Comments on: Human and pinniped hybrid

Human and pinniped hybrid

Confess, Fletch — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:35:13 -0800

Drunk Norwegian pretends he's a seal (SLYT)

By: ThatCanadianGirl

ThatCanadianGirl — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:40:31 -0800

Oh. Oh my lord. Everybody, watch this. The man is cr-azy!

By: 2bucksplus

2bucksplus — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:41:20 -0800

The whole time I was thinking "please don't let your stomach stick to the ice, and please don't die"

By: kbanas

kbanas — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:41:34 -0800

I... I don't really know what to say. Other than that makes me want to move to Norway with every fiber of my being.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:41:42 -0800

Dear god. That water must be COLD. I feel my gonads retreating just watching this. Although I'm all for videos showing stubbly-faced nearly naked men doing things in the outdoors. Let's have more of those.

By: kbanas

kbanas — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:42:18 -0800

Also, the moment he leapt into the water I actually inhaled sharply at my desk. Shit has to be cold. I mean, cold. But I guess vodka is warm.

By: special-k

special-k — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:43:34 -0800

In this new BBC series, David Attenborough explores some of the lesser known victims of climate change.

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:50:20 -0800

Awesome!

By: MaryDellamorte

MaryDellamorte — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:56:25 -0800

Fuck all kinds of that shit!

By: Namlit

Namlit — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:56:42 -0800

Now there's global warming for you right there. Right to that edge.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:57:00 -0800

Yup, awesome.

By: niccolo

niccolo — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:58:52 -0800

For some reason I thought this said: "Drunk Norwegian president pretends he's a seal" I watched the video and was very impressed

By: Cat Pie Hurts

Cat Pie Hurts — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:59:24 -0800

I gasped so hard that I almost inhaled my monitor, but my favorite part was when he crawled into the wormhole.

By: poe

poe — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:08:30 -0800

When he went into the wormhole I was giving him a 50/50 chance.

By: asymptotic

asymptotic — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:12:27 -0800

Same guy, but discharging a gun and revving a chainsaw. Oh, and drives Volvo.

By: The otter lady

The otter lady — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:15:23 -0800

I was expecting more "Arrk! Arrk!" and flolloping, but this is pretty good.

By: asymptotic

asymptotic — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:16:51 -0800

I had to post again. can anyone even come close to describing what is going through this man's head?. This is really freaking awesome, hahah I love it.

By: Bovine Love

Bovine Love — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:17:02 -0800

The dives were quite graceful.

By: valkyryn

valkyryn — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:19:13 -0800

That guy's an idiot.

By: jmccw

jmccw — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:20:14 -0800

funny youtube exchange: dude1: shit not even chuck norris can do that dude2: your wrong chuck norris is the reason the ice does not break under his feet

By: milestogo

milestogo — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:37:45 -0800

insane. Also, at first seal dive I was comforted by the fact that there was someone else with him there. But it became clear he was the only one around. Crazy!

By: TheWhiteSkull

TheWhiteSkull — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:41:48 -0800

can anyone even come close to describing what is going through this man's head? Oh, I'd say a BAC of at least 0.24. Seriously. Liquid long johns.

By: NoraReed

NoraReed — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:41:51 -0800

This is the intersecting portion of the Venn diagram of "things you should never do drunk" and "things you would never do sober".

By: molecicco

molecicco — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:43:56 -0800

OH MY GOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS MAN???

By: sonika

sonika — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:44:45 -0800

Yep. You would indeed have to be both drunk and Norwegian for this.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:46:28 -0800

While I know the general Mefi opinion of such things and I do not wish to perpetuate any kind of crass culture or consider myself crude and boorish and I do not wish people to think ill of me or offend anyone in anyway but: Dear god I'd hit that so hard I'd go blind.

