Australia’s obsession with Big Things--over-sized oranges, frogs and bananas spring to mind--is something we still don't understand, but we somehow adore. So we're sending sympathy down to Tasmania where they're going through a Big Thing crisis.

The problem is that someone's suggested the Big Penguin on Tasmania's northwest coast might be made from deadly asbestos. While some headlines scream "Penguin poisoned thousands," the real story is simply that they're doing some testing. If it turns out there's truth to the asbestos rumor, they'll have to consider removing the penguin.

But never fear: The Big Penguin would be replaced. Remember, Australia really, really loves its Big Things. And maybe while they're at it they could make it a bigger Big Penguin?

Related Stories:
· Asbestos Scare Prompts Big Penguin Test [ABC]
· Big Things coverage [Jaunted]
· Tasmania Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: michalki]]]> amandak 2008-11-14T11:00:13-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/4/144933/059

After having a ball in Dallas, Carnival Cruise Lines brought its outsized publicity machine to Philadelphia this weekend, with an attempt at the record for world's largest piņata. While the company did get a Guinness nod, Carnival postponed the actual smashing of the burro because of "safety concerns." What an enormous let down!

Still, smart of the cruise line to not endanger the dental and overall health of the more than 10,000 people who showed up to watch the piņata meet its fate--and get a share of 8,000 pounds of candy.

The piņata will eventually get what's coming to it, though: Carnival promises the smashing will be part of a new ad campaign hyping its enormous ships. When exactly will filming commence? Carnival hasn't set a date.

Related Stories:
· Carnival Breaks Record for World’s Largest Piņata [Official Site]
· Carnival Hyping Enormous Ships With Enormous Gimmicks [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-11-04T15:00:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/29/112520/00

If your cruise line boasts a 3,006 passenger vessel so big it can't transit the Panama Canal, it would make sense that your publicity stunts involve big things. Carnival Cruise Lines took two record-breaking, 36-foot-wide beach balls to the streets of Dallas recently, dropping them off buildings into a crowd of thousands.

Next up is a piņata smashing in the streets of Philadelphia on November 2. The six-story candy carrier will be suspended above the intersection of South Broad Street and Washington Avenue and destroyed with a wrecking ball. Carnival will be filming the fun for a commercial, as 8,000 pounds of sweets shower the crowd.

Related Stories:
· Possible Phillies Parade Displaced by Giant Piņata [Philly Edge, via]
· Cruises coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-10-29T11:30:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/19/211443/63

One sure-fire way for flyover towns to put themselves on the tourism map is to create the largest ____ in the world. Doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's the largest. Texas is better at this than most states--and Australia has loads of big things--but lowly Connecticut is getting in on the game with the world's largest jack-in-the-box.

The super toy belongs to Bill Ziegler, known to residents of Middletown, Connecticut as the town's most notable eccentric, the owner of Wild Bill's Nostalgia Center.

Wild Bill just happened to have a 600-pound clown head and a 33-foot silo both lying around unused, so really, what else was he going to do with them? Bill explains how his monstrous creation should change the face of Middletown:]]> BS 2008-10-20T09:45:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/7/42810/6249

We are kind of over Dubai and its endless artificial constructions. And we're wondering, if you've already built the world's tallest building, why would you feel the need to go and build yet another one?

In case we're missing something, we thought we should let you know that the new one will be called the Nakheel Tower, and with 200 floors it'll reach something like two-thirds of a mile into the sky--the kind of building even Superman probably can't leap over. It'll take at least ten years to build the Nakheel--and the forty "small" 90-floor towers that will surround it.

Given that world bragging rights for tallest towers are apparently pretty valuable, the developers won't say exactly how high it'll be... only that it'll be more than 3,281 feet. Perhaps whoever guesses the correct height wins a jar of jellybeans?

Related Stories:
· Dubai Plans to Top Its World's Tallest Tower [Fox News]
· The Incredible Morphing Skyscraper [Jaunted]
· Dubai Screaming Out for More Bridges [Jaunted]

[Photo: Michael Foley]]]> amandak 2008-10-07T09:30:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/24/74040/1759

Remember how we mentioned that the future of Australia's Big Orange was bleak? You can all breathe a sigh of relief because it seems like there's a solution--but not one to please citrus fruit lovers.

The Big Orange (and the land and water around it) is up for auction on October 29, and one idea being kicked around is that the Big Orange could be turned into the Big Golf Ball. Liquidator Des Munro came up with the idea, saying:

I think that could be an icon for the area because that area's such a mecca for golfing people.

It'll be at least a month before we know the Big Orange's fate. And then it might be goodbye to one Aussie tourist icon, and hello to an even stranger one.

Related Stories:
· Big Golf Ball Suggested as Landmark [ABC]
· Big Orange Not Big Money-Spinner [Jaunted]
· Big Things coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: thepurpleempire]]]> amandak 2008-09-24T09:30:32-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/15/2031/27603

All around Australia you'll find odd big things, like the Big Banana or the Big Potato, and this year the town of Yungaburra in Queensland has added another: a Big Frog.

But it's proving controversial. A local artist made the giant sculpture for the top of the local Frog's Takeaway and gas station complex, and now the council says it's not approved and must be taken down.

Plenty of Yungaburra residents support the frog--fair enough, in a town where there are more frogs than people--but we have to wait and see whether or not we can add it to our list of Big Stuff to see in Australia.

Related Stories:
· Town Fights to Keep Its Big Frog [news.com.au]
· Big Things Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Cairns Post]]]> amandak 2008-07-16T09:20:17-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/