Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 470
July 19, 2016
Car Crash Caused by Snail Slime
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Of all the reasons for a car crash, this has got to be the strangest. A driver in Germany was making his way across the Autobahn when he got into an accident. He wasn’t texting while driving, he hadn’t been drinking, and he wasn’t trying to catch a rare Pokémon. Instead, it was a slick patch of snail slime that caused the wreck.
The driver was in an old German Trabi. Personally, I can’t recall seeing one of these cars outside of old spy films, but surely that had nothing to do with the reasons behind the accident.
By Charles01 via Wikimedia
A Trabi enthusiast, he was taking his classic ride out for a drive down the autobahn when what has been described as a “caravan of snails” was trying to cross the street.
The car hit some of the snails, skidded on the snail slime they were leaving behind, and smacked into the road’s side railings. The antique vehicle was totaled, but the driver was uninjured. Some of the snails even made it out alive. Someone walking away from a wreck in which the car was totaled is a compliment to engineering if ever I heard one.
Snail Slime
Snails produce a lot of mucus. They do so both internally and externally. The slime on the outside of their bodies helps to keep them from drying out. And then there’s the slime produced on the snail’s “foot,” which is the entire underside of its body. This slime acts as a kind of lubricant and glue to help them move over surfaces.
By Rasbak via Wikimedia
The slime also helps snails stick to surfaces and allows them to climb up a perfectly vertical path. Since it covers their entire bodies, it’s often found on sidewalks and streets where they’ve passed, but rarely is there ever enough of it to cause an accident. I don’t know anyone who’s even had a slip and fall, never mind an entire car crash.
Source: Car Crash Caused by Snail Slime
July 18, 2016
July 17, 2016
July 16, 2016
July 15, 2016
Unboxing Tiles for Miles
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In This Episode
Last week’s episode slayed. Today’s will remind you of a game you’ve likely played…
Today: The Scrabble Monolith
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Created by David Rubman of Chicago, Illinois, this monolith is made out of over 10,000 Scrabble tiles! Towering at 6 feet tall, the tiles are arranged to spell out the names of over 1,000 people (and two horses) who have made considerable contributions to our world. Everyone from Aristotle to Steve Jobs, even Jay-Z!
Rubman calls it Monolith 2012 as he was inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s and Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. This is where it gets a little weird…
The meaning of the Monolith in the film has been widely debated. One theory is that it was created by an alien race to push lesser species forward. David’s Monolith 2012 argues that we haven’t needed aliens to build our civilization, rather the figures that are spelled out in Scrabble tiles have helped us advance.
SCRABBLE BIONS
At least 30,000 Scrabble games begin somewhere in the world every hour!
If all the Scrabble tiles ever produced were placed in one long line, they would stretch 50,000 miles—that’s twice around the world!
In a 1982 competition in Manchester, England, Dr. Karl Khoshnaw scored 392 points with the word “caziques”—the plural for a West Indian chief.
Climbers Jon Ratcliffe and Steve Franklin played Scrabble while perched precariously 200 feet above the ground on a cliff ledge in Anglesey, North Wales.
Using a specially reinforced wooden board and adhesive glue to make their moves, skydivers Nicole Angelides and Ramsey Kent play Scrabble at 13,000 feet after throwing themselves out of a plane above Florida.
Source: Unboxing Tiles for Miles
The Ripley’s Guide to Pokémon Go
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock over this past week, chances are you’ve heard about Pokémon Go! As of this writing, roughly 15 million users have downloaded it the U.S. alone and by the time you’re done reading this that number will have grown substantially. This Nintendo game has quickly become a force to be reckoned with. It’s quickly overtaken Twitter in user numbers, and is seeing more daily engagement over Facebook. As if the download numbers weren’t impressive enough, current metrics show that people are also spending more time playing Pokémon than they spend tweeting and using other apps.
In a week, it’s become the biggest US mobile game ever. It narrowly beat out Candy Crush Saga in Daily Active Users with 21 million people using the app each day in the US alone. Candy Crush only sees 20 million US users daily.
The stories surrounding this game aren’t just about usage rates. Some people have been complaining that their homes were accidentally made into Gyms.
That might be a step too far, but it’s not something we’ll complain about here. In fact, here’s a comprehensive list of Gyms and PokéStops at the Ripley’s locations near you.
Let’s Pokémon Go to Ripley’s
Here are the Ripley’s locations where you can restock on Pokémon hunting supplies and battle for control of Gyms.
Corporate Office
If you think your workplace has gone crazy with the Pokémon Go fever, believe me when I say you’re not alone. Here at the corporate headquarters for Ripley’s, we have a Gym in our office! It’s been highly contested and changes hands a couple times a day. Team Instinct has it now.
Gatlinburg, TN
In Gatlinburg, you’ll find eight PokéStops and three Gyms!
Ripley’s Gatlinburg ODDitorium
The facade of the Gatlinburg ODDitorium is a PokéStop.
There are two PokéStops in Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.
