1931 BMW
Europeans are often regarded by Americans as a smug group, especially when it comes to high culture. Never is that stereotype more applicable than with their passion for automobiles — European-built automobiles, in particular.
So you can imagine how insulted those car buffs on the other side of the pond felt when they learned that a rare 1931 BMW IHLE 600 Sports Roadster was found — and that an American bought it.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to be a crook…here’s proof
A suspected thief trying to steal $10 worth of copper [in Dillon, S.C.] got himself into a stinky situation when he was trapped under a trash bin at a county landfill for 12 hours, sheriff’s deputies said.
Deputies said Gibson Cook, 56, broke into the landfill, then got stuck as he tried to crawl under the large container. Landfill workers found him about 12 hours later with his legs sticking out from under the bin. Emergency workers had to inflate air bags so they could lift the bin to free him.
Their “inappropriate working attitude” made me do it, Officer!
Scores of Chinese air passengers smashed computers and desks and clashed with police Tuesday after a night stranded at an airport without accommodation, state media said.
More than 170 passengers were due to leave Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan province, on three flights operated by China Southern Airlines late Monday, but the flights were cancelled due to bad weather, Xinhua news agency said.
“All the passengers had to spend the night on the planes or in the departure hall,” Xinhua said. “No one came to tend to their food and board.”
The passengers clashed with airport police Tuesday morning, smashing computers and desks, Xinhua said, blaming the melee on China Southern staff’s “inappropriate working attitude.”
That’s a big ‘un, Eric!
More at Pensioner’s big-saw joy
A pensioner is celebrating after spending six months completing the world’s biggest jigsaw. Eric Smith, 73, spent 537 hours putting the 24,000 pieces in place, reports The Sun.
To complete the puzzle furniture had to be moved out of rooms and a special table built to hold the 12ft by 6ft picture of dolphins and boats.
Bouncers don’t have to be bright…
More at “Wash. gov; she lacked ID”
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire is taking it as a compliment: She was turned away from a bar in the state capital because she couldn’t prove she’s of legal age to drink.
The 61-year-old governor and her staff had served burgers at the annual Capital Lakefair last weekend and afterward went to a downtown Olympia bar called Hannah’s to celebrate.
Gregoire says the man checking identifications at the door told her she couldn’t get in without ID, even when others pointed out she’s Washington’s governor. So she went home, but her husband, Mike, went in.
Ooops! Let’s see that Irish language dictionary again…
Seeing as how new search engine Cuil.com is, well, a search engine, its founders might have known that people could easily check online the company’s claim that the word “cuil” means “knowledge” in Irish. Because, in fact, it doesn’t.
Members of an online Irish language forum have been discussing the word and the company’s claims of its definition. They say the word is most often translated to mean “corner” or “nook,” but has sometimes been used for “hazel,” as in the nut.
An online Irish language dictionary defines cúil as “rear.” Another uses cuil to describe various kinds of flies. So while the word, or versions of it with and without accent marks, can mean a few different things, most Irish language enthusiasts say it doesn’t mean anything like knowledge, despite Cuil.com’s claims.
Roz Savage, rower, and person extraordinaire
This lovely lady is Roz Savage, writer, speaker and rower extraordinaire, whose location at 2130, 29th July Pacific Time, 0430 30th July UTC was 24 01.189′N, 139 02.119′W. That’s halfway, almost, between her starting point at San Francisco and her first stop at Hawaii on her way to Australia. “So what?”, you say? Here’s what: she’s rowing a 23 foot boat.
I just discovered Roz on TWiT about a week ago and have been following her both there and on her own blog since. Check her adventures out at these links:
TWiT (for three times weekly talks with Roz and Leo Laporte)
Follow Roz’s progress on a map here
In case you wonder what an ocean-going rowboat looks like, here’s a picture:
Oh. Did I mention she has also rowed the Atlantic? That picture of the boat was taken on that row.
8 feet tall
A trip to pick blueberries last week bagged something much larger for a Grassy Narrows [Canada] woman and her mother.
On July 22, Helen Pahpasay and her mother left the Ontario First Nation, located about 80 km northeast of Kenora, to go berry picking. While driving in their truck to a spot about 25 km north of Grassy Narrows, Pahpasay said she spotted a tall, black creature roughly 15 metres ahead.
“It looked about eight feet tall and it was upright,” she said.
Pahpasay said she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her until her mother confirmed she was seeing the same thing in front of them.
Man, 80, banned from running up the down escalator
An 80-year-old former Olympic hurdler has been banned from running the wrong way up escalators.
Peter Hildreth, who represented Britain at three Olympic Games, was stopped from trying to recreate his old training regime from the 1950s at a department store by the manager.
90 Year old “hogs” her birthday, sort of…
A Dorset woman celebrated her 90th birthday by fulfilling a long held ambition – to ride a Harley Davidson motorbike.
