Stuff that Weighs More than Me: The Tree At Rockerfeller Center

Photo Credit: ATTRIBUTION. © by James G. Howes, 1987.

2011 Tree Stats:
Type: Norway Spruce
Height: 74 ft.
Width: Approximately 35 ft.
Lights: 30,000 LED lights on five miles of wire
Swarovski Star on Top:  9.5 feet in diameter, weighs 550 pounds
Drinks: 90 gallons of water per day

Weight: The star and the water in the tree alone weigh 1301.5 pounds.  Lights will probably add another 3,000 pounds or so.  The tree itself weighs in at over 12 tons.  Estimated total weight 15 tons.

Conclusion: The 2011 Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center weighs more than me.

Want to look at a slightly more manageable tree?  Check out THIS post on managing holiday expectations.

Stuff that Weighs More Than Me: Really Big Bed Sculpture

In honor of trying to get more sleep during the holidays, I've been thinking about beds.  And this my friends is a BIG one.  This famous sculpture, entitled "In Bed" is by artist Ron Mueck.  And however big I may feel, I'm pretty sure I'm not as big as THIS lady:

Materials:  Polyester resin, fiberglass, polyurethane, horse hair and cotton

Width: 5.5 ft.

Length: Over 20 ft.

Weight: Unknown, but I'm guessing that  a 20 ft. tall woman weighs more than me.

Conclusion: This woman "In Bed" weighs more than me.

Want to hear more about my holiday exploits in bed?  Click here!

Stuff That Weighs More than Me: Shark Tank!

This past year, we spent one night at the Golden Nugget Hotel on Fremont Street in Las Vegas.  The hotel was fairly average for 21st century Las Vegas, except for one thing.  The Shark Tank.  This thing is huge!

Animal inhabitants: Over 300
Height: Over 3 Stories
Featuring: 3 story-tall enclosed tube water slide
Capacity: Over 200,000 gallons
Weight: 1.7 million pounds (excluding the glass and the critters)

Conclusion: The Tank at the Golden Nugget weighs more than me.

Want to learn more about the Shark Tank/Thanksgiving connection?  Check out my series on surviving the holidays at Fat Chick Sings!

Things That Weigh More Than Me: Super Fun, Tons of Buns!

 

While these bunnies may look soft and fluffy, they are anything but.  These colossal cuties (by Dutch artist Tom Claassen) are on display at the Citygarden in St. Louis.  I am pictured whispering into the ear of the taller of the two.   These bunnies are cast in bronze and then covered with white enamel paint.  So while they look marshmallows, these are some seriously heavy rabbits. 

Here’s the stats:

Material: Bronze

Dimensions: Bun 1—87”x61”x55”, Bun 2--63"x68"x45"

Weight: I don’t specific weight data, but at over 7 feet tall, I think we can safely calculate over a ton of buns!

Conclusion: Tom Claassen’s fluffy bunnies weight more than me.

P.S. There's lots more info on corpulent cottontails over at Fat Chick Sings.  Go check it out!

Stuff that Weighs More Than Me: Safe!

This safe door was built in St. Louis, then installed in a bank in the “Loop Building” in Chicago and then rescued from demolition, brought back to St. Louis and installed in the unbelievably awesome City Museum.  This used to be one of my regular haunts when we had our office on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis.  It is totally filled with stuff kids love and stuff that makes you feel like a kid again.  If you ever make it to St. Louis, first see the City Museum, then see the arch if you have time.  It’s that good.

And this is one honey of a door!  Here’s the stats:

Height: Over 10 feet

Width: Over 10 feet

Thickness: Over 2 feet

Weight: Over 3000 pounds

Conclusion: The “safe door” entrance to the vault room at City Museum weighs more than me.

Hint: If you’d like to hear more about being “safe” check out THIS new entry in The Fat Chick Sings.

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: World's Biggest Cupcake

Normally we think of a cupcake as something sweet and diminutive.  Even cute.  But not THIS bad boy.  Introducing the World's largest cupcake recently unveiled in Detroit, Michigan.  (Thanks Kat for sharing it on FB--at least virtually.)  Just take a gander at this recipe:
REALLY BIG CUPCAKE
serves a whole lot
200 lbs. sugar
200 lbs. flour
200 lbs. butter
800 eggs

Mix in a really, really big bowl and bake for over 12 hours or until giant toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool completely.  (This could take a while.)  Cover with a small mountain of custard and frosting.

Here's a few more stats:
Circumference: 11 ft.
Oven Door Size: 8ft. x 8ft.
Weight: 1,224 lbs.
Conclusion: The world's largest cupcake weighs more than me.  (It's probably a little sweeter than me, too!)

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: Elephant

Elephants are big.  REALLY big.  In current terms, they are the largest land animal.  I mean, these puppies weigh 200 - 250 lbs. when they're born!  And they can run pretty fast too.  (Good thing I got a head start!)  Here's the stats:

Height: Up to 13 ft.
Daily Food Intake: Hundreds of pounds
Daily Water Intake: About 50 gallons
Weight: Up to about 8 tons

Conclusion: An elephant weighs more than me.  However, I understand some of them can still do ballet: (Edna the Elephant).

P.S. I probably won't be seeing any elephants on my upcoming camping trip.  But I'll be sure to let you know what interesting critters I do see...

Stuff That Weighs More than Me: David

Well probably not the cheesy fiberglass replica pictured behind me.  (Which is out front of the Mad Greek Cafe in Baker, CA).  But the real deal, for sure!  The Michelangelo's David is one of the most copied statues of all time.  (The plaster cast version at the Victoria and Albert museum apparently has a detachable fig leaf that was created after Queen Vicky saw David's "endowment" for the first time.)  But the original is an unquestioned masterpiece, carved from a single piece of marble. 

Height: Over 17 ft.
Weight: Over 6 tons

Conclusion: Even after I ate a homemade strawberry shake at The Mad Greek Cafe, Michelangelo's David weighed more than me.

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: The Saguaro Cactus

The Saguaro Cactus is the largest cactus in the United States.  Despite great height and weight, the saguaro has a very shallow root system--only 4 to 6 inches deep.  The roots can extend out in a circle as far out from the center as the cactus is wide.  They are found mostly in Southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.

Stats: 

Height: Can grow to 40-60 ft. tall

Weight when fully hydrated: between 3200-4800 pounds

Conclusion: The Saguaro Cactus weighs more than me.

If you'd like to hear more about my life in the desert, click HERE to check out my latest post on The Fat Chick Sings.

Stuff that Weighs More Than Me: Fire Engine

The stats for fire engines are largely dependent on the type of fire truck.  There are 3 main types (who knew?).  The longest is the ladder truck.  The ladder is about 100 feet long and the truck itself can be 40 to 50 feet long.

The tanker holds the most water.  This truck is 30 feet long and can hold more than 1,000 gallons of water.

The pumper truck (pictured above) is the most common.  Typical stats include

Height: 6 ft and 11 inches

Width: 7 ft.

Length: 19 ft. and 4 inches

Weight: About 28,000 pounds

Conclusion: While I and a pumper truck are both good at putting out fires, a pumper truck weights more than me.

Want to hear more about putting out fires?  Check out my latest post on The Fat Chick Sings HERE.