By: Brockles

Brockles — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:49:21 -0800

There's something a little unhinged about that. Particularly when you consider how hard it must be to swim effectively with ice skates on. How did he know he could get enough thrust with ice skates on to swim to the edge of the ice reliably? That'd be buttock clenchingly nerve wracking for me even without the whole freezing to death angle.

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:51:03 -0800

Great, there's an anxiety I didn't even know I had. Thanks.

By: ddaavviidd

ddaavviidd — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:51:16 -0800

See? Winter can be fun, too.

By: pilibeen

pilibeen — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:53:14 -0800

Subscribed

By: Namlit

Namlit — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:02:43 -0800

Ice water shrinks your brains, or something. Huhhh.

By: ThatCanadianGirl

ThatCanadianGirl — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:05:09 -0800

Subscribed. Oh my god, who is this man?

By: Benny Andajetz

Benny Andajetz — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:08:15 -0800

Dude ain't right.

By: uosuaq

uosuaq — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:10:17 -0800

So...should I try this at home?

By: fnerg

fnerg — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:10:21 -0800

What's going through this guy's head FWIW.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:10:48 -0800

I too have often thought: "Here I am, sitting outside, resplendent on a sofa in among the beauty of nature, but it's cold... how can I fix that? How can I make it warm?" Now I know.

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:15:15 -0800

Shallow pond.

By: thinkpiece

thinkpiece — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:15:58 -0800

OK, I'm not supposed to say this, but I often have this thought, and I admit it's terrifically gender-biased and will stir up anger and such, and I'm sure if one were to break it down I'd be embarrassingly behind the times on the latest extreme crazy shit that women do, but. Wow. Boys. Are. Nuts.

By: Namlit

Namlit — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:28:18 -0800

Yeah, they've finally developed a human cat.

By: gemmy

gemmy — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:35:37 -0800

Fy fan vad kallt! This man does all the things your parents warned you about, and looks stylishly interesting doing it, somehow. And man do I miss ice skating on clear black ice like that...

By: penduluum

penduluum — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:40:05 -0800

By: kilo hertz

kilo hertz — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:46:34 -0800

Wow, so this is what it looks like to grab life by the balls.

By: Cold Lurkey

Cold Lurkey — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:48:05 -0800

I'll admit to sighing with relief when he resurfaced after diving into the hole. Although I don't imagine they'd be peddling some sort of sealman snuff film, it made me very nervous all the same. In conclusion, I have never drunk enough to think that swimming with skates on in icy waters was a good idea, or even lulzworthy, until now. (also, spellcheck, where did you learn lulzworthy?)

By: knapah

knapah — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:56:43 -0800

I reacted to this video by going, "Holy shit! People DIE from this where I'm from".* My Norwegian girlfriend reacted to this video by saying "Ah, I miss Norway". They're all clearly insane. * See here [time stamped, make sure you watch at least 10 seconds] for some totally insane behaviour, if you're not Norwegian anyway.

By: knapah

knapah — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:57:57 -0800

Hmm, the time-stamped link doesn't work in the MeFi player, you have to click through to YouTube. The important part is the ten seconds after 1m30s.

By: Mei's lost sandal

Mei's lost sandal — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:58:56 -0800

Makes me proud to be a square-head.

By: small_ruminant

small_ruminant — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:04:59 -0800

I was expecting more "Arrk! Arrk!" and flolloping, but this is pretty good. posted by The otter lady The otter lady stamp of approval! Three smelt for you!

By: Mei's lost sandal

Mei's lost sandal — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:09:09 -0800

They're no dummies (for some definitions of dummy anyway). Notice the dowels on the string around the neck? Both guys had em. You can get out of the water up onto the ice with those picks.

By: penduluum

penduluum — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:34:53 -0800

* See here [time stamped, make sure you watch at least 10 seconds] for some totally insane behaviour, if you're not Norwegian anyway. See, that's what I'm talking about! Do Norwegians have some kind of extra subdermal fat layer like orcas? Is the freezing point of water actually several degrees warmer within their national borders? How is that guy not only not dead, but seemingly feeling great? It's against nature, I tell you!

