Shedding a little more light on the bailed-out, failed-ass, employee-shedding mess that is AIB, the Irish Times’ Simon Carswell has seen a series of reports that reveal nothing less than Anglo’s ugly sister:

“The spoils of the property market lured the mighty AIB into a heavy concentration that felled it.The loan book increased by €76 billion between 2002 and 2008, when the percentage of property loans as a proportion of overall loans went from 18 per cent to 37 per cent.”‬

And there’s more.

Property’s spoils ruined mighty AIB (Simon Carswell, Irish Times)

(Photocall Ireland)

Just launched: a nifty Tumblr with huge potential – Celtic Tiger Museum.

Only two exhibits thus far.

Above: An ‘effing Fiorella Mancini hand-painted coat. What was I thinking?’

Submit your vulgar artefacts here.

The winner of the UK Pokemon Championships, Rubén Puig Lecegui, has been stripped of his title by the Pokemon Company for failing to ‘maintain high standards of behaviour conducive to the family-friendly environment’. How? By allegedly having a poo fight in a hotel corridor.

A poo fight you say? Eyewitness Pokechamp21 breaks it down:

After 30-40min in my room relaxing with a quick snooze I awoke to the sound of banging comming from down the hall from where the ‘Spanish Team’ were staying in. It seems that at some point after they had turned up and when we went to Wether Spoons the Spniards had decided to have a ‘Poo’ fight in the corridor and this had upset the staff and several guests (naturally) at the hotel enough to call the Police and have them leave.

Pokemon champion stripped of his title after alleged ‘poo fight’ in hotel (Games Radar)

 

Context: Carswell: FOIing Like A Boss

‘Metal evolutionist’ Brian Mock from Portland Oregon makes elegant recycled metal sculptures from discard nails, wingnuts, sheet metal, car rotors and hinges. He sez:

“I am intrigued by the challenge of creating an entirely unique piece from an eclectic collection of discarded objects. Giving these old, common items a new and extraordinary life as one sculpture is an artistically challenging yet gratifying process. This type of work is also designed to be highly interactive and prompt viewers to question the reality of what they see. Audience reactions fuel my motivation.”

More of Brian’s work here.

colossal


Shark expert Michael Rutzen demonstrates the phenomenon of ‘tonic immobility’ in the Bahamas: a natural state of paralysis that animals enter when presented with a threat.

Some sharks can be placed in this state – which generally lasts about fifteen minutes – by turning them upside down.

Glasses, moustaches and cartoon genitals are often drawn on their faces during this time.

presurfer

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