When it comes to Bizarre Videos, no one gets weirder than Spike & Mike. In fact, some of their work is unbearable to watch. The following is one of their tame, though tasteless videos. It is a good example of how bizarre this animation really is. However, if you decide to delve further into the world of twisted cartoons, don't say I didn't warn you.
Bizarre Fact: You Can Get Two Legs Chopped Off for the Price of One
The day one needs a limb removed from their body is presumably a very bad day. Not much else could make it worse. Sure, surgery complications, infection or anesthesia are all concerns. However, it is not as if that is much worse than having your leg or arm chopped off. Oh, but it can get worse. What if you wake up and the wrong leg is gone or both of them are gone instead of one?
Nearly three and a half of every leg amputation will involve the wrong leg. Yep, you heard that right. At least three out of every million people who have had a leg removed have had to have both legs removed due to surgical error. You could wake up in the recovery room, only to realize that you have to go through yet another amputation or that you got one more than you expected.
There is a lot of discussion on how this is a really low number. Sure, it is a really low number if we are talking about something silly like three in one million amputees get hives after surgery. We're talking about whole healthy limbs being chopped off by negligent doctors! Yeah, three in a million is three in a million too many.
Nearly three and a half of every leg amputation will involve the wrong leg. Yep, you heard that right. At least three out of every million people who have had a leg removed have had to have both legs removed due to surgical error. You could wake up in the recovery room, only to realize that you have to go through yet another amputation or that you got one more than you expected.
There is a lot of discussion on how this is a really low number. Sure, it is a really low number if we are talking about something silly like three in one million amputees get hives after surgery. We're talking about whole healthy limbs being chopped off by negligent doctors! Yeah, three in a million is three in a million too many.
Bizarre Fact: Spine Misalignment Can Reduce Strength
The spine is the center of all our motions. Spinal injuries can make it difficult to move parts or all of our bodies. There are nerves there that can create pain in the spine area as well as areas far removed from the spine. The spine is more than just a series of vertebrate. It is a complicated body part that makes life livable for human beings. This is common knowledge, but did you know that setting your spine off kilter, without even injuring it, can make your arms weaker?
Do this experiment. Stand with both feet flat on the floor and your arms extended to the sides. Have a friend push down on one or both of your arms. Resist this pushing. You should be able to give a fair bit of resistance. Even if you cannot, it is about to get worse. Place a thick object, such as a phone book or other thick book under one foot. Stand with weight on both feet and your arms extended to the sides. Now, have your friend push down on one or both of your arms again while you resist. You may still be able to resist, but your ability to do so should decrease significantly. Once you are standing with both feet flat on the floor again, your strength will return.
Why does this experiment work? Well, the general consensus is that standing with one foot higher than the other sets your spine out of its normal position. Your brain gets the message that your spine is compromised and puts all its resources into making sure it isn't injured. This means less strength in your arms. Your brain knows to do this without you telling it to. Pretty neat, right? Well, that may not be the best or most in-depth description of the mechanisms behind spinal misalignment, but I'm not expert. I just know the kids think it is amazing. I do too, to be honest.
Bizarre Plants: The Sandbox Tree
When it comes to bizarre plants, the sandbox tree tops the list. It is dangerous. It is creepy looking. Best of all, it has its own arsenal of exploding projectiles. Luckily, it only exists in tropical areas where only the most audacious, or misinformed, dare to tread. It is native to tropical regions in the Americas, though it is also found in Australia and Africa, because people there are just daring enough to introduce this plant into their countries.
Sandbox trees can grow to be more than 100 feet tall. Their bark is smooth, but the lengths of these trees are covered in sharp spikes that prevent animals from climbing up. Another defense they have against curious animals is a creamy juice that seeps out of the trees. Some natives make poison darts and hunt fish with this toxic juice. The sap is an ingredient in the hallucinogen Ayahuasca. Just touching these trees or chopping them down can cause severe skin and eye irritation.
The seeds and seed pods of the sandbox tree are the most dangerous aspects of it. The seed pods are shaped like pumpkins. When they fully mature, the pods explode, splitting along the pumpkin like grooves. The outside becomes shrapnel and the inner seeds shoot out into the forest. The explosive force is actually enough to cause injury to anyone unlucky enough to be standing nearby.
As if the seed grenades were not enough, the sandbox tree's seeds taste good and that is bad. Eating a portion of one of these seeds is enough to cause vomiting and they are laxatives as well. Imagine following ex-lax with ipecac. Eating two or more of these seeds can lead to far worse consequences. You can become delusional while you crap and vomit all over the place. You may even start convulsing and die. Talk about defenses, the sandbox tree is the Fort Knox of the botanical world.
Sources
A Tree With Exploding Seed Pods, retrieved 7/17/11, waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0901c.htm
Hura Crepitans: Sandbox Tree, retrieved 7/17/11, tropilab.com/hura-cre.html
Sandbox trees can grow to be more than 100 feet tall. Their bark is smooth, but the lengths of these trees are covered in sharp spikes that prevent animals from climbing up. Another defense they have against curious animals is a creamy juice that seeps out of the trees. Some natives make poison darts and hunt fish with this toxic juice. The sap is an ingredient in the hallucinogen Ayahuasca. Just touching these trees or chopping them down can cause severe skin and eye irritation.
