau cinta sudah bicara. Setidaknya di Cina. Pernikahan hantu, praktek yang menikahkan anggota keluarga dan saudara dengan pasangan yang cocok, hidup atau mati, masih merupakan sebuah pilihan.
Pernikahan hantu pertama kali muncul di legenda-legenda Cina 2,000 tahun yang lalu, dan melekat dalam budayanya sejak itu. Di satu masa, itu dilakukan sebagai upaya membuat para perawan tua bisa menumbuhkan penerimaan sosial terhadap kematian. Di masa lain, acara itu untuk menghormati putra-putra yang meninggal dengan mempersembahkan mereka pengantin wanita yang masih hidup. Persamaannya, pernikahan-pernikahan ini berfungsi secara relijius untuk membuat almarhum/ah lebih bahagia di akhirat.
Meskipun budaya ini sempat surut selama Revolusi Budaya Cina di tahun ’60an, laporan resmi mengatakan pernikahan hantu kembali marak. Saat ini, seringnya tujuannya adalah untuk memberikan sarjana-sarjana yang meninggal seorang isteri, lebih diutamakan bagi mereka yang baru saja meninggal. Namun di negara dimana pria melebihi wanita dalam angka kematian dan juga yang hidup ini, sisi negatif dari ‘pengantin jenazah’ mengantar pada insiden pembunuhan.
Di tahun 2007, terdapat dua kasus pria dusun yang membunuh PSK, PRT, dan wanita yang sakit jiwa demi menjual tubuhnya sebagai isteri hantu. Lebih buruk lagi, mereka harus bayar. Menurut Washington Post dan The London Times, seorang pengurus makam membeli tubuh-tubuh wanita lebih dari Rp20 juta dan menjualnya pada “calon mempelai” hingga mendekati Rp50 juta.
2. Buat ‘Gaul’-nya Orang-Orang Kaya
Saat ini, kebanyakan kita berpikir mumi hanya sebagai artefak arkeologis, tapi bagi orang Mesir kuno, mumi se-umum hape. Jadi, kemana semua mumi itu menghilang? Pada dasarnya, mereka habis dimanfaatkan. Orang Eropa dan Timur Tengah menghabiskan berabad-abad ‘merampok’ makam-makam Mesir kuno dan mengubah mayat-mayat berbalut perban menjadi komoditi berharga murah. Dengan cepat, ramu-ramuan berbahan dasar mumi sempat populer seperti obat-obatan.
Di abad ke-16, Raja Francis I mengonsumsi secubit mumi untuk menghasilkan tenaga, jadi seperti multivitamin khusus yang ‘tak sopan’. Mumi-mumi lainnya, khususnya mumi hewan, digunakan untuk mesin uap dan penerangan di rumah-rumah. Sementara itu, mumi manusia lumayan sering menjadi korban di event-event sosial kaum Victoria. Selama akhir abad ke-19, populer bagi keluarga-keluarga jika mengadakan pesta pembongkaran perban mumi, dimana penodaan terhadap si mati dilanjutkan dengan hidangan koktail dan hors d’oeuvres alias makanan penutup.
3. Mengelilingi Dunia Sebagai Karya Seni Berskandal
Dimulai pada 1996 dengan pertunjukan BODY WORLDS di Jepang, pemeran itu menampilkan tubuh-tubuh manusia yang terkuliti dan mengguncang museum. BODY WORLDS sudah menjalani kelahirannya yang keempat dan mengikuti acara-acara kompetisi seperti Bodies Revealed, menghasilkan pendapatan Rp300M per tahun. Masalahnya, tidak selalu jelas darimana tubuh-tubuh itu berasal.
Dr. Gunther von Hagens, pria dibalik BODY WORLDS, telah mendokumentasikan bahwa tubuh-tubuh itu didonasikan secara sukarela ke organisasinya. Bagaimanapun, pesaing terbesarnya, Premier Entertainment, tidak memiliki sistem donasi yang yang teratur dengan baik.
Mereka mendapatkan mayat-mayat itu dari jenazah-jenazah yang tak diakui di Cina. Dan disanalah terletak bahan pemikirannya. Para aktivis dan jurnalis percaya “jenazah yang tak diakui” adalah ungkapan halus untuk “napi politik yang telah dieksekusi.”
Namun hal itu tidak diterbukti. Di tahun 2006, Kanada mengkomisikan laporan HAM yang menemukan tahanan politik Cina dibunuh sehingga organ-organ mereka bisa disumbangkan bagi pasien pencangkokan. Dan pada Februari 2008, ABC News mengekspos mantan pegawai dari salah satu perusahaan Cina yang menyediakan mayat-mayat bagi Premier Entertainment. Dalam wawancara, dia mengklaim bahwa sepertiga tubuh-tubuh yang dia proses merupakan tahanan politik. Secara tak mengejutkan, pemerintah mulai menaruh perhatian. Pada Januari 2008, Majelis Negara California meleges pameran yang menggunakan tubuh manusia harus membuktikan bahwa semua tubuh itu didonasikan secara sukarela.
