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The World Wide Weird

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Kryptonite discovered in mine

Sunday, April 29th, 2007

Good news: Kryptonite is real.
Bad news: It’s not green.

Yet another in a series of science mirroring science fiction:

Researchers from mining group Rio Tinto discovered the unusual mineral and enlisted the help of [Dr Chris Stanley, a mineralogist at London’s Natural History Museum] when they could not match it with anything known previously to science.

Once the London expert had unravelled the mineral’s chemical make-up, he was shocked to discover this formula was already referenced in the literature – albeit literary fiction.

“Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral’s chemical formula – sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide – and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the film Superman Returns.

The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the film) and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite.”

Now, about that whole “flying man of steel” thing…

Categories: Movie Talk, The World Wide Weird | 4 Comments »

Ladies and Gentlemen, White Trash…

Thursday, April 12th, 2007

“My baby’s mother just died and now my daughter and I are an international media circus! Woo Hoo!”


To paraphrase Jon Stewart: We all owe Kato Kaelin an apology…

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I’m Sure Someone Else Is Curing Cancer…

Monday, April 9th, 2007

Ladies & Gentlemen, an update on what Germany’s scientists are doing these days:

The molecules responsible for the characteristic leathery, plastic aroma that suffuses new cars are known as volatile organic compounds. These are regularly emitted from plastics, synthetic fabrics, upholstery, carpets, adhesives, paints, cleaning materials and other sources. Only a fraction of these volatile organic compounds are obvious

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A Little Something for Everyone…

Wednesday, March 21st, 2007

Another one of those MadTV spoofs on Steve Jobs:

Watch it all the way to the end. Trust me…

Categories: Political Rantings, Tech Talk, The World Wide Weird | 1 Comment »

Anyone have a $1,000 Pizza in Utah?

Saturday, March 17th, 2007

OK, this one’s for my friends in Utah. A guy in New York City has created a pizza that he sells for $1,000:

Nino Selimaj, who runs six pizza restaurants in New York, on Wednesday unveiled his Luxury Pizza, a 12 inch (30 cms), thin crust topped with caviar, lobster, creme fraiche and chives. Cut into eight, it works out at $125 a slice.

Mr. Selimaj says it’s no publicity stunt – he did over a year of market research to determine demand, and has already sold one pizza. But here’s the money quote:

“But where better to experiment with pizza than in New York where people love their pizza,” he said.

Indeed…

Categories: New York, New York, The World Wide Weird | 1 Comment »

This is not an Onion Story – I Swear…

Friday, March 9th, 2007

Hat tip to Jason Bennion:

Swiss accidentally invade Liechtenstein

According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 [Swiss] infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality [of Liechtenstein] early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.

Best. Headline. Ever.

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You Never Know Who You’ll Meet in New York…

Saturday, February 3rd, 2007

Hey, remember the Great Simple Tricks Pizza Challenge? This was back in July, when Chenopup, a commenter over at Jason Bennion’s Simple Tricks and Nonsense blog, suggested that the pizza at a local Salt Lake City eatery called Este was better than anything you’d find in New York City, and I suggested he bring a pizza out to New York for a taste test.

It was all a cute little story until Chenopup revealed that he is a filmaker by trade, and was speaking to his local ABC affiliate about having Regis & Kelly cover the story on their morning show. Then it got exciting.

Then it went radio silent for about five months.

But alas, the story lives! Chenopup had a business trip to New York a couple of weeks ago, and so naturally, we arranged to go out for pizza. Specifically, John’s Pizzeria at 260 West 44th St. Well, wouldn’t ya know it, guess who walked into the restaurant while we were enjoying our meal:

Regis thought the story was hysterical, and graciously agreed to pose for a picture with us and our pizza. No word yet on whether the whole thing will make it onto his show, though.

Amazing, huh? Almost too good to be true!

Well, OK, it is too good to be true. The picture is photoshopped. Here’s the original:

It was great to meet Cheno, and the pizza was excellent. He’s busy with other projects right now, and Buena Vista hasn’t called him back, but he still considers the project “on the back burner,” so we may one day get that actual meeting with Regis.

And now, I shall take my leave so that Jason Bennion can get his heart started again…

Categories: The World Wide Weird | 3 Comments »

The Lite-Brites are Coming! The Lite-Brites are Coming!

Friday, February 2nd, 2007

I realize this story is a couple of days old at this point, but I saw the headline the other day, and didn’t bother to read the article until today. For those who have done the same, THIS is one of the electronic devices that was meant to advertise the Aqua Team Hunger Force video game, and which scared Boston city officials into shutting down the airports, subways, etc.

Now, we all have our 9/11 PTSD-like symptoms to deal with (I still don’t like watching planes fly overhead), and I’m sure it’s gotta be worse if you’re a government official (“Mr. Mayor, are you telling us that the bombs were adorned with cartoon characters flipping the bird to the city in bright neon and you still missed them?”), but this is truly through the looking glass. If you asked me to guess at what this was, I think “terrorist bomb” would be 20th or 30th on the list, behind “child’s toy,” “advertisement,” and “graffiti,” just to name a few…

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The Strangest Star Wars Video Ever…

Saturday, January 27th, 2007

Star Wars, acted out entirely with HANDS:

 

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What a Weird Day…

Tuesday, January 9th, 2007

For anyone who didn’t follow the news today, a few updates:

First, New York City was not the target of a massive chemical weapons-based terrorist attack:

A natural gas-like odor hung over much of Manhattan and parts of New Jersey, confounding authorities. The smell seemed to be gone by early afternoon. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there was no indication the air was unsafe. “It may just be an unpleasant smell,” he said. He said sensors did not show an unusually high concentration of natural gas, and the city’s major utility company reported it found no gas leaks.

Some commuter trains running between New Jersey and Manhattan were suspended for about an hour as a precaution. A few city schools were briefly evacuated. Some apartment dwellers were advised to close their windows.

(Unreported in that article were the evacuations of both the Empire State Building and Macy’s flagship department store.)

Also in the news today, the Port of Miami was not attacked by terrorists who put C4 explosive in one of the packages bound for a cruise ship:

A package that was going to be loaded onto a cruise ship at the Port of Miami tested positive for plastic explosives Monday, the Coast Guard said. The package was tested six times and each time it came back positive for C4, said Petty Officer James Judge. Miami-Dade police were examining the package to confirm whether explosives were present.

And finally, Austin, Texas was not the site of a massive avian flu epidemic:

Police shut down 10 blocks in downtown Austin for several hours Monday after 63 birds were found dead in the street, but officials said preliminary tests found no threat to people. Workers in yellow hazardous-materials suits tested for contaminants in a cordoned-off section near the state Capitol and the governor’s mansion before authorities finally gave the all-clear in the afternoon.

So, just to recap: no chemical weapons in New York, no C4 explosives in Miami, and no avian flu in Austin. Is it just me, or is it astounding just how much didn’t happen all in one day?

Categories: The World Wide Weird | Comments Off on What a Weird Day…

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