Drunken Swedish elk attacks toddler

by Anna Brones on

Having lived in Scandinavia, I love stories that involve moose or elk, and with so many running around the northern country, it’s not hard to find them. The animals sometimes do weird things, like run amok on subways. But today’s bit of Scandinavian news is even weirder; it involves a drunken elk.

Just outside of Gothenburg, a three year old was playing in her sandbox when a young elk walked up to her and bit her on the arm. The elk was apparently drunk after having consumed a few too many yeasted apples and after biting the young girl stumbled away from the backyard.

Elk roaming into residential areas isn’t uncommon, but inebriated ones are. Something to keep in mind during your next trip to Scandinavia.

Why’d Baarle-Hertog have to go and make things so complicated?

by Aaron Hotfelder on

The town of Baarle-Hertog, located on the Belgium-Netherlands border, is an interesting geographical anomaly. Most of the time, national borders are clearly identifiable lines– the US is on one side of the line, Mexico is on the other.

But in Baarle-Hertog, the border isn’t a line at all. As seen in the map, parts of the Netherlands are sprinkled throughout this mostly Belgian town like raisins in a bag of trail mix. This makes for some rather odd results, as the Financial Times recently noted: “Apparently, women are able to choose the nationality of their child depending on the location of the room in which they give birth.”

Wikipedia adds this charming tidbit: when Dutch restaurants used to have an earlier closing time than did their Belgian counterparts, restaurants on the border would simply move the tables to the Belgian side to stay open later.

[HT: BLDGBLOG]

Photo of the Day: 07/21/08

by Iva Skoch on


I know what you are thinking. It’s not a very summery photo I picked. that’s exactly why. As I’m sitting here, sweating my butt off, this photo actually looks blissful.

Ultraclay! took this picture on Champs-Elysees in Paris, presumably in the winter. I love that the statue looks like it could be a real person, walking against the wind and snow. You could almost picture the Battle of Stalingrad this way.

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr Pool and post it. Make sure it is not copyrighted, otherwise we can’t post it here.***

Rock band U2’s frontmen win battle to expand Dublin’s Clarence hotel

by Jeffrey White on

The lead singer and lead guitarist of U2, Bono and The Edge, won a protracted legal battle yesterday in their effort to renovate and expand Dublin’s Clarence hotel, which they own.

The Clarence, located near the Temple Bar district of Dublin, is one of the city’s most famous hotels.

The architect that the two musicians have hired for the $235 million renovation plan intends to completely gut the hotel before expanding into neighboring property sites, ultimately more than tripling the number of rooms currently offered.

The duo’s plan had been marred in a 4 year legal battle, as preservationists argued that too many other protected buildings in the vicinity would be affected, including several which now will have to be knocked down.

Ireland’s planning board approved the Clarence expansion, but with conditions, including calling for an archeologist to be on site throughout the project.

Naturally, preservationists say the celebrity of Bono and The Edge, two of Ireland’s richest men, allowed them to bypass planning laws that would have thwarted anyone else.

Say “I do” at the airport

by Abha Malpani on

I’m not sure if I’ll ever get married, but if I do, I’m clear that I’d want it to be as quick as possible, a couple of minutes is what would work best for me. Being Indian, a wedding under four days is sacrilege, but oh well.

A registered wedding at the court was what I thought the only option, a super boring option indeed, until I read in USA Today about quickie weddings possible at the airport!

At Los Angeles International Airport, a man called “The Officiant Guy” can marry you without witnesses and in full confidentiality. You don’t even need to be an LA resident! At Sweden’s Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, you can arrange to be married in the airport church or by a registrar; last year the 500 couples got hitched there. “Say Yes and Go” marriages sound awesome too — say “I do” and jump straight onto a plane, a common wedding style in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

However, if that’s too simple and you want a bit of a novel themed wedding, you can tie the knot inside a parked Concorde Airplane at England’s Manchester Airport, and Schiphol Airport has a wedding planner who will organize it the way you want at the airport (boarding pass style invites? Air crew uniforms as outfits?). The airport will even allow you to have a champagne brunch, and should you want to take all your guests on a trip straight after, a special “Ticket to Paradise” package deal can be sorted out.

So if you are looking for a different, cheaper, and quicker way to get married, you might want to ring your nearest airport!

That’s a weird airport story. Check out these weird airplane stories: