February 2013 Archives

An anonymous tipster has drawn our attention to this fast-breaking news in the Pacific:

Here's the latest plan scientists have come up with to kill some of the estimated 2 million brown tree snakes that have wiped out many other animals on Guam:

In April or May they're going to lace dead mice with painkillers, attach them to little parachutes, drop them from helicopters and hope that they get snagged in the jungle foliage. Then, if all goes well, the snakes -- which as their name implies hang out in trees -- will eat the mice and die from ingesting the painkillers' active ingredients.

Let's hope that the snakes do eat the mice and not some other poor, unsuspecting native species. Unforeseen consequences are always a risk when you drop dead mice out of choppers!
(Article here.)

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Whale-watchers got a treat on Valentine's Day when they encountered a huge swarm of dolphins off the Californian coast. The giant pod was reckoned to be 7 miles long and 5 miles wide, and contained an estimated 100,000 dolphins. The sight could only be described as "spectacular." Check out the video footage below:



Full article here.


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The greatest hoax ever perpetrated

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Some time ago we wrote about the greatest "order pizza to a stranger's house" prank ever played; today, we bring you the tale of one of the greatest April Fool's Day hoaxes of all time. 

An Alaskan prankster named Porky Bickar was notorious for one-upping himself. He once used "a backhoe to drop an entire tree in the middle of a friend's driveway"; placed "plastic flamingoes in trees to confuse tour boats looking for wildlife"; and held "a chainsaw sale at his store -- one for the price of two!"

mount-edgecumb-volcano-hoax.jpg
The crowning achievement of his pranking career, though, came on April 1, 1974. On that day, 
Porky and several mischievous friends chartered a helicopter to fly them into the crater of Mount Edgecumbe, a long-dormant volcano near Sitka, Alaska. They brought with them nearly a hundred old tires and several gallons of kerosene. In short order, they set the tires ablaze, and the ensuing cloud of billowing black smoke convinced many nearby townsfolk that the volcano was rumbling back to life (pictured at right). 

The prank succeeded beyond Porky's wildest dreams. News of it got picked up by the Associated Press and ran in papers around the world.

The reaction of people in Sitka, once they realized the volcano wasn't really erupting, was almost uniformly positive. Even the Coast Guard wasn't too mad about the stunt. Porky met the Admiral years later at a Fourth of July party. As the Admiral walked over to meet him, Porky was afraid he was going to be chewed out, but instead the Admiral told Porky he thought the prank was classic.

You can read more about Porky's classic prank here.

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As a resident of Geauga County, the maple syrup capital of Ohio, and the nephew of a maple syrup producer, this article hits close to home:

UNION COUNTY, IL (KFVS) -
A Union County family got the scare of their lives on Wednesday morning as drug agents swarmed onto their property.

"I heard the dogs barking. And I knew that meant somebody was outside the house," said Laura Benson."They had a report of a meth lab going on on our property. And they wanted to investigate it."

So the Bensons gladly showed the officers what they really were doing, which was making their own maple syrup.

The Bensons want to thank their neighbors for being so alert and notifying the police.

"I think my neighbors on their way to church see the buckets and stuff and think we've got a meth lab operation going on here. I just want to put their minds at ease, and let them know it's maple syrup. And that they're all welcome for pancakes if they want to come on over."

I can see how a misunderstanding like this might occur, honestly: lots of metal buckets and plastic tubing, strange contraptions, fires burning late into the night, and so on. For those uninitiated in the art of maple syrup production, it might very well resemble a meth lab. My own uncle has had the fire department called on him: his sugar house, lit up at night and spewing steam and smoke, does look like it's ablaze. And honestly, I would prefer concerned neighbors who care enough to make a call. 

(Original article here.)


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This may be the greatest headline ever written. It's almost too good to be true. But it is. 

Some details!:

Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The thief sent a ransom note to a Hanover-area newspaper demanding bakery Bahlsen donate boxes of cookies to a children's hospital in exchange for its iconic treat. The gargantuan cookie has since been discovered.