By: louche mustachio

louche mustachio — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:42:15 -0800

Wow, so this is what it looks like to grab life by the balls. Grabbed me by the balls. Then dragged them into the water with him. Balls I was unaware I had up until I saw that. But now, ow, said balls.

By: Runes

Runes — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:45:10 -0800

Dude clearly loves where he lives. Trust me, you want to watch it all the way to the end.

By: stp123

stp123 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:46:34 -0800

This is exactly what I imagine everyone in Norway to be like.

By: jcworth

jcworth — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:48:49 -0800

Do women know about shrinkage?

By: Salmonberry

Salmonberry — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:50:23 -0800

What. Why would you... what. I don't.... no. No this is not what you do. You don't.... this is not... no. Maybe the water is only 3' deep. Then...erm....no still no. I mean, diving into snowdrifts for beer thrown into them (standard winter hot tubbing procedure, then back into the hot tub), sure, that's ok, you won't drown, we all do that, but this is just...no the ice will mean that it's super cold and all the vodka in the world might not help you if your skate edge gets stuck in something like reeds or whatnot or wtf is going on there that looks really cold and just no.

By: chococat

chococat — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:00:46 -0800

Norway fucking rocks. And I love the whole weird dichotomy of skating up to the edge of ice and then diving into water. Seems so wrong and incongruous but so perfectly natural in this video. Awesome.

By: kmz

kmz — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:32:49 -0800

Doesn't alcohol actually contribute to hypothermia? Even though it makes you feel warmer? Or was that just bullshit they fed us in health class.

By: KingEdRa

KingEdRa — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:48:33 -0800

Can I pretend to club him?

By: Scattercat

Scattercat — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:48:51 -0800

I want to live there. But I do not want to do this when I am there.

By: CNNInternational

CNNInternational — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:58:45 -0800

In another environment, this is a guy who drinks four loco and slams his head into a Hardee's window. Also, I love him.

By: Xezlec

Xezlec — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:12:58 -0800

Given that I just happen to be, oh, three-fourths through a bottle of very nice Chianti at the time of watching this, and that it happens to be insanely cold here in Texas (and by insanely cold here in Texas I mean 3 degrees (and by 3 degrees I mean 3 hundredths of the difference between the freezing and boiling points of water above the freezing point of water)), this kind of makes me want to go outside. I think I'll go outside. I ain't jumping in no damn water though. Not even after three-fourths of a bottle of very nice Chianti. Maybe it doesn't work without vodka. I probably shouldn't comment under the influence.

By: bitteroldman

bitteroldman — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:19:08 -0800

Dude clearly loves where he lives. Trust me, you want to watch it all the way to the end. That was great! Either this guy is a nut or he is a brilliant artist who has found happiness in nature and in living. Pure joy!

By: Xoebe

Xoebe — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:30:23 -0800

I'll pick my jaw up off the ground now.

By: Mei's lost sandal

Mei's lost sandal — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:47:13 -0800

More incredible Norwegian scenery from the same guy here.

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:48:40 -0800

Isn't that supposed to kill you? Like: I'm not trying to be funny. I'm a lifelong Floridian with limited exposure to snow and icy climates. And I'm seriously asking: isn't that shit supposed to kill you. No. Google "Polar Plunge" to see video of thousands of people diving into icy water to raise money for Special Olympics. Swimming in icy water is A Thing. Also, the L Street Brownies. Of course, Norwegians have more practice.

By: Iron Rat

Iron Rat — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:48:42 -0800

That looks dangerous but he is Norwegian so he must know what he is doing.

By: Mei's lost sandal

Mei's lost sandal — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:21:46 -0800

Ok so now I am a little bit obsessed. Here he talks about ice swimming and getting millions of YouTube hits (sb.no)

By: Flashman

Flashman — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:27:04 -0800

Scientists need to capture this man, and study him.

