Bizarre Crimes: Craigslist Diaper Man Gets His Diaper Changed

Man in diaper by ShinyFan

When it comes to bizarre, criminals are at the top of the heap. Some of them do the oddest things to get what they want and let's face it, what some of them want is bizarre in and of itself. Obviously demented and violent crimes aside, because That is Bizarre would turn into a crime site if we included the multitude of abhorrent crimes that humans have committed, there are some crimes that make you want to chuckle in a "What the hell is wrong with the world?" sort of way. The following crime is just such a crime. One can only guess the intention and feel relieved at the outcome.

One day in New Hampshire, a presumably helpful and kind nurse was looking for a job on Craigslist when she came across one that looked promising. The ad was from an elderly man who said he needed someone to take care of his son. His son was an adult who had been in a car crash. He needed too much care for the elderly man to handle. This kind nurse thought the job was right up her alley.

The nurse arrived at the home for an interview, only to find the man who had taken out the ad was not there. Someone else was, though -- a 23-year-old man whose diaper needed changing. Rather than leave him sitting there, she changed his diaper for him and left without an interview or meeting the man who had taken out the ad. She thought for sure that she would get a return phone call. One would think that her show of compassion was enough to get her the job. However, no one called and she started to feel weird about the situation, so she called the police.

The police went to the Craigslist diaper man's house only to find a perfectly healthy 23-year-old named Eric Carrier. Eric, for reasons one can only guess, had put out the ad himself, donned a diaper, soiled it and waited for a nice female nurse to come along and wipe his bum. Now that is one bizarre fetish and one inventive way to cater to it.

In an odd way, the story is rather funny. The problem is that the outcome could have been very different. Eric had that woman at his mercy. Her guard was down because she thought she was working with an invalid. We can chuckle because of how it turned out, but he really did abuse her kind nature and it could have turned out much worse. It really makes you think twice about doing anything kind for strangers. Then again, who among us would change the diaper of a total stranger we met on Craigslist? Perhaps our kind nurse needs to watch the news more often.

Bizarre Plants: Rafflesia Arnoldii

Photo Courtesty of Henrik Hansson Globaljuggler

Rafflesia arnoldii is a parasitic plant that has the biggest flowers known to man. They can grow almost three feet across and are bright red in color. There are a few bizarre things worth discussing about these plants. The first are their huge flowers. The second is that rafflesia arnoldii smells disgusting, like rotten meat.

The flowers of rafflesia arnoldii are large, as mentioned above; they are also heavy. Some specimens weigh as much as 15 pounds. These large flowers only open occasionally. They stay open for roughly five days at a time. While successful pollination of these flowers is not common, flies are attracted to the flower for pollination, nonetheless. The rotting meat smell of the flower may be for this very purpose.

The rotting smell of these flowers might smell like food to flies. That brings them around to feed, but there is nothing in the flower to feed upon. There is only a disgusting smell coming from an otherwise beautiful flower.

Rafflesia arnoldii's live in tropical Asian rainforests. So, if you ever find yourself wandering through such a place -- highly likely, I know -- and smell rotting flesh, go toward it. Look at it this way, if it is something dead, the carnivores already have something to eat. If it is rafflesia arnoldii, you'll get a great picture. That is, if you like to bring a camera with you on your casual strolls through the rainforest.

Bizarre Events: Zombie Walks

Kids at a Zombie Walk Courtesy of Mark Marek Photography

Have you ever found walking down the street boring and wished that you could elicit a little fear everywhere you go without having to actually be dangerous? Have you ever wanted to participate in charity walks, but found the lack of blood involved disheartening? Well, That is Bizarre knows just how you can spice up your leisurely strolls or find charity entertaining. Cover yourself in gore -- fake, of course -- tear up some old clothes and wear them. Nudity is too scary for the public. Maybe blacken your teeth or make fake blood pour forth from your mouth. Next, just go for a walk.

All right, you shouldn't just dress like a zombie and walk around by yourself. It is no fun scaring small children if you don't have a posse. Besides, you are less likely to get arrested if you are part of a gang of harmless zombies. If you're alone, you just look like a nutcase. These groups are called zombie walks. These people go around Dawn of the Dead style through the streets reminding us why zombie flicks are almost never frightening. The best part is, sometimes this is done for charity. Want to raise money for sick children while scaring healthy ones? Zombie walks are the thing for you.

