Hitler Flummoxed by "Balloon Boy" Hoax
Adolph Hitler’s “outburst” scene from the 2004 film “Der Untergang” (”Downfall”) is an excellent example of how a cultural event can go “viral” as an internet meme. Because the original film was in German, complicated overdubbing is not required; creation of a parody can be achieved by the simple expedient of superimposing fake subtitles.
Dozens of such videos can be located with a quick search of YouTube, including ones in which Hitler reacts to sporting events, computer problems, Obama, Palin, Brett Favre, losing his home to foreclosure, the use of the term “grammar Nazis,” and even the existence of the parodies themselves. The most recent example, embedded above, has him ranting about another meme – the “balloon boy” hoax.
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Is Wearing a Hitler Moustache a Good Idea?
Is the Hitler moustache history? Since World War II it has not been popular, but long before Hitler rose to power, the toothbrush was the signature look of Charlie Chaplin. In fact, the tiny moustache was quite fashionable at one time.
Now comedian Richard Herring is sporting a toothbrush moustache for his Edinburgh show, ‘Hitler Moustache’, in which he rails against voter apathy and fascism. Herring said of his new moustache, "As people passed they would start laughing about five yards behind me. A group of lads called me ‘Adolf’. I haven’t had any sense of anger but I think some people were intimidated or scared."
With such a hairy past, it shouldn’t be suprising that his moustache would get a lot of lip. But Herring is convinced that a Hitler moustache might grow on us — provided we don’t turn up our noses.
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Flak Towers: The Continuing Legacy of the Luftwaffe
In 1940, Hitler, incensed by the successful bombing of Berlin by the RAF. ordered the construction of three enormous flak towers to protect the city. Soon afterwards, this idea quickly spread around Germany.
Considered invulnerable at the time – and they pretty much were – many of these colossal structures still stand today, albeit serving much more "civilian" purposes:
The L Tower in Vienna is now, well, you take a guess. If your German is any good then its current name – Haus des Meeres is a complete giveaway. If not, then you may be surprised to discover that it is an aquarium. Instead of weapons of war and people huddling from falling bombs it now houses over three and a half thousand animals, with huge fish tanks containing sharks, turtles and piranhas (in different tanks one assumes). There is even a new tropical house with free flying birds and free-running monkeys.
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Hitler's Stealth Plane Re-Created
The Nazi Horten 2-29 fighter plane looked like something from a Star Wars prequel: an all-wing jet capable of speeds up to 600 mph, made mostly of wood.
Designer Walter Horten had lost hundreds of Luftwaffe colleagues during the Battle of Britain in 1940, and he was keen to avenge their deaths by developing a plane that would be pretty much invisible to Britain’s radar system.
He and his brother built and flew the prototype Ho 2-29 just before Christmas 1944, but the war ended before the plane could enter mass production.
The only remaining Horten 2-29 is kept hidden from public view at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility outside Washington, DC.
Did the plane truly have stealth capability against WWII radar? A team from Northrup Grumman built and tested a full-scale replica to find out.
Photo by Linda Reynolds/Flying Wing Films
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Getting to Know the Hitlers
Right up there with “Who did Cain from the Bible marry after Abel died?” (hint: it was one of his sisters), the question of “What happened to Hitler’s descendants (if there are any)?” has dogged historians for decades. No more; a Telegraph piece delves into the English side of Hitler’s family, revealing details heretofore unknown. What I found most interesting was how the article discusses the troublesome enterprise of living with such an infamous name, and the pact the Hitler brothers made to ensure that the Hitler blood line would die out. But on top of all that is the process by which the author, David Gardner, was able to get all the information:
I was about to ask [William Patrick Hitler's] widow the question she had been dreading for 50 years: “Is your real name Mrs Hitler?”
I knew William Patrick would not be answering the door. I had just been to visit his grave, a 20-minute drive away, at the closest Roman Catholic cemetery, where I was given the name and address of his widow, Phyllis. The music stopped and a tall, elegantly-dressed woman peered from behind the screen and spoke with a distinct German accent. Even from behind the grey mesh I could tell the reason for my visit was already dawning on her. She must have envisaged this very conversation countless times over the years.
“Perhaps we will talk about it when the boys are older,” she said. “We were married a long time and my husband never wanted anyone to know who he was. Now my sons don’t want anything to do with it. It was all too long ago. There has been enough trouble with this name.”
Despite my polite attempts to persuade her to tell me more, she was adamant she did not want to talk about her extraordinary family secret. It was only when I drove slowly away from the house that I realised the implications of what Phyllis had told me; that the Hitler line did not die out with William Patrick Hitler when he died in 1987, aged 76. It lived on through her sons. From that first, short conversation with William Patrick’s widow through subsequent dealings with her family over a period of three years for my book, The Last of the Hitlers, and a Channel 5 documentary, set to be screened on February 4, I have kept a pledge not to reveal the name adopted by the Hitler family in New York, nor the town where they live.
