A Welsh View

Meeting People Through Blogs

One thing I love about having this blog is being able to meet people either when I'm visiting another town or country or meeting people who are visiting Wales.

Last night I did a mini pub crawl around Cardiff with a very cool couple from New York state who were visiting Wales. It was fun taking them around various pubs and finding about the US whilst telling them a bit of Wales. Unfortunately I wasn't able to teach them much Welsh.

If you are ever visiting south Wales and want to go on a pub crawl, I'll be more than happy to take you around.

World's Most Pierced Woman Adds To Her Collection

Elaine Davidson is the world's most pierced woman and since being first listed in the Guinness Book of Records in 2000 for having 462 piercings, she now has 6,005 piercings including more than 1,500 which are 'internal'.

Video: Car vs Truck

Asleep? Fiddling with the radio? Suicidal?

Gmail Makes It Easy To Add Multiple Attachments

Gmail has made some improvements to how you upload attachments. You can now upload select multiple files and you get a progress bar to show the progress of the uploads. This makes uploading large files much more user friendly. [via]

Video: Strange Fish Has See-Through Head

A very bizarre looking deep-water fish called a Barreleye that has a transparent head and tubular eyes. LiveScience has an article about the fish which explains that even though the two spots above the fish's mouth look like eyes they are not.

Anatomy Of A Car Crash

This site has a created a timeline of acrash involving a stationary Ford Falcon XT sedan being struck in the driver's door by another vehicle travelling at 50 km/h.

The timeline shows how quickly the onboard computer can determine how bad the crash is and what actions to take, i.e. which airbags to deploy.

Most adults, if given a digital stopwatch can achieve a reaction time of around 120 milliseconds, or 0.12 of a second, while the human eye takes 100 milliseconds (0.1 sec) to blink. But in an accident, the Ford Falcon's central computer will detect the impact, assess its severity and deploy the appropriate restraints, all within the space of 30 milliseconds (0.03 sec) - one-third of the blink of an eye."

[via]

Site Offers Unique Way For Users To Sign Up

Huffduffer has quite a unique way of allowing users to sign up to the site. It's in the form of a declaration. [via]

Video: 18 Awesome Aircraft Landings

There are some classics here but there may be some that you haven't seen before.

Man claims world record by smashing melons with his head

A man has broken a world record by smashing 47 watermelons with his head in 60 seconds.

John Allwood, 29, a melon picker, from Queensland, Australia, broke his own world record which he set during the 2007 festival, smashing 40 melons in a minute.

Here is some footage from 2007

Zipline To School

Locals in Beichuan county in China's Sichuan province, including children, have to commute to school using a zipline after the bridge collapsed in an earthquake last year. [via]

Video: Amazing Sign Spinner

GMail Outage

GMail is currently down (just the web interface) and the world seems to be coming to an end for some.

Video: Kate Winslet's Reveals Strategy For Getting An Oscar

[via]

Video: World's Shortest Escalator

At least it was in 1989 when it was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records.

Located in the Kawasaki More's department store in Japan, it has a vertical height of 834mm. Off camera are the set of stairs that you have to descend after using the escalator.

Two Bullets

Apparently, this lump of metal (more photos) is two bullets that collided in mid air in 1854 - one Russian, one French. Who knows if it's true but it does resemble two bullets.

The Crevasse - 3D Street Art

This work of pavement art took Edgar Müller and his team took five days complete. Located in the town of Dún Laoghaire, near Dublin in Ireland, Perspective lines drawn away from a single viewpoint give the painting the impression of being three-dimensional.

The work was actually completed last week and a video on YouTube released last week (see below) has already had 50,000 views

Update: This apocalyptic road by German artist Edgar Mueller is much more impressive. [via]

Guiness World Record: Longest Distance Throwing A Human

I guess the saying about not trusting someone as far as you can throw them doesn't count with this guy.

Video: Alain Roberts Climbs Hong Kong Skyscraper

How cool would it be to look out of your office window and see the 'human spiderman' climbing a huge skyscraper.

Muggn - Interesting Mugshots

Muggn - nothing but interesting mugshots including hot ones, wasted ones, injured ones and ones with weird hairstyles.

World's Smallest Puzzles

Can you guess what these microscopic items are? Probably not but you'll learn something along the way. [via]

Kim Jong Il At The Candy Factory

Photo: REUTERS/KCNA

In this undated photo, the illusive, sometimes dead, sometime not, Kim Jong Il tours a bubble gum factory. As photos of him are rarely released it's an odd choice.

