In my work before retirement I often did in-home service, and ran across a few vicious dogs. But... thank God, nothing like these.


Gee. I guess it's a good thing that the owner didn't give the dogs doll toys. But chewing through three tires? Toys my ass, that has to take some kind of determination beyond: "I want my toys!"

 
Well no, not a dog, a cat. A big cat. As a matter of fact a damn big cat weighing around 550 pounds, who escaped his owner's cage, then decided to chase cars on highway 23.


Or watch the WISC-TV 3 news video here (no ads).

 
The 25 Most Baffling Toys From Around the World (2 pages).







Child's sled. The strange protrusion is a handle with which the child can hang onto while enjoying winter fun.

Why? What did you think it was?

 
We've all heard big drinking stories. But few can top these!

Via Deans World comments.

Not exactly what a Wisconsin hunter is looking for.



Thanks go to Owen at Boots & Sabers.

Cats I know are pretty smart animals because I have raised many of them, but they all have personal traits and quirks. My last cat (who died a year ago age 19) was white just like the one in this article. Her quirk was that she liked string and small pieces of rope. Not to play with, she would just collect them from the neighborhood and stash them under the porch.

Here is another cat with an interesting quirk nicknamed Macavity, from the poem by T. S. Eliot. Macavity's quirk is that he likes to ride the city bus two or three times a week. Macavity always gets on, then off at the same stops.







What next for Macavity, a limousine to get a nail trim and something better than the fish and chip shop near his debarking stop? Oh and BTW Macavity is listed on Widipedia.

Update: Over at Deans World, in the comments, cardeblu links another cat with an entertaining quirk.

There are times that Google Maps has come up with information that just made me go huh...? Well here is the worst I have seen yet. At one of my daily forums someone posted the googled directions from New York, NY to Paris, France. Of course google maps isn't a completely reasoning piece of software, therefore sometimes the directions can be a bit disconcerting.

At the top of the directions google says:

Drive: 3,800 mi (about 29 days 7 hours) [ or 703 hours ].

Well drive is not quite accurate, as step 23 of the journey says:

"23. Swim across the Atlantic Ocean 3462 mi"  

*blink*

Because I have a lot of time on my hands, here is some useless but possibly interesting math trivia about google maps silly nonsense.

The actual driven miles, 3800-3462 = 348 miles. Lets assume that we break every urban/suburban speed limit and travel the 348 miles in 7 hours which averages just a tad under 50mph (49.7). Improbable but within the realm of possibility if the law doesn't catch us. That leaves us with 696 hours to swim the 3462 miles if we can swim at an average speed of 4.97mph.

Of course impossible even if we could endure the distance. Here is the speed of the worlds two fastest human swimmers. We would have to swim almost as fast as David Holmes Edgar's 5.05 mph, and faster than Mark Spitz at 4.367 mph. And they swam flat out for only 100 meters.

In 1952 a science fiction writer named Phillip St. John wrote a novel titled Rocket Jockey. It was an award winning novel in it's day. It became popular in the child's science fiction arena.
My then brother-in-law to be was given this book by his mother in 1953 and inscribed and signed it.
The book was read a bit by him but in the mid sixties it became a favorite of his daughter, my niece Victoria. She would read it regularly and when there wasn't time she would look at the pictures.
I guess she would fantasize about being an inter galactic explorer or becoming a famous scientist.
Brother-in-law Paul was a policeman in Madison Wisconsin. Having a roving eye and a job that attracted young women, his marriage to my sister was eventually in shambles. They divorced in 1967.
He retired from the police department, remarried, and moved to the Los Angeles area taking the book with him. He died a few years later from cancer.
There was always a rift between wife number two and my sister. My niece and nephews never got any keepsakes relating to their Father.
Victoria wanted a copy of the old Rocket Jockey book as an aid to remember some good times.
She had moved to Colorado and her Mom moved to Overland Park, Kansas.
In the following years she had come across several copies in old book stores and flea markets but were way too expensive. One store was asking for $100 for the ”rare” book. Most were in the $40 plus range.
She was either in nursing school, a new job but always on a very tight budget. She couldn't pay that much.
None the less she was always on the hunt.
She ended up in Reno Nevada working for an oncology department.
My sister had remarried and moved to the West Coast. Her second husband of 18 years passed away. His body was shipped back to his hometown area and was to be buried in Kansas City Missouri.
Victoria took time off and flew in to console her Mom. They laughed, cried, went to lunches and slummed in antique shops.
A neighboring community on the Kansas side of the metro area is called Olathe. There were some good little second hand and antique malls to visit.
They ended up at the Sentimental Journey Antique store. This was a large mall type store with many booths to look at.
Victoria still hunting, went to the book shelves. They were having a half price sale on the old books.
There it was! Rocket Jockey by Phillip St. John on the bottom row. She saw the $8.00 price tag and snatched it up and held it to herself. She was gloating about the bargain she had gotten.
She opened up this copy in good condition. Her eyes glazed over and then welled up with tears and emotion.
On the first page, written in familiar cursive was the inscription “To my son Paul on your birthday in 1953" and was signed by her Grandmother.
The store was in tears that day. I almost am five years later as I write this for you.

Now here is a rabbit with a lot of tenacity. I'm sure rabbits don't eat snakes so I assume this one was probably only trying to chase it out of it's territory.



Notice about half way through the big bird that wanders closer for a better look? Probably wondering if the rabbit has lost it's mind.

Does anyone know if this is normal behavior for rabbits? If you have heard of it before please leave a comment.

   Well I've heard of a lot of things bringing down an airplane but farts?


From WISC-TV 3 Madison, WI