EPISODE 35: Roadside Marvels

This week, Doug Kirby and Ken Smith of the popular roadside attractions website, www.roadsideamerica.com detail the latest  on funky roadside events and attractions, live from the side of the road in Lubbock, Texas; Intern Eric tells us the sad tale of the lightning strike that destroyed  the Touchdown Jesus statue in Ohio;  Tim quizzes Stayce, a Weeki Wachee mermaid, for this week’s Celebrity Spot the Not!; Marcie reports on a grizzly death at the National Sauna Championships and a one-legged South American Salsa dancer;  and Edward unveils Ripley’s newest acquisition: a large four foot by 8 foot portrait of Lady Gaga – created from more than 61,000 BB pellets!

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Marcie’s Links:

• World Sauna Championship Finalist Dies at Event
• Hula Hooping Banned on Fremont Street
• High Alcohol Content Beer – The End of History by Brewdog

Weekly Weird Highlights:

• $15,000 Car Wash
• Did Triceratops Ever Exist?
• One Legged Salsa Dancer

Links to People & Places in the show:

• Intern Eric’s Touchdown Jesus destroyed by Lightning.  Also HERE.
• Doug Kirby and Ken Smith of Roadside America.
• Edward’s report on the BB portrait of Lady Gaga

ENCORE: Episode 22: Knife Throwing and Light Bulb Eating

Happy Summer everyone and welcome to an encore performance of Ripley Radio – An On-Demand Oddcast.  The following episode was originally broadcast during the week of February 1f, 2010. We’ll be back with great new shows starting the first week of September.  Hope you can join us.

Todd Robbins

No two words in the English language epitomize the world of the strange, weird and beautiful more than Coney Island. This week, Ripley’s looks at a couple of the Coney Island Marvels – world famous performers who have tread the boardwalk of Coney Island many times during their lives: Todd Robbins, who has eaten more than 4,000 glass light bulbs during his sideshow days speaks of his illustrious career; The Great Throwdini, world champion knife thrower, tells us that it really isn’t hard to find assistants; we visit the Believe It or Not! museum in Newport, Ore. and possibly learn the true identity of the real D.B. Cooper; and we hear of the tragic fate of a king who threw his first seven wives over a cliff to their deaths!

Knife Throwing and Light Bulb Eating Highlighted on Feb. 15 Episode of Ripley Radio

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Marcie’s Links

Quirky Facts about Mass Produced Foods via TLC

Don’t forget to Become a Fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Links to the People & Places in the Show

• Todd Robbins www.toddrobbins.com
• The Great Throwdini www.knifethrower.com
• Jeremiah Greer www.Shadowsinthedarkradio.com
• Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Newport, OR
• Coney Island USA Sideshow by the Seashore www.coneyisland.com/

Song of the Week (Heard at the end of the Show)
Coney Island Moon by Tom Russell – www.tomrussell.com

ENCORE: Episode 20: The Colorful World of Tattooed Ladies

Happy Summer everyone and welcome to an encore performance of Ripley Radio – An On-Demand Oddcast.  The following episode was originally broadcast during the week of February 1, 2010. We’ll be back with great new shows starting the first week of September.  Hope you can join us.

Amelia Klem Osterud explains how she came to write “The Tattooed Lady: A History,” the first-ever definitive history of the tattooed woman and two of the modern day ladies featured in the book, Charon Henning and Thrill Kill Jill elucidate about their sideshow careers and as living as modern-day tattooed ladies. We go Inside the Vault and discuss Ripley’s skin and tattoo collections from Edward Meyer and we learn who wants to donate their tattooed skin to Ripley’s. From a Vintage Ripley Radio episode, we’ll of the choice a man made who got to choose between being hanged or marrying a certain woman.

