Travel + Leisure released their list of The World's Scariest Runways. Their "scariest" is the airport in Paro, Bhutan's only international airport. Surrounded by 16,000 foot peaks towering 5,000 feet over the city (elev: 7,300 feet), only 8 pilots are qualified to land at Paro.
Category: fun
Shotgun flashlight
From Cracked.com's 13 Most Irresponsible Self Defense Gadgets Money Can Buy comes the shotgun flashlight that fires a .410 shell.
As Cracked.com points out:
Hey, it works as a flashlight, too! And the gun part of it points out the back! So every time you use your flashlight, you've got a goddamned shotgun pointing at your heart!
When you care enough to hit send
Most eCards aren't worth the time to hit send. But some eCards are, like those at SomeEcards.com, whose slogan is "When you care enough to hit send". Here is one of their popular birthday cards:
Wind turbine self destructs
A 180ft tall wind turbine self-destructed in high winds on Feb 25 in the Netherlands. Turbines have brakes to prevent them from spinning too fast when wind speeds get too high. But the brakes failed in this case, which made for a good video.
This was the second wind turbine collapse in the same week.
Baggage scanner toy
Beat the Christmas rush and order your Scan-It toy x-ray machine (via Amazon) early.
Said one Amazon reviewer:
If you're a parent, then you've probably been struggling with how to teach your kids about how much fun it is to have your rights systematically stripped from you. […] Kids can become familiar with the process of search and arbitrary seizure of dangerous items like toothpaste, soda, and aftershave (or TSA). The attention to detail on this toy is great. Notice the Homeland Security Threat Level Advisory glued to the side. See how tiny green and blue are? You'll never need them, because we live in an orange world. That's right, the terrists are right around the corner, maybe under your bed! This will keep a constant, low-level feeling of fear instilled in your kids, just like DHS wants!
(via Woot)
Minivan hit by falling cow
A couple driving a minivan on Highway 150 in Eastern Washington were hit by a cow that fell off of a 200-foot cliff. The cow was killed by the fall, but the couple in the van (visitors from Michigan) were not injured.
Reported in a Nov 5 article in the Wenatchee World newspaper, Seattle NBC affiliate KING-TV sent a reporter (photos & video). The newswire services then picked it up, and now the story is all over the media. Wenatchee World has a Nov 8 follow-up article with more details & pics of the accident, plus subsequent media attention. Jaime Adame, the original reporter, said "I've never had this much response to a story before."
Pics of seattle ferry battered by storm
On Oct 18 a storm battered the Seattle area with 50mph+ winds. Photographer Ross Fotheringham captured some amazing pics of a WSDOT ferry taking a beating. This level of waves is very unusual. In usual-size storms for this area, you never see these ferries rolling around.
Bus fouls
Seattle bus-rider and blogger Bus Chick writes about bus fouls in a April 26, 2006 post. Bus fouls are like party fouls — although there are no written rules that spell out what constitutes a party foul, anyone who attends parties recognizes fouls. Just like party-goers, bus-riders will recognize these bus fouls.
Even if you don't ride the bus regularly, you'll probably get a chuckle out of these. If you do ride the bus regularly, be sure to read the comments for even more fouls.
In a recent post, Bus Chick confesses that she committed a bus foul while courting her future husband — holding a seat for him. The comments to that post are also entertaining for regular riders.