Guan Yu VS Space Invaders!!! 关公大战外星人

Wikipedia Is Wicked!!! Another Blast From The Past, courtesy of our good ol' Wikipedia, a pretty much ancient (1976!) Taiwan production with one of wackiest funky genre fusion movie concept ever!!! Cross-breeding Japanese's very own Daikaiju with Chinese Folklore/Fairy Tale, We see The Original God Of War (eat yer heart out, Kratos), Guan Yu (more well-known lately for his role in the Dynasty Warriors Series from Koei) emerges, Ultraman style, to defend Earth from puny space invaders, battling over Hong Kong's cityscapes! Unfortunately, no English Wiki page, but a Mandarin one is available for those who understands Mandarin to check out its absurd plot synopses in all its glory. A brief plot synopse extract from the mentioned Wiki page. 中国影坛有史以来耗资千万金元，第一部特技神怪灾难电影！ 赵老先生是位已失明的雕刻家，一生一直是在雕刻中渡过。虽然，他每天所刻的不过是一块木头，却好似成为一种心灵上的寄托，一心一意要刻好这一座关公雕像。经过四年的时间，他一直不持续雕刻关公神像的工作，并且认为神像完成之时，将会产生无比神奇的力量。 但是，他的儿子赵超群是一位杰出的科学家，所以无法接受父亲对着木刻神像发呆，所以两人虽为父子，却在思想上是截然不同。然而，赵老先生的心中也生气儿子长了这么大，还培养他读书，竟来责问他的事情，因此，父子双方造成极大的冲突。 某日，天空突然出现飞碟在地球上空，并降下外星人任意破坏，众人完全束手无策；同时，赵老先生咽下最后一口气前，他点出木雕神像的双目时，心中所信仰的神力出现了。最后，幸获武圣关公显灵，手持青龙偃月刀下凡，双方历经一场激战后，关公总算剿灭外星人，拯救万民于水深火热……

"Szomorú Vasárnap" AKA Gloomy Sunday

While browsing through all the "could've, would've" Urban Legends in Wikipedia for research (and admittedly inhumane leisure), there's one that kinda stands out. Probably better known as the "Hungarian Suicide Song", "Gloomy Sunday" (Szomorú Vasárnap) is a song written by Rezső Seress (3rd November 1899 - 11th January 1968), a Hungarian pianist and composer in 1933. There have been several urban legends regarding the song over the years, mostly involving it being allegedly connected with various numbers of suicides, and radio networks reacting by purportedly banning the song. Sources propagating the legend fail to provide substantiation for claims of suicides or radio bans. The legend may have inspired Spider Robinson's short story "The Law of Conservation of Pain", part of the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon series. It is also rumored the music played without lyrics will put the listener into a deep sleep and induce vivid dreams and nightmares. The nightmares usually consist of falling or flying sensations. Certainly adding more unnecessary intrigue to the tale's already notorious reputation, Rezső Seress jumped to his death from his apartment in 1968. Cause of suicide, from the mighty wikipedia; Budapest, January 13. Rezsoe Seres, whose dirge-like song hit, "Gloomy Sunday" was blamed for touching off a wave of suicides during the nineteen-thirties, has ended his own life as a suicide it was learned today. Authorities disclosed today that Mr. Seres jumped from a window of his small apartment here last Sunday, shortly after his 69th birthday. The decade of the nineteen-thirties was marked by severe economic depression and the political upheaval that was to lead to World War II. The melancholy song written by Mr. Seres, with words by his friend, Ladislas Javor, a poet, declares at its climax, "My heart and I have decided to end it all." It was blamed for a sharp increase in suicides, and Hungarian officials finally prohibited it. In America, where Paul Robeson introduced an English version, some radio stations and nightclubs forbade its performance. Mr. Seres complained that the success of "Gloomy Sunday" actually increased his unhappiness, because he knew he would never be able to write a second hit. - New York Times, 1968 Given the notoriety of the song, it's no surprise that it has been covered by artist of various distinctively different music genre from Billie Holiday, Christian Death, Sarah McLachlan to Anton Szandor LaVey. Yeah, you read that right. And of course, one can't end an entry on this without providing the killer (literally!) lyrics. Here goes... It is autumn and the leaves are falling All love has died on earth The wind is weeping with sorrowful tears My heart will never hope for a new spring again My tears and my sorrows are all in vain People are heartless, greedy and wicked... Love has died! The world has come to its end, hope has ceased to have a meaning Cities are being wiped out Meadows are coloured red with human blood There are dead people on the streets everywhere I will say another quiet prayer: People are sinners, Lord, they make mistakes... The world has ended There's a comprehensive website out there on this song available, provided you're fluent with Mandarin. Oh, it happens to be Rezső Seress's fifty death anniversary today.