The iconic snack, belonging to famed German cookie company Bahlsen, has finally reappeared after a thief dressed as Sesame Street's Cookie Monster swiped it in early January.

Police in Hanover spotted the valuable treat hanging on a statue of a horse in front of a university Tuesday morning and are now working to determine whether it's the company's original trademark treat.

The original article, for your reading pleasure. 


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Valentine's Day is a little different in Japan:

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There, the expectation is that women are to give men chocolates. According to Wikipedia, this practice "appears to have originated from the translation error of a chocolate-company executive during the initial campaigns." The Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia explains:

Sometime in the 1950s, a Japanese chocolate manufacturer took inspiration from the western tradition of Valentine's Day and began producing heart-shaped chocolates, declaring February 14th as a day women confess their love with a gift of chocolate. The incentive was seen as an opportunity to boost the post-war economy and was a great success during a time in which Japan was eager to adopt western customs and ideas. The main difference - that only women are to bear the burden of gift-giving - is supposedly the result of a translation error made by a chocolate company executive. About a decade or so later, candy companies capitalized on the chance to balance things out urged men to give back a month later with gifts of marshmallows. This practice developed into what is now known as the March 14th holiday "White Day," on which men reciprocate with white chocolates or other small gifts to women.

I wonder how many other traditions around the world originated with misunderstandings. 

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Are the bright colors a safety hazard for the overly-sensitive eyes of children? Nope. They've simply offended the ridiculously-delicate sensibilities of a handful of neighboring homeowners:

One homeowner, who did not want to be named, said: "It was supposed to be less than half the size than it is now. It's a complete eyesore from the Burford Road - it looks like a fairground."

Cotswold District Council has said the play area would remain off-limits for now because of the complaints.

Talk about uptight. (Full article here.)

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Forget Nemo: spiders rain from the sky in Brazil

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What's that? You're worried about a little snow falling on your head? How adorable.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, it's raining spiders.
Footage posted online yesterday shows thousands of spiders "falling from the sky" in the southern Brazilian town of Santo Antônio da Platina.
"Still do not know what causes such behavior," writes the video's uploader. "We are researching and will post the answer to the question here."
I know exactly what causes such behavior. A little something called the end of the world.

Check out the video footage (not for the arachnophobic):



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Hacker reveals George W. Bush's self portraits

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Ever wonder what the 43rd president of the United States is up to these days? Apparently, he's been teaching himself to paint with oils. A hacker named Guccifer recently gained access to the Bush family email accounts and unearthed two of ol' GW's self portraits, among other things. 

As an aspiring artist myself, I'll resist the temptation to snicker at someone else's best efforts, even if I disdain his politics. Actually, one noted art critic offered praise for the paintings. Jerry Saltz of the New York Magazine, declaring that he "loves the bather portraits," writes:

georgewbushselfportrait.jpg

"The reclusion and seclusiveness of the pictures evoke the quietude 
(though not the insight, quality, or genius) of certain Chardin still lifes. These are pictures of someone dissembling without knowing it, unprotected and on display, but split between the promptings of his own inner drives and limited by his abilities. They reflect the pleasures of disinterestedness. A floater. Inert. The images of a man who saw the entire world from the inside but who finds the smallest, most private place in a private home to imagine his universe. Of almost nothingness. Sweet, sublime, oblique oblivion. The visibility of invisibleness."

One Gawker.com commenter admits "[t]hese paintings aren't as bad as I would have hoped. He has his own style that, while simplistic, adds depth of meaning to his decision to portray himself in the nude."

All told, Bush probably isn't too embarrassed by the public release of these paintings - he himself unveiled a portrait he'd painted of Barney, the now-deceased former First Dog, which also isn't half bad. 


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About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from February 2013 listed from newest to oldest.

January 2013 is the previous archive.

March 2013 is the next archive.