Microsoft has had its own share of ritual beheadings, most recently and visibly, Steven Sinofsky, the former leader of the Windows Division, who clashed with other top executives.

FORBES: Turmoil In Tech Drives Turnover

And so are the amusements, from high-tech rollercoasters to nostalgic charmers like Schichtl's famous fake beheadings and the flea circus where trained pests provide the oomph for miniature chariots that outweigh them a thousand-fold.

BBC: Oktoberfest turns 200

The news out of the once-glamorous record business is mostly grim these days, as it has been since the advent of the original Napster--headlines tend to highlight sales declines, a lack of new superstars and executive beheadings.

FORBES: Magazine Article