Monday, December 12, 2011

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!

Monday, November 28, 2011

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!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

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!

Friday, November 4, 2011

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.


Monday, October 3, 2011

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!)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

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...

Friday, July 22, 2011

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.