Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

Rains of fish are indeed a well-known Fortean phenomenon.

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What have we disturbed?

http://www.tecca.com/news/2012/07/11...-titan-vortex/

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It's the other end of the hexagon storm on Saturn!

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Who's a good little shuggoth? Who's a good little shuggoth?

Yes, you are! <ah-whubble-whubble-wub>

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There is an evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful.

http://www.space.com/3095-freak-eyed...ed-saturn.html

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I think it looks more like a toilet bowl or colonoscopy. But never blinking eye is far less disturbing.

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I really think that the label Siberian bear hunting armour is a euphemism at best, if not a smoke screen....

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I'm pretty sure I saw that bear-hunting armor somewhere before. Smokescreen indeed.

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Have we linked "mystery booms" yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49jEP...eature=related

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I'm not even sure how you work this on into a game, unless it's the origin story for the dwarves or drow in your DF game. But it's real-life, and it's weird. So here you are.

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In former Soviet Russia, citizen abduct C.H.U.D.

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It's often said that you can spend your entire life in the New York City sewer and subway system without once coming up to street level, even to cross the rivers. Certainly a good inspiration for drow, dwarves/dvergar, morlocks, CHUDs, and the like.

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A bit west for the usual location of R'lyeh. But who knows how long they've been floating?

Or perhaps it's just Godzilla has broken loose from the sea floor. We can hope it's just Godzilla.

For really weird, just read that "sitting two feet above the surface" quote literally.

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Not especially weird, but redolent of a post-apocalyptic setting where descendants of the survivors are rooting about in the remnants of the high-tech spaceport they no longer understand.

Unless it's the first sign that the aliens are about to come back. What are the "squatters" doing inside those shacks next to the figured, safe from observation? Could even be Lovecraftian -- what ritual required desecration of that cemetery?

And of course if you want really weird -- it's all about the pigs. In Star Trek IV, the aliens came back for whales. But it was really the pigs, all along.

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After all, last time they were here, pigs and whales hadn't differentiated from the same evolutionary branch yet...

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All hail the great bacon creator!

(I say this as a non-mamml eater that never the less couldn't resist.)

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They say it was an accident, but I am sure we all really know the reason that in 1947 the USA fired a V-2 at Juarez in Mexico.

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Depending on your metric of 'weird' and assuming this is for real:

World's Tallest Dog

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Notable: perspective and no reference information on the height of the woman may be playing merry hell with your eyes on that photo.

I generally don't disbelieve that he's 44 inches tall (danes are already ludicrously leggy, and 3'8" is tall but not impossibly far from the danes I know). However, she's in the background, which means Zeus is closer to the camera and looks bigger. She could also be 4' 11" for all you know - not knowing how tall she is will throw off your eye as well - if you're tall, you'll imagine her to be closer to your size.
(EDIT: I corrected for the forced perspective and took some measurements; if Zeus is 44" at the shoulder, she's 5'3"-ish)

Our shepherd (german/belgian cross with some greyhound in there for spice) was a smidge over six feet tall when she stood on her hind legs and slobbered on you.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

Java proposed as a (secondary) regional language. Article Google-translated from Ukrainian, some nuances lost.

Likely either a misinterpretation or a way of protesting the requests to make Russian a secondary language ('the success of eastern and southern regions'), but still hilarious to link to one's programmer friends.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

My SCA group used to meet at an Army Reserve training center. In addition to the juxtaposition of medieval recreaters wielding wooden weapons in from of an "ARMORY: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" sign, there were copies of an Army magazine lying around. One month had an article about joint-exercises with eastern European countries. It included pictures.

The sight of US and Soviet vehicles cooperating was too much for my poor brain.

I grew up downwind of a SAC base. I was army-mad for a long time. Those shapes were the BAD GUYS. Them together was beyond Not Right, it was *Wrong.*

Still makes me chuckle.

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A meteoric iron Vaisravana statue. And special meteoric iron, at that.

15,000 years ago, a nickel-iron meteor with a rare combination of alloy elements crashed in Mongolia.

1,000 years ago, the pre-Buddhist Bon culture of Tibet carved out of a chunk of this iron a 20-lb statue of Vaisravana, a powerful protective figure under several names in multiple Asian-origin religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.).

In 1938, a team of Nazi archaeologists found the statue and, taken by its quality and probably the svastika on its abdomen, shipped it back to Germany, where it remained in a private collection until recently.