4. Jadi Bahan Bakar Untuk Orang se-Kota
Mengkremasi jenazah menguras banyak energi dan sumber daya yang tak bisa diperbaharui. Solusinya: multiguna. Beberapa krematorium di Eropa mengganti pemanas konvensional dengan memanfaatkan panasnya yang bisa mencapai 1000 derajat Celcius. Malah, sejak tahun 1997, kota Helsingborg di Swedia menggunakan krematorium lokal mereka untuk menyediakan 10 persen dari panasnya untuk perumahannya.
5. Dijual Seperti Daging Tokoan
Menjual mayat selalu menjadi perbuatan beresiko yang menguntungkan. Di abad pertengahan, perampok makam menggasak kuburan dan menjual apapun yang mereka bisa gali keluar kepada dokter dan ilmuwan. Dan meskipun sekarang bisnis menjual mayat dan organ tubuh sudah jelas ilegal, tak berkurang keraguan bahwa hal itu masih dijalankan.
Saat ini, sistemnya berlaku seperti ini: Program donasi mayat sukarela, sering dijalankan oleh universitas-universitas, menyocokkan mayat dengan penelitian yang mereka butuhkan. Tapi karena mayat tak bisa dijual bebas, makelar yang menyediakan tubuh-tubuh ini memasang tarif tinggi untuk “pengiriman dan pengemasan.” Biaya pengiriman sebuah mayat utuh bisa sampai Rp10 juta, sementara organ-organ yang terpisah bisa lebih murah. Kepala bisa seharga Rp5 juta; sebuah lutut Rp6,5 juta; batang tubuh Rp50 juta.
Karena masalahnya, tubuh-tubuh yang diberikan sukarela sering tak sesuai permintaan. Dan dengan uang segitu banyak yang bisa diterima perusahaan pemakaman, korupsi pun melonjak. Dalam tahun-tahun belakangan, koroner telah memergoki usaha pencurian kornea, teknisi krematorium tertangkap mengambil kepala dari mayat-mayat sebelum mereka dibakar, dan pegawai universitas pada program donasi tubuh tertangkap mencuri mayat. Setelah direktur program donasi tubuh sukarela-nya UCLA ditahan karena menjual organ tubuh di tahun 2004, Negara Bagian California merekomendasikan menandai mayat dengan tato bar code atau chip pelacak, seperti yang dilakukan pada hewan peliharaan. Harapannya adalah membuat mayat lebih mudah di inventariskan dan dilacak saat hilang.
6. Menjadi Atraksi Turis Rusia
Tokoh revolusi Rusia Vladimir Lenin ingin dikuburkan di tanah keluarganya. Tapi saat ia meninggal pada tahun 1924, Joseph Stalin memaksa menaruh jenazahnya untuk tontonan publik di Red Square, menjadikannya seperti barang peninggalan sekuler komunis.
Akibatnya, sebuah organisasi bernama Research Institute for Biological Structures dibentuk untuk menjaga tubuh Lenin agar tidak membusuk. Institut itu tidak bercanda, dimana beberapa orang paling cerdas di Rusia menghabiskan lebih dari 25 tahun bekerja dan tinggal di lokasi itu untuk menyempurnakan pengawetan mayat ala sistem Soviet. Ilmuwan saat ini masih menggunakan metode mereka, yang melibatkan kontrol iklim, seminggu dua kali dibersihkan dan dilincir (diberi minyak), dan semi-tahunan direndam dalam campuran 11 bahan herbal dan kimia. Tak seperti kebanyakan jenazah, entah bagaimana, ketenarannya tak bertahan selamanya. Popularitas makam itu berkurang, dan pemerintah Rusia saat ini mempertimbangkan memberikan Lenin pemakaman yang selalu ia inginkan.
7. Bermesraan Dengan Pengagum Beratmu
Saat seorang wanita cantik bernama Elena Hoyos meninggal karena TBC di Florida tahun 1931, hidupnya sebagai obyek pengalahgunaan dimulai. Pengagumnya, seorang teknisi X-ray lokal yang menyebut dirinya Count Carl von Cosel, membayar demi Hoyos dibalsem dan dikuburukan di makam besar diatas tanah. Kemudian, di tahun 1933, sang Count yang kreatif mencuri tubuh Elena dan menyembunyikannya di rumahnya. Selama tujuh tahun kemudiannya, dia bekerja untuk memelihara mayatnya, mengganti dagingnya saat membusuk dengan gantungan baju, lilin yang dicetak, dan plaster dari Paris. Dia bahkan tidur disamping tubuh Elena di ranjangnya, hingga keluarga wanita itu menemukannya disana.
