Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, overcome with emotion, pockets a coveted Anachronism Award given to him at a Playboy Mansion party honoring Playboy’s new Playmate of the Year.

Yes, they really still have one of those, and we moved TWENTY photos of the event, including some showing the winner leaning against her prize, a shiny new red Cadillac. Yes, they still have those, too.

Hef is seen here at the party with his great grand-daughter…oops, no, the caption says it’s his girlfriend! Anyway, after the party everybody went home to read some Playboy articles. Yes, they still have those.

Philippines Playboy, sent in a Manila wrapper?

Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine and girlfriend, Holly Madison, attend a party honoring the 2008 Playboy Playmate of the Year, at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, May 8, 2008. REUTERS/Fred Prouser

More stuff from Oddly Enough

Blog Guy, I need some of your sage travel advice. I’m going to St Petersburg, Russia, in June. Should I rent a bike to see the sights?

Let me very frank. No! Do NOT rent a bike unless you can find out for CERTAIN what Roman  Lutoshkin did with the one he’s sweating on with his bare butt in this video report.

Warning: people who might be offended by certain parts of this guy’s body probably shouldn’t watch this video.

More stuff from Oddly Enough

Blog Guy, I know you’ve written about those crazy German highways with no speed limits. I recently heard that they even let dogs drive. My friend saw one smoking a big cigar and driving 140 miles an hour!

Sounds like he saw the Stogie Doggies of Dortmund, among the worst of the dog gangs.

Uh, you mean there are more?

Oh sure. That country has a canine gang war problem like you wouldn’t believe. I’m talking about the Burger Kings of Hamburg, the Hot Dogs of Frankfurt, the Smelly Shi Tsus of Cologne, the Bad Bad Barkers of Baden-Baden…

Bad Bad Barkers of Baden-Baden? Now that’s just silly!

Yeah? I wouldn’t let a Barker hear you say that.

A French bulldog has a mock up of a cigar in its mouth as it sits in a toy car during a dog show in Dortmund, Germany, May 2, 2008. REUTERS/ Ina Fassbender

More stuff from Oddly Enough

“Boy, this waiting is the hardest part…”

“Stop complaining It beats picking Brussels sprouts!”

“How come Vinny’s wearin’ that orange shirt?”

“He says he’s ‘in character!’ S’posed to be a drunk who crashes after a bowling match…”

“He should just wear the Dummy Blues and be proud of it!”

“Shhhhhh, you know Vinny’s story. His parents tested the Pinto, rest their souls…”

“Pinto! Sheesh! Rough way to go. You think we’ll get meatloaf for lunch today?”

Related: That young guy sure is out of shape!

A row of crash test dummies at the Volvo Safety Center in Gothenburg, Sweden, April 9, 2008. REUTERS/Bob Strong

More stuff from Oddly Enough

Blog Guy, I’ve read that America’s big cities are running out of parking places. I know you travel the world. Are other cities trying anything new?

You bet. Berlin is looking at so-called “momentum parking.” You leave your car, and a huge crane hoists it up 500 feet, then lets it go. The impact buries it several feet down, thus taking up far less room than an ordinary space.

I don’t believe that. You’re just making up stuff to go with stupid pictures again.

I’m serious! It’s happening in ‘Potsdamer Platz,’ which is German for “My car went platz!!” You can look it up.

Related post: Flying cars not a total success…

An unidentified artwork, showing a crashed car in the pavement, is pictured on display at Berlin’s ‘Potsdamer Platz’ square, April 14, 2008.

More stuff from Oddly Enough

Ever want to feel what it’s like to be really old? No,  me neither. Well, the Nissan folks have an “aging suit” to simulate bad balance, stiff joints, weak sight  and extra weight, so their car testers can experience problems faced by older people. I’m not making this up.

Let’s think. Aren’t there millions of actual seniors who could use some extra money, and who wouldn’t need to strap on a custom Old Guy Suit?

Couldn’t the geniuses at Nissan just follow the mailman when he’s delivering the AARP Bulletin next month, knock on a few doors, and show some grandma her experience has value? Nah, easier just to turn junior into the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.  

“Hurry up and crash, Joey! We can wear these duds over to the Cineplex for the senior discount!”

Aging suit slideshow and Video report

Employee wears ”aging suit” designed to simulate physical effects of aging at Nissan Technical Center in Atsugi, Japan, April 15, 2008.  REUTERS/Kiyoshi Ota

More stuff from Oddly Enough

Blog Guy, I know you’re doing a dissertation on life in places with no cable. You got any new examples?

Yes. It’s so poignant to see what plucky humans will do for entertainment when they can’t watch ”Dexter.”

Take this “orchestra” that features five automobiles. Sure, I could make bad jokes about tuning up in a garage, and how it’s easy for them to go on the road and so on, but that’s not my style.

Instead, just watch this video and consider those who are far less fortunate than we are, television-wise.  Remember, someday it could be you listening to this orchestra or to the singing dingo. 

Related link: When troops don’t have access to cable TV

More stuff from Oddly Enough

Bad news, drivers! Bremen has become the first state in Germany to introduce a speed limit on its highways, and drivers must now slow down to a snail’s pace of 120 kilometers per hour (75 mph).

If you do the math, it may not be so bad. Bremen is an itty-bitty city state, so the new rules will annoy you for maybe half an hour. The question is, how will they even communicate with motorists who whiz along the country’s roads at a perfectly legal 130 miles an hour or more? That’s too fast to read WELCOME TO BREMEN, much less see a speed sign.

“Honey, did you see that thing? What did it say?”

‘I think it said we’re on Route 120, dear, maybe you should go a little faster.”

“Okay, but this other sign just said something about SPEED BUMPS ahea………”

related post: Flying cars not a total success…

Cars drive along a city highway in Berlin in a 2007 file photo. REUTERS/ Fabrizio Bensch

More stuff from Oddly Enough

Okay boys, let’s analyze this-here thing and figure out what went so horribly wrong.

Eddie, your job was to hoist the driver up 50 feet with that crane, so he could do a back drop, land in his car and speed off, right? Check. Roy, you were sposed to fill the interior with special foam padding and feathers to cushion the landing? Check.

Bobby, you were sposed to open the sunroof, right? Bobby? Anybody seen Bobby today?

Related posting: Good to the last drop…

Carl Edwards does a back flip for his fans after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series UAW-Dodge 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, March 2, 2008. REUTERS/Robert LeSieur

More stuff from Oddly Enough

Many of you have heard of the German highway where there is practically no speed limit and you can drive as fast as you want, called the autobahn - not to be mistaken for John James Audubon, that bird artist whose name sounds kind of similar.

Anyway, what you may not know, is that once a year they remove a 20-foot section of the autobahn with no warning, just to see how many cars can make it over the gap. As you can see from the photo below, not everyone succeeds. This annual experiment may have inspired the famous sculpture “Cadillac Ranch,” in Texas (see thumbnail photo by Rik Gruwez).

Wait, maybe this isn’t what is happening here at all. Alternative suggestions are welcome, via Post a Comment.

More Oddly Enough Blog

A promotional installation of Mini cars that were stuck into a pile of sand is seen outside the fairgrounds of the Frankfurt International Auto Show IAA in Frankfurt September 12, 2007. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay