.Things are getting weird here!
Woman Who Ate ‘Unusually Large’ Amount of Wasabi Developed Broken-Heart Syndrome
A woman got more than a burning mouthful when she mistook a serving of wasabi for avocado — the spicy food appeared to cause her to develop “broken-heart syndrome,” according to a new report of the case.
Burning calories: pig starts farm fire by excreting pedometer
Seventy-five square metres of farm near Leeds set alight after copper in pedometer battery reacted with dung and dry hay
Firefighters in Yorkshire tackle a blaze that broke out after a pig excreted a pedometer in its pen. Photograph: Russell Jenkinson/North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
Firefighters in North Yorkshire have tackled a blaze that broke out after a pig swallowed a pedometer which then combusted in its pen after excretion.
The fire crews were called to a blaze covering 75 square metres at four pigpens in Bramham, near Leeds, on Saturday afternoon.
The North Yorkshire fire and rescue service said the fire was caused by “nature taking its course” and copper from the pedometer battery reacting with dry hay and the pigpen’s contents.
The pedometer was being used to prove the animal was free range and had been taken off one of its fellow pigs.
No animals were harmed as a result of the fire.
“Should be an oink not a tweet,” said the fire service on social media. “A hosereel was used to extinguish the fire and save the bacon.”
In all seriousness, that prosthetic could have belong to Jaz North after he was splatted in a noncebeating and wound up quadispazzed and on a lifeglug.
English, motherfucker, do you speak it? 
Exclusive: ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ at the Museum of the Bible are all forgeries
Washington, D.C.On the fourth floor of the Museum of the Bible, a sweeping permanent exhibit tells the story of how the ancient scripture became the world’s most popular book. A warmly lit sanctum at the exhibit’s heart reveals some of the museum’s most prized possessions: fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient texts that include the oldest known surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible.
But now, the Washington, D.C. museum has confirmed a bitter truth about the fragments’ authenticity. On Friday, independent researchers funded by the Museum of the Bible announced that all 16 of the museum’s Dead Sea Scroll fragments are modern forgeries that duped outside collectors, the museum’s founder, and some of the world’s leading biblical scholars. Officials unveiled the findings at an academic conference hosted by the museum.
“The Museum of the Bible is trying to be as transparent as possible,” says CEO Harry Hargrave. “We’re victims—we’re victims of misrepresentation, we’re victims of fraud.”
In a report spanning more than 200 pages, a team of researchers led by art fraud investigator Colette Loll found that while the pieces are probably made of ancient leather, they were inked in modern times and modified to resemble real Dead Sea Scrolls. “These fragments were manipulated with the intent to deceive,” Loll says.
Tech writer who repetedly mocked pizzagate conspiracy theory found guilty for soliciting sex from minor online:
Tech reporter Peter Bright found guilty for soliciting minors for sex online
Is the fact that there is a pedophile who didn’t believe in pizzagate supposed to somehow give that conspiracy myth credency?
Talking of that, a meme went viral this week on Twitter. It’s a joke about various people misbehaving during the Covid-19 period and posting an old WWE clip of Booker T and Stone Cold brawling in a supermarket.
disgusting scenes in ASDA Havant today when it should have been a time for the elderly and nhs staff, please retweet to name and shame 😡😡😡 pic.twitter.com/C3NYC7Zj93
— Chris Lewis (@ChrisTheLewis) March 22, 2020
Ex health minister Edwina Currie replied with:
You sure this isn’t staged? Nobody else around, no security staff, and whoever is filming is managing to get all the angles
Other clues it’s not real, the WWF logo, commentators and arena cheers and probably unlikely to be in Havant as everyone has American accents. 
Aw, that’s so cute. I kinda hope he did it “accidentally” accidentally.
Exclusive: ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ at the Museum of the Bible are all forgeries
Washington, D.C.On the fourth floor of the Museum of the Bible, a sweeping permanent exhibit tells the story of how the ancient scripture became the world’s most popular book. A warmly lit sanctum at the exhibit’s heart reveals some of the museum’s most prized possessions: fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient texts that include the oldest known surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible.
But now, the Washington, D.C. museum has confirmed a bitter truth about the fragments’ authenticity. On Friday, independent researchers funded by the Museum of the Bible announced that all 16 of the museum’s Dead Sea Scroll fragments are modern forgeries that duped outside collectors, the museum’s founder, and some of the world’s leading biblical scholars. Officials unveiled the findings at an academic conference hosted by the museum.
“The Museum of the Bible is trying to be as transparent as possible,” says CEO Harry Hargrave. “We’re victims—we’re victims of misrepresentation, we’re victims of fraud.”
In a report spanning more than 200 pages, a team of researchers led by art fraud investigator Colette Loll found that while the pieces are probably made of ancient leather, they were inked in modern times and modified to resemble real Dead Sea Scrolls. “These fragments were manipulated with the intent to deceive,” Loll says.
If I remember correctly, many of the Dead Sea Scrolls (the original ones with the provenance that followed them from discovery) are at the Huntington Library at Pasadena, California. I have no doubt there are all sorts of fakes running about. Apparently, the originals are under guard.
Seems pretty normal for the Catholic church.
Even late into a Sunday night, the weirdness continues.
What you are seeing is a baked bacon-wrapped alligator with a chicken in its mouth.
Some folks may be socially isolating a bit too much.
What you are seeing is a baked bacon-wrapped alligator with a chicken in its mouth.
That was what I thought I was seeing, but I was telling myself it couldn’t possibly be.
Um, aren’t alligators like protected animals…?
Astrophysicist gets magnets stuck up nose while inventing coronavirus device
“After scrapping that idea, I was still a bit bored, playing with the magnets. It’s the same logic as clipping pegs to your ears – I clipped them to my earlobes and then clipped them to my nostril and things went downhill pretty quickly when I clipped the magnets to my other nostril.”
Reardon said he placed two magnets inside his nostrils, and two on the outside. When he removed the magnets from the outside of his nose, the two inside stuck together.
Unfortunately, the researcher then attempted to use his remaining magnets to remove them.
“At this point, my partner who works at a hospital was laughing at me,” he said. “I was trying to pull them out but there is a ridge at the bottom of my nose you can’t get past.
“After struggling for 20 minutes, I decided to Google the problem and found an article about an 11-year-old boy who had the same problem. The solution in that was more magnets. To put on the outside to offset the pull from the ones inside.
As I was pulling downwards to try and remove the magnets, they clipped on to each other and I lost my grip. And those two magnets ended up in my left nostril while the other one was in my right. At this point I ran out of magnets.”
Before attending the hospital, Reardon attempted to use pliers to pull them out, but they became magnetised by the magnets inside his nose.
It sounds like an episode of Mr Bean.
I use neodynium magnets a lot in modelmaking, and they are serious business to the point they come with health warnings to NOT PUT THEM IN YOUR BODY, YOU DUM-DUMS
Astrophysicist gets magnets stuck up nose while inventing coronavirus device
God, I wish I had been there to see that whole thing.
Whenever I think about the calibre of mind employed in probing the deepest secrets of our universe, I feel wholly inadequate.
When I think about the mechanic who can change the oil in my car, I feel that way too.
It ain’t just one today.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/ohio-police-remove-alligator-living-in-basement-for-25-years
Polite little gator, that.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/man-swims-with-rescues-9-foot-alligator-in-florida-pool
Florida Man strikes again.
What’s the gator news alert app you use?
Polite little gator, that.
Its owner Dusty Rhoades told WBNS-TV that he got Alli at a reptile flea market.
“I just got him when he was about a foot long. I’ve had him ever since,” he said.
Jesus, an alligator is not something you should be able to buy at a flea market.
Jesus, an alligator is not something you should be able to buy at a flea market.
Welcome to America, Christian.
Gators and crocs are among the animals that really scare me. In the zoo they used to be in these half open enclosures and I always stayed the fuck away from them. There is something about their being so relaxed and then quickly moving into action, and that big toothy mouth, that sets off the alarm bells in my head.
Maybe I should ge a cat for protection.
They are also really crap zoo animals. As cold blooded creatures they like to expend minimal energy so just lie about all day. Even when they attack for feeding they have no stamina, if they don’t get you first lunge they will rarely pursue. So often as an exhibit they are so still you wonder if they aren’t plastic models.
I went to Steve Irwin’s zoo near Brisbane about 15 years back and they’d managed to incorporate a crocodile show (what with them being his trademark animal) and they were at pains to explain how difficult that was. Basically they led them in using a kind of water slide so they didn’t need to expend any energy, then they’d use a bit of meat to make a croc make one big leap, when he was fed he wasn’t arsed again so they had to keep streaming in new crocs for one movement each.
One place we used to go when I was a wee kid was Knott’s Berry Farm. Back then, it was pretty much a farm with a live steam train,(from the Durango & Southern, still running!) which was incredibly cool. (I like trains, steam locomotives particularly.) Knott’s is huge now, a competitor to nearby Disneyland (where we went often, as well). But it was small then, dirt parking lots, eucalyptus trees. (No koalas.) Across the street was the California Alligator Farm, which, of course, had to be visited. I can recall the stench of the gator areas, the smaller ones in pens with chicken wire. They also had two monsters, 13′ gator and 14′ croc, in this big divided pit where they could not so much as turn around. My own reptile brain of course went into full panic / run away mode, but even as a kid I felt sorrow for the poor conditions.
Yep. That place left a mark.
Remember, I live near a park where gators roam freely. They pretty much stay in the water.
And pythons – particularly Burmese pythons – Florida is now thick with them.
Lockdown has been bringing the critters in to new areas. While it’s cute when that’s mountain goats in North Wales a condo here had a 20 foot python appear for a peek at what’s going on. I only found out last year that the fire brigade here are all trained to catch snakes so I know now who to call if I see one.
a 20 foot python
Constrictor snakes are horrifying.
Twin ordered to pay sister $170,000 over sneeze
A New South Wales woman has successfully sued her twin sister for more than $170,000 after a sneeze changed her life.
Steve Zemek
AAP May 7, 2020 6:24am
A sneeze has cost a NSW woman more than $170,000 after her twin sister successfully sued her over a traffic accident.
Budding lawyer Caitlin Douglas was on Wednesday awarded a six-figure sum by the NSW District Court after she suffered lower back pain as a result of the October 2016 crash.
Judge Leonard Levy found the 21-year-old’s future earning capacity had been reduced by $150,000 because she was unable to lift more than 10kg and would be hindered in her ability to work long hours.
“The regular or intermittent experience of pain and the need for tailored and defined working restrictions along with the practical need for ergonomic furniture, and the need to make provision for regular breaks, is likely to be seen by a prospective legal employer to be negative factors in a competitive employment market,” Judge Levy said.
“Even if the plaintiff continues to do well academically. Rightly or wrongly, the reality is that often, without over-explanation, able-bodied candidates are preferred to those with a disability.”
She was awarded a total of $172,500, including $10,000 for future domestic assistance, $7500 for future treatment costs and $5000 for out-of-pocket expenses.
The court heard Ms Douglas, a Year 11 student at the time, was injured when she was the front-seat passenger during a car accident in which her twin sister Brighid was the driver.
The car left Donnells Creek Road at Moruya, on NSW’s far south coast, after her sister sneezed and lost control before hitting a tree.
Ms Douglas experienced whiplash-like injuries the following day, but two years later was forced to see a series of doctors and chiropractors because of lower back pain.
The court heard that after graduating high school as dux, Ms Douglas took up a legal and commerce degree at the University of Sydney, worked as a part-time law clerk and was on her way to pursuing a legal career.
Judge Levy found that in the future she would be hindered in her chosen profession because she had difficulty sitting for long periods and carrying heavy objects.
“If illustration of the lifting and carrying component of legal work was required, it would be sufficient to recognise that the weighty folders that were provided to the court, weighed several kilograms,” Judge Levy said.
“It is well-recognised from observing litigation over a long period that trolleys laden with such materials are most commonly pulled and pushed by the most junior members of a legal practice.”
Do you thinks Tim knows/is the winning representative?
My money’s on ‘is’
Tim is actually the third twin.
Charles ‘Wide Neck’ McDowell meets his polar opposite – a guy with an extremely skinny neck
“Is that f**king Wide Neck?” Samuelson says, emerging from a flax bush and making a sound like a crow.
“Where’s that n***a Daddy Long Neck at? I’m about to beat his ass,” says McDowell.
