News of the Weird - this just in!
Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
Man Cracks Open an Agate, Discovers The Cookie Monster Inside
You never know what you're going to get when you crack open a geode-like rock called an agate, but a new specimen is even more surprising than usual: It looks just like Cookie Monster.
The agate, found in Soledade, a precious stone hotspot in southern Brazil, is a dead ringer for the blue, googly-eyed Sesame Street Muppet.
After its owner, California mineral collector Mike Bowers, posted about the agate on Facebook, it went viral, with write-ups in newspapers from Australia to Israel to the United States.
"I didn't realize that Cookie Monster was so well known and part of the world cultural heritage!" Bowers told Live Science.
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-geode ... ie-monster
He's since been contacted by the actor who plays Cookie Monster on Sesame Street, he said. (Cookie Monster's official Twitter account also gave the agate a shout-out.)
Related: Photos: The world's 6 most famous rocks
The agate came to Bowers in November via Brazilian gemologist Lucas Fassari, who had acquired it in a batch of many agates from Soledade.
Bowers immediately purchased the Cookie Monster agate, but didn't post it online until Jan. 16, as he was ill with COVID-19.
Agates are a form of quartz, the crystalline form of silicon dioxide, that develop within cavities in volcanic rocks. The cavities are formed by gas bubbles in hot lava.
Agate rock cut in half to reveal cookie monster's face(Kennedy News & Media)
Over time, as the lava cools, water infused with silicon dioxide percolates through the cavities. As the water evaporates, the silicon dioxide is left behind on the cavity walls, creating colorful layers of crystals. The colors are caused by chemical impurities in the silicon dioxide and by the spacing of the crystals.
Some agates completely fill their volcanic voids, but many leave small spaces inside, lined with sparkly, inward-facing quartz crystals. In the case of the Cookie Monster agate, these voids just happen to look like a pair of Muppet eyes and an enthusiastically grinning mouth.
"It is somewhat uncommon to find a face shape in agates, but in many instances it's like looking at the clouds. You kind of see a face," Bowers said.
"What makes the Cookie Monster unique is there is just no doubt: Clear-cut, it is Cookie Monster, no explanation required."
Another unique feature of the Cookie Monster agate is that the face appears on both sides of the cut stone, Bowers added. Usually the voids are not lined up so neatly as to create a mirror image.
For now, Bowers said, he plans to keep the stone. It may eventually end up in a museum or in the hands of a high-end collector, he said.
"It is totally unique and awesome to see everyone loving this stone as much as we do," he said.
You never know what you're going to get when you crack open a geode-like rock called an agate, but a new specimen is even more surprising than usual: It looks just like Cookie Monster.
The agate, found in Soledade, a precious stone hotspot in southern Brazil, is a dead ringer for the blue, googly-eyed Sesame Street Muppet.
After its owner, California mineral collector Mike Bowers, posted about the agate on Facebook, it went viral, with write-ups in newspapers from Australia to Israel to the United States.
"I didn't realize that Cookie Monster was so well known and part of the world cultural heritage!" Bowers told Live Science.
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-geode ... ie-monster
He's since been contacted by the actor who plays Cookie Monster on Sesame Street, he said. (Cookie Monster's official Twitter account also gave the agate a shout-out.)
Related: Photos: The world's 6 most famous rocks
The agate came to Bowers in November via Brazilian gemologist Lucas Fassari, who had acquired it in a batch of many agates from Soledade.
Bowers immediately purchased the Cookie Monster agate, but didn't post it online until Jan. 16, as he was ill with COVID-19.
Agates are a form of quartz, the crystalline form of silicon dioxide, that develop within cavities in volcanic rocks. The cavities are formed by gas bubbles in hot lava.
Agate rock cut in half to reveal cookie monster's face(Kennedy News & Media)
Over time, as the lava cools, water infused with silicon dioxide percolates through the cavities. As the water evaporates, the silicon dioxide is left behind on the cavity walls, creating colorful layers of crystals. The colors are caused by chemical impurities in the silicon dioxide and by the spacing of the crystals.