Meteoric iron, ancient Oriental gods, and Nazi archaeologists. This thing's a sessile MacGuffin.

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Dang, you beat me to it. I came here to post the same story, but from here.

And it's the third of until then only 2 other known pieces greater than 10kg/20lb. What happens if all 3 are brought together?

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Interesting that both articles call it Buddhist in the title, but in the body say that it's from a pre-Buddhist culture. Disinformation perhaps?

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Well, you know how combining deities and Buddhism results in a new supposedly Buddhist religion with deities? That sort of stuff. :)

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Syncretism is the "mantra" for most successful religions after all. ;)

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Buddhism was given special status by Altan Khan in 1578, and proceeded to take over existing Mongolian religious life in the 16th and 17th centuries. So by the time the Nazis looted it from a Buddhist temple, it had been part of Buddhist observances there for 300 years. Compare the adoption of pagan artifacts and culture as Christian symbols and practices.

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Archaeologists return to ancient Greek 'computer' wreck site: official
Predictions for what they find?
I'm going for an Ancient Greek clockwork UFO.

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A complaint that the new orreries are slower and harder to use than the old ones.

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The Richat Structure, also known as the Eye of Africa, is a curious formation of concentric circles about 50km across, located in Mauritania in the Sahara Desert. Quite visible from space, investigations leave scientists sure that it is not an impact crater. But they're not quite sure how it formed.

There's a hotel dead center, by the way, at least of a sort.

This could serve as anything from an exotic background to the archvillain's secret base to the focal point for Things Man Was Not Meant to Know.

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An article about abandoned places-
http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...doned-places/1

And a website dedicated to finding them (link from the article)-
http://www.abandoned-places.com/

And from that site, check out the before and after shots-
http://www.abandoned-places.com/lemaire3.htm

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Attebradame certainly is a persistent bastard.

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I'm actually in a LiveJournal community for exactly that. While I can't find nearly as cool sites as the Russians on that comm, I can amaze them with the fact that there are any abandoned places in Japan. Seems people outside of this country don't believe there are any.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

Well, if you want abandoned places, check out Nature's Radioactive Wolves. It's definitely a hot spot but no tourists allowed.

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Yep, the Bubble Economy built swathes of hotels, resorts and amusement parks which now lie dormant, or at least severely underused and unkempt.

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I don't remember if this has already been noted or not, but it's definitely an example of real-life weirdness, the research ship that turns vertical on site:

The FLIP Ship

For some images:

http://www.google.com/images?q=%22fl...e_result_group

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Somebody's Island of Mystery just emerged off the coast of Germany.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/...202653788.html

I suspect an Illuminati plot, or the minion of some mastermind pressed the wrong button.

Alternatively, the Cunning Plan has reached fruition, and the time has come to announce it to the world!

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And it's obviously some kind of dimensional anomaly, because it's "34 acres long". They've already stolen one of our dimensions! Can the others be far behind?

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

I came across a sight where a Texas Genetic Labrotory stated that Bigfoot is a Hybrid, no older than 15000 years old of Modern Human and an unknown primate. In one article states specifically a human female with this unknown primate males. The head of the Lab is called Melba Ketchum. While the paper was rejected during peer review, just think of all the High Wierdness game material that could give you. If doing UFO's and Grey genetics one could claim Bigfoot as an engineered race. Or if you like a more disgustingly lurid approach it could even be something your Sasquatch could REALLY want our women!

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Why you should be careful if you try to kill a goblin. They fight back, apparently.

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Underground monsters destroy a Chinese building by undermining it. I mean they claim that it was caused by excavation for a new subway, but really....

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Google glasses becoming illegal in CIS.

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That's one problem with reading the files at the SCP Foundation a lot - after a while, you see a story like that, and you start trying to think which scip might have done it... :)

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Link, please?

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

Long story short, the states in the Customs Union (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia) see them as spy equipment - devices of covert video recording, to be precise. Ukrainian high-ups followed suit, and it seems the trend is likely to spill over to the other states of CIS.

In Russian, but still.
The 'big deal' article.
The attempt to get the government to do some explaining etc.

Given the level of non-covert video recording happening in the streets, the choice seems weird somewhat. Still, I really am ambiguous about the SBU's position. I don't see the ability to record people without their agreement or awareness as an inalienable right, but neither am I fanatical about non-recording privacy (it's nice to have, but there are much, much more important issues).

