Sideshows & Weird eBay Items
In the first hour, author
Marc Hartzman discussed his book
American Sideshow, which chronicles the fascinating lives of sideshow performers. Hartzman credited P.T. Barnum with popularizing such oddities as the bearded lady, Tom Thumb, and Chang and Eng Bunker (the original 'Siamese Twins'), and compared 19th century sideshows to today's reality television.
He also talked about some of the most bizarre items found on eBay, including a bracelet made from goat toenails, a deer 'pooper' weight, and a piece of French toast partially eaten by pop star Justin Timberlake, which Hartzman recalled went for a couple of thousand dollars.
Recap
'Fortune Cookie' Hotline
During
Open Lines George offered a 'Fortune Cookie' hotline for people who have received a fortune that has come true. The
Coast host also cracked open a couple of cookies and read some of his fortunes ("Practice is the best of all instructors." and "You outdistance all competitors.") on air.
John from Delaware remembered the time he decided to play his fortune cookie's 'lucky numbers' in the Powerball lottery. He said he played the numbers every week for six months. A month after he stopped playing the numbers, John lamented, they hit for a jackpot worth $50 million. Margo in San Diego said she received a fortune informing her that she would go far in medical research, and did just that by becoming an internationally published medical researcher. Margo also claims to have worked as an undercover operative for the CDC. Shawn from South Carolina said he was working through an apprenticeship in tattooing when he received the fortune cookie message: "All the effort you are making will pay off." He is now working as a tattoo artist.
George played audio recorded 20 years ago during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger, which exploded 73 seconds after blasting off from Florida. Regular caller Sulayman phoned in to tell George that he received a prophetic vision of the Challenger's demise the day before it happened. According to Sulayman, he prayed for its safety but a reptilian entity identified as Satan appeared and told him that he had plans to destroy the shuttle and take four of the astronauts.
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Fortune Cookies
According to
San Francisco Chinatown and contrary to popular belief, fortune cookies are a U.S. invention (in China they're advertised as "Genuine American Fortune Cookies"). Some historians trace the dessert's inspiration to a 14th century revolt, in which the Chinese hid messages inside mooncakes to help coordinate their attack against Mongolian invaders.
There are many 'fortune cookie' sites and generators across the Web, but among the best are
badcookie.com, a site that features spoof fortunes for people who aren't afraid to be a little insulted; and
weirdfortunecookies.com, which features a collection of odd and nonsensical fortunes from real cookies.
Image: weirdfortunecookies.com
Open Lines, 
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