Re: Famous urban legends
 

oh your girlfriend says its true? oh wow, i guess snopes must be wrong.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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just edited your post a bit if thats ok, it was longggg.

my fav. is the common misbelief that water in the southern hemisphere spirals down the drain the opposite direction than in the north.

http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.asp

definitely a 'wtf' moment when you realise you were sold a complete lie as a little kid.

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well, my gf went to Australia, and she swears its true

now i'm confused

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Not sure how credible this is, but........
http://web.bryant.edu/~science/acade...oiletwater.htm

Re: Famous urban legends
 

That snuff movies are a myth was one that surprised me.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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That snuff movies are a myth was one that surprised me.

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??? Isn't there a website or two out there where you can see stuff like the Iraqi beheadings?

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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That snuff movies are a myth was one that surprised me.

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??? Isn't there a website or two out there where you can see stuff like the Iraqi beheadings?

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Apparently that kind of thing doesn't qualify on the basis that it's politically motivated and not for entertainment.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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I read a story on the Internet about a cave, and how these guys expand a small hole, go through the hole, and strange things happen. I don't remember where it is, but I thought it was at least a compelling read, and it was long (by Internet standards).

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I've read this as well. It was actually a pretty interesting story. Wish I could find it again but the original link is dead now. There is this, which I think the story we've both read is based on. It's a good read.

There's a couple of other I have a hazy memory of that have this sort of internet provenance. The first is about some sort of supernatural ritual involving holding a mirror underwater and staring into it for a certain amount of time, the end result being that some sort of spirit from another dimension 'adopts' you and never leaves you alone ever again.

Secondly, there's one about a disused Mental Asylum known locally as the gates of hell - there are 7 gates and no one has ever got any further than the 4th without having to turn back. This one's been investigated and they found the location on which it was based (they think.) It got pulled down by the local authority to stop kids tooling around in the area.

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good story, i bet it'd make a good horror movie or who knows maybe its already been done.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

Two of them.

Some guys is looking through the classified for a new car, comes across an ad for a recent Porsche 911 for $50! Now he wasn't looking for a sports car, and he's sure its a typo, but figures what the heck. he calls the number and get a friendly lady on the other end, and she confirms that the car is indeed only $50. Without asking a question he rushed over to her house, give her $50, and they sign a contract. Before the ink is dry, he asks her "You have to know this car is worth more than $50, right?" She says "Oh yeah, I know. My husband ran off to Tahiti with his mistress and sent me a note asking to sell his Porsche and send the money for them to live on." [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

And then there's the Darwin Award about the guy who falls down the well. They send someone down after him, but the air is bad down there so he dies, so someone goes down for the two of them but he dies, etc., etc. until the body count is at seven and they finally give up.

I figured that one had to be false until a bartender in upstate New York told me his father and 3 brothers back in some Central American country died in just such a fashion. I don't think he was joking.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

I think most toilets are designed so that the water rotates in a particular direction. If you watch a sink or bathtub drain, however, you will see that the vortex can rotate in either direction, with the movement of water in the sink or tub before you pull the plug determining which direction. You can even force the direction to reverse by moving your hand through the water like an oar so that it generates a vortex, and causing that vortex to move over the drain.

Yes, I spent way too much time playing in the bathtub when I was a kid.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

When I took a class in confined space entry many years ago, they cited several horror stories involving tanks, sewer manholes, et cetera where somebody collapsed in bad air (toxic gas, insufficient oxygen, or whatever) and multiple people went in and died trying to rescue them. It seems to be almost instinctive to rush in to help somebody that's in trouble. I can understand the first person going in to attempt rescue, and maybe even the second, but you'd think that by the time somebody had seen four or five people go in and not come out, they'd figure out it wasn't such a good idea.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

The Rod Stewart thing must be true! but it was dog spunk.

There sure was a lot of panic about razor/poison candy in metro Detroit when I was a kid. I'm positive I saw a dude with a split lip on the news from a razor hot dog. I guess maybe he did it?

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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There's a couple of other I have a hazy memory of that have this sort of internet provenance. The first is about some sort of supernatural ritual involving holding a mirror underwater and staring into it for a certain amount of time, the end result being that some sort of spirit from another dimension 'adopts' you and never leaves you alone ever again.

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I frequent a forum where a legendary thread was created about this by some guy called eBlip, it got to about 1200 posts. Anyhow it was ripped from the adventures of Don Juan or wtf it's called, by Carlos Castaneda.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

[ QUOTE ]
Two of them.

