Weird Stuff Online

Wordless Wednesday

Mmmm COOKIE … must  g e t   C O O K I E !   If only his tongue were a little longer … stretch puppy stretch! You can do it!

The 54th edition of the Guinness World Records book has been released. In the 2009 version we can find a few interesting world records such as:

The World’s Oldest Bridesmaid (105 years old)

The Most Expensive Ice-cream Sundae (£12,000)

The World’s Longest Dog, with a nose to tail length of 2m 32cm (7.61 feet)

Oldest living person (114 years and 115 days - Edna Parker, US)

Largest underwater press conference (61 journalists)

Most rotations hanging from a power drill (141)

Worlds fastest talker (655 words per minute)

Fastest suitcase escape (7.04 seconds)

Oldest DNA (800,000 years)

Many of the records in the book were set on last year’s Guinness World Records Day (November 9) when 200,000 people around the world joined in to make or break records as part of the international event.

Tags: guiness, world, records, 2009, book

On my recent visit to New York City, I finally had a chance to check out the legendary Shake Shack, a unique open air hamburger joint located in the southeast corner of Madison Square Park (a portion of each purchase goes to Madison Square Park Conservancy) in Midtown Manhattan.

Some consider Shake Shack to be NYC’s answer to the West Coast’s In-N-Out Burger, but it’s really it’s own unique experience. Shake Shack is so popular that it usually has a very long line and they are well aware of this, providing signs with useful information for the people waiting in line, including a Shake Shack Menu, Shack Trivia, Sha-cercise tips and Shack FAQs . In fact, they even have a live webcam where you can check out the length of the line before heading over.

Shake Shack is also web geek central. In fact it even has it’s own Shake Shack Flashmob Twitter account where people can report and share information about it. After one of the days at Web 2.0 Expo NYC, a bunch of us had an impromptu meetup at Shake Shack, and from what I hear that kind of thing happens quite often.

Photo Gallery: Shake Shack

photos by Scott Beale

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

Shake Shack, A Unique Hamburger Joint In The Heart of NYC

(Thanks in part to contributions by urban explorer and photographer Jon Dubar)

Abandoned buildings, properties and places take on remarkably different aesthetic character and are treated differently from one culture to the next - particularly in Asian nations where beliefs about the cultural roll of architecture or the whims of a dictator can vary greatly. From South Korea to North Korea, Cambodia to Thailand and Azerbaijan to Hong Kong here are seven amazing oriental and subcontinental abandonments from the Near East to the Far East, from skyscraper hotels and pod cities to shopping malls and amusement parks and everything in between.

1) The Lawless Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong

(Images via MirageStudio, DoobyBrain, MissMeneses and StanleyNG)

In the rogue ungoverned Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong things were so tightly packed that trash blocked off parts of buildings and many occupied apartments literally never saw the light of day. Like something straight from a William Gibson novel, there were no police or building codes - there was no law. For nearly 50 years this slice of Hong Kong was allowed to exist and grow independently due to a legal technicality. After the Japanese left following the second World War squatters swarmed to fill the space, with the population at 10,000 people (living on seven acres) by the early 1970s - a combination of dissidents, outlaws and both organized and disorganized criminals. Professionals who couldn’t get a license set up shop, criminals hiding from the law thrived, and the self-organized community grew to 35,000. Then in 1993 everything changed - no one wants to deal with this lawless place anymore and it is promptly destroyed and turned into a park.

2) The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea

(Images via: Pbase, NomadLife, MyNinjaPlease and Vanibahl).

The Ryugyong Hotel in the capital city of Pyongyang, North Korea, was supposed to be a record-setting testament to the power, pride and ingenuity of one of the most totalitarian and self-insulating nations in the world. The building, meant to be a core monument to the strength of North Korea, was added to city maps and stamps before it was even half-built and was all set to be the tallest hotel in the world. At first the project simply ran out of funding, then as the low-quality concrete of which it was built began to sag and crack the sobering reality began to set it: the structure would need a massive overhaul to ever be completed. Now it goes unmentioned by tour guides, absent from maps and stamps, a symbolic blight towering on the capital city skyline.

3) The Pod City of San Zhi, North Korea

(Images via Cypherone and Yusheng)

Rumors abound regarding this legendary abandoned pod city (aka ‘UFO town’) of San Zhi, Thailand, which was supposedly built by the government of Taipei to be a luxury resort for expensive holidays on the water. Built in the 1970s or early 1980s the modularity of the designs has raised retroactive suspicions that perhaps these stacks were intended to be built vertically over time. Theories on the abandonment of this massively strange undertaken range from poor insulation in a difficult climate, the dissolution of business partnerships, the failure of a regional real estate bubble or even that so many workers died during construction that the place was abandoned as haunted - unable to be destroyed out of a cultural taboo on interfering with the homes of spirits and lost souls. See it from above using Google Maps.

