The Edward de Vere Society (EdVS)

This is an extract from the book 40 Strange Groups which is currently on sale for 99p

The Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship holds that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays and poems traditionally attributed to William Shakespeare. It is recognized by Oxfordians and Stratfordians alike that writing about royal courts, Italy and law required a certain prerequisite level of education.

Edward De Vere fits the bill here since he is known to have graduated from Cambridge University at age 14, becoming master of arts at age of 16. Furthermore De Vere studied law at Gray’s Inn and had an extensive library underlining his qualifications to write as knowledgeably as Shakespeare about Bohemia, Denmark, and Scotland. At court, Edward De Vere was nicknamed “Spear-shaker” due to of his ability both at tournaments and because his coat of arms featured a lion brandishing a spear.

However, some conspiracy theorists maintain Edward de Vere wrote far more than just Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. They believe he wrote Christopher Marlowe’s plays as well as the early poems of Ben Jonson, Edmund Spenser, and John Milton.

William Wimpole, a member of EdVS, understands the problems these ideas raise: “The evidence for these assertions is rather thin on the ground other than an educated man wrote the poetry and that Spenser’s and De Vere’s first names both begin with ‘E’. What is known is that Edward de Vere was a very quick writer and didn’t need much sleep, giving him many hours to write those wonderful pieces of high literature. It’s extremely difficult to prove this and naysayers always show how different all these writing styles are, but what they don’t understand is that Edward de Vere was a brilliant man who was capable of astonishing changes in literary style at the drop of a hat. One day he’d be Shakespeare, the next Spenser, and then Marlowe.”

The Camel Appreciation Society (TCAS)

This is an extract from the book 40 Strange Groups which is currently on sale for 99p

Most people dislike riding on camels due to the animal’s terrible attitude, bad breath, and yellow teeth. Some people overlook these obvious problems in favour of the smooth ride offered by these idiosyncratic animals in the hotter climates of the world.

TCAS has linked up with holiday firms across the globe to promote camel safaris in remote parts of the world such as the Empty Quarter in Oman, the Gobi Desert, and The Sahara.

Their longest trek is the 51-day crossing from Zagora in Morocco to Timbuktu in Mali, where twenty camels are needed to transport the tents and food supplies for the ten travellers on the trip. Travellers on the longer trips report that their attitude towards camels changes during their time together, which may well be the traveller’s equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome.

Madeleine Stokes of TCAS explains the attraction of camels: “Camels have a similar attitude to cats and yet people love cats, but dislike camels. I don’t understand why that is, given camels can actually help you enjoy a trip across a desert. I wouldn’t want to rely on a cat for anything.”

Nestorian Christians to recreate the Mongol Empire (NECREME)

This is an extract from the book 40 Strange Groups which is currently on sale for 99p

The Nestorians are followers of Nestorius (c. AD 386—451), who was Archbishop of Constantinople. Nestorianism is based on the belief put forth by Nestorius that emphasized the disunity of the human and divine natures of Christ. According to the Nestorians, the nature of Christ is divided equally between His divine nature and His human nature, but the two are distinct and separate. Some of the Mongol hordes who created the largest contiguous empire in history, the Mongol Empire, were Nestorian Christians, while others were Buddhist and some were atheists.

NECREME believes that the best way to assure world peace is to recreate the Mongol Empire and unite the disparate factions in China, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe in one huge empire, run by a Mongolian dictator in Ulan Bator, whose word is the rule of law. This Mongol Empire would cover most of the areas in the world where there are currently wars and internal strife. The mighty horsemen of the Mongols would fight all the disparate elements taking part in these battles and defeat them all, solving all these issues and bringing peace to a greater part of the world.

As Norovyn Batbold, secretary of NECREME explains, “The Mongol ruler would be a direct descendant of The Great Khan, Genghis, and he would be advised by the leaders of Russia, China, South Korea, and India. His Mongol horseman would be provided by all the countries comprising the Mongol Empire and would number almost 2 million in number, a force that would easily outnumber any opposing forces it would meet in combat. The Mongols would be back where they belong.”

