Weird News

[xoxoxoBruce]

You were lucky to see that bird, can't get any rarer than that.
The Wright Brothers could have staged their first flight inside that thing.

The paper was impressed it was coming.

[Gravdigr]

Re: Antonov An-225

...Largest aeroplane ever built...

It's got the Spruce Goose built by Howard Hughes beat in the serious categories for "large", but the Spruce Goose (Hercules H-4) has a wingspan of 320 ft 11 inches, compared to just 290 ft for the An-225. The An-225 is 275 ft 7 in long, the Goose is just 218 ft 8 in. The Goose is 79 ft 4 in high, compared to 59 ft 5 in for the An-225.

And now the tale gets told:

Empty weight for the Spruce Goose is listed as 250,000 lbs.. Empty weight for the An-225? 628,317 lbs.!

Loaded weight for the Goose - 400,000 lbs..

Loaded weight for the An-225 - 1,410,958 lbs..

[Gravdigr]

Dateline: Lake Whitney, Austin, Texas

Problem: My house is falling down a cliff.

Solution: Set it on fire.



Because the only thing cooler than watching a house fall down a cliff, is watching a house fall down a cliff while it's on fire!

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

East Mids is about two thirds of the way from Leicester to Derby.

It's not a destination airport on the travel sites.

(I'm visiting Derby soon and will travel through Heathrow, underground to St Pancras, and East Midlands train north.)

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

I'm interested in almost anything that flies, be it bird or aircraft, so I usually have binoculars to hand.

Ask Casually mention, and you shall receive.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

Dateline: Lake Whitney, Austin, Texas

Small note, Lake Whitney is close to Dallas, it is not in Austin. I read elsewhere that the guy's homeowner's insurance doesn't cover "earth movements," thus the $700,000 house is a complete writeoff. I'm pretty sure he can sue a developer or a civil engineer somewhere along the way though.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

It's not a destination airport on the travel sites.

(I'm visiting Derby soon and will travel through Heathrow, underground to St Pancras, and East Midlands train north.)

It's mostly used by package holiday airlines such as Jet2 and Monarch. The low cost carrier Ryanair serves many European destinations and there are substantial operations by DHL and UPS and other freight operators.
I don't think that there are any long haul scheduled services.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Midlands_Airport


Written in the still watches of the night

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Small note, Lake Whitney is close to Dallas, it is not in Austin. I read elsewhere that the guy's homeowner's insurance doesn't cover "earth movements," thus the $700,000 house is a complete writeoff. I'm pretty sure he can sue a developer or a civil engineer somewhere along the way though.

Sorry for the confusion. I'm not terribly familiar with the majority of Texas, and was just going by what the story said. The words 'Austin, Texas' appear under the author's name, so I assumed.

I guess I should have found, and used, a better, (read 'not foreign') source.

My mistake. Thanks for the correction.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I asked my homeowner's insurance company why they cared if I was on a flood plain or not, since they don't cover flooding. They said, sometimes floods cause fires. I guess cave-ins cause fires too.

[Gravdigr]

Stephen Colbert Thanks Mississippi Senator for ‘Admitting’ He ‘Bangs Cows’

Ya gotta watch the clip at the link. One of Colbert's finer moments.

Oh, and Republican Squirrel? Stay the hell out of Mississippi!

paraphrasing:

If he wants to get elected he better show up with one hand holding a jug of moonshine, and the other holding his sister's titty.

[Big Sarge]

Well what do y'all do with cows??

[Carruthers]

North Yorkshire road closed after overturned lorry spills instant mashed potato

Part of the A64 was turned into an 'ice rink', police say, as the mashed potato swelled up and caused cars to skid



A busy road in North Yorkshire was turned into an “ice rink” after a lorry overturned – spilling its entire load of instant mashed potato.

The heavy-goods vehicle crashed at around 3.30pm on Saturday on a section of the A64, North Yorkshire, causing perilous driving conditions as the mashed potato began to swell..

The road was shut down in both directions at the Castle Junction for six hours.

North Yorkshire Police Control Room tweeted: "NYP and Emergency Services colleagues dealing with SNOW In June? On #A64...... No its [sic] instant mash potato causing significant road closure."

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to the scene to help clear the spillage from the road.

During the spillage North Yorkshire police tweeted: "Sadly the freezing chemicals are not lifting on the A64, despite grit and ploughs. The road remains like an ice rink.

"High Powered hoses are being used by fire service but it remains dangerous to road users and is slow going. We will keep you updated with progress"

A police spokesman said: "Instant mash is covering the road and cars have skidded as a result of the mash swelling up."

The potato was finally cleared off the road hours later and the A64 was fully open at 9.15pm.

Daily Telegraph

[Gravdigr]

That must've been one giant fucking potato.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Obviously, an IRA attack.
They're using mechanical equipment and high pressure water to clear the road, but once the driving surfaces are clean and dry, then what? Just leave the crap on the shoulders and in the drainage ditches to rot? assign a couple clean up crews to clear away the carcasses of the 'tater munching wildlife? This could last awhile.

[tw]

Nonsense. This is an Al Qaeda created disaster.