-------------------------------------------------------

And now for something less grimdark:
Naxos audiobooks seems to have a weird idea about how Dostoyevskiy looks like.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

Спасибо.

Love the comments about the recording pen.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

In a related vein, there is this:

The Polar Pod

I can see gaming possibilities in such a vehicle (if that's the right word for the Polar Pod).

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How does that expedition not make contact with mythos entities?

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Weird Crossover of the Day: IEEE Spectrum presents "Mrs. Frisby and the T-800s of NIMH". Nicodemus! No!

http://spectrum.ieee.org/img/ratbot2...776782921.jpeg

(The actual article, if you want to read it.)

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

seriously,wtf? This is like reading an article from Greyhawk 2000.

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Well, it is Zimbabwe.

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It might (or might not) be helpful to GMs to know that in this context, the goblin is possibly a sort of spirit possessed fetish doll which may (or may not) be made with body parts stolen from human graves (especially targeted are albinos, who may be murdered expressly for making magic items out of them). If you've got a practitioner who's using human body parts, the magic will be more powerful but pretty dangerous.

IIRC the goblin doll thing is supposed to be a prison for the spirit, and is given to the client. Very much an example of a charm from Path/Book magic or RPM. I would not be surprised to find out that you have to keep bribing them to keep the spirit working for you, though.

I have NEVER heard of them exploding when angered.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

Zimbabwean goblins are obviously a lot more volatile than Canadian goblins. It may be related to diet.

Too much poutine makes for a plump, slow-moving, non-explosive goblin.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

I'm kind of curious how the guy who bought the goblin thought he heard about its increasingly difficult demands.

(I'm guessing that the guy who made the doll was asking for larger and larger amounts of money or valuables to be "sacrificed" or sent somewhere.)

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I'm sure it was a scam that got out of hand. I just hope it wasn't a lethal distraction to "get out of Dodge" before they were discovered.

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http://nehandaradio.com/2013/01/29/c...ce-report-out/

so looks like a get rich fast scheme involving explosives and lies.

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An abandoned, derelict, rat-infested Russian cruise ship is floating adrift around the North Atlantic. --Linky dink--

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

Canadian officials board the derelict and discover it actually is occupied, by seven sailors who think the year is 1872.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

... but think this ship has real potential if they can get some sail on her.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

http://translate.googleusercontent.c...THLmfQAZjucWZg

Russians are training their military priests to deploy a mobile temple by parachute.

Apparently Warhammer 2,000 is here, in real life.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

To raise morale? I imagine there could be a whole list of other people and things that could be dropped to more effectively raise morale. Though fellow atheists might get a belly laugh from it all.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

Pope resigns, Vatican in turmoil, secrets and conspiracies, the subject of a nine hundred-year-old prophecy is instrumental in the suppression of another prophecy.

http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/final-pop...nning-vatican/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_S...a#Third_secret

The Prophecy of Malachy of Ireland states that the papal reign will end with the 112th patriarch, named Petrus Romanus. Meanwhile, the 111th pope has just resigned, and Cardinal Ratzinger's companion in investigating and releasing the Third Secret of Fatima, Cardinal Tarcisio Pietro (Peter in English) Evasio Bertone, born of Romano in Piedmont, and current Chamberlain of the Vatican, is the acting head of the Roman Catholic Church, and has a good chance of being elected as the next pope.

The Third Secret of Fatima, bearing apocalyptic visions of the end of Rome and which was revealed in 2000 by Cardinals Ratzinger and Bertone, is said to contain a second part that they have continued to suppress.

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Even in Post-Soviet Russia, atheists are a fairly small minority.

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I suspect the 'mobile temple' is simply a field altar and some other items packed to handle an air drop.

Something like this:

http://armychaplaincy.com/a-combat-t...gement-part-1/

It might be bigger, but that likely means a tent or some modoular sections.


I dunno about the Russkies, but our Army moves all kinds of things by air.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

I thought that Post Stalinist Russia saw a huge explosion of religious fervor.
Atheism is a minority in most nations. At least those that will admit to it in public at least. In the U.S., many young atheists have had similar experiences as those of all the coming out stories you hear about. Disowned, beaten, ostracized, hated, etc.

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Regardless of how silly I find religion, it is very important to many people. And throwing a bit of resource towards those in the field only makes sense.

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Actually, they're talking about a clerical RV-temple [img]. Then again, given that they paradrop tanks, it shouldn't be all that surprising.

