March 8, 2001

11:55 PM

Foot-and-mouth disease marches forward in Europe. In order to try to slow down the spread of the virus, UK authorities are urging cancellations of any events that bring people and/or animals together. Which means no horse racing. Which means the Brits are going insane because they have nothing to bet on. (Unlike the US, they don't consider gambling to be an evil on the level of homicide.) What to do? Rodents to the rescue! BlueSQ.com is offering live webcasts of hamster races to satiate your betting jones. Look at 'em go! In other hamster news, some dork blew £3000 on a 6-foot-tall fiberglass hamster left over from the carnage of the Millennium Dome.
posted by aaron (10 comments total)

That hamster is just beautiful. Now he just needs to find a 100-foot-tall Outpost.com logo to shoot it through.
posted by kindall at 12:03 AM on March 9, 2001

Hmmpf, they dont even give the hamster's a name. They are simply called: Lane 1 - Lane 6, how can that substitute horse racing??

Rock on - is it just me or does the hamster have one of those 80s leather bracelet thingies??
posted by noom at 12:19 AM on March 9, 2001

Which means the Brits are going insane because they have nothing to bet on.

Some of us have got other things to worry about. Wanna see a picture of some funny burning cows?
posted by ceiriog at 1:20 AM on March 9, 2001

I'd prefer a burning sheep picture, myself.
posted by aaron at 2:28 AM on March 9, 2001

Shades of Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell.
posted by Caffa at 2:30 AM on March 9, 2001

In other hamster news, some dork blew £3000 on a 6-foot-tall fiberglass hamster

Don't be mean. Richard Gere can spend his money any way he pleases.
posted by Optamystic at 2:56 AM on March 9, 2001

Betting houses are offering 10-1 odds that Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s Labor Party will win an upcoming general election...

Wake me up for the hamster ball race between Blair and Hague...
posted by Avogadro at 6:32 AM on March 9, 2001

I'd prefer a burning sheep picture, myself.

Aaron, you're right. Foot and mouth is a laughing matter. It's funny that my neighbours are keeping their children away from school, that my girlfriend can't visit her sick mother in Devon and that my shoes smell of disinfectant. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Community weblog, my arse.
posted by ceiriog at 7:08 AM on March 9, 2001

And that was that! Righteous indignation and a sick mum wins every time.
posted by rodii at 4:28 PM on March 9, 2001

Whatever. I was pissed off, I sulked, I got over it. Now I'm going to find that thread about the Seattle earthquake and make fun of people who split coffee on their keyboards.
posted by ceiriog at 6:20 AM on March 11, 2001