Dalam hingar-bingar media, lebih dari 6,000 orang tercatat menghadiri rumah duka untuk melihat Elena sebelum dia dimakamkan. Keluarganya menguburkannya dia sebuah kuburan tak ditandai supaya si von Cosel tak bisa menemukannya, tapi hal itu tidak menghentikan obsesi pria itu. Von Cosel menulis tentang Elena untuk majalah fiksi picisan dan menjual kartu pos menyerupai diri Elena hingga dia ditemukan tewas di rumahnya pada tahun 1952. Di dekat tubuhnya ada sebuah boneka lilin berukuran hidup yang dibuat mirip Elena.
.
8. Menghadiri Pengadilan
Pada tahun 897, Paus Stephen VI menuduh Paus Formosus atas sumpah palsu dan pelanggaran peraturan gereja. Masalahnya Paus Formosus meninggal sembilan bulan sebelumnya. Stephen pun menggali mayat Paus yang meninggal itu, memakaikannya pakaian kebesaran Paus, dan membawanya ke pengadilan. Dia kemudian melanjutkan pelayanannya sebagai kepala jaksa saat dia dengan marah menguji mayat itu. Hasilnya sungguh menggelikan. Paus Stephen semakin menggila sampai-sampai sekelompok orang melancarkan sebuah rencana pembunuhan terhadapnya. Dan sukses. Pada tahun berikutnya, salah satu suksesor Paus Stephen mengembalikan pendirian Formosus, menyuruh agar mayatnya dikubur kembali dengan segala penghormatan.
Source : forum.vivanews.com
Kematian bukanlah penghalang kalau cinta sudah bicara. Setidaknya di Cina. Pernikahan hantu, praktek yang menikahkan anggota keluarga dan saudara dengan pasangan yang cocok, hidup atau mati, masih merupakan sebuah pilihan.
Pernikahan hantu pertama kali muncul di legenda-legenda Cina 2,000 tahun yang lalu, dan melekat dalam budayanya sejak itu. Di satu masa, itu dilakukan sebagai upaya membuat para perawan tua bisa menumbuhkan penerimaan sosial terhadap kematian. Di masa lain, acara itu untuk menghormati putra-putra yang meninggal dengan mempersembahkan mereka pengantin wanita yang masih hidup. Persamaannya, pernikahan-pernikahan ini berfungsi secara relijius untuk membuat almarhum/ah lebih bahagia di akhirat.
Meskipun budaya ini sempat surut selama Revolusi Budaya Cina di tahun ’60an, laporan resmi mengatakan pernikahan hantu kembali marak. Saat ini, seringnya tujuannya adalah untuk memberikan sarjana-sarjana yang meninggal seorang isteri, lebih diutamakan bagi mereka yang baru saja meninggal. Namun di negara dimana pria melebihi wanita dalam angka kematian dan juga yang hidup ini, sisi negatif dari ‘pengantin jenazah’ mengantar pada insiden pembunuhan.
Di tahun 2007, terdapat dua kasus pria dusun yang membunuh PSK, PRT, dan wanita yang sakit jiwa demi menjual tubuhnya sebagai isteri hantu. Lebih buruk lagi, mereka harus bayar. Menurut Washington Post dan The London Times, seorang pengurus makam membeli tubuh-tubuh wanita lebih dari Rp20 juta dan menjualnya pada “calon mempelai” hingga mendekati Rp50 juta.
2. Buat ‘Gaul’-nya Orang-Orang Kaya
Saat ini, kebanyakan kita berpikir mumi hanya sebagai artefak arkeologis, tapi bagi orang Mesir kuno, mumi se-umum hape. Jadi, kemana semua mumi itu menghilang? Pada dasarnya, mereka habis dimanfaatkan. Orang Eropa dan Timur Tengah menghabiskan berabad-abad ‘merampok’ makam-makam Mesir kuno dan mengubah mayat-mayat berbalut perban menjadi komoditi berharga murah. Dengan cepat, ramu-ramuan berbahan dasar mumi sempat populer seperti obat-obatan.
Di abad ke-16, Raja Francis I mengonsumsi secubit mumi untuk menghasilkan tenaga, jadi seperti multivitamin khusus yang ‘tak sopan’. Mumi-mumi lainnya, khususnya mumi hewan, digunakan untuk mesin uap dan penerangan di rumah-rumah. Sementara itu, mumi manusia lumayan sering menjadi korban di event-event sosial kaum Victoria. Selama akhir abad ke-19, populer bagi keluarga-keluarga jika mengadakan pesta pembongkaran perban mumi, dimana penodaan terhadap si mati dilanjutkan dengan hidangan koktail dan hors d’oeuvres alias makanan penutup.
