Adam Savage & Kari Byron must be working to bust some redhead myths!  They want 25 natural redheads from the San Francisco area that are available for 4 hours on January 21, 2010.  No payment, but they will get a free t-shirt.

 

The fact that they are also looking for women who have done natural childbirth around the same time makes me wonder though, are they looking into the pain myths that have been studied recently by scientists?

 

There's been quite a lot of retweeting and some enthusiastic responses, even by redheads outside San Fran.  But they insist, you must be living in their home base.

 

Twittered on the , January 5, 2010 - 18:00 GMT 

MB needs 25 NATURAL REDHEADS. 18yrs + & avail in SF 1/21 for 4 hr. No $ but free T-shirt. (Email contact removed.)

 

UPDATE: MythBusters Pain Episode with Redheads airs April 28, 2010 with possible Redhead World member appearance 

Tags: mythbusters redhead redhead_myths myths 

The legendary Redhead Scholarship for red hair is not a myth - at least not anymore.

 

There are a few things I do find frustrating.  One is the fragmentation of the redhead community worldwide, but that's getting better everyday through big-name events, redhead days and festivals, and media coverage.  Another is urban myths, especially ones that can be harmful.  Fortunately, some redheads of the online community will help bust some redhead myths in late January.

 

 

The Former Myth

One persistant urban myth or urban legend over the years has been the elusive "redhead scholarship" or "scholarship for people with red hair."  Oh, you could scour the search engines.  All you would find is a bunch of redheads asking, "where is the redhead scholarhip?"  That question has gone all over Yahoo Answers.  There's blogs and forums full of comments and conjecture.  Some people proposed that the myth was grounded somewhat in reality; that people referred to scholarships where the surname was "Redhead" (and indeed there are such scholarships).  A formerly prominent redhead social network even says in their FAQ that a red hair scholarship is a myth.

 

 

The Hunt

So as I came across an article and newscast clip with the sensational title "Redheads, air guitarists can find college scholarships in Colorado" I was mixed between hope and frustration.  The scholarships mentioned, such as left-handed people and air guitarists, are very easy to find, but no where did they say where the redhead scholarship was.  I checked the site that the news centers on, www.collegeincolorado.org, and searched for anything red-related I could think of.  Nothing.

 

A letter soon followed to their PR department, perhaps heaping it on a bit with "in an age of growing gingerism" that jerking around redheads for media sensationalism is not good, though "I'd be tickled to be proved wrong" about a redhead scholarship.  Well, I commend the College in Colorado site's PR head for getting back to me (and promptly at that).  Though they did not know where the redhead scholarship was either, they did provide additional help in searching their database and another example of a left-handed scholarship.  They also referred to the news station, as it is the reporter that mentions "redhead" and not the CiC member in the interview.  Still no redhead scholarship in their database though.  Perhaps there could have been one in years past, but as they say on Wikipedia, "citation needed" or in other words "show me the money."

 

It charged me up though.  I felt ready for another go.  I had a bit more failure at Google-fu.  But I remembered my rule, when Google-fu fails - use Yahoo-fu, because Yahoo will index even the most obscure pages on the internet.  A few searches and pages on this latest attempt at Yahoo and I found that blue hyperlink that almost glowed.

 

 

The Redhead Scholarship

So after all of this fiasco, it comes as no wonder that I was greeted by these words by the author and scholarship creator on the site: 

"There are scholarships out there for everyone! There are even scholarships for Redheads and left handed people!". Well, with hope instilled in me by the scholarship authorities, I scoured the internet in search of the infamous Redhead Scholarship. Well guess what? My high school days are over and I have yet to find this scholarship. I even tried to find to find loopholes in the minority scholarships.

 

Being similarly hacked off about the situation and full of redhead love and ginger well-being, the creator decided to go and make their own redhead scholarship.

 

Redhead Scholarship Website

 

Requirements: The requirements are pretty simple.  You must be a junior or senior in high school in the United States.  Grades above 2.0 are acceptable, but there will be some focus on academic standing.  There are two main criteria.  You must submit two photos proving you are a natural redhead.  The most important criteria is to submit something describing what being a redhead means to you - "academic essay, drawing, or YouTube video."  This component is anything goes and creativity and redheadedness are the important things. 

Amount: $250

Deadline: March 31, 2010

Winner Notified: May 1, 2010

 

So give it a go all U.S. high schoolers and please spread the word to any redheads you know or parents of redheads!  We'll make this a hard choice to make.

 

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Tags: mythbusters redhead redhead_myths myths redhead redhead_scholarship redhead_myths 

The MythBusters pain episode featuring redheads that everyone has been waiting for is tonight, April 28, 2010 (in the U.S. at least). 

 

In early January we reported that Adam Savage was making a call for redhead test volunteers for the show via his Twitter channel.  We got the word out quickly enough that a couple of our members were able to apply, and so you just might see our own MissyMarie on tonight's program.

 

BoltZero and others did more research and found that the episode would revolve around pain.  Do redheads feel more?  Women or men?  Can cursing help ease the pain?  All of that will be found on tonight's episode.

 

Here are some preview clips:

 

 

 

See the Kari Byron Swear Pain Test at the Discovery Channel site.

 

UPDATE #1: User OmniTomato was spotted.  Here he is with Jamie Hyneman while Adam Savage works the computers.  They used ice water to test the myths.

After dunking:

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If you aren't a member of Redhead World - Join Today for Free!  You can stay informed on redhead news, redhead gatherings and festivals, and make new redhead friends.

 

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Tags: mythbusters redhead redhead_myths myths redhead redhead_scholarship redhead_myths mythbusters redhead redhead_myths myths