Sewer Pipe Suite Life

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A concrete sewer pipe as hotel room? That’s repurposing for a practical purpose! DasPark Hotel is the sort of wild idea you’d expect to be just another conceptual prototype, but this creation of Austrian art grad Andreas Strauss is real and operational.

Located in Linz, Austria, the unique hotel adds a back wall, large front door and small window to standard concrete sewer pipes to create an affordable stay for students and other adventurous travelers.

From dasparkhotel.net,

The external simplicity surrounds an unexpectedly comfortable interior – full headroom, double bed, storage, light, power, woolly blanket and light cotton sleeping bag. All other hotelery devices (Toilets, showers, minibar, cafe, etc) are supplied by the surrounding public space.

Just how affordable, you ask? The cost is the biggest surprise of all.

Because we obtain sanitation, breakfast and other hotel facilities from existing public infrastructure, it is possible for us to work with the very simple, user-friendly “pay as you wish” system. A night in dasparkhotel costs just as much as you can afford or want to pay.

(Tipped by a post on bookpaperscissors.tumblr.net, thanks!)

Sensational Singing Sewermen from Thames Water

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The Singing Sewermen from Thames Water would like Brits to give the sewers a rest this Christmas, so the unconventional troupe has restyled the classic carol “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” into “This Christmas Think of Sewermen.”

The song, part of Thames Water’s “Bin It Don’t Block It” campaign, was recorded deep in the Victorian sewers of East London on a hand-held camera. They’re singing with real feeling, and no wonder: an estimated 500 tonnes of fat (or 1.1 million pounds) – goes down customers’ drains each December, causing nasty blockages and backups…and some unpleasant work for the sewermen, no doubt.

Here’s the lyrics in case you’d like to sing along!

This Christmas think of sewermen who tremble in dismay
When grease from goose and fatted fowl is idly poured away
It clogs the drains of London and it must be scraped away.

Put your fat in the rubbish in a bin, throw it all in
Put your fat in the rubbish in a bin

So when you’ve had your Christmas meal of turkey, wine and pud
Remember our poor sewermen and treat them as you should.
Don’t pour your hot fat down the drain ’cause it will do no good.

Put your fat in the rubbish in a bin, throw it all in
Put your fat in the rubbish in a bin

Par-tay! Croc Inna House!

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If you really want to  get the party started, how about throwing on a skimpy bikini and cage dancing on a crocodile trap, like these blon…uh, spirited young Australian ladies? Despite ongoing and frequent warnings in the media and from wildlife officials, it seems the lure of croc-infested waters is too strong for for exuberant partiers and sportsmen to resist.

From a November 19 story at www.netnews.com.au,

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ANOTHER photo has emerged of more “idiots” risking life and limb by larking about atop a crocodile trap in the Territory.

These bikini-clad ladies were spotted singing in the rain, using champagne bottles as microphones, while standing on a croc trap in a crocodile-infested river in Maningrida.

Their mates were in a fishing boat several metres away taking photos.

The image, taken at the weekend, surfaced yesterday – a day after the Northern Territory News published a picture on the front page of two male tourists tempting fate by doing a similar thing at Jim Jim Falls in Kakadu National Park.

The hooligans were laughing and joking as they posed as cowboys riding atop the trap.

Park ranger and crocodile expert Garry Lindner said the behaviour of the men was absurd.

“Crocs are attracted to the bait in the traps, so it is extremely dangerous to fool around like this,” he said.

Read the rest of the story here, where they have thoughtfully included these witty obervations from readers:

One reader suggested the photo caption should have read: “Dinner is served! Tonight’s menu features two courses of stupid.”

And another browser said: “I don’t know about a croc trap but it certainly works as a moron trap.”

Also worth perusing is the “Croc Bait” photo gallery at ntnews.com.au where you’ll find this hysterical photo series with captions: (All photos by Doron Aviguy)

Fisherman Novon Mashiah thinks he's safe from this croc on a Territory river.

Fisherman Novon Mashiah thinks he is safe from this croc on a Territory river.

But the croc thinks he might not be so safe.

But the croc thinks he might not be so safe.

This monster croc came within a metre of making a meal of fisherman Novon Mashiah on a Territory river.

This monster croc came within a metre of making a meal of fisherman Novon Mashiah on a Territory river.

He Swallowed the Sea

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In the current installment of Emily Green’s excellent regular feature “The Week that Was” at ChanceofRain.com, I read…

“It would be very interesting if we could drain the ocean and look at what’s down there.” – Holly Bamford, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program, “‘Ghost’ traps, long lost, keep catching lobsters,”  AP / Denver Post, November 26, 2009

Before I reached the closing quote I was overwhelmed with a long-buried visual memory, as vivid today as it was more than forty years ago.

I MUST FIND IT. I purchased it for my children 20 years ago and it is here, somewhere in my house. So many books…so many neglected boxes, dusty shelves, stacks in the basement, the attic, unused closets. It took 2 days to find it, and what a joy it was to hold in my hands again and turn the pages.

