Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Man Tried To Reconcile The Age-Old Hot Dogs to Buns Ratio
This is the funniest thing I have seen in a very long time.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The 19 Pound Baby
Believe it or not, not the biggest baby ever born.
A mother in Jakarta, Indonesia, delivered a 19.2-pound, 2-foot-long child on Monday via Caesarean section. In retrospect, giving birth to a 9 pound baby now seems trivial. The 19.2 lb baby is now recorded as the largest baby born in Indonesia and just a few pounds short of the world record holder, a 23 lb. baby born in 1879.
The baby's arrival was reported on TODAY Thursday. Even though the mother did not have to deliver the baby naturally, the surgery was still a risk with such a large baby. The sheer size of this "infant" dwarfs the other babies in the hospital nursery.
“This heavy baby made the surgery really tough, especially the process of taking him out of his mum’s womb,” Dr. Binsar Sitanggang told Agence France-Presse. “His legs were so big.”
Diabetes likely caused the child to receive too much glucose in the womb, according to doctors. This may have attributed to the baby's massive size. The doctors do report that the baby is in good health.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Canadian Anna Bates gave birth to a baby boy who weighed 23 pounds, 12 ounces and was 30 inches long. He was born way back in 1879, however, and died just 11 hours later.
The biggest baby a healthy mom delivered was another boy, who truly tipped the scales at 22 pounds, 8 ounces. His mom was Carmelina Fedele from Italy, and that was in 1955.
What’s a “typical” birth weight? Well, it averages out to about 7-1/2 pounds for an American baby.
If you are having trouble determining how big a 19 pound baby is, he is about the size of a one year old toddler. It's amazing that he is not walking yet.
Dr. Sitanggang commented on the very vocal newborn, "“This baby boy is extraordinary; the way he’s crying is not like a usual baby. It’s really loud.”
The mother of this 19 lb. baby boy has three other children at home. Hopefully she has saved their toddler clothes because those cute little baby clothes are not going to fit this big guy!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Unidentified creature resembling alien found in Panama (photos)
...another Montauk Monster?
...another Montauk Monster?
I don't know what this little guy is, or was...but whatever it is, I feel sorry for its untimely ending. Imagine, having been a "creature" enough in your own eyes to hide yourself away in a cave, and then when you are discovered, being beaten to death for the way that you look. I don't know that I buy the teenagers story either, but there isn't much else to go on. Theories that it may be some kind of animal undergoing stages of decomposition therefore having lost it's fur and looking the way it does are surfacing. There hasn't been any verified scientific evidence to back up any of these yet.
...another Montauk Monster?
I don't know what this little guy is, or was...but whatever it is, I feel sorry for its untimely ending. Imagine, having been a "creature" enough in your own eyes to hide yourself away in a cave, and then when you are discovered, being beaten to death for the way that you look. I don't know that I buy the teenagers story either, but there isn't much else to go on. Theories that it may be some kind of animal undergoing stages of decomposition therefore having lost it's fur and looking the way it does are surfacing. There hasn't been any verified scientific evidence to back up any of these yet.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
ODDITY: Lady Dai
Santa Barbara museum to tell story of perfectly preserved Lady Dai
LOS ANGELES — Lady Dai was a Chinese nobleman's wife in her mid-50s when she died of a heart attack. She was overweight, had diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver disease, gallstones and her arteries were almost totally clogged.
She didn't live the healthiest life but she left behind one of the most perfectly preserved bodies in history. She was buried about 2,100 years ago. Her tomb was found in the early 1970s on Mawangdui, a hill in Changsha, near the capital of Hunan Province in China. More than 1,400 equally well-preserved artifacts found around her were designed to help her in the afterlife.
"The Han Dynasty is the foundation of Chinese culture," Susan Tai, Curator of Asian Art for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, said. "We are looking at a tomb in Southern China from a very important cultural region that contributed some of the greatest literature and mythology and art to China."
The museum will host "Noble Tombs at Mawangdui" from Sept. 19 to Dec. 13. The exhibition of Lady Dai artifacts from the Hunan Provincial Museum stopped in New York earlier this year, then headed to Santa Barbara, about 145 kilometres west of Los Angeles.
There are 68 items in the collection. Ninety per cent of those came from Lady Dai's tomb because it was in such good condition.
Mawangdui was actually home to three tombs. Lady Dai's husband, Li Cang, was the prime minister of Changsha. He died in 186 BC, 20 some years before his wife died.
