Weird or Wonderful

Category Archives for Weird or Wonderful.

Idiot Abroad: UK man in Thailand becomes vandal

When you are on holidays in a strange and exotic country, what do you enjoy doing? Shopping? Seeing the sites? Trying new foods? Visiting Religious buildings? What about graffiti-ing? A 38-year-old man from the UK decided that the Chiang Mai Railway station in Northern Thailand needed some new artwork so chose to get a spray can out and began to draw graffiti across the wall. On top of the stupidity of this, he did it on a weekday morning (Thursday, July 13) at 9 am in broad light. His actions were naturally observed by Thai railway…

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Tragic Jet Blast Death at popular St Maarten viewing spot

 We have all seen those videos of the planes flying low into St Maarten airport. They come just metres over people sunbaking on the beach.  Across the road from the beach is the airport fence which has a barrier in front of it and signs warning people not to stand there:   These signs are regularly ignored, it seems by tourists. Some are drunk and some are sober as they stand on the road clinging to the fence as the jet exhausts blow them down. Have a look at this video from 2 minutes 33 seconds on: Tragically, last…

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The Ann Coulter-Delta Twitter War: Weird Over Reaction

Let me declare, I love my emergency exit seats. So does Ann Coulter, apparently. When sitting in Economy in the USA with their stressful security procedures, awful airports and scrappy airline catering, the exit row seat seems the last luxury left! A luxury, Ann didn’t want to forgo when Delta moved her from her chosen Seat 15D on their flight 2852 from New York La Guardia Airport to West Palm Beach, Florida.  In the picture below it is the seat on the right of the aisle, on the aisle: The airline says the move was “inadvertent” while  “working…

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My awful hotel evening – felt like I was with Basil Fawlty

In the hilarious 1970s English TV series Fawlty Towers, the owner Basil Fawlty bumbles from one mistake to another. The mistakes usually result in very unhappy guests (and these days rude TripAdvisor reviews!). It’s side-splitting stuff-on TV. In real life, it is another matter. At a guesthouse I stayed at, the owners were a husband and wife couple. Check in was handled by the wife and went very smoothly. My room was in order and I was given good advice on where I could have dinner. Then I met the owner. He decided within minutes…

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Drastic fines for Plastic bags as Kenya tries to get rid of them

In 2008, plastic bags were banned in Rwanda. The ban has seen their use plummet despite a vigorous plastic bag smuggling trade, Soldiers search cars to locate plastic bags at the country’s border crossings. Now Kenya is about to do the same with a two million Kenya shilling ($us19,200) fine for distributors and manufacturers of plastic bags. Or a jail term of four years. They will also begin policing borders for plastic bags in a  year’s time. This is the third time Kenya has tried this. They attempted and failed bans in 2007 and 2011.…

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Mid Air Emergency- Air Asia Pilot asks for Prayer – Not Good Enough

This week’s weird moment has to be on Air Asia D7 237 which developed engine trouble 90 minutes out of Australia’s Perth International airport. Prayer is a feature if most human religions. In many an emergency, some non-believers have suddenly discovered a higher being and prayed for rescue, or salvation. While the plane began shaking violently,  the pilot specifically asked passengers to pray twice. I believe in the power of prayer but this seems to be the oddest way of reassuring passengers. Compare this to the calm Pilot on Qantas 32 in 2010, when his Airbus 380 shredded one of…

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Yes, Quokka made it as a Qantas aeroplane name!

I love the fact that Qantas names their planes. It is a custom that dates back to the very first small planes that bore the Qantas name back in the 1920s.  For their new 787 Dreamliners, Qantas invited the public to participate. A risky move after the UK got names for polar research ship vessel of Boaty Mcboatface. 60,000 suggestions were sent to Qantas and then 45,000 votes were cast to choose the eight names which are here in alphabetical order: Boomerang- an aboriginal hunting weapon Dreamtime- the Aboriginal understanding of creation Great Barrier Reef Great Southern Land…

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A 787 called Quokka could continue a long Qantas tradition

Quokkas are a small marsupial, found on some small islands off the coast of Western Australia. Related to the kangaroo and Wallaby, the cat sized Quokka was voted the “world’s happiest animal“. Now this animal’s name may grace the side of a Qantas plane. Earlier this month, Qantas Airways called on Australians to suggest names which reflect “the true spirit of Australia” for its first eight Boeing 787 Dreamliners They got 10,000 entries with 40,000 names! Just  20 names were shortlisted: Boomerang, an aboriginal hunting weapon Cooee: a shout used in Australia, usually in forest areas to…

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Flat Earth Proven with Spirit Level on a Plane

This was so elaborate I thought it was a parody. A guy took a spirit level onto a plane to prove that the earth is flat. My one question is always: If the earth is flat, how come I can get on a plane in Singapore and travel in the same direction before eventually arriving back in Singapore? A flat earth would preclude that as there would eventually be an end or an edge? Fascinating to live in a world where people think the world is flat and scientists involved in conspiracies to cover this…

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The World from the International Space Station

One of my dreams would be to fly through space. Not sure it will happen in my lifetime! That would take a lot of frequent flyer points to achieve! I found some really cool videos of Earth taken from the International Space Station. Enjoy! 1. This 4k HD space video shows the planet Earth from space views in various orbital paths of the western hemisphere 2. This video of New Zealand was taken by the crew of Expedition 42 on August 12, 2015 from 06:10:29 to 06:16:34 GMT, on a pass over the New Zealand…

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