Spontaneously exploding chickens startle German farmer.
The Ogden Standard - Nov 17, 1950
Farmer Reports Hens Explode With Loud Bang
LUNEBERG, Germany, Nov 17 (UP) — An excited farmer told police today that some of his chickens "exploded with a loud bang while running across the barnyard."
An investigation showed that the chickens ate bits of carbide left behind by allied soldiers during fall maneuvers, later drank some water and the resulting gas blew them to bits.
If you are going to haul gun powder around on the front seat of your car then perhaps DON'T light a cigarette. Or better yet, don't haul gun powder around at all. Darwin Award averted for now.
In Vienna, Austria someone set a bucket full of feces to explode when a line was tripped at a spot where police regularly park to watch for speeders. The police officer who tripped it was covered in poo from six and a half feet away. He wasn't injured except perhaps his dignity.
I don't know why stuff blowing up is so fascinating, but this Russian (?) video shows how curious people stick around to watch. Someone said there are 39 explosions, but I didn't count. There are some strange video game sounding alarms, too!!
The translator for Google says this video is titled "Explosion gazelle with a canister on the Ring Road".
Spoiler alert! At about 7:05 we get a clue about what is blowing up. Maybe propane tanks?
UPDATE from tadchem!!
Great pre-explosion footage from inside one of the cars on the same road. This guy pulls over for the speeding truck, but I can't figure out what the truck hits.
At least this guy is smart enough to start backing up!!
Rich tells us in the comments that the "Gazelle" in the title refers to the type of truck. Gotta love WUvies!!
This video and others from Russia make me wonder if all cars are equipped with cameras? Might not be a bad idea -- where can I get one?
I can see this prank being really popular in the Middle East nowadays. "Gotcha, Ahmed [Isaac]! You really thought the Israelis [al Qaeda] had rigged your car!"
Filmed at 25 frames per second, a piggy bank being chopped to bits by a lawnmower is wayyyy to quick. When you see 60,000 matches lit at 2,500 frames per second -- that's amazing!!
From a Danish show called Dumt and Farligt's (translation -- "Stupid and Dangerous"), here's the link:
Andrew Lausman of Lakeland, Florida has created a new genre of art. He calls it "explosionism." As far as I can tell, it involves dipping firecrackers in paint and shooting them at a canvas. A few of his works, which I found on his facebook page, are below. He focuses on space themes — galaxies and nebulae — perhaps because it would be hard to do a still life with flowers using firecrackers.
Lausman's art hasn't allowed him to quit his day job yet. (He's a dental assistant.) But he does have his first exhibition opening this Friday. [theledger.com]
First James Louis Krosner legally changed his name to "Natural Hunka Kaboom." Then he made a walking stick for himself out of a piece of aluminum pipe that he sealed at each end with duct tape. Then he wrote his name on the "walking stick." Finally, he accidentally left his stick at the Akron City Hall. The result: police found the odd-looking pipe, saw the word "KABOOM" scrawled on it, concluded it might be a bomb, and evacuated the building. Natural Hunka Kaboom now plans on running for city council. [ohio.com]
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.