"His tomb was looted repeatedly in antiquity. There were no remains. All the treasures were gone. However, several coin-sized seals were found in the pit. They identified the tomb to be Li's. They also helped identity his wife's tomb," Tai said.
The third grave, tucked slightly under Lady Dai's, is believed to be that of one of the couple's two sons, although some believe it was Li's brother. The man apparently died in his 30s. There were skeletal remains and many artifacts in his tomb, including a library of 50 books written on silk and bamboo slips.
The volumes focused on the military and medicine, including sexual health. The items show women loved beauty and men attached importance to martial arts.
When Lady Dai's tomb was first opened, there were gasps because there was no decay, Tai said. Oxygen took an immediate toll, but even today, her body is well preserved at the Hunan Provincial Museum.
Modern day scientists are still working on ways to preserve bodies as well as Lady Dai's, but they've found several reasons why it remained in such good shape. Her family wrapped her in 22 dresses of silk and hemp, bound her with nine silk ribbons and covered her face with a mask. All the clothes filled the coffin and it was perfectly sealed, keeping air out. There were inner and outer tombs, like nesting boxes.
Nearly 20 gallons of an unknown liquid were found inside the coffin. A thick layer of white pastelike soil was put on the floor and the tomb was nearly 50 feet below the surface. She was surrounded by massive amounts of food, wine, lacquered dinnerware and drinking vessels, 46 bolts of silk, more clothes, books, makeup and other symbols of wealth.
Lady Dai's tomb provides a glimpse of the opulent and elegant life she led. Lacquered vessels had replaced bronze as the favoured material for the elite.
"Han Dynasty texts say that a lacquered cup required the effort of 100 men to make and cost 10 times more than one made of bronze," Tai explained. Raw lacquer was toxic and could kill or deform those who worked with it if they were not careful.
Lady Dai's hair was thinning so she used a hairpiece and two combs to form a bun behind her head. One comb had wide teeth for untangling, while one had smaller teeth for scrubbing her scalp. Some of the vessels and combs will be part of the exhibit.
A T-shaped piece of silk with a painting of Lady Dai draped over her coffin is the earliest portraiture in Chinese painting, Tai said.
The original painting is one of four items too fragile to leave China, so life-size reproductions will be shown in Santa Barbara.
One part of the intricate painting shows Lady Dai dead, wrapped in cloth and surrounded by her descendants, food and drink. The centre of the painting shows her standing in profile and walking with a cane as if she is ascending into heaven.
Scholars are still debating what the painting at the top of the T means.
"Many believe it is her in afterlife," Tai said. "Her soul has evolved and integrated into the cosmos."
___
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
LOS ANGELES — Lady Dai was a Chinese nobleman's wife in her mid-50s when she died of a heart attack. She was overweight, had diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver disease, gallstones and her arteries were almost totally clogged.
She didn't live the healthiest life but she left behind one of the most perfectly preserved bodies in history. She was buried about 2,100 years ago. Her tomb was found in the early 1970s on Mawangdui, a hill in Changsha, near the capital of Hunan Province in China. More than 1,400 equally well-preserved artifacts found around her were designed to help her in the afterlife.
"The Han Dynasty is the foundation of Chinese culture," Susan Tai, Curator of Asian Art for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, said. "We are looking at a tomb in Southern China from a very important cultural region that contributed some of the greatest literature and mythology and art to China."
The museum will host "Noble Tombs at Mawangdui" from Sept. 19 to Dec. 13. The exhibition of Lady Dai artifacts from the Hunan Provincial Museum stopped in New York earlier this year, then headed to Santa Barbara, about 145 kilometres west of Los Angeles.
There are 68 items in the collection. Ninety per cent of those came from Lady Dai's tomb because it was in such good condition.
Mawangdui was actually home to three tombs. Lady Dai's husband, Li Cang, was the prime minister of Changsha. He died in 186 BC, 20 some years before his wife died.
"His tomb was looted repeatedly in antiquity. There were no remains. All the treasures were gone. However, several coin-sized seals were found in the pit. They identified the tomb to be Li's. They also helped identity his wife's tomb," Tai said.
The third grave, tucked slightly under Lady Dai's, is believed to be that of one of the couple's two sons, although some believe it was Li's brother. The man apparently died in his 30s. There were skeletal remains and many artifacts in his tomb, including a library of 50 books written on silk and bamboo slips.
The volumes focused on the military and medicine, including sexual health. The items show women loved beauty and men attached importance to martial arts.
When Lady Dai's tomb was first opened, there were gasps because there was no decay, Tai said. Oxygen took an immediate toll, but even today, her body is well preserved at the Hunan Provincial Museum.
Modern day scientists are still working on ways to preserve bodies as well as Lady Dai's, but they've found several reasons why it remained in such good shape. Her family wrapped her in 22 dresses of silk and hemp, bound her with nine silk ribbons and covered her face with a mask. All the clothes filled the coffin and it was perfectly sealed, keeping air out. There were inner and outer tombs, like nesting boxes.
Nearly 20 gallons of an unknown liquid were found inside the coffin. A thick layer of white pastelike soil was put on the floor and the tomb was nearly 50 feet below the surface. She was surrounded by massive amounts of food, wine, lacquered dinnerware and drinking vessels, 46 bolts of silk, more clothes, books, makeup and other symbols of wealth.
Lady Dai's tomb provides a glimpse of the opulent and elegant life she led. Lacquered vessels had replaced bronze as the favoured material for the elite.
"Han Dynasty texts say that a lacquered cup required the effort of 100 men to make and cost 10 times more than one made of bronze," Tai explained. Raw lacquer was toxic and could kill or deform those who worked with it if they were not careful.
Lady Dai's hair was thinning so she used a hairpiece and two combs to form a bun behind her head. One comb had wide teeth for untangling, while one had smaller teeth for scrubbing her scalp. Some of the vessels and combs will be part of the exhibit.
A T-shaped piece of silk with a painting of Lady Dai draped over her coffin is the earliest portraiture in Chinese painting, Tai said.
The original painting is one of four items too fragile to leave China, so life-size reproductions will be shown in Santa Barbara.
One part of the intricate painting shows Lady Dai dead, wrapped in cloth and surrounded by her descendants, food and drink. The centre of the painting shows her standing in profile and walking with a cane as if she is ascending into heaven.
Scholars are still debating what the painting at the top of the T means.
"Many believe it is her in afterlife," Tai said. "Her soul has evolved and integrated into the cosmos."
___
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
ODDITY: Lucia Zarate
Lucia Zarate stands as the most well-known small person in the annals of littleness. Not since the reign of the Sicilian Fairy, Caroline Crachami, in the 1820’s had there been anyone exhibited so tiny and yet so well-proportioned.
Lucia’s early childhood is shrouded in mystery. Some say she was born in San Carlos in Northern Mexico. Others, that she hailed from Vera Cruz, which is along the Gulf of Mexico.
As was the custom with showmen who exhibited midgets, she was promoted as being older than her years – in her case twelve. Hence, to this day, many biographers believe she was born in 1864. However, she was consistently said to be a year older than her exhibition companion, General Mite, who we know was born in 1872. Thus I believe she was actually born closer to 1870 making her only about 6 yrs old at the start of her brief thirteen-year career.
Master Franky Flynn became quite a success. In the space of two short years he reportedly earned $20,00 USD – a huge sum of money.
In 1879, a rumour was started in the press that Francis was to marry the Mexican Lilliput Lucia Zarate, a rumour no doubt started by Lucia’s manager Frank Uffner. Lucia had appeared at the Centennial celebration also and consequent upon the success of Francis, who was now known as “General Mite”, Mr. Uffner saw an opportunity to create a huge draw but the “nuptials” never took place.
In 1880, however, General Mite and Lucia Zarate did travel to the United Kingdom appearing together as the “American Midgets” and are even documented by Windsor Castle as having met Her Majesty, Queen Victoria the following year. In fact, a marriage did take place for the General – but the betrothed was not Lucia.
The Mexican dwarf Lucia Zarate was unquestionably one of the tiniest women who ever lived. Born in 1864, her promoters claimed she was only 17 inches tall and weighed a mere five pounds. In other words, she was approximately the size of a small house cat. Many people didn’t believe she was real, until she started to sing and dance before their eyes.
Said to have been intelligent and charming, Lucia exhibited herself for several years and amassed quite an impressive fortune as one of the best paid performers of her day. Unfortunately, Lucia died on tour in 1890 when the train in which she was traveling became stalled in a mountain snowstorm. Zarate is said to have died of exposure. Another account claims she died of ‘gastric fever’, but no matter what the cause death came early for Lucia Zarate.