Yes, zombie walks are bizarre and possibly a little nerdy, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. However, if you are going to do a zombie walk, make sure you are following the local laws and don't give people heart attacks. If someone looks genuinely frightened, don't lick your lips and run toward them. Fear can be dangerous and you don't want to be sued or hurt anyone, especially in the name of charity. It is a little counterproductive.

Bizarre Videos: Ferrofluid in Action

Ferrofluid is fluid that becomes magnetized when it is near magnetic fields. Because of this, the liquid is able to be sculpted, in a manner of speaking. Learn more about ferrofluid here. Watch it in action in the video below.

Bizarre Places: Hotel Kakslauttanen in Finland

Aurora Borealis Over Bear Lake.

Hotel Kakslauttanen is located in Finland. Oh, it also in the Arctic Circle. Why is it in the Arctic Circle? Well, so guests can see the aurora borealis, of course.

The Hotel Kakslauttanen, apart from being very difficult to pronounce, has some bizarre features for its guests. It is home to an ice bar, an ice chapel and a snow restaurant. The former two are built every winter for guests, perhaps even the latter as well. Their website is not clear on this. It also has log cabins, husky "safaris," - as if anything in the Arctic Circle should rightfully be called a safari - and ice fishing. All of this sounds like some rather chilly winter fun, but it is not too bizarre. The most bizarre thing is one of the options guests have for rooms.

There is an area of the Kakslauttanen called the "Igloo Village." The Igloo Village is home to some traditional igloos, icy snow on the outside and warm on the inside. It is also home to some seriously revealing igloos that, while allowing you a look at the northern lights from the comfort of your room, allow you to see out and other guests and random wildlife to see in. These igloos are made entirely of glass. It is not as if they are far from one another, either. Sure, it is cool to lie in bed and watch the aurora borealis I bet. It is probably not very cool to have a Yeti staring in at you. (Yes, I am aware that Yetis live in the Himalayas. Just picture it anyway.) The one redeeming feature is that it is probably too freaking freezing for anyone to bother spying on you.

Bizarre Books: Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright

Wright had to tie down the e on his typewriter.

In 1939, a man named Ernest Vincent Wright published a more than 50,000 word novel. He called the novel Gadsby. There is nothing bizarre about a man publishing a 50,000-word novel or even doing it in 1939, when there were arguably more pressing matters in the world. What is bizarre about Wright's novel is that the whole thing is devoid of the letter 'e.' Of course, one could argue that there are es on the cover of the novel, but that would be downplaying the massive, bizarre achievement behind that cover.

The novel is a narrative about a man named John Gadsby who is intent on reaching the youth of his hometown and helping them make a difference. It is a full novel with developed characters, plot and setting. There is a beginning, middle, climax and end. The only thing it is lacking is the letter e.

Writers have all kinds of tools for disciplining themselves in their writing. This may be one of the most bizarre, but it very likely taught Mr. Wright a lot about the nuances of language and the importance of certain letters. Of course, it may also have taught him that no letter is important. The English language, after all, has several words for every thing expressed by language. All he had to do was pick the ones that did not have es. I make it sound easy, right? You try it.

5 Random Bizarre Facts

Dollar bills have hidden meaning and drugs.

History is filled with random bizarre facts, so instead of focusing on one fact for this article, we're going to cram five random facts into it. Everything from historical people to the bad habits people have with money is fodder for That is Bizarre. As long as people keep acting stupid and random stuff keeps happening, there will be plenty more of these facts articles to come.

Bizarre Fact #1: A Random Revolutionary Death

James Otis is arguably the man who popularized the idea of no taxation without representation in the years leading up the American Revolution. It was not necessarily his brainchild, but a speech he gave in a court case pointing out the unethical and unlawful use of Writs of Assistance put it in the forefront of the minds of his contemporaries.