Some agates completely fill their volcanic voids, but many leave small spaces inside, lined with sparkly, inward-facing quartz crystals. In the case of the Cookie Monster agate, these voids just happen to look like a pair of Muppet eyes and an enthusiastically grinning mouth.
"It is somewhat uncommon to find a face shape in agates, but in many instances it's like looking at the clouds. You kind of see a face," Bowers said.
"What makes the Cookie Monster unique is there is just no doubt: Clear-cut, it is Cookie Monster, no explanation required."
Another unique feature of the Cookie Monster agate is that the face appears on both sides of the cut stone, Bowers added. Usually the voids are not lined up so neatly as to create a mirror image.
For now, Bowers said, he plans to keep the stone. It may eventually end up in a museum or in the hands of a high-end collector, he said.
"It is totally unique and awesome to see everyone loving this stone as much as we do," he said.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
- Ginjaninja
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
Welsh sheepdog Kim sells for world record £27,100
Ahh the Welsh and the love for their sheep..... as the Thais say.... baaaa
Ahh the Welsh and the love for their sheep..... as the Thais say.... baaaa
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
Under the lockdown in the UK, no travelling without a good reason. The BBC has reported some people being fined. For different behaviour and strange reasons.
Woke up this morning breathing that's a good start to the day.
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
Have to say this brought a smile to my face this morning.
Video at link - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56009062
"A Texas lawyer whose mishap with a cat filter on Zoom has made him an internet sensation says he is surprised at the global reaction.
A video of Rod Ponton appearing as a cat during a virtual court session has been viewed millions of times online.
"I did not know that Zoom could turn me into a cat. I did not know that cat Zoom could turn me into an internet celebrity, but it all happened in just a matter of hours," he told the BBC.
He said he is trying to "roll with it".
Mr Ponton said he was using his secretary's computer when the filter popped up, replacing his face with that of a white kitten with large, concerned eyes.
As his assistant tries to rectify the issue, he can be heard saying: "I'm here live, I'm not a cat."
"When I got on Zoom everything seemed fine - my picture popped up, I was in the waiting room with the judge. But when the judge called the case, I disappeared and a cat appeared instead of me to my great surprise of course," he told the BBC's Today programme on Wednesday."
Video at link - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56009062
"A Texas lawyer whose mishap with a cat filter on Zoom has made him an internet sensation says he is surprised at the global reaction.
A video of Rod Ponton appearing as a cat during a virtual court session has been viewed millions of times online.
"I did not know that Zoom could turn me into a cat. I did not know that cat Zoom could turn me into an internet celebrity, but it all happened in just a matter of hours," he told the BBC.
He said he is trying to "roll with it".
Mr Ponton said he was using his secretary's computer when the filter popped up, replacing his face with that of a white kitten with large, concerned eyes.
As his assistant tries to rectify the issue, he can be heard saying: "I'm here live, I'm not a cat."
"When I got on Zoom everything seemed fine - my picture popped up, I was in the waiting room with the judge. But when the judge called the case, I disappeared and a cat appeared instead of me to my great surprise of course," he told the BBC's Today programme on Wednesday."
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things" - Yma o Hyd.
- Thailightzone
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
I once read it is illegal in Thailand to drive without a shirt.lindosfan1 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:41 pm Under the lockdown in the UK, no travelling without a good reason. The BBC has reported some people being fined. For different behaviour and strange reasons.
Now as for our more politically conservative kingdom (I say that with mindset that UK politicians are likely the most perverse people on the planet), is it really illegal to sit in your car naked? I mean as long as you are not exposing yourself, you are not parked outside a school, whats the harm?
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
"Now as for our more politically conservative kingdom (I say that with mindset that UK politicians are likely the most perverse people on the planet), is it really illegal to sit in your car naked? I mean as long as you are not exposing yourself, you are not parked outside a school, whats the harm?"
Perhaps the authorities are concerned that children may pass by and peer into your vehicle.
If you are parked, in a public place, I think that sitting in your car naked, IS "exposing" yourself. That's just a guess.