The Colorful World of Tattooed Ladies Featured on February 1 Episode of Ripley Radio

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Marcie’s Links

Woman Arrested for Facebook Poke

5000 Members kicked off of Beautiful People.com

Bullet Deflects Bullet, Saves Police Officer (Video & Photo in link)

Cardboard Windsheild:  Not a Good Idea

Don’t forget to Become a Fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Links to the People & Places in the Show

• Amelia Klem Osterud, www.tattooedladyhistory.vox.com andwww.speckpress.com
• Thrillkill Jill, http://www.thrillkilljill.net/
• Charon Henning, http://www.oddangel.com/

EPISODE 34: UFO’S – The Great Cover-Up

Lee Speigel, one the world’s pre-eminent research journalists and broadcasters in the realm of UFO’s, paranormal activities, and fringe events,  provides proof that the government isn’t telling us the truth about alien adventures on and around the earth;  AOL’s Buck Wolf tells us about Julia Gnuse, the world’s most tattooed lady who has 95% of her body covered in ink; Intern Clara discovers the world’s largest concrete garden gnome in Iowa;  Marcie provides us disturbing information about high caloric sandwiches found in fast food eateries across America and about specialty ice cream flavors, including fish and chips; and Ripley’s archivist Edward Meyer explains how he is searching the world for film and celebrity related items to display in Ripley’s Hollywood Believe It or Not! odditorium upon its $5 million renovation early in 2011.

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Marcie’s Links:

• The 40 Deadliest Fast Food Burgers
  

Weekly Weird Highlights:

• Solid Gold iPad Case by Stewart Huges
• Fish and Chips Ice Cream
• Baby in the Middle of the Street!!
• Tiger Dog
• 3 Year Old Girl Smokes 2 packs a day

Links to People & Places in the show:

• Intern Clara Matos Discovers a large garden gnome
• AOL’s Buck Wolf reports on Julie Gnuse
• Lee Speigel on the UFO Cover-up.

EPISODE 33: Unbelievable World of Rock and Roll

Carl Wiser of songfacts.com shares a few weird and bizarre facts behind the lyrics of several rock songs; Intern Clara tells us about artwork on display at a London Museum – made from human feces;  AOL’s Buck Wolf explains what he did when he discovered Adolf Hitler’s toilet in a New Jersey gas station;  Marcie Pikel introduces us to some weirdly-themed restaurants; The Great Throwdini, the world’s fastest knife thrower, appears in a celebrity Spot the Not! quiz; and Ripley’s archivist Edward Meyer reveals that the greatest theft ever at a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! odditorium  – someone stole Elvis’s black underwear!

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• Intern Clara Reports on artwork made from poop.
•  Carl Wiser from Songfacts.com
• AOL’s Buck Wolf discovers Adolf Hitler’s toilet 
• Ripley archivist Edward Meyer talks about celebrity portraits in the Ripley collection
• The Great Throwdini plays Spot the Not!

EPISODE 32: Why We Love Horror

Chris Alexander, Editor-in-Chief of Fangoria magazine explains why people love to be grossed out and scared by horror and how he strives to keep a balance in his publication’s coverage of the macabre.  Intern Eric tells us why the burial crypt above Marilyn Monroe remains empty and why past  potential buyers have backed out; we learn from AOL’s David Moye how concessionaire Chicken Charlie has made a living on the carnival and fair circuit deep frying Oreos  and Twinkies and of his latest concoction – a Krispy Kreme donut chicken sandwich; Marcie Pikel relates a sad story about a floating garbage dump in the middle of the ocean larger than Pittsburgh;  and Ripley archivist Edward Meyer tells the story of one of Ripley’s most horrifying exhibits – The Iron Maiden.

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• Chris Alexander, Editor-In-Chief of Fangoria – www.fangoria.com
• Crypt above Marilyn Monroe for Sale -  http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/22553
• David Moyle reports on The Deep Fry King on

Marcie’s Links:

Top 10 Places you DON’T want to visit via Listverse.com

Bolivia’s Yungas Road: The World’s Most Dangerous Road

Featured Music of the Week:  Gary Hoey

EPISODE 31: Everyday Magic Spells

Spell collector Judika Illes, author of “Magic When You Need It: 150 Spells You Can’t Live Without,” reveals a few everyday spells that are both simple to cast AND have been proven to work!  Intern Eric tells of a Cardboard Boat Museum in Ohio that features winners of past cardboard boat regattas; Ripley archivist Edward Meyer explains how he acquired a 1920s Voodoo Doll from Haiti and describes an award winning funky art car that he just acquired from Houston, Texas; Marcie Pikel describes how little Ming Ming was saved from an 80 story fall from a high rise apartment by his ears, and we hear of a marriage custom from India that few, if any, people outside of that area would find tolerable.