After he gave that speech, James Otis started to get a little batty. This was made worse after he was beaten for his rebellious writings. He was forced to live under the care of his sister as a helpless insane person. However, this did not stop him from sneaking out of her house, stealing a rifle and walking to fight in the Battle of Bunker Hill. He survived the battle and walked home. In 1783, he was struck by lightning whilst standing in the doorway of a friend's house in Andover, Massachusetts.

Bizarre Fact #2: Hitler Was Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1938

Most people regard Time Magazine's Man of the Year (now Person of the Year) as an honor bestowed on heroes, particularly of the United States. These people typically have positive motivations, achievements and have done some good in this world. Such is not the case with the Man of the Year of 1938. The magazine chose rising dictator - the Fuhrer, as he was known then - Adolf Hitler.

Today, we would be shocked to see such a man's face on the cover of Time Magazine in what should be a place of honor, with an article that is decidedly ambiguous when it comes to the evil he was obviously capable of. At the time, he was not the virtually universally hated man that he is today. However, that is most likely not the real reason the article was ambiguous. We know that Adolph Hitler was an imposing figure of the time and the magazine was right in predicting that he would make "1939 a year to be remembered." They were wrong in their ambiguity, as nearly the whole of the United States was. He was a tyrant and monster, but the U.S. did not want to be involved. His bad habits, if they could be called such, were a taboo topic at the time. He was not painted in a good light by Time, but they weren't being completely honest, either.

Bizarre Fact #3: For Roughly 20 Years, Ivy League Students Were Made to Pose Nude for Photos upon Entering College

This one is a mystery. There are claims that the reason for this bizarre fact was that the schools were testing posture between the 40s and the 60s. That is kind of an odd excuse when you know what was in the pictures. Allow us to elaborate.

These photos, some which contain presidents, other political figures and famous people were of students completely nude. The only other noticeable thing about these photos is that the people pictured in them had pins sticking out of their backs, apparently to take note of their posture. The problem is, there are no pins from the waist down and they are not wearing underwear. Why the hell would they need to be nude for these photos? No straightforward answer has been forthcoming.

The first of these mysterious photos found after the fact were burned to protect the privacy of those involved. However, there were several Ivy League schools involved, meaning more photos. Who knows how many are out there from Harvard, Yale and others? It is embarrassing to think there could be nude pictures of U.S. Presidents out there, with pins sticking out of their backs, being forced by the very schools that molded them into presidents to stand thus while their pictures were taken.

Bizarre Fact #4: Hoarding Can Kill You

The Collyer brothers were hoarders who lived together in a mansion filled with what we would call junk. Both Homer and Langley Collyer were shut ins. They lived in New York together in their mansion, which eventually had no heat, no running water and boarded windows. Homer went blind over time and Langley took care of him.

These were no run of the mill hoarders, though. At least, Langley was not. Langley collected all of the junk in the house to keep other people out. He formed it into a maze that only he could navigate. Homer didn't need to, as Langley took care of him. He booby trapped it, making it so that no one could interfere with his quiet home life. However, it backfired on him. Homer was found starved to death in the mansion on March 21, 1947. The police had to find Langley, but first they had to remove a reported 19 tons of trash from the front hallway of the mansion. Among the trash in the mansion were such fine items as silk and 14 pianos. Nineteen days and more than 100 tons of trash later, Langley was found under a pile of debris after the odd combination of jackets, a burlap sack and other miscellaneous items he was wearing caught on one of his booby traps. He had died from either suffocation or the impact of the junk. He was spared that slow death that killed Homer.

Bizarre Fact #5: There is a lot of Cocaine Use in the United States

This fact is short and simple. A study showed that there are traces of cocaine on 90% of the United States' paper money. This most likely comes from people who have cocaine on their hands and handle money and from people using the bills to snort the illegal drug. Think twice about putting your hands near your mouth after touching money.

Well, we have learned not to let crazy men stand in doorways, that even bad men make good press, that you should not let your college make you pose nude, no matter how ivy their league is, that you shouldn't booby trap your own house and that you have probably touched cocaine, whether you like it or not. Oh, and for those of you who like it, you will not get high from sniffing at your money, so don't try it. It is also illegal to destroy currency, in some cases, so don't do that trying to get at the drug, either. In fact, it is best if you stop using cocaine so the rest of us don't have to hand our children drug-laced milk money.