3. Mengelilingi Dunia Sebagai Karya Seni Berskandal
Dimulai pada 1996 dengan pertunjukan BODY WORLDS di Jepang, pemeran itu menampilkan tubuh-tubuh manusia yang terkuliti dan mengguncang museum. BODY WORLDS sudah menjalani kelahirannya yang keempat dan mengikuti acara-acara kompetisi seperti Bodies Revealed, menghasilkan pendapatan Rp300M per tahun. Masalahnya, tidak selalu jelas darimana tubuh-tubuh itu berasal.
Dr. Gunther von Hagens, pria dibalik BODY WORLDS, telah mendokumentasikan bahwa tubuh-tubuh itu didonasikan secara sukarela ke organisasinya. Bagaimanapun, pesaing terbesarnya, Premier Entertainment, tidak memiliki sistem donasi yang yang teratur dengan baik.
Mereka mendapatkan mayat-mayat itu dari jenazah-jenazah yang tak diakui di Cina. Dan disanalah terletak bahan pemikirannya. Para aktivis dan jurnalis percaya “jenazah yang tak diakui” adalah ungkapan halus untuk “napi politik yang telah dieksekusi.”
Namun hal itu tidak diterbukti. Di tahun 2006, Kanada mengkomisikan laporan HAM yang menemukan tahanan politik Cina dibunuh sehingga organ-organ mereka bisa disumbangkan bagi pasien pencangkokan. Dan pada Februari 2008, ABC News mengekspos mantan pegawai dari salah satu perusahaan Cina yang menyediakan mayat-mayat bagi Premier Entertainment. Dalam wawancara, dia mengklaim bahwa sepertiga tubuh-tubuh yang dia proses merupakan tahanan politik. Secara tak mengejutkan, pemerintah mulai menaruh perhatian. Pada Januari 2008, Majelis Negara California meleges pameran yang menggunakan tubuh manusia harus membuktikan bahwa semua tubuh itu didonasikan secara sukarela.
4. Jadi Bahan Bakar Untuk Orang se-Kota
Mengkremasi jenazah menguras banyak energi dan sumber daya yang tak bisa diperbaharui. Solusinya: multiguna. Beberapa krematorium di Eropa mengganti pemanas konvensional dengan memanfaatkan panasnya yang bisa mencapai 1000 derajat Celcius. Malah, sejak tahun 1997, kota Helsingborg di Swedia menggunakan krematorium lokal mereka untuk menyediakan 10 persen dari panasnya untuk perumahannya.
5. Dijual Seperti Daging Tokoan
Menjual mayat selalu menjadi perbuatan beresiko yang menguntungkan. Di abad pertengahan, perampok makam menggasak kuburan dan menjual apapun yang mereka bisa gali keluar kepada dokter dan ilmuwan. Dan meskipun sekarang bisnis menjual mayat dan organ tubuh sudah jelas ilegal, tak berkurang keraguan bahwa hal itu masih dijalankan.
Saat ini, sistemnya berlaku seperti ini: Program donasi mayat sukarela, sering dijalankan oleh universitas-universitas, menyocokkan mayat dengan penelitian yang mereka butuhkan. Tapi karena mayat tak bisa dijual bebas, makelar yang menyediakan tubuh-tubuh ini memasang tarif tinggi untuk “pengiriman dan pengemasan.” Biaya pengiriman sebuah mayat utuh bisa sampai Rp10 juta, sementara organ-organ yang terpisah bisa lebih murah. Kepala bisa seharga Rp5 juta; sebuah lutut Rp6,5 juta; batang tubuh Rp50 juta.
Karena masalahnya, tubuh-tubuh yang diberikan sukarela sering tak sesuai permintaan. Dan dengan uang segitu banyak yang bisa diterima perusahaan pemakaman, korupsi pun melonjak. Dalam tahun-tahun belakangan, koroner telah memergoki usaha pencurian kornea, teknisi krematorium tertangkap mengambil kepala dari mayat-mayat sebelum mereka dibakar, dan pegawai universitas pada program donasi tubuh tertangkap mencuri mayat. Setelah direktur program donasi tubuh sukarela-nya UCLA ditahan karena menjual organ tubuh di tahun 2004, Negara Bagian California merekomendasikan menandai mayat dengan tato bar code atau chip pelacak, seperti yang dilakukan pada hewan peliharaan. Harapannya adalah membuat mayat lebih mudah di inventariskan dan dilacak saat hilang.
6. Menjadi Atraksi Turis Rusia
Tokoh revolusi Rusia Vladimir Lenin ingin dikuburkan di tanah keluarganya. Tapi saat ia meninggal pada tahun 1924, Joseph Stalin memaksa menaruh jenazahnya untuk tontonan publik di Red Square, menjadikannya seperti barang peninggalan sekuler komunis.