倀

倀又作倀鬼，相傳被老虎殺死的人會變成倀鬼，幫助老虎作惡。成語「為虎作倀」即源於此。 粵語中以倀雞形容惡女子可能亦源於此。

豹房

豹房，明武宗朱厚照所建立，一般認為是豢養動物的場所，也有人認為豹房無豹，只是一個行政機關。 明朝皇帝及貴族豢養動物達到鼎盛，光北京城內就建有虎豹園、虎城、象房、豹房、鵓鴿房、鹿場、鷹房等場所。明武宗命劉瑾在西苑（今天東華門外的報房胡同）建造豹房，令江彬廣選民間美女充實其中，有教坊司之女、寡婦、孕婦、妓女、高麗女、色目人女、西域舞女，專供武宗皇帝淫樂之用，一時無法安置的女子，就被安排在浣衣局寄養；又令各地貢獻珍禽野獸，招納伶人、僧人、市井無賴、義子等人聚之。為了區別於其他豹房，後人稱「武宗豹房」或「西苑豹房」。據說武宗在豹房常醉枕錢寧而臥，正德十六年（1521年）三月十三日，死於豹房，皇太后下旨，逮捕江彬等人下獄。 至於豹房有沒有豹，根據《萬曆野獲編》載：「嘉靖十年兵部覆勇士張升奏，西苑豹房畜土豹一隻，至役勇士二百四十名，歲廩二千八百石，占地十頃，歲租七百金。」現在北京地名中仍有豹房的名稱。 Good Lord, Wikipedia is wicked. As ever.

WikiScanned

In this post-wikipedia world, since the creation of the omnipotent online public encyclopedia in 2001, it must be much foretold of what was uncovered now when an American student, Virgil Griffith, created WikiScanner, a software program that reveals who edited Wikipedia entries via a system where it scans the I.P address and cross-references it with the I.P. directory. But still, the truth kicks ass... Big time. - The Vatican edits Irish Catholic politician Gerry Adams page - In the 9/11 Wikipedia article, the NRA added that “Iraq was involved in 9/11” - Scientology removes criticism and negatives article from Scientology page - Dog breeding association deletes whole paragraphs about fatal attacks by dogs on humans - US Republican Party changes the "Post-Saddam" section of the Baath Party article to a different account of the war, changing the language from "US-led occupation" to "US-led liberation" - Portuguese government removes entries about Prime Minister’s scandals - British Conservative Party removes negative references of its MPs and deletes paragraph of the party’s old policies - MSN Search is “a major competitor to Google”. That’s what MSN added to their page - BBC changes Blair's drink from coffee to vodka and his workout from the gym to the bedroom. Someone from the BBC also changes Bush’s page, changing the name from ”George Walker Bush” to “George Wan*** Bush” And that's just a handful amongst other revelations which had already caused much ripples harbouring an upcoming media storm. Kudos to Virgil, for making my (and numerous others who are lazy but nonetheless bound with an otherwise insatiable thirst for knowledge)favourite encyclopedia a more reliable one.

Daily Delirium

WikipediaLamest edit wars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Occasionally, Wikipedians lose their minds and get into edit wars over the most petty things. Though not comprehensive or authoritative, this page documents this phenomenon by showing some of the worst-case scenarios."

A "Batman Match"

Was doing the usual unispired browsing through the mighty wikipedia and saw this very aptly named wrestling slant... Batman match, alternate term for a poorly executed match, with blown spots and showing light. This term takes its name from the 1966-1968 ABC-TV series, which featured bizarre and deliberately silly fight scenes with comical choreography. And there's more references to comic in general, like "Bizarro World", etc.... Check it out.