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Actually, there just seems to be a big split between atheists and (Russian) orthodoxes. Things are complicated, and even people who are positioning themselves as believers seem to be more about adhering to ritual than to actually following the important bits like loving one's neighbour.

Then there's the other side of the coin: I consider myself an atheist*, but I still eat paskha when it comes around, taking off my head-covering clothing (if any) when sitting down to eat etc.

* == Well, maybe with a bit of an agnostic and some very small other bits thrown in, but definitely not Christian.

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The word "XPAM", used in the original story, is often translated "temple", but it's the usual term for an Orthodox church too. I'd say that "chapel" would be a better translation in this case.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

I know that X and P were the first two letter of the Greek spelling of Christ, so Church might be the best translation, I would guess.

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Either way, the image of an army mobile temple (chapel) has been provided. Without the paradrop equipment, but still.

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Quick check seems to indicate it originates from хоромы, or an old word for a wooden building, usually a rich/big one.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

The stats I have seen suggest no more than 15% (maybe less) of Russians are atheists or agnostic.
I'm sure it gets fuzzy with all the unchurched people.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

As I understand it, Russia's population is declining, but the actively religious people (Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists) are having more kids as well as gaining some re-converts. The trend may not hold, but if it does I'd expect Orthodoxy will gradually reassert its majority status. It seems to already be gaining political traction and increased soft power.

You live a lot closer to that country and , I am sure, know much more about it than I know.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

If you mean social questioning, then I suspect that more people claim to be than can actually argument the very fact that they are actually adherents of Christianity, let alone the Slavic Orthodox Christianity branch. Then again, I don't clearly understand the differences between the various branches either. But it's disturbing that I can actually participate in theologically-themed discussions with people who deem themselves religious and don't look totally ignorant compared to them.

Some of them also do things that are strictly anti-Christian, such as sacrificing stuff to the graves / their dead relatives or to spirits / minor gods. And sure, maybe it's just a fused folk religion, henotheistic more than monotheistic. But that just signifies that the folk religion and the church live in two different worlds, spiritually speaking.

It's a weird world where things aren't what they seem nor what they're called. Too bad I can't ever find the percentages of various beliefs and activities. I wonder if the Japanese are more honest with themselves as far as beliefs go, with their Shintou/Buddhism fusion.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

Don't see much in the way of Buddhists here, but Islam does have a noticeable trend of converting people in Kyiv. No idea about the eastern neighbour, really.

That doesn't always translate to more knowledge. Anecdotal knowledge is infamously prone to differ between even nearby regions, or even between different people in the same region.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

And I can't help but think of the 2002 movie Ghost Ship, any time I hear about a ghost ship. Passable horror movie but with a famously awesome opening sequence.

Well it is anecdotal, but I've found that when I out myself as pagan here I got a warmer reception--well, until I mentioned the Baron Samedi anyway.
I remember someone telling me a poll places most of them as practicing ritual only and not really believing. I had two thoughts on that--one, was the person polling them conspicuously not-Japanese? That would definitely throw the answers. And two--if those rituals are empty, why do they happen at every meal and on every street corner in addition to festivals at least twice a year? Though the really big production at the mayoral candidate's headquarters could easily have been pandering.

http://s218.beta.photobucket.com/user/lurkingheretic/library/Japan%202012/winter2012%20to%202013/500%20lights

Incidentally the Buddhist temples in this town are amazingly beautiful.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

The question that comes to my mind is, what do people there generally mean when they say "pagan"? Around here, it's usually a New-Agey fusion of semi-understood Wicca and a few of the more popular bits of ancient Celtic religions (absent the whole Wicker Man thing, assuming that was even a Celtic ritual and not just Gaius Julius Caesar trying to drum up support for his northern campaigns with a bit of propaganda). Baron Samedhi, as a loa of an established religious faith, wouldn't fit in well with people who babble about "the Goddess" and don't even know what the three aspects of the Triple Goddess are.

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

Uh, the same thing that they mean when they talk about the religion of Rusyns, Egyptians, or pre-Daruma Japanese, Aztecs, Ancient Greeks etc., perhaps? (The equivalent word would be язичники/язычники.)

Re: Real-Life Weirdness
 

That's actually a field altar - there's no narthex, so its not properly a chapel. And there's a reason it has 4 doors... Deacon door, pair of royal doors, deacon door. The Byzantine Catholic equivalent is much simpler - a field table vested, and two or 4 icon stands.

It's equivalent to the dais of the Roman or Lutheran or Anglican arrangements...