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Hippo Eats Dwarf

Alex Boese

Line being blurred between True and Fake stories - might not be 100% true but it's interesting - more than our usual drab and boring existence

Title based on story of circus dwarf being shot out of cannon but dropping in the mouth of a hippo, which activated it's gag reflex, causing it to swallow the unfortunate performer ...

Rasputin supposedly had a 13" penis, which was cut off in his autopsy. His daughter eventually got custody of it and wound up at an auction house, where after a detailed exam experts discovered it was in fact, a sea cucumber

Panorama hoax in 1950's about spaghetti trees

'Photoshopping' hoaxes eg 'Tourist Guy' posing on top World Trade Centre with plane looming up behind him - camera supposedly recovered after collapse (quickly est that was wrong sort of plane)

bonsaikitten.com which claimed to demo how you cd raise a kitten in a glass jar so that bones would mould to that shape

ebay, amongst its other innovations, has created a new literary genre - the eby story: the tales that sellers spin to explain their auctions. Like the guy who put his ex-wife's wedding dress up for sale. What made people takenotice was the extended rant about her hair ("Texas cheerleader style"), her drunken father, and marriage in general. Plus his decision to model the dress himself. Got 13m hits plus interviews on talk shows, where it emerged that most of story made up. Shrugged off as "poetic licence". Eventual top bid of $4000 turned out to be a hoax as well. But he did get a book deal ("Bitter, party of one, yr table is ready .... Relationship Advice From A Guy Who has No Business Giving It ...")

"i hate those hoax warnings, but this one is important! Send this warning to everyone on yr email list. If someone comes to yr front door and says they are conducting a survey, and asks you to take all yr clothes off, don't do it! This is a scam, they only want to see you naked. I wish I knew this yesterday. I feel so stupid and cheap now..."

Supposed fake translation guide for Jap tourists "Can you direct me to the restroom' became "I wd like to caress yr buttocks' and 'I am very pleased to meet you' became 'your breath cd knock over a water buffalo'

Guy named J.S.G.Boggs who does very realistic drawings of currency (of whichever country he's in) with back blank except for his signature and thunbprint. He talks people into accepting them at face value (collectors hunt them down and pay several times that for them)

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Nigerian emails - astronaut, LOL church - ultimate gag is to try to scam the scammers - one guy claimed he got $80 from one scammer to release $80,000 of donations

Star Trek fans successfully petitioned NASA to name one of the shuttles Enterprise after the fictional USS Enterprise. In a twist, later episodes of Star Trek featured a pic of the shuttle, implying that the Star Trek one was named after the shuttle one.

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Politicians rarely think they've done anything wrong (Br lab party half cabinet ministers have been cheating allowances system tho argue they're within the rules) they usually think it's the public's perception that is prob, so they try to change that with PR ("Frequent Liar Miles")

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