Tag: Weird View All Tags
Tags: Fall Travel / Flash Mobs / Sports Travel / Weird / → All Tags
Nostalgia Travel: NYC's Big Wheel Race
This Saturday, October 18, Central Park will play host to the NYC Big Wheel Race. Tossed together by the pranksters at Newmindspace, racers can enter with big wheels, tricycles, skateboards or even a roller skate screwed to a 2x4--just as long as the vehicle's seat is no more than a foot off the ground.
Superhero attire--as well as protective gear--is suggested, and you'll probably need it: The race takes place down the Great Hill, the highest point in the park.
You'll need to email Newmindspace to register if you're racing, but spectators can just show up at 103rd Street and Central Park West by 2 pm to catch the start of the action.
Related Stories:
· Newmindspace [Official Site]
· The Big Wheel Rally [Zoomdoggle]
· Flash Mobs coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of a Big Wheel rally in San Francisco: Jef Poskanzer]
Tags: Weird / ARN / Baggage / Luggage / → All Tags
Checked Bag Travel: Swedish Woman Rides Baggage Belt
What's with these Swedish airports? Tuesday, a 78-year-old woman laid down on a baggage belt at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport and was swept down a luggage chute before anyone could stop her.
Thinking the ride was part of check-in procedures, the woman, who was on the way to Germany, quickly surfaced at the airport's baggage handling center, where she was helped back to the terminal by staff.
She escaped unharmed--and even managed to catch her flight!
Related Stories:
· Woman Goes Down Baggage Chute at Airport [AFP, via]
· Don't Check People: Suitcase Dwarf Stuns Airport [Jaunted]
[Photo of ARN: Wikimedia]
Tags: Weird / BMA / Baggage / Luggage / → All Tags
Don't Check People: Suitcase Dwarf Stuns Airport
The ol' "I'll just hide in your suitcase" routine will no longer be an acceptable airport joke: A Swedish comedy troupe was able to check a dwarf at Stockholm's Bromma Airport, scaring the bananas out of check-in agents when the cargo escaped.
The troupe was filming a stunt for a show on Sweden's Kanal 5 in which an extra-heavy suitcase was brought into the airport and checked. Staff were "shocked and humiliated" but have decided not to press charges--but it's probably best not to hum "I'm Gonna Mail Myself To You" anywhere in Sweden for the next few months. (Checking your baby is also not endorsed by Jaunted.)
One thing we still don't know: Whether the dwarf hopped out to pay checked-bag fees on himself.
Related Stories:
· Dwarf Comedy Stunt Shocks Swedish Airport Staff [Canoe.ca]
· Sweden Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: geckotales]
Tags: Taxis / Weird / → All Tags
Austin Cabs Helping to Keep it Weird
New Yorker writer and hyper-liberal Hendrik Hertzberg got lucky on a recent visit to Austin and snagged what could be the coolest taxi this side of the Cash Cab.
The Land Yacht bills itself as the city's only rock 'n' roll taxi, and the specs on this thing back up the claim. Here's the word, unedited and straight from the cab's website:
So much BASS it'll shake yer @ss right outta the seat! Music Videos playin from 4 honkin big video screens right up in your face. Oh, did I mention that you get to CHOOSE the Music Videos you wanna watch?
And what runs all of this? It ain't yer garden variety little dvd player in 'da dash. Full computer setup right in the cab means I can do just about anything you can do with a computer! Over 2 teraBytes of hard drives means I gotz plenty of space for over 15,000 High Quality music videos available at your fingertips!
We're not saying you should go to Austin just for the transportation... Actually, you know what? That is what we're saying.
Related Stories:
· The Land Yacht [Official Site, via]
· Taxis coverage [Jaunted]
· Austin Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: The Land Yacht]
Tags: Russia Travel / Spas / Art / Public Art / Statues / Weird / → All Tags
Russian Spa Erects a Bronze Tribute to the Enema
Here's a tip: When you find yourself assuring reporters that the $42,000 bronze monument you've put on display involves "no kitsch or obscenity," your art project was probably a bad idea. The statue in question is a tribute to the enema that was unveiled at a spa in the Russian city of Zheleznovodsk on Wednesday. The Botticelli-inspired monument depicts three cherubic little angles holding aloft a bronze syringe bulb that's used for anal cleansing.
The sculpture was presented to the public this weekend at a celebration featuring models and a banner bearing the charming Soviet slogan "Let's beat constipation and sloppiness with enemas." The owner of the spa said enemas are "almost a symbol" of the Caucasus, dotted as the region is with retreats offering visitors the opportunity to get local mineral water sprayed up their ass. (Hey, Zheleznovodsk does mean "Iron Waters.")
Maybe when the spa gang realizes how ridiculous this makes them look they can change that butt bulb into an onion?
Related Stories:
· Russian Spa Opens Monument to the Enema [AP, via Yahoo]
· Spas coverage [Jaunted]
· Russia Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Reuters]
Tags: Paris Travel / Weird / Tourist Attractions / Landmarks / Attractions / → All Tags
Wedding Travel: Hurry, Before London Bridge is Married Too
If you have any yearning to marry a famous landmark, you'd better get your pre-nups signed before they're all spoken for. We already told you that the Berlin Wall has been married to a Swedish woman for decades, and another celebrity landmark wedding just happened.
This time it was a woman from San Francisco whose new name is Erika La Tour Eiffel. Although she also admits a fondness for the Berlin Wall, she decided to take the Eiffel Tower as her husband.
We're wondering which tourist attraction we'd want to marry: An ancient pyramid would make a loyal bedfellow, but a really tall building might make for some extra excitement. For a stable marriage, maybe a particular leaning tower deserves a second look?
Related Stories:
· Woman Weds Eiffel Tower [Ananova]
· Wedding Travel: Hooking up with Your Favorite Tourist Attraction [Jaunted]
[Photo: webbmb]
Tags: Strange Things / Weird / Death / Andrew Cuomo / Crime / → All Tags
NYC "Bodies" Exhibit Might Shut Down Thanks to Questionable Corpses
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has reached a settlement with the company behind the gruesome "Bodies" exhibition at the South Street Seaport in NYC, requiring them to disclose to visitors that the dead people they have on display could be
Chinese prisoners who may have been victims of torture and execution.
The settlement also requires Premiere Exhibitions--the company behind the show--to issue refunds to anyone who can prove that they paid to see the "Bodies" exhibit in New York and would've skipped it if they knew the people they were ogling might not have consented to being put on display.
Oh, it gets worse...
Tags: Sanibel-and-Captiva-Map / Summer Travel / Weird / Restaurants / → All Tags
Sanibel and Captiva Travel: The Best Quirky Dining
David LaHuta just got back from Florida, and he's telling us all about it this week. Keep up with our Sanibel and Captiva Map.
Who knew there was so much to do on Sanibel and Captiva Islands? So far you've gone shelling on the Gulf of Mexico and just yesterday you spotted tons of birds and reptiles at JN "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Preserve.
For an island experience that's equally as unique, look no further than The Bubble Room, a kitschy, hodgepodge of a restaurant that specializes in quirky meals and wacky décor. Picture TGI Friday's on crack and you'll begin understand what this place is all about.
Tags: UFO-Travel-Map / Australia Travel / Weird / UFO Travel / → All Tags
UFO Travel: Mystery Lights in the Northern Territory
Five miners in the Northern Territory of Australia say they spotted a UFO last week. In the early evening, worker Arnold Murray noticed a light silently flying towards his work site and alerted his coworkers as the object swooped in:
The plant's pretty quiet at night. (It made) no noise whatsoever...All of a sudden it shot off and left a long orange trail behind it. That orange trail just faded out like a shooting star.
It wasn't a chopper, it wasn't a plane--we knew that much--and it definitely wasn't a shooting star.