Akibatnya, sebuah organisasi bernama Research Institute for Biological Structures dibentuk untuk menjaga tubuh Lenin agar tidak membusuk. Institut itu tidak bercanda, dimana beberapa orang paling cerdas di Rusia menghabiskan lebih dari 25 tahun bekerja dan tinggal di lokasi itu untuk menyempurnakan pengawetan mayat ala sistem Soviet. Ilmuwan saat ini masih menggunakan metode mereka, yang melibatkan kontrol iklim, seminggu dua kali dibersihkan dan dilincir (diberi minyak), dan semi-tahunan direndam dalam campuran 11 bahan herbal dan kimia. Tak seperti kebanyakan jenazah, entah bagaimana, ketenarannya tak bertahan selamanya. Popularitas makam itu berkurang, dan pemerintah Rusia saat ini mempertimbangkan memberikan Lenin pemakaman yang selalu ia inginkan.
7. Bermesraan Dengan Pengagum Beratmu
Saat seorang wanita cantik bernama Elena Hoyos meninggal karena TBC di Florida tahun 1931, hidupnya sebagai obyek pengalahgunaan dimulai. Pengagumnya, seorang teknisi X-ray lokal yang menyebut dirinya Count Carl von Cosel, membayar demi Hoyos dibalsem dan dikuburukan di makam besar diatas tanah. Kemudian, di tahun 1933, sang Count yang kreatif mencuri tubuh Elena dan menyembunyikannya di rumahnya. Selama tujuh tahun kemudiannya, dia bekerja untuk memelihara mayatnya, mengganti dagingnya saat membusuk dengan gantungan baju, lilin yang dicetak, dan plaster dari Paris. Dia bahkan tidur disamping tubuh Elena di ranjangnya, hingga keluarga wanita itu menemukannya disana.
Dalam hingar-bingar media, lebih dari 6,000 orang tercatat menghadiri rumah duka untuk melihat Elena sebelum dia dimakamkan. Keluarganya menguburkannya dia sebuah kuburan tak ditandai supaya si von Cosel tak bisa menemukannya, tapi hal itu tidak menghentikan obsesi pria itu. Von Cosel menulis tentang Elena untuk majalah fiksi picisan dan menjual kartu pos menyerupai diri Elena hingga dia ditemukan tewas di rumahnya pada tahun 1952. Di dekat tubuhnya ada sebuah boneka lilin berukuran hidup yang dibuat mirip Elena.
.
8. Menghadiri Pengadilan
Pada tahun 897, Paus Stephen VI menuduh Paus Formosus atas sumpah palsu dan pelanggaran peraturan gereja. Masalahnya Paus Formosus meninggal sembilan bulan sebelumnya. Stephen pun menggali mayat Paus yang meninggal itu, memakaikannya pakaian kebesaran Paus, dan membawanya ke pengadilan. Dia kemudian melanjutkan pelayanannya sebagai kepala jaksa saat dia dengan marah menguji mayat itu. Hasilnya sungguh menggelikan. Paus Stephen semakin menggila sampai-sampai sekelompok orang melancarkan sebuah rencana pembunuhan terhadapnya. Dan sukses. Pada tahun berikutnya, salah satu suksesor Paus Stephen mengembalikan pendirian Formosus, menyuruh agar mayatnya dikubur kembali dengan segala penghormatan.
Source : forum.vivanews.com
Peraturan Paling Aneh Di Dunia
Setiap peraturan dibuat oleh negara tentunya untuk mengatur rakyatnya supaya bisa hidup tertib dan rukun. Tentunya peraturan yang dibuat pun harus masuk akal alias yang logis. Tapi, negara-negara di bawah ini malah memiliki peraturan yang boleh dibilang sebagai Peraturan Paling Aneh di Dunia!
Inilah Peraturan Paling Aneh di Dunia yang ada di berbagai negara tersebut:
THAILAND :
Dilarang keluar rumah tanpa mengenakan celana dalam.
FILIPINA :
Untuk mengurangi tingkat kemacatan lalu lintas kota Manila , ditetapkan bahwa :
Kendaraan bernomor akhir 1 atau 2 tidak diizinkan beroperasi di hari Senin.
Sedangkan angka 3 & 4 tidak boleh di hari Selasa, 5 & 6 tidak boleh di hari Rabu, 7 & 8 tidak boleh di hari Kamis, 9 & 0 tidak boleh di hari Jumat. Peraturan ini berlaku sejak pukul 07.00 pagi setiap harinya.
SWISS :
a. Dilarang berkebun di hari minggu.
b. Walau warga Swiss dilarang menjual, membeli, menyelundupkan, dan memproduksi minuman beralkohol, tapi mereka diizinkan untuk mengkonsumsinya.
SWEDIA :
Dilarang mengecat rumah tanpa ijin dari pemerintah dan harus menggunakan cat yang sudah mendapat sertifikat / ijin dari pemerintah.