Once upon a time there were five Chinese Brothers and they all looked exactly alike. They lived with their mother in a little house not far from the sea.

The first Chinese brother could swallow the sea.

He could swallow the sea! As a child, these pages captured my imagination many times over. How wonderful would it be if I could roam that seabed, seeing, touching and marveling at the sight of all the mysteries of the deep laid bare! Even today it is a powerful fantasy to ponder.

(In the book, this scene is a spread that looks like this:

If you are familiar with the book, you are likely smiling and fondly remembering the story. If this is new to you, l’ll avoid any spoilers and just say, “YOU MUST FIND IT.” (Try your local library or Amazon.com, $5.99)

The book was originally published in 1938 but since the 1970s has been removed from schools and classrooms due to criticism of alleged ethnic stereotyping. There are also plenty of defenders–including me and many others who understand the magic in a child’s (or adult’s) imagination, to “drain the ocean and look at what’s down there.”

Death-Defying Diners Shoo Away Safe Sushi

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For those who like to live dangerously, the pricey Japanese treat Fugu (Puffer fish or Blow fish) has achieved an almost mythological status in adventurous dining. Eating Fugu is synonymous with risk taking because if incorrectly prepared, even a single bite could mean certain death.

So you would think that the introduction of non-poisonous, commercially farmed fugu would be welcome news in the puffer-partaking community, right? Well, wrong. After all, what fun is that? Do you think a squeaky-clean Puffer fish would amaze and impress your friends?

From Telegraph.co.uk,

But many fugu chefs – who are traditionally bound to commit ritual suicide with their own fish knife should one of their customers expire after eating one of their meals – said they preferred to take their chances with the potentially deadly wild varieties.

“It’s a very tasty fish, but that’s not the only reason people choose to go to a fugu restaurant,” said Shinichi Ueshima, the chef at the Dote fugu restaurant in Yokohama.

“It’s obviously more than a little exciting to go to a restaurant knowing that it might be the last meal that you ever eat,” he said. “Where is the enjoyment in eating something that has no risk in it?”

At Osaka: Whole fugu for sale at Kuromon Ichiba for up to 27,000 yen (about $270) from A Culinary Photo Journal on Flickr

Certainly, the Fugu chefs themselves have much invested in the toxic thrill of the classic experience. For 50 years, only specially licensed elite chefs are permitted to prepare and sell fugu to the public. Getting there involves a 3-year apprenticeship culminating in rigorous testing that only 35% of applicants pass. (There’s no room for a slight mistake in this particular occupation!)

That should make you feel better about putting it all on the line for the ultimate extreme meal, especially since the potent neurotoxin in question, Tetrodoxin, Tetrodotoxin (Toxin typo! See comments) is not affected by cooking and works by rapidly paralyzing the nerves and preventing the lungs and other body systems from working. There is no antidote and death can occur within minutes. (It does not cross the blood-brain barrier so the victim remains fully conscious.)

Thrilling, right? But not a cheap thrill…Fugu can range anywhere from US$30 up to a $200 full course meal.

Photos: Whole Fugu from A Culinary Photo Journal on Flickr

Fugu Restaurant from tiptoe on Flickr

Slummin’ It at Hyde Park

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Is this a photo from a poverty-stricken location in the developing world? No, it’s from the men’s restroom in London’s Hyde Park on the occasion of World Toilet Day, November 19, 2009. (Why just the men’s room, I wonder?)

The charity WaterAid made it “real” for London loo-goers who surely expected flushing toilets, soap, clean water and a reasonably tidy facility. Instead, visitors came face to face with the deplorable conditions that are endured by nearly half the world’s population.

Watch the report on “Loo-ve Been Framed” by Cynthia Chandran for Asianlite on YouTube:

Here’s another take on the event by Lincolnshire Young Journalist Academy’s Jake, from Sleaford’s Carres school newsroom (I think the kid has a bright future in journalism!)

A Kinder, Gentler Lobster Boil

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Are you “soft” on seafood? If you can’t bear the sound of that “screaming” lobster as it’s plunged into a boiling stockpot, take note: we’ve run across a new product (via www.dailymail.co.uk) named the CrustaStun, which offers a more humane way to get that fresh seafood to diners’ plates. Somewhat like a shellfish taser, the device electrocutes the animal with an instant current which anesthetizes and kills shellfish within seconds.

There are two models–“The Stunner” for food processors and the “Single Stunner” for restaurants. No word yet on development of a home model…the George Foreman Mini-Stunner, maybe?

In the “more than you want to know” category, here’s the science behind the device, as explained on www.crustastun.com website:

The application of a stun (110 Volts – 2-5 amps) causes an immediate interruption in the functioning of the nervous system of the shellfish. By interrupting the nerve function, the shellfish (be it Crab, Lobster or other) is unable to receive stimuli and thus by definition, cannot feel pain or suffer distress (Dr. Dave Robb 2000 – Bristol University – paper on sentience in Crustacea, Baker 1975, Jane Smith 1991, Bateson 2000, Sherwin 2000 & Gregory & Lumsden 2000). The prolonged application of the stun causes a permanent disruption which kills the shellfish.

