People insure some unlikely things.
Egon Ronay, the restaurant critic, insured his palate for £250,000 in 1993, arguing that without this asset he would be like a sculptor shorn of his hands.
While playing cricket for Australia between 1985 and 1994, fats bowler Merv Hughes took out an estimated $370,000 policy on his trademark walrus moustache, which, combined with his 6’4″ physique and outstanding playing ability, made him one of the most recognized cricketers in the world.

And in 2003 Basil Brush apparently insured his tail for £1M.
Boom! Boom!

Yet another collection of the strange and surreal from the catalogue of our local auction house. As always it is not just the wonderful variety of old toot that people sell, but the eccentric collections put together to make a lot. Enjoy this selection!

3 sweet jars full of matchboxes from around the world, and a small quantity of costume jewellery comprising 3 glitzy necklaces
A good quantity of interesting items incl. children’s toys and dolls incl. Bayko building set, cased Hotwheels Ferrari, tinplate model car with Dunlop tyres, a quantity of boxed playing cards, draughts and chess set, 1950s doll, a cased Polaroid Powerzoom camera and a Ricoh L20 camera, 3 old walking canes and a golf club, pewter chamberstick and snuffer, a small quantity of wooden items incl. fans, stands, etc., Beatrix Potter figure of Mrs Tiggywinkle and other small decorative items and pin trays, a quantity of carved items, a black and white picture of Concorde, etc.
Two decorative barbed hunting spears with metal engraved heads
Two Royal Doulton character jugs, ‘Sairie Gamp’ and ‘Simon Cellarer’, a quantity of novelty teapots incl. one in the form of a dresser and another as a desk with typewriter, a model phrenology head and a palmistry hand, a small quantity of model townhouses, an old zither, and a quantity of sheet music, etc.
A pair of mounted antlers c.1900, on a good mahogany acorn-leaf base
Two lady’s handbags, C. Valentini and Jacques Vert, a gentleman’s black shoulder bag, a handbag modelled in glass, a small quantity of blue and white plates decorated with country scenes, a few CDs and DVDs. a boxed Mesaco muse horn, two old photographs of World War II planes, a quantity of LPs incl. Boney M, a set of framed cigarette cards of planes, and a lady’s boxed watch

A pair of mounted antlers and a pair of mounted horns
A box of interesting items incl. four dolls, a kangaroo toy, an old peg doll in box, silver-plated fruit bowls, a quantity of cigarette cases and compacts, African wooden carvings, Panama hat, etc.
A Victorian taxidermy specimen of a four-legged duckling and another small bird in grassy case

A collection of decorative arms comprising a pair of tribal pistols, a Japanese sword, a chain mace, a throwing stick, also a native spear and an arrow, an Indian walking stick and two foils
A set of 25 antique glass eyes in fitted case

An Italian Fascist square printed scarf, in white against a black ground, with Mussolini’s Ethiopian speech dated 2nd October XIII (1935), and dominos in a box
A pith helmet, a fencing mask, and a policewoman’s hat
A good quantity of wall masks from across the world, including Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, etc., and others in the form of cats, a witch head, ideal for Halloween and a papier-mâché figure of a man.
A quantity of table lamps, ceiling lights, etc., walking sticks, box of framing nails, door handles, statue of Buddha, German vase, lava lamp, sports bags, etc.
A quantity of skis including Techno-pro and Monocoque, and a quantity of golf clubs including American Durablock, and a zimmer frame.
Yes, it was the zimmer frame with the skis that finally finished me off!

This week one for all my medically minded friends …

While sitting at your desk make clockwise circles with your right foot.
(Go ahead no one will see you!)
While doing this, draw the number “6” in the air with your right hand.
Your foot will change direction.
(And if you’re left handed it works for your left foot and left hand as well.)
From: 50 Weird Facts about Humans

Click the image for a slightly larger view

Denmark Gives Student $430,000 for Research on Legendary Underground Trolls
Despite the state of Demark’s economy the country’s government has awarded a $430,000 grant for a study that investigates the existence of underground trolls (that’s the mythical kind, for those in doubt).
Recipient Lars Christian Kofoed Rømer, a PhD student and part-time anthropology lecturer at the University of Copenhagen, plans to research ‘actual relationships’ between humans and trolls on the Danish island of Bornholm.

Bornholm is well-known for its flourishing tourism industry, which is centred around the belief that the island is inhabited by trolls who live underground and come out at night. They even have a ‘national troll’ named Krølle Brølle (above), who is ‘small and cute’, lives with his troll family on Langebjerg and comes out at night to have ‘many exciting adventures’.
From Oddity Central