Category Archives: stuff that weighs more than me

Stuff That Weighs More than Me: Boom, you’re OUT!

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Letting Loose at the world’s largest dodgeball game.

This week’s post on reliving playground dramas, got me thinking about that nemesis of so many primary school PE programs, dodgeball.  A little googling led to a world record held by a group quite local to me, the kids at UC Irvine.  This group managed to put together the world’s largest dodgeball game, wresting the record out of the sweaty hands of their arch nemesis in giant dodgeball battles, The University of Alberta.  The day was described by many as “absolute mayhem”.  Nevertheless, the competitors were counted and the blue team one.  Here’s some stats:

Weight of dodgeball ball– 1 to 2 lbs.
Average Weight of participant (conservative estimate) 100 lbs.
Number of balls/participants: 4488
Weight of participants plus chosen weapons* 453,288 lbs.
*Does not include weight of victory beer

CONCLUSION: The World’s Largest Dodgeball Game at UC Irvine weighs more than me.

Want to hear more about reliving playground dramas?  Click HERE to see my latest post on Fat Chick Sings.

Stuff That Weighs More than Me: You Can Ring My (Liberty) Bell!

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The Fat Chick Visits the Liberty Bell in the Land Of Brotherly Love and Cheesy Sandwiches

So often when I travel, I never manage to get out beyond the conference room, the convention center or even the hotel.  But on my recent trip to Philly, I was determined.  I was going to see that big, big bell.  And although it doesn’t look that large, brother it is HEAVY!  Not just with history and significance but also pure, unadulterated poundage.

Here’s some stats

Cast: In 1751 by Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London

Composition:  70% copper, 25% tin, 2% lead, 1% zinc, .25% arsenic and .20% silver with trace amounts of gold, magnesium, nickel and antimony

Tone: E-flat

Circumference: around the lip (bottom) of the Bell is 12 feet and around the crown (top) is 7 feet 6 inches.

Length: from the lip to the crown 3 feet and the height over the crown measures 2 feet 3 inches.

Thickness: of the Liberty Bell at the lip is 3 inches and, at the crown, the thickness is 1.25 inches.

Clapper: measures 3 feet 2 inches and weighs 44.5 pounds.
 
Total Weight: 2,080 lbs.

Conclusion: The Liberty Bell weighs more than me

Want to read my Body Declaration of Independence?  Check out my latest post on Fat Chick Sings!

Stuff That Weighs More than Me: Above Ground Pool

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While there are many sizes and forms of above ground pools, they are all fairly big.  Take the example above.  This bad boy is available on Amazon for about $1500.  In order to know the weight of the pool, we’ll need to do a little bit of math.  (Don’t worry, it’s not too hard).

Size: Size: 24′ Length x 12′ Width x 52″ Height.
Weight of empty pool: 464.7 lbs.
Water Capacity: 8,403 gallons
Weight of one gallon of water: 8.34 pounds
Weight of water in pool 70,081.02 pounds
-10% for displacement/splashing 7,008 pounds=63,073.02 lbs
Add empty pool weight= 63,537.72 pounds

Conclusion: Even without any swimmers or a single blown-up floaty toy, an above ground pool weighs more than me.

Want to hear more about getting ready for swimsuit season?  Click HERE.

Stuff That Weighs More than Me: Asteroids!

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I had a friend say to me that she feels as big as an asteroid.  To which I responded, “That’s not likely, in fact I’m going to do a little research.”  Turns I was right.  Asteroids can range in size from a few meters across to hundreds of meters across.  Especially large asteroids are often referred to as planetoids.  Ceres (pictured above) is the largest known (and first discovered) asteroid.

Ceres is BIG.  Almost 1,000 kilometers in diameter (about the distance between Washington D.C. and Chicago).  The best thing about Ceres is that if you visited there, you’d weigh almost nothing at all!  Moi personally would weigh about 6 pounds on that august body.  Yay Ceres.  So here’s the stats for Ceres, the largest asteroid:

Size:
Diameter: approximately 950 kilometers (equatorial diameter 974.6 +/- 3.6, polar diameter 909.4 +/- 3.2 kilometers) (about 1/13 or 7.5% of Earth)
Mass: 9.43 x 10^20 kilograms (0.016% of Earth)
Bulk density: 2.10 grams per cubic centimeter (less dense than rock, more dense than ice, WAY more dense than people…)

Conclusion: An asteroid weighs WAY more than me.
P.S. Want to learn about some other ROCK STARS?  Check out THIS POST on Fat Chick Sings.

Stuff That Weighs More than Me: The Race Car in the Art Gallery

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Indianapolis Race Car on Display at the William Rolland Gallery at California Lutheran University.

It was somewhat surprising and also kind of cool to run into a Indy Race Car right in the middle of an Art Museum.  Then again, given the fact that the art museum is in itself part of a new sports complex at California Lutheran University, it’s not so very surprising.

With William Roland at the Gallery opening.

I first saw this beauty at the grand opening of the William Rolland Gallery last weekend.  And the minute I saw it, I knew I had to have a photograph.  Why?  A) Because it is beautiful and B) Because the information card said it weighed more than me.   Here’s the stats:

Length: Over 15 ft.
Width: About 6 ft.
Weight: Over 1500 lbs.

Conclusion: An Indy Race Car weighs more than me.

P.S. Want to learn about the race cars on my feet?  Click HERE!

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: The Big Suit

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Here’s yet another of the wonderful sculptures at the St. Louis City Garden.  This behemoth by artist Erwin Wurm is simply titled, “Big Suit”.  Despite it’s soft, pastel colors, (and the fact there’s no dude in the suit) this bad boy is heavy.  That’s probably why aluminum never really caught as a textile for garments.  Here’s the stats:

Material: Painted Aluminum
Dimensions: 300 x 130 x 73 cm (118 x 51 x 29 in) 
Height: Nearly 10 feet
Shirt Size 144 Long
Estimated Weight: 1 short ton

Conclusion: The Big Suit weighs more than me. 
Want to learn more about some serious tailoring?  Click HERE.

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

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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

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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!

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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!

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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!