"weird" news and stories

When people are bored, they come up with all sorts of unusual experiments that, if otherwise occupied, perhaps they wouldn't ordinarily try. There is little doubt that this has led to some great discoveries over the years, but this particular one is probably unlikely to have widespread cultural ramifications. It involves Jello and the question of whether or not it can be nailed to a wall.

I won't keep you in suspense. Jello - or jelly if you're not from the US - cannot be nailed to a wall in its standard form. When prepared according to package directions, the amount of gelatin that gives the food its signature "jiggle" is not enough to hold it together when nailed to a board. If you live somewhere where you can purchase concentrated jelly/Jello cubes, however, you will find that it can easily be nailed to a wall.

Mystery solved.

[via boingboing]

Source

It's something of a mystery as to where the FOX network gets some of their programming ideas, so the original inspiration for this particular segment is anyone's guess. Since Takeru Kobayshi can out-eat just about anybody, FOX decided to have him face off against a Kodiak bear - an 8-ft tall, 1000-lb animal - in a hot dog eating competition.

The clip is pretty funny, actually. The announcers treat it almost like a wrestling match and the best line is when they start to talk about the bear's technique vs. Kobayashi's. "[The bear] has a very different approach to eating. See, he looks away and he takes a break. He doesn't know it's a competition. He's just a natural eating machine." For his part, Kobayashi definitely knew it was a competition and didn't take his eyes off the bear.

Who emerged victorious? You'll have to watch the clip to find out, but I will say that someone is already eagerly awaiting a rematch.

Source

If you're a fan of GroceryLists.org, have a look at WeirdFortuneCookies.com. Unlike the fortune cookie messages written by Penn and Teller ("That lump is cancer"), these are all supposedly real. The collection isn't huge, but it appears that its curator has been at it sporadically since 2000. The one above is one of my favorites so far, along with "A woman who seeks to be equal with men, lacks ambition. Don't touch that," and "Confucius say: you have heart as big as Texas." Oddly enough, the "in bed" rule still seems to work.

I think this package says it all. I picked up a pound of maple sausage, the delectable links that my family has always called "breakfast sausage" without allowing a title to limit our consumption. No, we eat it from dawn 'til dusk, despite its moniker.

Evidently, Fred Meyer (our local grocery and part of the Kroger gi-nomerate) is worried that the name "breakfast sausage" will limit more conservative families to (horrors!) eat it only during breakfast. They've changed the label so it reads, "maple flavored sausage" and "delicious anytime!"

Thank you, Fred Meyer, for freeing us -- and our sausages -- from the shackles of breakfast.

Pity Robert Wood. The Scot has a problem: he cooks in his sleep. According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, Wood routinely sleepwalks, but the real problem comes when he gets into the kitchen and starts whipping up dishes - and he's not just heating up soup. His wife, Eleanor, has caught him making omelettes and spaghetti bolognese in his sleep. As expected, the couple is a bit worried that Rob is gonna burn down the house. "Every night, I have to think, 'Is Rob going to cook?'" says Eleanor. And no - no mention of Ambien in the piece.

[Image Coles.com.au]

Source