KOREA SELATAN :
Para polisi wajib melaporkan jumlah uang suap yang mereka terima dari para pengendara yang mereka tilang.
SINGAPURA :
a. Dilarang menjual Permen karet di Singapura.
b. Dilarang berjalan tanpa busana (bugil)
c. Tidak menyiram setelah buang air di toilet, dapat dikenakan denda.
d. Jika Anda tertangkap basah meludah sebanyak 3X, Anda diwajibkan membersihkan jalan di hari Minggu dengan menenteng tulisan di dada “I am a Litterer” (Saya seorang Peludah)
e. Dilarang pipis di dalam lift / elevator.
UNITED KINGDOM :
a. Dilarang menjual sayuran di hari minggu (kecuali wortel).
b. Wanita dilarang makan coklat di tempat umum.
c. Mengambil barang yang dibuang, dapat diancam hukuman Pidana Terorisme.
MEKSIKO :
a. Wanita yang bekerja di kantor pemerintahan dilarang mengenakan rok mini atau pakaian yang dapat “memprovokasi” rekan kerja selama jam kerja.
b. Dilarang memaki di tempat umum.
ITALIA :
a. Pria yang mengenakan rok mini di tempat umum dikenakan hukuman kurungan
b. Memukul orang dengan kepalan tangan diancam hukum pidana penganiayaan. Tapi menghajar orang dengan meja dan kursi dapat dianggap membela diri.
AUSTRALIA :
a. Anak-anak berusia di atas 18 tahun (dibawah 21) dilarang membeli rokok, tapi diizinkan merokok.
b. Dilarang mengangkat telepon pada deringan pertama
c. Hanya Petugas Listrik berizin yang boleh mengganti lampu rumah.
d. Dilarang mengenakan celana Hot Pink di hari minggu.
YUNANI :
Dilarang mengenakan topi di stadium olahraga, karena dapat mengganggu pandangan orang lain.
CHINA :
Hanya anak cerdas yang boleh kuliah (dan ini harus bisa dibuktikan dengan ijazah ujian Negara yang diterimanya) .
KANADA :
a. Dilarang mencopot plester luka di tempat umum.
b. Dilarang menyirami tananam di kebun saat sedang hujan.
c. Dilarang pipis di semua tempat di Kanada (kecuali toilet rumah Anda sendiri).
d. Dilarang memanjat pohon.
PERANCIS :
a. Dilarang berciuman di kereta bawah tanah.
b. Dilarang menamai babi peliharaan Anda “Napoleon”
ISRAEL :
a. Dilarang memelihara babi di tanah Israel . Orang yang melakukannya akan ditembak mati.
b. Dilarang ngupil di hari Sabat (Sabtu / Minggu).
c. Dilarang naik sepeda, kecuali punya izin mengendarai sepeda.
AMERIKA :
1. ARIZONA :
a. Pemerintah Arizona melarang para pemburu melakukan aktivitas pemburuan onta di Arizona.
b. Dilarang menirukan gaya Pendeta / Pastor setempat.
c. Dilarang mengendarai mobil tanpa sepatu.
d. Dilarang bermain domino di hari Minggu.
e. Dilarang memakai kumis palsu di gereja.
f. Hukuman mati diberlakukan bagi siapapun yang menaburkan garam di atas rel kereta api.
g. Dilarang mengendarai mobil dengan mata tertutup.
2. ALASKA :
a. Dilarang memfoto beruang yang lagi tidur.
b. Dilarang mengikat anjing peliharaan di atas kap / atap mobil.
c. Dilarang memberi minum bir pada rusa.
d. Dilarang berjalan-jalan sambil membawa busur dan anak panah.
3. ARKANSAS :
a. Pria diizinkan memukuli istrinya, tapi tidak boleh lebih dari 1 kali sebulan.
b. Dilarang memelihara buaya di dalam bathtub.
c. Pria dan wanita yang ketahuan saling menggoda di tengah jalan, akan dikenakan 30 hari penjara.
d. Dilarang membawa sapi berjalan-jalan di jalan utama setelah lewat jam 1 dini hari di hari Minggu.
4. CALIFORNIA :
a. Binatang peliharaan dilarang dibiarkan berhubungan intim di sekitar lokasi sekolah, taman, dan tempat ibadah.
b. Wanita dilarang mengendarai mobil mengenakan daster.
c. Mobil tanpa pengemudi dilarang ngebut di jalan.
d. Dilarang bersepeda di kolam renang.
e. Dilarang mengenakan sepatu boot koboi, kecuali Anda memelihara sapi minimal 2 ekor.
f. Dilarang memelihara binatang berwarna hijau dan berbau menyengat.
g. Dilarang bermain bowling di trotoar.