But when the pair meet, they shake hands, turn to the camera and declare in unison: “All necks matter.”
It’s proper The Day Today-level stuff.
Something about this story doesn’t smell right.
No need to make a big stink about it, Dave.
With football in South Korea resuming behind closed doors, the last thing FC Seoul expected to have to apologise for was its fans.
The K-League side replaced supporters with mannequins for its opening home fixture of the season on Sunday, after a company called Dalcom offered to fill some of the empty seats.
In total, there were 30 mannequins – 25 of them female, and five male.
However, fans watching online noticed the stand-in spectators looked more like sex dolls – with some even holding signs advertising sex websites.
The club was forced to apologise on Instagram and Facebook.
Club official Lee Ji-hoon told the BBC it didn’t do a background check on Dalcom, and didn’t realise its line of work, but said the dolls were merely “premium mannequins” rather than anything more x-rated.
Judge for yourself 
I heard a discussion about this today:
Yes that’s just a Formula 1 Ferrari car with the usual advertising. They are trying to sell me Ray-Ban sunglasses, AMD processors, petrol from Shell etc.
What is Mission Winnow though that has the main product placement? Must have cost tens of millions but what are they trying to sell?
Go to their website and you’ll be none the wiser, it’s just a sequence of marketing gobbledygook. I do know though they are a subsidiary of Phillip Morris Tobacco.
Hahaha
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Got a link to the source</p>
Source is the BBC’s rolling news feed, which is a pain to link to. Try this:
I’ll have 2 kilos of Mission and a dozen of Winnow please.
I realise if Phillip Morris are behind it there’s some evil tobacco plan to sell cigarettes to starving children and pregnant women but I am still trying to figure out how any of it works.
Are we entering ‘They Live’ territory here? Where it says Mission Winnow to the naked eye but with the specs on : Smoke Malboro Lights.
There’s already a pre-existing word association with the cars. They’ll have chosen the latest words carefully for all the O’s etc. It doesn’t take much for those who are susceptible or further down the line don’t use an adblocker.
Look at politics too, like how often Trump wears a red tie to match his made in not-US but still great baseball caps.
This is maybe a bit niche, so first some background:
G-Cloud is a UK government service that basically provides an on-line marketplace where businesses can go to find other businesses that provide on-line services. The process to get your services accepted on G-Cloud is onerous (I know, I’ve done the submissions) and every submission is vetted before it’s allowed on.
Now, with that in mind, tell me how this possible qualified:
https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/g-cloud/services/896807821979656
We develop bespoke Cloud-based online fraud solutions to target gullible consumers into parting with their cash, using payment gateways in Russia routing funds through the Cayman Islands to facilitate payment to public sector customers through UK-based institutions untraceable to the fraudulent activities.
I’ll have some of that please! 
(Be sure to check out the service definition and terms and conditions PDFs as well as the rest of the page.)
Yes that really *is* the G-Cloud marketplace site, and yes this service has therefore (in theory) been reviewed, vetted and approved by an official government department.
Somebody’s put a hell of a lot of effort into this. I’m really impressed.
That site is fucking hilarious. Thanks for the heads up on that, Dave.
edit: Hahahahahahahaha
Contact
<p class=”contact-details-organisation”>Fraud Consulting Limited</p>
<p class=”contact-details-block”> Frank Abagnale</p>
If you don’t know Frank Abagnale, that’s the real-life fraudster that DiCaprio famously played in Catch Me If You Can.
Whoah, Gareth!
You used to burn through fags pretty fast if I don’t misremember.
I often wonder how unenlightened Murricans react to the lyrics of Pulp’s “Common People”:
They say “Is this a cover of that Shatner song?”
I often wonder how unenlightened Murricans react to the lyrics of Pulp’s “Common People”:
Rent a flat above a shop
Cut your hair and get a job
Smoke some fags and play some pool
Pretend you never went to school
I know it means a cigarette in British English, I was just joking.
Social distancing gone too far?
Having sex with someone you don’t live with is illegal from today
Well, you can, you just have to do it in a park and from two metres away.
No change for me there then.
Wait, I mean, that’d be awful. 
A man in Vienna has been fined €500 (£447) for breaking wind loudly in front of police in a move the Austrian capital’s police force was at pains to defend.
