Weird News

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by glatt

If I make a fort in the backyard, it will meet fairly normal construction standards. And be boring and uncreative.

Knowing what little I know about the Glattmeister, I have serious doubts as to the "boring and uncreative" part.

[Carruthers]

Surprisingly they didn't Taser it.

I do like a happy ending.

[Clodfobble]

I don't know if news and research are the same in that regard, though. I think the creative mind understands that "news" is temporary--sure, X is President today and law Y was enacted today, but those may change with another election cycle so who really cares, in the end--and it is the ability to see everything as temporary that allows them to envision things that have never been envisioned before.

An instinct for researching, on the other hand, I think is more like a side effect of already not being off-the-charts creative. You could maybe train your brain to be a little more creative by forcing it to come up with every step of the fort-building on its own, but I don't think research could kill a prodigally creative mind the way news exposure can. I think news takes up brain cells in an ultimately meaningless cycle, while research is at least still focused on the original goal.

[Clodfobble]

Ha! My engagement ring was a family hand-me-down heirloom, so it was free, but I feel like maybe there's someone out there who got paid to wear their ring, like some kind of marketing gimmick, so their marriage is probably still winning.

[footfootfoot]

http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm

so, about $1500 today.

[Gravdigr]

That's a handy site.

[sexobon]

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio woman was hospitalized in critical condition after she was burned while performing a fire-breathing act at a Halloween-themed running event. ...

... Scanner traffic indicated she was burned on her face, neck and top half of her body and transported to Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University.

Ashley Keach of Columbus identified herself on Facebook as the fire-breather. She said her injuries were minor and she would be "just fine."

[bold mine]

I wonder what she considers a serious mishap, something like being accidently drawn and quartered?

[Gravdigr]

I always thought it unfortunate that the severity of a burn is described in 'degrees'.

[footfootfoot]

At least there are only three degrees when it comes to burns, imagine if they went up to 11?

[Gravdigr]

They're gonna fix. They're not gonna fix it.



They're gonna fix it.

Officials at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, say it will cost $3.2 million to fill in the sinkhole that opened beneath the museum's Skydome area in February. Work on the repairs will start November 10 and will take approximately nine months to complete.

Eight Chevrolet Corvette models on display at the museum fell into the sinkhole in February, and were painstakingly removed by a construction team. General Motors plans to restore three of the damaged cars, while others will be left on display as they emerged from the sinkhole. Although the National Corvette Museum initially planned to leave the gaping sinkhole untouched -- it's proven so popular that tourist visits to the museum increased significantly this year -- doing so would have been more expensive than simply filling and repairing the hole.

Work will begin November 10 and is scheduled to be completed by July 2015. Construction crews will remove boulders from the hole, before filling it with 4000 tons of stone, installing support beams and trusses, rebuilding entrance doors and other infrastructure improvements, and finally installing a new floor. The museum will have a webcam feed on its website showing the progress of the reconstruction effort, and plans to create some sort of sinkhole permanent exhibit about the event next year.

"We appreciate all of the support, feedback, ideas and prayers throughout this very interesting time in our history," National Corvette Museum executive director Wendell Strode said in a statement. “Sunday, November 9 will be the very last day to see the sinkhole up close and in person – so if you’ve been wanting to check it out for yourself you have just over three weeks to do so.”

Source: National Corvette Museum

Some photos you've seen before in the article over at MotorTrend.

Now, iirc, when the hole was filled with just dirt (and a few boulders), it was too much, and it caved in. What's gonna happen when you toss 8,000,000 pounds of stone in there?

Also, why remove the boulders?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Doesn't matter as long as they build the floor over it like a bridge deck.

[Crimson Ghost]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

At least there are only three degrees when it comes to burns, imagine if they went up to 11?

Then your drummer bursts into flames?

[Gravdigr]

Heh, if they'd did that to start with, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[Gravdigr]

That's ok. Ya can put him out with the bass player's drool.

[Carruthers]

“The British do not expect happiness,” claimed English writer Quentin Crisp – and it appears he may have been right.

New research from the University of Warwick has indicated that Britons are genetically programmed to be grumpy.

The British, French and Americans are all predisposed to be grumpier than nations such as Denmark because they possess a “short form” version of the gene which regulates the amount of serotonin – the chemical which controls happiness – within the brain.

The Danes, who regularly top happiness surveys of nations, enjoy a longer form of the gene, while Britons and Americans, despite equally stable economies and governments, possess a shorter version resulting in a miserable attitude.

However, it could be worse: we could be French.

According to professor Andrew Oswald, who led the research looking at 131 countries, only the French had a shorter form of the gene.

Professor Oswald, who studies applied economics and quantitative social science, claimed many nations’ citizens would still be unhappy were they earning a fortune, living to a ripe old age and basking in the sunshine daily.

“Among the nations we studied, Denmark and the Netherlands appeared to have the lowest percentage of people with the short version of the serotonin gene,” he said to The Times.

He also claimed American individuals descended from Danish or Dutch immigrants were happier as a result of inheriting the longer gene.

The research, for the Economic and Social Research Council’s Festival of Social Sciences, found that genetics was the most important factor – but not the only one.

Happiness leagues generally use indicators such as educational standards, wealth, health, economic progress and job satisfaction alongside the weather, war and political stability.

The Independent.

Now, my 4 x Great Grandfather (b 1769) was a Dane, but it seems that his happiness gene didn't get as far as me, more's the pity.

On the other hand, I am a 16 stone (224lb) Viking man mountain.







The last line may contain facts which would struggle to comply with the legal definition of 'facts'.