The seeds and seed pods of the sandbox tree are the most dangerous aspects of it. The seed pods are shaped like pumpkins. When they fully mature, the pods explode, splitting along the pumpkin like grooves. The outside becomes shrapnel and the inner seeds shoot out into the forest. The explosive force is actually enough to cause injury to anyone unlucky enough to be standing nearby.
As if the seed grenades were not enough, the sandbox tree's seeds taste good and that is bad. Eating a portion of one of these seeds is enough to cause vomiting and they are laxatives as well. Imagine following ex-lax with ipecac. Eating two or more of these seeds can lead to far worse consequences. You can become delusional while you crap and vomit all over the place. You may even start convulsing and die. Talk about defenses, the sandbox tree is the Fort Knox of the botanical world.
Sources
A Tree With Exploding Seed Pods, retrieved 7/17/11, waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0901c.htm
Hura Crepitans: Sandbox Tree, retrieved 7/17/11, tropilab.com/hura-cre.html
Bizarre Hoaxes: The Amityville Horror
The Amityville house haunting is a multifaceted hoax involving both facts and fiction. The facts themselves are horrific enough. The hoax that followed capitalized on that horror. That in itself is not bizarre. It is a common enough occurrence, as disgusting as that may be. What is bizarre is that people continue to believe the hoax to this day, largely due to the novels and films that have come out of the story. That, and the fact that the confession of this hoax goes ignored by horror and film fanatics, not to mention those who are still capitalizing on it.
The story behind the Amityville house-haunting hoax began in November of 1974. One evening in November of that a year, a man called the local police and told them that he was inside 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. He said that four people had been shot. He had been led to the house by a young man who entered a local bar and said, "His mother and father are shot," in the words of the caller. That young man was Ronald DeFeo, Jr. or "Butch."
The caller was wrong; there were six people dead inside the house. Every member of Butch's family was dead. His mother and father were shot dead in bed, as were his two younger brothers, aged 9 and 12 and his two sisters, aged 13 and 18. The murders had occurred around 3 a.m. that morning, more than 12 hours earlier. Butch went to work that morning, visited with friends and eventually went home. All the while, he made a show of calling home and receiving no answer. As it turned out, he knew damn well why he was not getting an answer. He had gone from room to room in his family home, shooting his entire family while they slept. How the whole family slept through the shootings is still a mystery. Butch used no suppressor.
The house at 112 Ocean Avenue lay empty through Butch's questioning. He was originally not a suspect. He simply talked so much that he implicated himself and eventually admitted to the murders. Eventually, it became clear that no DeFeo's were returning to the house. The house was sold to the Lutz family about a year after the murders. They later claimed that they were terrorized in the house for nearly a month. Demonic entities, unseen forces breaking doors, oozing slime, swarms of insects, cold spots, etc., you name it, they claimed it happened in 112 Ocean Avenue. They collaborated with a writer who told their story in "The Amityville Horror."
In later years, it became clear that some of what they said made no sense. A priest -- Father Pecoraro -- whom they said blessed the house, but was forced out by a demonic voice, said that he saw and heard nothing unusual at the home. The nail in the horror hoax's coffin came when Butch DeFeo's lawyer came out and said that he and the Lutzes concocted the story together. For the Lutzes, it was a way to make money, and make money they did. For William Weber -- the lawyer -- it was a means of getting a retrial for Butch. Butch is still in prison.
Next time you watch an Amityville movie or read an Amityville horror story, don't add to the bizarre factor of this story. Instead, think about how much better the words "based on a true story" sound than "based on a made up story."
The story behind the Amityville house-haunting hoax began in November of 1974. One evening in November of that a year, a man called the local police and told them that he was inside 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York. He said that four people had been shot. He had been led to the house by a young man who entered a local bar and said, "His mother and father are shot," in the words of the caller. That young man was Ronald DeFeo, Jr. or "Butch."
The caller was wrong; there were six people dead inside the house. Every member of Butch's family was dead. His mother and father were shot dead in bed, as were his two younger brothers, aged 9 and 12 and his two sisters, aged 13 and 18. The murders had occurred around 3 a.m. that morning, more than 12 hours earlier. Butch went to work that morning, visited with friends and eventually went home. All the while, he made a show of calling home and receiving no answer. As it turned out, he knew damn well why he was not getting an answer. He had gone from room to room in his family home, shooting his entire family while they slept. How the whole family slept through the shootings is still a mystery. Butch used no suppressor.
The house at 112 Ocean Avenue lay empty through Butch's questioning. He was originally not a suspect. He simply talked so much that he implicated himself and eventually admitted to the murders. Eventually, it became clear that no DeFeo's were returning to the house. The house was sold to the Lutz family about a year after the murders. They later claimed that they were terrorized in the house for nearly a month. Demonic entities, unseen forces breaking doors, oozing slime, swarms of insects, cold spots, etc., you name it, they claimed it happened in 112 Ocean Avenue. They collaborated with a writer who told their story in "The Amityville Horror."
In later years, it became clear that some of what they said made no sense. A priest -- Father Pecoraro -- whom they said blessed the house, but was forced out by a demonic voice, said that he saw and heard nothing unusual at the home. The nail in the horror hoax's coffin came when Butch DeFeo's lawyer came out and said that he and the Lutzes concocted the story together. For the Lutzes, it was a way to make money, and make money they did. For William Weber -- the lawyer -- it was a means of getting a retrial for Butch. Butch is still in prison.
Next time you watch an Amityville movie or read an Amityville horror story, don't add to the bizarre factor of this story. Instead, think about how much better the words "based on a true story" sound than "based on a made up story."
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