Brits complete London to Cape Town drive in record time.

by Kraig Becker on

Awhile back we posted a story about three adventurous Brits who had set out to drive from London to Cape Town in the hopes of setting a new speed record for that route. Their road would take them across three continents and 20 countries, covering more than 10,000 miles in the process. Late last week they completed their mission, arriving at the finish line nearly two days ahead of the previous record.

Mac Mackenney, Chris Rawlings and Steve Mackenney drove their Land Rover Discovery into Cape Town last Thursday, arriving 11 days, 14 hours, and 11 minutes after they had set out. That time beat the old mark, which was set by Eric Jackson and Ken Chambers back in 1963, by 1 day, 18 hours, and 37 minutes. Perhaps even more impressive is that the trio had to average approximately 870 miles per day, in a wide variety of conditions, to arrive when they did.

The three men took turns driving, navigating, and resting, staying on the go nearly all the time. They did blog about their journey on the Max Adventure website, where they told tales of harrowing border crossings, interesting encounters with locals along the way, and the blur of countries they passed through as they sped toward the finish line.

While Mac, Chris, and Steve were certainly hoping to break the speed record, they were also hoping to raise some money and awareness for the Help The Heroes organization, a charitable foundation that helps wounded British soldiers to recover and get on with their lives. The team hoped to raise £10,000 through their adventure to donate to this very worthy cause. As of this writing they’ve raised about a third of that.

Personally, I applaud the boys for setting the new record, but this certainly isn’t the way that I would like to make that same journey. Give me that same Land Rover and I’ll take six months to explore the route. Seems like the ultimate road trip to me!

[Photo credit: Max Adventure]

Al Qaeda Yemen connection suspected in cargo plane bomb scares

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The simultaneous bomb scares in Newark, Philadelphia and London are now being linked to al Qaeda activity, according to the latest reporting from CNN. On its live blog covering the suspicious item discoveries, CNN reports, “U.S. officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was behind the plot that caused a security scare at English and American airports on Friday.”

In Washington, a diplomat from Yemen has said the government there is opening a full investigation into the alleged bomb, adapted from a toner ink cartridge, that was discovered in the United Kingdom at East Midlands Airport.

Look for tighter security all around at airports in the United States, some of which, according to CNN, will be “visible and passengers should expect a mix of security techniques.”

[photo by redjar via Flickr]

Hotel death undiscovered for two weeks: do not disturb

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Be careful when you hang that “Do Not Disturb” sign from your hotel room doorknob. It may take people forever to find you. This is exactly what happened to Kieran Toman at the Hyde Park Towers Hotel just north of London. On July 9, 2010, he left that instruction on his door.

Unfortunately, the 39-year-old starved to death after doing so. His body, described by The Daily Mail as being in “an ’emaciated’ state,” wasn’t found until July 23, 2010. The staff was instructed not to enter without his permission, but the awful smell caused a maid to check out the cause.

Toman had booked a five-month stay at the spot, once home to Jimi Hendrix, but after those first two weeks, the remainder of his reservation was moot.

[Via Business Insider, photo by R.B. Boyer via Flickr]

Planes in Philadelphia and Newark being swept for suspicious materials

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Suspicious items have been found on cargo flights that landed in Newark, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania today. According to the Transportation Security Administration, the planes have been “moved to a remote location … out of an abundance of caution,” according to CNN.

The fire department’s hazardous materials units in Philadelphia responded to situations with two planes – one a UPS flight, the other a 757 with nobody on it. Officials say that the types of material that could be involved aren’t known.

My Fox New York adds:

Homeland Security officials said one of the crew on the cargo plane from Paris, France, landing at Philadelphia around 9 a.m. called authorities thinking a package aboard the plane could have a radioactive makeup, according to MyFoxPhilly.com.

According to My Fox New York, “There are unconfirmed reports that the Newark plane had arrived from Yemen.” Also, a plane bound from Chicago from Yemen was stopped in London when a bomb made from an ink toner cartridge was found.

In a statement, UPS said it’s cooperating with the investigation.

[photo credit: AP]

Zombies with passports: The Walking Dead goes worldwide

by Meg Nesterov on


In order to promote the new show The Walking Dead on AMC, swarms of zombies invaded 26 cities worldwide (including my city of Istanbul, pictured above and filmed here) earlier this week, lurching around major tourist landmarks and generally freaking out passerby. The undead began their sightseeing in Taipei and Hong Kong, then hit European capitols including London, Rome, and Athens. More arose in Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo, and Johannesburg, before going after American brains coast to coast from New York to the show’s premiere in Los Angeles. Check out more photos and video on the show’s blog and Facebook page.

Zombies would make ideal travelers: they can walk through airport security slowly and with no complaints, pack lightly, and don’t need to be fed or entertained on planes. If you can evade the attempts to gnaw on your flesh, they’d make better seatmates than a screaming baby or an armrest hoarder on a long flight. When there’s no more room in coach, we will all walk the earth.

See any zombies on your commutes or travels this week? Leave a comment below if you escaped unbitten. Want more Halloween dead-eyed fun? Our favorite British bear does his take on the zombie genre with Dawn of the Ted.

[Photo Courtesy of Fox International Channels]