My desire to communicate Zarate’s scale led me to place her within this composition borrowed from Goya’s portrait of Don Manuel Osorio de Zuiga. My own cats served as the models for the potentially dangerous felines behind the little lady.
We seem to have quite a range of differently sized humans. From Giants to Midgets. I recently learned of Lucia’s existance and was quite astounded at her proportions, I thought I would share the story.
Lucia Zarate was the smallest woman ever recorded. At her birth in 1864 in Mexico, she weighed only eight ounces and was seven inches long. By adulthood she was less than 50 cm tall and weighed less than 2.26 kg, less than a cat.
Unlike dwarves, she was normal in every other way, and was described as bright and animated company. She first came to the US at twelve years old and was one of the highest-paid midgets of all time. She made twenty dollars an hour.
Lucia Zarate looked like a doll and weighed less than most house cats. Born in San Carlos, Mexico in 1864, Zarate is considered the lightest person who ever lived. At maturity, the perfectly formed, doll-like woman stood less than 20 inches tall and weighed about five pounds. Billed as the Mexican Lilliputian, Lucia first appeared on tour in the United States at age 12. Her pay reputedly rose to $20 per hour–a fantastic figure in the 1870s. Unfortunately her career ended in tragedy. Zarate was travelling by train through the Rocky Mountains in 1890. The train stalled during a snowstorm and the fragile Zarate died of exposure.
Ernie Anastos tells weatherman to 'Keep f---ing that chicken' on the air on Fox
Updated Thursday, September 17th 2009, 2:03 PM
Did he just say that?
WNYW/Ch. 5 anchor Ernie Anastos left people saying just that to each other Wednesday night when he dropped an F-bomb.
The mother of all swear words came out in an exchange with weatherman Nick Gregory.
"I guess it takes a tough man to make a tender forecast," Anastos said to Gregory, perhaps, playing off of the old Frank Perdue commercials.
"I guess that's me," Gregory responded.
Then, as both men laugh, as Anastos appears to say, "Keep f---ing that chicken."
The clip was quickly posted on Youtube.com, and by Thursday morning had gone viral, popping up on Facebook pages, and a bevy of other online sites.
Fact is, more people probably saw the video clip than the original moment. Some people viewing the clip wondered if Anastos meant to say plucking, but, it came out wrong.
Either way, the tape sure sounds like he's saying the f-word.
Whether he said it, meant to say it, or it was another word uttered that came out sounding like the f-bomb, matters little at this point.
What is funnier is the reaction of co-anchor Dari Alexander, whose eyes bug out and she grimaces a bit, sort of confirming she just heard the f-bomb.
This isn't the first time viewers have heard the f-bomb on local television, either. A year ago, Sue Simmons used the word in on-air, thinking the mics were off.
Did he just say that?
WNYW/Ch. 5 anchor Ernie Anastos left people saying just that to each other Wednesday night when he dropped an F-bomb.
The mother of all swear words came out in an exchange with weatherman Nick Gregory.
"I guess it takes a tough man to make a tender forecast," Anastos said to Gregory, perhaps, playing off of the old Frank Perdue commercials.
"I guess that's me," Gregory responded.
Then, as both men laugh, as Anastos appears to say, "Keep f---ing that chicken."
The clip was quickly posted on Youtube.com, and by Thursday morning had gone viral, popping up on Facebook pages, and a bevy of other online sites.
Fact is, more people probably saw the video clip than the original moment. Some people viewing the clip wondered if Anastos meant to say plucking, but, it came out wrong.
Either way, the tape sure sounds like he's saying the f-word.
Whether he said it, meant to say it, or it was another word uttered that came out sounding like the f-bomb, matters little at this point.
What is funnier is the reaction of co-anchor Dari Alexander, whose eyes bug out and she grimaces a bit, sort of confirming she just heard the f-bomb.
This isn't the first time viewers have heard the f-bomb on local television, either. A year ago, Sue Simmons used the word in on-air, thinking the mics were off.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
ranDUMB pics
The United States of Sin. How does your state rate?
I could ask alot of questions about this one...like-why is the bathtub full of crap, and why is the child in the toilet like it was a bathtub-and...child,bathub,crap (wash, rinse, repeat).
I don't know about you guys, but I like mine with CHEESE.
I'll take 2!