Broken Umbrella Menders Association (BUMA)

This is an extract from the book 40 Strange Groups which is currently on sale for 99p

After a rainstorm the one guaranteed sight is a profusion of broken umbrellas strewn around on the wet ground. Most of the time these items are thrown into the rubbish. However, in Leeds this is not the case. Members of the local BUMA collect these discarded umbrellas and fix them with a combination of welding gear and hammers, so that the brollys are stronger than they’ve ever been.

The head of the Leeds BUMA, Brian Farr, explains: “Some of the umbrellas are inherently weak, so we strengthen them with wire and occasionally old stair rods and then they wouldn’t turn inside out in a hurricane. The best thing is we then sell them in our shop and we know we sell the umbrellas back to the very people that discarded them, but they don’t recognise them because we’ve changed them so much. 50% of our profits go towards providing bus shelters around the city and so far we’ve helped build 14 of them.”

BUMA started in Leeds and has since spread to Motherwell, Pudsey, Barnsley, and Dundee. It’s estimated that BUMA has rejuvenated over 14,000 umbrellas since its inception, 15 years ago, a number which provides a solid amount of work. As Farr says “We’ve had one or two of the lads retire, but their sons, and in one case their daughter, come into the business and carry on the family tradition. Long may it continue to be rainy and windy – that’s how we like it.”

The Uri Geller Society (UGS)

This excerpt is from the book entitled 40 Strange Groups available here on Amazon

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This society recently celebrated its 40th anniversary by holding a special spoon-bending event in Woking. Members from 32 countries came to the occasion and took part in the annual bending contest. Not one of them was able to bend a spoon in the allotted time period.

Some competitors used the stroking method and rubbed their fingers on the neck of the spoon while others placed the spoon on a hard surface and attempted to manipulate it by direct thoughts. One security guard watching the event on closed-circuit television reported that his house keys had become bent during the session, but there was no way of knowing who was responsible for this.

At the annual dinner, the diners have to eat their meal with cutlery specially bent for the occasion by Uri Geller himself. The astonishing thing is that all the spoons, forks, knives, and chopsticks are bent in different ways: each has an individual appearance quite unlike any of the others.

Sandra McBryde of UGS hopes that one day, one member can follow the example of Uri Geller and bend a spoon with their mind alone: “We sure do hope it can be done, just to provide inspiration for everyone else. People do become disconsolate when things don’t work when they’re trying so hard, but it’s not something that can be forced, it has to come naturally. Uri says we have to be patient and don’t try too hard as that will block the forces from appearing.”

The Uri Geller Society (UGS)

This excerpt is from the book entitled 40 Strange Groups available here on Amazon

=============

This society recently celebrated its 40th anniversary by holding a special spoon-bending event in Woking. Members from 32 countries came to the occasion and took part in the annual bending contest. Not one of them was able to bend a spoon in the allotted time period.

Some competitors used the stroking method and rubbed their fingers on the neck of the spoon while others placed the spoon on a hard surface and attempted to manipulate it by direct thoughts. One security guard watching the event on closed-circuit television reported that his house keys had become bent during the session, but there was no way of knowing who was responsible for this.

At the annual dinner, the diners have to eat their meal with cutlery specially bent for the occasion by Uri Geller himself. The astonishing thing is that all the spoons, forks, knives, and chopsticks are bent in different ways: each has an individual appearance quite unlike any of the others.

Sandra McBryde of UGS hopes that one day, one member can follow the example of Uri Geller and bend a spoon with their mind alone: “We sure do hope it can be done, just to provide inspiration for everyone else. People do become disconsolate when things don’t work when they’re trying so hard, but it’s not something that can be forced, it has to come naturally. Uri says we have to be patient and don’t try too hard as that will block the forces from appearing.”