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• Cardboard Boat Museum
• Magic When You Need it!: 150 Spells You Can’t Live Without – www.judikailles.com / www.redwheelweiser.com

Marcie’s Links:

• Boy’s ears saved his life!
• Bic Pen Portrait
• Real Life Popeye
• Faux Pool

Featured Music of the Week:  Junior Brown and his Guit-Steel guitar

EPISODE 30: Glorious Cryptids!

While most of us are familiar with the more famous cryptids – the Abominable Snowman, the Loch Ness Monster and  Big Foot, this show on Cryptozoology introduces us to a few of the lesser-known, but equally cool Cryptids that are thought to exist – such as skyfish, the Ohio Grassman and the New Jersey Devil. Deena Budd, author of the Weiser Field Guide to Cryptozoology, is our guest and our educator for this episode.  Also, AOL’s Buck Wolf takes us to the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest where he explains the art of competitive eating and a little about the history of this iconic event;   Ripley archivist Edward Meyer tells us that within our archives, there are hairs from an unknown creature that could very well be from the infamous Abominable Snowman; from our “really gross” department we are provided a list of strange things that have been found growing in people’s bodies; and we learn that an early African ruler’s toothache cost 25,000 people in a neighboring province their lives.

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• Buck Wolf is OUT THERE  talking about the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest
• Deena Budd’s Weiser Field Guide to Cryptozoology, www.redwheelweiser.com

Episode 29: God Made Me Do It!

In this week’s episode: Marc Hartzman, author of the new book, “God Made Me Do It!” details a few hilarious stories of the worst advice the Lord has ever given his followers.

AOL’s Buck Wolf tells us of the love story between Al Tomaini, the 8 foot 4 inch giant of Gibsonton, Fla. and his 2 foot 6 inch tall wife, the Half Lady Jeanie.

We find out from Edward Meyer that Robert Ripley wasn’t a church-going guy, but he respected the world’s religions and was intent on collecting religious artifacts from around the world.

We hear in a vintage Ripley Radio segment that many of the truths we have been made to believe are really untruths; and we learn that a tumor found on a patient contained real teeth.

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Al Tomaini

• Buck Wolf is OUT THERE in Gibsonton Fla., talking about big Al Tomaini the Gibsonton Giant
• Marc Hartzman talks about his new book, “God Made Me Do it!”
• Famous Last Words
• Tumor With Teeth
• GameStation May Own Your Soul
• Residents Fight to Live on Mine Fire

EPISODE 28: Weirdness on I-95

This Week, we take a look at the weirdness and funkiness along I-95, the busiest interstate in the US this week when we talk with Stan and Sandra Posner, authors of the amazing guidebook, Drive I-95. They have chronicled every dive, diner, motel, and roadside attraction at EVERY exit along the long ribbon of highway. AOL’s Buck Wolf talks about bathroom stage fright; Edward Meyer tells of Ripley’s newest acquisition – a car that can fly; Tim visits with sword swallower Travis Fessler immediately after Travis swallowed a sword with a three-inch cockroach in his mouth on World Sword Swallowers Day; Marcie Pikel shares a few of her favorite “niche” social networking sites; and we are introduced to a woman who is only 400 pounds away from her goal weight of 1,000 pounds!

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Marcie’s Links:

Strangest Social Networks

• StachePassions.com – where singles with passion for the mustaches!
• vampirefreaks.com – where the Vampires go to meet.
• eons.com – babyboomers social network

A few women with a mustache…and BEARDS!

Links to People & Places in the show:

• Buck Wolf of Talks about Shy Bladder Syndrome
• World Sword Swallowers Day Photo Gallery
• Sweet Celebrity Candy Portraits

Featured Song of the Week is Tabouli by Los Straightjackets.