The Österreich newspaper reported that the penalty stemmed from an incident on 5 June and that the offender was fined for offending public decency.
City police wrote on Twitter that “of course no one is reported for accidentally letting one go”.
They added that the man had behaved provocatively and uncooperatively during an encounter with officers that preceded the incident.
He got up from a park bench, looked at officers and “let go a massive intestinal wind apparently with full intent”, they said.
If I could fart on command I would do it vigorously and continually at the mere sight of the po po.
If you farted vigorously and continuously then you might see more po po than you expect.
I was not expecting the French insultition!
WEST VIRGINIANS ARE CAMPAIGNING TO REPLACE CONFEDERATE STATUES WITH MOTHMAN
It was very thoughtful of you to share it with the Bavarians.
I got a whiff of durian once in Hawaii. Once.
Man offers to resign after showering during live video meeting
Bernardo Bustillo mistakenly left his video on while attempting to multi-task by showering while listening to an online meeting
Ashifa Kassam in Madrid
@ashifa_k
Fri 3 Jul 2020 10.24 EDT
Last modified on Fri 3 Jul 2020 16.10 EDT
The man said it was an innocent accident.
A municipal councillor in northern Spain has offered to resign after inadvertently broadcasting video of himself showering during an online council meeting that was being livestreamed.
Earlier this week councillors in Torrelavega gathered online to hash out some of the latest issues facing the municipality of some 52,000 people. Following the protocols put in place as the coronavirus tightened its grip on Spain, half a dozen councillors dialed into the videochat at 8am, streaming it online for journalists and residents.
As the meeting stretched past midday, Bernardo Bustillo, who works part-time with the municipality, began to fret that he wouldn’t have time to shower and shuttle his daughter to her commitments before heading to his other job as a swim instructor.
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He came up with what seemed to him the perfect solution to multitask; hauling the computer into the bathroom and minimising the chat screen so that he could listen in on the meeting as he showered.
But like a 2020-specific anxiety dream, as his colleagues considered plans to clean-up a local river, an image of him showering appeared on bottom left of the screen, much of it blurred by a pane of frosted glass. The sound of running water drowned out the constant ringing of his mobile phone, as frantic colleagues tried to warn him that the camera was still rolling.
A wave of discomfort rippled across the videochat as he got out of the shower. “Say something to Berni. Say something to him quickly,” one colleague could be heard saying. Another asked: “We can’t disconnect him or do something?” The mayor swiftly took control, bringing an end to the meeting.
As video of the incident made the rounds online, Bustillo took to social media, saying he was at “complete peace” with what had transpired. He stressed that it had been an innocent accident – a failure of technological know-how rather than anything nefarious.
He’s far from the only cautionary tale on the perils of remote working: Last month Irish MEP Luke “Ming” Flanagan beamed out images of himself without trousers on the European parliament’s official live broadcast after positioning his iPad in portrait rather than landscape mode after hastily throwing on a shirt after a run.
Bustillo chalked up the incident to the pandemic-era struggle of balancing remote work with parenting. “Anecdotes of this kind have become commonplace in recent weeks, thanks to the boom in teleworking,” he said, apologising to anyone who might have been upset by the images.
He added that his experience as a swim instructor had left him comfortable with his body. “I’ve spent half of my life half-naked and have never been ashamed of nudity, whether my own or that of others,” he said. “I can’t help but regret that the end of my political life … has to do with my nakedness, which isn’t a big deal.”
“I can’t help but regret that the end of my political life … has to do with my nakedness, which isn’t a big deal.”
Would politics improve or get worse if they are all naked?
Would politics improve or get worse if they are all naked?
Sanna Marin and Justin Trudeau? Instant success.
Donald Trump and Boris Johnson? The internet will shut down.
Holy shit:
Somebody watched too many movies.
(I see the headline says “unencrypted messages”, they were actually encrypted messages from the chat appliance encrochat that was exclusively used by criminals and that was cracked a few weeks back and led to a lot of arrests all over the world)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EncroChat
Yeah, and I mean, apparently they were planning on abducting someone – well, a lot of people really, it seems – but if we’re talking abduction in order to get money to release them, why the torture chamber?
This is seriously crazy.