Reuters has a great summary of the things he has achieved in his lifetime including getting 11 holes-in-one the first time he ever played golf, making pear and apricot trees mysteriously and spontaneously come into bloom across the country when he took control of the country and learning to become a crack fighter even though he avoids travelling on airplanes for his rare trips overseas.

Photo via

Video: Mexican Gun Battle

I have no idea what he's saying and I don't think it matters (Warning: The video is not graphic but contains dead bodies)

Westboro Baptist Church: God Hates The UK

I wrote earlier in the week that the Westboro Baptist Church were planning on coming to the UK to protest at an anti-homophobic play. The play was showing tonight and Fred Phelps and his daughter won't be doing any protesting. The Home Secretary has banned them from entering the UK.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "The home secretary has excluded both Fred Phelps and his daughter from the UK. Both these individuals have engaged in unacceptable behaviour by inciting hatred against a number of communities.

"The government has made it clear it opposes extremism in all its forms. We will continue to stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country … regardless of their opinions and beliefs."

On the one hand it's good that we don't allow people like these into the country to incite hatred but on the other hand I wanted to see how people reacted to them.

Fred Phelps has posted a video response to the announcement of him being banned from this "stinking little island".

Very Detailed Pencil Drawings

© Cath Riley

Very detailed pencil drawings by Cath Riley. [via]

Video: Movie Spoilers: Oscar Edition

Every best picture winner in Oscar history spoiled in one take in under 5 minutes. [via]

The Dangers Of Powerful Magnets

A graphic example of why you should be careful with very powerful Neodymium magnets. If you haven't worked it out, that's a fingertip wedged between the magnets.

Video: Special Effects On A Shoestring

I wanna know if he gets into the train.

A 224-Word Palindrome

This poem by Demetri Martin is one very large palindrome. It's reads the same forwards or backwards.

"Dammit I’m Mad"

by

Demetri Martin

Dammit I’m mad.
Evil is a deed as I live.
God, am I reviled? I rise, my bed on a sun, I melt.
To be not one man emanating is sad. I piss.
Alas, it is so late. Who stops to help?
Man, it is hot. I’m in it. I tell.
I am not a devil. I level “Mad Dog”.
Ah, say burning is, as a deified gulp,
In my halo of a mired rum tin.
I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin.
Is evil in a clam? In a trap?
No. It is open. On it I was stuck.
Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web.
Be still if I fill its ebb.
Ew, a spider… eh?
We sleep. Oh no!
Deep, stark cuts saw it in one position.
Part animal, can I live? Sin is a name.
Both, one… my names are in it.
Murder? I’m a fool.
A hymn I plug, deified as a sign in ruby ash,
A Goddam level I lived at.
On mail let it in. I’m it.
Oh, sit in ample hot spots. Oh wet!
A loss it is alas (sip). I’d assign it a name.
Name not one bottle minus an ode by me:
“Sir, I deliver. I’m a dog”
Evil is a deed as I live.
Dammit I’m mad.

[via]

Video: A Day in the Life of Abbey Road

Look out for the guy dropping his trousers at 1:34. [via]

Bacon Cheese Pizza Burger

I don't think there's any chance of taking a bite out of this 'burger'. [via]

Update: How to make it. [Thanks Fish]

Video: Building A Very Large Motorbike

Thanks Fish

Video: The Mother Of All Landslides

Video: The Man Who Can Eat Anything

Salim Haini can eat practically anything. His diet consists of candles, lightbulbs, sawdust, nails as well as regular food. He boasts of eating an entire roast lamb weighing 35kg, 50kg of lettuce from his uncle's vegetable patch and 1,500 eggs in under three hours!. Source

If Snowmen Could Drive...

[via]

Nokia's Boring Me

I used to a be a big fan of Nokia phones but lately each device they have been releasing has only been marginally better than a previous device. Whilst you can't have a perfect device it seems that each one released, even the top end devices, lack something (e.g. battery too small, no xenon flash, smaller screen, etc).

The N86 that was launched today has an 8MP camera and some other new features such as scratch resistant screen, wider angle lense and the capability of taking panoramic shots but it has a small battery and doesn't have a xenon flash that was present on the N82.

I'm not sure why Nokia are so late with bringing out a phone with an 8MP camera. Sony are pulling ahead with a 12MP phone and Texas Instruments has announced a new mobile platform that can support up to 20MP.

Of course, megapixels aren't everything and it has yet to be seen how the improved optics on the N86 will perform.

And something that Nokia really needs to move away from is the clunky S60 interface. It's a full featured platform but it's tired and each Feature Pack released doesn't improve the overall interface.

