Neatorama

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 11:24 PM CDT

It was a wedding to remember: the cake … the party … and the taser? Yep, here’s a story of how some hard-partyin’ newlyweds get to spend their
first night of wedded bliss in the county jail …

"The crowd was trying to hold back the groom from mouthing off more, but finally he broke free, and they had to take him down," Sepic said of police. "He was heading for the officers. . . . Then the bride moved in and tried to interfere."

As the newlyweds struggled on the ground, a police officer used a Taser on Somora, 29, police said. Pastuszwska, 28, was holding her new husband tight, and was shocked as well, Skowron and authorities said.

"Imagine the kids and grandma seeing the bride and groom getting Tasered on the floor," said Skowron. "In my opinion, the police totally overreacted."

Link

Previously on Neatorama: World’s Worst Wedding Night: Groom Tasered, Bride Tossed in Jail (apparently not so rare!)

The Biggest Hole in the World

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:55 PM CDT

It’s a diamond mine in Mirna, Siberia. It measures 525 m deep and 1.25 km in diameter. The suction from the hole is so powerful that helicopters flying over it have crashed. Link via Absolute Moral Authority

Michael Phelps Vs. Goldfish: Who is Faster?

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 07:39 PM CDT

With his epic 8 Olympic golds, Michael Phelps is definitely one of the fastest swimmers in the world. But just how fast do you think he swims? And how does Phelps stack up to the world's fastest fish? Neatorama investigates:

Though it's hard to measure the swimming speed of large fish in the wild, most sources believe that the fastest fish is the Indo-Pacific Sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus), that has been clocked in excess of 68 mph (110 km/h). Over short periods, they could swim ~~even faster~~ really, really fast. In a series of speed trials at the Long Key Fishing Camp in Florida, one sailfish took out 300 feet of fishing line in just 3 seconds! (Source: Australian Museum Fish Site).

Okay, so that's a little unfair. Let's try something slower.

A lot more research has been done on goldfish. According to Davison & Goldspink, a goldfish can be trained to swim at about 0.86 mph (1.38 km/h) Source: J. exp. Biol (1978) 74: 115-122.

For Michael Phelps, let's take his 100 m butterfly: 50.77 seconds for 100 m. That's a puny 4.4 mph (7.1 km/h) - about the speed of a brisk walk, actually, but still faster than a goldfish.

But wait a minute, you say, that's not fair since we failed to normalize the swim speed as compared to body length (Phelps, for one, is much much longer than a goldfish). No problem, it's easy enough to convert.An average goldfish is 8.5 cm, so its swim speed translates to about 4.5 Phelps is 6'4" (1.93 m) so this translates to about 1 body length/sec.

Here's the final comparison:

	Goldfish	Phelps	Sailfish
Absolute Speed	0.85 mph (1.37 km/h)	4.4 mph (7.1 km/h)	68 mph (110 km/h)
Body Length sec	4.5	1	90

So. There you have it. Michael Phelps. Slower than a goldfish.

Busted … by GPS Turtle!

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 04:24 PM CDT

Bad idea: growing marijuana.
Really bad idea: growing marijuana on U.S. park land
Neatorama worthy: getting busted by a turtle equipped with a GPS tracking device.

You might call him a pint-sized crime fighter. A box turtle equipped with GPS helps police nab a suspect growing marijuana in Rock Creek Park.

Just south of the DC/Maryland line, a turtle wearing a GPS device for research purposes makes an amazing discovery. "The ranger in charge of the program discovered the turtle in the middle of a marijuana field," Sgt. Robert Lachance of the U.S. Park Police says. [...]

Growing marijuana on U.S. park land is never a good idea, and it’s illegal. So U.S. Park Police set up surveillance. Sgt. Lachance says, "We soon discovered we had a culprit who was actively working the field."

Link - via bioephemera

Funniest People’s Court Interview: What’s So Difficult About Being You?

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 04:23 PM CDT

I don’t know a whit about what went on during the proceedings, but this People’s Court interview is mesmerizingly strange - even funny.

Check out what this guy said about how he felt after facing "The Ultimate Court of Opinion": Link

Update 8/18/08 - The guy’s name is Joe Somar. YuppiePunk and G4 The Feed have more info - Thanks KimIsAwesome!