Some guys is looking through the classified for a new car, comes across an ad for a recent Porsche 911 for $50! Now he wasn't looking for a sports car, and he's sure its a typo, but figures what the heck. he calls the number and get a friendly lady on the other end, and she confirms that the car is indeed only $50. Without asking a question he rushed over to her house, give her $50, and they sign a contract. Before the ink is dry, he asks her "You have to know this car is worth more than $50, right?" She says "Oh yeah, I know. My husband ran off to Tahiti with his mistress and sent me a note asking to sell his Porsche and send the money for them to live on." [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]


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Similar scene happened in a deleted scene from High Fidelity. Someone wants to sell their entire collection to John Cusack (who runs a record store). The collection is full of ultra-rare and valuable records, but the lady wants to sell it at a bargain for the same reason you listed. Cusack refuses to buy the collection because he doesn't want to rip off a record collector.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

Speaking of urban legends, whatever happened to Bruiser ?

Re: Famous urban legends
 

I was too afraid to do the Bloody Mary thing.

I'd really like the Men In Black stories to be true (not the movies.)

My sister told me that you should never flash a car without its lights on because the driver might stop and kill you as part of a gang initiation.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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my god...i get so many of these crazy emails from coworkers...

You can notify police if you are being robbed at an ATM by putting your PIN in backwards order.

Any one of many emails saying that Bill Gates/Microsoft/Yahoo/Google/etc will donate 25 or whatever cents per each email forwarded to a special cause.

People who eat too much chicken wings will feel the effects of the growth hormones used in chickens. Females especially will develop cysts.

Students stare at the sun until they go blind while on a LSD trip.
<font color="red">
You can unlock your car using a cell phone, even if you are miles away.

</font>
I hate getting these emails.

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I'm sure the one I put in red is true....

Re: Famous urban legends
 

It's not.

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It's not.

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It is, if you use your cell phone to call OnStar.

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It's not.

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It is, if you use your cell phone to call OnStar.

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or a locksmith.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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It's not.

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It is, if you use your cell phone to call OnStar.

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or a locksmith.

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Or a guy with a brick, yo.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

at an engineering firm i worked at in college, someone printed an email out and put it on the wall as a warning to others;

DO NOT USE YOUR CELL PHONE AT THE GAS PUMP! According to a study by the American Petroleum Institute, yada yada...

Since I was a snot-nosed engineering co-op, I typed a point by point rebuttal and hung it right next to the original email, so that everyone knew I was an [censored].

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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Two of them.

Some guys is looking through the classified for a new car, comes across an ad for a recent Porsche 911 for $50! Now he wasn't looking for a sports car, and he's sure its a typo, but figures what the heck. he calls the number and get a friendly lady on the other end, and she confirms that the car is indeed only $50. Without asking a question he rushed over to her house, give her $50, and they sign a contract. Before the ink is dry, he asks her "You have to know this car is worth more than $50, right?" She says "Oh yeah, I know. My husband ran off to Tahiti with his mistress and sent me a note asking to sell his Porsche and send the money for them to live on." [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]


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pretty sure this is true. heard about it in law class, and it was one of the few instances (in nj) where the guy was compensated for lawyers fees, in addition to winning the case.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

Bump

In Manhattan a high school aged baby sitter is asked to walk the dog when the family goes on vacation. Each day after school she takes the dog out. She arrives one day to find the dog dead. Calls the family and is asked to transport the dead dog to the vet. The only thing available to carry the dog in is a suitcase. She takes the dog filled suitcase and boards the subway for the trip to the vet. Gets chatted up by a guy on the train, guy asks what's in the suitcase, she says, not to create a scene, "computer parts". Reaches her stop, guy disembarks with her. As they are walking up the stairs to street level, guy grabs the suitcase and runs.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

The story of a man named John Titor that travelled here from the future and posted on some message board. His story is pretty convincing.

http://www.johntitor.com/

Re: Famous urban legends
 

Father goes to visit his daughter at college. Decides to order a prostitute to his hotel room. When the prostitute shows up at his room, it's his daughter.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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Father goes to visit his daughter at college. Decides to order a prostitute to his hotel room. When the prostitute shows up at his room, it's his daughter.

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Would be better if he had insisted she get a job to pay for part of her schooling.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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I read a story on the Internet about a cave, and how these guys expand a small hole, go through the hole, and strange things happen. I don't remember where it is, but I thought it was at least a compelling read, and it was long (by Internet standards).

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I've read this as well. It was actually a pretty interesting story. Wish I could find it again but the original link is dead now. There is this, which I think the story we've both read is based on. It's a good read.

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thankfully there are mirrors

http://www.tedthecaver.com/ted/index.htm

i remember reading this years ago as a kid. creeped the hell out of me.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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As a kid I was really scared by the typical ones like "some people put razor blades in Halloween candy" and "drug dealers give kids stickers soaked in LSD/PCP/etc. to get them hooked." I realize those actually did probably happen in an isolated instance or two, but we were made to believe they were very widespread phenomena.

