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The moral of the story is: if you are going to sail off the coast of Wales on December 5th, you may want to change your name to Hugh Williams. But is this a true story? Any records from these incidences seem to be at least second-hand. I found a post at The Scuttlefish that may shed a bit of light on how “coincidental” the story really is. And be sure to check out the comment from Hugh Williams. Link
A pregnant cat named Puss Puss had been missing for three days in the village of Moelfre in North Wales. She had escaped while being transported to a foster home by an animal charity worker. Then someone heard a meowing sound coming from a donation bin for used clothing! But the lock on the bin had been damaged, and it wouldn’t open. The fire brigade was called, and they, too, failed to open the bin. Finally, the entire bin was loaded up and taken 20 miles away to an engineering company.
There, steel saws were used to gain access and the mewing prisoner was revealed – as nothing more than a squeaky toy.
Kelvin Owen, who owns the engineering firm, said: ‘Once we got into the bin we heard the miaowing – it sounded just like a cat and we all started to carefully search the bags.
‘Then I found a bag of toys and picked out a toy. I said: “It couldn’t be this, could it?” As I held it it went “miaow, miaow”. Mystery solved!’
The sounds came from a talking plush toy resembling Marie from the Disney movie The Aristocats. Rescuers had a good laugh at the 12-hour effort to rescue the toy. Puss Puss is still missing, but may have been taken in by someone unaware of the search. Link -via Arbroath
The
problem with organ transplantation is, of course, there's not enough donors
to go around (Maybe people think that they'd need that kidney in the afterlife
or something).
But could this be the solution: a proposed Welsh law where organ donation is the default and people have to "opt out" if they don't want their organs be transplanted.
If it goes ahead, Wales would be the UK's first country with the system.
[Health Minister Lesley Griffiths] said the lack of organs and tissues caused unnecessary deaths and suffering.
The law, planned to be in place by 2015, would require people to opt out of donating their organs when they die, rather than opting in by signing the register.
Doctors' leaders hope it will "change cultural expectations" and prompt more family discussions about donation.
It's a "soft opt-out," meaning that families would not be forced to give up their dead relatives' organs: Link
A prisoner/geek in Wales had his secret stash of matchstick weapons, including the Buster Sword and Squall’s Gunblade from the Final Fantasy video game series, confiscated because:
“…the realism of the swords presented a threat to staff safety, not because they could be used to send the staff back to the Lifestream, but because they look real from afar and could be used to threaten people.”
This guy will have a sweet job waiting for him when he gets out-making replica weapons out of balsa wood.
Firefighters in Bridgend, Wales, were called to a home in Pontycymer because a sheep had been spotted walking around on the roof. A fireman at the scene said,
“We have never had anything like that before, though we have found sheep in some difficult places.
“It was running back and forward on the roof, but eventually it must have realised how many firefighters were there trying to get it down and thought, I’d better come down now, I think.
The sheep was absolutely fine and not harmed at all, and it was certainly an interesting call-out, it’s not where you’d expect to find a sheep, really quite funny.
“It brightened up our weekend, that’s for sure.”
The sheep was back on the ground about 40 minutes after the fire crew arrived. Link -via Arbroath
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Wales is having an identity crisis. Actually, it’s been having one off and on for the past 2,000 years. Is it part of England? Part of the U.K? Or is Wales just …Wales?
Sometime in Britain’s mythological past, King Llud Llaw Eraint had a problem with dragons. Specifically, two warring dragons -one white and one red- whose screams rang through the countryside, causing women to miscarry and livestock to become barren. So, the king lured the dragons in to a deep pit and got them so drunk that they passed out. While the dragons were asleep, he buried them deep underneath a mountain in Wales. “The white dragon is the Saxon,” the Welsh magician Merlin once explained. “The red dragon is Cymru [Wales], and so they will fight, red against the white, until at last the dragon of Wales is triumphant over the dragon of the Saxons.”
Today, the red dragon of Wales has reappeared. It’s everywhere in 21st-century Welsh culture -on the flag, on t-shirts, ashtrays, and bumper stickers, and on the tattoos of patriotic men and women. It embodies the spirit of the country. For 2,000 years, Wales has suffered though waves of invaders and conquerors, and each time, its people have emerged with a deepened sense of national pride. Its character is one of defiance -a red dragon always ready for battle.
more …
We once featured an Euler diagram that explained the British Isles, the United Kingdom, and Great Britain. This video explains all that clearly but quickly, then goes on to explain the British Empire, the Crown Colonies, Crown Dependencies, and other terms that confuse Americans and others who don’t deal with such geographical concepts every day. If this goes too fast for you, the script is available from C. G. P. Grey. Link -via reddit
A hungry dog in Llanfairfechan, Wales set fire to a home and caused £6,000 in damage. Paul Gregson, his wife, and two sons escaped the burning house just after midnight Tuesday.
John Morgan, of North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: “The family’s pet dog appears to have started the fire by turning on the griddle in the middle of the night. This is why all electrical items not designed to be left on should be switched off at the mains when not in use or overnight.
“The smoke alarm activated and gave this family the opportunity to escape safely. It demonstrates once again that smoke alarms really do save lives.”
The kitchen was badly damaged and there was heat and smoke damage to the rest of the house.
Three-year-old Alfie is a flat-coated retriever, a breed Gregson says is “slow to mature”. Link -via Arbroath
Under the direction of artist Katy Webster, children painted an enormous copy of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa at a shopping mall in Wales:
Dozens of adults from community groups and youngsters from Wrexham schools coloured 82 vinyl tiles to make the paint-by-numbers portrait.
It is on show at Eagles Meadow, and will be used to raise money for the children’s hospice charity Hope House.
At 17.5m across, and covering 240 sqm, it is some 50 times the original.
Video at the link (preceded by a commercial).
Link via GearFuse | Image: My Modern MET