4) The Abandoned City of Agdam, Azerbaijan

(Images via SeamlessTerritory and Lofiversion)

Once a capital city with over 150,000 people Agdam, Azerbaijan has been variously treated as a ghost town, a no-man’s-land and a military buffer zone in a troubled area of the world. In the 1990s it was vandalized and largely destroyed during Armenian occupation, its buildings looted and gutted and its mosque completely covered in graffiti. Currently considered part of Armenia this husk of a city sits in the heart of an area that is at the core of conflicted set of nations from Russia in the north and Georgia in the northwest to Armenia and Iran in the soutwest and south. It also sits at the curious geographical intersection of Europe and Asia, ambiguously defined as being part of both or either one of these continents. Given turmoil in the region it is unlikely to be rebuilt anytime soon - if ever - and its citizens have been displaced in all directions with little likelihood of returning home.

5) Bokor Hill Station in Phnom Bokor, Cambodia

(Images via Theo Wright, Klein Matt and Lenchik)

Bokor Hill Station is located on the mountain of Phnom Bokor, Cambodia and accessible only by a long trek across an overgrown dirt road to an elevation of 3,000 feet. At the top? The remains of a 1920s French retreat that has been deserted since the second World War including a hotel, casino, church, police station, post office, royal residences and other support structures. And today? The damage from mortar shells can be seen in shattered windows, crumbling staircases and decimated walls. The Khmer Rouge removed everything of any value - including the very wiring in the walls of the buildings. The ruins were later taken over by the Vietnamese in the 1970s before they were finally and permanently abandoned, though land mines in the area remain a danger to visitors who stray from the beaten path. Originally built due to the relatively temperate climate and wonderful views to the coast the area still boasts great sites from waterfalls to jungles and a vast array of wildlife.

6) Opko Land Theme Park in Opko, South Korea

(Images via Jon Dunbar)

Once a thriving amusement park Opko Land in Opko, South Korea was abandoned after a young girl was killed in a tragic accident while on one of the ride’s. Though the park was shut down and deserted the family of the unfortunate victim was never compensated for their loss. Most of the structures remain more-or-less intact including roller coasters, bumper cars, a pool building and various smaller rides. The top image above was taken from the highest point of the roller coaster - an ambitious location to seek out and shoot from given the partial disrepair of so much structural elements in this abandoned amusement park. One would think they would go all the way and destroy these buildings before some adventurous building infiltrators and urban explorers hurt themselves.

7) Chiang Shopping Complex in Chiang Mai, Thailand

(Images via Tupsumato)

The Five Chiang Shopping Complex is a beautiful series of interlocked wooden structures that once constituted one of the most magnificent malls in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a city which (including sprawl) has nearly a million inhabitants. The city attracts many tourists each year who are drawn in part to local handcrafted goods such as umbrellas, jewelry and woodcarving - some of which is evidenced in the wooden decorations, balconies and terraces of this deserted shopping center. The complex was an international joint project that fell victim to conflicting political opinions and a depressed Thai economy and now sits remarkably intact but closed, locked and boarded and utterly unused. However, the local guards are reportedly quite friendly and a few kind words can let you slip past and get some essential background questions answered.

Also check Out these Other Abandoned Wonders of the World.

7 Abandoned Wonders of the World
7 (More!) Abandoned Wonders of the World
7 Abandoned Wonders of America
7 (More!) Abandoned Wonders of America
7 (Even More!) Abandoned Wonders of America
7 Abandoned Wonders of the Former Soviet Union
7 (More!) Abandoned Wonders of the Former Soviet Union
7 Abandoned Wonders of the European Union

Did you hear the story about the 33 year old mom who stole her daughter’s identity so that she could attend high school, join the cheer leading squad and basically fulfill her lost teen dreams?

Wendy Brown, the mom in question, is now facing a felony identity theft charge after she enrolled in ashwaubenon High School in Green Bay, as her 15 year old daughter. She was able to briefly get away with this because her daughter lives in Nevada with her mother.

According to the complaint, brown wanted to get her high school diploma and become a cheerleader because she didn’t have a childhood and wanted to regain a part of her life that she missed. She even went so far as to attend cheer leading practices before school started and received a cheer leading locker. She also attended a pool party at the cheer leading coach’s house.

The $134.50 check Brown gave to the cheer leading coach for her uniform bounced, the complaint said.

A high school employee, Kim Demeny, told authorities that the woman, posing as the teen, seemed very timid. Demeny said she told her she was not good at math and even cried when she talked about moving from Pahrump Valley High School in Nevada. Demeny said she looked older than a student but had the demeanor of a high school girl.

A school liaison officer started investigating after Brown only attended the first day of classes last week, the complaint said.

Assistant Principal Dirk Ribbins later learned Brown’s daughter was enrolled at Pahrump Valley High School. Ribbins also spoke with Brown’s mother, who told him she had custody of the girl. She said Brown has a history of identity theft crimes, the complaint said.

Brown made her first court appearance Friday by video conference. The judge set bond at $8,000.

If convicted, she could face up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.