I could ask alot of questions about this one...like-why is the bathtub full of crap, and why is the child in the toilet like it was a bathtub-and...child,bathub,crap (wash, rinse, repeat).
I don't know about you guys, but I like mine with CHEESE.
I'll take 2!
Friday, September 11, 2009
LoL! Muldrow men accused of playing porn on Walmart TVs in Fort Smith
FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — Two Oklahoma men have been arrested for allegedly playing a pornographic DVD on display televisions at a Fort Smith Walmart.
Sebastian County jail records show 20-year-olds Cody Allen Sexton and Kenny Dean Andrews — both of Muldrow — were arrested on a felony obscenity complaint.
Police say the two put the pornographic DVD into a player that was connected to six televisions on Sept. 3. The DVD was removed after a customer notified a store manager.
It wasn't clear whether the two have an attorney. Police Sgt. Levi Risley says the two thought they were just pulling a prank.
Sebastian County jail records show 20-year-olds Cody Allen Sexton and Kenny Dean Andrews — both of Muldrow — were arrested on a felony obscenity complaint.
Police say the two put the pornographic DVD into a player that was connected to six televisions on Sept. 3. The DVD was removed after a customer notified a store manager.
It wasn't clear whether the two have an attorney. Police Sgt. Levi Risley says the two thought they were just pulling a prank.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
WTF?!? The Colouring
Audio from The Shining vs. animation from coloring books. This is almost scarier than the movie.
The Colouring from Dan Britt on Vimeo.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
ranDUMB pix
Won't we all.
Enough said.
Omigod...Alexandre...are you reading this???
Um....fail.
No comment.
Enough said.
Omigod...Alexandre...are you reading this???
Um....fail.
No comment.
ranDUMB pix
I'd actually have given this guy my change.
Please do!
Heaven forbid there should ever be a fire in THIS building.
yeah..and the graffiti artist nEEds to learn how to spell.
Gotta love California,right?
Please do!
Heaven forbid there should ever be a fire in THIS building.
yeah..and the graffiti artist nEEds to learn how to spell.
Gotta love California,right?
WTF?!?Bank wants thumbprint from man with no hands.
Tampa, Florida -- While most banks require a thumbprint to cash a check from someone who doesn't have an account, a Tampa man says that policy was impossible to comply with.
Steve Valdez says he was shocked when he was told he had to put his thumbprint on a check written on his wife's Bank of America check. Valdez says the check was written to him with the same address he has on his driver's license. Although he had two forms of identification both with pictures, the bank still required Valdez to give a thumbprint before it would cash the check.
But that was impossible, because Valdez was born without arms and wears prosthetic devices.
According to Valdez, when he gave the teller the check, she said "Obviously you can't give a thumbprint." But Valdez says the manager refused to cash the check unless he did.
When Valdez told the manager giving a thumbprint would be impossible, she suggested he either bring in his wife or open an account. Valdez says that's not the way the bank would treat someone without prosthetic arms, and he refused.
Valdez says he asked the bank if it had ever heard of the American with Disabilities Act and he says they told him they were accommodating him by offering the choices. But the ADA says businesses must comply with basic nondiscrimination requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment.
A spokesman for Bank of America says while the thumbprint is a requirement for those who don't have accounts, the bank should have made accommodations.
Mike Deeson, 10 Connects
Steve Valdez says he was shocked when he was told he had to put his thumbprint on a check written on his wife's Bank of America check. Valdez says the check was written to him with the same address he has on his driver's license. Although he had two forms of identification both with pictures, the bank still required Valdez to give a thumbprint before it would cash the check.
But that was impossible, because Valdez was born without arms and wears prosthetic devices.
According to Valdez, when he gave the teller the check, she said "Obviously you can't give a thumbprint." But Valdez says the manager refused to cash the check unless he did.
When Valdez told the manager giving a thumbprint would be impossible, she suggested he either bring in his wife or open an account. Valdez says that's not the way the bank would treat someone without prosthetic arms, and he refused.
Valdez says he asked the bank if it had ever heard of the American with Disabilities Act and he says they told him they were accommodating him by offering the choices. But the ADA says businesses must comply with basic nondiscrimination requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation, and unequal treatment.
A spokesman for Bank of America says while the thumbprint is a requirement for those who don't have accounts, the bank should have made accommodations.
Mike Deeson, 10 Connects
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