Mudskipper poster at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies
Ripley Aquarium Trophy at the Aquarium of the Smokies
You’ll find four PokéStops at Ripley’s Davy Crockett Mini Golf.
Man Riding a Bear statue
Sleeping Bear Statue
Fort Crockett
Rafting Statue
There’s also a Stop at Ripley’s Old McDonald Golf.
Old McDonald Statue
Old McDonald Golf, Davy Crockett Mini Golf, and the Aquarium of the Smokies each have a Gym as well.
Grand Prairie, TX
In the Grand Prairie ODDitorium, you’ll find one gym and two PokéStops.
Texas Flag Mural
Chrome Stegosaurus statue
Key West
The Key West ODDitorium has a PokéStop in the lobby.
Key West ODDitorium lobby
Myrtle Beach, SC
There’s a Gym outside of the Myrtle Beach ODDitorium, and two Stops inside.
Feeding Frenzy Statue
Waterfall Wall
Orlando, FL
Orlando clocks in at a whomping four PokéStop! Please note that there’s a Stop listed as being at the Horse Artwork, but that Horse has been moved. The Stop itself will be found in the small garden on the opposite side of the entrance from the Sinkhole.
Ripley’s Fake Sinkhole
Robert Ripley Statue
Horse Statue Made out of Horseshoes
Orlando ODDitorium
Hollywood, CA
The Hollywood ODDitorium is not, itself, a Stop or a Gym, but there are over 50 Stops in the immediate area.
Some of the stops around Hollywood
The intersection of Hollywood and Highland features two Gyms.
One of the two gyms at Hollywood and Highland
One of the two gyms at Hollywood and Highland
Branson, MO
Branson’s ODDitorium has a PokéStop at the life size Transformers statue out front.
Transformers Statue
Ocean City, NJ
Like many locations before it, the front of the Ocean City BION is a Stop.
Shark Sculpture at Ripley’s Believe it or Not ODDitorium
Williamsburg, VA
The ODDitorium in Williamsburg is a Gym, and Catfish Cove Mini-Golf is a PokéStop.
Ripley’s Williamsburg
Catfish Cove Mini Golf
Baltimore, MD
The ODDitorium in Baltimore features four PokéStops.
5 Ton Granite Ball
Rino Sculpture
The Chessie Dragon
The Chessie Dragon Tail
Surfers Paradise, Queensland
Lest you think only the American locations are getting in on the Pokémon Go action, our Aussie location has also thrown its hat in the ring. The ODDitorium at Surfers Paradise isn’t a PokéStop or a Gym just yet. However, the area is rife withPokémon activity. It’s even made the local news for all the attention its getting.
London, England
Of course, Pokémon Go isn’t yet available in the UK, but it should be dropping soon. In the meantime, people traveling to London from a country where the app has already launched should know that the front of the ODDitorium there is a PokéStop.
London BION
Source: The Ripley’s Guide to Pokémon Go
July 14, 2016
Day 60, Wednesday 13th July
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Foggy, cold morning yet again, light Western wind, still rolling quite a bit from swells at different angles, but it’s not raining. I cannot claim to have slept well due to rolling about with the motion, but I am feeling good! Bum and fingers are better, back is fine. My arms and shoulders have not given any problems. Wind is supposed to freshen a lot, but will stay West or Northwest. That’s fine, I’d like to meander further South if possible.
The mail has arrived, probably delivered by the morning male mail – whale again! It’s from Finn, my grandson in London (8 in 2 days!). He hopes I have not run out of ketchup yet! Picture of a ketchup-bottle lawyer in court :”All I’ll say is, my information is from a reliable sauce…”! Inside a drawing of me in Fox II and “Dear morfar, don’t capsize! You’re the best! Love, Finn xxx”
Well, dear Finn, hope you do not mind a proud grandfather publicizing your card. Thank you, very, very much! Hope your and Soren’s new bedrooms are fine and finished!
Finn has reasons for mentioning capsize. His mother, my daughter Elisabeth, capsized while rowing from Tenerife to Barbados after about 400 nm in 1999. She had enough of ocean rowing after that narrow escape, but it prompted Diana to do it instead!
I feel pretty certain I am past halfway in time now. Ahead should be more Southwest and West winds as a result of the Azores high pressure build-up in summer. So I can start to think more clearly about what will happen after arriving in Hugh Town.
Still foggy. Wet-weather gear damp and ready.
And then that evening, Stein ran into a spot of trouble.
Day 60, evening.
Very bad weather, unfortunately, difficult to write. Lots of banging and sprays and boat tossing around me. Pretty hellish, actually. Forecast said calming down, it did the opposite. Wind picked up first coupled with cold rain in the morning. I did 5.5 hours, then just drifted with anxiety until the sea anchor was finally set. No sun, fog first half.
But anyway, more tomorrow. No damage, no salt water inside, but a lot of wet gear, including survival suit. But managed to make supper and with soothing music trying to dominate all the noise. Strange drift, so current probably part of why such nasty waves, but wind still much stronger than forecast.
Saw several pilot whales close today!
Source: Day 60, Wednesday 13th July
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