Interestingly, the mine is on Groote Eylandt, close to where Australia's most famous UFO sighting was recorded. In 1964, the "light wheel" appeared off the coast of the island, causing a ship's compass to malfunction as a rotating circle of lights descended from the sky.
Related Stories:
· Miners "Saw UFO" [NT News]
· UFO Travel Map [Jaunted]
Tags: UFO-Travel-Map / UFO Travel / Weird / → All Tags
UFO Travel: Booze-Loving Aliens in Wycliffe Well
The locals in Wycliffe Well are divided when it comes to the sightings in Australia's self-proclaimed UFO capital. While some believe the area's gas station is a preferred hangout for aliens, others chalk it up to booze. The skeptics argument? Most of the sightings have been reported by people exiting the local pub late at night, after guzzling a beer or 12.
But while it may have something to do with high levels of alcohol consumption, some claim the extraterrestrial visitors just prefer the Northern Territory. The owner of the saloon has even racked up a half dozen sightings on his own:
When I came down here it was just a common occurrence. It was just one of those things. Even the previous owner just mentioned it to me in passing.
Today, the gas station props up statues of green-colored aliens along the roadway, hoping to catch the eye of motorists and tourists making the long drive from Alice Springs to Darwin. When it comes to the real thing, though, locals say they "hardly even blink when they see it." The tiny town, which is isolated and surrounded by scrubland, has garnered significant attention from the UFO community, attracting "experts" and even a couple UFO conventions.
Drunk or not, we'd love to pull up in a barstool next to a local and hear some UFO stories.
Related Stories:
· Lights, Beings, Beams: Just a Typical Night [AFP, via Google]
· UFO Over Texas Just Looking for Tasty BBQ? [Jaunted]
· UFO Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Johnsyweb]
Tags: UFO-Travel-Map / UFO Travel / Weird / → All Tags
UFO Travel: PEI's Trail of Smoke
UFO fanatics shouldn't get their hopes up just yet about the sighting in western Prince Edward Island on December 26. It's not a flying saucer; just a trail of what appears to be dark smoke. PEI couple Tony and Marie Quigley videotaped the UFO for six minutes but told the Ottawa Citizen the sighting lasted about 30 minutes.
While the Quigley's say they have no suspicions that the UFO was a sign of alien life, some neighbors have their own ideas. Gertrude Campbell, 65, also saw the UFO and told the paper:
I swear when I come (home) at night time and I look at some of those stars and they're pretty big, I'd say that's what's looking over us.
A more logical explanation of the sighting? Don Ledger, UFO researcher and author from Nova Scotia, told the Citizen that what the Quigley's saw could be connected to the December 2007 launch of NASA's Atlas rocket. He thinks the dark trail is debris from Atlas' launch, but, in true UFO fashion, can't prove it. We prefer Tony Quigley's no-nonsense explanation:
This is definitely unidentified... But if you're talking Martians or anything like that, I haven't seen any to date, so I can't say I really believe in them.
PEI now joins Nova Scotia in the ranks of Canadian islands with UFO history. The Shag Harbor community in Nova Scotia still takes steps to observe the anniversary of the town's UFO sighting: a yellow light bobbing along the surface of the water.
Related Stories:
· "Definitely unidentified" [The Ottawa Citizen]
· Shag Harbor UFO Sighting 40th Anniversary [NovaNewsNow.com]
· UFO Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Ottawa Citizen]
Tags: Restaurants / India Travel / Weird / Videos / → All Tags
Dancing Waiters Travel: India's the Place
There is nothing better than the terrified tourist family in this video. The daughter is just stuffing her face with food, the father is trying to pretend nothing is happening and the older son just looks so bored. Come to think of it, that does sound like your everyday family trip.
We have so many questions here. Why are Pizza Huts in India full of dancing waiters? Is there an extra entertainment fee? And why would you eat at a Pizza Hut if you were on vacation in India?!
Related Stories:
· Indian Pizza Hut [Cynical-C Blog, via]
· Indian Pizza Hut Dancing Videos [YouTube]
· India Travel coverage [Jaunted]