My contract runs out in July and I'm starting to sway towards the iPhone. It's so much easier to use than most Nokia phones and I think I could put up with the limitations.

Westboro Baptist Church To Tour UK?

The Westboro Baptist Church is planning on picketing an anti-homophobic play at a school in Basingstoke, England on Friday. It will be their first picket in the UK. Bring it on! The Telegraph has a transcript of an interview with Shirley Phelps-Roper.

Wash By Hand...In Coleslaw

The Daily Mail has posted a dozen more funny translations from Engrish.com

A Welsh View US Tour 2009

My 2009 US tour is currently in the planning stages and I've got a rough route mapped out.

I'm going to visiting in September starting with Atlanta for a few days. Bruce from OuthouseRag is going to show me around Atlanta and take me to my first baseball game.

After Atlanta I'm going to head towards the Smoky Mountains for a few days. I've booked a hotel in Townsend which I'll use as a base. After that it's on to Knoxville, Chattanooga and Alabama before returning to Atlanta.

Other than Townsend and Atlanta I haven't booked anything so if you have any suggestions on places to visit either on the route I've mapped out or somewhere close by I'd love to hear about it. Feel free to points out towns or attractions nearby that could be worth visiting.

And if anyone wants to meet up for a beer in Atlanta or anywhere along my route, let me know. It was great meeting up with people in San Francisco and would be good to do it again. I can always bring some Welsh beer!

Video: Photographer Gets Too Close To Rally Car

According to English Russia (view video), the woman who got hit suffered a broken leg but is ok.

Married Man Travels 400 Miles For (Hoax) Facebook Affair

A married Manchester United fan drove 400 miles to begin an affair with a girl he had met on Facebook, only to discover it had been a hoax set up by two rival Liverpool supporters.

39-year-old Stuart Slann thought he was travelling to meet a girl called Emma whom he had been exchanging messages with on Facebook but after driving 9 hours to a remote farm in Aberdeen, Scotland he found out it was all a hoax.

The people behind the hoax were two people from Liverpool who Slann had met on holiday in Mexico. They had heated exchanges about their two teams and Slann had been thrown in a swimming pool.

Upon returning to the UK, the pair hatched a plan to wind up Slann and spent month of sending messages and flirting online almost every night before arranging to meet.

Slann was convinced enough to travel to a remote farm in Aberdeen and after making him went for 3 hours whilst 'Emma' finished work they made him forward pictures of him performing fellatio on a vibrator they had asked him to bring. It was at that point they revealed themselves.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Slann said - "There's no doubt that I've been done good and proper by the lads from Liverpool. It was cruel but I'll hold my hands up and say they really wound me up."

Break.com has the uncensored version which includes the photo he sent. Now, not only has Slann lost his wife, the people responsible for the hoax are probably making a bit of money from the video which is currently in the Most Viewed section.

Wired's Top 10 iPhone Games

The top 10 iPhone games as voted by the readers of Wired? Where's Bejeweled 2? That's pretty much all I use my iPod Touch for!.

Every Album Ever

A comic from Winston Rowntree that probably sums up every album ever.

Japanese Boat Jumpers

Here are some more photos of the boat jumpers at the Sea Paradise theme park in Hakkeijima, Japan. [via]

Video: Christian Bale vs Peter Griffin

Language warning.

Video: Woman Goes Crazy After Missing Flight

Someone should have told her there was another flight in a few hours. [via]

Video: There Are As Many Creatures On Your Body As There Are People On Earth

Here's the evidence.

Video: Women, Know Your Limits

Many people from the UK will remember this clip from Harry Enfield and Chums.

And if you found that clip funny, here's another really funny one about 'Association Football'.

Fruity Air California Air Fresheners

I'm always a sucker for testing things out so when Fruity Air contacted me asking if I want to try some samples of their California Scents I figured I'd test them out.

Fruity Air distribute a large variety of California Scents organic air fresheners. They are available in fruity, fresh and sweet aromas and have California inspired names such as Golden State Delight, La Jolla Lemon and Monterrey Vanilla.

The air fresheners consist of a cat food tin and an organic block inside containing the aroma. This is an odd way of packaging the air freshener and it may confuse your cat if you have one.

The four sample that I had were quite sweet smelling, almost like bubble gum so if that's not your thing you may want to try the fresh aromas.

Each air freshener lasts 60 days but usually lasts much longer.

I've you want to try them out you can get free shipping in the UK on orders over £9.99 using the voucher code 'awelshview'. I did and bought myself another 4.

Video: Man Eats 22 Live Scorpions

As you do.

Video: New Simpsons Opening Sequence

What do you think of the new Simspsons opening sequence?