Since last fall, an increasing number of nude hikers have been traveling to the Swiss Alps to take in the scenery, making other clothed tourists and locals more than uncomfortable. Many people had reported encounters with hikers clad in nothing but their boots and socks, obviously having left their modestly back at home.

A mass meeting which occurs on the last Sunday of every April in Appenzell Inner Rhodes was held recently, and a simple show of hands revealed a majority of those who wished to stop these naked hiking expeditions. It was then concluded that there would be a ban on nude hiking and anyone caught roaming around in the wilderness without their clothes (or anything less than their skivvies) will be fined.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s just great that folks like to get in touch with their natural sides, even if it means stripping down to their skin so that they can take it all in. But in this case I do believe I will have to side with the majority vote. For one thing, I can imagine it would be pretty distracting, not to mention startling, to run into a naked stranger in the middle of a peaceful hike. No matter how friendly or attractive they may be, I would still have a hard time making eye contact with someone who is wearing nothing but hiking boots. We should also take people’s personal safety into consideration. When you walk around naked in public, you’re putting yourself in a rather vulnerable position. Wouldn’t one get a little chilly out there without clothes on?

Story from Sky News

The video is animated by clips from the Sims and SimCity games, and the script is sincere yet hilarious all at the same time. It starts off a little dry in the the beginning, but I recommend watching it all the way through to the end. 

I remembered seeing it before in a sociology class I took about a year ago. 

He and a friend had been driving over the Highway 77 bridge when he suddenly felt nature’s urgent call, and he told his friend to pull the vehicle over into the emergency lane so that he could get out and do his business. Unfortunately, he ended up doing a lot more.

The 23-year-old climbed over the ledge of the bridge and tried to pull a fast one on his friend by pretending to fall. Not a very smart thing to do when you’re 30 feet off the ground and a little tipsy. His stunt turned into a total fail when he actually fell off of the bridge and landed in the marshland below.

He suffered serious injuries but according to a recent report he is now in stable condition. 

I’m not sure what could possibly compel someone to pull a stunt like that, but then again alcohol has the dangerously remarkable power to erase fears and inhibitions.

Story from StarTribune.com

Cute but dangerous

The puss caterpillar, aka asp caterpillar or  southern flannel moth, can be found in the southern United States, Mexico, and in Central America. 

This little guy may look adorable, and you may be tempted to pet it. However, if you happen to encounter one of these, it would be in your best interest to refrain from touching it. The reason: it has venomous spines hiding in its fur that can cause very painful reactions upon contact with the skin. Otherwise it is pretty cool to look at. 

The moth is pretty spectacular looking as well, varying in colors from dusty gray to brown to orange, yellow, and even snowy white. You can see a variety of pictures here: Link

Its movements are mesmerizing… 

The flightless parrot

Found in New Zealand, the kakapo is the world’s largest parrot, weighing up to 8 pounds. 

This solitary bird is incapable of flight, spending its time on the ground or climbing around in trees. It has an owl-like appearance as well as nocturnal habits, though it is not a carnivore.

In fact, it is the most vulnerable of birds, being flightless and lacking in defense mechanisms to evade predators.

Learn more about this endangered bird: Link

Stay tuned for more!

Photos found on Google image search.

Meet Paul Oldfield, also know as Mr. Methane. A man who puts the Art into Fart.

Profession: entertainer. 

Mr. Methane is a guy with a particularly rare talent, which he discovered by accident when he was a teenager. With the ability to breath “fore and aft” through his rear end, he was able to master the art of Controlled Anal Voicing, or so it is called. He is what is known as a performing flatulist, a title reserved for entertainers of an art form that has been observed over the centuries. 

At first when I fell upon some online videos of Mr  Methane’s public performances, I was skeptical. Can this guy really breathe through his rear end? What sort of muscle power does that require? What the heck does this guy eat?

So I educated myself by watching several videos on YouTube and have come to the conclusion that this guy’s talent seems to be pretty authentic. I was especially impressed when I saw his signature talent of farting the Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss.

Mr. Methane also has his own website, complete with links to other fart-related materials. Check it out: www.mrmethane.com

We should all know by now that a fart can change the expression on a person’s face immediately, as can be seen here in this video.