Perhaps the authorities are concerned that children may pass by and peer into your vehicle.
If you are parked, in a public place, I think that sitting in your car naked, IS "exposing" yourself. That's just a guess.
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
Jesus, better not be naked in your living room with the curtains open
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
That's true.Thailightzone wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 10:55 pm Jesus, better not be naked in your living room with the curtains open
Unless you want to attract a passerby, why would you want to do that?
On the other hand there are public events, like Seattle's naked bike ride day, where one can ride around naked. I don't know if you can do this any other day.
Nudist camps are a different story as they are in private places and, of course there are designated nude beaches and in Europe public nudity is allowed on many beaches, particularly on the French Riviera. As far as I know, public nudity isn't allowed in Thailand. At least not in Market Village or Bluport.
Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
Alaska woman attacked by bear while using toilet
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56136249
A woman in Alaska says she "jumped up and screamed" after she was attacked by a bear while using the toilet.
Shannon Stevens sustained a puncture wound while using a remote outhouse toilet at Chilkat Lake last weekend.
After hearing her scream, Ms Stevens' brother went to see what had caused the injury, only to find a bear's head in the hole of the toilet.
Ms Stevens says the wound was caused by either a bite or a swipe from the animal's claw.
She was spending the weekend in a yurt with her brother Erik and his girlfriend when the incident occurred. Earlier in the evening they had cooked sausages on an open firepit.
"I got out there and sat down on the toilet and immediately something bit my butt as I sat down," she told the Associated Press news agency.
She screamed for her brother who came out with a head torch to help her.
After she pointed him to the toilet, Erik saw "right there at the level of the toilet seat was a cinnamon-coloured bear face," he said.
They ran from the outhouse and into the yurt, opting to stay inside until it got light.
She managed to treat her wound using a first aid kit.
The following morning, they noticed bear prints by the firepit and the outhouse.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Carl Koch told KTOO News that he thinks the animal was a black bear.
"[She] might be the only person this has ever happened to. I wouldn't be surprised over the years if other folks have had bizarre things - but during February to sit down in an outhouse and have something like that happen is very unusual."
Ms Stevens told the Anchorage Daily News that she will practice a "look before you sit" policy in the future.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56136249
A woman in Alaska says she "jumped up and screamed" after she was attacked by a bear while using the toilet.
Shannon Stevens sustained a puncture wound while using a remote outhouse toilet at Chilkat Lake last weekend.
After hearing her scream, Ms Stevens' brother went to see what had caused the injury, only to find a bear's head in the hole of the toilet.
Ms Stevens says the wound was caused by either a bite or a swipe from the animal's claw.
She was spending the weekend in a yurt with her brother Erik and his girlfriend when the incident occurred. Earlier in the evening they had cooked sausages on an open firepit.
"I got out there and sat down on the toilet and immediately something bit my butt as I sat down," she told the Associated Press news agency.
She screamed for her brother who came out with a head torch to help her.
After she pointed him to the toilet, Erik saw "right there at the level of the toilet seat was a cinnamon-coloured bear face," he said.
They ran from the outhouse and into the yurt, opting to stay inside until it got light.
She managed to treat her wound using a first aid kit.
The following morning, they noticed bear prints by the firepit and the outhouse.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Carl Koch told KTOO News that he thinks the animal was a black bear.
"[She] might be the only person this has ever happened to. I wouldn't be surprised over the years if other folks have had bizarre things - but during February to sit down in an outhouse and have something like that happen is very unusual."
Ms Stevens told the Anchorage Daily News that she will practice a "look before you sit" policy in the future.
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
That brings to mind the age old philosophy question: Does a bear shit in the woods?
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
Making good use of a dummy
Woke up this morning breathing that's a good start to the day.
- Thailightzone
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
To the perpetrator(s)lindosfan1 wrote:Making good use of a dummy
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
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Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
The weird pleasures of some people.
Woke up this morning breathing that's a good start to the day.
Re: News of the Weird - this just in!
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source