Miniatur Wunderland – Small Gets Huge
We’re all familiar with model train sets. Serious hobbyists sometimes commit a large portion of their garage or basement to these miniature landscapes. Perfectly scaled-down trains, trees, buildings and people can make them look pretty dang real, too. But, if you prefer tiny things on a much larger scale, it’s hard to beat Hamburg, Germany’s Miniatur Wunderland.
Photo: Miniatur Wunderland
Straight out of the just-because-we-can file, this world within a world opened in 2001, and has been steadily growing since; with new sections opening every year or two. The exhibit currently takes up over 68,000 square feet, at a construction cost of over 14 million dollars.
Photo: AP
Based on both real-life and fictitious locations, the Wunderland contains sections from Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and the United States. With additional sections planned to depict much of Western Europe.
Photo: Miniatur Wunderland
And don’t think this is just a static model. Literally everything moves. In addition to the trains, each vehicle is individually computer controlled. Cops pull speeding drivers over, ships navigate and dock in harbors, and planes even take off, land, and taxi at the airport. People move too. In the American exhibit, a S.W.A.T team gets in a firefight with criminals, and Spiderman can be spotted swinging through the streets. In another area, coroners can be spotted pulling a dead body from a river. Not exactly the happiest place on earth…
Photo: The Telegraph
When the “sun” goes down, more than 250,000 individually computer-controlled lights take the realism up yet another notch. Each car has working head and taillights, buildings (including the Las Vegas strip) glow and twinkle, and all of the sounds, from bustling cites to oceans and forests, are ever-present. I imagine it would be hard not to feel at least a little bit like Godzilla.
Photo: Miniatur Wunderland
Offbeat Video: Football, America, and Jesus
Football, America, and Jesus
Football season’s just started, and here’s an appropriate tribute to the sport for anyone who’s not exactly a fan. Safe for work, unless you happen to work at Focus on the Family.
$85,000,000,000 bailout? I’ve got a better business plan…
According to one American…
“I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m proposing that the government invests the said $85 billion in a “We Deserve It” fund.
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens over the age of 18. Our population is about 301,000,000 give or take a few (counting every man, woman
and child), so 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.
So, $85 billion divided by 200 million adults equals $425,000.00. My plan is to pay that $425,000 to every person 18+ as a “We Deserve It” dividend. Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every beneficiary would owe $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00. What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads.
Put away money for college – it’ll be there.
Save some in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car – create jobs.
Invest in the market – capital drives growth.
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves.
Remember this is for every adult US Citizen 18+, including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces. If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it. If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult US Citizen 18+!
I trust that my fellow American adults would put the $85 billion “We Deserve It” Dividend to better use than geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .
Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest.”
(The views expressed above are not necessarily the opinions of Offbeat Earth. They are merely reproduced here for your viewing and commenting pleasure. Enjoy!)