By: grapesaresour

grapesaresour — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:36:04 -0800

Ok. Now I want to move to Norway. Do you think he would teach me to ice-ski?

By: zippy

zippy — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:56:15 -0800

I think the alcohol is a prop, and this is actually a training video for Norway's special forces half-naked arctic frogmen program. (Well, maybe not, but I bet he's ex-special forces)

By: Kronos_to_Earth

Kronos_to_Earth — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:08:51 -0800

Hm. Weather must have been a bit too cold when he tried, here: ^O_{_{_||||}}^O

By: quarsan

quarsan — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:37:11 -0800

He's Tor Eckhoff, Facebook, Twitter. The world's most extreme sport is "Drinking with norwegians" - truly terrifying. Wonderful people.

By: Dumsnill

Dumsnill — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:56:33 -0800

Okay, that's a little bit more Norwegian than I would ever want to be. (But yes, I am wonderful people.)

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 02:20:49 -0800

The world's most extreme sport is "Drinking with norwegians" - truly terrifying. Wonderful people. Very open, very tolerant, caring, relatively non-neurotic no bullshit people. Their relationship to nature is symbiotic and unique in it's respect and love of it. It's very native American in completely modern way. At any rate, having partaken in above referenced "most extreme sport," I can vouch that it is quite the experience and must be the reason I'm just not that upset or freaked out by this guys insane adventures on the ice. Not much to do up there in the couple of hours of precious daylight you get during the winter. Might as well go a little crazy and retain your sanity. Other than that it's a bit worrying these actions don't scare me at all. (I mostly wanted to know what kind of Vodka he was drinking, because obviously that shit gives you super powers.)

By: Dumsnill

Dumsnill — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 02:39:34 -0800

I mostly wanted to know what kind of Vodka he was drinking Vikingfjord

By: Decani

Decani — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:01:56 -0800

And we know he's drunk, how? I've dived into ice-covered water. I wasn't drunk.

By: Dumsnill

Dumsnill — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:04:17 -0800

We know he's drunk because he's Norwegian. The rest of you can be sober if you want.

By: fermezporte

fermezporte — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:05:39 -0800

I think this is the first "extreme sport" type video that has left me desperately wanting to do that. Hang gliding? Bungee jumping? Not so much. But ice-skate diving? Sign me up! He definitely found a good spot for it - the ice is pretty thick right up to the boundary of the water (though maybe ocean ice just does that? I don't know). Oh it looks so cold and beautiful and fun!

By: Surfurrus

Surfurrus — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:33:46 -0800

I'm in love.

By: bwg

bwg — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:51:18 -0800

Bear Grylls: "You'll survive longer naked."

By: fore

fore — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 06:01:08 -0800

The few times I've jumped into extremely cold water (wasn't quite freezing, maybe low 40s...) the part I had the most difficulty with was breathing. It always takes me a minute to regain my composure and remember to breathe, and then figure out how. Things start out with short, really quick, almost hyperventilating-style breaths. I've found that once I get the breathing sorted I can go just fine for another minute or so before the temperature starts to get to me.

By: Bovine Love

Bovine Love — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 06:28:08 -0800

Man his videos makes me so very much miss the vast empty spaces of NF, where I did most of my growing up. Those places, alone, makes you feel very very different, a different view of the world. And maybe will make you a little crazy (even after only a few hours), but it is a very relaxing, cleansing kind of crazy. Now I have to go find the hardest, worse local hikes just to find some empty place that only a few people might show up; then I could do it with a short drive, and be totally alone all day. On other notes, if you haven't dealt with ice water, it really really hurts. This guy has awesome self-control (and a lot of practice I expect)

By: Runcible Spoon

Runcible Spoon — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 06:35:39 -0800

Canada has it's own version of that crazy Norwegian, see the amazing Canadian Ice Fishermen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x768VAsOQSw

By: Namlit

Namlit — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 07:00:59 -0800

I'm pretty sure that he isn't actually drunk at all (maybe has water in his Vodka bottle, or otherwise doesn't drink much of it). You can only pull off these stunts and live to tell the tale if you're extremely meticulous in your training and your preparations. The slapdash touch is part of the vid's editing, and I assume that the vodka bit belongs to the latter. [Point of comparison: you don't think that this Swedish dude from this thread actually eats all that ketchup, right?]