Lou Symonds’ son, Graham, came up with the idea for the birthday surprise, reports the Dorset Echo.
The first Mrs Symonds knew was when a group of bikers arrived outside her home in Radipole, Weymouth, complete with leathers ready to take her for a spin.
“Woman, 69, runs 69th marathon” So what’s your excuse?
More at Woman, 69, runs 69th marathon
Devon pensioner Pauline Newsholme has just run her 69th marathon – at the age of 69.
File under “Needs More To Do”
A Christian organization is pressuring the community of Elberton, Ga., to tear down a massive, granite monument that lists an alternative set of Ten Commandments that the organization labels satanic.
The monument, known as the Georgia Guidestones, was built under a cloud of mystery in 1980. It lists 10 commandments in eight different languages, including a call to establish a new world language, limit human population to 500 million and avoid being “a cancer on the Earth.”
“We have atheists and Satanists getting the Bible’s Ten Commandments removed from public property,” said Mark Dice, spokesman for the group The Resistance, “yet the satanic Georgia Guidestones have stood for decades, and nobody seems to care. Well, we do.”
You could say customers are flooding in
The owner of a flooded restaurant in China scrapped plans to close it down – after business picked up. Diners in Xiangfan are enjoying the novelty of eating their meals in ankle-deep water, reports Xinhua Net.
News of the flooded restaurant spread and the restaurant is now packed with diners while waitresses say they are struggling to keep up with orders.
Japan’s belly button festival
More at | Lifestyle | Living | Reuters
It was belly-up for thousands of people who indulged in a weekend of navel gazing at a festival dedicated to the belly button in central Japan.
Children and adults, many of them sporting painted stomachs, took part at the annual Belly Button Festival in Shibukawa, north of Tokyo, where dancing in the streets is compulsory.
“The belly button is traditionally believed to be located in the middle of the body and the most important part. Our town, Shibukawa, is also called the belly button of Japan, and that is how this festival began,” said festival organizer Kazuo Yamada.
No right-of-way problems here…
A German family has bought a six-tonne tank to use for shopping and day trips. Dad Joachim Schoeneich has even fitted a baby seat to the British-built Fox tank for his two-year-old son Paul.
The tank is armed with a disabled 30mm gun and has three-inch thick armour plating.
“We take the tank to go shopping and little trips,” laughed Joachim, from Neu Anspach. “It is a bit hard to find a parking place, but we get right of way at every junction.”
Yeti hair?
The hunt for the elusive creature [Yeti] – said to be 10ft tall, part man, part ape and otherwise known as the Abominable Snowman – has frustrated scientists for decades.
Now tests at Oxford Brookes University on hairs said to be from a Yeti in India have failed to link the strands with any known species.
Ape expert Ian Redmond, who is leading the research, said: “The hairs are the most positive evidence yet that a Yeti might possibly exist. It may be that the region this animal is inhabiting is remote enough for it to remain undiscovered so far.”
The two hairs – 33mm and 44mm long – were found in a jungle in the mountains of north-east India five years ago.
Yum! Eel juice!
It’s the hottest season of the year in Japan, and that means it’s eel season. So, bottom’s up!
A canned drink called “Unagi Nobori,” or “Surging Eel,” made by Japan Tobacco Inc., hit the nation’s stores this month just ahead of Japan’s annual eel-eating season, company spokesman Kazunori Hayashi said Monday.
“It’s mainly for men who are exhausted by the summer’s heat,” Hayashi said of the beverage, believed to be the first mass-produced eel drink in Japan.
Many Japanese believe eating eel boosts stamina in hot weather.
Lawn-mower-icide proves once again: Alcohol doesn’t make you smarter.
Cops allege a Milwaukee man was drunk when he decided to mow his lawn in the wee hours of the morning. When his mower wouldn’t start he proceeded to his basement, got a shotgun, and blasted the mower twice. Strangely that didn’t make it easier to start but what it did start was a conversation with the police who contend it was a criminal action and he now faces up to six years in jail and a $12,000 fine.
I’m guessing you aren’t supposed to discharge a shotgun in the Milwaukee city limits. Who knew?
About
Oldster’s View is intended to be a news and oddity aggregation site which presents the more unusual or just timely
items. No blood or gore or fatal car accidents or fires or cameras stuck in the face of grieving parents or any of the other “news” that your TV proudly presents. There will be some occasional tech stuff but mostly just general interest items. Links back to my source can be found at the bottom left of each post. Go to those links. It will make the bloggers happy and encourage them to do more. Enjoy.
NOTE: I derive absolutely no profit from this blog and I make no representation as to the accuracy or truthfulness of anything on this site. I am simply passing along things I have found. Follow the link and use your own judgment.
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