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How the [censored] is a kid gonna know where to go once he's hooked on a drug? For that matter, how does he know he's hooked on a drug?

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The most obvious reason its a myth is that LSD is not addictive.

My favorite LSD related myth is the one about the kid who has a sheet in his pocket and is outside in the rain and the acid soaks through his pocket and into his leg. He believes he is a cup of orange juice and when you come near him he tells you not to tip him over. In my teenage years I had at least three separate people from different locales tell me that story one swore they were at the party when it happened.

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I am, oddly enough, an expert on this phenomenon. Our Senior Project in College (Geography Major FTW) was a study of whether the Coriolis Effect had any effect on bathtub, sink, or toilet drains. The answer is no.


The Earth rotates, and as it does so it deflects the movements of objects on it or in its atmosphere. This has a trmendous effect on tides and winds, as the Earth's rotation pushes moving objects in the Northern Hemisphere to the right and in the Southern Hemisphere to the left. This is why tornadoes and hurricanes move counterclockwise in the North and clockwise in the South. This is also why Hurricanes that start in the MidAtlantic always hit the Carribean/US and never Europe.

Toilets, bathtubs, and sinks are all very small. Although, technically, the Coriolis is still a factor; the design of the article is a much, much bigger factor. If you had a bathtub the size of Delaware, however, then the Coriolis Effect would be paramount and the water would always go counterclockwise in the North and clockwise in the South.


Also, I'm a nerd.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

I thought the water spun opposite directions due to being located closer to south pole vs north pole. I might be a moron though.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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"Bloody Mary" - Which probably spawned the CandyMan
movies: Stand in the dark in front of mirror (usually
in the bathroom) and repeat "Bloody Mary" 3 times and
she will appear...to this day I haven't tried it.

-ZEN

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That you haven't tried it yet makes me laugh.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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Father goes to visit his daughter at college. Decides to order a prostitute to his hotel room. When the prostitute shows up at his room, it's his daughter.

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There's a movie about this.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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The story of a man named John Titor that travelled here from the future and posted on some message board. His story is pretty convincing.

http://www.johntitor.com/

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john titor isnt an urban legend. it true. its just that the mere fact that he altered the course of history makes his predictions not come true.....

Re: Famous urban legends
 

I have two.

The first is from the late 1970s. There was a persistent rumor that gasoline tanker trucks were seen out in the deserts east of LA, dumping gasoline on the ground. The theory was that so doing created an artificial gasoline shortage, leading to windfall Big Oil profits.

The second was that GM bought up the LA mass-transit system (trolleys) in the late 1930s in an effort to create a marketplace for its cars.

I suppose the JFK assassination conspiracies qualify as an urban legend, but that general subject is worth a separate treatise all on its own.

Next time I see Shaniac, I'm going to get in his grill and accuse him of being a babykiller.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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I have two.

The first is from the late 1970s. There was a persistent rumor that gasoline tanker trucks were seen out in the deserts east of LA, dumping gasoline on the ground. The theory was that so doing created an artificial gasoline shortage, leading to windfall Big Oil profits.

The second was that GM bought up the LA mass-transit system (trolleys) in the late 1930s in an effort to create a marketplace for its cars.

I suppose the JFK assassination conspiracies qualify as an urban legend, but that general subject is worth a separate treatise all on its own.

Next time I see Shaniac, I'm going to get in his grill and accuse him of being a babykiller.

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Ummm, the streetcar thing actually happened and even went to the Supreme Court. GM, Firestone, and 2 oil companies were found guilty of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, but only fined nominal amounts.

Re: Famous urban legends
 

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Bump

In Manhattan a high school aged baby sitter is asked to walk the dog when the family goes on vacation. Each day after school she takes the dog out. She arrives one day to find the dog dead. Calls the family and is asked to transport the dead dog to the vet. The only thing available to carry the dog in is a suitcase. She takes the dog filled suitcase and boards the subway for the trip to the vet. Gets chatted up by a guy on the train, guy asks what's in the suitcase, she says, not to create a scene, "computer parts". Reaches her stop, guy disembarks with her. As they are walking up the stairs to street level, guy grabs the suitcase and runs.

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Strangers talking to each other on a NY subway? So fake ldo. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Famous urban legends
 

Marilyn Manson had 2 pairs of lower ribs removed so he could suck his own dick

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Cross referenced from NVG thread on 'Return of Kurosh':

The Johnny Carson 'Move the Cat' story

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Very fat chick is trying to lose weight by riding an exercise bike at night. The bike cant hold her weight, the seat breaks, and she is "impaled" by the steel bike support. She took roughly 13", and had a 2 or 3 hour surgery that night to repair vaginal and intestinal damage.