Q: Is There Really a Kind of Coffee Made from Cat Poop?
Dear Urban Legends: Apparently there is a brand of expensive coffee from Indonesia called kopi luwak, which is harvested from half-digested coffee beans picked from the turds of a small weasel-like animal. Is this really true? Read more...
Q: Can People Look Up My Driver's License on the Web?
I received an email today with a link to a site that claims to be able to research driver's licenses. I know that — in California at least — they are wrong as far as the law is concerned. I don't know what their real goal is, though. Read more...
Q: Did Eminem Die in a Car Crash?
We read on the Internet on Sunday, December 17 that Slim Shady, a.k.a. Eminem, died in a car crash at 2:30 in the morning. According to this article he was on his way to a late-night party and was drunk and high on drugs. Can you find out if this is true or not? Read more...
Q: Will Your Stomach Explode if You Eat Pop Rocks with Soda?
Do you remember the story from the late '70s / early '80s about the Life cereal kid named Mikey? How he would eat anything? Well, I remember hearing on the playground that Little Mikey ate a whole bag of Pop Rocks candy and slammed a can of Coke. Supposedly, Mikey's stomach exploded from the combination and he died. Read more...
Q: Is Jamie Lee Curtis a Hermaphrodite?
I've heard from a few places that Jamie Lee Curtis is genetically male. I know it's genetically possible for something like this to happen — Ms. Curtis is the only famous person I've ever heard linked to this "problem." Have you heard anything about this one? Read more...
Q: Do Birds Explode if They Eat Rice Thrown at Weddings?
An urban legend I've heard (most recently from a teacher during a discussion in a high school English class) is that you shouldn't throw rice at weddings, because after the party is over, birds will come and eat it. Read more...
Q: Is My iPod a Lightning Rod?
I believe we are seeing the start of a new urban legend here. Yesterday morning I was reading a news article about a person in B.C. Canada in 2005 being struck by lightning while jogging. It seems that he was the victim of "flashover." Read more...
Q: Is There Really a Fish that Swims up People's Urethras and Gets Stuck There?
Who knows how true this is (I think they told it more to scare us but some may have believed it), but our scoutmasters always insisted that there were small, parasitic fish in some rivers (particularly the Amazon) that could swim up the urine stream and get inside you. Read more...
Q: Is McDonald's the World's Largest Purchaser of Cow Eyeballs?
Dear Urban Legends: Have you heard about one where McDonald's is allegedly the largest purchaser of cow eyeballs in the world? According to the rumor I've heard, "100% all beef" includes eyeballs. Can you please investigate this and refute or confirm it? Read more...