5. COLORADO :
a. Dilarang berdebat dengan polisi, kecuali kendaraan Anda dihentikan olehnya.
b. Dilarang mendirikan bangunan di tengah jalan.
6. CONNECTICUT
a. Dilarang mengendarai sepeda dengan kecepatan lebih dari 90 km / jam.
b. Pria dilarang mencium istrinya di hari Minggu.
c. Mobil pemadam kebakaran tidak diizinkan ngebut lebih dari 40 km / jam, walau sedang menuju ke lokasi kebakarang sekalipun.
d. Penata rias / kecantikan dilarang bersiul, berdendang, ataupun bernyanyi saat melayani pelanggan.
7. FLORIDA :
a. Konstitusi Negara menjamin babi-babi hamil bebas dari ancaman penjara, untuk tindakan apapun yang mereka lakukan.
b. Denda akan diberikan pada wanita yang tertidur saat rambutnya di-hair dryer, kecuali dia adalah pemilik salon.
c. Dilarang bernyanyi di depan umum sambil mengenakan pakaian renang.
d. Dilarang kentut di tempat umum setelah jam 6 sore.
e. Dilarang memecahkan piring dan gelas lebih dari 3 buah sehari.
8. NEW YORK :
a. Dilarang menyapa orang sambil ngupil.
b. Dilarang mengenakan sandal setelah lewat jam 10 malam.
c. Pria dilarang keluar dengan mengenakan jaket dan celana yang gak matching
d. Pria dilarang keluar rumah topless (tidak mengenakan baju atasan). (FYI : Ini adalah hukum tertua di New York karena telah diberlakukan sejak tahun 1900.)
e. Dilarang menyeruput sup.
f. Dilarang makan sambil berenang di lautan.
9. WASHINGTON :
a. Dilarang menyusui anak di tempat umum.
b. Dilarang menari dan minum di waktu bersamaan.
Inilah Peraturan Paling Aneh di Dunia yang ada di berbagai negara tersebut:
THAILAND :
Dilarang keluar rumah tanpa mengenakan celana dalam.
FILIPINA :
Untuk mengurangi tingkat kemacatan lalu lintas kota Manila , ditetapkan bahwa :
Kendaraan bernomor akhir 1 atau 2 tidak diizinkan beroperasi di hari Senin.
Sedangkan angka 3 & 4 tidak boleh di hari Selasa, 5 & 6 tidak boleh di hari Rabu, 7 & 8 tidak boleh di hari Kamis, 9 & 0 tidak boleh di hari Jumat. Peraturan ini berlaku sejak pukul 07.00 pagi setiap harinya.
SWISS :
a. Dilarang berkebun di hari minggu.
b. Walau warga Swiss dilarang menjual, membeli, menyelundupkan, dan memproduksi minuman beralkohol, tapi mereka diizinkan untuk mengkonsumsinya.
SWEDIA :
Dilarang mengecat rumah tanpa ijin dari pemerintah dan harus menggunakan cat yang sudah mendapat sertifikat / ijin dari pemerintah.
KOREA SELATAN :
Para polisi wajib melaporkan jumlah uang suap yang mereka terima dari para pengendara yang mereka tilang.
SINGAPURA :
a. Dilarang menjual Permen karet di Singapura.
b. Dilarang berjalan tanpa busana (bugil)
c. Tidak menyiram setelah buang air di toilet, dapat dikenakan denda.
d. Jika Anda tertangkap basah meludah sebanyak 3X, Anda diwajibkan membersihkan jalan di hari Minggu dengan menenteng tulisan di dada “I am a Litterer” (Saya seorang Peludah)
e. Dilarang pipis di dalam lift / elevator.
UNITED KINGDOM :
a. Dilarang menjual sayuran di hari minggu (kecuali wortel).
b. Wanita dilarang makan coklat di tempat umum.
c. Mengambil barang yang dibuang, dapat diancam hukuman Pidana Terorisme.
MEKSIKO :
a. Wanita yang bekerja di kantor pemerintahan dilarang mengenakan rok mini atau pakaian yang dapat “memprovokasi” rekan kerja selama jam kerja.
b. Dilarang memaki di tempat umum.
ITALIA :
a. Pria yang mengenakan rok mini di tempat umum dikenakan hukuman kurungan
b. Memukul orang dengan kepalan tangan diancam hukum pidana penganiayaan. Tapi menghajar orang dengan meja dan kursi dapat dianggap membela diri.
AUSTRALIA :
a. Anak-anak berusia di atas 18 tahun (dibawah 21) dilarang membeli rokok, tapi diizinkan merokok.
b. Dilarang mengangkat telepon pada deringan pertama
c. Hanya Petugas Listrik berizin yang boleh mengganti lampu rumah.
d. Dilarang mengenakan celana Hot Pink di hari minggu.