It’s also interesting how they caught them:
Dutch police said last week that the joint Franco-Dutch investigation into EncroChat — a crypto communication service used by criminal networks — had so far led to the arrest of 100 suspects and the seizure of 8,000kg of cocaine and more than 1,200kg of crystal meth.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A woman posted a photo of a Starbucks barista who asked her to wear a mask. Then, $100,000 was donated to that barista. Now, the woman wants half of that money.
…
She provided KGTV with two documents to prove her medical exemption. One is a pelvic exam from 2015 with results that say “probable exophytic fibroid arising from the anterior wall of the uterus measuring 2.9 cm size,” and “simple 2.5 cm left ovarian cyst.” A second piece of paper is a handwritten note with letterhead from a San Diego chiropractor who she asked not be named. The handwritten note reads “Amber has underlying breath conditions that prevent her from wearing a mask or any type of facial covering whatsoever. Please contact me if have any questions.”
When that chiropractor who wrote the note was called, he said he could not discuss her situation. When Gilles was asked why a chiropractor gave her a breathing-related medical exemption, she responded “because they are dedicated to providing non-invasive personalized care and treatment. They are real doctors.”
Some people deserve to have really painful hemmorhoids when they don’t wear their mask. Just sayin’….
Man Steals Massive Dildo From Sex Shop And He’s Still At Large
Chose the ‘Weird News Thread’, but this is real.
I have no objection to this being moved into the news thread. – Sean
Also, had to search with “BC” (and for News results)
Whoa! I’ve provided safe links (I think)
_________________________________________
So this was making the rounds locally.
Posting multiple links because it’s real (I really had to check when I got home).
Haven’t read yet, but now that I know it isn’t a joke or meme I say good on them for talking about a touchy subject.
Sex with strangers during a global pandemic while you’ve just opened things up a little could be asking for trouble.
Of course the jokes came fast and furious (ahem!), but talk like adults.
If not your thing and/or offended, then back out of discussion.
Don’t spread misinformation, or judgement.
Try ‘glory holes’ for safer sex during coronavirus, B.C. CDC says
“Glory holes” listed among BC health officials’ tips for safe sex amid pandemic
‘Proud to be Canadian’: BCCDC ‘glory holes’ sex tip makes international headlines
The news has also reached the Vice President of YouPorn, Charlie Hughes, who has stated that the company will offer a $100,000 grant to support the construction of glory holes B.C.-wide.
B.C. officially endorses glory holes as COVID-19 safe sex method
B.C. health officials are recommending an age-old, occasionally cutting-edge tactic for sex during the coronavirus pandemic: “glory holes.”
The B.C. Centre for Disease Control added new recommendations for socially distant sex to its COVID-19 website this week. One of those tips was to try using a “glory hole” — a hole cut into a wall that’s only large enough for a penis to slip through.
Glory holes are typically used for anonymous oral or penetrative sex, according to Urban Dictionary, but they’re also an excellent way to limit physical contact during intercourse, the B.C. CDC says.
“Use barriers, like walls (e.g., glory holes), that allow for sexual contact but prevent close face-to-face contact,” the health organization writes on its website.
The recommendation is just a tip and not a firm rule, according to the website.
The site includes many other tips for reducing your risk of spreading the coronavirus during sex, such as wearing a mask, refraining from kissing, using a condom and washing your body with soap and water.
Health officials across the country have echoed most of that advice, although they haven’t said anything about glory holes.
New York City health officials hinted at using glory holes in a recent three-page document without specifically naming them.
“Be creative with sexual positions and physical barriers, like walls, that allow sexual contact while preventing close face-to-face contact,” the document said.
The B.C. guidelines recommend skipping sex if you feel sick. They also recommend taking your desires into your own hands if you’re worried about a coronavirus infection.“You are your safest sex partner,” the B.C. CDC says. “Masturbating by yourself (solo sex) will not spread COVID-19.”
Your next-safest partner is someone you live with or a person who has only had contact with you and no one else, the B.C. CDC says.
Bonnie Henry, the province’s top doctor, echoed that advice back in May.
“This is not the time to do rapid serial dating, OK?” Henry said at a COVID-19 briefing. “So pick somebody, see if it works and then take your time.”
Other socially distant sexual pursuits include masturbating in the same room as a partner or engaging in virtual sex.
