Drivable Flintstone-mobile for Sale
If you’re feeling like modern automobiles are getting a little too gimmicky, this might be right up your alley. InAutonews is reporting that this fully drivable replica of Fred Flintstone’s Bedrock cruiser was recently for sale on the internet for the equivalent of about $3200.
Hmm...does it use a lot of "fossil" fuels?
Not a whole lot is known about the features of the car other than that it has 1.6 liter gas engine (no pedaling required) and racked up about 50,000 miles in the year since it was built. Unfortunately, failure of the brontosaurus rib rack rollover test would likely prevent the car from ever being licensed for the street in the U.S.
Luxury seats for a splinter-free driving experience.
Anti-lock brakes (provided you wear anti-lock shoes).
Not pictured: Yosemite Sam "back off!" mud flaps.
All photos via InAutoNews.
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
Weird Sports: Chess Boxing
We’ve all heard of sporting events being described as a chess match, with the competitors strategizing and managing the game down to every minute detail, but this takes the analogy to a whole new level. Sports fans, we give you chess boxing.
Far from a backyard phenomenon, chess boxing has existed on a professional level for nearly a decade. Originating in Europe, this test of both mind and body has spread to include clubs all over the world. Frankly we can’t think of a smarter way to get a concussion…
So, how does it work? Well, according to the World Chess Boxing Organization (WCBO), the sport’s sanctioning body, competitors face off against each other in six four-minute chess rounds, with five three-minute boxing rounds in between. You can win with a checkmate in the chess portion, or with a K.O. in the boxing portion. Matches last 24 minutes total, and competitors are given one minute between rounds to change their gear (we’re guessing that playing chess in boxing gloves probably wouldn’t work too well).
To date, the WCBO has crowned eight world champions in three different weight classes, with another world championship set to be held in Berlin on June 24th. The sport seems to be gaining popularity, and serves as a humble reminder to never make fun of the chess team.
Dogs: Take Cover!
It amazes me what people will do to avoid a couple of chores. Here’s the latest invention in dog washing. The Dog-O-Matic is essentially a washing machine that you put your dog in. It takes about thirty minutes for a full wash, with prices ranging from $20 to $45, depending on the size of your dog. Just like your laundry machine, you choose the size of the dog, the wash cycle you want, and then you press start. According to French inventor Romain Jarry, the dogs don’t mind. However, this one doesn’t look too happy, and I can’t imagine mine would be either. As of now, there’s only one machine in France, but they plan on expanding to the United Kingdom. So, all those British dogs better start behaving pronto!
Couple Abandons Newborn IVF Twins Because They’re Girls
The world has just become a bit more messed up.
The mum aged 59 and dad, 72, conceived in India with fertility treatment and returned to England for the birth.
They told horrified medics they did not want the “wrong sex” babies immediately after the Caesarean section in Wolverhampton.
Perhaps they were a bit too up front.
The husband then asked how soon it would be before his wife was fit enough to fly out again for further IVF in the hope of getting a boy to continue the family name.
Speechless.
Source: The Sun
Squirrels Eating Finnish Museum
Apparently, squirrels are quite the troublemakers.
A popular open-air museum in Helsinki showing the traditional Finnish way of life on Monday begged the public to stop feeding local squirrels, saying they were eating away at the displays.
How can anyone get mad at a squirrel?
“The squirrels have learned to hide food between wooden shingles on the roof. We saw a squirrel pulling at a shingle with its two paws until it broke,” Seurasaari museum building conservator Risto Holopainen told AFP.
“Squirrels run into the buildings through open doors, they nibble on the museum textiles and make holes in the walls,” he said.
These squirrels have figured out the perfect entrance/escape routes.
Source: AFP
Man Almost Dies After Overdosing On Water
Believe it or not, a man drank so much water after a gym session that it almost killed him.
Richard Dyer, 23, was admitted to hospital with severe water intoxication after downing five litres during a gruelling two-hour weights session.
What kind of workout requires that much water consumption?
Doctors called it a “near lethal dose” and said he was lucky to be alive after the extremely rare condition led to widespread muscle seizures and kidney failure.
Water needs to be outlawed.
Source: Telegraph
British Teenage Boys Growing Big Boobs
This article is very worthy of a face palm.
Obesity has been blamed for the growing problem of “boy-boobs” – cases of teenage boys with breasts so well developed that surgery is needed to reduce them.
I disagree with blaming obesity as the cause of “boy-boobs”, blaming increased use of growth hormones within food makes much more sense.
Christian Duncan, a plastic surgeon specialising in obesity-related surgery, said that in the past 12 months he had performed at least 20 breast-reduction operations on young boys who had developed the condition.
I can’t read that without getting a visual of Duncan performing 20 breast-reduction surgeries in a row with “Another One Bites The Dust” playing as the background music in my head. It’s cliché, I know.
Source: Times Online
Man Dies In Spitting Contest Plunge
I couldn’t believe it either.
A SWISS man died when he fell from a hotel balcony during a spitting match with a friend.
I can’t even estimate the odds of something like this happening.
The 29-year-old man took a run-up from inside the room so he could spit further, but lost his balance and plummeted 6.4m to the street below.
The thing that really sucks is that it’s hard to feel bad for him. What is someone supposed to say when they’re told a guy died in a spitting contest?
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Monument Dedicated To Drunks To Go Up In Ukraine
Ukraine develops things that matter.
The town of Komsomolsk in central Ukraine is to erect a monument to a ‘drunken pig’. The monument, which portrays a pig lying on its belly with its snout in a trough, will be installed near a local cafe.
Can someone please tell the writer of this article to stop using the word “erect” when talking about putting up monuments?
This monument symbolizes those people who make pigs of themselves by drinking far too much.
Komsomolsk, Ukraine is on it’s way to becoming quite the tourist attraction.
Source: RIA Novosti