YUNANI :
Dilarang mengenakan topi di stadium olahraga, karena dapat mengganggu pandangan orang lain.
CHINA :
Hanya anak cerdas yang boleh kuliah (dan ini harus bisa dibuktikan dengan ijazah ujian Negara yang diterimanya) .
KANADA :
a. Dilarang mencopot plester luka di tempat umum.
b. Dilarang menyirami tananam di kebun saat sedang hujan.
c. Dilarang pipis di semua tempat di Kanada (kecuali toilet rumah Anda sendiri).
d. Dilarang memanjat pohon.
PERANCIS :
a. Dilarang berciuman di kereta bawah tanah.
b. Dilarang menamai babi peliharaan Anda “Napoleon”
ISRAEL :
a. Dilarang memelihara babi di tanah Israel . Orang yang melakukannya akan ditembak mati.
b. Dilarang ngupil di hari Sabat (Sabtu / Minggu).
c. Dilarang naik sepeda, kecuali punya izin mengendarai sepeda.
AMERIKA :
1. ARIZONA :
a. Pemerintah Arizona melarang para pemburu melakukan aktivitas pemburuan onta di Arizona.
b. Dilarang menirukan gaya Pendeta / Pastor setempat.
c. Dilarang mengendarai mobil tanpa sepatu.
d. Dilarang bermain domino di hari Minggu.
e. Dilarang memakai kumis palsu di gereja.
f. Hukuman mati diberlakukan bagi siapapun yang menaburkan garam di atas rel kereta api.
g. Dilarang mengendarai mobil dengan mata tertutup.
2. ALASKA :
a. Dilarang memfoto beruang yang lagi tidur.
b. Dilarang mengikat anjing peliharaan di atas kap / atap mobil.
c. Dilarang memberi minum bir pada rusa.
d. Dilarang berjalan-jalan sambil membawa busur dan anak panah.
3. ARKANSAS :
a. Pria diizinkan memukuli istrinya, tapi tidak boleh lebih dari 1 kali sebulan.
b. Dilarang memelihara buaya di dalam bathtub.
c. Pria dan wanita yang ketahuan saling menggoda di tengah jalan, akan dikenakan 30 hari penjara.
d. Dilarang membawa sapi berjalan-jalan di jalan utama setelah lewat jam 1 dini hari di hari Minggu.
4. CALIFORNIA :
a. Binatang peliharaan dilarang dibiarkan berhubungan intim di sekitar lokasi sekolah, taman, dan tempat ibadah.
b. Wanita dilarang mengendarai mobil mengenakan daster.
c. Mobil tanpa pengemudi dilarang ngebut di jalan.
d. Dilarang bersepeda di kolam renang.
e. Dilarang mengenakan sepatu boot koboi, kecuali Anda memelihara sapi minimal 2 ekor.
f. Dilarang memelihara binatang berwarna hijau dan berbau menyengat.
g. Dilarang bermain bowling di trotoar.
5. COLORADO :
a. Dilarang berdebat dengan polisi, kecuali kendaraan Anda dihentikan olehnya.
b. Dilarang mendirikan bangunan di tengah jalan.
6. CONNECTICUT
a. Dilarang mengendarai sepeda dengan kecepatan lebih dari 90 km / jam.
b. Pria dilarang mencium istrinya di hari Minggu.
c. Mobil pemadam kebakaran tidak diizinkan ngebut lebih dari 40 km / jam, walau sedang menuju ke lokasi kebakarang sekalipun.
d. Penata rias / kecantikan dilarang bersiul, berdendang, ataupun bernyanyi saat melayani pelanggan.
7. FLORIDA :
a. Konstitusi Negara menjamin babi-babi hamil bebas dari ancaman penjara, untuk tindakan apapun yang mereka lakukan.
b. Denda akan diberikan pada wanita yang tertidur saat rambutnya di-hair dryer, kecuali dia adalah pemilik salon.
c. Dilarang bernyanyi di depan umum sambil mengenakan pakaian renang.
d. Dilarang kentut di tempat umum setelah jam 6 sore.
e. Dilarang memecahkan piring dan gelas lebih dari 3 buah sehari.
8. NEW YORK :
a. Dilarang menyapa orang sambil ngupil.
b. Dilarang mengenakan sandal setelah lewat jam 10 malam.
c. Pria dilarang keluar dengan mengenakan jaket dan celana yang gak matching
d. Pria dilarang keluar rumah topless (tidak mengenakan baju atasan). (FYI : Ini adalah hukum tertua di New York karena telah diberlakukan sejak tahun 1900.)
e. Dilarang menyeruput sup.
f. Dilarang makan sambil berenang di lautan.
9. WASHINGTON :
a. Dilarang menyusui anak di tempat umum.
b. Dilarang menari dan minum di waktu bersamaan.
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