Aquarium crocodile swallows cell phone

by Sean McLachlan on

A visitor to an aquarium in the Ukraine was trying to take a picture of a crocodile with her cell phone when she dropped it right into the creature’s mouth, the BBC reports.

Last month at an aquarium in Dnipropetrovsk, Rimma Golovko reached her hand towards Gena the crocodile in order to get a good shot as it opened its mouth. She fumbled and the phone fell right into the Gena’s gullet. The reptile then gulped it down. She told the aquarium staff but at first they didn’t believe her. It was only after Gena’s tummy starting ringing that they realized the crocodile had, indeed swallowed the cell phone.

Funny? Well, yeah, but not for the croc. Gena has since lost its appetite and energy. Considering all the harmful chemicals involved in making a cell phone (they’re considered hazardous waste, after all) it’s not surprising the critter is feeling a little under the weather.

The aquarium’s vet has tried giving Gena laxatives-laced meat, but the it didn’t take the bait. Now he’s considering an operation.

And Ms. Golovko? She says she wants her Sim card back. Well, too damn bad, Ms. Golovko. I’m sympathizing with the giant predator on this one.

[Photo courtesy user MathKnight via Wikimedia Commons]

Help Wanted: one mermaid

by Sean McLachlan on

With the economy the way it is, it’s hard to get a job, so if you can’t find a position in your own field perhaps you should try a career change and become a mermaid.

That’s what the SeaQuarium in Rhyl, Wales, is offering. It wants one mermaid (or merman) to swim around with its fish during visitor hours. The applicant needs to wear a half-fish costume, have good hygiene, be a licensed scuba diver, and (here’s the downside) be willing to swim with the sharks.

Oh, and you have to clean the tanks too, so basically you’re a janitor with danger pay.

BBC reports that the company has been “flooded” with applicants, which says something about the state of the economy and the BBC’s sense of humor.

Hopeful merpeople must have their applications in by November 5. If the folks at SeaQuarium read Gadling, they wouldn’t be bothering with trying to hire humans; they’d go to Israel and get one of the real mermaids sighted there.

[Image of A Mermaid by John William Waterhouse, 1901, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]

75,000 teddy bears left behind in hotels every year

by Sean McLachlan on

This has got to be the saddest statistic I’ve heard in a long time.

Just think of it–seventy-five thousand teddy bears wondering why they got left behind. Seventy-five thousand distraught owners. Seventy-five thousand hotel owners frantically calling Teddy Bear Protection Services to get the bears emotional support.

It gets worse.

The figure is only for bears lost and returned last year at one hotel chain–Travelodge. Granted it’s one of the biggest budget chains in Europe with 380 hotels and 6.5 million guests last year, but think what the statistics must be globally. While Travelodge has made heroic efforts to reunite teddies with their families, it’s obvious the UN needs to gets involved.

Faced with this problem Travelodge did a bit of research and surveyed 6,000 people about their teddies. They made the surprising discovery that teddies are popular with adults too. A third of adults go to bed with a stuffed animal, and 25 percent of men take teddies on business trips with them. Respondents said it’s comforting to go to bed with a teddy, and psychologists say having a cuddly friend from home helps people feel comfortable in a strange place.

It’s heartening to see teddies enjoying travel. Some bears even have their own blogs, like Travel Schlepp, who is currently in Taiwan and offers some good advice on what to pack when going to Asia this season. BBC travel correspondent Misery Bear tells of the dangers of visiting the beach.

Just remember, teddy friends, to check your bed before checking out. You don’t want to leave your best friend behind.

Cute teddy photo courtesy user Mike R via Wikimedia Commons.

Fake pilots try to smuggle cocaine through airport

by Sean McLachlan on

Spanish police have arrested two men who tried to smuggle cocaine through Madrid’s Barajas airport while dressed as pilots.

The two men boarded a flight from Bolivia and then changed into pilot uniforms. So far, so good, but once they landed in Madrid they joined the queue with the rest of the passengers. This struck the airport police as a wee bit suspicious. When asked for ID, they produced IDs from a different airline than the one they arrived on. Strike two. The cops then questioned the real crew of the plane and found out these folks were, in fact, passengers. Strike three. The daring duo then had their bags searched and were found to be in possession of 55 kilos (121 lbs) of Bolivian marching powder.

This video (in Spanish) shows just how good their disguises were. It is unclear at this point whether the uniforms are brilliant fakes or real ones they acquired somehow. Too bad for them they hadn’t thought out the rest of their plan as carefully. Perhaps they read how Gadling caught the cops at Barajas “allegedly” playing solitaire and figured it was an easy target.

Weird Travel: Odd Wisconsin exhibit’s odd items

by Jamie Rhein on

Wisconsin has enough odd history that the “Odd Wisconsin” exhibit at the Wisconsin Historical Museum in Madison has swapped in 40% of what is on display. The result is a fresh look at Wisconsin’s oddball undertakings.

What makes many of the objects odd are not the objects themselves, but the stories behind them. Many–from the serious to the nostalgic, illuminate aspects of American history that have a Wisconsin connection.

One of the items in particular has me humming a tune that’s probably going to be with me for the rest of the day.

Do you remember a certain hot dog commercial with a certain song? The instrument that played the tune offers a trip down memory lane for anyone whose childhood goes back that far.

Although Aaron’s the Tuesday Trivia aficionado, here are two more pieces of trivia to add to this week’s questions. What instrument is on display and what’s the song? You don’t have to wait until next Tuesday to find out the answers to these two. They are after the jump.

And here’s a bonus: What’s in the jar?

The instrument: banjo-ukulele.

The song: Oh I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Wiener.”

The song title is written on the instrument. Banjo-ukulele’s were made in the 1920s and 1930s in response to the popularity of Hawaiian music at the time.

The museum’s Web pages that highlight the Odd Wisconsin exhibit describes some of the items on display. They include:

  • Wonder Spot “Book” Sign. The Wonder Spot was a cabin built on the side of a hill that was angled in such a way to give tourists to Wisconsin Dells a discombobulated feeling. The cabin was taken down in 2006 to make room for Highway 12.
  • Glass Teddy Roosevelt drank out of after he was shot while delivering a speech.
  • Giant Punt Gun. Used in the 19th century to hunt ducks, this gun weighs 26 pounds.
  • Skunk Grease Medicine. Made in 1920 as a home remedy for pleurisy. (That’s what’s in the jar.) The description of this concoction centers on the self-reliance of Wisconsin’s farmers.

In case you missed out on the Oscar Meyer Wiener commericals, here’s one of the classics.