Mr. Methane explains his art form and does a few impressions. Again, watch the facial expressions.

Mr. Methane unmasked.

We live in a society that is obsessed with youth, and where plastic surgery is becoming more and more common as an easy (and expensive) escape from the weathering effects of time on our bodies. 

There are some who go a bit too far with procedures, getting boobs five sizes too large, over-plumping their lips with injections, pulling, nipping, tucking, stapling, etc, and the results can end up looking rather disproportionate. However, there are others who undergo amazing transformations, shaving ten to twenty years off of their looks and reverting back to the youths they once were.

I recently read a story on The Daily Mail about a 50-year-old woman in the UK who underwent plastic surgery so that she could look exactly like her 28-year-old daughter. Looking at the before and after photos, I was impressed with the mother’s transformation, but it sort of bothered me that someone would want to look like a carbon copy of someone else, especially their own daughter. It is very evident from the photos of the two looked a lot alike before the mom had plastic surgery, and now they look like twin sisters rather than mother and daughter. The interesting thing is that the mother did not choose to have plastic surgery out of jealousy, and the daughter had no objections to her mother’s wanting to look exactly like her.

I’m not going to apply any harsh judgement to the choice that the mother made. If it improves your life and makes you feel better, then by all means do it. I’m young now, and some days I don’t care very much about how I look than others. I’ve made a promise to myself that no matter what I’d never go under the knife for the sake of my own vanity. But who knows? Maybe I might break that promise when I get older, fatter and start to regret taking my youth for granted. 

Anyway, this is turning out to be a little more personal than I anticipated, which is okay I guess. I encourage you to check the story (and the pictures) out if you haven’t already heard or read about it.

What are your opinions on this subject?

Story from The Daily Mail.

Two years ago, a Minnesota couple lost their 20 pound cat, Bob. The owners searched high and low, but they were unable to find their beloved pet before they moved away from their East Bethel home. 

Someone did eventually stumble upon Bob and brought him to the the Coon Rapids Humane Society. However, Bob couldn’t be properly identified because the identification microchip embedded under his skin was out of date. Surprisingly enough, for being homeless for so long, Bob was in remarkably fine shape; still plump, fuzzy, and friendly.

The owners of the cat reported Bob missing two years before, and one particular staff member at the Humane Society was intent on reuniting them with Bob. Since they were unable to find the owner’s phone number, they took a chance and searched around on Facebook. Not long after, Bob’s owners received an email regarding the discovery of their long lost furry friend. 

Now, thanks to the efforts of his owners and the Coon Rapids Humane Society, Bob is safe and sound at home.

Story from WCCO.com

Deputies became very suspicious of the unknown item wrapped in a brown canvas bag. All they could see of it was the shiny metal end of its cylindrical shape sticking out of the bag.

So, naturally (and without even bothering to curiously prod the bag with a stick to get a better look at what was inside), they concluded that it must have been a bomb and contacted the Portland Police Bomb Squad to check it out.

The bomb squad sent their bomb-handling robot to investigate the thing. To everybody’s relief, the robot revealed that the bag contained nothing but a harmless prosthetic leg.

They haven’t figured out who the owner of the leg is nor why it was left there.

Story from Fox 12 Oregon

Yes, you read that right. Not one, but two drunk drivers were involved.

It all began when one of the intoxicated drivers missed their turn and ended up heading in the wrong direction on another street, all the while traveling at breakneck speed. He hit two parked cars before flipping his own vehicle, rolling into the path of another oncoming car that happened to be occupied by another drunk driver.

Thankfully, only the vehicles suffered more damage than their occupants.

However, the story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel does clue that someone had to be forcibly removed (see Jaws of Life) from one of the vehicles.

In Waco, Texas, a man was arrested for attacking his friend after he broke wind.

The two men (along with a few other companions) were sharing a motel room and were eating a meal together when one of them had a sudden gas attack which upset the other man, provoking him to fling a knife at him, slicing him in the leg. Still aggravated, the attacker stormed over to his friend and picked up the fallen knife before stabbing the noxious offender in the chest.

I understand that it is very bad taste to let one fly while eating with others, but it is in even worse taste to jump up and stab somebody just because they ruined your appetite.  

Story from KXXV News