Posted on Thursday, 24th June 2010 by Interloper

The Napoleon or “little man” complex is a term used to describe a person small in stature, who seeks to compensate for their lack of height by seeking power and dominance over others.

Despite popular belief, Napoleon Bonaparte (the French Emperor who the term is named for) was not particularly short by the standards of the time in which he lived. This misconception may have arisen because Napoelon was frequently depicted alongside Imperial Guards, most of which were of above-average height.

Most psychologists consider the term a negative social stereotype and it is not considered an actual mental disorder.

Posted in Insanity | Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 22nd June 2010 by Interloper

In this “modern age” of ours, you could be forgiven for assuming that if somebody was going to attack you, they might use a firearm to do it.

Clearly, things are different in Utah where a man was recently attacked in the forest… by a spearman.

The victim, who is reportedly in “fair” condition (sounds like a trading card or a comic book to me) was walking near Little Cottonwood Canyon, when he met a stranger and the two of them had an amicable conversation.

Not content to simply part ways, the stranger continued following the man along the trail after their conversation had ended. When the victim confronted the man, the stranger began speaking incoherently and brandished a spear that had previously been disguised as a bamboo walking stick.

The spearman pierced the victim several times in the upper arm before fleeing. I can only assume that he was looking for a hill to fortify himself on in order to receive defensive bonuses.

Posted in News | Comments (0)

Posted on Monday, 21st June 2010 by Interloper

Back in March, Los Angeles police received a report that a man was “causing a commotion” in Venice.

As it turns out that man was Nicholas Brendon, better known to many by his Buffy the Vampire Slayer moniker of Xander Harris. Brendon allegedly threw punches at police officers and attempted to flee on foot before he was tasered.

Last week, Brendon plead no contest to the misdemeanor charges brought against him and was released on probation.

If you’re keen to see some other celebrities getting tasered, watch this.

Posted in Gossip, News | Comments (0)

Posted on Wednesday, 16th June 2010 by Interloper

I found this recent ABC News update mildly disturbing, particularly the part where one professor tells that vehicles in the future could be “bristling” (his word, not mine) with “little insect eyes and brains”.

Researchers in the physiology department at the University of Adelaide have been working with flies to determine how the insects judge the speed of moving objects.

Surely everyone should realise that no good can come from the unholy union of science and flies.

Posted in News, Panic | Comments (1)

Posted on Saturday, 12th June 2010 by Interloper

Few things can match the simple pleasure of watching things fill up with colour.

Posted in Video | Comments (0)

Posted on Thursday, 10th June 2010 by Interloper

What could possibly be more appealing than a fungus that looks like raw meat?

“Why, there’s simply nothing that would be so grand as a fungus resembling raw meat!” Is what I’m sure you’re thinking… and that’s a good thing because such an oddity actually exists, in the form of Fistulina hepatica, otherwise known as Beefsteak Fungus, Ox Tongue or, my personal favourite, Beefsteak Polypore.

Beefsteak Fungus can be found in Europe, North America and Australia where it grows on both living and dead trees. In Australia it’s normally seen growing from the wounds of Eucalyptus trees. Fistulina hepatica actually appears to bleed when you cut it and is said to have a slightly acidic flavour.

Mmm… I know what I’m having for dinner tonight (fried chicken).

Posted in Trivia | Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 8th June 2010 by Interloper

Growing up in Australia, you are taught from a young age to be wary of the multitude of deadly things that could be lurking beneath your feet at any given moment. These range from brown snakes, to redback spiders and even blue-ringed octopodes; all the colours of the deadly colours of the rainbow.

But even though Australia seems to have something of a monopoly when it comes to deadly creatures, those in other places have to watch their step for a variety of other reasons… like in Germany where three bomb squad experts were killed last week, while trying to defuse a World War II bomb found near the central German town of Goettingen.

Some 7,000 residents were in the process of being evacuated from the city when the bomb exploded. As well as the three men that were killed in the explosion, another two were injured and four others were treated for shock.

It was the second bomb discovered in the area within a week, with another having been succesfully defused only days earlier.

Unexploded munitions from World War II are regularly discovered in Germany and every region in the country employs a number of bomb specialists.

Posted in News | Comments (0)

Posted on Friday, 4th June 2010 by Interloper

As many as 1,000 blondes took to the streets in Riga last week, in an effort to bring “positive energy” to the people of Latvia.

The Blonde Parade formed part of Riga’s annual “Go Blonde” festival and was organised by the Latvian Association of Blondes (called LAB).

“…small things like a playground or a blonde parade can cheer up all the residents of Riga,” said Marika Gederte, President of LAB.

I know a blonde parade would cheer me up.

Pics after “the jump”.

Read the rest of this entry…

Posted in News | Comments (0)

Posted on Wednesday, 2nd June 2010 by Interloper

By now you’ve probably already seen terrifying pictures of the Guatemalan sinkhole.

Severe tropical storms are believed to have triggered the appearance of the 30-metre-deep (almost 100 feet) hole, which swallowed a three-storey building and left an eerily symmetrical wound in the Earth. Surprisingly, no human lives were lost, despite unsubstantiated reports by a local newspaper claiming that a security guard was killed.

Sinkholes are normally formed when there is an excess of water in the soil that makes it too heavy for empty “voids” below the surface to continue supporting. The poor quality of sewage systems in Guatemala (a sewage leak was blamed for the appearance of another sinkhole there in 2007), as well as torrential downpours from recent tropical storms are believed to have combined in the creation of the sinkhole, which some experts are predicting could grow even larger.

Conspiracy theories abound, with people claiming that everyone from aliens to demons (and probably a few human governments) are to blame. But just as a Vegas magician earns his living, might the sudden appearance of this sinkhole in Guatemala be a cunning act of misdirection—intended to draw our attention away from some of the other holes in our planet?

Keep reading to find out about a few more places that are probably teeming with tentacled horrors.

Read the rest of this entry…

Posted in News, Panic, Trivia | Comments (0)

Posted on Monday, 31st May 2010 by Interloper

Thunderclap isn’t just a noise you might hear during a storm, nor is it only a place in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. As it turns out, Thunderclap is also the name of an obscure Marvel Comics character who first appeared in Spider-Man Weekly back in 1984.

Now this might not seem important to you, but with Marvel’s upcoming MMO boasting a roster of 5,000 licensed characters, it could prove useful to know something about some of the less iconic denizens of the Marvel Universe.

Everyone already knows that Spider-Man can “shot web” and Wolverine has claws, but I bet you didn’t know that Thunderclap owns a pair of hydraulic gloves that can create sonic booms.

Well now you do.

Posted in Trivia | Comments (0)