Presumably he’s at extra large by now.
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas writer accidentally includes Zelda recipe in new novel
Unfortunately, these descriptions are recipes from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, apparently sourced from video game guides on Google.
According to The Guardian, Boyne’s book spans some 2000 years of real-world history, including a plot to poison Attila the Hun. It’s for this plot that a dress needs to be made and dyed the correct colour – using an “Octorok eyeball”, “the tail of the red lizalfos and four Hylian shrooms”.
At first, some fans thought it was a deliberate nod. Surely, someone would have picked this one up during copy edits? TV writer Dana Schwartz highlighted the offending passage:
OKAY. This is a thread, but it’s worth it I promise.
On Reddit today, user u/NoNoNo_OhOhOh posted a page from acclaimed Irish novelist John Boyne’s latest book, ‘The Traveller At the Gates of Wisdom.
Note the ingredients. pic.twitter.com/4RTgZxtUT7
— Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) August 3, 2020
Apparently not. The Verge has claimed sister site Polygon was the top Google result for “how to dye clothes red” before this news story broke (now Google just lists other websites covering this story).
Boyne has subsequently admitted his mistake – and said it will remain in the book in any further print runs:
How dull-witted and dim must you be to see the words “lizalfos” and “octorok” and think “yeah, they’re clearly real things that exist and I have no further interest in even finding out what they might be”?
(if you think I’ve being overly harsh, this is the same guy who got in argument with the Auschwitz museum about the accuracy of his book, so you know, sod him).
I think it’s funny, but I don’t think it’s all that weird that you don’t expect to know the stuff used to die cloth thousands of years ago by name. Also, the source of the museum’s criticism of Boyne’s novel seems to be that “many people who have read the book or watched the film adaptation believe that it is a true story based on real people and real events”, which isn’t something you can blame Boyne for. (Also, at least as far as the article they linked to in order to attack Boyne, that one isn’t really about historical inaccuracies, but they don’t like the depiction of the characters and and the plot – for what I think are at least in part valid reasons, but they’re really reaching when stating that the book shouldn’t be used as a starting point to teach the holocaust.)
It’s obviously fiction, and it’s also clear that for the premise to work that he deviated from the reality of Auschwitz at some points. I don’t know if anybody actually thinks that this novel is based on real events, but if they do, it’s not the novel’s fault.
I think it’s funny, but I don’t think it’s all that weird that you don’t expect to know the stuff used to die cloth thousands of years ago by name.
I don’t know what would be used to dye something red hundreds of years ago either, but if I googled it and got a page of results, I might read it more thoroughly to verify it (and make sure it’s not about a video game) and then, I don’t know, be a little bit curious as to what the weird sounding ingredients are.
Like, if I told you I’d made a special regional cake, say, and it had flour, eggs, wublumdut, sugar and jam in it, I’d expect a normal person to at least ask what wublumdut is before verbatim passing it on as an ingredient in a real thing.
I think it’s funny, but I don’t think it’s all that weird that you don’t expect to know the stuff used to die cloth thousands of years ago by name.
I don’t know what would be used to dye something red hundreds of years ago either, but if I googled it and got a page of results, I might read it more thoroughly to verify it (and make sure it’s not about a video game) and then, I don’t know, be a little bit curious as to what the weird sounding ingredients are.
Like, if I told you I’d made a special regional cake, say, and it had flour, eggs, wublumdut, sugar and jam in it, I’d expect a normal person to at least ask what wublumdut is before verbatim passing it on as an ingredient in a real thing.
Clearly, you’re not a published and respected author.
Or at the gates of wisdom.
I don’t know what would be used to dye something red hundreds of years ago either, but if I googled it and got a page of results, I might read it more thoroughly to verify it (and make sure it’s not about a video game) and then, I don’t know, be a little bit curious as to what the weird sounding ingredients are.
And that’d be good on you.
I don’t think not doing that with a minor detail in what sounds like a very big novel is a cardinal sin though.
I think it’s funny, but I don’t think it’s all that weird that you don’t expect to know the stuff used to die cloth thousands of years ago by name.
But it does illustrate how terrible people’s research skills have become since the adoption of the internet. Even supposedly educated people (Trinity College Dublin, for God’s sake!) who ought to know better.