By: arcticseal

arcticseal — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 07:37:21 -0800

Damn amateurs, giving us a bad name. 8/10 for enthusiasm though.

By: RedEmma

RedEmma — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 08:06:21 -0800

Well, as a data point, my Norwegian 70 year old aunt and another old lady friend swim in Oslofjord until the ice makes it impossible. Naked. Like three times a week. So yeah, y'alls are wussy. (And so am I.)

By: RedEmma

RedEmma — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 08:07:15 -0800

P.S. They do it stone sober.

By: severiina

severiina — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 08:37:52 -0800

Ice swimming is a pretty common thing here in Finland. It's considered to be very good for your health. In my mind the typical ice swimmer would be a health-concious middle aged woman or an older man. So it's really not an extreme sport, at least not here. Though I have to admit that the way this dude does it is pretty extreme. The thought of skating into water terrifies me much more than the cold. How did he know he would not sink like a stone the first time he tried it?

By: inkytea

inkytea — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:36:47 -0800

Metafilter you promised, Metafilter you delivered. Drunk Norwegian pretends he's a seal, indeed.

By: ODiV

ODiV — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 10:18:51 -0800

Wow! That looks like it could have been shot on the bay I grew up around. We're probably close to the same latitude. I don't know if I've ever seen ice like that, though.

By: flippant

flippant — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 11:11:59 -0800

As a Norwegian, let me just start off by saying: Crazy. He did edit that together and frame it in such a way as to make it seem like an off-the-wall thing to do; ice bathing is, as mentioned above, something people do for a variety of reasons -- though without the ice skates and vodka. And on a tangent: isn't Vikingfjord the most Norwegianest name for a vodka ever? Vikings and fjords, indeed. Slap an "Amundsen brand" sticker and a picture of the Northern Lights on it (but hold the Quisling), and it would be perfect.

By: dougrayrankin

dougrayrankin — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:06:08 -0800

Come now, we've all done things like this after a Marston's Pedigree too many.

By: Quinbus Flestrin

Quinbus Flestrin — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:48:09 -0800

This made me think of a New yorker piece by Lynne Cox about swimming significant distances in extremely cold water: a mile in the antarctic and a quater of a mile in the arctic where the water is even colder

They suggested that I cross Church Bay, where I could swim in clean water and finish near the town center. It was a distance of just under a quarter of a mile. Then Karen asked, "When you swim, will you be wearing a wetsuit or a dry suit?" "I'll be wearing a swimsuit—a TYR Lycra swimsuit," I replied. It took a moment for my answer to register. Karen drew in a quick breath and said, "Are you crazy? Do you know how cold that water is?" I thought she'd understood what we were doing. "From the research I've done, the water temperature could be between 28.8 and thirty-four degrees," I said.

I don't think that Lynne Cox does the skates/vodka/seal noises/YouTube thing though—maybe she should consider it (or maybe those are the "Boys. Are. Nuts." things that sensible women avoid).

By: zia

zia — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 15:13:53 -0800

I'm in love

By: dabitch

dabitch — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 15:14:11 -0800

Oh god, Norwegian men are so badass.

By: msali

msali — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 14:45:12 -0800

I watched the first 90% of this and thought, "How do they know he's drun....?" Oh. That. Damn.

By: msali

msali — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 14:46:33 -0800

As a Norwegian, let me just start off by saying: Crazy. Posted by: flippant Eponysterical!

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:13:43 -0800

I think it's caused by living too close to the north poll. All that magnetic flux and high energy protons, hitting you in the head all the time, leaves its mark.