Wednesday, October 31, 2007

They're too busy holdin on to one another

Halloween Edition of the Darwin Awards:
CONFIRMED DARWIN AWARD:
Mummy Says, Don't Smoke"Another Incentive to Kick the Habit"
For Halloween 1998, a Canadian man dressed as a mummy by wrappinghimself from head to toe in fluffy cotton batting. The cotton wastaped at the wrists and ankles, and white gloves and running shoescompleted his ensemble. As the mummy waited for his girlfriendto dress for pictures, he carelessly lit a cigarette...and the fluffy cotton burst into flames.
The reason for flame-retardant costumes became clear.
Firefighters arrived within minutes, yet already the mummy costumewas reduced to ashes, right down to the white coveralls underneath.The man kept repeating, "It's my fault." He was taken to Soldier'sMemorial Hospital with 2nd and 3rd degree burns, where he died.

UNCONFIRMED DARWIN AWARD: Death of Dracula
1994 A college student dressed up as Dracula for Halloween. For the finishing touch, he put a pine board down the front of his shirt, so he could stick a knife into the board and pretend he wastransfixed with a killing stake. He didn't consider the strengthof the thin pine board when he tapped in the knife with a hammer.
Propelled by the force of the hammer, the sharp knife tip splitthe soft wood and buried itself in his heart. He staggered fromhis dorm room into the party, gasping, "I really did it!"before succumbing before horrified friends.
REFERENCE: Dead Men Do Tell Tales by William R. Maples, Ph.D., 1994

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