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10 Diets You Probably Want to Avoid
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1. The Milk Diet Even the most die-hard enemy of osteoporosis would probably find it difficult to drink three quarts of milk a day. Not Benito Mussolini. A large portion of his diet consisted solely of moo juice, which he drank to try to quell his stomachaches. He hid this habit from his cohort Adolf Hitler, though, because he thought the habit was "unfascist." |
 (Image: Blue Blood on the Mat by Athol Oakley) |
2. More Milk Diet OK, maybe there are more milk lovers out there than I thought. British wrestler Sir Athol Oakley maintained his physique by drinking 11 pints of milk every single day for three years. That’s 12,012 pints of milk. When asked how he had arrived at that particular amount, he said it was because a wrestler he admired, Georg Hackenschmidt, gave an interview once in which he had professed to drinking exactly that amount. Hackenschmidt met Oakley and informed him that the 11 pints had been a typo – he actually drank just one pint of milk a day. |
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3. The PBJ Diet In this case, "starving artist" almost applies. When Ernest Hemingway was writing his works of literary genius, he certainly wasn’t dining on filet mignon and caviar. Nope, most of his books were written on a diet of peanut butter sandwiches. |
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4. A Diet of Weeds I’d take a diet of PBJ any day over a diet of weeds. Automobile magnate Henry Ford took to eating weed sandwiches on a regular basis after hearing that George Washington Carver – a dietician as well as a scientist – did the same. One story goes that an employee was given the chance to go on an outing with Ford – a prestigious award. When they got back, the employee was asked if he’d like to try it again. "Not if I have to eat another one of those grass sandwiches," he replied. |
| 5. Eating One’s Book As a writer, I have to say this one gives me pause. In 1644, a Danish author wrote a book that addressed how unfortunate the Danes has been since Sweden defeated them in the Thirty Years’ War. The Swedes were not impressed. They captured him and held him prisoner for several years until they finally gave him a choice: eat your book or we decapitate you. He ate the book. |
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6. A Diet of Oranges
Although dictator Idi Amin bestowed upon himself the title of " His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire [CBE] jaffain Africa in General and Uganda in Particular", in exile he earned the nickname "Dr. Jaffa". Apparently he ate Jaffa oranges like there was no tomorrow, believing that they would act like Viagra for him. He ate fruit pretty much exclusively during this time period – a pretty amazing change for someone who is said to have been a cannibal. |
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7. Goldfish swallowing Anyway, this fad was goldfish sweeping the nation in the 1930s. Not everyone thought it was such a cool thing to do – many towns made it illegal and a Massachusetts Senator tried to pass a bill protecting the fish from "cruel and wanton consumption." Colleges threatened to expel students for such unbecoming behavior. The fad passed (more or less) but not until after the record was established at 300+ goldfish swallowed by one man in one sitting. |
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 Photo: Philadelphia Eagles |
8. Another bad idea? Glass-eating. This one has its roots on college campuses too. Tim Rossovich, a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, liked to prove how tough he was by enjoying a nice bite of beer mug or a light snack of a light bulb (pun intended. Sorry). In 1973, a student at Harvard wasn’t terribly impressed by Rossovich’s stunt, and set out to prove that swallowing glass really wasn’t that difficult. After he ate a light bulb, lots of kids around the Cambridge campus started chomping on good old incandescents. School officials put a stop to it as soon as they found out. |
 Lifebuoy, because we don’t need to see a photo of underwear |
9. Always Wear Underwear If you’re eating right now, put it down. OK. Now you can read this. In 1994, Renato Arganza, a fisherman, found himself stranded at sea when his boat tipped just off of the Philippines. He clung to a buoy for more than four days. When he was finally found, he told his rescuers that he survived by eating his underwear. I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere about nutrition and skid marks, but I’m just going to leave that one to your imaginations. |
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10. Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Diet One story even goes like this: he harbored a serious addiction to Baskin Robbins’ banana nut flavor. He found out it was being discontinued and panicked, immediately ordering 350 gallons (some stories say 1,000 gallons) of that particular flavor. Less than a week after it arrived, he announced that he was sick of banana nut and only wanted vanilla from that point on. I can’t find any confirmation for this story, though, so take it with a grain of salt. I, for one, think I could probably manage to survive on nothing but mint chocolate chip for the next 70-80 years. |
| Inspired by the book 5 People Who Died During Sex and 100 Other Terribly Tasteless Lists. | |
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