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 04:23 PM CDT

The Best, Worst, and Weirdest Computer Ads of Yore

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:44 PM CDT

Earlier this month, Rob Beschizza of Boing Boing Gadgets has a mega post of 101 of some of the best, the worst, and the weirdest computer and video games ads of yore: Link - via Picdit

Swedish Bagpipes

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:43 PM CDT

Think that bagpipes are a unique form of Scottish aural torture? Think again: behold the sakpipa, the Swedish bagpipes!

Yes. Pictured at left are " ~~sakpipa~~ säckpipa," which date from Medieval times. The tradition dwindled down to a single practitioner before undergoing a revival in the modern era. You can even listen to an MP3 recording of that old favorite - "Krigsvisa om danskarna" - about war with Denmark. Note the catchy lyrics:

"Armar, tarmar, lår och ben, sig upp i luften svinga,
och hela mänskokroppar med, sig stora flugor flinga…"

Which roughly translates as -

"Arms, guts, thighs and bones are flying through the air.
And whole human bodies too, attracting big flies."

Link

Julian Wolkenstein Photography

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:38 PM CDT

Photos: Julian Wolkenstein

I think Julian Wolkenstein is trying to tell us something! Check out more the neat artworks of this award-winning photographer: Link [Flash] - via B Become Boh

Man Confessed Murder for a Bucket of Chicken

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:37 PM CDT

Tremayne Durham is a big guy. And he likes to eat. So when he was sitting in an Oregon jail waiting for trial for murder, all he could think about was food. So, when the prosecutors offered this unusual plea deal, Durham bit right in:

Durham was sentenced Wednesday to life behind bars with a chance for parole in 30 years after pleading guilty last month to aggravated murder for Adam Calbreath’s brutal slaying.

Multnomah County, Ore., Judge Eric Bergstrom agreed to the unusual plea deal - which included buckets of fried chicken, pizza and lasagna - because it saved the expense of a trial and possible appeals. A murder trial could have cost the county about $4,000, officials said.

Durham’s insatiable need for greasy food - which included gorging on KFC and Popeye’s chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, carrot cake, along with a pizza, two calzones, lasagna and ice cream - cost Oregon taxpayers only $41.70. Bergstrom signed off on the deal, and the killer downed the food in two sittings - the first a few weeks ago, and the second on Wednesday. [...]

Don Hons, 32, a friend of Calbreath’s who attended the sentencing, said Durham deserved no favors - but told The Oregonian newspaper he was glad the judge made the food deal in order to get the killer locked up.

"If a couple buckets of chicken are going to help to get a conviction, then get some biscuits to go with it," he said.

Link - via iPood:Blag

The Muppets Take the Internet

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:37 PM CDT

I love short video clips of Statler and Waldorf of The Muppets that are goin’ round the Web.

It turns out that there’s a slew of Muppets videos on YouTube as the Swedish Chef, Gonzo, Beaker, Sam The Eagle, and of course, Statler & Waldorf now have their own YouTube accounts.

Joe Hennes of ToughPigs has some of the funniest "Viral Muppeting" clips: Link

Guess-the-Google Flash Game

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:36 PM CDT

Guess-the-Google by Grant Robinson is fun little online game based on Google’s image search. Actually, it’s image search in reverse - you’re presented with 20 images and have to guess the keyword: Link - via The
Monkey Buddha

Weng Weng: The Next 007

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:36 PM CDT

Forget 007. The baddest secret agent/super spy is the 2′6" tall Weng Weng [wiki] or Agent 00 as he’s known in the Philippines (in the movie For Y’ur Height Only)

Here’s a clip of Weng Weng in action, by John R by the R Room, with songs by THE CHUDS: Link [embedded YouTube] | See also these post by Boing Boing

The Likelihood of Death

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:53 AM CDT

We all have a 100% chance of dying -eventually. Today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss tests how well you know the odds of dying in different situations for different people. I scored 100%, because, well, I read a lot. Link

Olympic Village in Cards

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:44 AM CDT

(YouTube link)
Brian Berg took 20 days to construct this model of the Olympic Village in Beijing out of 140,000 playing cards! Link -Thanks, Geeks Are Sexy!

Previously at Neatorama: The Olympics in Lego

Spaghetti Cat

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:21 AM CDT

(YouTube)
Mistake or prank? Either way, you can’t help but laugh. The smallest things can turn out to be the funniest! -via Arbroath

Symbiosis

Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:20 AM CDT

The spider needed something to attach its web support line to, and the morning glory needed something to climb. It may be a stretch to call this true symbiosis {wiki}, but I can’t think of a better term. This picture was taken in the entrance to my basement.