If you’re simply not bothered by the death-by-boiling method, current and pending legislation could make your violent sadistic meal prep against the law! Their website also notes that:

New Zealand & a number of Australian Provincial States include Crabs, Lobsters and Crayfish within the definition of animals requiring humane treatment in handling and killing; NZ; Animal Welfare Act 1999.

It is unclear whether Crabs, Lobsters and Crayfish are included within the current UK Animal Slaughter Regulations. They are however likely to be specifically included in the Animal Welfare Bills currently going through the UK & Scottish Parliaments. This would require them to be ‘humanely killed’.

Would-Be Inventors, P&G Wants Your Idea!

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You know that great idea you had for purifying water? Boy, if only you had some way to get that to market, why, you’d be rich!

Actually, your timing might be perfect! Since you live in the age of open collaboration and “crowdsourcing“, maybe, just maybe, your idea is just right for Procter & Gamble, the 8th largest corporation in the world by market capitalization and 14th largest US company by profit. (And supposedly, the folks behind game-changing business innovations such as modern “brand management,” soap operas and Pringles faux chips!)

P&G’s “Connect & Develop” brings it to the web with a database of inventions and innovations that P&G is actively seeking. According to the website,

P&G’s Connect + Develop strategy already has resulted in more than 1,000 active agreements. Types of innovations vary widely, as do the sources and business models. Inbound or out, know-how or new products, examples of our success are as diverse as our product categories. We are interested in all types of high-quality, on-strategy business partners, from individual inventors or entrepreneurs to smaller companies and those listed in the FORTUNE 500 — even competitors.

What’s there for the water innovators? Consumer-driven P&G is in fact, actively seeking three “solutions” for water purification and drinking water technologies:

Ready-to-Market Water Filtration Technologies Jun 29, 2009 Ready to market technologies including pitchers, faucet mounts, u …more Water Purification
Manufacturer/Marketer of in-home Drinking Water Technologies Jun 29, 2009 Water filtration, purification, or treatment devices marketable … more Water Purification
Water Filtration Technologies Featuring Several Levels of Filtration to Reduce Contaminants Jun 29, 2009 -Single or multiple stage filtering technology or device capable … more Water Purificatio

So water-invention smartypants, download that form, get everything signed, sealed and delivered and just sit back and wait for the checks to roll in. Oh, and don’t forget my finder’s fee.

Me want cookie, me drink cookie?

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Om nom nom nom! Don’t we wish we lived in Washington State, where researchers have found traces of spices and food flavorings in the waters of Puget Sound.

Via WaterTechOnline.com, National Geographic News has reported this delicious water gossip in a November 12th segment of a new series exploring the global water crisis.

University of Washington associate professor Richard Keil said the spices and flavorings vary depending on the time of the year. For example, around Thanksgiving, researchers have detected a spike in thyme and sage; around the Fourth of July, waffle-cone and caramel-corn byproducts surge.

Keil and his research team have been tracking the “pulses” of food ingredients that enter the Puget Sound. They found that of all the food ingredients detected, artificial vanilla is most prevalent in the sound. The team found an average of about 6 milligrams of artificial vanilla per liter (mg/L) of water sampled; the region’s wastewater effluent contains more than 14 mg/L. According to the story, “This would be like spiking an Olympic-size swimming pool with approximately ten 4-ounce (113.4-gram) bottles of artificial vanilla.”

Puts a whole new perspective on the branding of “Dunkin’ Donuts!”

The Golden Poo Awards. Really.

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Toilet humor (humour) has moved out of the school yard and into the studios of some of the UK’s most creative animators. I thought I was good at the potty puns and chuckles, but the threshold has been raised to astounding heights with the winners of the short film “Golden Poo Awards” announced October 15th. In fact, it’s so over the top, I spent a few minutes pondering if it could be some sort of prank!

PooP Creative (really!) and The London International Animation Festival (LIAF) jointly promoted the competition to tackle the serious issues of sanitation and hygiene in an edgy, irreverent and humorous way.

And “the issues” aren’t limited to the poorer, less developed regions of the world. According to the site,

How Dirty Are YOU? More than 1 in four people have faecal matter on their hands! Britain’s 12M cases of norovirus, gastroenteritis, MRSA, E-Coli and now Swine Flu infections are mainly down to dirty hands. (Dirty Hands Study via London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)

I think they succeeded splendidly…the films are creative, funny, engaging, expressive and memorable. Following the top 2 entries, see more here at the Golden Poo Awards site.

First Place: Dancing In The Loo by Delphine Mandin

Second Place: A Film About Poo by Emily Howells & Anne Wilkins