Storytelling – The Cup Holder

I recall this short story I heard once about a man who had just bought a new computer. This was back in the early nineties, just as the web and e-mail and multimedia were starting to get big.

A tech support representative at a major computer manufacturer received a call from a very angry customer one afternoon.
“My cup holder just broke off,” complained the man on the other end of the phone.
“Your what? Your cup holder?” stammered the tech support guy. “In your car?”
“No, on my computer. I haven’t had this thing even a month and it’s already starting to break!”
“Was this a special order sir?”
“No! I just got my computer, pressed one of the button on the front, and this cup holder just slid out.”
At this point the tech support guy broke up laughing when he realized the man was using the CD-ROM tray as a coffee cup holder.

I’ve heard this as a joke most often, but the first time I heard it it was presented as fact, as a letter in one of the big computer magazines of the time.

Current Mood: 🙂amused

Storytelling – The Unicycle

So last night, and in fact several nights and days over the last few weeks, I’ve seen a guy riding a unicycle around campus. He’s never far from the quad, but he rides in all kinds of weather. Kind of makes me wonder why. How. Is he just keeping in practice? Maybe he’s a clown who takes classes in the winter while the circuses are in their off season. Maybe somebody superglued his ass to the seat.
Whatever the reason, he’s good. He keeps up a pretty good clip – faster than the walkers, but slower than a slow bicyclist. I’ve never seen him waver, and he can go off curbs with absolutely no problem. There’s somthing to this, I know there is.

Storytelling – Dibbuk Haunted Jewish Wine Cabinet Box

I found this auction on e-bay, and found the story attached to it to be quite interesting. I don’t know how long e-bay auctions last before they evaporate, so I’ll just cut and past the entire story here. You can find the original auction, with pictures, at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3701347648.

Read the whole sordid tale here. This is what cuts were meant for.

Current Mood: 😉weird
Current Music: Gonzo the Great and Joel Gray – Razzle Dazzle ’em

Storytelling – Pigman Road

I remember back in high school hearing stories about something called “Pigman Road.” I never knew exactly where it was, or what, just that it was not a place you were supposed ot go after dark. I never paid it much mind, never having any direct knowledge of it.
A few years later, when I was a sophomore in college, a friend’s girlfriend, who was originally from near my town, asked me if I knew the tale. I responded no of course, and she started to tell me something about an axe murderer, and then fell over because she was so drunk.
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I finally know what it was about. Apparently there is no one tale or story about the area, but a whole mish-mosh of ideas and spooky happenings. Mason Winfield, a paranormal researcher who specializes in my home region, Western New York, has a web site where he answers questions from people (As an aside, my friend Helen’s mother did the illustrations for his first book). Check it out at http://www.masonwinfield.com/ArchiveFiles/January%202003/question.htm. I like the idea that nobody nowadays remembers the accident, but the area is still associated with such spooky happenings. I like the fact that there is still so much I don’t know about my home town. It gives me a place to start working from, I guess.

Edit: Some more digging found me http://www.paranormalghostsociety.org/Pigmans%20Road.htm. Pictures and some on-site reporting. Maybe I’m tired, but this is giving me the shivers.